Aoyama

Chapter 241 Opening the Forum

The sound of horse hooves was neither fast nor slow, and the general on horseback was calm and unhurried.

Hu Junxian fits all of Chen Ji's imaginations of a frontier general. He is like a mountain range that has been weathered for thousands of years, rugged, majestic, and steady, stretching across the vast northwest land.

Before this, Chen Ji had never seen Hu Junxian's true face up close, but the moment the other person appeared, he was sure that this must be Hu Junxian.

In the dark narrow street, in the dangerous and strangely silent atmosphere, Chen Ji held the hilt tightly and stared at the other party coldly. It was as if a line was stretched between them, and as the other party approached step by step, the line was about to break.

Suddenly, the prince sat firmly on his horse and said in a gentle voice: "After coming to Guyuan, this is the first time I have seen General Hu so closely. I am honored. I often hear the elders in Wenhua Palace say that as long as General Hu is in Guyuan Border Town, there is no need to worry too much. Today, I saw the general's temperament, which really impressed me."

Hu Junxian's horse stopped, and he stood ten steps away from the crown prince and said, "Your Highness, thank you for the compliment. I hope I am not so powerful in the eyes of the elders."

"Oh?" The prince was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

Hu Junxian's voice was as calm as a lake. "If the elders didn't trust me so much, they would have allocated more weapons and fodder to my border troops instead of making my soldiers wear rattan armor, use rusty swords, and treasure even the cow tendon bowstrings. When the Jing Dynasty archers went to war, each of them carried three bowstrings in case of emergency, but my Guyuan border troops couldn't even get one bowstring each."

Upon hearing this, the prince slowly looked around at the rooftops, only to see archers wearing rattan armor and with indifferent expressions.

He thought for a moment and said, "What I saw and heard during my visit to Guyuan was truly shocking. When I return to the capital, I will petition Your Majesty to prepare military equipment and fodder for Guyuan, and I will not let the border troops down."

Hu Junxian said expressionlessly, "If the prince can really request military equipment and fodder for the border troops, I will build a shrine for him, burn incense every day, and make offerings every night."

They suddenly fell silent, and an undercurrent surged in the narrow street.

Li Xuan secretly signaled, and the Yulin soldiers raised their swords and stood guard beside the prince's white horse.

The next moment, Zhou You said, "Your Highness, we received a tip-off from the people that someone was hoarding gold juice here, so we immediately rushed here to catch the thief. We rushed hard, but we didn't expect that you would still take the credit."

"Huh?" Everyone looked at Zhou You.

The prince relaxed slightly, and followed Zhou You's words and asked, "It turns out that the border troops have been prepared for a long time. It seems that I have done something unnecessary."

Zhou You smiled and explained, "In the 25th year of Jianing, the army of the Jing Dynasty came to Guyuan. They first buried hundreds of cattle and sheep carcasses at the source of the Ziwu River in Quwu Mountain, and then poured arsenic into the well. Our Guyuan border troops were besieged for two months. Fortunately, reinforcements arrived in time. We fought a decisive battle with the Tiance Army of the Jing Dynasty at Quwu Mountain and won by chance. In the 28th year of Jianing, the Jing Dynasty used the same trick again and wanted to pollute the well water in the city with gold juice, but we discovered it in advance."

Zhou You smiled and continued, "From then on, our Guyuan Border Army placed spies among the arsenic dealers and the gangsters to prevent the Jing Dynasty thieves from making a comeback."

He explained it in sufficient detail. No matter whether it was true or false, the prince had to step down once he had the chance.

The prince smiled and said, "No wonder the elders praised General Hu. He is indeed a good leader."

General Hu did not look at the crown prince, but at the soldier in the Yulin Army who was captured by Chen Ji earlier: "Your Highness, I wonder what my subordinates have done wrong, why are they being escorted by the generals of the Yulin Army?"

The prince pondered for a moment and answered cautiously: "Reporting to General Hu, we asked him to lead the way to Shache Street, but he deliberately took us to Kule Street and wanted to come to Shache Street to tip off. I guess he is a spy planted by the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department in the border army, so I arrested him."

Zhou You suddenly said, "Then hand this man over to my border troops. We will interrogate him carefully and find out who is behind him. Your Highness is a wealthy man, and the Yulin Army is the imperial guard. I'm sure they are not familiar with such dirty methods as torture."

Li Xuan was shocked and subconsciously turned to look at the prince. It was obvious that Zhou You wanted to kill people to silence them!
If we hand over the border soldiers to the other side, perhaps the other side will make the soldiers "commit suicide out of fear of punishment" tonight.

But... there were dozens of archers lying on the roofs on both sides, and no one knew how many border troops were hiding outside Shache Street, so they had to surrender.

The next moment, the prince smiled and said, "In that case, let's leave it to General Zhou... It's getting late, so I'll leave this place to you guys to clean up?"

Zhou You cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, you have worked hard tonight. Please go back to the Dusi Mansion and rest as soon as possible. Leave this to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the archer on the roof put away his bow and disappeared behind the roof.

The Yulin Army suddenly felt relieved, but they felt strange again: the border army just let them go like that?

The prince gently squeezed the horse's belly and spurred the horse slowly forward.

In the narrow street, one step, two steps, three steps... the prince, Hu Junxian and Zhou You slowly passed each other, holding their heads high and looking straight ahead, without even looking at each other.

When all the Yulin soldiers passed by Hu and Zhou, the sound of sporadic horse hooves could be heard behind them.

Li Xuan knew that when Hu Junxian and Zhou You turned their horses' heads, they heard the sound of their horses' hooves. The two men were staring at them from behind, their eyes as sharp as swords, but he didn't dare to look back.

The Yulin Army went from Shache Street to Kule Street, and from Kule Street to Xuwei Lane. Everyone was silent along the way until Li Xuan confirmed again and again that the border troops were not following them, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked down and saw that his palms holding the hilt of the sword were covered in sweat.

Li Xuan came to the prince and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the border troops have already rebelled. They must have colluded with the thieves of Jing Dynasty to offer Guyuan to Jing Dynasty. Otherwise, you should follow me and leave through the secret passage of Guyuan. I have asked people and found that there are two secret passages in Guyuan City, one in the City God Temple and the other in Longmen Inn. You have a close relationship with Taoist Zhang Li of Huangshan Taoist Court. The City God will definitely let you leave through this passage. At that time, we swear to escort Your Highness back to Beijing at all costs."

Everyone looked at the prince. Whether to go or stay was up to him. The prince thought for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Ji who was standing beside him: "What do you think, brother Chen Ji?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "No need to go."

Li Xuan frowned: "Why?"

Chen Ji said casually: "The border troops did not rebel, at least Hu Junxian did not want to rebel."

Qi Chenzhuo said disdainfully: "Just now the border troops almost pointed an arrow at your Highness's forehead, and you haven't thought of rebelling yet? If the border troops were not in collusion with the Jing Dynasty, how could they rush to Shache Street so quickly? And why did they kill the Jing Dynasty thieves to silence them?"

Chen Ji didn't even bother to think about it: "If Hu Junxian wanted to rebel, why would he need to resort to trickery? Wouldn't it be more convenient to just open the city gate? There may be people in the border army who want to rebel, but they must be a minority. There must be something we don't know, which is why things seem confusing."

Qi Chenzhuo asked in a serious tone, "If the border troops hold Your Highness hostage, can you bear the responsibility?"

The prince smiled and said, "I know you are all doing your best. Now is the time to work together. Don't let any grudges arise. What Chen Ji said makes sense. If Hu Junxian had wanted to rebel, he would not have let us go just now. Put your worries back in your stomachs and wait and see. As for the escape through the secret passage, don't mention it again."

Li Xuan said anxiously: "Your Highness..."

The prince interrupted, "General Li, if I were an ordinary citizen, I would save my life first in this chaotic world. But I am the crown prince of a country, I can sacrifice my life but I will never compromise."

Li Xuan said with emotion: "It is a blessing for our country to have such a crown prince."

The Yulin Army came forward in a swarm, their emotions were excited: "We swear to protect Your Highness until our death!"

As they were talking, everyone returned to the Dusi Mansion.

The prince turned around and said, "By the way, my dear brother Chen Ji, where are Zhang Zheng and Miss Zhang Er now? General Li will send someone to take them back to the Dusi Mansion later... Where are they?"

Li Xuan turned his head suddenly. Just now when they were showing their loyalty and flattering, Chen Ji quietly retreated to the end of the team. But now, where was Chen Ji's shadow behind them?
……

……

Qiuci Street, Longmen Inn.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, counting today's accounts.

Xiao Wu leaned against the counter, yawning out of boredom: "Boss, the day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve, how are you going to celebrate it?"

The shopkeeper didn't even raise his head: "But."

Xiao Wu rolled his eyes and said, "Then is our inn closed?"

The shopkeeper glanced at him and said, "Why, you're homeless and still thinking about New Year's Eve? You can't even find a wife, so just stay in the shop and work honestly."

Xiaowu let out a frustrated sound.

The shopkeeper closed the account book, raised his head and stretched his neck: "Send away the fat sheep of Di Zi Bing and Di Zi Geng tonight, remember to send them separately. If I see you being lazy again, I will smash your head. Also, be quick, last time a corrugated black gauze hat was lost in the stable, and it was almost seen by someone! If you are careless again, I will smash your head!"

Xiao Wu shrank his neck: "Got it!"

The shopkeeper stared out the window absentmindedly: "I wonder where the boss is right now? Is he doing well?"

Xiao Wu tilted his mouth and whispered: "I don't know if the boss is doing well or not."

With a slap, the shopkeeper slapped him on the back of the head: "Get out of the way."

At this moment, the thick cotton door curtain was gently pulled aside, and Chen Ji walked in with a gust of cold wind, and stood at the door brushing off the dust.

Xiao Wu hurriedly limped over and helped him sweep the dust with the white cloth on his shoulder, asking, "Sir, you went out in the evening and came back late at night. Did you do something important?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "If you want to get information, you have to buy it with silver."

Xiao Wu smiled awkwardly: "I'm just asking casually..."

The shopkeeper looked at it from behind the counter and asked casually, "Sir, will you set up the altar tomorrow?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "Let's open the pot and try the Guyuan Shaodaozi."

The shopkeeper suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Opening a forum? That means they are going to release some big news!
(End of this chapter)