Chapter 66

Night had fallen, and the sandstorm that had been blowing all day had stopped sometime earlier. The courtyard was quiet and pitch black.

Fan Hui stood by the window, his mood as dark as the deep night outside, devoid of any light.

A figure suddenly flashed through the corridor, followed by a series of hurried footsteps.

The attendant walked to the door and said, "Chief Secretary, Lu San Niang requests an audience."

Fan Hui was taken aback, and asked in surprise, "Who?"

“Lu San Niang,” the attendant said, “she didn’t go to the capital. She came back with A Yu. She and A Yu are outside the gate.”

Fan Hui snapped out of his daze and looked down at the letter in his hand.

"Please invite Third Sister in."

The attendant left, and a short while later, Fan Hui heard footsteps again.

A tall, slender figure strode in. The candlelight from inside the door illuminated the entrance. She was dressed in simple men's clothing, looking hurried and somewhat tired, but her eyes were bright and alert.

It really is Lu Huaying.

"Chief Secretary Fan, did Governor Wei go to Wuzhi? That place is now under the control of the Western Liang people."

Lu Huaying walked into the room and said directly.

Fan Hui frowned and asked, "How do you know about Wu Zhi?"

Lu Huaying told him about meeting the wealthy merchant at the inn on her way back from Liucheng, saying, "I suspect that wealthy merchant is Nie Zijie. He wants to assassinate Governor Wei. There must be a spy around Governor Wei. Nie Zijie shouldn't know about Wuzhi. I want to go to Wuzhi to warn Governor Wei. Please do me a favor, Chief Secretary."

She needed to go to Wuzhi, and she needed an official's signature to pass through the checkpoint; otherwise, the soldiers would mistake her for a spy and arrest her.

“Chief Secretary Fan, I speak the Xiliang language. I used to have a master from Xiliang. I have been living in Liucheng for the past few years and am familiar with the border. Perhaps I can be of help.”

Fan Hui was filled with mixed emotions. After a moment of silence, he held up the letter in his hand and said, "Third Sister... you don't need to go to Wuzhi anymore. I just received a letter. Wei Mingsu left a date before he left, and now the date has passed. He hasn't shown up, nor has he sent anyone back with a message. The western region has been in turmoil. He is probably in grave danger and something must have happened to him."

In war, one must know oneself and one's enemy. In recent years, the imperial court has sent many people to the western regions to collect intelligence. Some were detained by Xiliang, some survived by the skin of their teeth, and many more disappeared without a trace, their fate unknown.

Lu Huaying's heart skipped a beat.

Wei Mingsu did indeed get into trouble.

She steadied herself, preventing her thoughts from wandering, gripped the hilt of her knife, and raised her head, saying, "If something happened to him, then I must go find him even more!"

Fan Hui frowned even more, thinking that explaining the danger would stop Lu Huaying.

"Third Sister, what if Wei Mingsu has already met with misfortune and died in Xiliang?"

In the quiet of the night, the sound of bells from the Buddhist temple in the north of the city can be heard.

Lu Huaying looked at Fan Hui quietly and said, "Chief Secretary Fan, I need to find him."

Her tone was calm, and her gaze was peaceful, without a trace of excitement. But it was precisely this calmness that made her seem even more resolute.

Fan Hui stared into Lu Huaying's eyes, pondered for a moment, and nodded helplessly.

"good."

...

The next day, Fan Hui helped Lu Huaying complete the necessary procedures and then saw her and A Yu out of the city.

"Third Sister, the situation in the Western Regions is complicated, you must be careful."

"I will, Chief Secretary Fan, thank you."

Lu Huaying asked Fan Hui to stay, then mounted her horse, picked up the reins, and galloped off towards the west.

As dusk settled, the evening glow burned like a raging fire, and the setting sun shone on the city gate, bathing the gate opening in golden light.

She was bathed in the glow of the sunset, her back straight and resolute.

Fan Hui watched Lu Huaying leave.

Back then, Wei Mingsu came to Xizhou for Lu Huaying.

Years later, Lu Huaying for Wei

Ming Su abandoned his return to Luoyang and risked his life to go to Wuzhi to find him.

In the past, so many noble young men were interested in Chang'an, but back then she was capricious and never fell in love with any of them.

She hurt Wei Mingsu the most, but... she remembered him the most.

The person in question was Wei Mingsu.

Fan Hui gazed at Lu Huaying's departing figure on horseback in the setting sun.

Just like a few years ago, Fan Hui encountered a beautiful young woman holding a lotus flower on the mountain road of Wangchuan. She was so radiant and stunning that he thought he had met a fairy and was completely captivated by her beauty.

The second time I saw her, she was sitting at Wei Mingsu's desk, pestering him to go out with her. Her eyes were sparkling and her smile was bright.

Wei Mingsu bowed his head as he wrote the sutra.

She snatched the paper he was writing on and stuffed it into her sleeve, raising her hands: "Wei Mutou, if you can take it back from me, I'll give it back to you."

The young woman's radiant smile stung the eyes of the young Fan Hui.

The person she liked was actually Wei Mingsu, whom he despised the most.

He hated this unrestrained Lu San Niang.

As a noble daughter of one of the five noble families, she actually didn't know how to cherish herself and willingly degraded herself.

How shameless!

Later, Fan Hui realized that Wei Mingsu was truly talented and admired his character. He turned his enmity into friendship with him, but still disliked Lu Huaying.

Until that day.

He was reading in his study when a servant came in to report that something had happened to the Lu family. He froze for a moment, then stood up abruptly, his heart filled with anxiety: "Is Third Sister alright?"

It turns out that the prideful boy was just using disgust to mask his disappointment.

The afterglow of the sunset was magnificent, and Lu Huaying's figure had already disappeared from Fan Hui's sight.

I don't know how much time has passed.

The soldiers were pushing open the city gate, but Fan Hui was still looking west.

His entourage behind him exchanged glances, not daring to utter a sound.

The two city gates were closed.

Fan Hui snapped out of his daze.

He is no longer the proud, arrogant, and love-struck teenager he once was.

If he weren't Wei Mingsu's friend, Lu Huaying might not even remember his name.

Fan Hui chuckled self-deprecatingly, withdrew his gaze, and turned his horse back to the Protectorate General's residence.

...

As the sun set behind the mountains, night fell.

On the main road outside Uni City, a fast horse galloped by, its hooves breaking the silence of the night.

The soldiers who were dozing against the city wall were startled awake by the sound of hooves. Thinking it was an enemy attack, they were terrified and hurriedly grabbed their weapons, raised their torches and looked down. They found only one rider, breathed a sigh of relief, and asked, "Who is it that wants to enter the city so late?"

The horse stopped at the foot of the city wall. The man on horseback tumbled off, looking anxious and with disheveled hair. He pulled out a tally and shouted, "I have urgent military intelligence to report to General Ma!"

The soldier dared not delay and asked, "What is the general's password?"

Without hesitation, the man replied, "Angelica dahurica!"

The soldier nodded, checked the fish tally, opened the city gate, and let the man into the city. Instead of taking him to see General Ma, he led him to the deputy general.

The deputy general was already waiting at the door. After questioning the man, he immediately led his men to see General Ma.

"General, Governor Wei's personal attendant has returned! He has very important military intelligence to report."

General Ma was sound asleep when his deputy woke him from his dream. He threw on his clothes, went outside, and asked with a dark face, "What important military intelligence is it?"

Tong Jin stepped forward and said, "General Ma, I am a close follower of Governor Wei. The Sheti tribe of Wuzhi has leaked the news. The chieftain was killed by Governor Wuler, and the Sheti tribe has been divided up by other tribes."

General Ma's face turned even uglier.

He received a secret decree from the Empress and, under the cover of Wei Mingsu, led elite troops to the desolate city of Wuni to await the arrival of the Sheti tribe. This was because there were spies from the Western Liang people in Xizhou.

Before the movement, he could only stay in Uni City and couldn't go anywhere. Now that the Sheti tribe is gone, all his suffering has been in vain.

Tong Jin continued, "Governor Wei discovered that other tribes were also dissatisfied with the taxes levied by Xiliang and wanted to submit to the Great Zhou. He persuaded the Duosang tribe to submit to Zhou. The Duosang tribe has already set off, but the Xiliang people have sent a large army to block them. They are in great danger now. Please send troops to rescue the Duosang tribe as soon as possible!"

General Ma frowned, pondered for a long time, then chuckled coldly and said unhurriedly, "This request from Governor Wei is quite difficult for me. The imperial edict I received was to support the Sheti tribe, not the Duosang tribe. Now that the Sheti chieftain has been killed, I must..."

The court has been notified, and we await further instructions. Moreover, the Duosang tribe has already alarmed the Western Liang army; therefore, I must carefully consider this matter and cannot simply send troops without proper planning. Go back and tell Governor Wei to expedite their journey to the agreed-upon location; I will certainly go to meet them.”

Tong Jin was taken aback, then flew into a rage.

Wei Mingsu worked tirelessly, risking his life to gather intelligence and persuade the tribes to submit to Zhou. General Ma only needed to lead elite troops to support the tribes, and most of the credit went to him. Now, although the chieftain of the Sheti tribe is dead, the willingness of the Duosang tribe to submit is an unexpected bonus. However, General Ma is terrified when he hears that the Xiliang army is chasing after the Duosang tribe, and he makes excuses not to send troops!

In his desperation, Tong Jin shouted, "General Ma! Governor Wei and his men are now isolated and without support. If you send a few thousand elite troops to meet them, the Xiliang army will retreat."

General Ma's face darkened: "How dare a mere attendant be so presumptuous before me? Governor Wei's official arrogance is quite something."

The lieutenant secretly wiped away his cold sweat, walked over to Tong Jin's side, and said to ease the tension, "General, he was only trying to protect his lord. Please calm down."

General Ma sneered, "Get out! I have my own plans, and it's none of your business to interrupt!"

The guards immediately stepped forward and pulled Tongjin away.

Tong Jin was trembling with anger. He wanted to berate General Ma for being cowardly and weak, but he was afraid that General Ma would take his anger out on Wei Mingsu. So he could only suppress his anger and ask his deputy for help.

The deputy general sighed and said, "In the past two years, we have launched several offensives against Xiliang, but we have all suffered heavy defeats. The soldiers in our army are somewhat fearful and dare not confront the Xiliang army head-on. If Governor Wei can reach the agreed place, our general will definitely send troops to meet him."

The implication was that General Ma was unwilling to take the risk, and Wei Mingsu and the Duosang tribe would have to rely on themselves.

Suddenly everything went black.

...

The night was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The Dosang tribe's troops entered a forest in the darkness, stopped to set up camp, and fell asleep wearily amidst the occasional howls of wolves in the distance.

Wei Mingsu looked up at the night sky above. There were no stars, so he couldn't determine his direction.

One of the old chieftain's sons, who had been patrolling with Wei Mingsu and a troop during the day, was fast asleep beside him. When he woke up, he found that Wei Mingsu was still awake and said, "Governor Wei, we should have shaken off the Xiliang army. You don't need to worry so much."

Wei Mingsu's expression remained tense.

Shortly after Duosang split into two groups, the Xiliang army caught up. Initially some distance away, they gradually closed the gap, and Duosang could see the smoke signals the Xiliang army used to relay intelligence. A few days earlier, the vanguard of the Xiliang army had caught up, engaging in frequent small-scale battles with the rearguard of the tribe. This new force of Xiliang soldiers, realizing they had caught up with Duosang's main force, was greatly encouraged and pressed on even more closely.

They were forced to engage in battle. Perhaps because Ba Ye had drawn away the main force of the Xiliang army, the Xiliang vanguard was small in number. After several battles, they shook off that vanguard force, and they did not encounter the Xiliang army again in the past few days.

Dosanbu breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Mingsu dared not relax too soon. Tong Jin should have arrived in Wuni City, but no troops came to meet them. They had to reach Wuni City to truly shake off their pursuers.

The old chief's son was asleep again, snoring loudly.

Wei Mingsu lowered his eyes; he needed to rest.

Suddenly, the woods trembled.

The old chief's son's snoring paused for a moment, then resumed.

Wei Mingsu suddenly opened his eyes.

Another vibration was heard.