National color raw owl

Suddenly a voice came from the dark alley, King Qi was startled, even Lu Haosheng suddenly changed color, Ma Zhongheng had already drawn his sword, stepped forward two steps, and stood in front of King Qi.

Although King Qi was horrified, he still leaned forward in front of Ling Shuang.

But Qiu Ruxue said in a deep voice: "Mountains are mountains, and winds are winds!" While speaking, his one arm was already pressed on the handle of the knife.

The voice on the opposite side had already said: "The wind is the wind, the mountain is the mountain, Hero Qiu, you have finally arrived." Hearing the sound of footsteps, two figures were walking towards him quickly.

Qiu Ruxue turned his head and said, "My lord, he belongs to us." King Qi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.

Two people greeted them in the dark, one was a one-eyed white blind man, and the other was a short, fat middle-aged man, less than 50 years old, dressed in brocade clothes, and looked quite shrewd.

"Hero Qiu is really amazing." Bai Xiazi smiled and said, "We have been waiting here for a long time, and we are very anxious."

Qiu Ruxue said: "This is not a place to stay for a long time, the car is ready?"

The chunky middle-aged man said: "It's ready, it's designed according to the official car, and it's parked in the alley."

King Qi knew the blind man, but not the middle-aged man, and asked, "Who is this?"

"My lord, this is Gu Diexuan's Shopkeeper Shen." Bai Xiazi explained: "When Governor Chu was in Beijing, he bought several shops on Jinyu Street and opened them, and one of them was Gu Diexuan of Shen's shopkeeper. , specializing in the sale of antique calligraphy and paintings, shopkeeper Shen made a great effort to rescue the prince this time, and shopkeeper Shen prepared everything needed."

Shen Wansi, a short and fat middle-aged man, had already cupped his hands to King Qi and said, "Shen Wansi, a grassroots man, pay homage to the prince!"

King Qi was surprised and said: "Chu Huan still has a shop in the capital?" He really didn't expect that Chu Huan was far away in the northwest, but this capital still had his influence. His majestic prince looked around in times of crisis, but there was no help. Chu Huan is far in the northwest, but he can still use the power of the capital.

Of course he didn't know that when An Guogong Huang Ju fell, all his family property was confiscated, all the houses and shops in Anyi's hometown were sold at a low price, and all the confiscated money was handed over to the treasury.

The Huang family was originally the leading big family in Anyi. Huang Ju later became the Duke of An and took charge of the household department. He even tried his best to amass money. Not only part of the money was used as military expenses for the southeast war, but also part of it was transported to the northwest for support.

All the shopfronts of his house in Beijing were also confiscated. Luo'an capital is the most prosperous place in the entire empire, and Jinyu Street is the most prosperous place in Luo'an capital. Every shopfront in Jinyu Street is worth thousands of dollars. The Huang family had more than a dozen shops on Jinyu Street, but these shops were secretly operated by Chu Huan and others at a low price. Chu Huan got several shops, and one of them was handed over to Shen Wansi to operate an antique shop.

After Chu Huan left Beijing, the antique shop was still kept, not for earning money. He was far away in the northwest and left an antique shop in the capital. At first, he planned to keep an ear in the capital. Send a message to the northwest.

At the beginning, the branch shop was managed by Ma Hong from the household department, and it was very secretive. Not many people Chu Huan had a shop in Beijing.

Everyone entered the depths of the alley, only to find that there was a carriage parked in the alley. Judging by the style of the carriage, it was an official carriage. The carriages used by Qin officials were quite different from ordinary carriages. Official carriages are usually very spacious. , and the edges and corners on the side of the carriage shed have patterns, and the edges and corners of ordinary carriages cannot be carved with patterns, and no matter how much money there is, there is no official position, and it is not allowed to own a carriage that can carry more than six people.

This carriage, squeezed together, can accommodate eight people. Beside the carriage, there are four tall middle-aged men, but these four people are all wearing the clothes of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs.

In addition to the carriage, five other horses were tied up in the alley. The horses' mouths were covered with cotton cloth, and even the hoofs of the horses were wrapped in cotton cloth. Everyone knew that this was naturally because they were worried that the horses would make noises and cause others to panic. attention.

"This is made according to the carriage style of Gu Liangxiu, the right servant of the Ministry of punishment." Shen Wansi said with a smile: "We carefully forged an official order of the right servant of the Ministry of punishment, and next, we will rush to the west gate in the identity of Gu Liangxiu...! Pointing to the four people beside the car, he said: "These four are our people, they are absolutely trustworthy, they pretended to be officers of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and escorted Gu Liangxiu out of the city."

King Qi was even more relieved, knowing that the other party had indeed made careful arrangements.

"Shopkeeper Shen, you mean to leave the city as Gu Liangxiu?" Lu Haosheng asked.

Shen Wansi nodded and said: "Exactly. The reason for Gu Liangxiu to go out of the city is very good. Recently, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has arrested officials on a large scale, not only in the capital, but also sent people to arrest and investigate. The Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Qiu Junyu, is mainly in charge of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Zhang Yuanda, the left servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, led the arrest of officials in Beijing, and the right servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Gu Liangxiu, was sent to the local government when important officials were involved... Gu Liangxiu just happened the day before yesterday Come back, there is nothing suspicious about going out of the city today." Pointing to the carriageway: "My lord, the cotton clothes for you to change are already prepared in the car, you can change now, without further delay, we can start now."

"Then are you going to the northwest too?"

Shen Wansi nodded with a smile and said: "Chu Du ordered to come here, once the prince wants to leave the capital, we will do our best. Just yesterday, Gu Diexuan has quietly closed the door, and those who should evacuate have already evacuated. We are the last A batch, after leaving the city, we will escort the prince all the way to the northwest."

King Qi didn't hesitate any longer, and several people got into the carriage, which can accommodate seven or eight people without any problem, but Shen Wansi had already asked Ma Zhongheng: "Commander Ma, you have served as the General Banner of Xicheng, I don't know how many people know you ?”

"I haven't been in the position of Xicheng General Banner for a long time, and I don't know many people." Ma Zhongheng said, "Why does shopkeeper Shen ask such a question?"

Shen Wansi said: "That's good. That's it. Although these four brothers are all wearing the clothes of officials from the Ministry of Punishment, they really don't know much about the affairs of the yamen. If you encounter a patrol team on the way, ask them, I'm afraid they will make mistakes , so here is a set of clothes specially prepared for Commander Ma, and he has to trouble Commander Ma to change into it, and lead the team to the west gate. The matter of Zhonghe Yamen is clearer than us, so...!"

Ma Zhongheng nodded and understood Shen Wansi's meaning.

Ma Zhongheng changed into the clothes of the official of the Ministry of Punishment, which fit perfectly. Lu Haosheng saw it, but was really surprised. It was no coincidence, it must have been known about Ma Zhongheng's body shape before.

King Qi, Ling Shuang, Lu Haosheng, Bai Xiazi, Qiu Ruxue, and Shen Wansi were all sitting in the carriage, and it didn't look crowded. Ma Zhongheng led the four men and untied the horse's mouth and hoof. Mianbu, the four men in the entourage plus Ma Zhongheng, happened to be five people, five horses were just right, Shen Wansi poked his head out and said to Ma Zhongheng: "Commander Ma, the coachman knows the route, you just follow him."

Che Fu, who was sitting on the shaft of the car and driving the car, was only 36 years old and looked very simple and honest. He smiled at Ma Zhongheng and did not speak. With a flick of the rein, the carriage started to move slowly, walked along the alley to the end, and turned around. On the main street, Ma Zhongheng and others followed on horseback, and they were divided into two sides of the carriage. The group of people continued to advance towards the west city gate on a cold winter night.

In fact, the most heavily patrolled area in Xicheng District is the residential area of ​​officials. The farther away from that area, the fewer patrols. Even the soldiers of the patrol team are still haunting the streets after the time has passed, and they patrol as little as possible.

After walking for more than half an hour in the east and west corners of the West City, everyone tried to keep as fast as possible, but not too fast. If the carriage moves too fast and there are too many movements, it might attract attention. At this time, naturally, the less it attracts Pay attention the better.

Just turning to a street, not far away, a group of patrol soldiers suddenly appeared from a nearby street, there were more than a dozen soldiers, the leader saw the carriage, he had already grasped the handle of the knife, and shouted in a deep voice: "Stop!"

Ma Zhongheng held the saber in his hand, the coachman had already reined in his horse and stopped the carriage, the patrol team quickly stepped forward, with their spears forward, and surrounded the carriage in an instant.

Those patrolling at night in central Beijing were all Wujing Guards from various departments, and the leader was the head of the department in this area. When he saw Ma Zhongheng and others wearing the clothes of officials from the Ministry of Punishment, he immediately smiled and said, "So it's from the Ministry of Punishment." Brother, it's still early before dawn, so I don't know where you brothers are going?"

Ma Zhongheng took the first look at the office early on, and was sure he didn't know him, so he said in a deep voice, "I'm out of Beijing on business!"

"Business?" The head of the department's eyes swept back and forth on the carriage, but he still kept smiling and said, "It's the cold winter months, you have worked really hard. You are going out of the city before the city gate is opened?"

"When we get to the other side of the city gate, it will open naturally." Ma Zhongheng said with a blank expression on his face, "We want to leave Beijing immediately when we open the city, and we can't delay here." He raised his hand and said, "Let's go!"

"Wait a minute!" Shutou stopped in front of the carriage, still smiling, "Which adult is in the carriage?"

"Why, do you want to interrogate us?" Ma Zhongheng sneered, "Even if you, General Banner, are here, you wouldn't dare to be so rude."

"Misunderstood," the official said with a smile: "It's not that I'm being rude. The Commander has issued an order early on to strictly inspect the respective areas, especially at night, and you must be more cautious. As mentioned above, the Heavenly Gate is pervasive. It is very likely that there are disciples of the Tianmen sect in the capital, so we have to be careful...!"

"Bold!" Ma Zhongheng sternly said, "Don't you think that the carriage is a Taoist from the Tianmen? The carriage is Mr. Gu, the right servant of the Ministry of Punishment. How dare you be so presumptuous?"

Shu Tou apologized with a smile: "Calm down, you mean Mr. Gu is the only one in the carriage?"

Ma Zhongheng frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

The head of the department stared at the wheels, and calmly said: "The humble officer often leads patrols, and he sees as many carriages as a cow's hair. It is not uncommon for the humble officer to have seen such a big carriage... It's just that the wheels of this wheel are heavily covered with snow. More than one person?" While speaking, he had already put his hand on his saber, and the other Wujing guards were also holding their spears tightly, staring at them.