C131

"Little friend, your Sugar Man is ready."

The old man handed over the dragon that he had made. A Jin laughed happily and placed the copper coin in the metal box. That dragon looked very lifelike, and she reported majestically that A Jin really liked it.

Jiang Si stared at that dragon, lowered his eyes and said, "So, it turns out that A Jin likes dragons."

The child raised the dragon in his hand, nodding and grinning from ear to ear.

Su Zhi ate two mouthfuls of noodles and looked behind her when she realized that the child had not come back yet.

Jiang Si hurriedly put down the curtain and instructed the servants to leave.

"Mother, look!"

Su Zhi smiled and nodded, "What a lifelike Tianlong."

Shen Zhu stirred the bowl of ramen noodles. He did not eat a single bite as his eyes stared at the sedan chair as it brushed past him. His sword-like eyebrows were gently knitted, as if he was unhappy.

After leaving the noodle stall, A Jin made a ruckus as he wandered around a few other places. He bought two boxes of persimmon cakes and a few skewers of candied fruits, saying that he would bring them back.

As the sky grew darker and darker, Su Zhi and her child had long been exhausted.

Shen Zhu advised A Jin to go back early and rest. The night market was still long, so it would be fine to come tomorrow night.

Seeing her mother's tiredness, A Jin hugged her in pain, blaming herself for not having noticed.

"It's already so late, I'll send Madame Su back."

Su Zhi shook her head with a wave of her hand. "There's no need for that. I'll be able to go back after calling the carriage. Many thanks to Young Master Shen tonight."

What a joke! Gu Sister-in-law had already misunderstood the relationship between her and Liu Yuan. With another Shen Zhu, even if the Yellow River jumped to its death, it wouldn't be washed clean.

Shen Zhu also felt that his words were superfluous. The fact that Jiang Yao was able to find this place so accurately must mean that he had planted spies. Even if something happened, he would be protected by guards hidden in the shadows.

"In that case, farewell."

Su Zhi saluted and took the carriage to Spring Leaf Alley.

She was exhausted, but the two children didn't seem tired at all. They were happily talking about what had happened on the street and yelling that they would go tomorrow.

Su Zhi agreed on the surface, but she didn't have the energy to accompany the two energetic children to run.

That night, the child, who had been in a ruckus for a long time, quickly fell asleep. Just as he was about to turn out the light, he heard a chirping sound from the corner — it was the little rabbit that was trapped in a cage.

Su Zhi placed the cage outside, closed the door, then went back to her room to sleep.

At daybreak the next day, Bi Yue had already woken up to prepare for the party lunch.

Seeing that it was already getting late, she quickly got up and followed him to the kitchen to do some work.

Worried that she wouldn't be able to handle it, Aunt Bai and Aunt Gu also came over to help.

The peace and harmony between the neighbors was something that Su Zhi had never experienced in An'an Village. She had come to Xuan City to learn that encountering a group of warm-hearted neighbors was a good thing.

During lunch time, those who didn't visit their relatives in Spring Leaf Alley all came.

The courtyard was busier than ever. The children were gathered together, playing around. After everyone had dinner, they helped to clean up, and they gathered together to chat while the afternoon was still warm.

The days passed in this manner, and it was only on the seventh day of the ninth month that the news of the rebellion finally arrived from the imperial city.

In the capital, Xiao Qian, who had gone to quell the mutiny, was boasted.

They said that General Xiao's reputation was spread far and wide, that he did not even need to spend a single soldier, and that he only needed to lead his men to rule, to scare the few leaders who were in chaos to the point that they pissed their pants.

Su Zhi's first thought was that something was wrong. Although it was a good thing that Xiao Qian had come back early, it had only been half a month before the chaos subsided. She could not help but feel that something was amiss.

As the people spoke of Xiao Qian, his reputation had risen by quite a few levels. Since ancient times, he had always been known to be a dangerous person.

On the eighth day of the new year, there was news of Xiao Qian returning to the capital. However, there was another news. The three soldiers that had led the rebellion had disappeared.

It was also on the same day that news of the military mutiny spread that someone else was behind it. The first to be suspected was the painstakingly leading soldier Xiao Qian.

As Xiao Qian's underlings, it was impossible to clear the suspicion that they were conspiring against him. With this situation, who could say if he was planning to lead his troops and run away, or if he had some other tricks up his sleeve?

When Su Zhi heard this, her heart sank. The wind of public opinion was pointing at Xiao Qian, but what she couldn't see was the sharp edge of a hidden arrow.

If the Emperor became suspicious and was framed by a traitor, the consequences would be unthinkable.

For the past few days, Su Zhi had been feeling anxious, hoping that Xiao Qian could get rid of the suspects and capture the missing leaders as soon as possible.

On the previous day of the Flowers and Lantern Festival, the news in the capital became even more intense.

On one hand, the commoners were full of praise for Xiao Qian's betrayal. On the other hand, the talk about how Xiao Qian had incited his subordinates to go against him was getting more and more heated.

When the army had just arrived at the outskirts of Xuan City, the imperial city quickly sent out two imperial edicts: Great General Xiao had rendered meritorious service by bestowing 10,000 taels of silver upon everyone. The other imperial edict clearly stated that although Xiao Qian had done a good deed, his underlings had committed a disorderly action. As a high-ranking officer, he wasn't strict in his discipline, so he had to withdraw the military talisman in his hand.

After the imperial edict had been issued, the crowd could not come up with an answer no matter how much they thought about it.

Wasn't it obvious that he was going to give a piece of candy another slap? He didn't say anything about the army's movements and just stayed in the suburbs.

After receiving the imperial edict, Tan Zhao was like an ant on a hot pan as he anxiously circled around. The person who was the calmest was the person in question, Xiao Qian himself.

So it was like this. This was Zhao Zheng's plan.

"General, why aren't you in a hurry at all?"

The military had been stripped of their authority. As generals of an army, they were still so carefree.

If the Great Wei was in a peaceful era, then martial generals could not hold a weapon token. However, in the last ten years, the Hu people had always invaded the borders, and the Huns were recalled before they broke through. This was not a good omen.

"What should I do? Things have already happened, and I've never done anything behind the scenes. "

Besides, there was no point worrying about it.

"General, your subordinate felt that something is amiss. Yesterday, there was a message from the capital that it was directed at you."

Xiao Qian calmly nodded. "Yeah, I heard some things."

However, he just wanted to raise him up a bit, to make the Emperor unhappy, and to bring in some rumors out of thin air. He only wanted to push him to the heart of the struggle. Was this the ability of the third young master of the Zhao Family? Not much.

"Then what does the general plan to do?"

Xiao Qian smiled. "Let's go home and get a wife."

Are you serious? You obviously have a trump card aimed at you, but you still have the heart to think about those matters. Sure enough, with a female general, that sword is no longer sharp.

What a pity, what a pity.

Xiao Qian saw him shake his head and found it funny. "I offended the Zhao Family. They clearly wanted me to return the favor." As things stood, the outcome might not be the worst.

His Majesty was paranoid. If he did not give the order to withdraw the token at the first possible moment, perhaps he really would have been anxious. However, the order did not come. That would have meant that things were turning for the better.

"Then how does the general plan to deal with it?"

"No one dares to be number one in the entire Zhao Family of the Imperial Court. Since you want your majesty to guard against me, then let them see if this trick can work. "

However, there was one thing that was truly a mystery. After the army reached Ye City and the other two places, other than catching a few scattered soldiers, they did not run into any of the leading gangs.

According to the intelligence report, the leaders of Ye City, Sun Yan, and Big Liang Ying Du, Mo Qijie and Qian Bin, were missing.

The three crucial people had disappeared into thin air. Even if they were to ask a lower rank, they would not have been able to find any trace of them. However, it was impossible for the three of them to just disappear like that.