To the north of the long fence city, walk along the road of the virtuous king and walk more than 30 dragon steps, which is the wolf's tooth fortress, and further north more than 60 dragon steps is the saltwater city.

The Wolf's Tooth Fortress is said to be a fortress, but it is actually a small town with a small population, less than five hundred, and only a hundred garrisons. The reason why it is said to be a town rather than a village is that it still retains part of the bluestone wall. This small city has a long history, and during the city-state period, it was indeed a military fortress, with high walls and deep ditches to protect it from the invasion of southern cities. However, after the establishment of the Xianglong Kingdom, the upper and lower sides of this place were placed under the jurisdiction of Jinju Province, and the fortress lost its original meaning and became a ruin.

Although it is located on the edge of the Golden Plains, the small area of the Wolf's Tooth Fortress is densely forested, and thousands of years ago there were a large number of wolves in the woodland, which is not a fertile place, and now the wolves are still extinct, and it is risky to go to the woods to cut wood. The main task of the soldiers stationed here is no longer to defend against foreign enemies, but to defend against wolves. But the wolf did not become extinct, because in the eyes of the northerners, the wolf was a symbol of tenacity, and the hunters hunted wolves for their fur and safety, but never planned to exterminate this wild group, only to keep it out of the city, and not to let their footprints enter the golden plains and invade the towns.

Although it is a small and inconspicuous town, if you want to go north to the Golden Castle, you have to pass through here. Along the way, the snow became heavier and heavier, day and night, and the road of the virtuous king was dressed up in a snow cellar and icy, and the carriage used specially thickened and weighted wheels, but it was still difficult to travel, but fortunately the wind weakened slightly. In addition to eating and sleeping, it took them a day and a half from Long Fence City to the Wolf's Tooth Fortress, which was enough to make them shout lucky, at least the carriage could still move, and it was also thanks to Mo Xu who used the best horses, in exchange for those bad horses arranged by the royal court for the Qin family, it would be really desperate.

The Wolf's Tooth Fortress retains half of its ancient walls, and its brick and wood houses are arranged in an arc, hidden next to bluestones, like a fledgling seeking shelter from its mother's wings. The snow season has stained the bluestone walls and the entire town white, and the snow on the battlements rises high like the winter hats worn by soldiers. Under the city walls, there are ancient deep ditches, which have also been filled with heavy snow, and occasionally some broken branches of trees are exposed in the pits, foretelling people the ruthlessness and danger of the snow season. The old suspension bridge, which has long been decorative, is pulled by rusty iron locks, and is put away every day after the end of the month, when there are very few people who come in and out at night, and it is a quiet and peaceful town, so lonely that only the snowflakes can be heard gently combing the north wind.

The town belongs to Long Fence City, and the guardian is directly appointed by Mo Feng. Yu Jian had heard Mo Xu mention it before, this chief was born as a local hunter, and his experience in wolf hunting was far better than that of combat. This is a sturdy man in his forties, with a large rosacea, and seems to have quite a lot of experience in drinking, and his beard is as messy as a weed, and he has no aristocratic manner. A raunchy hunter. Dai Lan didn't know him, and he didn't know Dai Lan, and at the wedding held in Golden Castle three years ago, an unknown junior like him would not be invited.

"You are the young lady, my name is Ping Xiu, and I am the officer stationed here. I heard the news of the lady and the third son, and it was a shocking tragedy. This morning came news from the Golden Castle that you would pass by with their bodies, and I was ordered to greet them and send them to Saltwater. When talking about this sad topic, Ping Xiu's face did not have much sadness.

However, his attitude was not very respectful, and his words were not etiquette, and of course Dai Lan could see that this was a rough man and did not care about him. "Then you'll have to worry about it. ”

Located in the northwest of the Wolf's Tooth Fortress, more than sixty dragon steps away, Saltwater City is one of the larger cities in the middle of Jinju, and it can also be regarded as a transportation hub in the north, from where the Road of the Virtuous King passes, and the Road of the Northerners also uses it as a starting point to go west. That city is the hereditary fief of the Kang family, and the current city lord Kang Xian is currently leading the army to fight on the front line and has not yet returned.

The carriage carrying the corpse has been taken over by Pingxiu, and the coffin will be unloaded and transferred to another cart. Yu Jian said to the captain of the guard of Long Fence City: "It's really troublesome for you and your brothers, let's go back after resting here." For the next escort, the young master has already made arrangements. Please convey our thanks to Lord Mo Xu on our behalf. ”

Ping Xiu served a not very sumptuous meal in the humble living room, the meat was so marinated that it was hard to bite into, and the crucian carp soup was not fresh at all, the fish bones were not cleaned, and there was little spice added. Yu Jian is not particular, he can eat enough on a snowy day, have hot soup, and have a stove, what else do you want. But Dai Lan wants to eat better, she is now eating two people's meals with one mouth, and her appetite is not very good. So he ignored Dai Lan's objection and asked Ping Xiu for a pork rib tofu soup. The hunter chief was expressionless, and he couldn't tell if he was happy, but he finally met Yu Jian's request.

The guards of Long Fence City were talking about something in private, how to say that they were the same as peace, they were all people of the same lord, and this kind of treatment made them a little dissatisfied with the people from the big city. The group left after they had eaten and drunk, and did not stay for a while.

When the pork ribs and tofu soup was served, Dai Lan still had no appetite, and she drank more after Yu Jian's repeated persuasion. Ping Xiu didn't sit with him, but after they finished eating, Ping Xiu entered the living room, his face was tense, which made Yu Jian feel a little uneasy, and he noticed that the hunter chief was holding a scroll of paper in his hand.

"Let's leave as soon as possible, time is tight, and if it's too late, we'll delay the kneeling. Long Dailan made a suggestion to Ping Xiu.

Ping Xiu's voice was flat: "I'll just send it over." ”

"We are not tired, we don't need to rest, we will walk with you. Dailan was a little upset about this superfluous concern, but she hid it well.

However, the Hunter Chief's next words made her face visibly unhappy. "Nope. I'll send people there, but you can't go. ”

She asked curiously, "What do you say? We can't go?"

"Yes, I have not been given orders to allow you to continue north. A strange expression appeared on Ping Xiu's face, like sympathy, and like mockery.

"Who gave you the order?" said Dailan stood up, a look of anger on her face.

"Less host. ”

"Young master? How could the young master not allow me to go to the Golden Castle?" "You must be mistaken!"

"No, I'm not mistaken. The order of Fort Kim is clearly written. Ping Xiu pulled the paper roll in his hand open and handed it to her.

She took it, Yu Jian stood behind her, and glanced at the dense small words written on it, and the content was not clear. However, he clearly saw the shock and doubt in Dai Lan's eyes.

"If you insist on going north, I'll stop you. Because if I don't, I'm going to be punished severely. In the last sentence, Ping Xiu accentuated his tone. "Lord Mo Feng has appointed me, but the young master will remove me. ”

"Show me. Dai Lan stood a little distracted, and Yu Jian took the parchment from her hand. This scroll of paper was polished very smooth, and the handwriting on it was very clear: "Wolf Tooth Garrison Pingxiu Order: Pick up my mother and my brother, and escort me back to the north." The rest of the people were not allowed to go north. He returned the scroll to Dailan. Qin Ming's handwriting he had never seen before, but the paper scroll was stamped with the seals of Jinyuan and Mai Sui, which were the seals of the governor of Jinju Province.

Dailan staggered and saw that she was unsteady on her feet, and the scroll of paper fell from her hand and floated to the ground. "Why is that...... Why ......"

"I don't know why, I just know you can't go north. Ping Xiu's face was expressionless, as if it had nothing to do with everything in front of him.

Yu Jian hurriedly supported her and asked her to sit back in the chair. If it weren't for the young lady of the Golden Castle and Qin Ming's wife, they would only be as good as a wolf in the eyes of this hunter chief. It was unbearable for a local petty official to be so rude to the mistress of Jinju Province, even Dai Lan, who had always been unruly. But the deeper blow came from the letter, and from the person who wrote it. "The young lady is pregnant, and she has worked hard to send the remains of her wife and third son home, but you deliberately stop it?"

"It's not that I'm going to stop it, you haven't figured it out yet. Ping Xiu frowned, looking at him like he was looking at an idiot, "It's the order of the young master, don't you know how to read, how many times do you want me to say it?"

Yu Jian only felt a surge of anger, "How could your young master give such an order? This is his wife, and there is still his child in his belly! Someone must have forged it!"

Ping Xiu bowed down and picked up the paper scroll from the ground, revealing an impatient expression: "The seal of the provincial governor is very clear, do you want to read it again?" forbid her to go north, including you, only me and my people." That's the order. ”

Without saying a word, Yu Jian pulled out the dragon scar and put the sword on his neck before the hunter chief could figure out what was going on. is just a magistrate, and Yu Jian could have beheaded the courtiers with a sword in his hand. Even though this is the sword of the previous dynasty, the dragon mark is the dragon mark.

"The young lady is the legitimate heir of the Xianglong Kingdom, and she is your dragon monarch!

"You think I'm scared? I fought wolves when I was eight years old. You weren't born yet. The hunter was not afraid, stretched out two fingers to remove the sword from his throat, and snorted nonchalantly: "Lord Mo Feng is my lord, and the young master is Lord Mo Feng's master, and what are you? My lord didn't tell me that she was the Dragon King, why are you talking nonsense to me? Let you go north, I am disobeying my lord's order, I can't do that." Although I am only a small person, I know what loyalty and obedience are. ”

He thought of me as a traitor, a rebel and a thief.

"Put down your sword, don't do that. Dai Lan said weakly, "This is Qin Ming's handwriting, and it was his order." ”

Why did Qin Ming do this? He didn't have an answer, and neither did Dai Lan. He could only suppress his anger and put away his sword and return it to its sheath. Ping Xiu touched his neck, raised his eyebrows, and said lightly: "The young lady is a person who understands, why bother me, I just carry out the young master's orders." ”

He glanced at Yu Jian, and his expression became a little strange: "That first samurai has done something, and the young master probably doesn't like it." ”

He mocked me nakedly and humiliated me, but he didn't name Dai Lan. But when these words fell on Dai Lan's ears, it was like a thunderbolt.

"When I get to the Golden Castle, I will tell the young master that you have paid a great price for stopping me. Dai Lan glanced at Yu Jian, and said, "Take me out of here, let's go to Saltwater City." ”

She's holding on, she's the one who was betrayed. One after another, her loved ones calculated, abandoned, and deceived her. And he can't do anything. She walked towards the door of the living room, intending to leave. Ping Xiuyi stepped in front of her, "If the young lady wants to embarrass me, then I can't help it." ”