181. Banquet
The Qiansui Army...is no longer the Qiansui Army that once fought with Prince Jing through thick and thin.
Over the long years, it was divided, intimidated, and disintegrated by the Imperial Household Department using various means. Those who were disobedient were beheaded, and only the obedient were allowed to stay alive.
There are no reinforcements.
Chen Ji suddenly felt powerless, as if no matter how hard he tried, there would always be a hand reaching out to correct the fate he was trying so hard to change.
Could it be that the hexagrams calculated by the master cannot be changed at all? Is this fate?
no!
Chen Ji stood surrounded by the soldiers of Qiansui Army, like an isolated reef in the tide. However, before the soldiers could gather around him, he retreated instead of advancing, like an icebreaker in the ocean, heading straight for the lieutenant general!
No one expected him to be so arrogant, even intending to kill the general. Caught off guard, the lieutenant swung his halberd, which whistled towards him but landed firmly in Chen Ji's hand.
Chen Ji shook his wrist vigorously: "Let go!"
A tremendous force was transmitted from the halberd to the general's hand, forcing him to let go. "Sir, approach the Xiantian!"
Seeing this, the other soldiers surrounded him, but Chen Ji turned the long spear in his hand and swept it across, sweeping everyone away like a crescent moon.
When they reacted, they saw Chen Ji standing behind the lieutenant general, holding the crescent blade of his halberd against his neck. "The rest of you, step back, or his life will be in danger! Speak, tell your men to step back!"
The lieutenant said in a deep voice, "My Thousand Years Army is not afraid of death. Your threats are useless to me." Chen Ji sneered, "If you really are not afraid of death, why would you betray your master for glory?"
After these words were spoken, the soldiers holding spears looked at each other in surprise.
Chen Ji, holding the lieutenant commander hostage, slowly retreated toward the main gate of the military camp, speaking loudly, "Prince Jing is currently being held in the Luocheng Prison by the Secret Service, where he's being framed and slandered, and his life is in imminent danger. Prince Jing personally wrote a blood letter and asked me to bring it to General Wang, hoping he could break into the prison and take the Crown Prince and Princess away tonight. General Wang, on the surface, agreed, but now he's taking the blood letter to the Secret Service to report the situation. This lieutenant commander is doing the same, slandering me as a remnant of the Liu family! If I were a remnant of the Liu family, why would I be in your Qiansui Army camp?!"
The barracks erupted in uproar. Chen Ji's crescent-shaped halberd slashed into the lieutenant's neck, leaving a bloody mark. "If you don't tell the truth, I'll kill you now. We'll die together."
The lieutenant sneered: "How can you escape if you kill me?"
Chen Ji suddenly shouted, "My fellow soldiers, please take a good look at me. That day at Luhun Villa, the Crown Prince and the Princess were right beside me. I even held the Princess's horse!"
One of the soldiers recognized Chen Ji and said, "I remember him. I thought he was the royal attendant!"
The husband of a princess is called the Fu Ma, and the husband of a county lady is called the Yibin. Although their identities were mixed up, many people did recognize Chen Ji's appearance.
Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief and was about to say something else when he saw out of the corner of his eye that a man wearing a general's armor climbed up the arrow tower behind him. With a stern expression, he drew his bow and shot an arrow. The gate of the military camp was slowly closing!
He suddenly turned around and blocked the arrow with his general in front of him. Oh no, too many people in this camp have been bribed!
Chen Ji abandoned the body he was holding and, while running, threw his halberd at the general on the arrow tower. The halberd was so powerful that the general quickly bent down, and the halberd just grazed his head, smashing the wooden top of the arrow tower to pieces.
The door of Qiansui Army Camp was slowly closing. At the critical moment, Chen Ji flew forward and squeezed out from the gap.
When his body fell to the ground, he suddenly supported himself with his hands, and with one more push, he leaped out like a cheetah without stopping.
Arrows shot at him one after another, but they could not catch up with his footsteps and could only be nailed to the footprints behind him.
Chen Ji came to where his horse was tied and climbed on. He squeezed the horse's belly hard, and the warhorse shot out like an arrow, leaving all the noise and clamor behind.
Chen Ji kept urging his horse, forcing it to speed up again and again, but his horse could no longer run and could only trot slowly.
He looked back and made sure no one was chasing him, then he breathed a sigh of relief. But what should he do now?
If General Wang handed the blood letter to Bai Long, it would be evidence that Prince Jing instigated the Qiansui Army to break into the prison, which would also be a serious crime of treason.
Furthermore, if the blood letter fell into Bai Long's hands, Chen Ji would be considered an accomplice... Perhaps if he could catch up with General Wang, there would be room for a reversal, but he was destined to fail; the enemy was far faster than him. Two hours later, when the top of Luocheng City appeared on the horizon, Chen Ji slowly tightened his grip on the reins, slowing his horse until it finally stopped pawing.
He looked at the city gate in front of him with a serious brow: It’s still not too late to escape from Ning Dynasty.
Just like Si Caogui and Wu Hongbiao, they could first go to Jinling and Yangzhou to hide and avoid the limelight, hide on a cruise ship on the Qinhuai River for a month or two, and then go north to Jingchao.
From now on, the affairs of the Ning Dynasty have nothing to do with me anymore. Those people and things will be forgotten one day.
Chen Ji seemed to see a road of bones paving its way into the city, with white snow falling on the broken bones. The broken bones were like another kind of thorns, and once you walked on them, there was no turning back.
He looked up in a trance and saw snowflakes really falling from the sky. This was the third snow in Los Angeles this winter.
Go, or stay? I can't go.
The next moment, Chen Ji re-spurred his horse and rushed into Luocheng. When he was near the inner prison, he suddenly heard someone calling his name: "Chen Ji, why are you here?"
Chen Ji turned around suddenly and saw Jinzhu leading Xifeng out of the carriage.
He asked in confusion, "Master Jinzhu, aren't you arresting Concubine Yun? Why are you in the inner prison?"
The Golden Pig was furious. "I was searching for clues about Concubine Yun when the White Dragon suddenly sent a message, summoning all the zodiac animals to the Inner Prison. I wonder what this guy is up to? He's been making fun of us all day, calling us in and sending us away!"
As he said this, he went to knock on the iron door of the inner prison: "Open the door!"
When the jailer opened the door, Jin Zhu was the first to go down the stairs. He found that Chen Ji had not moved, so he turned back and asked in confusion, "Why are you standing there?"
Chen Ji nodded and followed him. He didn't know why Bai Long suddenly summoned all the zodiac animals, nor did he know what would happen next.
He only knew that his own life, that of Prince Jing, the Crown Prince, and the Princess, was hanging by a thread. Entering the dim corridor, Chen Ji saw the end. A number of people had gathered in front of Cell A-1. Feng Daban and Bai Long stood side by side.
When he passed by cell number seven again, the prince and Baili were standing inside the cage, holding onto the bars. The prince hurriedly asked the Golden Pig, "Master Golden Pig, what happened? Why are there so many people here? What are you going to do?"
Neither Jin Zhu nor Chen Ji answered.
When the two men arrived at the door of cell number one, Bai Long did not speak, his expression hidden behind the mask.
Feng Daban smiled slightly and said, "Everyone has worked hard recently. First, we put down the rebellion of the Liu family, and then we arrested the culprit of the rebellion in Prince Jing's Mansion."
Chen Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.
The next moment, Feng Daban pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve. Written on it were words written in blood: "Today, Prince Jing wrote a blood oath ordering the Qiansui Army to break into the prison. This is the crime of treason!"
Yunyang, Jiaotu, Mengji and Jinzhu looked at each other. They had just found out about this!
Feng Daban smiled and said, "Fortunately, there's a young hero in my Imperial Household Department who tricked the blood letter from Prince Jing and immediately handed it over to me, preventing Prince Jing and the Qiansui Army from making a serious mistake... Is that right, Chen Ji?"
Yunyang, Jiaotu, Mengji and the others all turned around and looked at Chen Ji, with strange expressions flashing in their eyes. Everyone knew that he had a close relationship with Prince Jing's Mansion, but they didn't expect that he would be the one who betrayed Prince Jing in the end.
Chen Ji stood there in a daze.
He thought the blood letter would be in Bailong's hands, but he didn't expect that Feng Daban was planning all this behind the scenes, and Bailong didn't say a word from beginning to end.
What was this Feng Daban like? A sick tiger? Or perhaps he wasn't even one of the zodiac animals, but was somehow above them?
He knew that General Wang had clearly tricked the letter in blood into giving it to Feng Daban, but now Feng Daban said that he had tricked it from Prince Jing.
Why? Why? Why!?
Chen Ji turned his head to look at cell number one, only to see Prince Jing looking at him, his eyes showing no emotion, neither sad nor happy.
In the damp and cold inner prison, Chen Ji felt a loud bang in his head, as if something had exploded.
Jin Zhu nudged Chen Ji with his arm and lowered his voice to remind him, "Speak!"
Chen Ji came back to his senses, his heart icy cold. He clasped his fists and bowed, "Reporting to Mr. Feng, I was only doing my job."
Feng Daban raised his hand and gave him two empty presses. "Don't be modest. If it weren't for you, the Imperial Household Department would have had a hard time convicting Prince Jing. This is a great achievement. Upon returning to the capital, I will report this to the Minister of Internal Affairs and request further credit for you."
After saying this, he smiled and pulled a white scroll from his sleeve. "Coincidentally, your promotion to Internal Minister of Haidongqing has also arrived. Congratulations. In the future, be modest and prudent, and do not rest on your laurels. Our Imperial Household Department needs young talents like you to serve the country."
Chen Ji took a few steps forward and took the scroll: "Thank you, Mr. Feng."
Feng Daban smiled faintly, "Don't thank me, thank the Minister of Internal Affairs for his appreciation of you. Three days from now, the White Dragon, the Cloud Sheep, the Bright Rabbit, and the Golden Pig will escort Prince Jing to the capital."
After saying this, Feng Daban turned to Bai Long and said, "Master Bai Long, please, let's lead our men to Prince Jing's mansion to inventory and confiscate the property, and then discuss our itinerary back to the capital."
Bai Long smiled and said, "Okay."
After the two men left, Jiaotu tilted his head and looked at Chen Ji curiously. "Actually, even if you openly let them off when it comes to the Jingwang Mansion raid, no one would say anything. After all, you're friends with the Crown Prince and the Princess. I didn't expect you to be so ruthless, stabbing them yourself."
Chen Ji remained silent.
Yun Yang smiled and said, "You are becoming more and more like a zodiac animal."
Suddenly, Chen Ji smiled and said, "Master Yunyang, thank you for your compliment. It is not easy for me to be promoted to Haidongqing. I plan to hold a banquet at Yingxian Tower tomorrow to celebrate this. I wonder if I would be honored to invite you gentlemen to do me the honor?"
Golden Pig laughed heartily: "Let's go together and celebrate your success! Hey, Mengji, come and have a drink with us too. When was the last time we drank together? Was it the time when His Majesty entertained his ministers during his southern tour?"
Meng Ji brushed the dust off his sleeves and said indifferently, "Just drink it, you have nothing better to do."
The Golden Pig then looked at the Cloud Sheep and the Bright Rabbit. "What about you two? Give me some respect. We're colleagues, not enemies."
Before Yunyang could say anything, Jiaotu smiled and replied, "Okay, let's go together. But I want to drink Huadiao wine that's been cellared for thirty years, not even a year less."
"Alright, if that Hua Diao loses a year, I'll chop off the head of the owner of Yingxian Tower and kick it around like a ball!" Jin Zhu put his arm around Chen Ji's shoulders and walked out. "Come on, come on, I'll treat you to this celebratory banquet at Yingxian Tower. I was worried you'd do something stupid, but now that you've figured it out, I'm even happier than you are. Just remember, all the pretense in this world doesn't matter; power is real when it's in your hands!"
When the two passed by cell No. 7, Chen Ji subconsciously looked inside the cell.
Two lines of clear tears streamed down Baili's cheeks, finally gathering at her chin and dripping onto the ground. The iron railing between them was like a deep abyss, unreachable.
Chen Ji turned around and said with a smile, "How can I let Lord Jinzhu treat me? I was promoted to Hai Dongqing, so naturally I should be the one to treat you."
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