That night, the two of them got together and analyzed the civil and military officials in Shangjing again. Unfortunately, after discussing for the second half of the night, they still did not get any results. In the end, because they were too tired, the two of them unknowingly fell asleep in the study.
The next day, Zhao Min woke up even earlier. She was shocked at first, but when she saw Song Qingshu sleeping on the table opposite her, a faint smile gradually appeared on the corner of her mouth.
She tiptoed out to freshen up. Zhao Min noticed that the servants were looking at her strangely. At first, she was a little puzzled, but she quickly realized that these servants were shocked that she slept in the same room with a man.
Although the two of them did not have any physical contact in the room, the people outside did not know. In their eyes, Zhao Min had obviously slept with Song Qingshu.
Zhao Min's cheeks turned red, and a trace of anger flashed in her eyes. However, it was not convenient to explain such a misunderstanding. Could she just catch a servant and say that nothing happened between her and Song Qingshu last night?
First, they would definitely not believe it, and second, she could not afford to lose face.
After washing up in a hurry, she came back and found that the initiator was still snoring loudly. Zhao Min was furious. She directly walked over and kicked his stool, "Lazy pig, get up!"
Song Qingshu was instantly startled awake. If he was not good at martial arts, he might have fallen to the ground, "What's going on?"
Seeing the glistening water stain at the corner of his mouth, Zhao Min threw the towel in her hand to him with a look of disgust, "You are so old, but you still drool while sleeping. So disgusting." When she said this, her little face could not help but turn red. It turned out that when she woke up, she was in a similar situation.
Song Qingshu smiled embarrassedly and took the towel to wipe the corner of his mouth, "I don't know how many lifetimes of good fortune I have accumulated to be able to have the princess wash up and serve me." As he spoke, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance on the towel. He could not help but look strange, "It smells so good. Did you use it before?"
Only then did Zhao Min realize that she had just thrown her things to him. She was secretly ashamed, but she couldn't admit it. "How could it be mine? It belongs to Auntie Wu, who cooks in the yard."
"Oh, in that case, I will use it to wipe my feet," Song Qingshu said deliberately.
"How dare you!" This sentence instantly caused Zhao Min to frown. Seeing Song Qingshu's expression, she immediately understood that she had fallen into his trap.
"Bastard ~" Zhao Min scolded, but she couldn't help but laugh first, "I can't be bothered to argue with you. After washing up, let's go out and taste the delicacies of Shang Jing."
Very quickly, the two of them appeared on the main street of the city and tasted the various specialties of Shang Jing. Because they couldn't think of any clues after racking their brains for so long last night, the two of them tacitly didn't mention Murong Jingyue's matter and treated it as a complete vacation. It was rare for the two of them to have such a chance to relax, so they especially cherished it.
It was a pity that they didn't enjoy it for a long time before one of Zhao Min's men came and glanced at Song Qingshu. The man hesitated again and again. After what happened last night, he had already recognized this person as the son-in-law of the Ruyang Mansion, and thought that there was no need to hide it from him. However, Zhao Min had always been very strict with her subordinates, and he was worried that he would be punished by Zhao Min afterward. In the end, he didn't say it publicly, but approached Zhao Min and reported it in a low voice.
"What happened?" After the man left, Song Qingshu asked casually. It was not difficult for him to eavesdrop with his skills, but out of respect, he didn't eavesdrop on the man's conversation.
"The delegation of the Southern Song Dynasty is about to arrive at a small town 30 miles away from the city. They could have entered Shang Jing today, but it seems that the Southern Song Dynasty attached great importance to the auspicious time, so they planned to rest outside the city for a night and enter the city tomorrow morning," Zhao Min answered.
"The delegation of the Southern Song Dynasty …" Song Qingshu's eyes narrowed. He knew that they were here to discuss how to attack the Jin Kingdom from both the north and the south.
"Today is the best chance to sabotage the peace talks. If we wait until they enter the city, they will be watched by all the forces, and with the protection of the Liao army, it will be more than twice as difficult to do anything."
Song Qingshu's expression was strange. "Are you hinting me to do something?"
Zhao Min smiled sweetly. "I didn't say anything."
Song Qingshu finally couldn't hold back his curiosity. He looked at her with burning eyes and asked, "Logically speaking, the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty attacking the Jin Kingdom is the most advantageous for the Mongolians. Why do you help me?"
Zhao Min blushed and looked away. "You don't have to think about it. I'm not helping you, I'm helping myself."
"Helping yourself?" Song Qingshu was confused.
"It's beneficial for the Mongolians, but it might not be beneficial for the Ruyang Mansion. These years, I've sensed that the Great Khan has begun to be suspicious of my father. He hasn't done anything because he needs my father's help to govern the Central Plains. But if the most powerful enemy in the Central Plains, the Jin Kingdom, collapses, we have to be careful." Zhao Min looked to the north as she spoke. Her eyes were full of worry.
"It seems that the power struggle in the Mongolians has reached a white-hot stage …" Song Qingshu thought to himself. He joked, "It seems that you are planning to support the enemy."
"Don't make it sound so bad." Zhao Min glared at him. "It takes wisdom to protect yourself. By the way, are you going or not?"
"Yes, of course." Song Qingshu knew the purpose of his trip to the north. Of course, he couldn't let Song Liao form an alliance so easily. "Are you going with me?"
Zhao Min blushed and turned her face away. "Why should I go with you? It's not my business."
"That's true." Song Qingshu smiled bitterly. "Then let's split up. I'll go stop the Southern Song delegation, and you continue to investigate the whereabouts of Murong Jingyue."
"Alright." Zhao Min was straightforward and did not beat around the bush.
After parting ways with Zhao Min, Song QingShu hurried to the small town outside the city. Thirty li was not a long journey, but because it was still early, he deliberately slowed down his pace, lest the envoy mission was in high spirits early in the morning.
About two hours later, he finally arrived at the small town. Liao arranged for the Southern Song delegation to stay at the courier station. Song Qingshu secretly investigated and roughly figured out the size of the delegation.
This time, the Southern Song delegation didn't send many people, only about twenty. Obviously, they wanted to make the delegation smaller and less likely to be discovered by the enemy. Except for the envoy and the deputy envoy, the rest were all experts. It seemed that the Song court also attached great importance to the security of the delegation.
"I don't know how to stop the alliance between the two countries." Song Qingshu hid in a tree and was very distressed. In fact, he had a vague answer in his heart, but he didn't want to face it.
To destroy the alliance between the two countries, the simplest way was to kill the delegation. A more advanced way was to deliberately let one or two people go and then put the blame on the Khitans.
At that time, even if the Song court let bygones be bygones and sent another delegation, they could buy a few more months to go back and forth. Moreover, they could keep on killing until the two countries grew suspicious of each other. Then, they would have succeeded.
But Song Qingshu wasn't such a cruel and murderous person, especially for his own interests in the Jin Kingdom. He couldn't get over killing the Song people.
"If Zhao Min were here, she would probably laugh at me for being soft-hearted." Song Qingshu smiled bitterly.
Suddenly, his expression changed and he subconsciously hid in the bushes. Not long after, a masked man suddenly rushed in from outside and snuck into the relay station.
"Why does this person look so familiar?" Song Qingshu was puzzled, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.
Just as he was having a headache, he suddenly heard a low cry from inside. Although it stopped abruptly, Song Qingshu could instantly tell that it was the scream of a person before death.
"This person …" Song QingShu was startled. Just as he was hesitating whether he should go over to take a look, the Khitan warriors at the relay station were clearly alarmed as well. One by one, they rushed over with weapons in their hands while shouting.
In just a short while, the man in black had already walked out of the house. Drops of blood slowly seeped out of the long sword in his hand.
Song Qingshu's eyes narrowed. He had already recognized the sword. It was the sword of the Xue Yi people!
At this time, the group of Khitan warriors found the Southern Song diplomatic mission lying in a pool of blood. They were all shocked and shouted as they rushed toward the murderer.
There was a flash of blood in the air. The Xue Yi people's sword was like the scythe of the grim reaper. It shone with a blood-red but poignant light, reaping one life after another.
After about the time for a joss stick to burn, there was no one left alive in the relay station. The Xue Yi people took out a handkerchief to wipe off the blood on the sword. They slowly sheathed the sword and leisurely walked out as if nothing had happened.
Song Qingshu quietly went into the room to investigate and found that the Song diplomatic mission had all been killed with one strike. Many of the guards had just pulled out their sabers and their eyes were still filled with shock. It was as if they didn't expect the opponent's sword to be so fast.
"The Xue Yi people are from the Imperial City Department. Why did he kill the diplomatic mission of the imperial court?" Song Qingshu was shocked. The development of the plot was beyond his expectations.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became. Song Qingshu finally decided to follow and take a look. The Xue Yi people's Lightness Skill was very good. In a short time, they were already a few miles away from the small town. It was thanks to Song Qingshu's Lightness Skill that it was difficult to catch up to him.
Seeing the back of the Xue Yi people, Song Qingshu slowed down. The Xue Yi people's swordsmanship was already one of the best in the world. If they really fought, it would be impossible to capture him in a short time. Moreover, the Xue Yi people had a tough personality. It was most likely that he wouldn't be able to get anything out of him. It was better to secretly follow behind him and see where he was going and who the mastermind was.
The Xue Yi people held a position in the Imperial City Department. Not only was his martial arts powerful, but he was also good at tracking and concealment. It was all thanks to Song Qingshu's current cultivation that he could follow behind him without anyone noticing. Even so, he was almost discovered by the Xue Yi people two or three times.
"Eh, they actually entered Shangjing?" Looking at the city gate in the distance, Song Qingshu was even more surprised. "Could it be that the Xue Yi people are colluding with the Liao people?"
However, he quickly denied this guess. From the perspective of the Liao people, there was no reason for them to kill the Song diplomatic mission. However, the Xue Yi people couldn't possibly be working for the Jin Kingdom, could they?
As the highest official in the Jin Kingdom, Song Qingshu naturally knew that it was impossible. He became even more curious about the Xue Yi people's motives.
He followed the Xue Yi people all the way into the city. He walked left and right and soon arrived at a secluded house.
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