Chapter 412 A Bandit's Den? The Northern Ruler and His Ministers
Ji Qingwu saw his face, her eyebrows involuntarily rose, then quickly fell back down.
His handsome face made even the gloomy sky seem brighter.
Who else could it be but Li Chengxun?
A mere scholar has ventured into a bandit's den; truly, he's a spectacle of Chongqing's injustices.
Upon arriving in Longzhou, Li Chengxun was able to quickly command the obedience of the officers and soldiers, demonstrating his considerable skill.
Ji Qingwu clenched her hands together, pretending to be scared and trembling, and hid behind Sihai.
Li Chengxun glanced at them; they were all unfamiliar faces. He coldly asked, "Who are they?"
The officer replied, "Sir, they were kidnapped and are servants who are going to Princess Qingyun's estate. I have already verified this with Huang Er, the leader of the caravan."
Huang Er was Li Chengxun's confidant, so he had no reservations. He nodded and said, "Then let them go back to the caravan. What are you doing here with your men?"
The officer said, "Sir, they happened to be in the house before the woman disappeared into the secret passage. I thought they might know something, so I brought them here."
Only then did Li Chengxun look at the two of them properly.
The man in front of me was young, with delicate features and pale skin with visible veins.
Behind him was a peasant woman dressed as a man.
Si Hai stood tall and held his head high, blocking Ji Qingwu behind him.
He explained, “Sir, someone in the caravan had a difficult childbirth earlier, and she helped deliver two babies. Since Madam Hu was also about to give birth, she chose her to be a midwife, so she called us over.”
Li Chengxun's gaze shifted from the dusty corner of the garment back to his face.
Si Hai's eyes were clear, and he spoke the truth: "We don't know anything else. You can ask someone else."
Li Chengxun lowered his eyes, then raised them again.
He had obtained everyone's testimonies and portraits, and knew what had happened. He had no doubt about the identity of this timid peasant woman.
However, the young man's protective attitude seemed too deliberate.
Li Chengxun handed the paper to the person next to him: "Tell Huang Er to check it carefully again, so as to prevent spies from getting in."
Ji Qingwu hid comfortably behind Si Hai.
She was confident that Li Chengxun wouldn't see through her disguise; as long as she spoke little, she shouldn't be recognized.
After finishing his instructions, Li Chengxun continued to ask questions.
"It's understandable that the bandit's wife asked her to go, but why did she also ask you to come? What is your relationship with her?"
Sihai tilted his head back and said, "That's because, of course, it's because she's mine..."
The last two words were spoken as softly as a mosquito's buzz.
No one present heard it clearly.
Li Chengxun said, "What?"
Ji Qingwu nudged Sihai in the back, but Sihai kept his lips tightly shut and couldn't open his mouth, his ears turning red.
Although it was a temporary measure, Miss Ji dared to make that request, which showed her courage; the rest of the world wouldn't dare.
If his master found out what he called Miss Ji, he might as well just dig a hole in Black Wind Stronghold and bury himself there, at least he could leave with a whole corpse.
The officer chuckled and said, "Sir, Huang Er said that the two of them are a newlywed couple, and they're just shy."
Li Chengxun frowned.
My gaze fell on the peasant woman whose clothes were half-exposed; her fingers were curled up unnaturally, as if she were embarrassed.
The officers and soldiers thought he was upset, so they said, "Sir, I'll take them down now and meet up with the caravan. We'll head to Longzhou first."
Ji Qingwu's eyes flashed, and she clenched her fists.
If we can get to Longzhou smoothly like this, that would be wonderful!
Li Chengxun nodded: "Take him away."
Ji Qingwu suppressed his excitement, lowered his head and followed behind the soldiers and Sihai. When they reached the door...
"etc!"
Li Chengxun suddenly spoke up, stopping them.
"Take them both with you and go check out the bandit's wife's room."
All the bandits in the village were wiped out, leaving only Qipei Yao.
The secret passage she used to escape leads to an unknown destination; letting one person go risks leaking the information.
Hearing this, Ji Qingwu's shoulders slumped, and he sighed, having no choice but to go to the backyard with them again.
*
In the northern lands, the cold wind howls.
Since Emperor Wusu's arrival, Yuchi Lianping has been transferred to the border between Southern Chu and Northern Li, where he is responsible for closely monitoring the movements of Southern Chu.
The atmosphere in the daily meetings held in the main tent of the military camp was always unusually tense.
Because everyone could see that Emperor Wusu no longer favored General Wei Ting as much as before, and rarely even responded to his words.
However, Weiting was the one who knew the military situation in the North best; only he could organize it in an orderly manner and make accurate analyses.
One day, Emperor Wusu received a secret letter. After reading it, his expression changed drastically, and he was so angry that he didn't even eat dinner that night.
The next day, Xijin sent another general to challenge them. Wei Ting put on his armor and was about to go out, but was stopped.
Just then, the Emperor of Northern Li, who had been stationed at the border for more than ten days, finally appeared.
As the two armies faced each other, Zhao Mingyan, without uttering a word, drew his Zhentian Bow and shot the arrogant enemy general dead beneath the city gate.
The Xijin army immediately ceased fighting and remained silent for two days.
However, the Northern Li side did not take any further action, and Wei Ting could not figure out Emperor Wu Su's intentions for a while, so the two armies were deadlocked.
midnight.
A crescent moon hung in the dark sky, and the north wind howled, emitting a mournful wail.
Li Yuzong personally went to invite Wei Ting: "General Wei, His Majesty has ordered you to come over."
Wei Ting immediately stood up, walked out of the tent, and asked in a normal tone, "Did you say what it was about?"
But he was not at peace.
This was the first time Emperor Wusu had summoned him privately since he personally visited the northern border.
Li Yuzong shook his head with a wry smile: "This old servant doesn't know either."
Wei Ting took a deep breath, his jaw tightened, and said nothing more.
But Li Yuzong, serving by the emperor's side, could guess a little bit about it.
That night, Emperor Wusu received a secret report from his secret guards. Before leaving Lin'an, the emperor assigned half of his secret guards to Ji Qingwu's side, while the other half infiltrated the Xijin royal family.
Even the most urgent military situation wouldn't cause Emperor Wusu to change color so drastically; only the matter of Ji Qingwu could make him lose his composure like this.
Could it be that Wei Ting was summoned at this time because he was in a bad mood because of Miss Ji's matter and planned to lash out at General Zhenbei today?
But at this crucial moment in the battle between these two armies, surely the wise Emperor wouldn't act this way? But it's hard to say; once Miss Ji is involved, he might lose his rationality.
The strong wind blew Li Yuzong's eyes into slits, and because he was thinking about this matter, his eyes drooped downwards, and he was extremely worried.
Wei Ting naturally observed the expression on the face of the emperor's confidant and began to speculate about the purpose of the trip.
As the two walked forward, Li Yuzong said, "General Wei, please forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn, but His Majesty can see your sincere loyalty to Beili, but..."
Wei Ting paused for a moment, then resumed his normal pace.
Seeing that he didn't respond, Li Yuzong said with a heavy heart, "So much time has passed, and the Emperor hasn't issued an edict to punish you, yet you remain silent."
Surrounded by soldiers standing guard, Li Yuzong covered his mouth with his hand and lowered his voice even further.
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