The Bamboo Horse Dressed as the Emperor

"After your highness took people to patrol, the little highness said that he would read a book for a while. The little highness always reads alone. We were afraid of being disturbed, so we went out of the yard together. Until it got dark, the kitchen brought dinner over. When we came in, we realized that there was no one in the room."

Several attendants in charge of serving Song Jiao said so.

Xie Chen was still holding the halberd in his hand, and the veins in his hand were bulging.

"Where are the guards outside the yard? Didn't you see them?"

The guard team of ten on duty tonight reported back: "Returning to Your Highness, I have never slacked off, and indeed I did not see your Highness come out."

Xie Chen asked again: "Apart from you, no one else came in?"

"Yes, in the evening, His Royal Highness found that Mr. Gongyi was missing a piece of medicinal material, so he sent someone to deliver it. Later, he returned and returned to the courtyard."

"What about people?"

A guard quickly lifted the man up, and the man was trembling, kneeling on the ground, looking terrified.

"The little one came to report back to His Highness, saying that the things had been delivered, and His Highness's words also arrived, so he left. At that time, His Highness was still in the room well."

The guard also said: "He came out before the sun set."

Xie Chen had no clue.

Did not see, did not see.

This was originally the mansion of a certain guard from the Qing Kingdom. After the place was assigned to the Qi Kingdom, the guard was called back by the Qing State. They came over and lived here temporarily.

Because it was originally the place of the Qing Kingdom, Xie Chen was also extra cautious.

Not to mention that there are guards outside the courtyard, and there are double guards when you go to the gate of the mansion.

How did Song Jiao get out without anyone noticing?

Xie Chen's mind was in a mess, and he couldn't calm down when Song Jiao was gone.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down.

Xie Chen came to his senses suddenly, and kicked the attendant who was kneeling on the ground delivering the message.

"Buck it up, hit it, hit it until it opens."

The attendant didn't understand how he was exposed, and the guard also suspected that Xie Chen was in a hurry and made a mistake.

"Your Highness, before the sun sets..."

Xie Chen didn't listen, so he interrupted him: "Gather everyone, and search this yard, Mao Mao didn't leave this yard."

Since no one saw Song Jiao being taken away, and the soldiers of the Qing Kingdom squatting outside the city gate did not find anyone, then he must be in this courtyard.

Xie Chen was in a flash, and suddenly thought of this level.

At this time, the sky was darker, the moon was hidden, and the clouds were overwhelming, and it looked like it was going to rain.

This garrison mansion is very large, and they live in the main courtyard.

The main courtyard, which was originally huge, seemed crowded at this moment.

A group of people searched the yard and various rooms, trying to find a secret compartment and a secret passage.

Xie Chen searched in the main room, and carefully searched every corner.

Hundreds of people searched around, but found nothing.

Xie Chen ordered them to cut open every wall to have a look.

So everyone took tools and hammers, and carefully tapped on the wall. They were afraid that some secret passage would be opened, and the falling stones would hurt Song Jiao.

Xie Chen was still in the main room, and he quickly knocked down the four walls.

Still nothing.

So everyone changed their tools again, picked up the shovel, and then took the shovel, only to hear a bang from above the head, a spring rain, falling on the ground in a hurry, the bean-sized raindrops hit people's bodies and hurt.

They put on their coir raincoats and started digging the ground according to Xie Chen's order.

The yard is made of bluestone slabs, and the inside of the house is made of square bricks. The rainwater has washed away the knocked down walls and the dug-out floors, making them muddy.

The square bricks are easy to pry, but the bluestone slabs outside the yard are not so easy to pry.

Two or three guards hit the bluestone slab with a hammer, and there were no cracks on the bluestone slab. They were helpless, but no one dared to touch Xie Chen's bad luck.

After the previous two searches failed, Xie Chen was already a little anxious, and there was an irritable and irritable atmosphere all over his body.

If Song Jiao is not brought back, he might really go crazy.

Whoever dares to talk to him is looking for scolding.

But this matter could not be delayed, several people discussed it in a low voice in the rain, and then called a few more people over.

A group of people gathered around the bluestone slab, and just about to make a move, they heard a sound behind them.The sound came from the rain, accompanied by the crackling of raindrops, it was so heavy and muffled that it was almost drowned in the sound of the rain.

"Get out of the way."

The next moment, Xie Chen was holding the halberd, and when his hand fell, there was a loud noise, and the halberd stood on the bluestone slab.

Water splashed all over the ground, and the bluestone slab was instantly torn apart.

Xie Chen held the halberd in his hand, his eyes were red, he took a long breath, and took the halberd back.

Along the long halberd, blood mixed with rainwater flowed down and dripped on the cracked bluestone slab.

You don't need to look to know that it was Xie Chen who was holding the halberd hand and the tiger's mouth was shattered.

Everyone was still in a daze, Xie Chen raised his eyes and glanced at them lightly, then they started to move, and hurried forward to dig up the stone slab.

Xie Chen turned around and put the halberd by the wall. Just as he was about to go back to the main room to dig, a guard shouted from behind him.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! Here!"

Xie Chen paused for a moment, then turned around and turned back.

He pushed away the crowd, and saw that under the bluestone slab that he smashed open just now, there was a secret passage that only allowed one person to bend down and pass through.

This section is just the middle section of the secret passage, they did not find the entrance of the secret passage, they intercepted the secret passage from the middle.

Xie Chen took off his helmet, removed his armor, and wanted to go in for a try.

Of course the guards couldn't let him go alone, and immediately took off their armor.

But Xie Chen was still one step ahead of them. He only wore plain clothes, used a crowbar to enlarge the hole he knocked out, and jumped in directly.

Several guards followed closely behind, handing over Xie Chen's forgotten fire folder.

Xie Chen walked in the secret passage with his hands bent and bent over holding the fire folder.

Fortunately, there was only one path in the secret road, so Xie Chen chose a direction to go, but soon realized that something was wrong.

The fire was extinguished, and the water poured into the secret passage had reached his ankles.

Xie Chen felt bad, and there might be no air any further.He stepped back for a while, raised his hand and knocked on the stone slab on the top: "Go up and let them knock this place open."

"Yes."

The people above tinkled for a while, and soon a voice came: "Your Highness, stay away."

The bluestone slab fell with a bang, splashing a splash of water. Xie Chen didn't stand too far away, but just covered his head with his hands, and before the stone fell completely, he quickly stepped forward.

The sparks were on and off, Xie Chen held up the fire booklet.

The further you go, the lower the terrain of the secret passage, and the higher the water level.

The guards behind Xie Chen looked at the dark road ahead, not knowing when they would come to an end, and flinched.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid the little Highness is not here..."

Before he finished speaking, Xie Chen turned around, stuffed the fire bag into their hands, and walked forward quickly while dripping water.

He seemed to sense Song Jiao's existence.

The torrential rain in the northwest is always like this. When it comes, it is urgent and violent, almost swallowing everything into the rain curtain.

At the end of the secret passage where the water level exceeded his chest, Xie Chen fished Song Jiao out of the water.

"I found it." Xie Chen felt relieved, pulled out the cloth ball from Song Jiao's mouth, helped him untie the rope on his hands, hugged him, and returned the same way.

The servants who traveled between the two sides of the Yinma River and who were in charge of sending messages for Song Jiao looked weak, but they were actually members of the army. They were brought by Xie Chen and were responsible for doing some chores.

When Song Jiao and Xie Chen arrived at the border, he arrived at the border first and made preparations in advance.

The garrison mansion where he stayed was also cleaned by him with someone.

Of course he knew that Li Xu thought things too simply, how could he break through the encirclement and bring the comatose Song Jiao outside the city.

So he didn't intend to take Song Jiao out from the beginning.

Of course it would be better to solve it on the spot, but he was the last person to see Song Jiao. If Song Jiao died, he could not get rid of the suspicion. He would not enjoy the things Li Xu gave him at all.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that when he was cleaning the garrison mansion, he had found many secret passages and dark rooms here.

There are often extreme weather in the northwest, coupled with official residences, of course there will be some such places.

When he stuffed Song Jiao into the secret room where former officials hid letters and ledgers, he thought about killing Song Jiao before hiding them in.

But... In the end, he still couldn't do it.

In all fairness, Song Jiao treated him well.

In the army, victory is based on force, and pride is on military achievements. He is weak and weak, unable to make military achievements, unable to win Xie Chen's eyes, not worthy of being called a brother, nor has the courage to charge forward.

It was Song Jiao who took a fancy to him and asked him not to do the work of finding paths and cleaning.

Originally, in order to be cautious, a different person should deliver things every day, but Song Jiao never mentioned this matter once.

He threw away the dagger, stuffed Song Jiao in directly, tied up his hands and feet with a piece of rope, and stuffed his mouth with a piece of cloth.

He thought to himself, anyway, it will take a while, he will go to Qing country tonight, whether Song Jiao can live or not depends on his own luck.

He has been merciful.

When Song Jiao woke up, it was already raining outside with crackling noises.

He blinked and looked around.

It was dark all around, and he couldn't see anything clearly. He seemed to be swallowed by a monster.

He tried to call the system, but the system went back to the control center for maintenance a while ago.

Song Jiao's hands were behind his back and tied up with rope.He tried to feel his surroundings for something usable, but only found bare walls.

He bought a blade from the system mall, and the blade fell in front of him.

Song Jiao fell to the ground and reached for it.

Suddenly there was a loud noise in the distance, and water came from unknown where, slowly trickling into the secret passage.

This is exactly the subtlety of this secret passage. Letters and account books are stored here, and it is difficult for outsiders to find the secret passage.If someone deliberately destroys it, the stones above it will slide down slowly, and important things can be buried before others find out.

It would be even better if it rained, as the letters would be soaked in water, making it impossible to read the handwriting at all.

When Song Jiao was about to get the blade, a stream of water washed away the thin blade, and he only felt wet fingertips.

Song Jiao beat the ground in anxiety, almost crying.

He tried to jump forward again, but he was blocked by the rushing water before he could go far.

The current was getting faster and faster, and he could barely stand up, leaning against the wall, and stand on tiptoe to ensure that he could still breathe.

Eventually he lost consciousness and fell into the water.

In order to find someone, Xie Chen tore down the entire yard, leaving it in ruins.

Xie Chen hugged the man and got out from the secret passage.

He was completely soaked, and the attendants around him wanted to take Song Jiao from his arms, but he would never let go.

He hugged Song Jiao like this, all the way back to the new room.

The whole night, the attendants were busy looking for the doctor to make medicine, coming in and out, and tossing like this all night.

On Qingguo's side, Li Xu also didn't sleep all night.

He really didn't have any calculating minds, he thought that he could succeed if he bought an attendant, but he forgot even the simplest way to get through the joints along the way.

He only remembered it in the middle of the night, if things were revealed...

It shouldn't matter.

Li Xu was just playing for a while.Because Chen Su didn't listen to him, he wanted Chen Su to know who the Seventh Prince was, so he insisted on moving Song Jiao.

But now he knew that his move was wrong.

He could only secretly pray that the servant he bought did not succeed, and even if he was caught, he would not be confessed.

He never thought about how this matter would end.

Seeing his fidgeting appearance, Chen Su casually asked, "What's wrong?"

Where Li Xu dared to say it, he had to be vague.

It was already early morning at this time, Chen Su pushed his wheelchair out and arrived at the door of Gong Yixiu's room, but the door was closed tightly, Song Jiao didn't send anyone to bring anything over today.

Song Jiaoming made an agreement with Qingguo that he would send Gongyi to repair something every day.

Gongyixiu made such a great contribution to the state of Qi this time, the state of Qing would definitely not move him and his family, and Emperor Qing was happy to see that Song Jiao had a good relationship with him.

Firstly, the friendship between literati forgetting years is a good story, which can show the benevolence of the Qing Dynasty; secondly, these two people, one old and one young, can't make any waves.

If Song Jiao went to war in the future, he would push Gong Yixiu and his family and students to the front of the battle, even if they couldn't make Qi retreat without a fight, he could delay the time, wouldn't it be great?

Therefore, it is impossible for Emperor Qing to have extra actions.

Chen Su could only think of Li Xu's strange behavior last night: "Go, send someone to look at the other side."

Song Jiao's body was full of wounds, knocked out, knocked out, and his hands and feet were covered with bruises from being tied up with ropes. He didn't know where he got hit. There was also a big hole in his forehead, which was bloody.

When he was rescued, Song Jiao had a fever. After taking two first-aid pills, he started to feel cold and shivering.

A few more quilts were added to him, and a charcoal basin was lit, making the room very warm.

But Song Jiao was still trapped in a nightmare, talking nonsense with her eyes closed, her lips were dry and cracked, and there was a cut at the corner of her lips, which had already scabbed over.

Song Jiao talked nonsense, most of them called "Grandpa", and then called "System". They were all his elders, and he was the most reliable person in his heart.

As soon as he frowned, he was about to touch the wound on his forehead.

Xie Chen hurriedly changed his clothes, and stood by his bed, his hands were wrapped in muslin. Seeing that Song Jiao was about to frown, he quickly touched Song Jiao's forehead to let him relax it.

At other times, Xie Chen would hold his hand so that he would not shake so badly.

Later the doctor made the medicine and wanted to feed it to Song Jiao. Xie Chen sat on the side of the couch, helped him up, let Song Jiao lean against him, took the medicine bowl, scooped up a spoonful of soup medicine, and handed it to Song Jiao's lips. side, into his mouth.

At this moment, Song Jiao seemed to have noticed something, and called softly: "Xie Chen..."

Xie Chen's eyes turned red immediately, he held the spoon in his hand, and handed it to his lips: "Drink a little."

But Song Jiao clearly didn't wake up.

He just shouted unconsciously, and soon the sentence became: "Grandpa..."

Xie Chen tilted his head, his cheek was pressed against his hair, and tears slipped into his hair.

Too bad, this is really too bad.

They should stay together every day, and if they don't stay together for a day, something will happen.

Xie Chen suddenly discovered that he really liked Song Jiao so much that he was already used to having him around.

He could hardly imagine how he would live alone without Song Jiao.

This is much stronger and deeper than liking.

He loves Song Jiao, he knows Mu Shaoai, and his love is as deep as the sea.

Knowing Mu Shaoai, it's because the family members think that they are just a whim, young people are greedy for beauty, and they are afraid that they will delay their studies; as for the love as deep as the sea, the family members don't know, and the two of them are not even aware of it.

Xie Chen and Song Jiao are crossing the boundary between youth and youth.

Even they can't see clearly the feelings of the increasingly complicated adult world.

The only thing that is certain is that Xie Chen and Song Jiao must be together.

Xie Chen's hands were shaking violently, and the attendants took the medicine bowl from him, and they were to feed Song Jiao the medicine.

Xie Chen hugged Song Jiao tightly, avoided the crowd, and shrank his head behind Song Jiao, tightly sticking to Song Jiao's hair.

He hid behind Song Jiao, his eyes were red, and he clenched his molars tightly to prevent his crying from being heard by others.

Only the comatose Song Jiao knew that he was crying, from Xie Chen's trembling hands, shaking chest, and the tears falling into his hair.

Xie Chen cried pitifully.

After pouring Song Jiao a bowl of decoction, he still didn't wake up.

The doctor said that there is nothing wrong with the body, it may be that the injury on the forehead was hit hard, and it took a few days to wake up.

Xie Chen held his hand, none of the attendants dared to come up to persuade him, so they could only wait outside the door.

Xie Chen just stood by Song Jiao's bed, held his hand, and cried all day until there were no more tears to shed.

That evening, when he opened the door and came out, the attendants looked back in surprise, thinking that Song Jiao had woken up, but Xie Chen didn't say a word.

Xie Chen wanted to go out for a while, but before he took a step, he shrank back.

He walked back to the bed and saw Song Jiao still lying on the bed, so he was relieved.

It was like this yesterday, Song Jiao disappeared within an hour after he went out.

He could hardly leave.

Repeated this three times, walked to the door, and walked back, the attendants couldn't stand it anymore.

"Your Majesty, what do you want to order?"

Xie Chen's voice was hoarse: "Take that traitor outside the courtyard, and you stay here to guard it. If you lose him again, you will be dealt with according to military law."

The attendants hurriedly went down to do their work.

The attendant who delivered the letter to the Kingdom of Qing yesterday was quickly brought over. Xie Chen didn't let him in because he was afraid of dirtying the yard.

Xie Chen's halberd was still leaning against the wall. He used it to break the bluestone slab yesterday. The halberd was no longer sharp, and even had some wear and tear.

Xie Chen lifted the halberd, with a gloomy look in his eyes, and walked out of the courtyard step by step.

He only ordered: "Shut up."

So two attendants supported the man from left to right, and stuffed the stick into his mouth.

The traitor's eyes showed the meaning of begging for mercy, but after meeting Shang Xie's gloomy gaze, it turned into despair.

Xie Chen raised his hand and then lowered it, a stream of blood spurted out, like a rain of blood, splashed on Xie Chen's body, and fell to the ground.

Just one moment, the man died.

Xie Chen threw away the halberd and wiped his hands: "Hang the corpse at the gate of the city, and let Qing Guo see it while it's still bright."

"Yes."

"Send someone to tell Fengxiang City that I want to go to war with Qing Kingdom."

Of course the first one told the attendants to obey, but the second one...

They are a little embarrassed.

Xie Chen quickly said: "Forget it, I will write a memorial to Fengxiang City myself. You should strengthen your guard, and if anyone dares to cross the Yinma River from the Qing Dynasty, you will be killed."

After finishing this, he turned and went back to the room.

When the Qi State hung the traitor's corpse on the top of the city wall, the Qing State on the opposite side of course also received the news immediately.

The people Chen Su sent to investigate soon returned.

"It was His Royal Highness Song Jiao of Qi who had an accident. The grandson was furious and killed a traitor. This traitor is one of us."

He answered outside the door, while Chen Su listened inside.

"How is Your Highness Song Jiao?"

"Qi Guo is watching closely, we can't find out, but I heard that the grandson directly razed the entire courtyard in order to find someone, and all the doctors in the city were called away, and they haven't come out today. I'm afraid it's a bad luck not enough."

"……I see."

After the people left, Chen Su turned his head abruptly and looked at Li Xu who was slumped on the couch and eating melon seeds. Li Xu pretended to be dissatisfied to cover up his guilt, and said in a low voice, "What do you think I am doing? It's not me..." He straightened up: "Even if I did it, what happened? Song Jiao is dead anyway."

He was delighted in his heart, originally thought this matter was a bit difficult, but he did not expect it to be so easy.

It's still a crooked shot.

Chen Su clenched his fists, stood up abruptly, and went straight out the door.

He left the city without knowing it, and before he crossed the Yinma River, the Qi soldiers who had already received Xie Chen's order immediately shot arrows to force him back.

Chen Su took a few steps forward, but in the end he had no choice but to run away.

It was already night when he returned to his room.

Li Xu had already finished his dinner, and he was lying on the couch picking his teeth: "If your father is going to accuse you, please help me for a while, anyway, you are now..."

Before he could finish speaking, the toothpick in his hand dropped.

He raised his head and looked at Chen Su in disbelief.

Chen Su held a sword with both hands, and the tip of the sword had already been inserted into Li Xu's heart.

"I told you not to touch him, why didn't you listen to me? Why didn't you listen to me!"

Chen Su's eyes were burning, and he put all his strength on the hilt of the sword, and then pushed the tip of the sword forward a little bit.

But Li Xu didn't even have time to shout, so he gagged him.

He stabbed Li Xu several times as if venting his anger, and didn't stop until he died.

After a long, long time, the cry of a crow came from outside the window, Chen Su came back to his senses, and pointed the sword at himself.

He gritted his teeth, dragged his hands and legs, climbed to the door, and shouted: "Catch the assassin! Catch the assassin!"

Li Xu on the bed still had black and white eyes open.

At this moment, Xie Chen changed out of his bloody clothes, without a trace of bloody smell, and sat down beside the bed, asking the attendants to bring pens and paper, and began to write the memorial.

As I was writing, I suddenly remembered that Song Jiao taught him even the writing skills of writing articles.

Feeling flustered for a while, Xie Chen put down his pen, covered his face, and wept uncontrollably.

I don't know how long it took, and Song Jiao whispered and laughed from the bed: "Xie Chen, are you a little fool?"