Just when Jiang Lan was sleeping with his head covered, a group of people came from outside the Yang'an Guan camp at the other end.

It was a group of white-clad guards, and they were surrounded by two of them. One of them was an old man with gray hair, who wore a python robe and a black cloak, and looked unangry and arrogant. The other person was a woman in her twenties, she was dressed as a man, and it was the young master.

As soon as the two arrived at the gate of the camp, they saw Situ Bao trotting all the way out to greet them: "The last general will see the general!" I don't know that the general is coming, and the last general will miss the welcome, and I hope to forgive my sins. ”

"Excuse me! I was waiting for your news in Yinping City, and as soon as I received the letter this morning, I rushed here. The person who spoke was the old man, his voice was a little hoarse, but it was full of majesty, "By the way, I forgot to introduce it, this is the daughter of Liu Zhengyi, the general of the dynasty, and also the Marquis of Longchuan - Liu Yinan!" ”

When Situ Bao saw that this woman was coming with his top official, Ye Luxian, the general of Zhengxi, he guessed that her identity was extraordinary. But when he heard about his identity, he was still shocked. Let's not mention her identity as the daughter of a general, as far as the title on her body - although there was also a female marquis in the Han Dynasty, but after all, it was a long time ago...... There are many marquis in this dynasty, and this is the first time he has heard of a female marquis.

Situ Leopard was shocked in his heart, but his face did not change: "The last general has seen the Marquis of Longchuan." ”

"Old general, please don't be polite, I often hear my father mention you and say that you are a capable general. When I see it today, it is true to its name! My father entrusted you with such an important task, and you really didn't find the wrong person! That Liu Yinan is worthy of an extraordinary background, and he spoke very well when he opened his mouth.

"Adults have won prizes! The two of you have been tired all the way, so it's better to go in first and rest for a while, and then ......"

"No need, I'm not here to rest. Get down to business, get that box quickly! Ye Luxian interrupted Situ Leopard, looking a little anxious.

"Obey! Someone, bring the box! ”

With Situ Bao's order, two soldiers immediately carried over a wooden box. The mouth of the box was open, and the lid had disappeared.

The box was lifted in front of the three of them and gently lowered. Liu Yinan and Ye Luxian looked at it, and saw a dried corpse curled up in the box, which was wearing the court clothes of a second-class official of the Great Liang State, but his face was unrecognizable.

"It's ...... Lord Protector of the Western Regions! Ye Luxian was furious when he saw this, "It's the opposite!" This group of Qiang people is really the opposite! How dare they kill the lord of the kingdom! ”

Although he couldn't see the face of the corpse clearly, he seemed to be familiar with the dried corpse, and he recognized it by his court clothes and appearance alone.

Liu Yinan on the side also frowned slightly when she saw this, and she turned her head to look at Ye Luxian: "Uncle Ye, do you remember what happened a year ago?" ”

"You mean, the bloody battle of Yujialing?"

"That's right. That night, I escorted Mr. Chen to the west to take over, but I didn't expect to be attacked halfway, and Mr. Chen fell off the carriage and died...... I remember clearly, that group of people had a clear purpose, and they were clearly going for Lord Chen! ”

General Ye nodded and stroked his beard: "In this way, this group of Qiang people has a plan for a long time. ”

As he said this, he had already guessed the whole thing in his heart: those Qiang people wanted to rebel against the Great Liang State and killed the Lord Protector of the Great Liang stationed in the Western Regions. Who knew that the imperial court sent Chen Zhongming to take over, if this Chen Zhongming arrived in the Western Regions, but Lord Wang could not return to the court, then their plan would be revealed. Therefore, they intercepted and killed Chen Zhongming on Yujialing.

"So, all of this is the ghost of those Qiang people!" Ye Luxian stroked his beard and said calmly. Although his complexion returned to normal, there was a fierce look in his eyes.

"The general is clear! However, according to the last general, I am afraid that the Northern Wei Dynasty was involved in this matter. Situ Leopard said with a solemn expression, "After the battle of Wild Wolf Slope, the spies who monitored the camp of the Northern Wei Dynasty came to report: That night, the Northern Wei Dynasty mobilized 8,000 light cavalry to march towards Yang'an Pass, but stopped forty miles outside Yang'an Pass. But when the last general repelled the Qiang people on the Wolf Slope, the eight thousand light horsemen all withdrew...... It can be seen that the wolf cubs of the Northern Wei Dynasty must be aware of the actions of the Qiang people, and they are more likely to be the masterminds of all this. ”

After listening to Situ Bao's analysis, Ye Luxian and Liu Yinan's expressions became solemn. If that's what he says, it's going to be a very tricky thing.

"Uncle Ye, please rest assured, Yinan will leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning to inform my father of this situation, and I believe that my father and the adults of the DPRK and China will definitely make a decision."

Ye Luxian nodded when he heard this: "That's it!" Early tomorrow morning, I will send a guard to escort you out of the northwest, in case there is any further accident. ”

"Thank you Uncle Ye for that." Liu Yinan bowed and saluted.

……

Yinping City Military Warehouse.

It can be said that this is a fictitious yamen, and the only job every day is to clean the yard, and this is naturally not the turn of Jiang Lan, the chief official, to do it.

For him, work is nothing to do. If this position is put now, I am afraid that many people will be envious to death. But for people like Jiang Lan who can't be idle, they are not happy at all. The rights and wrongs in his own body have the intention to solve them, but he has no way to start, and the origin of the immortal lock is even more unknown where to start.

"Idle!"

"Boring!"

"I really want to find something to do......

These three sentences are on his lips every day. In this way, in the midst of his complaints, three months passed in a flash......

It was early spring, and Yinping City was still as peaceful as usual, and Jiang Lan also went to the street as usual.

His previous extremely ugly appearance has also been upgraded, in addition to the standard freckled face, black mole, one-line eyebrows and beard, he also ingeniously wore a flower on his head, and the clothes on his body were also changed to red, red, green and green are very eye-catching.

At first glance, Jiang Lan is a standard hooligan appearance!

At this time, the streets are very lively, and there are many people coming and going.

Jiang Lan swaggered in the middle of the street, and the men, women, and children passing by avoided him. He didn't care when he saw this, this seemingly very ostentatious posture was the most perfect disguise in his heart! He thought about keeping a low profile, but after thinking about it repeatedly, he felt that such a gesture would attract the attention of people with a heart, so it was better to be swaggering! In this way, those "heroes of the rivers and lakes" who pass by will only regard themselves as a ruffian and will never put them in their eyes.

"It's said that it's hidden in the city, isn't it just the master!" Jiang Lan thought proudly, and the people also came to the tea shed at the east gate of Yinping City.

Although this tea shed is simple, the environment and the quality of tea are not as good as the tea house, but the guests who come to drink tea are not less than the tea house, and the reason is only four words: cheap and convenient.

And because of its proximity to the city gates, the number of people drinking tea was also the largest in the city. Whether it is the merchants who come and go, the foot strength of the work or the people passing by, you can see it here.

For several months, Jiang Lan had to come to this tea shed every day to stay here for a while, in order to listen to some news about the rivers and lakes.

"Uncle Jiang, you're here!"

Because he came here every day, the guys here already recognized Jiang Lan, he stretched out his hand to say hello, and then hurriedly cleaned up a table that had just been vacated.

"Uncle, sit here, there are a lot of people today. That one...... Are you still the same old rules? ”

"Well, the old rules! But don't make herbal tea today, replace it with a hot one. ”

"Gotcha! Come now! ”

The tea leaves in the tea shed were all pre-cooked, and as soon as the guy finished speaking, he brought over a bowl of hot tea, and at the same time served a small plate of dried dates.

"Alas! It's been half a year, and I haven't found a few useful news, but the more I eat this dried date, the more addictive I become. Jiang Lan thought playfully in his heart, speaking of the news he had found out these days, it was nothing more than three things:

First, although the pursuit of Jiang Lan and Xiang Beichuan in the Northwest Green Forest Road has not stopped, because they have not been seen for more than a year, the enthusiasm of the heroes in the rivers and lakes is not as high as it was at the beginning. It is rumored that the two of them have long since fled to other places.

Second, after the battle of Yanlai Villa, Xu Blind naturally temporarily took over the position of chief scoop leader. Only when he completes the killing order and takes Jiang Lan's head can he officially sit on the throne. As for himself, he did not have the intention of taking over Yanlai Villa, but set up a killer organization called "Blood Killing Palace" on the Water Snake Ridge. This Blood Killing Hall not only sells news about the rivers and lakes, but also takes over the sale of human lives.

Third, it is related to the Qiang people in the West. The Qiang tribe, for some reason, actually reneged on the covenant, openly plundered the caravan of the Great Liang State, and sent people to provoke outside Yang'an Pass from time to time. The reaction of the Great Liang State to this was even more surprising, not only did not send troops to fight, but instead sent a large amount of gold and silver to appease it.

……

Jiang Lan chewed dried dates in his mouth, recalling those seemingly unrelated news in his mind, and trying to piece together fragmented clues. But no matter how hard he fights, he has no clue!

"Hey, have you heard? The Li family shop in the south of the city has a new batch of blades. That workmanship, tsk...... It's just in time for the army! ”

"Really? Then we'll have to take a look later......"

Jiang Lan was thinking about it when he suddenly heard the conversation between the two Jianghu guests beside him.

"Blades?"

Jiang Lan was happy in his heart, this news is like a thousand-year-old ginseng for him who is now "half-dead"!

His previous long knife had been detained as soon as he left the camp. After coming to Yinping City, he also wanted to buy another one. Unfortunately, it took a whole day to go through the blacksmith shops all over the city and find no blades. The blacksmiths replied, "No." Later, he discovered that the blacksmith shop here only had farm tools and kitchen utensils......

When he heard the news, he immediately settled the tea money and set off for the south of the city.

With excitement, I walked through the streets and alleys, and inquired all the way, and finally came to Li's shop.

The shopkeeper of the Li family's shop is a middle-aged man in his thirties, and those who are familiar with him call him Lao Li.

Generally speaking, the blacksmith shop is a craft business, and the shopkeeper is the master of the shop. But this Li Da shopkeeper is different, he is a businessman who has no skills at all.

It is said that he also bought this blacksmith shop from someone else, and then recruited several masters and apprentices. After several competitions, the business is the best in the city.

"Lao Li, I heard that you have a batch of blades here!" As soon as he stepped into the door, Jiang Lan couldn't wait to ask.

"Yo! Uncle Jiang, it's you! Jiang Lan had been here once before, and Shopkeeper Li recognized him at a glance, "The small shop is also a batch that just entered yesterday, uncle, you are really well-informed!" ”

Shopkeeper Li said, and then took Jiang Lan to a weapon rack: "The blades of the small shop are all here, you can pick them." ”

"Hmm......" Jiang Lan looked at the blades placed on the shelf. He picked up a long sword casually, "It's a good sword!" ”

This sword, the body of the sword is forged in steel, and the hardness and toughness are excellent; The scabbard is made of mahogany, coated in python skin, and inlaid in brass. Even some of the noble swords of the gate valve do not have such workmanship.

The sword is a good sword, but it is not to Jiang Lan's taste, he is a little disappointed: "Is this all there is to your blade?" ”

"That's all the small store buys this time."

"Oh......" Jiang Lan glanced at the weapon rack, with some disappointment on his face, "Next time you buy goods, remember to bring me a long knife...... Mo knife, horizontal knife or ring head knife can be, preferably official or military. ”

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Li was taken aback: "Uncle, you are laughing, where do you dare to enter the military blade shop......

Although the control of swords and soldiers in the Great Liang State is not very strict, the weapons of the army are strictly forbidden to be bought and sold by the people. The three long knives that Jiang Lan said are all the main battle weapons of the Liang army, and they need to be approved by the Ministry of War and supervised by the weapons.

"That's not right! That kind of military-made long knife, I have seen it on the green forest road, how can it be strictly forbidden? Jiang Lan asked.

Speaking of long knives, the first one he got his hands on when he went down the mountain was the one he grabbed in Yanlai Villa. Later, the knife was smashed into two pieces by Tong Tiexi's claw, and it made him feel distressed enough.

"Uncle, you can't compare the small shop with the green forest road. Those kings have their own channels, how can the small shop be able to compare......" Shopkeeper Li explained with a wry smile. Speaking of this, his expression changed, his voice was lowered, the thumb of his right hand pinched the index finger, and he made a gesture that everyone could understand, "But, if the uncle is willing to spend some money." The little ones can give you another thought......"

Although Jiang Lan has only been in the WTO for a short time, he also understands what he means. He reached out and took out a piece of broken silver from his bosom and handed it to the shopkeeper Li.

"Hehe, Uncle Xie rewards."

Shopkeeper Li put the silver into his arms with a hippie smile, and then pulled Jiang Lan to a corner of the store, and said in a very low voice: "Uncle Jiang, although the small shop can't get the blade you want, the little one knows that there is a ......."

……

Leaving the blacksmith shop, Jiang Lan walked straight towards the West City Gate. He learned from Shopkeeper Li that there was an old man living outside the birch forest in the western suburbs of the city. The old man turned out to be the caster of the capital's ordnance supervisor, and in the past two years, he returned to his hometown of Yinping because of his rest.

According to the shopkeeper, the old smith still had a blade in his hand that he had brought from the ordnance prison.

Although Jiang Lan had read the laws of the Great Liang Kingdom, he couldn't remember how big a crime it was to secretly possess weapons. But looking at the mysterious appearance of the shopkeeper Li, it feels like it shouldn't be a small crime.

He thought about it, and if the old forger refused to sell his blade for a while, he would threaten him as an official of the court, but he was not afraid that he would not comply......