Upon receiving the letter, Xu Di's heart skipped a beat. He took the letter and went to Xu Rao, who was still working overtime at the government office.
Upon receiving the letter, Xu Rao exclaimed, "Oh dear, I must send someone over immediately tonight! How could I not have thought of this loophole?"
Xu Di said, "This afternoon, Zheng Boyuan came and took away three guards from our mansion. Now there aren't many guards in the mansion who are skilled in martial arts."
Xu Rao said, "Then we have to go to Hexi to keep an eye on Xiao Jiu first."
Xu Di thought for a moment and said, "I'll go to the manor. Many of the brothers there are veterans of the battlefield, so their martial arts skills are naturally excellent. I'll take them with me."
Xu Rao said, "Then you must be careful. Now I'm afraid there are people who like to speculate about people's hearts, thinking that whether it's Zheng Boyuan or Xiao Jiu who got into trouble, it's all for the Third Prince's sake."
Xu Di clenched his fist and slammed it hard on the table, saying, "It's because our status is too low right now. If our status were higher, even if someone wanted to make us suffer, they would have to think twice."
Xu Rao said, "We have to take this slowly. You take the head guard, ride a fast horse, gather the men, and hurry to Hexi. In case something happens to Xiao Jiu, we..."
Xu Di nodded after hearing this and hurriedly went home.
Xu Rao sat behind the table, looking at the official documents on it. Suddenly, he lost interest in reading them. Finally, he snorted coldly, picked up the documents, threw them on the table, and got up to return to his residence.
Xu Di was anxious. He still had Zhang Yuyuan at home and didn't dare to transfer too many guards. Zheng Boyuan had already taken three with him when he left. He thought to himself, "After I go back, I will choose two of the most skilled warriors and take them to the manor outside Hexi City."
They rode at full speed and arrived at the manor in the middle of the night. They gathered a dozen or so men, but dared not make a big show of heading west of the river. So they left the horses at the manor and led their men along the mountain ridge north of the city of Hexi towards the west.
This path was originally developed by Xu Di so that he could provide timely assistance to Hexi City should anything happen.
The mountain road was difficult to travel, but it was the road that Xu Di was used to taking, and the people in the village often took this route as well. Even at night, without torches, they could accurately head towards the northwest city gate of Hexi.
The city gates of Hexi City are located on all four sides. The north gate is close to the mountains and forests, so there are not many people passing through on weekdays, and therefore the opening hours are limited.
After walking for more than an hour, we finally arrived at the city gate.
There were guards on duty at the city gate tower. After confirming Xu Di's identity, they opened the city gate a crack, and Xu Di led his men in. Zheng Boyuan's rented house was in the area near the south city gate. Xu Di led his men in a hurry, but they saw a house on fire in the distance.
Hearing someone shouting from afar, Xu Di looked at the towering flames and felt extremely anxious. He wished he could have two more legs and ran towards the flames. When he got closer, he realized that it really was Xu Zhi's current residence.
People from nearby households had already brought buckets and wooden basins to help put out the fire, and the city's defense battalion had also arrived with their equipment. With people coming and going, it was impossible to tell who was who. Xu Di stood anxiously at the gate, stamping his feet incessantly.
Finally, the fire at the main gate was almost extinguished. Xu Di took a cotton quilt that his attendant had found, wet it with water, put it on, and ran into the courtyard.
After rushing into the yard, they discovered that the fire had started in the kitchen, which was close to the main entrance. The kitchen roof had been burned away.
Xu Di, wrapped in a wet quilt, rushed through the hanging flower gate and saw several servants in the courtyard trying to put out a fire with basins. He grabbed one of them and asked, "Where is your grandmother?"
The servant was trembling with fear and said, "Grandma is in the backyard."
Upon hearing this, Xu Di disregarded the fact that there were several burning areas in the backyard and rushed inside with his head down.
After passing through the hanging flower gate, you will reach the main courtyard where Xu Zhi lives. To the east of the main courtyard, there is a moon gate. After passing through the moon gate, there is a long alley. On one side of the alley is a high courtyard wall, and on the other side, there are several moon gates, each leading to a small courtyard.
As soon as Xu Di rushed into the main courtyard, he saw someone coming out of a room with a sword.
Xu Di felt as if his soul was about to fly away, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, leaving him feeling cold from head to toe.
The man with the sword was dressed in black night clothes. When he saw Xu Di, he swung his sword and attacked. Before Xu Di could react, he managed to parry a few moves. Then, the man behind him rushed in, wielding his knife and deflecting the sword. Only then did Xu Di have a chance to catch his breath.
Xu Di had a sword hanging at his waist. After drawing the sword, he immediately engaged the second man in black who rushed out of the room.
Xu Di, who had been training with the soldiers, had no fancy moves; his kung fu was all about taking lives. He was also holding his breath and used a reckless fighting style to force the second man in black to retreat.
Following closely behind, several people dressed similarly rushed in from the back courtyard. Fortunately, the people who came with Xu Di also rushed in. Seeing the situation in the courtyard, they ignored their exhaustion and charged forward with their weapons.
As Xu Di brandished his knife, he shouted to his men, "Leave them alive!"
After several of the men in black fell, someone let out a sharp whistle, and someone made a feint to escape. Xu Di, however, refused to let them go and insisted on keeping them alive, even at the risk of getting injured himself.
A few breaths later, several ran away, and several lay on the ground. Those who were still breathing had their jaws dislocated by the guards brought by Xu Di, in order to prevent them from burying poison in their mouths and committing suicide.
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