Chapter 356: Inquiry Mission

"I really don't know. Wanzhou is still a few days away from the north. If you don't believe me, you might as well go further north and see for yourself."

Zhizhou Niu repeatedly defended himself, almost swearing to heaven.

Zhizhou Niu was a small figure, and it was likely that he didn't know, so everyone didn't embarrass him.

After Liu Yushi asked a few more questions about the northern border, Dali Temple Secretary stood up and saw him off with a smile.

After watching Magistrate Niu get on the carriage and leave with the officials, the Dali Temple Secretary returned to the post station, dismissed the postman, and looked around at everyone: "Should we go north now, or stay at the post station for a few more days?"

Chen, the head of the Criminal Department, whispered: "If we continue to stay at the post station, the people of King Huai will definitely come. At that time, we can only go north with them."

"Isn't this just right." Another censor named Zhou smiled and said: "We are in the light, Xu Yinluo is in the dark, and it is our task to attract the attention of King Huai."

The Dali Temple Secretary sighed: "I don't know how the princess is doing, whether she is alive or dead."

Hearing this, Chen, the head of the police, and the two censors sneered. What does the life and death of the princess and Chu Xianglong have to do with them.

That kind of insidious and cunning despicable villain should be dead.

Yang Yan told them that after Xu Qian'an defeated the northern masters, he set off alone and secretly went to the northern border to investigate the case.

This plan won unanimous approval from everyone, and they promised to keep it secret. The three officials cooperated so well because they had just received Xu Qi'an's life-saving grace, and their attitude towards him had changed from hostility to closeness.

Secondly, Xu Qi'an's secret investigation meant that the delegation could be passive and lazy, and would not attract the backlash of the King of Zhenbei because of any evidence found.

Kill two birds with one stone.

There was one thing Yang Yan did not tell them, that is, the whereabouts of the princess. According to Yang Yan's speculation, the princess was very likely rescued by Xu Qi'an.

This was the conclusion he came to after he groped in the direction Xu Qi'an left, groped all the way to the battle scene, and found the unconscious maid.

There was no other residue at the scene except the spider silk and maids that covered the forest.

Yang Yan woke up the maids to ask about the situation, and learned from them that Xu Qi'an had chased them, and then there might be a big battle. Why is it possible, because the maids didn't know.

They fainted soon.

Yang Yan speculated two possibilities: either Xu Qi'an kidnapped the princess halfway and started a chase with the northern masters; or Xu Qi'an defeated the northern masters and successfully rescued the princess.

He preferred the former guess, because there was no sign of fighting at the scene, and it was very likely that Xu Qi'an used the magic recorded in the Confucian books to successfully rescue the princess.

"The four northern masters went deep into the Dafeng territory and did not dare to be too blatant, which gave Xu Qi'an a lot of opportunities...... He has the Confucian books to protect his body, and he has a small success in the Vajra Divine Art, so he is not completely without the ability to protect himself. Moreover, it is just the right opportunity to sharpen him, so that he can touch the threshold of Huajin earlier and be promoted to the fifth rank."

Yang Yan thought so at the time.

This would be very dangerous, but the martial arts system is a process of breaking through and sharpening oneself. Yang Yan himself also participated in the Shanhai Battle that year, and he was still very immature at that time.

He still dared to fight on the battlefield with a knife, survived nine deaths, and sharpened his martial arts.

Xu Qi'an could do it, of course. If he couldn't, he couldn't blame anyone if he died.

In addition, he secretly arranged ten imperial guards to escort the maid to the south and return to the capital.

The delegation now had only ninety imperial guards, and the Dali Temple Secretary and others were unaware of this. It was not that they were not careful enough, but that they had never cared about the lower-level soldiers.

........

On a mountain path trampled by pedestrians, Xu Qi'an walked in front with a saber wrapped in cloth on his back.

The princess with messy black hair leaned on a branch and hung slowly behind her. After a few days, the maid's clothes she wore became wrinkled and dirty, and her body began to smell sour.

At first, she paid attention to her hair and combed it neatly when she woke up in the morning. Later, she didn't care about it and just tied her hair with a wooden hairpin, and her hair hung down slightly messy.

Where was the noble appearance of the princess? She was clearly a poor woman who fled from famine.

"Not bad, you've been following me for so long. You've made great progress in your physical strength these days."

In front, Xu Qi'an stopped and praised with a smile.

"I heard the sound of water ahead. Work harder and take a rest there."

Upon hearing this, the princess' eyes lit up, then dimmed. She didn't dare to take a bath. She would rather smell her own sweat every day and scratch here and there.

There was a reason why the princess didn't take a bath. First, to prevent Xu Qi'an from peeping or taking the opportunity to do something crazy to her.

Second, as long as she continued to smell like this, this guy would not touch her.

I can't stand the sour smell on you anymore... This is Xu Qi'an's catchphrase that he has been saying for the past few days.

Not long after, the two saw a slender waterfall on the cliff on the left. Where there is a waterfall, there must be a pool of water.

Sure enough, after getting closer, there was a small pool of water under the waterfall. The water in the pool flowed out to form a thin stream.

"I can't stand the sour smell on you anymore. Do you want to take a bath?" Xu Qi'an suggested.

"No." She refused.

"Dirty woman." Xu Qi'an spat.

You are dirty, bah... The corners of the princess' mouth curled up, and she was very proud.

"If you don't wash, I will."

Xu Qi'an took off his coat, revealing his strong upper body, with well-proportioned muscles and excellent proportions, showing the masculine beauty of men to the fullest.

The princess rolled her eyes and turned her head away.

There was a "plop" sound in her ears. She looked back and confirmed that Xu Qi'an jumped into the pool. She sat down on the stone by the stream and slowly took off her dirty embroidered shoes.

A pair of delicate and small feet were exposed. She held her feet and looked at them. The soles of her feet were red and there were a few blisters.

The princess held her mouth and almost wanted to cry.

Although Xu Ningyan, the lustful man, was tempted by her beauty and was quite sympathetic to her, he did not hurry on his way.

However, for a pampered princess, it was such a difficult journey to walk through mountains and rivers for five days.

In simple terms: I was treated inappropriately for my beauty and status.

The princess soaked her white feet in the stream, then cleaned her dirty embroidered shoes and hung them on the stone. The sunshine in mid-spring was just right, but it might not be able to dry her shoes.

Here, the princess had another little idea. If her shoes were wet, she could use this as an excuse to rest for a while.

If the boy disagreed, she could just ask him to steam her shoes for her.

Best of both worlds.

The cold stream water soaked her ankles, and she squinted her eyes and enjoyed it for a long time, then moved her plump and round buttocks off the stone, stood in the stream, lifted the hem of her skirt, and tied it tightly at her knees.

Women of this era would definitely not neglect to protect the bottom of their skirts. There are three layers in total, namely underwear, normal silk pants, and skirts.

The princess leaned over and scooped up a handful of water to wash her face.

Comfortable... She squinted her crescent-like eyes and made an expression of enjoyment.

At this time, she saw that Xu Qiyan had come ashore at a high place in front of her, by the pond. This guy had his back to her, facing the pond, one hand on his waist, and the other hand between his legs holding something.

A crystal clear water line crossed a graceful arc and merged into the pond.

"Xu Ningyan!!"

The princess screamed in collapse.

........

Bang!

On the mountain road, Xu Qiyan, who was walking in front, was hit on the back of his head by a stone. Xu Yinluo, who had unparalleled physical defense, ignored it and continued to walk forward.

Bang! Another stone hit the back of his head.

"Hey, are you done yet?" Xu Qi'an turned his head and glared at the woman who had been hitting him tirelessly for an hour.

Aren't her hands sore?

The princess hid the stone in her hand behind her back, put her hands behind her back, turned her head away, and pretended to look at the scenery around.

Xu Qi'an glared at her for a few times. The princess was tactful. She knew that she was in a weak position in the team and never argued with him openly. But when Xu Qi'an turned around...

Bang!

The stone came again.

.....I have never seen such a stingy woman. I'll see how long you can hit. Anyway, you are tired! Xu Qi'an complained in his heart.

She had limited strength, and the stone could not hit much force. In addition, Xu Qi'an had amazing defense. This kind of painless attack could be ignored. He just felt annoyed.

.......

After staying in Wanzhou for three days, the post station welcomed an army. There were not many people, only two hundred. But the general leading the team was of high status. He was a lieutenant general of the assault battalion under the command of the King of Zhenbei, and was a fourth-rank general.

The lieutenant general's surname was Li, and he was from Chuzhou. He had northern appearance, strong and muscular, with rough features. The armor he wore was dull in color and covered with knife marks.

This is proof of long experience in the battlefield.

He led his men into the post station, and his eyes swept sharply over Yang Yan and the officials of the three divisions who came downstairs after hearing the noise, and asked in a deep voice: "Where is the princess? Where is Deputy General Chu?"

The two rows of soldiers behind him had serious faces and stared at the officials of the delegation.

The Dali Temple Secretary suddenly felt a lot of pressure. He stepped forward with a head held high, and said, "Who are you?"

"Chuzhou, Lieutenant General of the Assault Battalion, Li Yuanhua." Lieutenant General looked at the Dali Temple Secretary: "Who are you?"

"I am the Dali Temple Secretary."

Lieutenant General Li nodded and asked again: "Where is the princess?"

Today, he suddenly received an order from the Huai Wang spy, asking him to go to Wanzhou and ask the delegation about the princess. Li Yuanhua then knew that the princess had left Beijing and went north, and thought that the Huai Wang spy wanted him to pick up the princess.

He immediately led two hundred cavalrymen and the Huai Wang spy to rush over from the nearby Changmen County.

The smile on the face of the Dali Temple Secretary slowly disappeared, and he sighed: "The delegation was intercepted on the way, and we were separated from the princess."

Intercepted? !

Li Canjiang was shocked and surprised. In Dafeng, someone dared to intercept the delegation? Who was so bold and what was his purpose?

All kinds of doubts flashed through his mind, and he turned his head and looked at the spy wrapped in a black robe beside him.

The spy was wrapped in a black robe and wore a mask that covered the upper half of her face, revealing only her white jaw. She was a woman.

But Li Canjiang would not despise her because she was a "ground" level spy. The cultivation of spies at this level was either sixth or fifth rank.

"I have something to ask you, but you must come one by one." The female spy said in a deep voice, and under the mask, she looked at everyone with a deep gaze.

"Who are you?" Chen, the head of the Criminal Department, raised his eyebrows.

A black iron token slipped out of the female spy's sleeve, and she threw it with her hand. The token sank into the ground at Chen's feet.

On the token, there was a word "di".

"The spy raised by the King of Huai." Yang Yan finally spoke.

The spy of the King of Zhenbei...... The officials of the three departments were startled and restrained their dissatisfied attitude.

The Dali Temple Secretary smiled and said, "What do you want to ask?"

The female spy wrapped in a black robe passed by everyone and went upstairs by herself, saying, "Follow me."

The Dali Temple Secretary and the two censors did not move, while Yang Yan had a blank expression. Chen frowned, secretly cursing the civil servants for being cowardly, and followed them with a stiff upper lip.

The black-robed woman picked a room at random, took out a triangular talisman from her robe, and gently pressed it on the table.

Then she said, "No one outside can hear what we say. I have a few questions for you."

Captain Chen nodded.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"Chief Captain of the Ministry of Justice, Chen Liang." Captain Chen answered truthfully.

The woman's face hidden under the mask showed no expression, and she opened her red lips and said, "Do you know the real identity of the princess?"

Captain Chen was stunned, frowned and asked back, "The real identity of the princess?"

The female spy did not answer, and asked the next question: "Tell me about the attack on you."

Captain Chen then roughly described the process after the delegation left Beijing, focusing on describing the attack.

After listening to this, the female spy on the other side pondered for a long time and said, "He predicted that the delegation would be ambushed at the Flowing Stone Beach?"

Captain Chen nodded, hearing the surprise in the woman's tone, and said, "You may not know him. This person is meticulous and sharp, and has a clear understanding of the situation..."

The female spy raised her hand, interrupted him, and said lightly, "I know him. If we don't even know Xu Yinluo, who is as good as a god in solving cases and single-handedly resisting tens of thousands of rebels, then we are obviously unqualified spies."

Captain Chen could hear that when she said "single-handedly resisting tens of thousands of rebels", there was undisguised ridicule and mockery in her tone.

"I want his recent situation, after the Buddhist battle." She added.

After the Buddhist battle... Captain Chen thought for a moment and said, "Of course it's the imperial examination fraud case and the battle between heaven and man. These are the most eye-catching and influential deeds. As for other trivial matters, I won't pay much attention to them."

The female spy nodded, indicating that he could start talking.

Your body and name will be destroyed, but the rivers and streams will flow forever... With Confucian magic and the invincible golden body, you subdued the outstanding disciples of the two sects of heaven and man... She didn't speak for a long time.

The imperial examination fraud case and the battle between heaven and man happened recently, and the news has not yet reached the northern border.

"You can go out and call the Dali Temple Secretary in." She said.

Captain Chen nodded, opened the door silently and left. A few minutes later, the Dali Temple Secretary knocked on the door and then pushed it in.

The female spy asked the question again, but she added something to the Dali Temple Secretary, asking:

"Why did you continue to go north afterwards and didn't search for Chu Xianglong and the princess?"

In response, the Dali Temple Secretary sneered: "Why should you linger after abandoning me? The mission of the delegation is to investigate the "Blood Slaughter Three Thousand Miles" case, not to escort the princess."

What he meant was that we have done our best, and Chu Xianglong is unkind, so we can't blame them for being unjust.

The female spy did not comment, and moved her hooded head to indicate that he could leave.

The Dali Temple Secretary stood up and walked to the door. Just as he was about to open the door and leave, the female spy's voice suddenly came from behind him: "What do you think of Xu Qian'an?"

Under the mask, the deep and calm eyes stared at the back of the Dali Temple Secretary without blinking.

....The Dali Temple Secretary narrowed his eyes, snorted without hesitation, and said, "Just a yellow-haired kid."

The female spy nodded slightly and retracted her scorching gaze.