Aoyama

Chapter 182 Banquet
The Qiansui Army...is no longer the Qiansui Army that once fought through life and death with Prince Jing.

Over the long years, it was divided, intimidated, and disintegrated by the Imperial Household Department using various means. Those who were disobedient were beheaded, and only the obedient were able to stay alive.

There are no reinforcements.

Chen Ji suddenly felt powerless, as if no matter how hard he tried, there would always be a hand reaching out to correct the fate he was trying so hard to change.

Could it be that the hexagrams calculated by the master cannot be changed at all?
Is this life?

No!

Chen Ji stood surrounded by the soldiers of Qiansui Army, like an isolated reef in the sea tide. However, before the soldiers could gather around him, he retreated instead of advancing, like an icebreaker in the ocean, heading straight for the general!
No one thought that he was so arrogant that he even intended to kill the general. Caught off guard, the lieutenant waved his halberd, which came whistling but stopped steadily in Chen Ji's hand.

Chen Ji shook his wrist vigorously: "Let go!"

A huge force was transmitted from the halberd to the general's hand, forcing him to let go: "Sir, get closer to the innate!"

The other soldiers surrounded him upon seeing this, but Chen Ji turned the halberd in his hand and swept it across like a crescent moon, sweeping away all the people.

When they reacted again, they saw Chen Ji standing behind the lieutenant general, with the crescent blade of his halberd pressed against his neck: "The rest of you, step back, or his life will be in danger! Speak, tell your subordinates to step back!"

The lieutenant general said in a deep voice: "My Qiansui Army is not afraid of death, and your threats to me are useless."

Chen Ji sneered: "If you are really not afraid of death, why would you sell out your master for glory?"

After these words were spoken, the soldiers holding spears looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Ji held the lieutenant general hostage and slowly retreated towards the main gate of the military camp, while he said loudly: "Prince Jing is now detained by the Secret Service in the prison of Luocheng, where he is being framed and slandered. He is in danger. Prince Jing wrote a blood letter himself and asked me to bring it to General Wang, hoping that he could break into the prison and take away the prince and the princess tonight. As a result, General Wang agreed on the surface, but now he took the blood letter to the Secret Service to report the news. This lieutenant general did the same thing, slandering me as a remnant of the Liu family! If I were a remnant of the Liu family, why would I come to your Qiansui Army camp?!"

The military camp was in uproar.

The crescent blade of the long halberd in Chen Ji's hand cut into the neck of the lieutenant, leaving a bloody mark: "If you don't tell the truth, I will take your life now, and we will die together."

The lieutenant sneered: "How can you escape if you kill me?"

Chen Ji suddenly said loudly: "My fellow soldiers, please take a good look at me. On that day at Luhun Villa, the prince and the princess were right beside me, and I held the princess's horse!"

A soldier recognized Chen Ji: "I remember him, I thought he was the royal palace's guest of honor!"

The husband of a princess is called the prince consort, and the husband of a county lady is called the prince consort. Although their identities were mistaken, many people did recognize Chen Ji's appearance.

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something else when he saw out of the corner of his eye that a man wearing a general's armor climbed up the arrow tower behind him. With a stern face, he drew his bow and shot an arrow. The gate of the military camp was slowly closing!
He turned around suddenly and used his body to block the arrow.

Oh no, too many people in this military camp have been bribed!

Chen Ji abandoned the body he was holding, and while running, he threw the halberd at the general on the arrow tower. The halberd was so powerful that the general quickly bent down, and the halberd just brushed past his head, smashing the wooden top of the arrow tower to pieces.

The door of Qiansui Army’s camp was slowly closing. At the critical moment, Chen Ji flew forward and squeezed out from the gap.

When his body fell forward, he suddenly supported himself on the ground with his hands, and with one more push, he leaped out like a cheetah without stopping at all.

Arrows were shot at him, but they could not catch up with his footsteps and could only hit the footprints behind him.

Chen Ji came to where he tied his horse and climbed on. He squeezed the horse's belly hard, and the warhorse shot out like an arrow, leaving all the noise and bustle behind.

Chen Ji kept urging his horse, forcing it to speed up again and again, but his horse could no longer run and could only trot slowly.

He looked back and made sure that no one was chasing him, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

But what to do now?
If General Wang handed the blood letter to Bailong, the blood letter would be evidence that Prince Jing instigated the Qiansui Army to break into the prison, which would also be a serious crime of treason.

Moreover, once this blood letter falls into Bai Long's hands, Chen Ji will also be an accomplice... Perhaps as long as he catches up with General Wang, there will be room for turning things around, but he is destined to not catch up, because the other party is much faster than him.

……

……

Two hours later, when the top of Luocheng City appeared on the horizon, Chen Ji slowly exerted force on the reins, and the warhorse slowed down and finally stopped moving.

He looked at the city gate in front of him with a serious brow: It’s still not too late to escape from Ning Dynasty.

Just like Sicaogui and Wu Hongbiao, they could first go to Jinling and Yangzhou to hide from the limelight, hide on a cruise ship on the Qinhuai River for a month or two, and then go north to Jingchao.

From now on, the affairs of the Ning Dynasty have nothing to do with me anymore. Those people and things will be forgotten one day.

Chen Ji seemed to see a road of bones paving its way into the city, with white snow falling on the broken bones. The broken bones were like another kind of thorns. Once you walked on it, there was no turning back.

He looked up in a trance and saw snowflakes really falling from the sky. This was the third snow in Los Angeles this winter.

Go or stay?
Can't leave.

The next moment, Chen Ji rode his horse again and rushed into Luocheng. When he was close to the inner prison, he suddenly heard someone calling his name: "Chen Ji, why are you here?"

Chen Ji turned around suddenly and saw Jin Zhu leading Xi Feng off the carriage.

He asked in confusion: "Master Jinzhu, aren't you arresting Concubine Yun? Why are you in the inner prison?" Jinzhu was furious: "I was looking for clues about Concubine Yun, and Bailong suddenly sent someone to pass on the order, summoning all the zodiac signs to the inner prison. I don't know what this guy is up to. He treats us like monkeys every day, calling us here and sending us away at will!"

As he said that, he went to knock on the iron door of the inner prison: "Open the door!"

When the jailer opened the door, Jin Zhu walked down the stairs first. He found that Chen Ji had not moved, so he turned back and asked in confusion: "Go, what are you standing there for?"

Chen Ji nodded and followed him. He didn’t know why Bai Long suddenly summoned all the zodiac signs, nor did he know what would happen next.

He only knew that his life, that of Prince Jing, the Crown Prince, and the Princess were hanging by a thread.

Entering the dim corridor, Chen Ji saw the end at a glance. Many people had gathered in front of the door of cell No. 1, and Feng Daban and Bai Long were standing side by side.

When he passed by cell number seven again, the prince and Baili were standing in the cage holding the railing. The prince asked Jinzhu hurriedly, "Master Jinzhu, what happened? Why are there so many people here? What are you going to do?"

Neither Jin Zhu nor Chen Ji answered.

When the two men arrived at the door of cell number one, Bai Long did not say a word, his expression hidden behind the mask.

Feng Daban smiled slightly and said, "You have all worked hard recently. First, you put down the rebellion of the Liu family, and then arrested the culprit of the rebellion in Prince Jing's Mansion."

Chen Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.

The next moment, Feng Daban took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, on which were written words in blood: "Today, Prince Jing wrote a blood letter, ordering the Qiansui Army to come to break into the prison, committing the crime of treason!"

Yunyang, Jiaotu, Mengji and Jinzhu looked at each other, they had just found out about this too!
Feng Daban smiled and said, "Fortunately, there is a young hero in my Silijian. After tricking the blood letter from Prince Jing, he immediately handed it over to me, so that Prince Jing and the Qiansui Army would not make a big mistake... Right, Chen Ji?"

Yunyang, Jiaotu, Mengji and the others all turned around and looked at Chen Ji, with strange looks flashing in their eyes. Everyone knew that he had a close relationship with Prince Jing's Mansion, but they didn't expect that he would be the one who betrayed Prince Jing in the end.

Chen Ji stood there in a daze.

He thought the blood letter would be in Bailong's hands, but he didn't expect that Feng Daban was planning all this behind the scenes, and Bailong didn't say a word from beginning to end.

What is the identity of Feng Daban? A sick tiger? Or is he not one of the zodiac signs but is above them?

He knew that the blood letter was clearly tricked away by General Wang and given to Feng Daban, but now Feng Daban said that he had tricked it from Prince Jing.

why?
why?
Why! ?

Chen Ji turned his head and looked at the prisoner cell No. 1, only to see Prince Jing looking at him. His eyes showed no emotion, neither sad nor happy.

In the damp and cold inner prison, Chen Ji felt a loud bang in his head, as if something had exploded.

Jin Zhu poked Chen Ji with his arm and reminded him in a low voice, "Speak!"

Chen Ji came back to his senses, his heart was cold, and he clasped his fists and saluted: "Reporting to Feng Daban, I just did my job."

Feng Daban raised his hand and pressed him twice: "Don't be modest. If it weren't for you, it would be difficult for me, the Imperial Household Department, to convict Prince Jing. This is a great achievement. After I return to the capital, I will report it to the Minister of Internal Affairs and ask for more credit for you."

After that, he smiled and pulled out a white scroll from his sleeve. "Coincidentally, your promotion order to the position of Internal Minister of Haidongqing has also arrived. Congratulations. In the future, be modest and prudent, and do not rest on your laurels. Our Ministry of Rites needs young talents like you to serve the country."

Chen Ji took a few steps forward and took the scroll: "Thank you, Mr. Feng."

Feng Daban smiled and said, "Don't thank me, thank the Minister for his appreciation of you. Three days later, Bailong, Yunyang, Jiaotu and Jinzhu will escort Prince Jing to the capital together."

After that, Feng Daban turned to Bai Long and said, "Master Bai Long, please, let's lead people to Prince Jing's mansion to count and confiscate the property, and then discuss the itinerary back to Beijing."

Bai Long smiled and said, "Okay."

After the two men left, Jiaotu tilted his head and looked at Chen Ji curiously: "In fact, in the matter of investigating the Jingwang Mansion, no one would say anything even if you openly let them go. After all, you are friends with the prince and the princess. I didn't expect you to be so ruthless and stabbed them with your own hands."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Yun Yang smiled and said, "You are becoming more and more like a zodiac sign."

Suddenly, Chen Ji smiled and said, "Master Yunyang, thank you for your praise. It is not easy for me to be promoted to Haidongqing. I plan to hold a banquet in Yingxian Building tomorrow to celebrate this. I wonder if I would be honored to invite you masters to do me a favor?"

Jin Zhu laughed: "Let's go together to celebrate your success! Hey, Mengji, come and have a drink with us. When was the last time we drank together? Was it the time when His Majesty entertained the ministers on his southern tour?"

Mengji brushed the dust off his sleeves and said indifferently, "Just drink it, you have nothing to do."

The Golden Pig looked at the Cloud Sheep and the Rabbit again: "What about you two? Give me some face. We are colleagues, not enemies."

Before Yunyang could say anything, Jiaotu smiled and replied, "Okay, let's go together. But I want to drink Huadiao wine that has been stored for 30 years, not even one year less."

"Okay, if Huadiao loses one year, I will chop off the head of the owner of Yingxian Tower and kick it around like a ball!" Jinzhu put his arm around Chen Ji's shoulder and walked out: "Come on, I'll treat you to the celebration banquet at Yingxian Tower. Before, I was worried that you would do something stupid, but now that you've come to your senses, I'm happier than you. Just remember, nothing in this world is important except when you hold power in your hands!"

When the two passed by cell No. 7, Chen Ji subconsciously looked inside the cell.

Baili's tears flowed down her cheeks, finally gathered at her chin and dripped onto the ground. The iron railing between the two of them was like a deep abyss, unreachable.

Chen Ji turned around and said with a smile, "How can I let Lord Jinzhu treat you? I was promoted to Hai Dongqing, so naturally I should be the one to treat you."

(End of this chapter)