Chapter 111: The Death of Qin Ming

 Northern Border, Anyang

Li Wei was the trusted general of Lord Hou’s son, Qin Yue. A few days ago, after receiving a message from the eldest son, Qin Heng, Lord Hou sent the second son, Qin Yan, with a team of elite soldiers to head south to support the Crown Prince.

After this elite team left Anyang City, they split into three groups. Because there are three roads from Chang’an to the northern border. The second son led them directly to the westernmost and most dangerous road.

Three kilometers away from Baihe Town, the scouts smelled blood. They hurried forward, and upon reaching a snowy highland one kilometer outside Baihe Town, everyone stopped in their tracks. Everything came to a halt because the scene before them was too shocking.

In the snowy white world, the Sixth Young Master was covered in blood, holding a red-tasseled spear, standing there dazed. Under his feet lay numerous soldiers dressed in Han clothing.

The snowy world was now stained with a bloody red, causing everything to seem desolate.

They realized they were too late.

Their arrival startled the Sixth Young Master, who glanced at them before kicking a head from the snow, catching it by the hair.

Upon closer inspection, they realized the head belonged to none other than the great general of the Qianghu, Bujier!

This was unbelievable. The soldiers of the northern border were fighting fiercely on the front lines, so how did this Qianghu person manage to pass through their lines and appear behind them?

Ignoring his blood-stained armor, the Sixth Young Master, holding Bujier’s head, approached a corpse.

“Fourth Brother!”

Qin Yan recognized the body and his eyes turned red. He staggered towards them.

Qin Sheng placed Bujier’s head next to his fourth brother, squatting down to gently close his angry eyes.

“Second Brother, I arrived too late. If only I—” Qin Sheng blamed himself.

Qin Yan interrupted him, “No, we all arrived too late!”

“Second Brother, Fourth Brother died trying to save the Crown Prince…” ^[1]Qin Ming  is Qin Silang

Li Wei followed them to the front, listening to their conversation with a heavy heart. They were all too late, not just the Sixth Young Master, but all of them were late.

The Crown Prince had been kidnapped and taken away by the Qianghu.

The Fourth Young Master, in his attempt to save the Crown Prince, fought bravely but was outnumbered and ultimately shot dead by enemy arrows. He was struck by several arrows, one of which pierced through his chest…

At that time, the Sixth Young Master, in order to catch up with the Fourth Young Master, traveled eight hundred miles from Chang’an City. If the Fourth Young Master had not changed his route, he would have been caught earlier.

Chasing the Fourth Young Master to Baihe Town, they had fought fiercely for a day, killing numerous enemies. Just now, the right hand holding the red-tasseled spear was trembling uncontrollably.

After Qin Sheng closed his fourth brother’s eyes and tidied his clothes, he was about to track down the Qianghu people as the Crown Prince was still in their hands.

It was Qin Yan who stopped him, looking into his eyes and said slowly, “Tracking down the Qianghu people and rescuing the Crown Prince is my responsibility. You, on the other hand, need to return to Chang’an City now and complete the wedding!” Don’t give the Empress Dowager a chance to act out!

Furthermore, “You also need to take your fourth brother back for burial and let him rest in peace.”

Qin Sheng’s hand holding the red-tasseled spear slowly dropped, his eyes bloodshot.

Qin Yan stood there, not turning around as he instructed, “Li Wei, select four or five soldiers and accompany the Sixth Young Master back to Chang’an!”

“Yes!”

“Listen, go back to Chang’an!”

Qin Sheng remained silent, carrying his red-tasseled spear to a large blue rock, performing a set of spear techniques flawlessly, sending stone chips flying.

When he stopped, he saw inscribed on the large blue rock, “The Place Where Qin Ming, Son of the Marquis of Pingxi, Perished!”

“Let’s go!” Qin Yan urged him.

As Qin Sheng, leading the way, galloped forward carrying Qin Ming’s body, Li Wei with the selected four or five soldiers quickly followed.

Qin Yan mounted his horse and led his elite troops to pursue the direction where the Crown Prince had been taken.

Chang’an City, the Lu Family

Lu Songli finished reading the letter in her hand and stared out the window for a long time without speaking.

“A Li, what do you want from your father?” Lu Desheng had just returned from the palace and heard his wife say that his daughter was waiting for him in the study. He took a sip of water and came over.

Lu Songli handed him the letter in her hand.

“What is this?”

“This is a letter just sent by the Qin family.”

Lu Desheng opened it and read. The Crown Prince had been kidnapped by the Qianghu? Then he saw that the accompanying elite troops had been completely wiped out.

Upon reading this, Lu Desheng gasped, his teeth aching!

When he saw the letter stating that Qin Silang, Qin Ming, had been killed by the Qianghu in Baihe Town while trying to rescue the Crown Prince, he was silent for a while before sighing and continuing to read. The letter also said that the general Qin was sending elite troops to track down the Qianghu and rescue the Crown Prince.

Everything was unfolding as they had predicted.

“The Crown Prince is probably in grave danger.” Lu Songli felt that, based on the Fourth Young Prince’s ruthlessness, the Crown Prince might already be dead. Only if the Crown Prince died would he have a chance to ascend the throne. So, if it was his arrangement, then he would have killed the Crown Prince as soon as he was captured.

To be honest, she felt powerless about the situation in the northern border. It was truly a case of gods fighting, mortals suffering.

Not only her, but the Qin family, who were also caught in the middle, were equally powerless. Even if the Qin family knew that this was a conspiracy, a trap, what could they do? Could they immediately rebel? No, it’s difficult. As the saying goes, “Build high walls, stockpile food, and wait for the right time to become king.” If they were to rebel, they would definitely need to prepare. Did the Qin family have that? Moreover, Emperor Kang Cheng was still in power, and many people supported him. In other parts of Da Li, there were still three to four hundred thousand troops. The Qin family had no advantage in rebelling right now.

Furthermore, if the Qin family rebelled, what would happen to the foreign tribes on the northern border? Would they not be defended? Allowing the foreign tribes to invade the Central Plains would make them criminals against the nation and lose the support of the people.

Such a rebellion would be like water without roots, destined to fail.

The timing was wrong, and everything would be in vain.

“Father, tell me about the situation with our emperor.” The information she received was sent by Qin Yan from Baihe Town by carrier pigeon as soon as possible, and Qin Heng received it and sent it to her. Now she needed information from the emperor’s side, she needed evidence to re-evaluate their next actions.

“Recently, His Majesty has been quite difficult to serve…” Lu Desheng began to detail the information he had learned in the palace. He now truly understood the saying “accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger.”

After listening carefully, Lu Songli had only one thought: something was wrong with His Majesty! Among the entourage of the Crown Prince, there might be people loyal to His Majesty. In other words, His Majesty most likely already knew about the Crown Prince’s abduction, and even had updates on the situation.

No more actions could be taken!

If the latest update was about the Crown Prince’s death, then the current Emperor Kang Cheng was in great danger.

At the end of his life, he was already like a wounded tiger. The death of the Crown Prince would only further agitate him. Not to mention what he thought of the mastermind behind the scenes, but those who wanted to take advantage of this situation would not be spared by him.

At this moment, the more commotion there was, the more it would attract his attention.

Fortunately, she had arranged a wedding in public as an excuse, and her operations were very secretive.

After arranging everything, Lu Songli couldn’t help but sigh. An emperor was still an emperor.

Lu Songli was right in her thoughts. Emperor Kang Cheng glanced at the Qin and Lu families, then focused on the Xie and Zhao families. The Qin and Lu families were forced by the Empress Dowager to marry within two months after the betrothal, with the wedding scheduled for the fifteenth day of the twelfth month. Everything was in order. It was understandable to make it grand and lively. After all, those two children were put together by the Empress Dowager after being neglected, so they needed to save face and make a big show.

However, the Xie and Zhao families were a bit problematic. Why were they in such a hurry to hold the wedding? Was there a conspiracy? Did they have anything to do with the Crown Prince’s matter?

Perhaps due to suspicion, Emperor Kang Cheng couldn’t help but feel that the Xie and Zhao families were suspicious. Upon closer inspection, there was indeed something suspicious!

The Qin family, upon receiving Lu Songli’s letter, believed in her judgment and immediately halted all operations.

Meanwhile, Xie Zhan secretly met with the Fourth Prince through his former superior in the Ministry of Personnel. He used to be a clerk in the Ministry, and his superior was Xue Huaimin. With Xue Huaimin’s recommendation, both sides had a pleasant conversation.