It was Leng Wu’s voice. Maner recognized it first. She greeted him in front of the camp. Leng Wu, who endured the hardships of a long journey, looked anxious. They hugged each other immediately. Leng Wu barely hesitated. He seemed to use up his strength to hug the woman in front of him who he yearned day and night as if he had been going to rub her inside of him. Maner was like a vine. She hugged him back tightly with all her strength.
Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan had been struggling all the way. But they were together all the time. However, Leng Wu and Maner had to be apart. At that moment, their pain changed into deep thoughts which only endless hugs and kisses could resolve.
After their passionate moment, Leng Wu realized that he misbehaved. He wiped the tears from his face stealthily. He saluted Leng Changxi and said, “I’m sorry for behaving this way.”
“It’s okay,” Leng Changxi waved his hand. He totally understood their feelings, “Go back and get some rest tonight. Bring Maner with you. However, you need to ensure that there won’t be any mistakes in the plan in three days.”
Jing Yuanxiao sent a message that he almost got Jing Donghua on board. Frankly speaking, Jing Donghua had the intention of going to war with Qi from the start.
He would dispatch troops in about three days when Jing Donghua arrived at West Liang.
Time flied in the Yellow Flag Army camp. On the one hand, too many things needed to be handled in the army. Jing Donghua, Jing Yuanxiao and even Leng Changxi, who was an unrecognized illegitimate child of the royal family, had a lot to do every day. On the other hand, Qin Yunuan helped in the wounded soldier camp. And she needed to find Zhou Hua in the meantime. Her hard work paid off. She found Zhou Hua in a short time. With Zhou Hua’s help, it was only a matter of time to contact the rest of the Leng Army.
The army went back to Royal City on that day. People in the city only knew that there was an unclear coup in the army. And the mastermind of the coup was the Thirteenth Prince, Jing Yuanchu, who they worshiped.
More surprisingly, Jing Yuanxiao, who people thought was a fool, played a very important role as the savior in the coup. People who lived through the coup surely knew that Jing Yuanxiao did a good job of protecting the emperor. However, people in Royal City who depended on the Thirteenth Prince or were fooled by his disguise thought…
“Humph. In my opinion, it was just a show the Crown Prince directed and acted himself.”
“Young man, you can eat all you want. But you can’t say all you want.”
“Or what? The Thirteenth Prince loves the people as if they were his own children. More and more people suggest making him the crown prince. I was the book transcribing servant in Grand Secretary Zhang’s mansion. I heard that a lot of officers had submitted memorials to the throne suggesting making Jing Yuanchu the crown prince. And there happened to be a coup in the Yellow Flag Army camp at the very moment. Do you guys think it was just a coincidence?”
“Young man, sometimes people need to pay for what they said,” an old man who was listening to the young man smiled in a mysterious way.
After a short while, a young man who was bound tightly with cowhide ropes was delivered in front of Jing Yuanxiao. The leader was that old man.
“Your Royal Highness, this unruly man carried tales among the people. He tried to ruin your reputation. Please punish him severely.”
Jing Yuanxiao sat high on the horse with a kind look. Leng Changxi rode a horse behind him with Qin Yunuan sitting behind. Qin Yunuan wore a black bamboo hat that covered her face. She clasped Leng Changxi’s waist tightly from behind. But she observed every movement around them carefully through the black bamboo hat including Jing Yuanxiao in the front.
Jing Yuanxiao lowered his head and gave the young man a kind look. He asked, “What did he say?”
The old man told him the young man’s presumptuous words. He wanted Jing Yuanxiao to punish the young man severely in order to shut everyone else up. Unexpectedly, Jing Yuanxiao sat upright and waved his hand generously, “Release him. The coup caught us by surprise. Besides, I have been keeping a low profile for years. It’s inevitable that people consider me a hypocrite. They have the right to talk. We can’t control them. If our people lose their right to speak freely, what’s the point of living?”
“But, Your Royal Highness, I’m afraid that he will keep spreading the rumors. In that case…”
Jing Yuanxiao tilted his head back a little. His body was straight, “A clean hand wants no washing. I’ll prove my ability and loyalty to West Xia through time.”
The young man was stunned by what Jing Yuanxiao said. Jing Yuanxiao, who he accused of being a hypocrite earlier, seemed to have become a generous crown prince with majestic manners at that moment.
“Hurry and thank Your Royal Highness for not killing you.”
The young man saluted to Jing Yuanxiao in a hurry. And Jing Yuanxiao waved his hand gesturing him to leave generously.
The young man went back to the crowds. Those people who listened to his speech and watched him getting taken away were worried about him. Seeing him come back safely, they scrambled to ask, “How did it go? Are you okay?”
The young man was calm back then. But he collapsed at that moment and leaned against a man. He mumbled, “His Royal Highness was generous to me. He is our blessing.”
Qin Yunuan watched Jing Yuanxiao riding through the crowds. And those people clearly looked at him differently. That old man was very confident. He couldn’t help praising, “His Royal Highness is really wise. He has already begun to win people over. Those people have been fooled by Jing Yuanchu for so many years. It’s time for them to wake up.”
Bluffing and coming to the rescue, Jing Yuanxiao began to change people’s opinions of him with the two moves. Qin Yunuan couldn’t help sighing with emotion. It looked like that Jing Yuanxiao was also tactful and decisive. In a word, he was born to be an emperor.
Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi looked at each other. She knew that Leng Changxi thought so too.
Their troop was moving slowly. But Qin Yunuan suddenly sensed a weird vibe. She pulled Leng Changxi fiercely all of a sudden. Leng Changxi gave the reins of his horse a gentle pull. The horse slowed down. Qin Yunuan whispered near Leng Changxi’s ear, “I sensed a killing vibe.”
Kungfu masters used their inner Qi to sense the killing vibe and find the enemies. Leng Changxi didn’t sense the killing vibe at that moment. But Qin Yunuan did. It looked like Qin Yunuan’s inner Qi had given her super sense.
Almost as soon as Qin Yunuan’s words came out, a light flashed through the air. It aimed at the yellow dragon carriage which Jing Donghua was in. It was too fast for Jing Donghua’s bodyguards to react. It was lucky that Leng Changxi was prepared. He jumped towards Jing Donghua’s yellow dragon carriage holding his spear. With a cracking sound, he blocked a poison dart aiming at Jing Donghua. It was called a poison dart because there was cyan poison on the tip of the dart. It looked like the assassins were very bold.
At almost the same time, a long sword blocked another poison dart for Jing Donghua. Leng Changxi looked up and found it was a stranger wearing a grey blouse. He was lean and tall. He looked extremely capable. And his eyes were sharp like a tercel. They looked at each other and formed a temporary alliance. A few poison darts shot towards them in the next moment. Leng Changxi and the man in grey cooperated with each other and blocked all the poison darts.
Soldiers in black armor came to their senses at that moment. Jing Donghua’s bodyguards bravely rushed towards the direction which the poison darts came from. They caught a few masked assassins behind the eaves after a short while and dragged them in front of Jing Donghua.
“Your Majesty, just these five men. No one else.”
Jing Donghua lifted the bright yellow valance up with one hand. His eyes were fixed on those assassins who looked discomfited. Actually, they weren’t qualified to be called assassins. They did nothing more than shooting a few poison darts. And Leng Changxi and that stranger blocked all those poison darts.
“Search them,” Jing Donghua ordered. Leng Changxi picked apart one of the assassins’ clothes with his spear. A token with a North Di’s totem on it fell down.
“They are from North Di?” someone whispered in surprise at once. Although he was warned to shut up the next moment, people near him heard it clearly.
“They are really from North Di?”
“We have been at peace with North Di for so many years. What did we do to offend them now?”
“I don’t know. But I heard that the emperor found an illegitimate son earlier. And he had a problem with the Fourth Prince of North Di, Wanyan Su. The Grand Prince of North Di, Wanyan Ba, has fallen from power. Isn’t Wanyan Su the most capable one to be the future emperor?”
“Wanyan Su has lost an arm. He is disabled.”
In the chatter, Leng Changxi seemed to feel that their looks were like needles piercing in his back. It made him feel unbearable. A warm hand held his fingers while he was restless. He turned around. It was Qin Yunuan.
As expected, Nuan would always have his back in the proudest way whenever he felt terrible.
Jing Donghua frowned a bit. He glanced at Leng Changxi inadvertently and said nothing. Instead, he asked that man who appeared suddenly, “Could you please tell me your name?”
That man saluted and answered, “Envoy of Qi, Shi Rongyao.”
He was from Qi?
Qin Yunuan lifted her eyebrows a bit. Now it was quite a show. West Xia, North Di and Qi, the three most powerful countries in the world, came together. Sima Ray had power over Qi right now. He must have sent this envoy. I wondered why he sent an envoy to West Xia all of a sudden.
Jing Donghua asked the same question. Unexpectedly, Shi Rongyao answered frankly, “I’m commissioned by the prince of Qi, Sima Ray, to form an alliance with you. We want to invite you to go to war with North Di.”
Sima Ray sent people to West Xia to invite them to go to war with North Di when West Xia was about to go to war with them. This was interesting. No, this was a coincidence. It was so coincidental that it could be considered a little strange.
