Chapter 179

 

On the morning of the fifth day of Sixth Month, Chen Jingzong got up early as usual.

At a quarter to maoshi (5-7 am), it would be pitch dark outside in winter, but bright at this time in summer when the days were long.

The grand 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 mansion servants had already led the divine horse Snow Tower that the grand princess gave him to the outside of the gate. When Chen Jingzong walked out, he met Zhou Ji who was arranging the handover between two shifts of guards.

“Have a safe journey, 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?”

His son was born on the eleventh of Third Month. He was so happy that he asked for leave from Eunuch Wu and hurried home. Unexpectedly, Eunuch Wu specially reported it to grand princess. The next day, grand 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 good event. 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 prince consort going away, feeling very strange. He and the prince consort did meet often, but in terms of relationship, it seemed that he had never done anything to win prince consort’s favor, right?

A guard who had just come off duty came up to him and said in a low voice, “Prince Consort is really generous.”

Commander Zhou had only been married for a year and a half, and his son was about to celebrate his 100th day. Prince consort had been a prince consort for more than six years, but he still has no children. Not only he didn’t envy Commander Zhou, but he happily wanted to celebrate for him.

Zhou Ji’s face darkened and he looked over coldly: “If you don’t want to live, just say it. Is this the kind of thing you can comment?”

It’s not good to comment the affairs of prince consort, let alone involving grand princess.

The guard spoke hastily because he saw that 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 was the fifth day of the month, the day to meet his eldest brother’s informant.

Eldest brother rented a house in Zhangjia Village, which was on his way. It was dark in the morning of autumn and winter, and Chen Jingzong could go there 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 small wood, 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 was all for safety reasons. There were basically no people on that road whether in the early morning or in the evening.

This morning, Chen Jingzong settled in a small wood again.

When approaching the wood, 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 wood. After barely hiding his figure, he lifted up his clothes, untied his belt, and pretended to urinate.

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 crow also went to the funeral.”

The sparrows refer to the fifty-six heavily injured soldiers who retired 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 late emperor passed away.

The crow was Qi Jin, the commander of the Jinwu Vanguard.

Chen Jingzong: “How did he die?”

Informant: “Both of his legs were broken, but he was lucky enough to survive. However, he has been suffering from major and minor illnesses over the past two years. This time, there is no hope for him.”

Chen Jingzong was silent.

There were also soldiers in Daxing Left Guard 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 had died in the past three years, including this one.

“How about the rest?”

“Most of them are well taken care of by their families and have few illnesses, so they are all doing fine. But there are six who are not doing so well. One of them is called Sun Fu, who is blind. His wife has an affair with her husband’s cousin next door behind his back. It hasn’t been long, and the neighbors hasn’t found out yet. We only caught them when we were watching them at night. Sun Fu often smashed plates and bowls, it’s most likely he has already guessed it.”

Chen Jingzong sneered: “His wife is really bold.”

Informant: “If it weren’t for the crow, that woman wouldn’t even be able to maintain a superficial friendly attitude.”

Chen Jingzong: “What is Sun Fu’s attitude towards the crow?”

Informant: “The crow would only visit the wounded soldiers every two or three months, bringing them some silver and medicinal herbs. Sun Fu would always see the Crow off, but he was blind, had scars on his face, was taciturn, and showed no emotion. It’s normal, when you fall into that situation, and has no hope for the future, how can you still have the energy to flatter the nobles?”

Chen Jingzong understood and said, “Where is his home? On the day when there’s a heavy rain all day, I will go over to meet Sun Fu in the evening. You guys should prepare over there.”

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 was a lot of rain in the summer, and Chen Jingzong soon encountered 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 Hua Yang, she did not feel disgusted but felt quite peaceful instead.

Chen Jingzong kissed her ear and said, “I have to go out later.”

Hua Yang looked over in surprise.

Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, “It’s 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 Hua Yang 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 tell 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?”

Hua Yang: “Is what 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.”

This person was never serious. Hua Yang glared at him.

Chen Jingzong: “Then I’m leaving. You just go to sleep and don’t wait for me. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

Hua Yang 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.

Hua Yang thought of that night in her previous life.

It was also pitch black like this, and he was going to the battlefield. Through a layer of gauze, he said goodbye to her coldly and distantly: “You take care of yourself. I’m leaving.”

At that time, did he also want to sit on the edge of her bed, kiss her, and listen to her saying something?

Hua Yang hugged his neck.

Chen Jingzong paused, then laughed: “There really isn’t any danger, unless a female demon suddenly appears and insists on kidnapping me.”

Hua Yang: “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 Grand Princess Mansion was still heavily guarded. However, Chen Jingzong wanted to go out from inside. He knew the arrangements of the guards everywhere, so he quickly found an opportunity and disappeared into the rainy night.

Sun Fu was from the capital and lived 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 beautiful wife, Xu shi.

Such a young man was one of the best in the neighborhood, and Sun Fu and Xu shi 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 shi 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 who came in person, Sun Fu acted like a walking corpse.

The Sun family had three main rooms and two wing rooms.

The two sons lived in the east wing with an old maid. Xu shi slept in a separate room 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 old maid went to bed, the only sound outside seemed to be just 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 awake. After an unknown amount of time, he heard an imperceptible 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 only see darkness.

Someone held his shoulders and said, “Don’t move. I want to talk to you.”

Sun Fu 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 Jinwu Vanguard.”

“That’s right, 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, and 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 very wronged, it shouldn’t have happened like this. He also hated that hypocritical person.

“Tell me what you know, I can avenge you.”

Sun Fu cried and laughed at the same time: “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 Prince Jing’s rebel army. There are also people who know that someone in 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 win you over with gold and silver, or I can kill the adulterous couple as a reward, but I don’t think it’s worth it. I believe what you want to hear is my promise that I can redress the injustice of the more than five thousand 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. They were so close to victory, so close to returning to the capital to receive their rewards, so close to reuniting with their families, but they could never return!

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 was going to keep a night 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 a tree. Before I got close, 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. 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 knew it was the commander who deliberately led us to encounter the rebels!

“I don’t understand, what’s he trying to do, what’s he trying to do!”

Why would the current Empress Dowager’s nephew take his brothers to die for a rebel army that was 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: “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

The author has something to say:

Clouds can hardly cover the sun, and the fog will eventually clear!

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