After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Qin Yuanyao froze for a moment, and after a breath, she realized what she had just said. She cursed herself inwardly for not getting enough sleep and for having a muddled mind!

She said sincerely and calmly:

"Rescue the offerings for the Imperial Son-in-Law Shangguan, which were stolen by thieves, and also the revered teacher."

Gongsun Heng gave an "oh," pursed her lips, nodded, patted the white horse's rump, and said:

"White horse, white horse, thank you for bringing me back... Now I need to trouble you again... Take me back to where we were..."

The white horse seemed to possess a spirit.

With a 'huff,' it reared up and turned back.

Qin Yuanyao, Shangguan Xiu, and their group followed closely behind.

Qin Yuanyao and the others followed, carrying torches.

Gongsun Heng was no longer as afraid as she had been when riding alone at night.

The horses were incredibly fast, and the autumn wind whistled past our ears.

Gongsun Heng narrowed her phoenix eyes and stared ahead, feeling her ears hurt from the wind.

They ran for less than fifteen minutes.

The white horse turned right onto a small path. Gongsun Heng was taken aback, thinking that this might not be the right path. Had the white horse taken the wrong way?

Just as I was about to rein in the horse, I noticed that the green mountain on the right looked very familiar under the moonlight. After thinking for a while, I suddenly realized what it was.

It was only in the evening that he had followed his master's instructions to prevent thieves from digging horse traps or setting tripwires on the eastern road to Nanjing.

She went out the door and ran west, bypassing the entire mountain, and then took the official road east. This detour probably delayed her by at least half an hour.

Now that the white horse is galloping back, it no longer needs to take a detour.

Sure enough, after the white horse galloped along the path for another half an hour, Gongsun Heng felt that the place was becoming more and more familiar.

After that, Gongsun Heng became familiar with the road. The white horse carried her and changed directions several times until they found the hut behind a small hill. However, by then, the place had been reduced to scorched earth.

Qin Yuanyao and the others dismounted, and the four greyhounds were also put down.

Qin Yuanyao sent people to search for clues in a charred ruin.

Shangguan Xiu raised an eyebrow, noticing that the charcoal on the ground was still glowing.

"It's so hot here, these coke pieces are still scalding hot."

He crouched down and reached out to touch it.

"Maybe they haven't gone far."

"We've been walking for a long time."

Qin Yuanyao shook her head and said,

"This house is quite large, it must have taken a long time to burn. They must have spilled a lot of wine or oil or something similar to make it burn so quickly... Judging by the timeline, they burned the house and left as soon as Miss Gongsun left."

Her expression was somewhat complicated.

On the way here, I heard Gongsun Heng recount the details of what happened, and my emotions were in turmoil.

To outsiders, Ning was a talented scholar who wrote poetry, drank wine, played chess, and discussed scriptures. To her and the Imperial Guards, Ning was a rare talent who could refine gunpowder, improve the trebuchet, eliminate the bandit Xiao Chun in seven days, and break through the Black Tiger Mountain, a stronghold of bandits, in one day.

However, she and the others also thought that although Young Master Ning was full of wisdom and courage, he was a bit lacking in martial arts skills. He could kill people with a musket, but without martial arts skills, he would be at the mercy of others if he lost his firearm.

Even though he was trapped in the enemy's den and had no firearms, Young Master Ning calmly killed three people and subdued one of their leaders!

Qin Yuanyao's eyes were filled with complex emotions, and she couldn't help but sigh, feeling that this kind of wisdom and courage was truly unbelievable.

Even though the enemy outnumbered him, Young Master Ning was able to devise a plan in an instant: he would stay behind, allowing Miss Gongsun to escape, and leaving a trail for the Imperial Guards to track him down. He truly possessed the composure to turn defeat into victory.

Just then, a series of "woof woof woof" sounds came from behind.

Qin Yuanyao suddenly looked up.

"Found it!" one of the subordinates shouted excitedly.

About five or six zhang to the north.

Four greyhounds sniffed at a patch of ground together.

It barked loudly and wagged its tail vigorously.

Qin Yuanyao and Shangguan Xiu held torches, squatted down, and broke the soil with their hands, finding a few specks of green powder embedded in the soil under their fingernails.

Several greyhounds then ran north again.

He ran seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters).

Qin Yuanyao ran over and waited for someone to squat down and take a look. There were several more specks of green powder.

"This is it!"

Her face flushed red, she abruptly stood up, gritted her teeth, and shouted at the thirty or forty torches in front of her:

"Mount up! Chase!"

……

……

Night was falling.

On a hillside about five miles from Xiaoshidu.

A dozen or so horses stopped and did not move forward.

The people on horseback were all dressed in the brown clothes of the Liang soldiers.

Looking north from here, the mighty river surges, mountains stretch endlessly, and a few lights dot the mountain peaks—those are the houses and sentry posts of the Northern Dynasty.

The autumn night was slightly cool. Feng Yu, with his upright features, sat on his horse and exhaled a puff of white breath.

He lowered his eyelids.

I glanced at a majestic warship that was sailing across the river.

The battlefield was about ten zhang long and nearly three zhang wide, with three masts and three sails. There were probably a hundred sailors on it, but the number of cannons was unknown.

"Brother Xu," Feng Yu said with a wry smile, "I wonder how much longer we'll have to stay here?"

Xu Tianji has a youthful face, but his temperament is extremely cold and hard.

He held the reins, glanced at Feng Yu, and said, "Please wait a moment, Master Feng."

"Wait a moment, wait a moment, it's been half an hour already!" said a man carrying a long spear.

Seeing that someone had made trouble, everyone else also showed resentment.

"Where exactly is the Right Protector?"

"Are you at Xiaoshidu? If not, let's leave quickly!"

"What are you doing here? Feeding the mosquitoes?"

Madam Huang scratched several large welts on her left arm with her right hand and said with dissatisfaction, "Old Zhao is right, I've fed the mosquitoes my fill."

"Thank you, Madam Huang. I was wondering why no mosquitoes were biting me," someone teased, seizing the opportunity.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The man who said "Knowing Wang is catching a tiger" was mocking Huang's wife for being too fat.

Madam Huang glanced at the man disdainfully: "Wang Zhuohu, besides female mosquitoes, is there anything else in this world that bites you?"

Wang Zhuohu was already ugly and had no wife. Upon hearing this, he turned red in the face, and everyone burst into laughter again.

The man of Huang's wife sat on his horse, holding a sword, and grinned smugly. His wife never lost a verbal battle.

He heard everyone laughing and joking.

Shen Shou and Feng Yu exchanged a glance, feeling both helpless and amused.

Old Man Peng was seriously injured and couldn't walk. But the old man was stubborn and didn't need anyone to take care of him. He cut wood to make a cane and went to hide in a cave by himself. Only the two altar masters were left in the room.

Seeing such a majestic giant ship anchored on the river, and with no sign of the Right Protector, the two couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Ning Baixuan, bound like a rice dumpling, was laid horizontally in front of Shen Shou, his abdomen pressed against the horse's back, his head staring at the ground.

He was worried that this man was full of tricks, so while holding the reins, he also kept a dagger in his hand, ready to stab the man in the thigh without hesitation if he made any unusual move.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

A gentle breeze blew across the river, and the air was cool.

The crowd grew increasingly impatient.

At that moment, a glint of light flashed in Xu Tianji's eyes, and he suddenly shouted, "They're here!"

Following his gaze, everyone saw a wisp of black smoke rising abruptly from the west under the moonlight.

Turning their heads again, they saw the warship on the river heading west, and everyone immediately became excited.

"Walk!"

Xu Tianji turned the horse's head.

Everyone assumed he was heading towards Xiaoshi Ferry, but when they turned around, they saw Xu Tianji suddenly running eastward. Confused, they could only follow closely behind.

Even with strips of cloth wrapped around its hooves, the sound of its hooves still echoed under the moonlight.

They ran for more than ten miles.

Just as everyone was about to rush to Huiyan Rock.

But Xu Tianji turned around and glanced back, then shouted, "Don't stop!"

Feng Yu and Shen Shou were taken aback and looked back from their horses. They saw another plume of black smoke rising in the distance, and that location seemed to be the same as the place where they had just been at Xiaoshi Ferry!

Feng Yu and his companion were startled.

Look out over the river.

Several warships of various sizes were seen sailing towards the source of the black smoke on the river.

"Not going back to Yanji either?"

Everyone felt a chill; the Right Protector must be at the Looking-at-the-Stone.

"Be careful!"

At this moment, Xu Tianji, who was in front, whispered a word.

As everyone looked up, they saw a group of people carrying torches galloping towards them from a mile away. The horses were only a fraction of the speed of the group.

Shen Shou raised a token and shouted, "Yongwei Battalion River Patrol, no idlers allowed!" He shouted this three times.

The twenty or so riders ahead indeed moved aside slightly.

There is no risk of a collision between the two sides.

Run a little closer.

The group found the opposing cavalry quite strange. The leader was a burly man dressed in black, about half of the men were dressed as servants, and the other half were dressed as guards. It was truly bizarre.

However, after seeing that there were several riders inside wearing flying fish robes...

Everyone tacitly looked away, avoiding looking again to prevent attracting attention.

The two cavalry teams passed each other.

Both sides moved extremely fast.

They passed each other in just a few breaths, and the distance between them was at least ten feet.

"Woof woof woof woof woof!"

Suddenly, a loud barking came from behind.

Wang Zhuohu, Huang Jia Niangzi, Feng Yu, Shen Shou, and the others were all stunned. They tightened their reins and looked back curiously.

Under the moonlight, as they watched the cavalry behind them rein in their horses and turn around, Feng Yu and the others frowned in confusion.

"Whoosh!"

A feathered arrow flew like a shooting star from the sky.

It hurtled through the air at lightning speed!

"Bang!"

The arrow shaft trembled!

It hit the tiger king right between the eyebrows!