Zhan Ziyu said: "I think so, but he has a hot temper and a bad temper."
"Oh," Chu Qiao nodded, "Usually good horses are like this, they need time to be tamed. Is the horse obedient now?"
"It's dead."
Chu Qiao was stunned for a moment, then she heard Zhan Ziyu say, "It didn't want to be tied up, so it hit its head against a pillar and died."
Chu Qiao stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Zhan Ziyu smiled and said, "Let's go. We will dock at Wupengcheng tomorrow. You can take this opportunity to leave."
Chu Qiao slowly frowned and whispered, "Who are you?"
Zhan Ziyu raised his head quietly, and the cold moonlight sprinkled on his face, a fine layer like the silvery sand on the seashore.
"I have seen your portrait in the Xiushui Provincial Governor's Office. Considering the recent decrees on the mobilization of troops from various places, it is not difficult to guess your identity."
"Why did you let me go?"
"I'm temporarily living in Xiushui, but I'm not from Xia." Zhan Ziyu turned his wheelchair and walked towards the cabin. "Besides, I don't want to cause trouble."
Chu Qiao took two steps after him, grabbed the back of his wheelchair, and said in a deep voice, "Then why did you save me?"
Zhan Ziyu turned around and looked at her calmly. After a long while, he slowly said, "The Thirteenth Prince of Daxia sent me a letter and asked me to find you. I once owed him a favor."
Chu Qiao was stunned and couldn't help but let go of her hand.
"I am just a member of a poor clan. Starting tomorrow, there will be more Xia people traveling with me, and I can no longer take you with me. I have done what I should do, so you can take care of yourself."
The wheels of the wheelchair rolled across the deck, making a faint sound. Chu Qiao stood silently in the night wind for a long time until the sky began to turn white.
The river water whimpered and flowed slowly eastward. At some point, a fine drizzle began to fall from the sky, dripping and merging with the river water. Chu Qiao spread her hands and looked up at the sky silently.
In the distance, I saw a small boat slowly passing by, and on the river bank on the opposite bank, several horses were galloping at a fast speed.
She stood there silently, feeling the chill seeping into her back along with the thousands of falling raindrops. She slowly closed her eyes, and she seemed to still see the man's pale face and bloodstained lips, as well as the empty sleeve, floating alone in the cold wind.
While she was thinking, the horse team galloping on the river bank suddenly stopped, and one of them turned around and looked in the direction where she was standing. After a sleepless night, Chu Qiao was too tired to think anymore and turned back to the cabin.
At this time, the man standing on the other side of the river on horseback was none other than Zhuge Yue.
"Master, the town ahead is Birch County. We can take a short break there and then continue on our journey. We will reach Wupeng City in the future."
Raindrops fell down Zhuge Yue's cheeks. He looked at the large ships on the river and asked, "Zhu Cheng, did those ships leave from Xianyang City with us?"
Zhu Cheng looked far away and nodded, saying, "Master, you have good eyesight. That was originally the boat prepared for us by the Xianyang River Transport Office. We gave it up after we took the land route. The one we are riding now should be the Bian Tang Zhan family."
"The Zhan family from Xizhiling?"
"Exactly."
Zhuge Yue's eyes were as serene as an ancient well, and he said calmly, "Even these old and insignificant families have come out. It looks like Tangjing is going to be really lively this time."
Zhu Cheng added: "The Zhan family's return to Tang this time seems to be very unusual."
Zhuge Yue said: “Of course they have this idea, but whether it can be accomplished is another matter.”
"But I heard that the current head of the Zhan family is a very capable person, with a wide range of friends and some influence in the underworld. He is also on good terms with His Highness the Thirteenth Prince, so I think he is not a simple person."
Zhuge Yue frowned, thought for a moment, then asked, "Are you talking about the Zhan Ziyu who married his sister?"
"It's him." Zhu Cheng said, "Zhan Ziyu was sent to Cangshan Mountain to learn martial arts since he was young. His master was Dian Cang Zhenren, and he used the alias Cang Xue. When he went down the mountain to travel at the age of seventeen, he met Zhan Zijin, the second daughter of the Zhan family, who ran away from home to hide her name. The two secretly got married and had a child, but they didn't know each other's identities until the Zhan family caught up with them. In a rage, Old Master Zhan broke Zhan Ziyu's legs, and Zhan Zijin was burned alive. Because of this incident, the Zhan family's status in the Bian Tang clan plummeted, and they had to move their family to our Daxia. I heard that it was arranged by the Thirteenth Prince."
“Burn alive?” Zhuge Yue raised his eyebrows and snorted coldly, “This Zhan Ziyu is really useless. He doesn’t investigate before doing anything, and doesn’t dare to take responsibility after doing it. Breaking his legs is the least of his worries.”
Zhu Cheng smiled and said, "That's right, young master is wise."
Zhuge Yue smiled and said, “Stop flattering me. Let’s go. We must get to Wupeng before the morning of the day after tomorrow.”
Upon hearing the voice, everyone responded in unison, whipped their horses, and prepared to leave. At this moment, the black warhorse that had been following Zhuge Yue suddenly neighed at the river surface. No matter how others pulled it, it refused to stop, as if it had gone mad.
“Meteor!” Zhuge Yue called out in a deep voice, “What’s wrong?”
The warhorse raised its two front hooves and neighed loudly at the boats on the river. Zhuge Yue frowned, whipped the warhorse's neck, and said in a deep voice: "What are you doing?"
"Master, Meteor may be frightened."
"Frightened?"
Zhuge Yue frowned and once again looked out over the river. With a loud bang, Chu Qiao sat up in the cabin.
"Xiao Qiao, what's wrong with you?" Liang Shaoqing was startled by her and asked hurriedly.
Chu Qiao sat up and said blankly: "I seem to hear the meteor calling me."
"Who?" Liang Shaoqing asked, "Who called you?"
Chu Qiao replied, "Meteor, my horse."
Liang Shaoqing asked, "How is that possible? We are on water. Can your horse swim?"
Chu Qiao frowned and opened the window. The wind and rain outside immediately poured in. Chu Qiao stuck her head out to look carefully, but the rain was getting heavier and there was a thick fog on the river, so she couldn't see clearly at all. She listened for a while with a frown on her face, then suddenly jumped off the bed, put on her clothes and rushed out.
Liang Shaoqing was startled, and quickly grabbed her, shouting, "Where are you going?"
"I went out to check, and I really heard the shooting star calling me."
Liang Shaoqing shook his head. "It's raining so hard outside. You'll get sick if you go out."
Chu Qiao frowned, put on a coat and rushed out.
The rain was much heavier than before. At this moment, the sky and the earth were all silvery white and it was impossible to see clearly. The big ship was stuck across the river. The boatmen and sailors ran out to stabilize the boat and hurriedly scooped out water, fearing that something might go wrong.
Chu Qiao stood in the chaotic crowd, looking around blankly, but there was no trace of the meteor. She put her hands to her mouth and cried out, "Shooting star!"
But soon, her voice was drowned out by the rumbling thunder.
The captain hurried to the cabin, shouting to his deputy as he ran, "Tell the young master that we must dock, the rain is getting heavier!"
The deputy asked, "Which way?"
"The left bank is close, but the water is too shallow to support the boat. Let's go to the right bank!"
At this time, on the left bank, because of the sudden intensification of heavy rain, the horse team had to stop and take shelter in a broken pavilion. The meteor was still running anxiously in the same place, almost breaking the rope that bound it.
Zhuge Yue stood in the pavilion, looking at the shooting stars. His ears twitched slightly and he slowly frowned.
"Zhu Cheng, did you hear that?"
Zhu Cheng was stunned and asked, "Master, what are you listening to?"
Zhuge Yue did not reply, but continued to listen with a frown. Unfortunately, the rain got heavier and heavier, and there was rumbling thunder in the sky, but the faint sound eventually disappeared.
Zhuge Yue stopped talking, standing with his hands behind his back, looking far ahead, but could only see a bright white sky and earth, while those few ships were hidden in the pouring rain and had long since disappeared.
Chu Qiao put down her hand, and the boat had already anchored safely on the right bank. She was soaked from head to toe by the rain, and her voice was hoarse from shouting. Liang Shaoqing got an umbrella from somewhere, covered her head with it, and said hurriedly, "Go in quickly, you'll get sick."
Chu Qiao stopped talking and stared across the river for a long time. Chu Qiao was convinced that she had not heard wrongly. After the boat docked the next day, she secretly returned to the place where she heard the horse neighing last night. Sure enough, she picked up the bell hanging on Meteor's neck. In the beginning, she had hung this bell for Meteor with her own hands.
Why is the meteor here? Didn’t it return to Zhenhuang City?
On that day, Chu Qiao was being hunted by Zhao Chun'er, and had no choice but to go to Bian Tang. She planned to take the southwest waterway from Chengzhou in Bian Tang to return to Yanbei, but this required support from Yanbei, and she was unable to pass the message to Yan Xun. As a last resort, she wrote a letter and hid it in the hollow horseshoe of a shooting star. Meteor was given to her by Miss Yu and has been kept in the horse farm of the Zhenhuang Datong Guild. This horse is very spiritual. It has been acting as a messenger between her and Miss Yu for the past few years. Although Miss Yu may no longer be in Zhenhuang, as long as it can find someone in Datong, it can pass the message back.
Now that the meteor has appeared here, could it be that her message has also been intercepted? So should she still rush to Chengzhou? If I go there, will there be a large number of Daxia killers lying in ambush there? If I don't go, and turn back to Yanbei now, I will have to cross half of the border of Daxia. Wouldn't that be even more dangerous?
After much deliberation, Chu Qiao decided not to return to Yanbei for the time being. Following the tracks left by the horse team, she tracked and inquired all the way, and finally came to the Wupengcheng City Defense Mansion. Looking at the magnificent mansion in front of her, she knew that she had to go in and investigate tonight no matter what.
The full moon was covered by dark clouds, and the sky and the earth were pitch black. In a few moments, Chu Qiao had entered Tian Chengshou's mansion without anyone noticing. She slid down from a tree like a loach, and then nimbly leaned against a rockery. Her ears moved slightly and she heard footsteps approaching in the distance, as if coming towards her.
Chu Qiao narrowed her eyes slightly, exerted force on her feet, and ran towards the pillar of a circular corridor on the right. When she was about to hit the pillar, she immediately raised her foot and slammed it on the pillar. Her body jumped up instantly due to inertia. She took three steps, and just as she was gradually losing strength, she stretched out her hands, grabbed the roof tiles above, used her arms, clamped the pillar with her legs, and jumped up quickly. Just as the lights at the corner were about to turn around, Chu Qiao jumped up quickly and immediately lay tightly on the tiles of the corridor like a gecko!
"This way."
A shrill voice suddenly sounded, and it was flattering, cautious, and servile. Then, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps. It sounded like there were about twenty people. Chu Qiao frowned and lay quietly, not moving a muscle.
"I've always heard that you are a brilliant man, wise and brave, a dragon among men. Today I see you in person, and it's true that hearing about you is worse than seeing you in person. The rumors in the market can't even begin to describe your charm."
The man suddenly laughed out loud, and seemed very happy with his own words. However, the young man he praised said nothing. The only sound in the garden was the man's exaggerated laughter, which seemed extremely awkward.