the enlightener says

Cai Yan waved her hand to signal him to stop talking, then lowered her head, blinked and picked a duck-shaped lantern, grabbed it as soon as she stretched out her hand, and laughed: "How about this? It looks like a little duck. It must be able to float. very far."

Qin Ke smiled helplessly, thinking that whether it floats far or not has anything to do with whether it looks like a duck or not?However, under Cai Yan's instigation, he let go of his mind, picked up a little duck lantern, sat down at a table beside him and began to write down his wishes with pen and ink.

Turning her head slightly, Cai Yan was also seriously writing with pen and ink.

His handwriting is very good, obviously after many years of honing, but it doesn't look like a man's handwriting. The hairpin flower lowercase is very delicate, and it is written in black ink on silk: "I hope I can study in the world".

The two of them, one duckling, walked to the bank and slowly lowered the lantern. The duckling lantern swam a few times on the water surface, and suddenly it seemed as if two living creatures were swimming side by side, dexterously slipping into the water. In a large number of lantern clusters, slowly drifting towards the distance.

"Actually... if there is a chance, we can go out together."

Although we only met Cai Yan for one night, Qin Ke didn't dislike Cai Yan at all, and even thought it would be nice to have such a friend. Qin Ke couldn't help feeling sorry for his seemingly small but hard-to-achieve wish. sympathy.

Qin Ke said softly: "I just want to travel around the world. The Tang Kingdom is just the starting point, and I should go to more places later."

Cai Yan was watching the little duck float away, and inevitably felt a little bit of melancholy that her wish could not be fulfilled, but when she heard Qin Ke's words, she suddenly raised her head, opened her big eyes, and almost screamed: "Is this true?"

"Ah?" Qin Ke was shocked by his big movement, looked at his expectant eyes, could only cough, and said: "Well... if you can..."

Cai Yan let out a sigh, and finally took a step back, somewhat sadly: "Oh, that's great... If only I could really go with you."

He frowned and thought for a long time by the river, walking back and forth, cheering up and sighing at times, making Qin Ke a little confused.

But when Cai Yan looked at the two little ducks that were about to float under the bridge from a distance, her eyes suddenly became firm.

He walked quickly to Qin Ke, struggling to put his face in front of Qin Ke, the distance between the two has never been closer, Qin Ke even felt that he only needs to nod slightly, and the tip of his nose is will touch the tip of his nose, and my lips will...

The breath spit out on his face, with some unknown light fragrance, Qin Ke felt his face itchy, but a fire rushed to his face, making him blush a little.

He tried his best to keep calm, took a step back, and said to himself silently: "Ake, you are a man, and he is also a man, don't think about messy things..."

"At noon three days later, come to Cai Zhu's mansion to find me." Cai Yan said seriously, "You must remember that it is noon, neither early nor late."

Qin Ke asked in a daze, "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about it, anyway, just come to me. It's agreed, you will take me to study the world! Pull the hook, it's the puppy who regrets it."

Qin Ke finally understood what "disaster comes from the mouth", and because of the agitation of his mind, he seemed extraordinarily calm about Cai Yan's agreement that hanging on the hook for 100 years would not be changed.

Cai Yan is excited, he is really like a child at this moment, as if he has already planned a "sand bunker castle" in his mind, and he is going to do a big job soon, looking eager to try.

But Qin Ke felt that this was definitely not a good omen, so he looked at him stupidly and said, "You won't really do something." But he really just wanted to say something comforting, if Cai Yan really told him Traveling around the world to find artifacts, I still don't know what will happen along the way...

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, you said it yourself, and the hook was pulled. If you go back on your word, you're a puppy." Cai Yan snorted, "Anyway, after three days, you just come to Cai Zhuguo's mansion to find me. "

Qin Ke said helplessly: "Otherwise I'll still be a puppy..."

As a result, Cai Yan stared fiercely at him with her big eyes, and Qin Ke didn't dare to speak any further.

When I returned to the inn, the inn that was originally open to welcome guests was now closed, and there was a sign hanging at the door, which said "Our shop is small, and we have run out of food."

At this moment, although the Lantern Festival has gradually calmed down and is no longer as hot as it was at the beginning, many people passed by the inn, looked at the words hanging on the door, and sneered: "No wonder this store is opened in such a small street, just look at this. The brand knows that the shopkeeper will not make money. Today’s lantern festival, even half a month in advance, the store has to fill the cellar with vegetables, fruits and meat, but he is lucky, the lantern festival will be closed before the end.”

Qin Ke had strange eyes. He went up and knocked on the door. The old shopkeeper coughed from inside the door, as if he was rummaging through boxes. Then the voice approached the door. The old shopkeeper said, "Is it Mr. Qin?"

"It's me." Qin Ke said in a low voice, not knowing what happened.

The door of the inn opened, and the old shopkeeper coughed, put the bolt aside, and said, "The two guest officers who were traveling with you have already returned and are waiting for you upstairs."

Qin Ke felt the alienation in the voice of the old shopkeeper, as if he had become a stranger overnight, but looking at him with a bit of fatigue in his eyes, Qin Ke could only nod his head and said respectfully : "Thank you shopkeeper."

The stairs creaked under his footsteps. He heard the quiet sound of the piano all the way up, and his heart moved. He guessed that Gao Yishui was probably playing the piano, and slowly pushed open the door.

Everything in the room remained the same, but Qin Ke still noticed the packed bundles in the corner of the wall. Gao Yishui sat by the window, his eyes were calm and loose, and his movements were gentle with some strength. It's like touching the cheek of a beauty.

It is Feng Qiuhuang.

Qin Ke knows this song, it is said that it is about the love story of a man and a woman.

In Daoxiang Village’s home, there is still a collection of the Guqin used by the master. He found the wood himself and invited the grumpy old carpenter in the village to make it. To Master, he always put on a smile on his face. On the day of Master's funeral, even the old carpenter cried for a long time. He also spent a lot of time building that coffin.

Gao Yishui knew that Qin Ke had entered the door, so he didn't turn his head to look at him, but sang softly: "There is a beauty here, I will never forget it..."

Abu is stupid and silly, frowning and laughing while sitting on the chair.

Chapter 237 Letters from the Palace

"What's wrong with him?" Qin Ke looked at Gao Yishui suspiciously.

Gao Yishui lightly plucked the strings, rolled his eyes, and said, "At the Lantern Festival in Tang Dynasty, a cucumber egg ran out to play for a while, and then came back with a smirk. What do you think can be done?"

Qin Ke couldn't figure it out, so he could only tilt his head and ask again: "How do I know what to do? You are the only one who understands your devious ways, so I don't bother to think about it."

Gao Yishui was a little annoyed that he was being interrupted while playing, so he pressed the strings heavily, and said impatiently: "Aside from meeting a girl you like, what else can I do?"

"But..." Gao Yishui looked at Qin Ke playfully, "I'm surprised that you were so calm when you came back... Didn't you encounter anything? Or did you stay in the mountains alone for a long time, and now you don't know what to do? Don't like women anymore, but like men?"

"Go!" Qin Ke stared, although she knew early in the morning that a dog's mouth would never spit out ivory, but Gao Yishui's dog's mouth can be called a mouth full of excrement.

"Get ready, we have to move tonight," Gao Yishui said.

"What's the matter?" Qin Ke was slightly taken aback, "What's the matter, so anxious? No rest?"

"You can rest in another place." Gao Yishui flicked the guqin lightly and made a "thump-thump" sound. He frowned, stretched out his hand to adjust the strings, and continued with satisfaction until the sound was corrected: "Following you People, do you have any clues?"

Qin Ke nodded: "It's probably related to the bandits we met on the road, but I don't know why they also appeared in Tang Kingdom."

"For revenge?" Gao Yishui conjectured, but shook his head again, "But in my opinion, the brotherhood among the bandits makes it difficult for them to travel across mountains and rivers to Tang to kill you. Bandit leader, they should have arranged for another raid on the caravan earlier."

"That's right." Qin Ke thought that Wu Ting had been following him for so long but he was still able to keep quiet. If he hadn't happened to look downstairs and found him, I'm afraid he would continue to hide in the crowd. Silence, this is really not like the tough style of bandits.

"Bandits... Great Wall Arrow Array... Tang State..." Gao Yishui tapped on the table lightly, trying to connect these things together, but in the end he couldn't find the thread from the intricate clues, but what is certain is that, It is not suitable to stay here for a long time.

"In any case, your whereabouts have been exposed. We still don't know when they followed them and what their purpose is, but this inn is no longer safe. The old shopkeeper arranged it according to the emergency. The backhand, the inn has also been transferred to a reliable person, and he will leave this inn tonight, and even leave Ding'an."

Qin Ke looked at the still lights outside the window, heard the sound of the crowd gradually fade away, and asked anxiously, "Is it so serious?"

"It may not be so serious." At this time, the door suddenly opened, and the old shopkeeper walked in slowly, Qin Ke and Abu both hurriedly handed over their hands. Basic respect for the elderly is still required.

The old shopkeeper nodded, and said softly: "This is Ding'an, the capital of Tang Guoguo. As long as there is even a little negligence, follow-up matters may be difficult to deal with. Even though Tang Guo seems to be relatively peaceful now, the people who are chasing us inside have never been there. Stopped, the palace was on fire, the warehouse was stolen, and the lost artifact was the holy king's artifact. They have been looking for us like dogs with a keen sense of smell..."

He sighed: "The children's blood has been shed too much. If it weren't for my old bones to support the overall situation, I really hope to die for them. But now, we can't take this risk anymore. "

Gao Yishui shook his head and said: "You have done well enough. In my opinion, you can hide in the Tang country for such a long time. Without the ability to leak water, you will never be able to do it. Mrs. Yang is not a mediocre person. It can even be said that there is no one in this world who There are not many people who go to her, and you, the shopkeeper, are one of them."

"Thank you." The old shopkeeper bowed his head, "I came because there was a news from the palace that the whereabouts of the Five Elements Sinan Compass has been revealed."

"Really?" Qin Ke's eyes lit up, "Where is it?"

"I don't know yet." The old shopkeeper calmly poured cold water on him, "It's just that there are some signs. The pointer of Wuxing Sinan, that is, the 'spoon', is kept in the palace of King Tang, but the compass is not in Ding'an City. We He is one of the few nails we have left in the palace, and it is precisely because they entered the palace not long ago and their foundations were clean that they escaped this cleansing. But it is also because they entered the palace It won't be long, so the things they have access to are very limited, and it is already very difficult to obtain this information, and the rest... can only find another way."

"Why do you think of another way?" Gao Yishui asked.

The old shopkeeper looked at Gao Yishui and took a deep breath: "The palace."

"The palace?"

"There is a file warehouse in the palace. My people have wanted to go in for a long time, but they have never had the chance to go in. This file library has always been in charge of the blood relatives of the Tang Dynasty, and no one else has the right to enter." The old shopkeeper said solemnly: "But after a year During the cleaning season, my people sneaked in to investigate and found several important letters, which were said to be related to the compass's whereabouts. But soon, he was discovered, and he only had time to pass on such a one-sided news... and he, whose spine was broken by the court staff, died in the palace."

"If you can enter this file library, you may have the opportunity to get access to the information of the compass." The old shopkeeper closed his eyes, feeling as if there were a thousand catties on his eyelids.

"Understood." Gao Yishui nodded, "I'm afraid that even Yang Taizhen may not be able to enter the private treasury of the Li family's clan. The only people who can enter and exit at will are the clan members of Li Qiuhuang's family. No matter how good it is, no, royal family members, how can you pretend to be..."

"Then how did we get those letters?" Qin Ke asked.

"Of course... people will go get it." Gao Yishui said nonsense in a low voice, squinted his eyes and laughed, "Obviously with the old shopkeeper and the remaining power, it is impossible to do another shocking act like stealing the Five Elements Sinan It's done."

The old shopkeeper nodded wearily and said: "I lost too much of my people in that incident, and now I have to sneak into the file warehouse... Impossible, impossible..."

"That's right." Gao Yishui naturally understood that the palace of the Tang Dynasty King looked luxurious and extraordinary, but it was actually a dragon pond and a tiger's den. He entered the tiger's den and took the tiger's cubs. How could he escape without leaving any meat?

A month ago, the Tang King's palace suddenly caught fire, and then the old shopkeeper took advantage of the chaos to steal the Five Elements Siman from the treasure house, and after many changes of hands, finally gave out the pointer of the Five Elements Siman.

How easy is it to want the old things to repeat themselves now?

Several people were silent, Abu looked at the dignified faces of several people, and finally said: "Then there is nothing we can do?"

"There is a way." The old shopkeeper said.

Qin Ke suddenly raised his head, looked at the old shopkeeper and asked, "What can I do?"

"Three days later, it will be the birthday of Concubine Yang Taizhen, and every year at this time, Li Qiuhuang will hold a big banquet in the palace, and the precautions inside and outside the palace will be negligent. If... I press all the people under my command, maybe Can take a chance."

"Everyone?" Gao Yishui looked at him, "How many of us are there in the palace?"

"Not many, more than ten people." The old shopkeeper said: "If you try, you may not have a chance to succeed. But now there are two problems. First, even if my people succeed, it will be difficult to pass the news. Two different worlds, our last person who could deliver the news has been beheaded for public display, and now, our intelligence contact with the palace has been cut off. Second, it is also the problem just mentioned, we cannot contact the inside of the palace Naturally, it is impossible for my sons and daughters to move again from the silence."

Everyone was silent again.

Even a layman like Qin Ke knows how difficult it is to enter the palace of the Tang Dynasty, re-drill the channels, and gather those "rats" lurking in the dark to his side again, and a person like Gao Yishui is more able to pay attention to the details. Catch the dangerous atmosphere hidden in this matter.

Once it fails... what will happen?

Was it followed by the clues, and there was another cleansing in the palace?

Or... the entire Ding'an City will be turned upside down, even the old shopkeeper himself will not be spared?

Either way, it's not a good result.

Chapter 238 One Step Ahead

Gao Yishui is not from Jingwu. His mother country was turned into ashes in countless battles after the split of the Ji Dynasty. Now he is just a survivor who has no father or mother and abandoned his country and family. The lives of those Jingwu people were overconsidered.

But the current approach is undoubtedly a big gamble, and the chance of success is slim. Is it really necessary to do it?

Promising the country with one's body, drawing the sword to rise is certainly heroic, but it also depends on whether it is worth it.

At this time, Qin Ke hesitated, hesitated, and even asked very carefully: "What if... I do this?"

The three of them immediately looked at Qin Ke together.

Seeing this from the three of them, Qin Ke took a step back in embarrassment, and he said this sentence after thinking twice. Of course he knew how difficult this matter was, but he didn't want to give up such an opportunity.

He secretly said to himself: The little duck carrying his wish has drifted far away, but if he just drifts with the current, how can he see the sea of ​​vaults?

"I'm just saying if." Qin Ke whispered, "I can try to see if I can sneak into the palace. After all, my ability to hide is not bad. Gao Changgong didn't find me back then."

"Is there such a thing?" Gao Yishui suddenly laughed, "General Gao's physique can be called rare in the world. Under the swell of energy and blood, his hearing is ten times better than that of ordinary people. How can you hide in front of him?"

"It's not considered hiding." Qin Ke scratched his head, "I can control the wind, and the sound is transmitted by the wind..."

Abu agreed: "Indeed, if Xuanweizi hadn't found your traces, you should be able to hide until the end." But after thinking about it, he still worried: "This matter is too dangerous, even if your hiding ability is not bad , and there is no guarantee that the journey will be smooth at this time, what if something goes wrong?"

"But someone has to go." Qin Ke bowed his head, "If there is a compass in the palace, then..."

"I think you can try it." Gao Yishui said suddenly.

"Really?" Qin Ke looked at Gao Yishui. In fact, Abu was worried, but if Gao Yishui said that he could give it a try, maybe this matter might not be impossible?Although he knows that Gao Yishui likes to pick chestnuts out of fire, he thinks far more far-reaching than himself when it comes to matters of life and death.

"It's just that I think. But everything has to be considered in the long run, I'm still thinking..." Gao Yishui didn't look at him, and gently stroked the strings, which was a small subconscious action he always thought about.

At this time, someone knocked lightly on the door, and a young voice said, "Shopkeeper, it's ready."

"Let them all stand by below and wait for me to go down." The old shopkeeper said in a deep voice.

Soon the voice disappeared, like a shadow in the night, or a ghost.

"Three, I have to go first." The old shopkeeper spoke slowly, "How to do things and when to do them, please give up your thoughts."

Gao Yishui laughed: "Where, we are just wasting our minds. The shopkeeper may throw his head and blood, no matter how we look at it, we are relaxed."

The old shopkeeper didn't answer, but just pulled out a bamboo slip from his pocket, "This is the new contact information, and the connection code is written on the reverse side. After remembering the code, please destroy it so as not to leave a message. If it is not necessary... we It's best not to meet again, I will arrange for you to go to another stronghold, there is my capable Haojilang, and they will help arrange everything."

Gao Yishui nodded and said, "Okay. You guys go ahead and take care."

The old shopkeeper took a deep look at Gao Yishui, and also said, "Take care." Although it sounded like a very simple sentence of "one step ahead", the old shopkeeper has been lurking in the Tang country for many years and knows the danger contained in this sentence.

If someone had really noticed the problem at the inn at this moment, there must have been a net set up around here, and those who stepped forward were like bait, and naturally they were most likely to be eaten by the big fish lurking in the water.

At the same time, those who leave behind can find a trace of life in the moment of ecstasy and relaxation after the other party eats the bait.

The old shopkeeper didn't say much, he even made the arrangement without thinking. He knew that the prime minister sent these three people to the Tang country to give him an order. The underground intelligence network in Ding'an City is not hesitating. Their lives are dead. After so many years, aren't there enough Jingwu spies who died in the Tang Kingdom?

Thinking of this, he whispered in his heart: "For Jing Wu."

At the same time, his old wrinkled hands clenched into fists.

He is old, and lost two more teeth this year, but he is an old dog, after all, he still has a passion for blood. As for when he needs to spill his blood, he is obviously prepared.

The old shopkeeper went downstairs, and he and the people beside him quickly disappeared into the street. From the window, the three could see his spine swaying on the road, which had been crushed by years of hard work, and coughed a few times from time to time. The "nephew" next to him looked at him with concern, but because he also carried a shoulder pole and luggage, he couldn't help him.

Qin Ke feels distressed inexplicably. This old man seems to be an emperor in the shadows in the Tang Dynasty, but he has eight hundred if not one thousand men. These people can even set a fire in the palace and steal the Five Elements Sinan ...

But now, in Qin Ke's view, he is just like a mouse that is frightened day and night. He has to react as quickly as possible to any trouble. Living like this is really tiring.