Jiuxi

Chapter 776 Chapter 774 [Soul Returns]

Dingzhou, Ruyin City.

The city has been very lively these days. Lu Chen has returned triumphantly with his victorious army. Dingzhou governor Xu Zuo personally led officials, gentry and common people to line the streets to welcome them. Their pride and joy were evident in words. At the same time, more than 20 powerful generals from various armies of Dingzhou have all arrived.

If Wu Yanshu had the courage to launch an attack at this time, he might be able to gain some advantage on the border.

Of course, the first thing Lu Chen had to do was to see his two wives. Lin Xi could still take care of herself, but Wang Chulong had difficulty even walking, and the day they were due to give birth was not far away.

When the husband and wife reunited, there were no earth-shattering actions, but even just a smile at each other was enough to soothe their respective longings.

That night Lu Chen lay between them, carefully holding their shoulders and recounting the stories that happened after they separated. He slept for more than an hour until they fell into a deep sleep.

From dawn, Lu Chen temporarily left his peaceful life and summoned more than 20 generals of the Dingzhou Army to hold a military meeting, the content of which mainly covered three aspects.

One was to commend the generals who had performed outstandingly in the wars over the past six months. Although the court's rewards had not yet come down, and Lu Chen's praise did not represent actual gold, silver and fields, the commended generals were all delighted and excited to the point of being unable to restrain themselves, and naturally everyone else was envious.

The second is the summary of this war. Lu Chen first let his generals speak one by one, and then put forward more specific and detailed requirements, asking them to write down all the lessons they learned, and form a routine from then on. In the future, whether it is a small-scale war or a major decisive battle, as long as they are under Lu Chen's command, the generals must summarize every battle, including every detail of the battle formation, camping, logistics, etc.

The third is the next training plan for the Dingzhou troops. This is the one that Lu Chen attaches the most importance to and also the one that takes the longest time.

The military meeting was held for four consecutive days, from morning to night, and lunch was just eaten casually in the meeting hall.

Four days later, more than twenty generals who had gained a lot said goodbye to Lu Chen and rushed to their bases with their respective missions.

Lu Chen still had no time to rest. He first took time to meet his two fathers-in-law who had already arrived in Ruyin, as well as important members of the Lin and Wang families. Then there was the messenger from the south. He also had to make more detailed arrangements for the base in Baotai Mountain. Several days passed in a flash.

That afternoon, Lu Chen had a rare moment of free time. He was just about to go to the backyard to chat with Lin Xi and Wang Chulong when he saw Qin Zilong quickly walk in. He said with a slightly strange look on his face, "Sir, there is a stranger who wants to see you."

"stranger?"

Lu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly. Qin Zilong was the captain of his personal guards. He had traveled with him north and south over the years and was very experienced. Logically, he would not make some stupid mistakes.

Qin Zilong said, "He said he was from Jingguo Dadu and was ordered to deliver a letter to the Duke."

Lu Chen subconsciously thought that this was someone sent by Qing Yu Huaijin, but he quickly denied this guess, because Qing Yu Huaijin's people had always been in contact with the secret agents left by Lu Tong in the north. Given the princess's cautiousness and meticulousness, she would not make such a rash move.

He was too lazy to guess and said calmly, "Please ask him to come in."

"Yes, my lord."

Qin Zilong retreated immediately.

Of course he knew that there were many people in this world who wanted to harm Lu Chen. Even though this stranger who suddenly appeared looked honest, he and his personal soldiers still conducted an extremely careful inspection of him inside and out, and at the same time arranged twelve sword masters in the side hall.

About an incense stick of time later, the stranger walked into the side hall tremblingly.

Lu Chen raised his eyes and saw that the other person was over forty years old, with a dull and weather-beaten face. He knew at a glance that he was not a person with bad intentions.

The middle-aged man stopped as Qin Zilong instructed, looked at the young man sitting there, and timidly bowed, "I am Du Zhong, and I pay my respects to you, sir."

"Du Zhong?"

Lu Chen thought about it secretly, then asked: "Are you from Jingguo Dadu?"

"Yes."

Du Zhong raised his hands, with a sealed envelope in his palms, and said respectfully: "This is a handwritten letter from my master, please take a look."

Qin Zilong immediately took the envelope, and then two other soldiers stepped forward and opened the envelope with the prepared tools to confirm that there was nothing unusual inside.

Du Zhong had never seen such a situation before, but he had no idea how many people in this world wanted the young nobleman in front of him to die. In the past year alone, military masters and spies from the Weaving Bureau captured 24 assassins who had not yet taken action in Ruyin City.

Lu Chen took the letter and saw that there was no heading on it, as if it was just recording a person's life.

"I am Du Weizheng, with the cursive Chinese character Buyi. I was born in the seventh year of Dingning in the Great Qi Dynasty and died in the first year of Dingzheng in the Great Qi Dynasty. My father is Du An, my mother is Qi Sanniang, my brother is Du Weiping, and my sister is Du Liniang. We are from Dujia Village, Cuiping County, Kangyuan Prefecture, Liangzhou, the Great Qi Dynasty. In the twelfth month of the sixteenth year of Dingning in the Great Qi Dynasty, a part of the Jing army invaded Cuiping County. All 634 people in Dujia Village died, and my parents, brothers and sisters were all killed by the Jing army..."

Lu Chen put the letter on the table, turned to look at the uneasy Du Zhong, and asked, "What does your master do for a living in Jingguo?"

Du Zhong replied, "My master is the shopkeeper of Richang. He lost his parents when he was young and grew up alone. Later, he was helped by a nobleman and grew up in Dadu. With his talent and hard work, he established a foothold in Dadu. I came to the master's side nineteen years ago and have been serving him ever since. There are few people in the family. His wife died of illness twelve years ago and the master has no children. A month ago, the master gave me this letter and ordered me to go south alone to find the master and deliver the letter."

Lu Chen was completely confused.

To him, Liangzhou was a rather unfamiliar place name. It took him some effort to remember that it was the territory of Da Qi on the north bank of Jing River decades ago when the three northern tribes had not yet risen. However, Da Qi had already lost control of the place thirty years ago and it became a racing ground for the Jinglian people. The middle-aged man in front of him was obviously a loyal servant. The problem was that both the letter he sent and his statement at this moment lacked sufficient and comprehensive information.

Judging from Lu Chen's perspective, this Du Wei was a remnant of the Da Qi. His relatives died tragically at the hands of the Jinglian people, but he survived by chance and found a foothold in the capital of Jingguo as an orphan.

Lu Chen has witnessed too many similar things over the years. Even though he has compassion, it is difficult for him to be too moved. What's more important is that he can't quite figure out the other party's intentions.

His eyes fell on the paper again, and he frowned slightly, and asked again: "When you set out south, was your master still alive?"

Du Zhong was startled, and quickly nodded and said, "My Lord, my master is in good health and has no illness."

Lu Chen became more and more confused. Since the other party was still alive, what did this “died in the first year of Dingzheng” mean?

At this time, a personal soldier came in and said, "Sir, the Yang Inspector of the Textile Bureau wants to see you."

Lu Chen wanted to ask Qin Zilong to take Du Zhong away first, but he suddenly had an idea and glanced at the letter on the table, then said, "Please ask him to come in."

When Yang Jingxuan walked into the side hall, he noticed the middle-aged man standing next to him at first sight. He suppressed his anxiety, stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Sir."

Lu Chen asked directly: "Is there any urgent news from the north?"

Yang Jingxuan was slightly startled, looked at Lu Chen's deep eyes, and nodded: "Yes, it is..."

He hesitated to speak, obviously because there was a stranger here.

Lu Chen said: "It's okay, just speak frankly."

Yang Jingxuan could not hide his excitement and said quickly, "My Lord, the brothers in the north sent back a secret report that the fourth prince of Jing State, Alihehaige, was the real murderer who murdered the crown prince Nalan, and on the day of Tianqing Festival, the birthday of Emperor Jing, he joined forces with Jiagu, one of the five major surnames in Jinglian, to launch a rebellion. Emperor Jing was well prepared for this, and the rebellion was quickly put down, but one of Alihehaige's advisers was the real mastermind. He took advantage of the only opportunity to get close to Emperor Jing, tied gunpowder on his body and detonated it on the spot, successfully injuring Emperor Jing severely!"

Qin Zilong and his personal soldiers and masters couldn't help but be overjoyed.

But Lu Chen was not very excited. He asked, "Is the news true?"

Yang Jingxuan said quickly, "It is confirmed to be true! The process of Emperor Jing being seriously injured was witnessed by too many people, and it was impossible to cover it up. In order to avoid causing greater chaos, he made the matter public. Almost everyone knows about it, including our brothers. Lord, it turns out that the counselor is a man from Da Qi. He lurked for 30 years and finally succeeded. He is truly a hero!"

Lu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is his name Du Weizheng?"

Yang Jingxuan was surprised and asked, "Master, you actually know this person's name?"

Just as he finished speaking, a muffled sound suddenly came from the side.

Everyone turned around and saw a middle-aged man named Du Zhong kneeling on the ground, his eyes wide open with tears streaming down his face. He shouted in great sorrow, "Master!"

At this moment, Qin Zilong and others were all silent, only Yang Jingxuan was confused.

Lu Chen exhaled slowly and handed the piece of paper on the table to Yang Jingxuan.

After just two glances, a gloomy look appeared on Yang Jingxuan's young face.

There was actually nothing very confidential on this piece of letter paper. It only recorded the life of a Qi man named Du Weizhen and the details of his family.

In addition, there are a few more words at the end.

"I am a Qi person, and after I die I will be a Qi ghost. Even if it is a thousand miles away, I will go all the way south and my soul will return to my hometown."

"I only have one wish, that the people of Da Qi no longer suffer this hardship, and that everyone can live and work in peace and happiness."

"Du Weizheng, a survivor of Liangzhou in the Great Qi Dynasty, bows to me."

There was silence in the hall, except for the continuous crying of the middle-aged man Du Zhong.

Lu Chen took the letter back, carefully put it into the envelope, and then resealed it.

Yang Jingxuan's eyes were slightly red, and he tried his best to control his emotions, and whispered: "Master, the brothers of the Textile Bureau will do everything they can to bring back Du Yishi's bones for burial."

"Not yet. There are countless difficulties and obstacles along the way. If anything goes wrong, you and I will both be sinners."

Lu Chen stood up and said word by word: "One day, I will go to the capital of Jing State in person to bring Brother Du back."

(End of this chapter)