vstars Chapter 792: Meeting Deputy General Xu on the Road
Chapter 792: Meeting Deputy General Xu on the Road
I looked at this alien boy with light blue eyes with gratitude. I didn't expect that after just a few years, he would not only protect me, but also have such ability.
"Just send someone to lead the way for me." He finally nodded, asked for a way to contact me, and finally said, "But I have to leave immediately."
That night, Shilifa gave him the fastest warhorse and four personal guards, and prepared sufficient dry food and water for him.
As he headed south, Jing Chang'an's memories became clearer and clearer. Every time he passed a place, a new scene emerged.
When he saw the outline of the mountains on the Daqing border in the distance, his heart almost jumped out of his chest - he was finally going back to where he belonged.
"Black Wolf Valley is ahead," a guard pointed to a hidden mountain road. "From here, we can bypass the border checkpoint, but that area is occupied by the Tatars."
Jing Changan was about to speak when his ears moved suddenly: "Someone!"
The five men immediately hid behind the rocks. A short while later, a group of about twenty plainclothes merchants appeared on the mountain road. They were all dressed in Hanfu, but the emblem on the flagpole startled Jing Chang'an—it was a secret emblem unique to the Jing Family Army!
"It's Xu Zhao!" He recognized the leading general, who was the deputy general beside his eldest brother.
Just as Jing Changan was about to show up, a guard suddenly stopped him: "Wait! What if they are here..."
Jing Chang'an shook his head, with a determined light in his eyes: "The Jing family army will not betray." After that, he strode out of the hiding place.
"Who is it!" Xu Zhaoli shouted. In the distance, twenty bows and crossbows were instantly aimed at Jing Chang'an.
Jing Chang'an stood still, slowly drew out the short knife from his waist, and inserted the tip of the knife into the ground - this was the etiquette for the generals of the Jing family army to show their identity.
"Xu Zhao," he said in a steady voice, "I haven't seen you for a few years, and you don't even recognize me?"
Under the sun, Xu Zhao and the soldiers' expressions changed from shock to ecstasy, and finally to tears. This iron-clad man dismounted from his horse and fell to his knees with a plop. "General An! It really is you! The general has sent us to search the entire northern border! It's been almost half a year."
The other soldiers also knelt, some even crying with excitement. Jing Chang'an helped Xu Zhao up and found that this once high-spirited young man had now grown gray hair and a scar on his face that had not healed long ago. He must have been attacked while searching for him.
"My elder brother...is he okay?" His voice trembled.
Xu Zhao nodded heavily. "It's all good. The general led us to mine gold and develop sea transportation, and we made a lot of money."
"He and my cousin both firmly believe that you are still alive, so we must spare no effort and never give up the search!"
"By the way," an attendant next to Xu Zhao suddenly poked Xu Zhao and made a gesture towards his arms.
Xu Zhao quickly reached into his arms and said, "The general's secret letter arrived the day before yesterday. He said that this time all the Tartars will be driven out and the palace will also be changed. He is on his way to the northern border and I'm afraid he has arrived now." A small secret letter was handed to Jing Chang'an.
Jing Chang'an's legs went weak and he could hardly stand. This sudden good news was like a good medicine, temporarily relieving the pain in his heart.
"How is the Jing family army now?" he asked anxiously.
"We were disbanded and reorganized, but we secretly contacted our old subordinates." Xu Zhao gritted his teeth. "The imperial military supervisors withheld military pay, and border defenses were lax. The Tatars were very arrogant and threatened to establish their capital in Daqing City..."
Jing Changan gripped his dagger tightly and made a decision: "Let's go back and see Big Brother. We have to catch the Tatars off guard."
"General An, doesn't he need to rest?" Seeing that Jing Chang'an was much thinner than before, Xu Zhao and the soldiers were a little worried.
"I'll go back after I win the battle," he finally said, his voice firm. "Brother needs me, the Jing family army needs me, and the people of Northern Xinjiang need me even more."
Xu Zhao stood in awe and saluted solemnly: "I obey your command!" Then he ordered his horse to turn around.
Shi Lifa, who was worried about following them, was now standing on a high place, looking at Jing Chang'an's straight back.
At this moment, the boy seemed to see the Jing family who bravely fought against a pack of wolves during their exile, especially the four brothers Dalang and Sister Xi - no matter what they encountered, they first remembered that they were protectors.
"Let's go." Jing Chang'an jumped on his horse, waved his hand, and looked towards the mountains in the south. There were his brothers, his soldiers, and his battlefield.
The dagger at his waist burned hot, as if echoing the surging tide of his heart. This time, he was no longer a dead man, but returned to his rightful place under the name of Jing Chang'an.
...
After entering the city, Xu Zize and Jing Chunxi rode ahead, without Lvying leading the way. The sound of their horses' hooves on the bluestone pavement made a crisp sound, startling the birds perched on the willow trees by the roadside.
The young man, reining in one hand, navigated the winding alleys with familiarity, finally stopping in front of a white-walled, black-tiled house. Jing Chunxi couldn't help but glance sideways at his familiarity, his almond-shaped eyes filled with surprise.
"Brother Xiaokang, have you been to this house before?" She was helped off the horse, her skirts swaying gracefully in the air. A few dandelions peeking out from the cracks in the bluestone slabs were startled and scattered by the air currents as she landed.
This should be the only reasonable explanation. Jing Chunxi looked up, sure of his judgment.
Xu Zize threw the reins to the servant who came up to him and whispered, "The Prince of Yan's Mansion has houses in every county that are secretly owned by other people." He reached out and brushed away the willow catkins that had stuck to Jing Chunxi's hair at some point, his fingertips almost transparent in the sunlight.
Naturally, he had no chance to come here before. The location of the house was the same as the last time in Chancheng, when his father took a wolf brush and carefully outlined the outline of the entire city on the rice paper, as well as several main streets, and finally emphasized this place where he turned in.
He remembered it all.
It was a typical Jiangnan three-courtyard house, with small moss-like animals perched on the corners of the eaves, and a few clumps of tenacious moss trees poking out from between the dark tiles. In the courtyard stood a large, mossy vat, and a few red carp swam under the water lilies.
As soon as Ma entered the yard, he heard voices coming from the backyard, mixed with the muffled sound of wooden barrels and basins colliding with each other, as if there were more than a dozen people living there.
Jing Chunxi grabbed Xu Zize's sleeve, his glass-like eyes were filled with doubt and questioning.
"They're apparently two unrelated houses." Xu Zize let her pull him along, gently pushing aside the wisteria spikes that hung before his eyes, picking a small purple flower and inserting it into her hair. "They're actually connected."