As Gu Yuzhi listened to Guard Zhang's account, he would occasionally exclaim in amazement, "Guard Zhang is amazing!"
It turned out that when Guard Zhang and his men arrived in Quanzhou, the troops in Quanzhou had not yet all withdrawn.
Although the city gates were open, people leaving the city were stopped, and those entering the city were strictly checked.
Huo Liangyao, sporting a beard, disguised himself as a guard and entered the city.
Huo Liangyao was still thinking about how to infiltrate the military camp and find his father's old subordinates when a servant suddenly came to report that people from the Northern Desert Army had come to meet him.
It turned out that news of the King sending his personal guards to the northern desert to capture the criminals had spread among the high-ranking officers of the foreign army.
Bai Jiwu knew that Li Yanping had gone to assassinate Prince Wen, and today, upon hearing the report from his subordinates, he knew that Li Yanping had failed.
Although King Wen sent few people, Bai Jiwu was apprehensive and dared not contact King Wen's men at all. He only sent a deputy general to help on the surface, but in reality to monitor them.
The lieutenant brought a few more men to the inn where Qi and the guards were staying. The moment he pushed open the door, Huo Liangyao recognized the last person among them as one of his father's former subordinates.
However, compared to his former vigor and spirit when he was by his father's side, he now appears to have aged and deteriorated considerably.
Huo Liangyao subtly hinted to Guard Qi, who immediately understood that the person they were looking for was among the newcomers.
Guard Zhang immediately said, "Tian Shu, go downstairs and check on my horse. Tell the waiter what my horse can and cannot eat."
He acted as if he looked down on the soldiers, his expression arrogant: "Find someone from the Northern Desert Army to go with you. They know Quanzhou well, don't try to fool us."
Huo Liangyao responded in a low voice, lowered his head and walked out. When he reached the person's side, he deliberately lowered his voice and said, "It's you. Please help me out."
The man glanced at the deputy general, and seeing the deputy general nod, he followed him out.
The two remained silent until they reached the stables. Huo Liangyao then subtly searched the area to make sure no one was around before suddenly speaking, "Uncle Wu."
Huo Liangyao didn't have extra time or people to test him, so he planned to reveal his identity from the beginning.
He was gambling, gambling that his father's old subordinates would always have the Huo family army in their hearts, gambling that people from the Huo family army still had a conscience.
The man called Uncle Wu was a little confused. He looked up and took a closer look at Huo Liangyao. He felt that the man in front of him was very familiar, but he was sure that he did not know him.
"Who are you?"
Huo Liangyao directly used the code for the Huo family army's troop rotation back then, and continued under Uncle Wu's astonished gaze: "Uncle Wu, you used to hold me when I was a child."
Uncle Wu stared in disbelief, his body stiffening, his gaze fixed on Huo Liangyao, trying to find a trace of his childhood self.
Huo Liangyao spoke very quickly: "Uncle Wu, I don't have time to talk to you now. Please come to Guard Zhang's room to find me at midnight."
Fearing that the Northern Desert Army would discover something amiss, Huo Liangyao revealed his identity, agreed on a time, and left immediately, not daring to delay even a moment.
The two returned to their room together, neither showing any sign of anything amiss, but Uncle Wu was in a state of great excitement.
The day after the earthquake at the iron mine, Bai Jiwu sent people to rescue them, but instead of finding any injured people, he saw several new graves on the wasteland next to the iron mine.
Bai Jiwu disregarded everything and had the grave dug up, but he couldn't find the person he was looking for. A few days after returning to his military camp, he flew into a rage and immediately ordered the city to be sealed off.
Uncle Wu and the others weren't fools; they understood that Bai Jiwu wanted to use the iron mine collapse as an excuse to harm the marshal and his men.
These old subordinates secretly organized and infiltrated the soldiers stationed in Quanzhou, thinking that if the marshal and the others were really still alive, they would risk their lives to protect them.
But the repeated searches yielded no results, which made Bai Jiwu increasingly irritable and his old subordinates increasingly desperate.
Did the marshal and his men never escape and were instead trapped under the iron ore mine?
He never expected that, in such a dramatic turn of events, he would see the young marshal among His Highness Prince Wen's personal guards!
Does that mean the Marshal was also saved by Prince Wen?
Uncle Wu was filled with excitement and had so much to say, but on the surface he still looked as dejected and downcast as before.
The two of them behaved perfectly normally, so the people sent by Bai Jiwu naturally didn't notice anything amiss. After communicating with Guard Zhang, they left shortly afterward.
In the dead of night, there was a knock on the door of Guard Zhang's room. It was two long knocks followed by one short one, the way Huo's army knocked.
Huo Liangyao suddenly sat up, quickly opened the door, and saw Uncle Wu wearing a black cloak that covered his entire body.
He strode in, closed the door, and knelt down before Huo Liangyao, choking back tears as he said, "Young Marshal!"
Huo Liangyao pulled him up and hugged him tightly, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Both of them were filled with indescribable excitement, and it took them a while to calm down.
Huo Liangyao pulled Uncle Wu's wrist and led him inside. Behind the screen, Guard Zhang had already stood up.
“Uncle Wu, this is Guard Zhang, the deputy chief guard by His Highness’s side.” He then looked at Guard Zhang, “Guard Zhang, this is Uncle Wu, he used to be my father’s adjutant.”
Guard Zhang showed exceptional respect to the original members of Huo's army, bowing respectfully and saying, "I will also address you as Uncle Wu, following Brother Huo's example."
The word "Uncle Wu" brought tears to the eyes of this man, who was already in his forties.
From the way Guard Zhang greeted him, to how he addressed him, and the closeness between the young marshal and him, Uncle Wu knew that His Highness Prince Wen must treat the young marshal and his men very well.
Uncle Wu took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness in his heart: "Young Marshal, the Marshal..."
Huo Liangyao smiled and shook his head slightly. Although he didn't say it explicitly, the meaning was clear: his father was fine.
Uncle Wu then laughed silently, a tear rolling down his cheek.
Thank God!
Time was of the essence, so Huo Liangyao didn't reminisce with him anymore. He only talked about the purpose of their trip to Quanzhou: "Your Highness was ambushed and killed some time ago. It has been pointed out that it was Li Yanping, the head manager of Li Ji Trading Company, who did it. We came to Quanzhou to arrest the people from Li Ji Trading Company."
Uncle Wu nodded: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Huo Liangyao said in a low voice, "Uncle Wu, it is Guard Zhang and his men who are to arrest the people from Li Ji Trading Company, but what you and I are to do is arrest Bai Jiwu!"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Wu's eyes widened, and it took him a long time to speak: "No matter what, Bai Jiwu is the current general of the Northern Desert Army. How can we arrest him without any evidence?"
"The prefect of Quanzhou, Ke Liangyi, accused General Bai Jiwu of abusing his power for personal gain, illegally imprisoning a prefect of a prefecture, and sealing off the city without cause."
He said in a very low voice, "Uncle Wu, do you think people like this shouldn't be arrested?"
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