In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

By the time it was truly light, the convoy had already passed the north end of the Sancha Pavilion.

Pei Zhao returned early and whispered beside the car:

"I saw it."

"Someone did indeed rest at the old earthen ditch south of Sancha Pavilion last night."

"The fire was buried shallowly, so the horse manure was still warm."

"There should be no fewer than five people."

"There were two people inside whose feet felt heavy, like veteran soldiers."

"The rest don't seem to have been raised together."

Yang Xuan lifted the curtain:

"Where's the hay shed?"

"It's on."

"The two men who were watching the fire under the shed are gone from early this morning."

"The big pot was still warm, as if they left in a hurry."

Yang Xuan listened and simply smiled faintly.

"it is good."

"That means the three hundred coins I spent last night weren't wasted."

Pei Zhao smiled, but with a hint of coldness in his expression.

"If they really wait for someone there in the afternoon, they'll probably be waiting forever until the sun is high in the sky. They'll be so anxious they'll be green with envy."

Yang Xuan lowered the carriage curtain.

"It's better when it turns green."

"We'll only rush back to find people once it's green."

"The line will only move when they urgently need to find someone."

Afternoon, south of Sancha Pavilion.

Sure enough, someone was waiting in the old ditch beside the broken monument.

At first, things were going smoothly.

There were people watching from both the front and the back.

Three fast-running horses were tethered at the edge of the shallow woods.

But as the sun slowly climbed overhead, that sense of stability gradually dissipated.

First, the man guarding the crossroads at the outermost edge returned and said:

"I didn't see the car."

Half an hour later, someone else replied:

Still haven't seen him.

When the last man who had been pretending to be dozing off at the hay shed ran back, the leader's expression finally changed.

"Didn't they say at Yongxing Post Station that the main vehicle was badly damaged and wouldn't be able to move until the afternoon?"

Where are they?

Someone whispered nearby:

"Could it be that the messenger delivered the wrong message?"

"Or have we been found out?"

The leader gritted his teeth.

"see through?"

"If they had truly seen through it, there wouldn't have been no movement at all this morning."

"Most likely, someone at the post station beat them to it, or the porter couldn't handle the work and his mouth went crooked."

"Someone go and immediately go back and finish the conversation."

"Let's go to another one, and follow the official road to the south to find Yinzi."

"If we miss our target again this time, the blame will come down on us, and it won't be just three hundred coins."

As the sunlight slanted past, a fast horse had already left the Three-Fork Pavilion.

The horse's hoof kicked up a trail of dust.

The dust is blowing north.

It was precisely the direction from Yongxing Post Station and even further north to Chang'an.

Meanwhile, in Chang'an, at the Prime Minister's residence.

Yang Guozhong was sitting on the veranda reading an official document sent by the ministry.

The surface was calm.

There's nothing in the world worth him even glancing at.

But when the message, delivered by hand along the post road, arrived on his desk, he only read the first two lines before his fingertips paused almost imperceptibly.

The men had already broken camp before dawn.

They came up empty-handed in the afternoon.

The attendant, standing to the side, waited a few moments before whispering:

"Your Excellency, people in the south say they're probably the first to realize what's going on."

Yang Guozhong folded the paper.

"Can you taste it?"

"If it were just a taste, I might not have left so decisively."

He said this in a low voice.

But none of the people standing under the eaves dared to accept it.

After a moment, he said calmly:

"My son used to only cause trouble in Chang'an."

"Now that we're out of the city, it's like we've suddenly learned how to use a rope."

"It's not just about hitting people anymore."

The attendant's aide tentatively asked:

"Should we add another layer in front?"

Yang Guozhong did not answer immediately.

He gazed at the tree in the courtyard, swaying slightly in the spring breeze, and for the first time, a faint hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.

"repair."

"But don't use the methods from Yongxingyi to fix things."

"He's willing to let people come up empty-handed this time so that he can see who will get anxious first."

"In that case, don't rush to do as he wishes."

He paused for a moment, then tossed the folded paper back onto the table.

"Also, have someone investigate."

"Investigate who was the first to establish rules and regulations for him after he left Chang'an."

"It's not surprising that a rebellious son who has just been beaten and kicked out of his home could be so ruthless."

"The real problem is when someone can control their ruthlessness."

A breeze blows through the corridor.

The attendant felt a slight chill and quickly agreed.

On the south side of the official road, in the main carriage.

Yang Xuan leaned against the car wall, his face even paler than in the morning.

But the coldness in his eyes never dissipated.

Cui Shen sat opposite him and quietly went over the possible routes left by the three-way pavilion ahead.

Finally, he raised his head and looked at Yang Xuan.

"Young master, if you rush out now, you may not be able to strike again immediately."

"If they actually accept it, will we have wasted our time?"

Yang Xuan gently shook his head.

"It won't be in vain."

"A person can be brought back to their body, but their heart cannot be brought back to their body."

"Now that they've been given a free moment, they'll all start to have doubts."

"Those above suspect those below, those below suspect those in the post station, and those in the post station suspect the one who is still alive in the group."

"The more you doubt, the looser the thread will become."

"Once the line loosens, the road ahead will be easier for us."

As soon as he finished speaking, Afu's voice suddenly came from outside the car:

"Young Master!"

"There's a stall selling medicine by the roadside ahead. Uncle Wen asked if we wanted to stop for a bit so he could change your medicine and let the horse catch its breath."

Yang Xuan closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his voice remained steady:

"stop."

"But don't stop for too long."

"Today, we've already shown those behind us an empty path."

"Next, we should let them see—"

He paused, and the coldness at the corner of his lips finally turned into a thin line.

"After seeing that we had missed an opportunity, we actually moved even faster."

A voice responded from outside the car.

The horse's hooves slowed down.

The wind along the official road blew in through the half-lifted carriage curtain, carrying the coolness of the early spring grass and earth.

Yang Xuan leaned against the car wall, her wound still aching.

The convoy had come to a slow stop on the side of the road.

The stall selling pulp was small.

Three logs supported an old thatched roof, and a half-cracked wooden sign hung in the corner, the character "浆" (jiang) on ​​it blurred by wind and sun.

Two large earthenware urns were placed by the shed, one filled with cool water and the other with a light sauce. Next to them was a small clay stove with embers still rising, as if someone had gotten up before dawn.

This place isn't exactly a proper shop.

But it was positioned right after a bend in the main road, allowing for visibility of the road ahead and space to hide a vehicle behind.

Just a few steps further out, there is a small patch of sparse willow trees.

It provides a place for people to rest and also covers their eyes.

Wen Bo got off the car first.

Pei Zhaoli stood at the outermost edge, his eyes scanning the road ahead and behind before he raised his hand and gestured for them to stop.

Afu was quick and efficient. He first went to the shed to get two bowls of hot water, and then brought over his medicine bag and a new cloth.

Before anyone could speak, Yanhe lifted the curtain and got into the main car.

The smell of medicine mingled with the sweat in the car.

Yang Xuan had been forcing himself to stay awake the whole way. He hadn't felt it before, but as soon as the car stopped, waves of suppressed fatigue surged up from his bones.

But his face remained calm.

Seeing Yanhe come in, he moved half an inch to the side so that she could sit more comfortably.

"How's it outside?"

Yanhe didn't answer first, but instead glanced at him.

"Turn your back around first."

Yang Xuan smiled.

"The princess is getting more and more used to ordering people around these days."

"If it weren't for the fact that you still need to save your life to go to Yaozhou, I wouldn't bother with all this talk."

As she spoke, she took the scissors from Afu and slowly cut open the old cloth on his back that was stuck together with blood and medicine.