Chapter 36: Only with cartilage can she escape successfully.
Jiang Hui was a brave general on the battlefield, so how could he not understand the traces of horses marching? He could tell at a glance that something was wrong with Liu Guangyu and his group. Regardless of whether they were really government officials, whether the Zhanglin County Government had secretly defected to Prince Qi or was in collusion with Lin An, he had to find out the truth.
Push it all the way to the bottom.
The female secret agent was stunned, and finally understood the reason behind her prince's actions, and also understood why Madam Yan was so cooperative.
This was because they all saw through the trick at a glance and knew that whether the jade pendant was stolen or Jiang Lingxin was killed, it had nothing to do with their own safety. Only the arrival of this seemingly most trustworthy official and the exposure of a big flaw would be the real crisis they had been waiting for a whole day.
"However, Your Highness, please feel free to leave. We have checked everyone in the post station and found no one hiding in the rooms. We have also closely watched the post station owner. Madam, please rest assured."
"We have enough people here."
"Because the post station itself has high walls, it's actually a natural fortress. As long as those inside are well aware of it, there won't be any accidents."
They were so confident that Yan Siqing had no doubts. She nodded, her expression gentle, lowered her head to drink water, and also took an extra cup. Seeing this, the female secret agent didn't feel comfortable letting her come.
"Thank you, Madam. I dare not do it myself..."
Yan Siqing raised his eyes. The room was dark. The moonlight outside seeped through the window with a silvery color, obscure but full of color.
The female assassin paused, "Mrs. Yan."
Yan Siqing didn't say anything.
——————
Wilderness, official roads, mountain streams, and dense forests.
The reason why it is so understated is that under the horse's hooves, these mountains, rivers and land within a hundred miles are all wind-blown, and the people on horseback do not care about them. They are most concerned about the potential dangers.
The group in charge of the pursuit came from the palace. They were all brave warriors who had fought in the battlefields under the guidance of the young prince. They were the best at this. Their horses were much better than those of the enemy, and they were faster than the captain of the police Liu Guangyu and others.
Silver Moon attends the affairs of the world, but sees the cavalry chasing the Night Demon.
In less than half a cup of tea, they caught up with fresh tracks in the dense forest near the mouth of the stream. They stopped running to avoid the sound of horse hooves being noticed by the people ahead and then fleeing or changing their plans for the secret meeting.
So, stop, disperse, forward scouts, left and right flanks follow...
The group separated quickly and in an orderly manner.
——————
Liu Guangyu and his companions were not really on their way back, but were here to lie in wait for an opportunity. Now they had returned to the forest where they had been lying in wait before, their horses' hooves stepping on the black mud they had stepped on before, and they were now resting by the stream.
The prisoners, Qiu Moyu and Chen Shuang and his wife, were being arrested and escorted. It was unclear why they took a detour into the forest path after they had already started their return journey.
Is it a shortcut back home?
After all, it was late at night. According to the normal schedule, it would probably be dawn before we arrived at the government office, which would be tiring.
But then stop and camp overnight?
Hmm? That's very strange. After all, it would be better to just go back to the post station and stay overnight, leaving tomorrow morning. Why bother with all this trouble?
However, these three criminals were cunning and smart. Although they felt it was strange, they did not dare to say much as prisoners. They just observed silently while being escorted, alert to danger at any time. But Luo Gao, the leader of Tianluo Escort, was overjoyed to have the jade pendant recovered. He was in high spirits all the way and kept trying to get close to Liu Guangyu and talking nonsense.
Everyone knew that he was not stupid, but he was not very smart either. Besides, people are bound to lose their composure when they are extremely sad or happy. People just thought he was noisy. Moreover, Liu Guangyu and his men had something to hide. After they set up camp, they were waiting for people and did not want to reveal their true colors, so they said a few perfunctory words to Luo Gao.
Luo Gao was puzzled and actually asked why they had to spend the night here?
"Aren't you going back to the county? To get to know this side sooner? And you're carrying a corpse with you, I'm afraid..."
The corpse covered with white cloth was not far away, and Luo Gao was a little shy in front of Qiu Moyu and others.
The owner of an escort company is naturally not afraid of dead bodies, after all, it is a dangerous business. What he is worried about is that the body is a descendant of the aristocratic Jiang family. It would be fine if the person was dead, but if the body was mutilated, even if the case was solved, the real murderer Qiu Moyu would be held responsible.
Liu Guangyu and his gang are in collusion with Lin An, so they must have someone above them. Why would they care about a escort leader? However, the situation is still uncertain, and the changes at the post station are not in their plan, so they can only stabilize it for now.
A glint flashed in his eyes. "Master Luo, we naturally want to return early. After all, a murder case is no small matter. But when I searched your post station, I felt that there was something very wrong with those two cousins. Not only were they strange themselves, but even the people they brought with them were far from ordinary. If they were nobles from Chang'an, we naturally wouldn't dare to provoke or spy on them. Unfortunately, strange things have been happening frequently in Chang'an recently, and the surrounding counties have issued secret orders to our local authorities to strictly investigate any anomalies. Therefore, although the Jiang family is powerful, the imperial court's orders should be the first priority. How dare we delay? So we are lying in wait here to see if there are any other anomalies in the post station."
"If there's anything really strange about those two cousins, we'll definitely take action." Qiu Moyu hated Yan Siqing and the others to the core, and he immediately looked forward to it when he heard it. Luo Gao was stunned and muttered a little: "Not really, I think those two are good people, especially the Ninth Young Master. He's a gentleman with elegant demeanor, noble and noble, and his talent is hard to conceal. He must be from a noble family, and it's rare that he has a kind heart. Without this Ninth Young Master, both cases would be difficult to solve..."
He highly praised Yan Siqing and Jiang Hui, seemingly not believing that there was anything wrong with them, but he was also curious about what had happened in Chang'an and was about to ask.
Liu Guangyu got up and walked away because of something.
The sound of flowing water in the stream covered up many noises. He walked into the woods, stopped after a while, and waited for a while.
Several guards with swords escorted a man in black robe out from under a big tree.
It was dark under the tree and his face couldn't be seen clearly, but Liu Guangyu bowed.
"grown ups....."
Deep in the forest on the other side, a pair of sharp eyes stared at them for a moment, then silently raised their hands and waved at Liu Guangyu and others who were talking strangely over there.
Get started!
Crash, all the dark ones lurking everywhere rushed out, their blades shining!
kill!
——————
No game, no dialogue.
Kill directly.
Liu Guangyu's side naturally noticed it and immediately shouted in surprise.
"Enemy attack..."
Liu Guangyu reacted strongly, obviously not expecting this result. In panic, he called for the officers to come and rescue him. After all, there were not many people on his side. Looking at the people rushing out from the other side, each of them was as ferocious as a mountain ghost. It was obvious that he could not deal with them.
The man in black robe was calmer. Half of his face was covered with black cloth, and his eyes were staring viciously at the people rushing out. But he also locked onto the figures lurking in the forest opposite. He saw that a large group of people were about to kill him.
He waved his hand, and a group of black-clad assassins appeared from the woods behind him.
Obviously, he was the one who came well prepared.
Liu Guangyu was surprised and then understood - his superiors guessed that his group of yamen runners had been exposed long ago, and the other party followed the trail and wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop. As a result, the fish in the pot jumped out of the pot, and not only did it jump out of the pot, but its fishy smell also attracted a lot of ferocious beasts.
Those ferocious beasts were obviously not from Zhanglin County.
They are more like specially trained assassins.
As these assassins surrounded and rushed towards the people in the palace, the black-robed man's eyes curved slightly, the slightly white hair on his eyebrows moved slightly, and his voice became a little shrill.
"It is our honor to have His Royal Highness personally take action. If it weren't for Bo Yi and Long Tianji, who would dare to go against his superiors like this?"
"But tonight, I can only ask Your Highness..."
He was calm at first because he had seen the scale of the pursuing forces and that his own men had suffered more casualties.
Because they are calm, and also because they know that they are doing something extremely rebellious, they feel guilty and panicked, and people with this mentality often talk a lot.
He was trying to make amends in his words and also trying to convince himself.
To be a hero, to be a man, to...
His voice still stopped abruptly.
Because the person who walked out of the darkness in the forest was not Jiang Hui, but... Ruo Zhao.
You can tell what’s wrong by how they dress.
He knew he was in trouble.
The person who was attracted was not Jiang Hui at all.
Ruozhao stared at the masked man in black robe. By judging his height and stature, combined with some information about important local figures mentioned in the intelligence and the way Liu Guangyu saluted that he had just observed, he had an idea in his mind.
"Your Excellency is very self-aware and knows that you are not worthy of my prince to deal with personally. However, I am here as his attendant, leading the team, and it is not your Excellency I seek."
"After all, the person we are pursuing is Lin An, a criminal who has been ordered by the imperial court to be captured at sea."
"Even if you are the magistrate of Zhanglin County, you are not the target of our visit."
This means that both sides' plans have failed.
The black-robed man, Guan Liangshan, the magistrate of Zhanglin County, was startled. In fact, as a county magistrate, although he was far from being a nobleman like Jiang Hui, he was still an official of the imperial court. He should have been a little arrogant towards Ruozhao and his entourage and guards. However, all the officials in the imperial court knew that the emperor's close ministers and relatives of the superiors were far more terrifying than those above them.
A higher-ranking official can crush people to death, but the dense grass leaves where the dragon lies can be like a sickle that can easily behead him.
He understood, so when he saw Ruozhao's calm demeanor, not seeming surprised that he was not Lin An, he immediately panicked.
He stepped back and gestured upward again.
He wanted to escape to avoid risks - if Ruozhao and his gang had any tricks up their sleeves, he would really be asking for death by taking this so-called risk.
However, he also didn't believe that Jiang Hui could make perfect preparations. After all, he and Jiang Hui had the same surname.
What if we win?
He directly ordered the other dormant ambush soldier to take action.
At the top, the ambushing archers were shooting arrows!
Ah, when two armies face off, what type of soldiers can decide the outcome of the battle better than archers?
It all depends on how powerful our county magistrate is!
Liu Guangyu was happy at first, and suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"Sir, this arrow is shooting in the wrong direction!!"
Isn't that a bit too much?
Puff, an arrow shot directly into Liu Guangyu's thigh.
Guan Liangshan on the other side was also stunned. He had no time to escape and was hit by an arrow in the buttocks.
Whose archer is this?
Could it be that the troops sent by Prince Qi were instigated by Jiang Hui to rebel?
Soon, Guan Liangshan, who was lying on the ground with his back trampled, saw the appearance of some archers.
No, not theirs.
But the bows and arrows are theirs.
Could it be that the enemy had already discovered the ambush of their archers, and then ambushed and killed them, and their bows were taken away?
It’s true.
For real warriors like Ruozhao, when they discovered the whereabouts of Liu Guangyu and others, they divided into two wings to encircle them. However, they had more than one scout, who not only locked onto the situation of Liu Guangyu and others, but also did not forget to check the other party's next move. As a result, they discovered that another group of people were marching into the forest by observing the traces in the mountains.
By judging the weight of the opponent's boots and the type of weapon they were using, Ruo Zhao and the others could tell at a glance that these were marks left by archers carrying loads.
Since you are an archer, you can't just attack directly. You have to cut off the opponent's long-range attack ability first.
So there was a preemptive move by the people on both wings to gather together the group of archers, then seize the bows and arrows to replace the opponent's ambush position and ambush the people below.
.....
This is why we have the current attack and killing situation.
The officers shouted and yelled, but before they had fought for long, they saw most of the assassins being killed by archers who descended from the sky. They immediately lost their resolve, and Ruo Zhao also shouted, "You have been deceived by the county magistrate. If you repent quickly, you will be pardoned."
This group of people laid down their weapons and surrendered without a second thought.
A fight was decided in the forest. Qiu Moyu and others outside were panicking before they heard the noise inside subside for long.
But I could vaguely hear Guan Liangshan's shrill cry.
"I'm the county magistrate, an official of the imperial court! You can't kill me!"
"Do you think you won?"
It was still a bluffing roar.
But no one responded to him.
Only Ruozhao walked out of the forest in silence, holding a bloody long knife, looking at Qiu Moyu and others under the moon.
Qiu Moyu still remembers the way he tried to argue under the other party's nose when he was investigating the case, and the way the other party looked at him...
If this is the case for a follower, what about their master?
Who is this person?!
He even dared to kill the county magistrate.
After all, the Chen couple had met a scholar like Monk Mo Yu and was well-informed. They had guessed about three-quarters of the situation and were trembling with fear.
The self-proclaimed thieves who could fly and escape the earth were also afraid of the Greedy Wolf and the Broken Army that would appear on the battlefield, and were even more afraid of the cruelty of the imperial party struggles - once they were imprisoned and fell into the hands of certain people, they would be tortured into making a confession to incriminate one side, and that would be a life worse than death.
However, Chen Shuang was relieved to see that Ruozhao's group had won, and asked, "You have indeed come prepared. The two young masters are at the post station, and the victory will be decided thousands of miles away."
This is a noble person, he doesn't even need to show up, just...
Chen Shuang saw Ruozhao looking towards the post station with a heavy expression on his face.
Oh right, that Guan Liangshan roar just now...is the post station in danger?!
At this time, many people were captured from the forest. They also realized that Guan Liangshan was not dead, but was tied up, and Ruozhao put a knife on his neck.
"Where is Lin An?"
Guan Liangshan relied on his official position. Although his actions were illegal, he still had room for redemption. As long as the other party did not dare to kill him, if Prince Qi won, then...
"How would I know? I was just leading a patrol tonight because of the imperial court's order. I had no idea I'd run into you guys, let alone your identities."
He was going to use sophistry, betting that since Jiang Hui was not around, this group of people would not dare to act recklessly.
Ruozhao's face looked grim, but he didn't use much force with the knife.
Guan Liangshan sneered.
Luo Gao couldn't understand what was going on and was just panicking, "Oh no! Could there be some bad guys out there who are going to do something to the Ninth Young Master and the others..."
Not the Ninth Young Master and the others.
I'm afraid they will only target the Ninth Young Master.
Chen Shuang and his wife suddenly thought - Young Master Jiang was really difficult to deal with, his martial arts skills were superb, and only Young Master Ninth was powerless.
"It's okay, it's okay, Mr. Jiang is still there..."
Luo Gao suddenly became quiet.
Because all the archers came down from above, their figures were agile, and one of them was tall and handsome, it was definitely Jiang Hui?
——————
The post station was calm and peaceful.
Apart from the occasional quiet noises of guests getting up at night, there was no other sound.
In the corner of the deserted hall, there was a very subtle creaking sound, and then, a crawling cat shadow seemed to emerge from somewhere, its body stretching out and gradually growing bigger. The moonlight outside the window penetrated, illuminating the person's elongated, hunched shadow, which gradually became a ferocious image on the wall.
Then the scimitar was quietly drawn out.
He entered the side corridor and walked quietly to a room on the first floor - Room B3.
It is next to the ear courtyard, where there is a copper clepsydra that draws water from a mountain spring.
Just timing.
But the killer doesn't look at time, he only looks at opportunity.
He came mysteriously, his vicious eyes locked on the target room, but he did not forget to spy on the surroundings. After making sure that no one was lurking on either side of the house, he inserted the blade into the door, being careful not to open the bolt.
The sound became increasingly subtle, quieter than a mouse's squeak.
Until the bolt was about to be opened.
He suddenly saw an upside-down shadow on the doorway.
He was a giant rat that emerged from the sky, but the other party was more like a bat that sneaked in from under the moon and hung upside down.
No, it was a ghost coming down from the beam.
brush!
Judging from the movement of the ghost figure hanging upside down, he turned around quickly, exerted force with his wrist to swing the scimitar, and tried to kick the door - since he was exposed, he was definitely no match for the other party, so he could only break in by force and capture the most vulnerable target inside to threaten the other party!
His plan was very good, but unfortunately the flying ghost that fell had already stepped into the void with his lightness skill. He drew his sword in mid-air and hooked the scimitar with the sword. Not only did he block it, but he also used his tenacity to hook the blade of the scimitar, and with a soft spinning force, he swung the scimitar back in the opposite direction!
brush!
The leg that was about to kick the door was almost cut off by the machete. The man could only retreat hurriedly, dodge it, and then rush to the window.
But the man had already landed, and he took a step forward with even greater speed. His world-famous sword swallowed the moonlight, domineering and unparalleled.
Clang!!!
This man drew the short blade from his waist and hurriedly blocked the attack. His whole body burst with energy, showing his strength and bravery, and fully displaying the blood and sharpness of a soldier. However...
bump! !
Both the man and the blade were knocked back by the sword. After retreating more than ten steps, his back hit the wall heavily.
When he was about to vomit a mouthful of hot blood, he relied on his will to survive in the face of life and death crisis, swallowed the internal injuries, gripped the blade tightly and counterattacked again!
It was already late at night, the candlelight had long been extinguished, and only the courtyard and the side windows were lit.
The two figures fighting each other fully demonstrated the ferocity of the soldiers in close combat, as well as their decisiveness in deciding the outcome.
He had seen the other person's face.
It is undoubtedly the prince.
He is fighting with the true descendant of the emperor and the eldest grandson of the emperor who has a high probability of ascending the throne in the future.
It's a dead end. It would be great if I could kill a dragon grandson!
"Jiang Hui!"
He called out his name, then fought desperately with the blade in his right hand, while his left hand flew from under his sleeve, and poisonous needles and hidden weapons stabbed and stabbed.
Die!!
but.
Jiang Hui, who flew past, actually had no time to dodge, the sword could not be split in two, but.
Clang, clang!
He blocked with a sword in his right hand and cut off the knife and arm.
With his left hand, he pulled out the cicada-wing soft sword hidden under the belt.
Two whoosh sounds.
All the poison needles were ejected.
With both strength and softness, Lin Anzhi felt that there were flashes of swords and shadows in front of his eyes... His wrists and ankles were all numb.
Blood splattered.
Then he collapsed to the ground.
The tendons in his hands and feet were broken.
Lin An was furious and wanted to bite his tongue to commit suicide, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his throat was pinched by the approaching Prince.
Gah!
The jaw was removed directly.
He felt exhausted all over and had no power to fight back, like an ant.
Lin An was abandoned just like that.
He watched helplessly as Jiang Hui sheathed his sword and looked down at him.
Lin An couldn't speak, and before Jiang Hui could interrogate him, the man just glanced at him.
He looked at Room B3 again, frowned, thought for a moment, and suddenly his expression changed.
There was not only Yan Siqing inside, but also two female secret agents. If there was so much noise outside, how could they not make any sound at all!
Unless something happens inside!
Replacing Lin An, he raised his hand, activated his internal energy, and with great force, pushed the door open.
Bang!!
There were people inside, but only two.
Moreover, the two men were tied up and their mouths were blocked with towels.
There were overturned cups on the table.
Jiang Hui made eye contact with his two female subordinates, whose pupils trembled, as if reminding him of something.
In an instant, Jiang Hui's eyes had swept over the restraints on them, and he thought of this - Yan Siqing was very capable. She had no strength to fight, but she knew medicine and poison, and was able to trick two alert death warriors. This was because she was also good at mind control.
That's not right.
The poison she used was not lethal, and she never liked to make things difficult for her servants.
So the two women's lives were not harmed.
Then she could naturally guess what would happen if the first people to enter the door were not her own people, but Lin An and his group?
Then these two women will definitely die.
If you say so, you must be prepared!
not good.
Right now!
Only then did he notice that there was a thin rope hanging under the open bolt.
If the string breaks, then...
Crash!
When the rope on the door frame broke, a large amount of poison powder was released from the sachet that fell off.
Rushing towards Jiang Hui...
It's cartilage powder!
It won't hurt or kill anyone, but it will make them weak and unable to follow up or pursue....
She was able to escape successfully.
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