Aoyama

Chapter 265: Take precautions before they happen

The sound of horse hooves faded away, and Jing Chao's sharpshooter shot and then left, decisively, ruthlessly and resolutely.

Chen Ji looked back at the arrow hole on the city gate tower. The arrow was so powerful and heavy that it actually shot a crack in the wooden beam of the city gate tower. There were two more brand new arrow holes on the city gate tower.

This was not the first time that Jing Chao had tried to persuade the enemy to surrender.

He turned his head and saw Hu Junxian holding a silk cloth for persuading surrender in his hand, silently looking at the Jingchao camp in the distance.

next moment.

Hu Junxian threw the silk cloth into the darkness, drifting away: "If you were me, would you open the gates and surrender the city?"

Chen Ji did not answer. This was not a question he could answer, nor was it his place to answer.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Hu Junxian continued to ask, "If I don't surrender the city, I, Hu, will sacrifice my life for my country, and my name will be recorded in the history of the ages. The historians will definitely say that I, Hu, am both loyal and righteous. If I surrender the city, I, Hu, will be despised by the historians for ten thousand years, but the people of Guyuan will be safe after my death. If it were you, what would you do?"

Chen Ji was silent for a long time, still unwilling to answer this question: "General Hu, I am just a bastard of the Chen family, my words are not taken seriously, why not discuss it with Deputy General Zhou."

Hu Junxian leaned against the wall and said calmly, "Wang Daosheng was right about you. You are indeed a cautious person and you keep everything to yourself. People like you should go to the capital, where even stone lions have minds, and not stay in the border areas."

Chen Ji did not refute.

But Hu Junxian continued, "As for Zhou You, I have already locked him up in prison."

Chen Ji was slightly startled: "What did Deputy General Zhou do wrong?"

Hu Junxian turned and walked into the city gate tower. He sat on a chair with a big horse and a golden sword, as sturdy as a mountain. "I trusted him wrongly, which gave him the opportunity to burn the food and fodder."

Is it true that Zhou You turned his fake play into reality?

Chen Ji asked hesitantly, "Why did Deputy General Zhou rebel?"

Hu Junxian sneered and said, "Half of my border troops want to rebel every day and night. It's not surprising that they want to rebel, but it's surprising if they don't want to rebel."

Chen Ji was stunned. He didn't expect the other party to say this: "Could it be that General Hu also wants to rebel?"

Hu Junxian said expressionlessly: "This is not something you should be concerned about."

Chen Ji asked tentatively, "General Hu, how long can the border troops' food last?"

Hu Junxian said calmly: "Kill the camels we brought back and we can hold out for another five days. Kill the war horses and we can hold out for another three days."

Chen Ji asked again: "When will the reinforcements arrive?"

Hu Jun said enviously: "It may be within 20 days, or it may never come."

Chen Ji fell into deep thought. If this is the case, whether Hu Junxian opened the city gate or not, Guyuan would be lost. Jing Dynasty only needed to siege Guyuan for another 15 days, and by then the border troops would not even have the strength to defend the city.

At this time, the guards brought tea to the two of them. Hu Junxian picked up the teacup and drank it all. "Stay away from the prince these days. When the Tiance Army of Jingchao enters the city, they will surely arrest all the border army generals and the prince's followers as soon as possible. Disguising as civilians may help us escape. That's all I have to say. It can be regarded as my explanation to your teacher."

After that, he asked someone to bring a household registration document: "This household registration document can help you hide your tracks. When the Tiance Army of Jingchao sees the document, they will just think you are an ordinary Guyuan citizen and won't think too much about it."

Chen Ji's heart trembled. Hu Junxian was going to open the gates and surrender the city. He called him here to teach him how to avoid the city-wide search by the Jing Dynasty army.

But there are four of us here, but there is only one copy of the household registration document.

He stood up and said goodbye, holding the household registration documents in his hand.

Just as he was about to exit the city gate tower and leave, Hu Junxian suddenly asked, "If your teacher Wang Daosheng were here, would he open the gate and surrender the city?"

Chen Ji stood at the threshold of the city gate tower and turned around, saying calmly: "I don't know how the teacher will decide...but I won't."

Hu Junxian looked at Chen Ji silently, and Chen Ji looked back at him, neither avoiding nor giving way.

After more than ten breaths, Hu Junxian said calmly: "You are not the general of Guyuan, so you can act on impulse. Go ahead."

After Chen Ji left, he stood up and walked to the parapet. His calloused hands stroked the rougher bricks and stones of the city wall, and he sighed deeply, "Guyuan, ah Guyuan..."

……

……

Chen Ji rode his horse at full speed, in a hurry.

Hu Junxian wanted to open the gate and surrender the city, and the other party's every move showed that he would definitely open the gate and surrender the city!
Once the border troops really opened the city gate, regardless of whether Jing Chao massacred the people in the city or not, it would be most dangerous to stay by the prince's side. Jing Chao would definitely not let go of such a dazzling political bargaining chip.

What should I do with my previous efforts?
What about your future plans?
Chen Ji crouched down and walked through the messy streets of Guyuan. When he returned to the door of Longmen Inn, he dismounted and patted Zaozao on the back: "Go back to the stable by yourself. If you have any problems, shout at the window."

Zaozao walked towards the backyard holding the reins in his mouth. Chen Ji took a deep breath and waited until he calmed down before lifting the door curtain.

In an instant, everyone in the main hall of the inn looked at Chen Ji as if beams of light were shining on him.

He looked around calmly, but saw that half of the people sitting in the main hall were Yulin soldiers, and the other half were Guyuan tyrants who came to buy and sell information. Everyone had a worried look on their faces.

Seeing that it was Chen Ji who came back, the man surnamed Li who had bought information from him before stood up and asked anxiously, "Do you have any information to sell today?"

Another person stood up and asked, "Do you know what the Jing Dynasty is doing? What are the border troops planning?" "How many days can Guyuan hold out?"

Everyone asked at once, as if they had grasped at a life-saving straw.

Li Xuan originally wanted to ask what happened after Chen Ji was taken away by the border troops, what Hu Junxian intended to do, and whether the border troops still had food, but now he couldn't say a word.

Chen Ji pushed aside the people who had gathered around him and walked straight to the counter: "Please make way. I'm just like you, I know nothing."

He squeezed through the crowd and came to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper, dressed in a black cloth shirt, was still calmly holding a brush to take notes. He said with interest: "If you sell some useful information at this time, I'm afraid you can make a lot of money. These people are desperate and are looking for medical treatment. I'm afraid they are willing to give up all their wealth in exchange for a way to live."

Chen Ji shook his head: "Now is not the time to make money, shopkeeper, I need to find Mr. Hu San for something, do you know where he is?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Sir, are you trying to buy information from me?"

Chen Ji glanced at him and said, "Yes."

The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "Mr. Hu is in the Tianzi B guest room. Please go find him."

Chen Ji was slightly startled, then turned around and ran upstairs.

The shopkeeper looked at his back, then winked at Xiaowu: "Come and watch over the counter."

After that, he took advantage of no one's attention, bent down, lifted the wooden board under the counter, and shrunk into the underground secret passage. There was a low room under the wooden board, and several waiters were sitting in the room sharpening knives, and several skinned bodies were hung on the ceiling.

The shopkeeper bent down and walked forward to a large jar, climbed in, and silently covered the mouth of the jar with a thin cowhide.

In front of the door of Room Tianzi B, Chen Ji knocked lightly with his knuckles.

The door opened, and Mr. Hu San opened it a crack. Seeing that it was Chen Ji, he immediately stuck his head out to check the corridor. After confirming that there was no one, he whispered, "Come in and talk."

After the door was closed again, Mr. Hu asked curiously, "What do you want from me?"

Chen Ji lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Hu San once said that he could help me buy ginseng. Is that true or not?"

Mr. Hu smiled and said, "Of course it's true."

Chen Ji took a deep breath and said, "But I can't wait for four days. Mr. Hu San can you move up the time? I want that batch of ginseng tomorrow."

"So urgent?" Mr. Hu frowned, "This matter will be settled in four days."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "I can't wait any longer. Hu Junxian wants to open the gates and surrender the city. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow!"

Mr. Hu's expression changed, and then he relaxed, as if he had figured something out.

Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "Mr. Hu San doesn't seem very surprised?"

Mr. Hu smiled and said, "I know my cousin better than you do. He would like the Jing Dynasty to march straight into the capital and take the head of Emperor Ning."

Chen Ji was startled: "Why?"

Mr. Hu Sanye sat steadily at the eight-immortal table and poured two cups of tea: "Sit down and talk."

Chen Ji sat down but did not touch the tea.

Mr. Hu San took a look at the cups and said, "Hu Junxian was originally devoted to cultivation and only held the position of a fourth-rank lieutenant general in the Wansui Army. He entered the Xiantian Realm at the age of sixteen and the Xundao Realm at the age of twenty-seven. At that time, he was ambitious and always felt that the threshold of the Divine Dao Realm was only one step away from him. He ignored all social interactions with his colleagues and forgot about getting married and having children. He devoted himself to cultivation."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Since you are devoted to cultivation, why did you come to Guyuan to serve as a general?"

"Because some people can't bear to see the Hu family produce two officials in the realm of God." Mr. Hu San continued, "If Hu Junxian and Hu Junyan from the Imperial Observatory enter the realm of God together, I'm afraid many people will be in danger. So someone came up with a plan to get rid of Hu Junxian, the hidden danger."

Chen Ji asked curiously: "Did someone poison him?"

Mr. Hu San sneered, "Why would there be such a long process of poisoning? In the 20th year of Jianing, an imperial edict arrived at the Hu family, appointing him as the deputy general of Guyuan, a third-rank official."

Chen Ji felt a chill in his heart.

The prince once said that once one’s official position reaches the third rank, it would go against the path of spiritual practice and would dissipate one’s spiritual state.

If Hu Junxian did not accept the order, he would be disobeying the order. But if he accepted it, all his cultivation would be gone the moment he accepted the order, and he would have to be an ordinary person from then on.

This imperial decree to appoint an official was so vicious, yet no one could find any fault with it.

Chen Ji asked, "Did Hu Junxian answer it?"

Mr. Hu San sighed: "If he doesn't accept it, the Hu family will be charged with disobeying the emperor's order. How can he just sit back and watch? If you were him, would you hate him?"

Chen Ji frowned: "It is difficult to advance to the realm of the gods. Hu Junxian may not be able to take that step. Why bother?"

Mr. Hu San said slowly: "It's better to take precautions before they happen."

(End of this chapter)