We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

After leaving Shanhaiguan, the team continued to move north.

Wang Yongnian walked unsteadily in the team, his tattered cotton coat full of patches and his legs limping.

His hair was still meticulously combed, and his face and hands were still clean.

Even though his entire family was exiled to Ninggu County, this former minister still couldn't let go of the demeanor of a noble family.

"Father, why did you come out again?"

A young man in linen clothes put down the broken bowl in his hand, walked over quickly, and helped Wang Yongnian up.

The young man was named Wang Xizheng, and he was Wang Yongnian's only son.

Unlike Wang Yongnian's despicable behavior, his son Wang Xizheng was upright.

When Wang Xizheng was young, he studied scriptures under great scholars. He had an upright character, profound knowledge, and was filial to his parents.

He had never been involved in the Wang family's slave business, and was exiled here entirely because of Wang Yongnian's involvement.

After learning that his apprentice was convicted because of his father, the great scholar went to Emperor Qing in person to plead for mercy. Emperor Qing gave him face and allowed Wang Xizheng to stay with the great scholar instead of going outside the Great Wall.

But Wang Xizheng refused and said that my father was suffering outside the Great Wall, and he was hiding under the protection of his teacher. Isn't it unfilial?

Afterwards, he resolutely accompanied Wang Yongnian to the outside of the Great Wall.

"Father, come back with me quickly and don't let others recognize you." Wang Xizheng anxiously supported Wang Yongnian and hid to the side of the road.

Although these 20,000 slaves came from all over Daqing, it is possible that some of them had ended up in the Wang family's pawnshop.

If Wang Yongnian were recognized by someone, he and his son would probably be eaten alive by angry slaves before they even reached Ninggu County.

"My son." Wang Yongnian's voice was trembling and weak. "It was your father who implicated you."

Wang Xizheng shook his head. "Don't say a son shouldn't criticize his father. I've lived a life of luxury and prosperity for the past few years, and I share some of the blame for the Wang family's crimes."

Wang Yongnian looked at his only son who was taking good care of him, and he couldn't help sighing in his heart.

What a good boy.

Your Majesty, how cruel you are! After all, I am an old minister who has served you for many years. All the sins are caused by me, so why do you want to implicate my son?

He never thought about how innocent the slaves abducted and sold by his Wang family were.

"My son, how much money do we have left?" Wang Yongnian suddenly asked.

Although the Wang family's property was ransacked, they were still a prominent family. Some of their old friends and disciples who valued friendship secretly gave some silver to the father and son.

Wang Xizheng frowned. "Most of the money has already been spent on the journey. I still have twenty taels of silver left, and they are all with my mother."

"Go quickly to your mother, bring all the silver, and give it to the eunuch Huang Jin."

"Father, why is this?" Wang Xizheng looked puzzled. "Once we arrive in Ninggu County, our family will need money to survive."

Wang Yongnian's face turned pale and he smiled bitterly:

"The princes of our dynasty hold real power, which means that once we arrive in Ninggu County, our family's lives are controlled by the Prince of Ninggu County."

"Give the money to Huang Jin and ask him to turn a blind eye and not tell Prince Ninggu that my father was exiled here."

"Otherwise, given the character of the Ninggu County Prince, I'm afraid he will completely liquidate the Li family."

Ninggu County still had the responsibility to exile criminals, and this responsibility would not be cancelled just because it was granted to Li Che.

As the highest leader of Ninggu County, Li Che would sooner or later have the list of exiled criminals on his desk.

When Li Che passed by Yecheng, he almost wiped out the entire Wang family in Yecheng. He must be a person who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes.

Not to mention that now, he was exiled to his territory.

Wang Yongnian lived in deep fear all the way, fearing that the Prince of Ninggu would kill him.

"This..." Wang Xizheng was an upright person and had never been involved in such things as giving gifts or bribes.

But facing his old father's eager gaze, he had to lower his head.

"Don't worry, father. I'll go right away."

After all, the Wang family is a family of officials. A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if they become exiles, their status is higher than that of other criminals.

Wang Xizheng found the leader of the imperial guards who was in charge. After a slight hesitation, the leader took him to find Huang Jin.

Huang Jin opened the curtain of the carriage and listened to Wang Xizheng's words with a smile on his face.

Then he looked at the silver in his hand, reached out to take it, and said sarcastically: "Twenty taels, that's a lot of money!"

"In order to appease His Highness, our family has given away thousands of taels of silver, and Wang Yongnian wants to just use twenty taels to get rid of this matter. Is he out of his mind?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xizheng was immediately furious: "Eunuch Huang, how dare you speak so rudely and insult your father in front of your son?!"

Huang Jin glanced at Wang Xizheng and sneered, "Alright, go get your father and I'll personally bring him to see His Highness!"

Just when I was worrying about how to get closer to the Sixth Prince, the Wang family came to my door.

"Let His Highness the Sixth Prince see that he is guarding the border, and this is the villain who stabbed him in the back in the court!"

Wang Xizheng was a modest gentleman, and he had never seen a man like Huang Jin, who not only refused to help but also took advantage of his misfortune and even refused to return the twenty taels of silver to him.

His face suddenly turned red with anger.

When he saw several imperial guards escorting Wang Yongnian over, his face, which had just turned red, turned pale again.

When Wang Yongnian saw Huang Jin’s sinister smile, he knew that something was wrong.

At this point, he had some of the backbone of a scholar from an aristocratic family. He brushed his sleeves and broke free from the imperial guards, glaring at Huang Jin: "Eunuch, you are truly unfaithful and ungrateful!"

"Don't worry, Minister Wang." Huang Jin was not annoyed. "It has come to this. Why don't you accompany me to see how the people of Ninggu County are doing under the governance of the Sixth Prince."

"What else can we do?" Wang Yongnian sneered.

"Since leaving Shanhaiguan, I haven't seen a single inhabited area, not even a single civilian. This shows that there aren't many people left in Ninggu County."

"The barbarians are rampant here. With the limited forces at the Sixth Prince's disposal, I'm afraid he can only hide behind the city walls. He can't even protect the lives of the people, let alone their livelihoods."

Although Huang Jin couldn't stand the fact that Wang Yongnian was still trying to maintain the demeanor of a noble family celebrity when his death was imminent, he still agreed with what he said.

He had seen the victims of the disaster before. When spring came, the victims swarmed all over the mountains and plains like locusts, eating up all the grass roots and tree barks that could fill their stomachs.

But here, Huang Jin didn't see even a single person.

This means that there are very few disaster victims in Ninggu County, and it has even become a dead city.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion among the imperial guards leading the way.

Huang Jin frowned and said to the guard beside him: "What's wrong? You're making a fuss."

"This...Father-in-law, look!"

Huang Jin looked in the direction of the guard's finger in confusion, and suddenly took a breath of the cold air outside the pass.

"hiss......"