Upon hearing this, Wang Ling was first taken aback, then became delighted.
A few days ago, Wei Jin punished him by making him stand facing the wall in self-reflection, and he began to worry. This time, he came to the southwestern border with the army, and it was indeed aimed at Li Guang.
Ever since Wang Ling started following Li Hui, Li Hui has treated him as an honored guest, showering him with gold and silver, and holding small banquets every three days and large banquets every five days.
Wang Ling was deeply moved by the Crown Prince's high regard for him. He knew that the Crown Prince must have something important for him to do.
Wang Ling knew in his heart that Li Hui was the eldest prince and would likely become the emperor of the Great Northern Dynasty in the future. He was now loyal to the eldest prince and would surely have his day in the future. Government officials and fugitives were no match for him.
If the eldest prince ordered him to kill or commit arson, he would do it without hesitation, and even if he died for it, he would feel that his life had been worthwhile.
This time, Li Hui received news that Li Guang and Zhao Xian would lead 20,000 troops to the southwestern border to cooperate with Wei Jin in carrying out an important mission.
Seeing that his opportunity had come, Li Hui summoned Wang Ling and instructed him to accompany Wei Jin to the southwestern border to find a chance to contact Li Guang and eliminate him no matter what.
Li Hui also told Wang Ling everything: Li Guang would be his biggest rival for the throne, and if he became emperor, Wang Ling would have a bright future.
If Li Guang seizes the throne, the eldest prince will die a terrible death, and Wang Ling will fare no better.
What they needed to do now was to eliminate Li Guang without anyone noticing. Wang Ling also knew the importance of this matter, so he and Li Hui devised a vicious plan and began to take the risk.
To figure out how to strike Li Guang and kill him in one fell swoop, Wang Ling thought of his hidden weapon, the throwing dart.
Wang Ling was very confident in his hidden weapons. To ensure that Li Guang would be killed, Wang Ling prepared a number of darts. He first quenched the darts and then soaked them in a highly poisonous drug for a day and a night.
Darts treated in this way become extremely poisonous; anyone injured by them, even with just a minor scratch, will surely die.
Seeing that Wang Ling was ready, Li Hui met with the emperor and persuaded him to allow Wang Ling to accompany Wei Jin to the southwestern frontier to carry out a mission.
Little did the emperor know Li Hui's sinister intentions, he readily agreed, and Wang Ling thus had the opportunity to accompany the army to the southwestern frontier.
This time, disobeying military orders was a grave mistake, and he almost got beheaded by Wei Jin. Thinking of this, Wang Ling was still a little scared.
He was able to escape death this time entirely because Wei Jin and the other generals were afraid of Li Hui and ultimately let him go.
In order to complete the task assigned to him by the eldest prince, he still needed to find a way to make contact with Li Guang.
Just as he was racking his brains, Wei Jin found him and asked him to take a few veterans to see Li Guang and help Li Guang find Li Ru.
Unexpectedly, the opportunity suddenly presented itself, and Wang Ling couldn't help but feel happy, so he said:
"Please rest assured, General Wei, I will do my best to help General Li find General Li Ru."
"Alright, then hurry up and take your men to see General Li Guang immediately."
After packing up, Wang Ling set off with a few veterans. Watching Wang Ling's departing figure, Wei Jin couldn't help but sneer.
Two days later, Wang Ling led several veterans to Lishui and headed to Li Guang's military camp.
Upon seeing Wang Ling arrive with several veterans, the officers and soldiers guarding the camp asked, "Is this General Wang?"
Wang Ling nodded and said:
"Indeed, I have come to pay my respects to General Li on the orders of General Wei."
"General Li has instructed that if General Wang arrives, he should be led directly into the main tent. General Wang, please follow me."
After the soldiers guarding the camp finished speaking, they led Wang Ling to see Li Guang.
At this moment, Li Guang and Zhao Xian were both in the army's main tent, with the soldiers standing beside them. Li Xue and several guards, disguised as men, stood among the soldiers.
In fact, Li Guang received the news before Wang Ling even entered the military camp, and everyone made preparations.
"General Wang has arrived."
The soldiers guarding the camp shouted and led Wang Ling into the tent.
When Wang Ling entered the military tent, Li Guang and Zhao Xian stood up, which should be considered a high-level reception.
"General Wang, you must be tired from your journey. Please sit down."
Before Li Guang finished speaking, someone brought over a chair and asked Wang Ling to sit down.
Standing among the soldiers, Li Xue gritted her teeth, wishing she could draw her sword and chop Wang Ling in half.
Wang Ling didn't stand on ceremony, plopping down in a chair. He then looked at the veterans who had just entered the tent and said:
"You guys, come here."
"Yes, General Wang."
Several veterans quickly stepped forward.
Upon seeing the veterans, Li Guang immediately stood up, went to them, and bowed in respect.
"You have all traveled thousands of miles to the southwestern frontier in search of General Li Ru, who disappeared ten years ago. Thank you for your hard work."
Li Guang's generous gesture left the veterans bewildered, and they hurriedly returned the greeting.
"General Li, you are too kind. If we can find General Li Ru on this return trip, it will fulfill a great wish of ours. General Li, please do whatever you need us to do, and we will do our best."
Li Guang nodded and said, "Could you seniors tell me about what happened back then?"
"Let me speak first," an old soldier said.
"At that time, I was a soldier guarding the camp, so I knew more about the situation. Back then, the Fourth Prince led his army to garrison ten miles away from Guangling Town. Although it was located in the mountains, the area around Guangling Town was still very open."
General Li Ru had a habit of rising early. He would ride out of the camp early in the morning. Since the area in front of the camp was very spacious, General Li Ru would practice martial arts in front of the camp, then ride out for a lap before returning to the camp.
"How far does General Li Ru run each time before returning to camp?" Li Guang asked.
"Based on the time calculation, General Li Ru must have run at least forty or fifty li, and it is estimated that he is at least twenty li away from the military camp."
"He didn't leave the military camp far, so how did he disappear?"
"Since General Li always returned on time, but that time he did not return for a long time, the Fourth Prince immediately arranged for people to search for him after learning about the situation, but they could not find him."
At first, people weren't worried, but when it got dark and General Li Ru still hadn't returned, the soldiers started to get anxious.
Over the next few days, the soldiers expanded the search area to a hundred miles, but still could not find General Li Ru's whereabouts.
Since the main army's return date had arrived, the Fourth Prince had no choice but to leave a small group of men to continue the search while the main force returned to the capital.
I stayed behind and continued the search with the soldiers for over a month, but we still couldn't find General Li Ru.
"Was General Li Ru kidnapped by the people of Bagong?" Li Guang asked.
"Probably not. At that time, the main force of the Bagong Kingdom was trapped in Guangling Town. Only about a hundred people broke through and escaped, while the rest were killed."
General Li Ru only disappeared several days after the Bagong people broke through the siege; this should have nothing to do with them.
"So what exactly happened during this time, and what happened to General Li Ru?" Li Guang asked.
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