No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 813: Beautiful Woman's Heartfelt Confession
Ouyang Rong remembered that Li Congshan seemed to be an elite scout of the border army.

There is a special set of Qi-refining techniques that specializes in this profession.

You can track enemies based on clues.

He asked:

"You mean, among the White Tiger Guards, Li Congshan is not Yi Qianqiu's confidant?"

"Yes, strictly speaking, Yi Qianqiu was favored by the saint and parachuted into the White Tiger Guard. Before that, Qiu Shenji, a famous military strategist in the border army, was promoted all the way from the White Tiger Guard. Later, he left the White Tiger Guard and seemed to be close to Wei Jisi and others. He became the teacher of a young master in the Wei Palace and was also one of the most important retainers of the Wei family... You also know what happened later, that is, the old things in Longcheng, I believe you know it best."

Rong Zhen spoke clearly and explained everything one by one. At this point, he looked at the cloth-wrapped scroll that Ouyang Rong had placed on the table with a strange look in his eyes.

Ouyang Rong thoughtfully said:
"Qiu Shenji has been in the White Tiger Guard for many years, and was later won over by Wei Jisi. In this way, the White Tiger Guard can be regarded as the sphere of influence of the Wei family. If I were Wei Jisi, I would also manage it carefully."

Rong Zhen nodded:

"That's true. The last time Wei Wu came to Xunyang City, he was able to set up such a trap. In addition to the fact that I ignored him and Wei Jisi took the opportunity to win over Deputy Supervisor Song and Commander Yi to make them turn a blind eye, there was also the fact that many generals in the White Tiger Guard had close relations with the Wei family."

Ouyang Rong nodded slowly and sighed.

"Look, when they requested your reinforcements, Luoyang sent the White Tiger Guards. The Prince of Wei's Mansion had already made plans. They really wanted to destroy the Prince of Xunyang's Mansion, even though they were facing a powerful enemy."

Rong Zhen lowered his eyes slightly, a little distracted.

When talking about the past, Ouyang Rong noticed that she was feeling a little lost, so he stopped talking about it and changed the subject:

"Li Congshan was promoted from a scout in the frontier army at a young age, faster than Wei Mi. This is because he has the high-ranking family background of the Wei family in the south of the city. In addition to his outstanding military achievements and promising youth, Li Congshan has no one behind him. It is impossible that the scout's qi-observing technique for tracking prey was probably taught by Qiu Shenji."

Rong Zhen nodded:

“I’m not too sure about the extent of Wei Jisi’s control over the White Tiger Guard, and I wasn’t interested in it before. But in my opinion, there’s something wrong with the fact that he and Miao Zhen were transferred to the guard team of Xunyang Palace from the very beginning.

"Ouyang Lianghan, you were suspicious of Li Congshan and opposed this personnel arrangement. It was indeed reasonable... I still remember that when the reinforcements first arrived that day, we held a meeting in the early morning and decided to keep Li Congshan and the three hundred White Tiger Guards in the palace for protection. This was supported by Yi Qianqiu, Duan Quanwu, and Nanny Song. It is even more obvious now."

Rong Zhen sneered, then frowned slightly and spoke to Ouyang Rong who was lost in thought:
"It's a pity that Yi Qianqiu is not here. It's too late now. Otherwise, I would have asked her directly and saved all this trouble."

"Ah."

The cabin was rocking with the waves, but Ouyang Rong was like a pine tree, rooted to the spot, not swaying at all. He even looked thoughtful as he walked forward a few steps with his hands behind his back.

He suddenly turned back:
"Rong Zhen, you provided these inside information very timely. At least now we can rule out one thing, that is, the fact that this group of White Tiger Guards followed all the way to Longcheng is probably not because there is a traitor around the prince, but because of Li Congshan's strange ability. From this point of view, the situation is not too dangerous."

Rong Zhen shook his head with a stern face:
"Still can't be underestimated. This Li Congshan has been pretending to be a fool before. I was almost fooled by him. This kind of person is like a snake. Once he shows his fangs, it is definitely the time when he thinks he has a good chance.

"His special Qi-refining technique must have been firmly anchored on Li Xian, Xie Lingjiang and the others, so he was able to pursue them all the way. In addition, there is another dangerous thing, I wonder if you have considered it."

Ouyang Rong pondered:
"I know. What you mean is that the prince and the little apprentice sister may not know that Li Congshan and his group are chasing them. It is not safe to lead them by half a day, especially if Li Congshan can lock on to the target."

"Yes."

Rong Zhen was ready to give a few more reminders, but when he saw Ouyang Rong pursing his lips, he paused and said no more.

"I'm glad you considered it."

Rong Zhen spoke again:
"There is one more thing. I don't know if you have overlooked it. I have always forgotten to ask."

"What's the matter?"

"How are you going to end the mess in Xunyang City? Now the big Buddha is destroyed, and our people are almost wiped out, and you let Li Xian return to the capital like this... How are you going to explain to Luoyang? You're not going to really go find Xiu Niang and leave it alone, are you?

"Or do you want to directly reveal your identity as the Sword Bearer to the Saint in exchange for bargaining chips? But judging from the way you escorted us back to the city that day, it didn't seem like that... How are you going to deal with this situation?"

Ouyang Rong suddenly said:

"What you want to ask most is actually how to deal with our affairs, Rong Zhen, do you also want me to give you an explanation?"

Rong Zhen subconsciously looked away, but the next moment, she looked back and nodded:

"That's right. The big Buddha is destroyed, Emperor Wen's sword formation is gone, and almost all the people sent by the court are dead. I am the first person responsible. Even if the saint favors me, he will not be so tolerant."

She sniffed, still with that cold expression, but raised her chin slightly and asked him directly:

"But I am not afraid of taking the blame, being punished, or even being sentenced to death. But Liang Han, you have to tell me what you think. If you want to continue hiding your identity and the Ding Sword, then you can just say it. I and Yi Qianqiu are cooperating with you. We will take the blame. Everyone has their own actions. If it weren't for you, we would have died in Xue Zhongzhu's hands long ago.

“But there is one thing I must remind you of. It is not a good idea for Prince Xunyang and his family to just run back to the capital. Even if they have nothing to do with the Xunyang incident, or are even victims of the ‘attack by the Tiannan pirates’, the Saint is furious and they will probably not have a good ending.

"You have to be prepared. Xunyang City is taking too big a blame this time. It concerns Emperor Wen. You may not know how much the saint values ​​this Ding Sword. Wei Jisi and the others must be very anxious now. They will probably put the blame on Prince Xunyang and you.

"I also understand the saint. The saint may be a little biased. Some crimes will not be entirely placed on me. This is not self-satisfied talk, but it is something that may happen. I cannot control it. Some crimes cannot be borne by me just because I want to."

Ouyang Rong was silent for a while, then turned around and opened the door:
"I will give you an explanation. Let's deal with the pursuers first."

The hatch opens.

Rong Zhen tilted his head and looked at Ouyang Rong's calm face with some confusion.

Could he have a better way?

After a while, Rong Zhen still went out in confusion. Before leaving, he looked at Ouyang Rong deeply.

She whispered:
"I'll be waiting for you."

The cabin fell silent.

Ouyang Rong stood for a moment and walked to the table alone.

Glancing at the bronze scroll.

With his slender hands, he took out the sword case and a string of eighteen seeds from the painting.

His eyes fell on the eighteen seeds.

This is the only fake Ding Sword of [Emperor Wen]. In a sense, it is equivalent to the Four-sided Buddha Statue and Songde Tianshu, but its power is concentrated.

He turned around again and touched his old friend Mo's sword box.

Although the sword box can be placed in the Peach Blossom Spring painting.

But if [Craftsman] regains his freedom, it is better to carry the sword case with him.

It is convenient to take the cloth sword out of the box.

Otherwise there will be a layer of drawing paper blocking the middle, which will delay the time of setting up the sword.

Ouyang Rong is actually worried about one thing right now.

After the battle at Xunyang Grottoes, his strength was damaged.

After the war, he should have taken good care of himself, digested the spoils of war, studied the Taoyuan Sword Formation and Kuixing Fu Confucianism, and improved his strength to a higher level.

However, for the safety of Xunyang Palace, he had to rush south without stopping to chase after the person.

Now that he had lost his most familiar [Craftsmanship] and the Peach Blossom Sword Formation had not yet been set up, his strength was directly lost by half.

The use of two fake cauldron swords, spiritual energy and purple mist may not be enough to support, so it is better to use the descent of gods. If the descent of gods...

Ouyang Rong fished out the blood-written letter left by Cui Hao.

Browsed for a while under the oil lamp.

After a while, he silently put away the blood letter.

The possible relics mentioned in Cui Hao's message are too far away from Jiangzhou and difficult to find for the time being.

So, what rank is Cui Hao? According to what Old Yang said, the fifth rank seems to be called Jixia Xiansheng, and Cui Hao is definitely not the fifth rank, otherwise he would not have chased Xue Zhongzhu and the others to beat them up. Xue Zhongzhu is one of the most famous sword cultivators in the world.

After thinking it over in vain, Ouyang Rong thought of Tao Yuanming again.

I could ask the little ink spirit to borrow the IOU again, but Tao Yuanming mentioned that he didn't want to be "resurrected" again. If I summon him forcefully, I don't know if he will respond.

But there is no other way. What if I really can’t find anyone? It will be extremely dangerous. I can only give it a try.

After a while, Ouyang Rong took out a dagger from the scroll.

It’s Junior Sister’s skirt knife.

He rubbed it several times.

I don’t know what the junior sister is doing at this moment.

Ouyang Rong was a little worried.

In fact, ever since he came to Longcheng, he has been trying to use his skirt knife to remind his junior sister.

Unfortunately, the skirt knife can only be transmitted in one direction and cannot get a response from the other side.

However, Ouyang Rong rubbed his skirt knife to remind his junior sister of his location.

In this way, as long as she is close enough and does not affect the prince's journey, the junior sister will definitely come.

If he is too far away, Junior Sister can also know his location.

In fact, since Ouyang Rong left Xunyang on horseback that night, he has been rubbing his skirt knife from time to time to hint to his junior sister.

Remind junior sister of your location.

In the evening of the third day.

Ouyang Rong arrived at Shaoyang City, the main city of Raozhou, by boat.

From Longcheng County to Shaoyang City, everyone on the boat saw that the journey was mostly through deep mountains and old forests, so it would be obviously faster for them to take the water route. However, they didn't know if they could catch up with the one-day journey that Junior Sister and the others had taken.

If they can't catch up, it wouldn't be bad if they could catch up with the White Tiger Guards who are half a day ahead. At least they can protect Junior Sister and the others from danger and buy time.

When everyone arrived at Shaoyang City, Ouyang Rong quickly went to the government office of the state, but did not find the people from Xunyang Palace.

Ouyang Rong said calmly:
“Normally, after walking in the wilderness for a long time, if Junior Sister and the others arrived in Shaoyang City, they would stay overnight and replenish their food.

"So there are only two possibilities now, either they haven't arrived yet, or I guessed wrong, they didn't stop and just passed through and left.

"Then prepare for both situations."

Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen went to the government office to discuss with Governor Rao.

Soon, officers and soldiers were mobilized to go to the post station to block people and investigate the list of people who had passed the customs, just to be on the safe side.

At this time, Qin Ying returned with his men after going out to investigate, only to tell Ouyang Rong that on the official road outside Raozhou, there were traces of a group of White Tiger Guards marching an hour ago, and they simply ignored Raozhou.

Ouyang Rong frowned immediately and estimated that they had arrived in Raozhou at about the same time as them, but Ouyang Rong and others went ashore at the ferry, while Li Congshan and others went directly through the official road outside Raozhou.

"Where are they going?"

"This group of White Tiger Guards continued to move south, passing through the main city of Raozhou, and they were walking very fast."

Ouyang Rong suddenly fell into deep thought.

Did they succeed, or are they still chasing us?

After a while, Ouyang Rong temporarily took his leave of Qin Ying, turned back to the house, took out a skirt knife, and rubbed it for a while.

He reminded the junior sister of his location.

Soon, someone came to report from outside. Ouyang Rong went out immediately and saw a minor official reporting: a group of people who went by the pseudonym Su Fu had passed through customs and left an hour before Ouyang and others arrived in Raozhou City. They did not stay in Raozhou City, but continued to move southward, in the same direction as the group of White Tiger Guards.

Ouyang Rong immediately spoke:
"The plan has changed. For some reason, both sides are moving faster than expected. Let's continue to sail south. This time we will use the water to save time. The time difference is about an hour, so next time we go ashore, we will definitely be able to get ahead of them."

Rong Zhen frowned slightly:
"What's going on? Why don't Prince Xunyang and his men stop in Raozhou? If they do, we can all join together."

Ouyang Rong suddenly said:

"Perhaps it's a good thing. They may have noticed that they were being pursued, so they didn't stop and continued on their way."

"How did you notice it?"

"I don't know, but I believe in my junior sister's sharpness. There must be something urgent, which is why they walked so fast and didn't stop."

Rong Zhen and Qin Ying looked at each other and nodded.

"Makes sense."

Therefore, the group did not waste any more time and waited for Qin Yanqing's main force. They only left behind a soldier to report the news and continued to board the ship and head south.

Around the morning of the third day, we arrived at Hanyang, the southernmost county in Raozhou, by water.

Ouyang Rong immediately contacted the local authorities.

After finding out the situation, they felt somewhat relieved. This time, there was finally no record of the Su family passing through customs. Qin Ying led people to check the surrounding official roads, and finally found no signs of the White Tiger Guards passing by.

This indicated that the two parties were still behind and had not yet reached Hanyang County.

Rong Zhen calmly analyzed:

"There are two choices. Either we sit and wait, or we take the official road and head north to block them along the way."

Qin Ying hesitated:

"Qin Yanqing's main force hasn't arrived yet. It will probably take several hours. To be on the safe side, should we wait here for a while?"

Rong Zhen asked calmly:

"Then what's the point of us going ahead? If you want to wait for Miss Qin, I and Ouyang Lianghan will go ahead. That's the arrangement."

Qin Ying raised her eyebrows, looking somewhat dissatisfied.

The two girls turned their heads in tacit understanding and looked at Ouyang Rong, who had remained silent, and asked him to make the decision.

At this moment, a minor official came running over and delivered a piece of news as quickly as possible: a post station halfway between Raozhou and Hanyang County suddenly caught fire, and the fire was an eerie dark green!
(End of this chapter)