Song Shuhao and Ling Xiao sat at the dinner table and exchanged a glance. They both knew what was going on, but also knew it was inevitable. To their surprise, small cakes were placed in front of them; it was already Mid-Autumn Festival. Song Shuhao felt that her days might have been somewhat chaotic, and then she thought, no wonder the moon was so round tonight.
The taste of the meal was indescribable, but they were certainly full. After the meal, they were summoned and listened to General Fang's impassioned and morale-boosting speech. The soldiers understood even more clearly what the battle that began that night truly meant, and their shouts of response resounded through the sky.
Night had fallen, and in an instant, the sound of war drums suddenly rose in the moonlight, growing increasingly intense and terrifying. Bugles sounded, the city gates opened, and General Fang led his troops out to meet the Dayuan army. Soon, the sounds of battle echoed through the night.
Song Shuhao remained with Ling Xiao, helping to treat the wounded in the rear. She had no time to think about anything else, nor could she spare a single thought. The disparity in troop strength meant the battle would only become more brutal. The bright moon illuminated the heavens and earth, but all that could be seen under its pale light were corpses strewn about and rivers of blood.
Because she was at the back, Song Shuhao didn't pay much attention to the extra person nearby. But the person didn't seem to be in a hurry, so she became suspicious. Unfortunately, she had been so focused on treating the soldier's wounds that she had overlooked her surroundings. Now, as she looked up and reached for the dagger hidden on her body, she saw neither a long sword coming at her nor anyone trying to kill her. Instead, she met a pair of familiar eyes.
Song Shuhao couldn't explain it herself, but a moment's eye contact made her realize the other person's identity, even though she couldn't see his face clearly. But why was Prosecutor Zhao here?
Startled, she drew the dagger from her sleeve, and warm blood splattered onto her face. In the blink of an eye, her mouth and nose were covered, the dagger aimed at Zhao Jian was blocked, and the next instant, she lost consciousness, without even having time to cry for help.
Author's Note: Mom: Your wife is about to be kidnapped.
Your Majesty: Why the hell aren't you letting me come back?!
Mom: Oh.
*
I've finished the walnuts I bought earlier, and I feel like my brain isn't working properly anymore. Please point out any errors TT
Chapter 91 Update
Song Shuhao woke up amidst a jolt, her head throbbing violently. As she tried to recall what had happened, she quickly realized that her mouth was gagged, her eyes were blindfolded, and her hands and feet were bound.
She appeared to be bound by ropes, lying prone on the horse's back, the stench of the horse filling the air. In such a situation, struggling or calling for help would likely be futile.
Now was certainly not the time to struggle, if she didn't want to die. Song Shuhao subconsciously turned her head slightly, but all she could see was darkness. The only thing she could sense was that the light wasn't dim, so it was most likely daytime, and she could vaguely feel the sunlight shining through.
So all I could do was continue recalling what had happened before.
The city was besieged by 60,000 troops from Dayuan, leaving them with no choice but to fight to the death. She was still rescuing people in the rear; Lü Yuan was not by her side. She was rescuing a soldier when Zhao Jian suddenly appeared, killed the soldier, and then knocked her unconscious.
She still remembered that Prince Anping, Zhao Liang, died at the hands of Zhang Yu, and that Zhao Jian, wounded, fled back to his fiefdom, sparking internal strife. However, the strife was quickly suppressed, and Zhao Jian was not captured and brought back to Lin'an. After that, she knew nothing about anything concerning Zhao Jian. But Zhao Jian had actually appeared in Fengcheng, Dayuan… but why had she been abducted?
Recalling his interactions with Prosecutor Zhao, he seemed to often do strange things, often pretending to help her, but in ways that were far from admirable. But if Zhang Yu knew Prosecutor Zhao was still alive, he might still want to take his life.
Zhao Jian had already committed treason, and his father, Zhao Liang, had died at the hands of Zhang Yu. This blood feud destined the two to be adversaries. Thinking this, Song Shuhao felt that if the opportunity arose later, she might try to probe Zhao Jian's thoughts…
After lying on the horse for an unknown amount of time, feeling extremely uncomfortable from the jolting, the rider finally reined in the horse. Upon hearing the voice, Song Shuhao knew that the person closest to her was none other than Zhao Jian, which wasn't too surprising.
Not knowing where they had arrived, Song Shuhao only felt Zhao Jian first dismount, then untie the ropes binding her to the horse, and then carry her away in his arms, without caring whether she was awake or not.
Based on the smells she could detect, the sounds she could hear, and the sensations brought about by changes in the surrounding environment, A-Hao deduced that Inspector Zhao had led her to a residence, perhaps his current home. If so, they had undoubtedly left Fengcheng.
Thinking of Fengcheng, Song Shu also thought of Ling Xiao, Lü Yuan, General Fang, and others. It's a pity she doesn't know how much time has passed, or how that desperate battle went… She disappeared without a trace; they must all be worried sick. Even if it's just because they can't give Zhang Yu an explanation.
She seemed to have been led into a room by Zhao Jian, where she heard maids bowing to him and addressing him as Lord Zhao. But where could he be an official? Song Shuhao sighed inwardly, never imagining that Zhao Jian had actually fled from Daqi to Dayuan and become an official there.
This is clearly treason and collusion with the enemy. It's unclear whether this was a reason for Zhang Yu personally leading the attack on Dayuan; perhaps the Prince of Anping already had special contact with Dayuan, which is why he acted so decisively at that time. The fact that Zhao Jian was so easily received by the Dayuan ruler also makes it hard not to suspect that the Dayuan ruler harbored designs on the Great Qi.
"Find her a clean set of clothes, help her wash and clean herself, and dress her up." Zhao Jian's voice rang out again, and Song Shuhao felt him gently place her on the small couch.
Not long after, her mouth was no longer gagged. But Zhao Jian pinched her chin, forcing her to speak while stuffing several small pills into her mouth and forcing her to swallow them all. Song Shuhao choked and couldn't speak, but felt her body suddenly go limp, and her consciousness became blurred again.
·
When Ling Xiao discovered that Song Shuhao had disappeared, the army had already successfully withdrawn from Fengcheng. The reason for choosing to fight the Dayuan army at night was simply to take advantage of the darkness to split the army into three routes, each with its own chance of survival, and temporarily escape, leaving Dayuan with an empty city.
An ambush had already been set up in the city, waiting for the Dayuan army to enter Fengcheng and trap them like turtles in a jar. Then, the army would return to attack. However, Ling Xiao hadn't expected the plan to proceed so smoothly, and even more unexpectedly, the emperor arrived with reinforcements. Yet, Song Shuhao seemed to have vanished into thin air.
There were undoubtedly many spies among the people of Fengcheng whom the Dayuan army had previously taken over. After besieging the city for several days, rumors in the city made the people of Fengcheng distrust the Dayuan king and his army.
When they saw a child fall to the ground due to exhaustion and be humiliated by the Dayuan soldiers, the people, incited by an inside agent, immediately rioted. After all, if even young children were treated like that, who would think their own treatment would be better?
The people of Fengcheng rioted, and in the chaos, some of Dayuan's troops infiltrated the city. The two armies clashed directly at night, and by dawn, the three armies of Daqi feigned a rout, seemingly abandoning Fengcheng.
Dayuan took over Fengcheng again, but they did not expect that the so-called empty city was not truly empty. As a result, with the help of both inside and outside forces, half of Dayuan's 60,000 troops suffered heavy losses after being ambushed in Fengcheng. The remaining troops were then besieged and annihilated, resulting in even more casualties. In the end, less than 10,000 of Dayuan's 60,000 troops escaped from Fengcheng.
This should have been a cause for great celebration, as they had successfully defended Fengcheng and routed the enemy army. But Ling Xiao couldn't bring himself to smile. He should have seen the living and the dead, but there was nothing.
After discovering that Song Shuhao was missing, they risked going back to investigate but found nothing... In this situation, they could only console themselves with the thought that no news was the best news.
Having marched for several days without proper rest, and then hastily defeated the Dayuan army, Zhang Yu's eyes were bloodshot, his face haggard, yet his entire being exuded a murderous aura as if he wanted to gnaw on bones and bleed. Finding no news of Song Shuhao anywhere, he looked at Lü Yuan kneeling on the ground, and after much restraint, finally kicked him away.
"I ordered you to stay by her side and protect her, and this is how you protect her?! She's disappeared, and you're completely unaware?" Zhang Yu roared in fury, all composure gone. "If anything happens to her, you'll pay with your life!"
As Ling Xiao approached the tent, she heard Zhang Yu's angry shouts coming from inside. She glanced at the dagger Song Shuhao, who had been found, was carrying for self-defense. Although somewhat frightened, she went inside anyway.
Upon entering the tent, Ling Xiao saw Lü Yuan, already severely injured, lying on the ground with a pool of blood in front of him and bloodstains at the corner of his mouth. She glanced at him briefly, then looked away, ignoring the extremely distraught Zhang Yu, and said only, "This is the dagger that A-Hao used for self-defense, which we finally managed to find. It was probably stolen..."
Zhang Yu suddenly rushed in front of her, startling Ling Xiao for a moment. After a pause, she continued, "The fact that the dagger was drawn indicates resistance, but it's more likely that the other party was prepared and it wasn't a coincidence that he ran into Dayuan soldiers and was attacked. Otherwise, Eunuch Yuan wouldn't have been so badly injured... If it were known that he did this, it would make sense, but A-Hao's identity hasn't been exposed much, so how could she be targeted..."
Ling Xiao handed over what he was holding, and seeing Zhang Yu staring at it, he fell silent. After a moment, Zhang Yu raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, asking, "Did she go up to the city wall?" Ling Xiao then remembered that they had stayed on the city wall for a while, and finally did not hide it, nodding in agreement.
Zhang Yu's expression worsened instantly, but he simply gripped the dagger and walked back behind the table to sit down, leaning wearily against the tiger-skin chair. Once he had calmed down a bit, Zhang Yu said, "I understand. You may all leave."
Ling Xiao helped Lü Yuan up and they took their leave together.
While in Nanwan City, he hadn't seen Zhao Jian; instead, Ji Heng personally led the troops. He had guessed that Zhao Jian might have come to Fengcheng and was returning with her troops earlier than planned, but he hadn't expected her to still have an accident. If she had appeared on the city wall… then it was most likely related to Zhao Jian.
Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and then ordered someone to invite Fang Renguang in.
Not long after Ling Xiao returned to his tent, Fang Rong, who had been injured in the battle of Fengcheng, came to find him. Seeing her sighing and looking worried, and hearing about Song Shuhao, Ling Xiao quietly asked, "Are you also worried about the Empress's condition?"
Fang Rong didn't look at her but simply nodded, "His Majesty values the Empress so much, what if Dayuan uses the Empress as a bargaining chip to threaten His Majesty?"