Early in the morning, the guests of Donglai Inn were awakened by a loud noise. Someone pushed open the door to check, only to find that a large number of government officials had come, these officials were fully armed, holding iron chains, knives and sticks in their hands, and the entire inn was surrounded by water, and there were more than a dozen prisoners squatting in the middle of the inn lobby.

The shopkeeper of the Donglai Inn, Boss Qian, was respectfully accompanying Tian Zhutou at this time.

"Tian Zhutou, Xiaomin really doesn't know that a few of them are horse thieves, you said that they are dressed like a caravan, and the little old man can't see it, if I had known, I would have informed you early in the morning." Boss Qian had a bitter face and was busy explaining. A wanted horse thief was found in his shop, and he was suspected of not being able to clear his name.

"This matter, this head catcher will investigate clearly, do you know whether you know or not, it's not up to you to say it, understand?" Tian Zhutou sneered, looked up at the roof and said.

"The little old man knows that Tian Zhutou will handle it impartially, and the little old man will be fair, these ...... It is a little bit of the little old man's heart, and he should give the brothers a drink. Boss Qian sneered and stuffed a few pieces of silver into Tian Zhutou's hand.

Tian Zhutou snorted coldly and said with a smile: "Eat wine? Doesn't this inn sell wine? ”

"Huh? This one...... Oh, this is naturally there, so at noon today, the right little old man will be the east, and the banquet will be held by Tian Zhutou and all the brothers, what do you think? Boss Qian understood and said busily.

"Some of my brothers are on duty at noon and can't come." Tian Zhu's head seemed to himself muttering to himself.

The corners of Boss Qian's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Then please ask again in the evening, Tian Zhutou is busy with official business, and I also know this." ”

When Tian Zhutou heard this, his wooden face finally showed a smile, and he picked up the silver in his hand.

At this time, the three Li Ce brothers were standing in the corridor on the second floor and looking down.

"Big brother, look at the insatiable appearance of the man surnamed Tian, he is clearly taking the opportunity to blackmail, is it okay to hand over people to him?" Di Qing said worriedly.

"That can't be helped, you can't take them on the road." Li Ce smiled bitterly.

"If you want me to say, you should have listened to me last night, and it would save you trouble if you got them on the spot." Guan Zhen said with some dissatisfaction.

"Horse bandits are also a human life, not to mention that they have already paid the price last night." Li Ce said lightly.

"Senior brother, you are the benevolence of a woman, today I have to teach that surnamed Xue a hard lesson, don't stop me when the time comes." Guan Zhenyao pointed to Xue Shengxing below.

At this time, Xue Shengxing was talking to Tian Zhutou with a smile, but he casually glanced at Scarface.

The three of them saw it really upstairs, and looking at Xue Shengxing's dodging eyes, it was clear that there was a ghost.

"No, it's not the time to tear our faces, we just need to know about it." Li Ce hurriedly stopped.

Di Qing also said: "Why? Let Guan Zhen give him some color to look at it to deter him, lest he do something more out of the ordinary. ”

Li Ce explained: "It's naturally not difficult to simply beat him, but after you beat him, you still have to go on the road with him, but if you beat him, he must be resentful, although we are not afraid of him, but being remembered by a villain is not a good thing after all." ”

Guan Zhen pouted and said, "I'm afraid he will do something!" ”

Li Ce waved his hand and said, "You listen to me first." It's a long way to the capital, and He Ruinian can't make a plan, and there will definitely be a plan, and those enemies hidden in the dark are the deadliest. Let's keep Xue Shengxing and make good use of this traitor, so that he can pass on the wrong information to the assassins, so that they can also be confused. As for you trying to beat him, hehe, it's not too late when we arrive in the capital. ”

"Big brother analyzes it." Di Qing nodded in agreement.

Guan Zhen thought about it for a long time and saw that Di Qing also clapped his hands and said yes, so he had to say: "Okay, since the second brother also said so, then I have no opinion." ”

Li Ce looked at Xue Shengxing's smiling appearance, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

After breakfast, the group hit the road again.

From the beginning of breakfast, Xue Shengxing led a group of officials to sit far away deliberately, Li Ce made eye contact with him several times, he quickly dodged, never dared to look directly at him, Li Ce knew that he had a ghost in his heart, but secretly sneered.

On the way, the little official said to the old officer: "Old Song, Xue Tou seems to have something on his mind today. ”

The old servant glanced at Xue Shengxing's figure and said, "I can see it too, but since he doesn't say it, let's not meddle in things." Got it? ”

The little servant nodded, looked around and whispered, "What the hell is going on this morning?" Last night, I heard the sound of fighting and scolding upstairs, how could those horse bandits come to rob and kill Xiao Li Xianggong and them? ”

The old man frowned, he pulled the reins in his hand, the horse slowed down, and he said halfway: "I'm afraid last night's matter is not so simple, we are just the officials who escort the prisoners, as long as we arrive in the capital, we will complete the task, don't worry about other things." ”

Xue Shengxing rode alone to the side, he kept looking down and frowning, he was thinking about what happened last night! Why did the final result be that Ma Sanye was caught by mistake, and he was beaten with a blue nose and swollen face, which is too unbelievable...... In fact, when he woke up this morning and found out about it, he was so shocked that his eyes almost fell out.

He also heard the movement upstairs last night, and he thought that the painful ** sound was Li Ce and a few people, but he didn't expect it to be Ma Sanye and them, and I don't know if he confessed himself, but when he saw him this morning, he didn't seem to confess himself, otherwise according to the temper of that official, he would have been unlucky for a long time, Xue Shengxing continued to comfort himself.

After walking for more than four hours in the morning, Li Ce and the three of them were talking and laughing at the front, and the officials in the back were also talking and laughing, but Xue Shengxing was the only one who was sullen and looked preoccupied.

Li Ce secretly observed his movements, and said in his heart: You can't pretend, your heart is all written on your face, just like you, you still learn from others to be a bad person?

Approaching noon, everyone saw a tea shed in front of them, they stopped to rest, due to the hot weather, everyone was tied to the horse and couldn't wait to sit in the tea shed, only Xue Shengxing alone grinded on the ground for a long time to bolt the horse.

"Xue Tou, I'll come, you rest." The little officer was diligent and ran out again to take the reins.

"No, no, I'm not thirsty." Xue Shengxing said incoherently, and as he spoke, he pushed the little official to ask him to go back. The little servant looked at him puzzled, and had to walk back in embarrassment.

"Boss, do you have anything to eat?" Li Ce asked.

The one who ran the tea shed was an old man, and there was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child running the hall, it seemed that it was the grandfather and grandson, and the child hurriedly trotted over when he heard Li Ce's greeting: "Guest officer, there are only steamed buns in this wilderness, how many do you want?" ”

"Let's start with three." Li Ce said.

The officials sat down at another table, asked for a few steamed buns, and ate tea.

Guan Zhen bit the steamed bun and said in a low voice: "The person surnamed Xue is slow to come in, what the hell is he doing?" ”

Di Qing first looked around, and then whispered, "He must be leaving a mark, so that people know which way we are taking." ”

As he was talking, Xue Shengxing suddenly sighed and said, "I have a stomachache, go and make it easier." Holding his stomach, he hurried to the grass on the side of the road with an impatient look.

Li Ce sneered and said, "It's finally here, and let him toss, let's be more careful." ”

Everyone had almost eaten, and Xue Shengxing also came back, his face was full of light, as if it was really convenient to go just now.

"When you're full of food and drink, let's hit the road." Li Ce patted his clothes, except for the tea shed, and said as he led the horse.

"The sun at noon is so poisonous, don't you rest?" Xue Shengxing was stunned for a moment and said, according to Li Ce's consistent style, he would never be so wronged by himself.

"I'm afraid that it will be delayed, so I won't stop." After speaking, Li Ce stepped on the horse, and Di Qing and Guan Zhen also followed.

The officials were reluctant, and it could be seen that Li Ce had already started to walk on his horse, so he had no choice but to turn over and keep up. Xue Shengxing touched his shriveled stomach, hurriedly bought two steamed buns and put them in his arms, ready to eat on the road.

The summer midday sun is extremely poisonous, and everyone sweats after walking under the scorching sun for a while, and even the horses are a little irritable when they sit down, and they stop from time to time.

The old servant finally couldn't help but shout: "Li Xianggong, the heat is unbearable, it is better to take a break and let the horses rest for a while." ”

Li Ce was actually uncomfortable with the early heat, but in order to disrupt Xue Shengxing's plan, he had to grit his teeth and hold on. He didn't speak, but Di Qing said: "Xiangzhou is ahead, and after Xiangzhou is the capital, we must arrive in Xiangzhou tonight." ”

"What? Arriving in Sangju tonight? The officials shouted in a low voice.

"Isn't there a small Qingzhou in front of Xiangzhou? I think I can settle down in Xiaoqingzhou tonight. Why should we be in such a hurry, the date set by the imperial court is half a month! Xue Shengxing said loudly.

"I'm afraid that the assassins will come again, and I will have a long night of dreams, so it's better to do it as soon as possible." Li Ce stared at him with burning eyes and said bluntly.

Xue Shengxing's face flushed, he was afraid that he would expose himself, so he hurriedly said to himself, "Oh, it's too hot, so hot that my old Xue's face is red, since that's the case, let's not delay, let's go quickly." ”

Li Ce looked at him pretending to be a gesture, sneered, and then raised his horsewhip, "Drive!" With a bang, the horse sped forward.

In the afternoon, everyone arrived in Xiaoqingzhou, and as soon as they entered the town, Xue Shengxing shouted that he was hungry and had to eat before leaving.

Guan Zhen didn't agree, and only said that he would buy some food and eat on the way, but he didn't expect Li Ce to agree to eat and then go on the road.

When entering the inn, Guan Zhen grabbed Li Ce and said, "Senior brother, can't you see that this surnamed Xue is obviously deliberately delaying time?" ”

Li Ce chuckled, "How could I not know. ”

"And you agree to delay again?" Guan Zhen said urgently.

"Oh, Guan Zhen, just listen to the eldest brother, the eldest brother must already have an idea." Di Qing grabbed Guan Zhen's shoulders and pushed him into the inn.

After entering the inn and the three of them sat down, Li Ce looked around and realized why Xue Shengxing was missing, he hurriedly got up and walked to the table of the officials and said, "Old Song, where are you Xue Tou?" ”

The old servant said: "Just now Xue Tou said that his stomach hurts and he went out to buy some medicine." ”

Li Ce squinted his eyes and nodded with a smile.

"Old Song, this little Li Xianggong is so strange." After Li Ce left, the little official whispered.

"Shhh, be quiet, don't look at him as polite, this person is not simple, let's not get involved in the matter between him and Xue Tou." The old servant reprimanded in a low voice, this old servant has lived for most of his life, and he has seen all kinds of people, and with his veteran vision, he has long seen that Xue Shengxing and Li Ce have seen that there is a festival, but the two of them have not torn their faces.

"What's the situation?" After Li Ce sat down, Di Qing asked.

"The surname Xue really left with an excuse, let's tease him first." Li Ce took a sip of tea and chuckled.

"What, big brother wants to change his mind and plan to stay here tonight?" Di Qing asked.

"Yes, the second brother understands me." Li Ce smiled and patted Di Qingdao.

"This time Xue Shengxing was miserable by you, he didn't eat all day, and when he came back and heard the news, he had a stomachache or went out to buy medicine, haha......" Di Qing couldn't help but tease.