Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Just like what Su Qing had mentioned, he didn’t wish to see Dayao get stuck in Tianjing Basin’s quagmire. Under the attacks from different directions, Dayao might possibly collapse just like that.
Only Great Xia suffering a huge defeat would benefit him.
As a result, after everyone left the city, he found an opportunity to meet Ren Baqian.
Ren Baqian gave him a thumbs up after listening to what he had to say. Even though the spy had left, there was still a renegade planted among them. The people in Tianjing Basin died an unjust death.
Su Qing smiled modestly at the hand gesture made by Ren Baqian.
“You mustn’t forget the agreement with me.” Ren Baqian cupped his hands and hurriedly left to find the empress.
However, in no time, the Protectorate of the South was completely ready and waiting to set off.
Ren Baqian muttered under his breath, “If any of you can capture them alive, please do so. They are somewhat useful. Of course, the safety of all of you is the top priority.”
When Xi Wanya looked at the empress, she nodded and said, “Act in accordance to what he said.”
“Order accepted!” Xi Wanya cupped one fist in the other hand and led everyone to mount up and set off in the night. The sound of thunderous hooves alarmed the birds and beasts in the distance. For a moment, the roaring noises of the beasts lingered on.
Currently, the winged cavalry were rushing from the north. To the east, there was Mount Wu. Most of the rebels had dispersed to the southeast before returning to their own sects along other routes.
Xi Wanya’s cavalry, numbering 1,000 or so, was headed straight toward the south.
As for how many rebels they could capture, it all depended on luck.
After all, those Earth Wheel experts weren’t weaklings. From afar, they could already hear the noises made by the aboriginals’ mounts and had already found places to hide.
Therefore, Xi Wanya and his entourage went all the way to the south this time. When the sky was turning bright, they began to cast a net and searched backward to see how many fish they could actually catch.
After everyone left, the empress finally asked Ren Baqian, “What is the agreement between you and him?”
Ren Baqian then told the empress about the agreement with Su Qing. It was necessary to make sure that the armed rebellion in the south remained unsettled to the point where they appeared to be bogged down. Also, the army of the Protectorate of the South couldn’t be mobilized unless it was their last resort. Furthermore, they had to summon the recruits to head south.
After all, this wasn’t a trivial matter. These moves would cause Great Xia to grow restless again. At that time, Dayao would really face the attack of three countries all at once.
Therefore, he wasn’t confident that the empress would agree.
It was just that under the previous situation, he couldn’t care about anything else.
As a result, after he finished speaking, he was wondering how the empress would look at this issue.
“Tell me, if Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation attack us at the same time, can we win?” the empress asked.
“Will Your Majesty be defeated?” Ren Baqian questioned her back.
The empress’s pupils immediately lit up as a smile appeared on her face.
She replied, “Naturally, I won’t be defeated.”
Following which, he said, “However, these are two separate issues. Your forces will have to face enemies from the other three nations. A war that lasts many years will also exert great pressure on all aspects of a nation. We will win. It’s natural that we will win. As long as we can stabilize Tianjing Basin, there will not be any future consequences. There won’t be much pressure from the Yun Nation or the Chen Nation. By then, we will only need to be wary of Great Xia.”
“However, we won’t need to face the full strength of Great Xia, just one army from them. As long as we accumulate our strength, wait for Great Xia to stretch out their claws again, and quickly cut them off, they would fall into disorder at that time,” Ren Baqian continued.
“We have radio stations, walkie-talkies, and can contact the rest of the battlefield at any time to keep abreast of the situation regardless of whether it’s for mobilizing the various military units or conveying an order from the commanders to their subordinates.
Also, we have binoculars and drones. We will be able to find out the other party’s every move in advance. Furthermore, with the walkie-talkies, we can easily find and attack their weaknesses.
Most importantly, we have the winged cavalry warriors who can each handle up to ten enemies.
As long as the logistics team can withstand this, we have no reason to lose,” Ren Baqian said resolutely and decisively.
“Well said.” The empress nodded.
“If it was before, 100 million taels of silver was enough for me to make up my mind. Yet, I always feel that with you, 100 million taels of silver isn’t a figure that is difficult to attain. Am I right?” It was rare that the empress smiled, but she was actually smiling very brightly.
“Your Majesty is right.” Ren Baqian grinned widely too. The amount of trust that the empress had placed in him actually made him feel a warm fuzzy sensation in his heart.
The both of them looked at each other and smiled. Under this tranquil moonlight, the duo were very relaxed.
Ren Baqian shifted his body and sat himself next to the empress with his shoulders gently touching hers. As he smelled the strong tuberose scent coming from the empress, he used his fingers to pick up a loose strand of her hair.
The empress no longer took offense from such intimate actions.
A warm fuzzy feeling arose in their hearts as if they were the only people in the world. Even the birds and beasts in the distance seemed to have disappeared.
In the vicinity, several guards placed their attentions on the couple before looking at the sky. The moonlight tonight was beautiful.
“Your body smells like Red Braised Meat. I’m hungry…” All of a sudden, the empress used her shoulder to nudge him.
Ren Baqian had nothing to say.
Your Majesty, you are being a wet blanket don’t you know?
Give me back that gentle and charming version of yourself!!!
Ren Baqian looked at the empress for a long time, but she didn’t feel guilty at all. Instead, she looked at him confidently and on her face was written, “I-am-hungry-so-go-and-cook-now!”
After looking at each other for a long time, Ren Baqian couldn’t help but admit defeat. He then took a huge sigh, instructed the soldiers to bring out the leftover meat from dinner, and roasted it for the empress.
The empress looked at him from behind and began to smile. Her smile was rather sweet.
This was a smile that Ren Baqian had yet to see. It was such a pity that his back was facing the empress, and he completely couldn’t catch that moment.
“I’m also hungry…” Lin Qiaole said. She was squatting beside a tree because both the empress and Ren Baqian were too smelly, but the both of them didn’t think so. As a result, she had no choice but to hide far away.
After consuming supper, the empress lay on a wooden couch that emitted a wood scent and rested. On the other hand, Ren Baqian lay on the grass and watched the night sky until he dozed off.
He dreamed about his wedding with the empress… Dreamed about them consummating their marriage… Ren Baqian was exceptionally excited. The empress was blushing and playing hard to get while revealing half of her chest…
Just then, a sharp and clear birdsong woke him up.
Ren Baqian opened his eyes forcefully as the skies were beginning to brighten up. Although he wanted to close his eyes and resume the dream, he realized it was impossible to resume the dream. Furthermore, the dream was progressively becoming blurry!
“Damn, almost there.” Ren Baqian’s face turned black. He was almost there, almost about to take off her last layer of clothes…
Ren Baqian inadvertently turned to look at the empress and realized that she was looking at him with clear, bright eyes. He wondered if she hadn’t slept the entire night or if she had just woken up.
“I feel that you are having disrespectful thoughts,” the empress said.
“Your Majesty, I’m even more wronged than Dou E Yuan.” Ren Baqian was full of grievance. He casually shifted through a few positions, bent over, and tried to conceal something.
[Dou E Yuan, commonly translated as The Injustice to Dou E and also known as Snow in Midsummer, is a Chinese play written by Guan Hanqing during the Yuan dynasty.]
If the empress found out about his dream, he would definitely be hung up until he died.
The empress bit her lower lip and ignored him.
“It’s daybreak. Time to check our harvest,” Ren Baqian said.
The harvest depended on this.
Still, it was better to capture individuals from the Southern Metropolis and the Green Bell Flower.
…
“40 teams will go and each team will have 20 soldiers. Disperse and search for the enemy. Once any of you discover anything, shout to get in touch,” Xi Wanya ordered while sitting on his saber-toothed tiger.
“Yes sir!”
Following this response, hundreds of people immediately dispersed and began to search the fields that lined both sides of the road.
The rest of the soldiers followed behind Xi Wanya and slowly headed toward Wu City.
Not long after, Ren Baqian looked over in the distance. An evil smile formed on his face as he said, “Our prey are here.”
Although he hadn’t seen the other party, he actually heard the clip clop of hooves. There were actually quite a number of them.
