ATPnovel #644 - Zhaozong's Ambition
#644 - Zhaozong's Ambition
After obtaining the carp, Qi Wenren hurriedly returned to the Department of Astronomy.
Lu Jing also planned to return to his old nest in Yu Prefecture, create a fish pond, and release the twenty carp in the basket.
Speaking of which, he found it a bit strange himself. It was clear that the end of the Dharma Age was approaching, but why was his situation developing into a farming stream?
Having medicine fields and farmland wasn't enough; now he was starting fish pond farming.
Chief Secretary Luo didn't speak, quietly waiting for Lu Jing to continue.
"Thanks to the assistance of you and your daughter along the way, things went so smoothly, so I can't break my promise to you."
"If you want to see Emperor Zhao, go to Yu Prefecture. Once you arrive in Ju County, find Shopkeeper Zhou Yu of the Duobao Pavilion and ask him to take you to a place called Qinglong寨 (Green Dragon Fort).".
"Qinglong寨? This place sounds like a den of thieves," Luo Yingying couldn't help but interject. "Father, could Emperor Zhao have been kidnapped?"
Lu Jing was a little embarrassed when he heard this. "Oh, that Qinglong寨 is actually the old name. The bandits there have all been recruited."
Chief Secretary Luo stroked his beard and said, "Yu Prefecture, if I remember correctly, that place has a lot of banditry."
"Yes," Lu Jing said. "So you must hire more escorts to protect your safety when you go there."
Chief Secretary Luo slapped his thigh when he heard this. "I see, I knew it. What would Emperor Zhao be doing in a bandit寨? He must be gathering those displaced people and bandits from Yu Prefecture under his command."
"Uh…"
"These people are definitely not as good as regular soldiers, but compared to ordinary people, they have seen blood after all. If they can be trained and disciplined, they can still be of some use."
"And for these people, following Emperor Zhao is also a good choice. After all, there's no future in being a bandit forever. Even if they can be powerful for a while now, whoever takes that position in the future will definitely wipe them out. Of course, joining a side now might be a little early."
"But danger and opportunity always coexist. Everyone can add icing to the cake, but it's even more rare to offer help in the snow. If you bet right, it might be a meritorious service from the beginning. If you do a good job, it's not impossible to be granted land and become a king in the future."
"Uh…"
Lu Jing was a little embarrassed because he knew why "Emperor Zhao" was in Yu Prefecture. After all, he had personally sent him there.
It had nothing to do with recruiting bandits or making a big splash.
Strictly speaking, that "Emperor Zhao" was serving his sentence on his territory.
However, Lu Jing had already raised the tiger flag in order to get Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter to help, so he couldn't tear it down now and slap himself in the face.
Besides, looking at Chief Secretary Luo's beaming face, it would be too cruel to tell him the truth now.
So Lu Jing could only vaguely say, "Emperor Zhao's thoughts… are beyond our comprehension."
"Mr. Feng is right," Chief Secretary Luo said with a solemn expression.
Guessing the emperor's thoughts has always been a necessary skill for ministers, but what the emperor hates most is having his thoughts guessed by his subordinates.
Chief Secretary Luo thought that Lu Jing was subtly reminding him just now, and he couldn't help but feel a little grateful.
"…"
Lu Jing didn't know what to say anymore. Forget it, let's proceed according to the original plan. When he gets back, he'll find that "Emperor Zhao," tell him to find some excuse to send Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter away quickly after they meet.
Since he had made up his mind, Lu Jing stopped bothering with this matter. However, when his gaze shifted to another figure beside Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter, he began to have a headache again.
Toller's disciple—that little A Ku Man, also woke up not long after that strange object disappeared.
In order to prevent him from talking nonsense, Lu Jing sealed his speech acupoint and handed him over to Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter to watch over.
However, until now, Lu Jing hadn't found a way to settle him.
It definitely wouldn't work to just let him go. Lu Jing himself didn't care, because he would go directly back to Yu Prefecture through the [Well] later, and he didn't care if the other party came to seek revenge in the future, but Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter might suffer.
If Little A Ku Man found Chief Tong Tu and told the latter about Chief Secretary Luo's entry into the city, Chief Secretary Luo would be in big trouble.
It wouldn't work to just kill him either, after all, that strange object revealed that mental secret technique in order to exchange for Little A Ku Man's life.
Lu Jing couldn't go back on his promise.
So after looking around, he had no other good way. He could only trouble Chief Secretary Luo and his daughter to continue taking Little A Ku Man with them and bring him to Yu Prefecture together.
Anyway, there's already a Huo Xing Sun and an Emperor Zhao in Yu Prefecture, so Lu Jing didn't mind having another unstable factor.
And when he thought of Huo Xing Sun, Lu Jing couldn't help but frown.
He threw Huo Xing Sun into his territory in Yu Prefecture because he really had nowhere else to throw him.
Originally, Lu Jing thought he could find Qi Wenren and bring him back to the academy in a day or two at most, but he didn't expect that the golden-scaled carp incident would happen later, which led them to Shizhou, and they also solved the trouble caused by a strange object along the way.
After all this tossing and turning, half a month was spent.
Lu Jing didn't know if Huo Xing Sun had run away.
Although that guy's brain wasn't very good, his abilities were indeed quite powerful. If the calligraphy and painting hadn't tricked him, he wouldn't have been reduced to this point.
Even if Lu Jing told Ge Ping and others how to detain Huo Xing Sun, he might have been caught by some opportunity and ran away.
After all, fire is too common.
As a result, when Lu Jing returned to the place where Huo Xing Sun was imprisoned in Qinglong寨, he saw that it was empty, and the guards nearby were nowhere to be seen.
Lu Jing was about to ask Ge Ping about Huo Xing Sun's escape when he saw Ge Ping and Huo Xing Sun walking down the mountain, talking and laughing.
Lu Jing was almost dumbfounded by this scene.
He stared at Huo Xing Sun, who also noticed Lu Jing at this time. Although Lu Jing had taken off his human skin mask, Huo Xing Sun was still a little flustered by the stare of this unfamiliar young man.
Like a wild rabbit being stared at by a falcon, Huo Xing Sun took a lot of effort to control his body and didn't turn around and run away immediately.