When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with determination. He said, "The Crown Prince of Nantai is dead. They can't cause any trouble for now. I need to go back to Changzhou."
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, he sat up, jumped off the roof, and went to the stables to fetch his horse.
"What's wrong with you in the middle of the night? Don't forget how many eyes are watching us. If we're discovered, you won't even know how you died!"
Of course he knew, but he couldn't care less!
Previously, he was unable to leave because of the critical situation in Nantai. He was worried that Nantai would really cause trouble and make him waste several more years, so he gritted his teeth and went to kill the crown prince of Nantai.
He and Qin Jian were the leaders here. He couldn't leave Qin Jian's place, so he could only wait for Qin Jian to return.
Now that Qin Jian is back, he doesn't want to wait even a day longer and just wants to go back and see his family.
He has been gone for many years and doesn't know how his parents are doing, let alone his newlywed wife whom he only met once.
In my memory, she was very beautiful, but timid, always keeping her head down and not daring to look at him.
Although there was no emotional foundation, since I married him and became his wife, I should be responsible for her for the rest of my life.
But who would have thought that on the second day of his marriage, he would go on a delivery mission with a security escort agency. He thought he would be able to return in two or three months, but an accident happened on the way.
They were targeted by professional assassins who were after the shipment they were transporting!
He initially thought it was just a shipment of ordinary goods, but it turned out to be full of weapons and real gold and silver, destined for a location under Prince Chen's command. However, someone found out about it and began to hunt them down.
All his companions died, but he escaped with the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort). The head镖师 was seriously injured and, before he died, gave him a token, instructing him to deliver it to Prince Chen.
It was then that he realized he had been unwittingly drawn into the vortex of power struggles among those powerful figures, from which he could not easily extricate himself.
He survived in the mountains for a month, recovered from his injuries, and then followed the original escort route to find Prince Chen's base in Shunzhou. He met Prince Chen and presented the token in his hand.
Prince Chen saw that he was quite skilled and asked him if he would be willing to work for him, but he did not agree and wanted to go home.
Prince Chen did not force him. He had someone take him to change and clean up, eat a full meal, and get a good night's sleep so that he could be fully rested before going home.
He stayed there for three days, and then took the initiative to go to Prince Chen and said he was willing to stay.
For those three days, he never left the base. He ate and slept, but when he woke up occasionally, he would hear people around him talking about the fighting in the surrounding area.
The Northern Yan Kingdom was not wealthy to begin with, and it was surrounded by fierce tigers and wolves, so the border wars never stopped.
The current emperor is only interested in pleasure, and the other princes only care about their immediate interests. Only Prince Chen personally goes to the camp outside the city every day to supervise the training of the troops and to care about the border war.
The base even took in a group of children who would get up before dawn every day to practice martial arts and clamor to go into battle and kill the enemy.
Only after asking around did I learn that they were all orphans from the border region. Their families had been destroyed and their children had died during the border wars, and Prince Chen had taken them in.
At that time, he made up his mind to follow Prince Chen to accomplish great things and then return home in glory.
He wanted to write a letter home, but he was afraid that the information would be exposed and implicate his family, so he simply told Prince Chen that he was all alone and changed his name to Sun Qi.
His mother's surname was Sun, and he willingly became a pawn.
He never told anyone, including Qin Jian, who didn't know he had another name—Lu Baichuan.
The drought in Changzhou has been going on for some time. It was there when he left home. At that time, he thought it wasn't that serious, but three consecutive years of drought is something no one can endure.
When he learned of the severe drought in Changzhou a few months ago and the people began to flee their homes, this place was already in dire straits, and he couldn't leave at all. By the time he finished dealing with everything, it seemed that it was too late.
He couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring Qin Jian's ghostly cries, he straddled the horse and disappeared into the night like an arrow released from a bow.
Qin Jian was extremely anxious. No wonder Sun Qi was so eager to hand over the work to him as soon as he returned this afternoon, as if he wanted to shirk his responsibilities. So that's what he was waiting for!
However, is Sun Qi's hometown Changzhou?
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the large family he had met on the road.
They should be settled in Gyeongju by now, right?
He Jiuniang slept until dawn, handed the dog over to Sun Shi to look after, and then prepared to take the astragalus and licorice she had dug up the day before to the city.
Everyone else went about their own business, and the quarry workers arrived as well. The sun had just risen when the whole family got to work.
Just as He Jiuniang was about to leave with Hong Mudan, she saw a thin man coming this way. She squinted to see what he wanted to do.
The thin man ignored her and headed straight for a few thatched huts. Old Lu had just finished eating a cornbread and was planning to take Leizi up the mountain to watch the adults cut timber and quarry stone.
Lei Zi is the eldest grandson in the family. Although he is only eleven years old, there are many things he should learn and understand. He can't be like the young masters of wealthy families who do nothing.
Fortunately, Lei Zi himself was very proactive and didn't cause the adults any worry.
"Is this Brother Lu?"
The thin man had already walked up to Old Man Lu. Old Man Lu paused for a moment, confirming that he didn't recognize the man, and asked with some confusion, "Who are you?"
“I am Da Niu’s father, Qian Tieshu. I just got home last night and found the house in a mess. My wife had been beaten ten times. When I asked, I found out that Da Niu had caused trouble again. I came here specifically to apologize to Brother Lu. It was my fault for not disciplining my son properly.”
When he heard him explain his purpose, Old Man Lu was quite surprised. He didn't expect that the Qian family had such a sensible person. Immediately, the smile on his face became more genuine.
“Now that Da Niu has been punished, he will surely learn his lesson and improve. Brother Qian, there’s no need to say anything more.”
These words were spoken sincerely. Old Man Lu knew that Qian Daniu was now imprisoned by the county government, so there was no need to keep harping on it.
"Yes, yes, Da Niu has indeed been punished and knows he did wrong, so could you please ask Brother Lu to have his family go to the county government to withdraw the charges and release him?"
Old Lu was completely stunned. Good heavens, so this was where they were waiting for him!
The smile on his face immediately vanished, and he flung Qian Tieshu's hand away: "Brother, you must be joking. That was an order personally given by the county magistrate. How could a peasant like me possibly have the authority to make such a decision? Besides, it's only a month's imprisonment. It's good to teach him a lesson. If this child isn't properly raised from a young age, he'll make a big mistake in the future!"
"Yes, yes, yes," Qian Tieshu nodded repeatedly, his humble demeanor infuriating. He said, "It's my fault for not disciplining him properly, but you don't know, brother, Da Niu is my only son! It wasn't easy for me to have a son so late in life. That prison is no place for a human being. If something happens to him, how will his mother and I live?"
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