Chapter 240: Opening the Altar

The sound of hooves was neither hurried nor slow, and the general on the horse was composed and unfazed.

Hu Junxian matched all of Chen Ji's imaginings of a border general, like a weathered mountain range of ten thousand years, rough, majestic, and steadily spanning the vast northwest land.

Before this, Chen Ji had not yet seen Hu Junxian's true appearance up close, but the moment the other side appeared, he knew this must be Hu Junxian.

In the dim, narrow street, with a dangerous and strange silent atmosphere, Chen Ji gripped his sword hilt and coldly stared at the other side.

A string seemed to be pulled tight between them, and as the other side approached step by step, the string was about to snap.

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

Hu Junxian's war horse stopped, ten steps away from the Crown Prince. He opened his mouth and said: "Your Highness overpraises. This Hu would rather hope that in the hearts of the cabinet elders, I am not that formidable."

"Oh?" the Crown Prince was puzzled. "How is this to be explained?"

Hu Junxian's voice was as calm as a lake: "If the cabinet elders were not that confident in me, presumably they would give my border army more military equipment and provisions, rather than letting my subordinate soldiers wear vine armor, use rusty knives, and even treasure cow tendon bowstrings to the extreme. When Jing Dynasty archers go on expedition, each person carries three bowstrings for emergencies, while my Gu Yuan border army doesn't even have one bowstring per person."

Hearing this, the Crown Prince slowly looked around at the rooftops. He saw archers on them, wearing vine armor, their expressions indifferent.

After a moment of thought, he said: "Coming to Gu Yuan this time, what I have seen and heard is indeed shocking. When I return to the capital, I will definitely petition His Majesty to prepare military equipment and provisions for Gu Yuan. The border army soldiers must not be disheartened."

Hu Junxian said expressionlessly: "If the Crown Prince can truly petition for military equipment and provisions for the border army, this Hu will build a life temple for the Crown Prince, burning incense daily and offering sacrifices nightly."

Silence suddenly fell between them. Undercurrents surged in the narrow street.

Why the border army appeared here was the question the Crown Prince most wanted to ask, but he couldn't, so he remained silent.

At this moment, the Yu Lin army's hearts were in their throats, fearing that someone would tear through that thin layer of window paper and force the border army to kill and silence them.

Li Xuan secretly signaled, and the Yu Lin army hurriedly drew their swords to guard the Crown Prince's white horse.

The next moment, Zhou You opened his mouth and said: "Crown Prince Your Highness, we... received a civilian intelligence report saying that someone had stockpiled 'golden juice' here, so we immediately rushed to capture the thieves. We were in a hurry, but didn't rush down. Unexpectedly, we were still preempted by Zhou, stealing the first merit."

"Hmm?" Everyone's gaze turned towards Zhou You.

The Crown Prince's body relaxed slightly. Following Zhou You's words, he asked: "So the border army was already prepared. It seems I interfered unnecessarily."

Zhou You explained with a smile: "In the twenty-fourth year of Jia Ning, the Jing Dynasty soldiers approached Gu Yuan. They first buried several hundred cattle and sheep carcasses at the source of the Zi Wu River in Qu Wu Mountain, and then 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 the Jing Dynasty Tian Ce army at Qu Wu Mountain and were lucky enough to win. In the twenty-eighth year of Jia Ning, the Jing Dynasty used the same old tricks and wanted to use 'golden juice' to dirty the city wells. As a result, we discovered it early."

Zhou You continued with a smile: "Since then, my Gu Yuan border army has planted spies among the arsenic sellers and pourers to prevent Jing Dynasty thieves from coming again."

His explanation was detailed enough. Whether true or false, with these steps, the Crown Prince had to descend.

The Crown Prince said with a smile: "No wonder the cabinet elders praise General Hu. He indeed leads his troops properly."

Hu Junxian didn't look at the Crown Prince, but looked towards the border army soldier previously captured by Chen Ji in the Yu Lin army: "Crown Prince Your Highness, I don't know what crime this subordinate of mine committed, and why he is being escorted by the generals of the Yu Lin army."

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, ultimately deciding to answer truthfully: "Replying to General Hu, earlier we let him lead the way to Sha Che Street, but he deliberately took us to Ku Le Street. He still wanted to come to Sha Che Street to tip off. I suspect he is a spy planted by the Jing Dynasty military intelligence department in the border army, so I took him down."

Zhou You suddenly said: "Then hand this person over to our border army. We will definitely interrogate him carefully and find out the person behind him. Your Highness's body is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the Yu Lin army are imperial guards, presumably not very familiar with torture methods."

Li Xuan was startled and subconsciously turned his head to look at the Crown Prince. Zhou You clearly wanted to kill him and silence him! If the border army soldier was handed over to the other side, perhaps that border army soldier would "fear crime and commit suicide" tonight.

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

The next moment, the Crown Prince smiled: "Since that's the case, then handing him over to General Zhou is fine... it's also getting late. I'll hand this over to you to clean up."

Zhou You cupped his hands: "It was hard on Your Highness tonight. Please Your Highness return to the Du Si Fu to rest early. We can handle things here."

As his words fell, the archers on the rooftops put away their bows and disappeared behind the rooftops.

The suspended hearts of the Yu Lin army suddenly relaxed, but they also felt strange: did the border army just let them go like this?

The Crown Prince lightly clamped his horse's belly and urged the horse forward slowly.

One step, two steps, three steps... in the narrow street, the Crown Prince and Hu Junxian, Zhou You slowly brushed past each other. They held their heads high and chests out, not looking sideways, not even glancing at the other side.

When all the Yu Lin army had passed the side of Hu and Zhou, they heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them.

Li Xuan knew that this hoof sound was Hu Junxian and Zhou You turning their horses around, deeply gazing at them from behind. Their gazes were like swords, but he didn't dare to turn back.

The Yu Lin army was silent all the way from Sha Che Street to Ku Le Street, and from Ku Le Street to Xu Wei Lane, until Li Xuan repeatedly confirmed that the border army was not following. Only then did he let out a long breath.

He lowered his head and looked. The palm of his hand 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 intentions, and they have definitely colluded with the Jing Dynasty thieves to offer Gu Yuan to the Jing Dynasty. If not, you should still follow this general to leave through the secret passage in Gu Yuan. This general has inquired, there are two secret passages in this Gu Yuan city, one in the City God Temple and the other in the Long Men Guest Inn. You have a close relationship with Daoist Zhang Li of the Huang Shan Dao Court. The City God will definitely allow you to borrow the passage to leave. At that time, we will swear to die to escort Your Highness back to the capital."

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

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, then turned his head to look at Chen Ji beside him: "Chen Ji, wise brother, what do you think?"

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

Li Xuan frowned: "Why?"

Chen Ji said casually: "The border army is not rebelling, at least Hu Junxian doesn't want to rebel."

Qi Jian Zhe said disdainfully: "Just now the border army almost pointed arrows at Your Highness's forehead. This is still not wanting to rebel? If the border army didn't collude with the Jing Dynasty, how could they rush to Sha Che Street so quickly, and why do they want to kill the Jing Dynasty thieves to silence them?"

Chen Ji didn't even glance at Qi Jian Zhe: "If Hu Junxian wanted to rebel, where would he need to use methods like dirtying wells with 'golden juice'? It would be more convenient to just open the city gates. Perhaps some people within the border army want to rebel, but it's certainly only a minority. Among this, there are certainly some things we don't know, which is why things seem confusing."

Qi Jian Zhe said in a solemn 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 strategy, don't create rifts. What Chen Ji said has some truth. If Hu Junxian wanted to rebel, he wouldn't have let us leave just now. Put your hearts back in your stomachs and observe quietly. As for the matter of escaping through the secret passage, don't mention it anymore."

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

The Crown Prince interrupted: "General Li, if I were a commoner, I could naturally preserve my life first in this chaotic world. But I am the heir of a country. My life can be abandoned, but I will absolutely not bend principles."

Li Xuan sighed and said: "My Ning Dynasty has this heir. It is the country's fortune."

The Yu Lin army crowded forward, all excited: "We swear to die to protect Your Highness!"

As they spoke, the crowd returned to the front of the Du Si Fu.

The Crown Prince turned back and said: "Right, Chen Ji, wise brother, where are Zhang Zheng and Miss Zhang? Later, General Li will send people to bring them back to the Du Si Fu... where are they?"

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

Gui Zi Street, Long Men Guest Inn.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, counting the day's accounts.

Xiao Liu leaned against the counter, yawning boredly: "Shopkeeper, the day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve. How do you plan to spend it?"

The shopkeeper didn't lift his head: "Not spending it."

Xiao Liu's eyes rolled: "Then is our inn closed?"

The shopkeeper glanced at him: "What, you have no home or family and you still miss New Year's Eve? You can't even get a wife, so honestly stay in the shop and work. Now that all the demons and monsters have arrived in Gu Yuan city, you still want to close the shop? Keep your eyes on the biggest business these days."

Xiao Liu dejectedly let out an "oh."

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

Xiao Liu shrank his neck: "Got it!"

The shopkeeper looked out the window absently: "I also don't know where the owner is now, or if he's living well."

Xiao Liu crooked his mouth and muttered quietly: "You also don't know if the owner is living well?"

With a slap, the shopkeeper hit him on the back of the head: "Roll to one side."

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

Xiao Liu hurried over and used his shoulder on the white cloth to help him brush off the dust, asking: "Guest, you went out in the evening and just returned late at night. Did you go to handle important matters?"

Chen Ji smiled: "If you want to find information, you have to use silver to buy it."

Xiao Liu said awkwardly: "I was just asking casually..."

The shopkeeper looked over from behind the counter and casually asked: "Guest, are you setting up an altar tomorrow?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Burning the knife, opening the altar. It's also just right to taste what this Gu Yuan 'burn knife' tastes like."

The shopkeeper suddenly narrowed his eyes.

Opening the altar meant selling big news!