Ne vous appuyez pas contre la rambarde ouest pour profiter pleinement de l'automne clair

Chapitre 99

"Fine! So you're all bullying me, the blind man? You're all so smug, aren't you? Let me tell you, I may be blind, but my heart isn't!" Forcing back the taste of blood rising in his throat, Tuoba Chen pointed wildly ahead: "You all turn back right now! I'm not going back to Ziye, I'm going back to the Northern Frontier!"

Upon hearing this, the other two guards on horseback quickly slid off their horses and knelt down, joining Fan Luo in shouting in unison, "Your Highness, please reconsider!"

"Fine, I'll give you some time to think it over! But then tell me honestly, what are you hiding from me? Shangguan Ping, you tell me!"

With a troubled expression, Shangguan Ping turned to look at Tuoba Jie, who was sitting upright on his horse, and asked with his eyes, hoping that Tuoba Jie could give him a hint.

Gently stroking the brown horse's mane, Tuoba Jie didn't look up, and asked slowly, "Does Your Highness really want to know?"

Tuoba Jie's words made Tuoba Chen's heart sink: there really was something he was hiding from him!

"speak!"

Raising his hand to blow away the fine horsehair clinging to the back of his hand, Tuoba Jie nimbly dismounted, stood with his hands behind his back in the wind, his slightly upturned phoenix eyes sweeping across the vast plains before gazing at the distant, dark green mountains: "The Great General has not yet returned to the capital..."

"He didn't return to Ziye?!" Tuoba Chen exclaimed in shock.

As dusk approached, the setting sun cast its slanting rays, painting the clouds red and casting a soft, ethereal glow on Tuoba Jie's devilishly handsome face, adding a touch of coldness to his expression: "General Jian Xiaosan is a man of extraordinary wisdom and talent, a master strategist who can win battles from afar. He is truly the greatest general of all time! I am delighted to have such a capable general! Now, the prince has been poisoned by the enemy and has lost his sight. Only the treasure hidden deep in Louxi can cure the poison and relieve my worries. However, the ruler of this country is treacherous and has antagonized Nansha. Obtaining the treasure will be as difficult as ascending to heaven! The only solution now is to borrow your strength to sweep away Louxi, seize the treasure, and relieve my worries! I hereby dispatch you to lead your 60,000 troops to crush Louxi. I believe that a general capable of fighting against thousands of troops will not fail my trust..."

Tuoba Jie recited the contents of the imperial edict word for word. With each sentence, Tuoba Chen grew more horrified, his heart sank deeper, and his voice tore apart! By the end, Tuoba Chen was utterly horrified, his eyes wide with shock, his lips trembling, and he remained speechless for a long time. Sixty thousand troops to raze Louxi to the ground... no, not even sixty, only fifty thousand! Throwing fifty thousand Xuanbing soldiers into an army of three hundred thousand—what kind of concept was that?! His father wanted his mistress dead, his father actually wanted her dead, his father actually wanted to kill the woman he loved most! Mistress, mistress... no, no! Mistress cannot die! Cannot die! He wouldn't allow it!! Mistress was still going to marry him, Mistress promised him she would marry him, that she would walk with him through life, hand in hand through every bright morning—how could she break her promise, how could she abandon him alone! He wouldn't allow it! He wouldn't allow it!!!

"Go back! Turn around and go back!! Back to the Northern Frontier! Hurry!!" Tuoba Chen roared uncontrollably, pounding on the crossbeams of the imperial carriage, his expression unusually frantic.

Tuoba Jie shook his head slightly, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and sighed, "It's too late... He's probably on the western border right now!"

"Pfft—" A delicate flower of blood spurted from Tuoba Chen's mouth.

"Your Highness!" The three guards cried out in alarm when they saw Tuoba Chen injuring himself with fire.

With blood still spit out, Tuoba Chen roared, enunciating each word clearly: "Go...to...the...west!"

As if he had heard something childish, Tuoba Jie chuckled softly: "What good would it do if he went? By the time the Second Prince arrives, he'll probably only be able to collect his corpse..."

"Shut up!" With a furious roar, Tuoba Chen finally couldn't contain his overwhelming grief and howled to the heavens, "Third Party—"

Withered vines and old trees, the mournful cries of crows, the misty clouds above the sea, a lone goose flying forlornly...

When Tuoba Chen awoke, he found himself in the luxurious and opulent residence of the Second Prince. Having driven away everyone who had come to visit him, including his elder brother and father, Tuoba Chen lay sprawled on his thin silk quilt, his shoulders trembling violently as he pounded the bed, letting out a wild, mournful howl…

Returning from the northern frontier, Tuoba Chen was utterly disheartened. He stopped attending morning court sessions, stopped entering the palace, and rarely even left the palace gates. He shut the gates of his residence, refusing visitors and confining himself to his chambers, cutting himself off from the outside world for the past year. He no longer touched his concubines, living a life of asceticism and detachment. While he found peace, his concubines, essentially widows, could not bear the desolation and loneliness. Over the past year, some left, some were dismissed, and some were expelled for having affairs. Only Shi Yuchou, who had been made a concubine and branded with the imperial mark, remained.

She hadn't been idle for the past year. Enduring the humiliation of beatings and verbal abuse, she relentlessly approached him again and again, trying every possible way to make him happy. But as always, her every attempt to please him was met with nothing but cold indifference and beatings, trampling her sincere heart underfoot. A year had passed. Even the most patient person would eventually grow weary and bored. She had complained to his father, and even cried to the Emperor, but the only comfort she received was one word: endure. Endure? Shi Yuchou scoffed. How could she endure? And how long would she have to endure? Youth fades quickly, beauty withers in the blink of an eye. Was she really going to waste her entire youth on a useless man with no ambition?

Look at him now, decadent and degenerate, lacking ambition and giving up on himself. Where is even a trace of his former heroism and elegance? How could such a person be worthy of Shi Yuchou's lifelong devotion to serving him? How could he possibly be worthy?

She was not the kind of woman who would let others dictate her fate, nor was she the kind who would accept her fate passively! She had her own thoughts and ambitions, and her destiny could only be decided by herself! Her ultimate goal was to rule the harem and have thousands of people grovel before her in submission; her ambition was to become the most honored woman in the world—the Empress!

She was originally the one who should have married the Crown Prince, but the shrewd woman, assessing the situation, saw that the Crown Prince was heartbroken and his health was deteriorating day by day. She decisively persuaded her father to give her elder sister to the Crown Prince, while she herself entered the Second Prince's residence as a concubine. Just as the Crown Prince was about to die, the Second Prince was about to become Crown Prince, and she was getting closer and closer to the Empress's position, a swan event occurred, shattering her plans and pulling the infatuated lover back from the brink of death. This truly made her grit her teeth in hatred!

Now, the Second Prince is as dejected as a stray dog, utterly hopeless. How could she not be furious and resentful? Her ambition is to become Empress. Since the Second Prince is so disappointing, then she shouldn't blame her for seeking a better position elsewhere!

Although she lacked concrete evidence, her innate political acumen gave her a hunch that this seemingly unassuming Prime Minister harbored ambitions to seize the Nine Dragon Pagoda. And her woman's intuition told her that this Prime Minister was no ordinary man; if she could get close to him, perhaps she truly would have a chance to rise in the ranks…

As Tuoba Chen said, though his eyes were blind, his heart was not. Nothing in the manor could escape his keen eyes. How could he not know that Shi Yuchou was going to great lengths to get close to Tuoba Jie? It's just that his heart was dead; nothing and no one could stir any ripples in the still lake of his heart. Therefore, let alone her secretly seducing men, even if she openly kept ten or eight male concubines in the manor, he could turn a blind eye…

However, Tuoba Chen's heart, which was like a dead lake, suddenly surged one day a year after it died, like the sea in a storm, with rolling waves and surging undercurrents, and the turmoil was unstoppable!

After the battle in the northern frontier, the general who led an army of 50,000 into the Louxi Kingdom and then disappeared without a trace for a year suddenly reappeared—a strange army had quietly risen in the Louxi Kingdom, conquering more than twenty cities including Anyi, Puban, Changji, and Baye in just three months, sweeping all before them and shocking the world! This newly emerged army consisted of soldiers of extraordinary bravery and strength, capable of lifting heavy weights, fighting against hundreds single-handedly, fearless in the face of death, striking fear into the hearts of their enemies, and earning the title of "Iron-Blooded Cavalry" from the people of Louxi! What astonished the people of Nansha Kingdom most was that this army that had attracted the attention of all nations was none other than the 50,000 soldiers who had been sent to attack the Louxi Kingdom a year ago! And the leader of this army was none other than the former general, Jian Xiaosan!

When the news arrived, the emperor was shocked, the court officials were stunned, the three guards who had followed Rongyue and ten thousand soldiers were overjoyed, Tuoba Jie was deep in thought, and Tuoba Chen was in a frenzy!

"Father, my mind is made up! I must go to Louxi!" Xiao San isn't dead, not a thread! She's alive, still alive! Heaven, have you heard the cry from the depths of his heart? Xiao San, you must wait for him, he'll be coming to be with her soon!

"No!" Looking at Tuoba Chen, who was determined to go, the old emperor's beard twitched, and he refused decisively: "Louxi is currently in the midst of war. Going to Louxi is fraught with danger, with swords flashing and shadows looming. How can I feel at ease going there! Chen'er, listen to me, do not go."

His expression turned cold: "Whether you let me go or not, I'm determined to go to Louxi Kingdom! I'm only informing you now to let you know, and I don't need your permission! I have other matters to attend to, so please forgive me for not staying any longer. I'll take my leave now!" With that, he used his cane to feel his way and groped his way toward the palace gate.

The old emperor was furious and roared at Tuoba Chen's retreating figure, "You stop right there! You unfilial and rebellious son!"

The cane struck the white jade floor, the sound pausing briefly before ringing out again. Without turning around or stopping, Tuoba Chen's cold voice reached the old emperor's ears: "I admit my unfilial behavior, but does Father know that the moment you cruelly pushed your mistress into the fire, you ceased to be the wise and benevolent father I knew?"

The old emperor's face flushed red and then paled, his expression clouded with gloom: "Do you really think you can leave Ziye City without my permission? How naive!"

He gave a cold laugh: "If my father forbids me from leaving the city for one day, I will fast for one day; if my father forbids me from leaving the city for two days, I will fast for two days; if my father forbids me from leaving the city for the rest of my life, I will fast for the rest of my life!"

"You wretched child! You wretched child—" Stepping out of the palace gates, Tuoba Chenqing gave a cold, mocking smile. My little mistress, for you, I've truly gone mad, insane…

Volume Two: The Resolute Heroines' Chronicles, Chapter Thirty-One: The Eastern Chapter

That night, the continuous drizzle finally stopped, leaving Fanyang City damp and dark clouds rolling in, pressing down on the city walls. The noisy people, tired from their play, had fallen asleep in Fanyang City. In the quiet night, only the watchman's wooden clapper sounded occasionally.

Dozens of gleaming grappling hooks shot out like snakes, simultaneously gripping the several-meter-high city wall and clamping tightly onto the gaps. Following the ropes hanging from the hooks, dozens of dark figures nimbly and swiftly climbed the wall one after another. With swift strokes of their blades, before the sentries could even utter a death cry, those dozing against the wall bricks were gone, meeting their demise directly in the afterlife.

With banners planted and city gates opened, the iron cavalry, unstoppable, surged onto the sleeping Fanyang like a black tide.

By the time the rebel leader of Fanyang, lost in his pleasures, realized the gravity of the situation, it was too late. At that moment, Fanyang was engulfed in flames, filled with the sounds of battle, and the government troops were thrown into chaos.

Upon seeing the flames, hearing the shouts of battle and cries of agony, and witnessing the panicked and fleeing government troops, the commander defending the city knew that the situation was hopeless. He hurriedly led his soldiers in a desperate breakout attempt.

In the chaos, the defending general managed to snatch a warhorse, whipped it fiercely, and fled swiftly toward the south gate. Little did he know that while flames raged and cavalry swept through the government troops, the south gate had already been captured by another cavalry force.

Seeing the city's commander, who was frantically tightening the reins in a panic, the general at the forefront of the iron cavalry smiled coldly, drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and narrowed his eyes, staring at the area ahead...

Whoosh... The arrow struck the horse's belly. The warhorse neighed and suddenly fell, throwing the city's chieftain more than two zhang away.

After the city's commander fell, he tried to pull his horse back, preparing to escape again. At this moment, two cavalrymen behind the general tied his hands behind his back and brought him to the general.

They threw down a long rope from their horse, and the two cavalrymen immediately understood, tying one end of the rope to the legs of the city's leader and the other end to the tail of the general's warhorse.