Chapter 73: Arriving at Northern Liang's Most Dangerous City—Shuofeng |
Pain, pain, pain!
Luo Ting groggily opened his eyes to see the ceiling beams above.
Slowly raising his hand, he rubbed his temples. Suddenly, he felt a tearing pain.
Only then did he remember—in order to seize the sword, his hand had been slashed to ribbons.
With great effort, he finally managed to sit up.
Then he saw inside the great hall, more than ten soldiers sprawled about on the ground, some sitting back-to-back, others lying flat.
This scene immediately sent him into a towering rage, and he slammed his fist down on the iron desk.
But the next instant, his face contorted in pain.
He'd forgotten about his wound...
Among them, the Centurion rushed over to support him: "General, are you all right?"
"It's nothing." Wincing in pain, Luo Ting looked at these people and asked, "What are you doing here?"
The Centurion hastily replied: "The Sixth Prince has already taken control of all the troops in the city and transported the supplies outside the city walls. The commandery office has also been blockaded by soldiers—they wouldn't allow us to leave here even one step until dawn."
"Still blockaded? You fool, go check if there's anyone still at the door!" Luo Ting was so angry his wound started hurting again.
One soldier ran out to the entrance to look. Seeing only a single soldier leaning against the door asleep, he quickly ran back, stammering: "General... there's only one person standing guard at the door."
The others were all stunned.
One person had kept them trapped here all night?
No—even without that person, they wouldn't have dared leave.
The Sixth Prince had said their path to survival was staying right here and going nowhere. At a time like this, daring to even knock on a door would get you chopped into mincemeat. No one dared gamble on that.
"I'm afraid in all of Langya now, you few soldiers are all that's left."
Luo Ting rose with difficulty.
The Centurion beside him quickly moved to support him.
And so he trembled his way outside.
At the entrance to the commandery office, dawn had already broken.
The air carried that faint morning dampness that marked the beginning of the day.
And seeing the growing crowd at the entrance, a soldier who'd been keeping watch not far away also hurried over.
The order he'd received from the Sixth Prince was to wait until General Luo awoke, then report everything to him.
"General."
After saluting, the soldier said: "The Sixth Prince transported the vast majority of the city's supplies out, but because there weren't enough ships, roughly half the grain and fodder, plus a small portion of military equipment, are still outside. He told you to return the military supplies to the warehouses once you woke up..."
"He didn't need to tell me that!"
Luo Ting's mood right now was absolute shit. Having thought he'd treated people with sincerity, after being schemed against like this, he'd instantly turned from fan to hater where Wei Wusheng was concerned.
His emotions in turmoil, he could only make amends: "Mobilize all the common people in the city to swiftly transport the supplies back inside, then seal the city gates tight. Dispatch light cavalry to request nearby garrison troops to send reinforcements for temporary defense. Until Yongcheng sends troops, maintain high alert around the clock."
After saying all this, Luo Ting raised his hand again: "Bring me paper and brush. I need to send an eight hundred li emergency memorial to Sheng'an to impeach the Sixth Prince... and that Song Shi'an! And also, another woman."
Although he only knew the Sixth Prince had brought along a county magistrate, did this even need thinking about?
The Sixth Prince had only brought one county magistrate.
Wasn't it that "what scholar wouldn't want to be a lord of ten thousand households" guy?
That damned brat—he wrote poetry until he went mad, and now he's come to our Northern Liang to stage a rebellion!
"Also."
Luo Ting had many things to do, and each one was extremely urgent, all of equal priority.
"General?" Seeing him hesitate mid-sentence, the Centurion beside him asked.
"Take a small boat and fly my military banner, make a trip to Shuofeng." Luo Ting said.
"..." The Centurion asked uneasily, "Is it to demand the Sixth Prince return the supplies?"
"What's been swallowed can't be spit back up."
Closing his eyes, Luo Ting let out a long sigh, then said helplessly: "After the supplies are transported, have His Highness release the naval forces back. The few naval troops we have for defending the city won't be much use, but if they fall into Ji Yuan's hands, that would be troublesome."
………
On the lead ship of the transport fleet, leaning back against the hull, sitting on wooden planks with her arms wrapped around her knees and head lowered, Xinyue was so gloomy she was practically turning into a vengeful spirit.
Watching her like this, Song Shi'an also felt moved. He passed a bing cake as hard as a brick to her.
Xinyue took it, still keeping her head down, expressionlessly nibbling slowly.
Across from her, Song Shi'an slowly sat down, then consoled her: "Last night, too many things happened too fast—holding Luo Ting hostage to seize power, fleeing, rushing along the road, inciting the Forbidden Army—basically every single one was a matter of life and death. You had to stay tense the entire time, not daring to slack even a little. Even after it ended, you unconsciously thought you still had to fight someone, so you just naturally followed along with me. This has nothing at all to do with loyalty, defection, re... rebellion, or anything like that."
This was precisely what she feared.
After boarding the ship, she'd been in this anxious state of internal conflict the whole time.
As His Highness's personal guard, she'd unconsciously followed Song Shi'an...
"His Highness won't think that way."
Xinyue didn't raise her head, looking at the bing cake in her hand, she said coldly.
Seeing this, Song Shi'an tried to console her: "His Highness is a very magnanimous person, he won't hold this grudge."
Xinyue finally raised her head to look at him, speaking flatly: "You found a death warrior, cultivated them for many years, spent lots of money, treated them with high office and generous rewards. One day, you lent them to someone else for a bit—just half a day. The next time you meet, without even thinking, they got on someone else's carriage."
"That definitely won't work..."
Before he finished speaking, Song Shi'an slowly covered his mouth with his palm, took a deep breath, moved his hand down to his chin, lowered his head, and fell into deep contemplation: "This, this is really hard to deal with."
He completely understood Xinyue's feelings now.
When Song Shi'an used to watch Naruto, he thought the Root's ninja training mechanism was a bit too harsh, even absurd.
But after arriving in ancient times, he realized this was just the norm.
For someone like Xinyue, this was absolutely an indisputable betrayal.
However, Song Shi'an seemed to understand her 'instinct' in that moment.
In his view, Wei Wusheng was just a hot-blooded but chuunibyou prince who, although he had many ideas, was still quite immature at present.
And Xinyue seemed born for moments like that.
So last night's thrilling experience left her heart still beating in sync with his own.
She hadn't even realized it was over yet.
This girl was mysterious.
"Go to sleep. We'll take turns keeping watch."
Without a solution to this predicament, thinking about it would only waste time. Xinyue shook her head, no longer dwelling on it. Or rather, no longer dwelling on it with her whole heart.
"All right, but don't do anything rash like killing yourself."
After this warning, Song Shi'an lay down on the planks beside her and fell asleep directly.
The ship hadn't reached Shuofeng yet, and these soldiers had to be watched, otherwise if they seized power, that would be terrifying.
After all, defending Langya was only possibly dangerous, but defending Shuofeng was definitely dangerous.
No soldier would willingly go there.
And so, the overtired Song Shi'an fell asleep the moment his head hit the boards.
He felt he'd slept for a very, very long time.
Until something hard poked at him.
Song Shi'an opened his eyes to see Xinyue poking his shoulder with the hilt of her sword.
"Oh, sorry, I slept for quite a while, didn't I?" Song Shi'an sat up.
"It's fine. Your turn."
Leaning against the hull, Xinyue slowly closed her eyes. That cool, delicate face was like a tranquil snow country.
She was as quiet as a painting.
But this was only a peaceful facade.
Even in sleep, her hand gripping the sword remained taut as a bowstring.
Where the hell did His Highness find such talent?
Song Shi'an stood up and stretched. Then, standing at the bow, he felt the large ship sailing downstream through the turbulent Chishui River.
If just one major river in Northern Liang was like this, how magnificent must "returning a thousand li to Jiangling in a single day" be?
Waterways were indeed far more convenient than land routes.
The great army gradually approached its destination...
……
"Is that it?"
Several shichen later, Song Shi'an on the ship gazed into the distance and saw a yellowish outline situated in the Northern Liang valley, like a huge chessboard. He couldn't help but grow excited.
Xinyue was awakened by the sound. Slowly opening her eyes and standing up, she saw Song Shi'an with both hands on the bow, showing inexplicable yearning for a dangerous city.
Gazing into the distance with a smile, Song Shi'an sighed: "This is where we'll meet our end."