Speed ​​Pass starts with choosing a hunter

Chapter 285 Return of the Soul
Winter of the forty-fourth year of Yuan Ding.

The Demon Sect sacrificed 100,000 people, and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers reappeared in the world.

Du Qinghui, the governor of Shuofang, fought against the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers and died in battle.

Jiang Changping, the governor of Lingzhou, died in battle.

Half of the 10,000 soldiers in Lingzhou died in the battle.

This battle shocked the government and the public.

Emperor Xuanyang was deeply saddened and posthumously conferred the title of First-Rank Grand Tutor on Du Qinghui, the Jiedushi of Shuofang, and gave him the posthumous title of Wen Zhong.

The Demon Sect used 100,000 lives to create a peerless magic formation in Dingzhou, and Dingzhou has now become a thousand miles of red soil.

When the country was in danger, Taibao Yan Shaoan personally went north to supervise the war, vowing to smash the Demon Sect's conspiracy.

Overnight, everything in Xuanyang changed.

Huanglongfu, Shenfu Mountain.

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu looked at each other in silence.

The old man Du Qinghui finally died in Dingzhou. I heard that he didn't have to die, but he still went to die resolutely in the end.

It really lives up to its name, the brilliance of clarity and brightness, knowing that one will die without regret.

"How can there be people in this world who want to die?"

Yang Fangyu looked depressed.

Bai Yuan shook his head.

He couldn't understand either.

It is said that Jiang Changping died on the way to gather intelligence, while Du Qinghui died while taking the initiative to stop the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers.

It is said that if Du Qinghui had not stopped the soldiers with his own body and interrupted the revival of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers, the Demon Sect might have already reached the city of Lingzhou.

"I heard that Lord Du's children are unwilling to go north to collect their remains."

Bai Yuan: "I'll go."

Old Man Du was a good person and treated him very well. It's impossible for him to die and his body to be missing without anyone building a cenotaph for him.

Of course he knew the reason why Du Qinghui's son and daughter did not come to Lingzhou.

To people far away in the south of the Yangtze River, Lingzhou is a place full of tigers and wolves, where one could die at any time. Du Qinghui's children are not very good at martial arts, so how dare they risk their lives to come here?

Yang Fangyu: "I'll go with you."

The two of them immediately rushed to Lingzhou.

Du Qinghui's mansion in Lingzhou is very large, but there are not many things in it.

When Bai Yuan and the other arrived at the Du Mansion, the gate was wide open. Except for an old servant, all the servants in the huge mansion had fled upon hearing the news.

"Master Bai."

When the old servant saw Bai Yuan entering the courtyard, he hurried to greet him.

Bai Yuan had lived in the Du Mansion for a period of time, so he recognized the old servant.

"Good work."

Bai Yuan sighed softly.

A person's true character is revealed most clearly after his death. Even Du Qinghui's children were unwilling to collect their father's remains, but the old servant was willing to take the risk and continue to stay in the Du Mansion.

The old servant had already packed up the things that Du Qinghui liked during his lifetime.

Bai Yuan took the heavy bag and planned to go to Jiangnan someday when he had the chance to bury these things and build a cenotaph for them, which would be his last chance to return to his roots.

"What are your plans after this?"

This old servant is loyal and will help if the old servant asks.

The old servant said: "Thank you, Lord Bai. I have a daughter in the city, and it's time for me to go back and take care of my grandson."

Bai Yuan nodded.

He took out a silver note from his arms. The old servant was flattered and dared not take it, but Bai Yuan forced it into his arms.

Although the old servant lived in the Du Mansion, he was eventually classified as a slave in the market.

If he returns to his daughter's home, he will definitely be looked down upon. With the money, he will be more confident and the old servant's life will be better.

The old servant looked at the banknote with five hundred taels written on it and stammered. After a long while, he spoke: "Thank you, sir."

With Bai Yuan's financial resources, he could certainly give more, but that would only harm the old servant.

It is not uncommon for sons to kill their fathers for the sake of their property, let alone sons-in-law. One must be on guard against human nature.

The old servant bowed to Bai Yuan and the other man again before leaving.

Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu looked at each other, then walked out of the courtyard together, closing the door of the Du Mansion.

As the two walked onto the street, they saw a familiar face.

"Miss Jiang."

Jiang Yan looked at Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu, a little stunned, but she quickly returned to normal: "Brother Bai, Brother Yang."

When the three of them met, Bai Yuan and Yang Fangyu spoke at the same time: "Miss Jiang, please accept my condolences."

This time, not only Du Qinghui died in Dingzhou, but also Jiang Yan's father Jiang Changping.

There was no sadness on Jiang Yan's face anymore, but the tear marks at the corners of her eyes proved that the woman in front of her was not as indifferent as she appeared.

"Miss Jiang, what are your plans next?"

Bai Yuan couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Yan smiled bitterly: "Take father back to his homeland."

Bai Yuan glanced at the bundle behind Jiang Yan calmly.

Like Du Qinghui, Jiang Changping did not leave behind a body after his death, and could only be buried in a cenotaph.

There are many military men in the Jiang family, and it is common for them to die on the battlefield. There is no shortage of cenotaphs in the Jiang family’s ancestral tomb.

It is a luxury for a soldier to return home.

Jiang Yan lost interest in continuing to talk.

Bai Yuan: "Miss Jiang, take care."

"Thank you." Jiang Yan nodded, turned and walked away.

Compared to Du Qinghui, Jiang Changping is undoubtedly much luckier. Although his family is small, Jiang Yan is someone he can entrust his affairs to, unlike the Du family's two children.
Perhaps this is also the reason why most people are unwilling to be lone ministers.

Du Qinghui devoted his entire life to Xuan Yang, but in the end there was not even anyone to collect his body.

But maybe the old man didn't care too much about what happened after his death.

As for the title of Grand Tutor, or the posthumous title of Wen Zhong, I think he probably didn't care much about it.

Three days later.

Xuanyang Taibao Yan Shaoan arrived in Lingzhou.

This Lord Taibao, who is ranked among the Three Dukes and is second only to the emperor, certainly could not have come alone.

Accompanying him to Lingzhou were more than a dozen important officials of the imperial court, 50,000 elite Xuanyang troops, and several Xuanyang sects.

This is the power of a Taibao.

The huge team slowly drove into Lingzhou City.

There was not a single pedestrian on the streets of the city because they had been cleared of the government offices long ago. At most, residents living along the streets could take a glimpse of the big shots on the street through their windows.

As the local officials of Lingzhou, Bai Yuan and Chen Danian had naturally been waiting at the gate of the provincial government.

Soon, a team of horse-drawn carriages landed in front of the gate of the provincial government.

A vigorous and capable old man slowly walked down from the carriage. This man must be Xuanyang Taibao, Yan Shaoan.

Just as Bai Yuan was about to step forward, Chen Danian rushed to the front of the carriage.

He fell to his knees on the ground and took the initiative to serve as Yan Shaoan's human sedan chair.

Yan Shaoan didn't hesitate to step on Chen Danian as he got down from the sedan chair.

Bai Yuan: "Lingzhou Tongzhi Bai Yuan, I pay my respects to Lord Yan."

Yan Shaoan just nodded and walked into the lobby of Lingzhou Prefecture Government with great determination.

After him, figures came in one after another. Judging from their demeanor, one could tell that they must be powerful figures.

At this time, Chen Danian came up with a smile on his face.

"Eight third-rank officials, seven generals, and three second-rank officials. Tsk, tsk."

He lowered his voice and spoke as he watched the adults walk into the lobby.

Bai Yuan didn't say anything.

Although he and Chen Danian are the current chief officials of Lingzhou, they are actually only fourth-rank officials.

Those who are standing at the door, with their eyes on the nose and their nose on the heart, are also from the fourth rank.

However, most of those from the fourth rank were from Kyoto, and officials from the capital were always half a rank higher than local officials. Therefore, they looked at Bai Yuan and Chen Danian with a bit of indifference, and no one was willing to step forward and talk to the two.

In Lingzhou today, people of the fourth rank are worthless, at least they do not have the qualifications to attend meetings in the provincial government. This also shows how much Yan Shaoan values ​​Dingzhou this time.

To be precise, it is the importance attached to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers.

Xuan Yang has actually always been on guard against the Demon Sect, but he has always focused his attention on Xiangzhou.

Since the deputy leader of the Demon Sect, the leader of the Tianxin Sect, and the owner of the Soul-Chasing Tower were all in Xiangzhou, it naturally became the main battlefield.

However, no one expected that the Demon Sect would secretly transfer the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers to Dingzhou, and even concealed it from the calculations of the Imperial Observatory.

Although Du Qinghui had said before that the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers might be in Dingzhou, there was no solid evidence after all, so Xuanyang had never really taken it seriously.

After all, apart from Dingzhou, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Soldiers have also been passed down in the other four states.

Now that it has finally been confirmed, Yan Shaoan has come to personally supervise the battle.

Chen Danian looked around bored.

"Master Bai, what do you think the Grand Guardian will do?"

Bai Yuan: “I don’t know.”

"Master Bai, the positions of prefect and general are vacant now, do you think it will happen?"

Although Chen Danian did not say it explicitly, he could no longer conceal his desire for the position of prefect and general.

According to Xuanyang Law, the Tongzhi has the responsibility to replace the prefect or general after they die in battle, so Bai Yuan and Chen Danian are likely to make further progress.

However, the actual situation is far more complicated than the laws. A third-rank official is also a top-notch official in Xuanyang.

When would it be the turn of Tongzhi to take up the position? Most of the time, the Ministry of Personnel would choose the candidate from other states.

That is to say, Lingzhou is in chaos now, and officials from other states are unwilling to come to Lingzhou to serve as officials, otherwise Bai Yuan and Chen Danian would have no chance at all. But even so, the possibility is very slim, but it is still a hope after all.

Chen Danian never expected that opportunities would come out of nowhere just when he had already accepted his fate.

That's why he had to perform better in front of Taibao Yan Shaoan, so that he could have the best chance of getting the third-rank official position.

Bai Yuan did not answer Chen Danian's question.

Chen Danian didn't get angry when he saw that Bai Yuan ignored him.

After all, judging by Bai Yuan’s battle record and the fact that he was less than 30 years old, it was a foregone conclusion that he would be promoted to the third rank.

Just as Chen Danian was muttering to himself, a young man walked out from the lobby.

He came in front of Bai Yuan and Chen Danian.

"Master Bai, Master Yan invites you to come into the hall to discuss matters."

Bai Yuan was a little surprised: "Yes."

Chen Danian, who was standing by, widened his eyes in surprise.

He has been in official circles for decades and knows the ins and outs of it too well. Yan Shaoan invites Bai Yuan to the hall to discuss matters?

This is not a meeting at all; this is clearly the road to promotion!
Chen Danian couldn't help but ask, "Young man, I am the co-governor of Lingzhou. Do you want to come in with me?"

The young man glanced at Chen Danian and said, "Master Yan only allowed Master Bai to enter, and did not mention anyone else."

Hearing this, Chen Danian felt a little disappointed and could only watch Bai Yuan walk into the lobby.

It is impossible to say that I am not jealous.

However, from today onwards, it would probably be difficult for him and Bai Yuan to get along as equals.

(End of this chapter)