The green mountains are hidden in the water, and the grass in the south of the Yangtze River has not withered in autumn.

From Yongjiacheng all the way to the west, through Lulingyi, along the official road across Hezhou and Huzhou, you can enter the boundary of Luzhou.

Further west, it is the western border of Daqi today.

In terms of territory alone, Chengzhou ranks first among the thirteen states in the south of the Yangtze River, but whether it is the number of people or the degree of wealth, Chengdu is far inferior to Huaizhou, and it cannot be compared with Xinzhou and other places around Yongjia City.

Before the Yuanjia Change, Chengzhou's position in Daqi tended to be insignificant, because at that time, the Shazhou Seven Divisions were still loyal vassals of Daqi, and there were no border worries in Chengzhou.

Later, with the burial of 8,000 native soldiers in Yanziling, the position of the seven departments of Shazhou changed, and the western border of Chengdu became precarious, and Daqi had to set up a governor's mansion here, with four armies of Qingjiang, Youlong, Bolu and Anhua, with nearly 50,000 troops to guard the long border.

After Li Duan ascended the throne, he sent envoys to Shazhou many times just to repair the relationship between the two sides, but no progress was made.

It wasn't until the outbreak of the Hou Yu case that Lu Shen established a friendship with the daughter of the head of the Yalong tribe in Shazhou, and there was hope that this grievance that had lasted for 19 years could be resolved.

Since the departure on October 2, Lu Shen and Lin Xi and hundreds of guards have traveled day and night, and it took only five days to arrive in Luzhou, and then Lin Xi and his brothers from the Seven Star Gang crossed the river to the north, and Lu Shen joined the large army waiting here.

Chengzhou is already in sight.

A few days later, in the eastern suburbs of Qingjiang Prefecture, the flags were displayed, and the crowds were crowded.

Headed by Chengzhou Assassin Shi Qu Gongze and Chengzhou Acting Governor Tong Shiyuan, civil and military officials from the two prefectures arrived to prepare to welcome Lu Shen, the patrol border Qincha, the Marquis of Shanyang, the Minister of Military Affairs and the commander of the march of the Jinwu camp of the Beijing Army.

For the young and noble Lord Qincha, who is said to be extremely favored by the Son of Heaven, officials at all levels in Chengzhou are all curious, and they want to see what kind of hero the other party is in person, but the mood of the two military and political officials is obviously not very happy.

Qu Gong is okay, he has little to do with Hou Yu's case, after all, Hou Yu is in charge of military affairs, and he doesn't need to buy him as a Chengzhou assassin, at most, he will occasionally give him some benefits.

Now that Hou Yu has been defeated, Qu Gong will of course push it all away.

Tong Shiyuan, who was temporarily acting as the governor, could not hide his depressed expression, and if he said that he didn't know what Hou Yu was doing at all, he didn't even believe it.

In the past few months, he has been terrified, for fear that when he opens his eyes, he will see the holy decree of arresting him and returning to Beijing to ask for his guilt, and after a large number of secret agents of the Weaving Department arrived in Chengdu, the panic in his heart reached a peak. However, to his surprise, not only did the people of the Warp Weaving Division not arrest the criminals in Chengzhou, but the imperial court was more like completely forgetting the western land, neither the position of the governor of Tong Shiyuan, nor the thunder and anger.

Tong Shiyuan didn't dare to go to the people of the Warp Weaving Department to inquire about the news, and this time was extremely tormenting.

It wasn't until the news that Lu Shen had quelled the rebellion in the capital and was about to come to Chengzhou to inspect the border on behalf of the Son of Heaven that he finally breathed a sigh of relief, followed by the relief of waiting to be killed.

Although he thinks so, he may not have a glimmer of hope in his heart.

Gong Qu turned his head to look at the face of the acting governor, and said softly with relief: "Brother Tong, don't worry too much. Judging from the current situation, Hou Yu did not bite indiscriminately, and the imperial court would not make a big splash, after all, the stability of the political situation in Chengzhou is very important. ”

Tong Shiyuan sighed lightly: "In that case, why does Your Majesty have to let the Marquis of Shanyang lead the troops to patrol the border?" You and I all know that compared with the Jiangbei border defense, the enemy faced by Chengzhou is not very strong. Although we have no way to take the Shazhou people, it is also very difficult for them to cross the Yunling Mountains and attack on a large scale. ”

Qu Gong smiled and said, "Isn't this an obvious thing? Hou Yu was exiled by the Emperor, and His Majesty sold the face of the Seven Divisions of Shazhou, otherwise this matter would not have been a big deal at all. Although Hou Yu had a lot of mistakes, he killed the people of Shazhou and not the people of Daqi. His Majesty wants to take this opportunity to repair the relationship with the Shazhou Seventh Department, of course, such a major event must be presided over by a powerful minister, who else is more suitable than the Marquis of Shanyang? ”

Tong Shiyuan was silent for a moment when he heard this, and said with a reluctant smile: "I hope it is as Brother Qu said." ”

Qu Gong raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said casually: "Brother Tong, rest assured, after this Marquis Lu arrives, we will only treat him as an ancestor." Whether you want gold and silver treasures or beautiful women, let's serve him comfortably, are you afraid that the court will hold on to it in the future? ”

Tong Shiyuan's eyes lit up, and his face finally eased.

At this moment, several horsemen in front of him galloped over, and said in a loud voice: "Your Excellency, the Qincha Honor Guard has reached five miles away. ”

The two officials glanced at each other, hurriedly tidied up their clothes, and took hundreds of officials at all levels to the east.

After about a stick of incense, the Qincha banner symbolizing the majesty of the imperial court came into everyone's eyes, and on the official road were more than 10,000 Beijing troops with bright armor and strict military appearance.

When this stretch of team stopped, Qu Gong and Tong Shiyuan stepped forward quickly and greeted Qin Cha in unison.

In the silence, a man in military uniform appeared at the front of the team and said to Qu Tong and the two: "Liu Yin, the deputy commander of the Wei Army of Jinwu Daying Town, the last general, has seen Qu Thorn Shi and Tong Dudu. ”

Qu Gong was slightly stunned, although the military general named Liu Yin on the other side was very young, he still didn't dare to be careless, and asked with a smile: "Dare to ask Commander Liu, where is Lord Qincha?" ”

Liu Yin said indifferently: "It's good to teach Lord Assassin Shi to know that Master Hou has important things to do, so he won't come to Qingjiang City for the time being." He told the two adults to concentrate on their respective government affairs, and there was no need to remember his whereabouts. In addition, Hou Ye previously sent someone to ask Lord Thorn Shi to prepare a camp outside Qingjiang City to facilitate the stationing of the soldiers of the Beijing army, I don't know if it can be done? ”

Qu Gong felt a little aggrieved in his heart, and he didn't dare to show it on his face, so he nodded and said: "If you go back to the Hou Ye, this matter has been done, and all the food and grass materials have been prepared." ”

"There's Lord Labor."

Liu Yin bowed his hand, and said to Tong Shiyuan: "Tong Dudu, Master Hou asks you to do one thing." ”

Tong Shiyuan said a little nervously, "Please give me." ”

Liu Yin said: "Lord Hou hopes that the Metropolitan Governor can prepare the rosters of the Qingjiang, Youlong, Bolu, and Anhua armies, as well as the detailed resumes of the generals and above within three days, and be sure to put an end to the quota of empty salaries." Hou Ye also said that if the governor of the capital can handle this matter well, it can be recorded as a meritorious service. ”

Tong Shiyuan's heart tightened, and he responded: "The end will definitely be done." ”

A moment later, the Qincha honor guard and more than 10,000 Beijing troops, under the guidance of Chengzhou officials, drove directly to the camp outside the city prepared in advance.

Tong Shiyuan didn't pay attention to the dazed subordinates not far away, and smiled softly: "What is this? Dismounted? ”

Qu Gong stared into the distance, shook his head and said: "Brother Tong is too careful, in my opinion, this Lord Qincha is indeed a practical style, no wonder Your Majesty values and appreciates him so much." ”

Tong Shiyuan suddenly had a thought in his heart, and he couldn't help but look at the far west, and muttered, "You mean ......?"

Qu Gong said with a straight face: "I guess, Shanyang Hou should be near Yunling now." Brother Tong, don't think too much, just do what he tells you to do things honestly, such people are not the object of our calculations and perfunctory. ”

Tong Shiyuan sighed softly and nodded with a complicated expression.

……

The mountains are amorphous, like smoke and complex.

More than 70 miles to the west of Qingjiang Mansion is the Yunling that separates Daqi and the seven parts of Shazhou.

This is not a deserted mountain range like the Shuangfeng Mountains in the west of Huaizhou, but a natural barrier formed by countless low mountains and gentle slopes that stretch for hundreds of miles from north to south.

The roads in the Yunling Mountains are cramped and complicated, and there is no problem for travelers to pass through, but they cannot be driven straight by the army.

In late autumn, the vegetation is still verdant and green.

A cavalry appeared at the eastern foot of Yunling, led by Ye Jitang, a brave general under Lu Shen.

The soldiers rested on the spot, and a lieutenant came to Ye Jitang's side and asked in a low voice, "Captain, did our marquis really go to the mountain?" Shall we go up and guard it? ”

Ye Jitang gnawed on the dry food, and said with a calm face: "Master Hou has a personal soldier by his side, and besides, he is going to see a very important guest today, so it is inconvenient to bring too many people, so let's wait here with peace of mind." ”

The lieutenant nodded in response.

The guest in Ye Jitang's mouth is the eldest daughter of the head of the Yalong tribe in Shazhou, Luo Jiujiu.

Dressed in red, she climbed to the top of the mountain more than 100 zhang high, looking at the figure standing on a flat and smooth boulder enjoying the scenery, she couldn't help but quietly lighten her steps.

Between the trees, Qin Zilong looked at this scene, turned his head and said to the other soldiers: "Okay, spread out a little more, just stare outside." ”

Luo Jiujiu, who was still dressed in red, was getting closer and closer to the figure, and just as she was about to shout, a gentle voice came into her ears.

"Miss Luo, I traveled more than 2,000 miles to come here, and you plan to scare me to death first?"

Lu Shen turned around and looked at her with a smile on his face.

Luo Jiujiu looked a little depressed, but his eyes were full of brilliance, and he said decently: "Luo Jiujiu see Lu Houye." ”

Lu Shen couldn't help but smile: "It's quite similar to learning." ”

Luo Jiujiu also laughed, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said, "That's right, this girl is very smart." ”

The mountain breeze is refreshing, the woman's eyebrows are picturesque, and the rhyme is natural, as if it is integrated with the majestic and sparse world on the border, which is particularly chic and arbitrary.

Such a demeanor is completely different from her performance in Yongjia City.

Lu Shen bowed his head and said: "I can see it, Miss Luo is talented and intelligent, and she can be compared to the laymen of my generation." ”

"I haven't seen you in a few months, but you've changed."

Luo Jiujiu lightly jumped onto the boulder and said with a smile: "When you were in the capital of Qi State, although you were young, you were no different from those old officials in the Qi State Court, just like a middle-aged man in his forties and fifties. When I saw it today, I realized that you would be joking too. ”

Lu Shen asked with interest, "So in your opinion, which form is better?" ”

Luo Jiujiu said: "Of course it's now!" By the way, you should have just arrived in Chengzhou, right? Why are you in such a hurry to meet me, is it because you miss this girl? ”

When Lu Shen heard this, he couldn't help but secretly sigh that the environment has a great impact on people, and today's Luo Jiujiu complements the red clothes.

He didn't take advantage of the situation, and said gently: "Miss Luo should know the most important task of my trip." ”

Of course, Luo Jiujiu knew that she was very clear about Lu Shen's identity and status, and the Emperor of Qi specially asked him to come to Chengzhou, obviously hoping that he could repair the relationship between Great Qi and the Seven Divisions of Shazhou.

As soon as he thought of this, Luo Jiujiu, who was just hearty and bright, frowned slightly, looked at the magnificent world in front of him, and sighed softly.

(End of chapter)