Princess Promotion

Lu Yun's pupils shrank slightly. He grabbed Lin Qingzhu's hand that was holding the knife handle and asked with all his might, "Why?"

Lin Qingzhu raised his hand and slapped Lu Yun's hand away, then pulled out the dagger neatly.

Warm blood splattered on Lin Qingzhu's handsome face. His expression remained unchanged as he said, "I don't have time to explain it to you now. I'll tell you in another life."

After saying that, he took the letter from Lu Yun's hand and left the tent without looking back.

Lu Yun could no longer hold on and slowly fell to the ground.

The blood dyed the ground beneath him red, just like a spilled teacup that could not be recovered.

When Fu Hongxuan arrived, Lu Yun's body was still warm.

Lu Yun's eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something extremely shocking before he died.

Li Yi squatted down and carefully examined Lu Yun's wound. He stood up and said, "There are no signs of fighting on his body. The fatal wound should be the knife in the chest. He was killed in one blow."

Fu Hongxuan nodded. With Lu Yun's skills, it was impossible for him to not even be able to fight back.

The wound was on the front, so it could only be someone he knew, and Lu Yun trusted that person so much that he was not on guard at all.

Li Yi turned over Lu Yun's body but did not find the lost letter.

Instead, three words "Lin Qingge" were seen written crookedly in blood on the hem of his clothes.

Li Yi scratched his head and asked the guard beside him, "Is there anyone named Lin Qingge among the generals in the army?"

The guard replied, "General, there is no such person, but there is a captain named Lin Qingzhu."

Fu Hongxuan walked around the tent and asked, "What is the relationship between this person and General Lu?"

Guard: "A sworn brother!"

Li Yi sent someone to find Lin Qingzhu without Fu Hongxuan asking him to do so.

Half a cup of tea later, the man came back, indicating that there was no trace of Captain Lin in the military camp.

Fu Hongxuan sighed softly and ordered, "Give General Lu a proper burial."

Fu Hongxuan told Li Yi not to search anymore. Based on the current clues, it seemed that Lin Qingzhu had killed Lu Yun and escaped from the military camp with the letter.

As for the letter, Lu Yun stole it and had a conflict with Lin Qingzhu and was killed.

Or maybe the letter was originally stolen by Lin Qingzhu, who was discovered by Lu Yun, who killed him to silence him and escaped from the military camp.

All this became confusing with Lu Yun's death.

Li Yi volunteered, "Commander, let me take people to arrest Lin Qingzhu!"

Fu Hongxuan glanced at Li Yi calmly and asked, "Do you know where Lin Qingzhu is going?"

Li Yi pondered: "It happened too quickly. When we came here, Lu Yun was still warm, which means Lin Qingzhu left not long ago."

"In such a short time, he avoided everyone's sight and left the barracks quietly."

"This means that Lin Qingzhu had planned this long ago. It was definitely not a sudden act of murder and absconding."

Stealing military reports, killing generals and absconding, any one of these is a capital crime.

If Lin Qingzhu had planned this for a long time, then there must be someone behind this small-time captain.

The question now is who is behind Lin Qingzhu?

Li Yi's mind was boiling with confusion, and he had no idea why Lin Qingzhu did this.

If a war has just begun or is at its most intense, stealing military reports will indeed affect the course of the entire war.

The problem is that the war is almost over, and you are here to steal the military reports.

Li Yi thought, isn't this the legendary thing, that even eating shit can't keep up with the heat?

The enemy is in this situation, unless the Golden Immortal... Her Majesty the Empress takes action personally.

After all, Her Majesty the Empress's military record is so fierce that it is not like a human being.

Li Yi pulled his thoughts back to where they had wandered, so why did Lin Qingzhu steal the military reports?

Coming for Fu Hongxuan?

But considering Fu Hongxuan's current official position, it was just a matter of losing a military report.

The most serious consequence is demotion at most, and normally nothing will happen.

In the quiet street late at night, there were several crisp "bang" and "bang" sounds.

The night watchman walked through the streets and alleys with a lantern in his hand.

As he walked, he struck the clappers and shouted, "It's dry, be careful with fire."

Li Xinghan was awakened from his sleep and his eyes suddenly opened.

In a trance, I heard someone knocking on the door.

Li Xinghan sat up and became more sober, then he confirmed that he had heard correctly that someone was knocking on the door outside.

Li Xinghan stood up and put on a coat, then looked out the window. The sky was still pitch black.

He walked to the door and asked through the door, "Who is it?"

A middle-aged man's voice came from outside the door: "Master, something happened in the military camp."

Li Xinghan recognized the voice outside the house as Manager Wu, and immediately realized that the situation was urgent.

If nothing serious had happened, Manager Wu wouldn't have come here suddenly in the middle of the night.

Li Xinghan immediately opened the door and asked, "What happened?"

When Wu Guanshi saw that Li Xinghan had finally gotten up, he let out a sigh and said, "The man from the military camp is Captain Lin. He said he has to see you, the young master, before he can tell you."

Li Xinghan walked towards the hall without saying a word.

Li Xinghan still had some impression of Lin Qingzhu, and the most important thing was that he was sure that this person had indeed gone to war with the army.

If he suddenly came back at this time, something big must have happened!

Li Xinghan hurried to the front hall in two steps. When he crossed the corridor bridge, he saw Lin Qingzhu with bloodshot eyes and untidy beard on his chin. It was obvious that he had traveled day and night to get here.

When Lin Qingzhu saw Li Xinghan, her body instantly straightened up and trembled slightly with excitement.

Lin Qingzhu said with a sad expression: "General Li, Brother Lu was assassinated and died!"

Li Xinghan asked in shock, "Is Lu Yun dead?"

Li Xinghan stepped forward and grabbed Lin Qingzhu's shoulders, his eyes red as he asked, "What the hell is going on?"

Lu Yun has followed Duke Li since he was a soldier, and is also the elder who watched Li Xinghan grow up.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is half of Li Xinghan's master.

How could such a good person die?

Lin Qingzhu said in great sorrow, "We followed Fu Hongxuan to the battle and witnessed the barbarian army's defeat and the victory of Qi. We took a large number of barbarian prisoners."

Lin Qingzhu explained the situation: "According to custom, Fu Hongxuan should ask for permission. The matter of the barbarian captives will be decided by His Majesty."

"But Brother Lu and I saw several expedited letters arriving at the military camp from over a hundred miles away, and Fu Hongxuan claimed to the public that these were commendations from His Majesty, expressing his great pleasure."

Li Xinghan couldn't help but question, "Nonsense! No matter how happy His Majesty is, he wouldn't use an express letter from a hundred miles away to say such a polite thing. If there's anything, he can't just go back to Yundu City and talk about it!"

Lin Qingzhu agreed, "General Li is wise. Brother Lu and I think so too. There is definitely something wrong with Fu Hongxuan. Otherwise, why would he suppress the military order and keep it secret?"

"Brother Lu came to me and told me about this. If the Duke was still in the barracks, Brother Lu and I wouldn't be so anxious."

"It can be said that Fu Hongxuan has absolute control over the military camp right now. Brother Lu decided to take a risk and sneak into Fu Hongxuan's tent to see what he is hiding. But the result is..."

At this point, Lin Qingzhu burst into tears and blamed herself, saying, "If it was me who went there, Brother Lu wouldn't have done such a cruel thing..."

Li Xinghan's eyes were also moist. He patted Lin Qingzhu's shoulder and comforted her: "This is not your fault..."

Lin Qingzhu took a deep breath, suppressing his grief as he spoke, "I was originally going to go with Brother Lu, but Brother Lu said that if anything happened to him, the entire army would be wiped out, and no one outside would know what happened in the barracks."

"So I stayed in the tent waiting for Brother Lu, but I didn't expect that Brother Lu would come back covered in blood."

As if the memories were too painful, Lin Qingzhu opened his mouth several times but was unable to speak.

Lin Qingzhu burst into tears and said, "Brother Lu was already at the end of his strength at that time. He held on to his last breath and gave this to me..."

Lin Qingzhu's hands couldn't stop shaking as he took out a torn letter from his chest.

This can't even be called a letter, it's just a small piece of paper.

It was still stained red with blood, but the seal could still be clearly seen.

Although I didn't see the content of the letter, I could confirm from this small piece of paper that it was the fragment of Baili Jia's urgent letter.

This further proved that what Lin Qingzhu said was true.

Li Xinghan asked hurriedly: "Do you know the contents of this letter?"

Lin Qingzhu nodded gravely and said, "Brother Lu was already breathing more than breathing, but he still managed to tell me that the letter said that His Majesty had ordered Fu Hongxuan to take the captives to the Crescent Moon Lake and wait for officials from the Ministry of Revenue to come and take over."

"Then wait here while General Park hands over the military power and tells Fu Hongxuan to prepare to return to Yundu City to report on his duties."

Lin Qingzhu's face darkened as he said, "In the past few days, Fu Hongxuan not only failed to follow the imperial decree, but he also suppressed the emperor's order and led the army deeper into the heart of the grassland."

Li Xinghan was horrified and said, "Fu Hongxuan is rebelling! How dare he disobey the imperial order?"

Lin Qingzhu lowered his head and said, "I dare not speak rashly. If the Duke was still in the military camp, this kind of thing would never happen, and Brother Lu would not..."

Li Xinghan paced back and forth, something was wrong!

How could this be such a coincidence!

As soon as my father left, something happened to Uncle Lu!

Li Xinghan stopped in his tracks. Could it be that his father was transferred away on purpose?

They fell into a trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain!

Li Xinghan's whole body turned cold in an instant, and his heart almost stopped beating.

Li Xinghan immediately summoned Manager Wu and said, "Immediately send three groups of troops to Yundu City to inform my father that Fu Hongxuan dared to disobey the order. His intentions are treacherous and he may be planning a rebellion."

As he spoke, Li Xinghan walked out and asked Manager Wu to prepare a fast horse, as he wanted to rush to the military camp.

Seeing Li Xinghan about to leave, Lin Qingzhu immediately stopped him and said, "General Li, Brother Lu has been murdered. Fu Hongxuan knows that the truth can no longer be concealed, and he will definitely control all of the Duke's men."

Lin Qingzhu's eyes were filled with worry as he said, "General Li, the military camp is now a dangerous place. If we rush in, we will be walking into a trap!"

After listening to Lin Qingzhu's analysis, Li Xinghan's impatience gradually subsided.

Indeed, the current situation is still unclear, and if we blindly go to the border, we may not even be able to enter the military camp.

The most urgent task is to deploy troops as soon as possible to fight against Fu Hongxuan and report the matter to His Majesty.

Li Xinghan suddenly remembered that His Majesty had ordered General Park to hand over military power to Fu Hongxuan!

He must rush to Yueya Lake immediately to meet General Park.

As long as he could meet General Park, he could mobilize the border defense troops with the imperial edict in his hand.

Even if Fu Hongxuan led his troops back, they had enough strength to fight against him.

Li Xinghan looked at Lin Qingzhu and said, "I'm going to go to Crescent Lake to meet with General Park and mobilize troops for emergencies."

Lin Qingzhu said with a hint of urgency in his tone: "I am willing to follow General Li until death."

Li Xinghan nodded and said, "There's no time to lose, let's set off now."

At the same time, in the military camp in the heart of the grassland.

Fu Hongxuan frowned and looked at the letter on the desk.

Li Yi was also frowning, and now he realized the seriousness of the matter.

I never imagined that someone could be so powerful as to tamper with the military newspaper.

Li Yi said worriedly, "Commander, you are now just one step away from proving that you are disobeying the imperial order. Duke Li's former subordinates have already come to cause trouble several times."

Fu Hongxuan said in a solemn and cold voice: "What is fake is fake and cannot become true."

Li Yi said with a headache, "But no matter who delivered the letter, the seal and the hidden pattern all match. Except that the content does not seem like an order from His Majesty, there is no evidence to prove that it is fake."

Li Yi earnestly advised, "Even if you acted according to His Majesty's order, even if it turns out to be a false order, we cannot be blamed for the mistake."

"But if we disobey the imperial decree now, even if we can find out the truth later, His Majesty may not do anything to you at the moment, but this matter will definitely become a thorn in His Majesty's heart."

"The imperial edict is for us to obey and execute, not for us to question the truth of its contents!"

"How will the Imperial Envoy impeach you? Today, you think the contents of this imperial edict are false and you are disobeying it. Does that mean that in the future, any edict that harms your interests can be misinterpreted as false?"

Li Yi's eyes were filled with uneasiness as he asked, "Have you ever considered that if you continue to act this way, you might lose your position as commander, which would be a serious crime, with your head and property confiscated. If you don't think about yourself, how will the young lady and the old woman cope?"

Fu Hongxuan remained unmoved and said, "If I am punished for this, I will have no regrets or complaints!"

Li Yi knew that no one could say anything about Fu Hongxuan's decision, so he had to take a step back and said, "Then can you please tell everyone about the contents of these letters? If you keep the news secret like this, everyone will start to suspect you of plotting a rebellion!"

Fu Hongxuan refused again: "No! The contents of this letter cannot be made public."

Li Yi asked in surprise: "Why?"

Fu Hongxuan gazed gravely into the distance and said, "The Central Plains and the barbarians have been at war for years, and countless blood debts have accumulated. The military camp holds a deep hatred for most of the barbarians. We're not taking action against the captives now because we have military discipline."

"Once the order is announced, all the old and new hatreds will be combined, and even I won't be able to suppress it."

Li Yi's breathing became serious as he said, "The barbarians have been burning, killing, and looting on the border for years. Countless people have died and their families have been destroyed. These beasts didn't even spare a three-year-old child."

Li Yi's voice trembled a little: "Just for a group of beasts whose hands are stained with our blood, you are going to risk your life and property. Is it worth it?"

Li Yi even wanted to take revenge. No matter whether the decree was true or false, he was willing to carry it out.

Fu Hongxuan sighed softly, looked straight at Li Yi and said, "I'm not sympathetic or concerned about the authenticity of the imperial edict."

"Even if this order is true, my choice will not change at all."

Li Yi looked at Fu Hongxuan in shock and confusion.

Fu Hongxuan patted Li Yi on the shoulder and said, "The sword in my hand is to protect the people of the world. It may sound a bit hypocritical to say so."

"I can kill all enemies who stand in my way without blinking an eye. I am not afraid of them, whether they are one thousand, ten thousand, or even one million. I will never show mercy."

"But who are these captives? They are all the elderly, the weak, women, and children. Many are even children who are not as tall as the wheels of a cart. They have no hands over such unarmed and innocent people. Their only fault is that they are barbarians."

"I can't and shouldn't do anything to innocent people!"

Fu Hongxuan said firmly: "This is the bottom line, it cannot be crossed."