This interrupted Qi Qi's attempt to leave.
Dressed in tattered clothes and with a simple disguise, Qi Qi traveled south for two or three days and arrived at his destination. After making an excuse to lower the guards' guards' vigilance, he went to the local Fulin Escort Agency.
The security escort agency was established here a few years ago in the bustling city center. It blended in with other security escort agencies and was not particularly noticeable. Moreover, it only accepted small jobs and did not attract the attention of large security escort agencies.
The manager of the escort agency was surnamed Qi. Among the fifty-odd men were Qi Qi's private soldiers, whom he had raised in his hometown. These men were servants that Qi Defu had recruited for his retirement. They all had stable backgrounds. Later, considering that newly recruited people might be suspected of betraying their master during the later stages of training, he did not recruit any more people and instead used the group of people most suitable for martial arts training.
Previously, the palace was filled with many people and eyes, and Qi Qi only occasionally corresponded with these people. This was the first time he had met with his own people. Even Huangfu Jue didn't know about these people; only Qi Qi and a few of Qi Defu's confidants knew of their existence.
These people had been training in secret. Their identity as escorts was just a cover for their physical attributes. As soon as Qi Qi sensed something was wrong, he would give an order to take him and Qi Defu away from here to Luoyang for refuge.
Besides getting to know the people, Qi Qi has been doing this very thing since today. After all, the capital is far from Jiangnan. To prevent any accidents, starting this year, this group of people can gradually come to the capital to do their work.
After finishing this matter, Qi Qi also learned something from the manager, Qi Da. Apart from some relatives visiting and merchants from other places, there were usually no strangers in the small county town. However, a couple of days ago, when they were escorting goods, they encountered three or four masked, muscular, and strangely behaving men on the road. Suspicious, they went up to ask them what was going on, but the men thought the people from Fulin Escort Agency were robbers and then attacked them.
“These men are very muscular, more than twice as strong as the average person. Their accents are also different from those of the Xia Kingdom. Their weapons are scimitars, which are sharp and powerful. Three of our dozen or so brothers were injured, and two of them escaped on horseback. These men are very skilled horsemen.”
"This was found on one of them."
Qi Qi stared into deep thought at the crooked, tangled, and unfamiliar symbols on the kraft paper.
This looks like a very abstract map, doesn't it?
Qi Qi said, "Okay, I understand. You did a good job. You don't need to worry about this anymore. Just focus on training the brothers."
Qi Da glanced at the young master in front of him, who was a little too young, and simply said he understood.
Qi Qi returned to the inn, visited the cenotaphs of the original owner's parents, and then quietly led the two guards away from his hometown county. The streets here were not too desolate, but the arrival of strangers attracted the attention of others.
The journey took less than seven days to return to the Summer Palace. Two days later, Huangfu Jue returned victorious in less than ten days. The emperor was overjoyed and planned to hold a celebration banquet for him once the imperial kitchen was ready.
Huangfu Jue's expression was not good when he returned to Huicui Tower: "It is called an uprising, but in fact, there are less than two thousand people in the whole county, and less than five hundred able-bodied men who can move. I killed most of them that day, and so few people are left... How dare they rebel? Are they so unafraid of death?"
Qi Qi said, "We might not be able to go back anyway, so we might as well take a gamble..."
Seeing Qi Qi's uneasy expression, Huangfu Jue thought he had been too harsh and softened his tone: "I heard you went to your hometown to pay respects to your parents' graves by yourself a couple of days ago. Why didn't you wait for me to come back and take you with you?"
Qi Qi said guiltily, "You are His Highness, I can handle this myself, how could I trouble you?"
Huangfu Jue reached out and pinched his cheek: "I don't care if you need my help. If I get busy, I won't have time to play with you."
What a load of nonsense! For the past two years, he's been busy studying all the time. The only thing he's had fun with is himself—no, not playing with himself, but watching himself play. No, he's making himself play.
Qi Qi: "..."
...I feel my thoughts are becoming increasingly filthy.
It must be that scoundrel Huangfu Yi's fault. He's such a dirty old man. Speaking of which, it's been so long since I've seen him. Should I sneak a peek at him...?
Qi Qi glanced at Huangfu Jue and saw that he had already opened the pile of letters from the past few days. He raised an eyebrow with a hint of delight and said, "Your Highness, please continue with your work. I'll go water the flowers."
Huangfu Jue didn't even look up: "Didn't Xiao Fuzi come to water it? Come grind the ink."
Qi Qi: "...They're here."
While multitasking, Huangfu Jue asked, "Why don't you say you miss me? What have you been doing these past few days?"
Qi Qi counted on his fingers: "I get up early to practice boxing, eat breakfast, take a nap, practice boxing again in the afternoon, do some accounting, then go to Aunt Chunyu and the others to do embroidery and incense making, chat with Xiao Fuzi about gossip, read storybooks, and then go to sleep. Every day is like this."
The Ninth Prince's food, clothing, housing, and transportation were exquisite, but he was the only master. There were too many palace maids and eunuchs. Apart from their daily work and studies, the head palace maids and eunuchs were quite leisurely compared to other palaces.
I imagine Huangfu Yi's life is a bit more relaxed; for example, he probably wouldn't use scented items like his handkerchiefs.
Huangfu Jue said, "Embroidery? You're playing this game with them again. A boy like you, aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
"But it's good to find something to do. The purse you sewed for me last time was too ugly. What kind of crap was that? The kitten embroidery looked like a pig. Embroider another one."
Qi Qi puffed out his cheeks: "Liar, didn't you wear it for a month? Last time you said it looked good, but you were the one who wanted it, and you still said it was ugly."
Huangfu Jue realized he had slipped up and quickly added, "I was just kidding. What's ugly about it? Even if it's a pig, it's still a cute pig."
Qi Qi: "It's too late. Next time I'll really embroider a pig for you."
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