Aoyama

Chapter 251 Grain Collection
In Guyuan City, black ashes danced in the air, like a heavy black snowfall. Chen Ji crouched down on the saddle and turned his head to avoid the smoke blowing in the wind to prevent it from blowing into his eyes.

The Yulin Army was chasing after him, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not close the distance.

Qi Chengzhu looked at the traces in front of him and cursed: "Why are you riding so fast? It's showing him off!"

Li Xuan held the reins and glared at him fiercely: "Say less. We just shook hands and made peace in front of His Highness. Have you forgotten it now?"

Qi Zhuozhuo stiffened his neck and muttered, "I admit that he is a man, but I just can't stand the way he is. Brother-in-law, he keeps to himself because he thinks we will be a burden to him. I don't believe you can't see it!"

Li Xuan said calmly, "If you want to be respected by others, then show your ability to be respected. He walked in front to clear the way for the Yulin Army to avoid an ambush. The most important thing in the front arrow formation is the vanguard, and the most dangerous is also the vanguard, don't be ungrateful."

Qi Chenzhuo said disdainfully: "Thirty percent of my Yulin Army are officers, do we really need him to lead the way?"

At this time, Chen Ji ignored the noise behind him. His eyes were fixed on both sides of the dirt road.

The spies of the Jing Dynasty chose to take action when the large group of Yulin troops were leaving the Dusi Mansion. If they had a backup plan, they would probably ambush the prince on his way back, hold him hostage and order the border troops, putting the border troops in a dilemma.

If you want to take action, you must ambush at the narrowest place on the road, Gushi Street!
It's now!

The next moment, someone in the alleys on both sides of Gushi Street suddenly pulled up the trip rope, and crossbowmen appeared from behind the roofs on both sides and aimed their bows and arrows at Chen Ji!

Qi Zhuanzhuo was sharp-eyed and exclaimed, "Be careful!"

As soon as the words came out, Zaozao leaped over the trip rope with all his might. When Zaozao reached the top of the leap, Chen Ji used the force to leap into the air.

When he left the saddle, he drew his sword. The bright sword reflected the fire in the distance, like a streak of fire, slashing at the oncoming arrows in mid-air.

The sound of metal striking each other continued. When Qi Chengzhuo looked again, Chen Ji had already landed lightly on the roof on the right, stepping on the tiles and rushing towards the ambush troops.

Li Xuan roared: "Follow me and kill on the roof!"

Qi Chenzhuo picked up the lance hanging next to the saddle and threw it with all his strength. The lance, which was about a meter long, pierced straight into the wall of the earthen house. The Yulin soldiers stepped on the long poles of the lances, climbed onto the roof and fought with the ambushers.

Qi Zhuozhuo grinned and said, "You bastards, do you really think that my Yulin Army is a soft persimmon?"

The Yulin Army had the reputation of being the imperial guards, but they were bullied everywhere in the capital. No one in the three camps dared to give the Yulin Army a hard time. In front of the three camps, the Yulin Army was just a group of dandies whose families had bought them official positions, not worth mentioning.

But it is clear that in terms of the number of officers, the Yulin Army has the largest number.

After Qi Zhuo defeated an ambush soldier with his sword on the roof, he turned around triumphantly to look at the situation on the opposite side, only to find that the enemy had already killed four archers and handed the battlefield over to the Yulin Army who had climbed onto the roof, while he continued to run forward.

Chen Ji ran faster and faster, and soon caught up with Zao Zao who was riding non-stop and jumped off.

Qi Chenzhuo watched Chen Ji land steadily on the saddle, sheath his sword neatly and quickly, and disappear at the end of Gushi Street without looking back.

He asked Li Xuan beside him: "Brother-in-law, what realm is he in?"

While Li Xuan blocked a hidden arrow for Qi Chenzhuo, he replied calmly: "I have just entered the Xiantian realm and haven't even climbed the first floor."

Qi Chenzhuo widened his eyes: "Why does it look so powerful?"

Li Xuan thought for a moment and said, "His swordsmanship is superb, which conceals his lack of realm."

Qi hesitated for a moment and asked, "If I compete with him..."

Li Xuan blocked another cold arrow for Qi Chenzhuo and shouted angrily: "Focus on killing the enemy and stop talking nonsense!"

When Chen Ji arrived at the Dusi Mansion, the entire mansion was already engulfed in flames. The Chen family and the Yulin Army stood outside the mansion in a daze, not knowing what to do.

I watched the beams break in the fire and the roof collapse.

Chen Ji pulled the reins and stopped his horse. He glanced at the faces of Chen Liqin, Chen Wenzong, Chen Wenxiao, Liang, Wang Gui and others, and then asked loudly: "How did the fire start?"

The Yulin Army did not answer, and neither did Chen Liqin. Only Chen Wenzong answered, "The fire must have started in the armory and wing rooms of the Dusi Mansion. The fire spread very quickly, accompanied by explosions and roars. Someone must have buried kerosene in the Dusi Mansion before we took over!"

Chen Ji's heart sank. If the pyrotechnics had been buried in advance, the military granary and armory over there would certainly not be able to be saved. In that era, there was no means of extinguishing fires that could defend against pyrotechnics.

An isolated city without food is doomed.

The Tiance Army of the Jing Dynasty only needed to besiege the city for a month, and the border troops did not even have the strength to fight, and Guyuan City fell without a fight.

Chen Ji asked, "Did anyone see who set the fire?"

He looked around, but no one answered.

At this time, the Yulin Army arrived with the prince, and the prince looked at the Dusi Mansion in a daze: "The White Tiger Hall has been burned down, how can I explain this to the border troops?"

Li Xuan said in a serious tone: "Your Highness does not need to explain anything to them. No one except the border troops could have set fire to the Dusi Mansion quietly. The border troops should give us an explanation!"

Ashes rolled in the air, everyone was silent, and only the crackling of the fire in the Dusi Mansion remained.

The prince looked at Li Xuan: "Lord Li, what should we do now?"

Li Xuan hesitated: "This..."

He originally wanted to say that they should leave immediately through the secret passage of the City God Temple, but he knew that the prince would never agree.

It was a dilemma. The prince sighed and said, "In the 17th year of Anzheng, Prince Zhaowu died for his country at Chongli Pass. It seems that I will become the second prince to die for his country. I am sure my name will go down in history."

Li Xuan stepped forward and said anxiously, "Your Highness, please follow me!"

However, at this moment, Chen Ji said calmly: "Your Highness, it is not yet time to die for your country, so there is no need to say discouraging words."

Chen Liqin stepped out from the crowd and said, "Chen Ji, you are not allowed to be rude to His Highness!"

Chen Ji ignored him and continued, "Whether Guyuan City can be defended or not, the most urgent task is to find all the spies of the Jing Dynasty and find out who is in the border army. If these people are not eliminated, Guyuan will be lost."

The prince smiled and said, "Brother Chen Ji was right to remind me. It was I who lost my temper. Even if I really have to die in Guyuan City, I have to drag some more thieves from Jing Dynasty to take the blame with me."

After that, he suddenly said in a loud voice: "Brother Chen Ji, I will appoint you as the Right Guard in this critical moment. You will work with Lord Li to lead 500 Yulin troops and find the whereabouts of the thief of Jing Dynasty within three days. I wonder if you are willing?"

Chen Ji dismounted from his horse, clasped his fists and said, "I am willing."

The prince asked in a deep voice: "What if we can't find the whereabouts of the thief from Jing Dynasty?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Bring your head to me."

The prince laughed: "He is indeed a man of character... But, there is no need to bring my head to see me. If you can't find out, I'm afraid we will be buried together in this borderland of Guyuan."

The Chen family watched this scene from afar with mixed feelings in their hearts. Wang Gui's heart was even more in turmoil. He did not expect that this illegitimate son would suddenly become a popular figure around the prince and hold an official rank of sixth grade.

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Your Highness, now that the Dusi Mansion is no longer habitable, do you want to move to the border army camp? There should be only a few Jingchao spies in the border army, so there is no need to worry."

The prince shook his head: "We don't live in the border army camp."

Li Xuan asked doubtfully, "Your Highness?"

The prince smiled and pointed at Chen Ji: "Let's follow Chen Ji's example and live in Longmen Inn."

……

……

At one o'clock in the morning, Xiaowu was dozing off in front of the counter, but he was awakened by the sound of frequent footsteps outside the door.

The next moment, someone lifted the cotton curtain and dozens of people rushed in. Xiao Wu was so frightened that he pulled out a kitchen knife from behind his waist and shouted, "Boss, save me!"

The prince said with a smile: "Don't be alarmed, innkeeper. We are here to stay in the inn."

Xiao Wu looked at the numerous heads behind the prince, and was confused: "Aren't you here to fight for what happened just now? I tell you, it was the shopkeeper who asked me to chop you up, it has nothing to do with me..."

Before he could finish his words, Xiaowu was slapped on the back of his head.

The innkeeper passed by him and bowed to the prince, saying, "Sir, our inn has a total of 66 guest rooms. Currently, there is only one Tian-type room left, ten Di-type rooms, and seventeen Ren-type rooms. I'm afraid we can't accommodate so many people like you."

The prince replied, "That's fine. Stay in the rooms that are available, and the rest can go to other inns and ask."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "You have brought several hundred people with you. I'm afraid you will book several inns..."

As we were talking, there was noise outside the door again.

The prince turned around when he heard the voice and asked Li Xuan in a low voice: "What happened outside the door?"

Li Xuan walked out quickly, then walked back quickly, leaned over to the prince's ear and said, "Zhou You is leading the border soldiers to collect grain from house to house, saying that all grain must be handed over, otherwise it will be treated as treason."

The prince frowned and said, "The border troops must be desperate, otherwise they wouldn't have collected the food overnight. But if they took away all the food, how would the people in the city survive?"

As they were talking, several soldiers from the frontier army entered the main hall of the inn, pushed aside the Yulin Army as if no one was around, and came to the shopkeeper and said politely: "Second Master, there is an order from above to take away all the food. I won't make it difficult for you. I will only take 80% of the food from Longmen Inn, but you don't make it difficult for me either, okay? If it is not extremely urgent, I will not bother you."

The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, and finally winked at Xiao Wu: "Go, lead the soldiers to move the food."

Li Xuan suddenly said: "Wait!"

The border soldier looked back and asked, "What happened?"

Li Xuanliang showed the Imperial Army badge and said, "You don't have to collect the food from this inn. Your Highness wants to stay here, so leave it for your Highness."

The soldiers on the border looked embarrassed and dared not speak.

At this moment, the cotton curtain was opened again, and Zhou You walked into the hall with a sneer: "The Imperial Guard's badge is not useful in my border troops, Lord Li, you should put it away. I must take the food away."

Qi Chenzhuo said angrily: "You have confiscated the food, what will we eat?"

Zhou You said slowly, "There will be porridge stalls in every block. You can go to the stalls to get porridge when the time comes. Your Highness, it's not that I mean to neglect you, but General Hu and I have to eat and live with the border soldiers. We have to drink as thin porridge as they drink, and the same goes for you."

Li Xuan said coldly: "I don't believe it."

Zhou You sneered and said, "The officials from the capital naturally don't believe that we can eat and live with the soldiers, but you can come to my military camp every day and keep an eye on me. If I, Zhou You, eat one more grain of rice than others, I will be beheaded!"

(End of this chapter)