Chapter 194 Departure after dark

The “woo woo” sound of the horn echoed in the sky above Mount Ni.

There was silence in the pavilion.

The cavalry of the Ruishi Camp slowly retreated outside the mountain until they disappeared.

Return!
All the old men were startled, and then a commotion broke out.

Even Duke Yansheng was shocked. He didn’t expect that Jia Zheng could really convince Li Hu, and it was so simple.

Thinking of this, Duke Yansheng’s eyes flashed. This academician who was not even a scholar was not as useless as the legend said. He was still of some use.

Someone whispered, “Here it comes!”

Duke Yansheng came to his senses and looked over. It turned out to be Jia Zheng. He had never seen Jia Zheng before, but he knew that the person was Jia Zheng.

When he learned that Li Hu had gone to Mount Ni to hunt, Duke Yansheng sent someone to deliver the message to Jia Zheng. Only Jia Zheng could talk to Li Hu and persuade him to leave.

“The new Shandong education commissioner is here, let’s welcome him.” Duke Yansheng walked out of the pavilion and headed down the mountain.

They were asked to welcome a provincial education commissioner who was not even a scholar? The old men were stunned.

“Isn’t it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?” The voice of Duke Yansheng floated from outside the pavilion.

The old men exchanged “ashamed” looks and hurriedly chased after him.

Duke Yansheng took the lead, followed by more than a dozen elders, and walked towards the foot of the mountain.

The mountain was not too high and the pavilion was built halfway up the mountain. Jia Zheng had already seen these old men with white beards and beards walking down the mountain. He realized that these old men were all great scholars from the Nishan Academy, so he walked quickly towards the Yansheng Duke and his entourage.

“What a shame!” Jia Zheng raised his hands from a distance.

“It is a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar.” Duke Yansheng on the opposite side had a chrysanthemum-like smile on his face.

As they were talking, Jia Zheng, Duke Yansheng and the old men all arrived at the foot of the mountain.

The court had a rule that officials could not wear official uniforms to pay respects in civilian clothes. Even if the other party was a great scholar from the prestigious Nishan Academy, Jia Zheng would just clasp his hands and say, “I, the humble junior Jia Zheng, greet all the seniors!”

Duke Yansheng nodded with a smile, but the expressions of several old men were not very good, but they did not say anything.

Duke Yansheng spoke: “I am very happy that you can come here in person.”

Jia Zheng was startled, and quickly straightened his robes, bowing deeply to Duke Yansheng: “Disciple Jia Zheng greets Duke Yansheng!”

Duke Yansheng stretched out his hand and gave him a light support: “Don’t be so polite.”

Jia Zheng said excitedly: “Yes.”

At this time, an old man spoke up: “Excuse me, what department did you major in, Master Jia?”

Jia Zheng blushed immediately and replied, “I am ashamed that I have never passed the imperial examination.”

The old man pretended to be surprised: “Never passed the imperial examination? That’s not right. The few disciples of mine who served as the governor of education were all second-class Jinshi. Could it be that I remembered it wrong?”

Jia Zheng stood there in a daze.

The old man shook his head and said, “It seems that I am really old. It is time for me to step down and let others take over, so as not to mislead the younger generation.”

The words “misleading young people” were emphasized particularly strongly.

Jia Zheng was no fool, so he naturally understood the hidden meaning behind the words. His blood immediately surged with anger, but he swallowed it back.

The old man was about to make some remarks, but Duke Yansheng spoke up: “Repaying kindness with resentment is unkind.”

The old man was stunned at first, then his face turned pale.

The others were all surprised when they heard this.

Jia Zheng was even more surprised, and his face showed confusion. Duke Yansheng said to the old man: “What is the purpose of studying? To learn knowledge and reason. Li Hu is Li Hu, and the crimes he committed should not and cannot be blamed on Cun Zhou. Where have you studied all these years? In addition, we should be kind and forgiving in everything we do, and we should remember the saints’ forgiveness.”

At this point, he turned his gaze to the others, “No one is allowed to use this incident to impeach Li Hu, and no one is allowed to spread it. Do you understand?”

Everyone looked at each other and answered in unison: “Yes.”

Duke Yansheng waved his hand and said, “Everyone go back.”

“Yes.” Everyone bowed to Duke Yansheng and turned to walk up the mountain.

Duke Yansheng said to Jia Zheng: “You may not know that every blade of grass, every flower and every fruit here belongs to them. Forget it, I won’t say it. Don’t take it to heart.”

Jia Zheng woke up at this moment and bowed quickly: “Yes.”

Duke Yansheng looked at him and asked with a smile, “What do you think of this Nishan?”

This question was not easy to answer. However, Jia Zheng had been in the government office for a long time, so he was able to respond after a moment of hesitation: “The mountain is not high, but it is famous because of the immortals living there.”

Duke Yansheng laughed and said, “Since you are here, follow me to burn some incense for the saint. If you don’t mind this place, I will take you to the Nishan Academy for a walk.”

Jia Zheng swallowed and nodded.

Duke Yansheng: “I am old, and I still need you to help me up.”

“Yes.” Jia Zheng hurried forward, held Duke Yansheng’s arm, and helped him walk up the mountain.

From a distance, Zhou Rui showed a look of surprise.

The two places were only fifty miles apart, and Li Hu and his party quickly returned to the camp.

A huge military map was hung in the big tent. Li Hu stood in front of the map, looking everywhere on the map. After a while, he said, “Your Majesty’s order is very clear. The remnants of the White Lotus Sect in Shandong must be wiped out in one fell swoop.” Having said that, he looked at Wang Yaozu.

Wang Yaozu understood and said, “The escort convoy has passed through Tai’an Prefecture and will enter Jinan Prefecture tonight. The intelligence sent back by the scouts shows that at least three forces are planning to intercept and kill the escort convoy of the Imperial Household Department in Jinan Prefecture.”

Wang Daniu: “Who are they?”

Wang Yaozu: “The largest number of them are the remnants of the White Lotus Sect, about 200 to 300 people. These are only the White Lotus sect members in Jinan Prefecture and several neighboring prefectures. The White Lotus sect members in Leiden and other places are still on their way, and the final number may exceed 500.”

When these words were spoken, Wang Daniu, Zhang Qiang and several Mongolian generals all gasped.

Wang Yaozu continued, “There is another force of about a hundred people, who have already ambushed on the only way to Jinan Prefecture. As for the other force, we only know that it came from the direction of Zhili. This is the information that the sentry camp has at present.”

Li Hu nodded and said, “We will also split into three groups. Wang Yaozu will lead the sentry camp to Jinan Prefecture. Da Niu will lead 500 cavalrymen to enter Jinan Prefecture from the east of Tai’an Prefecture and kill the White Lotus Sect members heading to Jinan Prefecture. Then we will meet up with Wang Yaozu. I will personally lead 500 cavalrymen along the post road to support the Imperial Household Department.”

Wang Daniu and Wang Yaozu answered loudly at the same time: “Yes.”

Li Hu said to Zhang Qiang again: “I’ll leave the camp to you.”

Zhang Qiang responded loudly: “Yes!”

Li Hu looked at Wang Daniu and Wang Yaozu again and said, “If we walk together, we will attract other people’s attention. We should all change into plain clothes and walk separately, and then meet in Jinan Prefecture.”

Wang Daniu and Wang Yaozu: “Yes.”

Li Hu: “Take a rest after dinner, and set off after dark!”

At this moment, a personal soldier hurried in, holding an urgent letter that was soaked with sweat.

The guard said: “General, this is an urgent message sent by the Imperial Household Department from Tai’an Prefecture.”

Li Hu took the urgent letter, tore open the seal and read it. It turned out to be a request for help. The chief eunuch and Zhou Kui realized something was wrong and asked for help from him while drawing 200 soldiers from the Tai’an Prefecture Patrol Camp. In this way, their force exceeded 500.

With the emperor’s secret decree and this letter for help, we can make things right.

(End of this chapter)