Military Advisor and Princess

Chapter 45

He recognized the jade pendant at a glance as the Crown Prince's most cherished possession. How could it be in the strategist's hands? It was this question that drew him here, patiently trying to get her to talk. She said the jade pendant was a gift from a friend. Could her friend be the Crown Prince? That's impossible! The Crown Prince killed her entire village; she came here to defeat him. How could she possibly be his friend? And if she were his friend, why would she help Ouyang Jinxuan against him? If her friend wasn't the Crown Prince, then who was it, and who could have taken the jade pendant from him?

“We’ve only met twice, there’s no real friendship between us, and…” Ao Jun paused deliberately, and seeing the anxious look on Li Cang’s face, she sighed helplessly, “Besides, we’re still enemies right now!”

An enemy? Could it really be the Crown Prince?

"We've only met twice, and we're enemies, so why do you say we're friends, strategist?" Although she was quite shocked, she still asked calmly on the surface.

"Friendship has nothing to do with the number of times you meet, status, or power. It's just a feeling. If the feeling is right, people you meet for the first time can become best friends, and enemies can become kindred spirits. If the feeling is wrong, even if you spend your whole life together, you'll only end up disliking each other." Ao Jun said like a Zen master, almost shaking his head.

"The strategist's words are truly profound! A single conversation with the strategist is worth more than ten years of study," Li Cang sincerely praised. She had truly spoken his mind. He always made friends according to his heart, regardless of status or position. Just like with the other generals in the Longxuan army camp, such as Wei Ziqi and Zhao Zhiyang, he had always genuinely considered them friends. Even if they were to face each other on the battlefield in the future, at least for this moment, they were friends, and in his heart, they would always be his friends.

Ao Jun remained silent, only smiling slightly. She was waiting for his next words so she could continue the conversation. Now he was doing exactly as she had predicted.

What Ao Jun didn't know was that although she didn't show that alluring smile, under the morning light, her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.

After a long while, Li Cang finally spoke, but what he said almost made Ao Jun fall over.

"Strategist, you are so beautiful. I wish you were a woman." Li Cang said in a daze, as if he were possessed.

"General Li," Ao Jun said in a low, gloomy voice. What did she mean by "if only she were a woman"? She was, after all, a genuine woman.

"Ah!" The sudden chill in the air made Li Cang shiver violently, waking him up. Coming to his senses, he saw Ao Jun staring at him with a cold expression and realized what he had just said. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, strategist, that's not what I meant. It's just that you're so beautiful..."

"Alright," Ao Jun interrupted coldly.

"Ahem... I'm sorry!" Li Cang coughed awkwardly and apologized again. He knew that it was an insult to a man to be told he was beautiful or that he looked like a woman.

Seeing that Ao Jun had no reaction, Li Cang brought the topic back and said, "Strategist, are you thinking about that friend who is both an enemy and a friend while holding this jade pendant?" He was now ninety percent certain that the friend she was referring to was the Crown Prince.

"I'm worried about him." Seeing that the topic had been brought back, Ao Jun said bluntly, "Talking to such a spy is exhausting."

"Worried? What is the strategist worried about?" Li Cangbu raised his voice again. What was the strategist worried about for the Crown Prince? Was the Crown Prince in danger? Or was Ouyang Jinxuan planning to deal with the Crown Prince?

“Saint Chi.” Ao Jun frowned, looking genuinely worried.

"Saint Chi? The strategist means..." Li Cang exclaimed, but stopped halfway through his sentence. Saint Chi, could it be related to the Blood Soul Heavenly Stem Eight Trigrams Formation again? After reporting to the Crown Prince last night, the Crown Prince did not express any opinion, which meant that he doubted Ouyang Jinxuan's words. After all, given Ouyang Jinxuan's cunning, it was possible that he deliberately spread such news.

“It’s no use telling you. If only I could meet him just once, but alas! He’s always the one who comes to me, and I don’t have the ability to go to him.” Ao Jun said, sounding helpless and full of worry.

She shook her head, turned around, and walked straight past Li Cang. Her goal was achieved; she should hurry back to sleep. It seemed to be getting colder and colder. Anyway, she was certain that everything the two of them had said today would reach Yelü Ying's ears, and he would soon come back to find her.

As expected, at night, a dart flew into Yu'er's tent while she was away. "Here it comes," Ao Jun sneered, opened the note, which read: "See you at the usual place, Yelü Ying."

They're back to the same old spot. It seems they can't help but be close; they both have a secret hideout—the same old spot.

Ao Jun quickly arrived at the designated location, seemingly eager for this 'date'. As expected, Yelü Ying was already waiting there. To this day, she still didn't understand why Yelü Ying was so nice to her. Was it really to get her to switch sides? But as the crown prince of a nation, what kind of talent couldn't he have? Why did he have to have her? Her intuition told her that it wasn't just for that reason; there must be a bigger reason. But she just couldn't understand what she could possibly gain from her. But whatever the reason, since he had designs on her, she might as well take advantage of him and get Sheng Chi under control first.

Upon seeing Ao Jun arrive as promised, and seemingly eager to see him, Yelü Ying was so happy that he waved to her like a child. In fact, when Li Cang told him the news, he was both happy and worried. He wasn't sure if it was true, if Jun really considered him a friend, if she really worried about him, and if he truly held a place in her heart.

"Yelü Ying," Ao Jun greeted first.

"Jun, you really came?" Yelü Ying said happily, holding Ao Jun's hand. His face no longer had the fake wicked smile of the past, but a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart. It really looked like a shy boy waiting for his girlfriend at the movie theater entrance on their first date.

"Hmm." Ao Jun responded softly. Looking at Yelü Ying's 'jumping and gesturing' appearance, she suddenly felt that she was very cruel. She had lured him here with a purpose, but he was so happy because of her arrival. What would he do when he found out that he had been deceived?

"Jun..." Seeing that Ao Jun seemed to be lost in thought, Yelü Ying called out a few times, wondering in his heart: Is she worried about me?

"Yelü Ying, did you call me here for something?" Ao Jun finally hardened her heart and asked deliberately. Things had come to this point, and she could no longer hesitate. Even if it would hurt him, she had to do it. Besides, he was the Crown Prince, and being schemed against and plotted against was probably commonplace for him. He would definitely feel resentful for being deceived, but at worst, she could just let him beat her up. However, she was wrong, and she would learn that in the future.

"No, I heard that it was the Lord who wanted to see me, so I asked you to come out." Yelü Ying said directly, not afraid that with Ao Jun's intelligence, he would guess that Li Cang was the spy he sent.

"How do you know? I only told Li Cang. Could it be that Li Cang is one of your men?" Ao Jun feigned surprise. She didn't expect Yelü Ying to say something like that directly. Wasn't this exposing Li Cang's identity? Since he said that, she had no choice but to go along with him to avoid being suspected.

Yelü Ying didn't speak, but his expression clearly indicated his agreement. He was gambling on whether the King would tell Ouyang Jinxuan the truth or keep it a secret.

After seemingly thinking for a moment, Ao Jun glanced at Yelü Ying and said calmly, "I'll pretend I haven't heard about Li Cang's matter. The main reason I want to see you tonight is to tell you something very important."

"Is it about the Blood Soul Heavenly Stem Eight Trigrams Formation?" Yelü Ying asked. When Li Cang reported this to him, he was really shocked, but he still had reservations about the truth of the matter. It was not that he did not believe that Sheng Chi would do such a thing, but he doubted the existence of Ouyang Jinxuan's words. Moreover, did such a terrifying formation really exist in the world?

"Hmm! How did you know?" Ao Jun nodded. Of course she knew how he knew, but with Yelü Ying's intelligence, he would see through any small flaw.

"Li Cang said that Ouyang Jinxuan has already told everyone about it," Yelü Ying said with a smile, seemingly unconcerned about the matter. He was only focused on Ao Jun's smooth, delicate hands, which felt wonderful to touch, more beautiful than any other woman's, and truly irresistible.

"You don't believe me?" Ao Jun said calmly, trying to pull his hand back. What was so interesting about her hand? And how could he touch her hand like that?

"I have reservations about what Ouyang Jinxuan said," Yelü Ying said directly, gripping Ao Jun's hand even tighter to prevent her from escaping. Now that he had her hand in his, he had no intention of letting go.

"What about me?" Ao Jun countered. She knew that with his caution and hatred for Jin Xuan, he wouldn't be so easily fooled. So she prepared another strong medicine for him, and that strong medicine was herself.

"If you truly care about me, then of course I will believe you, and only you." Yelü Ying's bewitching red eyes stared straight into the depths of Ao Jun's eyes, trying to see Ao Jun's true thoughts.

As expected of Yelü Ying, who has long been at the center of conspiracies, it is difficult for him to trust anyone.

“I always treat my friends with 100% sincerity.” Ao Jun looked back at him firmly and said, but in her heart she thought: However, you and I are not friends, we are enemies. Jin Xuan is my friend.

"Eyes are the least likely to lie, I believe you." Yelü Ying was satisfied with the answer and laughed heartily. Li Cang told him everything Jun had said. Jun had said that he was her friend, that true friends don't care about status or position, that true friendship is a feeling. But, Jun, our friendship is not as simple as just being friends. Yelü Ying made a firm vow to himself in his heart.

“Alright, since that’s the case, I’ll tell you, everything Jin Xuan said is true. Once the Blood Soul Heavenly Stem Eight Trigrams Formation is complete, its terrifying power is beyond your imagination. I’m certain that on the day the formation is complete, Sheng Chi will definitely make a move against you. After that, he will definitely destroy the Cang Liao Kingdom, then the Long Xuan Dynasty, and then the entire world.” Ao Jun said solemnly. What she said was absolutely true, but the fact that Sheng Chi would make a move against her was part of her plan.

"Is what you're saying true? Does such a formation really exist in the world?" Yelü Ying also put away his indifferent smile and asked with a serious face.

"Yes, you should know best who Sheng Chi is. The Qimen Dunjia of the Holy Immortal Sect is the most powerful, and it is not surprising that Sheng Chi, as the sect leader, knows the sect's gate-guarding formation. Moreover, it is reasonable that someone as evil as Sheng Chi would use the Blood Soul Technique. You should know this best."

"You're right, humph, no wonder..." Yelü Ying thought for a moment. What the king said made sense. Back then, when Sheng Chi told him about this formation, he felt that he was only telling half the story. Moreover, when he asked Sheng Chi why he wanted the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers from his Cangliao Kingdom, he only said that the time had come and he knew it. Humph, so that's how it is!

"My lord, since you understand this formation, do you have a solution?" Yelü Ying looked at Ao Jun sincerely and said. He could not let Cangliao Kingdom be in trouble, nor could he let his father be in trouble.

"The Heavenly Stems Eight Trigrams Formation—I can't figure out how to break it yet. As for the Blood Soul Technique? It exists, but whether it works or not depends on you." Ao Jun gave Yelü Ying a deep look and said. His current state was so similar to Jin Xuan's back then. In fact, they had something in common: they both loved their country and their families.