Bai Shuqin picked up three incense sticks from the table, put them on the candle and lit them, knelt on the mat and bowed three times, got up and inserted the incense into the incense burner. Zhuo Jinxuan and Du Zijun also followed behind Bai Shuqin, repeating what she had just done.

When everything was over, Bai Shuqin took his mother's bones from the confession, and Zhuo Jinxuan placed Helan's spiritual seat.

Zhuo Jinxuan sent the two out of the house, and Bai Shuqin saw that he didn't mean to go back, so he stopped and said to him: "Go back, you sent one trip after another, do you want to go with me?" ”

Zhuo Jinxuan thought about it, but he couldn't take a break from the busy affairs at the moment. He stroked Bai Shuqin's short hair and looked at her affectionately: "The matter is taken care of, come back quickly, I will wait for you at home." ”

"Home?" She smiled and nodded heavily at him, "I'll be back as soon as possible." ”

Jiangzhou is far from the capital, and it takes fifteen days to ride a horse. Zhuo Jinxuan prepared the best horses in the house for them, and it only took ten days to reach Jiangzhou.

Du Zijun had never ridden a horse, he followed Bai Shuqin's example, but somehow he made the horse angry, jumped out, and almost fell him off.

Zhuo Jinxuan looked at it and began to worry again in his heart, and as soon as he entered the house, he asked Qingfeng and Qingluan to follow closely behind, and notified him as soon as there was any problem.

Du Zijun is indeed smart, and under the guidance of Bai Shuqin, he has mastered the skills of horseback riding in a short time. Out of the city gate, he couldn't hide his excitement: "Third Imperial Princess, this is the first time I've gone out of the city!" ”

Bai Shuqin was not the first time, she turned her head to look at the city gate that was getting farther and farther behind her, and looked up at the sky, at this moment she felt that the world was so big, and the capital was so small.

If it weren't for the Thousand Souls Poison and the unrepaid hatred, she really wanted to leave here like this and make the four seas her home.

After leaving the city, there are not inns everywhere, Bai Shuqin because he has never come out before, although he has the map given by Zhuo Jinxuan, he still missed the post station.

Du Zijun lit a fire, put the steamed buns he brought into a stick and roasted them on the fire.

Bai Shuqin was looking at the flames in a daze, and Du Zijun handed her the baked steamed buns: "Third Imperial Princess, you can make do with it first." I'll shoot you a pheasant tomorrow morning! ”

At this time, it was the end of autumn, and the leaves on the trees were almost gone, not to mention the pheasants, and even the birds could not be seen. Bai Shuqin tore off a piece of steamed bun and put it in his mouth: "Then it's up to you!" ”

After dinner, Bai Shuqin and Du Zijun went to pick up some firewood, if they didn't rely on the fire to keep warm at night, I was afraid that they would both be sentimental tomorrow.

The woods at night were exceptionally quiet, and Bai Shuqin couldn't fall asleep looking at the jumping flames.

The matter of the Jiangzhou pirates was really guessed by Zhuo Jinxuan, and General Feihe suffered three defeats in a row, and finally lost half of his troops.

In the court, Zhuo Qingyuan's face was almost unbearable, and he angrily scolded General Feihe in his heart for being useless, he couldn't even take the little pirate, and he lost his face.

Zhuo Qingyuan looked at Zhuo Jinxuan, how could he feel that his face was full of ridicule. This kind of face can be lost by the people below, but he can't afford to lose it. Before he could finish listening to the report of General Zhao, a soldier on the front line, he stepped forward: "Father, let Erchen lead the troops forward!" Let Erchen bring 3,000 troops, and the pirates will definitely be put to an end! ”

The emperor was already extremely dissatisfied with this matter, and he was even more bored when he heard Zhuo Qingyuan's words, and his face was gloomy: "This matter will be discussed in the long run. General Zhao, you go on! ”

Zhuo Qingyuan put down his hand in embarrassment and stepped aside. General Feihe's failure made the emperor unwilling to even listen to his words, and when General Feihe returned, he would definitely not let him go.

General Zhao was interrupted by Zhuo Qingyuan, and then continued: "Those pirates are organized and strategic, roughly estimated to have at least a thousand people, and they are extremely good at naval warfare!" The soldiers we sent had never trained on the water, and although they were outnumbered, they were outnumbered! ”

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. This group of pirates is well-equipped and not inferior to our army, and the minister suspects that there is someone behind them who is secretly supporting them! ”

The emperor has been in charge of the government for 30 years, and he already has a judgment on this kind of thing.

Zhuo Qingyuan saw that General Zhao had finished his report, and stepped forward to ask for orders: "Father, let Erchen lead his troops to serve them, and we will naturally know if there is anyone behind them at that time!" ”

The emperor knew that although Zhuo Qingyuan was brave, he was still a little inferior in strategy after all. But after all, he was his son, and he didn't want him to be too faceless in front of the ministers, so he said: "Jing'er is about to give birth recently, and I can't let my grandson be born without seeing his father." Let Jinxuan go this time! ”

Zhuo Jinxuan stepped forward to receive the order: "Yes, father!" ”

"You just have to open your mouth as many troops as you need!"

Zhuo Jinxuan was confident: "Two thousand troops are enough for Erchen!" ”

The emperor looked at him appreciatively, and then changed his words: "Yes, but the pirates must be taken down!" Make a military order, if the pirates are not destroyed, you will not come back! ”

Zhuo Qingyuan was originally very unhappy, but when he heard the emperor's words, his face gloated again. He didn't believe that Zhuo Jinxuan could be more powerful than General Feihe, and he could take down the pirates with 2,000 troops.

The chief manager brought paper and pencils, and Zhuo Jinxuan made a military order on the spot, if he couldn't take down the pirates within three months, he would never return to Beijing!

Zhuo Jinxuan was not worried about the matter of the military order, he was now worried about Bai Shuqin's safety. A few days ago, General Feihe came back with good news, and he didn't tell the truth until this defeat.

If he had known that Jiangzhou's form was so severe, he would not have let Bai Shuqin pass at this time.

Bai Shuqin and Du Zijun have been away from the capital for more than ten days, seeing that they are getting more and more remote, and the more they go, the deeper the mountains and old forests, Du Zijun can't help but say to Bai Shuqin: "Third Imperial Princess, do you say that we are going wrong?" Why haven't you even touched the edge of Jiangzhou after walking for so many days? ”

On the way, the two of them were delayed a lot of time because of some trivial things, Bai Shuqin took out the map and looked at it: "It's almost there, as long as you cross this mountain, you will arrive at Jiangzhou City." ”

Du Zijun was relieved when he heard her say this, and he wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve: "Third Imperial Princess, did you say that someone will rob this wilderness?" ”

Bai Shuqin knew that he liked to listen to books about things on the rivers and lakes, but in the past two days, they hadn't even seen a household, so they replied to him: "There is not even a human figure here, probably only ghosts will come to rob you!" ”

As soon as she finished saying this, Du Zijun heard someone shouting for help in the distance. He looked at Bai Shuqin silently and said quietly: "Third Imperial Princess, do you say that this is someone asking for help?" Or is the ghost crying for help? ”

Bai Shuqin also heard the cry for help from the front, judging from the voice, it was only a teenage girl, and said flatly: "It's a person or a ghost, you can know if you see it!" ”

She accelerated and ran forward, Du Zijun hurriedly patted the horse's buttocks and quickly chased after her.

The voice became clearer and clearer, but Du Zijun didn't see anyone, thinking if it was really a ghost. Seeing Bai Shuqin dismount, he also stopped.

"Anyone? Help me! The girl's cry for help came from the ravine.

Bai Shuqin walked over and took a look, although the leaves of the trees under the mountain had fallen off, the dense branches still blocked the view.

Bai Shuqin handed the horse rope to Du Zijun and said to him, "I'll go down and take a look, you are waiting here." ”

Du Zijun took the horse rope and held it tightly in his hand, looking worried: "Third Imperial Princess, pay attention to safety." If it's a ghost, come up quickly! ”

Bai Shuqin secretly rolled her eyes, although the monsters in Journey to the West often catch Tang Seng by asking for help, but she is not Tang Seng, if you really want to talk about it, she feels more like Nezha.

Bai Shuqin came to the bottom of the hillside, and the cry for help became quieter and quieter, probably because the child thought that no one would save her and wanted to give up. She came to the place where the voice had just come from, and sure enough, she saw a little girl dressed in sackcloth.

The little girl must have slipped down the mountain, her clothes were torn, and she had abrasions on her face and hands. She clutched her right leg to her knee, and she raised her head vigilantly at the sound of the voice.

Bai Shuqin saw that the little girl had a beautiful face, but her eyes were different from theirs, they were clean amber, and asked her, "Are you a half-race?" ”

The little girl didn't know what Bai Shuqin was talking about, but she regarded her as a savior and begged her: "Brother, save me, I'm going to the capital!" ”

Hearing the little girl call her brother, Bai Shu Qin shook her head for a moment, and touched her hair again in an instant. It's so short, it's no wonder she calls her brother.

The capital and Jiangzhou are in opposite directions, Bai Shuqin saw that her leg injury didn't seem to be light, and asked her: "Just you, what about your family?" ”

The little girl shook her head, and Bai Shuqin asked again, "Then what is your name?" Why go to Beijing? ”

"My name is Beizhu, and my mother asked me to go to the capital to find someone." Beizhu looked at her pitifully: "Brother, can you take me there?" I can give you money! ”

Bai Shuqin only felt that this child's mother was too irresponsible, such a young girl asked her to go to the capital to find someone, don't let her lose herself in the end. What's more, it took them ten days to ride a horse, and the little girl was probably swallowed by a jackal before she got out of the mountain.

Bai Shuqin held his forehead, it was really troublesome. She walked up to Beizhu, squatted down and asked her, "Can you still walk?" ”

Beizhu supported the ground with her hands and tried to stand up, but the knee of her right leg was so painful that her whole face was twisted together in pain.

Bai Shuqin shook his head helplessly, turning his back to her: "Come up!" ”

Beizhu looked at Bai Shuqin gratefully: "Thank you, brother!" After speaking, he put his hands around Bai Shuqin's neck.

Bai Shuqin carried her on his back and said to her, "Although I have short hair, I am not an elder brother, call me sister!" ”

Beizhu opened her mouth wide in shock, no woman in southern Xinjiang would cut off her long hair, the outside world was really different, she quickly changed her words: "Thank you, sister!" ”

Du Zijun saw Bai Shuqin carrying a villain on his back, the villain combed his drooping hair, and a pair of amber eyes were not human eyes at first glance. He had seen a red fox when he and his father were hunting in the mountains before, and he thought that this little man was like the red fox, probably the kind of fox spirit mentioned in the book, which specializes in eating hearts.

Bai Shuqin came up with Beizhu on his back and placed her on horseback. Du Zijun hurried to her side, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered the suspicion in his heart: "Third Imperial Princess, this kid is a fox spirit!" Look at her eyes, how can anyone's eyes be this color! ”

"There are more of them, and in foreign countries there are not only this color, but also blue!" Bai Shuqin replied, she thought he was rare and strange, and Beizhu might be a mixed-race.

Beizhu heard the conversation between the two, she was not a vixen. She looked at the two of them seriously and said to them seriously, "I'm not a vixen. ”

Bai Shuqin thought that no matter whether Beizhu was a fox spirit or not, he couldn't leave her here alone. It's just that she didn't go to the capital now, so she said to her: "Beizhu, go to the capital here to ride a horse for at least ten days, and you're afraid that you won't be able to go alone for a year." ”

Although Beizhu knew that the capital was far away, he didn't expect it to be so far. But she must go to the capital, and the task given to her by her mother must be completed. Her eyes were firm: "I must go to the capital." ”