Watching Shi Kefa go downstairs on the railing, Su and Zhao were relatively silent. When he was young, Zhao Dangshi laughed and said: "Jiangbei is eventful, and the people of Futai care about the military and the people, and they are our models." Raising his glass, "Come, Brother Su." ”

Su Gaozhao smiled reluctantly, hid his face with his sleeve and took a sip of wine, and asked, "How long has Lord Zhao been in Huaining?" ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "How many days have I arrived in advance, but I don't know how Brother Su is doing?" ”

Su Gaozhao nodded and said, "When I see Shi Futai today, everything in my heart will be over." The two drank wine and talked about what they had seen and heard along the way, but Shi Kefa never mentioned it.

"The contemptible person is expected to leave early tomorrow morning, I don't know what Lord Zhao wants?"

"It's all up to Brother Su to arrange."

"Huaining has a branch of our water line, and the barge has been prepared. We went down the river and went straight to Nanjing through Fanchang and Hezhou. Contemptible people in Nanjing have a batch of goods to inspect and handover, about three days, after the fact, and then through Yizhen to Zhenjiang to get off the ship, turn to the land, along Danyang, Changzhou, Wujiang official road first to Jiaxing Mansion, Zheng Ye may be there. If not, it must be in Hangzhou. Su Gaozhao said while thinking, "Zheng Ye will make a special trip to Hangzhou every year to inspect the five merchants of the mountain, before the contemptible people were convinced, Zheng Ye has taken a boat from Yuegang to the north, if you can't see the contemptible people in Hangzhou, you will not leave immediately." ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded secretly when he heard this, knowing the reason why Su Gaozhao was in a hurry to return to Hangzhou, and said with a smile: "Zhao is a stupid and reckless man in the northwest, admiring the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River, and there is Brother Lao Su to take care of him along the way." If you don't understand the rules, please ask Brother Su for advice. ”

Su Gaozhao said: "Lord Zhao is serious, the contemptible people are just Zheng Ye's subordinates who run errands, where can they afford the word 'guidance'." I'm afraid that the service will not be thorough, which will make Lord Zhao and his party feel sluggish. ”

After drinking for a while, Su Gaozhao said: "It's time for Lord Zhao to come, if it's late, it will be difficult to see Zheng Ye in the future." He also said, "The Japanese civil strife, the Japanese king has repeatedly ordered the sea to be closed and the country is closed, it is reported that from the end of this year to the beginning of next year, or will act again, from now on only my Ming and red-haired ghost sailing ships are allowed to enter and leave the port." In this way, it is an opportunity for Zheng Ye to show his ambitions. Last year, Zheng Ye revealed that in the next few years, he would mainly travel to and from Waguo, Yungang, Luzon and other places to expand his influence. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said, "I see, if you want to see Zheng Ye next year, it will be even more difficult." continued, "Thanks to Brother Su's help, otherwise I would really miss the opportunity and have endless hatred." ”

Su Gaozhao said: "Although Lord Zhao is relaxed, there are contemptible people, and he will not let the adults go for nothing." ”

The two drank and chatted until Wangjianglou closed the door to see off guests. Before the interest was over, Su Gaozhao was the east, and transferred to the Xiuning branch of the commercial bank to continue drinking and chatting.

When Zhao Dangshi said goodbye to Su Gaozhao and returned to the inn, it was already late at night. It was cold and frozen, and I talked with Su Gaozhao for a day with Xiuning Semicolon in Wangjiang Tower, and I lost my energy when I calmed down. Looking at Zhou Wenhe, who was accompanying him, although he was strong and cheered up, it could be seen that compared to Zhao Dangshi, he couldn't hide his tiredness after waiting for a day.

The inn has been closed for a long time, and Zhao Dangshi didn't want to disturb the owner's rest, so he entered the courtyard of the inn through the back door. The servant in charge of the stable was woken up by Zhao Dangshi and Zhou Wenhe, but the temperature was still cold at night, and he didn't bother to get up to check, so he just pretended to be asleep and lay in the haystack without squeaking.

Zhou Wenhe quickly tied the horse, and Zhao Dangshi thought that he would get up early tomorrow, so he said to him: "Old Zhou, after a hard day, you go back to the house to sleep." There will be no vigil tonight. Since leaving Xiangyang, the division of labor between Zhou Wenhe, Deng Longye and Manning has been very clear, Zhou Wenhe served Zhao Dangshi, and Deng and Man were responsible for protecting Huaqing.

Zhao Dangshi and Hua Qinggu are in love, but in the end, they have not stepped over the step of male and female defense, and they have always slept in separate rooms. Usually Deng Longye and Manning live in the same room, next door to Huaqing. Zhao Dangshi invited Zhou Wenhe to sleep in the same room, but Zhou Wenhe thought that the main ministers could not trespass, and insisted on living next door to Zhao Dangshi in the separate house, and now it is the same in Huaining. Huaining's inn is simple, half of the guest rooms are in the main building, half are in the courtyard, Huaqing and Zhao Dangshi live in the main building and courtyard respectively. However, compared to the other two who can cooperate with each other and take turns to be on duty at night, Zhou Wenhe can only guard all night at night, and he only takes time to nap on the boat road during the day. Zhao Dangshi treated him as a brother and understood him, and persuaded him more than once that he didn't need to be so meticulous, but Zhou Wenhe always promised verbally, and he still stayed up all night at night and never relaxed. Zhao Dangshi felt his loyalty and bravery, and he didn't say much in the future.

However, tonight was different, under the sparse moonlight, thinking that Zhou Wenhe had not been able to sleep well for nearly a month, Zhao Dangshi's compassion regained and persuaded him again.

Zhou Wenhe arched his hand as usual and said: "The safety of the lord is more important than Mount Tai, and his subordinates dare not sleep." ”

Zhao Dangshi stiffened his face and said: "This is a military order, this place is remote and simple, and there is no hidden danger in thinking about it." Tomorrow, the ship will go to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River, and there will be many people, so we must be more energetic along the way. The words turned gentle, "Old Zhou, listen to me, you must rest tonight." Don't nap me in front of outsiders tomorrow. “

When Zhou Wenhe heard the word "military order", he dared to refuse, and sighed lightly: "It's all up to the lord's orders." After speaking, I first went to Zhao Dangshi's house to carefully inspect the doors and windows, and then retired stupidly.

The two went back to each room, Zhou Wenhe sat in the house, and soon saw through the window that the lights in Zhao Dangshi's house were extinguished, and remembered what Zhao Dangshi had just said, and he was really tired, so he reclined on the bed with his clothes on, closed his eyes and recuperated. However, as soon as his eyes were closed, sleepiness hit like a flood, and he soon met Zhou Gong.

I don't know how long it took, in a daze, Zhou Wenhe suddenly heard that there seemed to be movement in the backyard. Years of vigilance prompted him to wake up instantly, but the black outside the house didn't seem to be out of the ordinary, thinking it was just a rat or a wild cat or something like that. But then he felt that something was wrong, and he only heard the sound of "creaking" in the courtyard intermittently, vaguely like the footsteps of people. Although the voice was very soft, Zhou Wenhe still believed in his own judgment, and the first thing that came to mind was to enter the thief.

Who is so bold in the capital? Zhou Wenhe turned over and got up, pulled his robe and put it on, lifted his waist knife, and quietly walked to the door in the dark, looking out cautiously through the crack in the door.

By the moonlight, Zhou Wenhe watched two black shadows pass by in front of the door, and they walked very carefully, judging by the figures, they should be adult men. The faces of the two were covered with cloth and light, and Zhou Wenhe couldn't see their appearance. But seeing the cold light in the hands of the two, the reflection in Zhou Wenhe's eyes was two short sheath knives.

The two were quite attentive, and Zhou Wenhe gently opened the door of the house, and after flashing out to the haystack, it did not attract their attention.

Zhou Wenhe followed the cat's waist for a moment, but when he saw the two of them gradually moving to Zhao Dangshi's guest room in the northwest corner of the courtyard, he whispered. Zhou Wenhe noticed that the door of the guest room shook slightly in the wind, probably because Zhao Dangshi was tired and forgot to plug in the latch.

"A good thief, he picks." Zhou Wenhe swallowed his saliva and watched the two of them move. He didn't know where the other party came from, but the movements of the two were familiar and smooth, and they were no ordinary thieves.

A gust of wind blew, bringing up the door of the house, and the two men wiped the blade of their knives on the cuffs, and took the opportunity to push the door in. Zhou Wenhe jumped out of the haystack with a rise and fall, rushed into Zhao Dangshi's guest room with his hind feet, and shouted: "Go to the thief!" ”

The room was pitch black, but because Zhou Wenhe vigorously pushed the door open completely, the moonlight sprinkled into the room along the empty space, illuminating the backs of the two thieves. The two of them shook their bodies and turned their heads sharply, and Zhou Wenhe saw their eyes through the moonlight, both of which were full of murderous energy.

One of the two shouted to his accomplice, "Go ahead!" At the sound of an order, the shorter one did not hesitate at all, tossed and turned, flashed to Zhao Dangshi's bed, stabbed his body, and slashed at the bed.

The knife went down, and there was no movement on the quilt, and the higher heart was in a hurry, and he made up for it. At this moment, Zhou Wenhe stepped forward and stopped the knife, and the knife was directly slashed at the back of his knife.

At the same time, the short thief swung his knife and slashed his head at Zhou Wenhe. Zhou Wenhe was in a disadvantageous position between the two at this time, and he stepped back, but unexpectedly, his feet were weak and he sat on the ground. The tall thief sneered and sent the tip of the knife forward, about to stab Zhou Wenhe between the ribs. Unexpectedly, Zhou Wenhe immediately turned over and flashed over.

The tall thief failed in one move, and sent two knives one after another, and the knives went straight to Zhou Wenhe's vital point. The room was small, and Zhou Wenhe struggled to move to avoid the killing move, but his waist and chest were injured by him, and the red blood instantly stained his white underwear.

At the critical moment, he didn't feel any pain, and when he saw a flaw, he swung out his left hand and grabbed the blade of the knife, grabbing the blade and pulling it to his side. The blade was extremely sharp, and the tall thief tried his best, but because Zhou Wenhe desperately held it, he only pulled it back a little, even so, Zhou Wenhe's left little finger was also cut off. The tall thief saw that the knife was made by Zhou Wenhe, and he was afraid that Zhou Wenhe would attack his left side with his right hand, so he still held the knife with his right hand and wrestled with him, and stretched out two fingers with his left hand to poke at Zhou Wenhe's pair of moves.

This move was fast, Zhou Wenhe had no choice but to let go of his left hand, which was already bloody, and waved his right hand to block, and at this time he was also in a hurry, and his toes hooked the pillow that fell at his feet and kicked at the other party. The tall thief was not ambiguous, his elbow was raised and the pillow was bounced, and he stabbed Zhou Wenhe in the chest with his hand. After all, Zhou Wenhe has rich experience in actual combat, so he saw that the other party was avoiding the pillow, and kicked his legs, hitting the tall thief's lower abdomen, causing him to jump away in pain.

The two thieves saw that Zhou Wenhe was desperate to the death, and they were afraid, thinking that they had lost the opportunity to assassinate, and then the short thief slashed the bed and said in a panic: "Oh no, there is no one on the bed!" ”

As soon as the words came out, not only was the tall thief shocked, but Zhou Wenhe was also surprised, but he was surprised and turned around.

Zhao Dangshi didn't know where, the tall thief cursed a few words in his mouth, shouted "go", and at the same time stepped out of the door in three or two steps to retreat, Yu Yin for, the figure in the oblique stab flashed, and a person jumped from the roof, kicked him to the ground, and stabbed him into his calf.

The tall thief screamed miserably in the cold wind, the short thief was flustered, turned around to rush the door, only ran two steps, "Xiu Xiu" two sharp whistling, Zhao Dangshi and Man Ning walked into the house with a crossbow machine, and the short thief had already been hit by two arrows in the chest, and died of anger.