“No.” Si Xitong’s voice carried an air of authority, though she wasn’t angry. It was domineering, though Lanzhi didn’t realize it. “We have to talk this out face to face.”
Xie Lanzhi insisted, "I want to be alone."
There are two people, one wants to face it directly, and the other wants to avoid it.
For the first time, Si Xitong realized that she and Lan Zhi sometimes disagreed. Before, she would always go along with her, or Lan Zhi would go along with her own. Lovers were considerate and tolerant of each other, rarely arguing.
Occasionally, she would throw a little tantrum, and Lanzhi would always take the initiative to coax her. This made her feel safe, and Lanzhi's affection made her fearless.
Lanzhi was a reliable head of the family to her, to Anian, and even to Shangguang and the entire Xie family. Now that the head of the family has lost her henchmen, he wants to retreat to a secluded place to lick his wounds.
How could she possibly feel at ease with Lan Zhi in this state?!
"Alright." Si Xitong decided to back down: "Lanzhi, think it through, and we'll have a proper talk."
Xie Lanzhi walked out of the county government office with her head down and her back hunched.
A flock of birds flew out from the shade of the trees, skimmed over the roof of the county government office, and dropped some things along the way.
Bird droppings fell like a light rain on Xie Lanzhi's shoulders, back, and even head.
Xie Lanzhi stopped in her tracks. She touched her head, then opened her palm and found it covered in white bird droppings, with one clump being runny.
"Oh, there must be a bird with an upset stomach."
A majestic stone lion statue, flanked by newly recruited soldiers: "..."
The soldiers' eyes reddened. Seeing their marshal's dejected mood, they realized how utterly fearsome and invincible their lord, Xie, should be. How could he... how could he be defeated by a mere bird dropping!
One of the soldiers couldn't help but shout, "Marshal, please don't be discouraged! We all believe that you will recover your strength and lead us to continue our campaigns in the north and south!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanzhi's head, which had been raised, immediately drooped again. A shadow even hung behind her, shrouding her in an aura of despondency.
Immediately, someone slapped the soldier down: "You bastard, why did you have to bring that up!"
"I... I also wanted to encourage the marshal."
While Xie Bing and his men were arguing amongst themselves, Xie Lanzhi had unknowingly descended the mountain. Apart from the flat area around the county government office, the rest of Jinghua Prefecture consisted of small hills and gullies, making travel extremely inconvenient. That's why Little Phoenix wanted to build roads.
Xie Lanzhi had a gloomy expression, as if someone owed her millions. The newly recruited soldiers along the way saw her but didn't dare to approach her. They could only stop and wait for her to leave before daring to go on their own.
They encountered Xie Bing on patrol, and Xie Bing was shooting birds. The bird shooter accidentally shot an eagle, which fell straight down and hit Xie Lanzhi on the head.
Xie Lanzhi had finally finished cleaning up the bird droppings when an eagle hit her on the head. She grabbed the eagle, and it immediately defecated a large puddle that landed directly on Xie Lanzhi's right boot.
Xie Lanzhi finally lost her temper, grabbed the eagle, and shouted angrily, "Even you, even you have diarrhea!"
"Are you drinking too much water or eating random things that are making your stomach upset?"
The eagle gave a rough cry at her: "Whoosh!"
"Very well, fly away, fly away." Xie Lanzhi threw the eagle away: "Before I change my mind and roast you, you'd better disappear from my sight as soon as possible."
The eagle wasn't very big, but it was, after all, the king of the skies. With a quick spin, it soared straight into the sky and immediately flew away.
Seeing it leave, Xie Lanzhi glanced at Xie Bing over the mountain. Xie Bing, who was holding a slingshot, was so frightened that he put his hands behind his back and stammered, "Marshal, Marshal."
Xie Lanzhi earnestly told him, "You must protect wild animals."
"Yes!" Xie Bing straightened his back, cold sweat pouring down his face.
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:00:38 on January 14, 2022 and 19:15:19 on January 15, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: May the rest of my life be alright (1);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Flying Pig and Lonely Cat (10 bottles); Phoenix Feather (9 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 146 Xie Lanzhi was picked up by bandits
She then changed her route, still wearing the root carving feather in her hair, intending to check on Xie Shangguang's guard duties at the key point.
The soldiers and newly recruited troops along the way gradually became Si Xitong's shadows. Besides patrolling, they would also pass on messages to each other from time to time: "Where is the Marshal now?"
What is she doing now?
How are you feeling?
"Hey, tell me, how could a brave and skilled warrior not be heartbroken if he suddenly lost his prized henchman?"
"I understand the marshal's feelings."
"You don't understand anything! Who is the Marshal? She's the overlord of the South!"
Xie Bing's internal strife escalated again, with members bickering amongst themselves, but they all tacitly reported Xie Lanzhi's current whereabouts and whereabouts to Si Xitong. This was even more frequent than mountain patrols.
There was still no news of Xie Lanzhi for half an hour.
As the sun sets, the sky turns a hazy gray, and evening has arrived.
Xie Bing and the newly recruited army lost track of Xie Lanzhi, and everyone panicked. They hurriedly reported to Si Xitong.
Si Xitong had just finished his official duties when he heard the newly recruited soldiers report: "Your Highness, we've lost track of the Marshal!"
"Where is the marshal now?"
"You have all failed in your duties. Go and receive your punishment," Si Xitong said coldly. "Don't let it happen again."
The newly recruited soldiers dared not raise their heads, and they all tacitly went to receive their punishment.
Xie Bing and the others also voluntarily went to receive their punishment.
Soon dusk descended, bringing pitch-black darkness, especially deep in the forest, where the shadows of the trees were eerie and unsettling. Wild animals, snakes, insects, and rodents appeared from time to time.
Xie Bing and the newly recruited soldiers lit torches, which illuminated the entire Jinghua Prefecture like stars in the sky.
Xie Bing called out as he stepped over a tree, "Marshal, where are you?"
"It's getting dark, come back for dinner!" the newly recruited soldier shouted. "His Highness is waiting for you at home."
"Marshal, did you hear that? Answer me if you heard me!!"
Despite their best efforts, they couldn't find Xie Lanzhi. Xie Shangguang had just been transferred to a new post, and he was planning to go to the county government office to take a bath and have a meal before switching posts with his brothers at midnight.
He encountered Xie Bing, who was coming down the mountain to look for someone, on the way.
"What happened?"
"The Marshal went missing after descending the mountain, Young General. Haven't you seen her? I heard the Marshal went looking for you specifically."
Upon hearing this, Xie Shangguang's eyelids twitched immediately: "What, looking for me? But I didn't see the Marshal come over?"
Everyone panicked when these words were spoken.
The marshal is so steady that he would never make such a mistake. How could he just disappear for no reason?
"Could it be that they ran into wolves and got carried off?" one of the bold soldiers suddenly blurted out.
"But the surrounding area is all cliffs and valleys, where can we go?"
Xie Shangguang felt a chill run down his spine. He thought that the marshal had lost all his internal energy and was in a bad mood, making him easily susceptible to setbacks. Could this lead him to jump off a cliff in a moment of despair?
He was so frightened that he forgot all about taking a shower and searched even more eagerly than the others. Every now and then, he would seize the opportunity to build rapport and gain verbal advantage, calling out, "Thank you, Sister Xie!"
"marshal!"
"Sister! Your little brother has come to see you."
"Marshal, your humble servant is here! Where are you?"
Everyone searched the mountains and fields, but they couldn't find Xie Lanzhi.
Si Xitong's eyelids kept twitching inside the county government office, and no matter how Lu Qing tried to comfort her, she remained restless.
“She’s always been composed,” Si Xitong said, pacing back and forth. “She wouldn’t leave so easily; something must have happened.”
Lu Qing said helplessly, "You know very well that she has lost her internal energy and her destiny is suppressed, so her luck will only be lower than that of ordinary people, or even worse."
"You still let her go out like this? No wonder she gets lost!"
Si Xitong couldn't understand it at all. She shook her head and said, "Lanzhi isn't a child. How could she get lost? Even if she did get lost, she would have tried to contact everyone."
“You said it yourself, she’s not a child, so naturally she’s more relaxed,” Lu Qing said. “But she’s been having a lot of bad luck lately!”
Just being plagued by bad luck can suppress a person's character, let alone Marshal Xie.
Lu Qing also heard that Marshal Xie left the county government office in broad daylight and was pooped on by birds along the way, which was already one of the signs of bad luck.
Qianqian's face was full of worry: "Sister, are you going to do something rash?"
These words were spoken.
Si Xitong's gaze sharpened slightly, and her pretty face suddenly darkened.
Lu Qing instinctively stepped in front of her daughter, quickly saying, "Absolutely not! The Marshal isn't the kind of girl who's emotionally fragile!"
A soldier rushed in from outside, his expression a mixture of surprise and fear, and reported, "Your Highness, the Marshal has found him!"
Si Xitong's voice was about to lose control; she tried her best to suppress it: "Where?! Where is she?"
Xie Bing hurriedly said in fright, "I was... I was kidnapped by female bandits from the nearby mountains."
"It is said that the marshal was in a bad mood and wanted to visit Shang Guang, but he got lost on the way and encountered a prostitute who was about to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff. The marshal kindly tried to persuade her, but that damned woman actually pulled the marshal down with her and they jumped off the cliff together. In the end, they were hanging from a thick tree at the edge of the cliff. After the marshal lost consciousness, he was picked up by bandits... no, captured."
"That female bandit saw," Xie Bing sensed the prince's gaze growing increasingly cold, like a knife about to stab him from an icy lake. Finally, Xie Bing forced himself to finish: "That female bandit saw that the marshal was handsome and took a liking to him!"
When Si Xitong heard that Xie Lanzhi had been kidnapped by the female bandits, her mind went blank. When she heard that the female bandits had taken a liking to her, she swayed a few times and took a step back, her sleeves fluttering with murderous intent: "Assemble the troops immediately."
"Go up the mountain and suppress the bandits!"
Lu Qing, listening nearby, sighed, thinking that the Marshal was indeed a kind-hearted person; even when he was experiencing bad luck himself, he couldn't bear to see others suffer. He even went to persuade prostitutes, and ended up being implicated by them.
Hmm, that's really kind of you... Wait, something seems off. Isn't it strange that a prostitute would suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere?
Doesn't Marshal Xie find it strange that he went up to her?!
Even Qianqian's little brain started working: "Sister seems to be having an unusually bad time."
Si Xitong covered her head with her hands. After sitting down, her expression was shrouded in a shadow: "It's all my fault. I should have put aside my work and spent more time with you."
“I know this period is crucial for you, and I shouldn’t have let you go out alone.”