After the team crossed the river, the speed of movement was not hurried or slow, and it was too peaceful along the way, after all, this was in the territory of Chu State, and there were two hundred elite Yulin warriors to defend the convoy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

After walking for another two days, it was almost dark, and I found a place on a slightly higher ground to set up camp, and there was a small stream nearby, which was just right to replenish the water source.

The mission did not know the local government along the way, mainly to avoid delaying the trip, before the team set off, the tents for camping had already been prepared, so every time before dark, the scouts sent would first find a suitable place and camp on the spot, not rushing to the night, but also to let everyone get enough rest.

The camp is made with clear water and minimal pollution, so there is no problem with drinking it directly.

After the soldiers dismounted, they set up tents, and piled up dead branches in front of the tents, bonfires were blazing, the vehicles were concentrated in the innermost, and the periphery was a circle of tents, especially the dead corners of the camp, which were guarded by many people, respectively, choking the four corners of the charge, and the horses were arranged in the outermost layer, all of which were arranged by Wu Dalin.

In terms of food, they have prepared dried meat and fruits for easy storage, and the Yulin soldiers are divided into three shifts to eat, that is, to eat, but also to eat in turn.

After dinner, Hu Bowen came to Qi Ning's tent, saw Qi Ning wiping the sword under the lamplight, and said with a smile: "Master Hou's sword is a famous sword that is hard to find. ”

In the past few days, Qi Ning has also roughly understood Hu Bowen's temperament, Hu Bowen is easy-going and shrewd, usually speaking, no matter who he is, he has a smiling face, looks very kind, but he is also very thoughtful about doing things, Qi Ning doesn't care about miscellaneous things, so the departure and camp of the team are commanded by Hu Bowen.

Hu Bowen is easy to get along with, Qi Ning is usually a good character, as long as others treat him kindly, he is also very polite, so although they only get along for a few days, Hu Bowen and Qi Ning's relationship is quite harmonious, and occasionally get together, but also talk and laugh.

"Lord Hu has been in a hurry these days, and he is not tired." Qi Ning put down the wiped Pilu sword and said with a smile: "I won't tell you, when I left Beijing, I was still thinking about whether Master Hu was born in a humanistic background, and whether Lord Hu could hold up the journey of more than ten days." Now it seems that I have been overly concerned. ”

Hu Bowen said with a smile: "Although Xia Guan is a literati, he also occasionally fights boxing on weekdays to strengthen his body, Hou Ye, it's not that Xia Guan boasts, even if Xia Guan is tired, as long as he sleeps for one night, he will be full of energy and fatigue the next day." ”

Qi Ning laughed, and at this moment, he suddenly heard a voice from outside the tent: "Master Hou, Liang Xiong asks to see!" ”

Qi Ning thought to himself that at this moment, except for the soldiers on duty, the other soldiers had already returned to the camp to rest, and it was Qi Feng and the others who were also ordered by themselves to rest, but they didn't know what Liang Xiong was doing here, so he ordered: "Come in." ”

Liang Xiong opened the tent and entered, and when he saw that Hu Bowen was also there, he was stunned for a moment, but he still stepped forward and said, "Master Hou, Master Hu!" ”

Hu Bowen nodded and asked, "Deputy Team Leader Liang, but what is there to report?" ”

Liang Xiong wanted to speak and stopped, Qi Ning said: "Deputy Team Leader Liang, if you have something to say, don't have any scruples." ”

Liang Xiong took a few steps forward and said in a low voice: "Master Hou, I am not sure about my humble position, but ...... However, he noticed that after we left Beijing, it seemed that someone in the vicinity had been watching us. ”

Hu Bowen was stunned and frowned: "Someone is spying on us? Deputy Team Leader Liang, can you see clearly? Why not report it early? ”

"Lord Hu, after we leave the capital, we will camp and rest every night, and there always seems to be a shadow nearby." Liang Xiong lowered his voice and said: "Although the humble duty is aware, but I am not sure, last night, the humble duty deliberately patrolled, and found that there were people peeping nearby, so he took two people and went around in a circle to secretly approach the past, but there was no trace, but there was indeed a trace of someone staying in that position." ”

Hu Bowen and Qi Ning glanced at each other, still frowning and said, "Does Team Leader Wu know about this matter?" ”

Liang Xiong shook his head and said, "I didn't catch the real evidence, so I didn't dare to talk nonsense." Just now, the lowly duty found that there was someone nearby, so he secretly went over again, the person was very alert, I had not approached, he noticed, a dodge, disappeared, the lowly duty looked around, but did not find it. He looked at Qi Ning and said, "Master Hou, this matter is strange, although I didn't catch anyone in my humble position, but for the sake of safety, I thought I would come to report to Master Hou." ”

Qi Ning bowed his head and said, "You did the right thing. He waved his hand and said, "At this time, I already know, you go down first, so that everyone can be more vigilant." ”

Liang Xiong retreated, and Qi Ning asked Hu Bowen at this time: "Master Hu, Liang Xiong said that we have been being followed and monitored, what do you think?" ”

Hu Bowen frowned and said, "It doesn't look like it's fake, but who will be following us?" What do they want? ”

Qi Ning smiled: "If someone really wants to fight the mission, there is only one thing I am most worried about. ”

"Oh?" Hu Bowen said: "Please teach Master Hou." ”

"Gifts!" Qi Ning said with a smile: "We have nearly three hundred people, these Yulin warriors are all elite soldiers, ordinary bandits, of course, they don't dare to fight the idea of the mission." And in a frontal fight, the other party does not have hundreds of people, and he does not dare to do it easily. ”

Hu Bowen nodded and said, "What Master Hou said is extremely true. This batch of Yulin warriors is carefully selected by the imperial court, and the selection of soldiers in the Yulin battalion is very harsh, these people are also the elite of the elite, and they are all very brave if they really want to fight. ”

"So the other side shouldn't target the mission itself." Qi Ning said softly: "Eyeing us, naturally because of our duties, as long as there is any problem with the gifts we brought over, our trip to Dongqi will inevitably be full of trouble." ”

Hu Bowen changed color slightly and said: "Master Hou, it doesn't matter if anything else goes wrong, but Master Hou and the gifts can't be the slightest bit wrong." Hou Ye's daughter's body, naturally can not have the slightest mistake, and this batch of gifts, it is not easy to prepare the household, this trip to Dongqi, if there is no such gifts, how can we ask Dongqi for marriage? With a grim expression, he said: "Even ordinary people come to visit, but also prepare some small gifts, we arrived in Dongqi, if we are empty-handed, not only can we not open our mouths to ask for relatives, but I am afraid that we will be misunderstood by the people of Dongqi We are insulting them, then it will be troublesome." ”

Qi Ning said lightly, in fact, from the moment he left Beijing, he knew the importance of these car gifts, after all, Dongqi is also a corner of the country, may not really care about the value of these gifts, but if there are no these gifts, it is impossible to ask Dongqi for marriage, this is a problem on the face after all, the state has a national character, and the Chu State has prepared a generous gift, which is to show the magnanimity of a great country, and Dongqi needs these gifts, and it also shows the dignity of Dongqi.

So on the way, although he didn't seem to ask too much about big and small things, he always paid attention to the few carts of gifts.

Once these gifts are lost, it is impossible to complete the task of courting Dongqi, and Dou Kui's gang will definitely seize this opportunity to violently attack and impeach themselves, and it will be really a little troublesome at that time.

"Master Hu, in your opinion, who would have the idea of beating us?" Qi Ning said softly: "We have just crossed the Yangtze River, according to Liang Xiong, he has already found that someone is following us before, it seems that the other party is likely to be really eyeing us when we leave Beijing." ”

Hu Bowen was thoughtful, and sighed slightly, before sighing: "Master Hou, the lower officials really don't dare to speculate. He lowered his voice slightly: "But the one who wants to sabotage this marriage proposal the most is, of course, the Northern Han people." ”

"What Master Hu said is right, the Northern Han people naturally don't want us to successfully complete the task." Qi Ning chuckled and said: "However, from the emperor's decree to send an envoy to Eastern Qi, to our departure, it was only about ten days before and after, and there was no news before, if the Northern Han people had spies in the capital, and if they heard the news, they immediately reported to the Northern Han Dynasty, and the Northern Han side could not get the news immediately." ”

Hu Bowen stroked his beard and said: "What Hou Ye said is extremely true, the Northern Han Dynasty got the news, and then sent people to rush here to try to sabotage, it is impossible to make arrangements in a short period of time, such a major event, I am afraid that the Northern Han secret talkers hidden in the capital will not dare to make their own claims and plot to sabotage." ”

Qi Ning said in a low voice: "Master Hu, this time as an envoy, I am the main envoy, you are the deputy envoy, whether it is successful or not, the two of us are tied together." If we successfully complete the emperor's orders, you and I will make a contribution, and the emperor's commendation will needless to say, but once there is a slight negligence, you and I will not be able to get rid of this failure, and I am only worried that some people in the DPRK and China will even take the opportunity to find our right and wrong. ”

Hu Bowen naturally understood this truth, and said softly: "What the Hou Ye said is extremely true, so after the official left Beijing, he was afraid and careful along the way, and he didn't dare to be negligent. ”

"I have gotten along with Master Hu these days, and I have been quite close to each other, plus you and I are linked to good and bad, so there are some words that you and I don't have to hide in our hearts." Qi Ning said: "Master Hu, do you say that in this court, will there be people who want to see our jokes, or even ..... Want to thwart the success of your and my courtship? ”

Hu Bowen's body shook slightly, he looked at Qi Ning, and saw that although Qi Ning had a smile on the corner of his mouth, his expression was solemn, and he thought for a while before he said softly: "Master Hou, do you suspect that the person who is following us is..... Was it sent by someone in the DPRK? ”

Qi Ning sighed: "Master Hu is well-informed, much more knowledgeable than me. We only found out now that there may be someone tailing, and the others don't know, that is, whether the follower is really coming to the mission, we are not sure, so I have some doubts in my heart, if it is not for the Northern Han people, who would want to destroy the mission and ask for relatives? We must at least have a number in our hearts, otherwise we will be confused, this road is still long, and maybe there will be a fork. ”