How to Easily Capture a Long Aotian [Quick Transmigration] 72

Chapter 72: The Peerless Minister of a Troubled World (Part 3)

Wei Zhiji had long since forgotten when that incident had begun.

First, the emperor had held a banquet at the Feixing Tower, and his grace had spread throughout the world. A barbarian envoy had come, and with sweet words of Dayong being the superior court, he had expressed his submission, but in fact, he had been buying up supplies in Luojing.

The emperor was not good at either civil or military affairs, but he was fond of his reputation. He did not even look at how chaotic his rule had become, and he had been so coaxed that he truly thought he was a wise ruler reborn.

In his happiness, he had rewarded them with a lot of gold, silver, grain, and cloth, even though his own people were not yet full.

He had been so openly coaxed by the barbarian envoy for several months. The court was in a constant state of argument, and people were killed one after another, and in the end, it had gradually quieted down.

Yu Lin had not even gone home during that period of time and had often stayed at the official residence. Wei Zhiji was afraid of causing him trouble and had not dared to show his face much. He would mostly hang on the beams to glance at him, or in the dead of night, he would sneak down and steal a kiss.

At that time, he had been both raising grain for disaster relief, to ease Yu Lin’s worries, and he had been secretly replacing the good rice for the barbarians with old rice mixed with sand. He was very busy, and he was always in a hurry every day. He had never thought that the fire would burn him.

The barbarian envoy had gone back with the gold and silver. Before he had even arrived, the army that had been eyeing the border had impatiently begun to rob the border people of Dayong.

The iron hooves had come south and had crushed the rivers and mountains. If it weren’t for his older brother leading the army to help, the border city of Ningcheng would have been completely slaughtered.

These barbarians did not know poetry, and they did not read the sages. They were cruel by nature and only knew how to plunder and rob, but their combat strength was extraordinary. They would kill the men and rape the women. The originally fine border town had become a river of blood in an instant.

When the news came, the entire court was shocked.

Even the treacherous ministers, who were usually timid and afraid of death, and who had been exploiting the people, had knelt in the main hall and had stuttered, “They are not of our race, and their hearts must be different. These foreigners should be beaten into submission as soon as possible.”

Only the emperor had not admitted it.

He had just formed an alliance with the border barbarians. How could he have been wrong?

It just so happened that the barbarian envoy had sent him a message, explaining that it was all a misunderstanding. The barbarian general who had attacked Dayong had thought that they had come on a pilgrimage, and when there had been no reply for a long time, and they had encountered a mishap, they had been so anxious that they had sent troops to attack.

The barbarian envoy’s words were sincere, and he had expressed their sincerity towards Dayong and the emperor.

However, the tone had changed, and he had listed the ministers under his rule who had sent troops without a military order, and he had questioned whether they had ulterior motives.

This statement had made the emperor feel very comfortable, and he had even casually listened to the envoy’s plan, and had ordered Wei Da to withdraw his troops to prove his loyalty.

In the emperor’s opinion, this was not even a matter. Wei Da had no wife and no children, only an old grandmother and a profligate younger brother, and they were all firmly in his hands. How dare he not listen?

But he really hadn’t listened.

More than ten days after the message had been sent, Wei Da had not moved at all. He had just vaguely tried to persuade him that the barbarians were ambitious, and that the people on the border were being trampled and were fighting for their lives. He had spoken nicely, but he had not moved his army at all.

The emperor: “?”

The emperor was annoyed, and there was also a belated panic. The army was in this person’s hands. Who was he going to attack next? Himself? Could the imperial guards hold out?

The emperor was both anxious and afraid. He had sent several imperial edicts in a row, ordering him to withdraw his troops and plead guilty. This stalemate had lasted for several months, and after that, it was the world-famous Luoxia Valley massacre.

Hundreds of thousands of troops, protecting the border people, had been caught between the barbarians and their own people. After half a month of being cut off from food, they had been wiped out, and not even their bones were left.

In Luojing, Wei Zhiji had been sentenced to have his house confiscated and to be exiled. The nineteen-year-old little marquis, in a crimson robe and a golden belt, with his eyes red, was holding a long spear and was firmly protecting his grandmother, and he was looking at the official in the green robe who had come to confiscate his house.

A few days ago, the other person had been ruffling his face and had told him to be quiet and not to bite his fingers. After he had finished writing the document, he had leaned down and had kissed his lips, which were begging for a kiss.

He was so good. How could it be that today, they were facing each other with swords? It was like a dream. He could never have imagined that his older brother had died unjustly, and the person who had come to confiscate his house was the person he liked.

Wei Zhiji was alone and had to protect his grandmother. He was no match for the imperial army and was pressed to the ground by several people. His long spear was scattered, and he looked up with red eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, “Why?”

The sunlight was dazzling in his eyes, and he almost wanted to cry. The old walls of the Wei residence were peeling with moss, and it was a thick layer in the sunlight, and it was so stuffy that he couldn’t breathe.

In the extremely bright and dazzling light, he looked up and saw this person walk over. His fingers lifted, and after a moment of hesitation, they landed on top of his head. He had been bitten on the fingers in annoyance, but he had not let go. He had just let out a helpless sigh. “What do you think?”

Only if he had come could he have saved the seven members of the Wei family.

After the confiscation was completed, it was only then that they had learned that all the treasures of the marquis’ residence had been secretly taken out by Wei Zhiji and had been exchanged for grain. The huge marquis’ residence was just an empty shell, and there was nothing to confiscate.

The accompanying officials had presented the account books, and they were also speechless. As officials of Dayong, they were just trying to make a living. Now that the rabbit was dead, the fox was sad. If even a loyal minister of the Wei family was like this, what would their end be?

The sunlight was slanting, and it made everyone’s throat dry. Yu Lin lowered his eyes and scanned the account books for a moment, and he said nothing.

A few days later, the rumors about the loyalty of the marquis’ residence and their relief of the refugees were rampant. The heir was still young and was not useful. The matter of the border was already a matter of great discussion and was difficult to suppress.

The emperor was living a life of debauchery in the Feixing Tower, but he had found that this time, the people could not be killed cleanly. He was uneasy for a moment, so he had not taken Wei Zhiji’s life, but had sentenced him to exile.

It was autumn, and the weather was already very cold when Wei Zhiji had left Luojing.

The autumn rain was drizzling, and the streets were wet. The person who was selling cakes was huddled under the eaves, and he was using his hands to cover his stall, afraid that the cakes would get wet and would not be easy to sell.

Most of his friends were from noble families, and they were afraid of being implicated, so no one had come to see Wei Zhiji off.

Wei Zhiji had been tortured in prison. He was wearing shackles, and with two jailers, he had walked out of the royal city without looking back.

Fortunately, his injuries looked serious, but someone had taken care of him, and he had not been seriously injured.

The prison was paved with dry straw, and a little bit of light came through the skylight. He leaned against the wall and looked at his wounds. He was not the seventeen-year-old him. When he had woken up and had found that his wounds were covered with medicinal powder, he had sensed something and had begun to be silent.

He had not admitted to any of the trumped-up charges. The officials who had come to interrogate him had come one after another, and they had been very cold to him, but no one had taken the opportunity to kick him when he was down and to make things difficult for him.

It was just that he had never seen that person again.

On the way to exile, the two jailers who were guarding him were still polite, and their pace was not fast. It was not comfortable, but it was not difficult. From time to time, they would take off his shackles and let him relax.

When they had reached the tea stall on the side of the road, the two of them had walked together, and they had been uncharacteristically talkative. They had all said that the weather was a little cold, and that it would be better to go to the tea shed to rest for a moment and have a hot drink.

The two of them had been cold-faced all the way, as if they could not speak. At this time, they were pretending, and he didn’t know who they were acting for.

Wei Zhiji looked at them, and as if he had sensed something, his eyelids suddenly became hot. He was wearing shackles, and he paused for a moment, and with his lips pressed together, he looked at the tea stall, and he saw the person he had been thinking of sitting in it. He was looking at him quietly, and he didn’t know how long he had been sitting there.

Wei Zhiji had not been able to see him for several months. At this moment, when he saw him, for some reason, his cold face twitched a little, and a moment later, tears had actually fallen.

The two jailers were stunned for a moment and looked at him in shock. They didn’t know what to do, and they hurriedly and quickly unlocked his shackles. The two of them had rushed out of the tea shed and had disappeared without a trace.

Yu Lin was also stunned for a moment. He stood up and came to the side of Wei Zhiji, who had unknowingly become taller than him in these years. He looked at him quietly, and he reached out and ruffled his hair, and said warmly, “Don’t cry.”

Wei Zhiji had red eyes, and he looked at him with his wrists loose. He sat down with a flourish, and his lips were pressed together coldly, and he was silent.

Yu Lin then sat down with him, and he looked at him for a long time, and he saw that both of them were feeling stuffy, and only then did he say softly, “It’s good that you’re leaving. Luojing is too chaotic. You don’t have to come back after you’ve left.”

Yu Lin was now in a high position, and Li Gelin’s health was not good. Half of the court was now supported by him.

This was the second time he had driven him away.

Autumn was cold, and it was raining outside. The rain was dripping on the tea shed, and it was so cold that even his bones were cold.

Wei Zhiji felt a chill rise from his heart. His fingers were tightly gripping the teacup, and he looked at the green sky outside the tea shed, and he suddenly gritted his teeth and asked coldly, “What about you?”

The wolves are circling, and the wind and rain are precarious. I’m leaving you here alone. What will you do? he wanted to ask.

But at that time, he could not even protect himself, and his and his grandmother’s two lives had been saved by this person with great effort. These useless words were really hard to ask.

The two of them sat quietly, and they sat from noon to dusk, until the jailers came in and urged them.

They were under the orders of the person by their side, and although they did not know the inside story, they also understood the situation, and they persuaded him softly, “Sir, it’s time to go.”

Yu Lin was as if he had woken up from a dream. He coughed lightly, and only then did he turn his head, and his warm and clear eyes looked over, and he said softly to Wei Zhiji, “Okay. I won’t keep you. Let’s go. Don’t look back.”

The rain outside was falling, and it was getting heavier. It was floating in the sky. The autumn rain, when it fell on the body, was as painful as a knife. Wei Zhiji gritted his teeth and entered the rain.

He did not look back, and only the evening wind blew all over him. He looked at the light in the sky that was covered by the clouds, and he looked at the silhouette that was cast by the faint light outside the tea shed.

He listened to the suppressed low cough behind him, and as he walked forward, he thought, that year was really too cold, and the person behind him was really too thin.

They had parted from outside Luojing, and for the next few years, they had never met again.

The world had never known their relationship, and they would not be connected in the few words.

No one had known that the King of Wei, who had risen in the troubled times, had occupied a territory, and was righteous and loyal, and had attracted countless people to follow him, had had a relationship with the pillar of the Dayong court, the capable minister of a troubled world.

They had first met in the misty rain, and they had had a pot of tea under the melon vines in the courtyard. They had controlled the water together, and they had waded into the Kun River to help the disaster victims. They had kissed in a place in Luojing that no one had known, and their friendship was deep, and they were inseparable.

From the seventh year of Chang’an to the fifteenth year of Chang’an.

Wei Zhiji had gathered his old subordinates, had accumulated his strength, had driven back the barbarians, and had occupied a territory. In the fifteenth year of Chang’an, the world was in chaos, and he was already the most powerful among the feudal lords. With a wave of his arm, countless people were willing to follow him.

On extremely rare occasions, in the streets, in the restaurants, and under the sheds of the people who were selling cakes, he would eat a sesame seed cake, and he would sit quietly, and he would listen to the people talk about that person in a few words.

The foundation of Dayong was rotten, and the emperor was incompetent. A few years ago, rebellions had broken out in various states, and it should have been completely chaotic.

However, when the dynasty was about to fall into chaos, and the ground was full of corpses, and the people were living in misery, someone could not bear to watch and had come out to support it, and had stabilized the remaining half of the country, and had changed the laws, and had exempted the corvée and taxes, and had tried every means to let people live.

The people here were close to the border, and those who could not survive at all in the past only recognized the King of Wei, who had driven back the barbarians, and they hated Dayong to the bone. But they admired such a person in the court. When there was occasional news, they would break it down and circulate it.

How could the emperor be so lucky? He had met such a minister when he was on the verge of death. The people there were also quite lucky. When they could not survive, there was still someone to support them. He had heard that that person specialized in killing corrupt officials.

Wei Zhiji sat under the cake shed, and with his lips lightly hooked, he was reluctant to finish listening.

He would often recall the late autumn, and he would recall that rainy day in Luojing, and he would recall the reclining chair and the sunlight under the vines of the Yu residence.

After that, for several years, all kinds of past events would come into his dreams in the middle of the night.