In the afternoon, at the southeast corner of Qu'a City, a fleet of ships berthed at the intersection of two Yundu, and went ashore to rest with the green and strong boats. Because the sun was hot, the few trees on the pier were crowded with people.

A hawker set up a pergola next to it, set up a food stall, and do small business, which attracted many people to visit. One of them was a stall selling special snacks, which was particularly lively.

This special snack is called "Cool Shrimp", not a local snack for Qu'a. It costs a penny per bowl, which is cheap and delicious, so the business at the stall is good.

The stall owner is a young man with a handsome appearance, but a hideous scar on his right cheek was like a crack in a mirror, destroying his handsome face.

However, the young man's authentic Qu'a accent was obviously a local Qu'a. While busy, he chatted with customers and vendors on both sides.

An uncle squatted beside him, drinking cold shrimps while asking: "Alang, this cold shrimp is great. Where did you learn the skills?"

The young man smiled and said, "I used to be a clerk in a restaurant in Jiankangli. When I saw that the owner had such a method, I learned it."

As he was talking, he also explained how to make cold shrimps: grind the rice into slurry, then cooked it, and leaked it into the cold water basin with a colander, and it became a thin rice bar with a large head and a thin tail. Because it looked like a shrimp, it got its name.

The uncle was a little surprised after hearing this: "Alang, if you tell me this, wouldn't that cost your job?"

"Hi, it's not easy for fellow villagers. Besides, I live alone and earn some money every day, it doesn't matter."

"Then why are you back? How great is Jiankang?"

"What's the good thing? I almost died when I started the war at the end of last year." The young man pointed to the scar on his cheek, "Oh, I didn't expect that after returning to his hometown, I still couldn't escape the military disaster."

After he said this, many people sighed: Indeed, no one expected it.

No one expected that the traitor would actually break through Jingkou; no one expected that after the traitor broke through Jingkou, he did not attack Jiankang in the west, but instead rushed towards the southeast.

Qu'a was in trouble first, and then Jinling.

The young man asked: "Uncle, I heard that you are all from Jinling, how could you come here?"

"Oh, isn't this transporting food and grass? I do this work on weekdays..." The uncle said, sighing.

They were originally the canal households on the Yundu area, but now they work for the thieves, and drive the thieves back and forth to the Yundu area, and transport the materials stolen by the thieves and women to Jingkou.

There is a north-south connection between Jinling and Jingkou. Qua is located in the road. This road is also called the "Dantu Water Road". It transports various materials and grains in the canal for more than half a year.

There is a connection between Qu'a and Jiankang, so Qu'a is the intersection of the two Yundu. All the Caohu residents have come to Qu'a and can understand Qu'a's dialect.

Qua and Jinling are adjacent to each other, so the two places have similar customs and similar dialects, so the young and strong people who visit the food stalls can chat with this kind of enthusiastic young stall owner.

As we chatted, we talked about this time off the boat again.

Since the rebels captured Qu'a and Jinling along Yundu, their boatmen have been controlled by the rebels and specially transported troops, horses, food and grass.

Before, they transported troops and horses from Jingkou to the southeast of Jinling, and then transported women from Jinling to Jingkou.

However, there have been changes recently. The canal ships from Jinling to Jingkou are basically full of soldiers, horses, food, and supplies.

The uncle lowered his voice and said to the young man: "Alang, in my opinion, this traitor is not going to attack Jurong and then attack Jiankang, but to pass Jingkou and go to attack Jiankang."

"You, you'd better stay in Qua. Don't go to Jiankang again. You can't say that you can't do Jiankang, and you'll encounter a thief attacking you again. Alas..."

The young man was surprised: "Isn't this possible? Maybe it was because the thief had robbed enough and transported the money and food and women to Jiangbei, and they went back themselves?"

"Oh, just listen to my uncle's advice, but I heard the sound of the wind." The uncle was afraid that the young man would not believe it, so he roughly said what he had heard and saw.

These canal households only have the duty to work hard, and they basically don’t know the specific situation of the cargo and passengers transported on the ship.

However, some clues can also be judged from the details. For example, recently, a big man will take a boat to Jingkou.

"Big man, hey, all the people leading the troops are big men." The young man smiled, not asking how big the big men are.

However, the uncle who was attracted by the words was not sure whether to show off his knowledge or prove that what he said was true, and then said, "I didn't lie, this is true."

"I heard that the generals in Jinling City have collected many beauties and enjoyed them every day. However, recently, a beautiful woman was specially sent to Qu'a to offer to this great man who passed by Qua."

"Send Qua from Jinling?" the young man murmured, "Could that the big man come from Yanling?"

The uncle smiled and said, "By the way! Otherwise, he would have slept with the beauty in Jinling as early as possible, right?"

......

In a dilapidated village in a small dilapidated village, in a private house, Li Li was studying a sketch of the Qua area to see if the rebels had any flaws, so that he could take advantage of it.

Qu'a was the imperial town of Qi and Liang countries, and the location of Lanling County was established by the overseas Chinese. It was the clan settlement of the Xiao family of Lanling since the southward transit.

The imperial tombs of Qi and Liang countries are both in Qu'a, so the transportation in Qu'a is very convenient, and it can be said to be a water and land transportation hub.

The Yundu (roughly north-south) of Jingkou-Jinling-Taihu Lake passes through Qua, and there is also an east-west Pogangdu connecting Qua and Jiankang (Qinhuai River).

Therefore, Qu'a is the intersection of the T-way intersection of the two Yundu. The grain and materials from the Sanwu area are transported to Jiankang by water. The emperor has to pass through Qu'a when he returns to his hometown to "sweep the graves".

It is precisely because of this that Li Li went deep into the enemy and came to Qu'a to see if there was any chance to give Hou Jing's rebels a "back stab" to make meritorious service.

Thinking of making meritorious contributions in his guilt, Li Li looked out the window and thought.

Previously, the emperor ordered the Xichang Hou to lead the army to attack Yanling. Li Li thought it was a death sentence, but the emperor's order was difficult to violate, so he thought of a solution and played a "general fight" with Xichang Hou, successfully avoiding the battle and returning to Jurong.

However, this method cannot be hidden from the emperor, and sooner or later the emperor will settle the score. Therefore, Li Li had to make contributions and find a reasonable and legitimate reason for his acting so that he could pass the imperial examination.

So, taking advantage of his "hard injuries and coma", he recovered from the injury in the camp and did not see guests, and secretly attacked. Under the guidance of the guide, he led the elite troops to cross mountains and ridges, go deep into the enemy's back, and come to Qu'a to see if there is a chance to make a big fuss.

The guide is Hu Wei, who was once a "hired worker" and "food stocks and become a shareholder".

Hu Wei is from Qu'a. His "true love" Mrs. Liu was kidnapped by the rebels and has now fallen into the Qu'a military camp. Hu Wei led the official army to sneak into Qu'a. The first priority is to save people.

Then, ask them for information.

Li Li had previously contacted the other party as "Yan Langjun" and wore a mask when he was in contact, so Hu Wei never knew the true face of "Yan Langjun".

Although Li Li is also fooling the other party to serve the official army as the "Yan Langjun", in order to prevent the identity from leaking, he did not directly meet the other party. He went all the way through, and all the reasons were negotiated by Liang Sen and Hu Wei.

After a while, Liang Sen entered and brought Li Li the news that Hu Wei had just found out.

Li Li listened and asked, "It seems that Hou Ni is planning to take the northern line and attack Jiankang from Jiangshan?"

"Yes, it shouldn't be wrong." Liang Sen nodded and asked, "Do we want to send someone back to spread the news?"

Li Li shook his head: "It's too late. I can't go back to Jurong from here. If I can't walk the road. If I cross mountains and ridges, it's too late. I'm afraid that the news will not reach Jiankang and the traitors will have already captured Jiangshan camp."

Liang Sen asked again: "Then, that big man who is going to pass by Qua..."

"The big man from Yanling?" Li Li murmured, Liang Sen nodded: "Yes, the news Hu Lang inquired at the wharf was revealed by those canal boatmen, I think it would be fine."

Li Li pondered: "The problem lies in the definition of a big man. The big man we identify may be different from the big man that the boat people think of."

"Cunqinqi, I think this big shot is most likely Hou Jing!"

"How do you say this?"

"Cunqinqi, this Jinling guard who gave him a beauty is Xiahou Jian, who forgot his ancestors. He tried his best to please. If it weren't Hou Jing, who else could it be?"

"Beauties are different from gold, silver and jewelry. If you want to give them, you can only give them to Hou Jing, the master, otherwise it will make Hou Jing unhappy."

Li Li felt that he was not so lucky: "But it might be Wang Wei, Song Zixian and others who were left and right."

Liang Sen was very excited: "That's not bad. It's not bad to be able to cut off Hou Jing's left arm and right arm. It's not in vain that we will take the risk to come to Qu."

"As long as you kill one or two left arms and right arms, you will have an explanation from the emperor? Otherwise, you and the Marquis of Xichang will disobey orders and disobey the emperor's conspiracy sooner or later."

Li Li deliberately asked back: "Then, what if I can't make a great contribution and I will settle the score by the emperor in the future?"

"What should I do?" Liang Sen widened his eyes, "Then I won't work hard for him! Let's go back to Poyang and wait for him to cause chaos in the world. We, we will fight for ourselves!"

Li Li was very pleased when his friend was so 'strong' and smiled: "It's not, it's not...we have a chance to make great contributions?"

"Even this big man is not even Hou Jing's left arm and right arm, that doesn't matter. Qu'a often berths in a fleet, and there are many plundered grains and grass here to transport them. We set fire to the grains and grass, so we can give an explanation."

However, Liang Sen was still confused about who the "big man" would be, but Li Li felt it was boring to guess randomly.

They do not have a reliable insider. The credibility of the news Hu Wei inquired is not 100%, so it is not good to pin your hopes on "waiting for the rabbit".

They didn't know the whereabouts of the rebel generals and Hou Jing. Of course, they didn't know how big this big man was.

But as long as the assassination is successful, even if it is just a middle-level general, it is good. In addition, the food and grass are burned, you can give the emperor an explanation after going back, which shows that he is not passively avoiding the war.

However, in the absence of sufficient intelligence, it is difficult to assassinate this passing big man. One does not know the exact time the other party passed by Qua, and the other does not know which ship the other party will be on the fleet.

3. Even if the assassin can get into the fleet, it is difficult for him to board the big man's ship, so how should he carry out the assassination?

There are many problems, but Li Li cannot defeat him. He picked up his pen and wrote and painted on paper, and said to Liang Sen: "Since we cannot directly determine the time and place, we can indirectly attack, the key is one person..."

"The movement of that beauty who will be treated as a filial piety is the key..."
Chapter completed!