Looking at her deep smile, Ma Laifu never understood the deep meaning of her words.
Now, Sister Zhi, whom he respected the most, has become the queen of the mother-in-law world. Even though she said that he did not want to be separated from her, Ma Laifu felt like a mirror in his heart. She was no longer the woman in the village before.
He still understands the so-called distinction between king and minister.
Since she didn't want to say more, she didn't dare to ask too much. If she tried her best to protect her and run errands for the emperor's brother-in-law, it would be considered as living up to the respect that the couple had for her.
As the sky gets brighter, the fog in the gray sky gradually disperses.
Thirty miles away from Jinling City, at the top of the mountain in the northwest, a group of people were looking down at the horses and horses on the mountain, slowly heading west.
In the cold wind, the clothes of the leading man were fluttering, and as the horse and cart went away from the mountain, his eyes became more and more empty and lonely.
"Since Your Majesty did not want the Queen to go west, why did you agree to the Queen's proposal?"
Seeing Lin Jinxiao's face full of melancholy, Zhang Yu beside him couldn't help but asked with concern.
"How can a few high walls of the deep palace restrain my queen?"
Lin Jinxiao sighed helplessly, then looked at the few confidants who followed him up the mountain, and immediately ordered: "Li Sanmu, you lead the two thousand brothers from the Xiaoqi Camp of the former Pingning Prince's Palace to secretly escort the Queen into Tanzhou.
Later, they disguised themselves as merchants and entered the city in batches. If anything happened, they would be ready to respond to Da Sima at any time, and they would be sure to protect the queen and leave safely."
"The last general takes orders."
Li Sanmu didn't dare to delay for a moment, and immediately went down the mountain to follow the car in the distance.
Watching Li Sanmu walk away, and the westbound car gradually disappearing from sight, Lin Jinxiao led Zhang Yu and Nie Duo, who had just returned from the north, to prepare to go down the mountain and return to the city.
On the way, Lin Jinxiao was still full of worries and told Nie Duo: "Brother Nie had accompanied Princess Shu to the Qinghe area in the early years, and he had some understanding of the situation in each state. Now, although He Ying has taken over Mengzhou.
Qingyang City's soldiers and horses, but Xiazhou still makes me very worried. I'm worried that if there is a riot in Tanzhou, the Rongdi people will take the opportunity to go south, and I will have to trouble my brother to make another trip for me to defend Xiazhou."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Even if the general is shattered to pieces, he will never let Xiazhou lose an inch of land."
Nie Duo replied swornly.
After making a series of arrangements, thinking about the current disaster situation in various parts of the north and the situation in the three Qinghe prefectures that are temporarily difficult to estimate, Lin Jinxiao finally told Zhang Yu:
"There are constant natural disasters this year. In addition to supervising the troops and horses of various states to strengthen prevention, the general must be more cautious about Binzhou and Qizhou. Now the queen is traveling westward for the imperial court's plan. There must be no mistakes. In two days, you will go to Binzhou in person. Qizhou
After a trip to the state, he ordered the captains of the two states to secretly assemble troops and march to the border with Tanzhou to be prepared to meet the queen. Once Ji Huaizhang makes any changes, the war must not spread beyond Tanzhou."
Zhang Yu nodded understandingly: "Your Majesty, you must pay homage first and then fight. If Ji Huaizhang and Qinghe Xun still do not repent, I must let them know the power of the imperial court."
With these sophisticated arrangements, Lin Jinxiao suddenly felt at ease.
Even if Ji Huaizhang could not be eliminated in a short time, it was a mistake to protect the empress and return to Beijing.
Concerned about the disasters in various places, he had no intention of staying outside the palace and hurried back to the palace.
After driving for more than ten days in a row, after passing through Binzhou, the weather here was in great contrast with the Jinling City when we came. Snow was everywhere, and the scenery of pink makeup and jade made the people who were in a hurry to go to Tanzhou the capital.
For Chu Nanzhi, it became a huge obstacle.
Fortunately, we are already close to the Tanzhou border, and the bumpy days are finally coming to an end.
Seeing night fall, Chu Nanzhi had no choice but to let Li Ce rest his troops and rest at an inn along the way.
At night, Du Qian borrowed the ingredients from the inn to make some other side dishes and brought them in.
After a long day's journey, Chu Nanzhi's mouth watered as he looked at the delicious dishes.
There were white-cut chicken, stewed goose in an iron pot, braised bear paws, braised pork, and even yellow croaker, which is rare in the northwest region, and southern wild rice that does not belong to this season, all appeared on the dinner table.
While Chu Nanzhi was ordering Sang Qi to eat, she couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect that such a remote place would have such rich ingredients. It's quite a surprise."
It would not be surprising if it were in the capital of Binzhou or the county here, but here there is no village or shop. I thought it would be good to fill my stomach, but I actually had a big meal.
"I heard that the governor of Ruyang County just sent someone to deliver it a few days ago."
Du Qian reported the gossip he heard in the kitchen truthfully: "The business of this inn has been bleak recently. It is said that the shopkeeper is planning to close down. Unexpectedly, the prefect came in person and not only gave the shopkeeper some money, but also told the shopkeeper to keep the inn
If we keep running the business, there will be noble people here in the next few days."
"The governor of Ruyang County is a smart man."
Chu Nanzhi said with a smile.
Thinking about the officials passing through the prefectures and counties who came to curry favor, she felt filled with contempt, so she deliberately avoided the prefectures and counties. She did not expect that the prefect of Ruyang County could be so considerate and did not bother him, but just asked the inns along the way to prepare more food.
.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she praised him, Ma Laifu walked in mysteriously, shook his head and said coldly: "In my opinion, the prefect of Ruyang County is too smart."
After saying that, he walked quickly to Chu Nanzhi and asked angrily: "Sister Zhi, does she know why the business of this inn has declined?"
With his reminder, Chu Nanzhi immediately realized something was wrong: "Logically speaking, this is an important road passing through Tanzhou. Even if it is not packed with guests every day, the business travelers who pass by will not be in such a miserable situation.
"
"exactly."
Ma Laifu replied: "It's just because many people died in this inn two months ago. It is said that more than ten people from the caravan who came here to stay were killed, and the prefect of Ruyang County learned that this caravan came from the direction of Tanzhou.
His mood changed, so he hastily concluded the case as a rogue bandit who had robbed property and killed people. After that, not even the people who were fleeing dared to come out of Tanzhou, let alone the passing business travelers."
As he spoke, he came closer and lowered his voice: "Sister Zhi, I also found out that just two days before Lord Tingwei entered Tanzhou, a group of refugees from Dangyang County fled to Ruyang County, and they also alerted the public.
Prefect of the two counties, guess what, the son of the prefect of Dangyang County was scornful of a good girl under the nose of the prefect of Ruyang County, forcing the woman's father to kill him in front of him. After that, these refugees all returned obediently.
Place of residence.”
"Is there such a shocking thing?"
Chu Nanzhi couldn't help but sigh.
Combined with the deaths of Lu Huan, Xia Yuan and Fang Qingyue, and the rumors she heard about the officials protecting each other in Qinghe, she had no choice but to believe that Ma Laifu had found out the authenticity of these things.
"Who is the governor of Dangyang County?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at Ma Laifu curiously: "Laifu, what else did you find out?"
Ma Laifu narrowed his eyes, grinned and said with a sneer: "I heard that Sun You, the governor of Dangyang County, is the younger brother of the Sun family, the concubine of the Tanzhou governor. This man was originally a scoundrel, but because of Sun's favor, he was violated by the Ji governor.
He was promoted to the county guard, and his son Sun Li has done all kinds of evil in the county these years."
After learning that this matter was related to Ji Huaizhang, Chu Nanzhi immediately lost his appetite when looking at the delicious seafood on the table.