I couldn't help but squeeze my fists, and my palms were covered with cold sweat.

I asked, "And then?"

"Then, the boy 'handed over' Zhou Chengyin and asked him to immediately send someone outside to find the 'medicine' mentioned in the letter. ”

"Did he do anything else?"

"He asked people to move a chair and put it at the 'gate' of the state capital, let the eldest brother sit on it, and the surrounding 'guards' all put knives on the eldest brother's neck, and none of them let go, just like that. ”

"So, what about the release of people?"

"The eldest brother said, the original surnamed Zhou was still a little hesitant, but this son only glanced at him, he didn't dare to say anything, and immediately sent someone to the prison to open the 'door' and release him. ”

I nodded and asked, "Okay, hard work." ”

The man gasped, turned and walked out.

Xiao Zhong immediately walked up to me and asked, "What should we do now?"

I raised my head and looked at him: "As I said before, have you already arranged for you to leave a clue for them to find the 'medicine' materials?"

Xiao Zhong glanced at me and said, "It's arranged." ”

I nodded, and silently calculated in my heart, from the person who ran back from the state capital just now to now, the people sent out by Pei Yuanxiu should soon find that there are no 'medicine' materials in Huai'an City, and then go back to report, and then they searched around again, and found the clues arranged by these people, almost an hour later.

And now, the people in the prison should have been released.

I looked up at him and said, "All of you, hurry to the 'gate' of the southern city." According to the previous arrangement, as long as you don't 'mess up' and go out of the city, it shouldn't be a problem. ”

He looked at me with a frown: "Then you-"

"Don't worry," I said, "they'll find me." ”

He subconsciously tilted his shoulder to walk out, but his steps were still stagnant, and he turned back to look at me and said, "You-"

I laughed, "I know you must want to take me to the 'Gate' of the South City, after all, I am still your hostage." You don't fully believe me, do you?"

“……”

He didn't speak, but the twinkle in his eyes had acquiesced.

I said lightly: "In my current situation, no matter who carries me, it is a burden. And I think you already know that the people in the state capital care about me and the child in my belly. ”

"Hmm. ”

"Tonight, the people and soldiers of the state capital are divided into three ways, to escort your family out of the city, to find 'medicine' materials, and someone to guard your eldest brother in the state capital, worried that there will be a surprise attack,—— probably, and a group of people will be allocated to continue to look for me in Huai'an City, in contrast, the troops escorting your family out of the city will be the least, because of this, you guess that there is a chance to leave when the city 'gate' is opened." ”

“……”

"But if I show up at the 'gate' of the South City...... None of you want to leave. ”

“……”

"If I have any accident with you, or if you leave Huai'an with me—"

"How?"

"That person will wash Huai'an City in blood. ”

He shook slightly, and looked at me with wide eyes.

The two of them looked at each other in silence for a long time, and he finally said, "But I'm still not at ease." Do those people really be so obedient when they say they want to let our family members go? They do all this because you are in our hands, and if you are not in my hands, I think everything is difficult to tell. ”

I thought about it, and I didn't wonder him was so cautious, after all, Brother Chen's family had been killed, and they knew that the news must be very shocking, so they would take the risk of sneaking into the state capital and robbing me.

Those, after all, are their relatives.

I said, "Okay, I can go with you to the 'Gate' of the South City, and wait until your family is out of the city—"

"I'll let you go at once. ”

Seeing his sworn appearance, I smiled indifferently: "You can't let it go." ”

He was stunned for a moment, remembering what I said just now, that person would wash Huai'an City in blood, his expression became more solemn, he walked over and stretched out his hand to me: "Let's go." ”

|

I followed them out of this dilapidated little house, I should have not had a good rest for the past few days, I didn't walk much, my feet were a little swollen, and I was numb and uncomfortable to walk, but fortunately they were considerate, and they were afraid that I was a pregnant woman, and they were not too anxious to hurry.

But time is passing little by little.

It was not easy to walk through the streets where there was a curfew, and to avoid the patrols and the people who came out to look for me, but fortunately these people grew up in the city of Huai'an, and knew many of the backcountry paths, and on winter nights, the southern cities often fogged up, and this night was the case.

The entire Huai'an City seems to be trapped in a cloud of smoke.

By the time we finally arrived at a small alley not far from the 'gate' of the southern city, it was already a quarter of an hour.

It was pitch black.

We hid in that alley, and in the distance we could hear the footsteps of the gatekeepers walking around, and the light from one or two torches flickering on the tower, faintly shining on the road leading to the gate.

I looked at the alley, there were only about one or twenty people, and asked Xiao Zhong in a low voice: "All your people are here?"

"It's not,"

He shook his head and looked back at me, "Didn't you say you wanted us to get out of the city while there was chaos?"

"Hmm. ”

"We have other arrangements. Everybody is on that side. ”

"Oh......"

I knew he was still a little wary of me, so I didn't ask much.

The night is darker.

At first, I didn't notice it very much, but now I gradually felt the chill around me, especially when I hid in this small, 'dark' alley with them, the cold wind swished into my neck and cuffs, and I shivered slightly from the cold.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps on the street, which was so quiet that even the wind could be heard clearly.

It is coming out from a great distance, slowly, getting closer and closer.

The sound of the footsteps seemed very mixed, it seemed that some of the footsteps were very neat, and some of the footsteps were very messy, and there was the sound of horses' hooves in the middle, and as soon as we heard this sound, we immediately realized that it was the people who were escorting the families of these people!

Suddenly, everyone's breathing tensed.

On the long street, the shadows of some messy people slowly appeared, getting closer and closer to the city gate, their footsteps were getting louder and louder, Xiao Zhong's breathing was tense, and some people couldn't help but tremble and said: "Coming, coming!"

I also held my breath and subconsciously wanted to probe out to see.

Just then, a tall horse appeared at the front of the team and stepped out of the long staircase.

Xiao Zhong stretched out his long arm and pulled me back into the alley.

And at that moment, I could already see clearly that the person leading the team was one of Pei Yuanxiu's subordinates, who followed him all the way from Yangzhou to Huai'an, and he was followed by two of Brother Chen's subordinates.

The ones who came one after another were of course the families of these people who had just been released from their cells.

Xiao Zhong didn't poke his head out to look, just leaned against the wall, panting constantly, and the people around him were also nervous, but no one dared to speak.

Then the defenders of the city came up to meet them—

"What's the matter?"

"I was ordered to let these prisoners out of the city. ”

"What? Let them out of town? Why?"

"Don't ask why. This is the token of the Zhou Mansion, you see. ”

There was a quiet outside, apparently the defenders of the city were checking the tokens, and after a while, he asked again, "So many people, are they really all released?"

"Don't ask so much, time is pressing, if you miss the big thing of the son, don't talk about you, even your Master Zhou can't afford it!"

As soon as these words came out, they really frightened the people who defended the city.

They did not hesitate, and immediately walked back, and they heard a sound, and they removed the huge bolt on the city gate, and with a creak, the tall city gate slowly opened.

Immediately, you could feel a cold wind blowing in from outside the city.

Although the wind was stronger, the fog around us did not blow away, but became thicker, and as the wind poured into every small alley, we also became cloudy and misty here.

At this time, I heard a very light, hasty sound around me, and when I looked down, Xiao Zhong and they all pulled out their swords.

Now that the gates of the city have been opened, they are ready to go out.

At this time, the messy footsteps outside were slowly approaching the city gate, and my breathing was getting tighter and tighter, and when I was about to walk out of the city gate, I suddenly heard someone stop and ask, "We are leaving, where is our son?"

The one who spoke seemed to be an old woman.

As soon as Xiao Zhong heard that voice, his whole body trembled, and the knife in his hand was almost clenched.

I glanced back at him, and saw that his eyes were red and his whole body was tense like a fully drawn bow.

As soon as the man spoke, the people around him immediately stopped and asked them, "Yes, we are leaving, but what about our family?"

"Where did they go?"

"My son, what have you done to my son?"

……

The voices outside gradually became noisy, and the 'guards' guarding the city were already unhappy, and at this time they scolded impatiently: "Why do you ask so much?

The people outside were quiet for a while, and some of them were obviously afraid, and ran out one after another.

But some of the older people were visibly getting more and more uneasy, and they said, "No, we can't just leave. My son's fate is uncertain, and if he were still in this city, I would not have left. ”

"Me too!"

The old people outside didn't know if they were too old and in poor health, or because they were too anxious, they all started coughing, coupled with the constant talking, for a while, the outside was also 'chaotic' and 'chaotic'.

I don't know if it's because of this, the fog outside is even heavier, and I faintly smell a choking smell, almost coughing, I hurriedly reached out to cover my mouth.

However, the people outside have clearly sensed that something is wrong.

Immediately, the defenders of the city shouted: "No, close the 'gate' of the city!"