The feud between the Great Jin and the Northern Di had lasted for far too long. Although they were forced to be on good terms for the sake of business, once outside the city of Li, it was swords at each other's throats.
Lu Tianzuo scoffed, glanced around the shack, kicked a man aside, and then turned to leave.
The people inside were about to get angry, but were stopped by the man sitting in the middle.
Yi Qing felt that there must be something wrong with this shack. Coupled with the theft of the border defense map, calculating the time, the Northern Di should be making a move.
"Really nothing. There aren't even traces of a secret room." Lu Tianzuo said with certainty.
"There were so many people sitting inside. How can you be so sure there are no traces of a secret room?" Yi Qing was not convinced. "You should send someone to keep an eye on this place. I don't believe it."
Because of this, Yi Qing had no mood to enjoy the mutton. She found a stall and ordered a plate of mutton just to make do, while her eyes kept glancing at the shack from time to time.
"Your subordinate has already sent someone to watch." Lu Tianzuo whispered.
At this moment, Yi Qing saw a little girl running out of the street. She tripped and fell to the ground because she was running too fast. Several people chased after her. The leader knelt on one knee and saluted, then picked up the little girl and left.
What caught Yi Qing's attention was not their attitude, but the goiter on the little girl's neck.
"Madam, what are you looking at?" Lu Tianzuo looked in the direction Yi Qing was looking, but there was no one there anymore.
"Nothing. Let's eat and get back quickly." Yi Qing said and started to eat.
The city of Li was within Xiao Jinghan's territory. He first went to see Tie Ying, dealt with the matter of the Iron Blood Loyalty Token, and by the way, learned about the situation in the city of Li. Then he went to meet the local general.
Xiao Jinghan returned to the inn very late. Yi Qing was sitting in the room, thinking about what had happened during the day. Could it be that she had really been seeing things?
"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Xiao Jinghan bent down and hugged Yi Qing from behind.
"How was your trip today?" Yi Qing stood up. "What's that smell on you?"
"There's no smell." Xiao Jinghan sniffed his arm. "Maybe it's the smell from eating with them."
"Ambergris." Yi Qing suddenly remembered. "The city of Li is remote and cold. How could there be someone using ambergris? Whose cloak did you wear?"
Xiao Jinghan also realized that it wasn't something he had picked up during his trip, but the smell on the cloak. "You should rest early. I still have some things to attend to."
He was very generous to his subordinates, and he would also share the emperor's rewards with them. But it wasn't enough for someone to use such an expensive perfume. For the smell to linger on the clothes, it must have been used for a long time.
As soon as Xiao Jinghan left, Yi Qing's mind went back to Ping Xinian. Just buying a piece of information cost 500,000 taels of silver. If she wanted to...
After a while, the sound of fighting came from outside. Yi Qing quickly stood up.
"Madam, run quickly." Lu Tianzuo said as he sent out a signal.
Xue Miao'er and Gan Ermei also came. Gan Ermei had no martial arts skills, but she was very strong. She picked up things and threw them around, making it impossible for anyone to get close to Yi Qing.
Duke Di and Gu Changze also came out. The scene was extremely chaotic for a while. Seeing the continuous influx of black - clothed assassins, Xue Miao'er protected Yi Qing and ran away from the back.
The city of Li was already in a mess. Xue Miao'er and Yi Qing didn't know the way after running away from the back. After running for a while, they panicked and hid in a courtyard. Who would have thought that as soon as they turned around, they were held at knifepoint.
These were Northern Di people. They used curved knives and wore complicated bead necklaces.
Lazhuo looked at Yi Qing and the others curiously. She was the little girl Yi Qing had seen during the day.
Baltu protected Lazhuo and looked at Yi Qing and the others warily. He motioned for his subordinate to kill Yi Qing.
"I'm a doctor. I can cure her illness." Yi Qing shouted nervously.
At the critical moment, the knife that was about to slash at Yi Qing stopped. Baltu motioned, and the man put down his knife.
Yi Qing was still in shock. Who would have thought that she would run into someone else's blade.
"Is what you just said true?" Baltu asked in broken Great Jin dialect.
"Yes, I'm a doctor. I can cure her illness." Yi Qing said with certainty.
At this time, two assassins rushed in from outside. Baltu motioned for his men to kill the assassins. The men fell right in front of Yi Qing, scaring her heart to race. So close!
Baltu looked at the excited Lazhuo. He didn't want to disappoint her either. In his mind, doctors from the Great Jin were usually old. Such a young woman didn't look like a doctor at all.
The two of them talked in the Northern Di language for a while. Baltu waved his hand, and Yi Qing and the others were taken to a room and then locked in a cellar.
"Are we going to die here?" Xue Miao'er covered her arm.
She had been injured while protecting Yi Qing just now.
"Don't worry. They care very much about that little girl." Yi Qing frowned.
What she was worried about now was not her own safety, but Xiao Jinghan's. There must be something wrong with one of the generals in the city of Li.
Their whereabouts had been known even though they didn't stay in the general's mansion. And the appearance of Ping Xinian. She always felt that this matter was not that simple.
Xiao Jinghan led his men to kill all the assassins, but he searched all night and couldn't find Yi Qing. The three of them seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
"General, Vice - General Qu has been brought." Chang Zhiyuan escorted Qu Xinnan in.
Qu Xinnan lowered his head, too ashamed to look at General Xiao.
"Where did these things come from?" Xiao Jinghan asked someone to open a box, which was filled with spices more valuable than gold.
"They were sent by the Ping family." Qu Xinnan said directly. "But I just gave them a little convenience in trading with the Northern Di. I didn't do anything else."
"Just a little convenience in trading with the Northern Di?" Xiao Jinghan sneered. "What if the Ping family uses this convenience to collude with the enemy and betray the country?"
"Impossible." Qu Xinnan was shocked. "The Ping family are just businessmen."
"What kind of business is more profitable than colluding with the enemy and betraying the country? Tell me. How did so many assassins from Ghost Floating Mountain get to the city of Li yesterday?" Xiao Jinghan said, his body trembling slightly.
He had actually let Yi Qing go missing on his own territory.
Qu Xinnan was stunned for a long time. The city of Li had very strict checks on people entering and leaving. It was indeed impossible for so many assassins to come from the capital. Unless they had been in the city of Li for a long time. How did so many extra people suddenly appear in the city of Li?
There were some things that Xiao Jinghan couldn't figure out either. His trip to the city of Li was very secretive. He had only met his subordinates today. Even if someone among them had leaked the information, it was impossible to have made such a quick deployment.
"Report!" A scout rushed in with a urgent order in his hand. "A large number of Northern Di troops have been spotted gathering near Pucha Mountain."
Xiao Jinghan looked at Qu Xinnan. "How do you explain this?"
Qu Xinnan didn't know what was going on either. "This subordinate knows his mistake. This subordinate is willing to die to atone for his sin." He said and was about to commit suicide.
Xiao Jinghan knocked his knife away. "Do you think you can get away with it by dying? You'd better stay alive now. The score hasn't been settled yet. Immediately notify the generals of the 16th Route Imperial Guards to come to the city of Li."
"Yes." Lu Tianzuo saluted. They hadn't been away from the city of Li for a few years, but such a big mess had occurred. If they hadn't come back in time, the city of Li might have been destroyed in their hands.
"Go and invite the eldest miss of the Ping family." Xiao Jinghan gritted his teeth and said.