On the morning of the fifth day of June, Chen Jingzong got up early as usual.
At a quarter to nine, it would be pitch dark outside in winter, but bright at this time in summer when the days are long.
The eldest princess was still sleeping soundly, her thin lotus-green silk dress was a little disheveled, revealing a large area of fair skin on her shoulders.
Chen Jingzong looked at her for a while before leaving.
The palace maid had already led the divine horse Bai Xue Ta that the eldest princess had given him to the outside of the door. When Chen Jingzong walked out, he met Zhou Ji who was arranging the handover between two shifts of guards.
"Goodbye, Prince Consort." Zhou Ji simply bowed.
Chen Jingzong nodded, walked a few steps away, suddenly stopped, and asked him: "Is it time for your fat boy to celebrate his 100th day?"
Zhou Ji was flattered and said, "Yes, you remember all this?"
His son was born on March 11. He was so happy that he asked for leave from Eunuch Wu and hurried home. Unexpectedly, Eunuch Wu specially reported it to the princess. The next day, the princess gave him a generous gift and gave him three more days of leave so that he could spend time with his family.
Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "What's the relationship between us? Of course I remember your kindness. I'll treat you to a drink later."
After saying this, Chen Jingzong jumped on his horse and rode away.
Zhou Ji stared blankly at the figure of the prince consort going away, feeling very strange. He and the prince consort did meet often, but in terms of their relationship, it seemed that he had never done anything to win the prince consort's favor, right
A guard who had just been relieved from his night duty came up to him and said in a low voice, "The Prince Consort is really generous."
Commander Zhou has only been married for a year and a half, and his son is about to celebrate his 100th day. The princess consort has been a princess consort for more than six years, but he still has no children. Not only do they envy Commander Zhou, but they are actually happy to celebrate for him.
Zhou Ji's face darkened and he looked over coldly: "If you don't want to live, just say it. You can make up this?"
It's not okay to arrange the affairs of the prince consort, let alone involving the eldest princess.
The guard spoke hastily because he saw that the prince consort was in a good mood. But when Zhou Ji warned him, he immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake.
Zhou Ji: "This won't happen again."
.
Chen Jingzong rode his horse at full speed out of the city gate.
Today is the fifth day of the New Year, the day to meet with Big Brother's informant.
The eldest brother rented a house in Zhangjia Village, which was on his way. In the autumn and winter mornings when it was dark, Chen Jingzong could go there in the dark without being noticed by the villagers. But in spring and summer, it was not suitable to meet in the village, so Chen Jingzong would temporarily change the location. This time it might be in a grove, and next time he would let the informant pretend to be a farmer delivering goods to the city, and Chen Jingzong would pretend to buy some fruits and have a quick chat with him on the roadside. The time was not limited to the morning.
In fact, it is all for safety reasons. In fact, there are basically no people on that road whether in the early morning or in the evening.
This morning, Chen Jingzong settled in a small woods again.
When approaching the woods, Chen Jingzong slowed down and rode to the edge of the grove. He did not look back or forward. After getting off the horse, he walked a few steps into the woods. After barely hiding his figure, he lifted up his clothes, untied his belt, and pretended to let out some water.
A man squatted behind the bushes and whispered, "Another one of those sparrows died. He was buried on the 27th of last month, and the crows also went to the funeral."
The sparrows refer to the fifty-six heavily injured soldiers who retreated from the remaining three hundred or so members of the Jinwu Vanguard after the war to quell the rebellion ended in the year when the previous emperor passed away.
The crow was Qi Jin, the commander of the Jinwu vanguard.
Chen Jingzong: "How did he die?"
Informant: "Both his legs were broken, but he was lucky enough to survive. However, he has been suffering from many illnesses over the past two years. This time, there is no hope for him."
Chen Jingzong was silent.
There were also soldiers in Daxing Zuowei who were seriously injured and had to retire. Some of them had broken arms or legs. The physical defects alone were painful enough, and they had to endure the strange looks from people around them, and even their loved ones' transformation from sadness to increasing impatience.
Some people died from illness, while others simply couldn't get over the psychological barrier and ended their lives.
As for the fifty-six severely disabled soldiers of the Jinwu Vanguard, eighteen of them have died in the past three years, including this time.
"How about the rest?"
"Most of them are well taken care of by their families and have few illnesses. They are all doing OK. There are six who are not doing so well. One of them is called Sun Fu, who is blind. His wife had an affair with her cousin next door behind his back. It wasn't long before the neighbors found out. We only caught them when we were watching them at night. Sun Fu often smashed plates and bowls, so we probably guessed it."
Chen Jingzong sneered: "His wife is really brave."
Informant: "If it weren't for the crows, that woman wouldn't even be able to maintain a superficial friendly attitude."
Chen Jingzong: "What is Sun Fu's attitude towards crows?"
Informant: "Crow would only visit the wounded soldiers every two or three months, bringing them some silver and medicinal herbs. Sun Fu would always see Crow off, but he was blind, had scars on his face, was taciturn, and showed no emotion. It was normal. Having fallen into that situation, he had no hope for the future, so how could he have the energy to flatter the nobles?"
Chen Jingzong understood and said, "Where is his home? If it rains all day, I will go over to meet Sun Fu at night. You guys should arrange the toilet."
The informant reported Sun Fu's address.
Chen Jingzong tied his belt and left.
The informant actually released some water on the land in front of him and then quietly left in another direction.
.
There is a lot of rain in summer, and Chen Jingzong soon waited for such a rainy day.
It was raining heavily and people could hardly open their eyes standing in the rain, not to mention the darkness at night.
Such a rainy night was quite cool. When Chen Jingzong hugged Huayang, he did not feel disgusted but felt at ease instead.
Chen Jingzong kissed her ear and said, "I have to go out later."
Huayang looked over in surprise.
Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, "It is not convenient for me to tell you what the old man ordered for the time being. If you still want to hear it when it is done, I will tell you everything I know."
It was impossible for Huayang not to be curious, but she believed in Chen Jingzong and her father-in-law.
She also had many secrets, and Chen Jingzong probably guessed some of them a few times, but he never forced her to question them and just cooperated silently.
She looked toward the dark window.
Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "I have experienced floods before, so why would I be afraid of this little rain?"
Huayang: "Is what your father asked you to do dangerous?"
Chen Jingzong: "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. He just doesn't like me. He's not that cruel."
He is never serious. Huayang glared at him.
Huayang nodded.
Chen Jingzong walked out of the gauze curtain and stood in front of the screen, putting on his clothes, which were black casual robes.
As if noticing her gaze, Chen Jingzong came to the bedside again and leaned over to kiss her.
Huayang thought of that night in his previous life.
It was also pitch black like this. He was going to the battlefield. Through a layer of gauze, he said goodbye to her coldly and distantly: "Take care of yourself. I'm leaving."
Did he also want to sit by her bed, kiss her, and listen to what she said
Huayang hugged his neck.
Chen Jingzong paused, then laughed: "There really is no danger, unless a female demon suddenly appears and insists on kidnapping me."
Huayang: "No matter who you meet, if you dare not come back, I will learn from my aunt."
Chen Jingzong's smile froze, and he lowered his head and bit her earlobe: "You don't have to have that kind of dream in your life."
A quarter of an hour later, Chen Jingzong, dressed in black, strode into the rain.
In such weather, the Princess's Mansion was still heavily guarded. However, Chen Jingzong wanted to go out, and he knew the arrangements of the guards everywhere, so he quickly found an opportunity and disappeared in the rainy night.
Sun Fu is from the capital and lives in the west of the city.
His parents died early, and he was raised by his uncle and aunt next door. With his tall and strong physique, he was selected into the Jinwu Vanguard and married a very beautiful wife, Xu.
Such a man was one of the best in the streets around, and Sun Fu and Xu indeed spent several years of sweet and loving life together.
However, when Sun Fu was carried back home blind and half-disfigured, the family's life was cast into a shadow.
Xu became increasingly disgusted with her husband who had become a disabled man, and her two young sons were also afraid of their father who often lost his temper.
Although Sun Fu had a family, he became a loner in the true sense of the word. He liked to stay alone in his room. No matter if the neighbors or the brothers of the Jinwu Vanguard came to visit him, including the commander Qi Jin himself, Sun Fu acted like a walking corpse.
The Sun family has three main rooms and two side rooms.
The two sons lived in the east wing with the mother-in-law. Xu slept in a separate room from him and lived in the west room, leaving Sun Fu alone to sleep in the east room.
It was raining heavily. As night fell and the sons and the mother-in-law went to bed, the only sound outside seemed to be the rain.
Sun Fu couldn't see, but his ears were sharper. He heard someone jumping over the wall, and heard the person quietly push open the door of the main room and quietly go to the west room.
One was his wife, and the other was his cousin whom he once regarded as his own brother.
Sun Fu sneered.
After his cousin left, Sun Fu was still conscious. After an unknown amount of time, he heard a barely perceptible sound of someone climbing over the wall, coming from the back door.
Sun Fu remained indifferent, and soon he suddenly fell asleep.
It was not until he suddenly smelled an unusually pungent smell that Sun Fu woke up slowly. He was blind and could still only see darkness.
Someone held his shoulders and said, "Don't move. I want to talk to you."
Sun Fuping said calmly: "Who are you?"
"A comrade who once fought with you in Wuduo Mountain."
Sun Fu was silent for a moment, then confirmed, "You are not from the Jinwu Vanguard."
"It's true, but many of my brothers also died before the great victory of the imperial court. I suspect that there is a traitor in the Jinwu Vanguard. As long as I can't prove it, I won't be able to sleep peacefully. The heroic souls of my brothers who died unjustly will not be able to leave Wuduo Mountain."
Sun Fu's scarred face twitched slightly and tears rolled down the corners of his eyes.
Not only those brothers who died unjustly, but he, the survivor, also couldn't sleep in peace. He felt it was wronged, and it didn't have to become like this. He also hated that hypocritical person.
"Tell me what you know, I can avenge you."
Sun Fu cried and laughed: "What right do you have to seek revenge? It's all in the past. I have no evidence. No one will believe me if I just say it."
"You are not the only one. There are still people alive in King Jing's rebel army. There are also people who know that someone in the Jinwu Vanguard is collaborating with the enemy. As long as your confessions match, he can be convicted."
Sun Fu: "Where is that person?"
"For your safety, I cannot tell you now, but since I have come to you, it proves my determination to find the traitor."
Sun Fu was silent again.
The person next to him said, "I can bribe you with gold and silver, or I can kill the adulterous couple as a reward, but I don't care. I believe you want to hear my promise that I can redress the injustice of the more than 5,000 brothers who died unjustly in the Jinwu Vanguard."
Hot tears welled up in Sun Fu's eyes again. He could no longer see, but he remembered the brothers who fell one after another around him, and those pairs of eyes that refused to close. He was about to win, and would be able to return to Beijing to receive the reward and reunite with his family, but he could never go back!
A pair of hands tightly grasped his shoulders, helping to calm his uncontrollable convulsions.
The other person helped him up and wiped the tears from his face and ears, including the wet earlobes.
Sun Fu turned his eyes away with a blank look and spoke slowly, "The day before the battle, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep at all. The commander said he had to keep watch, so I thought, since I couldn't sleep anyway, I might as well replace the commander and let him have a good rest. I walked over quietly and saw the commander coming down from the tree. Before I showed up, the commander left quickly."
"You could run into rebels at any time in the mountains. I was worried that the commander might be in danger, so I followed him from a distance. Not long after, I saw a dark shadow again. There was some moonlight that day, and I recognized that the other person was our scout. But why was the scout following the commander stealthily? I didn't understand, so I continued to follow him. I found that the commander had killed the scout, and I thought the scout was a spy. Later, I saw the commander find the rebel camp and shoot an arrow out."
"I was panicking. I didn't understand what the commander was doing. I just knew that I couldn't be discovered by him, so I took a detour and sneaked back to the camp, pretending that I knew nothing."
"The next day, we encountered the rebels. Everyone else thought it was bad luck, but I was the only one who knew that the commander deliberately led us to encounter the rebels!"
"I can't understand what he wants!"
Why would the nephew of the current Queen Mother take his brothers to die for a rebel army that is doomed to fail!
Sun Fu couldn't figure it out, he was almost going crazy because of this problem!
Chen Jingzong held his arms and said in a deep and powerful voice: "Don't worry, you will know it soon. What you need to do is to continue to hide yourself and don't arouse anyone's suspicion."
Sun Fu slowly calmed down and nodded: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
(End of this chapter)