"Yes!"
"Wait!" The scout turned his horse around, galloping madly in the direction of Dong Qingyue, when he heard Aksai call him again, "Be polite, and tell that commander of Zhou, once again, to stay out of this battle! Otherwise, they will be making enemies of Tianfeng and Xiliang!"
"Yes!" The scout from Tianfeng Kingdom rode swiftly to Dong Qingyue and loudly relayed Aksai’s words to him.
Upon hearing this, Dong Qingyue laughed aloud. His warhorse kicked its hooves impatiently, eager to charge forward. Dong Qingyue held the reins with one hand, controlling his mount, and sneered coldly, "Was I not clear enough? From this day forth... Rong is my Zhou’s horse pasture! Anyone daring to violate Zhou’s borders will face our elite soldiers in a bloody battle to the end!"
The scout from Tianfeng Kingdom turned his horse around again and galloped back to report to Aksai.
Aksai squinted his eyes and leaned forward, resting one elbow on his knee, watching Dong Qingyue standing at the front on horseback, his expression murderous.
"General, shall we retreat?" Aksai’s subordinate asked.
With Aksai’s temperant, he would want to teach that arrogant Zhou commander a lesson with the might of the Elephant Army. But his lord had instructed him, in dealing with Zhou and Yan people, not to use the sa strategies their Tianfeng ancestors had employed against Hanye and ngshe Kingdoms.
Aksai shouted, "Give the order to withdraw and camp six miles out!"
The horns from the Tianfeng Kingdom’s Elephant Army sounded, the giant elephants trumpeted loudly, then slowly turned around, following the leading elephant behind Aksai as they left.
But Dong Qingyue did not dare to relax, dispatching scouts...
The sky was left with only the last traces of twilight purple, the entire grassland was overtaken by stars, with only the torches flickering wildly in the wind.
Not long after, the scouts swiftly returned: "Report..."
Dong Qingyue perked up.
Three scouts jumped off their horses before they ca to a full stop, knelt on one knee, and reported with fists cupped: "Tianfeng Kingdom’s Elephant Army withdrew and set up camp six miles away!"
Six miles... that distance wasn’t very far.
Dong Qingyue gritted his molars and shouted, "Dong Changlan, Dong Changmao!"
After Bai Qingyan ascended the throne, the Dengzhou Army learned that Dong Changlan was still alive, not only alive... but had also trained a very formidable cavalry within the borders of Rong.
Dong Changlan and Dong Changmao rode forward together, pulling the reins: "We are here!"
"Dong Changmao... return to Dengzhou to transport provisions and supplies. The Dengzhou Army will camp here! Quickly send a ssage towards Dadu City, informing His Majesty not to worry. As long as I’m alive, I won’t allow Tianfeng Kingdom to set foot on our Zhou land!" Dong Qingyue said solemnly.
"Yes!" Dong Changmao accepted the order, turned his horse, and raced back towards Dengzhou with his cavalry.
"Dong Changlan!" Dong Qingyue called again.
"Here!" Dong Changlan responded imdiately.
"I order you to imdiately lead ten thousand troops to Rong’s Imperial City, to aid the Ghost-faced Prince in securing the Rong imperial power!" Dong Qingyue commanded.
"Understood!" Dong Changlan’s eyes were fiery, and as he was about to turn his horse, he heard Dong Qingyue stop him.
Dong Qingyue clenched his teeth and gestured for Dong Changlan, who imdiately ca forward and asked in a low voice, "Father?"
Dong Qingyue grasped Dong Changlan’s arm tightly and whispered, "Make sure... to protect A Yu. This child has suffered too much..."
Dong Changlan, knowing that the Ghost-faced Prince was his cousin Bai Qingyu, nodded firmly: "Rest assured, Father, I will risk my life to protect him!"
"Go now!" Dong Qingyue’s eyes reddened, and he patted his son’s shoulder hard, "Be careful!"
"Rest assured, General!" Dong Changlan cupped his fists towards Dong Qingyue and galloped away with his cavalry.
·
Bai Qingyan had a al with her mother, various aunts, and loyal servants of the Bai family, marking her birthday.
During the feast, Wei Zhong quietly reported to Bai Qingyan that the envoy from Yan stationed in Zhou requested an audience. Bai Qingyan clenched her palm, estimating it was soone sent by Xiao Rongyan to deliver birthday gifts, and told Wei Zhong to let them wait. After the family banquet, she would go to see the Yan envoy and instructed him to also inform Xiao Ruojiang to et her in the study after the banquet ended.
Doctor Hong, Nanny Tong, and several aunts still saw Bai Qingyan as a child, giving her birthday gifts, and Bai Jinzhi along with other loyal servants of the Bai family didn’t fall behind either... they all gave Bai Qingyan presents. Even Miss Ji, who had returned with Bai Jinzhi from Hancheng this ti, presented a double-sided embroidery she had painstakingly worked on for Bai Qingyan.
The family banquet was extrely lively. After the banquet, Bai Jinzhi volunteered to escort her eldest sister back to the study, hoping to plead with her to let her head to the southern border. She was eager to witness Tianfeng Kingdom’s Elephant Army.
Who knew on the way back she heard Shen Qingzhu ntion that her eldest sister had sent her to the southern border for an investigation, leaving her quite shocked.
"No wonder Sister Qingzhu hasn’t been around lately, it’s because Eldest Sister sent her to investigate General Guan!" Bai Jinzhi was puzzled, "But... General Guan is under Uncle’s banner, part of our Bai family army, our comrade! It’s not easy to recover him, why would Eldest Sister have Sister Qingzhu investigate General Guan?"
Bai Qingyan walked slowly along the corridor adorned with hexagonal palace lanterns, speaking as she went, "The information we received says that General Guan lost his mory and was deceived by people from Xiliang’s Yun family, who told him his na was Yun Lan, but if he truly lost his mory, why does he rember Huying Camp’s training thods? If General Guan was forced to pretend to have mory loss, he should have explained so upon returning to the Bai family army. However, General Guan was furious and said he wanted to go to Xiliang to bring back the Huoyun Army..."
"I thoroughly asked Xiao Ruohai about the scene when he first witnessed the Huoyun Army’s training. If General Guan could recall a complete set of training thods, why couldn’t he rember his own na? Even if he couldn’t rember that... he should at least have recalled the Bai family army’s banner! But when General Guan later spoke with Xiao Ruohai in detail, he claid he had no impression at all, and this keeps suspicious." Bai Qingyan observed Bai Jinzhi, who was frowning, "Indeed, as you said, logically... it’s not easy to retrieve General Guan, but the Bai family army has also not had it easy, so we must be cautious; therefore, I did not make it known and only sent Qingzhu to the southern border to investigate."
Bai Jinzhi thought it over and nodded, "Eldest Sister is right, it’s indeed necessary to investigate thoroughly."
Shen Qingzhu then spoke after hearing Bai Jinzhi, "When I reached the southern border, I found nothing of note on General Guan, so I went to Feng County. In Feng County, while inquiring about General Guan, I learned that General Guan joined the Bai family army in his early years because his wife and children were hard by Xiliang forces! General Guan was sowhat of a well-known figure in Feng County, but... General Guan did not have many relatives or friends. Later, when I asked a teacher about General Guan, I learned that he ca to Feng County with his parents at the age of thirteen or fourteen. They happened to encounter an attack by Rong; after helping save the villagers, they settled in Feng County. There used to be people who knew about General Guan’s hotown, but over ti, those people gradually disappeared..."
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