"General, the Qi Army has caught up with us,"
The soldiers of the Northern Yong Army from Bingzhou City had already begun to withdraw in succession, and once the main force of the Qi Army entered the city, they would soon be able to take control of it.
Xiao Cheng had suffered a blow this ti, and naturally, he wouldn’t let it go without retaliation—pursuit was certain to follow.
But for them to be this fast was sowhat unexpected.
Pei Jue stood on the deck, facing the wind and watching the Qi Army surge towards the shore, silent.
"Formation!" Shi Yin shouted forcefully, commanding with confidence.
"Hold them back!"
When it ca to campaigning in the field, storming cities, and retreating in defeat, the Northern Yong Army had a set of familiar formations ready for various situations—heavy cavalry, light cavalry, shieldn, archers, each fulfilling their roles, standing by in strict formation.
"Your Majesty!"
Among the Qi Army pursuing them out of the city, the Emperor, in his silver helt and white horse, was very conspicuous. Xiao Cheng, naturally tall and majestic, was easily spotted as he held the reins and, looking towards the departing ships, spurred his horse forward.
Ping’an followed on horseback, and seeing the Emperor charge toward the Northern Yong Army lines as if he was throwing his life away, he broke out into a cold sweat.
"Your Majesty, you must not!"
The fact that the Emperor personally led the chase was worriso enough.
Where was it heard of an Emperor leading the charge into battle?
Xie Congguang also widened his eyes, furious and anxious.
"Do not pursue a desperate enemy! Your Majesty! Co back!"
The afternoon sun was glaring, shining from the sharp angle of a warship, dazzlingly bright.
Xiao Cheng’s lips tightened as he stared at the warships in the cold wind and the fluttering flags, montarily in a daze.
This scene was so familiar, yet so absurd.
In his previous life at Shiguan Dock, the person pursuing from the shore was Pei Jue.
And the one by Feng Yun’s side, watching his defeated subordinate frantically spurring his horse, was him.
Roles reversed...
And wasn’t he now also a defeated general?
A large number of Qi soldiers followed behind the Emperor, attacking the Northern Yong Army.
The sound of horse hooves thundered, the army’s roar surged as they clashed, and in an instant, the clamor of battle pierced the sky. The earth stained with the color of blood, rging with the dusk light on the horizon...
Old grudges and new, everyone was seeing red.
"Issue the command," said Pei Jue, his voice cold and resolute.
"Whoever takes Xiao Cheng’s life will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold."
"Understood!" they shouted in unison.
From the warships to the ferry point, the Northern Yong Army cried out loudly.
"Kill the dog Emperor!"
"Earn a hundred taels of gold!"
"Kill!"
The cold wind was bleak, the trees swayed.
The sounds of killing seed to co from another world.
Xiao Cheng saw himself on the warship at Shiguan Dock, looked at Feng Yun’s gentle sleeping face, and said lightly and softly,
"Whoever takes Pei Jue’s life, I shall reward handsoly."
The Northern Yong Army, with a fierce gaze, was within close range.
In the Qi Army, there were urgent drumbeats and shouts, the flag bearers waving their flags to direct the assault, and Xie Congguang, watching the reckless fighting of the Emperor, twisted his face in a helpless grimace, shouting frantically and desperately.
And in Xiao Cheng’s ears, there were always different voices.
Voices that did not belong to this world existed.
All around him, there was silence.
He saw Ping’an opening his mouth wide to shout at him, saw Xie Congguang risking his life to shield him, and saw the soldiers of the Qi Army fighting the Northern Yong Army to the death, but he could neither see himself nor hear any sound around him.
All the voices ca from mories, a chaotic ss...
"Your Majesty..." that woman approached gracefully, as if from so void, bowing deeply to him.
"The Imperial Concubine overstepped, insulted my royal mother, I couldn’t bear it any longer, that’s why I punished her to kneel," she said.
She had lost a lot of weight.
She was already very thin back then.
Her beautiful face seed to have shrunk by a whole size.
But he did not take another look at her, instead he gently wrapped Feng Ying into his arms, lowered his head to console her, "Don’t cry, I don’t like it when your makeup is ruined by tears."
Feng Ying, comforted, cried even harder, her tears soaking his robe.
"Your Majesty, please don’t bla Sister Ayun, whatever punishnt she gives is deserved..."
He was fastidious about cleanliness, sowhat disdainful of tears on his body, but he held back.
"Shall I summon the Imperial Physician to have a look? If she injured you, my beloved, I will never forgive her."
The woman’s face finally changed, her eyes fixed on him, dark as ink.
"The Imperial Concubine disrespected her superiors, spoke rudely, as the Empress, a little punishnt, and yet Your Majesty is heartbroken?"
His expression was mild, but his words were laced with chill.
"My woman can only be punished by ."
The woman in the void laughed, her laughter piercing, "What Your Majesty says is very true, it’s improper for to be jealous of the Imperial Concubine, against the virtue of a wife... Please, Your Majesty, punish by grounding to Yuzhao Hall and forbidding from sharing Your Majesty’s bed."
He was annoyed.
So she didn’t want to serve in bed?
She ca up with all these excuses.
"Very well, I will confine you to the palace, you’d better never beg for anything for the rest of your life!"
"Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace."
She bowed again, her posture dignified and graceful, her pale face showing none of the pain and grievances he wished to see. She turned away in front of him and Feng Ying, striding off without a hint of jealousy or disappointnt.
At the ti, Xiao Cheng didn’t feel much pain.
But now, that silent, suffocating sensation, like a cat’s claws scratching into the flesh, was relentlessly closing in, hitting him in the chest as if echoing from a previous lifeti. The emotions were strikingly different from before, as if suddenly about to tear his heart into shreds, the painfulness leaving him riddled with holes.
That was their first major argunt.
As for the cause of the whole affair, he sohow couldn’t rember...
How they got to that point, and why he said those heartless words, it all beca a blur.
On this battlefield that seed to be a manifestation of past events, Xiao Cheng’s numb nerves throbbed with dull pain, endlessly flashing back to the scenes from his previous life, as if soone were taking a knife and slowly carving out the tenderest part of his heart...
"Ayun!"
He heard himself calling out.
"Co back with ."
"Let’s start over."
He’d give her anything she wanted, he could be kind to that child, he wouldn’t send her to the Cold Palace again, he wouldn’t strip her of the Empress title, he wouldn’t allow others to insult or humiliate her, he would have her back, giving her all the splendor of the world, just to see her in front of him again, smiling, telling him:
"As long as Your Majesty is well, I am content."
User Comments
0 comments from readers