Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 207: There is no Zilong in Changshan, only Pinocchio
On the way to Changshan, the three of them rode on horseback. On the side of the official road were endless fields. Along the way, there were many farmers standing on the ground, touching the soil and feeling the temperature... It was almost time for spring plowing.

Although Zhao Wumian was anxious in his heart, he did not want Su Qingqi and Shen Xiangge to be as anxious and hurried as he was, so he talked to them often.

"If I were to say who I think is the most powerful person so far, it would be the master in Guixuan Valley who discovered a way to double grain production. If it weren't for him, I don't know how many people would have starved to death." Zhao Wumian looked at the endless fields on both sides, slowed down his horse, and said in an amazed tone.

Shen Xiangge had no interest in whether the lower class people could eat enough or live a good life, but she didn't want to come in the first place, and she was in a bad mood, so she argued:
"As long as the kings and generals are still alive, even if they produce 100 kilograms per mu, 90 kilograms will be taken away when they pay taxes. What's more, the land may not belong to them. In the end, they will be exploited by the landlords again..."

Shen Xiangge was actually scolding herself. After all, she was from the class of "kings, princes, generals and ministers"... Of course, Zhao Wumian and Su Qingqi couldn't escape either.

But when Zhao Wumian heard this, he just said: "Miss Shen is very wise. Not many people can see this level. But if you ask me, just seeing the problem is not enough. A specific methodology is also needed."

"Hmm, does Marquis Weiming have any good ideas?"

Su Qingqi held the reins tightly with one hand and slowed down the horse. She saw an orange and white cat standing on a stone pillar by the roadside. The cat was not in good shape and was obviously not full. At this moment, it was raising its side leg and licking its fur.

Su Qingqi raised her hand to tuck the hair beside her ear, took out a piece of dried meat from the bag on the side of the horse's belly, and threw it high into the air.

The wild cat looked sharp, jumped into the air, bit the dried meat in mid-air, and then landed lightly on the muddy ground, with its tail raised high, looking at Su Qingqi.

Su Qingqi smiled and turned to look at the surrounding scenery.

Zhao Wumian glanced at the orange cat, then smiled slightly, "This is something that His Majesty and I need to discuss."

Shen Xiangge curled his lips and said, "You speak as if you are the master of the world... Zhao Wumian, if one day you become the emperor, do you want to be a benevolent monarch or a tyrant?"

"A benevolent emperor or a tyrant will be judged by future generations." Zhao Wumian said this in a very casual way, and then added: "But if I become the emperor, the first thing I will do after ascending the throne is definitely to promulgate a law."

"Ok?"

"Let Miss Su never leave me..."

"Young Master." Su Qingqi called Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian turned his head to look, and saw the three people passing by a jujube tree. Su Qingqi was riding on the outside, approaching the jujube tree, and raised her hand to pick two dates. She wiped the dates with her sleeves, took a bite, and found the taste good, so she handed one of the fuller and rosier dates to Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian took the dates, and in a trance, he felt that these were not ordinary winter dates, but the implicit and gentle affection that Su Qingqi had for him.

Zhao Wumian threw the dates into his mouth and said to Shen Xiangge, "See? Because I can't leave Miss Su anymore, so I don't want her to leave me."

Shen Xiangge's lips curled slightly, and her beautiful eyes narrowed with a smile, "My Lord, I followed you out of the capital. Although we are not alone, we are a dragon and a phoenix. Do you know how the ladies of Cuimu Street will talk about me in the future?"

"Hmm? Then I have to discuss with Minister Shen how to punish those long-tongued people who bite people's tongues behind their backs..."

Shen Xiangge raised his hand and grabbed a handful of leaves from a tree beside the road and threw them at Zhao Wumian, "Punish, punish, punish what? Punish!? If you were the emperor, you would definitely be a tyrant!"

The leaves fell rustling.

"Tyrant? If you were really a tyrant, wouldn't he have taken you back to the harem to serve tea to Miss Su?"

Su Qingqi next to him handed another date to Zhao Wumian's mouth.

Zhao Wumian didn't even look at it, he just opened his mouth and started eating. Then his chewing movements suddenly froze and he tilted his head to look.

Su Qingqi held the salt bag in her hand, opened the bag and showed it to Zhao Wumian. There were traces of dates rolling inside.

White Snake trotted forward, and Su Qingqi's long hair, tied into a bun with a headband behind her waist, swayed with the jolt. Her beautiful face, as youthful and innocent as a plum blossom, looked at Zhao Wumian expressionlessly.

Zhao Wumian swallowed the salted dates in his mouth and said to Shen Xiangge proudly:
"Isn't Miss Su cute?"

Shen Xiangge sneered, "You are using me to make your Miss Su jealous so that you can always feel how much she values ​​you?"

"Eh? Do you still remember the love words I said casually that day? Could it be that I wasn't just acting, but was really pursuing..."

Shen Xiangge wanted to pluck leaves and throw them at Zhao Wumian, but she had already run past the tree and there were no leaves to pluck, so she drew the soft sword from her waist, sat on the horse, raised her hand and stabbed downwards, dug up some soil and threw it at Zhao Wumian.

Yanyun, Jinzhou.

The snow was flying heavily and everything was white.

It is early spring now and the Lantern Festival has passed, but there is still heavy snow in the north... The spring comes a month later than in the capital.

The majestic city lies prostrate on the vast snowy plain, with flags flying on the city walls and the word "Yan" engraved with a golden brush.

Jinzhou City is one of the only two important cities in Yanyun. Five hundred miles north of Jinzhou are Goguryeo and Dongrong.

The Rong people are blocking the pass in Jin, and have not affected Yanyun. However, no one can tell whether the Rong people will make a feint to the east and attack in the west, so Yanyun is training its troops with heavy cavalry and tall horses.

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, coming one after another.

The caravans that traded with Goguryeo were all dressed in white cotton clothes, and even the accompanying horses were covered with thick cloaks. They handed over the silver honestly and drove the carriages out of the city. The accompanying guards held swords at their waists, and even though their hands were frozen red, they did not dare to relax at all.

Although they claimed to be doing business with Goguryeo, the Rong people had no food but had silver, and they were more generous than Goguryeo... As long as there was profit, there would be people who were willing to risk the world's condemnation and trade with the Rong people.

Once out of Jinzhou City, what you need to guard against is not only the horse bandits, but also the chivalrous men who are dedicated to serving the country and the people.

In Jinzhou City, the study of the palace.

Prince Yan was wearing a fox fur coat and leaning on a recliner. There was a stove lit in the study, and the whole room was steaming hot, but Prince Yan was still holding a small heater in his hands... But even so, he coughed from time to time, and it was obvious that he was unwell.

The Prince of Yan is three years older than the Prince of Jin. He is the most proud son of Emperor Taizu Gao. At a young age, he has shown a remarkable talent for martial arts, and he has the demeanor of Emperor Taizu Gao when he was young and roamed the world with a sword.

When Emperor Taizu founded the country, Prince Yan was only ten years old, but he had already mastered very good martial arts and was known as the "Kirin Son of Sword and Spear". It can be said that he was the master in the royal family at that time who had the greatest potential to build a bridge between heaven and earth.

Thanks to this, the Prince of Yan was young and frivolous. He was only ten years old when he held a spear and followed Emperor Taizu Gao to conquer the world. He made many contributions. Unfortunately, he was ambushed in the battle and was seriously injured. He went home to recuperate for several months. By then, Emperor Taizu Gao had already conquered the world.

However, the injury he suffered when he was ten years old was healed by Qingying Yuyi when he was twenty years old. The current King of Yan is ill only because of a mental illness.

On the wall of the study, there were two things hanging, a sword and a scabbard… Judging from the style, the sword and the scabbard were originally one piece, but for some reason, the King of Yan hung them separately.

The King of Yan looked at the sword and its scabbard in silence.

The Princess of Prince Yan did not have as miserable a life as the Princess of Prince Jin. She was originally a female doctor at the Imperial Hospital in the capital. When Prince Yan was secretly injured and in poor health, it was always the Princess who prescribed medicine for him to nourish his body... It was because of this that Prince Yan was reluctant to use the Qingying Jade Clothes and wanted to find an excuse to go to the Imperial Hospital to find her.

But as the saying goes, a doctor cannot heal himself. The princess was frail and had many illnesses. After she gave birth to Luo Xiangzhu, she passed away within two years of her death.

This ending is much better than that of Prince Jin's wife.

However, whether your life is hard or not, what others say has no say. Only you and the people around you are qualified to say.

Whoosh————

Snowflakes were flying outside the window and the sound of wind was faintly heard in the room.

Click————

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in a white robe came to the King of Yan with a letter in his hand, "Your Majesty, this is the letter from the Emperor."

Prince Yan came back to his senses, raised his eyes calmly, took the letter, and looked at it with complicated eyes, "I never thought that the person who would sit in that position would be Chaoyan... She has a good relationship with Xiangzhu, but her temperament is relatively gentle, so she is really not suitable to be the emperor."

The middle-aged man said calmly, "This is the general trend. This is it... The Marquis Weiming beside His Majesty is the general trend."

"I really should meet this Wei Ming Hou. Luo Shuzhi's plan is perfect. He can drive Wei Ming Hou out of the court in the end. Who would have thought that Chao Yan would be so cruel and would rather bear the reputation of being immoral than protect him."

The middle-aged man's calm face showed a little smile, "Isn't this somewhat similar to the prince?"

King Yan smiled and shook his head, then asked, "Has Xiangzhu arrived in the capital?"

Luo Xiangzhu would first go to the capital to pay a visit to the emperor on his behalf, and then return to Yanyun, so naturally he wrote a letter in advance to tell the King of Yan.

The middle-aged man shook his head slightly. "How can it be that fast? It should take her five or six days to reach the capital. By the time she returns to Yanyun, the snow will have almost melted."

"Hmm..." King Yan then opened the letter, glanced at it, and then his expression changed slightly and he stood up.

Bangdang————

The stove in his arms fell directly to the ground, and the ashes mixed with sparks spread outwards.

The middle-aged man had obviously read the letter in advance and knew what was written in it. His face was also somewhat serious. "Udamu should not be underestimated. Huanzhen Pavilion's action power is quite efficient. They actually managed to trace the clues to the prince."

King Yan's expression changed from gloomy to bright. He was silent for a moment, and then sat back in his original position, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the recliner. "Xiang Zhu is in danger... Where did Mu Lier take her?"

"Based on the speed, they should be near Changshan, but it's hard to say for sure. Mu Lier loves to do good deeds and doesn't know that she has been targeted. She is very likely to run around with Xiang Zhu in a relaxed state of mind."

Information in this world is always delayed. Even if a letter was sent, it was written by Mu Lier a few days ago... Things like whereabouts can only be guessed.

The King of Yan read the letter carefully again, "Marquis Weiming will go to meet him... Speaking of which, he will be able to hold the moon string, right?"

The middle-aged man was slightly stunned. "Whether it is true or not, the court is very taboo about it, no one dares to mention it, but the guess is not wrong... Does the prince think that he has a relationship with that woman back then?"

"It's impossible that it doesn't matter." King Yan was silent for a while, then stood up and sat at the desk.

The middle-aged man immediately took out the four treasures of the study for him and placed them on the table.

As the King of Yan picked up his pen to write the letter, he asked, "Was this letter sent by carrier pigeon?"

"Yes."

"Don't use a carrier pigeon for my letter, in case it's intercepted... Find an expert with decent martial arts and decent Qinggong skills to escort it. It doesn't matter if it's a little slower."

"Yes."

Changshan is one of the famous cities in the Central Plains. Although it cannot compare with the capital, it is not inferior to Taiyuan. However, for Zhao Wumian, the most famous things here are Zhao Zilong, donkey meat hotpot and Zhaozhou Bridge.

However, there should be no Zhao Zilong and Zhaozhou Bridge, but donkey meat hotpot is definitely indispensable.

Zhao Wumian came to Changshan in a hurry, but when he arrived at the gate of Changshan City, his heart calmed down again.

The day before yesterday was the Lantern Festival. He left Beijing in a hurry after getting the news yesterday and arrived here at noon today. When the Dongyan spy passed the news, it was the Lantern Festival. With just two days like this, how could Huanzhen Pavilion have time to make any arrangements?
Worrying too much will only scare yourself.

Arriving at the city gate, the guards checked the pass as usual. When they saw the three men riding tall horses, they were just amazed at their extraordinary demeanor, but they still had to check. Obviously, they didn't recognize the three men... After all, they were just small soldiers, and it was impossible for their big portraits to be flying all over the world.

In the martial arts world, people usually know people by their martial arts skills.

However, Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment and did not reveal his identity. He just took out the deputy chief arrest warrant of the Detective Department, claimed that he was a secret agent performing official duties, and entered the city under the frightened gaze of the defenders.

Zhao Wumian has many enemies. If he were to venture into the world alone, he would not expect his enemies to look for him so that he could gain some experience and find the trick to communicate with the bridge between heaven and earth as soon as possible. However, with Su Qingqi and Shen Xiangge by his side, it is naturally not the time for him to gain experience.

Changshan is further south than the capital, so the temperature is warmer there. Many pedestrians on the streets have already put on spring clothes.

Moreover, this place is not under the emperor's rule, so the control is relatively not that strict. You can see martial artists carrying swords and knives everywhere on the streets, which makes it more like a martial arts world.

Among them were many fellow disciples wearing the same uniform and carrying the same weapons, chatting together, their faces full of the high spirits of a newcomer to the martial arts world... I didn't know what sect they belonged to.

Zhao Wumian had never been to Changshan before...even if he had come, he would probably have forgotten everything. Everything about it was new to him.

With his martial arts skills, these disciples from different sects were not enough for him to defeat with one hand, but these disciples were wandering around, while Zhao Wumian... was a lackey of the imperial court.

Although he claims to be a man of the world, in fact he is becoming less and less like one of the men of the world.

In the square on the side of the main street right in front of the city gate, there was a platform with a plaque hung across it that read "Changshan Dragon and Tiger List."

There were two young men holding weapons and fighting with each other.

"it is good!"

"That's how it should be!"

The pedestrians around were all clapping and cheering, looking so excited that they wished they could go up and have a fight themselves.

Zhao Wumian led the horse, mixed in the crowd, and looked up. Although in his opinion, the martial arts were not very good, the atmosphere was quite good.

I don’t know if he ever fought in a martial arts ring when he first started learning martial arts.

Shen Xiangge stood beside Zhao Wumian, holding a string of freshly bought candied haws in his hand. He glanced at the arena, then withdrew his gaze with a lack of interest and turned to look at Zhao Wumian with a smile on his face.
"Master Mian, don't you plan to show off your skills? With your looks and abilities, you will surely win the hearts of many women."

When you are out, you must not call Zhao Wumian "Marquis" casually... "Young Master Mian" is just the name that Shen Xiangge just came up with.

Su Qingqi stood by and said nothing. She had realized by now that Shen Xiangge always told Zhao Wumian these jokes without any boundaries, on the one hand it was for fun, and on the other hand it was to irritate her.

Zhao Wumian shook his head slightly, "Fried fish is meaningless... I'll take you to the Yang family, and then I'll go to the Sword Sect branch to ask."

Shen Xiangge took a bite of the hawthorn on the candied haws. The cooled rock sugar made a crunching sound in her lips. She tilted her head and looked at Zhao Wumian. She chewed for a few seconds before saying:

"Would you like to send me away so that you and your Miss Su can spend some time alone together?"

After hearing this, Su Qingqi finally responded to her. She tilted her head and said in a dangerous tone, "Young Master and I are a perfect match. Is it your turn to keep complaining?"

"Miss Su, if you really have a deep love for him, then you should trust him..." Shen Xiangge smiled coquettishly, stretched out her small hand, and drew a circle on Zhao Wumian's shoulder, her tone was pure and natural.
"I believe that no matter how tempting he is, he should stick to his heart and not be moved. If you keep getting so nervous and on guard, isn't that telling Master Weiming that you don't trust him at all?"

Su Qingqi smiled coldly and slapped Shen Xiangge's hand away, "You are quite good at sophistry. This is not a reason for you to hook up with the young master."

Shen Xiangge turned to look at Zhao Wumian and said with a grin, "I am different from her. She doesn't believe that you will remain unmoved, but I do believe in you."

"If Miss Su stood in front of me, I would definitely not be able to control myself."

Shen Xiangge's smile froze slightly, and then she turned around and walked away, leading her horse. "I'm going to the Yang family now. If you don't have anything to do, don't come to me. I won't take care of your meals."

Zhao Wumian shouted at her: "If I have any clues, I will come to you and we will return to Beijing together."

"Let's find your Miss Su to accompany you!" Shen Xiangge's voice must have a hint of anger.

Even when she was angry, her voice was ethereal and pleasant, but as soon as she finished speaking, it was drowned out by the noise of the crowd around her.

But after Shen Xiangge walked a few steps with his horse, he stopped and looked at the city gate, where a wanderer was coming with a horse.

One of them, with a long sword on his waist and walking steadily, led a horse into the city. At first glance, he was just an ordinary martial artist, but Shen Xiangge was very perceptive. After taking a look at him, he could tell that this man had good martial arts skills. As for whether he could compare with Zhao Wumian, Shen Xiangge couldn't say for sure at the moment. No matter how strong his perception was, he couldn't tell the combat power at a glance, but he was indeed a rare master in the martial arts world.

As far as Shen Xiangge could see, except for Zhao Wumian, no one here could be his opponent... Who was this person?
Shen Xiangge frowned slightly and thought for a few seconds, recalling the masters she had seen in her mind, but if he didn't win the martial arts championship, he would not be in her eyes, so she really had no impression of him. She looked away, too lazy to worry about it.

There were footsteps and horse hoof sounds behind her, and Zhao Wumian followed behind her, "Your martial arts skills are not high, I will send you to the Yang family."

My martial arts skills are not good? I can even hang you up and beat you with one hand! Hmm... that doesn't seem right. With Zhao Wumian's current strength, he definitely can't beat Wu Kui, but he can still hold out for quite a while... Never mind.

Shen Xiangge didn't want to pay attention to Zhao Wumian. It's not that she didn't have a temper. She was so nice to Zhao Wumian, but Zhao Wumian only had his so-called Miss Su in his heart. Once, twice, three times, four times, he always stood on Su Qingqi's side...

Until they arrived at the gate of Yang Mansion, Shen Xiangge glanced at Zhao Wumian who was following behind her, and then walked into Yang Mansion without looking back.

The guards at the gate of Yang's mansion looked at Zhao Wumian, then at Shen Xiangge. After Shen Xiangge entered the mansion, one of them stepped forward and asked, "May I ask who you are?"

Zhao Wumian looked around the Yang Mansion. The house was quite impressive, but he came to the Central Plains to pick up Mu Lier and Luo Xiangzhu. He really had no reason to go to the Yang Mansion. He would go to the Yang Mansion to find Shen Xiangge after picking up Mu Lier and Luo Xiangzhu. He shook his head slightly and said, "He is just the escort for Miss Shen to visit her relatives."

"Oh? Then brother, come in and have a drink."

"No, goodbye." Zhao Wumian bowed slightly.

Su Qingqi followed behind Zhao Wumian, tilted her head and thought for a while before she said softly, "Miss Shen is in a bad mood, you should comfort her, she is also a girl, how can she bear such indifference from you?"

"You want me to comfort other girls?" Zhao Wumian laughed.

Su Qingqi looked up at the sky and frowned, "It's going to rain soon..."

Then she lowered her eyes and whispered, "Of course I don't want to either, but your relationship with Miss Shen is not just a passing one. Since it's already like this, why should I make both of you feel bad?"

"Why are you so nice to me?"

"Sir, do you really want me, a girl, to tell you about this kind of thing?" Su Qingqi glanced at Zhao Wumian and then looked away.

Zhao Wumian smiled slightly, "She likes to eat grapefruit. I want to comfort her, so I have to buy something she likes. How can I go empty-handed?"

"You don't have to tell me so much!"

Su Qingqi also quickened her pace, passing Zhao Wumian, with a gust of fragrant wind.

……

Su Qingqi went to the Detective Department in Changshan to inquire about the situation, while Zhao Wumian went to the Sword Sect branch.

The leader of the Sword Sect branch was a middle-aged man. He was shocked when he learned of Zhao Wumian's identity. He never expected that Zhao Wumian, who had been killing people in the capital and captured Li Jingnan alive the day before, would travel 600 miles to Changshan in just two days.

He treated him warmly, fearing that he might neglect the young sword master.

Zhao Wumian had not had any hope at first, after all, information was transmitted slowly in this world, but he did not expect that he could actually get something out of it.

"Master Mu and Princess Xiangzhu are rushing from Ningwu Pass to the capital, and they are stationed at the branch along the way. Pingshan sent a letter before that, saying that the Master will pass through Changshan, and asked us to prepare in advance." The branch leader led Zhao Wumian to a clean house, "This is the house we prepared for the Master."

Zhao Wumian looked around the house. It was ordinary and he couldn't tell anything special. But he was a little surprised in his heart. "Master was in Pingshan before?"

Pingshan is located on the northwest side of Changshan. If you are running from Jin to the Central Plains, it is indeed possible to pass through Pingshan in terms of direction.

The leader of the branch nodded, "But the letter only arrived this morning. According to the time, the Sword Master must have left Pingshan. If the young Sword Master goes to Pingshan to look for him, he will probably miss him. It is better for him to wait in Changshan for a few days."

Zhao Wumian pondered for a moment. He didn't expect to find the clue so easily. It was a pleasant surprise.

He nodded slightly, "I will stay here tonight. Captain, please clean up another room for me."

"Oh, that's not true." The leader of the branch helm patted his chest with a proud look on his face.

Zhao Wumian tied the Jade Lion of Zhaoye to the Sword Sect branch and went to the Detective Department.

The Detective Department oversees the underworld, but it is not a government office. If it were an ordinary small town, due to lack of manpower, they might just send a few detective department constables to the government office and be done with it. This was the case with Linshui in Jin at the beginning, but a big city of the size of Changshan naturally could not be so sloppy.

Fumanlou is an ordinary inn, but both the owner and the waiter are spies from the Detective Department.

Su Qingqi sat in a room on the second floor of Fuman Building, drinking tea silently. The Baishuang sword was placed flat on the table, ensuring that she could draw the sword at any time.

dong dong dong ——

There was a knock on the door.

"it's me."

Su Qingqi opened the door and saw Zhao Wumian standing behind the door with a few boxes of snacks and steaming donkey meat hot buns in his hands.

Su Qingqi's beautiful eyes curved slightly, "Why did you buy snacks?"

Zhao Wumian entered the room and placed the snacks on the table. "Don't you like sweets?"

He poured himself a glass of water, drank it in one gulp, and then took a bite of the donkey meat BBQ. The steaming hot and chewy donkey meat filled his mouth with the aroma of meat.

Su Qingqi smiled again, opened the snack box, and said, "The Detective Department also has some news. Miss Mu went to Dingzhou the day before yesterday and went to the government office to ask if anything happened in the capital... It seems that we have come to the wrong place. Dingzhou is northeast of Changshan. Miss Mu went east to the capital, so it is impossible for her to come to Changshan, which is southwest of Dingzhou."

Zhao Wumian paused slightly while eating the donkey meat BBQ.

When Mu Li'er left, Zhao Wumian had not yet caught Ning Zhongxia, so she was naturally worried about whether Huanzhen Pavilion had caused any trouble during the time she was away.

However, the day before yesterday, which was the Lantern Festival, Zhao Wumian felt that Mu Lier was more lonely during the Lantern Festival, so she asked someone about her situation.

But this is not important. The key point is... why are there two different statements between the Sword Sect Branch and the Detective Department?
Zhao Wumian didn't believe that it was because of wrong information or misremembering.

There's something wrong with Changshan.

Su Qingqi noticed that Zhao Wumian looked strange and blinked her beautiful eyes, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Wumian put down the donkey meat BBQ, frowned, and thought for a while before saying, "One of the Sword Sect Branch and the Detective Department must be lying... I can't go find Miss Shen. Don't involve her in this matter."

(End of this chapter)