Chapter 119

 

When Chen Jingzong and other vanguard troops escorted Prince Yu, Guo Jixian, and a group of surrendered troops to retreat out of the mountain, they met the army led by Ling Rucheng halfway.

The war supressing the rebellion was finally over and the morale was high.

However, the Jinwu Vanguard and the Kaizhou Guard suffered heavy losses, especially the Jinwu Vanguard, which was almost completely wiped out. Qi Jin was also seriously injured, so Ling Rucheng had to spend some time comforting him.

It wasn’t until nightfall that the army set up camp in a mountain col. After dinner, Ling Rucheng finally had some time alone.

He stayed alone for almost an hour, then took advantage of the night to secretly summon Chen Jingzong to see him.

There was only a half-burnt red wax burning in the commander-in-chief tent.

When Chen Jingzong came in, he found that Ling Rucheng was the only one in the tent. The fifty-year-old commander had taken off his armor and was only wearing a simple dark robe.

Seeing Chen Jingzong, Ling Rucheng waved to the young prince consort to sit next to him.

Chen Jingzong sat over.

Ling Rucheng pointed to the two bowls of wine on the low table and said, “As I get older, I can’t drink too much wine. With these two bowls, let’s drink slowly and chat slowly.”

He was a Jinshi, and had the elegance of a civil servant, which was not obvious when he was wearing armor. But at this time when he was only wearing a robe and his tone was easy-going, he became more like an approachable elder.

Chen Jingzong nodded, picked up the wine bowl, and took a sip.

The candlelight illuminated his young and handsome face.

Ling Rucheng and Chen Tingjian were Jinshi from the same school, and Ling Rucheng had knew Chen Tingjian since he could only look up to other senior officials. Therefore, Ling Rucheng easily found the shadow of the chief minister in his youth on Chen Jingzong’s face.

Chen Tingjian had a kind of righteousness about him. Even when he had to hide his capabilities and bide his time, Chen Tingjian was neither humble nor arrogant.

Ling Rucheng felt that Chen Jingzong was more flamboyant, but the righteousness of this father and son was the same.

“Cabinet Elder and I are old friends. How about I just call you Silang tonight?” Ling Rucheng asked with a smile.

Chen Jingzong: “It’s an honor for our old man to be friends with heroes like you.”

If it weren’t for the fact that tonight’s confidential conversation should not be publicized, Ling Rucheng would have laughed three times just by Chen Jingzong’s words.

“Silang, don’t say that. I can only lead troops. In terms of ability to support the country with great ambition and strategy, I am far inferior to Cabinet Elder.”

Chen Jingzong: “Forget it, let’s not mention him.”

Ling Rucheng nodded, stopped smiling, looked at Chen Jingzong and said: “You said earlier that the rebels captured a scout and learned from the scout that you would pass through Baihe Ridge, so they sent troops to ambush in advance. I have already checked, the captured scout’s name is Wang San, he is the scout I sent out to monitor Jinwu Vanguard according to your instructions.”

Chen Jingzong: “Wang San should have been captured last night, so the rebels had time to arrange an ambush. But Wang San has been following Jinwu Vanguard, and he should be more hidden than the 5,000 people. It makes no sense that the rebels discovered the scout but not Jinwu Vanguard, and only waited until this morning to take action against Jinwu Vanguard.”

Ling Rucheng: “Perhaps the rebels discovered Jinwu Vanguard and the scout at the same time, and guessed that there were other vanguards, so they deliberately captured the scout first. When they learned that you had also entered the mountain, of course they wanted to capture you, this prince consort, alive first. If they deal with Jinwu Vanguard or the other vanguards first, and alert you to take precautions, wouldn’t it be saved a little but lose a lot?”

Chen Jingzong pursed his lips.

Ling Rucheng: “How do you explain why you guessed that the rebels would set an ambush and why you suspected that the eight vanguard armies might collaborate with the enemy?”

Chen Jingzong: “I’m just too cautious, just in case.”

Ling Rucheng: “But in the end, you made great achievements with Jiyang Guard, but Jinwu Vanguard was almost wiped out. Jinwu Vanguard, the biggest sufferer, had the most reason to suspect that someone was collaborating with the enemy. At this time, if Jinwu Vanguard knew that the captured scout were the one I sent to follow them, who do you think they would suspect?”

Chen Jingzong frowned, thought for a moment, and said: “They will suspect that you deliberately induced the rebels to ambush me in Baihe Ridge, and then told me to take precautions in advance, deliberately giving me a chance to make meritorious deeds, because you and the old man are old friends. If you do this, either you are willing to take care of me, or you are entrusted by the old man. At the same time, they will also suspect that you deliberately let the scout leak the route of Jinwu Vanguard, so that you can use the hands of the rebels to get rid of Qi Jin, the only nephew of Empress Dowager Qi who can serve the emperor. Of course, this must be what the old man ordered you to do.”

Ling Rucheng’s expression was heavy: “Exactly. The stakes in this matter are too high and one’s response is insufficient. Even if the court suppresses Prince Yu’s rebellion, there will be a bloody storm in the court.”

Chen Jingzong lowered his eyes: “I was too reckless and handed the other party a handle.”

Ling Rucheng shook his head, looked at him and said, “It has nothing to do with you. It’s just that the person hiding behind this time is too vicious.”

Chen Jingzong: “Do you already have suspicious suspect?”

Ling Rucheng: “First of all, when I arranged the eight scouts, I only let them know the route of the vanguard army they would monitor. If Wang San was following Jiyang Guard, he might be able to accidentally discover the traces of Daxing Left Guard. But he was following Jinwu Vanguard, and it was impossible to bump into Daxing Left Guard. Even if Wang San confessed under torture, he could only reveal Jinwu Vanguard’s route.”

Chen Jingzong: “Those who know the route of the vanguards and have the opportunity to leak secrets to the rebels are the two commanders of the Jinwu Vanguard and Kaizhou Guard who can find the rebels on the march.”

Ling Rucheng: “According to the reports from the scout who monitored the Kaizhou Guard, there was no movement from the Kaizhou Guard throughout the whole process. The traitor must be among Jinwu Vanguard, either Qi Jin, or someone under Qi Jin’s command found a way to find out about the marching route of the eight vanguard armies. The man who went to inform the rebels last night most likely discovered that Wang San was following him on the road, so he killed Wang San and silenced him, and then temporarily exposed the route of Jinwu Vanguard, thus clearing the suspicion of Jinwu Vanguard.”

Chen Jingzong was silent.

Ling Rucheng: “Have you ever thought about why the person hidden in Jinwu Vanguard wanted to frame you?”

Chen Jingzong certainly thought how Qi Jin coveted Hua Yang, so if he was eliminated, Hua Yang would become a widow, and Qi Jin would have a chance.

But Hua Yang had been married to him for four years, during which time he had almost no contact with Qi Jin. Who would believe that Qi Jin would disregard the lives of thousands of soldiers for this little childish love?

Ling Rucheng hadn’t even thoughts in this direction. He said worriedly: “I’m afraid their real target is Cabinet Elder. They want to capture you alive and threaten Cabinet Elder with your life. If Cabinet Elder orders me to withdraw my troops for you, the whole Chen family will be the target of public criticism. If Cabinet Elder abandons you, sacrificing his son’s life with his own hand, will he still have the energy to continue to insist on his reforms?”

Chen Jingzong looked at the flames dancing on the table.

Qi Jin just wanted him dead, but the rebels arranged an ambush to coerce the old man.

But even if Chen Jingzong died in battle, he would never give the rebels a chance to take him as a hostage.

Ling Rucheng had explained the situation clearly. Looking at Chen Jingzong who had been silent for a long time, he sighed and said quietly: “If it’s revealed that we arranged scouts to monitor the eight vanguard armies, along with the numerous suspicions surrounding Jinwu Vanguard, and the remaining three hundred and twenty-four soldiers of the Jinwu Vanguard are handed over to the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, or even to the court for interrogation, then the mastermind behind the scenes and those courtiers who have been eyeing Cabinet Elder covetously will surely seize the opportunity to discredit Cabinet Elder, falsely accusing him of conspiring with me, aiming to eliminate Qi Jin, and seize absolute power over the young Emperor.

“Silang, there are many generals in the imperial court, and I’m not the only one. I’m not afraid of being dismissed from the army or being sent to prison. But in several generations of our dynasty, your father is the only one who dares to stand up to the entire corrupt officialdom. You and I can’t put Cabinet Elder in danger for the sake of a momentary anger.”

Chen Jingzong understood: “How do you plan to report it?”

Ling Rucheng: “I will just say that I had the scouts go into the mountains to search for where the rebels were hiding. Unfortunately, Wang San was captured by the rebels, which revealed the whereabouts of Daxing Left Guard. I have already told the other seven scouts. They are all reliable people, and will not dare to talk nonsense, otherwise they will not be able to escape suspicion if they’re really investigated, and no one knows whether they have really been following the vanguard army.

“You happened to meet the Jiyang Guard, and you were cautious enough to break the rebels’ ambush. Jinwu Vanguard was unfortunately besieged simply because it was too close to the rebels.

“In this way, let the Jinwu Vanguard get away first. If the other party has a guilty conscience, he won’t dare to take the initiative to expose their suspicion of framing Daxing Left Guard.

“As for Guo Jixian, it’s impossible for him to know who secretly gave them the information, and the confessions of the rebel general and the other rebels you captured were all saying that it was Guo Jixian and Prince Jing who arrested a scout that night. Even if Guo Jixian changed his story at the last minute, it will only be seen as a false accusation, trying to implicate someone.

“Silang, in order to maintain the stability of the overall situation, we can only endure it for a while.”

From the beginning to the end, Ling Rucheng did not say which person in Jinwu Vanguard he specifically suspected, which showed that he did not want to get too involved in it.

Chen Jingzong could understand.

Even if he knew it was Qi Jin, he didn’t have enough evidence. If he had to bring out that bit of evidence that couldn’t convict Qi Jin, Qi Jin could still frame Ling Rucheng for colluding with the old man and joining force to harm Empress Dowager Qi’s family.

This matter could only go so far. He could only wait for Qi Jin to take action next time and then catch him red-handed.

As for Hua Yang, there was no irrefutable evidence at all. What could he tell her to identify Qi Jin? There were more than three hundred people in Jinwu Vanguard that were still alive. Those three hundred people could all be suspect, and Qi Jin was not the only one.

Even if Hua Yang believed that Qi Jin liked her, liked her so much that he could even betray the imperial court, liked her so much that he wanted to use the hands of the rebels to kill her prince consort and the entire Daxing Left Guard, and later to wash away the suspicion, Qi Jin could even use the five thousand soldiers of Jinwu Vanguard who followed him through life and death, and watched them die in vain at the hands of the rebels. Chen Jingzong did not want her to know any of this this.

He was afraid that Hua Yang would attribute the deaths of him and Daxing Left Guard in the dream to herself, and he was afraid that Hua Yang would take the death of 4,700 soldiers of Jinwu Vanguard to herself.

She was a princess, and was very proud, but she also has a soft heart that was rare among other imperial relatives.

But she didn’t have to blame herself, all this had nothing to do with her, it was all Qi Jin’s wolf ambition.

In addition, Chen Jingzong was even more afraid that Hua Yang, because she believed in him too much, would confront Qi Jin or complain to Empress Dowager Qi. Even if Hua Yang only subtly hinted to Empress Dowager Qi or the Young Emperor to distance themselves from Qi Jin, such inexplicable and strange behavior would arouse suspicion from Empress Dowager Qi.

Empress Dowager Qi married her daughter in order to win over the Chen family. Once Hua Yang turned around to guard against her mother clan for the sake of the Chen family, Empress Dowager Qi would suspect that her daughter had been seduced by the Chen family and stupidly turned her elbows outward to side with outsiders rather than one’s own.

Since ancient times, married daughters have had this dilemma.

She had lost her father emperor, and Chen Jingzong couldn’t let her get hurt by her own mother.

Previous     TOC     Next