Chapter Fourteen: Farewell to the Imperial City

  After receiving the edict allowing him to return home, Qin Lei followed protocol and went into the palace to thank Empress Qi of the State of Qi and the Emperor, then waited for three days before departing on a auspicious day.

  Shen Luo paid the price of several million taels of white silver to grease palms, finally getting Qi Guo to agree to have Tie Jia provide half of its guard force. If Shangguan Chengxiang had known that Zhang Jianzhi, who had already left the hostage mansion, would meet Qin Lei outside the city, he certainly wouldn't have been blinded by those eighteen Jiangnan songstresses.

  In recent days, there was also news that the national teacher's nephew had gone missing again, but this kid often goes missing and not many people pay attention to it.

  Three days later, at dawn, the fog had just cleared, and five large vehicles drove out of the Prime Minister's mansion, turned onto Zhuque Avenue, and half an hour later exited the East Gate of the Imperial City, where they merged with two contingents of guards and took to the official road.

  Shen Luo's private army of over 300 men, except for those who were sent out on missions, all gathered around Qin Lei. For this unusual care, Qin Lei was still very grateful. Without Shen Luo's full support, he could only choose to flee for his life. This contrasted sharply with the indifference and even ruthless exploitation by his own father, the Emperor of Qin.

  Soon after departure, Qin Lei stuck his head out of the car and asked Tieying, who was driving: "Did you send that box to Zhishan?"

  Tie Ying laughed and said: "It's been sent. That monk even praised our trunk design as ingenious." As he spoke, he burst into loud laughter.

  Qin Lei also couldn't help but chuckle and said with a smile: "That's right, I suppose it still hasn't been opened until now."

  Tie Ying suppressed his smile and said with a bit of effort: "A dozen or so keys, no blueprints, it's going to take some work. I wonder what expression he'll have when he opens it?"

  Qin Lei said seriously: "We are the most honest, whatever we say will be given, and we will never haggle over prices."

  Tie Ying thought of the box that cost two taels of silver from Meng Xueguan, which contained "Bai Jia Xing" and "Qian Zi Wen", indeed worthless characters and paintings. Only to wonder if Da Heshang would be disappointed.

  Qin Lei smiled and said: "The great monk won't be disappointed, isn't that little guy also in the box? We're really too kind. This is no good, next time we have to change."

  Tie Ying obeyed: "Yes, sir." They beat the national teacher's nephew severely, forced him to write a confession, a letter of surrender, an IOU, and a contract selling himself into slavery, then fed him a sedative and stuffed him back in the box.

  Qin Lei suddenly turned serious and asked Tieying: "Tie big brother, have you discovered something?"

  The iron eagle also tensed up, concentrating and listening quietly for what came next.

  "You're much more cheerful now." Qin Lei said mysteriously.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  The iron eagle's body shook, and it fiercely lashed its whip on the horse's back. The horse felt pain and galloped wildly.

  The carriage had traveled for less than half a time, Iron Eagle lightly knocked on the door and said to Qin Lei: "Your Highness, we have arrived."

  Qin Lei nodded, carefully adjusted his clothes and hat, opened the door and got out of the car. Tiejing had already ordered the troops to halt.

  The two of them turned off the main road and walked for a moment on a small path overgrown with weeds, until they came to a grave overgrown with wild grasses.

  The front of the Hanbaiyu tombstone faces west, with the eight large characters "Tomb of Grand Qi Xiaoyi Guifei" engraved on it! It turns out that this is actually the final resting place of Princess Changping of Great Qin, Imperial Concubine of the State of Qi, and Auntie Qinglei.

  Qin Lei knew little about this unfortunate aunt, all from Iron Eagle's account. He knew that he hadn't died prematurely and was able to grow up as an adult, thanks to the careful care of this elder princess. If she were still alive, he would have lived a good life.

  She should come and take a look.

  The long and lush grass covered the entire tomb, silently telling the sorrow and despair in the heart of the sleeping princess, also making the mourners even more solemn.

  Qin Lei placed the offerings, sincerely and respectfully kowtowing three times on behalf of the original Xiao Zhi. He said softly, "Although we've never met, I can sense the bitterness in your heart. Let's go home." After speaking, he scooped up a handful of soil from the grave and filled the ceramic jar held by Iron Eagle.

  After finishing this matter, Qin Lei stood up and took a deep look at the princess's tomb before turning around and leaving in big strides.

  That grave still stands alone there, facing west.

  A Hu flute plays eighteen beats, how much sorrow and longing of a separated person's tears.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  The team escorting the proton back to the country left Beijing and headed west along the Great River, passing through 22 prefectures in five provinces of Dongqi, finally crossing the Yellow Mud Ferry on the Great River, and then marching 800 miles to reach the front line of Qin Qi's confrontation - Hangu Pass.

  Qin Lei already knew that this world was much larger and had many differences compared to the original one. At this time, he was studying a military map of Qi Guo in the carriage, which Shen Luo had bought at a high price. The road conditions were bad, and the horse-drawn carriage was shaking violently. Shen Luo's face looked very uncomfortable on the same carriage, but Qin Lei wasn't worried that he would vomit because there was nothing left to throw up.

  There was another person in the carriage, who was Gao Tuo's Mr. Zhang Jianzhi disguised as Shen Luo's servant. He followed Shen's family guards and merged with the main force, riding horses for two days, rubbing his buttocks bloody, and finally couldn't bear it, so he also got into the carriage.

  Qin Lei shifted his gaze from the map and smiled at Guantao, who was lying on the soft couch: "Once we pass through Yuzhou, we'll be out of the capital's borders. Our good friends may come knocking on our door at any time."

  Zhang Jianzhi smiled wryly and said: "Anyway, students have no power to bind a chicken, it all depends on Your Highness."

  Qin Lei cursed with a smile: "If you are a guest from the Prime Minister's mansion, I'll hand you over and be done with it, saving me a share of food."

  The two of them chuckled quietly. This car was Shen Luo's ride, and apart from the fact that it couldn't solve the problem of shock resistance, its other performance aspects were quite good. At least the sound insulation was excellent.

  Guan Tao and Qin Lei hit it off immediately, they also have a similar aura of being mischievous, so they clicked extremely well.

  "Two more days of walking and we'll enter the mountains of Qianzhou, where our unwelcome guests have been waiting for us. Fortunately, that big-bellied Bai Shengjun won't come, otherwise there wouldn't be enough seats."

  Qin Lei nodded and said: "Yes, the terrain is steep and unfavorable for military deployment. The Baisheng Army should not participate in this wave of attack."

  Shen Luo narrowed his eyes on one side, his bright gaze piercing through, and said leisurely, "Then let's consider it a warm-up."

  "Right, warm up!"

  ~~~~~~~~~

  Two days later, the convoy entered the continuous mountains of Qianzhou. The Qianzhou Mountains stretched for hundreds of miles, overlapping each other, with peaks intersecting like dog's teeth. Inside the mountains were more mountains, and outside the mountains were even more mountains. The horse carriage naturally became more bumpy, and Qin Lei and his group had to get off and change horses to continue moving forward. They proceeded along the winding mountain path, with a distance of one mile between the front and back of the convoy.

  It's already late spring, and the fragrance in the mountains is gradually fading away. It's the time when grasses and trees are unfolding their branches and leaves, accumulating their essence. This year's rainfall has been abundant, so the roads between the mountains are lush and green, with layer upon layer of peaks rising up. If it weren't for the dangers lurking along the way, this would be a delightful journey.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The team traveled day and night, resting in the mountains at night. Qin Lei had Shen Luo send out scouts and personally arranged for night watch before going to sleep. Everyone saw that he was young but made arrangements in an orderly manner, although some were unwilling, they still carried it out.

  One day, the troops marched into a mountain road with steep cliffs on one side and forests on the other. Qin Lei was furious in his heart, as he had clearly instructed the scouts to report any terrain that could be easily ambushed in advance, yet such a mistake occurred.

  He was just about to order his troops to halt when the ambush began.

  Several huge boulders rolled down from one side of the cliff, bringing down countless small rocks, pouring down on the marching troops like rain. Qin Lei didn't have time to restrain the troops and could only loudly order them to scatter and lie prone.

  Hailstones came down with a loud "crackling" sound. Soldiers with shields hastily raised their shields, and the small stones hit them with a loud noise. If they were unlucky enough to encounter larger rocks, they would either break their bones or be crushed to death, their bodies mangled beyond recognition.

  Soldiers without shields were either running wildly in all directions, hoping to escape the disaster by luck; or crouching on the ground with their hands clasped behind their heads, praying for divine protection. For a time, the cries of agony, wails and curses shook the valley, drowning out the sound of falling rocks.

  Almost at the same time, a whistle sounded, and hundreds of black-clad men rushed out from the other side of the mountain forest, rushing straight to Qin Lei's central army. The Shen family guards, regardless of the still falling rocks, stood up one after another, and charged forward to meet the enemy. At that moment, the sound of killing filled the valley.

  Iron Eagle glared angrily at the scattered retreating Qi army, spat, and drew his sword to guard Qin Lei's side.

  Qin Lei was not injured by the falling rocks just now, he saw that Shen's family guards were bravely but disorderly resisting the enemy's attack, and the superior number of Shen's family guards were at a loss, in a precarious situation.

  From time to time, some of Shen's guards were killed in the crossfire.

  Qin Lei's eyes were about to split, and he loudly roared at Shen Luo, who was hastily rushing over: "Gather the troops behind, five people in each group, all come to my side." His voice was furious, leaving no room for doubt.

  Shen Luo was injured in the arm by the falling rock just now, and upon hearing this, he gritted his teeth and said: "Good!" Without even bothering to bandage his wound, he took out a whistle and blew it loudly twice.

  More and more guards gathered, Shen Luo divided them into groups and sent them to Qin Lei one by one. Qin Lei stared at the battlefield situation, wherever it was critical, he would throw a group over, these newly arrived guards had already seen through the situation of both sides, often rushing up to rescue their companions, even directly killing the enemy. They also brought Qin Lei's tactical intentions: not seeking to annihilate the enemy, only needing to protect themselves.

  Qin Lei allocated personnel, gradually dividing his own guards into three groups, mutually supporting each other, and stabilizing the formation. The numerical advantage slowly emerged, and the situation gradually turned around.

  The enemy gradually discovered that no matter where they attacked, they would be met with four or five people charging forward with swords and guns, forcing them to retreat in disarray, and eventually losing the will to fight.

  A loud shout came from the mountain forest, the assassins launched a fierce attack for several rounds, left behind more than ten corpses, and quickly ran back into the mountain forest.

  Qin Lei shouted loudly, "Stop the pursuit!" and stopped the guards from chasing. His previous deployment had saved everyone, and his words now carried weight. The guards stopped in their tracks, and under Shen Luo's leadership, they tended to the wounded and buried the dead. The joy of repelling the enemy was quickly replaced by grief over the deaths and injuries of their comrades.

  The battle came quickly and went quickly, before and after less than a stick of incense.

  ~~~~~~~~

  There was a fight between Shen Luo and the remnants of the gang, which relieved Qin Lei's worries. He found a stone to sit on and asked Tieying: "Is Mr. Jian injured?"

  Just now in the battle Iron Eagle didn't make a move, he felt somewhat depressed, and said with a low voice: "No, as soon as the stone fell it hid under the carriage, just came out."

  Qin Lei imagined Zhang Jianzhi's embarrassed appearance, and couldn't help but feel a little amused. His heart felt slightly better. He instructed: "Go invite Mr. Guantao to come here."

  After the Iron Eagle left, Qin Lei was about to focus on resting for a moment when he suddenly heard the sound of breaking wind by his ear. His heart tightened and with a sudden burst of force in his waist, his body fiercely arched backward.