On the official road, Xiao Lingji and his party sped up, compared with walking directly through the mountain road of Crow Ridge, from the perspective of the itinerary, although the official road was changed to a long detour, it was better than the wide and flat, and after careful calculation, it only took half a day more than the original plan.

At noon, the sun was a little hot, and Nangong Shuo saw a pool of water not far from the roadside, with green trees and green grass on the shore, so he proposed to Xiao Lingji: "Second prince, we have been on the road all morning, there is water in front, let's rest." ”

Xiao Lingji saw that the scorching sun was in the sky and people were sleepy, so he nodded and agreed. The car stopped, Liu Sheng handed over a bowl of water, and Xiao Lingji drank it.

Nangong Shuo and Zhang Fu were together to watch the sergeants rest on the spot, and the miscellaneous servants drank horses and fed grass.

Zhang Fu, as the first-class guard of the Jiannan Palace, was no stranger to Nangong Shuo, who often entered and exited the palace, and looked at the Crow Ridge not far from the official road, he said to Nangong Shuo with some concern: "Young Master Nangong, passing through this Crow Ridge is the boundary of Liangzhou." Before leaving, the prince explained to his subordinates that the bandit Gu Qingfeng was on the Crow Ridge, so we must not be careless. ”

Although Nangong Shuo had never heard of Gu Qingfeng's name, the person who could make Xiao Lingting, the prince of Jiannan, jealous, was by no means an idle person, so he said to Zhang Fu: "The second prince ordered us to take a detour to Crow Ridge, just to avoid its edge. ”

Zhang Fu nodded yes, but there was still an unspeakable uneasiness in his heart, so he secretly instructed everyone to be more vigilant.

After a short rest, the team set off again, and at sunset, they rushed to a courtyard with only a few houses, and when they got closer, it turned out to be a post station.

Xu heard the sound of horses' hooves outside, and walked out of the courtyard with a man dressed as a post man, and a pair of eyes that were not very flexible roamed Nangong Shuo, Liu Sheng, and Zhang Fu.

"Tell you to come out!" Liu Sheng was impatient with him, and directly commanded.

Seeing that Liu Sheng was dressed in splendor, the post guard did not dare to underestimate it, and immediately ran in to call someone, and after a while, an older man followed him out.

This Yicheng has a little eyesight, looking at Nangong Shuo and the others in front of him, and then looking at the five hundred sergeants lined up neatly behind him, he knew that the identity of the person who came was not low, and he hurriedly said, "The villain is the post man of the post station, dare to ask the adults, what are your orders?" ”

Liu Sheng dismounted and respectfully opened the door of the carriage, and Xiao Lingji showed the waist card of Jiannan Wangfu.

As soon as the post man saw the golden waist card, he immediately knelt down and saluted, "Damn it!" I don't know if the nobleman has arrived, and I hope that the nobleman will forgive his sins. ”

Liu Sheng closed the car door for Xiao Lingji and instructed Na Yicheng: "I'm waiting for a day's journey, you immediately arrange room meals, let's rest for one night, and we have to rush tomorrow." ”

"Yes, yes, the small ones will be arranged, ladies and gentlemen, please." Yi Cheng motioned for the post guard to go down and prepare, and he opened the courtyard door and invited Xiao Lingji and his party to enter.

This post station is located in a remote area, usually few people come, there is only one post in the post station, two post soldiers, to be all settled, it is dinner time.

Dinner was served, Xiao Lingji was not healed due to his injury, and went back to the room to eat accompanied by Liu Sheng, Zhang Fu went to the backyard to guard the horse train with the dowry as usual, and only Nangong Shuo sat at the table outside the dining room, and Yi Cheng stood aside and waited on the side. Nangong Shuo glanced at the food on the table, except for the braised hare, the others were all vegetarian dishes.

The post man shook the few goat's whiskers, and said helplessly: "Our post station, no one has come for a long time, the silver taels allocated by the Suzhou government are only enough to buy some radish greens, this hare is still two days ago Heiwa and the tethered pillar two people caught in the mountains, salted, has not been willing to eat, are some coarse food, and please the noble Haihan." ”

Nangong Shuo knew that what he said was true, so he said with a smile: "Yicheng doesn't have to see outside, in the wilderness, it's already good to have a hot meal to eat, I don't know what Yicheng is called?" ”

Yi Cheng saw that Nangong Shuo's words were modest and close, and he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Back to the nobleman's words, the villain's surname is Guo, the two post guards just now, one is called Heiwa, and the other is called Zhuzhu, what is the matter with the nobleman, just tell us to do it." ”

Nangong Shuo picked up the tea bowl and took a sip of tea, and then asked: "Guo Yicheng, why are there so few pedestrians on this official road from Suzhou to Liangzhou?" ”

Yi Cheng sighed: "The nobles don't know, there were many merchants who came and went on this official road before, but since the thief Gu Qingfeng built a bandit village on the Crow Ridge, he recruited a large number of outlaws to kidnap the past merchants, and after a long time, no one dared to take this road." ”

Hearing Gu Qingfeng's name again, Nangong Shuo put down the tea cup in his hand: "Oh? Who is this Gu Qingfeng? ”

Seeing Nangong Shuo ask about Gu Qingfeng, Yicheng, surnamed Guo, leaned forward, lowered his voice and said: "Back to the nobleman's words, as far as the villain knows, this Gu Qingfeng was originally a famous thief in the rivers and lakes, and he committed many crimes, and he was able to escape every time. A few years ago, he somehow came to this Crow Ridge, and it is said that his bandit village now has thousands of people, which is amazing! ”

"Such bandits, robbing merchants and endangering one party, don't the government care?" Nangong Shuo has seen his father Nangong Ming suppressing bandits everywhere since he was a child, and like Xiao Lingji, he has always lacked enough "awe" for bandits.

"Why not?" Yi Cheng further lowered his voice and said: "That Gu Qingfeng is not an ordinary bandit, it is said that he is eight feet tall, has infinite strength, is full of martial arts, and is an ordinary general, and he is not his opponent at all. There is also this crow ridge, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the officers and soldiers have surrounded and suppressed several times, and each time they have suffered heavy losses, and now, it is really a nest, and no one in Suzhou dares to lead troops up the mountain. ”

When Nangong Shuo heard this, he was slightly shocked in his heart, no wonder Xiao Lingji wanted to make a detour to Crow Ridge, no wonder Zhang Fu, who was strong in martial arts, would be so vigilant, this Gu Qingfeng was really difficult to deal with, it seems that on the way to welcome relatives, it is right to avoid this thorn, it is better to go on the road early tomorrow, and it is the best policy to rush to Liangzhou as soon as possible.

Nangong Shuo thought about Gu Qingfeng and Crow Ridge, pulled two bowls of rice indiscriminately, went to Zhang Fu, and told him Yicheng's words word for word. "Guard Zhang, this ancient green wind is entrenched in Crow Ridge, it is really a harm, the second prince's injury has not healed, there can be no accident, tonight, I will be on duty with you at night, let's be careful in everything."

"Young Master Nangong, you better go back to your room and have a good rest, here, with me, my subordinates will be careful." Zhang Fu was a little frightened, although Nangong Shuo's identity was not as noble as Xiao Lingji, it was indeed not suitable for him to do such a thing as being on duty at night.

"Guard Zhang, there is no need to say more, order the sergeants to have a good rest, and we will set off early tomorrow morning." Although Nangong Shuo is usually modest, he has experience in the military camp, and at critical moments, his tone has a majesty that makes people have to obey.

Zhang Fu had to clench his fists and said: "My subordinates take orders!" ”