Of course, she obviously wasn’t allowed to go in the end, so she stayed in the mansion.
However, she wasn’t silly enough to just wait around doing nothing. She compiled modern tips and tricks for hiking onto a sheet of paper for He Changdi to take along with him.
Although Chu Lian had never climbed Mount Everest in her past life, she had tried climbing some other snow mountains. Furthermore, she had taken the time to go through several lessons with professional coaches, so it was obvious that she was more well trained for mountain climbing than the people of ancient times.
When He Sanlang tucked the ‘things to note’ list away into his clothes to keep it, it felt as if his heart was being warmed by the thin piece of paper.
When he looked at the writing on the paper and saw how different it was to ‘her’ writing in his past life, He Changdi didn’t know why he didn’t feel a single shred of alarm or oddity. Conversely, the tightly wound nerves in his heart had relaxed.
The northern border troops had achieved an overwhelming victory over the hundred thousand strong Tuhun army, and this news only took two days to reach Suzhou City, next to Lake Qianshan.
Suzhou City then passed on the news to the capital, sent out at the highest speed and priority.
The scourge of the north had been defeated and it was coming close to the new year. If the good news could reach the capital before New Year’s Eve, then the celebrations in the capital would be even more joyous.
With their borders safe and their tributary states coming down to pay their respects for the new year, it was a double blessing for the Great Wu Dynasty.
When the news reached Suzhou City, Xiao Bojian was in the middle of drinking some tea in his tent.
Three men dressed in black were kneeling in the center.
One stood right next to Xiao Bojian at his usual place. He was trying his best to erase all signs of his presence, afraid that he might provoke his unstable master somehow.
Xiao Bojian’s cool gaze swept over the three kneeling men at one glance. Although his tone seemed normal, the three men knew exactly what he meant when he spoke. They couldn’t help but shiver in fear.
“One, settle this according to our standard procedures.”
Even the leader of the secret guards, One, couldn’t hold back a shiver from the unfeeling words.
However, he didn’t have any right to plead for mercy for them. He walked up to the three men and stuffed a small brown pill in each person’s mouth so quickly that they couldn’t react.
After having the small pill forcefully fed down their throats, the faces of the three men turned deathly pale.
“It’s your last chance now. You know what will happen if this poison isn’t cured after a month.” One gave the three men their warning.
Following that, Xiao Bojian dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
One took his place at Xiao Bojian’s side again, turning back into an invisible person.
Only he knew what he felt inside at this moment.
He just couldn’t understand how a pampered and weak girl like Honoured Lady Jinyi could have escaped from the hands of their deadly operatives. She had also been able to kill the four operatives before escaping… His throat suddenly felt a little dry and cold sweat gathered on his back.
Xiao Bojian’s features had always been more feminine. The threatening aura draped around him only emphasised the sinister cast of his face. Now that the northern border troops had won the northern war, there was no longer any need for the northwestern army to continue camping at Suzhou City. He believed the Emperor would recall the northwestern army once he received the news and send them back to their original posts.
Then he would be returning back to the capital soon.
Although he refused to accept this truth, there was no longer any need to remain in Suzhou.
But thinking of Lian’er… Whenever Xiao Bojian thought of how Chu Lian was still by He Changdi’s side, his rage would slip out of his control and he would feel the urge to rip He Changdi to shreds.
While the clouds hanging over Xiao Bojian’s expression had yet to fade, someone outside the tent had something to report.
Returning to his senses, Xiao Bojian hid his emotions and allowed the messenger to enter.
The entrance flap was lifted and a low-ranking soldier entered with a letter.
The soldier greeted with utmost respect, “Sir Xiao, you have a letter from the capital.”
It was One who stepped forward and picked up the letter, handing the letter to Xiao Bojian with two hands.
Xiao Bojian gripped the thin letter with his slender fingers and waved in dismissal at the soldier. The soldier then bowed his head and left.
As he stared at the letter, his brows drew together.
He checked both sides of the envelope, but there weren’t any markings on the letter at all. If not for the feeling of something inside the envelope, he would have thought that it was empty.
He sneered inside; this was probably a ploy from someone.
His parents had died when he was young and his clan had fallen into decline. There weren’t that many of them left. The only people he was familiar with in the capital were members of House Ying and his schoolmates. He had already received House Ying’s letter a few days ago, so this couldn’t have been sent by Old Duke Ying. This made the anonymous sender even more of a mystery.
After tearing the envelope open, he took out a thin piece of paper.
Not much was written within, only up to half the paper had been filled. However, just the content alone was enough to make Xiao Bojian’s expression change completely.
The disdain that had been on his face was instantly wiped clean. He suddenly gripped the paper in his hands hard as his features contorted. After a moment, he actually burst out into loud laughter. The sight was so spine-chilling and fearsome that even One’s body trembled.
“Mas… Master, is something wrong?”
“The heavens are truly on my side!” Xiao Bojian was already so immersed in the waves of excitement overwhelming him that he didn’t even hear what One said.
His upturned eyes were filled with excitement as he gripped the letter in his hand, “Send some men to Mount Ah-ming! They must annihilate He Changdi no matter the cost! If they fail the mission, then their heads will roll! Send someone to investigate the source of this letter as well!”
One didn’t dare to question his master further and immediately left to carry out his commands.
