"Shiliang, I've received reliable information that I may have to go to the capital. Your position will be changing during this time, so don't have any reservations. We'll discuss everything after I return from the capital."
Yuan Shiliang was surprised to find himself changed from deputy general to captain. Although he was puzzled, he knew that the marshal must have had a reason for making such an arrangement, and life wasn't too difficult anyway.
Sure enough, less than a month later, the marshal and his entourage were summoned back to the capital, and he never saw the marshal again.
As for the Northern Desert Army, everything changed completely after the marshal was sentenced to beheading, and his life naturally became difficult. Not long after, he was expelled from the army camp.
Before long, those trusted confidants for whom the marshal had arranged a way out were also driven out of the military camp...
Yuan Shiliang felt as if something was stuck in his throat, and after a long while, he choked out, "Marshal..."
Huo Qiyuan then smiled and helped Yuan Shiliang up, saying, "This is not the place to talk. Come with me first."
Yuan Shiliang felt completely dazed and confused, his mind a complete mess.
But he trusted the marshal implicitly and followed without hesitation. It wasn't until the two left Qizhou that Yuan Shiliang slowly came to his senses, staring intently at Huo Qiyuan: "Marshal, you..."
Huo Qiyuan quickly recounted how he had discovered that the iron mine officials and the soldiers in the Quanzhou military camp had colluded to secretly kill them. A smile then appeared on his face: "Speaking of which, I really am lucky to be alive."
The place they escaped from was so remote and hidden, yet the young prince found them. Moreover, among the young prince's entourage was the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.
What do you call this? A miraculous escape from death!
As for whether he will have good fortune in the future, Kenneth Fok said that living well in the present is the most important thing!
He looked at Yuan Shiliang and said in a low voice, "You must know about His Highness's trip to the northern desert, right?"
Yuan Shiliang nodded: "Yes. Your humble servant... I heard that it caused quite a stir last winter. At that time, many people in the escort agency were thinking that His Highness was so delicate that he might not be able to survive the winter in the northern desert."
But now, no one says that anymore. The young prince is not only alive and well, but he has also discovered two new types of grains. He had heard about them when he was at the escort agency, and that merchants from Jiangnan had already arrived in Xinliang.
After Huo Qiyuan came out, he asked around and naturally learned what had happened after Gu Yuzhi went to Mobei. But obviously, almost no one connected the Wen family with His Highness Prince Wen.
He kept quiet about it: "I now suspect that the new emperor deliberately sent His Highness to the northern desert for the purpose of the northern desert army. His Highness's chief secretary told me that when the new emperor was the crown prince, he wanted to overturn our case, but he failed."
Now that the late emperor has passed away, there is no possibility of overturning the verdict.
He looked at Yuan Shiliang and said, word by word, "His Highness said that we can go to Xinliang under assumed names and serve as city guards, and in the future..."
If the Northern Di invade again in the future, the current Northern Army will be no match for the strong and well-equipped Northern Di people.
Therefore, Huo Qiyuan knew that Chief Secretary Xie had asked him to teach the young prince military strategy and to take the rest of the Huo family army to Xinliang for training, in order to prevent the Quanzhou army from being defeated and the city from falling. At that time, Xinliang would become the most solid fortress of the Great Sang Dynasty.
Huo Qiyuan couldn't be too explicit with Yuan Shiliang about these things. He only asked in a low voice, "I heard you're now a镖头 (bodyguard/escort leader) and are helping more than a dozen brothers. You guys..."
Yuan Shiliang agreed without hesitation: "Marshal, I am willing to go to Xinliang!"
No matter what kind of soldier he was or where he was, as long as he could stay by the Marshal's side, Yuan Shiliang would be more than willing.
Seeing the marshal's hearty laugh again, Yuan Shiliang couldn't help but laugh as well. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Marshal, you're not taking me to Xinliang, are you? The brothers are still in Qizhou."
Huo Qiyuan patted him on the shoulder: "Don't you ever think about how the person who went to find you knew you were the one who was trying to rob the goods while the waters were still calm?"
After Zhang Yuankai discovered that Yuan Shiliang had orchestrated the second loss of goods at Li Ji Escort Agency, he immediately sent the news back to Changzhou. It was precisely because of this that Huo Qiyuan sent him that encrypted letter.
It can be said that it was this robbery that made Huo Qiyuan realize that Yuan Shiliang was still his deputy and had not changed his mind despite the hardships of the past few years.
Not only him, but also the brothers he helped, none of them complained about the injustice of fate.
In their hearts, if Marshal Huo is gone, they will protect the people of the northern desert in their own way. If Marshal Huo is still alive, then they don't need to use their brains; they can just follow the Marshal.
Huo Qiyuan had met with these people before coming to see Yuan Shiliang, which is why it took so long.
After discussing these important matters, the two chatted about their lives over the past three years. When the Xinliang Iron Mine was mentioned, Huo Qiyuan suddenly felt as if he had lived through another world.
"I didn't understand before why the state of Quanzhou was reluctant to report to the higher-ups and ask us to move to another location when there was clearly no more iron to be mined. Now I realize that they originally intended to kill us in the iron mine."
These exiles died in the mines due to overexploitation, leaving no trace of accident and arousing no suspicion.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Shiliang was filled with rage and wanted nothing more than to rush to Quanzhou and tear the current marshal of the Northern Army to pieces. He also wanted nothing more than to rush to Jiangnan and question His Highness the Prince of Chu about why he had not given the marshal even the slightest chance of survival!
Huo Qiyuan suddenly turned to look at him: "By the way, you stayed in Qizhou for two years, what did you think of the prefect of Qizhou?"
Yuan Shiliang said in a low voice, "The prefect of Qizhou should be a good person, but his power has been hollowed out. Qizhou is now practically a one-man show by the Li family business."
Everyone in the northern desert thought that Changzhou was the main base of Li's trading company, but in Yuan Shiliang's view, Qizhou was.
"Li's Escort Agency is very prestigious in Qizhou. Not only that, but it also colludes with many of the prefect's constables. The prefect of Qizhou and his family are all here, so even if there is evidence, they dare not act rashly."
If this evidence were handed over to the prefect of Qizhou, his own family members would probably be arrested before he even ordered anyone to be arrested.
The road to Xinliang was long, but the two of them didn't feel tired at all. Before they knew it, it was dawn, and they were talking.
At that moment, Gu Yuzhi stepped out of the room and saw Xie Changshi's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot. His heart skipped a beat: "Xie Changshi..."
Chief Secretary Xie curled his lips into a smile and said softly, "Your Highness, I would like to present a dish today: a whole roasted wolf!"
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