The First Lackey Under The Empress

Confused? Inside the carriage, Xu Zhenguan's eyes showed a hint of doubt, but she didn't ask.

Because with the deaths of several interrogating rebel soldiers, the entire checkpoint was in turmoil, and the merchants and travelers being questioned along the way screamed in alarm.

Zhao Du'an, however, shook the reins and drove the carriage with a blank expression, passing through the checkpoint in the awed gazes of the "survivors" and continuing along the official road.

According to the map, there was a fork in the road ahead, and there was more than one route to the Huai River waterway. He had to choose one of them.

......

Half a day later.

"Hee-律律."

The secret agent leader Ouyang Ye tightened his reins and arrived at this official road intersection, which had been cordoned off, with a new team of rebel soldiers waiting here.

The dead bodies were placed side by side on the roadside with straw mats.

"My lord, these soldiers were all killed by sharp blades cutting their throats. Judging by the technique, it should be the work of a cultivator."

A secret agent dismounted to confirm the situation and returned to report:

"According to eyewitnesses, it was a man driving a carriage and wearing a straw hat who killed them. After the killings, he broke through the checkpoint and left."

Ouyang Ye, wearing a hood to conceal his face and with his right hand on the hilt of his Miao sword, listened to the report expressionlessly.

Beside him, "White-headed Eagle" and "Demon Tenth Sister," riding horses on his left and right, looked delighted.

The latter said, "It seems that the direction we are tracing is correct. The other party is indeed trying to break through from the southern line, leave Jiancheng, and go to the Huai River."

After leaving the bamboo forest, the group continued to pursue, but unfortunately, Demon Tenth Sister's术法 could not be used frequently.

After Zhao Du'an set off, because he was far away from the mountains and fields, it was difficult for White-headed Eagle to obtain accurate information from the beasts and birds.

"This wound should be the work of Zhao Du'an's flying knife. I have seen something similar before," Ouyang Ye said.

During the battle at Lake Pavilion, Zhao Du'an killed the divine archer and left the body at Prince Jing's residence, also leaving traces of flying knife killings.

"With Zhao Du'an's skills, if he were to escape alone, it would be difficult for us to capture him. But he chose to drive a carriage, which means that the pseudo-emperor is seriously injured and unable to walk, and is in the carriage, and the carriage can only travel on the official road... Heh, risking killing people to break through the checkpoints, he must believe that he can escape before the pursuers arrive..."

Ouyang Ye analyzed calmly, his smile sinister:

"Therefore, as long as we follow this road, wherever there is trouble at the checkpoints, it means that they have gone in that direction. In just half a day, we are on horseback and he is in a carriage. If everything goes well, we may be able to catch up today."

The secret agents were invigorated and immediately spurred their horses, whistling and chasing after the traces of Zhao Du'an's breakthrough.

During this time, when encountering forks in the road, they would split into two groups.

The group that found the checkpoint ahead safe and sound would return in time and reunite with the other group.

In this way, the group galloped wildly, but they did not catch up until dark.

"Something is not right. After so long, we should have seen them."

Ouyang Ye reined in his horse and frowned:

"We can't continue chasing."

He turned to look at Demon Tenth Sister: "I need to determine the other party's location."

The enchanting female术士 with seductive eyes pursed her red lips and smiled:

"Are you sure you want to ask at this time? My术法 cannot be used frequently. Once used, I have to wait a long time."

Seeing Ouyang Ye staring at her coldly, Demon Tenth Sister had no choice but to sigh, raise her ten fingers with different colored nails, point in the air, chant words, and make a praying gesture.

A circle of halo spread out from her brow, she dragged her hands carefully in the air, the space twisted, and an almost transparent ancient "oil lamp" appeared out of thin air.

The oil lamp was burning, but the color of the flame kept changing, red, green, orange, yellow...

The color of the candlelight corresponded to the color of the female术士's nails.

"Lamp God!"

Ouyang Ye subconsciously clenched the hand holding the Miao sword, instinctively wary of "wild gods."

The lamp god summoned by Demon Tenth Sister is a wild god without a proper divine title, who can burn lamp oil in exchange for "wishing" opportunities.

However, the wishes made have an upper limit on their capabilities. Exceeding the limit will forcibly use the caster as "lamp oil," burning away their life.

Therefore, Demon Tenth Sister would not make a wish like "Make the female emperor of Yu appear before me," which would burn her to ashes and be impossible to achieve.

She would only choose the least costly wish, asking for the location.

"Where are the female emperor of Yu and 少保 Zhao Du'an?" Demon Tenth Sister prayed sincerely.

The illusory lamp god's flame burned fiercely, and the lamp oil in the ancient candlestick was quickly consumed, and a picture appeared in the flame:

It was Zhao Du'an driving the carriage.

At the same time, the relevant specific location also appeared in Demon Tenth Sister's heart in a strange way.

The "Lamp God" slowly disappeared, and Demon Tenth Sister looked in surprise at the other side of the mountain, shocked:

"They are on another fork in the road, and have gone very far!"

"How is that possible?" White-headed Eagle looked over in surprise.

Ouyang Ye's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly said, "We've been tricked!"

......

......

On the mountain road, the moonlight was very good tonight, and Zhao Du'an drove the carriage overnight.

"No one has caught up so far. It seems that your arrangement has worked," Xu Zhenguan said.

Xu Zhenguan sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and looked up at the bright moon and stars in the night sky.

The moonlight shone down, reflecting on her fair and delicate face, like a bright moon falling into the world.

"Thinking positively, it may be that the rebels are slow to react," Zhao Du'an joked.

Xu Zhenguan sat cross-legged behind him like a young wife, looking up, her expression gentle, and said:

"No. Since soldiers were sent to block and inspect, after so long, they must have noticed. Afterwards, they only need to send troops to chase all the way down, which is enough to catch up with us."

"But until now, no pursuers have followed, which can only mean that they were deceived by you and chased in another direction."

Xu Zhenguan said firmly, with a trace of imperceptible admiration in her eyes.

Zhao Du'an's method was very simple, which was to kill people and break through the checkpoint at the beginning, and when arriving at the next fork in the road, first choose one road, kill all the rebels who set up the checkpoint, and make a false impression of breaking through.

In fact, they turned to another road, and through the "Taixu Painting Scroll", deceived the soldiers who set up the checkpoint and continued to flee.

"This method is very simple, but it is also very effective. After the enemy knows that we are killing people and breaking through the checkpoints, they will definitely think that we are eager to escape and do not have the ability to bypass the checkpoints..."

"Under this inertia of thinking, they will continue to chase down. When they find two official roads, one checkpoint is killed and the other is safe and sound."

"Naturally, they will think that we are escaping along the former road..."

"According to the terrain on the map, after the last fork in the road, the next long journey is far away from populated areas, and it is almost impossible to have checkpoints along the way..."

"In this way, when the pursuers react and want to turn back and chase us again, it will take a lot of time. And this time difference is enough for us to escape far away."

Zhao Du'an waved his whip, whipping the already panting nag, and explained calmly.

This deception is not complicated, it can be said to be exceptionally simple.

But in fact, the simpler the deception, the easier it is to work. Methods that are too flashy are difficult to implement.

Xu Zhenguan's bright eyes quietly looked at him:

"So, you want to travel overnight? Without rest in the middle?"

Zhao Du'an nodded and said calmly:

"Although I have bought some time, it is not enough.

So we must seize all the time and escape with all our strength. According to my estimation, if we don't rest tonight, and this horse doesn't die of exhaustion, we will be able to reach the border of Jiancheng Road at dawn and rush out. But..."

"But what?"

"However, I am worried that after our pursuers behind us react and are deceived, they may not choose to detour to pursue, but continue to move forward and wait for us at the checkpoint on the border."

Zhao Du'an's expression was heavy:

"If the other party is riding a horse, especially a good horse in the army, and travels with all their strength, even if the road is far, it is enough to reach the border before dawn."

The speed of the mount is enough to make up for the distance of the journey.

"If that's the case, I hope we have good luck," Xu Zhenguan was silent for a moment, and said softly.

Immediately, she pulled up the curtain, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and continued to breathe.

She wanted to seize all the time to stabilize her injuries as soon as possible and no longer be a burden on the escape.

......

In this way, the monarch and his subject calmed down. Unknowingly, the morning light was dim, and the east showed a fish-belly white.

Zhao Du'an, who had been traveling all night, was not considered tired. The existence of the World Honored One Blue Lotus greatly compensated for the loss of his energy.

Only the inferior horse pulling the cart, because it was whipped forward and had no rest, was already breathing heavily, and two wet streams of water vapor spewed out of its nostrils.

"Your Majesty, the Jiancheng Road checkpoint is ahead!"

Zhao Du'an suddenly reined in the carriage and said in a solemn voice.

Xu Zhenguan, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, opened her beautiful eyes and leaned out of the carriage. The sky was already bright, and a ray of sunlight pierced the morning mist from the east, illuminating the official road in front of her and the mountains and forests on both sides.

The carriage was parked on an upward slope, and the checkpoint ahead could be vaguely seen.

"Is there anything unusual?" Xu Zhenguan asked worriedly.

Zhao Du'an raised his head, gestured to the top of his head, and said:

"Yes. We may be being watched."

The Empress raised her head and looked up. Her beautiful eyes reflected more than a dozen birds circling in the sky.

The birds were flying very high, circling above them. If they didn't deliberately look up, they wouldn't notice them at all.

"These birds have been following us since just now. As our carriage moves forward, they also circle and follow us forward."

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Zhao Du'an said in a deep voice. Because of the continuous travel these days, a layer of blue stubble had grown on his face, making his appearance slightly vicissitudes.

However, the eyes under his straw hat were frighteningly bright, like a knife that had been wiped for a long time.

"What are you going to do?" The Empress withdrew her gaze and looked at him.

Zhao Du'an grinned and smiled:

"If there is really something strange, I'm afraid there are experts in the checkpoint ahead blocking the road, but your subject is not sure how strong the other party is.

To be safe, I would like to ask Your Majesty to allow me to go alone to test the waters. If there are no powerful enemies, I will kill them and come back to pick up Your Majesty and leave the country."

The Empress stared at him intently: "What if there are strong enemies?"

Zhao Du'an met her gaze calmly and smiled:

"Then your subject will have to kill as many of the guarding small fries as possible, and then lure the enemy into the forest, as far as possible, so that Your Majesty can take the opportunity to escape."

Xu Zhenguan was slightly moved and subconsciously reached out to grab his arm: "It will be very dangerous!"

Zhao Du'an smiled and said:

"Didn't Your Majesty say last time that if you encounter danger, it's better to escape than to be caught together? But if only one person can really escape, your subject hopes that person is Your Majesty."

With that, he took out a map from his arms, quickly circled a certain place, and said:

"If it really comes to the worst situation, your subject will shake off the pursuers and meet Your Majesty here. If your subject does not appear before noon, Your Majesty will go north on your own."

"You…" Xu Zhenguan's lips were dry, and she felt inexplicably flustered.

When she was a girl, she secretly hid in the palace to read storybooks. In the stories, if someone said such things, the separation was often eternal.

However, with her current injuries, facing the enemy, being with Zhao Du'an would only be a burden.

Separating and letting him act alone would reduce constraints and greatly increase the chances of survival.

"Okay, we can't delay any longer, the other party will notice something is wrong after a long time." Zhao Du'an smiled, and with a twist of his wrist, the Golden Crow Flying Knife roared out of his sleeve.

In the sharp sound of breaking through the air, a golden line rose from the ground, instantly killing all the birds circling in the high sky.

… …

Checkpoint ahead.

The sky was already bright, and about dozens of rebel soldiers were on standby in front of the sentry post.

Only by looking carefully would one find that their eyes were constantly glancing at the side of the sentry post, a group of murderous, daunting secret agents wearing strange soft armor and black robes.

Ouyang Ye, holding a Miao knife, stood in the crowd, waiting quietly.

Beside him, the middle-aged warlock "White-headed Eagle" with white hair and a bone whistle hanging from his waist, clenched a red bone flute.

The female warlock with a curvy figure and charming eyes crossed her arms, raised the heavy lumps of meat in front of her chest that were in the way, and squinted at the empty official road ahead.

At this hour, normal merchants would not appear at all.

However, they knew that behind the hillside, the person they were waiting for had arrived.

"He found us!"

Suddenly, the White-headed Eagle's expression changed slightly, and the other secret agents also saw that the group of birds circling in the high sky were like a group of ants, falling neatly from the sky.

Then, a carriage on the official road quickly approached. The coachman wearing a straw hat waved his whip fiercely, whipping the almost exhausted inferior horse, bursting out with the last of its strength.

The carriage quickly approached the sentry post where the chevaux-de-frise were placed. Zhao Du'an, who was driving the carriage, suddenly stood up and flicked his wrist!

The Golden Crow Flying Knife, wrapped in the power of a top-grade martial artist of the Divine Chapter, entered the sentry post like lightning, easily taking the heads of the dozen or so ordinary rebel soldiers.

Then, when it attacked the secret agent team, it was knocked away with a "ding" by a slender Miao knife that was suddenly unsheathed!

Ouyang Ye, the "thief exile" who had been exiled to Lingnan, sneered:

"What a great courage, shoot!"

While the secret agents behind him broke out in cold sweat, they neatly took out military crossbows from under their robes, aimed at the carriage, and pulled the trigger.

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

Arrows as thick as fingers shot out, each arrow flashing with blue-green light, coated with a deadly poison that would break the skin and seal the throat.

Zhao Du'an's pupils shrank suddenly, and he slammed into the carriage, while the flying knife that was shot away also roared back into the carriage.

The inferior horse, which was running as hard as it could, did not have time to stop, let out a wail, and was pierced by several arrows, its two front legs bent, and it knelt down hard!

At this moment, the inferior horse, which was on the verge of exhaustion due to continuous running, was shocked and immediately exhausted and died!

Under the effect of inertia, it pulled the carriage and fell diagonally, stopping abruptly in front of the chevaux-de-frise of the sentry post, kicking up a cloud of dust!

At the same time, the back of the collapsed carriage broke with a "bang", and Zhao Du'an, carrying a figure wearing a blood-stained dragon robe, ran wildly towards the forest on one side like lightning.

"Chase!" Ouyang Ye's eyes lit up and he sheathed the Miao knife:

"The Prince has ordered that whoever kills the false emperor will be rewarded with the title of Chiliarch! Whoever kills Zhao Du'an will be granted the title of Earl! And a reward of a thousand gold!"

"Kill!!!"

The secret agents were excited and immediately put away their crossbows, holding their knives and rushing into the forest like arrows leaving the string!

Ouyang Ye, White-headed Eagle, and Yao Shiniang also rushed into the forest at the first time, chasing Zhao Du'an and the Empress who had escaped.

In the blink of an eye, the sentry post was empty. After a while, after confirming that there were no ambushes and that the secret agents had gone far away.

Xu Zhenguan, dressed as a man, holding a small package, walked out of the forest on the other side, biting her lip, looking worriedly in the direction Zhao Du'an had left, gritted her teeth, and quickly fled outside the sentry post.

"You must come back alive…"

… …

… …

Among the Prince's pursuers, although there were few extremely powerful experts, there were indeed many Divine Chapter and Mortal Body realm martial artists.

The leader, Ouyang Ye, was extremely skilled in swordsmanship and very talented, otherwise Prince Jing would not have spent so much effort to rescue him from exile.

White-headed Eagle was proficient in controlling fierce beast magic. Stepping into the mountains and forests to fight was equivalent to stepping into his home field.

As for Yao Shiniang, the red-faced beauty who was charming and alluring in every move, in addition to mastering the magic of "Djinn" wishing, she was also a martial arts expert. She was also a martial artist who practiced magic, and her lightness skill was especially outstanding.

Coupled with the elite secret agents of the Prince's Mansion equipped with magic weapons, this team could easily kill ordinary world realm martial artists.

It should not be difficult to chase and kill Zhao Du'an, who was carrying a burden.

However, after entering the forest, Ouyang Ye realized that he had underestimated this pretty boy.

He would bend down from time to time to examine the clues left on the ground. At first, he could easily find the footprints left by Zhao Du'an's hasty escape, and it was not difficult to chase, but after a while, the footprints became more and more "sparse" and the frequency of appearance was greatly reduced.

It could be seen that Zhao Du'an was no longer running on the forest floor, but was stepping on tree trunks and rocks to borrow strength and detour through the dangerous terrain.

The two sides were chasing and escaping, but instead of getting closer, they were gradually increasing the distance.

"Zhao's lightness skill is so powerful? There was no such information, it seems that he has made great progress in the Martial Arts Hall in the past few months."

Ouyang Ye said with a gloomy expression after losing the footprints again.

The "White-headed Eagle" with messy white hair squatted down, pinched the moist soil with his hand and put it to his nose to sniff lightly, then patted his hands, grabbed the scarlet bone flute in his hand, and smiled sinisterly:

"Since the Prince has issued a reward, why don't we each rely on our own abilities to see who can succeed first?

Zhao's traces are erratic. If we gather together and chase in the wrong direction and lose the false emperor's trace, it will be difficult to explain to the Prince."

Divide the troops to pursue?

Ouyang Ye glanced at him and smiled: "Alright."

… …

Misspelled words will be corrected later