It's night.

The king of Chu and his entourage did not continue to hurry, and it was not safe to travel at night. They camped in a forest by a river to rest.

Wei Mian asked the attendant to start a fire, and he went to the river to fill some water and prepare it to boil.

His Highness the Tenth once told them that if they were in the wild, they must boil the water of the river and drink it, and never drink cold water. His Royal Highness said that there are parasites in raw water, and drinking too much will make people sick.

The king of Chu sat by the fire and looked at the map of the territory in his hand. He calculated the distance, and there were about seven or eight days left to reach Pengcheng.

Wei Mian paid attention to the water in the pot and the grilled fish by the fire. When the water boiled, he hurriedly poured a bowl and fanned it vigorously. After fanning for a while, he brought it to the King of Chu.

"Your Highness, the water is still a little hot, you drink it slowly."

The king of Chu took the bowl, lowered his head and blew it, and then slowly drank it one bite after another.

Wei Mian was afraid that the King of Chu would be hot, so he squatted beside the King of Chu and kept fanning him.

"Your Highness, drink slowly."

The king of Chu was a little thirsty and drank a little urgently, but fortunately, the water was not very hot and not hot.

After drinking two large bowls of water, the king of Chu stopped.

Wei Mian saw that the King of Chu was sweating profusely, so he hurriedly took out a handkerchief from his arms and wiped the sweat for the King of Chu.

"Do you see if they drink cold water or hot water?" Although the king of Chu felt that it was troublesome to drink boiled water, the tenth brother had repeatedly told him not to drink cold water when he was outside.

"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Mian inquired and learned that the guards had drunk boiling water and did not directly drink the raw water from the river, so he was relieved and hurriedly went back to tell the king of Chu.

"Boil more boiling water and drink it on the road tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wei Mian saw that the fish was cooked, and hurriedly took out two small bottles from his sleeve, which were salt and peppercorns. He was busy sprinkling on the fish. "Your Highness, please use it."

When King Chu saw Wei Mian with condiments, he couldn't help but smile: "Why do you bring these when you go out?" ”

Wei Mian replied respectfully, "It was instructed by His Highness the Tenth." ”

King Chu looked surprised and said, "When did the tenth brother tell you?" ”

"As I said before, His Highness Ten said that if the slave and maid follow you out of the house, bring some salt and peppercorns. He said that we may not always be able to live in a post house or a guest house, but sometimes we will definitely live in the wild, and we may catch fish or hunt rabbits to eat, and bring salt and peppercorns to make things more delicious. ”

The King of Chu felt that this was what Zhao Yao could say. In the heart of the tenth brother, nothing is more important than eating, even if he is out of the house, he must find a way to make things delicious.

"His Royal Highness the Tenth also said that salt is very important. If we are injured in an accident, salt can eliminate ......" Wei Mian forgot the words Zhao Yao said for a while, and thought for a while before remembering, "Yes, salt can reduce inflammation and sterilize, sprinkle on the wound, although it hurts, but it can inhibit the injury from becoming serious or ulcerating." It is also said that when a person is weak or injured, he will become strong when he eats salt. ”

King Chu Zhengse said: "What the tenth brother said is right. ”

"So, the slave maid always carries salt on her." Wei Mian smiled and said, "However, fortunately, the salt brought by the slave was only used for grilled fish, not for wounds. "The most fortunate thing is that His Highness is not injured.

The king of Chu did not speak, and ate the grilled fish with his head down. Grilled fish sprinkled with salt and peppercorns is indeed much tastier.

Wei Mian made the fish soup, and then tore the cooking cake into small pieces and put them in the fish soup.

During this period of time, the King of Chu and his entourage all copied small roads, did not take the official road, and did not rest in the post house. However, there were several waves of people pretending to be the king of Chu and their party to take the official road and live in the hospital openly.

Several waves of people pretending to be the king of Chu were assassinated, and wave after wave, wave after wave became more ferocious than the wave. The first wave of people who set out was all killed by the assassins, and not a single one was left alive. The other waves were not completely killed by the Assassins, but they were also severely injured by the Assassins.

At this moment, a carrier pigeon flew towards the King of Chu and them.

The guard stopped the carrier pigeon, took down the letter and handed it to Wei Mian.

After Wei Mian accepted it, he hurriedly handed it to the King of Chu.

When the king of Chu opened the letter, his brows furrowed, and his face became heavy.

Wei Mian saw that King Chu's face was wrong, his heart sank suddenly, and he hurriedly asked with concern: "Your Highness, what's wrong, what happened?" ”

"All the people we sent were assassinated." The king of Chu threw the letter in his hand into the fire, and it quickly burned to the ground.

When Wei Mian heard this, he couldn't help but exclaim: "What, all of them have been assassinated, and no one will be left?" ”

The King of Chu said with a cold face: "No one remains." ”

Wei Mian gasped, and his face immediately became very solemn.

"The whole army was wiped out, the prince and the acting king are too vicious." Although I had long expected that His Royal Highness would go to Pengcheng this time, the crown prince and the acting king would never let His Royal Highness go, but I didn't expect them to be so mad. "Your Highness, the crown prince, they must put you to death."

The King of Chu sneered: "They don't want me to return to the capital alive. "He had expected all of this for a long time.

Wei Mian was a little panicked in his heart, and he asked with an uneasy expression: "Your Highness, the people we sent to use as a cover have all been assassinated, and the crown prince and the acting king have found out that the person they assassinated is not you, then they will inevitably send more assassins to find and assassinate you." Next, we're in danger. "Maybe soon the crown prince and the acting king and their men will be able to find their traces.

"Tomorrow we'll take the waterway instead." The king of Chu had long known that the people he sent to serve as a cover would not last long, "There are still a few waves of people who will continue to pretend to be me, but they will not go through the official road again." ”

"Your Highness, you expected this to be the case, so you kept another hand?"

The king of Chu bowed slightly: "Well, the acting king doesn't want me to live in the capital, and the prince doesn't want me to arrive in Pengcheng alive." Until I arrived in Pengcheng, the prince would send people to assassinate me. ”

"Your Highness, can the people you arranged hold out until you arrive in Pengcheng?"

"Yes." The king of Chu was thoughtful and arranged everything as early as before he set off. "The journey to Pengcheng is not the most dangerous, it is the most dangerous when we arrive in Pengcheng." What the king of Chu is most worried about now is that Pengcheng will completely fall into the hands of the crown prince.

"Your Highness, the Prince's people dare to blatantly assassinate you in Pengcheng?" Wei Mian's face was full of horror, "You were ordered by the emperor to go to Pengcheng to investigate the matter, if the prince assassinates you in Pengcheng in a grand manner, it will be too bold and reckless." "Didn't the prince take the emperor seriously?

"He dares to steal copper, exercises weapons privately, and doesn't dare to do anything." Although the King of Chu didn't know what the situation was on Pengcheng's side yet, he could guess something. "After killing me, he can completely blame my death on the officials in Pengcheng, or on behalf of the king." When he arrives in Pengcheng, the prince's men will kill him by any means.

"Your Highness, are His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Zhen Guogong trying to rebel?" Wei Mian didn't expect the prince to be so bold as to steal copper and forge weapons. Their purpose in doing this is not to rebel or anything.

King Chu guessed: "There will be no rebellion yet, and maybe the palace will be forced in the future." "In history, there are many examples of the prince rebelling against the palace. At present, the crown prince and Zhen Guogong have not rebelled, but they have already rebelled. If the father deposes the crown prince in the future, then the prince and the prince of Zhenguo will inevitably rebel.

"Prince, they ......," Wei Mian's face was terrified. He immediately thought of something, and a sudden look appeared on his face, "That's why the emperor sent you to Pengcheng to investigate this matter." "The emperor knew that His Royal Highness would be assassinated by the crown prince and the people who acted for the king when he went to Pengcheng, and he also knew that His Royal Highness went to Pengcheng this time to die for nine lives, but the emperor still sent His Royal Highness down, and the emperor was testing His Highness. If His Royal Highness succeeds in resurrecting from the sword of the crown prince and the acting king, and investigates the truth about Pengcheng's copper theft, then when His Royal Highness returns to the capital, His Highness will ......

Thinking of that possibility, Wei Mian's heart suddenly beat quickly and violently. The fear in his heart was replaced by excitement.

"Your Royal Highness, if you return to the capital for meritorious service this time, will the emperor appoint you......" Even if the emperor will not immediately appoint His Royal Highness as the crown prince, His Royal Highness is the prince on the iron plate.

"That's why the crown prince and the acting king insist that I die." The king of Chu also guessed the true purpose of the emperor sending him to Pengcheng.

"Your Highness, then you ......" Wei Mian stuttered because he was too excited, he wanted to say something, but it was not easy to say it directly.

"The matter in Pengcheng will not be so easy to investigate." King Chu said, sighing suddenly, "What I'm most worried about now is the tenth brother. "For his own safety, the king of Chu is not very worried. What he is most worried about now is Zhao Yao's safety, and he doesn't know if the eighth brother has rescued the tenth brother.