Clouds Drunk, Moon Slightly Sleeping

Chapter 116

Frustrated, I looked back and saw that Ye Feng had already disappeared. I quickly followed him outside.

"Qianqian, don't go out. It smells like blood outside." Erlinzi, who had just left the tent to interrogate the prisoners, suddenly lifted the tent flap and poked his head out, looking very serious.

"Why? Why?!" I protested loudly. I hadn't even left the camp yet, how could I be confined to my quarters again?

"Mu Mo, keep watch." Er Linzi ignored me, lowered the tent flap, and then seemed to be giving orders to the people outside in a deep voice.

Huh? Mu Mo and the others are back too? I rushed to the door, lifted the tent flap, and was shocked to see a figure blocking my way. Tears welled up. The person was back, but their heart wasn't. Once again, I deeply understood the shortcomings of those recruited from the shadows—unreliable, utterly unreliable! Why do they always side with their old master at such crucial moments? This is so hurtful to my young, pure, crystal-clear heart, 555.

I glared at them fiercely, then turned and angrily sat back down on the bed. The tent still smelled sweet, but when I lifted the tent flap earlier, I definitely smelled a strong stench of blood. The battlefield should be some distance from the camp, but the smell of blood was still clearly audible; there must be rivers of blood and corpses strewn everywhere ahead.

A moment later, someone brought in the food. Although it wasn't as exquisite as what I'd had in the palace or the Yun residence, it was clearly something Qinglin had specially ordered. My portion was quite delicious, obviously a special treat. I kept the person who brought the food with me, and while eating, I asked him about the situation outside. Sigh, Qinglin, Yefeng, and Mumo are all unreliable. I never expected to find out about this from a stranger. It makes me feel pathetic. Aren't they just taking advantage of the fact that I'm a woman? Humph.

I didn't get the specific details I wanted from this unfamiliar soldier, only the result: 40,000 enemy soldiers were annihilated, the vanguard general and several hundred soldiers were captured alive, and the rest escaped back to Cangqi Pass. The soldier had no idea about the formation I was so curious about; he only said it was amazing—when the enemy troops rushed out and ran a certain distance, our soldiers suddenly appeared from all directions, completely surrounding the 50,000 Ye Cang troops. And we didn't engage in hand-to-hand combat; we used arrows from a distance, killing the enemy and protecting ourselves, easily capturing them. By the time the Ye Cang troops understood what was happening and calmed down to counterattack, they couldn't form a complete formation. They could only desperately choose a position to break through. By the time they broke through the encirclement, more than half of the Ye Cang troops had been killed or wounded. Those who fled and those who pursued them lost over 10,000 more, so it was fortunate that 8,000 escaped back.

Most importantly, the vanguard general was captured alive, so in this not-so-small battle, Ye Cang suffered a great defeat.

After the soldier withdrew, I pondered for a long time, but I still couldn't figure out how Qinglin managed to make our soldiers "suddenly appear from all directions," one after another, and Ye Cang didn't even notice? Amazing, amazing! Erlinzi must have prepared an ambush long ago.

Much later, so much so that I was almost ready to go back to bed, Qinglin finally returned. I shamelessly trotted over to him and eagerly asked, "Did you get any useful information?"

He nodded.

"Should we still challenge them tomorrow? Should I come up with another idea to blast out 50,000 soldiers?" The more I talked, the better I felt. It would really allow me to use my talents. As I spoke, my mind raced, thinking about what even more vicious trick I could come up with tomorrow to make that old man Wang Huajia unbearable.

"No need," Erlinzi refused outright.

"Why?" I felt extremely dissatisfied, indignant, and lost.

"We'll tackle this directly tomorrow." His expression was firm and confident, making him seem incredibly noble and handsome in that instant.

"Good!" My earlier disappointment vanished instantly. I was completely captivated by the imposing General Mu before me. I clenched my fist and cheered!

But the guy didn't appreciate it at all. He just left me there with a dark look on his face and went straight to his makeshift bed. I glared at his back, mentally beating him to a pulp, and then reluctantly climbed into my own bed to continue sleeping.

I finally understood why Qinglin was so determined to tackle this challenge today—because Erlinzi had miraculously managed to procure a catapult. Yes, a catapult, a completely new invention in this remote area, not even named yet. So when I saw the soldiers pulling the catapult, I exclaimed "Catapult!" and that's how this new invention got its name.

The world is so wondrous; even human inventions are so similar. I am absolutely certain that this idea didn't come from me, that I didn't reveal this secret, and that I didn't propose this thing.

I was still left behind, unable to vent my anger or even raise my beard, let alone put on a dramatic display of grief or threats of suicide. Besides, the men supposedly protecting me suddenly became unusually united and obedient to Lin's words, almost making me vomit blood with rage. I watched helplessly as most of the men went to the front lines, watched as the catapults were pushed along the battlefield by soldiers, and could only stand there stamping my feet in dissatisfaction.

I don't want to sleep anymore. I'm so bored that I can only play the pipa and sing to pass the time.

"master."

"What is it, Master Ye?" I was getting bored playing the pipa when Comrade Ye Feng came over to "chat," and I was naturally in a bad mood. If it weren't for Xiao Ye "taking sides with outsiders," would I be this bored right now?

"A letter from Master." Ye Feng didn't react unusually to my teasing and complaining, and simply handed me a letter.

I reached out and took it, glancing at it casually. My heart skipped a beat—it was the fox's handwriting! Judging by the time, the fox must have received news of my whereabouts and immediately wrote a letter, sending it by fast horse. I hadn't thought about it before, but seeing the fox's own handwriting suddenly reminded me of the rumors I'd heard: "You stinking fox, you dead fox, aren't you about to get married? Why are you writing me a letter?"

Thinking this to myself, my hand unconsciously opened the envelope, pulled out the letter, and unfolded it.

"Qianqian, your background is no longer a secret. Remember to be careful and never leave the night."

He neither mentioned his own wedding nor said a word about missing me. I was furious. I crumpled the letter in my hand into a ball, then, realizing it wasn't right, I unfolded it and tore it to shreds. He said my background was no longer a secret. My background had already been exposed long ago—Yun Yue, Xi Yue, Zui Yue—at most, he revealed that I had taken my brother's place in the government. At this point, who could possibly condemn me for that?

"Master," Ye Feng said hesitantly.

"What master? Since you call me master, you should listen to me. You don't still have your heart with your former master and want to send me back under guard, do you?"

"Your subordinate wouldn't dare!"

"Good that you wouldn't dare!" To be honest, I'm really afraid that Ye Feng will send me back without saying a word. I can't beat him, I'm at a disadvantage. I really don't want to go back yet, until there's news about the fox's wedding.

In the afternoon, I heard that the battle at the front hadn't yielded any significant breakthroughs. While the catapults were effective, they only caused casualties among the soldiers inside the pass; they hadn't breached the city gates. Furthermore, I heard that a white flag of truce had been raised at Cangqi Pass, so the fighting was temporarily suspended. I still don't quite understand why they raised a white flag. Does that mean we'll stop fighting just because they raise a truce? If they raise it for a year, won't we have to clear land, grow crops, raise pigs, and survive just to avoid starving?

Ye Cang not only raised the white flag of truce but also sent a letter of negotiation. Does this mean Xiu Ruo and Ye Cang are still jointly attacking Hanxing? Or is this a delaying tactic by Ye Cang to buy time for the army dispatched to Hanxing? Regardless, Xiu Ruo and Ye Cang dispatched their troops earlier than us. Hanxing only sought help from Tianqing Longyao when their army was at the gates. This back-and-forth has taken several days. If the war on Hanxing goes smoothly, it wouldn't be too surprising if they capture several cities.

Furthermore, the fox's claim of sending Princess Qianhui to Xiu Ruo is likely an attempt to use Princess Qianhui's status to facilitate the invasion. I personally believe that no matter how favored a princess is, she becomes insignificant in the face of matters of national importance. However, sometimes, even a small act of kindness from her can alter the course of a war—this is the butterfly effect. Neither the fox nor Xiu Ruo would be foolish enough to directly use the princess to blackmail King Hanxing; their manipulation of people is probably done in another way.

"Second Brother, they've been hanging up the truce sign for days, are we just going to keep stalling like this?" It's been truce for days, Erlinzi is being too gentlemanly!

"No." He was looking at a letter he had just received, a look of delight on his face.

"Huh?" I was confused and puzzled.

"Take a quick look." He handed me the letter, his eyes filled with surprise, and his face beaming with a bright, sunny smile.

I reached out and took the letter with a puzzled look, then looked down at it. The more I read, the wider my eyes widened until they practically popped out of my head. I exclaimed incredulously, "The gunpowder will arrive tomorrow?"

What kind of people are these?! Yes, I did mention the gunpowder formula, it's true we're not far from Qizhou, and anyone who's been through military campaigns will have some talent in this area. It's true Qinglin might have a professional "national defense research team" behind him, otherwise catapults wouldn't have appeared out of thin air, but this is just too absurd. Ten days? Half a month? More than half a month? Whatever the time, they actually got gunpowder sorted out in such a short time? And they even said they'd send some over tomorrow to test the effects—this is just too much!

"This is a good thing, why does Qianqian look so sad?" I pouted and handed the letter back to Erlinzi. He took it and asked with a strange look.

I pursed my lips again and said casually, "Why the long face? I'm deep in thought, deep in thought, thinking about something important. You're seeing things wrong."

"What is Qianqian thinking about?" Although he looked incredulous, he still asked cooperatively.

"How about sending gunpowder over using a catapult?" I smiled.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." He smiled, a smile that was confident and resolute.

I shook my head inwardly and sighed. Erlinzi on the battlefield was, after all, very different.