Since Wang Xianzhi was defeated and killed, the strength of the righteous army led by Huang Chao gradually became stronger, Huang Chao successively turned to the Central Plains, and finally consolidated the territory in the land of Jianghuai, and the Tang army for more than 20 years, and never gave up the heart of the north into the Central Plains, until the defeat of Yingzhou, the offensive slowed down, the Tang army turned from passive defense to active attack, and Yingzhou also became the forefront of the confrontation between the Tang army and the rebel army.

After 18 years of war, the city of Yingzhou has changed hands several times under the attack of the armies of both sides, and the city has been dilapidated, and most of the residents have fled the place. This time the rebel army was defeated, and the Tang army mobilized troops from the rear and strengthened the defense, so that the rebel army was unable to go north in the short term, and changed from active offensive to passive defense.

Xie Tong removed his disguise and restored his original appearance, he did not enter Yingzhou City, but bypassed Yingzhou and slowly went north, striving to catch up with Shang Caiwei as soon as possible.

In the early winter, the temperature in the north dropped sharply, Xie Tong was dressed in a single clothes, the cold wind blew, he shivered in the cold, and he walked until dusk, only to find a small town, but unfortunately there was no shop selling cotton clothes, clothing and food were important supplies for the army, and the nearby states and counties had already been snapped up by the Tang army.

Xie Tong felt hungry, so it was easy to find a small shop and walk in. There is only one table of people eating, both men and women. Xie Tong said, "Shopkeeper, cut a plate of beef for me, serve a few side dishes, and heat a pot of wine."

The shopkeeper hurriedly came over to entertain and said, "Guest officer, how can there be so many good things in this chaos."

Xie Tong said, "Then what is there to eat?"

The shopkeeper said, "Let's cook a bowl of noodles for objectivity!

Xie Tong commanded, the war is indeed cruel, and if you move, your family will be ruined, how can there be so many picky people near this battlefield, you can eat enough, and you are busy saying, "The noodles are also made, there is no forage, my horse needs to be fed."

The shopkeeper said, "The forage is there, the guest officer, you wait." Then he whispered, "Guest officer, let's leave quickly after eating noodles! If the barracks knew that you had horses, they would definitely be recruited."

When the guests at that table heard that Xie Tong had a horse, they whispered.

Not long after, the store brought two bowls of noodles, steaming, and two eggs in the noodles, Xie Tong devoured them.

Xie Tong ate fragrantly, and a middle-aged man walked out of the other table and sat opposite Xie Tong.

He didn't speak, and looked at Xie Tong with a smile.

Xie Tong put down the dishes and chopsticks, looked at the sudden stranger carefully, and saw that he was extremely tall, with big ears, and although his arms were covered by his sleeves, he still looked very stout, revealing a brute strength all over his body, and he knew at a glance that he was a practitioner, Xie Tong said, "What is this brother doing?"

The tall strong man clenched his fists and said, "This little brother, dare to ask if you can sell me your horses?"

Xie Tong smiled, this person is really a lion's mouth, this Jianghuai land is in chaos, it is difficult to get a horse, if you sell it to him, do you want to walk to Chang'an?

said, "This big brother is a bit difficult for a strong man, the younger brother has traveled thousands of miles, and this horse must not be sold." ”

Dahan said: "The contemptible people are willing to give out thirty taels of silver, and thirty taels can buy ten horses in Luoyang, the eastern capital." ”。

Xie Tong shook his head. 、

Dahan said "fifty taels" again.

Xie Tong said helplessly: "Even if it's a hundred taels, I won't sell it." Brother Tai, it's not that I have a sky-high price, I have something urgent, so I can delay the trip for the sake of silver. He didn't bother with the strong man, and lowered his head and ate the noodles.

The strong man punched at Xie Tong, Xie Tong said in his heart that this person was so rude, he secretly raised his true anger, his left palm hit out like lightning, and grabbed the strong man's fist, which surprised the strong man.

This strong man doesn't seem to know martial arts, Xie Tong has resentment towards his rudeness, and wants to teach him a little lesson, but with a twist of his wrist, the strong man's arm suddenly twists and deforms.

The strong man's arm was restrained, and he gritted his teeth in pain, but he still kept silent and persevered.

The people at the same table with the strong man rushed out, and a woman led by Shi Li said, "Childe, please show mercy to your subordinates, the little girl's brother is not sensible, the little woman has apologized to you, and I hope that the son will raise his noble hand."

Xie Tong looked at the woman, and was taken aback directly, this woman is so beautiful, her beauty is like a natural thing, her face is goose egg-shaped, a cherry mouth looks very cute, the nose is towering and charming, Xie Tong wants to pinch it, a pair of big eyes are like talking like a mouth, wearing a purple robe, a sword snow white cloak, pedaling boots, how can it be a woman's eyebrows, but it is a pitiful look, so that I can't stop looking at it, although her beauty is not as captivating as Hong Shan, but it looks amazing。

Xie Tong simply forgot about the restrained big man, staring directly at this beauty, and curiosity suddenly surged into his heart. Where did such a beauty come from.

Seeing that Xie Tong did not react, the woman saluted again and said softly, "Childe".

The delicate voice sounded very useful, Xie Tong reacted, let go of his hand, hugged his fists and said, "Xie lost his temper for a while, I hope Miss will forgive me."

The big man was in pain for a long time, and his arm was finally let go, and he was busy breathing a sigh of relief, and he didn't dare to provoke this seemingly weak young man.

Xie Tong said, "Dare to ask where Miss is from, where she is going, and why she wants to buy my own horse." As soon as the words came out, Xie Tong wanted to slap his two mouths, he is the kind of person who can't walk when he sees a beautiful woman, the beauty in front of him is pitiful, if he opens his mouth to borrow a horse, he is really ruthless.

The beautiful woman said, "The little woman's name is Wang Wanru, from Hangzhou, she wants Luoyang to join her family, and when she arrived in Yingzhou, the horses were taken away by two thieves, and there was no carriage but no horses, so she bought horses from Gongzi." I also hope that the son will atone for his sins".

When Wang Wanru spoke, a pair of big eyes kept blinking, blinking directly into Xie Tong's heart, and Xie Tong was quite moved to see it, and he had already put Cai Wei in his mind. He said, "It's okay, walking the rivers and lakes, how can everything be as expected, not to mention the chaos now."

Wang Wanru bit her lip and made up her mind, "Since you know that the war is in chaos, you also ask your son to help and borrow a horse, Wanru is grateful."

Xie Tong stared at this beautiful woman, his heart rippled, he really couldn't say anything to refuse, gritted his teeth and said, "It's not that Xie is vicious, it's just that Xie does have an urgent matter to go to Chang'an, and the girl's proposal is really embarrassing." ”

Wang Wanru blinked and said, "If the prince doesn't mind, can you share a car, and then decide when you buy a horse!"

The strong man said loudly in the back, "Miss, don't share a car with her, this person is strong in martial arts, I'm afraid it will be bad for Miss." ”

Wang Wanru waved her hand and motioned to the strong man not to speak!

Xie Tongxin had no choice but to do so, and said, "Then Xie will give the girl a ride."

A few people ate noodles, bought some dry food from the store, and hurried on the road.

The strong man was in charge of driving, and Xie Tong sat in the carriage with Wang Wanru and a maid, and the speed was not fast because there was only one horse.

The carriage was a little crowded, Xie Tong was sitting at the door, opposite was this beautiful girl, Xie Tong wanted to talk to her, but she felt that Pingshui met and was always out of line.

Rao is Wang Wanru said more generously, "What is the name of Gongzi Xie, what are you going to do in Chang'an!"

Xie Tong remembered that he was going to find Hong Shan and Shang Caiwei, and said, "My name is Xie Yuan, and I went to Chang'an to meet someone." ”

Wang Wanru asked, "Is it the wife of the child?"

Xie Tong shook his head helplessly, thinking that Cai Wei would be robbed and gangstered like Wang Wanru when she went on the road alone, and she regretted it in her heart, and let her go on the road alone, which was indeed lacking in consideration. casually said, "The girl travels thousands of miles, and it is really rare to have this eldest brother to escort you."

The maid interjected, "What's the use, two horses are not enough for people to rob."

Wang Wanru glanced at the maid and said, "Xiaoshuang don't talk too much, if there is no Uncle Xiang, I would have died in Yangzhou a long time ago." Immediately, he said, "Uncle Xiang's real name is Xiang Chengzhi, he collided with his son just now, and the little woman apologized to his son for his uncle." ”

Xie Tong hurriedly waved his hand, he observed his words, the relationship between the master and servant must be very good, otherwise he would not dare to talk so much. He asked, "With Brother Xiang's bravery, the average sergeant should not be his opponent."

Xiaoshuang interjected again, "It's not a mile! The person who snatched the horse is so powerful, an old man with a gray beard, with an injured person, easily subdued Brother Xiang, just like a child."

Xie Tong couldn't say the shock in his heart, and hurriedly asked, "What are these two people dressed for! How long has it been since the incident!"

Xiaoshuang was about to interject, but was directly stopped by Wang Wanru, Wang Wanru said, "About an hour or so", and then described the physical characteristics of the two people who grabbed the horse.

Xie Tong was very sure that the person who grabbed the horse must be Cao Pingyang, and the injured person was not Pei Xiangru, but he didn't know where his group of disciples who pretended to be the Hainan Sword Sect had arrived. It seems that the two of them are nearby, and the destination must also be Chang'an.

Xie Tong hurriedly lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, "Brother Xiang, is this the road leading to Chang'an and Luoyang?"

Xiang Chengzhi saw that this young man who met in Pingshui had high martial arts and good character, and his heart was full of admiration, and he hurriedly said, "Brother Xie, this road is the only way to Chang'an and Luoyang.

Xie Tong said in his heart, moving forward, it is very likely to meet Cao Pingyang and the two, once they meet, there will inevitably be a big battle, he is not afraid of Cao Pingyang and the two, but he is afraid that the three masters and servants will be frightened, they are not martial arts people after all.

Xie Tong said, "Brother Xiang, it's getting dark, why don't we find a place to rest for a night."

Xiang Chengzhi hesitated for a moment and said, "It's okay, I'll go make a fire." ”

Xie Tong tied the carriage to the big tree on the side of the road, Xiang Chengzhi lit a fire, and the two sat around the fire. Wang Wanru's master and servant rested in the carriage.

Xie Tong couldn't sleep, he secretly thought about what happened after leaving Yangzhou. I suddenly realized that I was missing a lot of important things. When he saw Wang Wanru before, he was so confused by her beauty that he neglected many details. How can ordinary people wear cloaks, and they are dressed in gorgeous clothes, and although Xiang Chengzhi does not know martial arts, he shows the true colors of a soldier in his gestures, and the clues can be seen only from the fire that is built, obviously this is the official lady escorted by officers and soldiers. It's just that I don't know why there are only three people left, Xie Tong doesn't care if he thinks about it, walking the rivers and lakes, hiding his identity is a must, not to mention that the other party has no malicious intent.

But the news revealed by the other party is extremely important, Cao Pingyang and Pei Xiangru's alliance is invincible to him, if the two of them go forward to catch up with Cai Wei, the consequences will be unacceptable to him. Xie Tong couldn't help but regret a little, his forgetfulness made him fall into complete passivity, he had to speed up and separate from the three masters and servants as soon as possible, so as not to delay the trip.

In a daze, he fell asleep.