Zhao Jingyuan took a deep breath. He felt that although he had been seen completely by Nurse An, in the end, it was still the woman who had suffered a loss.
If there would be a day in the future when he recovered, as long as Miss Tong and Nurse An did not despise him, he would marry Nurse An. In any case, he did not have anyone he liked; marrying anyone would be the same.
Thinking this way, the discomfort in his heart eased slightly. He did not take Nurse An’s words about not being human seriously.
If Tong Shuxue had known that he intended to take responsibility for Nurse An, she would probably have laughed herself to death.
The two men who had gone to guard the cremation site returned. Mo Shen did not expect that they had also brought back the ashes of their deceased brothers. Although the ashes of seventy-five people were all mixed together, it was still better than being abandoned.
The box containing the ashes did not look like something from the Great Yong Kingdom. Mo Shen’s favorable impression of Tong Shuxue rose once again.
As Tong Shuxue turned her wheelchair medical pod, she saw Mo Shen about to kneel again. She quickly raised her hand to stop him.
“Stop. Mo Shen, don’t kneel every now and then. If you have something to ask, just say it directly first. Let me make it clear in advance—I cannot guarantee that your master’s injuries can be cured.”
Mo Shen scratched his head and said: “No, I have no request. I just want to thank the young lady for her great righteousness in allowing Qin Feng and the others to bring back our brothers’ ashes.”
Tong Shuxue waved her hand. “It was only a small matter, as long as you do not betray me. Go find Zhao Jingyuan if he has something to say to you!”
After finishing her message, she returned to the dimensional space. Ling Yi and Ling Er had guarded the mountain for a full day and had not discovered any members of the Feiyu Army or the Iron Shadow Guard. There was nothing in the cave, and at night she naturally returned to the dimensional space to sleep.
The next morning, only twenty of Zhao Jingyuan’s men remained, while the rest had gone down the mountain.
Ling San and Ling Xi followed part of their group toward the Imperial Capital, while Ling Wu went with five other procurement members to the nearest county town.
In the Imperial Capital’s Imperial Study Hall, the Emperor sat on the throne with a dark expression. Below him, the leader of the Feiyu Army, Jian Han, and the Great Commander of the Iron Shadow Guard, Meng Jingye, knelt with their heads lowered. Broken teacups lay at their feet.
“The Feiyu Army and the Iron Shadow Guard together still cannot capture a single cripple. Are you certain they fled into Wuzang Mountain?”
The two were not certain. Jian Han spoke first: “Reporting to Your Majesty, we are not certain. Our people had been secretly following the exile convoy. After the Prince of Dingbei was intercepted in Shangyang Prefecture, the Feiyu Army sealed off all entrances and exits of several surrounding cities, but no suspicious persons were found entering or leaving.”
Meng Jingye added: “Our Iron Shadow Guard expanded the search centered on Shangyang Prefecture. Only the teams sent into Wuzang Mountain all went missing. In addition, outside Huaizhou City to the south, a mountain path revealed a group resembling the Prince of Dingbei’s party. They disguised themselves as merchants, but there were over a hundred guards secretly escorting them. Our men failed to capture them, and I have already sent additional forces to pursue.”
What did it mean that all those who searched Wuzang Mountain went missing? The Emperor could only think of one possibility: Wuzang Mountain was harboring a large number of Xuanjia Army. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for none of the Feiyu Army or Iron Shadow Guard to return.
The Feiyu Army and Iron Shadow Guard were elite forces capable of matching ten ordinary soldiers each. For over five hundred men to disappear without a single survivor was far too shocking.
The Emperor had long suspected Zhao Jingyuan’s Xuanjia Army. Over the years, he had continuously investigated it, but never found a single trace.
The largest recorded appearance of the Xuanjia Army had been three years ago during the battle between the Zhenbei Army and the Cangnan Kingdom. At that time, the Cangnan Kingdom mobilized two hundred thousand troops to attack the Northern Frontier.
The Zhenbei Army only had one hundred fifty thousand troops. At that time, a massive earthquake occurred in Yanbei City, a hundred miles away, and fifty thousand Zhenbei soldiers were urgently recalled to assist in disaster relief.
In that battle, twenty thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers participated. The war ended with the death of half of Cangnan Kingdom’s two hundred thousand troops. The Cangnan Kingdom then submitted a surrender letter, paid enormous compensation in gold and resources, and became a vassal state of the Great Yong Kingdom. The Northern Frontier was finally stabilized.
This showed how powerful the Xuanjia Army was, so how could the Emperor not fear them?
After that battle, the Xuanjia Army seemed to vanish. The Emperor sent several waves of people to investigate, but found nothing.
All Xuanjia Army soldiers wore masks in battle, and it was not easy to hide an army of twenty thousand people. The Emperor had even considered that they might be scattered within the Zhenbei Army, but after two years of investigation by his informants inside the Zhenbei Army, nothing was discovered.
After Zhao Jingyuan was summoned to the capital and charged, there had been no unusual movement from the Zhenbei Army, and not a single soldier had been lost.
Before Zhao Jingyuan was summoned, the Iron Shadow Guard had already deployed personnel along the route from the Imperial Capital to the Northern Frontier, not only to prevent Zhao Jingyuan from escaping, but also to prevent his people from secretly entering the capital.
However, no large-scale movement of unknown personnel had been detected. If there truly were a large number of Xuanjia Army hidden in Wuzang Mountain, then it was a failure of the Iron Shadow Guard. Meng Jingye’s voice carried a trace of guilt.
The Emperor also realized something else. If the Xuanjia Army could quietly evade the Iron Shadow Guard and enter Wuzang Mountain, then they could just as easily infiltrate the Imperial Capital.
Wuzang Mountain was only three days’ journey from the Imperial Capital. This was what made the Emperor most fearful.
The capital had only twenty thousand palace guards. Even with another twenty thousand city defense troops, that made only forty thousand.
In addition, the strongest forces—the five thousand Feiyu Army and five thousand Iron Shadow Guard—might not even be able to withstand the Xuanjia Army. Moreover, the five thousand Iron Shadow Guard were scattered across various locations to prevent Zhao Jingyuan’s forces from gathering in the capital.
Most of the Feiyu Army had been dispatched to search for the missing son of the Wise Prince, Zhao Zhean, as well as the old eunuch Kong Wei who had fled with the late emperor’s imperial decree.
Thinking of this, the Emperor’s anger surged again. He wanted to smash another teacup.
Meng Jingye forced himself to speak again: “This minister believes it is unlikely that the Xuanjia Army is hiding in Wuzang Mountain. From Zhengyang City in the Northern Frontier to the Imperial Capital, the Iron Shadow Guard has stationed men at every checkpoint. Villages at the foot of Wuzang Mountain also have Iron Shadow Guard personnel, and no outsiders have been seen entering or leaving.”
The Emperor said nothing, signaling him to continue.
In truth, Meng Jingye had no confidence either. If the Xuanjia Army truly was hidden in Wuzang Mountain, then the Iron Shadow Guard would be guilty of dereliction of duty. He could only try to find another explanation.
“According to an old hunter from a village at the mountain’s base, Wuzang Mountain is filled with heavy miasma. Anyone who enters the Miasma Forest never comes out alive. This minister boldly requests that a royal physician accompany us to Wuzang Mountain to investigate whether the missing five hundred men entered the Miasma Forest.”
The Emperor inwardly hoped that those five hundred men had truly entered the Miasma Forest and never returned. Although it was still a loss, it was far less alarming.
“Granted. I will order Yao Fusheng to accompany you. And the woman? Have you discovered who she is?”
Jian Han knew which woman the Emperor was referring to. “Reporting to Your Majesty, this minister is incompetent and has not yet found out. The people who were secretly following the exile convoy reported that the woman appeared suddenly, as if descending from the sky. The five men who appeared afterward also seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Their concealed weapons were extremely deadly; our men were killed before they could even approach.”
After receiving his subordinates’ report, Jian Han had personally gone to Shangyang Prefecture. Later, when he was once again sent to pursue Tong Shuxue, only six of his men survived. These six were later sent to Wuzang Mountain with the Iron Shadow Guard for search operations and never returned, most likely also having met a grim fate.