On the official road to Jinyang City, Zhou Boyan and Chief Manager Pang rode side by side on horseback. The entourage followed him at a distance.

Manager Pang suddenly spoke, and said thoughtlessly, "The little master is doing well." ”

Zhou Boyan continued, "What the manager said is that he is well taken care of. ”

"But it's in the family tree?"

"I entered the family tree last year, my name is Qinghao, and I am the second son of Zhongwu Hou." This was something he hadn't expected. If he hadn't asked Qing Shu yesterday, he wouldn't have known that Qing Shu had already entered Hao's name into the ancient family tree and renamed him Qing Hao, and his birthday had been postponed by two days. In this way, Qingyang became the elder brother, and Hao became the younger brother.

"I wonder when Childe will return to Beijing?"

"I don't have this plan in the near future, and I'm going to make the next trip to Jiangnan next month." He pointed to the crops on both sides of the official road with his horsewhip, "Here, next year will definitely be a different scene." "Presumably, the area under bract and sorghum will be halved and replaced by winter wheat. After the winter wheat is harvested, soybeans are planted on the farm. Winter wheat can be sold to other countries at a good price, not to mention that their Da'an people use soybeans to squeeze out oil, and the situation of Chu oil's dominance of the world will end, and a large amount of silver for white flowers will no longer have to be given to Chu State.

"That's what Childe said." Mr. Pang agreed.

Before dark, they arrived at the post house on the way. The things of loading and unloading carts and horses, drinking horses and feeding horses are done by the people below. Zhou Boyan and Manager Pang each went into the house arranged for them to rest.

Gu Shishi came in from outside and whispered to Zhou Boyan, "Childe, the little one doesn't think it's right." ”

Zhou Boyan slowly drank a cup of freshly brewed hot tea, "Huh? ”

"The forbidden army escorting the Divine Decree is four less."

He looked up, "What? ”

"The little ones have always been attentive. There was one leader of the forbidden army who escorted the holy decree, and fifty officers and soldiers of the forbidden army, a total of fifty-one people. There were two little eunuchs who followed Mr. Pang, and two brocade-clothed guards. Twelve officials and officers and soldiers sent by the Chen Governor's Office were dispatched. When I came out of Kangxi Town, there were quite a few people. As soon as I entered the post station, the little idle ones had nothing to do and looked around looking for people to talk to. In this way, something inappropriate was discovered, and the number of forbidden troops was actually reduced by four. There were four fewer people for no reason, and the commander of the forbidden army didn't say a word and didn't report to General Manager Pang. ”

Zhou Boyan's expression immediately changed, "Have you checked it out?" ”

"Childe rest assured, the little one took advantage of the time to talk to people everywhere, and walked through all the rooms, even the kitchen, stables, and thatched houses, and went to see them one by one, and it was indeed four people missing. The little one was suspicious, but he didn't dare to say anything, and he specially checked the number of horses, and there were also four horses missing. ”

"Who else knows about this?"

"Only Hong Wei knows. The little one was afraid that something was missing, so Hong Wei confirmed the number of people again. The result is unmistakable with small findings. Childe, you said, does Mr. Pang know about this? ”

Zhou Boyan frowned and whispered, "Can you guess when these people disappeared?" ”

"The little one thinks that a qiē must happen when he stops to cool off and rest on the way."

Zhou Boyan tapped on the table and pondered for a moment, "If this son is not mistaken, the leader of the forbidden army accompanying him is surnamed Yao." ”

"His name is Yao Zhong." One of Gu Shishi's specialties, although his behavior looks silly, he can make people relax their vigilance, and he is very good at inquiring or finding out something.

"Which Yao Mansion are you from?" Hopefully it's not the Yao Mansion he knows.

"Yao Zhong was born in the famous Yao Mansion, and he is the great-grandchild of Mrs. Yao's side branches."

Zhou Boyan immediately thought of something, and his expression became condensed, "Please ask Manager Pang to come and talk about it." No, it's better than I used to be. Don't keep quiet, you and the chief of the guard pretend not to know. ”

Gu Shishi said yes and stepped aside.

Zhou Boyan's face softened, and he felt that there was nothing unusual in his expression, so he got up and went to Manager Pang's house.

After a tiring journey for several days, Mr. Pang was indeed tired. He was lying on the bed resting with his clothes on. Hearing the rumors, he immediately got up and tidied up his appearance, and felt that it was appropriate to come out to greet people in person. "Childe, please come in."

Zhou Boyan didn't plan to enter the house, and said with a smile, "It's a little lonely to drink tea alone, so I thought about asking the manager to come over and talk." I don't know if it's inconvenient for the general manager? ”

Manager Pang accepted it happily, said yes, and then respectfully followed him to Zhou Boyan's house.

The little eunuch who was waiting for him was to follow.

Gu Shishi grabbed the little eunuch's arm, and the little eunuch with a pale face who didn't look frightened just grinned at Manager Pang, "Lord Chief, it's too boring to hurry." It's hard to vote for the post station, and I'm not in a hurry to leave, the little one wants to find him to play outside, okay? ”

People who are almost twenty years old are still clamoring to go out and play. If this was said by someone else, let alone Manager Pang, anyone else with a normal brain would despise Gu Shi who looked like this. However, Gu Shishi is no one else. He is a little guy who has followed Zhou Boyan for many years; It is also Zhou Boyan who not only does not strictly control him, but allows him to play casually.

Therefore, Mr. Pang not only did not look displeased, but let people go with a smile on his face.

Zhou Boyan just lightly reprimanded Gu Shi for making a fool of himself, and didn't say anything else.

Gu Shishi scratched his head, grinned at Zhou Boyan, and then said to Chief Manager Pang, "Thank you, Lord Chief." "Thanks, he pulled the little eunuch and left. He is a good subordinate of Childe, and his mission is to share Childe's worries. Leave it to him to get rid of the miscellaneous personnel.

Zhou Boyan invited Mr. Pang to take a seat, and then took the teapot on the table to pour tea for Mr. Pang himself. The translucent and slightly tea-green tea water flows out of the spout and falls into the tea cup finely, and a faint aroma wafts out instantly. The teacup was poured until it was eight points full, and he said, "This is just brewed, please." ”

"Good tea, good tea." Chief Manager Pang praised happily, "This is the fairy guide that the prince dedicated to the saint in April?" ”

"Exactly. This tea is slightly fragrant after brewing, and the fragrance does not go for a long time, which can make tea lovers smell the fragrance and come, so it is named Fairy Lead. ”

"Huh...... Borrowed the blessing of the saint and borrowed the blessing of the son, our family was fortunate to taste the fairy introduction, and I don't know if it is the blessing of several lifetimes. As he spoke, he picked up the teacup with a cherished face, took a sip of tea, and then nodded intoxicatedly, "Good tea, good tea, worthy of being a fairy." "He is a tea lover, so if the master has a reward, the first reward must be good tea. It's the boy sitting in front of him, and every time he goes back to Kyoto, he doesn't forget to bring him tea.

Everyone in the world says that the saint prefers the eldest princess alone. How did the world know that the son of Yan would be favored, not only because his mother was the eldest princess. More importantly, Yan Gongzi will be a man, will make friends, and do his duty. There are many princes under the knees of the saint, but there are very few who know the holy will, and so far there is only one son who can coax the saint to laugh.

The eunuchs who served in front of the saint like him were in awe and awe when they saw the young man. Because, although the people are cold, the gaze that looks at them makes them feel that they are still a person. In the palace, any master is very kind, but when a slave makes a mistake, even a small mistake, it will take his life in the blink of an eye. And Yan Gongzi was full of coldness, when he kicked a slave on duty, he was not trying to kill, but just giving this slave a chance to live.

He is a slave who has followed the saint for many years, and only he knows that there is another reason why the saint will favor Yan Gongzi so much, that is: Yan Gongzi has a cold face and a calm temperament, and he is not cruel.

Zhou Boyan didn't know what Manager Pang was thinking, so he naturally threw a question out, "The manager is doing this, do you have any personal matters to do?" ”

Manager Pang was taken aback, and the intoxication on his face immediately dissipated, "Why did Childe ask this question?" When our family first came to Huizhou, where did we come from to do private affairs? ”

"In that case, can the chief know that there are four fewer forbidden troops accompanying him?"

Manager Pang changed color when he heard this, "What? ”

"Doesn't the manager know?"

Manager Pang couldn't laugh, and couldn't sit still, "Please son, later, let's go." He hurried to confirm. There were four fewer forbidden soldiers in the accompanying group, which was no joke. He believed that Yan Gongzi would not make such a joke. He didn't believe that Commander Yao would dare to deceive his superiors and subordinates to do such a thing.

Zhou Boyan sat still, "The manager is slow." ”

Although Mr. Pang was in a hurry, he still stopped.

"It's better not to startle the snake until you find out what is going on."

Mr. Pang's heart tightened, "What does Childe mean?" ”

"Another purpose of the trip, can there be other insiders?"

"The Holy Lord's oracle, only our family knows ......" He turned white, stared at Zhou Boyan in fear, his lips moved, but he couldn't make a sound.

Zhou Boyan was really disappointed, because he guessed the word Queen Mother from the mouth shape of Manager Pang.

Manager Pang knelt at Zhou Boyan's feet with a puff, "Childe save our family, please save our family." "If he dares to stop it, the Queen Mother will kill him. If he lets him go, the Holy Lord will cut off his head. In this case, if he wants to live, it all depends on whether the boy wants to save him.

Zhou Boyan had a calm face, "You really don't know?" ”

"Our family really doesn't know, please find out."

"Get up! Now is not the time to talk about this, it is only right to find a way to solve this matter quickly. ”

Mr. Pang didn't dare to get up, so he knelt on the ground.

Zhou Boyan naturally knew what Mr. Pang was afraid of, but he was also afraid. He looked out the window, and now the sky was full of red clouds, and after a short time the sun would go down and it would be dark. If it was really as Gu Shi guessed, the four forbidden soldiers left when they were resting on the way, and if their destination was Kangxi Town, they had already arrived at this moment. There is also a possibility that they will return before others find out, and the errand to Kangxi Town will be handed over to others. Whether the people sent to Kangxi Town were forbidden troops or other forces, he was not worried. He was worried about something else.

Mr. Pang was still kneeling on the ground, because the only one who could give him hope was Yan Gongzi.

Zhou Boyan retracted his gaze and rubbed his eyebrows unconsciously, "Don't startle the snake for the time being, let's wait and see what happens!" He stepped out of his chair and bent down to help the man, "The chief manager, please get up." I will report today's events truthfully, and I will make my own holy decision. ”

Manager Pang heard his voice, "Gongzi Xie." "With a truthful report from the young man, his life was saved. As for the pain of flesh and skin, compared to life, the pain of flesh and skin is nothing!

At night, someone quietly opened the back door of the inn and let in four tall men holding a horse. Because the horses' hooves were covered with thick cloth, the four men and the four horses did not make any big noise. Someone quietly led the horse to the stable, and the man was taken to the room where the ordinary forbidden army was arranged.

In the dark, someone saw this qiē clearly.