Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 143 Recognizing Cui Heng

After the Qi delegation left Jiankang, three teams of people chased them onto the official road overnight.

The next morning, the envoy of Zhou also bid farewell to the emperor of Chen and returned to Chang'an.

On the way, a scout came to report: "Sir, there are people ahead who are seriously injured and they want to see their employer!"

Yuwen Xun nodded and asked him to bring the person over. Yuwen Hui's expression changed when he saw the person.

This man was a martial arts master sent by him. He bought him at a high price and planned to kill Gao Changgong on his way from Jiankang to Northern Qi, and kidnap the southern beauty he took with him.

But now this person was covered with scars, as if he had been stabbed by a sword with several holes in his body but it was not fatal.

"Who are you? What's the matter?" Yu Wenxun asked.

The man glanced at Yuwen Hui and replied, "Under the orders of Lord Yuwen, we followed the Qi delegation to a place a hundred miles outside Jiankang City, but we lost sight of the delegation. Then another group of people passed by and thought we were bandits. The two sides fought a life-and-death battle, and all the dozen assassins I recruited were killed or wounded!"

Yuwen Xun and Dugu Shan's faces changed drastically.

"Sanlang, you actually secretly sent people to kill the envoy from Qi?" Yuwen Xun scolded.

"So what if it's me? You've also seen the young lady's methods in Chen State. If she is brought back to Qi State by Gao Changgong, who knows what kind of storm she will stir up in the future?"

"She is just a young lady. Even if she has some clever tricks, competing for supremacy is a real man's job. How much trouble can she cause? Sanlang, don't be fooled by her beauty!"

"So, brother, you think I was deceived by her beauty!" After sneering, Yuwen Hui sighed, "Well, let's meet again on the battlefield in the future!"

He was thinking to himself: How come Gao Changgong's black-armored cavalrymen were so imposing and eye-catching, but they disappeared after chasing for a hundred miles? And how come they were ambushed by another group of people by coincidence after they lost their trace?

……

While Yuwen Hui was puzzled, Xiao Jinyu and Gao Changgong had already boarded a ship with a "merchant caravan" dressed in plain clothes, intending to go to Guangling, cross the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, and reach Pengcheng.

When the fleet set sail, Xiao Jinyu stood at the bow and looked back at his hometown Jiankang once again.

"This is the natural barrier of the Yangtze River. It originates in Bashu and flows out of the Three Gorges. It stretches for thousands of miles from Jiangling to Jiankang, spanning north and south. It is truly spectacular!"

Looking at the surging river rushing eastward like a wild horse running free from its reins, Gao Changgong felt a little emotional, and thought of what General Duan once told him about the most humiliating battle of the Northern Qi Dynasty, which was the Battle of Zhongshan with Chen Baxian. In this battle, the 100,000-strong Qi army was defeated by Chen Baxian, who had already exhausted his energy in the civil war in Southern Liang. Forty-six generals of the Northern Qi were beheaded by him, resulting in heavy losses. From then on, the Northern Qi Dynasty did not dare to easily march south to attack Chen.

In this battle, Chen Baxian made full use of the advantages of the Yangtze River, cutting off the already long food supply route of the Qi army and controlling the important roads of Xuanwu Lake to prevent the Qi army from breaking the lake. The Southern Dynasty's Yangtze River was full of elite naval forces, so the Qi army was trapped in a "瓮城". Due to the lack of food and heavy rain for several days, many soldiers died of hunger and skin ulcers caused by rain, and finally they were defeated without a fight.

Hearing Gao Changgong's emotion, Xiao Jinyu knew that this prince who was determined to fight on the battlefield to defend his country must have remembered something worthy of his admiration.

"Chang Gong——" she called softly.

Gao Changgong came to his senses, stretched out his arms and embraced her in his arms again.

"The wind is strong on the river, let's go in!"

Xiao Jinyu nodded with a smile. As they turned around, they saw two familiar figures approaching. One of them said in a loud voice, "Yes, the Yangtze River has protected the land of the Southern Dynasty. Although the State of Chen is not big, in my opinion, the emperor of the State of Chen has great ambitions. The peace between the two countries that you have obtained through marriage will probably not last long."

"I know that the two countries are forming an alliance on the surface, but in reality they are preparing for war and looking for an opportunity to attack each other. This is a strategy to destroy the relationship, right?"

The upper troops attacked the plot, the second attacked the Jiaotong, the second attacked the soldiers, and the lower attacked the city.

"Young lady, you even understand the art of war!" the young man laughed.

The people who came were Li Mi and Cui Heng.

"Sanlang said that you would definitely take this waterway, crossing the Yangtze and Huai Rivers from Jingkou to Pengcheng! So we rode as fast as we could to Jingkou to wait for you. Sure enough, Sanlang guessed it right!"

As Li Mi spoke, he looked at Xiao Jinyu and Lanling Wang curiously. Seeing that they were both dressed in ordinary black cloth, he asked worriedly, "Why are you dressed like this? Did you encounter any trouble on the road?"

"Not yet, just avoiding some ears and eyes!"

Li Mi was relieved and sighed, "It's good, it's good. My dear, you may not know that when you left, your last glance amazed many people. I think it won't be long before your name as a peerless beauty spreads all over the world. When you arrive in Qi, you must be extremely careful!"

After saying that, he felt the cold and stern eyes of Lanling Wang, and hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, I am not saying that you can't protect the young lady. It's just that you should understand the people and things of the Gao family in Northern Qi. The young lady didn't hesitate to separate from her family and marry far away in Qi. Sanlang and I just hope that she can live a good life!"

"Although I don't have the blessing of being a prince and marrying my young lady, I hope we can be lifelong friends. With just one word of agreement, I can travel thousands of miles. I am willing to do my best to fulfill your request!"

Li Mi's words were extremely sincere and clear. Xiao Jinyu was deeply moved and could not help but bow to them both very solemnly.

"Thank you, Mr. Li and Mr. Cui, for your love and trust in Jinyu. From now on, if you two have any requests, Ayu will do her best to help you!"

Li Mi returned the greeting and asked jokingly, "But why did the young lady choose the prince? It was obviously us who met the young lady first!"

"No!" Xiao Jinyu replied decisively, "We met at the same time. When we were in Xuzhou Pengcheng, I saw him first! He saved me first!"

The words "I saw him first" made Gao Changgong look sideways in surprise. He looked at Xiao Jinyu's profile very attentively. He always felt that there was a layer of haze on her fair skin, which made people lose their minds.

"It turns out that we lost because we didn't lend you a helping hand first! If we had known this, we should have taken the lead..."

"Yonghe, young lady, is this the reason? What's more, there is no reason at all when it comes to love. Sometimes it may be... the cause in the previous life will result in the result in the next life! Don't make things difficult for me by asking these questions!" Cui Heng continued.

The causes in the previous life will determine the results in the next life?

When Xiao Jinyu said this, her heart skipped a beat and she looked at Cui Heng suspiciously.

At this time, Cui Heng bowed to her solemnly, and then said to Lanling Wang: "I have something to say to the young lady. I wonder if the prince will allow me to talk to her alone?"

Gao Changgong knew Cui Heng and Cui Ziyuan's character. They became famous at a young age and could have been summoned to serve as a high-ranking official in Qi State. However, Emperor Wenxuan made many absurd moves at that time and even killed those who gave him advice. The young talent resigned from his official position and preferred to travel around the world to give lectures.

This is also a noble man who regards fame, wealth and power as dirt.

He shouldn't have any doubts, so he nodded readily and said, "Okay, I have no objection!"

Cui Heng bowed and thanked him, then invited Xiao Jinyu to the cabin.

After the two of them sat down, Xiao Jinyu noticed that Cui Heng's eyes were a little moist.

As if he had suppressed his emotions for a long time, he tried his best to keep his voice steady and said, "My father is the third branch of the Boling Cui family. In his early years, he was valued by Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan and his son Emperor Wenxiang Gao Cheng, and he was promoted to Shangshu You Pushe, known as the Iron-faced Censor. But because of this, he was resented by some court officials in the Northern Qi court. Later, he was falsely accused of treason and Emperor Wenxuan exiled him to Macheng to serve hard labor. At that time, the family urgently needed to nominate someone to serve as an official to clear my father's name.

So not long after I returned from Nanliang, I was pushed out by the tribe members. At that time, I was so worried about my father's affairs that I put many tribe affairs aside. "

When he said this, Cui Heng looked at Xiao Jinyu with bright eyes.

"Because of this, I missed an important event and let down a very important friend!"

"At that time, her family was facing destruction, and she sent a letter to me asking for help. However, my people hid the letter, and I didn't see it until long after she died."

“I have always felt guilty about this!”