This pattern, which looked like a child's scribble, was one of the secret codes drawn up by Wei Jing himself last year. It was used exclusively for communication between him and a dozen or so leaders and confidants of the Qing Zhai Guard, and was only known to each other.

Compared with the plum blossom code known by more than half of the people in Qing Zhai Camp, its concealment and security were greatly increased.

Wei Jing's eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing. He protected Shao Qing and continued to move forward slowly.

Shao Qing also shut his mouth and didn't ask any more questions. This place was crowded with people talking, and it wasn't a good place to talk.

It’s not too late to explain in detail when we return to the county government office.

As soon as they returned to the county government office, without waiting for them to say anything, Zhuang Yan, who had been waiting for a long time, threw down his pen and hurried forward.

"County Master, you are back!"

He cupped his hands and said, "I have something to report to you, Your Excellency..."

Zhuang Yan stopped talking, Wei Jing understood, and took Shao Qing to the study room of the front yamen first.

Entering the study, Zhuang Yan immediately said, "Your Excellency, a group of warriors have come from the eastern suburbs of Pingtao, 20 to 30 miles away, and have been lingering for two or three days."

"warrior?"

"Yes! There are at least several hundred of them, dressed as traveling merchants and farmers, scattered in all directions, not gathering together, and no one knows where they came from."

The other party's disguise technique was extremely good and he was also very vigilant. It was purely accidental that Zhuang Yan was able to know about it so quickly.

He had more than a dozen caravans under his command, which went in and out of Pingtao on a daily basis. Some time ago, a caravan encountered robbers on the road and was rescued by another passing caravan. The other party attacked without hesitation, and the two caravans cooperated seamlessly and resolved the battle efficiently, which was impressive.

The leader of the Zhuangjia caravan was very grateful and hurried forward to express his gratitude. However, the other party seemed unwilling to talk to him. The leader said a few words casually and left in a hurry.

The banker's leader didn't care about it at the time. After all, tight delivery time is very common, and everyone who has been out there knows it.

But who would have thought that when he returned to Pingtao, he met this leader who was always against justice again.

The other party passed by quickly and was only a quick glance, but the previous impression was so deep that the banker's team leader recognized him on the spot, and his brows immediately frowned.

Because the other person was now dressed as a farmer, just like the villagers carrying hoes passing by on the official road.

There is no stupid person who can become the leader of a caravan and travel around all year round. Immediately, a strange feeling came to my mind.

Zhuang Yan has now joined Wei Jing and is working as a clerk in the county government, a man who serves as Wei Jing's right-hand man. The entire Zhuang family has been promoted to a higher level. As Zhuang Yanxin's trusted confidant, the team leader naturally attached great importance to Pingtao's safety and order.

His heart trembled, and he immediately sent someone to follow and observe carefully, and then ran back to report to the master of the house.

Zhuang Yan said solemnly: "This group of people are very vigilant and disciplined. They are experienced in following that person, but who knew that when they followed him, they didn't see a single person."

There was no trace of them at all, and they were nowhere to be found. The reason why we judged that there were at least hundreds of people was because the team leader recalled that when they were rescued before, they were a large caravan with two to three hundred people.

Seeing this group of people lingering around Pingtao really made Zhuang Yan nervous.

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid we need to be more vigilant. Do you want to send some soldiers in disguise to search?" Hundreds of people working together, no matter how powerful they are, it is impossible for them not to leave any traces.

Upon hearing this, Shao Qing couldn't help but glance at Wei Jing. Just as the two of them discovered the secret code, they received a report that a well-coordinated and powerful gang was on the scene, which made her think too much.

Wei Jing looked normal, without showing any signs of trouble. He nodded and said, "I will arrange this matter. Wen Gui will be credited for this."

Zhuang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had only seen a small part of Wei Jing's abilities, he was already very convinced. His worries were gone, and he bowed and took his leave.

I have to juggle several positions and have too much official duties to handle them all.

After Zhuang Yan left, Shao Qing closed the door and asked quietly, "Husband? Do we really need to send someone to search for any traces?"

Wei Jing shook his head: "I'll go take a look tonight."

There was no doubt that this trip tonight would be a journey of high and low. Shao Qing could not help with this, so he did not ask.

After dealing with the important official business, the two returned to their room hand in hand, had dinner, and then undressed and went to bed.

We just had the most intimate relationship. It was fine during the day, but I always felt something strange at night. Shao Qing felt a little uncomfortable, and she was also worried that he would ask for sex again. Her legs were still uncomfortable, and even though she had such a gentle round last night, she was afraid it was still tormenting.

But Wei Jing didn't have such intention. He patted her back gently and said soothingly: "Go to sleep."

"Um."

Shao Qing thought about it and understood. First, he felt sorry for her, and second, he was still in mourning for his mother.

Today's mourning system is not included in the law and is far less strict than that of later generations, and its scope is limited to the royal family and princes. Moreover, the Nine Kingdoms Rebellion broke out during the Yongchang period, and the momentum of the Great Chu's revival was abruptly cut in half. Before his death, Emperor Yongchang issued a short mourning edict, changing the three-year mourning period to nine months.

Because of his emotional knot, Wei Jing followed his mother's will and consummated his marriage with Shao Qing immediately after paying the extra gift. But he definitely wanted to wait for the next three months.

Shao Qing felt relieved when she thought about it. It wasn't that she didn't want to fulfill her duties as a husband and wife, but her scalp went numb whenever she thought about the tiring process last night.

If we could get a three-month reprieve, that would be great. She smiled at Wei Jing and closed her eyes with relief.

Shao Qing did not hide her meaning, and Wei Jing understood it easily. He raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat amused and pitying, and said softly, "It won't hurt anymore in the future."

He hugged her and let her rest her head on his arms.

The two of them have changed their sleeping positions now. Shao Qing no longer sleeps curled up, and Wei Jing no longer lies upright with his hands on his abdomen. They no longer each covered themselves with a blanket, but instead slept in each other's arms.

Shao Qing was not used to it, but as a person with good sleep quality, she closed her eyes for a while and fell into a deep sleep.

The breathing beside her ear became shallow and long. Wei Jing looked at her sleeping face quietly in the moonlight filtering through the window lattice. He lay there for about half an hour before he gently pulled out his arm and got out of bed.

He tucked in the quilt for Shao Qing, put on a black warrior uniform with sleeves, and flashed out of the room. With a tap of his tiptoes, he disappeared.

…

He rushed out of the city silently and headed straight for the eastern suburbs.

The reason why the secret code could be used for communication was that it also concealed the direction and distance. Wei Jing quickly arrived at the twenty miles east suburb indicated by the secret code.

This was a three-way intersection. He hid in the dark, and others could not see him, and he did not find his target either.

There was a striking road monument at the fork in the road. Wei Jingjing listened and made sure there was no one around, then he jumped in front of the monument.

Sure enough, another secret code was found at the root behind the stone tablet.

But, this code?

Wei Jing raised his eyebrows slightly.

There is a small lantern-shaped code on the stone tablet, which is very special and lesser known. It was one of the codes drawn up by him and his trusted adviser Ji Huan during the last battle against the Tatars. However, due to changes in the war situation at that time, these codes were abandoned, so there were only two people in the world who knew these codes and their meanings.

Ji Huan is here too?

Ji Huan, courtesy name Boyan, was a famous scholar in Jiangdong and a first-rate counselor at that time. With corruption among officials, internal and external troubles, he could not find a wise leader and thus retired to the mountains and rivers. Later, the fifth prince Wei Jing emerged, and the Subei Army defeated the Tatars, achieving the first major victory in decades. He admired him so much that he traveled thousands of miles to the northern border to join the King of Qi and realize his ambitions.

The relationship between the host and the guest was very good. Wei Jing knew that the other party had always disdained the court of Great Chu, and it was only because the crown prince and he himself were praised that they received praise.

Now that the crown prince is dead and Wei Jing's whereabouts are unknown, Ji Huan's departure in anger is expected. It turns out that he went south with Qing Zhai Wei.

Only half a year has passed, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

Wei Jing stood there for a few breaths with his eyes downcast, then tiptoed and headed southwest as indicated by the secret signal.

…

"Who is following us? Have you found out?"

In a valley about two miles away from the south bank of the Fenshui River, Ji Huan frowned and asked Han Xi who had just returned.

When the group discovered that there was a spy among the Qing Zhai Guards, they immediately moved and purged them again. After some effort to escape from Prince An's encirclement and using several tricks to deceive, he made sure that there were no more treacherous people in the team, and then hurriedly set out again to look for Wei Jing.

For more than two months, they have been searching from east to west in more than a dozen groups, disguised as caravans.

He did not gain anything, but instead got into trouble for being a gangster and kidnapping gangsters.

Zhuang Yan's men failed in their attempt to follow the enemy. Unknown to them, they were being tracked down by Han Xi himself.

Han Xi left at noon and returned late at night.

"The caravan is under the command of a family of Pingtao, whose owner is surnamed Zhuang. This Zhuang family used to be one of the best merchants in Pingtao, but two months ago, he was favored by the new county magistrate and has become an official. He is now one of the best figures in Pingtao."

Han Xi followed for a while and finally found out the whole story of the team leader and the banker.

Ji Huan nodded: "This master is an important figure in Pingtao County Government. It is reasonable for his subordinates to pay more attention to unusual situations. As long as we don't cause trouble, there should be no problem."

Han Xi agreed. In fact, with their abilities, it was impossible for them to be surrounded and captured by mere county soldiers in the open wilderness. The only two things I was worried about were that it might delay the search for His Highness, and that it might attract Prince An's attention and cause unnecessary trouble.

Excluding these two, the rest are no problem.

Ji Huan glanced at Zhang Yong and Chen Qi who were listening attentively on the side. It was actually Zhang Yong who took the lead in helping that day, followed closely by Chen Qi. He himself hesitated for a moment because he thought that nothing was as important as finding His Highness.

He was afraid of causing more trouble.

Now that trouble has really arisen, he wanted to give some advice, but he didn't want to dampen Zhang Chen's enthusiasm, so the words came to his lips several times but he swallowed them back.

"Mr. Ji, the magistrate of Pingtao County is quite interesting." Han Xi was a thoughtful person, and he quickly changed the subject upon seeing this.

"How is it interesting?"

Ji Huan understood what Han Xi meant. He gave up trying to persuade him and continued talking about the other party's topic.

"Tsk, he's brave, resourceful, and knows some martial arts. It's said that Pingtao has been dominated by the former county lieutenant for more than ten years, and several previous county magistrates were unable to do anything about it, but he came and eradicated it."

"Huh?"

Zhang Yong immediately responded: "Then should we investigate this county magistrate?"

Ever since the spy incident, Han Xi and others discussed and decided to abandon the previous plum blossom code just in case. They would rather greatly reduce the efficiency than announce the new code to the entire camp.

In addition, Ji Huan also suggested that every time they passed through a place, they should carefully inquire about the different people and things that had happened recently.

Unlike the new emperor and Prince An, Ji Huan understood Wei Jing much better than the former. He guessed that His Highness might be hiding in the dark to accumulate power in preparation for overthrowing the Chu Dynasty in one fell swoop in the future.

After all, the Chu Dynasty is now terminally ill, and the only two life-saving medicines are gone, and the collapse of the empire is already evident.

If this is true, remote places such as Yizhou and Jiaozhou would be most suitable.

As soon as this proposal was made, it was immediately echoed by Han Xi and others. They planned to search Yizhou first, and if that proved unsuccessful, they would move to Jiaozhou. If that didn't work, there were also Jingzhou and so on.

That's why Zhang Yong said this now. Along the way, they secretly investigated all the different people and things, no matter how big or small.

Unfortunately, nothing came of it.

But they never gave up.

Ji Huan nodded: "Let's go into the city tomorrow to investigate. If the county magistrate is indeed capable, we will then investigate the county government office."

"good!"

After everyone agreed, they arranged to set up camp and keep watch all night.

The night breeze was blowing gently, bringing a cool breeze. There were hundreds of people but their voices were very quiet, hidden by the rustling of the swaying thatched grass and trees.

At the foot of the mountain dozens of feet away, a patch of thatched grass swayed gently in the wind, without attracting the slightest attention from the sentry, and a black figure silently disappeared into the forest.

…

It was past midnight when Wei Jing returned to the backyard of the county government office. He gently pushed open the door to the inner room. He was afraid of waking up Shao Qing, but when he opened the door, he saw that she was already awake and sitting with her quilt wrapped around her.

"Husband, what's wrong? But them?"

In the dim moonlight filtering in through the window screen, she was dressed in a white silk nightgown, with her dark hair softly draped over her shoulders, but her eyes were clear, and it was obvious that she had been awake for more than a while. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with concern as she looked at him intently.

On this particularly chilly autumn night, he went out in the dew, but someone was waiting for him to return in the middle of the night.

The warmth that silently welled up from the bottom of his heart had silently flowed to every part of his body. The coldness of the autumn night had been shut out of the door. His usually cold brows softened, and he said slowly, "Yes, that's them."

Wei Jing took off his coat, got on the bed and hugged her to lie down: "Why don't you sleep now that you're awake?"

"I'm not sleepy."

When Shao Qing got up at night, she found the bedside was empty. She felt a little worried because it was not easy to sleep peacefully, so she did not continue to sleep, but waited for him to come back.

"Should we contact them this time?"

Shao Qing asked this question once on the way to Pingtao a few months ago. At that time, Wei Jing said it was not the right time. What about now?

Wei Jing said: "It's almost done. I'll observe for another two days. There's no rush."

If he says there is no rush, then there is no rush. In terms of scheming and understanding of Qing Zhaiwei, Shao Qingyuan is no match for him, so he will not comment on this matter.

"Go to sleep first."

Wei Jing patted her on the back and Shao Qing smiled at him.

She was just about to close her eyes and go to sleep as she used to, but unexpectedly, he came forward and gently kissed the corner of her lips.

Her lips were soft and a little chilly having just come back from outside, but the temperature was still within a comfortable range.

Uh, these are not the point. The point is that he kissed her? !

This was the second time Wei Jing kissed her. The first time was last night when they were having sex.

At that time, kissing was the most normal thing for the relationship.

But, it’s not the case now.

Shao Qing could feel that his kiss was without any lust and it left immediately. He smiled slightly and looked down at her.

How to say it? The feeling at this moment is very much like that of a couple, which catches people off guard.

Shao Qing was stunned for a moment, but seeing that Wei Jing looked natural, he changed his mind and thought, they are husband and wife now, so it is normal for them to be more intimate.

We can't continue to get along the same way as before, right?

Thinking of this, the strange feeling of helplessness that had just arisen in his mind was mostly gone, and Shao Qing felt relieved.

But she still felt a little excited, her face was a little hotter than before, she tried to ignore the slight tingling at the corners of her lips from being kissed, and quickly closed her eyes, mumbling: "Oh, then I'm going to sleep."

She had black hair and lively eyes. After all, they had the most intimate contact. Her expression was more delicate and innocent than before.

Wei Jing couldn't find the right words to describe the feeling in his heart, but he knew he was happy. He whispered, "Well, go to sleep."