Caocheng is located on the bank of a river. The river is shaped like maple leaves floating on the water, and the maple trees on the bank of the river are lined with fire-like trees and provide shade like clouds, so it is also called Maple City.

In spring, it is a water town surrounded by mountains and rivers full of greenery, but in winter, it looks like an impregnable stone castle surrounded by ice.

Caocheng is located in the west of central Fujian, at the southern end of the Central Min Valley, in the middle and upper reaches of the Shaxi River, at the transition zone between the Wuyi Mountains and the Daiyun Mountains. The transportation network extends in all directions, forming a thoroughfare line with central Min, Minguan and Mindi.

It also forms a Big Dipper knot joint with Liucheng, Longya, Sanyuan and Liji.

Caocheng is in the central position.

No matter how many waves surged in the dark, three teams with distinct latitude and longitude also arrived in Caocheng one after another.

In order to avoid conflicting with the Yuelu Academy team, even if the other two teams arrived at the edge of Caocheng first, they had to stop outside the city and wait for them to go ahead.

The motorcade stopped under a dead tree that was covered with ice crystals. The Xinu motorcade was colorful and colorful. The pointed roof of the carriage, the pavilion sculptures and the crimson roof tiles were particularly eye-catching under the snowy light. The Xinu motorcade was particularly eye-catching under the snowy light.

Most of the carriages are delicate and charming maidens, who rarely get out of the car and show their faces, while the swordsman guards temporarily hired by the fleet ride on tall horses to lead the way, never leaving the left and right sides.

The motorcade had been parked for a quarter of an hour, and subtle female voices gradually began to whisper in the carriage, while those bold and sturdy swordsmen dismounted and formed a group to patrol around to protect them.

Chen Baiqi was bored with waiting, so she used a fork pole to lift up the window of the carriage. Although there was still a light layer of moonlight gauze outside the window, she only felt as if a layer of window paper had been pierced, and the sound was swirling outside.

The bone-chilling wind mixed with the icy snow vapor hit my breath.

Only then did Chen Baiqi realize that Caocheng was simply a city of ice and snow, where people would freeze to death. Because in winter, all the water and rivers turned to ice, making everything cold.

She shushed her eyes and looked around, only to realize that the world in front of her was completely white, with no other colors. Only not far away was a majestic gray city partly covered by snow, because it was far away.

Because of it, it also appears faintly, like a few rough lines on the hard rock.

Xi Nu's caravan did not stay where it was for long. After making way for Yuelu Academy's caravan to pass, they set off again, this time the caravan was the last.

The wheels of the wheel rolled on the snow, making a squeaking sound. The horses were freezing and would shake their heads and snort from time to time.

The team was very quiet, and the voice of Hagi Hagi who had been talking before suddenly died down. After walking for a while on the snowy road, Chen Baiqi watched the team start to step onto the slippery ice surface. This might have been a vast expanse of blue waves.

The lake is now covered with ice. When you look down at the ice surface, it has a green glaze color. It is very solid and thick. People and carriages can walk on it without moving at all.

It snowed heavily last night, but it didn't snow again in the morning. The sky was blue and as clean as water, and the air was fresh and refreshing.

When we were about to cross the lake, we were already very close to Caocheng. There were some dead trees with dense branches planted on the shore of the lake. The trees were stained with snow. They were long and thin, and looked a bit similar from a distance.

They are rows of straight and tough soldiers.

"Have you changed all the clothes left for you in the car?"

Chen Baiqi was looking at the tree when she heard someone talking to her outside the window. She looked up.

But he saw Ji Yan riding on a horse. She was wearing a cloak sewn with alpaca fur. Ji Yan pulled off the cloth covering her face, and a slightly hoarse voice due to the cold wind reached Chen Baiqi's ears.

.

Chen Baiqi opened the window wider and nodded towards her.

Ji Yan put his head close to the window and lowered his voice: "After entering the city, everything will be at my disposal. If you do anything rashly..."

Chen Baiqi smiled: "If you don't believe me, you can replace me now."

"You'd better be good!" Ji Yan gave her a deep look. She pulled on the cloth again to block the wind, then reined in her horse and continued moving forward.

Ever since Chen Baiqi accidentally assaulted her breasts, Ji Yan no longer often stayed with her in the car. Most of the time, Chen Baiqi was in the car and she was riding outside.

Ji Yan can ride a horse, and his riding skills are not bad.

She stopped looking at the scenery, closed the window, and closed her eyes. She was completely silent, not knowing what she was thinking.

After she sat quietly for a while, she felt that the motorcade had stopped, and she thought it had arrived at the gate of Caocheng.

I heard movement ahead, like voices of inquiry and negotiation.

She thought for a while, then opened the window again, and looked through the crowd and horses. She could roughly see the people and guards of Yuelu Academy talking. Only some disciples were seen in the crowd, and Mount Peinan, Zhang Yi and others were nowhere to be seen.

, I guess I didn’t get off the car.

It didn't take long, and the people from Yuelu Academy were smoothly sent into the city by the guards respectfully and enthusiastically. Then it was the turn of Xi Nu's motorcade to start checking and releasing.

At the gate of Caocheng entering the city, the road is not smooth and bumpy, with snow and grass. There are not many guards. There are four or five people. One of them is checking, and the other four are leaning against the city wall to eat straw cakes.

, some were doing nothing on the sidelines, while others had just fawned over the convoy of Yuelu Academy and then hurried back.

The gate guards of this Cao Gate are the lowest-ranking soldiers in the army. They are usually screened out by the army at all levels, and are finally assigned to such a position with no future. Therefore, among these people with different grades, most of them must be

Something obscene and vulgar.

Compared with the respectful attitude towards Yuelu's disciples, Chen Baiqi heard a rough male voice yelling at them in a flirtatious tone: "Humph, the people in the car quickly came down to check, how can you wear such thick clothes to enter the city?

There is a lot of chaos in the city right now. What should you do if someone hides a sharp weapon under your clothes and harms the adults? Those who get off the bus should quickly take off their clothes so that my men can check."

This ruffian and vulgar shout immediately provoked a burst of applause and laughter from the other guards. They completely ignored the ugly faces of everyone in the ridiculing team.

Chen Baiqi couldn't help but frown.

This is really easy for the king of hell to see, but difficult for the devil to deal with.

Seeing that they were getting ready to rush into the carriage, a long and sharp horse whistle sounded. Chen Baiqi and everyone were startled when they saw Ji Yan jumping over the carriage from behind and rushing forward on horseback.

The guard who was standing closest staggered when he saw the tall horse galloping towards him. He slipped and fell to the ground. When the horse kicked over, he almost crushed the soldier's leg bone, but at the last moment,

The horse was controlled by Ji Yan.

A sharp voice exploded above the guard's head, as fierce as a strong wind blowing against a person's face.

"You're such a stupid person, how dare you even tease my team, Ji Yan?"

When the guard heard the word "Ji Yan", another hard bronze medal was smashed down from his pocket. This bronze medal had the word "Ji" on it. He was really stunned. The other guards' expressions also changed and they shouted at each other.

A look.

The frightened guard got up with weak and shaky legs, bowed to Ji Yan first, and then shouted to the back: "It's Ji Yan, open the door quickly, let it go, let it go."

"Daban Ji, please, Mr. Xue is waiting for you..."

Duke Xue is Lord Mengchang. This is considered a compliment. After all, it is impossible to wait for a singer with the identity of Lord Mengchang. Even if she is different from ordinary Xi Nu, she is not different in essence.

Ji Yan was covered with a thick cloak and a scarf on his face, and his whole body was covered tightly. Only his eyes were exposed. When they are calm, these eyes are like a lake, but when they are angry, they can shoot thousands of raging waves, which makes people dare not

Look directly.

She snorted coldly at the people on the horse, raised her arms, drove at the front of the team, and led the convoy into the city.

Next it was the caravan's turn. Chen Baiqi didn't notice how they entered the city. They were men of Lord Mengchang and there was always a way to get in.

In fact, Ji Yan seems to be someone who can speak to Lord Mengchang, but the status of singers in that era was too low. Even the people in front of Lord Mengchang did not exist much in the eyes of these soldiers.

Awe, if Ji Yan hadn't forced herself to come forward and take out the special pass that Meng Changjun gave her, they would have been able to blatantly insult the taunting girls in the car in public.

They were not afraid of Ji Yan, but they were afraid of delaying Mengchangjun's play time.

After entering the city, Chen Baiqi no longer opened the window and looked outside without authorization. She somewhat understood in her heart what kind of treatment this status brought her. She had better not show up and cause less trouble.

She was no longer curious about what Caocheng looked like. She just waited for the system to download the regional map of Caocheng and then study it.

Just when she was about to cultivate herself, she heard the crisp sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer to the window. However, Ji Yan turned around and returned to Chen Baiqi's carriage. She said, "Just now... did you see it?"

Chen Baiqi was silent for a moment and then said, "I saw it."

Ji Yan lowered his eyes: "Oh, my dear daughter, I want to be born as a noble and decent person. The people you meet will either be trembling with fear towards you or be courteous. I'm afraid I have never met a group of people who are so ignorant of etiquette.

Let’s criticize the vulgar untouchables.”

Chen Baiqi believed that she heard correctly this time. Ji Yan's words often contained a kind of racial discrimination, regarding nobles and commoners.

Chen Baiqi simply chose to ignore such meaningless words.

Ji Yan added: "But do you know that Lord Mengchang is surrounded by such villains? They come from humble backgrounds, their hands smell like mud, their hearts are like poisonous snakes, and they have no mercy. At least Lord Mengchang was born with this kind of villain.

The young master is completely different from them... If you can't please Lord Mengchang, then you can only please these villains."

Chen Baiqi immediately understood the meaning of Ji Yan's words. He was trying to hit her.

If she didn't try her best to please Lord Mengchang during this dance, she might end up like an ordinary ridiculed girl, or... it would be even worse.

It can only be said that Ji Yan is indeed scheming and capable, and knows how to play with people's hearts and control people's weaknesses. If she is really a noble girl who does not know other people's fireworks, and is affected by this scene and the intimidation of her words, maybe she really

I can only accept the humiliation and be her executioner, but it's a pity...

She is not, and her existence is far more complicated than Ji Yan imagined.

——

After entering the city, they walked all the way, but at a fork in the road, they were no longer on the same road as Yuelu's team. They were personally received by Mengchang Jun's confidant Ke Qing and went straight to the front hall, while they, girls like slaves, were received

The servant arranged it in a quiet and deserted side garden.

At that time, Lord Mengchang entertained various wealthy gentry and Yuelu disciples to a banquet in the hall, and they needed a place to prepare and then go to perform at the banquet.

In a clean and bright room, the doors and windows are wide open, the inside is covered with old-style whole rushes, and the outside of the corridor is covered with frost and silver chrysanthemums.

Chen Baiqi was wearing a long gray cloak. She was kneeling on the straw mat as if she was in a trance. The cloak was spread around her. There was no one else in the room except Ji Yan.

At this time, Ji Yan had already changed her outfit. She had her hair combed into a bun, and her hair hung down naturally. She only tied it at the end and let it hang behind her head. She wore a robe, hanging down to the ground, and the skirt was circling.

Next, she is not dancing today, so looking at her dress, she is a little less gorgeous and charming, and a little more dignified.

Wearing no shoes and only socks, she approached Chen Baiqi who was sitting on his knees and looked at her head from a high position for a long time. Suddenly he stretched out his hand to support her chin and lifted her drooping face. At that moment, the brim of the cloak slipped down, and Wu
To be continued...