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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 564: Lure the snake out of its hole

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    It was already late at night, and Li Ding was packing his bags. Tomorrow was the second day of the Lunar New Year, so he shouldn't have gone out, but someone in the palace sent a secret message asking him to leave for Jiangnan tomorrow morning.  .  .  Li Ding did not dare to neglect. He knew that he was still alive at this moment simply because he was still of some use. He knew too many secrets, and it was not unusual for him to be silenced.

    Li Ding never dreamed that the Queen Mother of the Qing Dynasty would write to the King of the West, but what was even more unexpected was that the King of the West would also reply to the Queen Mother of the Qing Dynasty.  Bai Zetang of the Taiping Army had already regarded him as a traitor. Although they knew that Li Ding was delivering a message to a certain big shot in the Qing Dynasty, they had no idea that this big shot would be the Queen Mother of the Qing Dynasty.  Tong Qiangsheng tried to trick him once, but Li Ding remained tight-lipped. He knew that if he wanted to live longer, he had to keep this secret.

    After sending letters back and forth several times, Li Ding received more and more preferential treatment from the Manchus. He had his own courtyard to live in, rich clothes, fine food, rich food, and no shortage of anything. Cheng Lingxiu could come out of the palace from time to time.  Looking at himself, Li Ding felt that his life had not been in vain.

    So he cherished the opportunity of delivering letters, and at the same time he was secretly saving money. He planned that one day he would no longer need to deliver letters, and he would be able to take Cheng Lingxiu away with a large sum of money.

    The secret letter was sealed with fire paint, and Li Ding sewed it inside his trouser leg. When everything was ready, Cheng Lingxiu suddenly came, bringing his favorite white fungus and snow pear paste.

    Li Ding was overjoyed. He took Cheng Lingxiu's hand and sat down. After taking a few mouthfuls of the Tremella and Snow Pear Paste that Cheng Lingxiu brought in front of him, he smiled and said, "Axiu, your skills are getting better and better."

    Li Ding smiled and spoke.  But he noticed that Cheng Lingxiu had a deep frown on his face and asked, "What's the matter?"

    Cheng Lingxiu lowered her head and whispered: "Brother Li. I feel like we are getting deeper and deeper. Sometimes I am so scared. Today, Mr. An died of serious injuries. The Queen Mother asked me alone how to induce a stroke."

    Li Ding was startled and whispered: "Last time you said that the Queen Mother had signs of a stroke. Today the Queen Mother asked you how to induce a stroke. Could it be that the Queen Mother wanted to kill her?"

    Cheng Lingxiu nodded slightly, and Li Ding said after a moment of silence: "This matter is too dangerous. How about you come with me? We will disguise ourselves and go south to Shanghai. Then we will take a boat to the United States. I have saved a sum of money, so I should  It¡¯s enough for us to live on.¡±

    Cheng Lingxiu shook her head and said, "The Queen Mother has sent many spies around you to keep an eye on you. We can't escape."

    The two of them looked at each other in silence, both knowing that leaving at this moment was just an extravagant wish.  They are already in it.  How can I leave?  Even if they arrive in Shanghai, Bai Zetang will not let them go.

    After a while, Li Ding sighed softly and said: "Then I'd better finish this errand first. As for the things the Queen Mother wants you to do, you can refuse. I think the Queen Mother favors you and won't be embarrassed by such a small thing."  you."

    Cheng Lingxiu hummed and said: "Doctors save people, not harm them. I won't help her harm people. Besides, I'm not the only one in the world who knows medical skills." She paused and said, "Brother Li,  You must be careful this time. I always feel that something is very wrong recently, and there is an air of killing both inside and outside the palace. You must take care when traveling alone."

    Li Ding nodded in agreement, and after the two talked for a while, Cheng Lingxiu left.  Li Ding tossed and turned and couldn't sleep that night. When dawn came, he fell asleep for a while. After getting up early in the morning, he hurriedly rode on his horse after breakfast.

    After leaving the capital, Li Ding rode to Tianjin, where he wanted to board a merchant ship heading south. This merchant ship belonged to a southern merchant. After the British and French allied fleets withdrew from the Bohai Sea, Prince Gong, in order to show his sincerity, granted a special charter.  Some foreign merchant ships docked to exchange goods, and this merchant ship had a close relationship with the Taiping Army, and was also assisted by people from Bai Zetang.

    After arriving in Tianjin and boarding the ship, he exchanged secret codes with the person from Bai Zetang who was on board the ship. Li Ding used the secret code specially customized for him by Tong Qiangsheng. The man's name was Jiang Mao. Knowing that it was important information, he arranged for him to be at the stern of the ship.  In a small cabin.

    The boat went out to sea along the Haihe River, left Tanggu, and headed for the Bohai Sea. Li Ding breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't sleep well last night, so he lay down with his clothes on and fell asleep again.

    I don¡¯t know how long it took, but there was a sudden noise outside the cabin. Li Ding woke up immediately, took out a blunderbuss and a dagger from his luggage and secretly guarded him. He heard Jiang Mao urgently say outside the cabin door: "Brother Li, there is something wrong."  The Qingyao Navy warship is here, and they say they want to board the ship for inspection, and I will send you to another place to hide!"

    Li Ding opened the hatch and asked curiously: "Doesn't this ship have a trade license from the Qing court? Why does Qing Yao come to inspect it?"

    Jiang Mao said anxiously: "The Qingyao navy flagged us down to stop the ship. I don't know what happened. Just in case, I will take you to the captain's place to take shelter."

    Hearing this, Li Ding had no choice but to follow Jiang Mao to the captain.?, the captain is an Englishman, in his forties or fifties, with all white hair and a big smile. After seeing the two of them, he said in half-baked Chinese: "Don't panic, the Qing people don't dare to mess around."

    But the development of the matter was beyond the British captain¡¯s expectation. As soon as the Qing navy got on the ship, they detained all the Chinese on board, including the British captain¡¯s Chinese comprador and several crew members, and searched every cabin.  The British on the ship were angry and prepared to draw their guns in self-defense, but the Qing navy officers and soldiers who boarded the ship were all fully armed and there were many of them. The British crew were soon coerced to disarm.

    Li Ding secretly groaned in his heart. He was vaguely aware that these Qing naval forces were looking for him. In his eagerness, he took out the secret letter from his trousers and handed it to the British captain Martin. He said: "Captain, please give this letter to me."  Deliver it personally to the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, for the sake of God, please!¡±

    Li Ding took out all his belongings. Captain Martin was a good man and finally agreed.  Just when Li Ding handed the letter to Martin, there was a burst of gunfire outside the door, followed by Jiang Mao's screams.

    Li Ding¡¯s heart was pounding, and Martin shouted outside the cabin door: ¡°Don¡¯t shoot, we surrender! I am the captain, I am British, you can¡¯t kill people indiscriminately!¡±

    The cabin door was violently kicked open, and a group of Qing troops who looked like tigers and wolves rushed in. Li Ding was first pushed to the ground, and then Captain Martin was punched several times.  Under the absolute force, the British had no choice but to watch all the Chinese on the ship being taken away by the Qing army. Captain Martin's black eyes were covered with black eyes and he murmured curses that all these pagans would go to hell.  And vowed to make the Qing people get the punishment they deserve.

    On the Qing navy warship, Li Ding was quickly taken to a secret room. There were three people wearing palace guard uniforms. One of them looked at Li Ding and said, "You must be Li Ding."  Where is the letter the Queen Mother gave you?"

    Li Ding secretly thought that it was not good. He really came here for the letter and pretended not to know.  The guard was very impatient, so he ordered his men to beat Li Ding severely and used some torture. Soon Li Ding, a strong man, was tortured until he was inhuman shape.

    After getting off the boat at Dagokou, Li Ding gritted his teeth and refused to say anything. The last time he betrayed Bai Zetang was because he was worried about Cheng Lingxiu, but now he knew that Cheng Lingxiu was safe, so he kept gritting his teeth and said nothing.  , and in the end he was already dying and fainted.

    A bucket of cold water splashed Li Ding awake, and he didn't know where he was. The guard's ferocious face appeared in front of him, "Good boy, if you don't see that you are still a tough guy, I won't believe it. I can't pry it open even though I'm Dehui."  Mouth! Come here and use severe punishment again!"

    As soon as he finished speaking, a guard hurried in and said loudly: "Sir, we are surrounded by Seng Gelinqin's soldiers and horses, and the leader is Fu Qing!"

    Na Dehui's expression changed and he said: "No, let's go quickly. The guy in the west must have found out that we have defected to someone else. Everyone, let's go quickly!"

    "Then what should I do with this person?" Dehui said angrily: "I've killed him with one knife, why do I still have to ask?"

    As the blade of the blade passed across his throat, Li Ding felt that all the strength in his body was rapidly draining away from the wound. Gradually, he could no longer feel the pain, and his whole body fell into a dark silence.

    One day later, Li Ding's body was returned to the capital, still in the small courtyard. Li Lianying looked at Li Ding's body and sighed softly: "It's a pity. I never expected that they would take the sea route to intercept him."  , I didn¡¯t expect that some of the guardsmen of Dagukou Division were bribed by them.¡±

    On the side, Wang Seng Gelinqin, the iron hat of the Qing Dynasty, said with a look of shame on his face: "I was not aware of it for a moment. I didn't expect that this boy Chen Donglin also defected to others, and actually led three warships to intercept."

    Li Lianying hurriedly said humbly: "No wonder, sir, the Empress Dowager set up this situation just to attract more disloyal people. Dehui, a traitor from Shangyu's reserve office, learned of the route of the courier brother early in the morning, so he plotted everything. We are on the defensive."  Naturally, it is impossible to cover everything. However, this trip uncovered Dehui and the traitorous general in the Dagu Navy, and the prince is indispensable."

    Seng Gelinqin also humbly said: "It all depends on the Queen Mother's strategizing, luring the snake out of the hole can be effective. Eunuch Li also deserves a share of the credit for this trip." At this point, the two looked at each other and laughed.

    While he was talking, another eunuch came and said: "Eunuch Li, the Queen Mother wants you to go back to the palace first. Your Majesty, please go to Prince Gong's Mansion. Prince Gong is waiting for you there to discuss matters."

    Li Lianying responded, said goodbye to Seng Gelinqin and left the courtyard. She saw Cheng Lingxiu, dressed in white, getting off the carriage with tears in her eyes. She walked in dejectedly, lamented and then whispered to Cheng Lingxiu: "Miss Cheng Lingxiu, my condolences.  .¡±

    Cheng Lingxiu didn't seem to hear anything and walked straight in. Li Lianying shook her head, sighed and murmured: "He is also a pitiful person."

      Seeing Li Ding¡¯s body, Cheng Lingxiu no longer knew where she was. She wanted to cry loudly, but her throat was choked, and her tears fell quietly. Finally, she slowly knelt beside Li Ding and pulled Li Ding.  He rubbed his cheek with his stiffened hand and murmured: "Brother Li, I will go to Shanghai with you, I will go with you, I will go wherever you go" (To be continued)
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