40. Chapter 40
The city of Yangzhou gradually became quiet at night, but the bustling streets in the past were particularly deserted today. Every household closed their doors tightly, as if there was a sense of urgency that a storm was coming.
At this time, there was a sound of horse hooves, and a carriage with green curtains was passing through the city of Yangzhou. The driver waved the whip in his hand to urge the horse to run faster.
In the carriage, Xu Miaoyin was holding Xu Jiaoyue in her arms, while Qi Jiaojiao and Xu Rennian were sitting on both sides. No one spoke for a while.
Xu Miaoyin lowered her eyes and gently patted Xu Jiaoyue in her arms. Her face looked a little deserted in the dim carriage. Qi Jiaojiao looked at Xu Renian who was sitting opposite her and also lowered her head and curled her lips.
He turned around and opened a corner of the car curtain, looked out of the car, and said after a while: "Is there a curfew tonight? Why is there no one on the street?"
When Xu Miaoyin heard this, she followed the corner Qi Jiaojiao opened and looked out. A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes, and she felt a little uneasy in her heart. She asked the driver of the carriage, "Qin Zhan, how long until he can leave the city?"
"
Qin Zhan, who was driving his car, looked up at the city gate corridor not far away: "It's just one street away."
Xu Miaoyin didn't ask any more questions. At this time, Xu Jiaoyue, who was nestling on her shoulder, asked softly: "Sister, where are we going?"
Xu Miaoyin stroked her hair and said softly: "When we leave Yangzhou City, we can go anywhere as long as our family can be together."
After Xu Miaoyin finished speaking, she glanced at Xu Renian who lowered his eyes and said nothing, and said no more.
While he was talking, the carriage had already arrived at the city gate.
There are not many people coming in and out of the South City Gate at ordinary times, and the inspection is not so strict. Xu Miaoyin chose this place to leave the city. Although the atmosphere in Yangzhou City was a bit strange along the way, Qin Zhan only gave some bribes at the South City Gate.
They left the city smoothly, but the farther they got from Yangzhou City, the more uneasy Xu Miaoyin felt.
Everything went so smoothly.
After leaving Yangzhou City and walking for another quarter of an hour, the carriage slowly stopped.
Xu Miaoyin and others got off the carriage one after another. Qin Zhan glanced at Qi Jiaojiao beside her, then clasped his fists towards Xu Miaoyin and said, "Madam, I can only send you here."
Xu Miaoyin returned a gift to Qin Zhan and said, "Thank you very much tonight, but I don't know if Xiao Qi will blame you for letting us leave. How about you go with us?"
Qin Zhan turned sideways to avoid Xu Miaoyin's salute and said respectfully: "No matter whether the master blames me or not, I have to go back." He looked up at Xu Miaoyin and continued: "I don't know the master's antidote..."
The last thing he said was to ask her if the antidote would be delivered on time.
Xiao Qi did have a group of good subordinates, all of whom were loyal to him. Xu Miaoyin smiled bitterly in her heart.
"Isn't Doctor Lu here? He will be fine."
Xu Miaoyin didn't say anything more, and led a few people to the ferry not far away.
This is a very secretive ferry. Most of the people who travel between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are from several villages under the rule of Yangzhou. Therefore, there is only a very simple awning boat here. The man who holds the boat is an old man who earns some money.
After hard work, the old man was sitting in the boat smoking welding smoke. The city gate closed early today, so he couldn't go back to the city, so he stayed in the boat. Just thinking about why the city gate closed so early today, he saw the ferry coming.
There were several people, and when I got closer, I found that several of them were dressed in brocade clothes and looked good.
Xu Rennian stepped forward with a smile and said: "My husband, can you drive a few of us across the river?" He took out a piece of broken silver from his sleeve pocket and handed it to the old man.
The old man was also an honest man. He waved his hands repeatedly and said, "If it doesn't cost that much, two cents per person is enough. Come on board."
Time was running out. When Xu Rennian saw that the old man refused to accept the money, he took out enough copper coins and handed them to the old man, and they boarded the boat.
The boat left the ferry. Xu Miaoyin sat next to Qi Jiaojiao, looked at Qin Zhan who was watching them leave not far from the ferry, and asked: "Jiaojiao, will you regret it?"
Qi Jiaojiao also looked at the figure not far away, and said with a faint smile: "We have different views. We can't go far, so we might as well forget each other in the world."
As she spoke, Qi Jiaojiao looked back at Xu Miaoyin beside her, held her hand, and smiled calmly.
Xu Miaoyin saw that although she was a little sad, she was not too sad, so she shook her hand and did not say any more words of comfort. Sometimes the words of comfort not only seemed pale, but also lacked the real companionship.
Just as the boat reached the middle of the river, a sound broke through the air, and several flaming arrows were nailed to the awning boat. In just a few breaths, the awnings on the tops of the people started to burn.
The old man holding the boat was frightened, but the next moment he was shot by a sharp arrow and fell into the river. Seeing that the old man was killed, Xu Miaoyin was shocked and angry. She turned to look at Xu Rennian and Xu Jiaoyue, pulling Qi Qi with her.
Jiaojiao retreated to the side of the boat and said in a deep voice: "I think you two have a way to get rid of those who are chasing you, so we won't accompany you."
After saying this, he motioned to Qi Jiaojiao, who nodded and jumped into the river with Xu Miaoyin.
Seeing Xu Miaoyin jumping into the river, Xu Jiaoyue hurriedly tried to catch her, but was blocked by a sharp arrow. He could only watch as she jumped out of bed and disappeared into the river in the dark night.
"Brother, what should we do? How can we go back and explain to the master if we lose my wife?"
Xu Jiaoyue, also known as Yuqiu, was blocking the incoming sharp arrows while anxiously asking Xu Renian beside her.
Xu Rennian was pretending to be Qiao Zhi, and Qiao Zhi was shocked and frightened. What was surprising was that Xu Miaoyin had seen through them. What was scary was that if his wife was lost, the master might kill both of them.
This plan was originally a trick, to take advantage of Fang Zhiyuan's hostility towards Xu Miaoyin, frame Fang Zhiyuan for regicide to bring him down, and then wait for a while to reach the shore and take Xu Miaoyin away. Unexpectedly, Xu Miaoyin was so...
He was so smart that he saw through their disguise and used them to escape.
Qiao Zhi gritted his teeth. These people who shot hidden arrows could actually ambush here. This place was chosen by Madam. If she didn't know about it in advance, she would have followed them all the time.
Was it Qin Zhan who betrayed them, or was it Fang Zhiyuan's people who did it?
But now is not the time to pursue the case, it is crucial to find the wife.
"Yuqiu, jump off the ship and you must find your wife!"
After saying that, he jumped out first, and Yuqiu jumped out of the boat immediately. In just a moment, the simple awning boat sank into the river.
Although the river was only a few feet wide, it was extremely deep. It was late at night, and it was even more difficult to find people. Qiao Zhi and the two went back and forth to search, but they could not find Xu Miaoyin, so they became more and more anxious and could only say:
Signal, summon people to continue searching.
Qin Zhan didn't go far when he saw Qiao Zhi's signal. His eyes suddenly sank, and he turned around and rushed to the river.
As soon as they arrived at the river, they saw Qiao Zhi and Yuqiu standing wet at the ferry, but Xu Miaoyin and Qi Jiaojiao were not there. My heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition came over me.
Chapter completed!