Compared with the various chaos unfolding in Chang'an and Guanzhong, the situation in Zhangye is very calm. The streets are bustling with commerce, the people are leisurely and at ease, and there is an endless stream of Sogdian merchants coming from afar.
The most nervous one is the Neiwei camp. There are now more than 300 people in the Neiwei camp. They are not only responsible for digging out foreign spies, but also preventing the major forces in the Central Plains from infiltrating the Hexi Corridor.
During this period of time, Wang Yue's nerves were also in a straight line. He entrusted the safety of his wife and children to him, so that he did not dare to slack off in the slightest.
That morning, Wang Yue came back from outside the city with a few soldiers, but he saw many people running to the north. He felt a little strange, so he ordered one of his subordinates: "Go and see what's going on?"
The soldiers under his command ran away. After a while, the soldiers came back and said, "Commander, it seems that a murder occurred near the envoy's residence."
Wang Yue was startled and asked quickly: "Where did the murder occur? Does it have anything to do with the envoy's residence?"
"It has nothing to do with the envoy's house. It's a shop. It seems to be a sheepskin shop."
Wang Yue's expression changed. Could it be Xinfeng Sheepskin Store? That store is the branch of Cangjian Pavilion in Ganzhou!
"Follow me!"
He urged his horse and ran towards the north with a dozen soldiers.
Not long after, they came to the place where the accident happened. It turned out to be Xinfeng Sheepskin Store. They saw that the three floors inside and outside the entrance of the store were crowded with people watching the excitement. Wang Yue was riding on his horse and looked over the heads of the people into the store. Several people
The government officials carried out two corpses.
Wang Yue immediately got off his horse, separated everyone with his men, and squeezed into the courtyard.
A yamen officer came forward to stop them. Wang Yue took out a silver medal from the inner guard camp and shook it, and the yamen officer quickly got out of the way.
Wang Yue stepped forward and took a closer look. It was the owner of the sheepskin shop and his wife. They had an arrow stuck in their chests, and their entire faces turned black.
Zhang Hua, the county lieutenant who was investigating the case, knew Wang Yue and quickly stepped forward and said: "There are no signs of fighting. It seems to have been a sneak attack."
"Where are the other two guys?" Wang Yue asked.
Zhang Hua shook his head, "We received a report from a neighbor. The situation of this store is not clear."
Wang Yue whispered to him: "This store is not an ordinary store. It was sent by Chang'an to monitor the envoy. We have taken over this case. You can take the person away!"
Zhang Hua waved his hand to the government officials, "The inner security camp has taken over, let's go!"
He left quickly with a group of government officials. At this time, more than 20 internal guards came after hearing the news and persuaded the spectators to leave.
Wang Yue weighed the poisonous arrow and pondered. This arrow was very sophisticated. It was actually made of silver and coated with a layer of blue poison.
It was only the day before yesterday that he learned the true identity of the couple in the sheepskin shop. They were originally a couple of thieves in Jiangning, specializing in stealing babies and selling them. They were nicknamed Renxiao. They were hunted down by miscreants everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River. They had no way out, so they went to Chang'an and took refuge in the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
The Hidden Sword Pavilion actually arranged them here, and its intention was self-evident. Before the inner guard camp could take action, they were actually killed.
This case made Wang Yue particularly vigilant. The only people who could assassinate Zangjian Pavilion were themselves. This meant that the assassins of Zangjian Pavilion had arrived in Zhangye.
A subordinate came to report: "Commander, the bodies of Mao Sanlang and another man were found in the backyard. They were also killed by an arrow."
In fact, it is no longer important whether this case is solved or not. It is a wake-up call that makes Wang Yue quickly become vigilant.
Wang Yue told his men a few words and immediately rushed to the official residence of Jiedushi.
When Wang Yue came to Guo Song's mansion, Butler Wang came up to him and said, "Is there something wrong, General Wang?"
"I'm looking for Xiaoyu Niang, it's urgent!"
"Come in! I'll go find her."
Wang Yue entered the house to wait. Not long after, Xiaoyu Niang came in a hurry with the housekeeper.
"General Wang, what happened?"
Wang Yue whispered to her: "It is very likely that the assassins from Hidden Sword Pavilion have arrived in Zhangye."
Xiaoyu Niang was startled, "How does the general know?"
"The two shopkeepers of Xinfeng Sheepskin Store were assassinated last night with poisonous arrows. Madam, please be careful and stay in the room as much as possible. I will immediately arrange perimeter security."
"The Hidden Sword Pavilion is so impatient that you dare to..."
Before Xiaoyu Niang finished her words, "Whoosh!" An arrow shot out and was nailed to the door two feet away from her. Xiaoyu Niang jumped up in shock and looked away, only to see the roof of the official office of Jiedu Mansion opposite.
Above, a dark shadow flashed and disappeared,
Xiaoyu Niang was about to chase after her, but she was caught by Wang Yue, "It's Jian Xin!"
Only then did Xiaoyu Niang notice that there was a letter stuck on the arrow shaft. She stretched out her hand to pull out the arrow, but Wang Yue got there first and carefully removed the arrow.
"It's it again, the arrow that shot down the couple in the sheepskin shop last night."
The arrow in Wang Yue's hand was also a silver arrow, exactly the same as the arrow that killed the shop owner and his wife last night, except that there was no layer of poison on it.
Wang Yue slowly took down the letter and opened it. The content inside immediately shocked him. Xiaoyu Niang snatched the letter and took a closer look, and her face turned pale.
There is only one sentence on it, "Li Man has led three hundred Zangjian Pavilion warriors to Liangzhou, and Ganzhou is in danger!" At the bottom of the letter, a flying fox was drawn.
"General Wang, what should we do?" Xiaoyu Niang asked nervously.
Wang Yue did not panic. He tried to calm down and said to Xiaoyu Niang: "I don't know if it is true or not. If it is true, it will be troublesome. Their target may not be Madam, maybe they are targeting everyone in Ganzhou."
The generals and officials caused great chaos in Ganzhou and forced the emperor to withdraw his troops from Guanzhong."
"This needs to be discussed with General Liang!"
"I'm going to find General Liang now, but it's best to hide the wife and the young master first and activate our previous backup plan."
Their backup plan is called "Cunning Rabbit's Three Caves". This is actually the most common plan used by the powerful to prevent assassination, which is to let the person they want to assassinate hide in advance so that the assassin cannot find the target.
Just as Xiaoyu Niang was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "General Wang, do you think this arrow is the same as the arrow that killed the couple in the sheepskin shop last night?"
Wang Yue nodded, "The other party may be warning us in this way. I don't know who it is, but it shouldn't be malicious. The assassin who wants to assassinate Madam will not reveal his whereabouts first like this."
"This letter seems to be written by a woman, and there is a flying fox underneath. General Wang, whose symbol is the flying fox?"
"I don't know either. Let's ignore this person for now. It's more important to transfer the wife."
After Wang Yue finished speaking, he hurried to the military camp...
In the lobby of the inner house, Xue Tao was chatting with Li Mi's wife Cui. Cui was also from a famous family and was a famous talented woman when she was young. She and Xue Tao had a very interesting chat.
At this time, Xiaoyu Niang hurriedly walked in, handed the warning letter to Xue Tao, and told her the situation.
woman."
She turned back and asked Cui: "Aunt Cui, does she know what flying fox means?"
Ms. Cui thought for a while and said, "I seem to have heard from the master that the Guanlong family has several warrior organizations that don't show up at ordinary times and are specially used to protect the family's security in troubled times. One of them is called the Flying Fox Guard. Which family does it belong to?
I forgot, could it be them?"
"Could it be the Dugu family?"
Xue Tao suddenly realized, "My husband said that the Dugu family has been secretly helping him."
"It seems so!"
Ms. Cui quickly said: "But this Li Man is not a good person. She is famous for being cruel and ruthless in Chang'an. People in Chang'an call her Mother Yaksha. She led the Hidden Sword Pavilion to do many evil things, and Liu Xiangguo died at their hands.
"
Xiaoyu Niang was a little anxious, "Madam, we'll talk about these things later. Let's evacuate the secret house first. It's too dangerous here."
"Okay! Ask Aqiu to clean up, Mrs. Zhang's family, Mrs. Yang's mother and son, and Aunt Cui also come with us!"
Ms. Cui smiled slightly and said, "I will listen to your arrangements!"
The secret house that Xiaoyu Niang talked about is located in the east of the city. It is a house built by a Sogdian businessman. It covers an area of about ten acres and is full of exotic atmosphere. The internal guards secretly bought it at the beginning of the year to hide Guo Song in case of crisis.
's family.
This house is very secretive, and currently only Xiaoyu Niang knows where it is?
Everyone simply packed up their belongings and took three carriages to this secret house for temporary shelter...
In the camp, Wang Yue reported the situation to Liang Wu.
Liang Wu's face became very ugly. Li Man actually brought three hundred warriors to Liangzhou. Needless to say, they were definitely going to cause a bloody storm in Liangzhou and assassinate Liangzhou's officials and generals, as well as the envoy's family.
This move is really cruel. If they succeed, their foundation will be destroyed.
Liang Wu gritted his teeth and said: "Since the people who come here are not good, I will prepare a Hongmen Banquet for them!"