Aoyama

Chapter 288 It’s your own fault
In the dark night.

Chen Liqin chased Chen Wenxiao with a knife, but no matter how fierce he was, the knife in his hand never hit Chen Wenxiao.

Amid Liang's cries, six frontier soldiers rushed forward, pressed Chen Wenxiao to the yellow earth, and tied his hands and feet with hemp ropes.

Chen Liqin was stunned: "What are you going to do!"

A frontier soldier stepped on Chen Wenxiao and said, "Sir Chen, you want to chop him up, right? We will help you hold him down, please chop him up now."

Chen Liqin blushed: "When is it your turn to interfere in my Chen family's affairs?"

The frontier soldier sneered and said, "I'm sacrificing my life in the front, but this guy is collaborating with the enemy and betraying his country. If the general hadn't ordered him to be escorted to the capital, he would not have been able to leave Guyuan City!"

Chen Wenxiao’s face was pressed to the ground, and he shouted with all his might: “Let me go! Father, save me, mother, save me!”

Liang rushed forward like crazy and pushed the border soldiers away: "We are the relatives of Master Zhan of the Zhan Mansion. When did we collaborate with the enemy and sell out our country? Do you have any evidence? Don't slander us!"

The border soldiers turned around and looked at Hu Junxian. They were not present when Chen Wenxiao collaborated with the enemy and betrayed his country. They really had no evidence and could only rely on Xiaoman's one-sided statement.

At this time, Xiaoman had quietly slipped away, leaving only Hu Junxian and Zhou You standing there on horseback.

Zhou You turned around to look at Xiaoman. Xiaoman was looking up at the stars in the sky, looking as if it had nothing to do with her.

The next moment, someone whispered, "I testify that Chen Wenxiao is a traitor to the country."

Liang and Chen Liqin turned around suddenly and saw Chen Wenzong standing next to the brazier, his eyes red but his expression calm.

Liang said heartbreakingly: "Wen Zong, what are you going to do? Do you want to kill your brother? Don't talk nonsense!"

But Chen Wenzong just whispered: "After Chen Wenxiao was captured alive by the Jingchao thieves, the thieves asked about the Longmen Inn. He wanted to..."

"shut up!"

Liang staggered to Chen Wenzong and said in a low and shrill voice: "Wenzong, you are determined to win the imperial examination. Your name will be called out outside Donghua Gate. But the palace examination is personally selected by His Majesty. If Wen Xiao is a crime, how can His Majesty select the brother of a criminal as the top scorer? I am afraid that you will have no hope of passing the imperial examination in this life and will waste your life. Letting him go will also help yourself!"

Liang's tears fell one by one: "Wen Zong, the only ones I can count on are you two brothers. If something happens to you two, how can I live? Who can I rely on?"

If this matter could be resolved in Guyuan, it might not be reported to the capital.

But treason is different. If Chen Wenxiao is escorted to the Ministry of Justice in the capital, he will have only one outcome: immediate execution.

The crimes punishable by immediate execution will be tried by the Ministry of Justice, and then transferred to the Inspectorate for review, and then reviewed and approved by the Dali Temple. If there are no objections, they will be submitted to the Renshou Palace for personal approval by Your Majesty!

Your Majesty will surely know that no one can save you!

Chen Wenzong was silent for a long time: "Mother, if you want me to protect him, it means that I have to admit that the scriptures I learned in the past were all wrong, and the articles I wrote were all fake... What's the point of passing the imperial examination?"

Liang said sadly, "Haven't you learned to conceal the truth for your relatives? Confucius said, 'A father conceals his son, and a son conceals his father.' That's what's in it. Concealing the truth for your relatives is also the way of a gentleman. Even the laws of my Ning Dynasty have it written that grandfathers, grandchildren, grandsons, daughters-in-law, husband's brothers and brothers' wives can all conceal the truth for each other. This is the highest principle of nature and human nature."

Chen Wenzong stood there in a daze. He looked at his mother, then at Chen Ji, and was speechless for a moment.

Liang did not lie to him. The laws of the Ning Dynasty were indeed written like this, and the Great Sage and Teacher also said so.

Just when Chen Wenzong was in a dilemma, Qi Zhuozhuo suddenly ran over and shouted, "The thieves of Jing Dynasty asked about the Longmen Inn. Chen Wenxiao betrayed my master Chen Ji in order to save his life. My master was in the inn to protect His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He killed hundreds of people from Jing Dynasty with his own strength and almost died at the hands of the enemy. Chen Wenxiao's behavior is no different from treason!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around fell silent.

Liang suddenly fell to the ground, her eyes seemed to be lost.

Chen Ji glanced at Qi Chenzhuo, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should accept this apprentice.

In the silence, Hu Junxian spoke again: "Chen Wenxiao kowtowed to the Jing Dynasty and colluded with the enemy and betrayed his country. His crime should be executed. Our border troops do not have the power to deal with him, so we will send him to the Ministry of Justice for trial to set things right. Pull him up and send him to custody."

Hearing this, Chen Liqin's mood gradually sank to the bottom.

However, at this moment, Liang suddenly got up from the ground, pulled out the hairpin on her head, rushed to Chen Wenxiao, and stabbed him straight in the chest.

Liang cried softly, "Don't blame mother, nothing can happen to your brother..."

Chen Wenxiao lowered his head to look at the hairpin on his chest, then looked up at Liang in disbelief, tears and snot streaming down his face: "Mother, my heart hurts so much..." Before he could finish his words, he lowered his head and died.

Liang looked at everyone hysterically: "Is it ok?"

This sudden change shocked everyone. No one expected Liang to be so decisive as to kill her own son with her own hands.

Chen Ji just felt it was a bit absurd. It seemed that everyone in the Ning and Jing dynasties was sick and unbelievable.

Liang looked around with bloodshot eyes: "This matter is over. If I find out who spreads this matter, my Chen family and Liang family in the capital will never let him go!"

After saying that, she stared at Chen Ji and Xiao Man fiercely, with disheveled hair, looking like an evil spirit.

Chen Wenzong went forward to support him, but Liang pushed him away silently. She leaned on Chen Wenxiao, sobbing softly, and could not get up for a long time.

Xiaoman looked at Chen Ji at a loss: "Master, I didn't expect..."

Chen Ji said softly: "Don't be afraid, it's his own fault."

However, he and Liang might become mortal enemies from now on.

……

……

Hu Junxian stared at Liang for a long time, then waved to the border troops: "Since the criminal has been executed, our border troops will not interfere any more."

The frontier soldiers retreated hastily, fearing that the Liang family would bear a grudge against them.

Chen Ji thought of this and suddenly asked, "You were hiding well in the cellar, how could you be discovered by the Tiance Army?"

Zhang Zheng had a gloomy face: "We hid well in the well, but one of us was chased by the Tiance Army and jumped down the well in a panic, breaking the stones on the well wall!"

Chen Ji frowned: "Where is that person?"

Zhang Xia replied: "Killed by the Tiance Army..."

Before he finished speaking, a shadow gathered over everyone's heads. Chen Ji looked up and saw Mr. Feng sitting on his horse, looking at him with a smile: "You want to investigate whether that person was sent by me?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Yes."

Mr. Feng smiled and said, "No need to guess, it's me."

After that, he jumped off the horse, handed the reins to Xiaoman, and then said to Chen Ji: "Walk with me. I'm in a very good mood today. Maybe I'd like to answer a few of your questions."

Zhang Xia grabbed Chen Ji's sleeve and shook his head slightly.

Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's okay."

Mr. Feng and Chen Ji walked towards the ruins. They walked for a long time, but Chen Ji never asked any questions.

Mr. Feng stood in Xuwei Lane, looking at the countless bodies of Border Army infantrymen, and suddenly asked: "Chen Ji, do you think that Border Army soldiers are the stupidest people in the world?"

Chen Ji whispered, "What do you mean, sir?"

Mr. Feng sneered and said, "There is a rule in our Ministry of War that the frontier troops will be paid after they have been stationed for one day. In the spring of the 14th year of Jianing, the Datong frontier troops went north to fight the enemy. A very smart civil servant was clever and only allowed the Datong frontier troops to station for one day each time they set up camp. On the second day, he ordered them to change their camping location. In this way, they would never have to pay the soldiers."

Chen Ji was stunned: "Is it still possible?"

At first glance, this story doesn't even seem to be true, but rather fabricated.

Mr. Feng said calmly, "The border troops were stupid. Even though they were teased like this, they still fought bravely when the enemy came. In the end, the Datong border troops blocked the Jingchao Hu Ben army at Guhuling for more than a month, and all the soldiers died. When Ye Bushou went to collect their bodies, he cut open their stomachs and found that there were only grass roots, tree bark, and leather in their stomachs."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Mr. Feng pointed at the night sky outside Guyuan City and said, "Chen Ji, the world shouldn't be like this."

(End of this chapter)