Chapter 191 The Imperial Decree

Lin Changning immediately ordered 10,000 gold coins. After the two tied ropes around their bodies, they looked down and were then lowered down little by little by the soldiers pulling on the ropes.

Wan Jin peered down the cliff and felt a momentarily dizzy.

Lin Changning reminded, "Don't look down, just keep going down like this."

A cold sweat broke out on Wan Jin's face. He didn't say much, just nodded, and slowly kicked down with Lin Changning.

After seeing the pine tree growing on the edge of the cliff, Lin Changning walked down a little and swung towards the cave using a rope.

With good visibility during the day, she landed in the cave after a swing, which probably made Wan Jin a little scared.

The rope swung many times but couldn't reach the cave. Lin Changning stood beside the cave and, as Wan Jin swung over for the last time, reached out and grabbed Wan Jin's clothes, pulling him up to the top of the cave.

Wan Jin only breathed a sigh of relief after his feet landed on solid ground.

He could have lost his life if he hadn't been careful. He must have been really brave last night.

If someone falls like that, their body might not even be found.

After wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Wan Jin followed Lin Changning, lit a tinderbox, and slowly made his way into the cave.

Fortunately, the cave wasn't too deep, and after walking only twenty meters, the two found the box in the big man's mouth.

It must have been a long time; the box was covered with layers of dust.

When Lin Changning opened the box, dust swirled around them, causing the two of them to cough.

Brushing the dust away with their hands, the two men stared wide-eyed at the several boxes in front of them, which were stuffed full of silver.

Only one of the boxes was missing a small piece in the middle, which must have been the part that the big man from the village had taken earlier.

Wan Jin picked up some silver coins from the box, his eyes shining with excitement, and exclaimed, "My goodness, so much silver! I've never seen so much in my life!"

Lin Changning calmed down a bit and glanced at the spineless Wan Jin: "Alright, let him go back. We've collected so much official silver this time, he'll definitely get a reward when he gets back. Pull the rope over here and start tying it."

Wan Jin sighed, turned around and ran back, grabbing the four ropes they had just weighed down with stones beside the cave as he ran over.

After tying the rope, the two carried the box out. When they reached the cave entrance, Lin Changning tugged on the rope.

Upon receiving the order, the people above began to pull upwards with all their might. After four round trips, all the silver in the cave was quickly transported up.

Finally, the two were tied to each other with rope and were quickly pulled up.

Wan Jin, who had gone up, slumped to the ground and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

It's no wonder, I couldn't resist glancing down when I came up, and my legs went weak.

Lin Changning glanced at the good-for-nothing Wan Jin and shook his head: "Lu Shan, take some men to take inventory and then move the goods down from the village. After we've tidied up today, we'll go back to Taiyuan."

Lu Shan clasped his hands in acceptance of the order and, with four or five men, happily counted the silver in the box.

Lin Changning, along with several men, escorted the burly man back.

The harvest was quite substantial, and these people will be escorted back to Taiyuan for the authorities to deal with.

They've already earned their military merits this time, and even have some extra gains. After they've finished their reorganization today, they can go straight back.

It would probably take a few more hours to reorganize the troops, so she decided to let Old Zhou lead the team to reorganize while she went to lie down in her tent for a while.

I couldn't sleep all night because of Lao Zhou's noise. I just came up here and I'm still a bit dazed. I should catch up on some sleep.

After returning to the camp and saying hello to Lao Zhou, Lin Changning went into his tent.

After sleeping for about two hours, Lao Zhou woke her up. Although Lin Changning was still very sleepy, she was much more energetic than before.

After rubbing his cheeks, Lin Changning got up and left the tent. The troops were almost ready. After the remaining people packed up the tent, Lin Changning mounted his horse and ordered a return to Taiyuan.

Two days later—

Upon returning to the military headquarters in Taiyuan, Lin Changning and Lao Zhou were stopped by the guards at the gate almost as soon as they arrived at the headquarters.

"Two commanders, the commander has given orders that if you return, go directly to the Prince's residence to find him."

Lin Changning and Lao Zhou exchanged a glance, both having a guess in their hearts.

The fact that they were summoned so urgently suggests that there must be some kind of battle going on.

Most recently, all that's left is for the imperial court to order them to send troops to suppress the border regions.

Presumably, the imperial decree has already been issued.

The two nodded. Lin Changning had the silver carried back to the military headquarters for registration and processing, and then ordered Lu Shan to lead the team back to rest.

He and Lao Zhou turned their horses around and headed towards the Prince's Mansion.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion, the gatekeeper announced their arrival, and the two followed him inside.

The gatekeeper led the two directly to the King of Chu's study.

When the two of them arrived, almost all the generals from Taiyuan were already there.

The meeting seemed to be halfway through. The two men paid their respects to the King of Chu, the two crown princes, and the commanders, and watched as Qi Rong waved to them.

The King of Chu waved his hand: "No need for formalities."

The two stood directly behind Qi Rong. Old Ma and Old Zhang seemed to have been there from the beginning. Lin Changning stood next to Old Ma and quietly asked him something.

"What charter? Where were we?"

Old Ma winked at Lin Changning, glanced around and saw that everyone was discussing with the Prince of Chu before whispering, "You guessed right, the imperial decree has been issued, there's been a change at the border."

Lin Changning understood. The next step was probably to recapture several border cities, which would be a good thing for the King of Chu.

After all, what Taiyuan lacks most right now is manpower. After recovering the border regions, its prestige among the people will rise even higher. Moreover, they now clearly know the ambitions of the King of Chu, so once these border cities are in their grasp, it will be even more difficult for them to give them up.

However, what they know, the emperor must also know. If they didn't know, where would the emperor send the Prince of Chu and his men?

Qi Erge looked up at Lin Changning, who seemed lost in thought: "What are you thinking about?"

Lin Changning glanced at the whispering crowd around him and directly asked the question that had been bothering him: "I wonder where they will send us? I have a feeling that the person above doesn't want us to get involved in the frontier."

Qi Erge nodded in agreement: "That's right. The order we've received is to mobilize 3,000 troops to join the other princes' personal guards in Baoding, and then hand them over to the imperial court for command."

Lin Changning frowned immediately.

"Can the people sent by the imperial court directly command the personal guards of the princes' mansions? These people don't receive rations from the imperial court; they are the private armies of each prince's mansion. Even if they are from the imperial court, they are not easy to command."