Chapter 85: You Want Me? Part 1
“It’s fine. Let them weave whatever lies they want. The General and the Madam are gone, and Songxuan is glaring at us from beyond the pass. Without a commander who can lead the Pale Dragon Army, he can just wait to become the monarch of a fallen nation.”
Yun Tianqing said mockingly, “Does he really think anyone can command the Pale Dragon Army? He should look at his own weight—just a bunch of useless gluttons.”
She truly didn’t hold back at all.
Yun Wuxiang withdrew his hand, gauging the current situation from her words. “Did the people the Emperor sent to take over lose the battle?”
“Indeed. Within a few days, I’ll likely have to head to the front lines, Little Prince.” Yun Tianqing looked at her brother, who was now a man of “sickly bones,” her eyes filled with sorrow.
“I really want to take you with me.”
Yun Wuxiang: “You should go.” If she took him, would the current Emperor really let her leave in peace?
“My body cannot handle the jolting.” Given his current constitution, if he went to the border, he would likely log out of this small world on the way.
These words made Yun Tianqing’s eyes turn red instantly. She gritted her teeth in secret. Her brother was supposed to be a young general, a master of cavalry and combat, yet now he couldn’t even handle a carriage ride.
Frustrating. She wanted to rebel.
Just as they predicted, within three days, the imperial edict arrived at the Prince’s Manor. Yun Tianqing officially took up her post.
Before leaving, Yun Wuxiang expected a long lecture of instructions. To his surprise, Yun Tianqing merely smiled and said one thing: “It’s cold. Go back and rest.”
Then came a parting hug. A soft whisper reached his ear: “A-jie will eventually take you away from this capital.”
Yun Tianqing let go, her movements crisp as she flipped onto her horse. A red flower landed on her head. Looking up, she saw a girl on a nearby balcony smiling. “General Tianqing, when you return in victory, are you willing to marry me?”
“Ah?” Yun Tianqing was stunned.
Immediately, another flower fell, followed by a light, melodic laugh. “This young miss also admires the General.”
“And me!”
Flowers fell one after another, a rain of petals flying toward Yun Tianqing.
Yun Wuxiang carefully studied the figure on horseback, his gaze undergoing a subtle shift.
The girl wore armor, reins in hand, her long hair tied back. Her features were like a painting, her spirit as free as the wind—she possessed a dashing handsomeness that rivaled any man.
After the initial shock, Yun Tianqing picked up a red flower from her shoulder, raised it to her lips for a light sniff, and said, “I am honored by the ladies’ affection. With your blessings, this battle shall be won.”
She raised the bouquet above her head; the red flowers in her hand looked like a blood-stained blade.
After a brief moment of silence, accompanied by a chorus of laughter, even more flowers were showered down as if they cost nothing—a torrential rain of blooms.
A few horses lowered their heads to sniff and began eating the floral fodder right there on the street.
The troop had to hurry along to escape this passionate sea of flowers. The army, which should have looked majestic, actually appeared a bit disheveled from being pelted with flowers.
A small purple wildflower was even stuck to the tail of the horse at the very back. A little girl had tucked it there and was currently being scolded by her parents on the roadside: “Don’t stand behind a horse’s butt! If it lifts its leg and kicks a crescent moon into you, your little life will be over. Do you hear me?”
The troop disappeared into the distance.
Yun Wuxiang let out an almost imperceptible chuckle. His lips moved slightly, and two words vanished silently between his teeth.
“Chum?”
Master Jiangzi, can you truly feel at ease being this person’s ‘chum’?
the Demon Phoenix mark on his brow flashed, as if responding to the thought.
Yun Tianqing was gone for two years. During that time, the Yu’an Prince’s Manor declined all external visitors.
The shadows of flower branches fell upon the water. The wind blew, the water rippled, and a calico cat tapped the surface—in the blink of an eye, it stole a koi.
This act of theft was discovered by a scholar in green robes, who turned to inform the fish’s owner, “Prince, look. That greedy cat has snatched another fish from the pond.”
“Mm.” Yun Wuxiang wore white robes with a black cloak and wide sleeves. He wore no long ornaments; he was dressed simply and purely. Although draped in a sickly aura, his peerless beauty remained undeniable.
The green-robed scholar had looked at this face for two years, yet he was still struck with awe every time he saw it.
“Huh?” Yun Wuxiang lowered his head and reached down. When he straightened up, a grotesque, colorful creature was in his hand.
The scholar saw the object and gasped. “What a huge scorpion! Prince, throw it away quickly!”
“It’s fine. Find me a birdcage.” After Yun Wuxiang spoke, someone immediately brought a birdcage with tight gaps.
Yun Wuxiang placed the scorpion inside, lifted the cage to admire it for a moment, and then placed it on the table with great satisfaction.
“How could you just pick it up? That scorpion clearly has high toxicity!” The scholar leaned in to inspect the scorpion in the cage. The more he looked, the more terrified he became. If the Prince had been stung just now, the entirety of Yu’an would have faced a catastrophe.
“Where did a scorpion come from in the manor?” The manor was treated with insect-repelling medicine; logically, no venomous insects should exist here.
Unless someone had deliberately released them.
Yun Wuxiang interrupted his train of thought: “Don’t worry about the scorpion; I will handle it. Is there any news on what I asked you to find?”
The scholar began to sigh in distress. “Prince, that black-and-white flower you’re looking for… I’ve searched all of Yu’an. Every flower I bring, you say isn’t the right one. If we keep searching, I’m afraid we’ll have to sneak into the State of Songxuan to try.”
Yun Wuxiang: “Then we go to Songxuan.”
“We can’t! I heard the Emperor of Songxuan is going mad again. He just executed the nine generations of an official’s family because that official had white hair. The man was nearly seventy; how could his hair not be white?”
The scholar complained, his words reflecting a primal instinct to avoid danger. “He even went to the execution site to watch. On the way, he was bumped into by a drunkard, and he had the man drowned in a vat of wine right then and there. Now everyone in Songxuan is living in fear, terrified that anyone they bump into on the street might be the Emperor in disguise.”
Watching an execution—that was indeed something Song Yilou would do. Even now, Yun Wuxiang felt that since Songxuan hadn’t collapsed with Song Yilou as Emperor, the nation was remarkably resilient.
It was normal for others to be unwilling to go. Yun Wuxiang didn’t force them. “I will go myself.”
“Right now, even profit-driven mercenaries wouldn’t dare go to Songxuan… Wait, what did you say?” The scholar looked at Yun Wuxiang and forced a dry laugh. “Are you scaring me for fun?”
Yun Wuxiang didn’t respond. The surroundings fell into a deathly silence. Realizing he wasn’t joking, the scholar jumped up in shock. “Prince, what are you thinking? How could you go to Songxuan?”
The guards around them had the same reaction.
“Prince, please don’t be so reckless!”
“The journey to Songxuan is long, and their monarch is tyrannical. How can a person of your status go to such a place!”
“If anything happens to you, how will we explain it to General Tianqing?”
“We will definitely find the Black-and-White Floating Life Flower; there’s no need for you to go personally!”
“It’s fine. No harm will come to me.” Yun Wuxiang’s current calmness was enough to infuriate anyone.
The scholar was fuming. “Is this a matter of you saying it’s fine and then it is? My dear Great Prince, you find it difficult even to leave the capital; how can you go to the State of Songxuan? What is going on in your head?”
“I’m not going right now. I’m just informing you in advance so A-jie doesn’t overreact when the time comes.”
With every word Yun Wuxiang spoke, the scholar’s eyelid twitched. Why did this feel like a rebellious child notifying his family before running away from home?
“Prince, you truly cannot go to Songxuan. The General wouldn’t be at ease, and the Emperor wouldn’t be comfortable. We can search for the flower slowly. Even if I go myself, I cannot let you take the risk!”
Yun Wuxiang’s gaze drifted to the venomous scorpion in the cage. “I am in no hurry to find the flower. I simply have a premonition.”
It seemed Song Yilou had arrived in Yu’an.
As for the Black-and-White Floating Life Flower, he really wasn’t in a rush. Since Bai Jiao had dared to promise it as a reward, she must have divined something. He only needed to let nature take its course.
Even if he couldn’t get it in the end, it was fine. The Floating Life Flower wasn’t the only treasure that could balance celestial and demonic energies; he could search for others.
Compared to the flower, he was actually more focused on Yun Tianqing.
She was highly suspected of being the reincarnation of Daozun Tianqing.
The scholar frowned. “Someone wants to harm you? But what does that have to do with Songxuan? The Emperor is wary of the General, and everyone knows your health condition; there’s no way he’d send you as an envoy to Songxuan.”
Coo coo.
A messenger pigeon landed on the scholar’s head. “Can’t this pigeon find somewhere else to park?”
A guard removed the pigeon, unfurled the letter on its leg, and handed it to Yun Wuxiang.
[Little Brother, a great victory at the border. Songxuan has retreated, but I feel something is off. Based on their military strength, they could have continued fighting; they have no reason to retreat.]
[The Emperor ordered me back to the capital to report, but I refused. A bunch of short-sighted fools! Claiming Songxuan has admitted defeat—have they spent even half a day on the front lines? How dare they say such things. Those cowards hiding in their shells know nothing of the battlefield! Songxuan’s army has only pulled back into their border fortresses; they haven’t left. The moment I leave, they will strike back.]
[I won’t return to the capital, so the Emperor will surely cause trouble for you. If he tries to hold some victory banquet, don’t go. Let Lin Yue go in your place.]
[A-jie has already built a Yu’an Prince’s Manor within the Pale Dragon Army, waiting for its master to move in.]
The handwriting wasn’t exactly beautiful, but few could write with such sharp, powerful strokes. However, the writer was clearly in a bad mood; the font practically radiated irritability.
After reading, Yun Wuxiang handed the letter to the scholar—the Lin Yue mentioned in the letter.
Lin Yue quickly scanned the contents and sneered. “Victory banquet? More like a ‘Banquet at Hongmen.’ My turn as a body double has finally come.”
Yun Wuxiang: “You don’t have to go. Just say I am ill.”
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