It's cold in spring.

At night in Qingkan County, mist is everywhere, rising above the wilderness with only a few stars and lights.

In the silent wilderness, a man and a horse were galloping in the dark night. The speed was extremely fast, like an ink-colored lightning, blending into the night and looming in the mist.

The wind blew the strands of hair around her ears flying. Xiang Yi leaned on her horse, letting the dark night swallow up the light and the wind stinging her cheeks.

This was her third serious horse riding experience, and she still rode an old horse borrowed from Shopkeeper Jiang.

But whether it was an old horse or a woman riding it for the first time, there was no delay in the galloping in the dark night.

They didn't dare to delay at all, and just ran all the way towards the previously determined river bank junction.

Xiang Yi couldn't help but picture Chen Fu's appearance when he left the Tan family.

Chen Fu was so confident that he left quickly. Before that, he had not searched Qinghan for several days, and even secretly mobilized manpower.

This means that he probably got the location where his eldest brother and Yang Tongzhi met with Donggong from some source!

Xiang Yi had no time to hesitate.

As a commoner, she could not be like her eldest brother who stayed with the emperor incognito, fighting for the common people of a poor family despite being insulted by the court; nor could she be like Yang Tongzhi, who even at an old age still risked his life running thousands of miles just to fight for the general. The evidence of the fraud case was sent to the capital...

There was too little she could do.

But when my father was falsely accused of corruption, there were officials who came from a poor family, and they had to work for my father even if they gave up their official positions. If not, the emperor would not just sentence his father to exile and let the three siblings go.

His father still died on the road to exile. After that, those officials who spoke for him were mostly ostracized. Although they did not lose their official positions, they were still walking on thin ice.

At that time, they were willing to speak up for her father, but now, Xiang Yi couldn't hide behind others and watch indifferently!

A gust of wind suddenly came over, causing Xiang Yi on the horse to sway for a moment. She quickly lowered her body and hugged the horse tightly.

The old horse seemed to be psychic, knowing that the person on its back was just a woman who was just learning to ride. It had never ridden a horse at night before. He gave a low call, and his steps became more steady, but still seemed to be as fast as when he was in his prime, and his speed did not slow down. Every cent.

Xiang Yi hugged the horse and thanked him repeatedly for comforting him.

Just like that, one man and one horse, galloping away.

...

On the other side, after Chen Fuyou left the Tan family, he quickly counted all the people and gave the order to go straight to the river bank.

He has received reliable information that Gu Yansheng and Yang Muhong will board the East Palace ship there.

As long as he catches the two of them at that junction before the ship comes from the East Palace, the pursuit for so many days and thousands of miles will be in vain.

Otherwise, all these days of hard work would be in vain, and it would be difficult for him to return to the capital and return to the Zong family!

Chen Fu had the potential to win, so he gathered his troops and headed straight for the river bank.

...

On the riverbank, Yang Muhong stood up uneasily and walked around in a circle. There were clear waves on the river, but no ship had arrived yet, and he was more focused behind him and looking towards the road.

There were only sporadic lights shining quietly in the distance, and there was no movement.

Qiu Ying called him, "Master Yang has stood up and looked at it five or six times. Why don't you let someone guard you?"

Yang Muhong waved his hand, "It's just that I always feel that Fengling Chen is not a kind person. We won't leave." It's just so smooth."

He said this, and Gu Yansheng, who lowered his head to wipe his sword, paused slightly.

Chen Fu had been silent for several days, which was indeed strange, so he left early without further delay.

He couldn't help but think of Xiang Yi again.

Leaving so early would avoid causing more trouble to Yizhen.

After all, he was the one who brought her down this time...

He wiped the sword again and chuckled when he saw that Yang Muhong was still nervously looking at where he came from.

"Comrade, sit down and have a rest. I'll stand up instead."

There was always a smile in his voice, and he could speak carelessly even in emergencies like this.

Yang Muhong couldn't help but feel relieved.

Who would have thought that at this moment, someone suddenly burst out of the endless darkness.

Yang Muhong and Gu Yansheng were both stunned.

...

The chaotic sound of horse hooves startled the village on the roadside, and the lights quickly went out.

Chen Fuyou didn't care much, and kept urging his men not to delay. When they reached the river bank, they surrounded the area for three miles, leaving Gu and Yang with nowhere to escape.

There was another gallop, and the light of the river seemed to be close to his eyes. He suddenly raised his hand and gave an order. The next moment, the men behind him scattered in all directions. The sound of horse hooves resounded all around. In less than a few breaths, the river bank was already three miles away. The people from all over the world surrounded it, even hid the fishermen's boats, and controlled the river.

There are Chen's men all around.

Chen Fu felt half at peace with this, and then he had people search for him.

Gu Yansheng didn't expect that he still had a way to get the news.

Gu Yang was hiding in Qingkan. He didn't know who was secretly helping him, but it was not that the East Palace didn't have their manpower...

But he ordered to go down and search the place. People from all directions came to report, but there was no one. Find traces of Gu Yansheng and others.

"You have searched carefully, and there is really no one there?!"

Hundreds of torches illuminated the lake and the night sky. Chen Fu and others searched again. Except for the nearby fishermen, there was no trace of Gu Yang anywhere.

"Back to Qianhu, there is really no one!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Fuyou's mind suddenly went blank.

He looked around in disbelief. There was silence all around. He pulled out the sword from his waist, and the sound of stabbing echoed in the crowd.

"What's going on?" The location was correct, but Chen Fuyou didn't arrest anyone at all.

He couldn't believe it, and he suddenly became angry and threw the sword to the ground.

"Did Gu Yansheng and the others also get a message?!"

...

His angry voice came from a distance and reached a forest, and only his vague tone was left.

Yang Muhong hid behind a tree and just recovered from his shock.

He looked at the panting woman beside him and was surprised, "Madam, you really saved my life!"

Just now, they saw someone suddenly rushing out of the dark night, and they subconsciously wanted to hide, but they didn't expect that someone was coming right away. woman.

Gu Yansheng recognized who it was immediately.

He stood up hurriedly, and when Xiang Yi came forward, before he could speak, he heard Xiang Yi say.

"Brother! Someone from Chen Fu is coming, get out of here quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there seemed to be the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Everyone was astonished, and before they had time to say anything, they retreated like the bushes nearby.

They managed to hide themselves in the woods, and Chen Fuyou arrived at the head of the group, and had people surround the place and conduct a large-scale search.

Yang Muhong's night of uneasiness finally came true, but the appearance of Xiang Yi turned the tide.

He couldn't help but bow to Xiang Yi and thank him.

Xiang Yi, a junior, couldn't stand his courtesy anymore, so he quickly moved away.

"You don't have to be so polite. This is what Xiang Yi should do."

She waved her hands repeatedly, adjusting her breathing while comforting Shopkeeper Jiang's old horse who was lying on the ground.

Qiu Ying knew better about taking care of the horses. He got some water from the nearby ditch and picked up some fodder.

On the other hand, Gu Yansheng knelt down next to Xiang Yi, frowning and taking a closer look at the panting woman.

"Didn't Yizhen know how to run a horse before?"

It's true that Xiang Yi didn't, and he just learned how to do it this time. Fortunately, the old horse was stable and the journey went smoothly.

Gu Yansheng looked at her for a moment and did not look away for a long time.

However, Xiang Yi had no intention of saying anything more. Instead, he looked at the reception dock under the woods, frowned gradually, and asked Gu Yansheng.

"Although eldest brother and colleagues are temporarily safe, Chen Fu and his men have occupied the pier. When the ship comes from the East Palace, how will eldest brother get on the ship?"

Her question hit the point.

Gu Yansheng didn't shy away from it. He looked at the bright torches in Chen Fuyou's hands from a distance and surrounded the dock, and smiled lightly.

"I'm afraid it won't be easy. I need to think of some solutions."

But at this time, it was too late to change the joint location.

Naturally, some of Chen Fu had no intention of leaving at this juncture. It can be seen that he also thought that even if he failed to catch Gu Yansheng and Yang Muhong this time, they would still have a chance if they were unable to board the East Palace ship and were trapped here. captured.

But Gu Yansheng couldn't wait any longer.

The night was getting darker and darker, and in the hidden woods, several people discussed several plans, but none of them seemed feasible.

At this moment, a large ship gradually arrived on the wide river bank.

The big ship was tall and majestic, with bright lights, and the firelight reflected the yellow curtains on the side of the ship. It was the ship that the East Palace came to meet.

This time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arranged for Xu Yuanming, the assistant minister of the East Palace, to come in the name of the Crown Prince's concubine for marriage. It was a most serious ship in the East Palace, and no one dared to come forward and be arrogant.

But when Dong Palace's ship arrived, Gu Yansheng and his party were trapped outside the dock and could not board the ship at all.

On the dock, Chen Fuyou also saw the incoming ship.

The ship had just arrived, which meant that Gu Yansheng and others were indeed still in Qingkan and could not escape. So what if he surrounded the place and Gu Yansheng always had someone to help him?

He made up his mind a little, and when he saw the ship from the East Palace approaching, he asked his men not to lack courtesy.

The men all obeyed the order.

From a distance, Xu Yuanming, the assistant minister of the East Palace standing on the bow of the ship, saw the brightly lit dock.

This is a secret response, so it is not a good thing to have so many people.

Sure enough, he stroked his long beard and asked someone to bring the boat closer, and he saw Chen Fuyou in the crowd at a glance.

"Why is Chen Qianhu here?"

Chen Fuyou didn't shy away from it and agreed with him.

"Ah, I didn't expect Mr. Xu to come here. I bumped into Mr. Xu and I'm in a state of insecurity. It's just that there are water bandits here. The government has been offering rewards for a long time, and the Jin Yiwei has also followed the order. For a while, the manpower may not be able to evacuate."

Pretending to be polite, In fact, it contains evil intentions.

Xu Yuanming naturally knew what Chen Fu was thinking, but he saw that the place was surrounded by people, and he didn't know where Gu Yansheng and others were.

He could only ask people to temporarily stop the ship here.

But the concubine's fleet was moving forward, and it was impossible for him to wait for Gu and Yang for a long time...

In the forest, Yang Muhong looked at the ship in the distance, but could not get close to board it, and sighed repeatedly.

"What should we do?"

As long as they show up, they may be captured by Chen Fuyou's men before they are noticed by the people in the East Palace.

Chen Fu has too many manpower.

Yang Muhong sighed repeatedly, but Gu Yansheng chuckled.

In the cold night wind, Gu Yansheng opened his mouth.

"In such a situation, the only thing that can be done is to lure the tiger away from the mountain."

Everyone knew that the only solution for now was to let people go out and lure away some of Chen Fuyou's men, or even lure Chen Fuyou himself away.

The manpower besieging the dock was weak, but they could still put up a good fight, and Xu Yuanming discovered them, and they were able to overcome the difficulty and board the ship smoothly.

After Gu Yansheng said that, he threw the sword to Qiu Ying.

"Qiu Ying is protecting Mr. Yang. With your skills, I think you can still prevent the East Palace from finding out."

But as soon as he finished speaking, Yang Muhong said no.

"How is this possible? The old man is half buried in the earth. He is already satisfied with the evidence of fraud. The Taoist priest still has to go to the capital to present it to His Highness the Crown Prince... This time it is the old man who should be the one to attract talents!"

He Before I came here, I never thought about going back and leaving this old life that I shouldn't have kept.

Both of them wanted to sacrifice themselves to lure Chen's men away, and Qiu Ying became anxious.

"Both Master Gu and I, please stay here. My injuries are much better now, and I can resist those officers and soldiers. It's time for me to attract people!"

He even started to argue with those two people.

Gu Yansheng laughed when he heard it.

"What's the point of arguing? Although I'm healed now, my skills are still weak. Qiu Ying must stay behind to help Mr. Yang get on the boat."

The night wind came over from the river, even carrying some of the fire from the torch.

When Gu Yansheng saw that Yang Muhong was still going to talk, he stopped him in a low voice, "It's important that Mr. Yang hand over all the evidence to the East Palace. I'll wait for the common people to stand up for themselves, and it depends on these evidences!"

After he finished speaking, he turned around to make more arrangements. Xiang Yi left safely.

She shouldn't have been involved in these dangerous things, but she was the one who dragged her into it.

Unexpectedly, when he turned his head, he didn't see the woman under the tree, but saw the horse standing up at some point, and the woman got on the horse.

The turning movement was still a bit unskilled, but she finally sat firmly on the horse.

"Eldest brother, Yang Tongzhi, and Qiu Ying don't have to fight anymore."

She raised the corners of her lips and smiled. The firelight in the distance illuminated half of her face, and the woman's demure smile actually jumped at this moment.

"Hurry up and get on the boat. I am more familiar with this clear road!"

As soon as the words fell, Gu Yansheng's heart trembled, the smile on his lips disappeared, and he stepped forward hurriedly.

"Yizhen, no!"

But he was a step too late. He saw the woman jumping up and down the forest path.

In the blink of an eye, there was no one in Gu Yansheng's eyes.

...

Chen Fu didn't want to look into the eyes of Xu Yuanming, the assistant minister of the East Palace, and went to the mound aside with a polite word.

No one of us knows what the other is thinking. No matter what he says today, he can't let Gu Yansheng and others leave.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, someone suddenly rushed over on horseback.

Chen Fu stood up and loudly ordered his men.

"Quickly stop this man, don't let him rush in here, lest he collide with the East Palace ship!"

If Gu Yansheng wants to rush in like this, don't even think about it!

Unexpectedly, when the man and the horse rushed to the edge, they suddenly turned sharply and headed towards the other road.

The night was dark and it was difficult to see the person clearly, but Chen Fu subconsciously felt that this person must be Gu Yansheng.

He has been arresting Gu Yansheng for half a year. This man appears and disappears, as if he has a witchcraft, and he has appeared in his dreams frequently recently.

But even in his dream, he couldn't catch this person, and he slipped from his hands time and time again.

Knowing that this was to lure the tiger away from the mountain, Chen Fuyou was still itchy. While ordering his men to continue guarding the dock, he couldn't help but summon some people, "Follow me to catch up with this person!"

Chen Fuyou went out like this, and Hula took him away. Few people.

He took the lead and rushed after the person who was about to disappear into the night.

The man charged first very hard, but the horse under him was not as good as Chen Fuyou's, and gradually slowed down.

It was late at night and he couldn't see anyone clearly, so Chen Fuyou came forward with another beating.

"Wuna Yao, where are you going?!"

He jumped again, and the distance between the two horses became closer and closer.

But the man in front seemed to be very familiar with Qingdao Road, and he suddenly turned into a small road that could not even be seen clearly.

Chen Fu almost failed to keep up. He was hating that this demon was so powerful, but he saw the horse in front of him turned around again and turned to another road.

Just flipping left and right like this, Chen Fuyou soon couldn't tell the difference between east, west, north and south.

He began to feel something was wrong.

No matter how long Gu Yansheng stayed in Qingkan, he would not be so familiar with the terrain here.

Then he squinted his eyes to catch the figure, and realized that the man on the horse was very small compared to the Taoist priest.

"No, it's not the demon!" He reacted immediately, "It must be the Qingkan man who helped the Taoist priest!"

Compared with this person, Chen Fuyou was certainly more concerned about Gu Yansheng, whom he could not catch.

He hated that he not only knew that he was trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but also that he had been completely fooled and had to stop his horse in a hurry.

He pointed to a group of people on the left, "Keep chasing! We can't let Yaodao's accomplices escape!"

He said urgently, "The remaining people follow me back to the dock!"

...

The dock, The fire that shot up into the sky became chaotic.

Xu Yuanming, who was on the Donggong ship, didn't notice anything unusual, so he immediately called someone to investigate the noise.

However, some of the people left behind by Chen Fu were not vegetarians. At that moment, a man from a hundred households intercepted them with his men.

"So that the adults in the East Palace will know that the water bandit is causing trouble here and the Jin Yiwei is acting. You should not go there!"

But he was just obstructing it. The East Palace has its own right to override the Jin Yiwei. At that moment, Xu Yuanming went up in person. He walked forward and led everyone towards the chaotic place regardless of the obstruction.

However, before they arrived, Chen Fu returned in a hurry.

He immediately saw the figure in the noisy place in the distance. The figure was completely different from before. This was the real Gu Yansheng he wanted to catch!

But the people in the East Palace also noticed it and were about to rush forward.

Chen Fuyou became anxious. He must not fail at this moment. Then he would really be unable to explain to the Zong family when he returned to the capital. He couldn't care much at the moment and narrowed his eyes fiercely.

"Pass my order. The water bandits are causing trouble tonight. Anyone who sees the thieves will be killed! Whoever has his head in hand will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

As soon as this order was passed, the people below immediately rushed towards the commotion.

The so-called disaster caused by water bandits is simply false.

He wanted to muddy the waters and take the opportunity to kill Gu and Yang.

And he has a lot of people, even the people from the East Palace are not enough to stop him.

Gu Yansheng and Yang Muhong felt their hearts sinking when they saw some of Chen Fu's men running over with swords in hand, while the people in the East Palace were crowded outside by them.

The resistance in his hands gradually became weak, but Chen Fu had too many people, and no one could stop him.

Yang Muhong was stabbed in the leg by a knife and fell to his knees.

Gu Yansheng resisted for him, but he couldn't hold on anymore and was stabbed in the old wound by another shot.

He laughed reluctantly.

"Is this God's will? Is it God's will not to let the common people stand up?"

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, there was suddenly a louder sound of horse hooves, surrounding him from all sides.

In just a few breaths, Gu Yang and others saw the man approaching on horseback.

Tan Ting gave an order, and the chaotic dock was suddenly completely surrounded by countless people.

Chen's men were at a loss for a moment, and in the next breath, the Tan family members stepped forward one after another, holding down their swords.

Chen Fuyou looked at the Tan family, whose manpower was three to five times his own, and looked at Tan Ting in disbelief.

His voice became shrill.

"Master Tan, what do you mean?!"

The wind wrapped the horse's ink-colored cloak.

He only heard the eldest son of the Tan family speak out loud.

"The Tan family doesn't want to sit on the sidelines anymore. This time, they want to help others."

After the words fell, Chen Fuyou felt a roar in his head.

"This... the Tan family is also a noble family, how can you help them?!"

He pointed at Yang Muhong, "Have Master Tan forgotten that it was this person who killed your father?!"

mentioned this, Everything fell silent.

The night wind howled, Tan Ting did not look at Yang Muhong, but looked at Chen Fuyou.

"Why are you Chens so sure? Or did you, the Fengling Chens, have a hand in my late father's death?"

He looked at Chen Fuyou closely and asked like this, only to see that Chen Fu had an expression on his face. For a moment, he didn't answer immediately, but was stunned for a moment.

His emotions were completely captured by Tan Ting.

Tan Ting suddenly closed his eyes, his heart aching for his father, and he laughed sarcastically.

"I didn't expect that there is such a world..."

In such a situation, Tan Ting could no longer take a neutral stance. He only glanced at the Tan family who came prepared and took control of the front of the pier. All Chen's people.

Upon seeing this, the people from the East Palace immediately stepped forward and finally took Gu Yansheng and Yang Muhong under their command.

Chen Fu watched the overall situation settled with his own eyes.

No matter how anxious he was, there was nothing he could do at this time. He had been ordered by the clan to pursue him for nearly half a year, but he finally failed.

He resented it, but he couldn't fight head-on with the overwhelming number of people from the Tan family. He could only turn around, hit his horse and leave with his men, disappearing into the night.

The dock suddenly became quiet.

Only Yang Muhong was stunned and looked at Tan Ting in disbelief, "Uncle Tan...are you willing to believe me?"

Tan Ting had no words, but everything he did made it clear.

The guilt Yang Muhong had felt for a long time had already been expressed at Tan Chaokuan's funeral.

He no longer cared about the looks of others and knelt down in front of Tan Tingma.

"What happened to your father is my fault, and I have regretted it for a long time. I have no words to defend myself anymore. It's just that there may be something fishy about the transfer of the epidemic. Mr. Tan must be careful!"

The crowd was silent, and Tan Ting held tightly. Clenched.

He didn't look at Yang Muhong, but was silent for a while and said something.

"At this point, the grudge between Tan and you has been wiped out."

The night wind whistled past, blowing the tide on the river.

Yang Muhong had never thought that he could be forgiven by Mrs. Tan. When he heard these words today, he burst into tears.

"Thank you... thank you..."

Xu Yuanming, the assistant minister of the East Palace, stepped forward at this time and hugged Tan Ting.

"What happened today will be reported to His Highness the Crown Prince when I return to the capital some day. Tan's contribution to the Qing Dynasty is indispensable!"

Tan Ting had no intention of taking credit, so he dismounted and returned the gift.

Even if he had merit, it was his wife's credit.

He really couldn't believe that she had such courage and courage...

But when he glanced at the messy pier, he didn't find his wife.

But I heard Gu Yansheng say something urgently.

"Yizhen may be in danger!"

...

in a patch of reeds on the edge of the wilderness.

Xiang Yi held her breath, and her whole body tensed up as the sound of horse hooves approaching behind her got closer.

Shopkeeper Jiang's old horse ran all night and couldn't run anymore, so she had to hide in the reeds with the old horse.

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and even the horse seemed to be aware of the danger, and its breathing became as light as Xiang Yi's.

One man and one horse lay in the reeds, not daring to make any sound.

It wasn't until the sound of horse hooves reached the road behind them that they found nothing and then disappeared.

The sound of horse hooves completely disappeared from his ears, and Xiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

She quickly stroked the old horse's mane and fed it some water.

But my left leg started to hurt.

She was walking quickly through the forest but could not find a sharp branch, but the branch suddenly came over and opened a bloody gash in her calf.

She sat sideways, looked at the blood on her aching leg, and sighed.

I tried cleaning it with the water from the pool, but it was too late at night and I couldn't see anything clearly.

There was silence everywhere, and she didn't know what happened to her adopted brother and the others. She just tried to stand up, but there was a sudden pain under her legs, and she fell back down again.

Xiang Yi smiled bitterly and looked up at the sky. The stars and moon were very bright. It looked like he was going to sit here until dawn.

She couldn't help but think of the Tan family in Gu'anfang.

I don't know what the old man will do when he sees her letter... I don't know

if it's because of bleeding or because he's too tired. Xiang Yi leaned on the old horse and slowly closed his eyes.

I don't know how long it took, but when she was feeling pain under her legs and feeling dazed, Lao Ma suddenly called out.

Xiang Yi suddenly woke up a little, but suddenly noticed someone walking quickly into the reeds.

Before she could react, someone squatted down behind her and picked her up from the reeds.

Xiang Yi was surprised.

The embrace was still cold at night at first, but with the next breath, the familiar warmth spread from the chest.

She turned around in surprise and saw the man's hard-lined face under the moonlight, and his deep-set brows.

"Uncle?"

Tan Ting tightened the corners of his mouth and pursed his lips tightly. Under his wife's surprised eyes, he stared at her for a few breaths, wondering what he wanted to say, but he didn't say it.

He turned around and put the person in his arms directly on his horse, then got on the horse and sat behind her.

He took off his cloak and wrapped her whole body. In the quiet moonlight that fell quietly, he held her in his arms and rode back.