It was nearly dusk, and Zhao Xian prepared to go to Yunjiazhuang to stay overnight before returning to Lishui.
The group arrived at Yunjiazhuang. The villagers, having heard that a group of people who had crossed Devil's Valley and traveled to the Kingdom of Golden Beacon more than a month ago had returned, came out to check on them.
The old hunter also came out of the house, and when he saw that Zhao Xian, Li Xue and the others had returned safely, he finally felt relieved.
"You're finally back. I've been on tenterhooks for over a month. Seeing you return safely puts my mind at ease."
"Have you arrived in the Kingdom of Golden Harvest? Have you found the person you're looking for?" the old hunter asked.
Zhao Xian, holding the old hunter's hand, seemed a little excited and said:
"Thanks to the old man's guidance, we safely crossed the Devil's Valley, arrived at the Kingdom of Golden Dian, found General Li Ru who had disappeared ten years ago, and even married the princess of the Kingdom of Golden Dian."
"Ah, what an incredible encounter!" the old hunter exclaimed, finding it unbelievable.
At this moment, Li Ru walked up to the old hunter, bowed, and said:
"I am the one who went missing back then. I am very grateful for your great help, sir, which allowed me to return. Please accept my bow."
"You are the general who went missing back then. I never expected that you would return safely ten years later."
What's truly unexpected is that you also married the princess of the Golden Kingdom. This in itself is a legend, and our Yun Family Village will become famous throughout the world because of it." The old hunter said excitedly.
Next, Zhao Xian ordered his men to set up camp. Li Xue, taking advantage of the time before it got dark, led several guards to the surrounding area of the village to collect some succulents to take back and plant.
Some time ago, Li Xue collected a lot of seed pods, so that she had both seeds and individual succulents. She could either sow seeds to cultivate seedlings or plant them directly.
Nothing happened that night. The next morning, everyone got up early, packed up, said goodbye to the villagers, and headed to Lishui.
Everyone was in high spirits. They stayed overnight in Guangling Town and didn't arrive in Lishui until dusk the next day.
Outside Lishui City, there were also 5,000 soldiers from Shuixian Village stationed. When the soldiers saw that they had returned safely, they immediately came out of the village to welcome them.
The general guarding the camp told Zhao Xian that more than a month ago, Li Guang led 15,000 soldiers, along with Zhao Cheng and Wang Ling, directly to the capital. He planned to return to Shuixian Village after finishing his business in the capital.
Zhao Xian nodded, preparing to break camp and return to Shuixian Village the next day.
Zhao Xian calculated the days and concluded that Li Guang's 15,000 troops should have arrived in the capital by now.
Indeed, Li Guang was on his way to the capital at that time, and at dusk, he ordered the camp to be set up.
At this moment, a scout reported that the city was still a day's journey away.
Li Guang nodded, his heart filled with excitement. He had taken the initiative to return to the capital to handle several important matters.
Before returning to the capital, Li Guang went to Wei Jin and told him about Wang Ling's poisoning of them in the valley and Zhao Cheng's forced amputation of his arm. Wei Jin was shocked.
Therefore, Wei Jin specially went to Lishui to interrogate Wang Ling. After several rounds of questioning, Wang Ling finally admitted that the eldest prince had ordered him to kill Li Guang and others. He then signed and sealed the document.
At the same time, Wei Jin also wrote a memorial to the emperor, reporting the major incident of Wang Ling disobeying military orders and causing the court to lose 3,000 troops. He requested that the court severely punish Wang Ling and also asked the emperor to punish him for his own misjudgment in choosing personnel.
After doing all this, Li Guang, along with Zhao Cheng and Wang Ling, bid farewell to Wei Jin and led his troops back to the capital.
At this time, they were still a day's journey from the capital, and Li Guang was about to see his father, the Emperor. This filled him with excitement and mixed emotions.
The next morning, Li Guang led his army to continue their journey. At dusk, a scout reported that they were still thirty li away from the capital.
Li Guang immediately ordered the army to halt its advance. If they entered the city now, it would be too late, and many important matters would be left undone. It would be better to rest there for the night and enter the city the next morning.
Thinking of this, Li Guang ordered that they set up camp on the spot.
Nothing happened that night, and the next day, just as dawn was breaking, Li Guang set off, leading his army to the capital.
They soon arrived in the capital. By then it was broad daylight. Li Guang ordered his army to set up camp outside the city. He selected two hundred soldiers, who, along with Zhao Cheng and Wang Ling, escorted them toward the city gate.
The soldiers guarding the city, seeing so many people arrive at once, immediately stepped forward to question them.
"Who are you people, and what are you doing in the city?"
Li Guang cupped his hands to the soldiers and said:
"My name is Li Guang. I have returned from the southwestern border and am coming to the capital to pay my respects to the Emperor."
For these soldiers, Li Guang's name was already legendary, and they knew that Li Guang was leading 20,000 troops from Shuixian Village to the southwestern border.
Unexpectedly, Li Guang had already led his troops back at this time. This was the young prince of the current dynasty.
The soldiers guarding the city dared not be negligent and quickly bowed in respect.
"So it is His Highness the Prince who has arrived. We have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive us."
"No need for formalities, this is your duty," Li Guang said, and then led two hundred soldiers into the city.
Upon arriving in the city, Li Guang immediately went to Li Hui's residence and ordered his soldiers to surround it, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.
After doing this, Li Guang had his guards help Zhao Cheng and escort Wang Ling to the main hall of the palace.
It was the time for the morning court session, and all the civil and military officials were in the court. The eldest prince, Li Hui, was also there today. He was completely unaware that Li Guang had returned to the capital and surrounded his residence.
At this moment, the emperor was listening attentively to the reports from his ministers when suddenly a eunuch came forward to report.
"Your Majesty, General Li Guang requests an audience."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor was immediately delighted and almost stood up from his dragon throne, saying:
"Qing'er is back. Summon him to an audience immediately."
"Announce that General Li Guang is here to see you."
The eunuch immediately shouted.
With the emperor's permission, Li Guang had the others wait outside the hall and strode into the hall himself.
At this moment, none of the civil and military officials in the court expected Li Guang to come to the hall at this time. Many of them had not seen Li Guang for three years.
Everyone turned to look outside the hall, eager to see what Li Guang looked like as soon as possible.
Standing in front of the assembled officials, Li Hui never dreamed that Li Guang would actually come to the main hall. At this moment, his face was extremely ugly, and he lowered his head, not daring to look anywhere.
It seems that Wang Ling's plot to murder Li Guang has failed. Li Guang will definitely come back to the capital to demand an explanation, and I'm in big trouble now.
Li Guang arrived at the main hall, walked to the emperor, and knelt down.
"Qing'er greets Father Emperor."
"So it's Qing'er who's back. Please rise quickly and step forward so I can have a good look at you."
Li Guang got up and came before the emperor. The emperor stood up and carefully examined Li Guang.
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