The sun has already set in the west, and the courtyard of the headquarters of the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce in the ancient city is busy moving, and more than a dozen carriages are full of various items.

Because they received the news from Langcheng Kuaima early in the morning, the ancient city was soon at risk of being besieged and broken by the undersea gene people, and Haidong asked them to leave the ancient city as soon as possible and move to the countryside to escape the war.

In fact, the vast majority of foreign merchants in the ancient city have already slipped away, and ordinary people with relatives and friends in the countryside have also left the city one after another.

The Qizhou Chamber of Commerce was unable to leave the ancient city because it had to make logistical supplies for the Chamber of Commerce Corps, plus a lot of personnel and goods.

The two Mink bosses finally came out of the house and prepared to get into the car.

At this moment, a fast horse rushed in from outside the courtyard gate, and when everyone raised their eyes to see who was sitting on the horse's back, they all stopped what they were doing and waited, because it was a brother of the guards beside their big brother Haidong.

At this moment, there must be something very important for the eldest brother to send someone.

The guard jumped off his horse in front of the two bosses and panted and said, "I'm in a hurry!" If you are one step late, you will slip away. Don't be in a hurry to leave, the eldest brother has an urgent matter for you to finish before leaving. ”

Ming was shocked and asked, "What's the urgency?" Brother Rong said quickly! ”

"The eldest brother wants you to enter the palace as soon as possible to find out if there is anything abnormal in the palace, such as whether there is any civil strife, whether the king of the ancient land is still alive, and for example, whether there is a rebellion in the palace guards, etc."

The guards then told the king of Gudi about summoning the second prince and the treasurer into the palace, and finally said: "The second general, they will arrive in about two hours, and if there is any change in the palace, we can stop them outside the south gate of the ancient city." ”

Ming turned his face to Ke and said: "I understand what Brother Rong meant, Brother Haidong is worried that someone in the palace will rebel, and then in the name of the king of Gudi, he summoned the second general and the treasurer to join the army and enter the palace, so it is very dangerous for the two generals to enter the palace." But the question is, how can we enter the palace without the edict of the palace? What's more, it's a time of war? ”

Ke thought for a while and said: "Brother Ming, we can go to the Treasury Mansion to inquire about Lord Bo on the pretext of urging payment for medicines, Lord Bo is the cabinet minister of the King of Gudi, if he has seen the King of Gudi early today and everything is going on as usual, it means that nothing has changed in the palace." Otherwise, even Lord Bo himself is afraid that something would have happened at this time. ”

Ming nodded and said: "That's all there is to it now, Brother Rong, you have been lucky all the way, go into the house and rest for a while, and our brothers will find a way to find out if the palace has changed." If we don't return within an hour and a half, it means that something has happened to us, and it means that something has changed in the palace. You hurriedly go out to stop the second general, and the others hurriedly leave the ancient city. ”

The two Minks quickly entered the old city in a carriage, and they found that there was no movement of troops and horses in the old city, and everything seemed normal.

The carriage stopped in front of a house just a few hundred meters away from the palace compound, and a signboard with the words "Treasury House" hung at the entrance of the house.

Mink and the others got out of the carriage, and the guards standing at the door were obviously familiar with them, and greeted them with a smile: "The two bosses are here to ask Lord Bo for money again, right?" ”

Ke smiled: "Exactly! I hope that Lord Bo is still working inside, otherwise our brothers will have to visit the adult's house. ”

The guard's face suddenly became serious, and he pointed in the direction of the palace and said: "Two bosses, to tell you the truth, Lord Bai has not come out since he entered the palace yesterday, and the order from the palace is that the cabinet ministers should concentrate in the palace during the war, and we can only act according to the warrant of Lord Bo from the palace guards." ”

Mink and the others were shocked, and they looked at each other, obviously something had really happened to the palace.

Ming said to the guards quietly: "It seems that we can only go to the palace to ask for a meeting with your lordship, and your lord wants us to provide a batch of food and medicine as soon as possible, but if the payment for the last batch of medicines is not given to us, our funds will not be able to turn over." What's more, now that it is the time of the war, the price of everything has risen, and the price of medicine and food has doubled. ”

The guard understood the difficulties of the two bosses very well, and he said in a sympathetic tone: "Yes, there are many bosses who have been urging for payment these days, and the two bosses can go to the palace to try it now, but there is a new group of guards in the palace, and it is said that it is difficult to be accommodating." Even if you spend a little tip, I'm afraid it will be difficult for you to enter the palace and find Lord Bo. ”

The guards' words convinced Mink and his wife that there was something going on in the palace and that it was their duty to find out what had happened, so they said goodbye to the guards of the treasury and got into the carriage and hurried to the palace.

When they arrived at the south gate of the palace, they saw that the gate was closed, and a group of guards stood guard outside the gate.

As soon as Mink's carriage stopped, a young guard, who looked to be no more than twenty years old, came up and waved his sword and shouted, "Who are you?" Can't stay here! ”

Mink and the others were stunned when they heard this, the little guard's shouting was the accent of the Qizhou people they were familiar with.

Even if the King of the Ancient Land needs more palace guards, he can choose from the ancient city legions, and the palace guards are very important, and it is unlikely that they will recruit the children of the people of Qizhou.

The two jumped out of the car, and said with a smile on their faces and an authentic Chizhou accent: "Brothers guards, we are on an errand run by the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce, and we have an urgent matter to enter the palace to find Lord Bo from the Treasury Mansion." ”

The vicious look on the little guard's face disappeared suddenly, and he said with a happy face: "You are also from Qizhou?" ”

Ming hurriedly said, "Yes! Listening to the brother's accent is also from Chizhou? ”

"Yes, we..."

"Less nonsense!"

A rude voice abruptly interrupted the little guard.

Mink and the two turned their heads to see that an old guard with a thick beard walked over here, he looked to be in his thirties, and he said to Mink and the others with a calm face: "You two are so bold, don't you know that Xizhou is fighting?" At such a time, you dare to come to the palace to find someone, if you don't want to lose your head, leave here quickly! ”

This old guard also spoke with a Chizhou accent! Ming was even more puzzled in his heart, it seemed that there were many Qizhou disciples among these new guards.

Ming looked a little flustered on the surface, and said with a smile on his face: "Brother knows that there is going to be a war, but the King of Gudi owes us a large amount of medicine money from the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce, but he also asks us to send them a large amount of grain, grass and medicine within a time limit, otherwise we will arrest our boss and go to jail or even kill him." For the sake of all Qizhou people, please ask a few brothers to help report to the Lord Bo of the Treasury Mansion, saying that our Qizhou Chamber of Commerce has an urgent matter to see him, and ask him to come to the south gate to meet us. ”

As he spoke, he took out a wad of banknotes from his bosom and handed it to the old guard.

The old guard didn't stretch out his hand to take the money, but said angrily: "We don't know any Lord Bo who can't help you, you deserve to go to prison for losing money, who let you come all the way from Qizhou to do business with the King of the Ancient Land?" However, to tell you the truth, the king of the ancient land is now unable to protect himself, and that uncle can't control your, for the sake of you being from Qizhou, I advise you to go back to Qizhou quickly, Xizhou is going to be in chaos for a while. Stay here, let alone collect money, I'm afraid I will even have to move my head. ”

Ke pretended to be puzzled and said: "We know that Xizhou is going to fight, so we want to leave and return to Qizhou after receiving the payment, since the two brothers are from Qizhou, the ancient city is about to fight, why do you still want to stay in the ancient city to serve as an errand for the king of the ancient land?" ”

"We're not on an errand for the King of the Ancient Land!" The young guard spoke anxiously.

The old guard glared at him dissatisfiedly and scolded: "You don't talk nonsense! ”

Then he turned his face to look at the two of them and said sharply: "If it weren't for the sake of you being from Qizhou, you would have been punished based on the question you just asked." Get out! ”

After saying that, he turned around and pulled the young guard away.

Seeing this, the two Minks did not delay any longer, and they got into the carriage and quickly left the palace and hurried back.

They discussed it on the carriage, obviously there was a change in the palace, and it was somewhat involved with the Qizhou Empire, could it be that the fake Ming Emperor of Qizhou took advantage of the war in Xizhou to send people to sneak into the ancient city to carry out a palace coup?

The two quickly returned to the headquarters of the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce, and they first ordered their entourage to evacuate the ancient city as originally planned to live in the countryside that had been arranged in advance.

Then, the two of them were still riding in the same carriage, and the guards of Haidong followed on horseback, and the three of them hurried out of the south gate of the ancient city, and they kept walking along the avenue in the direction of Langcheng. They should tell the second general who came to tell the information about the changes in the palace as soon as possible.

One horse and one cart walked about twenty miles one after the other, only to see the red dust rolling in front of the road, the flags fluttering, the sound of horses' hooves crisp, and a cavalry team coming from south to north.

Horses and carts waited on the side of the road, Ming took an expeditionary force flag and got out of the carriage, they stood in the middle of the road and waved their flags to the oncoming cavalry corps, and Haidong's guards stood behind them on horseback.

The pioneers of the cavalry saw the banner of the expeditionary force waving from a distance, and when they knew that something had happened, they immediately slowed down their horses, and the team behind them followed at a slow pace.

Haidong's guards rode forward and shouted, "Hey! Brothers, please report to the Second General and the Treasurer immediately, the two bosses of the Qizhou Chamber of Commerce have urgent matters to see! ”