Chapter 19 Why is it him again?
The next day, it was dawn.
An Qin put down the thin bag that had been packed neatly and the heavy bag of dry food, changed into night clothes and went to the palace again to wait for time.
A good assassin will never give up even a moment of time.
Although he received an urgent letter with the manor owner's private seal, An Qin was also concerned about the matter of taking the head of the Grand Tutor.
However, Chen Yanheng seemed to be trapped in the palace. Since entering the palace four days ago, he has never set foot outside the palace.
As timid as a mouse.
I think he still values his life.
His words that sound like coaxing are just sweet talk, but in fact, once something life-threatening happens, he always runs away faster than anyone else. He has seen too many unfaithful people when he was on a mission.
An Xiner must be told to keep her eyes open, and especially not to look for scholars who tell lies all the time in the future.
An Qin suppressed his brows, and a hint of coldness appeared on his handsome face. Many vicious plans flashed through his mind. He secretly looked up at the red sun rising in the east at dawn, but in the end, all the plans came to an end. He turned around with a cold face and went back to the inn.
Jiangzhou is only five days' journey from the imperial city, and you will pass by Fengyue Villa along the way, so you don't need to bring much food.
An Qin counted again the cakes and steamed buns he had bought last night when the stalls were closing, making sure that they had enough dry food to last until Fengyue Villa. Then he changed out of his night clothes, put on civilian clothes, paid the bill, and headed straight out of the imperial city.
The accountant at the front desk smoothed the old wrinkle on his nose, squinted his eyes and watched the tall young man walk away, then carefully put the room key and the two silver coins that were enough for a night's stay in an ordinary inn back into the drawer, flipped through the account book with saliva on his face, and added the remaining room fee to the money paid to the Taifu Mansion.
Although their inn may not look as luxurious as the restaurants on East Street, it is located in the imperial city and close to the residences of high-ranking officials. The prices are far beyond the reach of ordinary inns.
.
An Qin was completely unaware of what was happening in the inn. He went straight to the city gate. When he arrived, he saw the soldiers guarding the city driving passers-by aside, leaving a road for carriages to pass.
Then, a low-key black lacquered carriage slowly drove in from the city gate. Two lanterns with the Chinese character "Shang" (a merchant's name) written on them hung under the eaves. Judging from the surface, it was no different from an ordinary caravan selling jewelry.
There were more than ten slaves and followers following the carriage. These people looked different from the pale and skinny laborers in the caravan. They all looked energetic and did not look like ordinary slaves.
An Qin and several convoys that had just left the city were stopped aside. He thought calmly: This might be the imperial envoy newly appointed by the court to Jiangzhou.
There are many jade mines in Jiangzhou, but there is only one main road from the imperial city to Jiangzhou. There is no shortage of caravans passing on this road, and disguising as a caravan is a low-key way to save lives - the flood there has just passed, and public anger is high. Even if there are no accidents on the road, it is easy for the starving people to stop the car and cause trouble, and the luggage and belongings they carry may be robbed before they even enter the city.
Relying on light skills to hide and follow all the way was quite tiring. An Qin's eyes flashed with intelligence, and he lowered his head quietly and disappeared into the crowd on both sides. After the imperial convoy passed, he spotted a caravan that was about to set off, paid them some money to give him a ride, and then followed the imperial envoy's carriage from a distance.
The imperial envoy's carriage was moving at a moderate speed. A hand would often reach out from the small window on the side, sometimes lifting the curtain, and sometimes taking out a cylinder that Anqin had never seen before, as if the owner inside was looking at something.
An Qin looked at the white jade-like hand from a distance. As the wheels bumped around, a smug man's face gradually emerged in his mind.
“…”
After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his eyes slightly.
He frowned and drove the grinning figure out of his mind, then looked ahead indifferently, secretly estimating the age of the imperial envoy.
Judging from his skin, he must be no more than thirty years old. To be trusted by the court and appointed as an imperial envoy, he must be at least a high-ranking official in the court...
The figure that had just been dispersed appeared before his eyes again, and smiled at him. His affectionate eyes formed two crescents, which was very beautiful.
"…………" An Qin glared fiercely, shook his head and threw the man out again. A few doubts arose in his mind which was empty again.
Since he is a young man under 30 years old and an official of the third rank or above, he should be on the list of people who entered the palace for fasting last time. But how come he has no impression of him at all? Is there such a person in the current court?
An Qin's face became increasingly tense. The more he thought about it, the more he could only recall the shameless face of the despicable tutor who stood out among the group of bearded old men that day.
“………………”
Damn it!
An Qin suppressed the restlessness in his heart, completely dispelled those doubts, and alerted himself to the extreme. He stared at the black lacquered carriage moving slowly in front of him without blinking, and his scorching gaze seemed to burn through the carriage.
No matter who he is, the most important thing is to ensure his safe arrival in Jiangzhou!
The owner’s mission is the most important!
Behind the carriage, a young man in plain clothes stared intently at the front, while inside the carriage, Chen Yanheng, wearing a crescent-white gown, was lifting the curtain and looking left and right, but he still didn't see the person he had been thinking about for four days.
He was quite proud, thinking that An Qin was worthy of being the top assassin of Fengyue Villa. Even his ability to dodge and hide was better than that of the secret guards around him.
Fortunately, he brought enough things.
Chen Yanheng took out the telescope calmly, curled the corners of his lips with a smile, and scanned the surrounding treetops and bushes inch by inch through the small round mirror.
He was thinking about when he could find the person hiding in the dark and lead him out to travel with him. However, after glancing for a long time, he still only saw the secret guards like Ying Shijiu hiding in the dark who stood up straight when he looked at them.
Shen Yanheng: “…”
Chen Yanheng chuckled. If it came to disobeying orders, that kid would never be willing to do so. I'm afraid that if he gave the order, even if it meant taking his life, An Qin would offer it with both hands.
Since it's not in the dark on the side, it means it's following behind.
Chen Yanheng withdrew his gaze indifferently, and as expected, the next moment he heard a dull voice coming from behind him.
"Well, I'm married."
Isn’t this An Qin’s voice?
Chen Yanheng raised his eyebrows, put away the telescope, and looked through the lattice of the rear window of the carriage.
A few meters away, a caravan was following closely, with a cart piled high with goods at the head. A young man dressed as a commoner was sitting on the cargo with a sullen face. Even though he was wearing a coarse short coat, it was difficult to hide his handsome face. His thin lips were moving as he was coldly answering the fat man who was traveling beside him.
What kind of family is it?
What a mouthful of lies.
This is the only thing about him that makes him look the most honest and intimidating.
Chen Yanheng narrowed his eyes with interest and adjusted his sitting position so that he could keep the person firmly in his eyes through the gap in the rear window.
Hearing An Qin say he was married, the fat man was obviously disappointed, but he was still unwilling to give up. He continued to ask, "Then why didn't you bring your wife and children with you? You don't look like a traveling merchant. What did you do in Jiangzhou? There was a flood there recently, and there's no work to be found."
"Looking for relatives." This man was the leader of the caravan, and it was not easy to offend him. An Qin frowned and replied concisely.
Looking for relatives? Chen Yanheng repeated these two words twice in his mouth, thinking: Isn’t it looking for relatives? I came here specifically to find him.
"You won't be able to find relatives in Jiangzhou. Why don't you follow my caravan and accompany my two daughters to Jiangzhou to take care of them? As for your wife and children, I have an accountant here. I will ask him to write you a letter and send you some money to help them settle down. I only have those two daughters, both of whom are of marriageable age. When they become my sons-in-law in the future, this entire caravan and property will be theirs! What do you think? Will you consider it?"
The caravan was filled with either pale and muscular laborers or greasy hunks. An Qin, a handsome young man with a delicate face and a strong body, stood out from the crowd.
If the family really has a lot of wealth, who would come out to make a living and keep an eye on everyone in the caravan for fear that they are taking kickbacks?
The fat man finally met a boy with a strong physique and handsome features. Based on his experience in judging people, he knew that he was definitely not an ordinary person, and his eyes lit up.
An Qin's frown deepened. He glanced around and saw a caravan further away behind them. He nodded and said, "Let me think about it."
"Okay! That's great! Think about it carefully!" The fat man slapped his thigh happily and talked to himself about how virtuous and beautiful his two daughters were.
An Qin ignored him, pursed his lips indifferently, and seemed to be thinking, but in fact he continued to stare at the black lacquered carriage in front of him, which was still and moving.
The sound of the wheels rolling over the ground sometimes covered up the random chatter. Chen Yanheng only heard a few words like "beautiful", "virtuous", and "remarry" in the carriage. Through the rear window, he could only see An Qin, but half of his fat body was squeezed in the gap, and they looked like they were having a very happy conversation.
You're not even married yet, and you're thinking about getting married again?
Chen Yanheng's eyes moved slightly, and a sharp cold light appeared on his elegant face, which seemed to be smiling. The upturned corners of his lips gradually faded. He wished he could sit on the simple carriage and push the fat man away with his butt.
His slender knuckles tapped lightly on the small table in the carriage again and again. Time passed by minute by minute. Chen Yanheng concealed the darkness in his eyes, lifted the curtain, and gestured to Ying Shijiu who was hiding in the dark.
Ying Shijiu, who received the message in the dark, was silent for a moment, put on his mask, and said in a deep voice: "Go!"
At a command, more than a dozen masked assassins suddenly emerged from the silent grass, holding long swords that gleamed coldly, and attacked the black lacquered carriage in front.
The fat man who was still chatting with An Qin in an attempt to marry his daughter off was so frightened that he hiccuped, screamed, and quickly ordered his men to rein in the horse. He rolled off the car and even lost one of his shoes.
The team was in chaos in an instant. Seeing that the guards in front were no match for the men in black, An Qin's expression became stern. He immediately drew the soft sword from his waist, shook it, and jumped onto the roof of the carriage in front.
With a sweeping kick, he knocked down several men in black who were clinging to the carriage. He looked around quickly and calmly, then turned over and jumped off the roof.
"drive!"
He snatched the reins from the coachman and swung them hard, and An Qin led the carriage out like an arrow in an instant.
Ying Shijiu and his men chased halfway, then pretended to be exhausted and stopped chasing.
An Qin drove the carriage at full speed, avoiding the main road and heading deep into the woods. He did not stop the carriage until there was no movement behind him.
The servant who had the reins snatched from him was terrified. He swallowed hard and scrambled to knock on the carriage frame: "Master, Master, Master?"
There was no response from inside the car.
The servant was about to cry: "Sir, sir, are you okay? Please at least say something!"
Still no response.
Could it be that he was killed in a sneak attack by those men in black?
An Qin suddenly stopped, his pupils widened, and he pulled the boy down, turned back to the car, and suddenly lifted the curtain.
Before he could see the layout of the carriage clearly, he felt a pull in front of him and fell uncontrollably into the carriage.
The car curtain fluttered outward twice before stopping. An Qin felt dizzy and when he finally steadied himself, he was already lying inside the car.
To be more precise, he was forcibly pulled onto someone's lap and forced to lie on top of the other person.
The man beneath him groaned, clearly in pain from An Qin's weight. His voice was low and hoarse, "Darling, are you following me?"
Chen Yanheng straightened his hair crown, his elegant and handsome face looking slightly pale. He tied An Qin's hands behind his back and asked him to sit on his legs facing each other.
Chen Yanheng raised his head and raised his eyebrows at An Qin. An Qin was shocked when he heard the voice. When he saw this face that he hadn't seen for many days but always flashed in his mind, his pupils suddenly shrank into a black dot and his narrow eyes widened.
An Qin looked at him in disbelief. His first reaction was to leave first. However, his hands were tied behind his back by the man and he couldn't use any strength. Besides, there was no room to struggle in this narrow carriage!
He was fooled again!
Damn it!
An Qin gritted his teeth in anger, turned his head and looked, his eyes fell on the pair of slender white hands. He was stunned for a moment, and the slight sense of unease in his heart suddenly disappeared. After calming down, he was filled with greater doubts and astonishment.
The person in the carriage was the Grand Tutor, and the Imperial Envoy this time was actually Shen Yanheng?!
How could the person the manor owner's trusted confidant wanted to escort safely to Jiangzhou be Shen Yanheng?!
Does the owner of the manor know that this person is the one he personally ordered to be beheaded within a month?
If it is said that before, An Qin would never doubt Fengyue Villa, but now, the target of three consecutive missions is Chen Yanheng, which is really suspicious.
Could it be that there is a spy around the owner of the manor?
Or does this person have some connection with Fengyue Villa?
An Qin pursed his lips, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could almost pinch a fly to death.
Someone suddenly pinched his waist from behind, and he trembled all over, glaring at the grinning man.
Chen Yanheng was not ashamed. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and stared at the young man for a long while. He gently nuzzled his neck with his nose and whispered, "I have no way to repay you for saving my life, so I can only give you my body."
Nonsense!
An Qin's whole body was tense, like a drawn bow and arrow. The skin that was scratched by the man's nose quickly ignited, and a drunken ochre color appeared.
An Qin couldn't break free and opened his mouth to spit in his face, but suddenly he remembered that this man was extremely vulgar and could even say such obscene words as "pee on his face". He put on a stern face and swallowed his saliva back.
No, we must not let him get away with it.
At present, it is still unknown what is going on. After weighing the pros and cons, An Qin can only focus on the letter with the owner's private seal. When he passes by Fengyue Villa, he will go back and ask Mr. Shen, and he will naturally know who is forging it.
After being taken advantage of, An Qin said coldly: "Let me go, I can escort you to Jiangzhou."
"You even know where I'm going. How much money did you spend to buy this information? Do you care about me so much?" Chen Yanheng raised his head and kissed him, but unexpectedly, the other party quickly turned his head away, allowing him to kiss only his chin.
That's not bad.
The feeling of being with your loved one is the best everywhere.
It was worth it that he had been stuck in the palace for four days.
Chen Yanheng clicked his tongue and smiled: "I've tried to kill me so many times, and now I finally catch you. Do you think I'll be fooled and let you get away?"
An Qin opened his mouth, but then realized that every time he gave in, it was just to relax his guard and escape urgently, so he closed his mouth again.
Jiangzhou was suffering from a flood, and as an imperial envoy, Shen Yanheng couldn't carry him all the way there.
After he has teased and humiliated him, he will naturally be let go.
Seeing An Qin fall silent again, his expression stiff, someone who didn't know better would think he'd been bullied. The evil in Chen Yanheng's heart was once again aroused, the corners of his lips curled up even more, and he spoke frivolously, teasing the "little honest man" in front of him: "If your master knew that you not only didn't kill me, but also saved me, I'm afraid he would put us in a pig cage."
People who flirt with other women will be thrown into the pig cage. What nonsense are you talking about!
An Qin closed his eyes and his lips trembled.
Chen Yanheng: "Are you attracted to me and planning to give up your career as an assassin and join the Master to become his wife?"
An Qin bit his lower lip, unable to bear it any longer.
Chen Yanheng opened his lips and was about to say something else, but he saw An Qin suddenly lower his head, nodded twice imperceptibly, and said very quickly and briefly: "Hmm."
Shen Yanheng: “…”
This trick really seems familiar.
Should we say he is clever, or that he underestimates himself?
He looks honest, but he's actually full of lies.
But when he was lying out of guilt, he looked so serious, as if the word "lie" was almost engraved on his forehead.
It's really cute and tight.
But after finally capturing someone, one couldn't let him go easily. Shen Yanheng followed his words and pretended to be surprised, "Huh? Have you given up on being an assassin, or have you fallen for me while you were killing people?"
An Qin's eyes flashed, and seeing that he looked quite trusting, he kept a cold and stern face, "All of them."
"You like me so much?"
"Um."
"Then we'll get married when we get back?"
"good."
"Can you continue the Shen family's lineage by getting married?"
"But..." An Qin was halfway through his response when he suddenly realized that there was something wrong with what he said.
He is a man, and it is okay for him to marry a man, but how could he possibly continue the family line and get pregnant and have children?
"you!"
It's really obscene!
Her cheeks, which were already flushed, turned completely red in an instant. An Qin was so ashamed and angry that he closed his mouth tightly, determined not to say another word until his death.
He turned his face to the side, but the space in the carriage was small, and he was forced to sit on Shen Yanheng. Even if he turned his head away, the other party could easily put his lips close to his ear.
The earlobes were filled with the hot air from the man's breath, carrying with it a light tickling sensation like a feather. An Qin shrank his neck, but Chen Yanheng opened his mouth and bit his earlobe.
"Give me a kiss and I'll untie you right away."
It seems like I've heard this more than once.
But An Qin still couldn't remain calm. His chest suddenly heaved up and down, and his heart almost jumped out of his throat.
He could vaguely hear his own strong heartbeat beside his ear. An Qin turned his head back abruptly, looked down at the man in white who was close to him, and subconsciously wanted to frown coldly.
His sight slid down from the other's plump forehead, past a pair of affectionate and loving peach blossom eyes, along the tall and white nose bridge to the thin but beautiful peach-colored lips.
It has to be said that it would be difficult to find someone more handsome than Chen Yanheng in Daliang.
He still couldn't understand how men could like men.
An Qin frowned even tighter, and the scenes of kissing the person in front of him several times unconsciously emerged in his mind.
His body suddenly froze, and the sound of sticky kisses rang in his ears. His ears were so hot that they almost burned his sanity.
An Qin couldn't dodge in time and was chased, with his ears bitten and rubbed. This feeling was too unfamiliar to him. He just wanted it to be over quickly, so he had to compromise and touch those lips.
Instantly separate.
Before Shen Yanheng could open his mouth, An Qin had regained consciousness. He straightened his back, looked at him fiercely with a red face, and his eyes regained their composure: "Untie him."
Shen Yanheng: “…”
He turned against me after the kiss. What a heartless guy.
Chen Yanheng raised his eyebrows and laughed secretly, but with the letter with private seal that he had personally asked Ying Shijiu to deliver the day before, he was not afraid that An Qin would just run away after untying him this time.
After releasing An Qin's hands, An Qin twisted and struggled to break free. His first reaction was to jump out the window and get away. Unexpectedly, the man had anticipated this and pulled him back onto his lap. He held her slender waist tightly and ordered, "Drive back."
"Yes." The servant, who didn't dare to utter a word, nodded repeatedly, breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly climbed into the car, turned the front of the car, and looked for the exit in the direction they came from.
No one was injured in the group robbed by the men in black, only a few boxes of silver and two bags of rice were lost. When the servant drove the carriage back to the official road to Jiangzhou, the others had already packed up their things and were waiting by the roadside for a long time.
No one knew that there was suddenly an extra person in the carriage, so An Qin was forced to sit in the same carriage with Shen Yanheng.
The man held him, his hands and feet were not honest. He shamelessly took advantage of the man's hand while solemnly admonishing An Qin: "Be quiet. If people knew that there was a martial arts master hidden in my carriage, what would happen if a group of assassins with even stronger martial arts skills were replaced?"
An Qin's eyes were wide with rage, and he tried to jump out of the car and escape several times, but was pulled back every time by Chen Yanheng with the words "If you leave, I will definitely die in the car."
The carriage traveled slowly for two days, and An Qin and Shen Yanheng became inseparable for two days, eating and sleeping together. During this period, he was naturally threatened with his life and forced to do things that he was not happy with.
At first, everyone was a little curious about the fact that there was an extra person in the master's car, but after two days, they got used to the master and the young man sticking together all day long.
These guards disguised as servants and bodyguards were all soldiers. They did not know Shen Yanheng's identity other than that of the Grand Tutor, and naturally did not know An Qin's background.
Just from the young man's sometimes disheveled clothes, I guessed that they might soon have a wife.
After leaving the imperial city, we entered a mountain range that stretched as far as the eye could see. This was the territory of Fengyue Villa.
Ordinary bandits and assassins do not dare to set foot within the territory of Fengyue Villa. Therefore, even if a person is weak and powerless, he will not be in danger of his life as long as he does not offend the villagers at the foot of Fengyue Villa.
While everyone was resting, An Qin took the opportunity to escape and urinate, getting rid of Chen Yanheng. He easily passed through two woods, made sure that no one was following him, used his lightness skills to climb up the cliff, and took a shortcut back to the village where An Xiner was.
"elder brother!"
An Xiner became more and more graceful, with almond eyes, a high nose bridge, a cherry mouth, and several beautiful and expensive pearl flowers in her hair. Even her clothes were made of silk instead of ordinary materials, making her look like a lady from a wealthy family.
She was boiling water in the yard. When she saw An Qin appear at the door, she rubbed her eyes, then shouted in disbelief, put down the kettle in her hand and trotted over.
"Brother! But has the owner's mission been completed? I knew you were the most powerful assassin in our Fengyue Villa!" An Xiner happily pulled An Qin's hand and walked inside.
Chen Gui, who was in the room, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that it was An Qin who came back. He was about to get up to greet him, but the next sentence he heard was that An Qin had completed his mission and came back. His eyes went dark and he almost fell to the ground.
That would be bad!
"An, ho—An Qin!"
He staggered out, holding onto the door. He first glanced at An Qin's hand, but when he didn't see the head, he breathed a sigh of relief.
There is no head, so the master may still be alive. It’s okay as long as he is not dead.
Before he could even breathe, An Qin strode forward, lowered his head with a serious expression, looked into Chen Gui's eyes and asked earnestly, "Sir, please tell me in detail what the connection is between the current Grand Tutor Chen Yanheng and Fengyue Villa."
Shen Gui raised it again in one breath.
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