In fact, he also wanted to join his father and siblings in playing, but why didn't he join in the end? How great it would have been if he had joined in at that time...

"...Tomorrow I will report to His Majesty and transfer you to Xiyan City. From now on, you are not allowed to return to the capital without an imperial edict!" He seemed to hear his father's stern voice again. He thought that perhaps even with His Majesty's edict, he would not be able to return to the capital in this lifetime.

Finally, his consciousness faded and he fell completely into darkness.

"...Brother, this brother, wake up, wake up, it's time to take medicine!" In a daze, it seemed that someone kept calling in his ear. He thought it was very noisy and wanted the other person to stop calling, but his throat felt like it was burning and painful.

"Brother, brother, wake up, wake up!" The voice was persistent, as if it would not stop until he woke up. He even felt a thick big hand on his shoulder, pushing him gently.

"Brother, wake up, it's time to take medicine, brother, wake up quickly..."

He struggled, and managed to force out a sentence from his throat: "So, so noisy..."

"Hey, you're awake?!" There was obvious surprise in the other person's voice, and the force of pushing on his shoulder involuntarily increased a bit.

"Who, who are you?" He tried hard to open his eyelids that seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and vaguely seemed to see a strange face.

"I'm glad you're awake. Come on, take the medicine quickly!" The man did not answer him, but stretched out his hand to help him sit against the head of the bed. The movement pulled the wound on his body, causing him to groan in pain and cold sweat instantly seeped out of his forehead.

"Sorry, sorry, people from the mountains were a bit rude. Are you okay?" the other party asked apologetically.

This pain made Wei Chenglin sober up a lot, and also allowed him to see the person in front of him clearly.

What appeared before him was a square-faced middle-aged man in his forties, dressed as a hunter, looking at him with concern.

He looked around the place again and saw that it was a very simple thatched hut. Apart from the old wooden bed he was lying on, which creaked every time he moved, there was a square table with a broken corner in the middle of the room, and two benches next to the table that were barely intact.

Is this the person who saved me?

"Young man, drink the medicine first. Your injury will heal faster." The big man brought the still steaming medicine bowl over with a smile.

Wei Chenglin hesitated for a moment, thought about it, took the medicine bowl, thanked softly, tilted his head back and drank the medicine.

"Young man, judging from your attire, you must be a government official, right? But were you injured while suppressing bandits? Alas, the garrison commander is young after all. Those people on Qingfeng cannot be eliminated so easily." The big man sighed.

Wei Chenglin was silent.

He had indeed underestimated the enemy, otherwise he would not have so nearly lost his life. He didn't know what the situation was like over there with Lai Lu. He had lost all trace of himself, so he must be sending people to look for him everywhere!

"Young man, you are still young. If you want to do something, you'd better leave Xiyan and go somewhere else! Xiyan is no longer a place for ordinary people to stay. Unless the great general Wei is reborn, Xiyan... will be difficult!" the big man advised kindly.

"General Wei?" Wei Chenglin looked at him puzzledly.

This General Wei, could it be the General Wei he thought it was?

When he asked about 'General Wei', the big man was obviously excited, and his eyes were shining: "You don't know General Wei, right? My grandfather was a soldier under his command when he was young. When General Wei defeated the Nine Dragons, my grandfather also participated in the battle!"

"The Rongdi people were so arrogant and ferocious, but when they met the generals of Wei, they had no choice but to admit defeat. And General Murong chased the Rongdi general Baletu for thousands of miles and took his head off. What a brave man! I regret that I was born a few decades later!"

At this point, the big man looked regretful.

Wei Chenglin finally determined that the General Wei he was referring to was his great-grandfather. It was during his great-grandfather's generation that the prestige of the Wei family reached an unprecedented level.

"...If General Wei and General Murong join forces, there will be no battle in this world that they cannot win!" The big man slapped his thigh and made the final conclusion.

"…jealous and disregarding the fraternity between the Wei and Murong families…" His father's scolding that day was still ringing in his ears. He was a little dazed before he finally remembered that the ancestors of the Wei and Murong families were generals who cooperated closely on the battlefield.

They were once the most trusted comrades on the battlefield, but decades later, their descendants wanted to kill each other because of jealousy. If the ancestors knew about this, I'm afraid...

"After talking for so long, young man, I still don't know your last name. My last name is Tu." The big man patted his head and asked with a smile.

"My...last name is Wei." For the first time in his life, Wei Chenglin felt that he was not worthy of this last name. He didn't dare to let anyone know that he was the descendant of General Wei.

"Your last name is Wei? What a coincidence! They say people with the same last name are related. Maybe you and General Wei were from the same family five hundred years ago!" The big man laughed.

Wei Chenglin forced a smile.

"Brother Wei, you should stay here and take good care of your injuries. I will go to the garrison in the afternoon and ask them to pick you up. Are you working at the garrison?"

"...Yes, thank you, Uncle Tu."

The big man smiled, gave him a few more instructions, and then left.

Wei Chenglin was lying on the bed, thinking about the chaos last night. He felt that all the arrangements he had made for more than a month had come to nothing. Not only had he failed to wipe out the bandits, but he had also alerted the enemy. He was afraid that there would be many casualties.

At this moment, he suddenly had strong doubts about his abilities.

Can he really continue the glory of the Wei family from his great-grandfather's time as his grandfather expected? Are the praises he has received since his youth really not exaggerated?

He had never been so depressed as he was now, nor had he ever fallen into such a deep state of self-loathing as he was now.

He thought that the praise was actually just because of his status, not because of his ability. And the tasks he had done in recent years were not really that big of a deal. If someone else did it, they might not do worse than him.

Everything he had gained over the years was only because of the influence of his ancestors and the glory of the Wei family. It was ridiculous that he knew nothing and thought he was extremely smart. How could he know that in the eyes of others, he was just a ridiculous and pathetic person.

Now, in addition to the four gold guards, he has taken on countless lives...

Thinking of the officers who might have died last night, he suddenly felt despair.

If my father knew that he had killed so many people, he would probably be even more disappointed in me...

"Prince." A familiar low voice suddenly sounded in the room. He looked over and saw Lai Lu, dressed in gray, who had appeared in front of him out of nowhere. When he met his gaze, his face visibly relaxed.

"I am late. Please punish me, Your Highness." Lai Lu knelt on one knee on the ground.

"Get up, it's not your fault, it's my own fault."

Lai Lu glanced at him in surprise, then lowered his head again.

"How many of us died last night?" After a while, he heard Wei Chenglin ask in a hoarse voice.

Lai Lu was silent for a moment: "Four people."

Wei Chenglin felt a sweetness in his throat and his body swayed. He almost fell to the ground, but Lai Lu was quick to catch him.

Those people who participated in the bandit suppression last night were the ones he had carefully trained over the past year. Now four of them died in just one night. Teach him, teach him how to explain to his father in the future!

An overwhelming despair swept over him. His face turned pale and his body kept shaking. He didn't know whether it was because of the pain in his wounds or the grief for the four dead officials.

Finally, his eyes went dark and he passed out.

When he woke up again, he was already in the garrison.

He forced himself to go and see the four officers who had died in person. Seeing the once vibrant people lying there lifeless, his lips trembled slightly, but he could not utter a word.

"I have already notified their families, and they must be on their way here now. Why don't you go and have a rest first, Your Highness?" Lai Shou said worriedly when he saw that his face looked really ugly.

"No need, I don't need to worry." Wei Chenglin shook his head.

Seeing that he insisted, Laishou was helpless and could only help him to the next room. He couldn't let him face four corpses like this, right?

Suddenly, bursts of loud cries came from the next room where the four officers who died in the battle were parked, causing Wei Chenglin, who had been sitting there motionless, to shudder.

Those cries of extreme sorrow and sobs of unbearable pain were like sharp daggers stabbing straight into his heart, again and again, without mercy.

"Prince?" Seeing his pale face, Lai Shou called him worriedly.

Wei Chenglin seemed not to have heard anything. He sat there in a daze. He didn't know how long it had been. When the crying next door gradually stopped, he asked in a dream, "You are also a guard of the Golden Order, right? I killed Ping Yan and the other four. You must hate me as much as those people next door do, right?"

Lai Shou was stunned. He didn't expect him to ask such a question. He was silent for a moment and said, "I am indeed a Jinling guard. But, Prince, this is different. The death of Pingyan and the others is different from the death of those people next door."

"What's the difference? They died because of me." Wei Chenglin murmured.

Lai Shou frowned. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he felt that the prince in front of him seemed to have lost all his confidence overnight and became self-doubting.

"There is no mercy on the battlefield, and casualties are inevitable. Those who can follow have already put life and death aside. However, Pingyan and the others... died in vain." Lai Shou answered calmly.

"The Golden Guards were originally the guards of the old Duke. They were all people who followed the old Duke to fight on the battlefield. In this peaceful time, they were unwilling to retire and voluntarily stayed in the Duke's Mansion to serve as the guards of the mansion. The old Duke once said that the Golden Guards were heroes on the battlefield, and they died only for the country's justice and the lives of the people. Apart from that, unless the Wei family is on the verge of extinction, the Golden Guards should not be easily activated."

Wei Chenglin was speechless for a long time.

He seemed to have heard his grandfather say this before, but perhaps it was because it was too long ago, or perhaps he had never taken these words to heart. He just thought that Jin Ling's guards were also guards, whose martial arts skills were higher than those of ordinary guards. What was the difference between them and other servants in the mansion?

However, he did not expect that the guards were still the same guards, but activating the Golden Order to instruct them to act for their own personal grudges was an insult to the persistence of several generations of their people.

He thought that his father was right to scold him. He was indeed disloyal, unfilial, unkind and unjust. He had no regard for the overall interests of the family and had sacrificed the life of a loyal man for his own selfish reasons.

He is not even as good as a mountain hunter!

Lai Shou had been holding a grudge against Ping Yan and others because of their deaths, but because of his duty, he had to protect him all the way to Xiyan. Now that he had finally gotten rid of the grudge in his heart, he felt a lot more relieved.

Looking at Wei Chenglin's frighteningly pale and handsome face, which was very similar to the deceased former Duke, he sighed inaudibly.

It would be fine if he feels guilty, but I am afraid that he will not repent, and that would be a waste of the Duke's efforts.

“Sir, do you know who caused the Duke to almost fall off the cliff?” Wei Chenglin’s heart was in turmoil when he heard him suddenly ask himself.

Wei Chenglin was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to remember that his father's carriage had once encountered an accident and he nearly fell off a cliff. If his mother and he had not arrived in time, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Now that Lai Shou asked this, could it be that what happened back then was not an accident?

“Who, who is it?” He was still young at that time and didn’t understand many things. Now that he thinks about it carefully, the accident itself was full of strange things.

"It was Queen Zhou in the palace who secretly made a deal with Prince Cheng. Queen Zhou assisted Prince Cheng in releasing Prince Cheng's son, and Prince Cheng helped her get rid of the Duke." Lai Shou replied.

Wei Chenglin trembled and asked again: "What grudge did the Empress have with my father? Why did she want to kill my father?"

"Does the prince still remember the unjust case of the Marquis of Loyalty?"

"Of course I remember."

"Because of the Marquis case, the noble concubine who was still the princess at the time was silenced by the late emperor. It was the Duke who risked his life to save her. For so many years, he and Your Majesty did their best to hide the news that she was still alive. Later, the princess returned to the palace and became the Rui Guifei. What would the queen in the palace think, and how much would she hate the person who saved the noble concubine? The prince is a smart man, so there is no need for me to say more."

Wei Chenglin's body swayed, touching the wounds on his body. The pain made his whole face twisted a little, and beads of cold sweat rolled down.

It was Queen Zhou who wanted to kill my father!

"Lord Zhou Maozhou has been working secretly for Your Majesty for so many years. If he had not been implicated in the affairs of Empress Zhou, he would not be a mere Minister of Honglu Temple now. Even though there is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, they are still siblings. How can they deny themselves of everything?" Pingshou hinted.

Wei Chenglin was not a fool. He understood what he meant when he heard it. His pale face became even uglier, and his already wounded heart was stabbed several more times by his words.

Queen Zhou and Lord Zhou cannot be separated because they are from the same clan and are siblings from the same house. Even if Your Majesty does not care about Lord Zhou's many years of following you, what about the Royal Concubine? What about the Crown Prince?

Even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could easily let it go, but what about the Imperial Concubine? She was clearly His Majesty's original wife, but for so many years she not only had no name or status, but she couldn't even show her face in public. Moreover, she had been suffering from the injustice done to her brother for so many years.

After finally returning to the palace, she suffered a series of vicious attacks from the Empress. How could she not hate her?

It's ridiculous that he knows nothing about this and is blinded and confused by love.

No, my father was right. It was never beauty that deceived people, but their own incompetence and lack of responsibility. In the final analysis, the problem was still with him.

He was selfish and cold-hearted, with no regard for the overall interests of the family. Because of his own selfishness, he destroyed the comradeship between the Wei and Murong families, and also implicated the loyal guards in the mansion. Not to mention that his father would not easily forgive him, even I now cannot forgive myself.

"Don't tell father about your injury." Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, his face was as pale as paper, and his staggering body made people even more worried. Lai Shou was about to call a doctor when he heard him give him these instructions.

He paused, and finally nodded: "Yes."

He could hear footsteps coming and going from outside, as if someone was carrying something in and out. He knew that it must be the families of those officials taking them back.

Fallen leaves return to their roots, no matter where they are, even if they die, their souls will return to their hometown.

***

Wei Junhang and his wife in the capital had no idea that on the happy day of their daughter's wedding, their eldest son far away in Xiyan had experienced a life and death experience.

On the day when Wei Yingzhi returned home, everyone, from the eldest princess to the youngest child, Xiang'er, stretched their necks in anticipation.

"Daddy, why hasn't Fourth Sister brought Fourth Brother-in-law back yet? I have finished my porridge, and Mom said that Fourth Sister would come back with Fourth Brother-in-law after I finished my porridge obediently." Xiang Ge'er was a little depressed after waiting for Fourth Sister to come back for a long time.

Wei Junhang was also very anxious in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. When he heard his son ask this, he smiled and bent down to pick him up, pinching his cheeks: "I thought your father didn't know. Yesterday you packed your bag and said that if the fourth sister didn't come back, you would go find her."

Xiang Ge'er nodded seriously: "Yes, if she doesn't come back, I will go find her and bring her back."

As he spoke, he struggled to break free from his arms and ran out. A few moments later he came back holding the small bag he had packed yesterday.

Seeing the little child holding a small bag as if he was going on a long journey, Shen Xinyan couldn't help laughing.

"Come, let me see what Xiang'er has packed." She waved to the little guy.

The boy ran to her side again, handed her the small bag in his hand obediently, and said in a baby voice: "I brought the little tiger and sweet-scented osmanthus candy. When I meet my fourth brother-in-law, I will give him the sweet-scented osmanthus candy and ask him to return my fourth sister to me. If he refuses, I will give him the little tiger as well."

"Hahaha, you kid are planning to bribe your fourth brother-in-law!" Wei Junhang laughed loudly. When he leaned over to take a look, he saw that the bundle really contained the cloth tiger made by Chunliu for him, as well as bags of tightly packed osmanthus candies. He couldn't help laughing again.

The eldest princess wiped away the tears from her laughter, waved for Xiangger to come to her side, and hugged him and kissed him hard.

"Grandma's little darling, how can you be so lovable!"

The atmosphere in the room was just right, and a burst of cheerful voices came from outside.

"Fourth aunt is back, fourth aunt is back!"

When Shen Xinyan heard this, she stood up subconsciously and was about to walk out impatiently, but Wei Junhang grabbed her.

"Who is the fourth aunt?" Xiangger tilted his head in confusion, his big eyes rolling around.

"The fourth aunt is the young master's fourth sister." Chunliu explained to him with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy rushed out like a small cannonball. The eldest princess wanted to hold him back, but the boy ran too fast and she couldn't hold him back for a moment. She watched helplessly as he bumped into Pingfu, who was leading Wei Yingzhi into the house.

When Lingfu looked down, he saw that his legs were hugged by the young man. He was about to say something when he heard the young man scream "Ah", immediately let go of him, and turned to rush to his newlywed wife beside him.

"Fourth sister..." A sweet and tender voice of love was heard immediately.

As soon as she entered the room, she was warmly received by her brother. Wei Yingzhi was extremely happy. She squatted down and pinched her brother's chubby face. She couldn't help but kissed him. Then she smiled and said, "Brother Xiang, do you miss your sister?"

"I do want to, I really do want to, fourth sister, please don't go with fourth brother-in-law, and stay at home as before, okay?" Xiangger hugged her neck and acted coquettishly.

"Come, come, let fourth brother-in-law hug you!" Fearing that Wei Yingzhi would agree without hesitation, Pingfu hurriedly picked up Xiangger and carried him into the house to face the room full of relatives.

"Your Highness, Duke, Madam." He habitually bowed and called. As soon as he said this, the Grand Princess laughed and said, "You are still calling me Your Highness. Isn't it time to change this title?"

His handsome face turned red, showing a rare bit of shyness, but he still changed his words obediently.

"grandmother."

After receiving a resounding response from the Grand Princess, he called out to Wei Junhang and Shen Xinyan, "Father-in-law, Mother-in-law."

Wei Junhang laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "Good son-in-law!"

Shen Xinyan looked at the father-in-law and son-in-law with a smile on her face, but her gaze finally fell on her daughter. Seeing that she looked very well, her eyes kept drifting to Pingfu inadvertently, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The two have known each other since childhood and have been growing up with quarrels, but sometimes the distance is too close and it is difficult to see each other's feelings. She is afraid that her daughter, who has a somewhat carefree personality, will inadvertently hurt other people's feelings.

Now it seems that this young couple is living a good life.

"Is Linfu treating you well?" Although she thought so, she still asked worriedly when the mother and daughter were alone.

"Very, very good." Wei Yingzhi's pretty face blushed and she answered a little uncomfortably.

"What about those people in the Zhao Mansion? Did they cause you any trouble?" Shen Xinyan asked again.

"They want to, but they don't realize that I'm someone who can be bullied easily." Wei Yingzhi snorted coldly.