0p0 Chapter 192: The secret letter from Tianqi City was intercepted, and 1 dream was awake and made meri
Chapter 192: The secret letter from Tianqi City was intercepted, and 1 dream was awake and made meri
There is a post station somewhere two hundred and sixty miles northeast of Qiandong City.
Seeing that it was getting dark, the postmaster of this post station led the spare horses back to the stable early.
The postman threw some fresh soybean meal and coarse salt into the stable. Looking at the horse chewing them wantonly, he touched its mane and walked out.
"Dong Yicheng, go to bed early today. I'll be on duty for the first half of the night, so you can still get a good night's sleep!"
The postman was young, honest and hardworking, and his ancestral home was in the towns around Qiandong City.
I heard that he had studied for a few years before, but unfortunately he failed the exams many times and was unwilling to farm.
He asked his family for help and found a job at this post station, which paid three taels and five cents of silver a month.
Dong Yicheng is in his fifties, but the wrinkles on his face make him look like a man in his sixties.
"Don't worry, don't worry. Maybe there will be correspondence or officials who will need horses later..."
Who would have thought that less than half a minute after Dong Yicheng finished speaking, he heard the sound of "Guo Degang, Guo Degang..." from afar...
"Xiao Hu, go check it out!"
Dong Yicheng looked up and shouted, then quickly lit the lantern and followed Xiao Hu out of the post station.
"Xu..."
In front of the post station, two horses were tightly restrained by iron bits.
The two horses snorted happily, and under the gaze of Dong Yicheng and Xiao Hu, two young men in black shorts dismounted.
"Postmaster, get some food for us two brothers and two fast horses!"
"Is it already the hour of the dog? This is extremely urgent and must be delivered to Tianqi City before midnight... There is no time to lose!"
The high-nosed man in the lead spoke in an urgent voice and unceremoniously led another companion behind him into the post station.
Dong Yicheng has been running and managing the post station here for many years, so he naturally realized that these two people were of noble origin.
They are either imperial guards, secret agents or disciples of the Shadow Sect.
"Alright, alright, both officers, please take a break. Meals will be served shortly! Xiao Hu... go serve tea to the officers!"
Dong Yicheng, holding a dim lantern, diligently wiped the table in front of the two men with his sleeves again and again.
The two men didn't want to say anything more and waved their hands to signal Dong Yicheng to leave.
Dong Yicheng understood, smiled, put down the lantern and left.
Going to the kitchen in the backyard of the inn, the old nanny was washing rice and steaming it, and there was a piece of uncut smoked bacon on the chopping board.
Dong Yicheng looked around, picked up a kitchen knife and sliced the bacon, then pulled out a few handfuls of watercress and threw them into the basin to rinse.
When the old nanny saw the postmaster coming to the kitchen, she hurried over and said:
"Thank you for your hard work, Master Postmaster. How can I trouble you with such rough work? Please leave it to me..."
Dong Yicheng smiled and waved his hand:
"The messengers from the Imperial City are sitting in the front hall. They are in a hurry to deliver a letter. Hurry up and steam the rice. If they miss the errand, we will all be punished!"
When the old nanny heard this, she hurried to add firewood to the stove and pulled the bellows even harder.
After cooking the dish, Dong Yicheng tasted it to check the saltiness, then looked around. Apart from the old nanny who was busy in front of the stove, there was no one else around.
An imperceptible smile appeared on Dong Yicheng's face, and he took out a small and exquisite glass bottle from his arms.
There is a thumb-sized "Wen" character on the bottle. It was given to me by the Crown Prince's Consort from the Marquis of Zhenxi a few years ago.
I haven't had the chance to use it for many years. A few days ago, the prince of Zhenxi Marquis's Mansion passed by here and specifically reminded me of it.
All new faces who come to Apocalypse City must be treated with extra care!
No matter what message they sent, it had to be intercepted, copied, and sent to the Zhenxi Marquis Mansion as soon as possible.
Dong Yicheng is in charge of this post station, which is the only way from Qiandong City to Tianqi.
Although the Beili court gave him a monthly salary of five taels of silver, his son was a guard under Baili Chengfeng's command, and was promoted to the position of spear-bearing doctor in the marquis's mansion during the winter solstice last year.
He himself was also taken care of by the Zhenxi Marquis's Mansion, and received regular silver and rewards from the mansion every New Year.
"Eat, eat...and then have a good sleep!"
As Dong Yicheng spoke, he lightly sprinkled a little light yellow medicine powder on the plate of fried bacon with watercress, then mixed it with chopsticks and served it.
The Crown Prince's wife had specifically warned that this thing should not be used too often, as it would easily cause one to fall into a deep sleep.
By the way... this medicine powder is called "Unawakening from a Dream". It is the same one that Wen Yanzhao used for the Neitai Barracks in Chaisang City. They are both from the Wen family.
The amount Dong Yicheng just used should be enough for two adults to sleep for an hour or two.
The two of them were getting a little impatient waiting, slamming their empty teacups on the table.
"Damn it! Is the food ready yet? If you delay important matters at the palace, I'll burn this damn post house down!"
"Little old man, why is there only one dish? Where's the wine? Are you going to leave us to eat without anything else?"
Seeing Dong Yicheng carrying a plate of fried bacon with zheergen, the two of them immediately cursed in dissatisfaction.
"Please forgive the difference. This place is remote, and this is one of the few bacon items we have at our post station..."
"I've already asked the postman to buy some wine. He'll be back soon!"
Dong Yicheng apologized carefully, but looked at the two people in front of him calmly.
"Get lost... I'm so unlucky that I can't even have a decent meal!"
The man with a high nose bridge picked up his chopsticks and rummaged through the bacon pickily, complaining as he ate.
The companion sitting opposite him was obviously very hungry. He picked up the rice and started eating it without any care.
At this time, Xiao Hu also held a jar of wine and gently placed it on the table for the two of them. He opened the seal and poured two bowls of wine. Then Dong Yicheng took Xiao Hu away.
The two of them ate and drank, and swept away the food on the table like a whirlwind.
A five-jin jar of village wine was almost empty. The two men burped and were about to stand up to change horses when they were suddenly overcome by an indescribable drowsiness.
The high-nosed man rubbed his head: "Brother, I'm a little sleepy..."
The man across from him also yawned. "Yeah, I can't open my eyes! Tsk tsk, it must be because I ran too far today!"
Gao Biliang sat down again: "Let's take a break, it's over a thousand miles, so an hour or so won't make a difference!"
As they were talking, it was as if their souls had been sucked out of them. Their bodies went limp and they fell asleep on the dining table.
Dong Yicheng sent Xiao Hu away. When he heard snoring in the room, he pushed the door open and came in to search the two of them.
A letter was taken out from the high-nosed man's arms. The envelope was covered with the palace's unique sealing wax and seal.
There were also five words written on the envelope: "Confidential, personally addressed to the Grand Supervisor Zhuoqing."
Dong Yicheng took the secret letter and returned to his bedroom, where he took out a sharp knife from the drawer.
With the help of the dim lamp oil, he carefully cut open the end of the envelope without sealing wax and cover, and pulled out the letter inside.
After copying the content above, he folded it again according to the original trace and put it back into the envelope, then sealed the end with paste again.
If you take a quick look with the naked eye, you can hardly see any flaws.
After doing all this, Dong Yichen stuffed the envelope back into Gao Biliang's arms.
Dong Yicheng left the house, walked to the door of the stable and shouted:
"Xiao Hu, go get that blackback from the stable. I'm going to Qiandong City on an official errand!"
Hearing the sound, Xiao Hu came out of the stable with a handful of hay in his hand.
"Okay, Master Dong, you'd better be careful when you go to the city so late!"
As Xiao Hu spoke, he led out a shiny black horse, prepared the saddle, and handed the reins to Dong Yicheng.
"Do your job well at the post station, don't be lazy! Also... those two on duty are probably too tired and are sleeping right now. When they wake up, prepare two fast horses for them. Don't provoke them, or you'll suffer the consequences!"
After giving the instructions, Dong Yicheng rode away at full speed, heading towards Qiandong City, 260 miles away.
In his arms was a secret letter that he had copied from the two men in black and was reporting to Emperor Tai'an of Tianqi City.
The content of the secret letter was only thirty words—
"The Marquis of Zhenxi led three hundred Xilin officials alone, rushing to Chaisang City overnight. Baili Chengfeng dispatched over a thousand cavalry, infantry, and baggage from the main camp, but their whereabouts are unknown!"
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