Chapter 473: Leaving the Mountain [Two in One]

Liangzhou border, Tianxia Pass.

Legend has it that in ancient times, there were only four seas and nine states and some isolated islands in the world, and the vast land of Yangte did not exist. Later, a divine being ascended and cut off this huge land of the upper world. Therefore, there are so many disasters and ruins on it, which can easily kill people. Even after tens of thousands of years, it is still not suitable for living.

Because they were not originally the same land, there was a long rift between Yangtu and Kyushu, which was called Tianxia. In the long years before the Northwest War, the Kyushu Dynasty and Yangguo looked at each other across Tianxia.

With this place as the dividing line, the border was long and narrow and not strictly guarded, and the Jiuyang tribe often secretly crossed the Tianxia to harass the south. It was not until Emperor Mubei crossed the Tianxia to pursue and expanded the border between the two sides to Shuangbei City that the border of Jiuzhou was completely peaceful.

As a result, the Tianxia Pass, which was originally heavily guarded, gradually became lax, and now only a few soldiers are left to patrol the pass.

"Report——"

"General Lu, traces of fire were found seven miles outside the pass. They look like the work of the Nine-Yang Fire Snake Tribe. Could it be that another small group of people has crossed the Tianxia Gorge?"

A scout galloped back from the snow and reported his findings.

"Impossible." The general who was eating grapes leisurely by the fire on the top of the city stood up. "With the Nine Yangs stuck in the Frost North City, the Fire Snake Cavalry crossed the Sky Gorge all the way? This is absolutely impossible."

Back then, the Jiuyang Tribe crossed the Sky Gorge to harass the border cities, and it was easy to advance and retreat. Now they have to bypass Frost North City, then cross the entire territory of the old Wood Wolf Tribe, and then cross the Sky Gorge. The difficulty is much greater. This kind of thing has not happened in the past few decades.

"But looking at the traces, it does look like Jiuyang's poisonous fire." The returning scout replied, "If we ignore it, what if there are any omissions?"

"Well..." The general on the top of the city frowned and reluctantly put on his cloak. "Lead the way, I'll take a team to take a look."

He was a scion of an aristocratic family in Longyuan City, and coming to Tianxia Pass was an accident. It was freezing cold, who would want to go out to work?

But it is a border after all, and even the smallest matter is a big deal, so I had to go and check it out.

So Lu Shuye, the cavalry commander on duty at Tianxia Pass, led a team of soldiers and horses, and led by the scout, they galloped all the way to the wild forest several miles outside the city gate.

"General, here." The scout pointed.

"You stay here and keep watch on the surroundings." After Lu Shuye gave the order, he followed the scout into the forest and indeed saw traces of a campfire.

There was a faint fluctuation of true energy, and the surrounding vegetation was withering. It looked like the poisonous fire of the Nine-Yarn Fire Snake Tribe. As frontier soldiers, they knew something about this.

"Looking at the traces, the fire should have been extinguished less than a quarter of an hour ago." Lu Shuye pondered, "It didn't take long to come here and back. You should have seen the Yang people before you came here, right? And they left traces of fire, but no footprints. Why is that?"

The scout heard his question but did not answer directly. Instead, he lowered his head and asked, "General, you are so thoughtful, why do you want to come to Tianxia Pass as a lieutenant? Not to mention staying in Longyuan Three Guards, at least go to some place where you can have military merit."

"Is this what you should ask?" Lu Shuye's face darkened. He looked up at the scout in front of him and drew out his knife with a clang. "Are you the Nine-Yang spy? What's your intention?"

"General, you held an important position in the Imperial Guards, but were forced to be transferred here because of a rape incident, right? This is not the first time you have done this, but in the past your uncle always suppressed the incident for you. But your uncle's family died during the time when you were in trouble..."

As Lu Shuye heard the other party's words become more and more strange, he immediately shouted, "Come here! Capture this Jiuyang spy!"

However, the team of dozens of soldiers he brought with him were still on guard outside and had no intention of coming to help.

The reason why he reacted so strongly was because what the other party said was true.

Lu Shuye was born in a family of the capital of the gods. The uncle mentioned by the spy was the father-in-law of the emperor, Lu Yuanwang. He relied on the power of the Lu family to bully men and women in Longyuan City, and he relied on the prestige of his uncle to suppress them.

In fact, most of the time Lu Yuanwang might not even know what he was doing, but because of this identity, the officials handling the case would naturally help him to oppress ordinary people.

Those common people with no background would not dare to report to the authorities and cause trouble after being intimidated a little.

But it was just after he did something wrong again that Lu Yuanwang was forced out of the capital by Liang Fuguo, and his family met with disaster along the way. Without this big backer, no one could protect Lu Shuye anymore, and the case was about to be reported to the Ministry of Justice.

It was his mother who went to ask Concubine Lu in the palace, crying and saying that he should change his surname to his mother's, and that he would be the only direct male heir of the Lu family in the future, and would leave an heir for the Lu family. Concubine Lu then softened her heart and asked someone to send him to Tianxia Pass to avoid the limelight for a few years after changing his name.

No one inside the pass knew about this past event, and he never mentioned it to anyone.

How did this little scout know this?

The subordinates outside also disobeyed orders, and Lu Shuye suddenly panicked. It seemed like today was a trap set for him?

The spy continued, "General Lu, if you die here today, you can still be considered to have sacrificed your life for your country. You deserved to die, so you've earned it. Don't struggle."

Lu Shuye looked around, then suddenly jumped up, flipped his hand and swung his knife with a strong gust of wind, slashing at the spy on the opposite side!

It was impossible for him to surrender without a fight. Even if the soldiers around him had turned against him, he would still rely on his martial arts to fight his way out.

But the eyes of the soldier who had served as a scout under him for two months suddenly became sharp, and he shot out several ferocious fire snakes with a flip of his hand. This was the magical power of the Nine-Ying Fire Snake Tribe!
boom--

Lu Shuye had almost no defense ability and was entangled by several fire snakes. In the blink of an eye, he was burned into a charred corpse!
"Ah..." After he screamed halfway, his body fell to the ground with a thud.

The scout withdrew his hand and said indifferently: "Report back, the Yang people crossed the Tianxia Pass to harass the border. General Lu was ambushed by a small group of Jiuyang enemy troops and unfortunately died."

……

Suddenly, some news began to spread in the streets and alleys of Longyuan City.

"The prince was kidnapped by the Bashan bandits in Nanzhou, and the Jiuyang tribe began to cross the Tianxia Pass to harass the border. Even the commander guarding the city wall was killed!"

Some people were indignant and were spreading these messages, speaking passionately in teahouses and taverns.

"If we continue to give in step by step, they will become even more aggressive!"

"Why doesn't the imperial court send troops? Why doesn't Your Majesty fight?"

"Your Majesty may not want to fight, but he is old after all, and the Minister of State is even older. They don't want to take any more risks!"

"The Minister of State has never wanted to start a war."

"Could it be that some people have taken advantage of Bashan and Jiuyang?"

"..."

The killing of the border guard had only happened a day or two before the whole city was in an uproar. In addition, the previous incident of the prince being kidnapped, although it was actually Liang Yue who was kidnapped, the court did not explain it when it happened. Now it is too late to clarify that the kidnapped prince is a fake.

Most people thought that the prince was simply kidnapped, and they just found an excuse to save face after redeeming him from Bashan.

The orthodox great country of Jiuzhou has been repeatedly defeated by the Bashan bandits and the Jiuyang barbarians, which has filled the hearts of the proud people of Shendu with anger.

Some voices also appeared at the right time.

"The Ministry of War should be replaced, and the Wu'an Hall should be replaced even more. The Minister of State is too old, and we need someone more enterprising to take over, so that those rebels and barbarians will be afraid!"

Just when this wind was blowing, someone suddenly discovered that the gate of Bashanhou Mansion, which had rarely been opened for many years, was opened on this day. A figure wearing old armor walked out, got on the carriage, and set off.

Suddenly the streets were boiling!
Could it be that he is coming back?

"That's right! It's him!"

Those who heard the news rushed to tell each other, and they all recalled the years when they had received news of victory one after another. At that time, Longyuan City was immersed in a celebratory atmosphere every day.

Since Tang Wei closed his door, there have been fewer wars in Yin State, and no one can bring that kind of shock to the people of Shendu. Jiang Zhenye and Ling Sansi who came later were just poor imitators.

Come back, General Tang!

My proudest military god!
The triumph is so vivid in my mind that tears are flowing for no reason!
I vaguely remember the victory at Tianxia Pass and Shuangbei City. They were good at destroying cities and countries...

Tang Wei arrived outside the imperial city under the attention of the people of the capital. The soldiers guarding the gate were a little surprised when they saw him, but soon someone came out to welcome him in.

We arrived at Wu'an Hall, a place of important military importance. Naturally, not everyone could enter.

But Tang Wei just walked in calmly under the gaze of the guards, and no one dared to stop him.

Those who can serve as guards in Wu'an Hall must be veteran soldiers who have fought for many years and are highly trusted. How could such people not have experienced the era when Tang Wei was invincible more than ten years ago?

Anyone who has experienced that era would dare to stop him?

Perhaps they all have such expectations in their hearts... Come back, General Tang.

The other dozen or so generals in Wu'an Hall were also stunned for a moment when they saw him walk in.

Tang Wei has stayed indoors all these years, as if he had some kind of tacit understanding with the court. They were all used to the fact that there were actually only seventeen of the Eighteen Divine Generals, and on weekdays when he was on duty in the Jiuzhou Military Town and the Divine Capital, he never had any tasks.

At this moment, everyone fell silent when they saw him suddenly appear.

After a while, the protagonist of this gathering, the Minister of State Qi Kunlun, spoke first, "Since you are here, sit down and talk."

Tang Wei looked at Qi Kunlun and bowed deeply. "I haven't visited Master for many years. I am unfilial."

Different from those who practiced in Wu'an Hall and claimed to be disciples of the Minister of State, Tang Wei was actually promoted from the army by Qi Kunlun, accepted as his disciple, and cultivated and used.

During the Northwest War, he was able to lead troops in battle at a young age and had the opportunity to display his talents, which was inseparable from Qi Kunlun's recommendation.

However, later on, the ideas of the master and disciple gradually deviated, and even a hidden trend of opposition emerged, and this relationship was rarely mentioned again.

"You have your difficulties." Qi Kunlun looked at this disciple whom he was most satisfied with with a deep gaze. "No matter when, as long as you are devoted to the country, I will not blame you."

……

Cao Wujiu watched Tang Wei take his seat and smiled, saying, "General Tang is finally willing to come out of retirement. This is a great blessing for the country. If Your Majesty knew about this, he would surely be very happy."

Several gods looked at him and immediately understood the meaning of his words.

Tang Wei's departure was not arranged by the emperor, and Your Majesty had no idea about it at all.

That's a bit subtle...

"General Tang has been secluded for many years, so I'm afraid he doesn't understand the current situation." Song Zhibing said quietly, "You rushed here in such a hurry, did you know that you might punish Elder Qi today?"

"Although I am recovering at home, I am not completely oblivious. Not only do I know about the chaos in Nanzhou, but I also know that the Yang people in the north are harassing the border again. Now Yin State is in danger again." Tang Wei looked at him with a scorching gaze, "General Song, do you have any good plan to deal with it?"

Song Zhibing felt pain in his eyeballs when he saw him, and he quickly looked away.

I thought to myself that this guy had not been idle for more than ten years at home, and his cultivation must have improved a lot.

"I will follow your majesty's orders. As a general, I don't need to worry about the national policy." Song Zhibing lowered his eyes and replied.

"General Song is wrong." The one who spoke was Liang Fudao who was standing aside. As the cousin of Liang Fuguo, he was the second most important person in the Liang family of this generation.

He looks a bit like Liang Fuguo, with eagle eyes and sword-like eyebrows, a fierce look, and an aggressive aura as soon as he opens his mouth.

"In the Wu'an Hall's divine general trials, there was a question about what the generals should do for the country. If you only care about leading the troops to fight, and don't care whether the war should be fought or who to fight, then what is the difference between you and weapons? You only talk about loyalty to the emperor, but what if His Majesty also needs to listen to your advice? Just like now, are you only making puppets and clay and wooden sculptures?"

"A puppet is always better than a cruel official and a treacherous minister!" Song Zhibing did not give in to him at all. The person he was referring to was naturally his brother Liang Fuguo.

"Okay." Qi Kunlun waved his hand and stood up suddenly. His imposing presence was so overwhelming that no one quarreled anymore.

Regardless of the people's stance, they were all filled with awe for this old man.

"The current situation is that the Left Prime Minister has accused me of a crime and asked me to take responsibility for the chaos in Nanzhou. I will resign from the Ministry of War and Wu'an Hall and return home to retire." Qi Kunlun said slowly, "Now that everyone is here, you all should express your opinions. Who is in favor and who is against?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was forced into a situation where they had to make a choice.

Except for those who already had their firm stance, most of the people present were still somewhat hesitant, and their eyes all turned to Tang Wei.

Then he stood up in the hall and said softly, "I don't think Master has, but after so many years, you... are indeed old."

"Heh." Qi Kunlun chuckled.

The master and disciple's eyes met, and neither of them retreated.

"I don't think Elder Qi is wrong, but..." Ling Sansi, the most powerful new general in the army, stood up and said, "I am willing to believe General Tang."

Cao Wujiu looked at Ling Sansi thoughtfully without saying anything.

In recent years, Emperor Mubei has specially promoted Ling Sansi, made many military achievements for him, and let him take over Jiang Zhenye's important task of leading the three guards of Longyuan. In fact, he intended to let him fill the vacancy of Tang Wei and become the new generation leader of the army.

In other words, if Qi Kunlun stepped down, he would be the successor preferred by Emperor Mu Bei.

But now this person is the first to stand up and support Tang Wei?
It seems that your Majesty's worries are completely justified...

Following Ling Sansi, one figure after another slowly stood up and stood behind Tang Wei. Cao Wujiu counted silently in his heart.

One, two, three, four, five...

Six, seven...

Eight.

(End of this chapter)