A group of merchants entered the territory of Huayin, and at noon, they stopped in the open space by the river.

Several people have a clear division of labor, some go to fetch water to boil water, and some are responsible for distributing steamed cakes and dried meat, which is no different from the merchant team that comes and goes on weekdays, except that the wild vegetable soup in the pot is particularly fragrant, which cannot attract the attention of passers-by.

"Big boss, big lady, lunch is ready."

With the cry of the little maid, a middle-aged couple got out of the carriage, helped each other to get off the train, and came to the shade of the tree, where the little maid enthusiastically handed over the dishes and chopsticks, which contained fragrant wild vegetable soup and steamed cakes.

When she held the thing in her hand, Xue Jinyi felt an extra boxy object in her palm, and she quietly placed the bowl on the stone next to her, breaking the steamed cake and sharing it with Puyang Xuan.

The little guy jumped twice and sat near them, just enough to block the view of the passers-by on the road.

Only then did Xue Jinyi unfold the boxy object, a folded piece of letterhead.

After she read it with Pu Yangxuan, the latter crumpled the letter into a ball, and in the blink of an eye, it was thrown into the fire with unmistaken accuracy, and quickly turned into a small pile of black ashes.

Seeing Pu Yangxuan sandwich the jerky in the steamed cake and hand it over, Xue Jinyi smiled and took a bite directly on his hand.

"Father's mind is really confusing," she chuckled in a low voice, "No one in the world would have thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would go to guard the granary, right?" ”

"In this way, the punishment is given, and there is an explanation to the people of the world, but ......"

Xue Jinyi continued: "But the prince has no face, and such a punishment is obviously not satisfactory to the world, so whether there will be a punishment in the future will also make the prince and the Cai family panic." ”

"Yes." Pu Yangxuan nodded and sent the steamed cake to Xue Jinyi, "We don't need to worry about this. ”

"But ......" Xue Jinyi looked at the fire, and the ashes of the burned letter paper were all gone in the tongue of fire, "The news that Lu Yunrong and Chen Jingyao are both pregnant has not yet been spread, and my father's intentions ......"

Pu Yangxuan took a deep breath of the aroma of the rice noodles mixed with the dried meat of the steamed cakes, and sighed: "It's so fragrant, Ah Jin thinks of eating steamed cakes like this, and she doesn't feel any hardship on the way." ”

Xue Jinyi looked at him with a smile, "Then you eat more?" ”

"The journey is hard, and Ah Jin has lost a little weight." Pu Yangxuan said softly: "If you want to think about your father's mind again, wouldn't you want to lose even more weight?" ”

Xue Jinyi couldn't help but rub her face.

Pu Yangxuan said: "For my father, this great event has not yet reached the right time to announce it. It depends on how the crown prince and Queen Cai behave. ”

Of course, it also depends on how they behave.

See when they will have children.

He didn't say this to Xue Jinyi, with her exquisite mind, she would also figure it out.

It's just that none of them want to think about it, and they know very well that the most important thing now is to catch Shen Qingmo and the others, maybe they can move the pressure of not having an heir back a little bit.

Xue Jinyi looked at Pu Yangxuan's affectionate eyes, and a brisk smile suddenly appeared on her face, "Yes, yes, let the Cai family and them slowly distress, we don't have to worry about the changes in the capital." ”

"Exactly."

Xue Jinyi smiled and ate another bite of steamed cakes, then picked up the soup bowl and looked into the distance while drinking the delicious wild vegetable soup.

Walk for more than half an hour, you will arrive at Huayin County, and then go to the east to Tongguan, which is garrisoned by Suiyang Bo, because the terrain is precipitous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is one of the important passes to defend the capital.

It is precisely because of the steep terrain and the preliminary investigation that there may be remnants of the former dynasty who have built a nest between these mountains and mountains, and launched a war in the pass and swept the capital.

They separated from Zhuo Shenbing and came here disguised as merchants to avoid interacting with local officials, wasting time and startling snakes.

Xue Jinyi drank the wild vegetable soup in a few sips and let out a pleasant sigh.

The crowd rested for a moment and continued on their way.

Instead of entering the county seat of Huayin, they turned into a farm outside the city.

Huayin's specialty is a kind of Sichuan pepper, which is of high quality and is excellent for cooking food or medicine. There are often merchants who bring special products from other places to exchange peppercorns and sell them to various places.

They had already sent someone to inquire before, so when they came to the farm, they were warmly greeted by the steward.

Zhuangzi's steward, surnamed Li, led them to a courtyard where they were staying, and after a short rest, brought them a few small bags of peppercorns for them to taste.

Xue Jinyi poured a few peppercorns into the palm of her hand, and after looking at the appearance and color, she sniffed the smell again, and finally threw one into her mouth.

Pu Yangxuan looked at her and squeezed her eyebrows a few times, and handed over a cup of tea.

Xue Jinyi drank two sips of herbal tea, and the numb and fragrant feeling in her mouth subsided, and said with a smile: "Huayin's peppercorns are really of good quality, with bright colors and large fragrant grains, and they must be more flavorful when used to cook." ”

Steward Li said: "There is a small stove in the yard, what dishes does the eldest lady want to make, we have the freshest melons, fruits and vegetables and chickens, ducks and pork in our Zhuangzi, the price is fair, although the eldest lady asks someone to bring it." Once you've tried the taste, it's up to you to decide how much you want to buy. ”

"Okay." Xue Jinyi nodded, "I must personally cook for everyone that night." ”

Puyang Xuan said: "I heard that there are a lot of delicacies in Huayin, and the surrounding scenery is also good. ”

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say." Steward Li responded, "You two have a good rest, I won't bother you first." ”

After Steward Li withdrew, Qinglan, who pretended to be a little girl, took the others to sort out the salutes and the goods they brought, and Xue Jinyi and Pu Yangxuan stayed in the house.

Pu Yangxuan spread out a small map on the table, although he had read it countless times, and there were different handwriting marks on it, but he seemed to see this map for the first time, and he looked at it carefully again.

On the way from Huayin to Tongguan, you need to pass through a lofty mountain, and there is a valley that has been filled with miasma for many years after two successive extermination of the remnants of the previous dynasty, it is particularly suspicious.

According to the book, thousands of years ago, when people took root here and established their homes, the miasma in the valley existed.

It is said that it is a forbidden place between heaven and earth, prohibiting mortals from entering and snooping on the secrets of gods and demons.

It is also said that when the world was in the midst of war, the soldiers and civilians of this place were killed, the corpses were piled up in the valley, and the ghosts of resentment lingered here, unwilling to leave, vowing to kill all those who set foot in their homeland.

Miasma swirls through the gloomy woods, full of poisonous weeds and poisonous beasts, only they can survive in this vast mist, and if a person gets even half a step closer, he will bleed to death in an instant.