Aoyama

At the foot of Changbai Mountain.

Jiang Zhuang led the elite troops of Tokyo Road out of the mountains and forests, staring in disbelief at the empty horse-tethering area: "Where are our horses?"

The trusted guard ran to wake the unconscious horseman on the ground: "Where's the horse?"

The armored guard slowly opened his eyes, looking around blankly: "Wasn't the horse tied to the tree? Hey, where's the horse!"

The soldier was startled and got up from the snow. He circled around several times, but only a few horses returned to their original positions. Several hundred horses were still missing.

Jiang Zhuang asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

The soldier pondered for a moment: "I don't know how I fainted."

“You can’t even watch a horse properly,” Jiang Zhuang said through gritted teeth. “Do you know how much silver a warhorse is worth? Even if you sold your ancestors for eighteen generations, you still couldn’t afford to lose that amount.”

The soldier whispered, "Sir, my ancestors included a concubine who gave birth to a prince. Please be careful what you say."

Jiang Zhuang kicked the armored soldier to the ground: "How could someone whose ancestors included a concubine end up like this?"

Seeing Jiang Zhuang's uncontrollable rage, the other soldiers looked to Jiang Zhuang's confidant, Jiang An, for help. Jiang An gave them a reassuring look and immediately stepped forward to say to Jiang Zhuang, "Sir, the horses of the Mo Dao Battalion have also been frightened away."

Jiang Zhuang immediately beamed: "Oh, it really is!"

He waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's set up camp here, boil water and cook. Jiang An, you take some men to find warhorses. By the way, it would be best to chase the Mo Dao Camp's horses further away."

Jiang An received the order and left.

Jiang Zhuang had just found a clean spot to sit down when he saw Yuan Hengli Zhen leading over three hundred Mo Dao soldiers down the mountain. He abruptly stood up and carefully examined the Mo Dao camp. Only after confirming that the old man and the young man were not among them did he feel relieved enough to examine Yuan Hengli Zhen.

At this moment, Yuan Heng Li Zhen was no longer radiant. His face mask had disappeared, and a long, swollen scar ran across his face, where the bleeding had stopped.

The Mo Dao soldiers behind him were in disarray, their armor riddled with snow that couldn't be cleared from the gaps.

Jiang Zhuang immediately became gloating: "The Marquis of Champion is nothing more than this. Five hundred Mo Dao soldiers surrounded one man, and they were made to look bad and lost about a hundred men."

Yuan Henglizhen glanced at him: "How dare a mere military commander spout such nonsense in front of me? Didn't Jiang Yu teach you any manners?"

Jiang Zhuang chuckled: "Our Tokyo Circuit has its own rules, and it's none of the business of outsiders to interfere. By the way, your warhorses have also been chased away. Why don't you go find your own warhorses first?"

Yuan Hengli Zhen sneered, took out a cinnabar box from his waist, made the Three Mountains Seal with his left hand, and dipped his index and middle fingers in cinnabar mud with his right hand, forming a sword with his fingers to draw a talisman on a pine tree.

As soon as the talisman was completed, the cinnabar suddenly ignited without fire, burning the talisman to ashes.

A moment later, the sound of galloping hooves could be heard.

Jiang Zhuang's expression changed. He turned around and saw a huge black horse leading a herd of horses back. On the saddle of this horse king, there was a talisman burning.

When the herd of horses approached, Yuan Heng Lizhen mounted his horse, gave Jiang Zhuang a contemptuous smile, and rode away.

Jiang Zhuang's face darkened.

At this moment, Jiang An led his men back with the horses. Seeing Jiang Zhuang's expression, he quickly asked the others, "What's wrong, sir?"

The soldier explained in a low voice, and Jiang An stepped forward and said, "Sir, the Mo Dao Battalion lost more than a hundred men, but we didn't lose a single one. Besides, look at how they were in such a sorry state, our soldiers can all return to Huanglong Prefecture unharmed."

Jiang Zhuang's expression relaxed: "That's true... bring the pigeon coop."

Jiang An whispered, "The pigeons in the pigeon coop have also been released. They're wary of us sending messages by pigeon."

Jiang Zhuang was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time.

Jiang An observed his expression: "How about we eat first?"

Jiang Zhuang walked toward his warhorse: "What the hell are we eating for? Reporting this matter to the commander is the most important thing. We can't delay important business. Let's move out!"

……

……

The elite troops of Tokyo Road mounted their horses and set off at dusk, arriving at Huanglong Prefecture, Changchun State, Tokyo Road before dawn.

On the city wall of Huanglongfu, a man around thirty years old was quietly looking in the direction of Changbai Mountain. He wore a stiff-brimmed turban and a purple robe with a round collar and right-fastening front, but he had modified the sleeves of the purple robe to be narrower so that he could ride and shoot.

Jiang Yu, the military governor of Tokyo Circuit.

Jiang Zhuang galloped back from outside the city, his warhorse foaming at the mouth. He looked up and saw Jiang Yu standing on the city wall, and immediately lowered his head guiltily.

Upon entering the city, Jiang Zhuang tossed the reins to Jiang An, climbed the city wall alone, and knelt on one knee behind Jiang Yu: "General, your humble servant has returned."

Jiang Yu casually asked, "Speak." Jiang Zhuang hesitated for a moment and whispered, "This humble general had already captured the sword seed successors, an old man and a young man, and was taking them with him, escorting them into Changbai Mountain..."

Jiang Yu turned around and glanced sideways: "Now that you've caught them, why don't you just take them back to Huanglong Prefecture? Tell the truth."

Jiang Zhuang's voice was even lower: "This humble general has indeed found the people, but I didn't know they were the ones we were looking for. Commander, you don't know, these two are as cunning as devils, they actually impersonated the spirit mediums from Erdaobaihe Town..."

Jiang Yu was quick-witted and immediately realized what was going on: "So, you sent them to find me?"

Jiang Zhuang lowered his head: "Okay."

Jiang Yu sighed, "Jiang Zhuang, you should just stay in Tokyo and don't go out. When we return to the capital after the New Year to report on our duties, you don't need to come with me."

Jiang Zhuang asked in confusion, "General, why is that?"

Jiang Yu turned around and leaned against the wall, looking at Jiang Zhuang with a forced smile: "Because of your and my reputation, you can only bring one of us out."

Jiang Zhuang was extremely embarrassed and quickly tried to make amends: "General, Yuan Heng Li Zhen also went. Not only did he fail to capture anyone, but he also lost more than a hundred Mo Dao soldiers. He left in a sorry state... By the way, this sword seed successor is a bit strange. He caused five martial arts resonances in Changbai Mountain, and he has more than one sword seed. I roughly counted, and there must be four. Yuan Heng Li Zhen did not expect this, which is why this person left a scar on his face."

Jiang Yu suddenly perked up, his eyes shining brightly: "Anything else? Think of something else, or you'll be sent to raise horses for three years."

“No, no, if I raise horses for three years, won’t I be laughed at for three years?” Jiang Zhuang racked his brains, then suddenly realized: “General, I have seen these two people before. Can you help the painter to draw their appearance? The old one always covers half of his face, but the young one does not cover his face.”

Jiang Yu waved his hand and said, "Go quickly. It must be at least 70% accurate. Have the painter use a rat-tail brush to draw it. Once it's finished, immediately send a message by carrier pigeon to the capital to inform His Highness."

……

……

At noon, a pigeon took to the sky and circled over the capital for a dozen breaths before turning and flying southwest towards the upper capital.

Huanglong Prefecture is 330 li from the capital city. A good pigeon can arrive in half a day, or as fast as three hours.

As evening approached, the carrier pigeon flew over the city walls of the capital, circling endlessly above the watchtowers. Then, it plunged headlong into the Banzhengfang (a type of government office).

The pigeons landed lightly at the entrance of the pigeon house. Someone heard the sound of the pigeons landing and immediately went into the pigeon house to remove the bamboo tubes from the pigeons' legs.

The man carefully examined the bamboo tube and saw that the character "御" (Yu) was burned onto it.

His expression changed, and he stepped through the snow, leaving the east courtyard and walking quickly into the depths of the mansion.

Deep within the mansion, the sounds of string and wind instruments, singing and dancing filled the air as someone was hosting a banquet for guests in the main hall. Groups of maids and servants bustled in and out of the hall, busy with their tasks.

The man, holding a bamboo tube, stepped into the main hall. He saw Princess Liyang sitting in the main seat, dressed as a man, with her hair simply tied up on top of her head with a plain silver hairpin.

Ever since she returned from Ningchao, she had been dressed as a man, exuding a heroic air. However, today, she was slightly tipsy from drinking and socializing, her cheeks flushed, which added a touch of fragility and drunkenness to her appearance.

Princess Liyang was smiling and saying to a middle-aged man at the table, "Lord Jiang, there is no need to worry about your son's appointment in Longyou. I will send a letter to Yuan Chong to ensure that your son can work freely in Longyou without being harassed by anyone."

The middle-aged man raised his wine cup: "In that case, Your Highness, I thank you in advance."

Princess Liyang changed the subject: "Lord Jiang, I've heard that the military governor of Xixia will retire after the New Year. I wonder who you think is suitable to succeed him..."

Before she could finish speaking, she caught a glimpse of the man in charge of the pigeon house hurrying into the main hall and handing a bamboo tube to Jiang Pan.

Jiang Pan took the bamboo tube and returned to Princess Liyang's table, handing it to her with both hands.

Princess Liyang saw the character "御" (Imperial) burned onto the bamboo tube. She immediately put the tube through, peeled off the sealing wax, and poured out a roll of paper about the length of a finger.

She only glanced at it twice before hurriedly getting up, almost knocking over the table in the process, but fortunately Jiang Pan caught her.

Ignoring the guests at the banquet, she hurriedly walked towards the backyard. As she stepped out of the main hall, she tripped over the threshold and stumbled. Her maidservant rushed forward to help her up, saying, "Your Highness, be careful."

Princess Liyang broke free from the maidservant and strode straight towards the backyard, walking faster and faster.

Arriving in the backyard, Zhu Yunxi, shirtless, swung his knife, repeating the same move day after day.

Princess Liyang ignored him, lifted the heavy curtain, and stood at the doorway watching Old Man Yao and Liang Gou'er playing chess inside. She was panting and unable to speak.

Old Man Yao scrutinized her for a moment. Although Princess Li Yang hadn't said a word, his expression became unusually serious: "What happened to Chen Ji?"

Princess Liyang said, "Chen Ji has come to Jing Dynasty. He stole the sacred relic of the God of War from the Martial Temple and just escaped from Changbai Mountain."

Old Yao suddenly stood up: "Who's chasing him?"

……

There will be another update tonight, please read it tomorrow morning. (End of this chapter)