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Inside the old site of Pingyang city, some areas still bore traces of fire. Most streets were blocked by collapsed buildings, with dirt, bricks, and stones piled waist-high to head-high everywhere. Some not-yet-completely-rotted wooden beams from former structures, mixed with some trees, wild grasses, and bushes growing on them, blocked about seventy to eighty percent of the original main streets and alleys. Only the central north-south thoroughfare retained some semblance of order, with remnants of stone slabs faintly visible amidst the overgrown weeds.
One area in the city seemed to be the former county government office, perhaps even the palace of the Marquis of Pingyang in earlier times. But after so many years, anything slightly valuable was long gone; even tiles and wooden beams had disappeared. The only thing remaining was a relatively flat, open piece of ground compared to other parts of the city.
Fei Qian surveyed the surroundings, nodded, and said, "Hmm, not bad… Shuye, have some soldiers clean up a bit…"
"Lord Fei, you're not really planning to camp here, are you? This city is already… Look, even the water channels in the city have been dry for who knows how long…"
Huang Cheng was somewhat surprised. Although this place could still be considered a city, it was so dilapidated…
Fei Qian smiled and said, "There must still be wells in the city, though they might be blocked. Digging them open again will bring water… Moreover, there are still some ruined walls here; it's better than braving the cold wind on open ground, right?"
Of course, Huang Cheng was just stating his opinion. Seeing Fei Qian's determination, he executed without hesitation, immediately assigning personnel to tidy up Pingyang county town, starting to level the ground at the location that might have been the county office or old Marquis of Pingyang's residence.
Fei Qian found a stone, casually blew off the dust, sat down, picked up a twig, and began drawing on the ground.
According to Fei Qian's original plan, he intended to head north, pass through Puzi county town, then march on Yong'an. But Lu Chang's unexpected death at Xiangling made Fei Qian suddenly realize the seriousness of the situation…
The location of old Pingyang county town was roughly on the same latitude as Xiangling, just on opposite sides of the Fen River. Xiangling was closer to the Fen River, while Pingyang was farther. If one followed the Fen River downstream from Yong'an, one side led to Xiangling, while the other side inevitably passed through Pingyang…
Fei Qian roughly sketched a diagram, frowning as he drew a circle around the area encompassed by Pingyang, Xiangling, Yong'an, and Linfen…
××××××××××××
At this moment.
Linfen County Town.
In recent days, Yong'an county town's capture by Yellow Turban bandits had tightened the atmosphere in Linfen county town as well. The once-wide-open city gates were now only half open, with added soldiers at the gate conducting detailed inspections of people coming and going, strictly preventing Yellow Turban bandits from infiltrating the city.
A cloud of dust in the distance drew the attention of soldiers on alert on the city wall, who hurriedly struck the warning gong, instantly causing panic at the city gate. Soldiers responsible for the drawbridge, disregarding some commoners still on it, frantically turned the winch.
Several commoners on the drawbridge, preparing to enter the city, lost their balance, splashing into the moat. They dared not curse, hurriedly swimming towards the bank, grabbing long spears or wooden poles extended by soldiers, using the leverage to climb, striving to enter the city before the gates closed.
The dust cloud drew nearer but then halted, sending a rider forward who shouted loudly: "Do not panic! We are from the Hedong Wei family, not Yellow Turban bandits!"
Hearing this, both those on the wall and below simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
As the procession of carriages and horses approached, sharp-eyed individuals saw a white-robed young lord sitting properly and upright in a carriage with its curtain drawn, and couldn't help but exclaim: "It's the Wei family's young lord! The Wei family's young lord has come!"
Back then, Wei Qing was from Pingyang. His mother had an affair with a man named Zheng Ji within the Marquis of Pingyang's residence, later giving birth to Wei Qing. Presumably, Zheng Ji wasn't a nobody back then, but because Wei Qing later became too famous and Wei Qing had a difficult childhood at Zheng Ji's place, although Wei Qing's biological father, Wei Qing disregarded him. Thus, after Wei Qing was enfeoffed as a marquis, people naturally overlooked Zheng Ji…
But later, Princess Pingyang married Wei Qing, so relations between the Marquis of Pingyang and Wei Qing were relatively close. Later, Wei Qing's descendants were implicated in the witchcraft affair, leading to the purge of Wei family members in court, including the empress, crown prince, Princess Yangshi, Princess Zhuyi, etc. Even the Marquis of Pingyang at the time, Cao Zong, had his marquisate abolished because of this case…
Later, although Wei family descendants received five hundred thousand coins to restore their family, Pingyang city had already declined. Later, as Pingyang city dwindled further and the Marquis of Pingyang line ended, the Wei family gradually migrated south. Later, the Wei family built a new ancestral hall in Linfen to worship Wei Qing…
Therefore, people in Linfen were actually quite familiar with Wei Ji. Recognizing it was indeed the Wei family's young lord, they restored order at the city gate.
The soldiers at the gate herded commoners who had been stuck near the gate tunnel due to the incident aside, intending to let Wei Ji's procession enter first. Unexpectedly, Wei Ji refused to go first, instead letting these commoners enter first. Not only that, he also ordered his guards to give money to those who had fallen into the water as compensation for frightening them.
Several soldiers on the city wall watched, whispering and discussing among themselves.
"The Wei family truly lives up to being a scholarly family. Look at that gentlemanly demeanor, tsk tsk…"
"Of course. Speaking of the Wei family, they're the best!" A soldier gave a thumbs up, praising, "The Wei family truly embodies benevolence and virtue! You don't know this, but I've actually seen the Wei family's young lord!"
"Tsk! Who hasn't seen him? He's right below!"
"That's different. I've actually spoken with the Wei family's young lord!" The soldier puffed out his chest proudly, making even his worn-out clothes seem to shine.
"Really? You're not fooling us, are you? Someone like you meeting the Wei family's young lord? Don't joke…"
The crowd teased him.
"Ah! I'm not joking! A couple of years ago, my father fell ill, and I happened to be short on money, couldn't afford a physician. Watching my father's condition worsen, I heard the Wei family offered loans, so I went to try. Unexpectedly, the Wei young lord was present and personally authorized a loan of two thousand coins for me, with only fifty coins monthly interest! That's how my father was cured. The Wei family is truly benevolent! The Wei young lord has such a kind heart!"
The crowd responded with understanding nods, nodding and praising in unison…