When the patrol team squeezed through the crowd and arrived in front of the shop, they only saw a bunch of chattering people, who were quickly chased away by the soldiers. The street returned to normal, and the soldiers continued their patrol.
In the restaurant next door, Song Liyun sat opposite Qi Heng in a private room on the second floor with only Abu and Lin Qingyuan.
Qi Heng was of ordinary appearance, but because he was always traveling, his face was dark and his eyes were sharp.
"My name is Qi Heng, the third son of the Qi family, the imperial merchants of Hecheng. May I ask which tribe you come from, young lady? The Lin family is currently embroiled in lawsuits and has no chance to do business anymore. Perhaps you should choose another path!"
Qi Heng started poaching Lin Qingyuan right in front of him, but he spoke in the language of the barbarians.
Song Liyun remained silent, only glancing at Abu.
Abu said, "We saints don't do business."
He spoke fluent Wuchao dialect, but the content of his words made Qi Heng's heart skip a beat. His expression immediately turned serious, and he stood up and bowed: "I wonder what brings the Holy Maiden to Hecheng? Why didn't you say so in advance? I could have greeted you outside Xiashi Pass and avoided being questioned by those rude soldiers."
That last sentence of his was quite interesting!
Song Liyun sneered inwardly: They wanted to find out their purpose and also wanted to find out her route into the pass.
Song Liyun naturally wouldn't do as Qi Heng wished. Her thin veil fluttered slightly as she said softly, "I'm just taking a casual stroll and looking at the scenery. Do I really need to report to Young Master Qi before coming to Hecheng?"
Qi Heng was shut down by Song Liyun's neither soft nor hard words, but he couldn't retaliate. He was a suspicious person by nature, so how could he let it go?
Moreover, the "holy maiden" in front of him was completely unfamiliar. Even with the dzi bead bracelet, he began to doubt her identity: "Miss, you are overthinking it! I just travel around the grasslands a lot and am familiar with many tribes."
I don't know which tribe you belong to, young lady. Perhaps I'm friends with the tribal chief. You could stay at my home permanently someday.
He spoke modestly, but his gaze lingered on Song Liyun's agate necklace and white stone bracelet, while his mind raced through the legends of dzi beads he knew.
Legend has it that the Di people are a people protected by a god, but the maids sent by the god do not reveal their identities in normal times, only in times of crisis.
Every tribe wanted its own divine messenger, so they adorned some girls with stone beads and called them "holy maidens."
In fact, no one has ever seen the real saintess.
And what's in front of me...
Qi Heng gradually began to speculate: the dzi bead was dull and had faint cracks, clearly an old bead passed down through generations. Could this woman be a traveler from some royal tribe?
However, Song Liyun was sitting upright with her eyes closed as if she were dozing off, and her aloof and unapproachable demeanor made Qi Heng, a man with a wealth of experience, feel uneasy.
There was no answer from Song Liyun, but there was another person he could control.
Lin Qingyuan did not take a seat, but stood respectfully behind Song Liyun, just like Abu.
"Lin Er, come here, I have something to ask you."
Qi Heng stood up and went to the next cubicle, giving Lin Qingyuan a meaningful look.
Her eyes no longer held the amiable look they had before; instead, they stared sharply at him.
Lin Qingyuan cupped his hands in greeting: "Third Master Qi, please speak. I have duties to perform, please excuse me!"
Qi Heng's face suddenly darkened.
The Qi family held an extraordinary position in Hecheng. Apart from the Zhenbei military camp, all the merchants, large and small, in Yunzhou had to defer to them.
The Lin family is still being held in Hecheng. Lin Qingyuan dares to defy me just because he found a powerful backer, so let's arrest them all!
However… Qi Heng glanced around, his words no longer amicable: “Someone, please invite the Holy Maiden to the Qi family as a guest!”
Lin Qingyuan and Abu stood in front of Song Liyun: "Does Third Master Qi intend to snatch someone from Hecheng?"
Qi Heng never considered that there was anything wrong with his behavior.
As soon as she finished speaking, a group of people rushed into the room and surrounded Song Liyun. They were all servants and guards of the Qi family.
Song Liyun remained seated, only raising an eyebrow at Qi Heng: "You've been disrespectful to me, aren't you worried about the Qi family being raided and wiped out?"
Qi Heng laughed heartily: "All your mystical nonsense won't work in the Wu Dynasty. Don't be fooled by the numerous temples and thriving incense offerings all over the world; who has ever seen a real god? Enough with the nonsense, just come with me!"
Song Liyun stood up, turned to Lin Qingyuan and Abu: "Cover your noses, you two run when I leave!"
Abu and Lin Qingyuan simultaneously raised their hands and pinched their noses.
Song Liyun smiled and said to Qi Heng, "Third Master Qi, I'm sorry!"
She raised her hand, and with a slight hiss, a gust of air rushed straight towards Qi Heng's face.
Qi Heng was quite skilled, and he became very alert when Song Liyun told him to cover his nose. However, no matter how fast he reacted, he couldn't outpace the potent drug in a second.
And the attendants and guards, seven or eight people in the room, all fell to the ground.
Abu's eyes widened in disbelief; if Song Liyun hadn't made him pinch his nose, he would have started yelling.
The door was still open, and the sound of people falling to the ground inside alerted those outside.
With a wave of her hand, Song Liyun took all the unconscious people on the ground into her spatial storage.
Without hesitation, she turned and jumped out of the window.
There is no air in her space, so living things cannot be kept there. In just one minute, Qi Heng and the others will suffocate.
Song Liyun had no martial arts skills. When she landed from the second floor, which was five meters high, she first jumped onto the cloth stall she had already spotted, and then rolled over to barely dissipate the force of the fall. She still felt her legs slam heavily onto the ground.
A person fell from the sky, causing an uproar in the street.
"Hurry up and get on!" Song Dekui drove the covered wagon over.
Ignoring the pain in her knees, Song Liyun quickly got up and climbed into the car.
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