Qinshan country in the north, twenty miles away from the west gate of Xingyang City, the eastern suburbs of Miannan City, night.

A convoy of wagons and horses passed through the quiet and silent suburbs, including three prisoner wagons that were tightly sealed with black cloth. At the front were two tall horses, on which sat two noble sons in iron armor. The faces of the two were full of fatigue, and it seemed that they had been tired for many days.

This is an escort carriage from Qiao Mansion and Hu Mansion in Blackwater City. The two people riding horses at the front, one is the great butler Li of Hu Mansion, who was a border officer before entering the mansion, and is now the most effective steward of Hu Mansion in managing the Heishui South Camp. The other is the eldest son of the younger generation of Qiao Mansion, Qiao Zhengting.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Qiao family, there was a cooperative fortification of the mine land in the family surnamed Wu in Lincheng Dayadu. After the establishment of the mansion, connections were scarce, and the Wu family of Daya gave them a lot of network resources and financial support. Qiao Fu has always been good friends with the Wu family, and in order to express his gratitude, Qiao Shifan asked the eldest prince Qiao Zhengting to stay in Dayadu for several years to help manage the mine. I only returned to Blackwater City a few times during the New Year's holidays.

However, in the course of a week, he received two secret letters from Qiao's Mansion in succession. The first letter mentions Qiao Xin's mother and daughter, the gem that was promised to the prince was lost by them, and Qiao Xin's father was buried at the bottom of the sea. Qiao Liangyan asked him to find time as soon as possible, go to the front line of Xingyang City, plead guilty to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on behalf of Qiao's Mansion, and hand over his letter to Qiao Zhenglang and the Prince. The way to the front was relatively far, he prepared for four or five days, and finished the recent things explained by the mine and the Wu Mansion, and when he just wanted to travel, another letter came. Qiao Liangyan said that if he hasn't left yet, please go home in two days.

“... Big brother, these few people who tried to infiltrate Blackwater City are all nobles. The mouth is so tight that I can't dig out anything. But the lord of the castle felt that it would be a pity to kill him like this. Therefore, it was unanimously decided with the people of other provinces to escort these dozen prisoners to the front line for interrogation by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the generals. We, Qiaofu and Hu Mansion in the south of the city, are in charge of this matter. ”

"It just so happens that we want to ask His Highness to send troops to Deserted Spring City to avenge my aunt. If you personally go to the front to plead guilty, give him my letter, and bring the prisoner to His Highness, he will be satisfied. ”

"Big brother, you are the most steady. After arriving at the front, you must satisfy the prince. The matter of Homecoming Island has already happened, and he can't be allowed to think that our Qiao Mansion is incompetent because of this matter......"

On the starry night, the exhausted Qiao Zhengting discussed with Steward Li and decided to take a temporary rest in the suburbs of this sparsely populated Miannan City.

The mountains and rivers in the suburbs were strewn with hills, and they were surrounded by rocks and weeds, and when the two of them sat down by a boulder, they couldn't help but hang their heads and take a nap for a while.

"Master Qiao! Master Li! In the prisoner car, there seems to be a barbarian who is out of breath!"

It didn't take long for Qiao Zhengting and Steward Li to be called out by the panicked voices of the servants of the Hu Mansion who were hurrying over from the side of the carriage. Qiao Zhengting took a second to react to what he meant, and his face changed dramatically in an instant. He looked at the butler, who was also surprised, and hurried towards the prisoner car.

"Don't come here. Rest when you should rest, stand guard when you should stand guard, don't join in the fun!"

The servants and horsemen sent by Qiaofu and Hufu all heard what the man had just said, and they were all tired at once, and they all came up to the big prisoner's cart covered with black cloth. Butler Li drank in a deep voice before driving them back.

"Do you want to open it?" said the Hu Mansion servant hesitantly, and Qiao Zhengting and the two glanced at each other and nodded.

"I... I poured food for them and found that one of them seemed to be dying. A few barbarians around him had poured a whole cup of chili oil into their throats before, and now they couldn't speak... He looked like he was dead in a normal way... I don't know what's going on, so I'm looking for two adults......"

"Okay, okay, we understand. You're quick to move. ”

After lifting the black cloth on the large iron cage, a foul smell immediately came. The stench was far stronger than in the afternoon, and it already had a little more rot from the corpse.

There are seven men in the Underworld imprisoned inside. In the other prison car, there was a woman from the Underworld who was accompanying her. The area of the prisoner cart is not small, but for the whole seven big men, there is only a small amount of room to move. If you stretch your body, your limbs will immediately collide with other people's bodies.

The men, who were naked and barely covered by their lower bodies, were covered with bruises, and everyone lost their looks on their faces and became extremely numb. Even the smell of corpses around him is completely indifferent.

After lifting the black cloth, none of them even threw a glance at Qiao Zhengting and the others. They had almost lost their senses, and everyone was like a dead body. No matter what kind of aristocratic status he was before this, he couldn't change the fate of the prisoners.

And Qiao Zhengting took a few looks, and found the really dead body from among them. He pointed to the man who had been squeezed into the far corner of the cage, his eyes closed, his limbs curled up. "Call a couple of people over and drag this person out. ”

After the other people inside heard Qiao Zhengting's words, they still didn't react at all. When several people worked together to open the top of the cage, the people inside showed no signs of trying to resist and escape. Froze there completely, watching them drag the foul-smelling corpse out and slam the cage door shut.

The dead man, his face covered in dust. After Qiao Zhengting ordered the servants to wipe his face clean, he found that this person was relatively young among them, and he was very handsome. He was covered in scars like everyone else, but his face was unwound. It looks better than the others, but it's dead. Qiao Zhengting was wondering about the cause of this person's death, and suddenly found that his mouth was tightly closed, and a little blood red appeared on his lips...

The deceased came from the Uha family of the Hades, the suave son of the Uhara. After Qiao Zhengting broke his mouth open, an extremely foul smell of blood came, and a large piece of bloodstained thing fell to the ground.

"Killed yourself by biting your tongue?" Steward Li said to himself with a frown.

The filthy remnant tongue fell onto Qiao Zhengting's boots, and somehow frightened his hands weakened, and Uharyan's body fell limply from his hands. The next scene was very eerie. His legs fell to the ground, and instead of leaning back, he hung his head forward, and he kept his balance and didn't move again.

In the bleak moonlight, the contents of his mouth became viscous, and black-red blood slowly slipped from Uharyan's mouth, and the ground in front of him was immediately soaked in a terrible color. However, the blood in his mouth seemed to be inexhaustible, and sticky, scarlet blood spilled around his severed tongue and spilled onto the ground.

The whole scene is extremely weird and terrifying.

————

In the south of Heishui City, Yanxue Building, a high-end hotel under the name of Ji Mansion.

This Yanxue Building has always been a place where the nobles and men of Blackwater City are happy. In fact, this should be regarded as a green building, but those businesses are very obscure. And the dress is very fresh and refined, the environment is elegant, and it is most suitable for couples to get along.

Just now, a grand banquet in Qiao's mansion has just ended. In order to welcome Mo Wanyi, the young lady of Wan'an Mo Mansion, to come to Blackwater City to play, and the former old lady of Mo Mansion happened to be the father-in-law of the city lord He Zhe. In fact, everyone knows that Miss Wanyi's trip is to see if Lang Jun, who is arranged for her future by the elders of the family, can be her satisfied.

Before the two met tonight, Qiao Dong and Mo Wanyi's mood was also very nervous and nervous. They have all realized that this matter is related to the two families and even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness personally made the moon elder to lead the red rope for them, in fact, there was absolutely no room for them to object. Although they have all seen each other's portraits before. In terms of appearance alone, it is really a talented and beautiful young couple, a very good match. However, they don't know anything about each other's personalities and temperaments, so they are both hoping that the other person will not let them down.

After all, if they had a choice, they didn't want to choose so hastily. But when they are born into a family, where do they have the opportunity to choose?

However, after meeting at the banquet just now, all the concerns of the two people were dispelled. For Qiao Dong, Miss Mo is more beautiful than in the portrait, and her demeanor is elegant and decent. After a simple conversation, he felt that Mo Wanyi had a gentle personality and was very lively with others, completely an innocent and lovely girl, and she looked like she was just beginning to fall in love.

As for Mo Wanyi, the son of the Qiao family is humorous, sunny and generous, and can chat with her very well. Her expectations have been met, and she was afraid that this was a gentleman and had a bad heart. I was also afraid that Qiao Mansion and those wealthy families, including Mo Mansion, where she had lived since she was a child, lacked trust between people and was full of intrigue. But now it seems that the atmosphere in Qiao's Mansion is very good, probably because only the younger generation of children are present, and the atmosphere in the house is harmonious, which is exactly what she wants to live.

The progress of the two should not have been so fast, and they came to Yanxue Building on the night they met. In fact, this is still due to Qiao Liangyan's matchmaking with several ministers from the imperial court. At the banquet, Qiao Dong accidentally got the tablecloth to the ground, and when he bent down to pick it up, he accidentally touched Mo Wanyi's ankle under her skirt. I don't know if it was an accident or what, Qiao Liangyan, who was sitting next to them, immediately saw this scene and announced it to everyone with a smile.

Qiao Dong's face turned red, Mo Wanyi didn't know what was going on, at this time, Minister Li from the imperial court said with a smile, this is the saying in the north of Qinshan Kingdom, if you touch the girl's feet when you meet for the first time, the boy will be responsible for her.

Of course, this is just a popular statement, and no one will take it seriously. However, the city lord He Zhe and the other guests immediately smiled and echoed Minister Li's words, and Qiao Liangyan immediately proposed that after the banquet tonight, let the two of them go to Yanxue Tower to stay for one night.

The enthusiastic guests applauded. She glanced at him, her eyes full of shyness, but she didn't refuse. Although Qiao Dong had never experienced such a thing, a big boy's face was flushed, but he nodded in front of everyone. The first impression of the two of them on each other is so good, it is better to obey the will of the people, and then go to chat and talk.

The bedroom upstairs in Yanxue is neatly furnished and clean, but it is a double room with two beds. Of course, they don't do those things on the first night. On the stone platform between the two beds is a pot of unnamed flowers, which exudes a faint fragrance. They each sat on the bed, facing each other. The girl with a slightly drunken face after drinking was more delicate in Qiao Dong's eyes.

"Miss Mo, I... I want to say, I'm better than you think, right?" they chatted for a while just now, when Qiao Dong looked at her and asked a little nervously.

"Hmm... You say it first!" Mo Wanyi lowered her head, her face was delicately red, and she played with a strand of green silk on her shoulder, pushing the problem to him.

Qiao Dong is not particularly good at this kind of conversation, and he has never thought about having a relationship with any girl before this incident. He wanted to know this question, but it was really a bad question, and he was stumped.

After thinking about it seriously, he said, "I think we can really do what they want." If you're willing, I'll be sure to treat you well when you get through the door..."

At this time, his mouth was uncompromisingly stupid, and he could only express it so frankly. After Mo Wanyi heard this, her face was more like a ripe peach, although he was not very good at talking in this regard, but he made her like it directly. After thinking about it for a while, I seriously said what I thought

"Childe, I'm not disappointed at all today. We still have a lot of time to get along. If we really fit in, it doesn't matter what others want. It's our own fate. ”

"Yes! I... I'll try not to disappoint Miss. Also, I will not disappoint His Highness. ”

She smiled lightly, "Childe, tell me the story of your Qiao Mansion in the past." ”

The feeling when she saw Qiao Dong for the first time, Mo Wanyi felt very unique. In fact, when he touched her ankle and everyone began to coax, she felt a little uncomfortable. Mo Wanyi has always been a girl with a unique personality in the Mo Mansion. She didn't like this feeling of being arranged by others, even if Qiao Dong did leave a good impression on her. But when I think of the entanglements of interests behind this marriage, my father Mo Lingming was the New Year's friend of the four princes in the court, but in fact, this marriage with Qiaofu was actually proposed by the four princes behind it.

She could not yet understand the purpose. But when she thought of the innocent emotions behind the addition of these things, she didn't like it. The banquet was full of applause, as if celebrating a victory, this feeling... She only felt the real blessing when her sister Mo Ying, who she hadn't seen for a long time, applauded, maybe she was too sensitive.

When she thought of her sister, who had been married into the Dutch Mansion for several years, her thoughts fluttered all at once. Qiao Dong didn't notice it, and continued to enthusiastically tell her the story of Qiaofu, a new family.

A year or two after she got married, Mo Wanyi never saw her father mention her sister again. The aristocratic lady, who had lived in the boudoir for a long time, had no way of knowing what was happening, but during that time she often watched her father pacing back and forth in the courtyard and sighing.

Later, she overheard a conversation between her father and her brother, and she somewhat understood her sister's affairs. The father said that Mo Ying and He Zhe have no children for some reason, and He Zhe recently took a concubine into the mansion and gradually snubbed her. This left a shadow in her naïve heart at that time, and at the same time, she felt disgusted with He Zhe, who was still serving in the capital at that time.

In the days that followed, my sister did not send a letter back. Her father and brother never mentioned her again, and the daughter who married out was really like water spilled out, completely indifferent. Mo Wanyi used to be very heartbroken for her sister's fate. married a man who didn't love herself, and the family almost didn't care about her anymore. It is true that in the days before coming to Blackwater City, she feared that her fate in the future would be as unfortunate as her sister's.

At the banquet, I saw that the city lord of Blackwater City, He Zhe, was polite and well-behaved, and he didn't look much older than when he saw him many years ago. Most of the guests who came to the banquet belonged to the first-class families of Blackwater City, and He Zhe was highly respected among them, and he was proud. On the other hand, Mo Ying, who was sitting next to him, seemed to be unknown to him. Her smiling eyes kept looking at her and Qiao Dong beside her. Mo Wanyi knew that after He Zhe came to Blackwater City, he definitely didn't bring his sister to any event. She glanced at her sister and saw the loneliness and aging in a few years. Even though the beauty is still there, there is no aura at all.

However, now that she has grown up, she only feels heartache after seeing her sister's appearance. The disgust for He Zhe can only be hidden in the bottom of his heart. She came here to comply with her father's wishes, and she could only sigh silently about what happened to her sister. Fortunately, Qiao Dong gave her a really good impression, if she passed the gate of Qiao's Mansion in the future, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with her prejudice against He Zhe and Blackwater City.

Mo Wanyi is sad for her sister, but she is a smart girl and understands that she should let go of these emotions. She also needs a happy marriage, and she doesn't want to let Hezhe and her affairs haunt her for too long. It's just that when the banquet was about to end, when my sister took her hand and asked about the family's affairs in the past few years with concern, and when my sister sent her a beautifully embroidered fan made by herself to her, when Mo Ying sincerely wished her, Mo Wanyi really seemed to have crossed the etiquette and hugged her unfortunate sister in front of everyone.

Three hurried knocks rang out suddenly. Qiao Dong stopped talking and shouted suspiciously, "Who?"

"Miss ....."

"It's my maid. After Mo Wanyi heard this voice, she said to Qiao Dong, and then shouted to the people outside, "Come in." ”

However, it wasn't just her maid who pushed the door in. In front of him came a man dressed in white and looking like a literati. It is Liu Jingfan in Qiaofu, the husband of the second lady Qiao Yin, and Qiao Dong's niece and son-in-law. After the banquet, in order to ensure Qiao Dong's safety, Liu Jingfan escorted them here and kept guarding outside.

"Miao Ning, what's wrong?"

"Mr. Liu?" the two asked at the same time, and the little maid named Miao Ning glanced at Liu Jingfan nervously, he stepped forward and said seriously.

"Childe, Miss Mo. Just now, news came from Beicheng that on the outside of the Chaoshan Mountain Range, an hour ago, a large number of soldiers from the Underworld Kingdom had somehow gathered and appeared outside the mountain range. It is estimated that there are at least 1,000 troops, and the number of troops is constantly increasing! The soldiers stationed in the mountains did not find out at all when they had gathered. Now they are planning to attack from the Chaoshan Mountain Range, bypass the defense of the North City Gate, and take Blackwater City while we are unprepared!"

"Miss... If they do... Let's get out of Blackwater City first!"

"Childe, Childe Liangyan wants you to hurry back to Qiao's Mansion now!"

Qiao Dong and Mo Wanyi met in surprise and shock. He opened his mouth, but said nothing, and suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand tightly.

"You go to the South Gate first!"

It was night, and Blackwater City was in flames, and there was no sleep all night.