Shen Yi, who was ordered to cut off the back route, heard a loud noise. He looked back, almost spitting out his lungs from fright, instinctively wanting to run towards it for a moment.
But General Shen, who had been rolling around at the frontier for many years, was no longer a spirited scholar in the Ling Shu Institute of that year. In a state of shock, the steed under him only shook its head once, Shen Yi had already come back to his senses, pulling the rein tightly. He instantly made a long whistle with his lips: “Light Cavalry do not fall into disorder. Black Eagles went to investigate the enemy’s unusual movements, give my orders…”
But he did not even finish his words when a scouting Black Eagle landed in front of him: “Report! Marshal!”
“Slow down, Marshal is busy,” Shen Yi stopped him. “What’s the matter? Just tell me first.”
“General Shen, after the withdrawal of the sixteen countries in the Western Regions, they have reorganized their drums and flags, collected eighteen battle chariots that have been preserved from various countries. They are marching towards our base, I’m afraid they intend to fight back…”
Shen Yi murmured, “How many people are there?”
“Not counting the chariots, observing from the sky, armor and cavalry have at least at twenty to thirty thousand…”
“General Shen!”
A personal guard of Gu Yun came rolling and crawling towards him. Shen Yi abruptly turned his head, almost tightening his neck tendons, his scalp was numbing and tingling. He could not imagine what would happen if Gu Yun truly met with an unfortunate accident. How could they be able to guard the twenty-seven passes at the entrance of the Silk Road?
Would they have to retreat once again?
The soldier gasped for breath. “Marshal had ordered you to execute the king of Kucha Kingdom in front of the two armies, then hang his head on the flagpole, cutting off all means of retreat. The Black Iron Camp will not leave a single soldier to guard the city, directly sending out troops to meet the enemy!”
Shen Yi listened to the first half of the sentence. His heart that was hanging in the middle about to be spat out fell back to his abdomen, he could hardly hear the second half of the sentence. Breaking the usual habit, he made the nervous guard repeat it once more, only then did he shout, “The, cough, the rebels are at the end of their struggle, the grasshoppers’ final moment after the last harvest after autumn. Listen to my orders and prepare for war!”
At the moment of the explosion, Gu Yun was protected by a Heavy Armor.
The body of the Black Armor officer was separated on the spot. Gu Yun fainted for a moment, spitting out a mouthful of blood, one ear instantly going deaf.
After waking up, Gu Yun did not pay anything else in mind. The first reaction was that the enemy wanted to take this opportunity to fight back. The Western Regions rebelled twice, their deep hatred for Great Liang was not something that could be resolved in one or two generations. At present, they were suppressed by the Black Iron Camp growing at a rapid speed, perhaps they finally know fear. This would probably be their last blow.
He Rong Hui was scared to death, pulling Gu Yun out from under Heavy Armor. Gu Yun’s body was soaked in blood — there were his own, there were someone else’s. In this second, all the strength accumulated in his body exploded. With his heart fluctuated with innumerable thoughts, he seized He Rong Hui’s arm and passed on the order to execute the prisoner and heed the battle. Afterward, he seemed to burn out his last strength and intermittently said, “The related military situations will now be handled by Shen… Ji Ping, he will be temporarily in charge in my stead, do not let words get out…”
He Rong Hui almost cried.
Gu Yun’s ear was buzzing. For a moment, he could not hear anything clearly. Naturally, he could not perceive the sorrowful sound coming from others. He only murmured, “Block the news.. what happened today, if anyone dares to reveal a…a single word, will be punished by military law… Go to the wounded soldier’s center and invite Miss Chen to come… urgh…”
As Gu Yun said this, there was a sharp pain in his chest — the old wounds obviously had not yet had time to heal, but there were already new ones. At present, a burst of blackening occurred in his vision, but his mouth was still not idle: “Wait, wait! Tell the messenger to make certain that the carriage of Yan Wang had left before inviting Miss Chen. First, don’t tell her what had happened here, invite her in secret, and be sure to…”
He could no longer go on talking, the hand that was gripping He Rong Hui fell down powerlessly for a moment. He Rong Hui was scared half to death. He shakily extended his hand to check for his breathing, feeling that although it was weak, for better or worse, it somehow still remained. Only then did He Rong Hui gasp for breath. He stooped and held Gu Yun who had fainted.
Shen Yi exchanged a look with the red-eyed He Rong Hui from afar, he then whistled and roared angrily, “Behead the King of Kucha, all brothers, follow me to eliminate the rebels!”
The coalition forces in the Western Regions knew that they could not match the Black Iron Camp. On their hasty retreat, they put together a menacing plan and arranged a suicide soldier well-versed in disguise from the Western Regions to assassinate him. At this time, as they heard the explosion, assuming that they had succeeded, they were planning to take down the Silk Road intersection with one move. Who knew that even before reaching the Silk Road, they were already confronted with the entire Black Iron Camp coming out of their hive.
The explosion seemed to have completely angered the black steel god of war that was countless in number. The commander-in-chief of Kucha thought that they could welcome their king’s return by pushing back the Black Iron Camp. Unexpectedly, at that moment when he looked up, he could see the king’s head hanging high on the flagpole, waving along with the flag resembling a knotted mocking tassel. The commander of Kucha let out an ‘ah’ and fell directly off his horse.
The leading general of the Black Iron Camp had an iron mask over his face. One could not tell who was under his heavy black iron armor. As if afraid that the enemy could not see what was hanging on the flag, the general waved his hand in the fierce wind. A Light Cavalry turned the Wind Slasher into a flower, cutting a rope on the flagpole. The King of Kucha fell to the ground. The commander rolled over, holding the king’s head, staring wide eye at the bald head for a moment. Finally, he could not help and let out a cry before the two armies.
This voice seemed to serve as the horn of Black Iron Camp. In the next moment, Heavy Armors moved as a whole. The commander, dressed in Light Armor, sitting on the horse’s back, raised the Wind Slasher in his hand, slashing down suddenly. Only then did the silent twenty thousand black crows started advancing, the sound of shouting and killing were suppressed under their rumbling footsteps.
The officers and soldiers in the Western Regions were terrified. Apart from Gu Yun, which other general in the Black Iron Camp could dare to arbitrarily kill the King of Kucha directly?
Did Gu Yun not die?
Looking at this situation, not only did they fail to bomb Gu Yun to death, they had instead angered the Black Iron Camp.
This night, the sea of sand was dyed in blood. Black Heavy Armors confronted the Western Regions chariots, forcing the enemy to retreat twenty miles away from the ancient Silk Road. The Western Regions allied forces failed to fight back and was scattered once again. The Black Iron Camp pursued them viciously all the way to the territory of the Western Regions, slaughtered nearly 10,000 enemies, eliminating all of Kucha’s nobility.
Chen Qing Xu had only just sent Yan Wang’s convoy bringing the news of victory back to the capital. Before she could get over the excitement and joy that brought her to tears, two Black Eagles flew directly to the Northwest wounded soldiers center: “Miss Chen, Marshal has invited you.”
When Gu Yun woke up again, someone was forcing him to open his mouth to give medicine.
Gu Yun gasped for breath and felt a sharp burning pain in his heart and lungs, tears were almost about to come out. He still had not fully regained consciousness, thinking vaguely, “Is death going to come soon?”
As soon as the idea came out, Gu Yun gritted his teeth.
“No,” he thought, “Jia Lai is still alive, Jiangnan is still under siege, I cannot die.”
This drive was like a dose of chicken blood, directly pumped into his heart. Gu Yun was startled, waking up.
Shen Yi, who was feeding him medicine, could not pry his mouth open even after trying to the point of breaking in a cold sweat. Suddenly, he could feel Gu Yun’s jaw become more relaxed and was able to swallow it himself. Overjoyed, he continuously shouted, “Zi Xi! Zi Xi, open your eyes and look at me.”
Chen Qing Xu hurriedly said, “It is alright as long as he regains consciousness and is able to drink the medicine. General Shen, don’t shiver, you will choke him. Leave it to me!”
Gu Yun did not die in the hands of the Western Regions suicide bomber, who would have thought he would fall into a life and death situation due to a bowl of medicine of that Shen. Somewhere, he still had a little strength saved, he struggled to push that source of danger away. As soon as he moved, the whole marshal tent boiled up. A group of large and crude men cried out, hurriedly running over trying to help.
Chen Qing Xu could not bear it any longer: “Enough! Everyone get out!”
Gu Yun could keenly sense a peculiar fragrance of a woman. He knew that Chen Qing Xu had come. Turning his head slightly, he avoided the medicine bowl that was delivered to his mouth, trying to open his eyes with great effort.
Chen Qing Xu knew what he was worried about. She quickly wrote in his palm word by word, “Yan Wang had returned to the capital. He does not know.”
Gu Yun’s pale lips curved up slightly. It seemed to be a smile, he drank the medicine reluctantly. His spirit was dispersed again.
Gu Yun’s organs were injured, combined with the recurrence of old wounds. He repeatedly broke into a fever throughout the night. The four words of ‘death with everlasting regret’ supported him like a large rock. The next day, he was able to climb up under the amazement of others. Drinking medicine like water, he summoned all the generals under him and listened to every war report.
When the meeting was over, Chen Qing Xu brought a bowl of medicine to him. Gu Yun drank it. He wondered if it was due to the strong collision on his head, or the explosion had hurt his ears, but those ears that always relied on medicine to function did not stop ringing.
Putting down the empty bowl, Gu Yun asked in the first sentence, “When did Yan Wang leave?”
Chen Qing Xu saved words like saving gold: “Early in March.”
Gu Yun breathed a sigh of relief — the Western Regions front was under his control. As long as Chang Geng had left, words of this matter would never reach the capital.
So far, he was at ease in both public and private matters, automatically counting the matter as a false alarm. He laughed at Chen Qing Xu and said: “I have been too eager lately and have not thought carefully, making myself to be a laughing stock.”
But Chen Qing Xu did not laugh, she instead pulled over a chair and sat down, appeared to be ready to engage in a long conversation: “Marquis, I have a few words I must make clear to you.”
Gu Yun was stunned.
Some doctors were quick-tempered — as soon as the patients did not cooperate even slightly, they would immediately be scolded. Others doctors were the sheep-raising type — anyone who sought them, they will be treated; if they were not willing to be treated, they will not be forced to, it was up to them if they wanted to die.
Chen Qing Xu undoubtedly belonged to the latter. No matter if Gu Yun wore the steel plate to go on the front line, or repeatedly increased the dosage of drugs willfully, she had not said anything, she had rarely ever shown such a grave look.
Gu Yun: “Miss Chen, please.”
Chen Qing Xu: “There is no place on the body that is acting alone, the eyes and ears are connected with the organs. The aftermath of the Marquis’s poison since childhood has continued to this day. But in this campaign, you have been injured continuously, affecting the lungs, five internal organs were in a state of unrest — since the chaos in the Western Regions has been suppressed, in my opinion, it would be better for Marshal to take the opportunity of escorting prisoners of war to return to the capital to rest one or two days, otherwise…”
Gu Yun: “Otherwise, one day, even panacea or elixir, nothing will be able to cure me anymore, is that right?”
Chen Qing Xu face did not show any changes. She nodded and said, “The Marquis’s own body, you certainly must understand it best.”
Gu Yun replied with an ‘Mm’. For a long time, he did not say a word.
When people were in their twenties and thirties, it was very difficult to feel the sense of ‘old’ and ‘sick’ brought about by the passage of time. Occasionally, there would be days where they’d feel uncomfortable, but they did not think of it in a serious direction either, there were no real sensation. Such lines as ‘wish you well’ and ‘take good care’ coming from others mostly resembled wind passing by one’s ears. There were too many things lined up before this rotten body: fame and wealth, loyalty and righteousness, family and duty… even romance, love and hatred.
Gu Yun was not an exception either.
Until this moment.
He always thought his final destination was to bury his bones in the frontier, dying for this nation. He regarded himself as a handful of fireworks — after blowing out, it could be said that he had reserved the renowned named of the Gu family with its every loyal members.
But a Chang Geng suddenly emerged out of nowhere, pushing his established trajectory away from the original direction. He could not help himself from having delusions, wishing for more — for example, after the nation came to its end, there would still be a few years left where he was not sick, not hurt, to save them for Chang Geng.
If he died early and Chang Geng carried the evil curse of the barbarian woman alone, what would he do in the future? If one day the Bone of Impurity broke out, if he really did …who would look after him? Who would care for him?
Chen Qing Xu was not good with talking, she was afraid that her clumsy speech would not be able to persuade Gu Yun. Unexpectedly, Gu Yun had not waited for her to draft her thoughts inside, he suddenly said, “I know, thank you, there are more things that will need to trouble Miss Chen in the future. Now under this situation, resting may not be possible, but as long as I do not need to enter the palace and there is no emergency military situation, I will minimize using that medicine as much as I can, okay?”
Chen Qing Xu was stunned, she suddenly found that Gu Yun seemed to have changed.
Three generations of Black Iron Camp were handed down to Gu Yun, as solid as metal. A single sentence from him became the order of prohibitions with absolute authority. With Gu Yun blocking the news, the capital only received the news of the grand victory at the Western Regions.
Master Feng Han was crying as he listened on the court. The entire country was boiling up. Even as Gu Yun later wrote a letter asking for forgiveness, saying that he had arbitrarily beheaded the King of Kucha, this only seemed like a trivial matter. Either Way, Gu Yun’s tough means on the battlefield was not something that happened within a day or two. Even Li Feng felt that this was very similar to something he would do.
Only Chang Geng frowned at the report sent to the military office —— although he could not explain why, he had a feeling there was something else hidden in this.
Unfortunately, before waiting for him to think about it, the Black Eagle envoy sent another letter: “Your Highness, this is the home letter from the Marquis to you.”
The last time Gu Yun wrote home to him, it was within the two years that the man had just left for the Silk Road. There were two in total, one of which was written by Shen Yi in his stead.
Chang Geng maintained first-class martial skill of self-restraint, received the letter and gave thanks calmly, courteous words both sincere and caring came out of his lips. The Black Eagle envoy who had not seen much of the world was tearful. Wishing he could bow deep and make an oath to repay the home country, he was sent away in a dizzying state.
When the envoy left, Chang Geng immediately dismissed the young eunuchs who were accompanying him on both sides. He could not wait to open it. He was handy by nature, his opening motion was also of utmost care. The envelope was not torn for a little, it could even be reused.
As soon as it was opened, a small dried apricot blossom fell out.
It was as if Gu Yun had been possessed by Shen Yi, talking of every matters big and small. He naturally had a sharp tongue, describing the cowardly behavior of the Western Regions coalition army without sparing any details, the scene of the enemy wetting themselves seemed as if it had appeared in front of him. If there were still people left in the military office, they would be frightened — who had ever witnessed Yan Wang laughing so happily behind the desk with papers and reports piling up like mountains?
At the end, Gu Yun wrote again: There are several apricot trees at the crossing, harmed by the flame of war. The trunk of the tree is burnt, even most of the insects and ants could not live. I had assumed they had died. But one day as I came back to camp from patrol, I saw these dead trees had met spring, a flower bud was raising from the ash, blooming overnight. It is both pitiable and endearing. The army is filled with those that does not know how to appreciate beauty. Talk of admiring flowers would only resemble playing music for an ox’s ears, hence I have acted first and plucked a branch to play with you…
In the Kai handwriting that could be passed down for generations, there was a sentence, Chang Geng could vaguely recognize that it said: “wishing I could cut several branches of plum blossoms in the Marquis’s manor myself in the early spring of next year“, but later perhaps he thought it would be unlucky to discuss the future, he then painted them off again and signed his name.
He did not know whether it was intentional or coincidental. There was a faint imprint left behind by the apricot branch, cutting across the word ‘Gu’. One could sense the fragrance coming looking at the letter pressing atop the flower mark, the unmatched elegance is indescribable.
Chang Geng was composed on the outside, but his heart was going crazy.
Whether these young masters of noble family appeared crude, mindless, or careless, there was not a single one who did not know of these little teasing tricks, they all had a few up their sleeve.
Chang Geng could not help recalling the space between elegance and improper when Gu Yun had had too much that time. Instead of being jealous about the romance and affairs that might or might not have happened, he felt that Gu Yun was very adorable this way.
Chang Geng sipped a cup of cooled tea and read the home letter three or four times over from beginning to end, wishing that he could imprint each and every word in his mind, so that even with his eyes closed, he could recreate an identical one. Only then did he put the letter and the dried flowers in the pouch, keeping them close to him.
He then wrote the words ‘noble family’ on one side of the paper and closed his eyes slightly.
The word ‘Yan Wang’ coming out of the lips was the representation of royalty. At the moment of national crisis, the interests between the noble family and royalty were the same. As long as he did not act out of place, there would be absolutely no one who would be blind enough to jump out and hinder him. Many well-off noble families with plenty of money to spare even expressed great support for the Feng Huo ticket. This time, more or less, a bit of their wealth had been given out…
But what would be the next step?
Once the border crossing started engaging in wars, it would devour an enormous amount of military expenses. The endless stream of refugees were still crossing the river to come. People in Great Liang were panic-stricken and no longer had the heart to do business. The amount of gold and silver gathered in emergency by the Feng Huo tickets would soon come to an end. The court could never live on borrowed money.
Reforming the farmland system, tax system, civil and commercial system was imminent. Wherever one touched, it would have to affect the bones and muscles.
At that time, all the noble families of the court would become his enemies.
Chang Geng’s warm expression from just now that was still carrying a hint of a smile had turned cold, he flicked the wolf hair brush and struck a cross on the word ‘noble family’.
Under the lamp, the young prince appeared very handsome, yet incredibly cold.
Master Feng Han or Ge Ban Xiao or Miss Chen… and even Gu Yun, they all seemed to think that the person who carried the girder could gently drop it after the building was completed and just go away with a sweep of their robes.
But how was that possible?
The word ‘power’ had always been a dead end in times of danger, no two opposing parties could coexist.