The girl whispered, looked at the moonlight in a blink of an eye, and pondered: "Brother, take care of yourself."

She turned her back to him, and after saying this, she left decisively. She knew that if she hesitated for a while, she would definitely not be able to help herself and asked Jiang Chengyi to move forward together. In order to cut off the worries of the men, she could only endure the separation. If she didn't look back, she would not leave any thoughts.

Although Luoyang is now in midsummer, the weather is still as cool as autumn in late night.

The stern and beautiful trees sway, absorbing endless moonlight, waiting for the arrival of the rising sun.

As Ning Nanyou said, on the sixth day after Deng Qing returned to the capital, Emperor Wei began to summon the nine ministers and scholars to discuss many matters on the rituals of the Empress Dowager. Soon, he ordered Taibu Ling to divine things in the Taimiao. This was the most basic ritual ceremony, and the result of divination has always been an important reference for how to hold various ritual sacrifices. The next day, Taibu Ling presented the meaning of the hexagram. As Fu Chen asked Emperor Wei to ask the Emperor Wei to send two noble officials to lead the Lingyi team to the ancestral home of the Empress Dowager to hold a large sacrifice ceremony.

Among the many ceremonies and festivals in December of the year, Emperor Wei attached the most importance to the funeral of the Empress Dowager. When he learned what the hexagram said, he immediately wrote a record of the nine ministers to dispatch officials from the capital to investigate the birth dates and horoscopes of the officials' wives and children. Under the arrangement of Ning Nanyou and Jiang Chengyi, the birth dates and horoscopes of Jiang Chengjia and Mu Yun were presented to the emperor.

Emperor Wei relied on the sign of divination, and without saying a word, he ordered the Empress of the City to summon Mu Yun and Jiang Chengjia into the palace to discuss the grand ceremony of the Empress Dowager's return to the ancestors.

The two girls responded to this matter according to their husbands' instructions.

The news came out of the palace, and soon everyone in Luoyang knew about it. When Jiang Chengyi learned the news, he finally calmed down and left Luoyang at the deepest night with the document leaving Beijing approved by Emperor Wei.

Ning Nanyou had already settled the Li family in the Marquis' Mansion, and arrived at Hongnong one step ahead.

The people lying ambushed near Hongnong have made a lot of noise. After the deliberate arrangements by Jiang Chengyi and Ning Nanyou, the news of frequent riots in Hongnong was successfully heard by the Deng Mansion and the Regent.

Lin Mu was busy arresting the officials who fled with money from Su Ren, and had no room to care about Hongnong. The military advisor who brought this news to Deng Guozhong was Feng Youru, who negotiated with Ning Zheng for him and reached an alliance.

Since the case of Chang Mengjun, this man has been guarding the Yangzhou border for Deng Guozhong, monitoring all the strange phenomena in the journey to the capital and Yangzhou. Hongnong riots continued and Ji Cheng's name was heard. He was shocked and unable to be at peace, so he immediately rushed to Luoyang with a quick horse.

As soon as he entered Deng's mansion, he rushed straight to Deng Guozhong's bedroom.

Deng Guozhong, who was sleeping deeply, was awakened by a sudden knock on the door. He stood up in a bad mood and asked, "Who is it?"

"Lord, I am a subordinate! I have important things to report."

Feng Youru's familiar voice came, and Deng Guozhong immediately woke up. Listening to his anxious tone, he couldn't help but feel his heart.

He took off the door latch and put the people outside into the room.

In the faint candlelight, Feng Youru was wearing a night-mounted dress and covered her face tightly with a long scarf, and her forehead was covered with sweat. As soon as he entered the threshold, he quickly took off the scarf covered on his face.

Deng Guozhong asked: "What happened? Why did you rush back?"

Feng Youru took a deep breath and said in a hurry: "Since recent days, Hongnong has frequently rioted. My subordinates discovered a strange thing... Ji Cheng, the left vanguard of Chang Mengjun, actually appeared in the city... He also became a bandit, disturbing the defense of the army in the city. This matter became increasingly serious... I am afraid that if he did not deal with it, it would be heard in His Majesty's ears."

"Ji Cheng?" Deng Guozhong said with a chill: "Didn't he commit suicide in the case that year? How could he suddenly appear in Hongnong?"

"I don't know what's going on. But he was not dead. My subordinates also sneaked into Hongnong to check and confirm that the bandit who was leading the trouble was Ji Cheng. At first, he did not cause riots in the city, but went to see the prefect Hongnong prefect with an intention to clarify the injustice. But the prefect Hongnong prefect refused to summon him, and he was discouraged and caused frequent riots in the city.

He kept saying that he was an officer and soldier, but was later framed and murdered by others. He fell to this point. Now he wants to take the bandits to seek justice with the government. He also said... If the government refuses to summon him for a day, he will lead these bandits to continue making trouble. The trouble will be made until everyone in the Wei Dynasty knows that they will give up. The prefect of Hongnong is so unbearable... that he was so scared that he was locked in the mansion and dared not go out. This matter became increasingly serious. His subordinates were worried that Ji Cheng would come out many years ago and implicate the lord. When he heard the news, he hurried back to the capital."

"What happened?" Deng Guozhong's face was full of surprise, his eyes wide open, and he was shocked.

Feng Youru nodded and said, "Lord... do you need your subordinates to secretly solve this person?"

"How many people Ji Cheng has? Do you have the confidence to kill him quietly?" Deng Guozhong asked in detail.

Feng Youru hesitated for a moment and said unsurely: "The people around Ji Cheng... are all good at martial arts, not ordinary robbers, but like people from the martial arts world. His subordinates are afraid that he has disappeared for many years since the crime of rebellion. Perhaps he has established his own gang in the martial arts world, and it is not easy to assassinate."

"Since that's the case, it's not appropriate to take action at this time. Your Majesty was resentful of the things that happened back then, and he was also full of doubts about Lu Yu's death. If he had let him know Ji Cheng's existence, I'm afraid the truth of the Chang Mengjun rebellion case would be exposed." Deng Guozhong said after careful consideration.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "Does King Huai know about this?"

Feng Youru nodded and shook his head again and said, "I am not sure, but the prefect of Hongnong is the Marquis of Changshan... If you see that the situation cannot be controlled, you will definitely send news to King Huai."

Deng Guozhong calmed down a little and said, "In this way, Hongnong will not be able to hold back for the time being. Let's see how King Huai is doing first, and you and I will discuss this matter."

Feng Youru replied: "Subordinates obey the order."

He turned around and was about to leave. Deng Guozhong stopped him and said, "You walk around at night, and you will easily be discovered by Jing Ting when you get up tomorrow morning. Then you will quietly leave the city. Tonight, you will rest in my mansion."

Feng Yuru paused and then said, "Hey, I will leave tomorrow."

"In addition, this matter... cannot be known to anyone in the mansion, including Aling and Afu, as well as A Yuan and A Qing." Deng Guozhong was still worried and made another reminder.

After all, the matter was of great importance. Except for a few people in the Deng family, the rest of the Deng family did not know the truth behind the decline of the four major families. Even Deng Ling and Deng Fu only thought that Lu Yu had offended the late emperor, so they summoned him to kill him. As for Deng family's participation in this case, although they knew a little, they did not know everything.

Feng Youru nodded over and over again, and did not dare to leave until Deng Guozhong finished giving all the instructions.

Ten days after the news came to Deng’s mansion, Feng Youru got another piece of news and hurried into Beijing and secretly met Deng Guozhong.

"What happened to Hongnong again?" Deng Guozhong asked impatiently.

Feng Youru said frightenedly: "Lord... this Ji Cheng... the power behind it must not be underestimated. After the regent Huai King learned the news, he immediately secretly sent the Hu Xiao Army to pursue it. Unexpectedly, this person suddenly disappeared. The entire Hongnong could not find him. It seemed that... he had never appeared before. I am afraid... we cannot rely on the Huai King to deal with this person."

"How could this be so?" Deng Guozhong looked worried and became deeply uneasy.

"Lord...I think that if Ji Cheng and the people behind him must have made big moves without leaving the moon." Feng Youru guessed and reminded him.

"Did you find some information when he controls behind the scenes?" Deng Guozhong asked.

Feng Youru shook his head decadently and said, "The subordinates have not found any useful clues."

It was late at night, and the house was quiet, and the houses were also in a desolate silence.

Deng Guozhong felt that the coldness gradually arose and became more and more timid. If the incident happened in the past was revealed, then the Deng family would inevitably be in a state of doom.

He fell into deep thought.

Just when both of them didn't know how to solve this problem, there was a slight knock on the door outside the house.

Feng Youru immediately became alert, pulled out a short knife from his waist, and looked out the window coldly. Deng Guozhong frowned and asked, "Who is it?"

"Father...it's me, so late, haven't you slept yet?"

Deng Ling's voice came from outside. Feng Youru was shocked, silently put away the blade in his hand and hid in the dark without moving.

Deng Guozhong coughed twice and said, "I feel a little uncomfortable and can't sleep. It's okay, I'll be sleepy after a while. Aling, you go back and rest quickly."

After the words finished, the outside was silent for a moment, and then Deng Ling's greeting came again: "If my father has any worries... I can tell you something to me. Maybe... I can solve it for you."

"I have nothing to worry about. Aling, you are weak, go to bed early." Deng Guozhong urged, wanting him to leave as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, Deng Ling said: "My father is worried about Ji Cheng, the left vanguard of the old Feng army? Is Uncle Feng also in the house?"

After hearing this, Deng Guozhong couldn't help but be surprised and said, "How do you know..."

He paused for a moment and finally opened the closed door. Deng Ling sat on the wooden wheel, and under the moonlight, his complexion seemed even weaker and pale.

The middle-aged man smiled at his father and said, "Father... Uncle Feng never left the Yangzhou border without permission. But this month... has entered the city twice. Although the child didn't ask, he knew that something important must have happened. So he went to investigate the county town around the capital and knew that something happened to Hongnong."
Chapter completed!