Chenxi sets off from Xincheng at the end of the Yin hour.

This time he walked in a hurry and had a strong purpose. He walked straight to Nanjing by land by the official road. There were not many soldiers and generals around him, but Ma Jiu, Zhu Hong and Xier were all with him.

It was only two days from Xincheng to Nanjing for Chenxi, and there was no need to hurry up in the middle. At dusk, he did not enter the city or rest in the inn, and he intended to keep a distance from local officials and garrison generals.

On the first night, Chenxi stayed in Kaiyuan Ancient Town at the foot of the northern foot of Huishan Mountain north of Taihu Lake. It was not camping in the wilderness, but staying in a hotel.

The rich land in the south of the Yangtze River has been peaceful for hundreds of years. It doesn’t matter whether there is a city wall to protect it. There are many inns along the official roads, especially on such traffic passes.

The inn is located in the middle of the town and does not have the second floor. Chen Xi lives in the main hall of the second courtyard. The security measures are loose on the outside and tight on the inside. Except for the guards on the open, the inn is surrounded by secret spies, hiding in the dark night to protect the safety of Chen Xi.

The drum was ringing in the second update, and the candles were still lit in Chen Xi's room, and the shop came to deliver candles diligently.

The store owner did not know Chen Xi's identity, but only knew that he was a man from the government and had a very high level.

Chen Xi and his party were very polite to the store. Not only did they pay a lot of money, they also gave them more. There were two rooms in the east wing of the store and there were customers, but they did not ask to drive them away. The store always respected the people in the government. Even if they did not charge the accommodation money, they would pay them well, for fear of causing trouble.

"No need, let's take it with you, and we're willing." Zhu Hong was dealing with the store outside.

Zhu Hong, who was born into a bandit, had a rough and unruly aura, but was very friendly to people. This was also a change that he made unconsciously after his long-term life and work in the Shen family.

In the past, when he was a thief, he had to scare people and pretend to be a pretentious person. With power, he would unconsciously want to bully others. However, after being influenced by the Shen family, Zhu Hong now looks much more elegant and treats ordinary people politely.

The store owner had never seen such a polite official. In this era, if there was a little power in his hands, he would be arrogant and enjoy oppressing others. There were few exceptions. Seeing that this man who looked obviously a general spoke so politely, the store owner was a little uncomfortable and insisted on leaving the candle. As he spoke, he knelt down.

Suddenly a voice came from inside: "Stay here, just pay more room when you leave."

Zhu Hong took the candle and when the store owner was relieved, Zhu Hong delivered the candle to the room. Chen Xi treated the official documents in front of the candle fire without raising his head, as if he could not finish the errand.

"Yikuan, there was news just now that someone came from Nanjing... It should be the Duke of Wei. You can take people out of the town to greet him later." Chen Xi ordered.

Zhu Hong said: "Sir, you don't have many guards around you, and we are not familiar with the situation in this town... I'd better keep here."

Chen Xi shook his head slightly: "No need, it's very safe here. It seems that I have brought very few people this time, but I secretly sent a lot of people to follow me. I never fight a war that I am unsure of... Some people want to be unfavorable to me halfway, so they can only ask for trouble."

"Yes, sir."

Zhu Hong no longer insisted and quickly took his people back and went out of the town to welcome guests.

...

...

Kaiyuan Ancient Town is located on the south bank of Yangxi River, very close to the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, with convenient transportation and large crowds, but it becomes extremely quiet after night. Zhu Hong left the town for a long time but didn't see anyone coming from the official road ahead.

In this era, there will be basically no one walking at night. I won’t talk about night blindness caused by malnutrition. In order to protect yourself, people choose to live in groups. Often, there are only a few villages dozens of miles along the official road. If you miss a town or a station, you may have to walk all night in the wilderness, and if you are not careful, you will become prey of beasts.

Travelers like to find a place to stay before nightfall to regain their energy for the future.

I didn't know how long it took to beat the drum in the third update, but the guests Chen Xi was waiting for still did not arrive, but Xier came back first.

Xier brought news about Nanjing City.

"Sir, the Duke of Wei's mansion has learned that you are rushing to Nanjing City. Last night, Duke of Wei asked the officials of the Nanjing Ministry of War to discuss it. He heard that the officials of the six ministries of Nanjing were sent to contact us. In name, they were greeted, but in fact they were surveillance and information..."

In terms of investigation and information, Xier is very experienced, but she is a little immature in summary, which is because she always worked under Yunliu’s protection and got too little training.

This time, Xier's investigation was very one-sided. Apart from not figuring out who was sent by Nanjing, nor did she find out where the person is now, the information obtained was quite limited.

Chen Xidao: "No matter how powerful the Duke of Wei is, he is just a leading nobleman. The six ministries of Nanjing will not obey his orders. This time, some people may have wanted to understand why I went to Nanjing... This time, His Majesty won in person, and many people are concerned about the contribution of the credit. It is best to be appreciated by His Majesty and earn an opportunity to return to Beijing and enter the central government."

Xier blinked, but she didn't fully understand the meaning of Chen Xi's words and asked, "Sir, who do you want to deal with when you go to Nanjing? Duke of Wei? Or those who treason and treason?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "Even if you find out that the Duke of Wei is involved in the Japanese, or even secretly does business, or there is conclusive evidence that some officials are very close to King Ning and have surrendered their letters to express their loyalty, you will definitely be able to do it? What Jiangnan needs now is stability. Your Majesty has not arrived in the capital yet, so there can be no accident here."

Xier said: "That adult is going to..."

Chen Xi looked up at Xier and said, "You are like your senior sister. You want to ask about what you don't understand, but I can't tell you now. You can think about it yourself or have your own ideas, but you can't interfere with doing serious things because of random thoughts."

Xier nodded as if she understood it, "I understand."

Just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from outside, and someone came from the entrance of the town. Chen Xi stroked his chin and thoughtfully: "It seems that the guest is here... to see who it is, and after receiving the person, he will strengthen his guard. Without my instructions, no one will be allowed to approach this room."

"yes."

Xier took the order and retreated.

When Xier was discharged from the hospital, she saw a group of people holding torches appear at the side door of the inn. It seemed that they were coming from the night, many of them were armored officials.

When we arrived at the place, these people were very flamboyant, with the sound of horse hooves and shouts intertwined, causing the store that was greeted with great difficulty.

Xier complained: "It's true that it's not a soldier led by the adults, and I don't even know that I can't disturb the people..."

Even if she was dissatisfied, she knew that this kind of thing had nothing to do with her. At this time, Zhu Hong had already brought people to the gate of the yard.

Before he could get close, Zhu Hong had already introduced: "Mr. Song, this is the guard Xi in front of Master Shen."

The person known as "Master Song" is an official in his thirties. He looked at the official character of his green robe and official uniforms he wore. He heard Zhu Hong's introduction and hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "I admire him for a long time, and I admire him for a long time. "

Of course, Xier knew that her reputation could not be "respected for a long time" and her face was bad: "The adults are inside, but they must verify their true self before entering."

Zhu Hong explained: "I have read the official certificate. This person is indeed Lord Song from the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing."

Xier looked at the man with a slight dissatisfaction: "It's better to see clearly... The adults have provoked many villains for quelling the rebellion. Who can bear the consequences if something happens?"

The official seemed to understand it very well and said with a smile: "What the guard Xi said is so true, it is better to find out clearly. Shangshu Chen is a pillar of the court. No one can be missing from the court. This is an official certificate..."

As the official handed over the official certificate, Xier grabbed it and glanced at it in the light of the torch.

She didn't really want to see it, but she just didn't feel happy about the official and deliberately made things difficult for her.

After a brief inspection, it was confirmed that this person was indeed an official of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. He was named Song Ximing, a fifth-rank official, and after checking his appearance characteristics, he no longer stopped him. He asked Zhu Hong to accompany Song Ximing to Chen Xi's room.

Xier did not follow, but took the people to stay at the door and waited.

...

...

The night is solemn.

It looks calm, but in fact it is murderous.

In Shen Xi's room, Song Ximing made clear the purpose of his arrival... In front of a "shangguan" like Shen Xi, Song Ximing seemed very cautious. Although he was much older than Chen Xi, he could not compare with Chen Xi in terms of qualifications.

Ximing of the Song Dynasty was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Hongzhi. He joined the officialdom three years earlier than Chen Xi. He then stayed in the capital to observe the politics of the six ministries. This was a waste of time. He finally won the opportunity to work in Nanzhili. From the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue Procuratorate, Promotion, and then to the current Minister of Rites, it took nine years. He was promoted so quickly by currying favor with the powerful. Therefore, he cherished every opportunity to climb up more than others.

"Master Shen should not enter Nanjing easily... There are rumors that someone bought Lord Shen's life for 100,000 taels of silver. Not only are the thieves coveted it, but there are people in the government who want to be detrimental to the adults..."

Song Ximing came to persuade Chen Xi to continue moving forward, which was like a "warning", but even Song Ximing himself might not know the link.

Song Ximing was only responsible for passing the message, and he could not decide what he wanted to say.

Chen Xi asked with a smile: "Does it be clear who paid for the murderer?"

"This... cannot be found."

Song Ximing shook his head and said, "Mr. Shen has made many military achievements over the years. From the northwest to the southeast, everyone knows the reputation of the masters, and knows that it is almost impossible to defeat you on the battlefield. They can only use some despicable and shameless means, such as the people of Da Yan Khan, and the remnants of King Ning..."

Chen Xi sighed: "It seems that going to Nanjing is indeed dangerous, but I have to give an imperial edict to go to Nanjing. How can I change my itinerary easily?"

When Song Ximing heard this, he immediately asked, "I wonder why lord insisted on going?"

After asking, Song Ximing realized that he had made up his words. This should not be the thing he asked. Even if Chen Xi really wanted to do something that was unfavorable to anyone, it would not be his turn to inquire. If too much talk will lead to mistakes, Chen Xi would blame him for the news leaking.

Chen Xidao: "Since it is the emperor's decree, it cannot be said too clearly. It is always an important matter."

“Yes, yes.”

Song Ximing was very embarrassed and subconsciously reached out to wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead.

In front of a top minister in the court like Shen Xi, he was under a lot of pressure and couldn't even breathe.

Xu Qi pondered and wondered whether Wei Bin's arrival had an adverse impact on him.

Xu Cheng said: "Now I just found out that someone came to Nanjing, but I'm really not sure who it is. The purpose of this trip is probably to investigate what is ordered. There are also rumors that it is to thoroughly investigate Qian Ning, the crime of the former commander of the Jinyiwei... or it may also be to do private matters for His Majesty..."

Xu Qi said annoyedly: "At this time, they all came to Nanjing together. Who would believe that he said it was okay? I guess that boy Shen Zhihou will be here tomorrow, especially if His Majesty sent someone to assist Shen Zhihou in what he did..."

Xu Cheng nodded repeatedly: "It's really possible. If Wei Bin really said that, it would be fine. This person is greedy and will not be like Lord Shen, and he will not go in for food and rice... We can go in advance to find out the news. It will take two days for people from the north to arrive, so we can try to give gifts... It's not a big mistake for many gifts."

"good."

Xu Qi nodded and said, "Go and do it now. If you have any news, please inform me."
Chapter completed!