Chapter 363 Death

After seeing Li Mingde turn around, Lin Changning chuckled lightly at him, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and pulled Mo Yun along as they sped towards the city gate. Li Mingde, standing outside the gate, looked at the group of soldiers on guard and sighed softly. He then led his men to retreat slowly for several miles.

Lin Changning quickly made his way towards the command post. When he arrived at the entrance, he quickly dismounted, asked where the commander was, and then ran towards the commander's tent.

"command?"

Lin Changning stood at the door waiting for someone to announce his arrival. As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Qi Rong frown and lift the curtain to leave the tent.

When he saw her, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes, then he laughed: "Little Six? You're back so soon?"

Lin Changning responded, feeling somewhat puzzled. What could be causing Qi Rong to look so worried?

"Commander, I'm back. I led my men to the city gate, but the soldiers said it was under martial law, so I came back to get a written order from you..."

Qi Rong gently rubbed his temples: "I had forgotten about that. Come with me."

After saying that, he led Lin Changning back into the tent, searched through his documents, found the imperial edict, and handed it to Lin Changning.

"There's been a lot going on in Taiyuan lately. Go and bring the person back and settle them in first. Come find me when you get back; I have something to tell you."

Lin Changning clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

After saying that, he hurriedly walked out the door, and couldn't help but wonder what it was that made Qi Rong want to talk to him as soon as he returned.

This must be no small matter.

After taking the horse from the soldier, Lin Changning, carrying the imperial edict, galloped outside again.

Li Mingde sat on his horse outside the gate, pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing at the city gate of Taiyuan.

About an hour later, Lin Changning was seen riding out on a fine horse.

As Lin Changning passed by the city gate, he casually tossed the imperial edict to the soldier who had just asked him for it.

Then he rode his horse at full speed toward Li Mingde, and wiped the sweat from his forehead when he saw him.

"Your Highness, take your men into the city."

After saying that, he led the way back to the city gate. This time, the soldiers at the gate let them go. Lin Changning led his men back to the military headquarters. After entering, he instructed his men to take the men brought by Li Mingde to an open area to set up camp.

He then took Li Mingde to Qi Rong's tent to report back to him.

After learning that Lin Changning had brought the person back, he waited in the camp.

As soon as the person arrived, he had someone lift the curtain and invite them in.

Ice blocks were placed in all four corners of the tent. As soon as Lin Changning lifted the curtain, he was hit by a wave of cold air.

"Commander, I'll bring the Crown Prince and 2,000 men back first. Since they're being sent in batches, the others will take about a day or two."

Qi Rong looked at Li Mingde with a pitying gaze and nodded slightly to Lin Changning.

"Well done. Please sit down. Qi Yu, bring some tea."

Li Mingde sat down in a chair with Lin Changning, and after the tea was served, he gulped it down.

He was extremely thirsty.

Seeing Qi Rong's hesitant expression, Lin Changning turned to look at Li Mingde.

He had a gut feeling that what Qi Rong was talking about might be related to Li Mingde.

Qi Rong and Li Mingde didn't have a good relationship, and there was even more to it than Da Xing's affairs, so after hesitating for a while, he spoke to Li Mingde.

"Your Highness must be tired from your journey. Why don't you come with me to the Prince's residence later? I'm sure the Prince would like to see you."

Li Mingde cupped his hands in greeting to Qi Rong: "I'll leave it all to your command."

Qi Rong gave Lin Changning a look: "Sixth Brother, wait for me a moment. I'll take the young master to the Prince's residence and settle the people who came."

Lin Changning clasped his hands in agreement.

After Qi Rong took the man away, he was about to leave the tent when he ran into Zhi Qi. He grabbed Zhi Qi and asked, "Zhi Qi? Don't go, don't go! What's been going on lately? Why are you giving orders like you're facing a major crisis? You were just hesitant to speak. What happened while I was on a mission?"

Knowing that she had been busy all night, when Lin Changning pulled her back, she staggered, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. After seeing Lin Changning, she let out a deep sigh.

"Little Six, you're back."

As he spoke, he pulled the person towards the tent next to him. After returning to the tent and drinking some water to calm himself down, Lin Changning looked around and, seeing that there was no one around, quietly said.

"Two things did happen while you were away. The first was that Prince Sheng committed suicide, burned down his mansion, and presented evidence that the court had framed him. I heard that his entire family was wiped out. The second was that an iron mine was discovered in our prince's territory. The court wanted to take back the fiefdom, but the prince refused and even beheaded the court's envoy. I suppose the court will take action against us next, so martial law has been declared recently, for fear that spies from the court might infiltrate."

At this point, Zhiqi tilted his head back, looking somewhat resigned: "With you gone lately, the commander and I have been so busy. We have to forge weapons, train soldiers, transport ore, and cultivate land. Waaah, you're finally back, but we can't possibly finish all this work."

Lin Changning understood. No wonder he seemed a little hesitant when he was instructing him to speak, as if something was wrong.

It turned out that Li Mingde's father had committed suicide by self-immolation. It was indeed difficult to say this in front of someone's own child.

Lin Changning sighed: "I didn't understand why the commander was so hesitant just now. It turns out that Li Mingde's father has died. Alright, I'll go down and settle Prince Sheng's troops now."

Zhiqi grabbed Lin Changning's arm: "Xiao Liu!!! It's just settling people in, you're not needed. The men below can handle it. I have something to ask..."

Lin Changning glanced at Zhiqi: "I won't do it. Why do you always try to cram work into my hands whenever you have a spare moment? I just got back. Can't you let me rest for a couple of days?"

Zhiqi said with a mournful face, "You've been gone for more than half a month, and we've been busy for almost half a month too. Good Xiao Liu, I hate these official documents that deal with numbers the most. Help me, help me. I'll treat you to a meal at a restaurant tomorrow."

Lin Changning sighed. It was all because when he was in Daxing, he wanted to leave a good impression on his superiors, so he took on all the official documents that involved numbers and were difficult to calculate.

Any general who came from Daxing knows that Lin Changning is both fast and efficient at approving official documents.

First, Lao Ma and Lao Zhou asked him for help, then Zhiqi heard about it and dumped the work on her. She doesn't know how many times Qi Rong has scolded her, but she still hasn't changed.

However, he often treats her to food and drinks, almost like he'll treat her several times after helping her once or twice.

When they go out to eat and drink with others, it's usually the other person who pays for it.

Lin Changning sighed softly: "Alright, go find someone to settle people in. I'll sit here with you and work on the documents. I want to go home early today and not waste my time."

Knowing that he nodded vigorously, he fawned over Lin Changning, patting his shoulders and arms: "Hey, I knew you were the most loyal, Xiao Liu. Tomorrow after you finish your shift, we'll take you to eat shaved ice. I heard you really like it."