The 32nd section of the team is still moving forward unhurriedly, and according to the distance, it will take four or five days to reach the Qingting grassland of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Now there are almost no mountains in sight, all low hills.

Wu Ming took Qian Jun to his carriage the next day to recuperate, and he himself picked a better dwarf mule horse to ride. There were three large luxury chariots in this procession, all of which were four-horse-drawn. According to Pabri's meaning, an eight-horse carriage should be prepared to show his imperial style, but the mountain road was rugged and the road was narrow, so he had to retreat and replace it with a four-horse cart. Since he is a four-horse cart, Tao Yu can't be compared to him, so naturally he is also a four-horse cart. There is another one, which is Wu Ming's big car.

Of course, Wu Ming didn't have this request, but Pabri had to prepare one for him, and that car later became the exclusive carriage of the Guards Battalion, and Wu Ming didn't care about it, but he didn't expect it to come in handy now.

Seeing Hu Yong get out of the carriage, Wu Ming patted the horse and chased after him, Hu Yong didn't say anything, just shook his head slowly, and his heart couldn't help but sink. Yang Xiong stayed by Qian Jun's side every day, and he knew his illness best, but now that it was confirmed, he was still panicked.

That night, the team rested peacefully, and Wu Ming hastily had dinner, and then went to Tao Yu's camp. In any case, if the Guards Battalion wants to train the new formation, it also needs to get Tao Yu's approval first.

Tao Yu's tent and Pabri were next to each other, and both were set up on a small hill. Li Yuan's command of the troops, the ability to arrange the formation is not to mention, the camp tent of more than 3,000 black armor soldiers surrounded this small hill, looking down from the mountain, it was scattered, but it was also orderly.

Outside the tent of Tao Yu's camp, there are a few paulownia trees, it is late autumn, the weather is cold, and the leaves on the canopy have almost fallen, only a few pieces remain, sparsely hanging on the branches. The wind blew, and the leaves on the ground rolled with it. Tao Yu held the prince's urn, sat on a chair, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and let the autumn wind blow on his face, not moving. A palace maid behind her said softly, "Niangniang, Lord Wu has arrived." ”

Tao Yu didn't look back, and said softly: "You go down, I want to talk to Lord Wu for a while." The two palace maids bowed and slowly retreated. Tao Yu was still staring blankly, and only after a while did he say, "Lord Wu, this is a paulownia tree, do you know?" ”

Wu Ming looked up at Paulownia and replied: "Yes, this thing also grows in my dynasty, but it is divided into several major types, except for a limited number of provinces such as my Chaole Lang, Liante, and Shazhou, it is distributed in other provinces of our dynasty. But the strange thing is that although this thing is very widely distributed, it cannot survive in other countries, and many foreign merchants have brought it back to their hometowns to plant, but they cannot live, which is really strange. ”

Tao Yu turned his head and said, "Lord Wu is really knowledgeable, and even knows this. Wu Ming's old face turned red and muttered, "It's just that I'm bored and turned over." In the past three years, in addition to accompanying the prince's brothers and sisters every day, he squatted in the small library of Tang Ziou, the priest of the country, to read. This is also one of the reasons why Tang Ziou likes Wu Ming.

Tao Yu's delicate and silky right hand stroked the urn, gently and slowly, and she said softly: "Paulownia tree, since this thing has appeared, is the Eastern Han Dynasty far away from us?" It's just that it came to be beautiful, but now, it is a thing or a person, and the old saying says 'hometown is timid', which is probably the case. ”

Wu Ming was stunned, he looked at Tao Yu, and said respectfully: "Niangniang, please mourn, take care of your body." Thinking of the prince's southern expedition, the mighty army of 200,000, and then looking at the thousands of military tents arranged around the hill under the mountain, his heart was also sour. No matter how well Li Yuan's camp was placed, it would be impossible for 3,000 people to exceed the scale of 200,000.

Tao Yu stood up, shook his head, and said, "Lord Wu, you misunderstood what I meant. Do you think that when we get to Qingting Grassland, we will be safe? ”

Zuo Ying had also raised this question before, but now Tao Yu also thought of it, and he couldn't help but ask: "What, is Niangniang worried that the Blue Wolf Army will also rebel?" ”

"It's too early to say rebellion." She looked past Wu Ming and landed straight on another tent not far away. It was Pabli's camp, and at this time it was the silk and bamboo in the camp, and the sound of mimi flowed out of the camp from time to time, mixed with the chuckles of salsa. Many servants and palace maids came in and out of the tent, which was in stark contrast to the desertion in front of Tao Yumen.

"The Green Wolf Army was originally unruly, and when His Royal Highness was there, he also sighed, saying that Liao Qing's ambitions were very heavy, and in recent years, he has used the dispute between the prime minister and Li Tie to run the Blue Wolf Army in the southwest. Now that there is civil strife in the court, I don't know, is my title of the crown princess still useful to him? ”

Wu Ming's heart sank, and he remembered the note he found from Cao Lie's body, since Liao Qing had sent Cao Lie to Nanban to negotiate earlier, not to mention that he had rebelled now, but his disobedience was indeed real. It's just that the content of the note, Liao Qing said very obscurely, only said, "If the prince's face to the north and south is successful, the two sides should strengthen contacts and fight against Persia together." "Really from this paper meaning, Wu Ming can't figure out what kind of medicine is sold in this Liao Qing gourd.

Wu Ming pondered for a moment and said: "Don't think too much about it, Niangniang, I intercepted Cao Lie's secret letter earlier, according to the above content, he shouldn't be sure yet, he just wants to fish in troubled waters and profit from it." ”

Tao Yu sighed and said, "Because of this, we have to take precautions, you killed Cao Lie, if Liao Qing learns about it, with his temper, it will definitely be unfavorable to us."

Wu Ming thought for a while and said: "This is also a problem, but from here back to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the east is the vast Jiyu Forest, the west is Daya Snow Mountain, and only when we go to the Qingting Grassland can we return to the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Pabri will send us to the border at most, and when we get to the Eastern Han Dynasty, even if he wants to help us, there is no way." If we want to go back, we must go through the Wolf Army. ”

Tao Yu held the urn, walked a few steps, stood still under the shadow of the tree, and said: "That's all, take one step at a time, Liao Qing's personal relationship with his father is okay, it shouldn't be unfavorable to me." He really had the intention of fishing in troubled waters, and it would be very beneficial for him to put me back, and I think he could see this clearly. Moreover, this time we went back with great fanfare, and many people in the court watched, forgiving him and not daring to do anything to me. I'm only worried about one thing, that is, he will be unfavorable to you, Lord Wu, after all, Cao Lie is Liao Qing's brother in life and death, and you killed Cao Lie. ”

Wu Ming Tao Yu was upset when he spoke, and he also followed Tao Yu's gaze and looked into the distance. At this time, it is probably the intersection of the time of the month and the time of the sea. The Black Armor Army was very disciplined, except for the camp tent in Pabri, which was still brightly lit on the top of the hill, the rest of the place was shrouded in silver moonlight, and only a few patrolling soldiers carried torches and walked in the camp. A serene scene. He continued: "Niangniang, you don't have to worry, protecting you is our duty, if Liao Qing really wants me to be on the head, what's the harm in giving it to him?" also asked Niangniang to take care of He Yi, return to Zhu Huai, and then do what he thinks. ”

Tao Yu stood there in a daze, and only after a while did he answer: "Lord Wu, please cherish yourself, we orphans and widows, many places will depend on you in the future, I hope you remember His Royal Highness's request to you, I thank you here first." ”

She stood under the tree, and the wind blew, and her loose clothes were wrinkled like a pool of spring water. On the paulownia tree, a leaf was also blown off and swirled down in front of him. Both of them looked at the leaf, and for a moment they were silent and did not speak.

Wu Ming only now realized that Tao Yu's lower abdomen had risen slightly, his heart was hot, and he saluted: "Niangniang, it is our duty to protect the safety of you and the emperor and grandson." Even without His Highness's entrustment, I am duty-bound. ”

"You're a different ......"

Before Wu Ming finished speaking, Tao Yu took over the conversation vividly, and she continued: "After talking for a long time, Lord Wu came to me late at night, there must be something important." Wu Ming thought about it, but still said: "Niangniang, we let the Guards Battalion practice the group battle formation to better protect you and the safety of the emperor and grandson, and I hope to get your approval." ”

Tao Yu smiled, the laughter was exceptionally clear in the night sky, and when it was over, she said slowly: "Lord Wu, you are too cautious." Your Highness can trust you and use you, but it's not just that you have been approved by Chixiao. Another very important point is that you don't have the fame and fortune of ordinary people, which is the most important thing. ”

Wu Ming's heart was shocked, she said that she had no fame and fortune, in fact, she said that she had no ambition. Over the past few years, I have been looking at the things around me as a passer-by. I only think that one day, I will find the true meaning of martial arts, and then return to Earth. Unexpectedly, this detached attitude was favored by those in power, which has to be said to be ironic.

"Actually, now I am a weak woman, Lord Wu, your reputation is now in full swing, if these little things were someone else, it is estimated that they would have been done a long time ago, resulting in a fait accompli, I can't say anything, you are too careful."

Wu Ming sweated profusely, and glanced up at Tao Yu, who was standing upright in the night wind, cold sweat was already trickling down, and he said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Niangniang, the minister has no other meaning, if you think this matter is not feasible, the minister will never dare to trespass." Tao Yu turned around, looked at Wu Ming, smiled slightly, and said: "Lord Wu, you are too careful, now we even have the most basic survival is a problem, naturally the stronger the strength, the better, how to let the limited manpower of the guard battalion exert greater combat power, you still need to worry a lot." ”

Wu Ming bowed his head and said, "Yes." He saluted Tao Yu again, and then walked towards his tent as if he had fled. When he walked to his tent, he looked back again, and saw Tao Yu holding the prince's urn and standing alone under the paulownia tree. A gust of wind blew, rolling up countless fallen leaves. She was still standing there, staring blankly at the bright moon, not knowing what she was thinking.