It takes about half a month to take a carriage from the Imperial City to Qilin Mountain, but Yun Shang cannot wait that long. There is still one month left, and it will be the day of her marriage to Prince Jing. If that time comes, neither she nor Prince Jing will be here.
, that’s really a bit difficult to handle.
Yun Shang resolutely decided not to ride in the carriage, but rode the bloody horse that Prince Jing had found for her, and drove towards Qilin Mountain day and night. It only took five days to reach the small village at the foot of Qilin Mountain.
The small village is just a small village with a few hundred people. Its name is Taoxi Village. The people in the village are relatively simple. When they saw Yun Shang and Prince Jing, they both had a faint guard in their eyes.
"A stranger has come to the village again. This is the twelfth one this month. Has something happened?" Yun Shang heard some villagers pointing at the two of them and talking in low voices. Yun Shang and
Prince Jing was both strong in martial arts, so he naturally took their words into his ears.
But Yun Shang couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. In such a small village, it was a big news for outsiders to be in the village. How could a hundred thousand soldiers be stationed in Qilin Mountain for such a long time?
Didn't it arouse any suspicion? Moreover, looking at this situation, many people knew that they were coming before they even entered Qilin Mountain, including Xia Houjing and the others.
Yun Shang raised her eyes and looked at Prince Jing, and they both noticed a bit of solemnity in the other's eyes. Yun Shang was silent for a moment, then she looked for a woman and said, "This aunt, this little woman and her husband came from Xiyi Town."
, came here to visit relatives. However, the little woman’s brother said that he was near Qilin Mountain, but the little woman only found this small village near Qilin Mountain. The little woman thought that her brother should not be here. May I ask,
Are there other larger cities near Qilin Mountain?"
The woman saw that both Yun Shang and Prince Jing were good-looking, and she thought highly of them. But when she saw the two of them coming on horseback, she felt a little surprised. How could anyone visit relatives on horseback? And they were still a young couple. However,
Hearing Yunshang say that he came from Xiyi Town, he understood a little bit. Xiyi Town is located at the border. I heard that the folk customs there are bolder and everyone can ride horses and shoot arrows.
"There are no other cities under Qilin Mountain..." the woman replied quickly.
Yun Shang frowned, thanked him, and then turned back to look at Prince Jing. Prince Jing pondered for a moment before saying, "Since eldest brother is not here, let's leave first and send someone to ask."
Yun Shang nodded, jumped onto the horse, and followed Prince Jing out of the village.
"If it is true as my grandfather said, how can we support one hundred thousand people without a big city?" Yun Shang frowned, feeling that everything was strange.
Yun Shang quietly gave a secret signal. After a while, when Yun Shang and Prince Jing walked to a secluded place, they saw a man in black kneeling on the ground, "Master."
Yun Shang nodded, "This Taoxi Village is very exclusive. Where do you live these days? Has anyone found you? You said that Xia Houjing is nearby, where is he now?"
"My subordinates have been living in a dense forest behind Taoxi Village these days. This Taoxi Village is small, and any stranger who comes will attract attention. I have not entered the village, and no one has noticed me. The Seventh Prince of Xia Kingdom,
Living in Taoxi Village, when he came, he fell ill and fell by the stream, and a deaf-mute woman took him in."
"Oh? Deaf-mute girl?" Yun Shang frowned, such a coincidence? But why did Xia Houjing do this? "What did Xia Houjing do during this time?"
The man in black hurriedly said, "During the day, when the deaf-mute woman was at home, he pretended to be sick. At night, after the deaf-mute woman fell asleep, he would sometimes go to see the head of Taoxi Village, and sometimes go to Qilin Mountain, but the Qilin
There is a miasma in the mountain, and my subordinates dare not enter rashly."
Yun Shang nodded, "Any other discoveries?"
"My subordinates discovered that there is iron ore in Qilin Mountain..." The man in black pondered for a moment, then whispered, "Furthermore, my subordinates found out that there was no Taoxi Village here more than ten years ago. It was eight years ago that the village was established here."
Some people moved in, and the government registered that the people here were refugees. Eight years ago, water houses appeared in Yunlang City, and many people left their hometowns. It was those people who fled Taoxi Village who came here and discovered this place.
A place to settle down."
Yun Shang frowned, things seemed to be getting more and more complicated.
When Prince Jing heard about the iron mine, his eyes moved slightly, and he looked towards the towering Qilin Mountain with burning eyes.
Yun Shang asked the man in black to leave, and then Prince Jing turned around and said, "I thought your men were all women."
Yun Shang smiled slightly, "I like to use women just because I am a woman, and sometimes it is easier for women to lower other people's wariness, but there are some things that only men can do. Let a girl like a flower suffer,
I can’t bear to part with it.”
Prince Jing's eyes fell on the top of Yun Shang's head. Because she was in a hurry, her long hair was tied up and simply tied into a hairpin. Although it was simple, it was very refreshing.
Except for Taoxi Village, there were no other villages at the foot of Qilin Mountain. Yun Shang and Prince Jing found a flat place to sit down and rest.
"I looked at the map before I came here. There is indeed only Peach Blossom Village at the foot of Qilin Mountain. The nearest one is Yaming City, which is more than ten miles away. However, Qilin Mountain..." Yun Shang paused, "This mountain is higher
, there are dense forests on the mountain, there is miasma in the dense forest, and there is snow on the top of the mountain. The entire Qilin Mountain stretches for dozens of miles. Because very few people have actually gone in, the map is not very clear. I only know the general situation.
"
Prince Jing nodded slightly, he knew all this.
"If it is true as my grandfather said, those soldiers numbering 100,000 in Qilin Mountain will definitely have no shortage of supplies for food and drink. However, there is only one Taoxi Village here. I saw it on the way here. At most, this land is
It’s enough for the people in the village to eat and drink... From here, it doesn’t seem like a good hiding place, why..." Yun Shang murmured to himself.
King Jing narrowed his eyes, "Because of the iron ore." King Jing looked at Qilin Mountain, "The Xia Kingdom is rich. It is not difficult for him to recruit troops. However, the Xia Kingdom is the most deficient in iron ore. The Xia Kingdom's iron ore
They are all bought, and because they are afraid that the Xia Kingdom will want to manufacture weapons after having iron mines, the supply of iron from various countries is very small. Just now your subordinates said that there are iron mines in Qilin Mountain."
Prince Jing took out a map from his pocket and said, "Qilin Mountain is steep and the dense forest is full of miasma, so even the people of Ning State know very little about the situation inside. This happened to be an excellent condition for Xia State soldiers to hide their traces, but
, the issue of how they live is indeed worthy of further study.”
Yun Shang nodded, "The people in Taoxi Village should also check it out. Although the village that suddenly appeared looks simple, no one knows if there is something fishy in it. Moreover, Xia Houjing walked here just right.
He was saved by a deaf-mute woman who fell ill, and there was something fishy about this matter. I went to find the village chief at night, because I was afraid that the identity of the village chief was also questionable. I always felt that the area around Qilin Mountain was very unusual, but
I’m afraid something big is going to happen in Ningguo.”
Yun Shang frowned. This didn't seem to have happened in the previous life. What went wrong? Could it be that everything changed for some reason?
"We're afraid we won't be able to enter Taoxi Village, but there's no other place around here. Where should we go now?" Yun Shang asked softly.
"Go up to Qilin Mountain."
Yun Shang frowned, she was a little hesitant. It was hard to predict what would happen if she went there. However, she still had people she wanted to protect, and she still had unavenged revenge.
However, she had a hunch that this army on Qilin Mountain would be a disaster for the Ning Kingdom and an unforeseen variable. If even the Ning Kingdom was in chaos, how could she protect it?
Prince Jing seemed to notice Yun Shang's hesitation, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Do you know what I have investigated recently?"
"Huh?" Yun Shang turned her eyes and looked at Prince Jing, only to feel that Prince Jing's expression was a little solemn. It must be an extremely important matter.
Prince Jing turned his head to look at Yun Shang, with a deep coldness in his eyes, "The Li family is basically the masterpiece of the Xia Kingdom, placed in the Ning Kingdom."
Yun Shang's surprise was extraordinary. She suddenly looked into Prince Jing's eyes and saw that his eyes were extremely serious. Yun Shang felt her heart trembling, "How could it be?"
Prince Jing looked at the Qilin Mountain in the distance with cold eyes, "I was also shocked when I learned about this matter. However, this matter was discovered by my most trusted intelligence network. There is no way it is false. Li's
The ancestor is a descendant of the Xia Kingdom. He is just a child born of a maid. It is said that because he failed to seize the throne, in order to save his life, he took the initiative to request to come to the Ning Kingdom to remain anonymous, and promised that his descendants will definitely serve the Xia Kingdom and strive to become
An important person in Ningguo, and then seize the rule of Ningguo in one fell swoop."
"You should know that although the Xia Kingdom is vast and very rich, it has a small population and lacks weapons. It relies on the protection of the natural terrain to gain a foothold in the world. Naturally, they are also ambitious, but
, did not have enough ability. The people of Xia State were smart and came up with such a way to outwit them. I suspect that Li's position in Ning State now plays an important role, so Xia State thought it was the best time to close the net.
The soldiers in Qilin Mountain are most likely deployed by the Xia Kingdom."
Yun Shang couldn't react for a long time, and was very shocked. If it was true as King Jing said, then the scheming and foresight of the ruler of Xia Kingdom was really shocking.
If the Li family is really a secret line laid by the Xia Kingdom a long time ago, the matter will be even more complicated.
"Isn't the father... very dangerous?" Yun Shang's eyes were a little anxious, "Xiahou Jing and Hua Guogong are both in Ningguo. These soldiers must be obeying their orders. Otherwise, they should be arrested directly.
?In that case, these soldiers will not be able to act rashly."
Prince Jing shook his head, "Don't say that we don't have evidence to prove that the Xia Kingdom has 100,000 soldiers stationed here. Even if we have evidence, we can't be so arrogant. If we arrest those two people, I'm afraid that the Xia Kingdom Emperor will
We have an excuse to send troops to Ning State."
Yun Shang was silent for a long time, then gritted her teeth and said, "I will arrange the affairs with my mother and concubine in the imperial city, and then we will go into the mountain." (To be continued)