As the county seat close to Daqian Capital, after entering the boundary of Xiling, there is only four or five days' journey from Daqian Capital.
In normal times, the various official roads in Xiling are bustling with activity day and night. Caravan travelers from the eastern counties of Daqian will enter Beijing through these routes, and there is an endless stream of motorcades coming and going.
However, these official roads have been very deserted in recent days, and sometimes not a single person can be seen for a long time.
Many people would rather take a long detour than go through Xiling again, for fear of accidentally bumping into the so-called "rebels" and causing death.
Therefore, even roadside inns and tea stalls have lost business, and most of them simply closed their doors to avoid the limelight.
But there are a few stubborn ones who still hang flags, hoping to pick up some business while their peers are out of business...
"Master, you said you won't really want to change the emperor this time."
A small tea stall was set up under the shade of trees on the roadside, and a man and a woman were sitting on wooden chairs chatting.
The woman is dressed as an ordinary woman, with a chopstick serving as a hairpin to tie up her long, somewhat dry hair.
The man looked honest and honest, with a long scarf draped over his shoulders.
Obviously, these two people should be a couple, and they opened a small tea stall here to make a living.
Since there were no customers in the stall at this time, they had no choice but to sit and chat to relieve their boredom.
"Who knows..."
He curled his lips, and with the short knowledge of a middle-aged man, he undoubtedly could not answer the woman's question, so he just muttered casually:
"It doesn't matter to us who becomes the emperor anyway, as long as this battle is over as soon as possible."
"Too."
The woman nodded, glanced towards the end of the official road, and then looked back disappointedly: "There is still no one there."
"Master, why don't we close the stall? Yesterday, Mr. Wang from the west of the village said that the rebels were coming soon. Let's not get into any more trouble."
"Oh, but I haven't made any money for several days in a row. If I don't open it again... huh?"
The man suddenly froze and looked at the woman with a puzzled look on his face: "Weren't you at home yesterday? When did you meet Lao Wang?"
"I... I bumped into him when I was going to the village well to fetch water, and I just said a few words."
The woman's eyes were a little evasive: "Oh, come on, I'll go and close the stall..."
"Stop!"
The man's face turned red instantly, he stood up suddenly, stared at the woman and asked:
"Speak clearly! Are you having an affair with that bastard Lao Wang?"
"You, what nonsense are you talking about!"
"Am I talking nonsense?! Okay! I'll go find him right now!"
"If it's true, I have to chop him up!"
Rushing into the small thatched house nearby and grabbing a knife, the man angrily ran towards the village in the distance.
Seeing this, the woman hurriedly chased after her and wailed:
"What a sin! I can't survive this day!"
"Go away! Nothing more than nothing!"
"..."
After a moment of confusion, the man and the woman disappeared, and the tea stall was not even closed.
There is no doubt that if nothing else happens, the days of these two people should be over today.
And not long after they left, as smoke and dust billowed up at the end of the official road, the "culprit" who caused all this also arrived here.
Amidst the muffled sound of "rumbling", a long line of troops passed by the tea stall, with black flags flapping in the wind.
The empty tea stall watched all this quietly, with the copper kettle on the stove churning with steam, like a lazy spectator.
...
...
"Sir, the Xiling Mansion is ahead."
Behind the 300,000 rebels, in the bumpy carriage, Su Qi looked extremely tired at this moment.
He was just a civil servant before. He had never done anything like marching with the army. He couldn't eat well and couldn't sleep well. After a few days, he could be said to be very tired.
More importantly, compared with physical fatigue, the psychological burden made him unable to sleep or eat well.
The closer he got to the capital, the greater the pressure he felt and the more haggard he became.
Wei Changtian was much more relaxed, and there was not even a trace of nervousness visible on his face.
"Really? Then rest for the night in Xiling tonight, and then march directly to the capital with all your strength."
After giving the order, Wei Changtian asked casually: "By the way, is there anything unusual here in Xiling Mansion?"
"Sir, no."
Su Qi answered truthfully: "Every city has closed its gates tightly, and no troops have been mobilized."
"Oh, that's fine."
Wei Changtian nodded and looked up at Su Qi.
"Master Su, you seem very tired."
"I......"
Su Qi paused, but did not hide anything. He shook his head and replied: "My heart is more tired than my body."
"Haha, I understand."
Wei Changtian laughed twice, then turned to look at the dense crowd of soldiers outside the car: "Master Su, I can assure you that not many people will die this time."
"I hope this can put your mind at ease a little bit."
"..."
Su Qi's eyes were stunned, and he was obviously a little surprised.
He didn't expect Wei Changtian to say that. Just when he was about to ask something, the latter waved his hand and interrupted:
"Don't ask, you will know when the time comes."
"yes......"
He responded with a complicated expression, the carriage slowly stopped, and Su Qi quickly got out of the car and left.
After a few breaths, the carriage drove again, turned around and headed in the opposite direction to the advancing army.
...
A quarter of an hour later, the empty official road was full of traces of the march of the army. Two carriages stopped in the middle of the road, with four or five people standing around them.
After staying for three more days, Xu Suisui finally returned to Xinfeng.
In fact, she didn't do much in the past three days. She basically followed Wei Changtian around the army, and when she had time, she went to bring Xu Quan and Zhili together.
By the way, Xu Quan's misunderstanding about Xu Suisui and Wei Changtian has been solved.
Well... at least Xu Quan already believed that there was nothing between the two of them. As for whether he believed it in his heart, only he knew.
"...Little sister, be more careful on the road."
Standing opposite Xu Suisui, Xu Quan said everything he needed to say with a serious expression, his eyes full of reluctance.
Xu Suisui just agreed absentmindedly, and then immediately turned his head to Wei Changtian.
"Well, I'm leaving..."
"move."
Wei Changtian waved his hands, with no hint of "farewell" in his tone.
"When you get back, just do as I say. When I'm done here, I'll go to Fengyuan."
"snort......"
Seeing Wei Changtian not caring so much, Xu Suisui couldn't help but snorted slightly, but at least he didn't quarrel with the latter in front of so many people.
"I remember, don't worry."
She rolled her eyes at Wei Changtian, nodded to Zhili, Yang Liushi and others, turned around and wanted to get in the car.
But at this moment, Zhang San suddenly ran over from not far away in a hurry.
"Master!"
In full view of everyone, Zhang San ran all the way to Wei Changtian, regardless of whether it suited him or not, and whispered something hurriedly into the latter's ear.
Wei Changtian's eyes widened instantly, and he blurted out almost subconsciously:
"This is real?!"
"Yes, it is true, it has been spread..."
"..."
Standing there in a daze, Wei Changtian remained silent for a long time in front of everyone's doubtful eyes, and then turned to look at Xu Suisui and said: