Chapter 240: Opening the Altar

The sound of horse hooves was neither fast nor slow; the general on horseback was composed and unhurried.

Hu Junxian fit Chen Ji's every imagination of a border general – like a mountain range weathered by ten thousand years, rough, majestic, and steadily lying across the vast northwest land. Before this, Chen Ji had never seen Hu Junxian's true appearance up close, but the moment the other party appeared, he confirmed: this must be Hu Junxian.

In the dim, narrow street, in the dangerous and strange silent atmosphere, Chen Ji gripped his sword hilt tightly and stared coldly at the other party. It was as if a string was stretched taut between them; as the other party approached step by step, the string was about to snap.

Suddenly, the Crown Prince sat steadily on his horse's back and said in a warm voice: "After coming to Gu Yuan, this is the first time seeing General Hu so closely. I am extremely honored. I often hear the cabinet elders in the Wen Hua Hall say that as long as General Hu is in Gu Yuan border town, there is no need to worry too much. Seeing the General's demeanor today, it indeed makes people feel convinced in their hearts."

Hu Junxian's warhorse stopped, ten steps away from the Crown Prince. He opened his mouth and said: "Your Highness overpraises. Hu someone instead hopes that in the cabinet elders' hearts, I am not that formidable."

"Oh?" The Crown Prince was puzzled: "What do you mean by this?"

Hu Junxian's voice was calm like a lake: "If the cabinet elders were not that assured of me, presumably they would allocate more military equipment and provisions to my border army, instead of letting my subordinates wear vine armor, use rusted knives, and even treasure the cow tendon bowstring so much. When Jing Dynasty archers go on expedition, each person carries three bowstrings to prepare for emergencies, while my Gu Yuan border army cannot even gather enough for one person to have one string."

When the Crown Prince heard this, he slowly looked around the rooftops, only to see archers wearing vine armor, their expressions indifferent. He pondered for a moment and then said: "Coming to Gu Yuan this time, what I have seen and heard is indeed shocking to the eyes. Wait until I return to the capital, I will definitely petition His Majesty to prepare military equipment and provisions for Gu Yuan. We must not let the border army soldiers feel chilled."

Hu Junxian said expressionlessly: "If the Crown Prince can truly petition for the border army to get military equipment and provisions, Hu someone will build a living shrine for the Crown Prince, burn incense daily, and offer worship nightly."

They suddenly fell silent, dark currents surging in the narrow street. Why the border army appeared here is what the Crown Prince most wanted to ask, but he could not ask, so he could only remain silent. At this moment, the Imperial Guards' hearts were already in their throats, afraid that someone would tear open that layer of window paper, forcing the border army to kill and silence.

Li Xuan secretly made eye signals, and the Imperial Guards hurriedly drew their swords and guarded around the Crown Prince's white horse.

The next moment, Zhou You opened his mouth and said: "Crown Prince Your Highness, we received civilian intelligence reports saying that someone here was stockpiling golden juice, so we immediately rushed to capture the thieves. We hurried but still ended up letting you rob the first merit."

"Um..." Everyone's gaze turned toward Zhou You.

The Crown Prince's body slightly relaxed. Following Zhou You's words, he asked: "So the border army had precautions early on. It seems I was superfluous."

Zhou You explained with a smile: "In the 24th year of Jianing, Jing Dynasty soldiers approached Gu Yuan. They first buried hundreds of cattle and sheep corpses at the source of Qu Wu Mountain's Zi Wu River and threw arsenic into the wells. My Gu Yuan border army was besieged for two months. Fortunately, the aid army arrived in time, and we fought a decisive battle with Jing Dynasty's Tian Ce army at Qu Wu Mountain and luckily won. In the 28th year of Jianing, Jing Dynasty repeated the old trick, wanting to use golden juice to dirty the city wells. The result was that we discovered it in advance."

Zhou You continued with a smile: "From then on, my Gu Yuan border army placed spies with the arsenic sellers and the foot washers to prevent Jing Dynasty thieves from coming back."

He explained sufficiently detailed. Whether true or false, with these steps, the Crown Prince had to descend.

The Crown Prince smiled and said: "No wonder the cabinet elders praise General Hu. He indeed leads troops properly."

General Hu did not look at the Crown Prince, but looked toward the Imperial Guards and the previously captured border army soldier: "Crown Prince Your Highness, I do not know what crime this subordinate of mine committed that he is being escorted by the Imperial Guards?"

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, finally deciding to answer truthfully: "Reporting to General Hu, earlier we let him lead the way to Sha Che Street. He deliberately took us to Ku Le Street and wanted to go to Sha Che Street to tip off. I guessed that he was a Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department spy placed in the border army, so we took him down."

Zhou You suddenly said: "Then hand this person over to my border army. We will carefully interrogate him and find out the person behind him. Your Highness is of noble birth, and the Imperial Guards are the imperial forbidden army. Presumably, you are not very familiar with torture and such dirty methods."

Li Xuan was startled in his heart. He subconsciously turned to look at the Crown Prince. Zhou You was clearly wanting to kill and silence! If they handed the border army soldier over to the other party, perhaps the other party would let that border army soldier "commit suicide out of fear of crime" tonight.

But... dozens of archers were lying on the rooftops on both sides, and outside Sha Che Street, who knew how many border army were hidden? They had to hand him over.

The next moment, the Crown Prince smiled: "Since that is the case, then hand him over to General Zhou... The hour is late. I will leave the clean-up here to you all."

Zhou You cupped his hands: "Your Highness has had a hard night. Please return to the Commandery Office early to rest. We will handle things here."

As his words fell, the archers on the rooftops put away their bows and disappeared behind the rooftops. The Imperial Guards' suspended hearts suddenly settled down, but then felt a strange sensation: the border army just let them go like this?

The Crown Prince lightly clamped the horse's belly, urging the horse to move slowly forward. In the narrow street, one step, two steps, three steps... the Crown Prince and Hu Junxian, Zhou You slowly brushed shoulders, each holding their head high and chest out, their eyes not glancing sideways, not looking at the other party once.

When all the Imperial Guards passed by Hu and Zhou, fragmented horse hoof sounds came from behind them. Li Xuan knew that these horse hoof sounds were Hu Junxian and Zhou You turning their horses around, gazing deeply at them from behind, their gaze like swords, but he dared not turn back.

The Imperial Guards went from Sha Che Street to Ku Le Street, from Ku Le Street to Xu Wei Lane. All the way, everyone was silent, until Li Xuan repeatedly confirmed that the border army was not following. Only then did he breathe a long sigh of relief. He lowered his head to look, and his palm gripping the sword hilt was already covered in sweat.

Li Xuan came to the Crown Prince's side and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, the border army already has rebellious intent. They have definitely colluded with Jing Dynasty thieves to offer Gu Yuan to Jing Dynasty. If not, Your Highness should still follow this general and leave Gu Yuan through a secret passage. This general has inquired, and there are two secret passages in this Gu Yuan city, one in the City God Temple and another in the Dragon Gate Inn. Your Highness has close relations with Zhang Li Daoist of Huangshan Dao Court; the City God will let you use the passage to leave. At that time, we will swear to protect Your Highness back to the capital."

Everyone looked at the Crown Prince. Go or stay, it was all in his one thought.

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Ji beside him: "Chen Ji wise brother, how do you see it?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "No need to go."

Li Xuan frowned: "Why?"

Chen Ji said casually: "The border army has not rebelled, at least Hu Junxian does not want to rebel."

Qi Jianzhu said disdainfully: "Just now the border army almost pointed arrows at Your Highness's forehead. This still means they haven't thought of rebelling? If the border army didn't collude with Jing Dynasty, how did they arrive at Sha Che Street so quickly and why did they want to kill the Jing Dynasty thieves to silence them?"

Chen Ji didn't even look at Qi Jianzhu: "If Hu Junxian wanted to rebel, what use would there be for methods like using golden juice to dirty wells? Directly opening the city gate is not more convenient? Perhaps some people in the border army want to rebel, but certainly only a few people. Among this, there are certainly some things we do not know, which is why things seem confusing and mysterious."

Qi Jianzhu said in a stern voice: "If the border army holds Your Highness hostage, can you bear this responsibility?"

The Crown Prince smiled and said: "I know you are all doing your best. Now is the time for group strategies; do not create rifts. What Chen Ji said has some truth. If Hu Junxian wanted to rebel, he would not have let us leave just now. Put your hearts back in your stomachs; quietly observing is fine. As for escaping through a secret passage, do not mention it again."

Li Xuan said urgently: "Your Highness..."

The Crown Prince interrupted: "General Li, if I were a commoner, I could prioritize preserving my life in a chaotic world. But I am the heir of a country. Life can be abandoned; principles absolutely cannot be bent."

Li Xuan sighed: "My Ning Dynasty has such an heir; it is the fortune of the country."

The Imperial Guards crowded forward, all excited: "We swear to protect Your Highness's safety!"

Speaking, the crowd returned to the front of the Commandery Office. The Crown Prince turned back and said: "Right, Chen Ji wise brother, where are Zhang Zheng and Zhang second miss now? Later, General Li will dispatch people to bring them back to the Commandery Office... People? Huh?"

Li Xuan suddenly turned his head. Just now, they had expressed loyalty and flattered him, and Chen Ji had silently retreated to the end of the team. But now, behind them, where was Chen Ji's shadow?

Ku Cha Street, Dragon Gate Inn.

The innkeeper stood behind the counter, counting the day's accounts. Little Six leaned sideways by the counter, yawning boredly: "Innkeeper, the day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve. How do you plan to spend it?"

The innkeeper didn't lift his head: "Just pass it."

Little Six's eyes rolled: "Then our inn will close shop?"

The innkeeper glanced at him: "What? You homeless still miss New Year's Eve? You can't even get a wife. Honestly stay in the shop to work. Now all sorts of demons and monsters have arrived in Gu Yuan city. You still want to close shop? We should be eyeing the biggest business these days."

Little Six dejectedly said "Oh."

The innkeeper closed the account book, raised his head and stretched his neck: "Tonight, send away the fat sheep in the Ground Character Bing number and Ground Character Geng number. Remember to send them separately. If I see you lazy again, I'll smash your head. Also, do things quickly. Last time, we lost a tile ridge black gauze hat in the stable, and it was almost seen by someone! If you're careless again, I'll smash your head too!"

Little Six shrank his neck: "Got it!"

The innkeeper looked absent-mindedly toward the window: "Also, I don't know where the boss is now, or if he's doing well."

Little Six pouted and muttered softly: "Also don't know if the boss is doing well or not..."

With a slap, the innkeeper smacked him on the back of the head: "Get out of the way."

At this time, the thick cotton cloth door curtain was gently lifted. Chen Ji brought in a gust of cold wind, stood at the door, and patted the dust off himself.

Little Six hurried up, used the white cloth on his shoulder to sweep the dust for him, and asked in his mouth: "Guest, out in the evening, back late at night, but you went to handle important matters?"

Chen Ji smiled: "Want to probe for news, need to buy it with silver."

Little Six laughed awkwardly: "I just asked casually..."

The innkeeper looked over from behind the counter, asking casually: "Guest, will you set up an altar tomorrow?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Burn knives, open the altar. Just right, I'll also taste what this Gu Yuan burn knife tastes like."

The innkeeper's eyes suddenly narrowed. Opening the altar – that was selling big news!