"Bang! Yu Jing's face turned purple with rage, he had always attributed the clean governance of the Great Song Dynasty to the strict supervision of the Censorate. He never expected that in this distant land of Lingnan, there would be such a corrupt army. It can be imagined that those officials who supervised them were also not clean!"

  "I really couldn't have imagined that under the clear and bright sky, such a rotten and filthy thing could happen!" He slammed the book heavily on the table, his anger bursting forth: "No wonder 200,000 troops were defeated by a few thousand barbarians, it turns out the reason lies here! Truly shocking, truly shocking!"

  Chen Ke saw him so angry and his worried heart was put at ease by more than half. He thought to himself, it seems that Father is going to be okay.

  "Do you have any evidence?" Yu Jing looked at him and said in a deep voice, "If so, I can rescue your father immediately!"

  "All the evidence has been hidden away by my father." Chen Ke said in a low voice: "As for where it's hidden, only he knows."

  "Is that so?"... Yu Jing stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "I will write a memorial to the throne immediately, along with your indictment, and have it delivered to the capital by express post. I request that the imperial court dispatch an envoy or authorize me to investigate this case." After a pause, he explained: "Although I have the authority to make decisions on the spot, this case is not directly related to the current military campaign after all."

  "Yes." Chen Ke was not very familiar with him, but there was no way around it, after all, he was a big shot.

  "First take this young man out for a meal." Yu Jing instructed his attendants, Yu Hou and Tie Si: "I want to write a memorial."

  "Excellent." Before he had even finished speaking, his personal guard commander appeared at the door, clasped his fists and reported: "The troops have finished their meal and are ready to set out at any moment."

  "En." Yu Jing thought for a moment and said, "Let's get on the boat first." He smiled at Chen Ke and said, "Little friend, come with me on this journey. Firstly, it will ensure your safety; secondly, we may need your cooperation with the case at any time."

  "... Chen Ke threw down the token, with his original intention, he naturally left after finishing his business. After all, for the weak and small side, it's better to be in the dark than in the light. What if someone betrayed him and he ended up back in Hengyang, wouldn't that be jumping into a trap?"

  But the strength of both sides was like an elephant and an ant. The elephant didn't need to consider the ant's feelings, Yu Jing just symbolically asked a sentence, and left without waiting for his objection.

  "Go on, kid." Several imperial guards patted Chen Ke's shoulder and sneered: "A big guy like you, go practice on the boat?"

  Chen Ke ignored the provocation of the forbidden army, he knew that he had no choice and could only follow.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Yu Jing sat in an eight-person sedan chair, with a parasol and a gua (a ceremonial instrument) leading the way. The display of official power was sufficient, but the speed couldn't be increased. Normally, with his temperament, he would have been impatient. But today, he didn't urge them on, and instead let down the curtain, closed his eyes, and focused his mind... thinking about this case that had caused a stir in the heavens.

  It was just his blessing that had changed from the initial indignation to more practical thoughts... With his experience, he didn't know that this case would involve at least dozens of people losing their heads, and those who would be implicated would be counted in hundreds. To put it more severely, the entire military and political system of Lingnan would be uprooted!

  I am the pacification commissioner of both Guangnan roads, but I have become a commander without an army. Who will help me to discipline the troops? Who will help me to pacify the people? Who will help me to quell the rebellion?!

  Yu Jing couldn't help but take a cold breath, as the loser of the Qingli Party struggle, he was exiled from the center of power for nearly ten years. He could not indulge in the beauty of nature like Ouyang Yongshu, nor could he travel extensively and benefit the world like Fan Wen Zheng.

  As a remonstrance official, his value should be reflected by the side of the monarch. Leaving Bianjing City, the emperor no longer paid attention to his memorials, nor did anyone pay attention to his words, and his life was like death, unbearable to look back on.

  Now, after suffering for so many years, he finally has the opportunity to stand on the central stage again. He had long sworn to himself that he absolutely cannot fail again and must win this battle as beautifully as Ming Gong and Wen Gong did, with a single declaration of victory!

  He suddenly remembered that before he left, in the White Tiger Hall of the Imperial Secretariat, Han Gong had said something strange to him...

  After handing over all the official documents and seals, Grand Marshal Han Qi of the Song Dynasty sat down in a chair beside him and said with deep meaning: "Yu Gong, this battle is related to the fate of the country, you must not be careless... I might as well tell you the truth, Liao and Western Xia have already intended to stop fighting and make peace, just waiting for our Lingnan campaign. If we quickly put down the rebellion, everything will be fine, but if this war gets bogged down, or if we lose again and again, the day when the two enemies turn their blades against us is not far off."

  "We still need to ask the general for guidance." Yu Jing was originally not a seasoned fighter, and his heart was already racing with anxiety. After being intimidated by Han Gui, he became even more uncertain. Thinking that Han Gui was a Confucian general from the northwest battlefield, he humbly asked.

  "Your seniority and experience are above others, so it's not for me to instruct you." Han Qi shook his head with a smile: "There is just one thing, please, sir, have some self-control."

  "Hmm",... Yu Jing nodded, then heard Han Qi say slowly: "It's exactly this resentful and evil character of yours that needs to be changed. I'm not one of the four remonstrants now, but the commander-in-chief of the two routes of Guangnan in the Great Song Dynasty. As a commander, you need to consider the overall situation more... The overall situation is to quickly quell the rebellion, compared to which everything else is trivial."

  "Halt for a moment," said Han Gui, sighing. "Even with just a toe's thought, I know that Lingnan has no shortage of problems...". Perhaps due to being with the soldiers for too long, Han Gui would occasionally blurt out dirty words, startling the civil officials into stunned silence. Yet because of this, no one dared to clash head-on with this rough and unbridled Han Prime Minister.

  However, at this moment, Yu Jing didn't care about these things and listened to Han Qi continue: "What I worry most is that after you leave, you will forget that you are the commander-in-chief and think of yourself as a remonstrating official."

  "Governor, you're underestimating me." Yu Jing's thick eyebrows shot up, her eyes wide with anger as she said, "I'm giving you a military order: no matter what you see or hear, as long as it doesn't affect the battle, put it aside for now. We'll deal with everything after we win."

  "Good!" Han Qi applauded and praised: "In that case, I can rest assured."

  At that time, I only felt that Han Qi was not at ease with his temper, but now, Yu Jing found that it seemed that every sentence he said had a hidden meaning!

  At the thought of this, he shuddered on a hot day... As the head of the imperial secret service for many years, how could Han Xianggong be completely unaware of the Lingnan military system? Was there no way out, or was he just listening and following orders, or was he acting as their protective umbrella? In any case, it was a clear hint to himself that apart from pacifying the rebellion, he should not interfere with other things...

  Until the official boat sailed out of the dock, Yu Jing was still dazed in the main cabin. After being served by Tie Si and wiping his face, he came to his senses a little.

  "Does Lord Wen still need to write a memorial?" asked Ti Si in a low voice: "If necessary, I will go grind the ink."

  Yu Jing's voice became hoarse and unpleasant as he stared at Tie Si with an icy gaze: "Did I order you to do so?"

  "Wen Shuai is ordering the servants in the post house." Tie Si said with a terrified tone.

  "This is one time, that is another...” Yu Jing let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, saying: “Take good care of that young man, don't let anyone approach him, and don't let anyone know he exists. No one can know, got it?!” The first half of the sentence was directed at Tie Si, but the second half was spoken to his personal guard.

  "Understood." Yu Hou replied in a deep voice.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Yu Wenshuai gave an order, and outside the cabin where Chen Ke lived, two more imperial guards were added to stand guard. Although they could block those who wanted to trouble him from entering, he himself couldn't leave either. Eating, drinking, urinating, and defecating were all resolved within this cabin with no windows, only one door.

  Fortunately, such days only last for two days, otherwise he would go crazy.

  At first, Yu Hou said this was for his safety and he still had some trust in him.

  But when he arrived in Hengyang, he was forced to change into the armor of the Forbidden Army and was taken away on an official boat, Chen Ke saw Yu Jing having a pleasant conversation with officials from Hunan and Guangdong. His heart skipped a beat...

  Although it can be understood as a pre-emptive strike to stun the opponent, Chen Ke still felt a strong sense of unease. He suddenly felt that Yu Jing's dignified face looked a bit blurry.

  Is it true as Yu Hou said that the memorial has been sent out? Chen Ke was no longer certain.

  Hengyang was also the location of the Hengzhou Prefectural Government, and officials from Jinghu South Road had already taken over the government office, preparing it as the headquarters for the Pacification Commissioner.

  Chen Ke was surrounded by the imperial guards in the center, but he still saw a shiny bald head from the crowd... Only to see Xuan Yu and Shang in the crowd, not wearing his fighting cap, but stretching out his hand to touch his own bald head.

  "This guy, really has good eyesight. Chen Ke didn't think he could recognize himself."

  After entering the government office, Chen Ke still couldn't shake off the situation of being under house arrest. He was locked up alone from morning till night, with three meals a day, hot water for washing his face and brushing his teeth all delivered to him, and even having his toilet emptied once a day. His life had no problems, but he still didn't have freedom.

  With Chen Ke's temperament, it's already a miracle that he can endure to this extent. If not for Chen Xiliang, he would have found an excuse to escape long ago.

  But patience has its limits, if he still doesn't realize that Yu Jing is deceiving himself and taking himself as a rare commodity by now, then he's not worthy of being called human!

  He decided to leave this damned place!

  In the courtyard there was a short willow tree, and he spent his days blowing various small tunes with its leaves. They were melodies that the imperial guards had never heard before, but they found them very pleasant to listen to, so no one stopped him from playing...

  Division line

  I won't distort the character of any great man for the sake of a story. I will create stories that conform to their characters...