Chapter 343 The aftermath
On February , the dragon looked up.

In the early morning, the rain and snow had just stopped, and Huodu City was quiet and peaceful. On the rustling street, a carriage came from afar and slowly stopped in front of Long'an Inn.

The driver was a plain-looking dwarf man, and the carriage was wrapped tightly with reddish-brown felt, making it impossible for light to enter.

Under the cold night, in the lonely streets, the dwarf man jumped out of the carriage tremblingly, exhaled a breath of hot air, rubbed his hands vigorously a few times, looked up at the plaque on the door of the inn, then tiptoed back to the carriage and called softly: "Master, we are here."

I wonder if the people in the carriage fell asleep? There was no response for a long time. The dwarf called out several times, and suddenly a light cough was heard in the carriage.

"Where are you?"

"As ordered, I will take you to Long'an Inn in Huodu. Sir, please get off the car. I have to go back and report to the envoy."

Following the dwarf's answer, the heavy carriage curtain was gently opened. Then, Liu Xunyi, wearing a blue linen shirt and looking tired, rubbed his sleepy eyes and slowly got out of the carriage.

"Thank you for your care along the way." Liu Xunyi bowed to the dwarf man, and then reached into his arms, as if he wanted to find something. But just as his fingers touched his clothes, his eyes suddenly changed, and then he smiled awkwardly and said bitterly, "To be honest, even the clothes I wear were given by your shopkeeper. I am really short of money right now, so I hope you won't blame me."

"You are welcome, sir. The shopkeeper has instructed me not to charge you a penny on this trip, otherwise I will lose my job for the rest of my life." The dwarf grinned and said, "Sir, remember, the nobleman is waiting for you in the Tianzi guest room. Go in quickly! I have to go back and report."

"We have been running around for half a month, and we are already exhausted. How can I let you leave in a hurry?" Liu Xunyi said righteously, "If you don't mind, please rest here for a few days. All expenses will be borne by me."

"I appreciate your kindness, sir. But the shopkeeper has ordered me not to stay in Huodu for a moment. Once I drop you off at Long'an Inn, I must rush back to Qiangtang." The dwarf man explained to Liu Xunyi while jumping on the carriage. Then he pulled the reins, bowed slightly to Liu Xunyi, and said with a simple smile, "Take care, sir. I'm leaving now."

“This…” Liu Xunyi saw that the dwarf had made up his mind and knew that it was hopeless to persuade him, so he could only bow and say goodbye, “Brother, be careful on your journey!”

"drive!"

The dwarf shouted softly, flicked the reins in his hand, and the carriage quickly turned around and disappeared at the end of the street in a moment.

On the second floor of Long'an Inn, room number Tian.

Xunzhen, who was sleeping, vaguely heard the noise of doors and windows. Her beautiful eyes suddenly opened and she reached out to touch the sword on the bedside.

He drew the sword from its sheath, leaped up, and thrust the sword hard, his movements smooth and seamless.

"Whoosh!"

"hiss!"

In the room, a silver light flashed by and pierced Liu Xunyi's forehead. He was so scared that he couldn't help but gasp and quickly dodged sideways. At the same time, he moved as fast as lightning and grabbed Xunzhen's wrist, then twisted it with his backhand. Xunzhen felt pain and his five fingers loosened slightly, and the sword fell to the ground. Liu Xunyi took the opportunity to raise his foot and hooked the sword, making it fall silently to the ground. Before Xunzhen could shout for help, he blocked Xunzhen's mouth with his left hand.

"Shh! It's me, Liu Xunyi!"

In the darkness, Liu Xunyi held Xunzhen's arm with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. She was extremely angry but could do nothing about it.

In order to let Xunzhen see his appearance clearly, Liu Xunyi deliberately put his face in front of her. Their eyes met. They were only a few inches apart and could even feel each other's breathing clearly. The atmosphere was a little subtle.

Looking at Xunzhen who was glaring at him angrily, and smelling the faint fragrance emanating from Xunzhen's body, Liu Xunyi was slightly stunned, then hurriedly took a step back and said, "Look carefully, I am Liu Xunyi."

Seeing Xunzhen nod slightly, Liu Xunyi let her go as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

However, at the moment when Xunzhen regained her freedom, she suddenly raised her right hand and mercilessly slapped Liu Xunyi hard. The sound was particularly loud in the silent night.

"Why are you hitting me? I'm Liu Xunyi!"

"I saw it clearly!" Facing the bewildered Liu Xunyi, Xunzhen angrily shouted, "I'm going to hit you, you shameless scoundrel!"

"This……"

Liu Xunyi was slapped for no reason and felt aggrieved, but seeing Xunzhen's angry look, he didn't dare to confront him rashly. After hesitating for a long time, he had to swallow his anger.

"You still dare to look! Do you want me to dig out your eyes?" Seeing Liu Xunyi remained silent, Xunzhen frowned and shouted again.

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi suddenly realized that Xunzhen was only wearing a thin pajamas at this moment, and he was looming, which made people imagine a lot.

Seeing this, Liu Xunyi felt his mind go blank, and he quickly turned around and apologized: "I am sorry for the offense, I hope you will forgive me!"

……

"What are your intentions for sneaking into a woman's bedroom in the middle of the night?"

In the dim room, a faint yellow candlelight illuminated the two people sitting opposite each other. Xunzhen, who was dressed neatly, still refused to give in to Liu Xunyi and glared at her angrily.

"It's such an injustice." Liu Xunyi looked bitter and complained to himself, "It was clearly you who sent me to Long'an Inn, and told me to stay in the Tianzi Room. I came here at your invitation, but you scolded me for no reason and even slapped me in the face. It's really... Alas!" "Come if you want to, why don't you knock on the door openly?" Xunzhen seemed to realize his mistake, and his tone became a little hesitant.

"If you wanted me to come back openly, you wouldn't have sent me here to see you. You could have waited for me in the Jade Dragon Palace." Liu Xunyi argued, "Besides, what time is it now? An uninvited guest knocking on the door of the inn in the middle of the night, don't you think it's strange?"

"An excuse!" Xunzhen snorted and said angrily, "I didn't mean that at all. You are just being clever."

"you……"

"You are either being clever or you are up to something bad." Xunzhen did not give Liu Xunyi a chance to argue, and said with a specious reasoning, "But considering that you are in danger of death on this trip, I will not bother with you and will spare your life for now."

"No matter what, I did offend you, and I dare not shirk my responsibility. I hope Miss Xunzhen will forgive me!"

"Forget it!" Seeing Liu Xunyi apologizing to him seriously, Xunzhen suddenly felt bored and waved his hand, "It was just a misunderstanding, no need to mention it again. A few days ago, when I received the secret letter with half a liang of gold, I thought it was news of your death. I never thought that you could come back alive from Tubo, it was really beyond my expectation."

"Thank you for arranging a retreat for us early on." At this point, Liu Xunyi's expression darkened and he said disappointedly, "But, although I was able to come back alive, Tang Cong..."

Hearing this, Xunzhen's eyes moved, and he said softly, "Banliang Jin has already told me about Tang Cong. Liu Xunyi, you... please accept my condolences."

"Oh!"

Before he finished speaking, Liu Xunyi slammed his fist on the table, and his expression changed from grief to anger. His black eyes stared at the flickering candlelight, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Tang Cong's death was not an accident, but a long-planned one. Boren was obviously Ding Ao's spy, so how could Jian Zhong know about it in advance? Someone must be behind this!"

"This is also the reason why I had a secret meeting with you in advance." Xunzhen's expression straightened and he nodded, "This matter is definitely not as simple as we imagined before. I suspect..." Xunzhen hesitated to speak, as if he had some concerns.

Liu Xunyi raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you suspect?"

"These are just my speculations, and there is no real evidence." Xunzhen reminded, "So suspicions are just suspicions, you must not take them seriously, and you must not break up with Yulong Palace because of this, so as not to delay the important matter of the Northern Sage King."

"Please tell me and listen."

"I suspect that someone deliberately used you to help Jian Zhong steal the Buddha Lotus Seeds." Xunzhen's eyes flickered, and he whispered, "And the instigator of this incident is most likely... related to the Jade Dragon Palace. After all, only people in the Jade Dragon Palace know the news about Bo Ren."

Liu Xunyi thought about it and said, "According to what you said, Dong Xiaoer and Hu Yanba are most likely to do this. These two have always supported Jin Jianwu and definitely don't want me to come back alive. But..."

"But do they know about Boren?" Xunzhen guessed what Liu Xunyi was thinking and continued, "After all, Boren is Ding Ao's spy planted in Tubo with great effort. According to our previous understanding, there should be open and covert fighting between Ding Ao, Huyanba and Dong Xiaoer, and they are suspicious of each other and are ready to use and guard against each other. If the Buddha Lotus Seed is really important to Ren Wuya, Ding Ao will definitely regard it as a treasure. How could he easily reveal Boren, this 'secret magic weapon', to Huyanba and Dong Xiaoer?"

"That's right." Liu Xunyi frowned and pondered, "If it were me, I would never do this. If you fatten your opponent, you will starve to death."

"Therefore, there are only three possibilities for Jian Zhong to learn about Bo Ren in advance." Xunzhen analyzed, "First, Ding Ao used to have a very harmonious relationship with Hu Yanba and Dong Xiaoer, so they could confide any secrets to each other. Now, the two sides have turned against each other due to their different positions, so Hu Yanba and Dong Xiaoer turned against each other and used Ding Ao's spies to plot against us. Second, there is no discord between Ding Ao and Hu Yanba and Dong Xiaoer. We were deceived by Ding Ao from beginning to end. In fact, the three of them all support Jin Jianwu. Therefore, the news about Bo Ren was most likely told to Jian Zhong by Ding Ao himself. As for being close to us, it was to perfunctory the King of Shao Qin. Third, the news Jian Zhong got was not from Hu Yanba, Dong Xiaoer, or Ding Ao, but from someone else."

Liu Xunyi agreed with Xunzhen's guess and nodded repeatedly, "Which of the above three do you think is the most likely?"

"According to common sense, the third one is the smallest, which should be understandable." Xunzhen pondered, "As for the first and second ones, they should be 50-50, and it is difficult to tell which is the smallest."

"No!" Liu Xunyi disagreed with Xunzhen's conclusion, "I think the first possibility is only 30%, while the second possibility is 70%."

"What?" Xunzhen's face changed, and he asked in surprise, "You mean... Ding Ao is behind all this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"This is not the first time that Ding Ao has used this trick." Liu Xunyi said in a deep voice, "In the past, when I first entered Huodu City, this Third Master Ding performed a good show for me by pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger."

"I asked Ding Ao to approach you on purpose..."

"If you are unfaithful once, you will never use him again." Liu Xunyi insisted, "Ding Ao is an old fox. It is impossible for you and I to tell whether he is loyal or treacherous."

"Liu Xunyi, the most important thing to avoid is preconceived ideas. You must not distort the truth because of personal grudges." At this moment, Xunzhen's expression was serious and his words were solemn. "I am not protecting Ding Ao, but I must remind you that Ding Ao is our only way to get close to Ren Wuya. If we lose his help, Lord Luo's plan will suffer a heavy blow, or even be ruined."

"I know." Liu Xunyi's eyes were complicated, and he murmured to himself, "Don't worry, I won't do anything rash before the truth comes out. In any case, Jian Zhong is dead, I want to see how this person who is behind this will end up today."

"what do you mean……"

"Instead of just sitting there and waiting for death, it's better to take the initiative. Xunzhen, I want you to cooperate with me in a play."

……

(End of this chapter)