Chapter 543

The next day, Five Passes Plain was still busy; first, they took all the spoils—a pile of broken copper and iron—and shipped them back to the Northern Border. The King didn't care for these weapons; they were controlled items that couldn't fall into other factions' hands, so he sent them all back to Secluded Prefecture, ordering Zhu Ti to remake them into farm tools.

Come on, let's farm!

During the day, prisoners dug graves for their comrades; while working they also had to listen to Wei Shen's psychological torment, nothing more than how lucky they were—the Northern Border was a utopia in this world, for example, the Northern Border never forced conscription, relying on volunteers, and there were also people who…

The King dumped the task of arranging the prisoners onto Dongdu Marquis, who had full responsibility—whether to evenly distribute them among the newly captured cities or pile them near Five Passes Plain, letting them discuss it. Anyway, he had already promised to free them; though he couldn't send them back now, even after taking Chang'an they would still be released.

The King had no interest in these petty arrangements and didn't want to deal with them; everything weighed on him, exhausting him, but this guy couldn't stay idle. With over two hundred thousand prisoners to resettle, he couldn't leave just yet, so he began to eye nearby Chang'an eagerly.

What do you think he wants to do?

The King pulled Wei Shen to squat behind the royal tent, mysterious and secretive: "Idleness is idleness; I, the King, will personally scout Chang'an. They'd never expect the King to go there alone!"

Wei Shen saw the posture and knew it wasn't good; hearing it confirmed his suspicion.

He wasn't buying it, very passive: "Oh."

"Cousin, don't you want to go at all? I, the King, can bring you."

"No thanks. If you take me on this dangerous errand, my grandfather and maternal uncle will find out, and my leg will be in danger." Cousin had no will to live·JPG

The King wondered: "If you let me go alone, will knowing about it keep your leg safe?"

Cousin broke down! "…I'll go tell the Eastern Capital Marquis! I'll write to my grandfather and father! I'll also tell your sister and your aunt!"

The King shook his head, looking regretful: "It seems cousin insists on being obstinate, forcing me to pull out a trump card!"

"What? Roll around? You go!"

Wei Shen was about to stand up to inform on him when he saw the King rummaging in his robes; he grew curious, and when the King produced something, Wei Shen fell silent……

A tiger-shaped military token inscribed on the back, gleaming gold and heavy.

"Wei Central Lieutenant, I, the King, order you to cooperate with me in scouting Chang'an for enemy intelligence."

"……Heavens!"

He fumbled in his pocket again: "Or do you need the Northern Border King's great seal? You didn't bring the great seal—will the small seal do?"

Wei Shen accepted it, stood up, and lay spread-eagled on the grass.

"Northern Border tiger token. I've never seen it when setting out on campaign; has the Eastern Capital Marquis seen it? The first time I see it is… so I can go along with your terrible idea?!"

The King: "Huh? You're defying military orders? Guards—"

Wei Shen interrupted him: "Wait!" Seeing that the King was determined to go, he made a demand: "Besides Ling Yin, bring a squad of personal guards."

"That won't work—more people means easier exposure." Seeing Wei Shen about to break free and run, he said, "Alright, alright, bring Ling Yin and Xiao Jin to protect you; any more and the target becomes too big." Bai Ze and Ze Tian weren't in his considerations. Bringing too many risks getting lost in the crowd; Ling Yin and Xiao Jin could escort cousin out, but not necessarily everyone, and the King's scheming wasn't random.

"You've gone to so much trouble; I don't need protection while staying here." Wei Shen spoke with sarcasm.

"You're welcome." The King wore a sincere face·JPG

Wei Shen……

The Northern Border cavalry was raised by the King himself; the Northern Border was the King's one-man rule—whatever he wanted to do was hard to stop, but fortunately this guy was still serious about major matters, relying on the fact that he held Youzhou City, he dared to act recklessly.

It's impossible to make the King wear unknown old clothes; since the last time he posed as a refugee, his storeroom has had "the King's exclusive beggar outfit" and other identity‑changing items.

The King picked a summer shirt and put it on; Wei Shen burst out laughing: "This is far fancier than the clothes you wore selling vegetable seedlings in Youzhou!" Sure enough, it was summer—the fabric was thin and showed his legs!

The King looked down; not great—his arms and legs were a bit pale and tender; what if someone hungry tried to boil him!

He then pulled out a barely covering outfit and tore a strip of cloth to tie his hair. While dressing himself, the King explained to Wei Shen their cover story: "Outside this camp I'm Refugee Little Wei, and you're Refugee Big Wei."

"We two refugees walking to Chang'an? I'd guess Chang'an is now as solid as an iron barrel."

"Mountain folk have their own clever plan!"

A moment later he realized: the clever plan was to steal two horses from the Eastern Capital Marquis's officially tallied spoils……

Big Wei and Small Wei were leading the sorry‑looking warhorses out of the camp when they bumped into Feng Xiang head‑on; Feng Xiang saw soldiers nearby and didn't think much, assuming they were just releasing underage prisoners.

He asked the nearby guards: "That kid—did you just see his face?"

"That little prisoner?" filthy and black. "Our Highness is pretty decent—releasing him early and even giving him a horse?"

Feng Xiang gazed into the distance: "Not quite right."

When he later met the Eastern Capital Marquis and asked where the King was, the King had already reached Dengyue Slope between Five Passes Plain and Chang'an.

This slope, actually a mountain though its height is modest, stretches dozens of miles; in peaceful times it was the top choice for Chang'an nobles to hunt on horseback. Nowadays, at this time, it's been occupied by refugees.

When Bai Li Jin was still around, the area outside Chang'an constantly gathered large numbers of refugees; they weren't allowed into the city, and there was a sporadic soup shed that barely kept them alive. When Bai Li Jun attacked, the surviving refugees were only conscripted. This time the outside of Chang'an is clean—where did the refugees go?

Before coming to Dengyue Slope, the King also thought they'd dispersed, but upon entering he found that those still alive and unwilling to return home were all up in these mountains!

He and Wei Shen crept over cautiously, fearing Bai Li Jun had an ambush; turns out he was overthinking—when the place declared an uprising in two days, he wasn't surprised.

The refugees outside Chang'an had already gone up Dengyue Slope, hunting and cutting off roads.

Seeing that the imperial court's troop buildup at Five Passes Plain affected their business, they spotted him and Wei Shen and became very excited.

Seeing that the court's troop buildup at Wuguan was affecting their business, and upon seeing him and Wei Shen, they became very excited.

The refugees Big Wei and Little Wei were thrown into a rough mountain cave at first sight; Little Wei landed, nimbly turned and shielded Big Wei, saying, "My older brother is frail—if you have any business, come at me~"

Big Wei rolled his eyes, "cough cough cough~"—terminal illness·JPG

The chief took the opportunity to size up the big man lying sideways in the middle, with a full beard and burly build—it's no surprise he became the boss in this bandit stronghold. The cave isn't small; in summer it's rather cool, suggesting quite a few people live here; besides the intermittent gloomy wind, there's a lingering sweat odor. The chief immediately decided to scout the scale and then withdraw, fearing that over time he'd become pickled by the sweat smell.

Boss, we've picked up two kids! They're acting shifty and suspicious! Oh, and they also have a horse!