Fifteen ships were moored at Haikou and waited, and Zhuo Jinxuan watched all the soldiers get on board.

Before leaving, Zhuo Jinxuan patted General Feihe on the shoulder and looked at the soldiers on the ship who were about to leave, "I will hold a banquet here tomorrow morning, and wait for you and the eight hundred brothers to return with honor!" ”

General Feihe's expression was solemn, and he clenched his fists and promised: "Three princes, your subordinates will live up to their mission!" ”

Although it was snowing heavily, the sea was calmer than usual, and fifteen boats sailed quietly on the surface of the sea, like ghosts in the dark.

"How sure are you that this operation will be successful?" Zhuo Jinxuan looked at the ships farther and farther away, until they were swallowed up by the darkness.

Sima Liang was faintly worried in his heart, the probability of success of tonight's operation was very high, but he was afraid that there were still things they didn't know.

It seemed that the snow was brighter than usual, and according to Sima Liang's calculations, General Feihe should return at this moment, regardless of success or failure, but the ship did not appear for a long time.

It was getting brighter and the snow was starting to lighten, and suddenly there was a drum beat from the lookout. Zhuo Jinxuan immediately got up and walked outside, the sea was still calm, and it didn't take long for a boat to appear in his field of vision.

Zhuo Jinxuan's heart sank, how could there be only one?

Sima Liang was obviously confused, but he reacted immediately and ordered a hundred soldiers to meet him on the shore. It is uncertain whether the people on board will be friend or foe, but if it is a pirate, a hundred soldiers will be enough to deal with it.

The ship was getting closer and closer, and Zhuo Jinxuan could see that there were more than a dozen people standing on the board, wearing the armor of their army, and the flag on the bow of the ship was wet with the snow, hanging low and moving gently with the wind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't float up.

After the boat docked, Sun Baichang, who was the leader, took the lead in getting off the boat, came to Zhuo Jinxuan eagerly, bowed and knelt down: "Third prince, Sun Baichang is here to report the situation to you!" ”

Zhuo Jinxuan nodded, "Say it!" ”

"Last night, my subordinates followed General Feihe to land on the island, but in addition to more than a hundred pirates stationed on the island, the rest of the pirates did not know where to go." Sun Bai Changyu reported, "All the pirates on the island have been captured, and General Feihe is interrogating them, and he has sent me to come back with my wounded brother to report to you first." ”

Zhuo Jinxuan frowned and looked at Sima Liang on the side, his hand shaking the feather fan rarely stopped, his expression was not much better than him, and he didn't seem to understand what was going on.

Zhuo Jinxuan raised his hand to signal Sun Baichang to retreat, then got up and walked to the beach, and when he turned around and saw that Sima Liang hadn't followed, he couldn't help but say to him: "Don't you want to go up and see what the situation is?" ”

Sima Liang's feather fan shook again, and there really was no better idea at the moment.

The two got on a boat, and Sima Liang ordered the captain to set off. The captain looked behind them and did not move, and Sima Liang followed his gaze and looked back.

In the snow, a woman in a white cape, followed by a man in a black fur coat, was walking towards them. The soldier next to him stepped forward to stop them, and without knowing what the woman said, the soldier not only got out of the way but also led the way for them.

Sima Liang took the feather fan and tapped Zhuo Jinxuan's shoulder, pointing at the two people: "Someone is coming." ”

Zhuo Jinxuan looked back, and when he saw the person clearly, his face was instantly full of joy, but in an instant, it turned into worry.

The people who came were Bai Shuqin and Du Zijun, and Bai Shuqin saw Zhuo Jinxuan uninjured from a distance, so he was a little relieved. Seeing that they were about to go to sea, he hurriedly quickened his pace and walked towards them.

Zhuo Jinxuan got off the boat, Sima Liang followed behind him, and asked curiously, "Do you know?" ”

"My wife!" Zhuo Jinxuan said and quickened his pace, came to Bai Shuqin, and held her cold hand tightly, "What are you doing here?" ”

Bai Shuqin caught a glimpse of the captain ordering the sailors to pick up the oars, and asked suspiciously, "Are you going to the pirate's place now?" ”

Zhuo Jinxuan nodded, "Something is wrong over there, I'm going to go over and take a look." ”

"I'll go with you!"

"You stay here!" Zhuo Jinxuan refused.

Bai Shuqin was a little angry and said to him: "You are just letting me go by myself!" ”

Zhuo Jinxuan knew her temper, even if he didn't agree, if she insisted on going, he couldn't stop her. He was even more uneasy about that, so he nodded, "Okay, let's do it together." ”

Sima Liang had been carefully observing Bai Shuqin, and then stepped forward and said, "Sima Liang has seen the Third Imperial Concubine!" ”

Bai Shuqin frowned slightly, Sima Liang noticed it, and laughed: "Could it be that I did something to provoke our third imperial concubine?" ”

"Nope." Bai Shuqin looked at him and shook his head, "Did the spies you sent join you?" ”

Sima Liang looked at Zhuo Jinxuan when he heard this, Zhuo Jinxuan didn't mention it to her, and shook his head lightly to indicate that he didn't know. Sima Liang turned to Bai Shuqin, "Why did the Third Imperial Concubine say this?" ”

That night, Feng Jiu told the scar male spy to go out of the city to join Sima Liang, but Bai Shuqin looked at Sima Liang's expression and didn't seem to see the spy.

The scar man was killed by him that night, and the group of people below went to chase Du Zijun again, and no one should chase and kill him. What's more, Zhuo Jinxuan entered the city the next day, it must not be far from Jiangzhou at that time, and there were many of them, so it was impossible for the spies to miss them.

Bai Shuqin told them what he knew, and everyone was silent.

The people sent by Sima Liang knew best in his heart, whether it was ability or loyalty, there was no need to doubt it, and there was only one situation so far, he died.

Several people got on board one after another, the calm sea blew the east wind, the crew untied the cables, hoisted the sails, and the boat began to move without oars.

Bai Shuqin hugged his arms tightly with both hands, and the cloak he borrowed was only a layer of linen, which had no effect on keeping out the cold at all, and could only prevent his clothes from getting wet with snow.

Zhuo Jinxuan saw that her lips were pale, walked up to her, took off the cloak from his armor and draped it on Bai Shuqin's body.

Bai Shuqin glanced up at him and said softly, "Thank you!" ”

Zhuo Jinxuan held her shoulders with both hands, usually not paying attention, but at this moment she felt that her body was so thin.

There were only the two of them in the cabin, and Zhuo Jinxuan sat down beside her, gossiping, "What are you going to do with your mother's bones?" ”

Bai Shuqin lowered her eyes, she didn't find Helan's family, she didn't want to find a place at will, it was impossible to go back to the capital, and she hadn't thought about what to do for the time being.

Zhuo Jinxuan looked at her gently, and said to her seriously: "Take her back to the capital and bury her in the royal mausoleum." Right next to our cemetery in a hundred years, so your mother won't be too lonely. ”

"I'm afraid my mother doesn't want to stay in the capital anymore." Bai Shuqin smiled bitterly, if the group of madmen in Baifu knew about Zhuo Jinxuan's proposal, they were afraid that they would go crazy.

"I'm serious!" Zhuo Jinxuan held Bai Shuqin's hand and looked at her eyes sincerely.

Bai Shuqin deliberately avoided his gaze and sighed, "Thank you for your kindness, I can handle this matter myself." ”

"How do you deal with it? Will you bury your mother in this place where there are no relatives? Zhuo Jinxuan said with a slight slant.

Bai Shuqin bit his lip, what he said was not unreasonable.

Zhuo Jinxuan's expression softened, stroked the back of her jade-like hand, and said softly: "After all the pirates are wiped out, if you haven't found a suitable place yet, just listen to me, okay?" ”

Bai Shuqin nodded, looking out of the cabin, the endless sea, and the island in the distance was only the size of a palm.

Her right eyelid has been throbbing since this morning, and nothing good happens every time this sign appears. She rubbed her eyes, she hadn't slept all night, she felt a little tired.

Zhuo Jinxuan saw that her eyes were bloodshot, and said to her: "There is a bed inside, you go in first to rest for a while, and I will call you when it comes." ”

Zhuo Jinxuan took her to the cabin, covered her with a quilt, and sat in front of the bed. Bai Shuqin asked him strangely, "What are you doing here?" Do you want to take a break too? ”

Bai Shuqin said and went into the bed to make room for him. He smiled and covered her with a quilt, "I watched you sleep." ”

"Bad taste!" Bai Shuqin complained on his lips, but he felt a little warm in his heart. Far away from the capital, she felt that the relationship between the two seemed to be closer.

After Bai Shuqin fell asleep, Zhuo Jinxuan withdrew from the cabin and closed the window tightly by the way.

Sima Liang and Du Zijun stood outside the cabin chatting with each other, and Sima Liang was full of curiosity about Bai Shuqin.

Du Zijun has been with Bai Shuqin for a long time, and he is not as defenseless against people as before. Although Sima Liang is Zhuo Jinxuan's person, he is sloppy about many things about Bai Shuqin.

couldn't say anything, Sima Liang didn't know whether to praise or complain and said to him: "You guy is so strict-mouthed!" It's quite suitable to be a spy, are you interested? ”

Du Zijun is quite satisfied with him now, Bai Shuqin has never treated him as a person, but seems to treat him as a younger brother, of course he is willing to work for his family. What's more, it's not dangerous for him to follow Bai Shuqin, and when he is a spy, he may be caught by pirates like that person that day.

"Not interested! Why do you like to find someone to be a spy so much, can this thing still be addictive? Then why don't you go yourself? Du Zijun asked rhetorically.

Sima Liang shook his feather fan and smiled, "The spies are doing well, one person can defeat an army!" It's not that I don't want to, but I can't take a break from my heavy responsibility! ”

Du Zijun looked at him with disgust, thinking that he was the same as him, he was afraid of death!

Zhuo Jinxuan pushed open the hatch, Du Zijun immediately saluted when he saw it, but Sima Liang just looked at the island in the distance. The cold winter wind whistled coldly with snowflakes, and Sima Liang's gray-blue cloak was blown high.

"How long will it take?" Zhuo Jinxuan looked at Sima Liang and asked.

Sima Liang squinted, pinched his fingers and calculated, and replied to him: "At this speed, it will take more than half an hour." ”

"Where do you think the other pirates will go?" Zhuo Jinxuan expressed the doubts in his heart, although the island is not small, but the remaining pirates should be about a thousand people, and it is impossible to ambush them.

It takes an hour for the pirate island to be located on the coast of Gangju, and an hour and a half to the nearest territory of Yingguo.

Yingguo has loved to stir up trouble since ancient times, but it is inconvenient for the army to cross the sea because of the fact that it is separated from the sea. Jiangzhou is the closest inland to Yingguo, but it is also a fool's dream to want to occupy Jiangzhou just by pirates.

"If you get some turtles now, I'll probably know the answer!" Sima Liang laughed at himself.

Du Zijun was full of questions, what can pirates have to do with turtles?

Sima Liang noticed Du Zijun's doubts out of the corner of his eye, turned his head and asked him, "Have you ever heard of tortoiseshell divination?" ”

"Tortoiseshell divination?" Du Zijun repeated that he had heard the book say that ancient people often used tortoise shells to divinate and measure everything. He immediately understood the meaning of Sima Liang's words just now, and looked at him with some curiosity, "Do you still have this?" ”

Sima Liang raised his head proudly, "I know astronomy and geography, and divination is a small meaning." ”

"Then why didn't you figure out what happened last night?" Du Zijun said very seriously.

Zhuo Jinxuan couldn't help laughing, but the smile on Sima Liang's face froze, he snorted and put away the fan, ignored the two of them anymore, and turned around and walked into the cabin.

The boat is docked on the shore of the island, and the reef is covered with a thick layer of snow, and the snow is flat without any traces.