224, Disciple
In the winter of the thirty-first year of Jianing, the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.
The strong wind outside Guyuan blew the loess into the sky, and then it fell lightly down. When it fell on people, it made a rustling sound like rain.
On the Guyuan city wall, a soldier was dozing off against the parapet with a gray scarf covering most of his face.
The sound of camel bells came from afar.
The soldier pulled his scarf down and looked outside the city. He saw a long camel caravan coming from afar on the endless loess official road.
The roads here were rugged, and even the official roads were full of potholes. Horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts were impassable, requiring a wheel change every few dozen miles. All merchants from the Central Plains had to switch to camels or mules in Taiyuan Prefecture before they could continue their journey.
The soldier squinted his eyes and looked over, muttering quietly, "It's almost New Year's Day, and someone still comes to this kind of ghost place? Hey, an official?"
But in the camel caravan, the servant was walking in front holding the reins, while the people behind were sitting on the camel's back, covering themselves tightly.
If it is a caravan, merchants would like to load the camel's hump with goods, and they would definitely not be willing to sit on it. Only officials would do this.
Soon, the camel caravan arrived at the foot of the city. The soldiers put their hands on their swords and shouted loudly, "Who are you?"
A servant, clutching the reins, raised his fist and said, "Sir, my master is Chen Liqin, a fourth-rank junior scholar of the Zhanshi Mansion. I'm here on the orders of the Crown Prince! Open the door immediately!"
"Oh, so it's the prince's men," the soldier's expression gradually darkened, and he said lightly, "Wait, I'll go report it."
The camel caravan waited in the wind and sand for a full half hour, but the city gates refused to open. Even though the servants called out from under the city wall, no one paid any attention.
Zhang Xia, Zhang Zheng, Chen Ji and Xiaoman at the back of the camel caravan wrapped their mouths and noses with red scarves. The scarves were piled layer upon layer on their necks and shoulders, but they still couldn't keep out the cold wind.
Zhang Xia sat on the saddle, half his face hidden in his scarf, and whispered, "Something's not right. Guyuan is a remote place, how can we neglect a fourth-rank official of the imperial court? And he's a minister of the Eastern Palace."
Chen Ji hummed and looked up at the city fortress. It was so high that his neck felt sore from looking up. The blue bricks on the city wall had been eroded by wind, and it was unknown how many years they had stood there.
Weathered and majestic, this is Chen Ji's deepest impression of Guyuan Military Town.
There are mountains on both sides of Guyuan, and the city seems to be built in a huge canyon, blocking the way of Jing Dynasty cavalry moving south.
With a creak, the city gate slowly opened.
Two teams of armored soldiers marched out with long spears in hand, sandwiching the camel caravan in between.
Chen Liqin took a weary look and asked, "What is this for?"
Wang Gui, who was holding the reins for him, said earnestly, "Master, shall I go and ask?"
"Go ahead."
Wang Gui was tireless. He wasn't even a housekeeper yet, so he didn't have to worry about these things. But if he couldn't find work, he might never be able to become a housekeeper again in his lifetime.
Wang Gui stepped forward and asked, "Generals, why are you surrounding my camel caravan? We are the family of Junior Army Officer Chen Liqin."
An armored lieutenant smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. Guyuan is a strategic military base. Recently, spies from the Jing Dynasty have infiltrated there to gather intelligence. To avoid any mishaps, we have to search your luggage."
Wang Gui's expression changed. "The Crown Prince's handwritten instructions and travel permits are here. How dare you search our luggage?"
The lieutenant placed his right hand on his sword and sneered, "We, the frontier troops, are here to sacrifice our lives and shed our blood. We are only concerned with killing the enemy and catching spies. It doesn't matter if he is a third-rank official or a fourth-rank official, even the Minister of War.
, Even if the current cabinet ministers come, they will be searched as well!"
Wang Gui was speechless. From the capital to Luo City, he was used to being flattered, but he didn't expect that the army here would not even give face to a fourth-rank official!
Why has it come to this?
Seeing that the negotiations had failed, Chen Liqin was helped off his camel by a servant. "General, may I know how we have offended you? If so, I apologize on your behalf."
The lieutenant general smiled wryly, "Lord Chen, you're too kind. We're just doing our duty. Look at the pass behind me. If the Jing Dynasty seizes it, the people of Ningzhou and Shanzhou will suffer. Don't you agree?"
Liang wrapped herself tightly in a scarf. She winked at Wang Gui, who immediately took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and quietly put it into the general's hand: "My master knows the hardships of the soldiers on the border. Please be flexible."
"Who do you think my border troops are?" The lieutenant general threw the silver ingot on the loess. "We are only following orders. If you continue to stop us, we will arrest you as spies of the Jing Dynasty! Search them!"
Wang Gui was furious: "Hey, stop it!"
He stepped forward to grab the soldier's arm, but the border soldier was so murderous that he drew his sword with a clang, "Get out of here!"
Wang Gui looked at the bright knife light and took a few steps back in embarrassment.
Zhang Zheng, who was at the rear of the camel caravan, said cheerfully, "Fortunately, we don't have any luggage, so we don't have to worry about being searched."
Chen Ji laughed heartily: "Brother Zhang is naturally optimistic and lives a happier life than others."
After being praised, Zhang Zheng said happily, "Of course I am. I must tell my father when I get back. Tell him not to come to the border, otherwise he will have to endure the humiliation of being searched."
Zhang Xia glared at his brother, then turned to Chen Ji and whispered, "I wonder what the Crown Prince did in Guyuan to provoke such public outrage. My father once said that ever since General Wen Tao was executed by slow slicing, the border troops have been plagued by problems, with some even leading troops to defect to the Jing Dynasty..."
Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "Lingchi? What crime?"
"Collaborating with the enemy." Zhang Xia glanced at the nearby border soldiers and whispered, "A few years ago, the people of Ningzhou secretly built a shrine to General Wentao, but the court discovered it and tore it down. At the time, the border troops mutinied, and the Jing Dynasty cavalry was marching south. If Mr. Wang hadn't been ordered to lead the troops to suppress the rebellion, I'm afraid disaster would have already occurred."
Zhang Zheng smiled and said, "I've heard about this. It's said that a thousand-household garrison mutinied, and Mr. Wang, a civil servant, entered the garrison alone, on horseback, and quelled the rebellion overnight. Later, Mr. Wang was promoted to Commander of the Guards, leading five thousand-household garrisons in a surprise attack on the Jing Dynasty's baggage train, forcing back the Jing Dynasty's cavalry. He became a household name in the capital as a Confucian general... My father originally thought that Mr. Wang would be able to join the Ministry of War this time, but I don't know who stopped him from doing so. What a pity. My father said that if Mr. Wang were in the border towns, he could be assured of twenty years of peace and security, and he would be able to focus on many things."
Chen Ji suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Lord Zhang was so depressed when he didn't see Mr. Wang's promotion documents in Luocheng.
At this time, the border soldiers took the Chen family's luggage off the hump, opened it one by one and searched it, and threw the gold and silver jewelry all over the floor. The other party did not carefully examine the items inside, but just wanted to open them and throw them on the ground.
This is not a search for spies from the Jing Dynasty, but clearly a warning to the officials of the Eastern Palace.
When the soldiers arrived at Chen Ji's place, one of them saw the whale knife wrapped in a long strip of cloth lying across his saddle and immediately asked in a cold voice, "What is this? Is it a weapon?"
Chen Ji did not answer.
The soldier called his colleagues over, "Come here, this man is armed! Capture these horsemen and bring them to the general for punishment!"
I heard someone carrying more than ten weapons.
The soldiers surrounded them, their spears pointed at Chen Ji and the others in unison. Zaozao agitatedly spewed white arrows, his sturdy hooves stamping on the yellow earth.
The shouting woke Xiaoman from her nap on the dwarf horse, and she clutched the reins tightly and whispered, "Master, what should we do?"
Wuyun stood up from Zaozao's head and stared coldly at all the soldiers.
Chen Ji said softly, "Don't act rashly."
As he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the city gate, and a man was seen riding a horse galloping towards him. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and was wearing silver armor. A bunch of white pheasant tails rose into the sky on his head, looking extremely heroic.
Seeing the scattered gold and silver on the ground, the man shouted, "How dare you! This is a minister of the Eastern Palace. How dare you make things difficult for him?"
The general of the border army in front of the city gate sneered: "Sir Li, why not let us track down the spies from the Jing Dynasty? You have been pampered by the prince and you may not know how serious the consequences will be if you let in a spy from the Jing Dynasty."
Lord Li, clad in silver armor, angrily shouted, "You've let so many merchants in, and Jing Dynasty spies have long been among them. The Crown Prince asked you to investigate the Jing Dynasty spies among yourselves, but you chose to start with the Crown Prince's officials. How can this be disrespectful?"
The general of the border army said slowly, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that there are too many Jingchao spies in our Guyuan military garrison, so we will investigate according to his instructions. As for where to start, we have the final say."
Lord Li shouted angrily, "You!"
The border general held his sword in his hand and said, "Why, the Crown Prince's subordinates can't investigate? Not only must we investigate, but we must investigate thoroughly. The day after tomorrow is the New Year's Day. Who would come to Guyuan at this time?"
At this moment, amidst the crowd of long spears, Chen Ji rode forward slowly as if no one was around, bowed, and said, "General, may I have a moment with you?"
The general of the border army sneered: "If you have anything to say, just say it here. Are you trying to bribe me?"
Chen Liqin looked at Chen Ji and frowned: "This is not the place for you to talk, go back."
However, Chen Ji didn't look at him. Instead, he jumped off his horse and clasped his fists to the lieutenant general, saying, "General, I am a disciple of Mr. Wang Dao Sheng Wang. I wonder if you can be accommodating?"
The lieutenant general on the other side was slightly startled. He looked Chen Ji up and down, then glanced at the unusually handsome Zaozao. "Are you Mr. Wang's disciple?"
The soldiers looked at each other, and lowered their spears involuntarily.
The lieutenant thought for a moment and said, "Young man, don't speak carelessly. If I find out you're lying, it won't be as simple as a search. Let me ask you, do you have any token of proof of your identity?"
Chen Ji shook his head. "I don't have a token. Mr. Wang is in mourning at home, and I once studied with him. When we were at Luhun Villa, Mr. Wang acknowledged me as his personal disciple in front of over a hundred scholars. It couldn't be fake."
The lieutenant said in a serious tone, "How can I trust you without a token? We are far away from this borderland and have never heard of Luhun Villa."
Chen Ji lowered his head in thought, then raised his head and said, "General, Mr. Wang once gave his sword to the deputy general of Guyuan Military Town. This is unknown to outsiders. You can go and ask the deputy general for confirmation."
The lieutenant's eyes lit up, he turned around to get his warhorse, and galloped away.
After an incense stick of time, the lieutenant returned at full speed, his eyes gleaming with joy. Seeing the soldiers still holding their halberds, he waved, "Put them down now... What are you still standing there for? Didn't you hear what I said?"
When he got closer, he dismounted and bowed to Chen Ji with a mellow smile: "So you really are Mr. Wang's disciple. I'm so sorry, so sorry!"
After saying that, he turned around and waved to the soldiers: "Let them go!"
(End of this chapter)
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