Jinghong Tower

Like most boys, Wu Ji respected his father like a god when he was a child.

At that time, he had never left Yulin. In his eyes, his father was the god of war and the most powerful person in the world.

Later, as he grew up, he saw the outside world and learned about his father's embarrassing situation in the court.

Only then did he realize that his father was just an ordinary person.

His father would be feared by the emperor, ostracized by his colleagues, despised by civil servants, and plotted against by political enemies.

Faced with all this, his father was not as invincible as he had imagined. On the contrary, his father was isolated in the court.

The weapons and armor are old, and even if the Ministry of War has new ones, it will not be Yulin's turn.

Unable to pay the soldiers, my father had no choice but to sell the family property. Every once in a while, he would beg the court for money. He sent memorials and letters one after another, but all of them fell on deaf ears.

Recalling these past events, Wu Ji closed his eyes and tears welled up in his eyes.

The guard who came to report the news was one of Wu Dongming's confidants. He and his companions had discussed that after Wu Dongming's funeral was completed, they would go to look for Wu Ju. This was also Wu Dongming's final arrangement.

Seeing Wu Ji crying, the guards also started sobbing.

He is a guard and a death warrior. He is an orphan and has never married. In his heart, Wu Dongming is both his master and his relative.

Wu Dongming died for Wu Ji, therefore, he no longer had any awe towards Wu Ji, and even felt hatred towards him.

Wu Ji's tears diluted the guards' hatred towards him.

The guard advised: "Your Highness, please accept my condolences and don't hurt yourself by crying."

Wu Ji sighed and asked, "What about the princess? Is she frightened?"

bodyguard
"The people were outraged, so the old general sent us to fetch the princess, but when we arrived, she had already fled."

The guards hated He Shuting to death. If it wasn't for that evil woman who caused the trouble, why would the old general commit suicide?

Besides, such a big thing happened in the mansion, but Prince Chang'an didn't even ask how Madam Wu was doing, but he was worried about whether Princess Chang'an was frightened.

In this case, the guard didn't want to save face for He Shuting. To be honest, he would not stay with Wu Ji anyway.

"The princess also took away the treasures in the storeroom. She had prepared well in advance. There is a secret passage in the palace, and the princess escaped through the secret passage."

Wu Ji was stunned. Is there a secret passage in the palace?
Why doesn't he know?
But it is possible, after all, this mansion was formerly the Qin Palace.

The Qin King of the previous dynasty had been hereditary for seven generations and had lived in this palace for more than two hundred years. It was normal for there to be a secret passage, but he had not spent much time in the palace since he moved in. Most of the time, Shu Ting was alone in the palace, so even if Shu Ting discovered the secret passage, she would have no chance to tell him.

Wu Ji quickly found an excuse for He Shuting. As for the guard's comment that He Shuting had escaped, Wu Ji was even more certain that He Shuting must have come to find him.

He Shuting left earlier than the guards. Logically, she should have arrived outside Xianyang city earlier than the guards, so she must have known that a fighting had broken out in Xianyang. Now the guards have come to Qianzhou, but where is He Shuting?
Wu Ji felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife. Shu Ting, something might have happened!
A weak woman, carrying a lot of treasures, even if she has a few maids by her side, will inevitably become a fat sheep in the eyes of those bandits in this chaotic time of war.

"Come here, prepare your horses!"

He wants to find He Shuting personally.

The guard watched all this coldly. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he said something to a deputy general under Wu Ji and returned to Xi'an.

He had to go back to take care of the old general's funeral. Even though his sons didn't care, the guards would.

Although all his subordinates advised Wu Ji not to go looking for the person himself, Wu Ji did not listen. He searched for three days, during which time he was ambushed by the Ran army and was hit by an arrow in the shoulder.

The injured Wu Ji finally returned to Qianzhou, but he missed He Shuting and sent a lot of people to look for He Shuting.

Wu Ji didn't know that because of the arrow shot in his shoulder, a soldier in the Ran army had made military achievements.

This soldier was He Shuqiao.

He had not yet recovered until he was lifted up and thrown into the air by his two companions.

He shot Wu Ji!
Even if this arrow cannot take Wu Ji's life, he has made a contribution, this is Wu Ji!

When He Dali heard that a child had shot Wu Ji, he immediately asked someone to bring the child to him for a look.

He Shuqiao came to He Dali under the envious gaze of his companions. He Dali thought he looked familiar and asked, "What's your name, kid?"

He Shuqiao puffed out his chest and said loudly: "Report to the general, I am He Shuqiao!"

"He Shuqiao, ha, your last name is also He? You can't be from Hejiacun, right?" If he is from Hejiacun, then it makes sense. No wonder he looks familiar. He Dali is also from Hejiacun.

He Shuqiao continued to shout, "General, I am not from Hejia Village. I am from Master Cai's martial arts school."

It turned out to be the case.

He Dali laughed loudly: "No wonder you are so good at archery, you are Master Cai's apprentice. I went to your martial arts hall when you were practicing martial arts. I said to Master Cai, these guys are all good seedlings, I want them all, do you remember?"

Of course He Shuqiao remembered that it was because of He Dali's two sentences that they were so excited that they didn't sleep the whole night and ran outside to do somersaults.

"General, I will never forget it!"

He Dali patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Boy, you have a bright future. Work hard. This general is optimistic about you!"

Master Cai retired from the army. His apprentices are either children of soldiers or talented people selected from charity organizations.

Since He Shuqiao's surname is He, he is most likely an orphan from the charity. Many orphans all take the surname He from the head of the family.

Because He Dali's parents were orphans, his father took the surname He from He Jinghong, so he also has the surname He.

Therefore, when He Dali saw someone with the surname He in the army, he would never think that this person's original surname was He. Either his surname was He Jinghong's He, like him, or his surname was He Ran's He, like He Jiangong.

He Dali did not doubt He Shuqiao's background, but he remembered this soldier from then on.

Within a few days, He Shuqiao was promoted.

Although it is just a small flag, it is also an official.

But He Shuqiao came to find He Dali. He didn't want to be an official. He wanted to save all his military merits.

He Dali found it funny and asked, "What do you want to do by accumulating military merits? To become a higher official? That won't work, kid. You didn't catch up with the good times. It was okay seven or eight years ago, but not now. No matter how great your military merits are, you have to move up one level at a time. It's useless for you to accumulate military merits."

He Shuqiao shook his head vigorously: "General, I don't want to be an official, I just want to accumulate military merits."

He didn't dare tell He Dali that he wanted to use his military merits to plead for his second sister. If he told him, General Dali would not let him make merits in the future. What would he do then?
He Dali waved his hand and said, "You should be an official if I ask you to be one. If you keep complaining here, I will take away your military merits!"

He Shuqiao came out covered in dust and dirt. No one knew what had happened and thought that he had been scolded by the general just after becoming an official. They all came to comfort him. A clerk came over, saw He Shuqiao, and looked at him carefully, which made He Shuqiao feel embarrassed.

"Sir, what are you looking at me for?" He Shuqiao asked. The clerk smiled and said, "I want to draw your portrait. After we win the war, we must submit our works to the capital. If our works are selected, they may even be compiled into comic strips."

What the clerk didn't tell him was that even if it couldn't be made into the comic strip, it could still be in the newspaper. Such a big victory would definitely be reported in the morning paper.

He Shuqiao was already dumbfounded.

He didn't close his mouth until the clerk walked away, and it was his little friend who helped him close it.

"Did I hear correctly? He just said I could be in a comic book?"

"You heard it right, we all heard it, you can be in the comic book."

He Shuqiao: "Hit me now, am I dreaming?"

The news of the great victory in Xianyang, along with the news of Wu Dongming's death, was sent to the capital.

He Ran stared at the candlelight on the table in a daze.

She didn't expect that Wu Dongming would end his life in this way.

A military general did not die on the battlefield, nor did he die from injuries or illness. Instead, he died in front of the people to apologize for his crime.

The candle flames flickered and the surroundings were silent. He Ran said softly, "You want me to let your son go, especially Wu Ji, right?
You are not dying to atone for your sins to the people, but to me."

He Ran took a deep breath and continued, "Wu Ju is not a bad person by nature, but he has an impulsive personality. Such a personality can be easily taken advantage of by others. As long as he is not my enemy, I will not make things difficult for him.

As for Wu Ji, I will leave his body intact.

The Wu family will not be implicated because of Wu Ji."

He Ran's impression of Wu Ji is actually much better than that of Wu Ju. Wu Ju seems like a young man who lacks social experience.

Wu Ji, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Wu Ju. He gave He Ran the impression of being plain, mature and steady.

He Ran was not surprised by Wu Ji's subsequent actions.

In modern times, my grandfather had two old comrades-in-arms who were once respected and brilliant. However, they eventually fell in the face of money, power and sex, and were eventually thrown into prison, with their brilliant lives ruined.

This is the case for an old man who has experienced the baptism of war and has gone through many years of trials, let alone a young man like Wu Ji who has had a smooth life since childhood.

He Ran decided that if she had children in the future, no matter whether they were boys or girls, she would never raise them like Wu Dongming did. However, He Ran didn't know how to raise them, and she didn't even have an idea.

When she and her brother were young, they were left alone. At that time, their grandfather had not yet retired to the second line, and their parents were busy with their own careers. Sometimes they didn't even come home for several days. Even so, she and her brother did not grow up as a good person.

When you think of your brother, he will be here.

Zong Qi came to the capital.

He did not come alone. This time he was escorting Mrs. Han and her family of four.

In fact, when He Ran returned to Beijing that day, she wanted to bring the Han family along, but at that time Han's eldest sister-in-law was about to give birth, so they stayed in Jinling temporarily.

After Zong Qi finished his own business and Han's eldest sister-in-law had also finished her confinement, he escorted them to the capital.

Before He Ran returned to the capital, she asked Lu Chang to find a nice house for her.

After Zong Qi arrived in Beijing, he settled the Han family in. The house was renovated and decorated beautifully and elegantly with small bridges, flowing water, rockery and pavilions. Zong Qi and the Han family were very satisfied.

Before Zong Qi came to the capital, He Ran went to meet Lao Guanghuai and asked him to recognize Zong Qi as his grandson.

Zong Qi's biological mother was an orphan who had lived with others since childhood and had passed away long ago.

Lao Guanghuai's daughter has also passed away for many years.

Although Lao Guanghuai didn't know why He Ran did this, he did not object and agreed immediately. The Lao family's main family was not in the capital, so Lao Guanghuai even wrote a letter to the clan, asking them to record the name of Zong Qi's biological mother in the family tree.

Although she is an adopted daughter, the fact that she is recorded in the family tree has a different meaning, and is almost the same as a biological daughter.

Therefore, after Zong Qi came to the capital, He Ran asked him to go to the Lao Mansion to recognize his relatives.

These days, Lao Guanghuai also inquired about Zong Qi from the side.

Lao Guanghuai was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, so it was easy for him to inquire about a merchant.

After inquiring, Lao Guanghuai found out that Zong Qi was not an ordinary merchant's son. He was not only the head of the Huizhou Zong family, but also the current leader of the Cao Gang.

Lao Guanghuai could not help but say to Madam Shangguan: "This grandson of mine who I found for free is actually a gold nugget."

He was saying, how could He Ran just casually find a cousin for herself? Look, he has money and a boat. Even if He Ran didn't act as a middleman, Lao Guanghuai would also want to have such a grandson.

When he met Zong Qi, Lao Guanghuai was even more satisfied.

The young man in front of him was dignified and noble, without any trace of vulgarity or crudeness. If he didn't know his identity, if someone said he was a businessman or a gangster, Lao Guanghuai would never believe it even if he was beaten to death.

Not only was Lao Guanghuai satisfied, but Mrs. Shangguan was also satisfied.

The Lao family has few descendants of this generation, and even now that the grandson is married, the house is still deserted.

After much difficulty, she found her granddaughter He Ran, but she was not around and would be gone for one or two years. Mrs. Shangguan was often worried that her granddaughter would go out to fight in the war and she would not be able to see her when she came back.

Now that a grandson has appeared out of nowhere, Mrs. Shangguan is very happy.

She was more thoughtful than Lao Guanghuai, and she could see that the way He Ran looked at Zong Qi was different from the way others looked at her.

If she had any romantic feelings for Zong Qi, that was impossible. If that were the case, there would be no need for Zong Qi to come to the Lao family to recognize his relationship.

With He Ran's current status, she can give Zong Qi a more respectable background.

But if there was no romantic relationship between He Ran and Zong Qi, Mrs. Shangguan would be even more confused.

Who else could make He Ran work so hard and even have to arrange his future?

Mrs. Shangguan couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.

Anyway, now she has got a grandson for free, and the one who benefits is the Lao family.

After a few days, thinking that the Han family had rested well, He Ran went to visit them in person with gifts.

Mrs. Han is Zong Qi's adoptive mother. The Han family saved Zong Qi's life, so He Ran respects her very much.

Now her relationship with Zong Qi is like that of cousins, so even if she visits the Han family in person, it won't be surprising. (End of this chapter)