"My lord, we cannot send any more men. We didn't bring many people with us this time; now we only have the bodyguards who protect you."

Wei Ci rubbed his temples as he listened to his subordinate's report.

"Go find the Xiongnu priest and have him send someone to tell him that the cavalry's hiding place has been discovered, and to order him to send someone to silence them."

"yes"

Everything went smoothly in the capital, so why are there so many unpleasant things happening in this border town?

The man broke another cup. Looking at the scattered white porcelain shards on the ground, he thought of that woman with such tenacious vitality.

It's just a thing, why is it living so enthusiastically?

Miao Cuifang, who was hiding in the woodshed, saw Wei Ci, the guard, hurriedly leave, and then he immediately followed.

At night, he could watch the commotion from the trees, but during the day, the trees in the border town were bare and empty, so he hid in the woodshed.

The young man in the cotton-padded coat followed the guards straight to the county town gate.

The guards arrived at the gate but did not leave the city.

Instead, he ordered a bowl of wontons from the wonton stall next door and ate them.

Miao Cuifang kept loitering around him, watching him.

As dusk approached and the sun began to set...

The guards moved.

The Xiongnu people who traded within the county town and the villagers from the surrounding villages were all returning home.

Donkey carts drove out of the city.

As the cart carrying herbs and spices passed by, the guards threw two small sailboats made of gold foil into it and hung a red ribbon behind the cart.

Miao Cuifang followed the two cars out of the city.

They were both heading towards villages around Pingyang County, seemingly villagers out to make a living.

As the donkey cart traveled to the edge of the deep mountains, passing by a pine tree, an iron hook suddenly fell from the sky and snatched the things off the cart.

The man was incredibly fast; it wasn't that Miao Cuifang couldn't catch him, but rather that it was too dark, and he disappeared into the night after grabbing the item.

Invisible

Having learned about Wei Ci's method of communication with the Xiongnu, the Miao youth returned to the brothel.

"That's how they communicated; the hook came down from the tree, but it was too dark to see anyone."

Fengyuelou and the Huo family elders sat together, listening to Miao Cuifang report on what had happened at the county government office that day.

"Can't the city gates be closed for a few days?" Zhang's mother asked.

Cen Ang shook his head and said

“No, how many people in the nearby villages rely on this road for their livelihood? Closing the city gates in the dead of winter would cut off their survival. Besides, even if the city gates are closed, Wei Ci still has ways to get out.”

"What can we do then? Just watch them become a den of snakes and rats?"

The group remained silent, all deep in thought.

At this time

Huo Xiaocheng pushed the door open and came in.

"Dad! Uncle Scarface and I have caught someone!"

The burly man following behind carried a sack on his shoulder and followed the boy into the house.

"Brother Wen, what do you think of this person?"

"What's wrong?" Huo Shuwen asked.

"This guy is always sneaking around asking about your family's affairs, and he doesn't even eat pickled cabbage!"

"ah?"

"If you don't want to eat pickled cabbage, then don't. Why did you arrest him?" Huo Shuwen muttered to himself.

“That’s right, Dad! What border town person doesn’t eat pickled cabbage? I heard from those old ladies that he’s been here for several years, even longer than us.”

This man was the Hun spy in Huo Xiaocheng's dream.

He killed many people when the city fell.

It was only when Chunying mentioned this that the boy remembered that it seemed to be a spy personally planted by the Xiongnu national teacher, and he had asked Uncle Scarface to keep an eye on him for several days.

"Do you think he's a spy, Brother Wen?"

Huo Shuwen untied the sack, drew a knife from his waist, and slashed open the clothes of the bearded man inside.

The bearded man had only a scar on his back, nothing else.

"He's a spy."

Huo Shuwen said with certainty

When Xiongnu men reached adulthood, they would have their tribal emblem tattooed on their backs. The scar on his back was where the tattoo would be.

Huo Xiaocheng kicked him and asked...

"Tell me, why are you asking about my family?"

The Xiongnu man lying on the ground clutched his stomach and said...

"What are you saying! I don't understand!"

Then the boy kicked again.

"If you had answered honestly, you would have suffered less."

The man denied everything, lying on the ground and roaring.

"Does our Great Yan have no laws?! I'm going to report this to the authorities! I'm going to report this to the authorities!"

"Alright, stop shouting, it's really jarring," Cen Ang said.

"Whether he's a spy or not, we'll find out after we come together."

The woman in black lifted the man from the ground with one hand, pressed his pressure point to put him to sleep, and dragged him into her room like a dead pig.

She said as she walked.

"I'll take a look, I'll tell you in a bit."

Looking at Cen Ang's gloomy face, Zhao Kai's long-buried memories were being awakened.

He couldn't help but shudder.

"What's wrong, Lao Zhao? Why are you trembling?" Zhang's mother asked.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something from the past."

That's all.

Cen Ang was born in the palace.

Her mother was a senior palace maid serving the former empress.

Her father was a royal bodyguard.

Both died during the palace coup.

Only one woman remained, living a pitiful life outside the palace.

The late queen was kind-hearted

The little girl was taken to the palace to be raised.

When the Crown Princess enters the palace

She was directly the head female official in the Crown Princess's palace.

Various offices in the palace

There's no place Cen Ang hasn't been.

include

Shenxingsi

I remember the first time I saw her

Zhao Kai's hands trembled slightly as he drank the tea.

The phoenix-eyed girl walked out of the Imperial Prison with an arrogant air.

Bloodstains on face and body

Several eunuchs dragged a palace maid who was covered in blood and half-dead.

Just then, I passed right in front of that group of scholars.

That day

The Emperor has just finished hosting a banquet for them

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