The cross-dressing woman opposite was from the grassland. This was something Tangning had determined when she chatted with her in the teahouse that day.
There is a lot of friction between Chen and Chu and the grasslands, but there are also businessmen from the two countries who travel between the two countries for the sake of profit, regardless of their lives, especially on the border between the two countries close to the grasslands. It is not uncommon to see them.
Comparatively speaking, she is not like a businessman, but more like a ranger. Last time, she came to help the lady selling tofu pudding, and this time she also helped a female entertainer who encountered injustice on the road. Although her values are a bit wrong when she doesn't have to rob.
, but there is no denying the chivalrous spirit in her.
Screams could be heard outside the door, and not long after, Dong Cunyi walked in slowly, followed by a housekeeper.
"A dog can't see Taishan. He offended Mr. Tang, and I have already punished him severely." A smile appeared on his face, and he asked the butler to pass the tray in his hand and said, "This is a small kindness.
Think of it as an apology to Lord Tang, and ask Lord Tang to accept it."
The red cloth covering the tray was rolled up, and Tang Ning saw a stack of banknotes underneath.
Tangning was not short of money. He had not used the banknotes that Xiaoyi had prepared for him. If he accepted these banknotes, if someone named Dong reported him back, wouldn't he be asking for trouble?
What's more, it's not worth it for just a few hundred or even a thousand taels of silver.
He did not look at the tray, but looked at Dong Cunyi and asked, "Do I look like a bribe-taker?"
Dong Cunyi said quickly: "My lord, I misunderstood. This is just an apology, an apology..."
"I will not accept this money." Tang Ning waved her hand and said, "Although Mr. Dong is far away in Fengzhou and cannot be taken care of by the court, he still has to restrain his own children. If he is reported to the supervisory censor,
I am afraid that the position of governor of Fengzhou will not be secure."
Dong Cunyi cupped his hands and said, "What Master Tang taught you is..."
If she hadn't been worried about having a conflict with Dong Mingjun on the street, attracting the guards patrolling the city, and exposing Zhao Man, Tang Ning would not have bothered to come to the Governor's Mansion to talk to him.
After walking out of the Governor's Mansion, Tang Ning looked at the woman and asked, "It's fate to meet her again in a place like this. I don't know her name?"
"I've finished calling... Wan Yan." The woman put away the whip, looked at him, and asked, "What's your name?"
"Tang Ning." After informing each other of their names, the woman named Wan Yan said, "I ran away secretly and am going back now."
Tangning nodded and said, "We are going back too, so let's say goodbye and see you again when we are destined."
After the woman left, Zhao Man raised his head and asked, "Do you still want to see her again?"
Tangning shook her head and said, "It's polite to say goodbye, but maybe we won't see each other again for the rest of our lives."
"I thought you liked grassland women like her." Zhao Man looked at the direction where the woman disappeared just now and said: "When you are away from home, I have to help Sister Xiaoru and Sister Xiaoyi keep an eye on you..."
"Okay, okay, go back quickly, otherwise they will become suspicious..."
He wandered around the street again, and when he returned, although Lu Teng glanced at him twice, he obviously didn't have any suspicion.
When Tang Ning returned to her room, she told the guard outside the door, "Go get me a map of Fengzhou."
Governor's Mansion.
In a room somewhere, Dong Mingjun was lying on the bed. A woman was applying medicine to his butt in distress. Listening to his screams, she looked back at Dong Cunyi and said resentfully: "Master, you are so cruel.
Ah, this is our biological son!"
Dong Cunyi said solemnly: "If he was not my biological son, do you think I would keep his legs today?"
The woman said: "Didn't you say that man is just a minor official from the fifth rank? You, a provincial governor with a full fourth rank, are even afraid of him?"
"To put it lightly, how can the capital and Fengzhou be the same?" Dong Cunyi said: "If he is willing, I would like to use this fourth-rank governor to exchange for his fifth-rank official!"
The woman looked shocked and asked, "Is he really that scary?"
"He has only been an official for a short time, and he has climbed to the position of doctor in the Ministry of Rites. His future achievements will definitely be high." Dong Cunyi sighed and said, "I don't have any extravagant hopes in this life. I will stay in Fengzhou for another ten years and then I will resign."
When I return to my hometown, I don’t want to spend my old age in a prison..."
"This person has already jumped over the dragon gate, and he is not the stupid uncle from the Zhong family back then." He slapped Dong Mingjun on the butt and said angrily: "So you are such an obstacle, let me save my worries. If you continue like this, you will give me
Go back to your hometown!”
A miserable wailing suddenly came from the room, which made all the servants outside the door feel worried.
…
Fengzhou Station.
Counting from the day it arrived in Fengzhou, the team had rested in Fengzhou for three days.
Tang Ning had just gotten up in the morning when Lu Teng walked in and said, "Master Tang, the soldiers have rested and the food supplies have been replenished. Let's set off early tomorrow morning."
It was almost time to rest in Fengzhou. Tangning looked at him and asked, "Has the route been decided?"
Lu Teng said: "Leave Fengzhou and go north all the way. It will take at least two to three days to reach Liaozhou of Chu State. When the time comes, there will be officials from Chu State to meet us."
As long as you enter the Chu State, security issues are the responsibility of the local officials of the Chu State. Just like the envoys of the Chu State were assassinated in Lingzhou and the governor of Lingzhou was banished to a distant state, the envoys of the Chen State were also thrown away if something happened to the Chu State.
The reputation of the Chu State directly affects the local officials. Therefore, after entering the Chu State, the local officials of the Chu State are more concerned about their safety than Lu Teng. If someone wants to do something small, it will be even more difficult.
.
If it was Tang Ning who didn't want Chen Chu to marry smoothly, he would have chosen to take action before the mission entered Chu State. In other words, the journey from Fengzhou to Liaozhou would be extremely dangerous.
Lu Teng walked to the table, drew a route on the map with his finger, and said, "Through this mountain forest, we will arrive in Liaozhou in two days."
Tangning thought for a while and asked, "Is it safe in this mountain forest?"
Lu Teng said: "According to the local officials in Fengzhou, this forest stretches for dozens of miles. There are indeed some bandits in it, but they are all rogues. The largest force only has dozens of people, which is not a big deal. If we encounter us, we will only be far away."
Stay away."
Tang Ning had no doubts about the strength of the guards. Eight hundred guards, fully armed, would have an advantage against two thousand bandits under normal circumstances. But if there were so many enemies, even a victory would be a miserable victory, something Tang Ning could not do.
Accept the loss.
Tangning looked at him and said, "Even so, we cannot take it lightly."
Lu Teng said: "Don't worry, Master Tang. I have sent people to investigate. If anything unusual happens, I will come back immediately to report it."
Tang Ning nodded and said, "Then let me know and we will leave early tomorrow morning."
…
After leaving Fengzhou, more than ten miles to the north, there is a mountain forest called Shili Forest.
Although it is called Shili Forest, the forest stretches for far more than ten miles. There are many bandits in the forest, and few people go deep into it. Caravans traveling between Chen and Chu can only dare to pass through Shili Forest if they travel together.
Shililin has a special location, so it has become a hiding place for evil and evil. Many bandits who were wanted in the two countries of Chen and Chu formed gangs here and formed a group of forces.
However, although there are many forces here, they are all very scattered, and there is a lot of friction between them. They fight for their own interests, and it is not uncommon for soldiers to fight against each other.
Today, all the bandit leaders, big and small, in the ten-mile forest are standing honestly outside a hut somewhere in the forest.
At a certain moment, the door of the hut opened and several figures walked out.
The leader was a middle-aged woman, and in addition, there were a few people in strange clothes. After a few people chattered a few words, a young woman came out, looked at them, and said: "Bring all your people."
Yet?"
A man with a scarred face at the head raised his head and said in a trembling voice: "Xia Xia, they are from the imperial court. We only have two thousand people. If we go up there, we will die..."
The middle-aged woman stepped forward and said: "I'm not asking you to die. You just need to create some chaos outside. You don't have to worry about the rest."
The scar-faced man said with embarrassment: "This heroine..."
The middle-aged woman looked at him and asked, "Don't you want the antidote?"
Thinking of the feeling of life being worse than death, the scar-faced man trembled, gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!"
