The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 315

One of the soldiers hurriedly threw his weapon to the ground.

"The leader is dead, the leader is dead."

Xu Tian immediately snorted, "Get lost!" The bandits scrambled away from the valley.

Just then, a troop of cavalry appeared in front of Xu Tian. Seeing that Xu Tian was already stunned, the general immediately saluted and said, "This humble general, Li Jing, is ordered by His Majesty to protect Prince Rui."

Xu Tian immediately came to his senses, realizing he had been saved. He patted Li Jing on the shoulder and said, "General Li, please get up quickly. If it weren't for you, we would have been hacked to death by this guy today." He then walked over and kicked the corpse on the ground a few times.

Seeing that Xu Tian and Master Dongfang were frightened, the steward quickly cooked a pot of wild mushroom soup. Xu Tian smiled and said, "General Li, why don't you have a bowl of soup with the soldiers here?"

Li Jing immediately mounted his horse and said, "His Majesty has arranged for us to protect the Prince in secret. If the Prince is in danger, we will definitely appear."

The entire cavalry unit then disappeared from Xu Tian's sight.

Xu Tian muttered to himself, "I didn't expect Li Er to be so handsome, and he even knows how to protect me in secret."

After drinking the soup, Dongfang Tingyun went back to her tent and went to sleep early. Xu Tian leaned against the mountain wall and thought to himself, "I was too careless. I should have known better than to come to this godforsaken place. I went out carrying a huge pile of silver. No wonder I got robbed."

The next morning, Xu Tian felt his nose was very itchy and sneezed. He then heard a silvery laugh. When he opened his eyes, he saw a short man teasing him with a foxtail grass.

"Do you think you can mock me?"

Xu Tian immediately stood up and asked, "Who are you?"

The short man immediately knelt down and said, "I heard that Prince Rui was robbed by bandits yesterday and was frightened. General Li specially appointed me to protect him."

Xu Tian cursed inwardly, thinking that this guy wasn't even as strong as him, and then said, "You think you can protect me?"

The short man nodded and said, "I am the guide here and I am very familiar with the terrain. You did not go astray or take the wrong road, which is why you were robbed. If you had followed me along the side roads, there would have been a river where we could have replenished our water supply."

The route is through high mountains and dense forests, with plenty of wild game to eat, and you can safely cross this uninhabited area to reach the Yinshan Mountains ahead.

Seeing Xu Tian hesitate, the short man pressed on, saying, "Doesn't Your Highness want to see the Yinshan Mountains ahead? How glorious it was when Huo Qubing sealed the wolf's lair and became the son-in-law of the king?"

Xu Tian glanced at him only once, then said, "Get out of the way."

The short man then walked to the side, loaded all the luggage onto the oxcart, and called the steward and Master Dongfang to set off.

This short guy kept talking the whole way.

“Master, the Imperial Guards arrested a man last night. He has confessed that he is from Chen County.” The short man saw Xu Tian eating a dry pancake and ignoring him completely. He said, “Your Highness must know that Yinshan also belongs to the Tang Dynasty. This area is now under the jurisdiction of the Xie family. Lord Xie is an official from the Xie family of Chen County.”

Before the short man could say anything more, he heard Xu Tian pull on the reins, and the oxcart immediately started running forward like crazy.

"Stop arguing, Yinshan City is just ahead."

The short man glared at Xu Tian before pulling his hat down. The cold wind was biting as the group arrived in Yinshan City.

Xu Tian then took out his Prince Rui's token.

The soldiers guarding the city immediately said respectfully, "So it is Prince Rui who has arrived. We will go and inform Lord Xie."

The short man muttered to himself, "Although this place is remote, it is still the territory of the Great Tang Dynasty. It should be called Prefect Xie, not City Lord."

Xu Tian immediately threw the energy in his hand aside and said, "This place is far from the emperor's reach. The city lord here is like a local emperor, so there's nothing wrong with calling him city lord."

"Don't they know you're a prince? Didn't you take out your token? You're a first-rank official."

Xu Tian shrugged, his expression somewhat innocent.