Chapter 124 Secret Message

Ling Shuang stared at the middle-aged woman for a long time, and vaguely recognized a familiar trace on her haggard and scarred face.

Finally, Ling Shuang remembered something, and as she approached, she asked, "Is it Aunt Linglong?"

The middle-aged woman's tears immediately welled up, and she quickly grabbed Ling Shuang's hand.

"Young Miss, this old servant...this old servant is Linglong!"

"It was the old lady who sent me out!"

Ling Shuang held those hands, which were even rougher than her own, and could hardly believe it.

"You escaped from... Tianji City?"

Linglong nodded vigorously.

"Yes! I escaped from Tianji City!"

Ling Shuang was a little incredulous. She knew how strictly those foreigners who occupied Tianji City controlled the Dayu people in Tianji City.

Tianji City is located in a treacherous area, and no one has ever been able to escape from it.

With a major battle imminent, Ling Shuang had to be even more cautious.

“Your Majesty, General…” Ling Shuang looked at Emperor Xiao Xuan and General Shen.

Emperor Xiao Xuan did not speak, but looked at General Shen.

General Shen nodded gently.

"She did escape from Tianji City. In order to protect and cover her escape, more than twenty other people ran out from another route, which attracted the attention of the foreigners."

Those people... were shot dead on the spot, which gave her the chance to run to our side.

Ling Shuang was stunned for a while, then looked at Linglong and suddenly grabbed Linglong's hand and asked, "Is Grandmother alright?"

She just needs to wait a little longer; we'll take both cities back soon!

She'll be able to see me soon!

Linglong nodded vigorously.

"The old lady... can still hold on. The old lady told the young lady not to have any worries."

Whether sons or daughters, all members of the Ling family are soldiers of the Great Yu on the battlefield.

Ling Shuang nodded vigorously.

"Your Majesty, General, Grandmother must have something important to say to Linglong, right?"

"Grandmother already knows we're taking back Tianji City, right?" Ling Shuang asked anxiously.

General Shen nodded gently.

"General Ling had a message for Linglong to bring out, and there were also some things to bring out."

But that thing… Linglong said only you can open it.”

Ling Shuang was taken aback and immediately looked at Linglong.

Linglong turned her back and took out a wooden hairpin from the place closest to her body.

The wooden hairpin was glossy black, as long as a baby's arm, but only two fingers wide than an adult's. It was just a common phoenix tail hairpin, but the hairpin had one ancient pattern after another on it.

“This is…Grandmother’s hairpin!” Ling Shuang recognized it at a glance.

Linglong handed the hairpin to Ling Shuang.

“Miss, the old lady said that what she wants to say is all in this hairpin.”

Only the young lady can take out what's inside this hairpin.

Ling Shuang took the hairpin, as if she had returned to the time before Tianji City was occupied by foreigners.

She was only five or six years old then...

He loved to cling to his grandmother and watch her perform the Ling family's spear technique, which struck fear into the hearts of enemies.

After demonstrating her marksmanship, Grandmother liked to hold Ling Shuang on her lap and tell her about the Weiyuan Army.

"Grandmother, why isn't your hairpin the same as everyone else's?"

Everyone else's hairpins are either gold or jade, so why is Grandmother's hairpin made of wood? Ling Shuang was always curious whenever she saw the wooden hairpin in Old Madam Ling's hair.

Madam Ling smiled and said to Ling Shuang.

"This was a gift from your grandfather! Don't underestimate this hairpin; it's made of the hardest ironwood."

Also, this hairpin has a mechanism; your grandfather begged the most skilled craftsman in Dayu, Zhenbian Gong, for a long time before he finally got it.

You can hide things inside this hairpin...

Look here, you need to turn like this first, then turn two and a half times like this, then turn back one and a half times...

Look, it's open! Your grandfather told me that if there's anything you don't want to say to others, you should put it in the hairpin.

"What if someone else throws something at this hairpin?"

"Haha, it's alright! This hairpin has a bad temper! If you don't do as it asks, there's a little trick inside."

If anyone breaks this hairpin, the little mechanism inside will activate by itself, and some liquid will flow out, corroding everything inside the hairpin.

Back then, hairpins were poisonous; whoever touched them would die!

Ling Shuang, do you know how to open the hairpin?

...

Ling Shuang touched the hairpin according to the method she remembered, and then turned it around a few times.

With a soft click, the phoenix tail part of the hairpin detached from the body.

Ling Shuang gently pulled the hairpin open, and sure enough, something was hidden inside.

Two sheets of oil paper...

General Shen immediately accepted it.

One of the two sheets of oiled paper is a current defense map of Tianji City, and the other is a handwritten letter from Old Madam Ling.

When he saw Madam Ling's letter, General Shen, who had only reddened his eyes but hadn't shed a tear when he heard the news of his son's death in battle, suddenly burst into tears.

His hands trembled as he looked at the piece of paper in his hands, feeling as if it weighed a ton.

After reading the letter, General Shen presented it to Emperor Xiao Xuan.

Just as the eunuch Xue Anhua was about to take it, Emperor Xiao Xuan stood up and took the letter directly from General Shen's hand.

The letter begins: The entire Ling clan humbly requests Your Majesty's well-being...

After reading the letter, even the usually calm and confident Emperor Xiao Xuan had tears in his eyes.

He remained silent for a long time after reading Madam Ling's letter.

“Your Majesty, General…” Ling Shuang was a little surprised.

What exactly did Grandmother write that made His Majesty and the Commander-in-Chief so emotional?

Could it be that the situation in Tianji City is very bad?

Emperor Xiao Xuan didn't speak, but simply handed the letter to Ling Shuang. Then he walked to the entrance of the main tent and looked at Tianji City in the distance...

Ling Shuang was a little puzzled, but she still picked up the oiled paper and examined it carefully...

"The entire Ling clan kowtows to pray for Your Majesty's well-being!"

Your humble servant Leng Yi kneels before Your Majesty, wishing Your Majesty a long and prosperous reign, and that the Great Yu Kingdom enjoys peace and strength.

The entire Ling clan failed to live up to the Emperor's grace and was unable to protect Tianji City, causing it to fall into the hands of foreign tribes for more than twenty years...

I now request Your Majesty's decision: bombard Tianji City. The artillery of Dayu is powerful and will surely capture Tianji City in one fell swoop.

Also attached is a defense map of Tianji City.

Tianji City and Tianju City are connected; only by taking Tianji City can you take Tianju City.

The foreigners laid numerous traps and buried large quantities of gunpowder at the junction of the two cities...

I earnestly request that Commander Shen refrain from bombarding the northeast corner during the siege, as the last remaining lives of the people of Tianji City reside there.

At 3:45 PM on the 12th of September, flames served as a signal...

The Weiyuan Army is invincible!

Ling Shuang was stunned for a long time after reading the letter.

"Grandmother...Grandmother, what do you mean by this?"

"Don't they...want us to rescue them?" Ling Shuang panicked a little.

"The old lady said that she knew that Commander Shen would not have the heart to do such a thing. As long as there are still people from Dayu in Tianji City, he would not be able to kill Tianji City."

The old lady asked me to tell Commander Shen.

Your Majesty, please issue an order to bombard Tianji City. Only in this way can the casualties of the Weiyuan Army be minimized.

"Old Madam Shen doesn't want to exchange the lives of the Weiyuan Army for theirs!" Linglong said, then knelt down.