Tiger Guards

Chapter 253: Fighting for Love with a Knife
Daybreak was approaching, and the smoky aroma of burning embers lingered.

When they could barely see again, they began to drive the prisoners to clean up the battlefield in the camp. Even an arrowhead, a broken spear blade or a broken knife had to be picked up and taken back to be reforged.

"Gather vehicles and food from the surrounding area, the more the better. Tell them that once there are enough vehicles to transport the wounded, I will evacuate."

Zhao Ji immediately sent envoys to Xinshi, Wuji City, and the surrounding towns and manors to announce his orders.

Then he began to look through the letters that Yuan Xi brought with him during his military service, and unexpectedly found several poems that Yuan Xi had written but not yet sent out, all of which expressed his love for Yuan Xi.

The last time Zhao Ji read the letters accumulated by senior officials over the years, he gained a lot of insights and became interested in Yuan Xi's letters.

He didn't expect to dig out such information, and he couldn't help but frown.

"Zhen Mi?"

Putting aside Yuan Xi's flowery poems of admiration, Zhao Ji's brows relaxed. Even if Zhen Mi grew and developed rapidly, how charming could she be?
He stuffed the stack of silk books and poems into his arms, ready to use them when he went to the toilet to avoid wasting them.

As the sky gradually brightened, Zhao Yun was already blackened by smoke and fire. When he came to see Zhao Ji, he saw many old soldiers slaughtering wounded horses.

Zhao Yun was somewhat unable to adapt to this scene. More than a thousand horses were slaughtered on the river bank, and the captives were responsible for washing the horses' intestines.

Some of the horse meat and most of the offal were distributed and cooked on site, while more horse meat was salted and stuffed into cleaned horse intestines, obviously to be made into a dry food for long-term storage.

Even if it cannot be stored for a long time, it is good to delay decay.

There is also horsehide, which can be combined with cowhide to make leather armor.

There were busy figures everywhere, collecting as many resources as possible in the camp.

Zhao Yun arrived at the burned tent, which was now only a frame. "Minister, Yuan Xi has been captured."

"Where did you catch it?"

"Scouts crossed the Zishui Bridge, detected traces of water plants, and pursued and captured them."

Zhao Yun held Yuan Xi's official seal as the Governor of Youzhou and handed it to him with both hands.

Zhao Ji took the seal and looked at it: "Detain him well. If we want to make peace with Yuan Shao, we will need him again."

"Yes."

Zhao Yun bowed and tentatively expressed his opinion: "Minister, based on my understanding of Yuan Shao, if this is for Yuan Xi's sake, he will definitely not stop the war. Instead, he will launch an intense offensive."

"I understand. I will handle the matter appropriately to avoid this senseless killing."

Zhao Ji gestured with his arm, inviting Zhao Yun to sit by the campfire. He then handed the silk scroll of poetry to Zhao Yun and said, "I found this in Yuan Xi's tent."

Thinking it was some important military intelligence, Zhao Yun took it with both hands and shook it open, only to find that it was a poem expressing love.

After checking the differences in the handwriting and calligraphy, he suspected that this was an encrypted document.

Seeing Zhao Yun's serious expression, Zhao Ji said, "This is a poem that Yuan Xi was going to give to Zhen's daughter. I can't help but be curious about her beauty."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun replied, "Minister, I have also heard of this girl's virtuous reputation. I heard that when she was young, a fortune teller praised her as indescribably noble. Such statements are often made up by fortune tellers and are untrustworthy. However, this year, drought struck Zhongshan and Changshan, and the Zhen family's abundant grain reserves brought them sudden prosperity. This girl persuaded her mother and brother to open their granaries to provide relief to the victims, and everyone in the county praised her virtue."

"I understand. Yuan Xi was attracted by Zhen's money and food, and her beauty was just a convenience."

Zhao Ji was rather bored. "I thought Yuan Xi was acting from the heart, but I didn't expect he had some ulterior motive. Zhen's opening of the granary to distribute grain must be a move of untold value."

The decline of the Zhen family was due to the early death of Zhen Yi and his son. This was a real family with a rank of 2,000 stones.

It's just that the main branch of the family failed to continue their official career, but in terms of regional influence and family wealth, it is still a first-class family in Hebei.

As long as this foundation is still there, the descendants of the Zhen family will have the capital to win over and serve as officials, and it is only a matter of time before they return to the two thousand stone ranks.

Zhao Yun said nothing when he heard this. When a guard handed him a hot and wet towel, he took off his helmet, thanked him, and took the towel to wipe his face.

Zhao Ji thought for a moment, and after Zhao Yun had wiped his face, he asked, "What is Lieutenant Zilong's family like?"

"A man of integrity should prioritize his career, not indulge in the affairs of his children."

Zhao Yun answered confidently, and Zhao Ji tried to persuade him, "Now that you've become a lieutenant, you'll be appointed an official of two thousand stone. One day, you'll be guarding a prefecture. If you don't have a family, who will inherit your family business? When my fellow Hu Ben soldiers and I were fighting the Xiongnu, we publicly swore an oath not to marry until we defeated them. We never imagined that in the blink of an eye, we would force Chanyu Huchuquan to surrender, and the Xiongnu would be pacified."

After hearing this, Zhao Yun fell silent. He was also a young man with great ambitions and had served as a leader of the young people in Zhending.

Of course there is love and being loved, but war destroys everything.

Zhao Ji said, "Lieutenant Zilong is a man of both civil and military talents. He will surely be a high-ranking official in the future. Marriage is not a personal matter. If you find someone you like, you should marry as soon as possible. Otherwise, I will return to Taiyuan and ask my grandfather to find a suitable match for Lieutenant Zilong."

"I am a man of broken family and still in mourning for my elder brother. I have no intention of considering this matter for the time being."

Zhao Yun responded and advised Zhao Ji: "The Minister is a hero of his time. Why should a man of honor be subjected to trivial matters of love? At the Minister's age, if he is interested in Zhen's daughter, he can lead the army to visit her. If they are compatible, I believe Zhen will also make it happen."

After saying this, Zhao Yun turned his head to look at the campfire, his face calm, lost in memories.

Seeing this, Zhao Ji stopped provoking Zhao Yun and said, "This matter should not be delayed. I will be back soon. The military affairs of the camp will be handled by the lieutenant, Wei Zi'ang, and Ximen Yuanjie."

"I obey your command." Zhao Yun stood up and bowed. Zhao Ji smiled, stood up, put on his feathered helmet, turned around and walked out of the tent. He said to a Tiger Guards official who came to meet him, "Choose three hundred knights and follow me to the camp to ask for some rice."

"Here."

This person immediately went to gather the troops, which was not a difficult task.

Although the fighting was fierce last night, there were still many people who did not participate in the actual fighting. Their physical strength and organization were relatively intact. He just needed to select three centuries.

Zhao Ji then called Wei Xing, Ximen Jian and others and gave them instructions in person to avoid any misunderstanding.

Afterwards, he led more than 300 cavalrymen down the Zishui River, passed by the south gate of Wuji County and the ferry dock on the river bank, and directly arrived at the Zhen's manor.

There was a plank wall outside the manor. Although it was daybreak, there was still a campfire burning.

Zhen's followers and servants stood behind the wall with weapons in hand, watching. There were crowds of people, and there were about six or seven hundred heads on the low wall in front, which was more than a hundred steps wide.

When it comes to counting heads, Zhao Ji already has relatively solid skills.

He slowly drove his horse closer to the simple gatehouse and glanced at Han Shu, who had come along to join in the fun. Han Shu understood and rode forward, shouting loudly, "In compliance with the Emperor's decree, Minister Zhao is here to punish the traitor Yuan Xi!"

Zhen Yan was standing on the gate tower, inevitably nervous, and leaned over to ask, "Since you are ordered to punish the traitorous ministers, why are you looking for me?"

Han Shu was speechless and turned to look at Zhao Ji. Zhao Ji held up the silk scroll in his hand and said, "Yuan Xi has been defeated and is on the run. I suspect he is hiding here. Open the door immediately, or the heavenly soldiers will break in, search for the traitor Yuan Xi, and execute your entire family!"

Zhen Yan was helpless, his expression bitter: "But the Minister Zhao Hou is here in person?"

"It's me, open the door, I want to go in, you can't stop me."

Zhao Ji looked up at Zhen Yan, the sunlight shining on his face. His tone was gentle and his posture was steady, which made him seem very convincing.

"There are still women in the family. I hope the Minister can restrain the officers during the search."

"You can rest assured that my troops regard money as dirt and will not steal your property."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he turned his head to look at a commander of a hundred men. The other side began to form a team. As the gate of Zhen's Fort slowly opened, this team of knights filed in and took control of the gate tower and the arrow towers on both sides.

After these knights entered, Zhen Yan came out and led a dozen leaders to bow before the door: "Humble official Zhen Yan pays homage to the Minister of the Interior."

"This is why I came here to look for your family."

Zhao Ji rolled up the silk book into a ball and threw it to Zhen Yan, then turned to look at another team. This team of knights also began to move into the manor to seize the advantageous position.

Zhen Yan looked at Yuan Xi's handwritten letter, glaring angrily, "Minister, please understand. It's true that I was friends with him, but I didn't know this thief coveted my little sister!"

"Don't be so arbitrary when you speak. Follow me as I tell you the story."

Zhao Ji rode in, followed by more than a hundred riders. Zhen Yan could only hurry to catch up.

Not only the manor gate, but also the gates of the houses inside were controlled by the knights who broke in. The gates of each courtyard were controlled by knights in groups of three or five.

Zhao Ji dismounted and walked, observing the Zhen family's manor and residence, and occasionally tapping the pillars, railings or walls with his whip.

Entering the reception hall in the front yard, Zhao Ji sat directly at the table at the head, tilting his head to look at Zhen Yan who had walked in: "You may have guessed my purpose."

"I would like to offer money and food to support the army. I wonder how much the Minister of the Interior would need?"

Zhen Yan bowed deeply and said, "If my family is short of money, please give me some time, and I will raise funds from the neighbors."

"Just try your best to gather some food, forget about the money."

Zhao Ji stared at Zhen Yan and said, "The more I rob from your family, the more likely Yuan Shao will let you go. I want the food, and I want the servants you recruited to help the disaster victims. You lead your men to dig a pit and bury the money, and everyone who helped dig it will be mine. When I leave, I will burn down your house."

Zhao Ji threw Yuan Xi's seal in front of Zhen Yan and said, "Here is the seal of the Governor of Youzhou appointed by Yuan Shao. I have also captured Yuan Xi. My war with the Yuan family will be over soon. Don't keep me waiting."

Looking at the seal rolling in front of him, Zhen Yan didn't even have the courage to pick it up to check its authenticity.

With one last thought in mind, he asked, "Mr. Shizhong?"

Zhao Ji remained silent, staring at Zhen Yan for a few breaths before asking, "Don't keep me for dinner. I'm pressed for time. If you don't want to do it yourself, how about I help you?"

"Please wait a moment, my Lord. I will go and discuss this with my mother."

Zhen Yan bowed deeply as he spoke. At this moment, his mother came from the side door, leaning on a cane. "No need to discuss. Just do as Minister Zhao says."

Zhao Ji stood up and bowed to the other party: "I'm sorry."

"Minister Zhao is too modest."

Zhang leaned on her cane and bowed slightly in return, a little reluctant to leave. "I have also heard of the Minister's reputation. Now that I see what he has done, I have nothing to worry about."

"Old Madam, you are too kind. I just don't like Yuan. Why can't I marry such a beautiful girl?"

(End of this chapter)