Chapter 166

border.

Before the food and grass arrived, Xi Zixing's letter had already flown to Zhongyi City.

There are two letters in total.

One letter was sent to Qu Dubian and the other to Xia Fuyang.

The two of them took it apart and looked at it together.

After reading his own, Qu Dubian smiled and said, "He is quite concerned about the public opinion in Beijing and reminded me to keep a low profile."

But can he keep a low profile just because he wants to?

"He's quite right. Overdoing things will lead to disaster," Xia Fuyang agreed. "But we are in the northern border now. The emperor is far away. If someone doesn't like your achievements and wants to embarrass you, they have to wait until we return to the capital."

Qu Watanabe: "We'll talk about the future later. Come and see you."

Xia Fuyang muttered as he opened the letter, "Why would this guy write to me? Does he miss me too...?"

The first sentence I saw:

Tsk, it’s still not easy to write these two words “Tanhua”…

Xia Fuyang slammed the letter on the table, and Qu Dubian's eyelids twitched twice: "What are you doing! I haven't read it, what did you write that makes you so excited?"

Xia Fuyang gritted his teeth for a moment, then smiled and said, "Nothing."

He stood up, pushed Qu Duanbian's shoulder, and pushed him out of the tent, "Okay, okay, I'll take care of the rest myself, you go ahead and do your work!"

After saying this, he closed the tent.

Qu Dubian wondered: "What are these two people whispering about?"

When did friendship deepen? Even he couldn't bear to read the letter.

Inside the tent.

Xia Fuyang started reading the letter again.

His face began to twist uncontrollably, and finally he tore up the letter.

The letter was extremely concise. On the one hand, it told him to take good care of His Highness and not let Him get hurt too much, on the other hand, it started to sound sarcastic from the first sentence.

Xi Zixing, this damn thing!

Is there any need for him to tell me? Will His Highness be able to see clearly?

After being angry for a while, Xia Fuyang tasted the flavor and suddenly laughed.

Xi Zixing is a somewhat aloof person. He is usually quite polite and won't offend others easily. But the letter he sent was full of sarcasm from the beginning. What does this mean?

This shows that he is very envious of the fact that he can kill the enemy together with His Highness.

Being envious but unable to do so, it evolved into jealousy.

Ha ha!

Xi Zixing was jealous of him!

Xia Fuyang glued the torn letter back together and kept it happily.

He swore that he would write an analysis of the letter, take it into his coffin, and write it in his epitaph, so that people in later generations would laugh at Xi Zixing's jealousy of his behavior.

-

night.

The commander's tent.

Qu Dubian was wearing pajamas, sitting cross-legged on the bed, holding a mirror in one hand to look at his nose.

He was looking at the needle hole on his nose.

He has to get his nose pricked crooked after so many injections. He doesn’t want to be the general with a crooked nose.

After looking at it for a moment, the boy nodded with satisfaction. He had good technique and found the right position. Everything was perfect.

Qu Dubian picked up the silver needle under the pillow, disinfected it, gathered his internal strength in his hand, attached it to the silver needle, and when he was about to give himself another injection, his wrist was suddenly grabbed by someone.

"Six six."

Qu Watanabe looked up.

Yi Twelve said nothing, nor did he let go.

Qu Watanabe: "Be obedient, I'll give you a speech book after the injection."

Yi Twelve showed an unusually tough attitude. He snatched the silver needle from Qu Duanbian's hand and confiscated it.

"There has been no war recently, Your Highness does not need to go to the battlefield, so you don't have to get vaccinated."

"...Actually, I think..."

Yi Twelve also imitated Qu Watanabe's speaking style and said seriously: "Be obedient, or I will complain."

Now it was Qu Dubian's turn to remain silent. He let out a long sigh, fell on the bed, his long hair sliding down the edge of the bed. He kicked the quilt with his legs, grabbed the pillow and hugged it in his arms, his sleeping position was a mess.

The boy stared at the top of the tent with lifeless eyes.

After Yi Twelve confiscated his silver needle, he did not leave.

After a moment, he hesitated and said, "Your Highness, do you have a headache?"

"Um?"

Yi Twelve was previously busy with the affairs of the Supervisory Office. Only recently, after he had dug out all the bribes from Northern Xinjiang that Feng Bing had received, did he have time to continue following Qu Dubian.

He found that Qu Dubian was pinching his brows, rubbing his solar plexus, and closing his eyes for short periods of time to rest more and more frequently.

Only people with headaches would do this.

Yi Twelve squatted down: "Stimulating the acupoints to block the sense of smell has affected other aspects?"

Qu Watanabe immediately closed his eyes: "No."

Yi Twelve was silent for a few seconds, but did not refute him: "I will give Your Highness a massage, it will help you sleep."

He pressed two fingers on Qu Dubian's Taiyangxue point, his fingertips were slightly cool, and he gently massaged.

Qu Watanabe muttered something, but Yi Twelve didn't hear it clearly, but he could feel that Qu Watanabe's breathing and heartbeat were gradually stabilizing.

His Highness fell asleep.

He slept in an unrestrained posture, lying on the bed with his legs spread out.

There is a light blue shadow under the eyes.

Yi Twelve stopped, gathered up his hair that had fallen to the edge of the bed, and adjusted his sleeping position.

This situation was somewhat familiar; he had done this before.

Finally, he covered Qu Dubian with the quilt before leaving.

-

It was five days after Xizi's letter arrived.

The food and fodder have arrived at Zhennan Pass.

The food and fodder from the northern border have not arrived.

Eight days later, the food and fodder still hadn't arrived.

This exceeds the normal time it takes to transport food to the border.

Qu Dubian sent Ye Lianyang to welcome the grain and grass team, but he didn't see anyone.

A message was sent to Tang Yisu who was transporting grain, and the reply he received was that there was a sudden heavy rain, the road was muddy and difficult to travel, the transportation of grain and fodder was delayed, and the grain and fodder were still on the way.

At this time, the remaining food on the border was no longer enough for the soldiers to eat.

Qu Dubian could only temporarily reduce logistics expenses and ensure that the soldiers on the front line had enough food.

Logistics is also very important. As food becomes less, the speed of replenishment slows down a lot. Some people simply fill their stomachs with more water, then find a place to rest and try not to move.

Qu Watanabe could only be thankful that it was not winter yet.

Otherwise, the calorie consumption will be high and the food will be consumed even faster, and it may be even more difficult than it is now.

The people in Northern Xinjiang seem to have noticed something. The frequency of harassment has increased significantly in the past few days. I wonder if they are testing us.

Xia Fuyang sent another message to the grain transport team, asking them to speed up.

But the response we got was that the road was muddy and a cart of grain had already overturned. To avoid another overturn, the only way was to move forward safely.

Xia Fuyang laughed angrily: "This reason... Is it that the person in charge of this grain transportation is inexperienced or is it intentional? If it drags on, I will suspect that he is a spy from the Northern Frontier!"

"The food in the city can no longer hold out. If the soldiers go hungry for a day, their spirit will be wrong. If the northern border comes again, the casualties will be doubled."

"Xiao Qi, how about you stay in the main town while I lead the troops out to get the food? I don't believe that we can be any slower in going to get them."

Qu Dubian leaned his hands on the edge of the table, looking at the relevant information about the person in charge of transporting grain this time, which Liu Liu had sorted out overnight.

The escort, deputy envoy of water transport, Tang Yisu, had a smooth personality and mediocre means, but he had never made any mistakes. After a long time, he was promoted to the position of deputy envoy.

How could a person who had never made any mistakes and had served as deputy envoy for so many years delay the delivery of military rations to the border?

"Wait one more day."

Qu Dubian said: "If they haven't arrived yet, you can go along the grain transportation route to pick them up, and take them back even if you have to rob them."

-

The second day.

When Xia Fuyang was out on patrol, Tang Yisu arrived at the main city.

Qu Dubian was relieved when he heard the news and asked immediately, "Has all the grain been stored?"

Ye Lianyang shook his head: "No, the food hasn't arrived yet. It was Lord Tang and his men who came."

"People are here, but food isn't?"

"Lord Tang said that the food will arrive soon, but he needs to see you first to discuss something privately."

"Meet me alone..."

Qu Watanabe frowned.

Since Tang Yisu refused to hand over grain, why would he meet with him alone?

He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and said, "I will go to the main city. When Xia Fuyang comes, tell him to guard the city. I will be back soon."

Ye Lianyang: "Boss, I'll go with you!"

Qu Dubian patted him on the shoulder and said, "Just follow my orders, Liuliu."

Ye Lianyang glanced at Yi Twelve standing beside Qu Watanabe and lowered his head silently.

"All right."

He was no match for Liuliu's personal guards either.

Qu Watanabe packed up briefly, picked out a hundred men from his own thousand-man guard, and rushed to the main city with Yi Twelve.

Galloping all the way.

-

Main city.

Tang Yisu was eagerly waiting.

A hundred soldiers were riding horses outside the city, and his eyes were instantly fixed on the Seventh Prince.

Nothing else.

Too dazzling.

Several months of border fighting had inevitably made him more murderous, but his original dignity was not diminished in the slightest.

Tang Yisu narrowed his eyes and watched the Seventh Prince roll off his horse swiftly.

Qu Dubian walked up to him and said, "Master Tang."

Tang Yisu smiled and bowed: "Meet His Majesty the Seventh Prince."

Qu Watanabe said bluntly: "Why is there no food?"

Tang Yisu made a gesture of invitation and said, "I will explain the reasons to Your Highness in detail."

The place where he lived was one of the better houses in the city.

Qu Dubian glanced at him and walked inside. Yi Twelve followed him but was stopped by Tang Yisu, "Sir, please wait. Your Highness is the only one who can hear this."

Yi Twelve stopped and looked towards Qu Duanbian.

Qu Watanabe took off the sword from his waist and handed it to Yi Twelve: "Wait for me outside."

He followed Tang Yisu in. He really wanted to see what Lord Tang was planning.

-

Inside the house.

After entering, I found that the interior of the house is much more elegant than the exterior.

There is also a vase made of flowers and plants on the small table for conversation, which is quite interesting.

Unexpected.

There was already someone sitting at the table.

Qu Dubian said in surprise: "Eunuch Cui."

"Your Highness," Cui Rong bowed and poured him a cup of tea. "Please come in."

Qu Dubian sat opposite him and glanced at Tang Yisu: "Didn't you want to discuss something with me? Why did you become Eunuch Cui?"

Tang Yisu said respectfully, "Eunuch Cui, please speak first. I am not in a hurry."

After saying that, he stepped out first.

Now, only Qu Dubian and Cui Rong were left in the room.

"Eunuch Cui, what are you doing here?"

Qu Dubian knew that Cui Rong was Lao Deng's confidant and would not come out to do things easily. If he came, it only meant that what Lao Deng ordered was very important.

Cui Rong: "Your Highness has grown up."

Qu Dubian took a sip of tea and waited for his next words.

“The border still looks like this.”

Cui Rong sighed, as if he suddenly remembered something, "Oh... Your Highness' uncle, Commander Xu who is currently leading troops at Zhennan Pass, also fought at the border and northern Xinjiang when he was your age."

"I was here once at that time, and later I was the one who sent Commander Xu back to Beijing. After so many years, his leg has healed."

“…”

Qu Dubian raised his eyes, and after a few seconds, he said calmly: "Eunuch Cui, what do you mean?"

His fingers on the edge of the teacup tightened unconsciously.

Cui Rong: "I came here on orders then, and I come here on orders now as well."

He pulled out a pitch-black dagger from his bosom. There was a golden dragon engraved on the scabbard of the dagger, and one word was written on the handle: "Behead."

"This is the power granted to you by His Majesty to execute first and report later. With this dagger, if you find anyone suspected of treason while marching on the border, you can kill him immediately without reporting to the emperor."

Qu Dubian didn't move, so Cui Rong had to put it on the table.

Then he took out another thing.

A small green bottle.

"This is what Your Majesty is going to give to Commander Xu after the battle at Zhennan Pass ends."

Qu Watanabe: "What is it?"

Cui Rong: "Broken tendons and broken bones."

Qu Watanabe didn't say anything, put down the teacup, picked up the small bottle, touched it, and then looked at the meaning of the simulator.

The room was quiet for a moment.

"If it was for my uncle, why did it end up with me?"

Cui Rong said: "There is only one dose of medicine. If one person takes it, the other person will naturally not be able to take it."

"Eunuch Cui," Qu Dubian put down the bottle and asked, "I want to know, did His Majesty say this, or did you make the decision on your own?"

"His Majesty dotes on you, so he will naturally not let Your Highness suffer."

Cui Rong smiled, "It's just that I think Commander Xu has finally stood up from the wheelchair, there's no reason for him to feel the pain a second time. And since he's your uncle, maybe you can help him share the burden for once?"