Chapter 868 Life should not be cut off
"Miss, I found some people of unknown origin following us from Lin'an City. Do you want to send someone to get rid of them?"

Under the cover of night, a lean man in black burst out of the air, landed lightly on Xunzhen's carriage, and inquired through the curtain.

This person is none other than Xiao Yang, a master from "Tianzang Peak" who is known for his skill in light martial arts.

It is worth mentioning that most of the black-clad masked men who participated in the rescue of Liu Xunyi tonight came from the Three Religions in the Western Regions, namely Tianzang Peak, Linglong Sea and Jinlun Temple.

Of course, these Western Region masters had no friendship with Liu Xunyi, and they risked their lives to save him just to follow Xunzhen's orders.

"what?"

Inside the carriage, Abaolu, who had just used internal energy to heal Liu Xunyi, was sweating and panting. Upon hearing Xiao Yang's report, his face suddenly changed. He wanted to get up with his knife, but he felt dizzy and fell down in the carriage with a plop.

"Your vitality is weak, don't move."

Xunzhen advised Abaolu not to be impatient, and asked outside the car: "How many people are there?"

"About 10 to 20 people, all carrying weapons." Xiao Yang replied, "It seems... they are looking for an opportunity to attack us."

"The person who came here has bad intentions!" Abaolu said worriedly, "Could it be someone from the Song Dynasty court?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Xunzhen said cryptically, "I guess these people are not coming for us, but..."

Having said this, she cast a meaningful look at the dying Liu Xunyi and added: "No matter who these people are, we have already waded into this muddy water, and we can only fight back."

"what do you mean……"

"Xiao Yang, Xun Budao, and Su Hu set up an ambush. Remember to leave him alive. I want to interrogate him personally."

"understand!"

After getting Xunzhen's consent, Xiao Yang, who was eager to take action, immediately took the order and left.

A dozen carriages continued to move forward as if nothing had happened. After a while, a burst of "clang clang clang" fighting sounds came from the darkness. After a while, Xiao Yang's voice sounded again, but his tone sounded a little excited, and his breath seemed unstable.

"My lady, these people are quite skilled. We killed half of them, let the other half run away, and caught one alive."

"stop!"

At the command, more than a dozen carriages slowly stopped in a forest.

When Xunzhen got out of the carriage, twenty or thirty Western Region masters had already lit torches and formed a circle, sweeping away the darkness before dawn.

At this moment, a man in black, covered with scars and blood, was tied up and pressed to the ground. Xun Budao and Su Hu stood on his left and right, watching him with eager eyes. If he struggled even a little, he would be beaten and kicked.

Xiao Yang took the torch from someone else, led Xun Zhen slowly forward, and brought the crackling flame in front of the man so that Xun Zhen could see his face clearly.

Xunzhen looked up and down at the dishevelled man in black and asked nonchalantly, "What's your name?"

"Bah!" The man in black angrily spat out a mouthful of blood and spit, and shouted, "Kill me if you want to, but don't even think about getting any information out of me..."

"boom!"

"Forehead……"

Before the man in black could finish his words, Su Hu kicked him hard in the right rib with great force, breaking his ribs instantly. He grimaced in pain and wailed continuously.

"Just answer whatever you are asked. We don't want to hear any nonsense."

Under Su Hu's ferocious threat, the man in black suppressed his inner despair and physical pain, and asked back, "Who are you? Why..."

"boom!"

"what……"

Before he could finish his words, he was kicked again mercilessly, this time at his left rib.

Su Hu pressed the sharp scimitar against the lower body of the man in black, and said expressionlessly: "If you dare to talk nonsense again, don't be rude." Seeing that Su Hu and others were ruthless and ruthless, Miao Zhi couldn't help but feel timid, and answered truthfully with reluctance, "My name is Miao Zhi..."

"You are so afraid of death, you are not a man of the world." Xunzhen observed Miao Zhi's words and actions and asked calmly, "Are you from the imperial court?"

"Yes."

"Who sent you?"

“This…” Miao Zhi looked embarrassed, as if he was in a dilemma. “If I tell it, even if I escape today, I will be dead tomorrow…”

Seeing Miao Zhi's evasive words, Su Hu's eyes turned cold. He was about to take ruthless action, but was interrupted by Xun Zhen: "Actually, even if you don't say it, I can guess that you are from the East Palace."

"Hiss!" Miao Zhi's eyes suddenly changed after Xunzhen revealed his identity. He subconsciously asked, "How did you know?" "Wearing night clothes and carrying weapons, even a fool can guess that you are well prepared." Xunzhen said slowly, "Just now in Lin'an City, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council was assassinated, but you hid in the dark and watched, and then followed us secretly afterwards. I don't need to guess to know that you are not in the same camp as the West Mansion, otherwise you would not have watched us die without helping."

"This……"

"Who else but the East Palace can be the one who is not on the same side as the West Palace and cares so much about Liu Xunyi?" Xunzhen's beautiful eyes turned and stared at Miao Zhi, whose eyes were erratic, and asked with a smile, "I heard that the East Palace just suffered a catastrophe, and all the officials were scared out of their wits. Therefore, the one who dared to jump out and cause trouble at this time when everyone was in danger must be no ordinary person. Looking at the Lin'an court, there are no more than a handful of big figures who can be so fearless, and one of them... happens to be the helmsman of your East Palace, the newly-empowered 'Acting Prime Minister' Lord Jia, right?"

"Who are you?" Miao Zhi asked in astonishment. "From the looks of you, you shouldn't be from the imperial court. But why do you know so much about the imperial court?"

"Well, I'm an old friend of your Lord Jia," Xunzhen said jokingly, "Ever since he became the Minister of the East Palace, I've been particularly concerned about his affairs."

"Old friend?"

"For Lord Jia's sake, I can spare your life and let you go." Xunzhen did not give Miao Zhi a chance to ask further questions and said, "But you have to tell Lord Jia a message for me."

"What?"

"If you don't want to be shaved bald again, you should behave yourself in the future. Don't repay kindness with enmity, and don't get carried away." Having said this, Xunzhen's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he said word by word, "Also, from today on, don't have any evil thoughts about Liu Xunyi, otherwise even the Emperor of the Song Dynasty can't protect him."

"you……"

"This is not a threat, but an advice." Looking at the uneasy, frightened and angry Miao Zhi, Xunzhen took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, wiped the blood off his face, and said softly, "Tell Lord Jia that if he wants to be the Prime Minister of the East Palace in peace, he should not provoke people he cannot afford to offend."

"Someone you can't afford to offend?" Miao Zhi was stunned. "Are you talking about...Liu Xunyi?"

"If it's not Liu Xunyi, could it be you?"

Xunzhen cast a meaningful look at the frightened Miao Zhi, stood up, and walked towards the carriage without looking back.

"Let him go!"

After hearing Xunzhen's instructions, Su Hu used a knife to untie the ropes on Miao Zhi, and then the group got into the carriage and drove away quickly.

"These Han people often talk about ancestral teachings such as 'repay a drop of kindness with a spring', and they often say 'repay favors' and 'remember the source of water'... Little do they know that they are the most ungrateful and profit-seeking people." In the carriage, Abaolu mocked the sanctimonious Lord Jia without hesitation, "Liu Xunyi saved his life at Yanmen Pass, but he didn't expect that once he gained power, he would repay his kindness with hatred."

"No one can be blamed for this, only himself." Xunzhen looked at the half-dead and endangered Liu Xunyi with complicated eyes, as if answering Abaolu's complaint, or talking to himself, "It's not that he can't change his fate, nor that he can't achieve hegemony. In terms of martial arts, talent, and scheming, he is not inferior to anyone. The only thing is his temperament, especially his soft-heartedness. If he doesn't change, he will never achieve great things. We rescued Qiu Han and Ding Chou from Qin Wei's pursuit, and wanted to use them to provoke Liu Xunyi's anger, but he still felt sympathy for his 'good brother' in the end. This shows that Liu Xunyi's heart... is too soft."

"As the saying goes, 'It is easy to change a country but difficult to change one's nature.' Since you knew that Liu Xunyi had flaws in his character, why did you praise him so highly in front of the Young King of Qin, and even use the Liao Dynasty's 'capital' to help him turn things around?"

"Because... he has potential."

"What potential?" Abaolu curled his lips and said, "Do you really think Liu Xunyi can become the second Luo Tianjin? Not only does he have nothing now, but he also carries a lot of blood debts..."

"That's why we have the opportunity to get close to him." Xunzhen explained, "When he is fully grown, we want to get close to him... but I'm afraid it will be as difficult as getting close to Luo Tianjin in the past. Even if we force ourselves to cooperate, we won't be able to truly open up to him."

"Xunzhen, it's not that I don't believe you, I just... can't understand." Abaolu said tangledly, "What ability does Liu Xunyi have that makes you so sure about his future? No matter how I look at it, he is not even one tenth as good as Luo Tianjin. What puzzles me even more is that the young king of Qin has always been far-sighted and cautious, why did he also make mistakes with you?"

"The Central Plains is much richer than the Western Regions. If the Liao Dynasty wants to recover, it cannot rely on the power of the Western Regions alone. It must rely on the power of the Central Plains to compete with the wealthy and powerful Mongols. This is the 'national policy' that the young Qin King has already set." Xunzhen said solemnly, "Although the Song Dynasty is poor and weak, the Central Plains is still the world of the Han people. For thousands of years, dynasties have changed and ethnic wars have never shaken the Han people's rule over this land. Even as powerful as Mongolia, it has to use the Han people to govern the Han area. We should do the same. If we want to rely on the power of the Central Plains, we must 'use the Han to control the Han', just like when we cooperated with Luo Tianjin..."

"I understand the reasoning, and I agree that the Young Prince Qin's 'national policy' is very wise. However, you were very cautious when choosing Luo Tianjin, and made up your mind after a thousand deliberations and considerations. But why did you become so careless when choosing Liu Xunyi? Excuse me, there are many martial arts sects in the Central Plains. Even if you don't consider those old foxes who have already become famous, just randomly pick one from the up-and-coming talents, even if it is the cynical Qin Ku... It is much safer and more reliable than Liu Xunyi."

"Prince Shao Qin chose Liu Xunyi, so he must have his reasons." Facing Abaolu's eloquent words, Xunzhen's tone sounded a little impatient.

"What reason?"

"you……"

"Miss, there is a woman fainted on the side of the road."

Suddenly, Xiao Yang's report came from outside the carriage, interrupting Xunzhen and Abaolu's conversation at an inopportune time.

"If he fainted, he fainted. What does it have to do with you?" Abaolu scolded angrily, "When did your Tianzang Peak become a charity?"

"This……"

The carriage passed slowly, with no intention of stopping.

Xunzhen lifted the carriage curtain out of curiosity and looked outside. His eyes accidentally swept across the girl who had fainted on the side of the road and was covered in mud. Just then, a breeze blew by, blowing away her long black hair, revealing a pretty face.

Looking at the familiar woman, Xunzhen frowned slightly. After a little recollection, he suddenly realized what was going on and a look of astonishment involuntarily appeared in his eyes.

"is her?"

……

(End of this chapter)