"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Lu." Huan Changming bowed gratefully to Lu Zhong. "My marriage with Shaoyan has been a great worry for you lately. I have prepared some ginseng soup in the kitchen and will bring it to your room with Shaoyan in a little while to express my gratitude."
Lu Zhong was pleased to hear this. Even Lu Pianpian, as her son, hadn't thought of it, but Huan Changming had. This warmed Lu Pianpian's heart. "You've gone to so much trouble."
The embroiderer hurriedly returned with the wedding dress to finish making it. Lu Pianpian accompanied Huan Changming to the kitchen to fetch ginseng soup, which she brought to Lu Zhong's room. She drank it with Lu Zhong, which brought tears to Lu Zhong's eyes. He said, "You two must live happily ever after..."
After saying many heartfelt things, he finally let Lu Pianpian and Huan Changming go back.
"No one is allowed to enter Father's room on ordinary days. Even I rarely come here."
Huan Changming pondered, "Is it because of Lord Lu's official position?"
Lu Pianpian nodded and said with a smile, "But today, the fact that we were able to stay in Father's room for so long shows that Father is truly very happy."
Huan Changming smiled back at Lu Pianpian, "I'm very happy too."
After Huan Changming returned to his room alone, the cat sneaked out from the corner and asked him, "Did you find it?"
The cat nodded. "We've found where he's hiding."
"Okay." Huan Changming picked it up. "Bring it to me on the day we return to the palace."
The army of Xiye Kingdom has been stationed at the border for half a month, and they dare not slacken their efforts in accordance with the orders of the new king, Wuyao.
But as time went on, no enemy troops from the Li Kingdom came to attack. In addition, the cities they occupied were rich in resources, and they indulged in comfort every day. The soldiers of Xiye inevitably became complacent, and even the new king Wuyao was no exception.
However, there was another reason why he hesitated to send troops to continue attacking Li Kingdom: he was waiting for Huan Changming.
According to the plan he and Huan Changming had previously devised, Li Wang would send an envoy to Xiye to negotiate peace with Xiye through a marriage alliance.
He would feign agreement to the peace talks, but under Huan Changming's urging, Huan Changming himself would take the place of the princess to be sent to the marriage.
When the princess from Li Kingdom arrived for the marriage alliance, he seized the opportunity to order the soldiers of Xiye to massacre the Li Kingdom's marriage procession, completely severing ties with Li Kingdom, while leaving Huan Changming behind.
Wu Yao was amazed by his cousin, the princess, who had come up with this brilliant plan.
All the generals from the Li Kingdom who were stationed in the city had surrendered to him. In order to please him, they offered him their beautiful wives and concubines. However, after seeing Huan Changming's stunning beauty, no woman could catch his eye anymore. Therefore, he was looking forward to reuniting with Huan Changming.
A maid poured him a full glass of wine, which he drank. He then pulled the maid beside him to sit in his lap, and just as they were about to become intimate, a soldier rushed in, shouting, "Your Majesty, something has happened!"
Wu Yao's brow twitched. "What is it?"
"Suddenly, all the soldiers in the city became weak and collapsed in the street..."
After speaking, the soldier couldn't even hold his weapon properly and fell to the ground with a thud. Wu Yao pushed aside the maid and yanked the soldier up from the ground, demanding, "What exactly happened?!"
The soldier shook his head. "I don't know either. I've consulted doctors in the city, but they can't find the cause."
Wu Yao quickly considered this strange phenomenon, "What about the prisoners? Do prisoners who left the country also have these symptoms?"
"Yes, not only our soldiers, but also people who have left the country..."
Wu Yao initially thought that people from Li Kingdom had secretly infiltrated and poisoned them, but if anyone was going to poison someone, it would be them, not their own people.
"Investigate the water source thoroughly! Investigate the food thoroughly! Investigate everything that can be ingested!" Wu Yao made a quick decision. "And summon all the doctors who have diagnosed these symptoms!"
The soldiers quickly did as he instructed, and then brought all the dozen or so doctors who had treated the soldiers to Wu Yao and told him the truthful diagnosis results.
Wu Yao laughed angrily, "So you can't figure out if they're sick or poisoned?"
The doctors knelt at Wu Yao's feet, trembling and not daring to breathe.
"Your Majesty, a thorough investigation has been conducted, and there are no problems with the water and food sources," a soldier reported as he entered.
"A bunch of bastards! They can't even figure out the cause, what use are you useless trash!" With a major battle imminent, the soldiers' health was deteriorating, and Wu Yao roared, "Kill all these quacks and offer them as a sacrifice to the heavens!"
Upon hearing that they were to be beheaded, the doctors hurriedly begged for their lives. Just as they were about to be dragged away by the soldiers, one of them had a sudden inspiration: "Perhaps...perhaps it's an epidemic!"
Wu Yao raised his hand, signaling the soldiers to pause. "Epidemic?"
Seeing this, the remaining doctors quickly added, "Yes, the epidemic can also cause patients to feel weak all over, and to be drowsy and listless all day long! Moreover, it can infect those around them, and when the symptoms become more severe, fever and coma may occur!"
Wu Yao sent people to check if there were any people with fever and unconsciousness, and soon received a reply that there were indeed such people.
Wu Yao frowned. While poison could still be treated with antidotes, the epidemic was spreading extremely fast. People who were healthy today might be infected by carriers tomorrow, and there might not even be time to treat them with medicine.
"Now that the cause of the illness has been found, all of you go down and treat those sick soldiers properly. If they die, none of you will live either!"
"yes……"
After the doctors were taken away, Wu Yao immediately asked his guards, "Has there been any signs of the Li Kingdom's army within a hundred miles?"
"Your Majesty, everything is as usual, and there is no sign of any foreign troops."
“Alright.” Wu Yao’s mind calmed down a bit. “Go quickly and take a thousand light cavalry to escort me out of the city and back to Xiye for the time being. Remember, the light cavalry must be selected from those who have not been in contact with the infected soldiers.”
This disease is contagious and doesn't discriminate between people. He still has a grand plan to achieve, and he can't let this disease ruin it.
Since the army from the foreign country had not yet arrived, he ordered his deputy general to guard the city.
The departure of the commander-in-chief would inevitably arouse suspicion among the soldiers, so he instructed his deputy to be careful not to leak any information about his return to the country.
After giving all the instructions, he took advantage of the darkness and, escorted by light cavalry, returned to Xiye.
Having walked for most of the journey, and with the city of Xiye almost back in sight, two figures stood on either side of two giant rocks not far ahead.
Qu Surou looked at Huan Juntian and said, "Your plan is indeed brilliant."
Everyone cherishes their life, let alone a new king whose great cause is yet to be accomplished.
"We still need my senior sister's help, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to force him out of the city so easily."
Huan Juntian stepped into the void and rode the wind to arrive in front of Wu Yao. "Li Kingdom, Huan Juntian."
Upon hearing this, Wu Yao realized something was wrong. He spurred his horse and turned back to the city, shouting, "We've fallen into a trap! Quick! Back to the city!"
Huan Juntian's willow-leaf blade stirred up a gust of wind in the forest, felling several large trees one after another and blocking the Xiye soldiers' way back to the city.
"What's the use of you going back to the city now? Our soldiers have already stormed into the city and arrested all your people." Qu Surou crossed her arms and watched the spectacle. "Are you going back to walk right into our trap?"
Wu Yao simply refused to believe it. "That's impossible! I clearly had people scout your tracks long ago. Only half a day has passed. How could so many of your soldiers be at the city gates!"
Huan Juntian flicked a burst of spiritual energy from his fingertip, which struck Wu Yao's mount squarely.
Wu Yao fell off his mount, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Just as he was about to stand up, a flash of silver light appeared before his eyes, and Huan Juntian's knife was placed against his throat. "You only had your soldiers scout the route from Li Kingdom to the city, but you didn't scout the route from Xiye to the city. You neglected that."
They had already taken a detour, circling around from within the borders of the Western Night Kingdom into the city.
The vast majority of the Western Night Kingdom's troops had been taken away by Wu Yao, so their detour around the rear went completely unnoticed.
With Xiye's forces currently depleted, Huan Juntian seized the opportunity to send three layers of troops to attack Xiye. Now, it seems that the soldiers of Li Kingdom are about to occupy the cities of Xiye.
Wu Yao had no choice but to draw his sword and charge forward, shouting, "This is Huan Juntian, the eldest son of the Li Kingdom's emperor! Kill him and you'll be rewarded with a thousand gold pieces and a higher official rank!"
Upon hearing this, the soldiers drew their weapons and attacked Huan Juntian. Huan Juntian stood among the thousand men, his sword strikes swift and his movements so fast they were dazzling. In just a moment, he had cut down all of Xiye's soldiers.
Wu Yao was stubborn and self-willed. Huan Changming had told him that Huan Juntian was an extraordinary person, but he didn't take it to heart at all.
Seeing Huan Juntian move freely among thousands of troops, as if a god had descended to earth, he suddenly realized what was happening, but it was too late.
He helped his mount up, spurred it to turn around and gallop away. Qu Surou stood beside him on her sword, saying, "Don't run, you can't escape."
After saying this, he threw the rope in his hand and tied it around Wu Yao's body, forcibly pulling Wu Yao off the horse and binding him. He then looked up and asked Huan Juntian, "What do we do next?"
Huan Juntian distributed the antidote given by Qu Surou to the soldiers. Once they reached the city, they would distribute the antidote to the prisoners. After settling them in, they would come back to meet them.
"Let's go to Xiye." Huan Juntian grabbed Wu Yao and rode his sword with Qu Surou. "To catch the thief, catch the king first. With him here, the morale of the Xiye army will surely collapse."
Wu Yao lay bound hand and foot on the sword, yelling, "How exactly did you people from Li Kingdom poison them?!"
There are no problems with water and food, so where did they get their supplies?
"Breathe," Qu Surou kindly explained for him. "I throw my specially developed powder into the city. It's colorless and odorless. It enters people's bodies with their breath. People with poor constitutions will experience symptoms earlier, while those with good constitutions will experience symptoms later."
Huan Juntian praised, "Senior Sister is amazing."
Qu Surou didn't mince words, "That's right!"
They soon arrived at the capital of the Western Night Kingdom, before the army of the Li Kingdom had even arrived.
Qu Surou said, "We arrived first."
Huan Juntian nodded, picked up Wu Yao and threw him onto his throne. "You are no match for me. If you admit to withdrawing your troops, write a peace treaty, and promise never to invade Li Kingdom again, I will spare your life."
"Absurd!" Wu Yao exclaimed angrily. "If anyone should be negotiating peace, it should be your Li Kingdom begging our Xiye for it. Why should my Xiye have to wag its tail and beg for your mercy?!"
"It seems you haven't realized how dangerous your current situation is."
Qu Surou was too lazy to listen to the two men's bickering. She rummaged through Wu Yao's bookshelves, wondering if she could find some local stories from Xiye Kingdom. Her hand slipped, and she knocked over an entire row of bookshelves.
Attracting the attention of Huan Juntian and Wu Yao, Qu Surou casually picked up a book and laughed it off, "You guys continue talking, don't mind me, haha."
Wu Yao roared, "You ill-mannered woman! Who gave you permission to rummage through my things like that!"
Huan Juntian defended his senior sister, saying, "It's just a book, once it's been flipped through, it's fine. Let's get down to business first."
Qu Surou opened the book and found that it contained some strange poisons and secret techniques of the Xiye royal family. She glanced at it and felt bored. Just as she was about to close it, her eyes were drawn to a pattern.
After staring at the pattern for a moment, her expression suddenly changed. "Jun Tian!"
Senior Sister rarely called Huan Juntian by his real name, so he went over and asked, "What's wrong, Senior Sister?"
Qu Surou showed the pattern to Huan Juntian, “This flower… I’ve seen it on Changming’s ear.”
On the page of the book is a small blue flower, and below the flower is a line of text: This is the secret technique of the Western Night royal family, "Body Transformation Technique", which can control one's own body skeleton, change one's voice and appearance, and hide one's original appearance.
If someone uses this technique, the flower in the picture will appear on their left ear, which is the only flaw in this technique.
"Senior sister, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Qu Surou said earnestly, "I thought the flowers on her ears were pretty at the time, and they left a particularly deep impression on me."
Why would she want to change her bone structure and appearance?
Huan Juntian muttered to himself, when a bizarre thought suddenly popped into his mind. He grabbed Wu Yao and questioned, "Where are the palace maids who went to the Li Kingdom with the Empress Sui Xiye back then?"
"What are you talking about?" Wu Yao frowned, puzzled. They were clearly discussing national affairs, so how did the topic turn to the Empress of Xiye?
"If you don't tell me the truth, I will kill you with my own hands tonight!"
Huan Juntian's sword was pressed against Wu Yao's Adam's apple. Even though Wu Yao was filled with anger and resentment, he dared not make a rash move and gritted his teeth, saying, "There is... there is one."
Sixteen years ago, the personal maid who had accompanied the eldest princess to the Li Kingdom for a political marriage suddenly escaped back to the west Ye Kingdom. He always respected the eldest princess who had assassinated the Li King, so he kept the maid in the palace.
Huan Juntian kicked open the door, startling the old woman who was chanting sutras in front of the Buddha. She turned around and saw the new king being captured by two strangers. Just as she was about to scream, Huan Juntian's knife landed on her shoulder. "If you want to live, answer the truth."
"I don't know, I don't know what you two want to know from this servant?"
"Is the child born to the princess you serve a boy or a girl?"