Patrol Captain

"I have a good idea why the General of the Cavalry has come to Guang'an Prefecture!" Gou Zhi said with a smile, his short body suspended in the air, level with the tall and burly Liu Qing.

Liu Qing, dressed in casual clothes, with his muscular physique clearly defined, held up the waist badge handed to him by his subordinate, waved to the person next to him, and signaled them to leave.

"General Liu should also know that the demons of the Ten Thousand Mountains have recently made a comeback. I, Liu, have been ordered by the general to lead my troops here to investigate the demons' movements."

"I'll trouble you for a few days, General!" Liu Qing said, unhurriedly.

Upon hearing this, Gou Zhi was overjoyed. He took Liu Qing's hand and patted it, saying, "General of the Cavalry, what are you saying? Don't bother me. I would love for you to stay here as long as you want."

His expression and actions suggested he was worshipping the Ninth Mountain, but perhaps realizing he was exaggerating, Gou Zhi gave an awkward smile.
"General Liu, to be honest, Guang'an has not recovered since the last great retreat. Weiyuan Pass and Chishui Prefecture are full of bones, which is extremely horrifying. How can we sleep peacefully while guarding this place? We're almost bald."

Gou Zhi kept complaining, completely disregarding his status as a Lieutenant General, which made him seem somewhat comical.

Liu Qing knew that this Gou Zhonglang was not very brave and had a "dark history". When they first arrived with the general, this Gou Zhonglang thought of running away with a bucket when faced with demons knocking on the gate, but later he showed quite a bit of toughness.

Liu Qing calmly pulled her arm away from the other person's grasp, a strange expression on her face.
"General Gou thinks highly of me. I am merely observing the movements of the demons and will not be stationed here for long. However, the undead creatures in the City of Bones have not yet shown any signs of expansion, so General Gou need not be too anxious."

"The general will decide everything!"

"Yes, yes, with General Chen here, and I heard that he has regained control of the Dao Division, our Guang'an Patrol Division will definitely cooperate fully." Gou Zhi's expression brightened when he heard the last sentence, and he inexplicably felt like crying. What's going on?

After that great upheaval in Shu, the imperial court sent a national advisor to take power. Two prefectures around Guang'an were occupied by undead creatures. He led the Guang'an Sky Patrol Division to defend the city under pressure, unable to sleep day and night. The imperial court showed no concern and did not send anyone to comfort him.

Now, a rebellion has broken out in Northern Liang, and there's trouble at the imperial court. Ninth Mountain has regained power, and not long after, the brothers from Ninth Mountain came over. Gou Zhi thought to himself, "They're still the family."

Others may not know, but he is a staunch supporter of Chen!
The Guang'an Prefecture Astronomical Bureau had great faith in General Chen and the Ninth Mountain.

"Then thank you very much, General Gou!" Liu Qing said, then followed up on the topic and made his request.

"Since we've come this far, let's get the mission on the agenda as soon as possible. I would like to ask General Gou to gather your men for a meeting so that I can delegate some tasks and complete the tasks assigned by the general as quickly as possible."

"Alright, I'll send someone down to relay the order." With that, he turned around and beckoned to his trusted lieutenant who had followed him in.

A captain in blue armor stepped forward, "General!"

"Go, pass down the order to summon all officers who are currently at the Si Li family residence and have not yet carried out their duties to the Zhonglang Hall for a meeting."

"Yes!"

Meanwhile, Liu Qing glanced at his subordinate standing to the side, who immediately understood and quickly left to inform the people on the Ninth Mountain side.

"General Liu, please move to the Hall of the Imperial Guard! Please!" Gou Zhi gestured for him to enter, turning his body to the side.

"Please!" Liu Qing said.

Then, the two moved to the Zhonglang Hall.

Around the same time, outside the imposing gates of the Sky Patrol Bureau's residence, a girl dressed in a light blue silk dress with her hair tied up in a maid's bun looked timidly at the bureau's majestic gates, and then mustered her courage to walk over.

Before she even got close to the gate, the sharp eyes of the armored guards swept over her, and they shouted a reprimand.

"Who is coming?"

The shout startled the maid Xiao Jiu, who shrank back, tears welling in her eyes, but she still gritted her teeth and continued walking forward.

"It's you!" The guard's eyes sharpened as he recognized the maid's face. He remembered that she was a maidservant of the Xiao family's young lady. The two of them had come to see the General several times before, but were always turned away. After that, they disappeared without a trace. It was said that they had been expelled from the Xiao family, which was quite sad.

"This is a heavily guarded area, young lady, please leave immediately." Although the armored soldier sighed inwardly, he still expressionlessly stepped aside to shoo her away.

Seeing the maid continue walking forward, the armored soldier's expression finally turned cold. He drew his sword, blade pointing forward, looking down at her with utter ruthlessness.
"Take one more step forward, and slash!"

"thump"

Before the blade, the young maid knelt down with a thud. "I beg for justice! I beg the soldiers of the Ninth Mountain to save my young lady!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The young maidservant kowtowed and knelt on the ground, crying out.

This crying caused the guards' expressions to change, and their faces turned ugly.

A mere maidservant seeking justice? What kind of justice is she seeking? Doesn't she know how her master's family has fallen on hard times?
It was originally the order from the Ninth Mountain.

Still seeking justice from the Ninth Mountain? Isn't this just coming to their door to pester them relentlessly? Does this little maid really not know her own limitations?

The gatekeepers all wore cold expressions.
“She’s causing a disturbance in this important place. Take her away.”

Soon, two black-armored soldiers came up, grabbed the little maid, and dragged her petite body out.

"I have no way! I beg you, sir, please save my young lady! She is innocent!"

"Moreover, my young lady knows General Chen, the Ninth Mountain General."

The maid Xiao Jiu cried and screamed, her cries filled with unbearable sorrow.

"slow!"

"What did you say?"

Just then, the lead guard suddenly spoke up, quickly walked down the steps, and came to the little maid who had fallen to the ground. His eyes were filled with surprise and suspicion as he stared intently at her.

After the order to convene a meeting was issued at the Zhonglang Hall, the troops from Guang'an Division and the Ninth Mountain arrived one after another.

In front of the main hall, where there was originally only one main seat, another seat was added parallel to it.

The captain of the Ninth Mountain sat on the left, while the officer of the Guang'an Astronomical Bureau sat on the right.

When everyone had arrived, Liu Qing and Gou Zhi walked in from the outside, one on the left and one on the right. The officers in the hall all stood up, their armor gleaming.

Then, Liu Qing and Gou Zhi stepped forward, saying, "Please!" "Please!"

They sat down in the two main seats on the left and right.

After sitting down, Liu Qing first glanced at his subordinates, then turned his head to one side and asked Gou Zhi:

"Gou Zhonglang, are all your men here?"

Gou Zhi glanced around and replied, "The people are almost here, we can begin. You can take charge, General Liu, I'll just assist."

Liu Qing nodded and was about to speak when he heard footsteps approaching from outside the gate. A man in blue armor, holding a sword, was walking briskly toward the Zhonglang Hall.

They were from the Sky Patrol Division. This blue-armored captain didn't go to his seat after entering, but instead went to the center of the hall, helped his own lieutenant general, bowed to Liu Qing, and finally turned to his own lieutenant general with a strange expression, hesitating to speak. He couldn't help but glance at Liu Qing beside him, and after a moment's hesitation, he said:
"General, I was handling a matter just now and overheard some news, which I'm unsure how to proceed."

As he spoke, he walked over to the chair of his own general. Gou Zhi was puzzled, wondering what this kid was doing so mysteriously, but he still turned his ear over.

Then, the captain bent down, his lips moved slightly, and he whispered something in Gou Zhi's ear.

Gou Zhi's expression changed, showing suspicion, surprise, and hesitation. He couldn't help but turn to look at Liu Qing sitting next to him.

Liu Qing looked at him and, seeing his expression, asked, "Does Gou Zhonglang have something to say?"

Gou Zhi hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat troubled, but still spoke up.

“There is a woman at the gate. She is a maid from the family of the late former General Xiao. Her maid heard the news from somewhere and knew that you had come to the prefecture. She knelt at the gate early this morning to ask for justice from Ninth Mountain.”

He looked very troubled as he spoke.

"The Xiao family? Seeking justice?" Liu Qing frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

"Has General Liu forgotten that the demons from the Six Mountains who were hiding in my Guang'an Prefecture caused trouble at a banquet in the Xiao family, but were stopped by General Chen? The Xiao family and several other families were implicated in disobeying orders and colluding with demons. The main culprits were imprisoned by General Chen in court and executed in the Heavenly Prison. This Miss Xiao came to the Heavenly Patrol Bureau several times to plead with me, but I refused to see her each time. Later, I heard that she was expelled from the Xiao family and I haven't seen her for a while. This time, it was her personal maid who came." Gou Zhi sorted out the events of that year.

Upon hearing this, Liu Qing remembered the incident, but he didn't have a deep impression of the Xiao family's young lady, and said expressionlessly:

"The general gave the order, and no one can change it. Gou Zhonglang's handling of this matter is not wrong. If the master and servant come, just send them away. Why does Gou Zhonglang seem to be in a difficult position?"

Gou Zhi's mouth moved, his expression very strange. "That's what they say, but that little maid just shouted at the door that her young lady knows General Chen. I don't know what to do. I've never heard of her before, but I don't think she and her maid would dare to tell such a big lie. Plus, General Chen isn't here, so how can we verify it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Qing immediately raised an eyebrow. "You know my general? Then why didn't you say so before?"

“Then send someone to get rid of him,” Gou Zhi said.

"Wait!" Liu Qing said. "Bring the person up here and ask them a few questions, and we'll know."

"Alright." Gou Zhichao glanced at the captain from before. "Go and bring that little maid up."

"Yes!"

Then the captain strode out of the Zhonglang Hall and headed straight for the main gate.

Before long, the captain led Xiao Jiu, whose eyes were streaked with tears, into the hall.

"General, General Liu, the man has been brought here." He said, stepping aside to make way.

Standing behind him, Xiao Jiu trembled with nervousness under the watchful eyes of the assembled soldiers. She lowered her head, her face pale, like a little rabbit that had wandered into the midst of ruthless tigers and leopards.

But when her eyes fell upon the general of the Ninth Mountain seated atop it, she knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly.
"This servant, Xiao Jiu, greets General of the Ninth Mountain!"

"Please, Your Honor, do us justice!"

"Please, Your Honor, do us justice..."

She kept repeating the same thing, and bloodstains appeared on the ground from her falls.

At the head of the table, Liu Qing frowned upon seeing this scene, placed his hand on the armrest, and quietly watched everything without intervening.

The maid continued to kowtow, her voice growing weaker and weaker, and bright red bloodstains spread across the ground.

Finally, Liu Qing spoke.

"Your servant is indeed loyal. The matter of the Xiao family is already settled, so there's no use in kowtowing until your head is broken."

But then Xiao Jiu, her voice trembling with tears, said, “This servant dares not. My young lady is innocent. She is kind and generous, helping disaster victims. After the Xiao family’s misfortune, those people from the collateral branches drove her out. They said she was a sinner, unclean, and that keeping her around would only bring trouble to the Xiao family. But I know they are taking advantage of her weakness to profit from her misfortune.”

"My young lady is now ill with worry, please save her, please save her..."

Xiao Jiu, as if grasping at a straw, tried her best to show her humility and beg.

Liu Qing remained silent. This was someone else's business, but he asked the most crucial question, his voice growing heavier and carrying a pressing pressure.
"You said your young lady knows my general?"

The young maidservant, her head buried in the ground, trembled as she answered in a shaky voice.

"I...I know him!"

"How did you meet?" Liu Qing continued to ask.

"Two years ago, I was boating with Miss on the river north of the city. At that time, Miss was about to have her birthday banquet. On the shore, she saw General Chen, who was dressed in plain clothes. He was very imposing. Miss then sent someone to deliver an invitation. At the time, she did not know that it was General Chen..."

The little maid's sobs, so faint as mosquitoes buzzing, echoed in the hall, giving the atmosphere a strange feel to it.

As for his position, Liu Qing's expression was similar, but his eyes seemed to see through the key point, and his voice was clear and deliberate.
"You've said so much."

"I, the General, will ask you only one question: Does my general know your young lady?"

Upon hearing this, the maid Xiao Jiu trembled, her body almost pressing against the ground.

"Raise your head and answer me!"

Liu Qing's voice suddenly turned cold, startling the little maid who trembled as she cried.
"No...don't know."

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly turned somber.

It turns out to be a one-sided chance encounter. Trying to use it to build a relationship or find connections is really ridiculous. Besides, the person in question isn't here, so how can we tell if it's true or not? Just because you say so doesn't mean it is.

Liu Qing's face darkened, while Gou Zhi's heart skipped a beat. Still clinging to some past ties with the Xiao family, he quickly waved his hand.

"Take him away immediately!"

"Not to be allowed to get even a step closer to the Sky Patrol Division."

"They really dare to say anything."

As soon as the order was given, men immediately came and dragged the maid away, while the maid was still pleading for her mistress to be saved.

"President Liu, please don't be offended. We don't know if this matter is true or not, and we can't tell. Even if it is true, it's still far from certain, so we don't need to worry about it."

Liu Qing pondered for a moment. Although Gou Zhonglang's words made sense, he always took matters of the general seriously and would not make decisions for him. According to the maid, her young mistress had taken a liking to her general while he was admiring the scenery on the shore during a boat trip years ago, and had even sent him an invitation. However, her general did not recognize her, and it was purely a one-sided love affair that did not amount to anything.

"I trouble you, General, to investigate the character of that Miss Xiao."

"If what that little maid said is true, and those who admire our general suffer a tragic end, then it shouldn't be like this!" Liu Qing pondered for a moment before saying this. (End of Chapter)