After entering the palace, Qi Ziyin did not meet with the ministers immediately, but ordered the army to immediately return to the Baisha Camp, which was damaged in the war, and ordered Fan Zhen to bring all the old, weak, women and children who had escaped from Qingwan ashore and place them properly.
. He himself and Leng Jiayun led a team of more than a hundred light cavalry and quickly entered the palace of King Ye.
As soon as they entered the palace, they immediately summoned Xiang Baili's old troops from Mo Ling's guard, reorganized the palace guards, and spent the whole night taking inventory of Qi Shouyu's belongings.
There is a rumor among the people in the city that after Duke Jinghai took over the Shoucheng Palace, he renovated it. Not only were all the household furnishings from the Duke of Jinghai’s mansion moved here without leaving the floor, but there were also countless cars with seals attached.
It took more than half a month to move the wooden boxes and cabinets before they were all settled.
After the Chengye War, hungry people displaced by the war and starved to death were everywhere. But it was not until he saw it with his own eyes that Qi Ziyin realized how much wealth his uncle Wang had amassed over the years by sucking the flesh and blood of the people.
The gold, silver and jewels that have been recovered from various places in Shoucheng Palace are only a drop in the bucket, but they have been able to offset the entire deficit of the national treasury.
Not only that, countless bribes, manuscripts, letters, drawings, money, craftsman lists, etc. that had been exchanged and exchanged for bribes over the years, as well as secretly supervising the production of firebolts, muskets and artillery, had also piled up into a small mountain in front of Qi Ziyin. However, after searching through them,
However, the young man did not find any clues about Ning Yue's whereabouts.
"Are all the things I want here?"
The young man in white frowned and asked the trembling inner prisoner next to him.
"For the record, young master, I have just entered the palace not long ago. Besides, the king - ah no, Qi Shouyu, the old thief who usurped the throne, has never allowed us to enter or leave his bedroom without permission. These things, I also follow Butler Feng on weekdays.
Only after I passed away did I know its approximate location."
"Could it be that the old thief set up another secret room in this palace?"
Leng Jiayun threw the scroll in his hand back into the hill in front of him, and then looked around. Qi Ziyin shook his head and motioned to all the Mo Ling guards who were still searching hard to stop:
"There is no need to look any further. This Shoucheng Palace was the residence of my father during his lifetime, and there are no secret passages in it. Uncle Wang has always been cautious, and perhaps he has burned all the confidential letters with fire. But that one
Isn’t it possible that the map he took out from the sword was also burned by him?”
"This thing is extremely important to the old thief. Maybe he has always carried it with him and it has sunk to the bottom of the sea?!"
Leng Jiayun was suddenly startled, with a look of disappointment on her face - after all, if there was no such map, the hope of searching for the Ancestral City would only become slimmer. However, at this moment, the inner voice on the side
The prison officer interrupted again:
"Young Master, I have something that I don't know whether to say or not..."
"What else are you hiding from us?" The Dongli woman was in a bad mood, her red lips slightly opened, and she shouted sternly.
"It's not that I mean to hide it. It's just that not long ago, Steward Feng stole something from the palace and escaped. The old thief who usurped the throne, Lei Lei, was so angry that he almost pulled out all of us servants and chopped them down. But I don't know, what happened to him?
Is the stolen thing what you are looking for..."
Hearing this, the young man's face changed immediately - Butler Feng was Qi Shouyu's confidant, and he did many shameful things for him on weekdays. And the things that could arouse his uncle Wang's anger could only be the same as that picture.
The map of the Ancient City is related.
However, it has been two years since Butler Feng escaped. The world is vast and the sea of people is vast. Even Qi Shouyu failed to capture him back then, so where can he go to find him?
But what the boy and others didn't know was that just when they were at their wits' end, Butler Feng, who was carrying the map, hadn't left far. He had changed his disguise, changed his name, and now appeared at the border between Nanhua and Yu.
In a not too big inn...
Two years ago, he took advantage of the chaos of Cheng Ye's battle to steal the map and escape from the city. He crossed the Pheasant River all the way south and entered the territory of Fu State. Unexpectedly, Wei Liang disrupted the situation and the Ye State, which was depleted of troops, had to mobilize its garrison from the south.
At that time, rebels from the Fu Kingdom rose up and set off a wave of resistance. Huaiyou and Yu Kingdoms, which bordered the Fu Kingdom, also blocked the main roads and sent heavy troops to garrison at passes.
In the chaos of war, no inch of land was spared. The rebels soon fell into a situation of shortage of water and food. After occupying several important towns on the border, nearly half of them became rogues, often plundering and escaping from Yunzhi City.
The large business travelers who came out became a big harm to the south of Wanzhou.
Because of this, Butler Feng was worried that the map on his body would be taken away by bandits, and he was unable to find a ship to go to sea, so he struggled until the war subsided before he dared to climb over Suli Mountain and enter the territory of Yu Kingdom.
Originally, he planned to detour to Baitan and then go north along the Hejian Corridor to meet up with Kunjie at Jingshu. Unexpectedly, he suddenly received an urgent message from the other party on the way, telling him that his actions were exposed and that he was wanted by Wei Liang, so he had no choice but to avoid it.
The more Butler Feng thought about it, the more he felt that he could no longer take the land route, so he made up his mind to go east to Nanhua, and then find a boat to go to sea from there.
The Yu State's national power has already declined, and it has retreated to the southern end of the mainland where there are many hills and valleys. So far, it has not been able to build an official road that runs through the country. Nearly 60% of the country's land is located between Laishui and Meihe Rivers.
It is the wild land of Bai Mi Ling.
Before the establishment of the Great Sheng Dynasty, Bai Mi Ling was already a dense forest, a place where poisonous insects and ferocious beasts were entrenched, and there were even black swamps that could easily kill people. Travelers who passed by here said that the dangerous environment of the Yu Kingdom was the same as the one far away.
Lizhou in the southeast corner of the mainland is quite similar. Therefore, this small border country is also called Nanyi contemptuously by the other princes of the four southern states.
Because of this, Butler Feng wandered around in the mountains and forests for several months before he found a way out. Now he doesn't even know that the young master Qi Ziyin has returned to Mulu City, and he doesn't even know that Jinghai Gong Qi Shouyu was killed in the war.
Fish Belly. He always maintained great vigilance along the way and only chose remote shops that were off the beaten track. Fortunately, he carried with him many treasures brought out from Yeguo Palace, which were priceless. Everywhere he went, he would
Book the entire inn.
At this moment, Butler Feng had already spent money to send all the other guests away from this inn located on the north bank of Lingxi River. He ordered a bowl of the famous local loach noodles and sat in the middle of the lobby to taste it leisurely.
The owner of the store and the waiter didn't dare to talk to him easily. They just huddled behind the counter and whispered about the origin of this lavish customer.
I don't know when it began to rain lightly outside the inn, which put a smile on Butler Feng's face - in such weather, no one would be traveling in such a deserted place in the rain, and no one would come.
This stay will disturb me.
Unexpectedly, just as I thought of this, I suddenly heard a strong male voice with a Wanzhou accent outside the door:
"Boy, please open two rooms, we want to stay in the hotel!"
Butler Feng was facing away from each other at the moment. Through the reflection of the copper pot on the table, he could only see two figures, one tall and one short, wearing bamboo hats. He hurriedly suppressed the ups and downs of his emotions and remained calm.
He lowered his head and ate the noodles. Before he could signal, the waiter in the store had already stepped forward to greet him, nodding and bowing to stop him:
"My guest, I'm really sorry. My shop has been taken over by someone else today, so please find another place!"
"Find somewhere else? This is a useless place. I walked dozens of miles before I saw this decent inn. Besides, it's still raining outside. Could it be that you let the two of us live in a tree?"
"
The store was dark, but the visitor did not take off his hat, and his face was completely submerged in the shadows beneath it. He seemed not to want others to see his appearance, but he still raised his voice and shouted angrily. The waiter also understood what the other person meant.
Everything he said made sense, but he was even more afraid of the ferocious aura that emanated from his body, so he immediately lowered his head and did not dare to say a word.
The innkeeper received a lot of money from Butler Feng, and he also knew the principle of taking money from people to help them eliminate disasters. He immediately stepped forward and planned to have another discussion. Unexpectedly, the visitor actually threw a few golden things.
It landed on the counter with a clanking sound, and rolled around for several times before stopping:
"These gold bahts are enough to live in your shabby shop for a month, right?" the man who broke into the shop said, but lowered the bamboo hat on his head.
The money given by the visitor was indeed enough to cover the revenue of his store in the past few months. Now facing another wealthy donor, the store owner couldn't agree anymore. Suddenly he didn't know what to do.
How to deal with it? He hesitantly glanced at Butler Feng who was still sitting at the table eating noodles. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and put the money on the table into his arms:
"How about this guest who came first, let's discuss it. You see, everyone is on the road. There is really no second store within a radius of ten miles, so let the two of them rest here.
It’s late, I guess it won’t be a big deal——”
But Butler Feng interrupted him sharply: "Let him go! Aren't all those guests just gone too?"
Hearing what he said so resolutely, the store owner couldn't help but get into trouble. The traveler waiting to check in at the door was annoyed, and immediately slapped his palm heavily on the counter, making both the store owner and the waiter tremble:
"What's the point? There are seven or eight rooms in this store. You live in the east end, and I will live in the west end. We don't interfere with each other, so why not? The store has already collected my money, and I can live in it today.
Here!"
"How much money he charged you, I will pay you double."
Steward Feng suddenly felt that the other party's voice sounded familiar, but he still responded calmly, without even looking at the other party. He originally thought that money could make the world go round, and that he would be able to buy peace of mind if he spent generously.
Unexpectedly, what he met this time was a gangster. The man walked quickly in front of him and pulled out a broad-backed saber with a "swish" sound:
"Mom, what's great if you have money? We have decided to stay in this shop today! This knife of mine has licked the blood of countless people. If you guys also want to taste the taste of being bitten by it,
, just say it!"
Steward Feng's heart trembled. He thought he had encountered a bandit from the country of Fu, so he had no choice but to turn his head and take a look at the other party. But when he saw it, his face was so frightened that he dropped the chopsticks in his hand on the spot.
Fall into the bowl.
The person standing in front of him now was a tall and burly man. His eyes were protruding, and there were only two black fleshy holes left on the bridge of his nose. At first glance, he looked like a body crawling out of a grave.
corpse!
He also immediately recognized the shimmering saber in the opponent's hand. The saber was called Jian Yue, and the owner of this sharp weapon was Yu Li, who had served under Qi Shouyu back then!
Butler Feng knew the temper of this young general well. Although his face was disguised at this time, he was still afraid that the other party would recognize him, so he turned away hastily. But Yu Li was already angered, so how could he be so willing to do so easily?
After giving up, he immediately raised his foot and kicked him off the bench:
"Why, are you scared now? Let me ask you, will we still be allowed to stay in this hotel?!"
"Stay, stay, you two can stay wherever you like, and I won't say a word."
Steward Feng cursed in his heart that he was unlucky to have met such an evil star here. At the moment, he just wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible and not cause any more trouble. But he just said a few soft words and coaxed the other party to put away the knife.
When he got up, he saw another man wearing a bamboo hat coming forward. After whispering a few words in Yu Li's ear, he actually asked him to raise the knife to his neck again:
"Take out all the money you have with you!"
The person who gave Yu Li advice was none other than Zi Yuan, who had been traveling with him all the way. At this time, the woman was no longer the top star of the Shihua Pavilion who had fallen into a brothel. Ever since the two escaped from Mulu City, the girl had continued to encourage Yu.
Li plundered the travelers he met along the way to provide for the expenses of the two of them. Yu Li was extremely powerful and had a ferocious appearance. No matter whether he was an ordinary business traveler or a bandit, he would end up alone if he encountered one.
The fate of Shou Yi Chu. To this day, the two of them had already stolen a lot of money, but they became even more greedy.
Seeing that Yu Li was trying to steal money, Butler Feng had no choice but to kick out the package lying at his feet, hoping that he would stop. Unexpectedly, the other party took the package, but still refused to let him go. Instead, he shouted even louder
:
"Take off all your clothes too!"
Butler Feng realized that the current situation was extremely unfavorable to him. If it dragged on any longer, he might have to explain it here. After thinking about it, he actually put on a surprised face, clapped his hands and exclaimed:
"Oh, it's the Major General? I didn't expect to meet you here!"
A surprised expression suddenly appeared on Yu Li's face, and he turned back to look at Zi Yuan who was also puzzled. He never thought that he would be recognized here, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
Who was the person in front of him? He became more and more nervous. With more force in his hand, the saber instantly cut through the flesh on the opponent's neck.
However, Butler Feng opposite was eager to survive, and he still called him "Major General" in a friendly manner. Then he wiped the fake skin and flesh on his face hard, revealing his true face under the disguise.
Yu Li was shocked when he saw this. He thought the other party was sent by Qi Shouyu to capture him, so he immediately kicked him away and immediately retreated to the door of the inn, putting up a defensive posture and blocking Zi Yuan behind him.
:
"I didn't expect that after such a long time, you would still be looking for me! How many people are hiding in this store? Do they come one by one or together?! No matter what, I will kill you to pieces today!"
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