The current dividing line between the kingdom of Annam and the state of Champa is the mountain range south of Ha Jing City. To the north of Hejing City is the land of Annan; To the south, the Hue region was still occupied by the Champa states.

Both countries are flat and densely populated along the coast. There are many cities along the coast of Annan, from south to north, there are Ha Tinh, Yi An (Rong City), Yanzhou (Huangmei), Thanh Hoa, Hua Lu (Nanding). The western hills and mountainous areas are difficult to control, and to the west of Yi'an and Yanzhou, there are only two county towns such as Lu Nian.

In the vast mountainous areas west of Yanzhou and Thanh Hoa, the mountains are crisscrossed, the jungles are dense, and the roads are difficult, and official power is almost non-existent. Now the temporary center of the Li Li forces is in this mountainous area.

Abundant sunshine and a warm climate throughout the year allowed the mountains and jungles to be abundant, and the scattered small fields were harvested several times a year, allowing the rebels to sustain themselves for a long time.

At the end of October, Nguyen Khanh Gi returned to Le Li's estate and learned that the envoys who accompanied the Champan envoys to the Champa had returned ahead of schedule. Those people did not go to the capital of Champa State, but only to Hue City, and met the ministers of the King of Champa in the official office, confirming the identity of the Champa envoys.

When Ruan Jingyi and the other four set off, they were not all the way with the envoys of the Champa State; The officials of the Champa State did not dare to openly accept the stolen goods, for fear of retaliation from the Ming army, and Nguyen Jingyi could only find merchants in Da Nang.

With a "bang", Ruan Jingyi opened the big burden in front of Li Li, and some gold and silver nuggets were scattered to the ground, and there was a rope bed, two thin clothes, and a knife in the baggage.

Ruan Jingyi said: "The minister did not disgrace the mission of pacifying the king, and exchanged the goods for gold and silver, but it was just ......" He immediately turned his head to look at the minister Ruan Jian, and said with a guilty face, "Ruan Qi and the others have escaped with the minister, I am afraid that it will be more than lucky." We were in the west of Hue in the Champa country, and we were attacked by gangsters; Ruan Qi waited for the queen of the palace to ask the ministers to go first, and then failed to meet. This matter may not be known for a while because the merchants of Da Nang leaked the news. ”

Ruan Jian frowned, but did not open his mouth to blame Ruan Jingyi. Li Li only observed Ruan Jingyi's eyes.

And Ruan Jingyi's eyes are mainly focused on Ruan Jian. Because according to the rhetoric, Ruan Jingyi has completed the errand of the king of Pingding, and there is no need to be sorry for the king of Pingding; He's sorry for the only person he can do.

Ruan Jingyi said: "When the minister goes to Da Nang again, he will definitely find out who the villain is!" ”

Li Li nodded and said, "Ruan Qing mourns." ”

Ruan Jian was very calm, and said: "The ministers are ready to serve the king in order to pacify the king. ”

Ruan Jian said, squatted down in front of the baggage, gently pulled away Ruan Jingyi's clothes and looked at it, pulled out half of the knife, put it in front of his nose and sniffed it.

Li Li is very knowledgeable, and the strategist he has won over does have some insight. However, Ruan Jingyi had already pondered that his clothes were not stained with blood, and the knife that killed him was not his own. Human blood is very strange, as long as it is stained, it is not easy to clean, and there are always traces in the blood groove, the gap between the knife handle, etc.

There is also the rope bed, which happens to be the one that Ruan Qi sleeps on. At that time, Ruan Qi wanted to escape, and after jumping off the rope bed, he was killed.

Li Li glanced at Ruan Jian, and then said to Ruan Jingyi: "This kind of thing is already dangerous, and accidents will inevitably occur. General Nguyen had a long journey, so let's go and rest first. ”

Ruan Jingyi clenched his fists and said, "Yes." ”

He then saluted Ruan Gong and said, "Ruan Gong ......"

Ruan recommended that "the matter of pacifying the king is important, and you have done your best." ”

Ruan Jingyi had no choice but to leave, leaving Li Li and Ruan Jian in the living room. When he walked out of the door, he inevitably looked slightly sideways with some nervousness, and glanced at the door again.

In fact, even Ruan Jian is most concerned about not necessarily the life and death of his own brother. There is an even greater risk in this matter: if Le Li decides to attack Chen Zhengyuan's guards, then Nguyen Jingyi may leak the news.

Because when he met with the envoys of the Champa State and discussed important matters, Ruan Jingyi was also one of the few people present.

However, Ruan Jingyi had to take a risk. If he didn't kill Ruan Qi and the others, he wouldn't have the opportunity to act alone and secretly convey the news to the Ming army.

Ruan Jingyi came to the room where he was living before, which was a somewhat cramped house. In the small manor, there are a lot of people living at this time, and those who can have a separate bedroom are all people with some status.

However, the small room gave Ruan Jingyi some comfort. The hut is probably not so dangerous at a glance.

Ruan Jingyi has long believed that the news of the Champa state is credible. On this point, Li Li, Ruan Jian, and Ruan Jingyi's judgments are all consistent.

At the beginning, as soon as Ruan Jingyi saw the seal letter of the envoy of the Champa state, he thought that the possibility of forgery was very small. And the king of Champa himself will not be at odds with the rebels of Lili; For Annam's attempt to annex Hue, Da Nang and other places, the king of Cham hated it deeply.

The Hue area has large flat rice fields, and Da Nang is a famous port that has flourished for many years. Once the Champa lost these two places, its national strength would be greatly weakened.

In the regimes of the Hu family, Emperor Jian Ding, and Emperor Chongguang, Ruan Jingyi's family has always been a family of generals, and it is indeed a local force in the Kingdom of Annam, and its identity is very credible. Li Li and the others should be willing to believe Ruan Jingyi.

Besides, if Li Li didn't believe him, why didn't he mention the possibility of leaking the news just now? Li Li and Ruan Jian both have room for affection, and they are reluctant to Ruan Jingyi, a general, and they should not be too suspicious!

Ruan Jingyi was like this, constantly thinking back and forth, comforting himself. Of course, nothing could dispel his fears, he couldn't sleep at all, his eyes kept on the bedroom door.

There have been countless scenes like this in my mind: a group of sergeants suddenly slammed open the door and came up and held him down!

Ruan Jingyi is already weak-hearted, not to mention that life and death are all in the thoughts of others, how can he really feel at ease?

He rolled over and climbed up, opening the door to get some air, when the guards in the hallway came into his sight. Ruan Jingyi paced two steps and walked straight to the north.

"Miss Ruan is in there?" Ruan Jingyi took the initiative to ask a guard at the gate of the courtyard.

The guard said: "Back to General Ruan, she should be in the room, and the little ones didn't see her go out." ”

Ruan Jingyi pointed inside: "I want to have a few words with her." ”

"General Ruan, please." The guard said.

Ruan Jingyi walked to the door of the house where Ruan Lanfang lived, and when he saw that the door was closed, he stretched out his hand and knocked twice. After a while, Ruan Lanfang opened the door, only to see that her eyes were red and she must have cried more than once.

"Miss Ruan, I'm ......" Before Ruan Jingyi's words could speak, Ruan Lanfang suddenly stuffed the bracelet into Ruan Jingyi's hand.

Lan Fang said: "Take it well, don't come to me again." ”

Ruan Jingyi held the bracelet in his hand, looked at Lan Fang and said, "No one wants that kind of thing to happen, I'd rather die by myself." ”

His performance was so real that he almost believed it. He'd done that before, and he even remembered the visceral feeling.

Sure enough, such a tone and rhetoric seemed to make Lan Fang's heart soften a little. Lan Fang said: "I don't blame you for the matter of the second brother. But even if I didn't have that, I wouldn't want to see you. You don't want to be strong. ”

Ruan Jingyi opened his mouth and said: "I will never be strong, I have no other meaning." If there is anything that can help Miss Ruan, I will do it. ”

"You go back." Lan Fang raised her head and finally glanced at him.

Ruan Jingyi looked at the beauty in front of him and was silent for a while.

He certainly had no intention of currying favor with Lan Fang; If he wanted to get her, Ruan Jingyi was willing to choose an easier way.

Lan Fang's appearance is indeed the kind he likes. But now Ruan Jingyi is only interested in the body of a beauty, after all, a good-looking skin is something that can be seen and touched. And the heart of a beautiful woman is mostly very boring and strange; He had no curiosity, no interest, just boring.

At this moment, the scene is full of lies and hypocrisy, and even Ruan Jingyi himself feels disgusted; He will also be reminded of the past that makes him regret and shame, and he will hate himself even more.

But he thinks that showing his affection for Ruan's sister seems to be good for disguise. You can also find a reasonable explanation for some of his strange behaviors, such as his current restlessness.

Obviously, Lan Fang didn't care if Ruan Jingyi liked her or not. Ruan Jingyi's deception is just for showing and showing others.

Lan Fang said no more, and then closed the door.

Ruan Jingyi also turned around and left the door. He walked out of this courtyard, and when he was in the corridor, he happened to meet Ruan Jian who had returned.

"Ruan Gong." Ruan Jingyi politely greeted first.

Ruan Jian glanced at the bracelet on his hand, approached the salute, and sighed: "My brother and sister have a good relationship, and they are often busy with business after they get married, and the relationship between the second brother and the third sister is closer. If she is angry with General Nguyen, you don't have to worry too much. The third sister is not an unreasonable person, she will figure it out in the future. ”

"Anyway, it was my fault, I should have been the queen at that time." Ruan Jing said.

Ruan Jian glanced at him: "My second brother knows what he is capable of, and he understands it very well in his heart. If he is allowed to finish the work of pacifying the king alone, he may not be able to come back. ”

Ruan Jingyi bowed sincerely, "Thank you Ruan Gong." ”

"General, let's go and rest, we have something important to do lately." Ruan Jian nodded, and then said in a deep voice, "The affairs of children are still up to the father and brother. ”

Ruan Jingyi hurriedly said: "What Ruan Gong said is very true, farewell." ”

After saying goodbye, Ruan Jingyi walked all the way back to his residence, feeling a little relieved.

The past two days are still like years, and Ruan Jingyi has survived it with a hard face.

Until Li Li summoned him and ordered him to mobilize the scattered forces of some areas; Ruan Jingyi was convinced that Li Li and the others had basically dispelled their doubts, and they made a judgment that there was nothing wrong with Ruan Jingyi. What's going on here, Ruan Jingyi doesn't know.

Li Li had already made up his mind, and in front of the important civil and military forces, he said as follows: "The greatest enemy of our country today is the puppet king Chen Zhengyuan, who is attached to the ship. Only by dismantling the rule of those national thieves can our military and civilians have the opportunity to completely drive the shipwrecks out of the country. On the day of the king Zhongxing Dayue, it was the time for all the feudal princes to pay their respects. ”