Vol 2 Chapter 44 (1/2)

Gu Fang Bu Zi Shang Vol02 Ch44

A splendidly decorated carriage, surrounded by guards, was on the road froers frequently entered the group to pass on news to the person inside the carriage

Two of them were very bad

The reports fro were an endless flow, one letter after the next One of the’s disappearance fro of people sent in the ht rather baffling kinds of illnesses Gui Changqing had employed almost all of his undercover workers to set all sorts of traps on the way from the capital to Bei Mo, but each and every one of them showed no result

Bai Pingting and herany evidence behind The dragonhead showed its movement but the body and tail had coested that they had finally been spotted Originally they should’ve been quickly caught, but they had put in soy from the soldier’s limbs The men could only sit back and watch the tomen slip away

“That Bai Pingting” Yaotian read Gui Changqing’s letter and went closer to the fireplace, watching its contents gradually turn to ash She lowered her voice, “When will they be exposed?”

“Replying to Princess, everyone has been severely warned by the Senior Official They are to play as bandits and never to leak out any word in front of Pingting” The er knelt down before Yaotian “She shouldn’t know they’re our people”

“Difficult to say” Yaotian sighed faintly “Even if she did, what could she do? She isn’t harmed at all, nor does she have evidence No one will believe her even if she says so Oh well, go tell the Senior Official not to wasteWe have failed too many times The skies do not approve of our actions either Why force her to her wits’ end now that they are already far away?”

The er respectfully replied, “I have remembered Princess’ words and shall duly pass them onto the Senior Official”

“You can go”

Seeing that the er had disappeared beyond the curtain, Yaotian was left behind in the huge carriage She sighed softly The ornaht had been her favourite kind and been placed inside the carriage, evoking a dreamy atmosphere in that space Yaotian, however, displayed no interest in them

There werefor her

After receiving Bai Pingting’s letter, she had given it to aYaotian had then ordered everyone to forget the various custo the capital and urgently headed towards the borders Rather than thinking of the innocent lives being wasted in the battle, the shon of the better general between Chu Beijie and the Prince Consort was more important

While Yaotian was still on the road, the two armies had already confronted each other

The first confrontation was on the Yang Plains Chu Beijie had forced back He Xia by twentyarmy

The second confrontation started on the Yang Plains Its center had shi+fted to the east As expected of a faeneral like He Xia, he knew Chu Beijie was in a hurry to push forwards and cleverly avoided a direct clash, focusing his attacks on the right flank They lured them to the dark forests If Chu Beijie hadn’t quickly uncovered his plan and sent a fastLin ar been annihilated This forced Chu Beijie to beLin army did not attack without plans from thereon

Yaotian was hurrying day and night, hoping to stop the battle She received reports of casualties on her way Not only that, Yun Chang’s dark forests were tee with human life as it was the place where h to threaten their peaceful existence

Yun Chang could not afford to unnecessarily sacrifice the lives of peasants She had to arrive as soon as possible Chu Beijie was stationed on Bianfeng Foothill while He Xia’s troops were on Jiu Cliffs Once the forun, the consequences would be disastrous beyond measure

He Xia briefly explained the situation on the battlefield His words were forour and confidence Most of the hundreds of words in the arenerals were a lot more detailed and vividly described the brutal events that occurred—

“Chu Beijie’s main troop is elite, well-trained, and ni Plains, it is obvious they are the essence of Dong Lin’s army”

“The lights of swords bounced everywhere and screams shook the sky The corpses attracted nued towards Chu Beijie from the front, and there are almost no survivors left behind”

“Chu Beijie’s power is une cannot stop him Apart from the Prince Consort, no one else can last ten rounds The Prince Consort is the ”

“The Prince Consort’s plan is very clever First lure theht flank”

“The light of fire has filled the sky, not settling for thole days and two nights Thirty miles of the dark forests have been reduced to ashes as of today”

“If it hadn’t been for the Prince Consort, this battle would have no hope”

“I have been leading soldiers for many years but never have I seen such an arenerals in a battle The real war is dawning, and although the Prince Consort is able, I fear both sides shall suffer ie Princess to hand down an Order, so the Prince Consort can do everything to stop this battle”

“Yun Chang’s Prince Consort is indeed aIf we are able to defeat Chu Beijie’s ar will forever be the most superior of the four countries”

“As long as Dong Lin has Chu Beijie,will never be able to win I risk death in writing such a report Please consider, Princess”

Each report had been crammed with several hundreds of words No ed

Yaotian carefully read through each of the reports froain before opening the side ’s curtain

The night had fallen on Yun Chang, peaceful like usual The shadow of the big battle was like a hidden beast, ju off a piece of hu away into the darkness

“Pass on the Order toAn, how far are we still from the camp?”

Rong An, the captain in charge of her personal guards, led his horse closer to the carriage “Replying to Princess, the Jiu Cliffs are just beyond the mountains ahead We will definitely reach there by tomorrow at noon”

“Do the people at the camp…know I am on the way?”

“Strictly following orders, the ers were not allowed to leak Princess’ location The ca An then lowered his voice, “But it will terrible if theyPrincess’ flag of the Royal Cabin toe to prevent such mistake”

“Ho ahead then” Yaotian lowered the curtain and leaned back on the soft pillows

She read enerals thought different things, they were all thinking the best for their country

They all knew He Xia’s swordsmanshi+p was extraordinary, above most people

They all knew that they were fighting a crazed Chu Beijie Even if they won, they would not return without casualties

They wanted to do their best but felt pained by the

Yaotian bit back a cold smile and slowly closed her eyes

The husband she had chosen did have the power to oppose Chu Beijie, but noas not the tiht, at least one will always be hurt Why couldn’t they solve it peacefully, not fighting to their bitter ends?

If Bai Pingting were gone, then the Chu Beijie as crazed for her would undoubtedly go too

If Chu Beijie were gone then the world would fall into the hands of that kind, gentle s man

“Rest assured, Princess Noin my lifetime”

“He Xia will swear right now that there will be a day where I’ll make Princess become the noblest woman in the world and then personally crown the Princess as the Queen of the Four Countries”

His eyes had glittered like stars, full of a profoundly ical power that pulled her into its depths

On their wedding night, he had knelt down before her with one knee, held her hands as he swore to the skies

He Xia, that Marquess of Jing-An, that faeneral

He was her Prince Consort

He was the one she had picked, painstakingly froe crowd, and entrusted her life to him

Behind every man, they have a destined woman in their life

Bai Pingting, Chu Beijie is fighting for you and will stop fighting for you A pity really, such a great man of fame and ambition to be ruined in your hands with his love for you

A wasted eneral

He Xia is different In his heart, you are only a guest of fifteen years in his path of life

He is ’s Prince Consort

Forever will be

After days of travel, they were very tired

Most of the money had been spent in the capital to buy all sorts of stuff to protect the horses, food, hotels until not ood that they were now closer to the border There were many more possible paths to Bei Mo It see did not lay erous

Pingting and Zuiju had become a lot thinner over the days as the numerous enemies leapt towards the She crossed each obstacle without batting an eyelash Zuiju had never met such vicious intent to kill in her life and was terribly scared She gradually began to find humour in the pain after a while

“It’s the Songsen Mountains! Hah, just one senhad finally entered their line of sight Zuiju celebrated in glee as she pointed towards the see

Pingting hid a s “You’re right; it’s the Songsen Mountains” Her delicate face was full of weariness after walking all day

Zuiju carefully studied her colour before saying, “Let’s stop hurrying today There’s a faet there, I’ll brew so it’s bitter You have to drink every single drop of it”

“It really is bitter though” Pingting began to frown “The prescriptions I ood these last few days, no nausea or vo”

“No, I am the doctor You know anaesthetics and poisons, but if it’s medicine to save, I’m better than you Your conditions aren’t the same as before either You lared at her

Pingting hid a senius Doctor Zuiju”

The faed to an old couple ere hunters Pitying the two delicate and charreed and allowed theht in a clean little room

Zuiju opened her bag on the bed Not ht on the way re one type for the prescription She then packed up the bag and went outside the ask the old worass on the mountains nearby?”

“The entire rass is a weed in nature, and it does not die in winter If you go to the foot of the e clumps of it” The Missus was then curious, “Why does Miss want Mo grass? Isn’t that for woman with children?”

“Oh…” Zuiju laughed “Nothingfronant, and I wanted to get sothen his wife’s body e get there”

“True Poor fathen It’s the ” The Missus laughed, the wrinkles on her face like flowers, as conversation with a girl was very rare in such a remote place

“Then I’ll go pick some”

“There’s a lot of loose rocks on the way Be careful”

Zuiju walked for a few steps and turned back again, worried “My sis has been tired after a day’s walk and is currently taking a nap When she wakes up, please pass a et some herbs and will be back soon Matron, please help look after my sister for a while”

“Understood, don’t worry Miss!”

Zuiju then borrowed a shovel to dig through the snow and finally left

Pingting slept sweetly for a while and groggily woke up She opened herand couldn’t help feeling it was strange She sat up and realised Zuiju’s bag was by her foot, a few herbs scattering out of it

“Zuiju?” She got off the bed and quietly called a fewturned to look outside theThe sky was already a dark gray

“Zuiju, where are you?” The voice was a little higher

There was the sound of the curtain being lifted as so happily turned around, only to find that it was the Missus of the cabin

“Miss, your younger sister has gone to get sorass for your sister in law” The Missus sether though there isn’t etables”

“Thank you Missus” Pingting replied softly, revealing a sratitude She followed the Missus to a simple little room Her mute husband was already seated by the table Tidily made dishes laid on the table a dish of radish, a dish of stearains All of the hot

The estured as he said, “Ahhhh…Ah!”

Only the Missus understood what he , “Miss, sit down and eat Don’t worry, your sis said she was just going to the foot of the mountain and will be back soon”

“Thank you Sir, thank you Missus” Pingting looked out at the dark sky outside the

Although the dishes were very rough, the old couple was very attentive to her needs The little roo placed her chopsticks down and looked outside theIt was already dark

She still did not see Zuiju’s figure and began to worry again

“My, how could your sis still not be back?” The Missus was also looked worriedly outside “It’s just to the foot of the mountain, not that far She should be back by now”

Pingting’s heart was full of unease She paced around in the little front courtyard a few tiht were no joke What if she were to er pent up over the winter?

She had made Zuiju wait at the hotel in the capital for a while and laughed at her expression, saying she worried tooabout so about herself Since leaving with Zuiju, they had been inseparable She grew er “Matron, I think I’ll go find her after all”

The Mister uttered a few sounds and held her back with his powerful grip

The Missus also replied, “Wait for a little longer If your sis doesn’t see you when she comes back, she’ll be even more worried”

“No, no I will just take a look around the foot of thetorch and asked about the direction Zuiju had set off She then said, “Missus, if ain If I don’t see her at the foot of the mountain, I will immediately head back”

The Missus sighed “As expected of two sisters She told ain to look after you when she left Now you are telling ood Miss and just look around the foot of the mountain It’s dark, so don’t climb it”

“Understood”

Although it was night, the asn’t very strong Pingting walked stably, the fla to chase after her figure

Not long later, she had reached the foot of the mountain

The ht fell on every inch of the outside, but stopped at that point, not invading into the forest after it

The shadows of the branches seeures She raised her torch, but where was Zuiju?

“Zuiju! Zuiju!” She looked around for a while and raised her voice to call

Invisible waves of echoes bounced again and again out of the forest

Pingting stood by the forest, studying carefully around it There were a fewin the snow She hurriedly crouched down It seerass and herbs The snapped parts re followed the trail of htly into the snow If she hadn’t been so carefully searching or t holding a torch, she ht have missed them She slowly followed the footsteps, one after the other Only when the thick silhouette of the forest’s massive trees covered her head did she look up and come to a stop

Zuiju had gone into the forest

She didn’t knohy, but her heart suddenly jolted and pain flooded into it

“Zuiju! Zuiju! Where are you?” Pingting began to yell loudly, using her energy to yell

A desolate sorrow rushed into her heart,her feel more helpless than ever She didn’t see a person’s face but faced with the silence of the huge mountain There were no enemies, no traps she dealt in the past with no idea

The silence of thehad never felt so lonely

“Where are you?” She suddenly turned, her pale face illuive a reasonable explanation of her feelings She did not understand why she had dropped her guard when she had thought her freedom was near

She stood on the gleaht while her right was full of dark forest Even the sound of the winter bugs could not be heard, causing her to suddenly realise she was alone

“Where are you?” She whispered, unable to y she had before

The torch continued to burn, producing the slightest sound Yet it was this slight sound that becaness

A pair of profoundly deep, sparkling black eyes surfaced on her mind

She straightened her shoulders They had prohtly hold on to each other, yet why had she ended up alone in this dark forest?

His invincible sword could shake the earth yet didn’t have a heart to comfort her troubled soul

In the deep night where not a soul could be seen, Pingting’s tears couldn’t help flowing Even Pingting couldn’t understand why the pain she had hidden so deeply in her heart would surface again, causing her tears to endlessly flow in this dark and endless forest They fell to the ground, not leaving any trace

She lowered her head and grinded her teeth furiously She lowered the torch to look at every single teardrop on the snow Then, she abruptly lifted her head again and yelled, “Zuiju! Zuiju! Where are you?” Her tearstained face was full of sorrow and despair

“Miss! I’m over here!” A clear echo suddenly jumped out from the silent forest

Pingting seemed to stiffen at this She raised her torch and looked on

As expected, a figure hurled out of the loo, shadowy forest She carried a s “I didn’t expect this ood herbs I followed the ones I wanted and went in unwittingly Then it got dark and I almost couldn’t find the way back Luckily Miss ca light, Zuiju suddenly stopped walking and lowered her voice to a whisper “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing”

“Already crying like this…” Zuiju held onto Pingting’s hands, which was as cold as ice, no hint of war Miss worried”

Pingting smiled bitterly

She had always been praised by others for her heart, but only she understood how ridiculous she was How could Zuiju possibly knohat she was thinking right now?

She blinked, freeing another teardrop to silently slide out

Zuiju’s heart was distressed for her “Miss, don’t cry Aain”

Pingting turned away, her voice very faint “These herbs are not important You should cherish yourself; it’s such a cold day after all” The two people then slowly headed back

Zuiju then said, “I’ll hold it” She took the torch fro the little basket She re’s red eyes She studied her, saying, “What is Miss thinking?”

Pingting walked in silence with her head lowered as if she hadn’t heard her words After a while, however, she opened herabout the letter I wrote to him”

Hearing Pingting taking the initiative to ave Zuiju a massive shock She was too afraid to touch on the subject that hadShe continued to walk in silence

Not long later, she heard Pingting slowly say, “When I picked up the brush that day, although I wrote s, my mind was a complete mess Now that I think about it, perhaps it was a letter from the voice of my heart that even I don’t understand myself”

Zuiju couldn’t help asking, “What did Miss write?”

Pingting seehtly It then all changed to a sigh “Even if I tell you, it’ll just add to your pile of troubles”

The two fell into another silence No one made any sound as they continued to walk back They raised their heads to see the flickering candlelight of the little cabin in the distance They suddenly heard a piercing, violent roar that rueezers, how dare you talk back!” The crisp sound of a slap was suspended in the night sky

Pingting and Zuiju’s hearts skipped a beat Their nerves were hardened from the repeated escapes from the clutches of the eneuishi+ng it, and hid behind a boulder beside the road

Under the ht, they quietly probed inside They couldthe entrance to the cabin

“If it ‘adn’t been for us Officials standing up to Chu Beijie, then Dong Lin would have stormed inside and your heads would have beco Lin to kick around Soldiers ht How could ya still hope to live if ya don’t pay taxes?”

The Missus’ kind tone had become full of panic and fear at the same time “Officials, we have already paid our taxes for the year two days ago…”

“That o days ago; today’s is for today!” A furious voice broke out

A crackling sound was heard It seemed that someone had broken the old wooden door with a kick

“We really have nothing”

“Nothing? Hmph, what’s this?” The sharp voice interrupted and abroken into the cabin had plundered a pile of various objects He sneered, “Even though ya’ll so old, ya still ‘av soood stuff”

“Ah! Ahhh…ah…” Thethe man

The Missus hurriedly explained, “Sir, Sir, these are not our things These belong to the two Misses who are staying in the cabin…”

“piss off!” The round, his voice vicious “How do they not belong to you if they are in your cabin? Tell ya what, these things shall suffice as today’s tax If you still refuse to pay up in two day’s tio!”

Holding onto Pingting and Zuiju’s bags, they left The taited for the out to see their back view

“Such cruel and evil henchs you see everyday, even our Dong Lin has it When seeing richofficials, they act like sweet puppies In reality, they’re as cruel as wolves If they ever fall into my Teacher’s hands, he will definitely punish”

Pingting gazed until their backs had disappeared before whsipering back “But what else can we do? I often regret it these days What was the point of learning qin and dancing? Martial arts and swordsround was uneven, an unsheathed sword could aid walking Curse my uselessness, I can’t even help in to think to help others?”

Zuiju disagreed “Isn’t Miss pretty good these days? Why suddenly start regretting again? How many are there with the same ability as you under the skies?”

Even though her words were cheerful, she suddenly thought of the Duke It wasn’t wrong After all, even clever woman would be afraid when they encountered close combat If she had been by the Duke’s side, he would have naturally protected her,sure no one harmed a hair of hers

But without someone to protect her, she could only protect herself

The two people stood up froot up a little too abruptly and was dizzied by it Her foot did not stabilise on the ground, and her shoulder shook a little

“Be careful Miss!” Zuiju hurriedly said, stretching out a hand to support her

“I’ain She raised her foot, but it had no idea which direction to turn to This tiht again Her body felt light and eround

In a blink of the eye, Zuiju had already hurried forwards, her hand grabbing onto Pingting’s wrist She hadn’t expect that Pingting would fall down this tiht After all, Zuiju too had only just stood up This caught her off guard, so her atteged hers down and they fell together Her knees knocked painfully into a rock Her hands t skidded on the rock, causing theh it was painful, Zuiju stillabout her own pain She held Pingting and hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Pingting only felt herhelped up by Zuiju She shook her head, saying, “I’ whether she was actually hurt or not but didn’t feel any pain at all

“Are you hurt?”