That incident, Ning Yi had once thought, was due to someone's scheme, but later confirmed it was merely an accidental twist of fate.

On the eighth day of the eleventh month, Ning Yi met Fang Qifo for the first time.

Although Chen Fan had informed him a month earlier that Fang Qifo wanted to see him, the delay was not unexpected. After all, to Fang Qifo, Ning Yi wasn't a significant figure requiring close attention. Since Fang La's uprising, dozens, even hundreds of officials and generals had surrendered. Once surrendered, they were brothers. Even if Ning Yi's deeds from Taiping Lane were impressive, Fang Qifo wouldn't give him particularly special treatment.

He had mentioned this matter to Chen Fan in early October, but then Tong Guan launched successive sieges and various other trivial matters arose. It was not until November that he finally had some leisure. On the seventh, he had someone convey his intention to meet Ning Yi to the Badao Camp. On the morning of the eighth, Ning Yi left Xiliu Street and headed toward the mansion where Fang Qifo conducted his affairs, accompanied by Xiao Chan and Lu Hongti.

Ning Yi had a plan for the day's errands. Besides meeting Fang Qifo, he also planned to meet with Wenren Bu'er to explore the situation within the city and discuss further the protection and transfer plan for Su Tan'er and others after the city fell.

At this time, although the Badao Camp and Bao Dao Yi were still in a state of tension within the city, the atmosphere of street brawls had ceased, and both sides had restrained themselves. Fang Shuchang and others were busy, and Ning Yi was going out with Lu Hongti as a cover, without bringing anyone else, so no one had any objection. During his time living here, although Lu Hongti had not taken action, everyone knew of her identity as a martial artist. Ning Yi was now completely trusted in the Badao Camp. Since he felt that Lu Hongti could protect his safety, no one insisted much. After all, he was no longer a surveillance target.

Fang Qifo's current office in the city was near the original Hangzhou government office, in the Chang family's residence. It wasn't too far from the Siji Zhai where Wenren Bu'er was located. As they neared, Ning Yi had Lu Hongti take Xiao Chan to look around, and then meet him at Siji Zhai. He then went alone to the Chang mansion. It was now like the prime minister's office in later generations, handling most of the administrative work in Hangzhou. People came and went in an endless stream. After reporting his name, Ning Yi waited in the hall for a while. Then, he saw Shi Bao.

In the battle of Taiping Lane, Shi Bao had suffered repeated setbacks, forging a significant grudge. Ning Yi was unprepared for this sudden encounter. Shi Bao walked past the main hall with several people. The people in the hall stirred, discussing his identity. Some bowed and saluted. Shi Bao originally glanced inside, then paused slightly, took a few steps, looked at Ning Yi again, and then came over. At this, everyone in the hall bowed and saluted.

"Marshal Shi."

"Grand Marshal Shi."

"Greetings, Marshal Shi."

Amid such greetings, Shi Bao frowned and stopped in front of Ning Yi, who had no choice but to bow in return. The crowd guessed at Ning Yi's identity. Shi Bao simply waved his hand to the side and said, word by word, "Ning Liheng. I remember you."

"You fought well in the battle of Taiping Lane. My shoulder was blasted. I still remember it. I heard you're working in the Badao Camp now?" He paused, then smiled and patted Ning Yi's shoulder, pointing at him and saying, "You're good. Very capable. A man of ability. Old Shi appreciates people like you the most. From now on, we're on the same side, we're family. Work hard, and if anyone makes trouble for you, come find me."

Compared to Li Tianyou and others' unrelenting desire for revenge, Shi Bao's magnanimity was unexpected. Then he asked Ning Yi about his purpose, and when he heard he was there to see Fang Qifo, he smiled again and said, "Buddha Commander is best at recognizing and using talent. Seeing you must be a good thing. Don't worry. I have things to do, I'll be leaving. Come visit me when you have time. You used that gunpowder very well, I've always wanted to ask you about it, haha..."

Shi Bao left smiling. Then someone led Ning Yi to Fang Qifo. On the way, Ning Yi saw that Bao Dao Yi was also there today, but everyone had their own affairs, so he didn't think much of it. He went inside and saw Fang Qifo. This capable and intelligent middle-aged man, who supported half of Fang La's military system, was making tea. He was in the prime of his life, looking energetic. But Ning Yi had come from that state himself, and from the depths of the middle-aged man's smile, Ning Yi could still see a hint of weariness.

The tea was not well made.

Although intelligent and regarded as profoundly wise by others, Fang Qifo was not born into a wealthy family. He was ultimately of peasant origin. He had studied, but didn't have the accumulation of many wealthy families. His tea was different from that of Qin SiYuan and Qian Xiwen. It was like Longjing tea carefully brewed by an old farmer. Though not perfect, it gave a sense of familiarity. Of course, combined with this man's ability to strategize, it was quite intriguing.

"Liheng is a great talent. I heard about you when we captured the city. It is truly a blessing for the people that you came to our side. Your chieftain was a bit foolish, I'm afraid it made things difficult for Liheng, haha. Someone once said, 'Human affairs are like tides, people like water, only sighing at how few return to the Jianghu'. And 'ten steps to kill a man, never stopping for a thousand miles'. I like 'Wu Palace flowers and plants buried in secluded paths, Jin Dynasty clothes and hats become ancient mounds, three mountains half fall outside the azure sky, two waters divide the white heron isles'. Although I am not proficient in poetry, I also know that these lines cannot be written without great ambition."

"Uh, this is..."

"Let's understand each other." Fang Qifo smiled and pressed his hand, then pointed to a stack of papers on the table, becoming solemn. "I originally wanted to meet Liheng earlier, but after reading these things that Ning Yi has done recently, I felt that they were truly profound and extensive, so I decided to meet Liheng after reading them. Now I have some questions in my mind, I wonder if Liheng can answer them."

Fang Qifo then spoke about a series of things Ning Yi had done in the Badao Camp, including the articles written by those scholars. Then the two chatted for about an hour before Ning Yi left. In a sense, this was actually a very well-done appeasement and overture, indicating that Ning Yi was a very valuable talent in Fang Qifo's eyes. But Fang Qifo had been too busy recently. Although he had read all of Ning Yi's things and had a lot of understanding and questions, he had not really delved into them. His questions were only on some management and manipulation aspects, and did not really touch on the core.

During the conversation, Fang Qifo also briefly mentioned Ning Yi's previous participation in the Badao Camp's affair with Bao Dao Yi, but the general meaning was just a casual敲打(qiāo dǎ, warning/admonishing) only. He had investigated Ning Yi, so he naturally knew that Ning Yi had not participated in various actions against Bao Dao Yi later.

What few people knew was that at this time, in the neighboring courtyard a few rooms away from here, Bao Dao Yi casually asked people about the background of the young man Fang Qifo was receiving. Because he remembered that at the Siji Zhai, the young man named Lou Shuwang, who was now dead, had once mentioned this young man and his beautiful concubine to him somewhat deliberately. Of course, at that time, because of the sensitive situation with the Badao Camp, he did not choose to attack the beautiful concubine, and everyone's intersection lightly passed by...

After leaving Fang Qifo, Ning Yi went to Siji Zhai. At this time, although the city was under control and most of the commercial circulation had stopped, there were still a small number of industries with backgrounds that were still operating, and Siji Zhai was one of them. It was still daytime, and there was not much business in the store. Ning Yi and Wenren Bu'er met in a private room on the third floor and talked about the situation inside and outside the city for a while.

"It's probably impossible to break the city in the short term. Once it starts snowing again, if they want to break the city, they will have to wait until after the spring of next year. By then, I don't know what the situation in the north will be like, alas..."

From Wenren Bu'er, Ning Yi confirmed his prediction. When the possibility of a turnaround was small because the outside was powerless and the spy system in the city frankly admitted it was powerless, he then talked to him about the arrangements for transferring his family after the city was breached. As they were talking, a soft sound suddenly came from outside, like a pebble hitting the door frame.

Then, Wenren Bu'er's subordinate guarding outside made a sound of "What..." and with a bang, the figure broke through the door and fell in.

"Two treacherous dogs, plotting rebellion here, I'll see how Liu Xigua explains this to me!"

Walking in from outside the door were Bao Dao Yi and a tall bald monk. They didn't know how they got here, but they were obviously discovered by Wenren Bu'er's subordinates outside, and then they directly made a move. Being caught red-handed in this matter, even Ning Yi was stunned for a moment.

After a moment, Ning Yi took a breath, drew his saber and flintlock, turned and walked towards the window behind him: "What else can we do, kill them, and then see how many people are below. Do as planned."

His so-called "original plan" was to deceive Bao Dao Yi and the monk. In fact, at this moment, he was also a little doubtful whether Wenren Bu'er had deliberately set up a trap for himself, wanting to drag himself into the water to break the stalemate in Hangzhou City. But while Bao Dao Yi and the monk were slightly stunned, Wenren Bu'er also hesitated with some confusion, probably wanting to say: "What plan do we have..."

A figure descended from above!

Bao Dao Yi and the monk reacted almost immediately. The monk roared "Ah!" and threw out a fierce punch. Bao Dao Yi also made a move at the same time. In an instant, three figures spun together. The two tables around, and the round stools next to them seemed to shake suddenly. One stool flew out and smashed against a shelf with antiques on the side of the room. One table was smashed by the monk's heavy hand.

Things were really sudden. Even Wenren Bu'er didn't react to what happened. The assassin who suddenly descended had already danced several times in the onslaught of Bao Dao Yi and the monk. With a whoosh, he drew his sword.

"Go block the people below..."

The commotion downstairs had already come up. Bao Dao Yi and this monk were experts. After all, he still had some Jianghu habits. He wanted to eavesdrop, only the two of them came up. Some followers were still downstairs, and they were probably alarmed by the monk's roar. After Ning Yi said this sentence, Wenren Bu'er's figure rushed out of the door. The monk threw a punch, only hitting the afterimage of his body. At the same time, the assassin had already drawn his sword and swung it out. A simple and unadorned sound trembled in the air.

The monk's head flew up into the air with a poof.

Ning Yi raised the gun in his hand.

"... Just for a moment."

His words were finished at this time. The assassin who fell from above was as swift as lightning, but Ning Yi still recognized this figure at the first moment, it was Lu Hongti. He hadn't quite figured out all of the developments in the situation yet, and he didn't have time to think about how things would develop in the future, but now he had reached a place where they had to fight head-on, and he was just acting on instinct.

Bao Dao Yi had never thought that there would be such a terrible assassin in the world.

At the same time that the monk who followed him had his head fly up, his horsetail whisk was waved out, but the spinning figure snatched it back with a backhand, and then, the figure suddenly ran back and stuck to him from behind. The sword edge actually went around from under his ribs and stabbed straight into his face.

It's a woman.

He could only react to this in a moment. One by one, the names of well-known female experts in the Green Forest flashed in his head. Fang Baihua on his side, Cui Xiaolv from the brothel, and Sikong Nan, the holy maiden of the Manichaeism in those years... His body suddenly kept dodging, but the figure behind him was like a maggot clinging to bone, the sword shadows kept attacking from behind, as if trapping him in a sea of knives and swords...

Wenren Bu'er rushed down the stairs on the second floor, saw who the person was, and his footsteps suddenly slowed down, turning into a hurried look. At the same time, there was a gunshot of "bang" from upstairs.

Lu Hongti turned around, sheathed her sword. Bao Dao Yi's head blossomed, his body flew out almost from her back. She threw away the horsetail whisk: "I was following you, I saw them following you. The others haven't come up yet, leave now."

She walked to Ning Yi's side and took Ning Yi's hand, but Ning Yi's body stiffened, he took a breath: "Wait."

"Hmm?"

"The people below have already seen me come here, and they also know that Bao Dao Yi was following me."

He never thought that experts like Bao Dao Yi would be so easy to kill, but now was not the time to consider this. Ning Yi was rapidly thinking about the countermeasures in his mind.

"So what, Bao Dao Yi is dead, the matter can't be suppressed, hurry back to pick up your wife, let these people of the imperial court help hide you, this is the only way."

"No, you accompany Xiao Chan back." Ning Yi took a breath, put the flintlock on the table, went over and picked up the horsetail whisk and handed it to Lu Hongti, "From now on, listen to me, you quickly take Xiao Chan back to the Badao Camp, the next thing, xxxxxxxxx..."

A moment later, Bao Dao Yi's attendants who were waiting downstairs rushed up to the corridor on the third floor and met Ning Yi, who was holding a saber in one hand and a gun in the other. At this time, the blade in Ning Yi's hand was dripping with blood, and his body was also covered in blood, his clothes were split in several places by the horsetail whisk, and the exposed cotton wadding was mixed with blood. There were also scars on his face, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked extremely ferocious. Seeing everyone coming up, he turned around and ran.

Bao Dao Yi didn't have many attendants at this time, and they might not all be experts. One of them rushed up and tried to entangle him. After only a few moves, Ning Yi suddenly slashed out with a saber, whistling through the wind, extremely fierce. The steel saber in this person's hand was actually cut off with one blow, and his chest was also cut open, and he fell to the ground with blood constantly gushing out.

The inner strength of Breaking the Six Paths was used to the extreme, along with the force exertion method of the Badao Camp's "Cutting Down the Clouds and Mountains", Wenren Bu'er in the crowd was able to understand at this time how Ning Yi killed Tang Kou that night. When everyone thought that a wise man would use various means to break the situation, they also really ignored the simplest option, he could actually force his strength to this point, hiding it from everyone behind the appearance of a scholar, and he didn't know what kind of hard training it took.

But now was not the time to discuss these things.

Ning Yi turned around and rushed into a room and started a fire. When Bao Dao Yi's followers witnessed Bao Dao Yi's body and wanted to chase and kill Ning Yi desperately, half of the rooms on the third floor were already burning. In this situation, Ning Yi rushed down to the second floor and continued to set fire. At this time, he had to keep delaying time. No matter who caught him, he must not fall into the hands of Bao Dao Yi's people. And Wenren Bu'er had also begun to let his subordinates eliminate any evidence of his side's activities in Siji Zhai.

Having collusion with imperial spies was the most serious thing. As long as this matter was not found out, there might still be a glimmer of hope for what followed...

**********************

When Liu Xigua learned of Bao Dao Yi's death and what Ning Yi had done, she was near the north gate watching a group of craftsmen reinforce the city gate. Tong Guan's offensive had stopped, but it would continue in the spring of next year, and various defensive measures near the city gate were listed as top priorities, and there was no reason to stop. The Badao Camp was one of Fang La's most trusted forces and had many supervision tasks, so she would look around every day.

The sun came out, pale and white, and the cold wind near the city gate was biting. She was wearing a cloak and sitting on a large stone, dazed. Liu Tiannan followed on the side. Not many outsiders really knew her identity. There was one beside her, that was Lou Jingzhi. This son of the prime minister had his face and nose reddened by the cold wind, but he was still chattering next to her, pointing out the roadblocks and fences around him. The Lou family also had supervision tasks, and recently the two of them were often assigned together - Aunt Baihua did a good thing. Lou Jingzhi had been saying it for a long time and was still continuing to say it. Liu Xigua was too lazy to pay attention to him and continued to be dazed.

For boring people, either砍了他(kǎn le tā, chop them down) or ignore them. Recently, it was quite troublesome. Many people proposed marriage to her, and Aunt Baihua was the one who arranged the lines. Fang Baihua's purpose seemed obvious, either these people or Lou Jingzhi, you always have to choose one. During this time, she couldn't really draw her knife and kill Lou Jingzhi, and Lou Jingzhi was probably instigated by Fang Baihua, and he also had some fearless spirit, and he kept chattering at her all day long.

She could actually choose to turn around and leave immediately, but in this way, it would seem that she was being forced away by the other party, which was unacceptable to her, so she just chose to ignore him. Not long after, a few warhorses drove up quickly. It was An Xifu who came to find her. Liu Xigua didn't have enough friendship with him, but he was a good friend of Chen Fan, so although they didn't have the friendship of having slashed at each other several times, they were still considered to be on the same side. When he came over, he hesitated and looked at Lou Jingzhi. Liu Xigua turned around and came down from the stone and walked to the side.

Seeing An Xifu follow up, Lou Jingzhi was quite unhappy for a while, but he was blocked by Liu Tiannan. Before he had time to get angry, he suddenly heard Liu Xigua say, "What!?"

"... Bao Dao Yi is dead, Liheng killed him, I heard that he was with Buddha Commander today... now he is already in Siji Zhai..."

"Who has Liheng fallen into the hands of?"

"It should be someone from Buddha Commander's side... Chen Fan has already gone, and asked me to come and inform you..."

After An Xifu finished speaking, Liu Xigua nodded, turned around and walked quickly towards the warhorse beside her: "Got it... Uncle Nan."

Liu Tiannan came over, and she lowered her head and said a few words quickly. Liu Tiannan's face also changed for a while, and then he nodded. Liu Xigua straddled the warhorse, and suddenly pulled on the reins, galloping towards the city. Liu Tiannan, An Xifu and others followed closely. Lou Jingzhi was still in a daze, but not long after, he also knew: The scholar he saw at Siji Zhai at the beginning, the man named Ning Liheng whom Liu Xigua personally appeared to protect, killed Bao Dao Yi.

Although the Badao Camp and Bao Dao Yi were at odds, when it came to fighting, the two sides still stopped. Killing Bao Dao Yi at this time was completely different, even the Badao Camp might not be able to bear the responsibility for doing so.

Recalling the decisiveness when Liu Xigua and others left just now, Lou Jingzhi thought for a long time: "No way... you don't want to protect him, right... what a joke." Thinking like this, he also got into the carriage and quickly drove towards the direction of the palace at this time...

**************

There were some things two days ago, but today there are 9,000 words, which can be considered three chapters ^_^ (To be continued.) Vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation.)

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