The underground tunnel of Qi Palace is an arched tunnel made of square rocks with a length of one foot and a width of one foot, and the traces left by filling the rock cracks with wheat straw and soil can still be seen on the top of the passage. But at a height of a foot above the ground, the loess in the cracks of the stone was gone because of the rain all year round, and it was replaced by patches of dark green moss that spread and grew. For two hundred years, those monarchs who sat in the Ming Hall and trembled have long since turned into a pinch of loess, trampled under their feet, but the moss that has not seen the light of day has grown luxuriantly and lived wantonly.

Qi Hou walked behind us without saying a word. Shirtless led me step by step on the dry rocks. After walking for about half an hour, many long boulders suddenly appeared in front of me. These boulders are like big trees growing in the ground, with their feet on the earth and their heads on the vaulted ceiling, blocking our path with their huge bodies. There are countless palm-wide gaps between the boulders, and the hand can reach into it, but the head cannot be squeezed through.

"You wait here, I'll open the passage." Wuxian squeezed my hand and walked towards the right side of the stone forest with the torch. There, there is a secret passage dug for Qi Zhuang's public and private wives. Zhuang Gong, who was walking in this secret passage, had already become the ghost of his lover's husband's sword. More than seventy years later, this secret passage of death, which killed one monarch, became an escape route for another. It's hard to predict how things can change.

Qi Hou and I stood in the dark, our eyes occasionally intertwined but we didn't speak, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"How long has Lu Ji been gone?" Qi Hou suddenly asked.

"Well, three quarters of an hour! This secret passage is less than a mile, and they should have left the city safely by this time. ”

"This is the home of the widow, but you know you better than the widow! Ho, no wonder Chen Heng always called the widow 'half-bastard' in the backyard, he was really right. Qi Hou smiled bitterly and said.

The Qi people call fools "half-bastards", a monarch is called a fool by his own courtiers, and at this time he followed two Jin people to escape in a secret passage that he didn't know, so you can imagine what he feels in his heart at the moment.

Because Qi Hou's words were bitter and astringent, it was difficult for people to answer, so I could only change my mouth and ask: "The foreign minister heard that the right minister has left the palace to transfer troops, and he may soon be able to return to the inner palace with the Linzi defenders." ”

"Ah Shi—" On the other side, Wuxian had already removed the boulder blocking the entrance to the secret passage, and he raised his torch and waved at us.

"Let's go!" Qi Hou glanced at me, turned around and walked to the right, and said as he walked, "The Qihua Gate that connects with the big city was blocked by Chen Heng's people from the outside, and before the right minister had time to leave the palace, Chen's people had already attacked." ”

"Where is the right minister now? Why didn't he come with us? I quickly followed Qi Hou and asked in surprise.

"He used himself as bait, and found someone to pretend to be a widow, and now he has led people to break through from the north gate and lure away Chen Heng's soldiers and horses."

"How many men did the right minister bring?"

"The widow's palace is full of guards who are in the same stream as Chen Heng, how can there be any other people? It's just forty swordsmen who are willing to throw their heads away for the outnumbered! Qi Hou's voice darkened at the end, and he swallowed twice and couldn't speak.

"Your Excellency, you go in first, and I'll block the door behind me." Wuxian handed the torch to Qi Hou, and Qi Hou burrowed into the secret passage.

Take yourself as bait and lead the troops to break through. I can't imagine that this right phase Kan Zhi still has this blood? Although I don't like Kan Zhi, his death is also beneficial to the Jin Kingdom, but with forty people, he dared to break through the north gate and lead Chen Heng away, but it really made me admire, and he really deserved the word "gentleman".

"What are you doing in a daze? Let's go! Wushirt slapped me, and I quickly leaned down and followed.

It is a cramped, low passageway, because there are large stones at both ends of the entrance, so after more than 70 years of closure, the air inside has long been muddy. The smell was strange, not the stench of decaying corpses, but the lifeless, musty smell of decay. The smell reminded me of the palace that hung above my head, of the country entrenched in the East, the erosion of which had made it impossible to resist decay and decay.

Before the torch in Wuxian's hand was extinguished, the three of us finally came to the exit of the culvert and the water outside Linzi City. Here, a few beams of azure light filtered in through the thick vine leaves, and I listened to the sound of running water in my ears, and the boulder hanging in my heart fell to the ground.

We escaped, and we finally escaped smoothly with Qi Hou!

Lifting the lush green vines, the endless stream of water sang and flowed a few inches below our feet. I watched the river beneath my feet with a sudden feeling of being released after a long pent-up, a feeling that rushed through my chest and made me want to shout a few times regardless of it.

Wuxian was overjoyed to see me, but his face sank: "Don't be too happy now, when we get here, we can only escape from Chen Heng's claws, if we want to really escape from his eyes, we must first go to Liuzhoudu to meet our people." ”

"yes, I know."

"Widow...... Won't swim. Qi Hou lifted the vines and looked at the surface of the river that was more than ten zhang wide and rolled in waves, and grabbed the rattan at the entrance of the cave tightly.

"Your Excellency, don't worry." Wuxian walked to Qi Hou's side, lowered his head and took out a plain bronze mirror smaller than the palm of his palm from his arms. He pulled open the vines and gently shook the bronze mirror by the reflection of the sunlight.

After the light flickered, a boatman wearing a bamboo hat and a short linen robe jumped from a large tree on the other side of the river. With a swift movement, he dragged a small boat from behind the tree, and then rubbed the grass on the embankment and pushed the boat straight into the river.

"Who did you arrange?" I looked at the shirtless and said in surprise.

"Well, most of the estates of the Guo clan and the Gao clan are in the northwest. We are now going against the current to Liuzhou first, and then send someone to escort Zun to Gaowan City in the north. Shirtless tucked the bronze mirror back into his arms, lowered his head and pulled out the hem of my skirt pinned to his waist and patted it twice, "If you bear with me, everything will be fine." ”

"Master—" Someone outside Qingteng called.

"The boat has arrived, let's go!" Shirtless tore open the vines and took one of my arms and lowered me from the hole.

As soon as my foot stepped on the board, Qi Hou and Wuxian jumped onto the boat.

When the boatman saw that we were on board, he hurriedly put a penny in his hand and pushed it west in the direction of the current.

"Your Excellency, take off the robes you wear in the palace first! Change into the clothes of the common people, so that it is not easy to be noticed. Shirtless took out a bag from the stern of the boat, which contained several sets of burlap coats of silk and blue.

Qi Hou Jin is used to eating and wearing gorgeous clothes, where can he wear such rough and simple clothes? He touched an indigo robe with his hand, immediately retracted it, and subconsciously glanced at it, as if the rough linen had just cut his hand.

"This dress is a bit of a cut, but the clothes of the temple people must not be worn. While there is no one at this time, let the foreign ministers serve you and replace them! I put down my clothes and got up and shook off the coarse linen blue coat.

Qi Hou replied with a loud voice, took off the black gauze crown on his head and untied the temple man's robe and put it aside, and said with a wry smile: "This is the third time that the widow has changed his clothes today, from changing into the crown clothes of the Linzhao Dynasty to the linen clothes of this commoner, it has only been two hours......

"As long as Your Excellency arrives in Gaowan City safely, you will soon be able to change back into your crown robe. Now, please bear with me. "I only thought that the coarse linen blue robe in my hand was a brocade robe embroidered with gold silk, and I respectfully helped Qi Hou put it on his body.

Qi Hou, who had changed into the clothes of the concubine, sat on the side of the ship with his head half-tilted, and he sat there in a daze, looking at the tall and majestic city walls of Linzi City and the city towers of green tiles and vermilion eaves, which were gradually moving away from us.

Three days ago, in the small pavilion, he raised his crown and purple clothes to drink freely, and even if he was happy in the bitterness, he still had some royal bearing. But at this moment, he seemed to have been drained of all his essence and blood, leaving only a depressed and confused heart, hanging in an empty skin bag.

This is his sorrow, the sorrow of having the heart to kill the enemy, but not being able to return to heaven......

In the distance, the bustling and lively Linzi City is still open to welcome caravans from all countries in the world, his former master, and now the down-and-out Qi Jun is following us farther and farther.

The shirtless changed into a set of colored summer clothes and tore off the beard on his face. I changed into an indigo blue linen shortcoat like Qi Hou, tied a crimson skirt around Luo's skirt, and finally wrapped all my long hair in a large thin kudzu blue square scarf. Wuxian was afraid that my face would be too attractive, so he simply smeared a handful of river mud on my face.

From time to time, there will be merchant merchants and vendors driving horse-drawn carts and carrying goods on the embankment on both sides of the river. In their eyes, what sat in this small boat was a stunned old father and a pair of children who looked around.

The boat had been in the water for about three quarters of an hour, and the midday sun had risen overhead, and the mud on my face had been dried by the sun, and the slightest movement kept pouring mud powder down.

"How much longer?" I asked shirtless.

"It'll be there in a moment."

I had a dry mouth, and when I saw a water bladder at the bottom of the boat, I picked it up. But at this moment, Qi Hou was sitting next to me, and I was embarrassed to drink it myself, so I asked him first: "Your Excellency, the sun is fierce, drink some water!" ”

Since Qi Hou couldn't see Linzi City, his eyes became more and more dull. When I saw him shake his head, I pulled out the lid and poured a few mouthfuls of water into his mouth.

At this time, a large wooden basin painted with bright paint floated down the river from the opposite side of the tie water, and two dolls of a large and small size sat in front of the other and one behind the other. The big one put his hands into the water and made a paddle, and paddled backwards with his bent body. The little one was naked, with only a pigtail tied on top of his head with a red rope, and he was playing with a bamboo pipe with his head down.

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