Lu Zifeng didn't say anything, but took out the token given to him by the emperor and handed it to Lieutenant General Xue.
After taking the token, Lieutenant General Xue knelt on the ground with his forehead touching the ground.
"Your Majesty, I greet you."
Lu Zifeng gestured to Lu Xia to come forward and take the token.
"Commander Xue, this prince has come here to capture the 30,000 private soldiers of Prince Qing, who live in the mountains north of Bozhou Prefecture. Do you have a good way to subdue them all?"
Lieutenant General Xue thought about it after hearing this.
"Your Highness, you may not know that one of the two leaders of the private army is my distant cousin. We have been in contact over the years. I am confident that I can make my cousin surrender to the imperial court. However, the other one is a bit troublesome. I heard that he is very skilled in martial arts and even my cousin is no match for him."
Lu Zifeng was really surprised to hear Brigadier General Xue say this, but he immediately figured it out and laughed.
"Haha, Lieutenant General Xue is truly a man of foresight. As far as I know, Prince Qing's 30,000 private soldiers should have been recruited two years ago! It seems Lieutenant General Xue already had a lot of knowledge by then, right?"
Lieutenant General Xue felt a little embarrassed by Lu Zifeng's words. He knew that Master Lu had already guessed that he had sent his cousin in that year.
"Please forgive me for laughing at you, my lord. I really didn't think that much at the time. I just accidentally discovered that Prince Qing had trained a private army of 30,000 in the mountains. According to the Dayu Dynasty, this is tantamount to rebellion and treason. Besides, I have been ordered to help garrison Bozhou. If word gets out that there are private soldiers in the mountains of Bozhou, I will be in trouble."
Looking at Brigadier General Xue's calm expression, Lu Zifeng temporarily chose to believe him and asked again.
"What's the name of Lieutenant General Xue's cousin? When does Lieutenant General Xue think it's best for us to take action?"
"In reply to the Crown Prince, my cousin's name is Li Yikui. As for when to take action, I dare not make any rash remarks. I will make a decision after watching the situation."
Lu Zifeng was very curious when he heard that Commander Xue's cousin had a different surname from him.
"Why does Lieutenant General Xue have a different surname from my younger brother?"
Since Lu Zifeng asked this, Lieutenant General Xue had no choice but to answer, so he thought about it and said.
"Your Highness, you may not know that my father married into my maternal grandfather's family. My maternal grandfather's surname was Xue, so I also have the surname Xue. However, after my maternal grandfather's family all passed away, they couldn't tolerate my mother and me. My father had no choice but to take my mother, my younger brother, and me back to his family. However, my father married into the Xue family, so I have always had the surname Xue, and my younger brother took my father's surname, which is Li."
After listening to what Brigadier General Xue said, Lu Zifeng knew the reason. It was not that Lu Zifeng was gossiping, but this time he had to cooperate with Brigadier General Xue to complete the mission. If he did not find out clearly about his affairs, he was afraid that something would go wrong during the mission, which would be bad.
"Okay, thank you, Lieutenant General Xue, for clearing up my confusion. I'll go back now. Once you've arranged everything, we'll take action."
Lu Zifeng, his master and his servant returned to the courtyard.
"Lu Chun, you should find out more about Lieutenant General Xue in the next two days. Although the emperor said this is his man, we should still be careful to avoid being caught off guard."
"Lu Xia, you, start monitoring Lieutenant General Xue's residence for the next two days to see if there are any suspicious people."
"Starting tomorrow I will go to the mountains to investigate the private soldiers."
Lu Chun and Lu Xia knew their master's abilities, so they did not ask him to go to the mountains with them.
The next day, before dawn, the gate of Bozhou Prefecture had already opened. Lu Zifeng disguised himself as a servant and went out of the city. After looking around and seeing no one was around, he quickly ran towards the mountains north of Bozhou Prefecture.
A quarter of an hour later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain and began to run into the mountain along the path up the mountain. They ran for about half an hour before Lu Zifeng's mental power sensed that there were many people training in a large valley not far away.
Lu Zifeng came to the top of the valley, ready to look down. However, after coming up, he found that there was a sentry post there. It seemed that the people here were very careful. In order not to alert the enemy, Lu Zifeng ran directly to the other side, ready to see if he could observe the whole picture of the valley from there.
Fortunately, there was no one here. After Lu Zifeng came up and looked around, he found that it was not that those people were careless, but that basically no one could climb up here.
However, these were nothing to Lu Zifeng. Lying behind a rock and looking into the valley, he discovered that there was an open space of about one hundred acres below the valley. There were many houses built close to the cliffs around it, and many things were planted in the corners and in the center. Because it was too far away, Lu Zifeng could not see clearly what the crops were.
It seems that Prince Qing has made a lot of money over the years. The cost of these 30,000 private soldiers alone is probably not a small amount.
Lu Zifeng didn't return to the courtyard until dark.
When Lu Chun saw Lu Zifeng coming back, he quickly stood up and wrung out a handkerchief to wipe Lu Zifeng's face.
Lu Zifeng said.
"Has Admiral Xue done anything unusual?"
"Master, I haven't found anything unusual yet. Lieutenant General Xue went to the military camp outside the city early in the morning and has been reading official documents in his tent since then. He didn't come out until the evening and returned home."
"Well, we always have to be careful about everything. Let's continue to monitor. I hope that I am just overthinking it and nothing will happen in the end!"
Lu Xia knew that his master had doubts about Lieutenant General Xue, so he naturally had to keep a close eye on him.
"Qingfeng, Mingyue, come out!"
Lu Xia was very confused by Lu Zifeng's sudden words. Who was the master calling? Turning around, he saw two people standing behind him, both dressed in black, with black scarves covering their faces.
"Lu Xia has already appeared, so he's not very suitable to monitor Lieutenant General Xue. From now on, you guys will monitor him!"
"Yes, Master."
As soon as the words fell, the two disappeared again, leaving Lu Xia stunned for a long time before coming to his senses.
Master, they are all your secret guards, right?"
Looking at Lu Xia's expression, Lu Zifeng nodded.
"Um."
Lu Mingshan from Luzhou Prefecture got up early in the morning and prepared to stay in Lujia Village for a few days. Living in the city was really too annoying. These matchmakers came to his house every few days. It was really difficult for a grown man like him to receive them. Even though he had said it many times, those people still came to his house regardless.
"Chang Lin, please arrange a carriage for me. I'm planning to stay in Lujia Village for a while. These matchmakers are crazy."
After hearing Lu Mingshan's complaints, Chang Lin laughed in his heart, but did not show it on his face.
"Okay, sir, I'll arrange it right away."
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