On the sixteenth day of the first month of the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, the northern suburbs of the capital were covered with ice and snow. As soon as the sky showed a glimmer of morning light, the hundred-man cavalry team led by Zhu Qiming appeared three miles away from Anding Gate.

"Phew!"

Zhu Qiming stationed on the horse, looking at the outline of the capital from afar, as if he had come to a strange and boring city, his face was indifferent, and his heart was like water.

"Your Highness, why did the emperor send you to Beijing?"

Shi Feng, who was accompanying him, endured all the way, and finally spit out the doubts in his heart before he was about to step into the capital. Not long ago, Ah Xiang had just given birth to a son, and Shi Feng had been promoted to a father.

Zhu Qiming looked at the snow scene in front of him lightly, and only after a long time did he turn his eyes to Shi Feng, "Don't ask more." Leave ten guards, you quickly take the rest back to Xuanfu and tell Tang Ji to summon the people of the villages near Longmen River to train their troops. ”

Shi Feng's eyes widened in surprise, "Your Highness, what do you mean by this?" ”

"Sooner or later, the Yuefu guards will have to evacuate Longmen River, and after the guards leave, the local villagers can only protect themselves." Zhu Qiming barely had a smile on his face, "Your wife and children can't wander around with you, they also have to be protected." He ordered the guards to strengthen the walls around the camp, and once they were ordered to evacuate, they would leave behind those muskets and cannons for the people to use, hoping that in this way, the village names would have a place of refuge in the event of war. ”

"Obey the order!"

"Drive!"

Zhu Qiming instigated the war horse, Shi Feng hurriedly waved his hand, and ten guards hurriedly rode their horses to follow behind Zhu Qiming.

It only took a moment to gallop into Andingmen, and the soldiers defending the city let them go when they saw people, and no one came to check the documents.

Walking along Andingmen Street, turn into an east-west path, pass outside the gate of Guozijian, and then turn southbound, through the gap in a snow forest, you can vaguely see the distant shadow of the Lu family's house.

Zhu Qiming lowered his horse speed and slowed down for a while, and saw more than ten plainclothes guards appearing from the forest and stepped forward to salute.

"See His Royal Highness King Yue."

Zhu Qiming turned over and dismounted, threw the reins of the horse to the guards behind him, and rushed at the five plainclothes guards with their jaws, "Is there a strange situation here?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, in the past, the vicinity of the Lu family's house has always been quiet, but since the end of last summer, there are often suspicious people here, because there is no one in charge of the palace, we will come here in shifts, day and night, and when suspicious people approach, they will be driven away immediately, but it is inconvenient to do it. Those people are arrogant and unreasonable, and they don't take anyone in their eyes, and you can see at a glance that they have a great background! One of the guards said.

"Has Yun Niang returned to Beijing?"

"After receiving His Royal Highness's secret order last year, Jia Baihu ordered someone to go to Jiangnan to summon the news, and after receiving the information, Yun Niang returned to Beijing on the day of the New Year's Day, and has been waiting for His Highness for a long time."

"If you encounter a suspicious person forcibly breaking into this place again, if you don't listen to the advice, just take it, don't have any scruples!"

Dropping these words, Zhu Qiming turned around and walked around the fence, pushed the door in.

The snow in the courtyard was cleared, the camellia flowers bloomed in a few places, and beside the thorny hedge, the pink buds hung with plum branches, and the breeze sent wisps of plum fragrance.

The figure in the room flickered, Lu Ziyin walked out slowly, looking straight at Zhu Qiming, as if she had a sense of alienation after parting, until Zhu Qiming stepped forward and held her little hand, she called softly: "Brother Yue Wang." ”

"Sister Ziyin, are your husband and sister all right?"

Lu Ziyin nodded, glanced up at Zhu Qiming, his thoughts instantly matched the past in his memory, and an innocent smile immediately appeared on his face, "Brother Yue Wang, why don't you always come to see Yin'er?" ”

"I wanted to come to see Yin'er earlier, but I have to buy some decent gifts, right? So, I went far, far away, and finally found a delicious pastry called Lazy Lady Cake, which was delivered to my door in a few moments. ”

"Lazy woman? Brother Yue Wang, this name is so weird, giggle······"

"See His Royal Highness King Yue."

The two laughed and laughed before they entered the door, Lu Xi and his wife had already greeted them, and when the two sides saw each other, Lu Xi beckoned Zhu Qiming to enter the main hall and take a seat.

Seeing that Lu Xi and his wife were looking straight at him, and even Sister-in-law Wei was there after seeing the ceremony, and forgot to serve tea, Zhu Qiming hurriedly mentioned the business they cared about.

"Sister Xi Yao lives in a place that seems to be a paradise, everything is fine, no one can harm her, please rest assured that Mr. and Mrs.

Sister-in-law Wei put away the melancholy on her face and approached to serve tea. Lu Xi's and his wife's faces also softened a lot.

Lu Xi sighed, "I heard that the guards guarding here said that there are often suspicious people nearby, it seems that Xi Yao made a fuss in the Forbidden City at the beginning, but I am afraid that she has already made a feud with someone." ”

Zhu Qiming smiled at Lu Ziyin, and Sister-in-law Wei understood, and stepped forward to lead Lu Ziyin towards the backyard.

"Those people just want to take revenge for personal gain, and Xiao Wang has his own way to deal with them. However, I am afraid that people with ulterior motives will take advantage of the chaos to come to the door, so please be careful. Zhu Qiming got up and came to the window, and through the window, he caught a glimpse of ten accompanying guards holding gift boxes and had reached the fence. He turned to face Lu Xi, "Fortunately, you live in Beijing, so you have saved a lot of trouble. ”

Lu Xi got up, "Where did you start with this?" ”

"Everything started because of Xiao Wang, and it has nothing to do with Mr. and Sister Xi Yao. Someone is looking for an opportunity to kidnap Mr. and his family in order to blackmail Xiao Wang. In the final analysis, it was Xiao Wang who affected Mr., and Xiao Wang would never let anyone hurt Mr.'s family! Zhu Qiming returned to his seat, "Please Mr. pack up immediately and go to Jiangnan with his family!" ”

"Ahh Madame Lu stood up in surprise.

Ten guards entered, put the gift boxes on the desk in turn, and then retreated to the courtyard to stand on guard.

"When will you go?" Lu Xi said quietly.

Zhu Qiming pondered for a moment, "In addition to Xiao Wang's guards outside the house, there must be eyes and ears under the brocade clothes, Mr. doesn't know, you want to leave Beijing, I'm afraid it's not easy, wait for Xiao Wang to make some noise, you can choose the opportunity to set off." ”

Lu Xi was stunned when he heard this, "In this way, even if there is a customs clearance document for the teacher, it is in vain!" ”

"Please don't worry, sir." Zhu Qiming walked into Lu Xi and whispered in his ear: "King Yu promised to help, he has a way to send Mr. and his family out of Beijing." ”

Suddenly, there was a shouting of plainclothes guards outside the courtyard.

"Stop!"

"Bold thief, don't hurry up and catch him!"

Zhu Qiming's eyes lit up, and he said to Lu Xi: "I can make the trip tonight!" Yan Bi rushed out quickly, and instructed the little flag in the courtyard: "You all change into civilian clothes, send two people to Xicheng to contact Marley, let him take care of everything, and send Mr. Lu's family out of the city after nightfall; The other two were sent back to Yuefu to summon Yun Niang, and asked her to lead people to hide outside Fucheng Gate before nightfall, and greet Mr. and his family; The rest of the people are stuck here, if someone forcibly breaks into the Lu house, no matter who it is, the sword is ruthless! ”

"Yes!"

Zhu Qiming calmly pushed open the fence gate, slowly walked to the snow-covered dirt road, and caught a glimpse of more than ten zhang away, the Yuefu plainclothes guards captured five strong men.

Just as he was about to step forward to take a look, he suddenly heard an arrogant voice from the south side.

"Who are you? Dare to embarrass the people of the Zhou family, bold! ”