Free Web NovelChapter 419: Chapter 422: Rebel Army
Li Ji walked toward the study, giving orders as he went.
"Get a shop ready on Kaiyang Street."
Gao Shan reminded him, "We don’t have a shop on Kaiyang Street."
He had wanted to bring it up earlier, but with the Princess Consort and Feihua Zhenren present, he had been too embarrassed to speak.
He’d assumed Prince Zhao had forgotten. After all, the Prince had so many properties under his name, and he never bothered with such trivial matters. It would be perfectly normal for him not to know the location of every single one.
Li Ji, however, merely gave him a cool glance.
"If I say we have one, we have one."
’Of course he knew he didn’t have a shop on Kaiyang Street.’
’But what did that matter?’
’Even if we don’t have one, I can just spend a little money and buy one.’
’Am I really short on that little bit of silver?’
Gao Shan froze for a second before it dawned on him. He quickly replied, "I understand."
’I’ll have to send someone back to the Prince Mansion immediately, get a sum of silver from the accounts, and buy a shop on Kaiyang Street.’
Chen Wangbei stood ramrod straight at the study door. His clothes were covered in dust, and while his face was freshly washed, his chin was stubbled and his hair was messy. It was clear he was travel-worn, having just returned from a long trip.
Seeing Prince Zhao arrive, he immediately dropped to one knee.
"This subordinate pays his respects to Prince Zhao."
Li Ji: "Have you been waiting long?"
Chen Wangbei: "No, I just arrived."
Jin Shu pushed open the door.
Li Ji went in first, with Chen Wangbei following close behind.
Jin Shu poured a cup of cool tea for each of them.
She knew the two had things to discuss, so she quietly withdrew, not forgetting to close the door behind her.
Chen Wangbei took a letter from within his robes and placed it solemnly on the desk.
"This is a letter personally written by General Xuanwei, who is garrisoned in Lingnan. He asked me to deliver it to you, Your Highness."
General Xuanwei was once a military general personally promoted by Duke Zhen. Later, due to political disagreements, their relationship soured, and they went their separate ways.
Afterward, he was sent to Lingnan by the Emperor and put in command of the fifty thousand soldiers of the Heavenly Might Army.
They had no contact after that.
To the outside world, they were seen as mortal enemies who had cut off all ties.
But Li Ji knew that was all just a facade for outsiders; in reality, they secretly kept in touch.
With Duke Zhen’s fall in battle, their correspondence also ceased.
In the past few years, Li Ji had not received any more letters from General Xuanwei.
He had thought General Xuanwei no longer wanted anything to do with him, but he never expected to suddenly receive a letter from General Xuanwei at a time like this.
Li Ji broke the seal on the letter and pulled out a thin sheet of paper.
The paper was densely covered in characters, which boiled down to two things—
First, after Prince Dongyang fled to Lingnan, he hid deep in the mountains and forests. He married the daughter of a local stockade chief, gaining the chief’s support, which made it very difficult for the court to capture them.
Second, he told Li Ji that the reason he hadn’t actively contacted him all these years wasn’t because he had forgotten his friendship with Duke Zhen, but to protect Li Ji.
At that time, although Li Ji had already made a name for himself on the battlefield, he still possessed a young man’s recklessness. General Xuanwei was worried he might do something uncontrollable on impulse, so he deliberately cut off their line of communication.
But in fact, all these years, General Xuanwei had been secretly sending men to protect Li Ji.
Seeing Li Ji grow to his current stature, General Xuanwei was very gratified. If there was an opportunity, he hoped to meet with Li Ji in person.
After reading the letter’s contents, Li Ji didn’t show much of a reaction.
He casually tossed the letter into the brush-washing basin.
The ink on the paper quickly dissolved, blurring into an illegible mess.
’I know perfectly well that General Xuanwei’s words can’t be fully trusted.’
’This talk about sending men to protect me... it was more like surveillance and observation.’
’After Duke Zhen died, I became the only person in the world who knew he and General Xuanwei had been in contact.’
’General Xuanwei was worried I would betray him, so he had men watching me. If I had shown the slightest inkling of turning him in, my life would have been forfeit.’
’After six years of observation, General Xuanwei saw that I hadn’t betrayed him. On the contrary, I had climbed higher and higher, accumulating merits that even surpassed Duke Zhen’s. Only then did he decide he wanted to contact me in secret.’
’Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.’
’There’s nothing to criticize about General Xuanwei’s actions. If our positions were reversed, I would have done the same.’
Li Ji sat on the low couch, leaning back lazily. He casually rested his right arm on the side, and his wide sleeve draped down over the armrest.
"So, tell me, what’s the situation with Prince Dongyang?"
Chen Wangbei immediately recounted their experience in full detail.
He was ordered to lead the Flying Dragon Cavalry in pursuit of the rebel army.
Prince Dongyang and Xu Jiwu fled with the rebel army all the way to Lingnan, eventually escaping into the deep mountains and ancient forests.
The mountain terrain was complex, and Chen Wangbei didn’t dare to venture too deep. He only searched the edges of the forest and ultimately came back empty-handed.
With no other choice, Chen Wangbei had to contact General Xuanwei, who was garrisoned in Lingnan, hoping to get his help.
General Xuanwei was very enthusiastic.
He personally led his soldiers to guide Chen Wangbei and his men into the mountains, where they found traces left by the rebel army.
Unfortunately, they were a step too late.
By the time they found the rebels, Prince Dongyang had already married the daughter of a local stockade chief.
The Lingnan area is home to many ethnic minorities, who have formed mountain stockades of various sizes. Prince Dongyang’s new father-in-law happened to be the chief of the largest of these stockades, and everyone had to address him respectfully as the Great Chief.
Those stockades were united and had their own set of rules.
No matter what happened to people in their stockades, it was handled internally. Outsiders had no say.
Even the local government couldn’t control them.
Facing the court’s army that had come to capture Prince Dongyang, the Great Chief actually led his people to surround them.
The two sides were roughly equal in number, but the court’s army was on unfamiliar territory and wasn’t confident they could win.
Most importantly, if a fight really broke out, the peace that had been maintained in the region for many years would be shattered. When that happened, the neighboring King Xiao Nan would likely take advantage of the chaos.
After weighing the pros and cons, General Xuanwei decided to take a step back.
He led his men out of the forest.
Not long after, the main force of the court’s army arrived in Lingnan in a great procession.
General Xuanwei once again came forward to lead them into the mountains to capture Prince Dongyang.
However, when they found the stockade, they discovered it was completely empty. There wasn’t a single person inside.
The rebels, along with all the people from the stockade, had fled.
The court’s army searched the mountains for a long time. Not only did they fail to find any trace of the rebels, but many of their own men fell into traps, suffering several hundred casualties in just three days.
