Chapter 550: Innocence (4)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Looking at Imperial Duke Wei, Wang Nan’s heart ached. The once righteous Wei Seng, who once held noble ideals, had turned into someone who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong all for the sake of personal gain.
“No, my lord isn’t talking nonsense.” A hoarse male voice sounded from behind the Duke.
A hunched,hunched middle-aged man walked out of the crowd at the back. The man limped towards Wang Nan with a walking stick, and the trouser cuff of his right leg was empty.
The man looked to be in his 40s. He was unshaven, his cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were turbid.
The others present didn’t notice when this man arrived at all. They all sized him up curiously and felt that this person was very unfamiliar. They could only vaguely tell from the fact that this person was standing with Imperial Duke Wei’s personal attendant that he should have been brought into the palace by Imperial Duke Wei.
Wang Nan frowned and was about to reprimand this cripple when his gaze suddenly froze on the other party’s face. His body trembled violently and he blurted out, “You… you…”
“Yu Cunzheng?! You’re Yu Cunzheng!”
Wang Nan’s voice was trembling. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen a ghost.
The others around him were at a loss. A square-faced general interrupted and asked, “General Wang, do you know this person?”
“He’s Yu Cunzheng, a fifth-grade Valiant Cavalry Captain.” Wang Nan nodded, his gaze still locked on Yu Cunzheng.
Of course,course he recognized Yu Cunzheng.
Yu Cunzheng was a general under Old General Zhao back then and was once his comrade. The two of them had been to the battlefield and killed enemies together. They could even entrust their backs to each other.
Later on, he and Yu Cunzheng had a dispute over political opinions and couldn’t settle it. Slowly, the two of them drifted apart.
“Old Yu, aren’t you dead?” Wang Nan strode forward and sized Yu Cunzheng up at a close distance. The more he looked, the more shocked he became.
Nine years ago, Yu Cunzheng was only 32 years old, and was only 41 years old now. However, he looked at least 10 years older than his actual age now. His hair waswhite, white and he was thin. Because his right leg was disabled, he used a walking stick all year round. His spine was clearly tilted to the side, and he was no longer as tall and muscular as before. There were actually a few nails missing from his scarred hands.
The Yu Cun in front of him was so unfamiliar that it was as if he was a different person. No one could tell that he was actually younger than Wang Nan.
Facing an old friend he had not seen for nine years, painful memories came back like a tide, almost drowning Yu Cunzheng.
Yu Cunzheng’s chest heaved up and down, as if a wild beast was clamoring to break out of his chest.
He smiled bitterly and said with difficulty, “I’m a deserter!”
These words were extremely strenuous for Yu Cun. He panted heavily, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Nine years ago, 1 escaped.”
Therefore, he had never dared to show his face all these years.
Until two years ago, when he happened to meet Imperial Duke Wei in Yi Zhou. He didn’t expect Imperial Duke Wei to recognize him at a glance.
After that, he finally began to have at least one decent meal a day.
Yu Cunzheng took two deep breaths and tried his best to stabilize his emotional throat before continuing, “Back then, the entire city of soldiers in Tailing City was buried alive after the city was broken through.”
“I was lucky not to die and crawled out of the pit…”
“Because I was buried alive, I was lucky. 1 forcefully dug through the soil with my fingers to escape, causing my nails to break.”
At that time, his injured leg had already begun to rot. In the end, he could only ruthlessly cut off his leg.
However, the others weren’t as lucky as him. All his comrades had died in Tailing City in Yangzhou!
Wang Nan looked at Yu Cunzheng deeply. He wanted to say something but hesitated. He had many questions in his heart, including what the truth was back then. He wanted to ask him why he didn’t come to the capital since he had crawled out of the pit…
Yu Cunzheng took another deep breath with difficulty. He gripped his walking stick tightly with one hand, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged. He shouted, “I can confirm that Gu Ce isn’t guilty!”
“He has never surrendered to the enemy. Until the last moment, he was still defending Yangzhou and Sishui County.. He is innocent!”
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