Aoyama

Chapter 249 Kill him
In Dusi Mansion, a brazier was burning in front of the White Tiger Festival Hall, making the hall as bright as day.

Inside the Baihu Festival Hall, several tables were put together, and a map about ten feet long was spread out, with Guyuan, Quwu Mountain, Ziwu Ridge, and Long Mountain drawn on it one by one.

At this time, Li Xuan pointed at the map and whispered to the prince, "Your Highness, today when I went up to the top of the city wall, I could only see the densely packed tents and smoke from the Tiance Army of the Jing Dynasty from afar. Before I could take a closer look, Zhou You sent someone to drive me away..."

The prince looked at the map and sighed, "We have such a beautiful country, but we are trapped in Guyuan City. It's like someone covered our eyes. We can't see anything clearly and can't do anything."

Li Xuan said ashamedly: "It's my incompetence."

The prince smiled and said, "Lord Li, don't blame yourself. The Yulin Army is the imperial guards. They are usually trained as royal guards. They are naturally restricted when they come to the border of Guyuan."

At this point, the prince pondered, "Maybe Brother Chen Ji has made some new discoveries. I wonder if he will come to visit me again tonight."

Li Xuan's expression changed, and he immediately clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, in terms of the ability to gather intelligence and adapt to changing circumstances, Chen Ji is indeed far superior to me. I am willing to admit defeat."

The prince laughed loudly, "Lord Li, has anyone ever said that your greatest strength is honesty? These days, there aren't many people willing to admit that they're not as good as others."

Li Xuan said seriously, "I know my own worth. But this old man has too much of a marketable air and is so greedy that he dares to sell your Highness' information. If your Highness uses him, there's no guarantee what he will sell in the future... Although this man is respectful to your Highness in words, he actually lacks reverence in his heart."

If Chen Ji was here, he would definitely be shocked.

The commander of the Yulin Army revealed the biggest difference between him and ordinary people in one sentence: ordinary people regard the emperor as their father, but Chen Ji, who came here through time, naturally has a critical attitude towards the feudal dynasty and lacks reverence.

Prince and general, would you rather have a kind?
The prince stared at the lonely Guyuan city on the map and said calmly: "Qi family, Yang family, Hu family, Xu family, Chen family, how many people really respect the majesty of the Heavenly Family?"

Li Xuan's face straightened, he knelt on one knee and clasped his fists, saying: "I have lived under the Qi family's roof, and have been looked down upon day and night. Now that I have the opportunity to follow Your Highness, I will go through fire and water for Your Highness without hesitation."

As he was speaking, footsteps were heard outside the White Tiger Hall. The prince hurriedly helped Li Xuan up and whispered, "I understand Lord Li's intention. Please get up quickly."

Li Xuan stood up, turned his head and looked at Qi Zhuozhuo who was walking towards him, and asked calmly, "It's your turn today, what are you doing here?"

Qi Chenzhuo clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Commander Li, I have received a tip from an informant that there is a brothel called Hongxiuzhao on Qiuci Street, which is the base of the Jing Dynasty spies."

The prince was a little surprised. He looked at Li Xuan with a smile and said, "Deputy Envoy Qi actually planted an informant in Guyuan? It seems that even if my Yulin Army lost my brother Chen Ji, we can still find the spy of the Jing Dynasty with our ability."

Li Xuan was confused. He knew that Qi Zhunzhuo had never planted any informants...where did this informant who suddenly appeared come from?

He secretly glared at Qi Zhuozhuo, signaling him not to talk nonsense, but Qi Zhuozhuo gave him a reassuring look in return.

The prince asked curiously, "Deputy Envoy Qi, when did you plant the informant? I haven't heard you mention it before."

Qi Chenzhuo hurriedly explained: "I have been busy during the time I came to Guyuan. I have been quietly visiting the market and planting informants. I didn't get any results before, so I didn't dare to report to Your Highness. Now that I have found the location of the Jing Dynasty spy, I came to report immediately."

The prince smiled and said, "Now the border troops won't let us interfere with the defense. If we can catch some spies from the Jing Dynasty, it will help General Hu and General Zhou... Deputy Envoy Qi, if we can really catch the spies from the Jing Dynasty, you will be the first to be rewarded!"

Qi Chenzhuo's face lit up with joy.

Li Xuan bowed and said, "Your Highness, I will gather all the troops and go to Qiuci Street to capture the Jing Dynasty spy."

The prince shook his head: "I will go with you."

Li Xuan said in embarrassment: "Your Highness, it's getting late, you should rest early."

The prince patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go."

Li Xuan put a white fox fur coat on the prince. The prince thought for a moment, then took off the fox fur coat and threw it on the map: "Let's follow the old ways and sneak into the market. All the Yulin soldiers take off their armor, put on their regular clothes and go separately. Don't show off in the market."

"Yes."

At midnight, hundreds of imperial guards filed out of the Dusi Mansion, divided into three teams, and rushed towards Qiuci Street. They were not wearing armor and were not carrying weapons.

When they arrived outside Qiuci Street, Li Xuan made silent gestures, and one team approached from the front street, one team encircled from the back alley, and one team climbed onto the roof and approached quickly by stepping on the gray tile eaves.

Li Xuan closely guarded the prince, never leaving his side, waiting for his subordinates to capture all the thieves inside Hongxiuzhao.

In the cold wind, the prince wore white clothes with arrow sleeves and a silver crown on his hair, looking very heroic.

He held the reins and whispered, "Lord Li, have you spotted any border troops nearby?"

Li Xuan responded in a low voice: "Your Highness, I paid special attention when I came here, and there is none."

The prince nodded: "We will keep him alive this time to see if we can find out who is behind this."

At this moment, a Yulin soldier came running from a distance, knelt on one knee in front of the prince's horse, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, there is no one in the Red Sleeves!"

Qi Zhenzhuo exclaimed: "What?!"

The prince rode away. He dismounted in front of Hongxiuzhao's door and walked into the house.

I saw that Hong Xiuzhao's candle was still burning, and thick wax had dripped from the candlestick, but the tables, chairs and benches in the room were neatly arranged, and there was no one in sight.

The Crown Prince and Li Xuan turned around to look at Qi Zhuozhuo who was following them. Li Xuan asked angrily, "What's going on?"

Qi pondered and hesitated for a long time, but said nothing.

Li Xuan raised the whip in his hand to hit him, but his hand suddenly froze in mid-air. This brother-in-law was the apple of his wife's eye and he couldn't hit him.

After a moment, he said unhappily: "I'm asking you a question, speak up!" Qi Chenzhuo still refused to speak.

The prince pressed down Li Xuan's raised hand and consoled him, "Deputy Envoy Qi, perhaps something went wrong along the way. Why not call your informant over and ask him? He might know something."

Qi Chenzhuo lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Xuan was extremely angry and roared, "Speak up! Where is your informant? There is no joking in the army. If you dare to lie about military intelligence, be careful of military punishment!"

Qi Chenzhuo suddenly looked up and said, "Chen Ji!"

The prince was slightly startled: "Chen Ji?"

Qi Chenzhuo said hurriedly: "It must be Chen Ji who tipped off the spies of Jing Dynasty, so they got the news in advance and the building was deserted!"

Li Xuan asked in confusion: "Why is it related to Chen Ji again? What does Chen Ji have to do with this?"

Qi Chenzhuo had no choice but to bite the bullet and confess, "At midnight tonight, Chen Ji came to the Dusi Mansion, but Lord Chen had previously ordered that he not be allowed to enter the Dusi Mansion again, so I took the initiative to stop him."

Li Xuan raised his eyebrows: "And then?"

Qi Chenzhuo explained, "Then he left with a sentence 'Hongxiuzhao in Qiuci Street is the base of Jing Dynasty spies'. I think it must be because I stopped him that he felt resentful, so he secretly informed the Jing Dynasty spies."

Li Xuan was so disappointed that he said, "Since it was Chen Ji who brought the news, why did you lie to His Highness?"

Qi Chenzhuo shrank his neck and said, "I just don't want to see that kid being too arrogant, acting like a lone wolf every day, as if he's the only one capable."

The prince did not dwell on the matter any further, but looked at Li Xuan: "What do you think, Lord Li? Did Chen Ji really let the Jing Dynasty spy go ahead of time?"

Li Xuan did not answer. He walked cautiously in the red sleeves with wolf-like steps and lowered his head from time to time to check the details.

After a long time, Li Xuan suddenly squatted on the ground and said, "The Jingchao spy didn't run away, he was killed."

"Killed him?" The Yulin Army all turned their eyes away.

Li Xuan pointed to a crack in the wooden floor and said, "Although the perpetrator cleaned this area, the blood in the crack has not dried yet. Your Highness, look here again. There are also knife marks on the table. They are new knife marks."

After being reminded, the Yulin soldiers looked around: "The veil here has also been split open!"

"There are also on the beams!"

"There's also a broken finger here."

This huge red sleeve may seem harmless on the surface, but it is actually a bloody slaughterhouse where every blow is deadly and extremely vicious.

Li Xuan frowned: "The fighting is all over the Red Sleeves Movement. I'm afraid a lot of people died."

Qi Chenzhuo asked carefully, "Did Chen Ji do all this?"

Li Xuan shook his head: "I'm afraid not, unless he has many helpers in Guyuan City... Could it be that the border troops killed him first to silence him?"

The prince looked around with his hands behind his back, then smiled and said, "Let's go."

Qi Zhuozhuo asked in panic, "Where are you going, Your Highness?"

The prince glanced at him and said, "Go ask your informant Chen Ji, maybe he will know what's going on."

Qi Chenzhuo looked embarrassed: "Your Highness..."

The prince raised his hand to stop him: "Lord Li, Deputy Envoy Qi, this brother Chen Ji is indeed extraordinary. If we want to make a difference in Guyuan City, I'm afraid you two must put aside your past grudges and work together."

Qi Chenzhuo quickly agreed: "Yes."

The prince asked, "You said earlier that he was staying in the Dragon Gate Inn?"

"Yes, it's next door."

The prince laughed and said, "Let's go and see the famous Longmen Inn in Guyuan City."

Li Xuan glared at Qi Chenzhuo fiercely and quickly followed.

They went out and turned right for a few dozen steps before arriving at the door of the inn. The prince whispered, "Lord Li, select two officials to follow me in, and the rest of you stay nearby. Don't mobilize a large force and scare the innkeeper."

Li Xuan nodded: "Yes."

Qi Chenzhuo attentively lifted the cotton curtain for the prince, and the prince lowered his head and stepped over the threshold.

Inside the inn, the shopkeeper was standing behind the counter, counting the accounts with a pen in hand. Xiaowu and Xiaoliu had just changed into clean clothes and walked into the house from the backyard, hunching their necks and rubbing their hands, feeling cold all over.

At this time, the prince asked in a gentle voice: "Excuse me, owner, does Chen Ji, the third son of the Chen family, live here?"

Xiaowu and Xiaoliu looked at each other and suddenly pulled out kitchen knives from their waists in anger: "The roof of the house of No. 1 hasn't been repaired yet, and he comes again? Chop him!"

(End of this chapter)