After a few hours, the Jun River, which had already bathed in the premature sunset, flowed restlessly into the thickening night with a little noise. A small black sail sand boat sailed silently on the river, with only a faint light shining from a cabin near the bow.

In the light of the flickering fire, a black-bandaged hand unfolded a roll of hard silk maps on the wooden table, holding it down with one end and an oil lamp at the other. With one free hand, he drew a dagger from his waist and paddled along the Jun River to the mouth of the river, and then moved up and down the coastline, scraping many white lines on the silk surface.

On the slightly folded map, most of the light brown is the land of China, the small part of the brown is the Aral Sea before and after, the gray nameless field is entrenched in the northwest, the Jun River originates from it, dividing Taiwei and Xuanchen, just like the chain ligament divides the liver into the left and right lobes; on the left lobe of the liver, the most eye-catching is one gold and two red three acupuncture points, the red one is in the north foothills, written "Wusui", one is in the middle of the right, written "Inch Cliff", the golden one lies deep in the southwest hinterland, backed by the Ronghuan Mountain, the Xingjiang River at the foot, "Golden Peak" The two words shone in the candlelight.

The bandaged hand sat on the red dot in the center for a long time, and finally let go. With this release, one end of the map rolled over as if free, and only stopped at the foot of the oil lamp, and the great rivers and mountains were curled up in a thin scroll. If Ge Lan was there, he would have found his hometown in the brown salty sea where the oil lamp was pressing.

"Zhuang Zuo, is there any news?" Qi Zhilai inserted the dagger back into his waist, and a trace of worry flashed on his raised face.

"The matter is in Longqiao, even if Senior Brother Zhuang is just in name, he will inevitably bear some responsibility. ”

The one who replied was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy who sat on a bench with his feet crossed and his tone was innocent. On one side of the bench is a straight-necked deep coat with a purple copper coin pattern that is often worn by the children of merchants. The young man wore only a white linen shirt, and repeatedly rubbed the golden cloisonné parrot in the faint light of the fire, and now he was marching to the beak of the bird, and the nick was very fine, so he rubbed the silk cloth with his nails against the lines repeatedly, and his eyes were about to stick to it.

"The left envoy is talking to you!"

Not far away, two walnuts were thrown into the darkness, one on the helmet and the other on the boy's forehead. A gust of wind suddenly blew outside the porthole, and the flames were deflected, and the woman leaning against the pillar was staring at the young man not far away with a stern expression, showing a stern expression that did not match her age.

The black light is blinding, and such delicate work hurts the eyes. She really wanted to remind her brother of this sentence.

"That's my baby!" In the shadows beyond the firelight, another fiery figure burst out, snatching away the obstacles, eagerly rushing to the young man, holding his knees and kneeling on the ground, ignoring the dust and musty smell on the ground, searching for his precious walnuts.

"It's my baby too. The young man met his anxious gaze, and there may have been some nameless apologies in his heart, but he wanted to be strong on his lips, and he also held his precious helmet, pretending to check to see if there were any more depressions that should not be there.

"There's one here!"

After a long time, the man crawled from the front of the young man to the back, and the young man's slender index finger touched every cent of the golden cloisonné parrot's pocket, and finally put it aside, only to find a swarthy, crumpled little thing in his placket.

"Where?" the man lying on the ground was named Cheng Xudong, but few people called him that.

Dongzi raised his head like a hare that heard the noise, twisted around, and snatched the walnut from the boy's hand.

"You're kidding me......"

At this time, the hull of the ship happened to be bumped, the wooden planks babbled, and Dongzi's half-kneeling posture was not conducive to balance, and he overturned sideways on the plank. At this moment, another walnut bone rolled out of the black, and Dongzi pounced on it like a cat catching a mouse, regardless of his white clothes, and he wiped the three-foot-square plank of the boat.

"Sister Lai, you don't care about these two enemies. Dongzi brushed the boy's hand away and stood up with the table legs.

"Don't make a fuss, get down to business. Qi Zuo's voice was a little smiling, and it was generally majestic.

"Who doesn't know that you and Senior Brother Zhuang are the right-hand men of the National Teacher, but anyone with a clear mind should not rely on us for this matter. ”

The woman who threw walnuts came out of the shadows, her name was Cai Huan, and she was one of the first to follow Qi Zuo's envoy, and the second was Cheng Xudong. His younger brother Cai Zhao was a newcomer who only completed his studies last winter.

"But some people are pretending to be confused. Dongzi put the two walnuts in the box and didn't give anyone else a chance to take advantage of them.

As soon as the dragon bridge changed, the whole world shook. The two high-ranking officials of Xuan Chen State, the protector of the Western Army, the son of General Zhengdong, and the wife of the Marquis of Greedy Ling, all of them are great diplomatic events, but they are not as good as the shaking brought to the land of China by the death of the national teacher. It's not that the world's Chi Li is religious, but the great master of the Inch Cliff is really the most solid pair of Hengmu in this five-horse and 10,000-person chariot, without him, this chariot will fall apart in the horse's hooves.

What's more, today's great master is no longer only willing to be a pair of hengmu, he wants to hold on and drive these five fierce horses to the bright and vast direction. Such a grand scheme has created many enemies for him, and even within the state religion, the division is like a frozen lake, quiet and certain.

Qi Zhilai and his entourage decided to take the waterway south under Zhuang Zuo's suggestion, took their personal certificates, changed ships at Changxing Port in Shizhou, went all the way to the west, and returned to Jiucun Cliff to preside over the overall situation, and tried to hide people's eyes and ears as much as possible along the way. As for him, Zhuang Zuo, the Longqiao Guardian Officer, if he runs away at this time, it will not be too much to say that he is dereliction of duty, and it is not too much to ask people with ulterior motives to manipulate and abscond in fear of crime.

"Rong Shi is not here, we are already half blind, there is no Zhuang Zuo, and half of us are deaf. There are countless people who want to see us in such a situation. "Rong Shi is the name of the national teacher, and Qi Zuo is close to him, but he is not respectful.

"If the real culprit is not caught for one day, Senior Brother Zhuang's unjustified disaster will suffer one more day...... But someone who can really uphold justice ......" Cai Huan wanted to speak and stopped, and his pair of ice-chiseled eyes also melted a little weak, "If the national teacher is still there......"

Qi Zuo secretly turned his head and hid the divine injuries that surged up several times.

"What about the Qing Ping Army's meticulous work? Did he say anything? The people in the cabin didn't even save the last bit of face for Ge Lan, and they relegated him from a respected envoy to a meticulous work that everyone shouted at.

"It's all nonsense. Qi Zuo made no secret of his disappointment, and perhaps a lot of disdain, which was included in the word "nonsense".

"But no matter what, he is the only survivor of the Longqiao Tiandao Temple, and he won't be useless. ”

If Ge Lan could hear this, maybe she wouldn't be so frightened again.

"I threw him in the hold," Toko dutifully reported, once reminded, "it's time to wake up." ”