zChapter 1129 - Life In Death, Death In Life (1/2)
Xuan Tianyi had forced himself to say these words, regretting it a little after saying it, it would have been so good if he just went with what Xiangrong said! Seeing that Imperial Concubine Yun had calmed down a little, this matter might have been settled with that, and the danger would have been mostly dispelled, why was he messing things up?
But he had to mess things up after all! Old Seventh sent a letter, asking him to think of everything to muddle up the waters here, using this to slow down Xuan Tianming’s progress towards the Eastern border. The reason was simple, he divined that an accident would happen to Xuan Tianming during the deployment this time, so he absolutely could not be allowed to step on the battlefield again. He was not simply stirring up the waters, he was saving Xuan Tianming’s life! He just did not know if this Ninth Brother appreciated it!
Xuan Tianyi glanced at Xuan Tianming helplessly, sighing deeply in his heart. Forget it, he was going to be a good person to the end, he had heard about Old Seventh’s divination skills in the past, since this was divined by Old Seventh, it would not be wrong.
“Little Master, think about it properly again, Imperial Concubine Mother Yun is deciding and appointing the marriage for us, this is a rare chance!” Therefore, Xuan Tianyi put in more effort, convincing Xiangrong. “It is fine if you really want to show your filial piety, we can decide on the marriage first and exchange the eight characters, then you can go show your filial piety, doing it for as long as you want. When Feng Jinyuan below is happy, we can get married, how is that?”
Until the intentional actions of Xuan Tianyi, this banquet ended without any celebration. With regards to the appointment of marriage, Imperial Concubine Yun did not mention it again, but she also did not say that she was not appointing it anymore. Either way, this matter just hung there, suspended in everyone’s hearts.
Imperial Concubine Yun was in a bad mood, Xuan Tianming suggested to return to the capital early. But Imperial Concubine Yun said again, she liked Ji An Prefecture and decided to stay here, not leaving. If she returned to the capital, she would also be living in Chun Palace, she did not have a proper home, then how was it any different from staying in the Princess’ manor in Ji An Prefecture?
With her speaking like this, it was also difficult for Feng Yuheng to not allow her to stay, with no other choice, she could only nod in agreement. And it was also difficult for Xuan Tianming to say that he was leaving immediately. After all, his Imperial Concubine Mother was currently feeling angry, he had to stay and accompany her for a few more days. It was just that with this delay, the large army at Xuan Tianhua’s side moved further away from him.
Eastern area of Da Shun, Xuan Tianhua led a huge army of 500,000 soldiers, advancing quickly towards the direction of Fu Province. For this 500,000 army, other than the soldiers in the military camp in the suburbs of the capital, Qian Li also led a group of people, rushing over from Qian Zhou to meet up. The soldiers stationed at the Northwest were also transferred back for the sake of this battle at the eastern border.
It could be said that these 500,000 were all soldiers under Xuan Tianming, the other soldiers in Da Shun, he did not move any of them, including the southern border, he even left part of the soldiers in the divine camp in Da Mo to help Yao Shu in defences. For these 500,000 people, it could be said that they only listen to orders from Xuan Tianming alone, even if Xuan Tianming were to lead them to rebellion, they would follow him without hesitation.
If not for the fact that Xuan Tianming said before, other than him, when His Highness the Seventh Prince and Feng Yuheng came to the military camp, it was the same as him leading them, these soldiers would not have followed Xuan Tianhua this easily, even if he had the military tally with him.
Xuan Tianhua led the soldiers and travelled quickly. Ever since they left the capital, it was as if it was a rapid march, hurrying towards the eastern border. But even if it was like this, he was still worried and anxious, still thinking that it was too slow. But there was nothing else he could do, with a large 500,000 army travelling together, it could not match the speed of a single man and horse. Even if he moved any faster, the most he could do was to shorten the time by one third when compared to a normal walking pace.
Qian Li felt it was a little strange, at the beginning of the 20th day of the journey of the army, he rode on a horse, in line with Xuan Tianhua, asking in confusion: “Your Highness the Seventh Prince, Zong Sui at the eastern border has not declared war yet, right? Why are we rushing this much?” As he spoke, he even looked back to glance at the large army following behind, not everyone was riding a horse, most of them were on foot. At this moment, the soldiers on foot were jogging, it was this kind of state every day. These soldiers under Xuan Tianming followed the training regime given by Feng Yuheng every day which based on the physical training of the future era, and they were occasionally able to eat the healthcare products given by Feng Yuheng, that was why they were able to endure this. If not, with such an intense superspeed march, if it were soldiers from the other camps, they would not be able to endure this.
But even if these were the soldiers under Xuan Tianming, they were also extremely strained, it was possible that after a few more days of doing this, there would be stragglers.
Xuan Tianhua heard what Qian Li said, the speed of the horse stabilised a little, and he also looked back for a while, then when he turned back again, he answered Qian Li, saying: “If we wait until Zong Sui declares war first, then they would occupy the initiative. Mobilising an army to battle, the taboo thing to do would be to let the other party occupy the initiative, this is very disadvantageous for us. Moreover, the eastern border is part of our land which is the most fertile, the destiny of the population could not be compared to the western, southern and northern borders, once the people of Zong Sui cause trouble first, it would cause huge numbers of casualties amongst the citizens, and this would shake the foundations of Da Shun.”
As he spoke like this, he felt it was too politically correct and was not persuasive enough. Therefore, he relaxed a little and told Qian Li again: “One more important point, this battle was originally taken up by Your Highness Prince Yu. The reason why This Prince would set off first in his place is for him to rest a little. His marriage was carried out in the middle of a war, it is not easy for the capital to be peaceful, can you bear to let him rush into the battle in the eastern border?”
Mentioning Xuan Tianming with that kind of reason, Qian Li was momentarily unable to say anything in return. His Highnesses the Ninth Prince and Seventh Prince had a deep brotherly bond. So that His Highness the Ninth Prince could live his days well, His Highness the Seventh Prince was willing to go to battle himself. For this kind of kinship, who would not feel moved after hearing this? Of course, if these words were said by other people instead, Qian Li would definitely thinking about it further, after all, this was 500,000 soldiers, for them to be claimed by an outsider like this, any kind of reason given would all invite suspicion.
But this person was the Seventh Prince Xuan Tianhua! The person who should not be suspected the most in the world, suspecting the Seventh Prince would invite retribution from Heaven.