Vol 10 Chapter 34 (2/2)

“Yes,” I nodded and conveyed to everyone what I truly believed in as normal a tone as possible, “Besides, I still have you all after all.”

When I finished, the atmosphere seemed to have frozen over and I felt very awkward as I was afraid that I had achieved the opposite effect. But in the next second–

“Un, Xuan De’s thinking is right.”

“My lord! I will make sure I repay you for your trust even if it means death!”

“… My capabilities are lacking but I will do my best.”

The 3 of them seemed to be touched at least somewhat by my words with Zi Long being the most conservative in her reactions and Chen Dao the most exaggerating.

I would never have said these things before. It’s not like I only think this way now but I would never have expressed if openly then. And the reason why I am saying this now is, more or less, thanks what Yuan Zhi told me.

–If you want to achieve great things, you have to start by protecting your retainers. Whatever happens from here on out, do not ever forget your promises, your values and your companions. You must be able to admit and express what you truly feel.

I wonder if what Yuan Zhi meant was this. At the very least, this is what I think it is.

“Ah, are the ones in front Lord Huang Zu and Lord Chen Gong?”

Eh? I hurriedly looked up when I heard Chen Dao’s voice and saw that there were indeed 2 people on horseback in the distance. One of them was wearing ordinary linen clothing while the other was wearing a complete set of plate armour.

Even from this distance, I could tell that they had stormy and stern expressions on. Yes, no doubt about it, they are Chen Gong and Huang Zu alright.

Did they… Come to welcome us? I do not get that sort of feeling from them but this should be it right?

“Oi~” Chen Dao gave a friendly greeting but the 2 did not reply and looked at each other before slowly riding towards us.”

“It’s been a while, Imperial Uncle.”

“My lord.”

They both came to a stop about 20-30 paces away from us and saluted us as they greeted me.

“Oh~” Chen Dao said as we saluted them in return, “Did Lord Huang Zu and Lord Chen Gong come out to welcome us? There wasn’t a need for this really.”

“Ah, no.” Chen Gong said with a wry smile.

“We actually just came outside for a walk and decided to welcome you while we were at it since these few days have been really tiring.” Huang Zu said with a stern, unsmiling look.

“How is Xinye city now?”

“We’ve been fortifying the city walls and about half of the work is completed.”

That’s really fast. In total, about half a month has elapsed since they began so they should be done in another half a month.

“By the way, where did you get your boulders from?” Zi Long said as she looked at the side and tilted her head, “This mountain should still be filled with bandits after all.”

“Yes, they are. Which is why we took our boulders from the south of the city.” Huang Zu said as she smiled confidently, the first time she’s smiled today.

“Continuing along the same thread, why did my lord and everyone ride without an accompanying convoy?” Chen Gong asked.

“We don’t have any money on us. The bandits are only after financial gain so they wouldn’t bother us.” Yi De said as she continued ahead.

Chen Gong sighed as she looked at her and said, “Alright, let’s stop here and return to the city as soon as possible.”

“Un, alright.”

“…”

Un? While we caught up to Chen Gong who led the way, Huang Zu swept her gaze about amongst us.

“If you’re looking for Lord Xu Shu, then don’t bother.” Zi Long said with one eye closed as she continued riding ahead.

“Eh? She’s already left?” Huang Zu said with her eyes wide open in disbelief , “But I haven’t even said farewell to benefactor–”

“Yuan Zhi said that she was afraid you might want to follow her if you saw her so she didn’t come back.” I hurriedly chimed in, “Moreover, the situation was urgent and she didn’t have much spare time to return to Xinye before leaving.”

Huang Zu lowered her head, looking very downcast, when she heard this.

To be honest, I still had not gotten over Yuan Zhi’s leaving and when I saw Huang Zu, I felt the trauma of the incident all over again and was at a loss as to what to say. Luckily, Zi Long was able to speak up to Huang Zu before I was asked.

“Don’t be too sad, Huang Zu. This can’t be helped.” I said as I went up to her and patted her shoulders, “Yuan Zhi said that you belonged to Jing state so there is no need for you to follow her up north.”

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