Chapter 79 Turkic Spies
If someone looked at Ma Haohan's appearance and behavior, they would definitely assume that he was a native of the Central Plains. Even the sharpest-eyed person would not be able to spot any flaws.
However, his true identity is one of the five secret agents around the young master. All five of them are spies carefully trained by the young master, each with a name from the Central Plains. This time they entered the Central Plains to continue the young master's infiltration plan.
The "prince" they were talking about was the Turkic king Ashina Ziro.
It is said that the place where Ma Haohan went is Fengxian City, the most prosperous place in Da Zhou besides the capital.
He practiced speaking the Central Plains dialect with a Fengxian accent. The Great Zhou implemented the identity system. After some effort, he replaced a Central Plains man, got his identity card, and took the opportunity to sneak into Fengxian City. Everything was ready.
...
Ma Haohan looked relaxed, wearing the clothes worn by ordinary people in the Central Plains, and carrying a bag on his back. He entered the city smoothly after the soldiers guarding the city checked his identity card.
He thought with great contempt that the identity card made by the emperor of the Central Plains was nothing special. It was useless to go through so much trouble, and he could still enter the city easily.
Ma Haohan walked on the street and looked around casually. He had long known that the Central Plains were different from the Turks. In his eyes, they were the warriors on the grassland, and the people from the Central Plains just occupied a good position.
Thinking that it would not be long before the Central Plains would be their world, Ma Haohan's unhappiness subsided a little.
He looked at the people coming and going, walked forward and blended into the crowd, and sneered inwardly, thinking that weak people should not continue to live on this fertile land.
At this moment, Ma Haohan still didn't know how many things beyond his imagination would happen after he passed the city gate and walked a distance into the city...
...
"Ring, ring, ring—ring, ring, ring—"
Ma Haohan stood in the crowd with a frown on his face. Even he had to admit that people from the Central Plains paid more attention to appearances than people from the Turkic region. Just like him standing in the crowd at this moment, there was surprisingly no strange smell around him. Just as he was planning to blend in with the crowd and quietly observe the routes within Fengxian City and the patrol routes of the officers and soldiers, the group around him suddenly moved to the sound of bells.
Ma Haohan wanted to hide in a crowded place, but accidentally entered the first batch of public horse-drawn carriages for workers in Fengxian in the early morning.
At this time, Ma Haohan's intuition told him that something was wrong.
"Please make way! Make way, the car is coming!" A man with a red ribbon tied around his arm was standing under the wooden sign and shouted to the people gathered together.
Before he could react, the group suddenly moved together—
This is the magical part. Everyone is standing in one place, but they can move forward in an orderly manner. When everyone is moving, the person among them has to move with them.
It's just that Ma Haohan, the misfit, is so obvious.
"You are not from here, are you?" A doubtful voice sounded in Ma Haohan's ears.
Ma Haohan's heart skipped a beat, but his exceptional spy mentality allowed him to calm down, and he said naturally, "I'm from here."
The man became even more confused and suddenly started staring at him, "You..."
Ma Haohan smiled and said, "Brother, is there anything wrong?"
He has a pure Fengxian accent.
At this moment, with the movement here, many people around looked over, and the original laughter and conversation became quieter.
It was only then that Ma Haohan noticed that the group of people around him were all wearing similar clothes. At first, he just thought they were the same color - after all, at that time, there were only a few colors of clothes that civilians could wear, so it was inevitable that the styles and designs were similar.
He had been so focused on watching the passing officers and soldiers that he hadn't noticed that everyone around him wasn't just wearing similar clothes, but exactly the same! He had seen people from the Central Plains before, but what puzzled Ma Haohan was why these people were so energetic and relaxed.
A few years ago, he had sneaked into the Central Plains and dealt with the people from the Central Plains, but the people from the Central Plains he saw at that time were hunched, shivering, and had numb expressions. Could it be that the people from the Central Plains here are different because Fengxian City is more prosperous?
During Ma Haohan's brief silence, the man who spoke first frowned and said, "How can you be so uncultured?"
Quality? What is quality?
Ma Haohan was confused. The teacher the young master had found for them was knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, and was familiar with the customs and culture of the people of the Central Plains. The teacher taught them everything he knew, but on the first day in Fengxian City, he heard something he had never learned before...
What is "quality"?
"I..." As soon as Ma Haohan opened his mouth, the others started talking at once.
"Oh, look at this guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes. I didn't expect him to want to take a ride in a public carriage. I said it's not expensive to spend two copper coins on a public carriage..."
"That's right, even after being exposed, he still refuses to admit it..."
"Not only that, he just cut in line. When I looked at him, he was staring at me with that chilling look."
"I've never seen this kind of person before. Is this really from Fengxian City?"
Ma Haohan gritted his teeth: "You guys..."
"Get on the bus!" the person under the wooden sign shouted.
So all the people who were originally talking at once walked over there, pushed Ma Haohan aside, and got on the carriage one after another. No one paid any attention to him anymore.
...
Ma Haohan had a gloomy face. He finally got rid of those inexplicable people and walked towards the alley. He walked through several alleys before he breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked around secretly and saw that there was no one around, so he took out a piece of letter paper from his pocket and marked it with special animal blood to indicate that there were soldiers patrolling the city - this was the secret code for them to communicate with each other, and no one else would know.
After doing this, he put the letter back into his arms, waited for a while, and then slowly walked out of the alley.
...
"Sir, please stay! Pinxiangzhai has three new flavors of candied fruits, you can try them all!" Pinxiangzhai had just opened, and the waiter had just walked up to his seat, greeting the new day with full energy and enthusiasm.
A hint of vigilance flashed across Ma Haohan's eyes, but he quickly returned to normal: "Little Brother, are you calling me?"
"Hey! Sir, do you like sweet and sour or pure sweet? We have them all. There are several more here. You can try them with a small bamboo stick." The waiter introduced enthusiastically with a smile.
Ma Haohan calmly asked, "You don't want to pay?"
The waiter was puzzled: "The tasting is free."
Then, the waiter saw that Ma Haohan seemed quite interested and said enthusiastically, "You can come into our Pinxiangzhai and take a closer look."
Ma Haohan took two steps back without leaving a trace. Could it be that... this wasn't an ordinary person, but a spy planted by the government? Did they notice something unusual about him and called him?
No, it's impossible. His disguise is flawless. How could those stupid people from the Central Plains see through it?
"Why don't you take the money?" Ma Haohan tested calmly.
Waiter: “Ah…uh…”
He scratched his head. "The tasting is free. All the dim sum vendors in Fengxian City do this!"
"Then why did you call me?"
"Because you were passing by..."
The waiter felt that the man in front of him was a little strange, and his eyes also made the waiter feel uneasy. Coincidentally, a few more people came. The waiter smiled at Ma Haohan and said, "Sir, please watch first. The small bamboo sticks are here. I will greet those guests first. If you have any questions, call me again."
Ma Haohan took the opportunity when the waiter turned around to leave quickly. As he walked, he tilted his head and glanced behind him. He was relieved to see that the waiter did not continue to follow him.
...
After walking for a whole morning, Ma Haohan was already very thirsty.
This Fengxian city is really weird everywhere.
However, he did find out a lot of useful information.
Ma Haohan carefully chose a crowded place that looked like a teahouse and walked in, intending to listen for any useful information while drinking tea.
As soon as he sat down, the servant brought a pot of water and asked him if he wanted any melon seeds or strange-flavored beans. Ma Haohan frowned. What were those things?
But he didn't need any of it, so he waved his hand and told the servant to leave quickly.
He drank water intermittently and listened to other people talking in the lobby.
No one lowered their voices deliberately unless they were talking about some private matters that they didn't want others to know, so if you paid a little attention you could hear most of what was said.
The first people he listened to were the three young men sitting on his left. All three of them were wearing turbans and looked like scholars.
"I heard that Brother Li has done the first volume of the imperial examination simulation paper three times..." someone whispered.
"Is this true or false?!"
"Li Wencai is such a good guy! A few days ago, he complained to me that the first imperial examination of the Great Zhou Dynasty was approaching, but he hadn't even finished the first paper. He was feeling depressed, and I tried to comfort him!"
The man who spoke first put his fist to his lips and said, "If that's the case, then Li Wencai is truly despicable."
"Yes, he also told me not to do too many imperial examination papers in the study, otherwise I would lose my spirituality..."
"We must break off the relationship!"
"Since Brother Wang and Brother Zhang have said so, I will also break off my friendship with him!"
Ma Haohan took a sip of tea. Why did these three Central Plains scholars act so crazy? However... a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He saw that these three people were dressed in ordinary clothes and had ordinary family backgrounds, but they could study freely in the place they called "study".
He took note of it in his mind.
He turned his attention back to the two old men on the right.
"When people get old, they like to eat soft things. Just this morning, my eldest son went to Fengxian Shopping Mall and bought some tofu pudding and brought it home in a lunch box. It's still hot."
"Alas, I don't have the same good fortune as you. My daughter goes to work at dawn... Several relatives have said that my daughter is useless and wants to make the family extinct, and I told them to fight them back. Now they have all shut up, and the matchmakers have started to come one after another!"
"Oh, don't be foolish and agree to this. Your daughter works in a textile factory and earns a lot of money every day."
Textile factory? Going to work?
Ma Haohan drank the tea in one gulp. These were all things that had never appeared in the intelligence sent to the Turks.
He clenched his teacup tightly, wondering what happened in the Central Plains while their young master was pacifying the Turks...
While he was lost in thought, a group of soldiers came over and showed their badges: "Government!"
Ma Haohan was startled and looked around, only to see that these civilians were not panicked at all and were even chatting and laughing leisurely.
"Sir, it's him!" A man pointed at Ma Haohan and said, "There must be something wrong with this guy! I saw him acting suspiciously, always eavesdropping on other people's conversations. And the weirdest thing is—he doesn't even eat any flavor of melon seeds or strange-flavored beans!"
"I just want to drink some tea! Brother, how can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?" Ma Haohan's face turned cold. "Besides, not everyone who comes here likes to eat the thing you are talking about."
The lobby was silent.
Before he finished speaking, Ma Haohan suddenly noticed that except for him, every table here had melon seeds or other snacks. Even the two old men with bad teeth ordered a small plate of strange-tasting beans.
At this moment, another officer came in and whispered something in the ear of the leading officer. The leading officer's sharp eyes immediately fell on him.
"I'm sorry," the man said. "I hope you can forgive me. Lately, people of unknown origin have been appearing in Fengxian City. We are acting on orders. If they are innocent, we are willing to accept punishment."
"search!"
Several officers and soldiers came forward to hold Ma Haohan back. He forced himself not to take action because he knew that if he took action under the current circumstances, it would be confirmed that he was a spy!
He cursed inwardly, he didn't expect to be caught here, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the information he had hidden...
"Boss, here's a piece of paper." The soldier stood up. There were some weird drawings on the paper.
The leading officer took it, frowned, and looked at it for a while, then waved it in front of Ma Haohan: "What is this?"
"It's just a piece of paper I picked up casually. If the official wants to check it, go ahead." Ma Haohan said with a smile.
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, more officers and soldiers rushed up and held him down.
"Oh, he is indeed not from Fengxian City." said the leading officer.
"Boss, he has an ID card for Fengxian City." Another soldier took out the ID card from his bag, which contained some ordinary items, a change of clothes, and some small change.
"It's unfair! It's unfair, sir!" Ma Haohan shouted at the top of his voice while trying to find a way to escape.
"Take him away." The leading officer ignored his shouting and scratched his ears.
Just then, Ma Haohan heard other people in the teahouse talking in low voices.
"I'm sure I didn't wrongly accuse the wrong person. In Fengxian City now, who still calls officials "officials"? That's outdated."
Ma Haohan was really confused. He was so cautious, but he fell into a place he never expected!
"Hey! He escaped!"
Ma Haohan bent down nimbly, and while the officers and soldiers on both sides were not paying attention, he broke free, grabbed their hair and made them collide with each other, then slapped the officers and soldiers behind him away with a few palms, dodged, and flew out directly.
"Catch the spy!"
"Don't let him get away!"
"Boss, we..." The three soldiers with bruised faces and noses wanted to cry but had no tears.
The leading officer said, "It's not your fault. He is a skilled martial artist. Send a message back to the government office to temporarily seal the city gates, increase patrols, and request the Imperial Guards."
After saying that, he flew after him.
...
However, after escaping, Ma Haohan ran out of the city at a rapid speed. He wanted to leave before the city gate was closed.
He thought he could secretly collect intelligence in Fengxian City, but he didn't expect to attract their attention on the first day. I'm afraid it will be more difficult in the future!
At this moment, the people in his mind were finally not “stupid people from the Central Plains” but “weird and cunning people from the Central Plains”.
As he escaped, he looked back and was stunned to find that there were more and more "pursuers" behind him!
"Catch the spy!"
"Don't let him get away!"
Wait, it’s okay for the guy holding the carrying pole, but why is an old woman chasing after him so tremblingly?
Ma Haohan couldn't help but curse for the first time in Zhongyuan.
But fortunately, with their disruption, the officers and soldiers could not catch up with him.
Ma Haohan ran forward, kicking down things on the roadside as obstacles, but he didn't notice that a water tank the size of a child's arms was falling straight down on his head!
"Bang!"
The last second he saw was the face of a woman in front of a second-floor window.
The beautiful woman said happily, "I hit it? I hit it!"
Ma Haohan lost consciousness and his eyes went black.
...
"A spy of unknown origin appeared in the city. The people of our city and the government worked together to capture him. The list is as follows: Pinxiangzhai... Fengxian Teahouse... who provided information to the government... Among them, special thanks to Madam Xie of Xiefang Pavilion... We are publishing this in the newspaper as a reward. The peace of Fengxian City needs to be protected by the people of Fengxian City. We also remind you to protect yourself first. If there is any situation, report it to the government in time and don't put yourself in danger. The Fengxian government will also strengthen the training of government officers and soldiers." The teahouse manager Huang read out the relevant information from the newspaper.
"Any more?" someone asked while cracking melon seeds.
"It's gone." Shopkeeper Huang looked carefully.
"Read the thank you list again! I'm on the list!" One person got carried away.
The man next to him uttered a "whoosh" and spat out some melon seed shells. "That's because I wasn't here. If I were, I would have taken down the spy in a few moves."
"Just keep blowing it!" The other people in the teahouse laughed.
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