destiny
Cui Dongchi sent eight men, but only two returned to Ningzhou alive.
If it weren't for Lu Chang's loyal warriors who came to the rescue, the entire army would have been wiped out.
According to the two, dozens of bandits from the mountains attacked the small village, set it on fire, and robbed its inhabitants. Chunlai, the young woman, tragically perished in the flames.
"When we found Miss Chunlai, she had already been burned beyond recognition by the fire. Only this jade pendant remained on her person."
The subordinate presented a jade pendant. Due to the fire, all the tassels on the pendant had been burned away, and the black marks from the fire treatment remained on the originally translucent jade.
Cui Dongchi recognized that this was something left behind by his mother, which he had specially given to Chunlai before going to war.
The jade felt cool to the touch, and beneath his fingertips were uneven, rough marks. His face was expressionless as he said softly, "How could this be? How could she just be gone like that?"
The subordinate dared not look at his frosty face, and could only lower his head and tremble as he said, "But that jade pendant did indeed come from..."
"Shut up!" The man, who had been calm just moments before, suddenly went berserk, kicking his subordinate to the ground and shouting angrily, "Shut up! Shut up!"
Not content with his anger, he overturned the sandalwood table, and the crowd around him knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a word.
Cui Dongchi was panting heavily, and his usually well-fitting clothes had fallen down to the waist. Xu Yingying, who was about to come in, was also startled by the commotion inside and secretly retreated.
Cui Dongchi closed his eyes, and after a long while, he calmed down, as if he had returned to his usual composure, and said, "It's not her." He forced a smile and said, "It's definitely not her."
He gripped the jade pendant tightly; any more force and it would crack.
When Xu Yingying came out, she encountered Gu Qingchen, who was coming forward to inquire. Since her maid had been tortured and died, she had become much more well-behaved at home, no longer daring to provoke her younger brother. She even wrote a letter to her father, asking him to take her back.
Cui Lang knew that his daughter had been raised to be arrogant and unruly, and he only intended to let her stay with his son to temper her temperament, so he refused her request.
Seeing Xu Yingying approach, Gu Qingchen asked, "Is Chunlai really dead?" She was worried about Chunlai's return, but she didn't expect to hear the rumor that she had been burned to death by bandits. Not knowing whether it was true or not, and not daring to ask Cui Dongchi, she could only ask Xu Yingying for information.
Xu Yingying said, "We've only found a jade pendant, so we can't be sure yet. Why don't you go ask your husband, sister?"
Gu Qingchen snorted coldly and left. She wasn't unaware that Xu Yingying was doing it on purpose; she and Xu Yingying had never gotten along since childhood, and now that they were sisters-in-law, they realized they disliked each other.
Compared to Chunlai, Cui Dongchi was more concerned about the battlefield situation. Lu Chang had already raised an army in Xinlicheng, and it was only a matter of time before he took over the Northwest.
He was from the Northwest, the son of Lu Zhi, and the one who had the support of the people. He was the most suitable person to conquer the Northwest.
But what happens after that? Who will be the master of this land? Who will unify the world?
Lu Chang never revealed his intention to take over the country to Cui Dongchi, but who knows what he was thinking? He fought his way from Lingnan to the Northwest and now he owns most of the country. Why did he do this?
If Lu Zhi had listened to the advice of his generals and declared himself king, how could the Lu family have been destroyed?
Perhaps Lu Chang, unwilling to repeat the same mistakes, decides to become the emperor. After all, with supreme power in his hands, who could possibly control his destiny?
Cui Dongchi did not want the day when he and Lu Chang would ever meet in arms.
He had told Lu Chang that if the Great Wei were in a time of peace and prosperity, he and his father would willingly serve as subjects and stay in Jianchuan with peace of mind.
This is the truth!
However, the emperors of the Li family were either tyrants or incompetent rulers. When the Lu family was on the verge of collapse, the father predicted that the Great Wei dynasty was doomed.
As expected, with the emperor young and eunuchs wielding power, the Great Wei Dynasty was already in decline.
Since even the emperor can be such a person, why can't Cui Dongchi be the one? He also has the blood of the Li family flowing through his veins.
His sincere desire to bring peace and prosperity to the people, rather than seeking power, still resonates in my heart.
When military intelligence came from the north, his staff advised Cui Dongchi: "Now all three crossings are under our control. When the Northern Expeditionary Army returns south, we can fight them at the crossings."
"It is currently the rainy season. When Lu Chang's army returns south and crosses the river, we can breach the Pingyuan River and attack them with water."
Cui Dongchi asked, "If the Pingyuan River is truly breached, how will the people on both banks escape?"
The aide remained silent before saying, "For the sake of Your Excellency's great cause, the deaths of some civilians are inevitable."
He then asked, "What if Lu Chang's army is unwilling to return south? After all, the northwest is his homeland. If he wants to stay there, what can you do?"
"If the foreign tribes are not yet destroyed, we can follow Li Ling's example and send the Qiang and Rong people south across the mountains to attack from both the north and the south. Given time, we will surely wear down this fierce tiger."
Cui Dongchi chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Look at him," he thought, "he really has a lot of good ways to destroy Lu Chang, each one deadly." Cui Dongchi thought, "Lu Chang really shouldn't have let him send troops to guard the three ferry crossings. He was practically handing his back to the enemy."
How could he dare?
Even the shrewd and calculating Cui Dongchi had moments of youthful confusion. He wrote to his father, explaining the situation and asking him for advice.
Cui Lang didn't write a single word, but only sent a messenger with a single sentence:
"How are you different from Emperor Wu?"
Upon hearing this, he laughed loudly, wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and sighed, "I am no match for my father!"
Lu Chang was familiar with the terrain of the Northwest. Fighting here was like a bird returning to the forest or a fish returning to the sea. He knew where he could find what he wanted.
Li Ling was not as good as him.
Of the thirteen passes in the Northwest, eight fell into Lu Chang's hands.
After occupying Hulao Mountain, Lu Chang cut off the water source to Yongye—the Heihe River. Li Ling was now trapped like a turtle in a jar, having neither the advantage of timing nor the advantage of location.
Lu Chang was able to easily conquer so much land in two months, thanks in part to the contributions of the people.
Knowing that this was Lu Zhi's son, everyone was overjoyed. Some local young people even signed up to join the army, and the ranks quickly grew.
There are also armies that rebel during wartime, turning against their own side, causing the enemy to be defeated without a fight.
When Lu Chang's army surrounded Yongye, the guards opened the gates and invited the army into the city. Meanwhile, the local people, who were filled with resentment because of his tyranny, had already rushed to Li Ling's residence and even broke down his threshold.
The crowd searched everywhere for Li Ling and finally found him at home, dressed as a woman and trying to escape. They hacked him to death and chopped him into mincemeat.
If Lu Chang's army hadn't arrived in time, the rest of the household would have perished as well.
Qin Gang knew he was at his wit's end. It was his idea to Li Ling to join forces with foreign tribes to kill Li Muyun, and he was the one who caused the death of the Princess.
Li Ling learned this trick and let foreign tribes enter Pingdu, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. His sins were grave.
Upon learning of Lu Chang's approaching army, he hanged himself at home.
Gao Shijun wanted to follow her husband, but her mother stopped her: "Your brother is already gone. If something happens to you, I don't want to live either!"
The old lady of the Gao family wrote a letter to Lu Chang, offering her own life in exchange for his mercy and asking him to spare the Gao family's life.
The letter had just been sent when the old lady took poison and died.
Lu Chang still remembered Jingwan's request; she wanted him to find Qin Ziyou's maternal grandfather and mother.
Fearing he might refuse to help, Jingwan earnestly said to him, "Cousin, you were treated at this old man's house when you were injured before. You mustn't forget this kindness! Also, I heard from Chun that when you sent people to rescue her, the people in the manor noticed the commotion. It was only because Uncle Gong covered for her that she was able to escape."
He would naturally agree.
According to the soldier who rescued the man, the old man even asked the soldier if he had seen his grandson.
"His name is Qin Ziyou, have you met him before?"
He asked around, but everyone shook their heads, saying they didn't know.
Lu Chang told Jingwan that he had someone escort the old man and his daughter away from the Northwest, "They didn't like living here and said they wanted to go back to their hometown in Quzhou."
Jingwan wiped away her tears. She didn't even dare to see Uncle Gong off; she didn't know how to face him. And what about Qin Ziyou? How heartbroken he would be if he knew.
Lu Chang pulled her into his arms and said gently, "This is his retribution; don't take it upon yourself."
On the day Gong Shu left, Jing Wan still secretly went to see him off.
They drove away in a small cart. Gong Shu was hunched over, with a woman sitting behind him. She was playing with her hair like a child, her once neatly tied braid now a messy tangled mess.
Because the woman was sitting with her back to the car, Jingwan saw her smile at her as the car drove by.
She thought she was seeing things, but when she looked at her again, she was looking down and playing with her hair.
Jingwan saw them off, knowing they might never see each other again in this life. Lu Chang told her he would send someone to take care of them until they died.
She didn't know what the future held, but this was already the best possible ending.
Lu Chang took Jingwan to Fengyin Mountain, and the ashes of Lu Zhi and his wife were scattered in the mountain, without a tombstone or grave.
There is a princess's tomb at the foot of the mountain, where Li Muyun rests in eternal rest.
After she was buried here, Yuancheng sent soldiers to guard the mausoleum and allowed the people to come and pay their respects. On the day they went, there were fruits and flowers brought by the people in front of the tombstone.
Lu Chang placed her spear beside the monument, letting this old companion of many years continue to accompany her.
The words "Yun Ting" on the gun shone brightly, just like her, her spirit will never fade.
They traveled to many places, witnessing once again the years when they knew each other but never met.
The snow-capped Fengyin Mountain remains sacred, while cattle and sheep graze leisurely on the vast grassland, appearing like scattered pearls in the distance. The Gobi Desert remains desolate and lonely, with a lone wolf roaming, its solitary figure a testament to heroism in the afterglow. On the military horse farm, horses of various colors gallop, the herdsmen's whistles echoing across the entire grassland.
The Hulao River is rising and surging, and the jade-fishing workers tie ropes around their waists and stand on the cliff face, creating a thrilling and dangerous experience.
Jingwan said, "Every year, the imperial court requires the Northwest to send a sufficient amount of jade. The things that everyone risks their lives to obtain are just sitting in the treasury collecting dust."
She looked at Lu Chang solemnly: "If the newly enthroned emperor understands the people's plight, then let the people's labor be worthwhile!"
Jingwan asked him, "Brother, will you be the emperor?"
Lu Chang remained silent for a long time, watching the river rush and carry sand against the table. He then asked her, "Do you want me to be emperor?"
She did not avoid Lu Chang's gaze and said, "I know you don't want to be emperor." If you did, you would have taken advantage of the situation to go south after conquering the Northwest and fight Cui Dongchi to the death, instead of having the leisure to take her for a stroll in the mountains and forests.
Lu Chang laughed and said, "Jingwan, let's see if the throne can be handed over to Cui Dongchi!"
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