Chapter 137 How Dare He!

"This river runs across the east and west. Although it does not pass by the edge of Hongsha City, it is not far away. A carriage can travel there in half a day." Mo Jinchuan used his finger to draw the direction of the river on the topographic map.

He raised his eyes and looked at Song Yanxi, his voice a little colder, "If people from Liang want to bypass the border town and reach Hongsha City directly, they can only take the water route.

After retaking the border town, in order to prevent the Liang army from descending the river and causing harm to the people in the villages and towns along the river, this prince specially wrote a letter back to the capital to discuss with his father and re-formulated the defense strategy.

"Your Highness is talking about the method of drawing lots in turns?"

Mo Jinchuan nodded and added, "There are four officials in charge of drawing lots. After drawing up a list, they will have the city guards blindfolded and draw a name. Then, they will shuffle the bamboo cards with names on them in a box and station them at the gates inside and outside the city in the order in which the names were drawn."

With such interlacing, even if someone wanted to bribe the defenders, they would not be able to know in advance the specific candidates on duty that day.

Song Yanxi had previously thought that Mo Jinchuan was attentive, but she had never imagined that he could be so thoughtful.

No wonder even though he is far away in the capital, there are still rumors about him everywhere in the northern border.

Just by shouting his name, the Liang man was frightened so much that he ran away crawling.

Fortunately, he was not on the side that was hostile to her.

If she were to go against him, she wasn't sure she could win.

Seeing Song Yanxi's silence, Mo Jinchuan frowned slightly, "Do you suspect that those Liang people went down the river?"

Song Yanxi pursed her lips and asked instead, "People's hearts are fickle. How can Your Majesty be sure that Border Town will still be the same as it was two years ago?"

Without waiting for Mo Jinchuan to answer, she asked again: "Who is the commander of the border city now?"

"General Xu Xiao."

"But the Xu family of Qingzhou?"

Song Yanxi inexplicably felt that these two words sounded particularly familiar, but for a moment she couldn't remember where she had heard them.

Mo Jinchuan explained, "Although General Xu Xiao is from the Xu family, he severed all ties with his family early in life and has not returned to the capital for nearly twenty years."

Hearing his reminder, Song Yanxi blurted out, "I once heard my grandmother mention that this General Xu Xiao is my eldest uncle's sworn brother, and the two are friends for life and death."

"Mrs. Yan actually told you this?" Mo Jinchuan was very surprised.

Hearing the strange tone in his voice, Song Yanxi frowned slightly, "Your Highness, do you know anything else?"

"No." Mo Jinchuan restrained his expression and said calmly, "I just thought that Madam Yan didn't want to face the pain of losing her son, so she never mentioned the deeds of the two generals to the younger generation in the family."

Thinking of the two uncles who died on the battlefield, Song Yanxi's eyes were filled with pain. She forced a smile and said, "Both uncles are heroes of our Da'an. My grandmother is very proud of them. She often uses them as role models to teach the younger generation in the family to be upright men."

There was still half of the sentence left, and even if she didn't say it, Mo Jinchuan Ye knew it well.

It was because of the successive deaths of the two brothers Yan Changfeng in battle that Madam Yan's hair turned white overnight out of grief, and only then did Mr. Yan agree to his father's request to transfer the third son back to Beijing.

The two of them were not only king and subject, but also brothers. He could not bear to see the Yan family die out.

Song Yanxi didn't know much about Xu Xiao's character, but there was a voice in her head that kept reminding her.

She can trust someone who can be trusted by her uncle with his life.

But if those people did not go down the river, how did they avoid the inspection of the border town, and what were their intentions in going to Hongsha City?

What is the connection between this unusual movement on the border and the abnormal behavior of the Liang people?

What about Lin Tingfeng, who happened to resign in public to Princess Huayang the day before the news was reported back to the capital?

Questions popped up one after another, and the more Song Yanxi thought about it, the colder she felt on her back.

"Take a look at this first." Mo Jinchuan handed over a piece of letter paper.

Song Yanxi looked at it in the candlelight, frowned, and read what was written on it. She gritted her teeth and cursed, "It's simply shameless!"

"It was clearly the work of three hundred soldiers, yet he dared to ignore it all by himself. Isn't he afraid that if the incident is discovered, his entire family will be executed for deceiving the emperor?"

Mo Jinchuan's eyes were icy. "No one who followed him survived, and the army couldn't find any records of him."

"What about these three hundred soldiers?"

"The iron rule in the army is as high as a mountain. Anyone who is not seen alive or dead is a deserter."

"How dare he!" Song Yanxi felt the blood rushing up her body and her chest felt very stuffy.

The soldiers sacrificed their lives for their country and were the warriors of Da'an. They should have received the honors and rewards that belonged to them, and the court would also have allocated a considerable pension to their families.

But for his own selfish desires, Lin Tingfeng erased all their contributions and even labeled them deserters.

As a general in the army, didn't he know that the name of every deserter would be sent back to his hometown and posted in front of the county government office, not only would the old and young in the family be ashamed and unable to raise their heads, but their children would also have no chance of taking the imperial examinations.

He wouldn't be unaware, he just doesn't care.

How can you feel pain if the knife doesn't fall on your body?

Song Yanxi clenched her fists and asked impatiently, "Does Your Majesty have any other evidence?"

As soon as the words came out, the light in those eyes dimmed a little.

She laughed at herself and said softly, "I was confused. If I were Lin Tingfeng, I would not leave any evidence for others to find in such a matter of life and death."

Mo Jinchuan did not try to persuade her, but said sternly, "I will definitely give them justice."

Song Yanxi stood up, took two steps back, and bowed to him respectfully.

"I, your humble servant, would like to thank His Majesty on behalf of the heroic souls of the three hundred soldiers."

*

The next day, Song Yanxi opened her eyes and found that it was already bright outside.

Recalling the faint fragrance she smelled in Mo Jinchuan's room last night, she slapped her head in annoyance, thinking that she was becoming less and less vigilant.

The scent of Wangchuanmeng is so unique that no matter how light the fragrance is, it is not a reason for her to ignore it.

If her master knew about this, he would definitely laugh at her without hesitation, and then after laughing, he would specifically warn her not to mention that she was his disciple when she went out in the future.

Song Yanxi hurriedly washed her face and opened the door, only to find Chang Jiu waiting there.

Seeing that she was awake, Chang Jiu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a chuckle, "Young Master is truly amazing! His calculations are so accurate!"

"What is it?"

"nothing!"

Chang Jiu hurriedly shook his head and asked, "Are you hungry, girl? There's some freshly made chicken noodle soup downstairs. Hurry up and have a couple of bites while it's hot so we can get going."

Song Yanxi paused slightly, and said with a half-smile, "So, I woke up at the right time."

"That's right! In our village, this is called a blessing!"

Chang Jiu suddenly moved closer to her and asked in a low voice, "Miss, you weren't scared last night, were you?"

Song Yanxi raised her eyebrows and asked instead of answering, "Are you scared?"

"No!" Chang Jiu denied it flatly, but the panic that flashed in his eyes betrayed him.

Raising her hand and patting his shoulder, Song Yanxi raised a smile at the corner of her lips, "You are still young, there is nothing to be ashamed of being scared. Your elder brother An also went through this time."

Chang Jiu suddenly became anxious and blurted out, "Brother An is quite courageous. He was flying on the roof last night. It was amazing!"