The journey from Cangzhou to Tianjin is actually not very long. If you rush forward, you can arrive in one day.

But we walked for three days on this journey.

Pei Yuanxiu and his team deliberately slowed down, and they would stop and rest every time they walked dozens of miles. They would not continue to move forward until the path exploration pioneer came back to report the situation ahead and confirm that everything was normal and there was no danger.

It seems that this place is getting closer and closer to the capital and success, and he is becoming more and more cautious.

Of course there is a reason.

Tianjin City was not taken down by them in advance.

From Nangong Lizhu's previous description of me, I can find that after Nangong Jinhong escaped from the capital, he went south and stayed in many strategic places. He had contacted and formed alliances with local tyrants and gentry. Therefore, he was able to raise an army together in November, which also made Pei Yuanxiu's journey to the north smoothly. However, Tianjin did not seem to be among his stay, and he did not make any difference in this place.

I think we can understand that because Tianjin is the acropolis of the capital, such an important strategic location, the emperor must attach great importance to it, and the people sent here are all confidants, and it is even more impossible for the powerful and powerful gentry to be domineering in this place and weaken the imperial court's control over it.

However, if you want to talk about the powerful, there will be any place, and Tianjin City is no exception.

I just don’t know whether this time the powerful gentry in Tianjin will be a help or a resistance to Pei Yuanxiu’s progress.

That evening, because the Pioneer of the Pathfinder in front came back late, it delayed our time to travel and missed the inn, so we set up camp in the wild.

Although it was camping, it was not too hard. I just had to sit in the carriage and wait for those people to deliver the burnt water and hot food to me.

As for Han Zitong, of course she went to Pei Yuanxiu and the others.

I vaguely saw Han Ruoshi staring at her sister with a cautious look on her face and slowly approaching, just like a person sitting at home seeing a grinning tiger walking into the door. She had a pity that she was holding a bowl of waist with a baby in one hand. I don’t know what it felt like.

Thinking about this, I looked down at the bowl of medicine in my hand and didn’t feel it smelled bad.

But as soon as he looked up, he saw Xie Feng sitting there by the bonfire on the other side, slowly wiping his sword with a silk scribble.

The fire flapped, shining on his sword, reflecting a sharp light.

He wiped it very carefully, thinking that he was calm, without much emotion, or even warmth, a little tenderness appeared in his eyes, as if a man was comforting his beloved lover.

However, when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, the feeling was immediately withdrawn.

He looked up and saw me.

"Miss Yan?"

"Mr. Xie."

I walked over slowly. In fact, my belly was not big, but when a pregnant woman appeared in front of him, he felt as if she was in danger of getting close. He brushed his sword back into the sheath, then stood up, but I slowly sat next to him with the bag beside him.

He looked at me alertly: "Miss Yan, do you have any instructions?"

"No orders, it's a little cold, so come to Mr. Xie to roast the fire. Mr. Xie won't dislike me, right?"

"Don't dare..."

He said, reaching out to move the larger pieces of firewood in the bonfire, moving the fire toward me, and more heat surrounds it, making people feel less uncomfortable in the cold ground, so I thanked me and began to drink the turbid soup in the bowl one by one.

He didn't say anything, but sat quietly.

After drinking a bowl of medicine, there was no sweet food to eat at hand. I looked around with a little discomfort, but saw him looking up at the sky with a little concentration.

I looked up, too.

In the evening, the clouds were covered with clouds. The soldiers from the north told us that this was a sign of heavy snow. Therefore, the coldness outside the style of this night. Although the snow had not yet fallen, the biting chill had already shown its power. Now, probably the clouds in the sky have not yet dispersed, so the sky was gloomy and there was no light for a long time. Only the light from the fire in front of us shone a little space.

But his eyes were still very focused, as if he wanted to find something.

I also forgot the bitter taste in my mouth. After looking at him for a while, I suddenly said, "Can Mr. Xie watch the stars?"

He lowered his head and looked at me.

I said, "Mr. Xie looks at the sky, and he looks very similar to those I know. He can watch stars. Do you know how to watch stars?"

He said: "I don't learn well."

“…”

I looked at him with some surprise.

If he said "know" or "had a little bit of it", even if he said "good at this", I would not be surprised, but what he said was that he was not good at learning skills.

This means that he specializes in learning this.

But looking at Xie Feng's aura of a warrior, he doesn't look like a stargazer no matter how he looks.

However, he didn't seem to notice anything wrong with his words, and slowly raised his head to look at the sky. I looked at half of his face illuminated by the fire, and felt his cheeks sinking deeply. Compared to the first time he met him in Nishikawa, he had lost weight in just half a year.

It seems that it is also caused by hard work.

I asked softly, "What did you see?"

He didn't answer me, looked up for a while, then slowly lowered his head, and said in a daze: "I just said that I'm not good at learning."

“…”

"I can't see through too many people and too many things."

I thought about it and said, "It may not be a bad thing to not see through it."

He looked down at me: "Oh? Why?"

I said, "The stars are in the sky, and that is the secret of heaven. People often say that the secret of heaven cannot be revealed. If you see too much or too thoroughly, aren't you afraid of losing your life?"

"Smash your life?" A haze suddenly flashed across his face.

The haze came too suddenly and too strong. Even if the fire blew, it could not illuminate his dark eyes at this moment. After a while, he heard him say word by word in a low voice: "Of course it's broken, of course it's broken."

“…!”

I looked at him with more confusion.

This is so strange.

Could it be that something really happened to him or around him? It was because of the secret of heaven that "lived his life"?

However, he is in such a good state now, and he doesn't want to be a short life.

Just as I was wondering and was about to continue asking, Pei Yuanxiu's voice came from beside me: "What are you talking about?"

Xie Feng and I seemed to be suddenly awakened. When we looked back, we saw a thick cloak hanging on his arm, and we were slowly walking over. Xie Feng hurriedly stood up: "Young Master."

Pei Yuanxiu raised one hand and signaled him not to move. He just said, "I'll be on the way early tomorrow morning and I'll be in Tianjin soon."

"yes."

"Don't you have something important to do?"

“…”

"Go and rest early and don't miss tomorrow."

"yes."

I sat on the felt and listened to the conversation between them as if they were having a puzzle. After Xie Feng agreed, he stopped talking to me and grabbed his sword and turned around and left. Instead, Pei Yuanxiu walked over slowly, spread the cloak in his hand, and gently put it on my shoulder.

I whispered, "I'm not cold."

He said softly: "You can catch a cold so easily."

That's right, my body is not my own.

I held the clothes on my shoulders with both hands and sat there carefully. He sat beside me for a while before slowly speaking: "You seem to be very interested in Xie Feng."

My eyes looked at the flapping flames and said, "I just think he is a very interesting person."

He was silent for a while and said, "You want to know why he appeared by my side, why he helped me with things, and why he was involved in all this, right?"

I pursed my lips and didn't say anything.

Not talking is naturally a kind of default.

Actually, I was not afraid that he would know what I thought. After all, I had already said so clearly. Yangzhou and Huaian had been taken down. At this time, I had to pretend to be harmless. If others don’t believe it, I would feel disgusted.

Pei Yuanxiu said: "I know you are very curious about many things, but there are some things you better not know about."

“…”

"There are some people, you'd better not get close to them."

“…”

I raised my eyebrows slightly and turned to look at him. The flames fluttered in his eyes, as if there was something hidden behind the burning.

He said: "He is an interesting person, but interesting often means danger."

Danger?

Xie Feng, is he a dangerous person?

I subconsciously frowned and was about to say something, but Pei Yuanxiu had already stood up, patted his sleeves, and said, "Okay, you should go back and rest. We will rush to the road early tomorrow morning, you must keep your energy well."

He bent down and stretched out a hand to me. I was silent for a while, and he pulled me up and returned to the carriage.

|

This night passed quickly.

The next morning, the clouds in the sky became deeper. I thought it would snow in the middle of the night, but I only heard the north wind that had blown all night, and the snow did not fall. However, the feeling of the black clouds pressing down on the top made people almost breathless.

We staggered on the road.

While walking on the road, I heard the horses of Cui Jiancheng, Song Xuan, and Pei Yuanxiu were all around the carriage, and I could also hear the sounds of them or conversations. As we got closer and closer to Tianjin City, several groups of people came back one after another. It was obvious that they were very alert to the situation in Tianjin City this time, but listening to the reports outside, there seemed to be nothing satisfying to them.

After walking for a while, Cui Jiancheng finally couldn't help but whisper: "I think something is wrong."

Pei Yuanxiu said: "What's wrong?"

"There is no one on this official road."

I lifted the curtain and looked out, and Pei Yuanxiu frowned slightly.

In fact, when we approached Cangzhou City before, there was no one on the official road, and there was no footprint left on the snow outside the post station. Later I learned that it was because they besieged Cangzhou City and could not get out of a soldier, which caused the official road to be rarely visited.

And now this situation-

Song Xuan said from the side: "Can Tianjin City besieged?"

Cui Jianzhen sneered: "Who can trap that city?"

Song Xuan glanced at him and said nothing.

His words just now were obviously a little impulsive. If Tianjin City was really besieged, the spy who went to explore the way forward would have come back to report. Since he didn't say it, it would prove that Tianjin City was safe and sound and had not been attacked by war.

However, it is indeed a bit strange that there is not a single person on the official road.

Pei Yuanxiu thought for a while and turned to look at Xie Feng beside him.

Xie Feng's face was as gloomy as the sky above his head at this moment. His eyes looked ahead, as if he was thinking about his own affairs all the time. However, when Pei Yuanxiu turned to look at him, he immediately came to his senses and said calmly: "The spy dare not enter the city, he can only visit outside the city. There is no danger, so the young master just rest assured."

Pei Yuanxiu said: "Then you--"

Xie Feng said: "My business can be settled after I go."

Pei Yuanxiu looked at him for a while, then turned his head and ordered: "Go ahead at full speed."

|

The wind blows harder and harder.

Although it was not yet Si, the sky was already gloomy just like when the sun set in the evening. The snow on the road was crushed by the horseshoe wheels in front of us, and the ice slags were everywhere, making our roads harder and harder. Finally, at Si, we finally saw the tall city in the distance under the cloudy sky.

It was as quiet as a huge stone.

On the city tower, there seemed to be no guards, only the flags among the battlements were fluttering in the wind, making people feel a little vitality.

But as he walked, Xie Feng's brows also frowned.

Pei Yuanxiu immediately looked at him: "What's wrong?"

He did not answer immediately, but frowned and quieted for a while before slowly saying, "No sound."

"Um?"

“There is no sound on the city tower.”

"……What's the meaning?"

"It seems that there are no people guarding the city."

Pei Yuanxiu opened his eyes wide in shock, and the people around him were also shocked, and they all said, "How is that possible?"

"Tianjin is the acropolis of the capital."

"How could there be no guard?"

"Can they come up with an empty city plan to deal with us?"

...

When it comes to empty city plan, everyone is somewhat wary.

Although there were not many casualties in the battle in Cangzhou, they had exhausted their energy. Tianjin was originally an important town in the north, and it was possible to encounter any tenacious resistance here, so they had to be even more careful.

Pei Yuanxiu said: "Then do we want to stay here?"

Xie Feng shook his head: "My ears are not wrong. There are no soldiers around the city tower. We don't have to worry about being ambushed directly."
Chapter completed!