In the dark night, the streets of Guyuan were strangely and eerily quiet.
Riding their horses, everyone looked back, silently watching the solitary yellowish-brown horse walk closer.
Feather Forest Army Commander Li Xuan dismounted his horse and took a few quick steps to take the yellowish-brown horse's reins, sizing it up from top to bottom.
He reached out to stroke the horse's body, and then brought his fingers close to his eyes; there was blood.
Li Xuan turned his head to look at the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, I fear Wang Guang has met with an unforeseen disaster."
Draped in his pure-white fox-fur coat, the Crown Prince frowned without speaking. He raised his head and looked into the distance; the dark-gray majestic pass was like a bloody maw, swallowing people up in a single bite.
Qi Zhenzhuo drew the longsword at his waist, saying fiercely: "Your Highness, the Guyuan Border Army is lawless! To actually dare to ambush and kill the Imperial Guards serving His Majesty, what difference is there between this and treason?!"
Leading the yellowish-brown horse, Li Xuan returned to the side of the Crown Prince's white horse. Looking up, he said: "Your Highness, this place is not suitable to stay for long; I ask you to set off and leave immediately! We will rest in Tianshui County tonight, and depart for Taiyuan Prefecture tomorrow to petition His Majesty to mobilize the Trouble-Resolving Guard and Ten-Thousand-Year Army here to pacify the rebellion! With Six Hundred Li Express speed, the Memorial to the Throne will reach the Capital City in six days; there is still time!"
Chen Liqin was shocked: "Pacify the rebellion?! We don't even have evidence yet; General Li shouldn't jump to conclusions."
Li Xuan's expression turned ruthless and severe: "The Border Army first poisoned thirty-four lives of the Chen Family, and then intercepted and killed His Highness's Six Hundred Li Express courier! If this isn't a rebellion, what is it?! Lord Chen, do you know what crime it is to intercept and kill a Six Hundred Li Express courier?"
The Crown Prince sat unhurriedly on his horse, looking at Zhang Xia from afar: "I've long heard the Imperial Academy once had a female Erudite who was proficient in calligraphy and mathematics, and could even recite the Great Ning Laws backward fluently. May I ask what crime the Border Army is guilty of?"
Zhang Xia said calmly: "Those who steal or rob Four Hundred Li Express couriers shall be beaten one hundred times with a heavy bamboo stick, tattooed, and exiled three thousand Li; those who steal or rob Five Hundred Li Express couriers face Immediate Decapitation; those who steal or rob Six Hundred Li Express couriers shall have their three familial branches exterminated."
The Crown Prince praised: "Second Miss Zhang truly possesses the ability of photographic memory; I am in awe."
Zhang Xia said coolly and indifferently: "Your Highness praises me too highly."
Li Xuan cupped his fists: "Your Highness, now is not the time for idle chatter! Do not return to the dragon's pool and tiger's den that is the Regional Military Commission! For the Border Army to dare to intercept and kill a Six Hundred Li Express courier, it shows a cornered dog jumping over the wall! If Your Highness continues to stay here, it cannot be guaranteed they won't commit even more deranged and frenzied actions! Your Highness's body is worth a thousand pieces of gold; please follow this final general and leave Guyuan!"
The Crown Prince shook his head: "His Majesty ordered me to thoroughly investigate the case of killing civilians to claim military merit. Now that this case still holds no clues, how can I leave Guyuan so easily? I am the Crown Prince of a nation, the one to whom the Mandate of Heaven returns! How can I fear petty scoundrels?! How would His Majesty view me then?!"
Li Xuan said anxiously: "Your Highness, as long as the Green Mountain remains, one need not worry about lacking firewood to burn! You only need to report this truthfully in your Memorial; His Majesty will definitely understand! If you are unwilling to leave, we will kneel indefinitely!"
After saying that, he shot a look at the rest of the Feather Forest Army.
Amidst a burst of
huala la
clattering armor sounds, the Feather Forest Army soldiers dismounted one after another. Cupping their fists, they knelt on one knee: "Please take care of your dragon body, Your Highness, and follow us to leave Guyuan!"
Rarely ever losing his temper, the Crown Prince said angrily: "I received His Majesty's orders to come to Guyuan to thoroughly investigate the case of killing civilians to claim military merit! This is both a father's command and an imperial decree; this acts as loyalty and filial piety! Earlier, I promised Worthy Brother Wenzong that I would investigate the truth behind the Guyuan Relay Station for him; this acts as Righteousness! For you to force me to leave at this time, aren't you trying to trap me in a place of disloyalty, unfilialness, and unrighteousness?! All of you, get up for me!"
The Feather Forest Army knelt together on the ground, their white capes draped over the dirt, stubbornly unwilling to get up.
After a long time.
Chen Wenzong cupped his hands: "Your Highness's dragon body is precious. I hope you preserve yourself first before making further plans."
The Crown Prince raised his head to look at the night sky and let out a long sigh: "Forget it, forget it. All of you get up, ba; I will listen to you."
Overjoyed beyond expectations, Li Xuan hurriedly flipped onto his horse.
Pressing his hand on his waist longsword, he tightened his reins: "Feather Forest Army, follow me to escort His Highness out of the city! If the Border Army refuses to grant passage, then carve a bloody path onto the city walls and forcefully Open the Gates!"
Amidst the booming rumble of iron hooves, the Feather Forest Army clustered around the Crown Prince like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon, galloping toward the southern city gates.
Zhang Xia cast a glance at Chen Ji: "What do we do? If the Border Army obstructs them, a slaughtering battle will be unavoidable."
Chen Ji looked at the backs of the Feather Forest Army: "If we want to leave, tonight is the final opportunity! The Border Army committed murders in haste and panic; perhaps they haven't prepared to keep the Crown Prince here yet. Li Xuan is rather decisive; if they miss tonight, the Crown Prince might truly have no chance to leave. It's just..."
Zhang Xia asked with tacit understanding: "It's just, why would the Border Army rebel?"
Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Exactly. Starting from the Chen Family being poisoned tonight, everything feels bizarre and fishy. Even if the Border Army and the Crown Prince are already Incompatible as Water and Fire, they had no reason to kill so many people from the Chen Family! If there truly is enmity and hatred, you can kill the Crown Prince or kill the Feather Forest Army, but why kill the Chen Family members? The Chen Family only just arrived in Guyuan today, ah! Who did the Chen Family provoke or offend?"
Zhang Xia said in a low voice: "It's as if there's a hand that suddenly pulled the string between the Crown Prince and the Border Army so taut that it snapped."
"That's right." Having made his decision, Chen Ji spurred his horse to catch up to the Feather Forest Army: "We won't think about these things for now. Following the Feather Forest Army out of the city is the priority. Guyuan truly cannot be stayed in anymore."
...
...
Several hundred Feather Forest Army cavalrymen galloped wildly. All the armored soldiers lowered their bodies, passing between rows of dirt houses in Guyuan. The white capes of the Feather Forest Army fluttered backward, and the white Pheasant Tails atop their helmets swayed in the wind, resembling five hundred white horse righteousness followers.
Li Xuan exhorted to his left and right: "Once we reach beneath the city pass, the Black Tortoise Guards will protect His Highness's safety, and the Azure Dragon Guards will follow me to charge and slaughter! Soldiers are maintained for a thousand days to be used in a single moment! If anyone dares to cower from battle and not advance, do not blame this Li's longsword for being ruthless!"
Qi Zhenzhuo responded: "General, rest assured; we will fight to the death!"
Li Xuan turned his head and said to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, we swear to fight to the death to protect and escort you out of the city."
The Crown Prince said slowly: "I will have to trouble General Li. Additionally, please also ask your men to look after Lord Chen and Lord Zhang's family dependents."
"Orders received."
The city pass drew closer and closer, but Li Xuan's heart gradually sank to the bottom of the valley.
His gaze swept past the long street, and he saw several hundred torches blazing on the city walls, lighting it up as bright as day. Armored soldiers continually shuttled back and forth before the city gates, carrying Military Ordnance, pushing crossbow ballistae, and shouldering sandbags; they were exceptionally busy.
The southern city gates, which shouldn't have been guarded by heavy troops, had actually gathered thousands of Border Army armored soldiers tonight, appearing as if a massive battle was imminent.
The Feather Forest Army soldiers were somewhat at a loss for what to do, their bold and heroic words from earlier completely forgotten in the backs of their minds.
Looking at the city pass right before them, relying solely on them, they absolutely would not be able to carve a bloody path out.
"Whoa!" Li Xuan pulled his reins, slowly stopping before the city pass.
The warhorse beneath him anxiously patrolled back and forth. The restless torchlight up and down the city walls illuminated his face a blushing red.
Li Xuan raised his head to look up at the city walls.
In the next moment, a towering figure appeared between the battlements of the walls, Looking Down from Above at them like a majestic mountain range.
Border Army armored soldiers held torches behind him. Beneath the swaying light and shadows, behind the towering figure was violently raging torchlight, yet the figure itself was amidst a swath of darkness, his facial features and expression unclear.
The figure on the city walls asked loudly: "For what reason has the Crown Prince come in the middle of the night?"
Li Xuan was shocked in his heart: Hu Junxian!
He braced himself and yelled across the distance: "Commander Hu, the Crown Prince has traced some clues and needs to proceed to the Tianshui County city immediately! Hurry and Open the Gates!"
Hu Junxian said calmly: "The gates cannot be opened."
Li Xuan said angrily: "Hu Junxian, have you gone mad?! To actually want to put the Crown Prince under house arrest?!"
Hu Junxian's voice was placid and waveless, as resonant as a great bell: "General Li, please quell your anger! Our Guyuan Border Army scouts encountered over ten Jing Dynasty Practitioners in the Ziwu Ridge to the rear; they are likely elites from the Divine Martial Arts Camp of the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army! Our army's scouts only managed to luckily escape with their lives by relying on the advantage of being familiar with the terrain! For the other party to traverse the mountains to come here, they must harbor schemes! If the Crown Prince leaves the city at this time, I fear he will encounter an ambush by the Jing Dynasty! This final general cannot open the gates!"
Li Xuan was infuriated from anxiety: "For the Jing Dynasty army to pierce into the heartland of the Ning Dynasty, they have to traverse over three hundred Li of mountain roads, with countless sheer cliffs interrupting the path! Even if you are weaving lies, weave a decent one! Furthermore, your Border Army scouts could actually escape with their lives from the hands of over ten Practitioners?! Are you trying to trick ghosts?!"
Hu Junxian remained silent for a moment, before slowly speaking: "My Guyuan Border Army never weaves lies regarding such matters! Believe it or not, it matters not! Please return, ba."
After saying that, he turned around and left, disappearing behind the wall battlements.
Li Xuan cursed angrily: "Hu Junxian, this is the grave crime of treason!"
Hu Junxian drifted further and further away, his voice floating down from atop the city walls: "Then wait until this battle has finished being fought, and invite His Majesty to punish this Hu for his crimes! However, right now, forgive this Hu for still having military affairs to attend to; I will not accompany you all for now."
(End of this chapter)