The clouds accumulated in the sky became thicker and thicker, and finally it started to snow heavily at the first update. Snowballs fell from the sky like torn chains. The snowballs became denser and denser, and the world finally turned gray.

On the official road south of Luoyang, a team of more than 20 people was rushing towards Luoyang. They were all riding horses and guarding three tightly closed carriages. The leader was a young woman wearing a thick fur coat and holding a pair of long swords in her hand.

She was Zhao Qiuniang who rushed back from Dengfeng County. Zhao Qiuniang had two tasks to go to Songshan, one was to support Li Zhen, and the second was to confiscate the wealth accumulated by Wei Shifang.

The three carriages they were closely protected were filled with the spoils they had seized from their south this time, with a total of 15,000 taels of gold and 50,000 taels of silver. They found the entrance to the underground palace in the Laojun Hall, which was burned by the fire.

So much wealth is enough to attract many Central Plains thieves and bandits, but their news is blocked extremely secretly, and no accidents have occurred along the way.

But the closer it gets to Luoyang, the more worried Zhao Qiuniang is. She knows that countless people are peeping at this huge wealth. The bandits may not know about it, but it will be difficult to hide it from those who are interested in the capital.

This wealth originally belonged to Xue Huaiyi, but now it is in their hands. How could Xue Huaiyi give up? There is also Princess Taiping. The men in black who attacked Li Zhen should have been sent by Princess Taiping. She is so eager for power and wealth. Will she let this wealth go?

There are Wu Sansi who is hidden in the dark and Wu Chengsi who refuses to withdraw from the political stage, and even Li Dan and Li Xian who are honest on the surface but restless on the contrary. Don’t they want to get this wealth?

It was still thirty miles away from Luoyang City, but the snow was getting heavier and heavier. The road was not visible for dozens of steps away, and the road became more and more difficult. At this time, Zhao Qiuniang saw a pavilion not far ahead, so she told everyone: "Go to the pavilion first and rest for a while!"

Everyone ran towards the pavilion and placed the horses. They squeezed into the pavilion and kept stomping their feet. Someone pulled out the blanket from the horse bag and wrapped themselves tightly. At this time, a woman asked, "Sister, can Xiao Liulang and the others find a place to stay?"

More than half an hour ago, Zhao Qiuniang sent three subordinates to find a place to stay first and prepare to wait for dawn before getting on the road. The person has been there for a long time and should be back. Zhao Qiuniang also felt a little uneasy in her heart. They would not have encountered anything!

At this moment, a subordinate pointed at the official road and shouted: "They are back!"

Two black shadows stumbled towards this side, and everyone hurriedly met. Zhao Qiuniang pushed everyone away and saw that there were only two, one was her apprentice Lin Qinhu and the other was Xiao Liulang, but she was injured. She asked with great concern: "Chihu, where is Jin Er?"

Lin Qinhu panted and said, "We were surrounded by monks from White Horse Temple. There were more than 30 people, Jin Er... killed by them."

Everyone's hearts sank into the abyss. The monks of the White Horse Temple had no choice but to intercept them. There must be another person waiting for them. Outside Luoyang City, it will become a battlefield for hunting, and everyone's eyes looked at Zhao Qiuniang.

Zhao Qiuniang is very familiar with the terrain of this area. They are Pengpo Town ahead of them and Yanshi County to the northeast. It is now snowing heavily, so they can cover their transfer.

She pondered for a long time and said to everyone: "We are divided into two groups, and I will lead a few brothers to continue north."

Her eyes fell on her eldest disciple Zhang Wei, and Zhang Wei immediately bowed and said, "Disciple is here!"

"You bring other people to protect the carriage to Yanshi County and hide in Yanshi County for a few days. I will bring reinforcements to pick you up."

Zhang Wei was very worried, "There are warriors in front of him. Isn't the master going north like this just happening to be their ambush?"

Zhao Qiuniang shook her head and said, "I won't go north for the time being. When you go far, I will take a detour to go north. Their target is these gold and silver, and they won't put too much energy on me."

She pointed to three more carriages, "Get out a carriage for me, I will use it as bait."

Everyone started to fight together and left an empty carriage to Zhao Qiuniang. Zhang Wei took twenty brothers to guard two carriages and left the official road and went from a small road towards Yanshi County. Zhao Qiuniang and four subordinates were still waiting in the pavilion, waiting patiently for dawn the next day.

.........

At noon, the blizzard that had been falling all night finally stopped. The streets, trees, and houses were covered with thick snow, and Luoyang City turned into a snowy world.

This heavy snow undoubtedly added a bit of joy to the upcoming New Year. In the streets and alleys of Luoyang City, there were groups of children playing in groups, and many young people couldn't help but join the ranks of snowball fights.

It is also particularly lively near Changxiamen, Luoyang. More than a dozen hunters who brought mountain goods to Luoyang to sell were surrounded by nearby residents. People rushed to buy all kinds of fresh wild game to add a delicacy to the New Year's dining table.

Dozens of children gathered at the city gate to play snowball fights, filled with the laughter of the New Year coming. At this moment, two knights rushed from a distance. The war horses were running in the snow and were exhausted and panting, but the knights on the horse were still whipping the horses.

The soldiers guarding the gate were startled and raised their spears to stop them, "Who, stop!"

The person who came from afar was Zhao Qiuniang and her apprentice Lin Qinhu. The two were covered in blood. Although they detoured north, they were still ambushed by a group of men in black. Three subordinates were unfortunately killed. Zhao Qiuniang and Lin Qinhu broke through the siege, but both were injured.

Zhao Qiuniang was exhausted. She had no strength to explain to the soldiers guarding the city. She took out a silver medal and waved in front of the soldiers. Several soldiers were so scared that they hurriedly put away their spears. A fire chief shouted: "Get out of here!"

The city gate was cleared, and Zhao Qiuniang and Lin Qinhu urged the horse to rush into Luoyang City. A soldier next to him did not see the silver medal they showed clearly, so he asked in a low voice: "Chang Huo, who are they?"

"Fool!"

The Fire Chief cursed fiercely: "Didn't you see a double-headed eagle on the silver medal?"

The soldiers were so scared that they dared not say anything. Children in Luoyang knew that the double-headed eagle was the logo of the Tang Dynasty's inner guards, the most mysterious and powerful guards, and they were directly responsible to the Queen.

The inner guard was a special guard established shortly after Wu Zetian took over the power. It was different from cruel officials such as Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen. The inner guard was responsible for carrying out various secret tasks assigned by Wu Zetian. The number was not large, only about 300.

The commander of the inner guard is equivalent to the General of the Central Lang. Currently, Wu Youxu is also serving as the general of the subordinate. The military position is equivalent to the General of the Lang. Each deputy commander has three lieutenants under each, and each lieutenant leads fifty guards.

The inner guard is divided into four Ming guards and two hidden guards. The hidden guards are hidden in the market. They usually engage in various industries to hide their identities, including businessmen, bartenders, dancers, street rogues, etc.

Zhao Qiuniang has been hiding her identity from Li Zhen. She is actually a lieutenant of the inner guard and a hidden guard. Her opening of a martial arts hall is just a cover. There are not many inner guards among the many disciples of the martial arts hall. Her fifty subordinates are distributed in the Nanshi City.

Zhao Qiuniang was introduced to the inner guard by her master Gongsun five years ago and was valued by Shangguan Wan'er. Her husband was also the inner guard's captain. Unfortunately, he was killed in a mission last year. Zhao Qiuniang took over her husband's position and was promoted to the lieutenant.

This time, she secretly helped Li Zhen with the order of Shangguan Wan'er and confiscated Wei Shi's huge wealth, but unexpectedly she encountered great trouble when she came back.

Most of her subordinates have temporarily moved to Yanshi County. Zhao Qiuniang must bring people to support as soon as possible, otherwise those who intercept wealth will easily find that the target is Yanshi County.

Shortly after entering Luoyang City, Zhao Qiuniang and Lin Qinhu returned to the martial arts hall near Nanshi.

Since Zhao Qiuniang went to Songshan, the martial arts hall was also suspended. The disciples were all preparing for the New Year at home. The martial arts hall was deserted. Zhao Qiuniang took Lin Qinhu into the martial arts hall from the side door, but met her youngest disciple A Ling.

"Aling, why are you here?" Zhao Qiuniang asked.

A Ling is only fourteen years old and looks very well-behaved and lively. Her family is also in Fushanfang. Her father is a businessman in Nanshi City.

A Ling was most loved by Zhao Qiuniang. She suddenly saw her master and jumped up in joy. She jumped forward and grabbed the master's hand, "Master, I'm bored at home, come to the martial arts hall for fun!"

She suddenly found blood on her master's body, and she was so scared that she screamed, "There is blood! Master, what's wrong with you?"

"Aling, don't make a fuss. Take Senior Brother Lin to rest, help him with medicine, and then bring the master's medicine box."

A Ling panickedly and helped her senior brother Lin Qinhu to the backyard, while Zhao Qiu came to the rest room of the martial arts hall and slowly pulled up her long skirt. She saw that her pants had been pierced by a long sword. She tore her white satin pants, and there was a sword wound on the outside of her thigh, which was covered in blood.

She leaned on the couch exhausted. At this time, A Ling hurried over with the medicine box, "Master, I'll give you the medicine box!"

Zhao Qiuniang nodded, opened the medicine box, carefully washed the wounds on her waist and legs with wine, and applied the wound medicine. Although the pain was unbearable, after applying the medicine, a cool feeling penetrated the wound, making her feel much more comfortable.

"A Ling, during the time of Master's absence, are there any abnormalities in the martial arts hall?"

A Ling thought for a while and said, "There is nothing unusual in the martial arts hall, but there are always a few strange people swaying around outside, even at night."

Zhao Qiuniang was shocked and asked anxiously: "Are they still here today?"

"It seems to be here! I saw them when I came, and there were three people in total."

Zhao Qiuniang immediately realized that she was careless. Her martial arts school had been monitored. She didn't care about the pain in the wound and immediately stood up and said, "Aling, go and call Senior Brother Lin to get up, and we will leave soon."

Zhao Qiuniang cleaned up briefly and walked quickly towards the side door. The disciples Lin Qinhu and A Ling hurried over, and they turned over the horses. At this moment, a sudden sound of horse hooves came from outside the martial arts hall.

The fierce sound of horse hooves was like stepping on Zhao Qiuniang's heart. She was so nervous that her legs were weak. She hurriedly looked through the side door and saw nearly thirty inner guard soldiers running into the gate under the leadership of Deputy Commander Wan Guojun.

...
Chapter completed!