Chapter 94: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 94: Don't Panic, We're on the Same Side
Sleeve arrows were weapons, and as prisoners, having weapons would be difficult to explain.
People like Captain Sun, if they found out, would definitely charge them with plotting to attack the officials and attempting to escape.
Fortunately, Captain Sun was dead, otherwise...
However, with Captain Sun dead, General Ping Wei arrived. General Ping Wei's reputation was well-known throughout Da Yue Kingdom, known for his integrity, resoluteness, and aversion to evil.
If he found out that they, as prisoners, were harboring weapons...
So, Chen Xue and the others didn't pay much attention to General Ping Wei's gratitude; they seemed distracted.
They were considering how to hide the arrows from the bandits or throw a few more smoke bombs and tear gas grenades...
But it seemed a bit too late.
The bandits had already been captured, and even if they hid the arrows, the other prisoners around them would have noticed their actions.
Just as they were anxious, they heard a voice beside them, "Master Chen?"
"Huh?"
Chen Yuan was startled for a moment, then immediately looked up at General Ping Wei.
Wait a minute!
How did he know him?
Chen Yuan was a bit confused, but then he looked at General Ping Wei and seemed to feel a bit familiar.
"Master Chen, don't you recognize me?"
General Ping Wei quickly reminded him, "I'm Xie Yunshang, the young man who was rescued by the Sishui River more than ten years ago!"
With that, Chen Yuan suddenly remembered. There was indeed such a thing. At that time, he was not yet a Ministry of Revenue attendant, only a few years into his official career, so sometimes he had to work overtime at night.
And sometimes, he was forced to work overtime.
That night, he returned home after overtime and passed by the Sishui River when he heard some noise from the river. He found a young man struggling in the water.
So, without hesitation, he jumped into the river and rescued the young man.
Originally, he wanted to take the young man home, after all, it was dark, and the young man fell into the water again, but he was rejected by the young man.
The young man asked Chen Yuan's name, remembered his appearance, and left alone. Obviously, he was worried that if Chen Yuan took him home, his family would scold him for falling into the water.
And that young man was Xie Yunshang.
At that time, Xie Yunshang was still very mischievous. After falling into the water, he secretly ran back home and didn't tell his family, but he always remembered Chen Yuan's lifesaving grace.
So, from time to time, he would go to Chen Yuan's house to visit him and express his gratitude.
However, because he came too often, he was eventually discovered by his family and forbidden to go to the Chen family.
After all, their family was a military household, and it represented not only themselves but also the relationship between military officials and civil officials. This would definitely arouse the Emperor's suspicion, which was detrimental to both parties.
After being banned, Xie Yunshang had to report the truth, and the head of the Xie family, Marquis Pingyuan, personally came to thank them. Then he also informed the public about this matter, dispelling everyone's doubts.
However, although there was this relationship, the two families did not continue to have close contact. After all, military officials and civil officials should be at odds rather than getting along too well.
So, Chen Yuan and Marquis Pingyuan still maintained their previous relationship, only occasionally interacting during festivals or other times.
Moreover, this time, Chen Yuan was exiled instead of being executed, and Marquis Pingyuan also contributed some effort.
Otherwise, relying solely on the officials like the Chief Inspector would not be able to contend against the Lord Secretary's faction, and they would also be unable to change the Emperor's mind.
It was precisely the collective insistence of military officials like Marquis Pingyuan to thoroughly investigate the matter. However, the Emperor didn't want to investigate because it involved his second son, the Second Prince.
Initially, he was very angry when he found out about this matter, but after all, it was his own son, the Second Prince of Kingdom. So, the Emperor couldn't possibly kill his own son.
Therefore, when others suggested "Mastermind Chen," the Emperor went along with it, even going as far as to swiftly arrest all members of the Ministry of Revenue, except for the head of Minister of Revenue, and execute them publicly.
At this time, when the Imperial Censor and others learned about Chen Yuan's character, they interceded on his behalf.
The Emperor just wanted to resolve this case quickly and naturally wouldn't listen to his subjects and have people killed, so he stopped there.
At this moment, Marquis Pingyuan spoke up.
Marquis Pingyuan, being a royal relative, naturally couldn't be ignored by the Emperor.
Moreover, Marquis Pingyuan was also from the military faction.
Marquis Pingyuan stated that this case couldn't be easily resolved and needed to be thoroughly investigated to give the victims a resolution.
The Emperor dared not investigate further, as it would implicate his son.
He knew that Chen Yuan had saved Marquis Pingyuan's son's life; otherwise, Marquis Pingyuan wouldn't have stood up for a civil official.
So, he gave Marquis Pingyuan some face, and other civil officials also interceded for Chen Yuan.
Moreover, the Emperor also knew that Chen Yuan was innocent, so he thought of a compromise, which was to confiscate the Chen family's property and exile them.
It just so happened that the Southern Barbarian region had almost lost all the prisoners who had been cultivating there due to the recent invasion by the Southern Barbarian tribe. Therefore, they urgently needed a new batch of prisoners.
So, the Emperor waved his hand, executing some and exiling others.
In reality, it was a background-based exile; those without connections were executed.
Anyway, the Emperor knew that most of those sent to the Southern Barbarian region would hardly return.
Originally, when the Prime Minister was exiled, he was only exiled to places like Pingzhou as a formality.
Returning to the main topic.
Because they needed to avoid suspicion, Xie Yunshang rarely visited the Chen family, and later, Xie Yunshang was brought to the border for training by Marquis Pingyuan, so he visited the Chen family even less.
As a result, Chen Yuan did not recognize Xie Yunshang immediately.
"It's you!"
Chen Yuan suddenly realized, and when Xie Yunshang saw this, he smiled and greeted Chen Yuan's wife, "Aunt Chen!"
"Is this Xiao Xue? It's been so long, and you've grown up!"
Chen Xue was still worrying about the exposure of the sleeve arrows, but who knew that General Ping Wei would turn out to be on their side.
She flipped through the memories of her past life, and indeed, there were memories of Xie Yunshang. When Xie Yunshang came over when she was young, she always called him "Brother Yun" affectionately.
If it weren't for the relationship between their parents, their two families would probably have become relatives.
Fortunately, Marquis Pingyuan saw this and took Xie Yunshang away early, so he didn't run to the Chen family every day.
Later, Marquis Pingyuan sent Xie Yunshang to the border for training, which led to them not seeing each other for more than ten years and almost forgetting about each other.
But no matter what, they recognized each other again now.
And having one's own people made things much easier.
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