After the guards surrounded Zhuang Ji and Ah Cai, Xiao Bu hurriedly ran upstairs and ordered Ding Huaiyue and others to cooperate. When they saw the guards upstairs who were about to take Ah Cai away, in a hurry, Xiao Bu waved his hand to the helmsman, and the boat and the dock immediately separated into a wide gap. And at this moment, the guards took Ah Cai to the shore, and the boat moved to the air, and they fell into the river at the same time.

"Somebody overboard, somebody overboard." The people who saw it shouted in unison, and the Chu soldiers on several warships were suddenly confused.

"Plop...... Dozens ......of sailors jumped into the river to save people.

Zhuang Jishi saw Ah Cai fall into the river with his own eyes, he jumped into the water without hesitation, but was firmly dragged by the soldiers around him and said: "General, look, aren't there many sailors who went into the water to save people?" They will definitely be able to save Miss Acai, please rest assured General. ”

And Princess Jingyin, who was running towards the dock, saw that Zhuang Ji's boat was still leaning on the shore, and her heart was ecstatic, and she accelerated her running speed, but when she approached the boat and was about to climb to the boat, she was tightly held by the chief guard who had come out of the water.

Zhuang Ji looked at all this and shouted to the princess: "Jing Yin, go back quickly, don't be reckless, wait for Ji to take Qianzhong and Bawu, send someone to pick you up, and Ah Cai, who was also taken back by the king, you have to take good care of her." ”

"General Zhuang, you have to take Jingyin away...... Let's go ...... together" Princess Jingyin's crying cry was heartbreaking.

Zhuang Ji's eyes were moist and he couldn't speak.

At this time, Xiao Bu had climbed up the boat from the river, and he hurried to Zhuang Ji and whispered. "General Zhuang, don't worry, Aunt Ah Cai has been transferred to Zhong Yitong's ship, and they can't find her."

Zhuang Ji came back to his senses and said, "Oh, it turns out that you used the strategy of attacking the west? ”

Xiao Bu said with a smile: "I think there was no other way to stop them from taking Aunt Ah Cai away, so I had to take this strategy to break the siege." Fortunately, Aunt Ah Cai was really left, and they couldn't figure out the real situation. You can also find the king to ask for someone to see how he ends. ”

Zhuang Ji said worriedly: "Alas, forget it, I still have two sons in their hands, Zhiyue and Liwu, I don't know when they will release them, it's better to keep a low profile." ”

Speaking of his two sons, he suddenly remembered Gou Hanlai, so he asked, "Hey, Gou Han is not there?" I really hope that he can follow the fight, he is better than me, and if he can come, he will be a good helper. ”

"I persuaded him, but he didn't come himself, saying that he had something to stay and deal with. Ask him what is the matter, but this dog will not say. Hey, I wish he was with me. Xiao Bu twisted and saw the princess running desperately and said, "Hey, general, the princess really wants to follow you on the expedition, you see, the clothes all over her body are wet, hey, there are still people chasing her behind, it is better to move the boat closer to the dock, talk to the king, and tell her to get on the boat." Otherwise, you will be forcibly pulled back. ”

Zhuang Ji looked back and knew that it was the guards sent by King Qingxiang who were chasing her. I wanted to say hello to her, but when I thought about it, I couldn't help but turn my head to the side.

The captain of the guard had already grabbed Princess Jing Yin, she tried desperately to get rid of him, and bit the hand of the guard chief with her mouth, so that she could break free, and ran to the river, shouting at the highest warship: "General Zhuang, wait a minute, Jing Yin will ...... with you" She chased straight along the river, and the river water became deeper and deeper, covering her knees.

Ah Cai, who had already changed her clothes, couldn't stand it, so she asked Zhong Yitong to find a way to bring a message to Zhuang Ji and ask the princess to get on the boat.

Zhong Yi looked at it and said, "We are so far away from General Zhuang's ship that we can't talk to the general." ”

Ah Cai thought for a while and said, "Hey, that's right, you ordered our boat to stop at the pier and call the princess to come up." She would have liked to follow us the most. ”

Zhong Yitong was embarrassed and said: "Without the general's order, who dares to stop the ship at the dock casually?" ”

Princess Jingyin saw the figure of Zhuang Ji on the command boat, and her heart was sad. But she didn't give up hope and was still fighting for the last chance. Without a specific goal, she shouted at the river: "Ah Cai, my good sister, you tell General Zhuang to stop and bring the boat closer, Ah Cai, as long as you stop a little, I can catch up." She ran high and low in the river, one shoe stuck in the mud, barefoot pulled out, and continued to chase.

The two people who followed closely behind led a tall horse to catch up a few steps and grabbed Princess Jingyin.

Princess Jingyin struggled desperately and said, "Let go, let go of me." Listen, whoever dares to approach this princess again, this princess will not chase the warship, and when she returns, she will cut off his dog's head to vent her anger. ”

Even though the princess said such cruel words, the two men did not buy it, and they put the princess in arms, so that her legs and feet hung in the air, and dragged her up and ran to the horse.

Princess Jingyin suddenly bit one of them's arm and didn't let go, but the person endured the pain with incredible strength and just wouldn't let her go. They stood under the horse, lifted the princess's body on the horse's back, one held her tightly, and the other jumped on the horse, took the princess in his arms, and stabbed the horse away.

In this way, Zhuang Ji silently parted from Princess Jingyin, and he couldn't help but feel sad.

He kept his eyes on the horse that flew towards Yingdu until he couldn't see it.

Then he looked at the vast river in a daze, and sighed: Life is impermanent!

The boat traveled against the river, and there was nothing to do for a day.

The next day, when the east dawned, under the misty sky, Zhuang Ji stood in front of the building boat, looking forward to the beautiful scenery of the mountains and plants; Feel the pleasure of going up the river and breaking the waves.

"General Zhuang, look, there was a small boat in front of it, but it suddenly turned around and ran, I'm afraid there is a ghost." Xiao Bu stared intently ahead, found clues, and immediately reported it.

"It's normal for small boats to run faster than our big boats. Don't panic, you send someone to keep an eye on it and see where it goes. Zhuang Ji looked ahead and said, "Hey, what kind of place is this?" ”

Ding Huaiyue shouted to the other boat: "Hey, Zhong Yitong Zhong Baichang, where are we now?" He knew that Zhong Yitong was a local and was more familiar with the upper reaches of the river than himself.

Zhong Yitong looked at the two sides of the strait and said; "Oh, this is Yiling (near present-day Yichang), and a short distance further on, we will see the cliffs on both sides of the river, and the river roaring like thunder."

Ding Huaiyue said questioningly: "Is there really such a danger ahead?" ”

Zhong Yitong replied affirmatively: "Of course, you will know when you arrive." ”

Xiao Bu was not at ease with the small boat, pulled Ding Huaiyue, and took a sailor, and immediately rushed out of the fleet on a shipwreck, staring at the small boat in front of him covertly.

The man in the small boat in front seemed to notice that a boat was following, and it was moving as slowly as possible close to the river.

Ding Huaiyue's eyes stared at the boat and said, "There must be a ghost, look at it quickly, slowly, it wants to get rid of us." ”

"Just overtake them, pinch it up like this, and see what tricks it can play." Xiao Bu suggested.

In early spring, the river water seems unusually calm. He shouted the command "one, two, three", and several men rowed in unison, and the little ship rushed forward like an arrow off the string, and in a few moments it was parallel to the suspicious boat.

Xiao Bu shouted to the captain on the ship, "Hey, what are you guys doing? ”

"Fisherman." The man in the boat replied simply that the straw hat he wore on his head covered his face.

"Oh, may I ask, how far is it from here to Danyang (now Zigui and Xiling)?" Xiaobu deliberately found something to say.

The man in the straw hat on the boat deliberately rowed very slowly, without raising his head, and said, "At your speed, you can reach it in ten hours." ”

"Oh, oh, then you go slowly, we won't wait." Xiao Bu Ying said, making the followers scratch harder.

On the boat, Zhuang Ji took out a piece of cloth, carefully unfolded it, and carefully inspected the map of the Yangtze River system handed over by King Xiang when Ning left.

"Brother Zhuang, it's time for breakfast." Ah Cai said with a smile on her face as she held the steaming rice bowl, "This is the fish I asked the guards to catch in the water, and the small fish soup was boiled, but it's fresh, you can drink it while it's hot." ”

Zhuang Ji raised his head and glanced at Ah Cai and said, "You? When did you turn to this boat? ”

Ah Cai smiled and said, "Oh, last night, that Zhong Baichang quietly sent it to me in a small boat, and I said that I was afraid of alarming you, so I leaned in the corner of the cabin until dawn." ”

Zhuang Ji said with concern: "Look at you, you should also tell me when you get on the boat at night, at least I can arrange a sleeping place for you." Alas, you have come with you to suffer sin. If your sister hears about it, I don't know how to blame me. ”

"Brother Zhuang can't say that, no matter how much suffering he suffers, no matter how big the sin he suffers, it's all Ah Cai's willingness." She handed her breakfast, "Don't say anything else, eat it while it's hot." ”

Zhuang Ji pushed the soup bowl and said: "Don't care about me, you have to rest more, you have been imprisoned in the palace for so many days, and your body is hungry, so you should drink it, it is important to make up for your body first." ”

"Ahem, ahem." There were two rings at the door.

The soup bowl that Ah Cai was holding was dangling in his hand, and the soup splashed on Zhuang Ji's hand, almost shaking the bowl out of his hand.

Zhuang Ji looked at it and asked, "Wu Shixun, how did you get here?" Aren't you on the lieutenant general's ship? ”

Wu Shixun's footsteps stopped outside the door, his eyes deliberately looked at the side of the ship and said, "I'm sorry General, I took such a rash time to leave this ship, I came to your ship by small boat." ”

"Okay, if you have something, just say it." Zhuang Ji waved his head slightly and motioned for Ah Cai to go out. With an unhappy face, she withdrew from the door with the steaming bowl of fish soup.