Xuan Tianming's imperial carriage sped up to chase after Zirui. However, the hidden guards' top priority was to escort Zirui back to Xiao Zhou. Thus, their speed was especially fast, to the point that they couldn't catch up even when the sky turned dark.
That night, the imperial carriage stopped in a small town. Bai Ze bought a carriage back and decided to send two people to send Song Kang back to the main camp first. Firstly, it would reduce the load on the imperial carriage. Secondly, it would be useless for him to follow them. They would have to send someone to protect him.
The people in the small town all went to bed early. Only the lantern in front of an inn was still lit. Xuan Tianming asked Feng Yu Heng for her opinion: "Should we rest for the night or continue chasing? If we continue, we'll have to change horses. We've been galloping all day. The people are fine, but the horses can't. "
Feng Yu Heng really wanted to continue chasing. That feeling of unease was still very strong. However, Xuan Tianming was right. The people were fine, but the horses couldn't. The imperial carriage only needed two horses to change carriages. But what about the hidden guards following them? It was impossible for the hidden guards to use qinggong to follow them for a long time. They also needed to ride horses. This small town was only so big. Where could they find so many good horses?
"Let's rest for the night." Her words were rather helpless. She lifted the curtain and looked at the inn that still had its lantern lit. She began to plan in her heart. Tomorrow morning, she would definitely ask around to see if there were any good horses to sell in the town.
Xuan Tianming led her down the carriage. Huang Quan and Bai Ze went forward to knock on the inn's door. The innkeeper quickly came out. He was a young man who wasn't even twenty years old. The man looked outside. When he saw their imperial carriage, he couldn't help but be startled. Then, he said, "Wait a moment."
With a bang, the door closed again.
Xuan Tianming and Feng Yu Heng looked at each other. They both felt that something was wrong.
Not long after, the inn's door opened again. This time, it was an old man who stood at the door and waved at them. Bai Ze took the lead and went in. Not long after, he ran out and said to Xuan Tianming, "Master, come in quickly."
The others hurriedly entered the inn and followed the old man all the way to the backyard. When they reached the backyard, they discovered that there was a carriage parked there.
Feng Yu Heng's heart thumped. That "bad" feeling became even stronger.
The old man of the inn told them, "Before the sky turned dark, a group of people came with a young master. They said that they were in a hurry and that a carriage was too slow, so they used this carriage and some silver to exchange for a few fast horses. One of the lords, as he was leaving, ordered that if anyone came to the town in a splendid carriage, led by a young man and a young woman, the carriage should be shown to them, and they should be informed of the journey. This old man thinks that you should be the people that the Lord was talking about. Look, do you recognize this carriage? "
Bai Ze pointed at the carriage and said: "This is the carriage that we gave to the Feng family's young master."
Feng Yu Heng anxiously asked the old man, "Did they leave behind any words?"
The old man said, "They didn't say anything else, only that they were going to Xiao Zhou and were in a hurry. But this old man heard that they seemed to have said something about it being too late and left in a hurry. Right now, the sky is already dark. To go from this town to another town, they would need to ride fast until dawn. Thinking about it, they must have traveled through the night. "
The old man was only responsible for passing on the message. He had opened an inn in the town for many years and had seen many people. Although he felt that the people in front of him were not ordinary, he thought about how he had not done anything wrong. These people did not seem like evil spirits, so he was not afraid.
Xuan Tianming pulled Feng Yu Heng in front of the carriage and stopped on the wooden frame of the carriage. Feng Yu Heng also looked over and saw that there was a small symbol carved into the wooden frame. It was like a drawn bow.
Ban Zou also came over at this time. He couldn't help but feel shocked when he saw it. He explained to Feng Yu Heng: "This is one of the symbols that his highness uses. It represents … … danger."
"Danger?" She repeated, thinking about it in her heart.
What kind of danger could there be? Ten hidden guards were escorting them, but it was so dangerous that they had to abandon the carriage and change to horses. This was clearly a rhythm of running for their lives. What kind of danger could cause ten hidden guards to panic like this?
She sent an inquiring gaze towards Xuan Tianming, but she saw that the other side's brow was also tightly furrowed. He did not have a single clue. However, Xuan Tianming still made a decision: "We can't rest. Continue chasing." He then asked the innkeeper: "I'll give you three times the amount of silver. Prepare some horses based on the number of people we have. Remember, we need good horses. The faster the better. Do you understand? "
The old man revealed a bitter expression. He helplessly spread out his hands and said: "This young master, even if you gave this old man ten times the amount of silver, this old man still wouldn't be able to find fast horses. I won't hide it from you. After the group with the young master left, another group of people came less than an hour later. There were a total of twenty people and they bought all of the horses in this small town. There were other horses, but most of them were old horses. They could carry goods, but they couldn't be used to ride people. "
Feng Yu Heng anxiously cried out: "All of the horses? Could it be that there are only twenty fast horses in this town? "
The old man shook his head: "Not only that. That group of people didn't even stay in the town for two hours and found a total of fifty fast horses. That really is the town's limit. You can also see that our town is too small. Although it's called a town, it's just a transit point between the capital and Xiao Zhou. Being able to gather fifty horses is already quite good. "
Xuan Tianming gave a cold snort and squeezed Feng Yu Heng's hand. At this time, they understood that twenty people couldn't use fifty horses, but they had successfully cut off their escape route. In the end, this was the other party's true goal.
Feng Yu Heng was most afraid that someone would make a move against Zirui and Yao Shi. Yao Shi's side had already become like this. She didn't want anything to happen to Zirui. Otherwise, not only would she let down the original owner, she would also let down her own conscience.
But the thing that she feared the most had happened. Zi Rui was clearly in danger, and the ten hidden guards were running away. Who exactly were the 20 or so people that were chasing after him?
Xuan Tianming knew she was worried, so he decisively ordered Bai Ze: "Take down the two horses pulling the carriage and feed them. Feed all the horses. Then everyone will rest here. After an hour, we will set off again." After saying this, he said to the old man: "I'll have to trouble you to prepare some more fodder. Also, have someone prepare some food. We will only be staying for an hour. The sooner the food is served, the better. You will not be short on money."
The shopkeeper had received two groups of strange people in a single day. Including them, this was already the third group. Their initial curiosity had been more or less worn away. Hearing Xuan Tianming's orders, they did not say anything else and immediately returned to the shop with the waiter.
Xuan Tianming pulled Feng Yu Heng back to the shop to sit down. The waiter poured them some water. Feng Yu Heng pulled out some tea leaves from her space for everyone to drink. She then brought out two packets of instant coffee for herself. To chase after someone, she needed to be in high spirits. She could not tire out the horses and the people.
Xuan Tianming quietly analyzed the current situation with her: "At present, we do not know who is chasing after Zirui, but thinking about it, whether it is Qian Zhou or the North, it is possible. It could even be someone from another power. We cannot rule it out. Right now, aside from continuing to chase, there is nothing else we can do. Who knows how long these horses can last, but thinking about it, if we continue to run through the night, we should be able to last until the next small town. There should not be any problems. "
But Feng Yu Heng was still worried: "What if the horses in the town ahead have also been bought by someone else?"
Xuan Tianming said, "Then that would at least mean that those people have not caught up to Zirui. We still have a chance." He patted her shoulder: "When the carriage reaches the mountain, there will be a path."
She knew that this was just comforting words. Who knew if there would be a path when the carriage reached the mountain. If the horses in the town ahead really were gone, with the horses that they were riding, they would only be able to last for half a day before they would need to stop and rest. With this rest, they would be able to continue.
Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow and sipped her coffee with a worried expression. Xuan Tianming then said to her: "The North and Qian Zhou do not dare to take the initiative to send out troops because they do not have a chance of winning if we attack the heart of Dashun. They are all waiting for us to take the initiative to attack. Like this, they can use the ice in the North to wear down Dashun's troops. But not sending out troops does not mean that they are not playing dirty. Heng Heng, I was thinking that even if those ten hidden guards ran into an expert of the same level, they would be able to fight one against three. But why did they run away so pathetically? Why did they leave behind a sign that represents danger to our army? "
Feng Yu Heng's heart sank, as she said in a daze: "Could it be … … that it was Qian Zhou's divine archery team?"
"It's possible." Xuan Tianming said: "No matter how good the hidden guards are, Qian Zhou's divine archery team has tracking arrows. Once those arrows are shot, tell me, who could possibly dodge them?"
Feng Yu Heng wanted to say that she could, but there was no need to show off at this time. She only regretted that she did not think of teaching those hidden guards how to avoid tracking arrows. If Qian Zhou really did send out a divine archery team to chase after Zirui, this really would be a difficult matter to handle.
"Don't worry." Xuan Tianming placed his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it, "Even if he is caught, Zirui's life will not be in danger. They should be using that child to negotiate with us. They will not take his life for a while. It's just … … a pity for those brothers. "
The brothers that he spoke of were naturally the ten hidden guards that had been protecting Zirui. Xuan Tianming had never treated the hidden guards as slaves. To him, whether it was the hidden guards or Bai Ze, they were all brothers that had gone through life and death with him. Their lives were as precious as his own. He could not use his brothers' lives to block arrows. Naturally, he could not watch as his brothers died.
But now, there was nothing he could do even if he was anxious. Animals were different from people. If a horse did not rest and was not fed, it really would not walk.
The restaurant's food was prepared very quickly. The old man said to Xuan Tianming: "There are a few large pots of food that were not sold out at dinner time. They are all good. There is no time to make anything else. Just eat this. This old one had someone pack quite a bit of dry food for me to bring. Eat it when you are hungry on the road. "
Xuan Tianming nodded and gestured to Bai Ze to hand over the money. Bai Ze pulled out two large pieces of silver and handed them to the old man. The old man did not refuse and accepted them.
One hour later, everyone set out once more.
This run lasted for an entire night. It was only when the sun came up that they finally saw the town ahead. The people found the horse peddler with uneasy hearts. After asking, they heard a shocking result: "Sirs, you're late. A group of people came at 3 in the morning and bought all the horses in my horse farm. Not just the horses here, even the good horses raised by the large families in town were bought. "
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