After coming out of Tongguan, they ran wildly and ran for more than thirty miles in one breath, before they finally slowed down their horses.

"You two, I was killed by you. When... I was so embarrassed and angry!" Yan Xiao was breathing, so tired that she could hardly speak.

The nervousness and physical fatigue made Li Zhen a little unable to bear it. He waved his hand and said, "Let's settle the score later! It's getting dark, let's find a place to settle first."

"Old Li is right. Find a place to eat first, and I will starve to death soon."

Jiu Zhixiang looked around and saw a barren mountain and ridge where there was someone else's house. He touched the horse bag again and finished the dry cakes. He suddenly remembered that he had planned to replenish dry food in Tongguan, but he was too nervous and forgot about this important matter.

Jiuzhi had to worry and drank two sips of water and asked, "Old Li, do you still have dry food?"

Li Zhen touched the horse bag, and his dry food was empty, "Sorry! I'm gone either."

"You two are really a pair of live treasures, and you can't do anything to you."

Yan Xiao handed them two pieces of dry cakes, "First, you can cushion your stomach. In front is Yuxiang County, up to five miles. Let's go to the county to find a restaurant for dinner."

Jiu Zhi had just eaten a bite of dry food when he heard a wine shop in front of him. He immediately stuffed the dry food into his sleeves and wanted to keep his stomach and eat it.

The three of them urged the horse to walk for a while, and a county town appeared in front of them. The three of them made a great effort and immediately accelerated the horse and ran towards the county town.

Although Qixiang County belongs to a small county, it was prosperous in the Tang Dynasty and had a population of tens of thousands. Even a small county had a population of tens of thousands. At this time, night had just come and go, and the streets of the county town were very lively, with people coming and going, and the guests in various restaurants were full of guests, and laughter was constantly heard.

Li Zhen and the other two found a tavern near the city gate. The three of them sat down and breathed a sigh of relief almost at the same time. It was not until this time that they finally came back to their senses from the horror of Tongguan.

The bartender got the tip and he was extremely enthusiastic and respectful. "The three of you want to eat something. The shop's best-known signature dishes are Tongguan roast pork and Yuxiang vinegar fish. The roast pork is fat but not greasy. The vinegar fish is smooth and tender. The three of you must not miss it."

Li Zhen said casually: "Then let's have one serving. If you look at it, you can take five or six other items, and another pot of wine."

He glanced at Yan Xiao and said, "Give me a few more seasonal fruits and vegetables."

"I understand, three of you wait, let's go now!"

The bartender went quickly, and Yan Xiao reached out to Li Zhen, "Show me again!"

"What?" Li Zhen looked at her in confusion.

"You have a letter of recommendation from Wang Xiaojie, but I don't even know."

"Aunt Yan, how long have we known each other? How can you know everything about me?"

Li Zhen was both angry and funny, so he took out Wang Xiaojie's recommendation letter and handed it to her, "There is a seal on it, don't take it apart."

Yan Xiao took the letter and glanced at it, threw it to him, and curled her lips and said, "Who cares about it like a treasure!"

Jiuzhi didn't listen to the two of them. He stretched his neck and stared at the kitchen anxiously. Why didn't he serve the food?

"The food is coming!" Jiuzhi shouted excitedly as he watched the two bartenders come over with wine and food.

Yan Xiao was stunned. The dish came too quickly. It was probably prepared in advance and brought it to them as soon as it was heated.

Her face sank, "Old Li, Jiuzhi, let's change to another restaurant! I don't like this restaurant."

"My aunt, I'm about to starve to death, so there are no such things to pay attention to!"

Jiuzhi didn't care about her, stood up and put the wine and food on the table, picked up the chopsticks and swallowed them voraciously. Li Zhen was also hungry, and he just lowered his head to eat and drink, and didn't want to say much.

Yan Xiao picked up a fresh pear and chewed it slowly. Her eyes glanced at Li Zhen from time to time, wondering what she was thinking about?

After dinner, they went to the inn next door to ask for two upper rooms. Jiu Zhi was exhausted and fell asleep. Li Zhen was tidying up his luggage when he suddenly heard a knock on the door outside. He quickly got up and opened the door. He saw Yan Xiao, who had just been washed, standing outside the door. She had already taken off her mask.

"It's so late, don't you rest?"

Seeing that Yan Xiao was worried, Li Zhen couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? I seem to be unhappy?"

"Brother Li, I want to talk to you!"

Li Zhen has already figured out her rules. If she calls herself old Li, she will be ridiculous and ridiculous, and if she calls Brother Li, she will definitely have something to do.

"Then come in!"

Yan Xiao heard the snoring in the room like thunder, frowned and said, "Why don't we go out for a walk."

Li Zhen turned around and looked at Jiu Zhi who was sleepy and disgusted, then nodded, "Okay! Wait until I tore off the mask."

The two of them came out of the inn and took a slow walk along the county street. In early autumn, the night wind blew, which made people feel particularly refreshed.

Seeing her beautiful hair hanging on her shoulders like a waterfall, her face was pretty and she was quite charming as a mature woman. When she thought of her first meeting her, she thought she was a young girl.

Li Zhen remembered Wang Qingyu again, but the feeling he felt was exactly the opposite. These two girls were really interesting, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"What are you laughing at?"

Yan Xiao glanced at him and said angrily: "I smiled strangely. Do you compare me with the woman you know? Is it that girl Wang?"

Li Zhen was startled and hurriedly said, "No, I am thinking about going to Luoyang."

"Must and wrong!"

Yan Xiao was too lazy to pay attention to him. After walking for a while, she asked again: "I seem to have heard you say you want to participate in the martial arts?"

Li Zhen nodded, "I came to Central Plains from Dunhuang to participate in the martial arts exercises next spring."

"That letter was written by Wang Xiaojie to the Ministry of War. Is it related to your participation in the martial arts?"

"It was his recommendation letter to me, otherwise I would not have a quota for entering Beijing yet."

"Oh! So that's it."

Yan Xiao stopped talking, and the two walked for a while. Yan Xiao asked in a low voice: "Brother Li, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"This...is hard to say."

"Tell me what you think, I want to hear the truth!"

Li Zhen scratched his head and smiled, "If you want to listen to the truth, then I will say that sometimes it is as fierce as a mother tigress, and sometimes it is as good as a Bodhisattva. It depends on your mood!"

Yan Xiao glared at her eyes, stood in front of him, and asked fiercely with her waist on her back, "Tell me clearly, when will I be as fierce as a tigress?"

Li Zhen turned over and held back his smile and said, "For example, it's all right now!"

With a 'Pud!', Yan Xiao covered her mouth and laughed out loud. She waved her hand and said, "Okay! Let's not talk about this question."

At this time, Li Zhen saw a teahouse next to him and smiled and said, "Let's go have a cup of tea!"

Yan Xiao glanced at it and shook her head and said, "No! There are too many people, I think it's noisy, let's go again!"

The two of them turned around and walked from another road. Yan Xiao whispered: "Actually, I found that you were very careful. When you passed the level, you gave me twenty gold coins first. When you were having dinner today, you actually thought of ordering fruits and vegetables for me, but why don't you ask me directly about some things? You have to hide them in your heart?"

Li Zhen knew what she was talking about, so he smiled and said, "I have always been like this. I don't like to ask others. If you don't want to tell me, why should I ask more?"

"Yes, I didn't want to say it at first, but I think it's related to an important thing. If I don't say it, I can't mention this important thing, so I'll go out for a walk with you tonight."

Li Zhen nodded, "Tell me!"

Yan Xiao said slowly again: "Actually, when you passed Tongguan, you knew that I was the daughter of an official, but you didn't ask me."

Li Zhen laughed, "I thought you were pretending to be an impersonator and was about to praise you for your intelligence, so that we can be followers, and avoid the trouble of speaking."

Yan Xiao was angry, "Are I pretending to be the daughter of an imperial official? Just like I never know who Sisi you and Jiuzhi said was, nor who Miss Wang you came to look for? Do you know who my father is?"

"So, your father is really a high-ranking official in the court?"

Yan Xiao looked at him for a while before saying quietly: "My father is Prime Minister Di."

Li Zhen was stunned, "So your father is Di Renjie!"

He suddenly realized that something was wrong. How could he call the other person's father's name directly? It's so rude!

He hurriedly said, "I have always known that the Prime Minister Di. The elders often talk about him. I did not deliberately mention the name of Lingzun."

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it."

Yan Xiao sighed and said, "Actually, my name is not Yan Xiao. My name is Di Yan, my nickname is Xiaoer. I am my father's youngest daughter. I like to run around and have my grandmother spoiled me, so my father can't control me."

Li Zhen didn't expect that Yan Xiao was Di Renjie's daughter, which really surprised him. He thought for a while and said, "You shouldn't be involved in the relics case. The struggle here is too complicated and will affect Ling Zun's position."

"I know, so I will return the relics to you. I will no longer participate. As for the master, I will explain it to her clearly, but now I want to talk to you about the conditions between us?"

‘Condition?’ Hearing these two words, Li Zhen suddenly felt that Yan Xiao became very unfamiliar. They fled together and suffered together, but in the end they were Yan Xiao’s conditions. Li Zhen couldn’t help but feel an indescribable disappointment in his heart.

"Tell me!" Li Zhen said lightly: "I promised you, I will not forget."

Yan Xiao hesitated for a long time, and finally bit her lips and said, "My condition is to give up the martial arts and be my father's personal bodyguard for one year."

Li Zhen was silent for a long time and asked slowly: "Is there any relationship between these two?"

"It's related! It's already August. In October, you'll go to the Ministry of War to report and then be quarantined for training until you take part in the martial arts exam in March next year. If you pass the exam, you'll be directly assigned to Wang Xiaojie's army. Why do you become my father's personal bodyguard?"

Yan Xiao became excited, "Do you know? My father is about to be harmed. I want to find someone who is upright and trustworthy and has a strong martial arts skills to protect my father. I finally found you, but you want to participate in the martial arts ceremony. What should you do if you ask me to do?"

Seeing that there were tears in her eyes, Li Zhen couldn't bear it, so he asked softly: "What happened to your father?"

Yan Xiao looked at the sky and said, "This spring, Wu Chengsi planned to be the crown prince and tried his best to lobby the emperor. Seeing that the emperor was about to agree, but my father repeatedly persuaded him. The emperor gave up this idea. Can you imagine how much Wu Chengsi hated my father. Two months ago, his father was assassinated and almost died."

"Since that's the case, you should let the emperor send guards to protect your father."

Yan Xiao gritted her teeth with hatred and said, "The person who assassinated my father is the guard sent by the Lord to protect him. If I hadn't happened to be next to my father, my father would have died. Who else do you think I can trust?"

Speaking of this, Yan Xiao lowered her head and said, "I actually don't want to force you, let alone make any requirements, but... I'm really worried about my father, Brother Li, can you understand?"

Li Zhen looked down at his feet and said for a long time: "I can fully understand your mood, but I am still a wanted criminal now. How can I protect your father? After I ask Gao Yanfu to help lift the wanted, I will give you a clear answer. Is it OK?"
Chapter completed!