Yangzhou, Xijindu.

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse, the breeze surrounds the river and gently brushes the bluestone of the ferry wharf, gurgling sound, and the silver-white moonlight pours into the river water, turning into broken silver all over the river.

A huge fleet of ships slowly sailed through the center of the river, lowered a few sampans from one of the warships, and then went north to Hangou through Xijindu without stopping, entered the Tongji Canal along the Huaishui, and went straight into Guanzhong.

Several sampans took advantage of the moonlight to slowly arrive at the river, did not choose to approach the wharf, but at a rocky shore not far from the wharf, a small iron anchor was thrown from the sampan into the shallow water on the shore, and then a strong man in black jumped on the rocks on the shore, more than 20 people paused a little to sort out their equipment, and then quietly but quickly disappeared at the ferry.

The moon is clear and bright, only the river is bubbling and the drums are more melodious in the middle of the night......

*****

Xijindu is an important ferry port on the Yangtze River since ancient times, there is Xiangshan Mountain as a barrier in the east to block the surging tide, and the north side corresponds to the ancient ditch, and the cliff of the river is broken, and it is a natural harbor with a stable shoreline.

During the Six Dynasties, the river crossing route here was fixed.

The scale of the unprecedented "Yongjia Nandu", more than half of the northern refugees are from here to cross the river and land, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Longan five years, the "five buckets of rice road" leader Sun En led "100,000 soldiers, 1,000 ships", from the sea into the river, straight to Zhenjiang, control the Xijin ferry, cut off the north-south connection, in order to besiege the capital of Jianye, and was defeated by the Beifu soldiers led by Liu Yu, after which the attack on Linhai County failed, a generation of heroes was at the end of the road, committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea, and the hegemony of the thousand years was broken like a dream......

There has already been a ferry crossing in Xijindu that has evolved into a small town, with bluestone slabs covering the road from the wharf to the center of the town, flanked by blue-brick houses and gables.

The night leak is deeper, and Qiu Shenji has no intention of sleeping.

Getting up and wearing only a medium coat, he pushed open the door, and the cold moonlight poured in like silver frost, and the cool river breeze blew slowly, which relieved his depressed mood slightly.

There was a sound in the ear room on one side, and before long, a soldier pushed the door out with sleepy eyes, yawned and said in surprise: "Why is Lang Jun restless to sleep?" Tomorrow across the Yangtze River, you will enter the boundary of the south of the Yangtze River, like this kind of boat on the stability of the river, that is not to think, the south of the Yangtze River waterways are dense, but there are all such narrow boats, shaking and uncomfortable. This place is still thousands of miles away from the South China Sea, although we dare not embarrass Lang Jun, but Lang Jun should take care of himself. ”

This soldier escorted Qiu Shenji all the way to the South China Sea, because of Qiu He's status in the army, who would dare to give Qiu Shenji a crime? Although it is a full army distribution, it is a night stay on Xiaoxing all the way since it hit Guanzhong, slowly and leisurely, like playing in the mountains and rivers, and it is full of boats and vehicles along the way, which is stable and comfortable.

It stands to reason that the best way to get to the South China Sea is to go along the canal into the Yangtze River, and then down the river to Huating Town, and then take a sea boat to Nanyang or Dashi from Huating Town to the South China Sea.

However, Qiu Shenji said that he would not do anything, so he had to cross the Yangtze River from Xijin and cross Lingnan to the South China Sea!

The soldiers felt a little incredible, wasn't this looking for guilt......

However, Qiu Shenji had his own plans.

He is not a coward, but he is not a brainless and reckless man, in his mind, whether it is Huating Town or the fleet at sea, it is Fang Jun's men and horses, and he is a "light enemy" who "covets" Princess Changle and tries to marry Princess Changle, Fang Junzhi's "forbidden belly", can he still have his life in the hands of these people?

The sea is vast, and it is easy to throw a few people down to feed the fish, but the sea voyage is dangerous, and it is even more common and logical to lose a few people......

Therefore, Qiu Shenji would rather trek thousands of mountains and rivers than be in Fang Jun's territory......

Hearing the words of the soldier at this moment, how could Qiu Shenji not hear the complaints? Who doesn't want to take a spacious and comfortable sea boat, but have to take a road that is ten thousand times more difficult?

If it was placed in the past, someone had such an attitude, Qiu Shenji would have been angry for a long time, but now these people are ordered to escort him to the official errand, even if they are afraid of the power of their Qiu family and do not dare to embarrass him, but in the end it is also suppressed with him, so he had to smile and said: "The road is a little more difficult, but you don't have to worry, my father has already written troops all over the country, and someone will make proper arrangements everywhere, you only need to treat this trip as a play, and the time may be delayed, but as long as you get to the ground, there will be a thank you to offer, It will be satisfying. ”

The soldier sneered, "What did Lang Jun say? It is convenient for you to be with others, since Lang Jun wants to take this road, we will accompany you. ”

The officials and masters of the Criminal Department didn't care which way Qiu Shenji took or how long it would take to reach the South China Sea, where could they manage these little pawns?

After all, it is as Qiu Shenji said, and it is just a matter of treating this mission as a game, treating Qiu Shenji well, forgiving him for not daring to disobey the emperor's order and running away halfway, anyway, there is still a considerable amount of money to get to the ground......

"In that case, the little one goes to sleep first, and Lang Jun, you should rest early."

After the soldier finished speaking, he yawned and reflexively went back to the house, and went back to sleep......

Qiu Shenji smiled and stood in front of the door with his hands behind his back.

The reason why he traveled thousands of miles to the South China Sea was not that Qiu Shenji was afraid of the harsh environment of the South China Sea and the torture and frustration after the distribution, but that he hoped that his father, who was far away in Chang'an, would be able to impress His Majesty to take back his life.

He was only in his twenties, and he still had great revenge in his chest, but he never thought that he would be killed by that Fang Jun and end up with a distribution to the South China Sea......

In the letter I received yesterday, my father had already said that he had gone through King Jing's door, and he had joined several military bigwigs to plead with His Majesty. According to His Majesty's usual style of being kind to the fierce generals in the army, it is almost certain that he will forgive his sins.

Even if he is cut to the people, as long as he is not burdened with a crime, he can calmly get up again!

Jingzhong's father has already begun to operate, and perhaps before he leaves Jiangnan after crossing the river, His Majesty's pardon will be sent as soon as possible......

Thinking of this, Qiu Shenji's mind was slightly more spacious, and he looked up at the stone tower standing on the street in front of the door with great interest.

This is a rare stone tower crossing the street, the lower part of the tower is built with a stone block, into four stone pillars, the top is covered with stones, built into a frame-shaped pedestal, and people can pass through below. The tower base is stacked with two identical Sumeru seats, and the Sumeru seat is a lotus-covered round seat and a flat drum-shaped tower body. Then there are thirteen circles of belt relief, symbolizing the thirteen layers of heaven, on the ** and the round lotus seat, the wheel is engraved with "eight treasures", on which is the top of the tower.

There are the same inscriptions on the east and west sides of the stone tower pedestal, and it lies in the middle of the small street, and the moonlight pours on it like water, which is very simple and elegant......

After standing at the door for a while, a wave of tiredness hit, Qiu Shenji yawned, turned back to the house, closed the door, and returned to the couch to sleep peacefully.

In a daze, a slight sound of footsteps sounded in my ears......

The Qiu family started with martial arts, several generations are generals, Qiu Shenji is even more deaf and bright, and he is vigorous and vigorous, even in his sleep, he suddenly woke up, and before he woke up, his right hand subconsciously stretched out under the mattress and held a dagger.

……

Outside, a soldier happened to get up at night, and he was too dazed to go to the latrine, so he untied his belt in the dark place in front of the window, wanting to shh and release water.

Suddenly felt the gust of wind behind him, and the hairs on his neck stood up at once, the soldier's heart tightened, and he turned back in amazement, and saw a group of black-clothed people jumping down from the courtyard wall, their feet were as light as raccoon cats, their footsteps rustled softly, and the horizontal knife in their hands reflected the white moonlight, and the cold light was shining!

The soldier was stunned, and then suddenly shouted, "What man...... Belch! ”

A crossbow bolt with the clatter of the bowstring slammed into his throat, and the cry came to an abrupt halt like a duck with its neck choked.

The man in black obviously didn't notice the soldier hiding in the shadow in front of the window, although he was killed with an arrow, he still scared the snake!

The leader slashed the horizontal knife and said in a muffled voice: "Kill!" Not a single one to stay! ”

Before the words fell, I saw the main gate "bang" kicked open from the inside, and Qiu Shenji's broad and burly figure appeared at the door, carrying a cold dagger in his hand, and roared: "Someone! There are assassins! ”

This trip to the South China Sea, although it was assigned for sin, the Qiu family sent a guard composed of more than ten generals to maintain the safety of Qiu Shenji all the way. What Qiu Shenji wants at the moment is to wake up the generals, the group of black-clothed people in front of him is only about twenty people, and the generals of more than ten people on his side plus more than ten soldiers, especially one of his own top soldiers, even if his injuries have not healed, he may not be incapable of fighting!

However, to his surprise, when he shouted, all the generals in the room on one side were awakened and rushed out one after another, but the reaction of the group of people in black in front of him was unexpected! The man in black in the front row did not rush up and kill himself as soon as possible, but ...... Squatting?

Then, Qiu Shenji's eyes were split, and he was so frightened that his soul flew away!

I saw that the black-clothed man in the front row was shortened, just revealing a row of powerful crossbows that had been wound in the hands of the black-clothed man behind him......

"Boom!"

Before Qiu Shenji's footsteps moved, a muffled sound came, and more than ten crossbow arrows left the string almost at the same time, passing through the cold and clear night sky of the moon in an instant, and "poof, puff" was nailed to Qiu Shenji's body in no particular order.