That scene was as calm as the clouds in the sky, but it made Xiao Tao cold to the bone. Xiao Tao sat on the ground, her eyes were sour, but she couldn't shed tears. The river breeze blew the little peach hair scattered, and she was unconscious. The eldest lady was fine yesterday. How did it come to this? How could it be-

Qi Zhengxiu walked over quickly and ordered someone to pull the boat to the shore. raised his hand and stroked He Zhitang's arm and face, and closed his eyes. After a while, he instructed the attendants: "Carry it back." "The sound is heavy and sad like never before.

The attendant asked, "Are you going back to the camp?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu thought for a while and shook his head and said, "No need. The firewood courtyard on the east side of the camp was packed up and parked there first. After a pause, he commanded, "Go and find a good coffin again." ”

Xiao Tao didn't know how she was picked up by Qi Zhengxiu and brought back to the camp. It's just dementia all the way. It wasn't until they went to the Chai Courtyard together and looked at He Zhitang who was being moved around, that Xiao Tao's heart ached and regained consciousness.

There is a simple wooden bed in the west wing of the firewood courtyard, and He Zhitang is placed there. Xiao Tao knelt beside the bed, stretched out her hand to hold He Zhitang's already cold and stiff hand, and tears fell down her eyes. Qi Zhengxiu stood behind Xiao Tao and patted her shoulder: "Don't cry and break your body." ”

Xiao Tao raised her eyes and looked at Qi Zhengxiu. Her eyes were full of pain: "How could the eldest lady be so vicious?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu's voice was a little hoarse: "The soldier who sent her came back yesterday afternoon, saying that Zhitang had safely gone to the north shore and arrived in Songdi." There were no villages or fields nearby, but there was a defensive camp of the Song army not far away. But that's already the weakest part of the defense. Walk along the road for two hours. You can go to the market town. He was the one who watched her walk out safely. ”

Xiao Tao held back her tears, bit her lip tightly, and thought for a while: "But the eldest lady was thrown on the boat and floated back." It shows that the person who killed the eldest lady is not far from the riverbank. Last night, the wind blew southward, and it blew the young lady back to the river. After speaking, he touched He Zhitang's body again, although the silver was gone, but the pearl hairpin and jade ring were there. Xiao Tao's voice trembled, "If it's a robbery, why don't you rob all the jewels and jades, it's worth more than silver." ”

"Don't think about it." Qi Zhengxiu sighed softly, "Prepare the burial earlier, let her be buried in the ground." You go back and rest first, yesterday you were not well, don't get sick again, it's not worth it. ”

Xiao Tao's heart turned over the river and the sea, sour and painful, where would she go back. Xiao Tao stretched out her hand to smooth He Zhitang's skirt, and said to Qi Zhengxiu: "I won't go back." Before I was born, I had a fight with the young lady's master and servant, and now, I just want to guard her again. This is also the last time. After a pause, Xiao Tao's voice was a little choked, "Tell your subordinates to boil some hot water, and I'll help the young lady wipe her body." You have to walk cleanly. Let's go find new clothes. ”

Qi Zhengxiu was silent for a long time, and spit out a word hoarsely: "Okay." Then he turned around and went out, and ordered his men to boil water and prepare clothes.

With tears in her eyes, Xiao Tao lit three sticks of incense directly under He Zhitang's head. turned around, untied He Zhitang's clothes, dipped them in hot water and wiped them carefully. Thinking of He Zhitang's life, Xiao Tao only sighed in addition to being distressed. The eldest lady is so much more noble than her, and it should have been a life that is very different from her, but she walked in front of her by mistake, and it was still like this.

The eldest lady used to be so gentle and virtuous, and she was knowledgeable. After death, he drifted with the tide like a duckweed, and when he thought of this, Xiao Tao's heart was so painful that he couldn't breathe. Xiao Tao carefully wiped He Zhitang's body, and said that the first thing a person should do when he dies, and he should go on the road cleanly. Xiao Tao only hopes that the eldest lady will go there and live an easier life than in this life.

He Zhitang's wound was in the abdomen, where there was the most blood. Xiao Tao carefully wiped it for a long time, the wound was very small, but there were two places, and there was meat that was turned out of it. Xiao Tao trembled and wiped it carefully, looking like an arrow wound, and the arrow was shot in and pulled out. Those who use bows and arrows, except for Orions, are only soldiers. But there are no deep mountains and old forests in Jiangbei, where do the hunters come from. That must be Song Jun. Xiao Tao couldn't help but feel cold from the soles of her feet to the palms of her hands, why did Song Jun kill the eldest lady? It's just a weak woman, what can she do when she sets foot on Song Land? Why can't you tolerate her? But thinking about his past experience in Kaifeng, Xiao Tao didn't feel sad, yes, people left their hometowns, and when the Tang people arrived in the Song Dynasty, they were no longer "people", and no one would treat you as a person.

After scrubbing He Zhitang, Xiao Tao put on the clothes bought by the next person for the eldest lady, combed her hair again, and applied fat powder to her face. He Zhitang was lying there, his face was calm that he hadn't seen for a long time before his death. Xiao Tao's tears couldn't be stopped, and she held He Zhitang's hand and cried for a long time. In the past, those days of laughing together destroyed the little peach's internal organs. Xiao Tao's dizziness was really unbearable, and he was helped back to the camp by his subordinates.

In the dream, it was all about the past, the days when I laughed with the eldest lady, and the days when the eldest lady taught her to read and write. When she woke up from a dream, Xiao Tao found that her face was full of tears. The room was pitch black, with only half of the moonlight pouring in. Xiao Tao was dazed and dizzy for a whole day, but at the moment she was extremely awake and couldn't sleep anymore, Xiao Tao got up with her clothes on, she wanted to go to the Chai Courtyard to see the eldest lady, but there was no one to guide her to find the way at night. Xiao Tao turned back and forth, and somehow, walked outside Qi Gongzi's tent.

Qi Gongzi has not slept yet, and there are lights in the camp tent. The soldiers on duty saw that it was Xiao Tao, and they did not stop it. Xiao Tao walked in and was stunned for a moment.

Qi Gongzi was sitting on a stool, in front of him was a charcoal brazier burning brightly, Qi Gongzi was holding a roll of paper in his hand, thinking about something in front of the charcoal fire. Xiao Tao stood by the door, it was not yet the season to burn charcoal, so what did Qi Gongzi want to burn? Xiao Tao coughed lightly.

Qi Zhengxiu raised his head, seeing that it was Xiao Tao, there was no wave on his face, and he only asked gently, "What's wrong?" Still dizzy? ”

"It's better." Xiao Tao walked to Qi Gongzi's side, looked at the paper in his hand and couldn't help asking, "Childe, is this?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu didn't answer, the expression on his face was a little solemn. After a while, he said slowly: "It's nothing." With that, he tucked the paper into his sleeve. Looking at Xiao Tao, he asked, "Are you hungry?" After a day of sleep, do you want to eat something? ”

Xiao Tao sat down on the stool next to Qi Zhengxiu, and also looked at the charcoal brazier: "I'm not hungry." Can't eat. The two were silent for a long time, and Xiao Tao suddenly asked, "It was Song Jun who killed the eldest lady, right?" ”

The air seemed to freeze, and for a long time, Qi Zhengxiu replied in a deep voice: "Yes." ”

"Actually," Xiao Tao hesitated for a long time, and finally asked, "Did Childe have long expected that there would be an accident when the eldest lady went to Song Land?" Although Xiao Tao is dizzy, she is not stupid, and now that she has already cultivated her feelings, she will remember that Qi Zhengxiu tried his best to persuade He Zhitang not to go to Song Land, and even the cloak at the time of parting was not his usual attitude. Qi Zhengxiu has always been indifferent in parting with sorrow, and how many times he has said goodbye to Xiao Tao. If he hadn't known the last side, he wouldn't have been so abnormal.

Qi Zhengxiu paused for a long time before replying in a dumb voice, "Yes." ”

"Why?" Xiao Tao's eyes turned red again, "If Childe had told the eldest lady earlier, she might not have gone to Song Land, and maybe she wouldn't have died." ”

"I warned her, but she's willing to take a gamble." Qi Zhengxiu's voice was very flat, and there was no emotion.

"But the prince only said that King Zheng accepted another concubine in Kaifeng, how could the eldest lady think that there was a danger of life?" Xiao Tao's voice was a little intense, and Qi Zhengxiu didn't answer, that is, he didn't deny Xiao Tao's words. Xiao Tao finally couldn't suppress her aggrieved emotions, "Even if the son doesn't miss the old love, he shouldn't watch the eldest lady die." Childe is a cold-hearted person, Xiao Tao doesn't know that in the past ten years of acquaintance, who can make Childe move a little pity, is it that one day Xiao Tao will take the liberty of sending me to death, and Childe can also watch me leave with a smile? Xiao Tao didn't know where the sadness came from, so she said it in one breath.

Qi Zhengxiu closed his eyes, his face was still gentle, but the green tendons on the back of his hand jumped a few times. After a long time, Qi Zhengxiu took out the paper roll in his sleeve and handed it to Xiao Tao: "Because of this." If I explained it, it wouldn't change He Zhitang's decision, but I wouldn't be able to get this. ”

Xiao Tao took it, unfolded it and looked at it by candlelight, it was a terrain map, but it was different from the general map, there were some graphic annotations on it, and there were numbers. Xiao Tao couldn't help asking, "What is this?" "Every sign of service.

Qi Zhengxiu replied in a deep voice: "The defense map of the Tang Dynasty's naval army. All the Datang naval forces, locks, warships, and war projects built by the Tang Dynasty, both on the water and underwater, are here. ”

Xiao Tao only felt a cool breath rushing up from his back, and his brain exploded like an explosion, and after a long time, he muttered, "King Zheng deliberately asked the eldest lady to go to Song Land, just to send him this?" ”

Qi Zhengxiu nodded: "King Zheng can be regarded as a painstaking lonely, I didn't expect to keep such a hand." He had already taken the opportunity of patrolling around and secretly drew a map of the naval army's defense in case of emergency. It's just that when he was detained by the Song Dynasty, he shouldn't have expected the Song Dynasty's actions, nor did he expect that he would surrender, so he didn't carry this defense map with him. Now that he has been attached to Emperor Song, he naturally has to show sincerity to curry favor with Song thieves. Otherwise, according to his temperament, how could he read He Zhitang? ”

Xiao Tao realized that Qi Zhengxiu and He Zhitang's reminiscences were not simple reminiscences, and it had already been detected that Li Congshan did not have much affection for He Zhitang as early as the words, so the motive for letting He Zhitang go to Kaifeng was very suspicious. Xiao Tao couldn't help asking, "Then why did he want the eldest lady to send it?" There are so many elite guards in King Zheng's mansion, why bother a weak woman? ”

"Weak women don't attract attention. Moreover, Zhitang has no heirs, and His Majesty does not care. And more importantly, only He Zhitang can easily cross the river from me. Qi Zhengxiu's eyebrows and eyes frowned slightly, as if there was a thunderbolt hidden.