When it is ugly, the night sinks like water, and it is the most sleepy moment. A crescent moon in the sky, sprinkling a faint and clear light, shrouded the quiet sand garden prison. Nancheng crawled among the rolling hills, like a sick old man, weakly spreading his limbs and looking up at the far-reaching night sky. There was a slight wind blowing, with a smell of cattle and horses.

In an alley, Xiaohu poked his head out, his eyes shining and excited. The house in front of him is the place where Yao Gang and the others are hiding, the door is closed, the door is dark, and no sound can be heard. Xiaohu observed for another moment, then waved his hand behind him, and suddenly a group of people rushed out.

There were more than a dozen people in this team, all teenagers of twelve or thirteen, carrying bales of grass on their shoulders.

They crept under the western wall, paused for a moment, and threw a dozen bales of straw into the wall with all their might. The bale looked big, but it didn't weigh much, and it didn't make much noise when it landed.

Seeing that the task was completed, Xiaohu waved his hand again, and everyone immediately withdrew, disappearing in a blink of an eye.

It's like pinching the time, and in the alleys of Nancheng, I suddenly remembered the sound of booming. A long line of torches rushed through the alley and towards here. The roar of the horses' hooves on the ground, the Nancheng Xiangjun was asleep, and they could distinguish it. But this point sounded, apparently unusual.

A young military general took the lead, wearing armor all over his body, shining in the firelight, and the ground was majestic.

Zhengjiupin Renyong Lieutenant, Xiao Cavalry Battalion is Yu Hou Chang Wanli.

More than a month ago, Qin Yutian was ordered to escort the war horse to Yanzhou. Now the leader of the Xiaoqi camp is the Marquis of Duyu. This person is ordinary, but he is delicate, resourceful, and has the demeanor of a Confucian general. Chang Wanli was transferred from the forbidden army in the capital last year, and after belonging to Jiangmen, he obviously came to go through the motions.

Today, I got the wire report, Nancheng found the Xixia fine work, and Chang Wanli was overjoyed.

He came here from the capital, not to blow the wind and eat sand, but to accumulate military merits and prestige, so as to be promoted.

The credit was in front of him, Chang Wanli took the reins of the horse and shouted, "Fence up." ”

The galloping cavalry, one point left and right, one east and one west outflanked the house. Chang Wanli lightly touched the stirrup, and the horse slowly stepped forward and stopped in front of the gate of the house. The cavalry all around raised torches, and the front of the door was bright. Chang Wanli slowly raised his right hand, and was about to give the order to break the door, but saw the door open with a "squeak".

A rickety old man walked slowly out of the door. is dressed as a subordinate, but he is extremely calm, and he clearly has the momentum of a superior. Facing the cavalry outside the door, it seemed that he had not seen it, and he was not in a hurry.

"Who are you waiting for? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? The old man glanced at Chang Wanli, his eyes sharp.

Chang Wanli was bluffed for a while, but he didn't act rashly. He grew up in the city of Tokyo and was accustomed to seeing high-ranking lords. The so-called seven-rank officials in front of the prime minister, their subordinate servants, are like this in front of outsiders. If you don't check clearly, you may end up losing yourself.

"Listen to the old man, the Marquis of the Xiao Cavalry Battalion is the Captain of our family." Beside Chang Wanli, a personal soldier announced his identity loudly, staring at the old man with unkind eyes, waiting for the order to attack.

"Captain Chang?" The corners of the old man's mouth hooked, very disdainful.

Chang Wanli's official position is still at the bottom of the military attaché, 108,000 miles away from the Tai Lieutenant. To call it this way is nothing more than flattery to his subordinates. Even Chang Wanli himself was embarrassed to listen.

Snorted coldly and said, "A certain person received a secret report, saying that there is a Xixia fine work and is hiding here. Get out of the way quickly, and you have to go inside to check. "Anyway, don't wait for the old man to promise, he will break in if he lifts the reins.

"Wait." The rickety old man shouted, took out a token from his arms, and held it high.

Chang Wanli was stunned suddenly, his hand tightened, and he retracted the horse's reins.

The old man glanced at him and shouted, "The commander of this road is here, who dares to be presumptuous?" ”

This shout startled Chang Wanli.

The so-called Shuai Si is to pacify the envoy and take charge of the soldiers and horses all the way. It is about equivalent to the provincial military district in later generations, and the highest commander is the pacification envoy of Jingluo. However, this kind of official position is not permanent, but only established in wartime, and is held by civil ministers selected by the imperial court. The military and civil affairs are grasped as soon as possible, and the authority is quite large, and he is a real feudal official.

With this token, you can indeed walk sideways on Shaanxi Road, who has nothing to offend Shuai Si?

If you were someone else, you would have been bluffed. The other party's hat is too big to offend. However, at this time, he met Chang Wanli, who was not an ordinary big-headed soldier. Chang Wanli was born in Jiangmen, and he has been fighting in the capital since he was a child, and his vision and courage are by no means comparable to ordinary soldiers. Hearing the old man's words, he sneered.

Because the authority of the Shuai Si is too large, the imperial court also has many restrictions. First of all, at the road level, there are not only the economic and pacification envoys, but also the transfer envoys, the criminal prison division, and the Changping division, these four divisions are at the same level, and they contain and supervise each other, and no one can have no scruples, which is the policy of checks and balances of the imperial court.

The most important thing is that the economic and pacification envoys only have the right to manage the troops, but not the right to transfer troops. If the troops are to be mobilized, the Privy Council must be written, and the Privy Council will issue orders for the redeployment of troops. Moreover, the soldiers under the jurisdiction of the pacification envoy were only second-class van troops, excluding the most elite forbidden army.

In particular, a supervisor like Sha Yuan Jian is directly subordinate to the Imperial Court Pastoral Division, and the Pacification Envoy Department has no jurisdiction over it. The garrison forbidden army is subordinate to the Guards and Pro-Army Ma Jun Division, and is still not under the jurisdiction.

Therefore, the token of the Lu Division cannot be managed by Chang Wanli's head. As long as it is not to appease the envoy in person, Chang Wanli can ignore it at all. Moreover, Chang Wanli arrested Xixia Xizuo and protected the safety of Shayuan Prison, which can be described as justifiable. Even if this lawsuit reaches the court, it will be a sure win.

Chang Wanli's eyes turned cold, his right hand slowly raised, and a sentence came out between his teeth.

"Those who dare to stop will be killed." With that, wave your arms.

At this moment, a scream suddenly came from inside the house. "Help." This cry for help is extremely poignant, and it is terrifying to hear it in the middle of the night. Hearing the shout, the rickety old man's face also changed rapidly. But before he could make a move, Chang Wanli was already urging the war horse, and shouted, "Kill in." ”

The cavalry roared, toppling like a mountain, and rushed towards the gate. The old man knew the power of the cavalry, where did he dare to stop it, and he deftly dodged from a distance, looking back at the depths of the house, his brows furrowed deeply.

He knew that since he had not been able to stop the cavalry, he could not do anything here. It's just a pity that if you take another day or two, you will be able to get the desired result. Now, it can only be temporarily retreated. Fortunately, Childe had already made arrangements, otherwise he would have been raided this time, but he would have lost a lot.

"Ugh." The old man sighed lightly, and his body became deeper.

Just when Chang Wanli led his troops to rush into the gate, a person jumped off the back wall of this house. The back is bulging, as if there is still a person on his back. This person has good skills, carrying a person on his back without any burden, sweeping left and right, lowering his body, running quickly to the alley not far away, and disappearing into the darkness in a blink of an eye.

Suddenly, a huge fat figure stood on the wall on the left, looking down at the running black shadow. Hehe laughed silently, shook his hand, and a round stone the size of an egg flew out with a "woo".

There was a "bang" sound, and it hit the back of the black shadow's head. The black shadow was suddenly attacked, and without even screaming, it fell limply to the ground. The fat tiger jumped straight off the wall. The big tiger was in charge of answering, and also walked out of the dark shadow, a little sullen. It's too smooth, it's nothing to do with him.

The fat tiger ignored the big tiger and looked at the man in black who fell to the ground. Sure enough, there was still a person behind him, unconscious, it was the little girl confessed by Qin Chong. picked up Xiao Nizi, stuffed it into the arms of the big tiger, clamped the man in black under the armpit with one hand, and quickly left the place.

And at this moment, Chang Wanli has also achieved fruitful results.

In the room, plus the rickety old man, there were only three people in total, all of whom were escorted by the soldiers and stood in the courtyard. Strangely, these three people can deal with it calmly and without fear. It's just that Xiucai met the soldiers, and he couldn't explain it clearly, silently watching the soldiers rummaging through the boxes and cabinets, ignoring them, as if it was none of their business.

However, when they saw the soldiers approaching with bales of grass, they suddenly became furious.

"This is a false accusation, you are so big."

"Let us go quickly, or you will bear the consequences."

If Qin Chong was here, he would definitely be able to recognize one of them, it was the brocade boy who harmed him. However, at this moment, the boy in brocade is quite embarrassed, his hair is scattered, and his clothes are messy. If you look closely, you can see that his body is trembling. Although his eyes were still fierce, he was just afraid, very afraid of being planted in this small place.

What a vulgar martial artist looks like, he's seen a lot. Because of this, he was even more afraid.

"Let me go, handsome driver Yiwen Liu Liang, that's my uncle." His voice was eager, and he finally revealed his identity. It turned out that it was the handsome driver Yiwen Liu Liang.

Chang Wanli didn't have time to pay attention to him, grabbing a bundle of fine grass, carefully identifying it, his eyes burning.

"It's poisonous fern." By Chang Wanli's side, a pro-soldier recognized him.

"Haha." Chang Wanli let out a strange laugh and turned his head to look at the angry three. "You waited for the Western Xia to work carefully, carrying a large amount of poisonous fern grass, hiding in the Shayuan prison, intending to poison my Great Song Dynasty war horse, the evidence is conclusive."

The poisonous weed in Chang Wanli's hand is a fern with triangular leaves, which is very easy to identify. This kind of grass likes moisture and shade, and is common by rivers and woods. This kind of grass is taboo in Shayuan Prison, because it must not be eaten by mistake, so every spring and summer, it must be removed by manpower.

Cattle and horses were eaten by mistake, and they lost their sight for three or five days, and if they were not treated in time, they would die.

Nowadays, a large number of poisonous ferns have been found in the courtyard, which can be said to be ironclad.

"Tie it up." Chang Wanli is full of confidence, who do you care?

Leaning slightly, another soldier came to report, "I found a cellar, and there were two people hiding in the cellar." After a while, a man and a woman were carried out, both scarred and unconscious.

"Take it all back and evacuate." Chang Wanli ordered to bring all the people and grass back to the barracks.

In the dark shadow in the distance, Qin Chongmu watched the cavalry leave, and breathed a long sigh of relief. Although the thing was done and the people were rescued, the process was almost out of shape. It's really thanks to Chang Wanli, if you change someone, Bacheng will be frightened by Shuaisi's token, and you will fall short.

Fortunately, Qin wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

It's a pity that Yao Gang is not here.

Qin Zhong rushed to the meeting point, and the sky was already white. That night, although he didn't make a move, he still felt exhausted. Using your brain is also physical work, Qin Zhong sighed in his heart. Mental concentration is high, always anticipating possible deviations and remedial solutions. At the end of the night, it was like a fight with someone.

The meeting place is the cave where Xiaohu once hid grain. Hearing the footsteps, the big tiger and the little tiger all came out, and they were all happy. Also, a few people saved people without any danger, and they also pitted the brocade boy by the way, which is indeed worth being happy about. Even Qin Chong is faintly complacent.

"What about people?" Qin Zhong asked.

"It's tied up in the hole." Xiaohu hurriedly said, looking at Qin Zhong with a pair of eager eyes.

"Xiaohu's scream was very timely and helped a lot." Qin Zhong praised.

Xiaohu suddenly smiled, and his whole body felt different, light and fluttering, as if he wanted to fly.

At this time, the sky was bright, and the cave was much brighter. Xiao Nizi had woken up, sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, her head hanging between her legs, not moving. On the other side, the man in black was tied up with four horses and hooves, lying on the ground reclining, with rags stuffed in his mouth, and when he saw someone coming in, he couldn't help but cry out.

Qin Chong didn't speak, walked over and kicked straight at the neck of the man in black, and suddenly stopped moving. Qin Chong didn't care about interrogating him now, and he didn't want him to hear too much. After a pause, Qin Chong took two steps over and squatted in front of Xiao Nizi, pondering how to ask.

Xiao Nizi felt someone approaching, slowly raised her head, and met Qin Chong's eyes.

Xiao Nizi is twelve or thirteen years old, her black and white eyes are distinct, like a frightened fawn. Dahu had already told her everything that happened tonight, and she also knew that the person in front of her was Qin Chong, the benefactor who rescued her back. It's just that suddenly, she didn't know what to say, and looked at Qin Zhong with some confusion.

"Your mom and dad are fine." Qin Zhong said.

"Really? Where are they? Xiao Nizi had eagerness in her eyes and grabbed Qin Chong's arm tightly.

"It's all in the Xiao Riding Camp, don't worry." Qin Zhong comforted.

"Thank you, Brother Qin Chong." Xiao Nizi said softly, her little face turned red, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

Qin Chong waved his hand unmindfully and asked, "What did they all ask you?" ”

"Hmm." Xiao Nizi bit her lip and said, "That person is looking for a picture, but I don't know anything." ”

"A picture?" Qin Zhong frowned. Then he asked, "What picture?" ”

"I don't know."

"Does your mom and dad know?" Qin Zhong asked again.

"Daddy doesn't know."

"Okay." Qin Chong saw that he couldn't ask anything, so he stood up and prepared to leave. Suddenly it occurred to me that how to place Xiao Nizi? I lost my mind and couldn't help scratching my head. Xiao Nizi's home has been destroyed, and she definitely can't go back to live. In addition, Qin Chong had other ideas, and he didn't want her to be exposed to people for the time being.

Turning their heads to look at the big tiger and the little tiger and the fat tiger, they couldn't help it, so they still didn't ask. After thinking for a moment, he squatted in front of Xiao Nizi again and said, "You can go home with me for the time being, okay?" ”

Xiao Nizi was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a red face, and a syllable was lightly uttered from the end of her nose, "Hmm." ”

"Fat Tiger, go back and herd the sheep." Qin Zhong said, "Big Tiger and Little Tiger, you two take turns looking at him. ”

"Okay." Xiaohu replied excitedly.

"Don't let him run away." Qin Zhong instructed.

"Don't worry, dare to run away, your leg will be broken." The big tiger said sullenly.

Qin Chong suddenly felt, why was this sentence so familiar? I'd like to hear it. Before he could figure it out, the people around him were already sneering and laughing. Qin Chong suddenly realized that it was his father who taught him. Qin Yutian's original words were, dare to practice martial arts, and break his legs. He glared at the three of them viciously, turned around and walked out of the cave.

Behind him, a burst of unbridled laughter suddenly erupted. Qin Chong gritted his teeth and couldn't help laughing.

Outside the cave, the morning sun is rising. A little farther away, thousands of horses galloped.