Aoyama

Chapter 225 Personal Disciple
The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the winter of the thirty-first year of Jianing.

The strong wind outside Guyuan blew the yellow soil up into the sky, and then it fell lightly down. When it fell on people, it made a rustling sound like rain.

On the Guyuan city wall, a soldier was dozing off against the parapet, with his face covered with a gray scarf.

The sound of camel bells came from afar.

The soldier pulled his scarf down and looked outside the city. He saw a long camel caravan coming from afar on the endless yellow earth official road.

The roads here are rugged, and even the official roads are full of potholes. Horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts cannot pass here, and the wheels have to be changed every few dozen miles. All the merchants from the Central Plains have to change to camels and mules in Taiyuan Prefecture before they can continue to move forward.

The soldier squinted his eyes and looked over, muttering quietly, "It's almost New Year's Day, and there are still people coming to this kind of ghost place? Hey, an official?"

But in the camel caravan, the servant was walking in front holding the reins, while the people behind were sitting on the camel's back, covering themselves tightly.

If it is a caravan, the merchants would like to load the camel's hump with goods, but they themselves would definitely not be willing to sit on it. Only officials would do this.

Soon, the camel caravan arrived at the foot of the city. The soldiers put their hands on their swords and shouted loudly, "Who are you?"

A servant held the reins in his hand, raised his hand and clasped his fists, saying, "Sir, my master is Chen Liqin, a fourth-rank junior scholar of the Zhanshi Mansion. I am here on the orders of the crown prince! Open the door quickly!"

"Oh, so they are the prince's men," the soldier's expression gradually darkened, and he said lightly, "Wait, I will go and report."

The camel team waited in the wind and sand for half an hour, but the city gates did not open. No one responded even though the servants called out from under the city wall.

Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, Chen Ji and Xiaoman at the back of the camel caravan wrapped their mouths and noses with red scarves. The scarves were piled layer by layer on their necks and shoulders, but they still couldn't keep out the cold wind.

Zhang Xia sat on the saddle, half of his face hidden in his scarf, and whispered, "Something is wrong. Guyuan is a remote place, how can we neglect a fourth-rank official of the imperial court? And he is a minister of the Eastern Palace."

Chen Ji hummed and looked up at the city fortress. The fortress was very high, and his neck was sore from looking up. The blue bricks on the city wall were eroded by the wind, and it was unknown how many years it had stood there.

Weathered and majestic, this is Chen Ji's deepest impression of Guyuan Military Town.

There are mountains on both sides of Guyuan, and the city seems to be built in a huge canyon, blocking the Jing Dynasty cavalry's way south.

With a creak, the city gate slowly opened.

Two teams of armored soldiers holding halberds marched out in formation, sandwiching the camel caravan in between.

Chen Liqin took a tired look and asked, "What is this for?"

Wang Gui, who was holding the reins for him, asked eagerly, "Master, can I go and ask?"

"Go."

Wang Gui is tireless. He is not a housekeeper yet, so he does not need to worry about these things. But if he does not know how to find work, he may never be able to be a housekeeper again in this life.

Wang Gui stepped forward and asked, "Generals, why are you surrounding my camel caravan? We are the family of Junior Officer Chen Liqin."

An armored lieutenant smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. Guyuan is a strategic military location. Recently, spies from the Jing Dynasty have infiltrated there to gather intelligence. To avoid any loss, we have to search your luggage."

Wang Gui's expression changed: "The prince's handwritten order and the pass are here, how dare you search our luggage?"

The lieutenant placed his right hand on his sword and sneered, "We, the frontier soldiers, are here to sacrifice our lives and shed our blood. We are only concerned with killing the enemy and catching spies. It doesn't matter if he is a third-rank official or a fourth-rank official. Even if he is the Minister of War or the current cabinet minister, we will still search him!"

Wang Gui was speechless. From the capital to Luo City, he was used to being flattered, but he didn't expect that the army here would not even give face to a fourth-rank official!
What's up with this?

Seeing that the negotiation failed, Chen Liqin was helped off the camel by the servant and said, "General, I wonder if we have offended you in any way? If so, I will apologize on your behalf."

The lieutenant general smiled and said, "Lord Chen, you are too kind. We are just doing our duty. Look at the pass behind me. If it is taken away by the Jing Dynasty, the people in Ningzhou and Shanzhou will suffer. Don't you think so?"

Liang wrapped herself tightly with a scarf. She winked at Wang Gui, who immediately took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and quietly put it into the general's hand: "My master knows that the soldiers on the border have worked hard. Please be flexible."

"Who do you think my border soldiers are?" The lieutenant general threw the silver ingot on the loess and said, "We are just following orders. If you try to stop us again, we will arrest you as spies of the Jing Dynasty! Search them!"

Wang Gui was furious: "Hey, stop it!"

He stepped forward and grabbed the soldier's arm, but the soldier was so murderous that he drew his sword with a clang: "Get out of here!"

Wang Gui looked at the bright knife light and took a few steps back in embarrassment.

Zhang Zheng, who was at the back of the camel team, said cheerfully, "Fortunately, we don't have any luggage, so we don't have to worry about being searched."

Chen Ji laughed: "Brother Zhang is naturally optimistic and lives a happier life than others."

After being praised, Zhang Zheng said happily: "Of course, I have to tell my father when I go back, and tell him not to come to the border, otherwise he will have to endure the humiliation of being searched." Zhang Xia glared at his brother, then turned to Chen Ji and whispered: "I don't know what the prince did in Guyuan that seemed to have aroused public anger. My father also said that since General Wen Tao was executed by slow slicing, the border troops have been in constant trouble, and there have even been cases where the border troops led troops to surrender to the Jing Dynasty..."

Chen Ji asked in confusion: "Lingchi? What crime?"

"Collaborating with the enemy." Zhang Xia glanced at the border soldiers not far away and whispered, "A few years ago, the people of Ningzhou secretly built a shrine for General Wentao, but it was discovered by the court and torn down. At that time, the border troops mutinied, and the Jing Dynasty cavalry happened to march south. If Mr. Wang had not been ordered to lead the troops to suppress the rebellion, I am afraid that a disaster would have already occurred."

Zhang Zheng smiled and said, "I heard about this. It is said that there was a mutiny in a thousand households. Mr. Wang, as a civil official, entered the thousand households alone and put down the rebellion overnight. Later, Mr. Wang was promoted to the commander of the guards and led five thousand households to attack the baggage of the Jing Dynasty and forced the Jing Dynasty cavalry to retreat. He is a well-known Confucian general in the capital... Originally, my father thought that Mr. Wang could enter the Ministry of War this time, but I don't know who stopped the red seal. What a pity. My father said that if Mr. Wang was in the border town, it would be safe for 20 years, and he could do many things with peace of mind."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Lord Zhang was so depressed when he did not see Mr. Wang's promotion documents in Luocheng.

At this time, the border soldiers took the Chen family's luggage off the hump, opened it one by one and searched it, and threw the gold and silver jewelry all over the floor. The other party did not carefully check the items inside, but just wanted to open them and throw them on the floor.

This was not a search for spies from the Jing Dynasty, but a warning to the officials of the Eastern Palace.

When the soldiers searched Chen Ji's place, one of them saw the whale knife wrapped in a long strip of cloth lying across his saddle and immediately asked in a cold voice, "What is this? Is it a weapon?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

The soldier called his colleagues and said, "Come here, this man is armed! Capture all these horsemen and send them to the general to await punishment!"

Hearing that someone was coming, more than a dozen soldiers with weapons surrounded them, and pointed their long spears at Chen Ji and others in unison. Zao Zao was restlessly spitting out white arrows, and his thick hooves stepped on the yellow soil.

The shouting woke up Xiaoman who was dozing on the dwarf horse. She clutched the reins tightly and asked in a low voice: "Master, what should we do?"

Wuyun stood up from Zaozao's head and stared coldly at all the soldiers.

Chen Ji said softly: "Don't act rashly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the city gate, and a man was seen riding a horse galloping towards him. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and was wearing silver armor. A bunch of white pheasant tails rose into the sky on his head, looking extremely heroic.

Seeing the gold and silver scattered on the ground, the man shouted, "How dare you! This is a minister of the East Palace. How dare you make things difficult for him?"

The general of the border army in front of the city gate sneered: "Lord Li, why can't we track down the spies from the Jing Dynasty? You may not know how serious the consequences will be if you let in a spy from the Jing Dynasty since you have been pampered by the prince."

Lord Li, who was wearing silver armor, said angrily, "You let so many merchants in, and the spies of the Jing Dynasty have long been mixed in. The prince asked you to investigate the spies of the Jing Dynasty, but you wanted to investigate the prince's subordinates first. How can this be allowed?"

The general of the border army said slowly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that there are many spies from the Jing Dynasty in our Guyuan military town, so we will investigate according to his instructions. As for where to start the investigation, we have the final say."

Lord Li said angrily: "You!"

The general of the border army held his sword and said, "Why, the prince's subordinates cannot investigate? Not only must we investigate, but we must investigate thoroughly. The day after tomorrow is the New Year's Day. Who would come to Guyuan at this time?"

At this time, among the long spears, Chen Ji rode forward slowly as if no one was around, bowed and said, "General, may I have a word with you?"

The general of the border army sneered: "If you have anything to say, just say it here. Are you trying to bribe me?"

Chen Liqin looked at Chen Ji and frowned: "This is not the place for you to talk, go back."

However, Chen Ji did not look at him, but jumped off his horse, clasped his fists and said to the lieutenant general: "General, I am a disciple of Mr. Wang Dao Sheng Wang. I wonder if you can be lenient with me?"

The lieutenant general on the other side was slightly startled. He looked Chen Ji up and down, then glanced at the unusually handsome Zao Zao and asked, "Are you Mr. Wang's disciple?"

The soldiers looked at each other and lowered their spears involuntarily.

The lieutenant thought for a moment and said, "Young man, don't speak carelessly. If I find out that you are lying, it will not be as simple as a search. Let me ask you, do you have a token to prove your identity?"

Chen Ji shook his head and said, "There is no token. Mr. Wang is in mourning at home, and I once studied with him. When we were at Luhun Villa, Mr. Wang acknowledged me as his disciple in front of more than a hundred scholars. It cannot be fake."

The lieutenant said in a serious tone: "Without the token, how can I trust you? We are far away from this border, and we have never heard of Luhun Villa."

Chen Ji lowered his head in thought, and when he looked up again he said, "General, Mr. Wang once gave his sword to the deputy general of Guyuan Military Town. Outsiders don't know about this. You can go and ask the deputy general for confirmation."

The lieutenant's eyes lit up, he turned around to get his horse, and rode away quickly.

After an incense stick of time, the lieutenant returned at high speed, his eyes full of joy. He saw the soldiers still holding their halberds and immediately waved: "Put down the halberds quickly... What are you still standing there for? Didn't you hear what I said?"

When he got closer, he dismounted and bowed to Chen Ji with a mellow smile: "So you are really Mr. Wang's disciple. I am so sorry, so sorry!"

After saying that, he turned around and waved to the soldiers: "Let them go!"

(End of this chapter)