Chapter 30: General Huo Zhenyue

Huo Yi to Huo Ba all looked grateful and excited.

"I never thought that ordinary mortals like us could receive the favor of the gods."

Su Zhenzhen was speechless. Let him think what he wants. The carpenter had to coax his wife and children at night in the 906th century, so the coffin manufacturing plan was temporarily shelved.

Su Zhenzhen was concerned about getting these eight ghosts to meet General Huo.

He took the food out of the storage compartment, and behind the coffin shop there was a simple stove, so the old man went to cook some.

Although hot food is much easier to eat than dry food, Su Zhenzhen really couldn't get used to these coarse grains, and Jiang Sijin also refused to eat.

Su Zhenzhen was a little curious, "Will your body continue to grow in the future? Do you really not need to eat?"

Jiang Sijin rolled her eyes elegantly. "Thanks to my birth mother, I am no longer human, ghost, demon, or monster. Eating this kind of ordinary food is useless to me."

Huo Yi and the others had been curious before, estimating that the last emperor had been dead for about twenty years, so how could he have such a young sister? Now it seems there might be some mystical element to it.

These eight ghosts all believed that death was the end of life, until their souls wandered in the mountains for many years before they realized that there were many things in the world beyond their comprehension.

Then Huo Yi floated over and said, "Little princess, we eight brothers have lived in the mountain county for many years. Occasionally, we have seen some spirits absorbing the moon's essence on the night of the full moon. We wonder if the essence of the full moon would be of any use to you?"

Jiang Sijin patted Hensheng's shoulder playfully, "I appreciate your kindness, but this spiritual energy of heaven and earth is of no use to me right now."

After all, with such pure imperial blood as Hensheng, the Ziwei True Qi surrounding him is even more beneficial to people and souls than the essence of heaven and earth.

Su Zhenzhen meditated with hatred in her body and calmed her mind before releasing General Huo's ghost from the storage compartment. Fortunately, she did not feel any discomfort for the time being.

When that tattered figure appeared, all eight ghosts' eyes turned red, but ghosts don't shed tears, making their dry crying expressions look ridiculous.

The eight ghosts gave General Huo a standard military salute, and the guy with the leaky intestines even thoughtfully covered his stomach.

General Huo's consciousness had been temporarily sealed away in the storage compartment for so long. Suddenly, his mind cleared, and he saw so many old friends again. He was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

"Huo Yi...you guys too...I should have expected this. Little Sanzi...you seem a bit more robust than last time I saw you...This is...Eunuch Li?"

When his gaze fell upon Hensheng, General Huo paused for a moment, then performed a deep salute befitting a subject to a ruler.

"Your humble servant Huo Zhenyue greets Your Highness the Crown Prince. May Your Highness live a thousand years."

After the panic and helplessness he experienced when the eight ghosts knelt in worship, Hensheng is now able to calmly help them up himself.

However, humans and ghosts are different, and Hensheng's palm passed directly through General Huo's arm.

"General, there's no need for such formalities."

General Huo didn't want to embarrass Hensheng, and got up on his own as Hensheng helped him.

"Hey, hey!" Hen Sheng had put Jiang Sijin down first when he went to help General Huo, and now the little brat was waving his little paws in dissatisfaction. "General Huo, didn't you see this princess?"

General Huo's gaze fell on Jiang Sijin, his expression revealing a hint of reminiscence, before he finally spoke uncertainly, "Are you Princess Sijin?"

Jiang Sijin nodded. "We met at your farewell banquet back then."

At that time, the Jiang family dynasty was riddled with problems. As the mainstay of the court, General Huo was ordered to guard the northwest. The emperor personally led civil and military officials and members of the imperial family to see him off.

Jiang Sijin had met General Huo before.

“But something seems off,” General Huo said, his tone tinged with doubt. “You shouldn’t be this age now.”

Jiang Sijin explained it again, and the other eight ghosts understood as well. They all exclaimed that the heavens had blessed the Jiang family dynasty, that such a princess could be born safely, and that she had two souls, thus adding another member of the Jiang family bloodline to the world.

Su Zhenzhen was slightly out of breath, and when she heard them blindly praising her, she secretly rolled her eyes.

That's hilarious! If Heaven truly protected the Jiang family dynasty, where would all these natural and man-made disasters come from? As a result, the imperial bloodline had to wander from birth, and loyal ministers and generals were buried in the same places.

After exchanging pleasantries, General Huo got down to business.

"What are Your Highness's plans now?"

Hensheng also frankly told him, "I want to go to the capital to see how the people there are living. If they can live in peace and prosperity, then my father's death was not in vain. If they are still suffering, I want to find a reason why they abandoned my father."

General Huo sighed helplessly.

Su Zhenzhen was eager to speak first, as she was always interested in this kind of question.

"What else could it be? It's human nature. Although the people received relief from Jiang Yichun, I think General Huo should be well aware of how many disaster victims there were in the Central Plains at that time. Even if Jiang Yichun was willing to help, he was only one person and couldn't possibly oversee the whole country. There were always some officials who were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant. But Jiang Yichun took on the task of disaster relief himself, and the people's resentment was directed at him. Even if there were some reasonable people, in a life-or-death situation, the ugliness of human nature would be magnified infinitely. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Jiang Yichun himself wanted to provide disaster relief. Isn't there an old saying? It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. Those who didn't receive relief grain resent why they didn't, and those who did receive it are greedy. Anyway, there will always be some people who don't receive grain, so why not give them a little more? It would save them from falling into the pockets of those corrupt officials."

I've never heard the saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down," but I can roughly understand its meaning by considering the context.

General Huo nodded to Hensheng, "This...this young lady is right."

General Huo knew that Su Zhenzhen was no ordinary person, and for a moment he couldn't think of a proper way to address her, so he could only refer to her as "Miss".

"The fundamental reason for the downfall of the Jiang family dynasty lies in human nature. Throughout history, emperors have been foolish and weak towards their people, and some have even disregarded the lives of ordinary citizens. But only the last emperor elevated all living beings to a level of equality with him, and genuinely wanted to save countless lives from the bottom of his heart, rather than merely to stabilize the court. This is why we are determined to follow him to the death."

Isn't this just the idea of ​​equality for all from the 906th century? Applying it to ancient times with backward production conditions and outdated thinking is no different from digging one's own grave.

Su Zhenzhen secretly wondered if Jiang Yichun was also from the 906th century? After all, she herself could be sent here via cross-time and space live broadcast.

General Huo continued, "If His Highness the Crown Prince trusts this old minister, going to the capital now will be of no use. A regime is established by force. His Highness the Crown Prince has no soldiers at his disposal, and the people of the world will not submit to him."