Chapter 528

However, he saw the pleading look in Luo Yangxing's eyes, asking him to come.

He had no choice but to agree.

He then ordered a guard nearby to return and inform Liu Rushi that he would likely not be back until later tonight, or perhaps not until tomorrow.

As for the concern that they might not be able to enter the city gates if they traveled back at night.

If it were an ordinary person, or an ordinary official, that might be impossible.

But with the Embroidered Uniform Guard's token, it was truly imperial permission; the Wucheng Cavalry Bureau would open the gates immediately.

So Su Qiao did not worry about this.

He was only worried about having to spend the night there.

The weather was so cold; staying out in the wild was simply uncomfortable, and it was already winter.

But since he had agreed to Luo Yangxing's request, Su Qiao asked for an extra Western Region wool blanket and two fur coats.

Only then did he climb comfortably into the carriage and head toward the ruined temple twenty li outside Chengnan.

The others rode horses while Su Qiao sat in the carriage; this treatment was considered quite good.

One must remember it was winter now; the weather outside was not warm at all, but unbearably cold.

Forget about trying to ride fast; the horses couldn't take it, and neither could the people.

They could only travel slowly and steadily.

The riding speed of the group was not slow; the party consisted of over sixty people, plus the Embroidered Uniform Guard gathering at Chengnan, totaling over a hundred people.

With so many people, it took two shichen before they all finally gathered inside the ruined temple at Chengnan.

By then, the sun had completely set, and the sky had turned pitch black.

The north wind howled, and there stood only a lone, dilapidated Tudimiao.

The courtyard walls and such had basically collapsed halfway, with withered yellow weeds covered in snow.

However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had now cleared out a large open space.

The Tudimiao was not very large; it was impossible for over a hundred people to all squeeze inside the ruined temple.

At most, the ruined temple could hold about fifty people.

So most of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had to set up tents and camp outside.

They definitely could not return tonight and could only spend the night here.

It was so dark, and the cold wind was blowing; who would travel twenty li in such conditions?

It was far too unsafe!

Su Qiao was glad he had sent word to Liu Rushi in advance so she would not worry about him.

The place was brightly lit; many torches and bonfires had been lit, illuminating the entire Tudimiao.

Su Qiao and Luo Yangxing arrived with their people.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard who had been waiting here immediately brought hot water that had just been boiled for them, allowing everyone to warm up.

Luo Yangxing also drank a bowl of hot water with ginger slices soaked in it.

He could not sit still and asked directly, "Where are the traces you found? Take me to see them!"

"Over here, my lord!"

Su Qiao also put on a fur coat, got down from the carriage, and followed along.

They followed the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the back of the Tudimiao and, sure enough, discovered wheel tracks and the traces of a bonfire.

The assassins totaled two or three hundred people; with so many gathering here, the area was actually quite large.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had indeed discovered a vast amount of traces here.

Even after several months had passed, they were still clearly visible on the ground.

Su Qiao examined them carefully and said, "It seems my previous guess was correct; they must have pretended to be beggars, gathered here, and thus avoided the Embroidered Uniform Guard's notice."

"Where are the bodies of the beggars?"

Luo Yangxing was not questioning Su Qiao but asking the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had investigated the site.

Because they had also found the bodies of the beggars, which were still buried in the ground of the rear courtyard.

"Mr. Su, although we found their gathering point, we still cannot investigate how they transported their carriages here, as indicated by the wheel tracks."

Upon hearing this, Su Qiao disagreed. "My lord Luo, the carriage came from Tianjin Wei, and there are also carriage marks here. Although we do not know how they transported it in between, as long as we confirm the carriage wheel tracks match, it should be fine. How it was transported temporarily is not particularly important!"

Prompted by Su Qiao's reminder, Luo Yangxing finally realized he had been fixating on a trivial detail.

Their main purpose was to search for clues and find the mastermind behind the scenes through those clues.

It was not to reconstruct the process of how the incident occurred.

Luo Yangxing had clearly been putting the cart before the horse just now!

"If Mr. Su had not reminded me, I would really have gone down the wrong path!"

"It's nothing. I understand the pressure you are under, Luo brother. We are so familiar with each other; may I call you Luo brother?"

Su Qiao looked at Luo Yangxing with a smile.

Luo Yangxing raised an eyebrow and shook his head very naturally and sincerely, "Of course, no problem. Then I will presume on our closeness and call you Su brother!"

"Luo brother is too polite!"

"It is so dark, and the wind is blowing. Everyone rest first; we will investigate again when it is light tomorrow."

Although there were torches and bonfires for illumination, it was still inconvenient for investigation.

At the very least, Su Qiao looked for a long time but saw nothing.

Perhaps there would be some results when there was sunlight during the day.

383, Luo Yangxing's intelligence was finally online!

Luo Yangxing agreed with Su Qiao's proposal; indeed, the cold wind was blowing now, biting and bone-chilling.

He wondered if it was about to snow again or what.

According to logic, snow should mean the temperature is slightly higher.

Who knew what was happening; now it was unbearably cold instead.

Only by huddling around the fire or hiding inside the tent could one feel warmth.

Yet, even in such weather, Luo Yangxing had not forgotten to remain vigilant.

He still arranged for covert sentries, three men per group, responsible for sounding the alarm.

When Luo Yangxing and his men had departed from the Northern Embroidered Uniform Guard Office to travel, they seemed to have been reminded by Su Qiao's preparations.

When they left, besides tents, they had also brought some items for warmth.

For instance, soup warmers (primitive hot water bottles), blankets, and furs, and so on.

These could be distributed to the Embroidered Uniform Guard on sentry duty.

Thus preventing them from freezing to death.

Although Luo Yangxing had arranged covert sentries, Ma Kui and the other guards around Su Qiao...

... still worked in three shifts, rotating the watch.

Ma Kui and his men, though also part of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's establishment, had been specifically assigned by Zhu Youjian to Su Qiao's side.

Luo Yangxing could not command them; they belonged to Su Qiao.

Su Qiao himself was not a person accustomed to entrusting his safety to others. 190

Luo Yangxing's Embroidered Uniform Guard certainly looked quite elite, yet he still had Ma Kui and his men serve as a second line of defense.

Fortunately, they slept soundly through the night.

Apart from the howling cold wind, nothing unusual occurred.

When Su Qiao woke up in the morning, he found the Embroidered Uniform Guard members were already up.

Outside, goose-feather snowflakes were drifting down.

The temperature was not as cold as the previous night.

The desired sun was not seen; instead, a gloomy expanse of dark clouds hung overhead.

"Mr. Su, please eat something; just this morning, they hunted some wild game."

Wild game?

Su Qiao did not stand on ceremony; he accepted the bowl handed to him by an Embroidered Uniform Guard member.

He glanced at it and found it was a bowl of hot soup made with rabbit meat.