Ordinary clear day

Chapter 138 Tong Ying

Duan Ning looked at the maps on the big case in the room, and was a little dazed: "What are these...?" "The map of the Northwest." Tong Ying replied, and took out a few blood-stained books from a box behind her. The silk volume and two letters were shown to Duanning, "I met people from the imperial court over there, and they handed this to me before they died." Duanning took a deep breath and said calmly: "Take Let’s talk about it from beginning to end.”

Tong Ying sat on the ground and talked about the whole story: "I received a letter from my family. I had already set off to go back. Before I entered Gansu, I rescued two people. One of them was sent by the imperial court to Zhungeer. The other was a spy from the imperial court stationed there. Galdan killed the envoy Madi and sent people to arrest those who slipped through the net. Only they escaped and brought out several confidential letters and Important information. But the man from the embassy was so badly wounded that he died quickly, so we had to bury him. The spy was also badly wounded, and he gave me all the information, He took out the maps and asked me to write them down, and took those maps to lead the pursuers away, and later... died by those people's knives."

Tong Ying paused, a little sad: "He knew that I was good at memorizing maps, so he did this. He thought that when the pursuers saw the map on his body, they would not suspect that there were other people. I watched him from a distance. Kill, but can't do anything..."

Duanning patted him on the shoulder, he felt better, and continued: "But the leader of the pursuers is a smart man, he discovered the place where we spent the night, and guessed that there were other people there, so he secretly went there Search and arrest. I hate that the local officials are idiots! They made him feel like he was in no man’s land! I couldn’t enter the city at all, and the path was blocked by people! Later, I became ruthless and simply walked west and north, out of Yumen, Anxi, go north along Hami, cross the desert and turn back to the east, and then come back via the Wulanchabu League, let him chase after you!"

Duanning was dumbfounded: "You... no wonder you disappeared for half a year..."

Tong Ying smiled: "At that time, I was chased hard, hungry and cold, and I couldn't get rid of the pursuers. I have never suffered from such suffering since I was a child! I didn't know why at the time, I did it on impulse, but after that In retrospect, it was a safe way. Although there were still pursuers, it was not as miserable as before. Think about it, they can’t really send a large army to chase, two or three hundred people are as strong as the sky, but in the desert, What's the use of such an idea? So we had food and drink, and although we suffered a little, we finally escaped safely and gained something else."

"What harvest?"

"I was not idle along the way, and I found out the topography, climate, villages, wells, quicksand, plants, medicinal materials, and places with food production in the places I passed. I reckoned that sooner or later, the emperor will use troops to the northwest. That area is likely to become a battlefield, and this can be regarded as a preliminary investigation. How? Isn't it amazing?" Tong Ying raised her eyebrows proudly.

Duan Ning said: "What's the matter? It's not the first time the emperor has fought there, it's only been a few years? Do you think the court doesn't know what's going on there?"

"Don't tell me, they don't necessarily know what's going on there now." Tongying squinted her eyes, "I don't know who gave that idea to Galdan. It's so shameful. Fortunately, I found out. Once those people After resting in a small herdsman tribe, I got food and water supplies and left. I went there to ask for some water to drink, but found that all the nomads, men, women and children had been killed, even livestock, and the well was blocked by sand. Later, when I passed by other tribes or villages, most of them were destroyed and the wellheads were buried. Yuanzhou told me that there were still people living in those villages at least half a year ago.”

"Yuanzhou? That follower beside you?" Duanning asked, "Could it be that Ge Erdan secretly sent people to destroy those villages and fill up the wells, so that when the imperial court sends troops in the future, there will be no water source?"

Tong Ying nodded: "Not only that, I also encountered a few villages that were safe and sound along the way. Fortunately, I was used to being cautious along the way. Yuanzhou and I hid near the entrance of the village and observed for a while, and found that those villagers were acting strangely. They looked like herdsmen and farmers, but more like soldiers, so they didn’t crash in. I’m afraid those people got rid of the original villagers, and then disguised themselves to hide, and it seems that it’s not a day or two.”

Duanning took a deep breath: "If you hadn't found out, the imperial army might be caught when they pass through those places in the future..."

Tong Ying said again: "Besides, the destroyed village and the surviving village seemed to be pointing in some direction. I kept an eye out, ignored Yuanzhou's objection, and walked along the road, and found a small mountain. Although it was not high, there were some Trees, and a small river. Judging from the art of war we have learned, the terrain there is very suitable for camping. But I ran around the hill and found that there is a narrow passage at the back of the mountain. If the army is really on the mountain Set up camp in front, as long as Galdan sends a few people through the passage and sets a few fires in the back camp..."

Duan Ning shook his head and sighed: "It's really shameful, this is a trap!"

Tong Ying nodded: "But now that I know, this trap is useless. As long as people are sent to guard the passage and people keep an eye on the water source, it's still a good place to camp."

He had a dry mouth, drank a few sips of tea, and continued: "I have gained a lot on this journey, but it is a pity that I was too careless when I entered the customs, and I didn't realize that the leader of the chasing soldiers had arranged a guard nearby and leaked his whereabouts." , Those people disguised themselves as Mongolian nobles in Monan, but no one noticed that something was wrong. There were only two of us, and we were not rivals, so we had to leave separately. I remember that your other courtyard is here, and you simply escaped in. Wait for those people in a few days Withdraw, I will go to the capital again, anyway, the emperor will not send troops for a year or two."

Duanning breathed a sigh of relief, and found that his hands had unconsciously clenched into fists, and his palms were sweaty: "Your journey has been really thrilling. I never thought that in the hinterland of the Qing Dynasty, you, a clan prince, would meet such a Danger."

Tong Ying snorted coldly: "I intended to go to the garrison to escort me into the capital, but the first general I met after entering the customs was actually the elder brother's man. You also know that my brother and the elder brother had a bit of a fight , the general was so confused that he wanted to trouble me. Fortunately, Yuan Zhou found out that something was wrong and took me away, otherwise it is hard to say whether I can sit in front of you properly now."

Duanning's eyes widened: "Why is he so courageous? Isn't he afraid that the emperor will blame him?"

"What are you afraid of? At that time, he already knew that there would be pursuers. In case something happened to me, he only needed to send the things I brought back up, and then put the responsibility on Galdan's head. At most, he would have an escort." What is the crime of incompetence compared to the credit for providing intelligence?" Tong Ying sneered, "So I never went to the garrison again, and I didn't even go to the yamen everywhere. God knows who is whose person? I Isn’t it too unfair to come here after all the hardships and hardships all the way, but fall into the hands of one’s own people?”

Duan Ning said angrily: "These people are so insane, when the emperor finds out, he will punish them severely!"

Tong Ying said sadly: "Even if they are cured, it will not affect the people above him. Forget it, let's not mention it." He cheered up and said to his friend: "I am busy with my head these days. The maps and information I memorized in the phone were silently read out. To be safe on the road, I didn’t write them down all the time, but just recited them silently every night. While I still remember it, write it down quickly so as not to forget it. To be honest, I probably still remember it now. I only remember about [-]% or [-]%, but with what I found along the way, it should be enough."

Duanning looked at his face carefully, and sighed: "You look very tired, it's too hard. If you trust me, I really hope to help you."

Tong Ying was stunned, and smiled: "This is unfamiliar. I was concerned that my uncle is an official of the imperial court. Although he is at home, it is not easy to have any contact with me, and your sister is a young girl. It's not easy to touch such a thing. I've been waiting for you to come back, if you don't help me, I won't do it. "

Duanning laughed, and said: "Then tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Tong Ying stood up and handed the silk book to him: "Just re-copy the contents on it. It is stained with the blood of those two heroes, and the characters are too small. For the convenience of holy reading, I should re-copy it." Good. I'm too busy trying to get stuff out of my head first, and I don't have time for that."

Duanning took the silk book, glanced at it, and said with a smile, "Leave this on me."

Tong Ying patted him on the shoulder, looked at the sky, and said: "It's getting late, your sister is still outside. Let's go out to eat first." Then put the silk book in his hand back into the box.

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Shuning had been waiting outside for a long time.She wasn't curious enough to eavesdrop outside the door.Since Tongying closed the door and only told Duanning, it meant that he didn't want her to hear.As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, she had better not gossip.She stayed outside and cleaned the house a little bit, and stood guard for the two people in the house by the way.

As soon as Tongying pulled Duanning out of the room, she realized what Shuning was doing and smiled at her.Duanning said to his younger sister: "I will live here from tonight, and I will ask my younger sister to send me two meals." Shuning looked at the expressions on his and Tong Ying's faces, and said: "I don't even ask What are the two brothers planning to do, but the elder brother still has his studies, if he really wants to stay here, he should at least tell his parents." Duanning nodded.

The siblings were about to report the matter to their parents, when Tong Ying stopped Duanning: "Yuanzhou and I split into two groups, in fact, to divert the pursuers, and now I don't know what's going on. With his skills, he should You can escape, please let your family pay attention, if he comes in, don't treat him as a thief." Duanning replied with a smile.

On the way back, Shuning asked her elder brother who that "Yuanzhou" was, and Duanning said, "That's your brother Tongying's follower, named Ji Yuanzhou, who is very skilled in martial arts. I don't know the reason, Tongying saved his life, so he stayed as a follower. He is a man in his forties, with a beard." Shu Ning silently wrote it down, and then slandered: Jiang Hu, See you again!

Zhang Bao and Tong Shi had different reactions after listening to their son's request.Zhang Bao pondered for a while and quickly agreed, and said that if it took a long time, he would ask the Imperial College for leave for him.Mrs. Tong didn't know what was going on, only heard that her son's friend Tong Ying reappeared half a year after she disappeared, and now she was hiding in her own home, and she didn't know what she was doing. he? !
However, she knew that her husband would agree to such a thing, and she should have her own considerations, so she did not object, and would ask privately what was going on later.

Zhang Bao also asked whether the garden should be completely closed. Duanning was hesitating, but Shuning said: "Although I don't know what's going on, I guess the two brothers want to avoid people's eyes. If the garden is completely closed, just I'm afraid it will attract people's attention, so it's better to let reliable people enter the garden, just don't allow them to get close to the Zhenxia Pavilion area."

Zhang Bao thought about it, so he agreed, and asked Chang Gui to send all the extra pens, inks, papers and inkstones in the warehouse to Zhenxia Pavilion.

When Tong learned the truth from her husband that night, she was a little worried.Zhang Bao comforted: "What are you afraid of? Who in a radius of tens of miles doesn't know that I am an official? No matter how vicious those Mongols are, they dare not come to our door blatantly. As long as we don't leak anything, how could they be suspicious? Now the court I already knew about the murder of the envoy Ma Di, so there is no need for Tongying Xiao Beizi to rush to Beijing to face the saint. the city."

Tong felt relieved a little, and then remembered another thing: "Just now after dinner, my daughter told me something. Among the people I usually talk to Duan'er is Wang Gui. Do you remember? It's Wang Ruibao's." Son. He seems to regard Tongying and the fourth elder brother as one person, and wants to find out. Before, Shuer got past him, but now even Duaner has entered the water pavilion. If Wang Gui leaks the news, but Terrible."

"No way?" Zhang Bao pondered, "This kind of person likes to chew his tongue at most, and he can't do the thing of betraying his master. He has also been a family slave for several lifetimes."

Tong said: "I'm not afraid of [-], just in case. I know that this man likes to drink and talk nonsense when he's drunk. I only allowed him here because his old lady is working as a servant in the big house. Even if he didn't attract those Mongols, it would be very troublesome if the news about the fourth elder brother staying at our house spread to the mansion."

Zhang Bao thought for a while, and said: "You are right. Things in this world are often broken by the hands of small people. I can't do cruel things. You find him a mistake these two days and send him to Baoding Zhuangzi goes up and asks someone to guard him, lest he cause any trouble."

Tong Shi nodded: "That's also good. Zhou Lin's brother is now in Baoding Zhuangzi. He heard that he will be promoted to manager next year. Send him a letter later, telling him to take good care of Wang Gui, lest there be anything he shouldn't have. Sent it back to the mansion."

At the moment, the two husband and wife have made up their minds together, and Duanning and Tong Ying also talked.

Tongying wanted Duanning to convey his thanks to Zhang Bao, but Duanning said: "You shouldn't say that. Although we don't care about the affairs of the court and China, this matter is of great importance. Our family is also a generation of lords, so naturally The responsibility is to help. If you say thank you again, I will be angry." Tong Ying could only smile and stopped talking.

Duan Ning looked at his face and said: "I see you are really tired, let's put it down tonight and do it tomorrow morning. There are two of us now, so the action will be much faster." Tong Ying also felt that she Some couldn't bear it, so they agreed.

Since they were not doing anything and going to bed too early, there was no one in the garden anyway, and the servants closest to them were at least six to seventy meters away. The two simply put the reclining chairs in the house on the open space in front of the pavilion, and put a small table next to them. After eating Baishui snacks, we chatted.

The first question Duanning asked was the reason why Tongying left home that day.

(The hundredth floor who guessed the reason for Tongying's disappearance at the beginning, or the person who guessed before Tongying's appearance, except for the answer of "Who is Qingsi?" ～～～～～ ^0^ ）

(End of this chapter)