Chapter 824 Setting Off! (Second Update)

As the two were talking, Shangguan Yan came out of the bedroom.

Shangguan Yan frowned deeply and pressed her thin lips together.

Xiao Heng threw down the branch he was holding, pulled Gu Jiao to her feet, and asked Shangguan Yan, "What did the King say?"

Shangguan Yan frowned and said, "He told us to run away quickly."

If he hadn't said that, she would have run away with the children long ago.

But when he actually told her to run away, she didn't want to run anymore.

Indeed, the human heart is the strangest thing in the world.

"There's no escaping it," Xiao Heng said.

Given the ambitions of the Jin and Liang states, none of the royal family of the Great Yan or the descendants of Xuanyuan will be able to escape. Once the land of Great Yan is ravaged, there will be only one fate awaiting them.

Shangguan Yan nodded: "You all go back to the Duke's mansion first. I will go and summon the ministers to discuss the affairs of the court."

The king suffered a stroke, and war broke out on the borders; truly, misfortunes never come singly.

But no matter what, they had no way out.

Gu Jiao and Xiao Heng returned to the Duke of Anguo's mansion by carriage.

The news from the court had already spread throughout the entire mansion. Steward Zheng cursed the Han family and the Nangong family, and also complained about the various countries with ulterior motives. Of course, he didn't forget to greet the king who had acted on his own initiative.

A room full of people gathered in the lobby.

The old chief minister muttered to Empress Dowager Zhuang, "Why is our Emperor getting involved in this mess? Isn't he a benevolent ruler? Knowing him as I do, it's good enough if others don't attack him; he wouldn't initiate a war. He's not that bold."

They weren't attacking a small state like Chen, but the most powerful of the three kingdoms, Yan.

Empress Dowager Zhuang snorted coldly, "It's obviously not his idea; he must have been instigated by someone else."

The old chief priest pondered for a moment and asked, "Who instigated him?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang said calmly, "It's either Marquis Xuanping or Tang Yueshan." Tang Yueshan is more likely; that guy is warlike.

The old chief priest said helplessly, "Aheng is the eldest grandson of the Emperor of Great Yan, and Jiaojiao is the adopted son of the Duke's mansion. If they really fight... it will be very awkward."

Empress Dowager Zhuang glared at him. Was this a question of whether it was awkward or not?

The old chief priest coughed lightly: "So, what are your plans?"

What are her plans?

If she were really given the choice, she would love to take her children back to Zhao State immediately, far away from the troubles of Yan State.

But that's impossible.

From the moment these children stepped into the State of Yan, their fate was intertwined with that of the State of Yan.

She only hoped that Jiaojiao would stop going to war.

With so many famous generals in the Great Yan family, there's no need to send a young girl to fight, is there?

But the moment Gu Jiao entered the courtyard and went to find the Black Wind King, Empress Dowager Zhuang knew that she was going to the battlefield again.

Empress Dowager Zhuang silently returned to her room.

"Hey—Zhuang—" The old chief priest glanced at the Duke of Anguo and Master Jing in their wheelchairs opposite him, and gave an awkward smile. "Excuse me for a moment."

He followed her to Empress Dowager Zhuang's side.

Empress Dowager Zhuang sat by the window, gazing absently at the crabapple tree in the courtyard.

The old chief priest asked, "What are you doing? You left without saying a word."

Empress Dowager Zhuang remained silent.

The old chief priest sighed, "Things haven't gotten to that point yet, have they? Don't—"

She's only sixteen.

Empress Dowager Zhuang spoke.

The old chief priest was taken aback.

Empress Dowager Zhuang lowered her eyes and took out a new purse from her wide sleeve: "I will be seventeen in two months. Last year's birthday coincided with the war, and this year it is again."

At fifteen or sixteen, she should have been an innocent and carefree age, a time when she should have stayed at home, protected by her parents. Instead, she had already gone to war twice.

Her beloved daughter has never had a proper rest for a single day.

She thought she had lived a tiring life, but after seeing Jiaojiao, she realized she hadn't been tired enough.

If she were a little more tired, wouldn't she be able to share more of Jiao Jiao's burden?

"Auntie."

Gu Jiao's voice came from the doorway. She knocked on the door and asked, "May I come in?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang put away her purse and said in a normal tone, "Come in."

Gu Jiao pushed open the door and entered, glancing at the old chief priest: "Hmm, my great-uncle is here too."

The old chief priest glanced discreetly at Zhuang Jinse, who showed no trace of melancholy, and asked Gu Jiao with a smile, "Is there something you need?"

Gu Jiao said, "There's nothing else, it's just that... the situation in Yan is not good. Ah Heng and I discussed it and decided to find someone to escort you back to Zhao first."

Empress Dowager Zhuang said indifferently, "Even if you hadn't said anything, we were planning to leave anyway. We've been here for so long, we're already tired of it."

The defection of the Han and Nangong families completely disrupted their original plans. The ten great families and the King of Great Yan were no longer the enemies in front of them; the armies of the five kingdoms were.

The old chief priest knew Zhuang Jinse well; she would never abandon Gu Jiao. The reason she was leaving was because she had a compelling reason to do so.

He quickly figured out the key point and said to Gu Jiao, "Your great-aunt means that we should set off as soon as possible and try to reach Chishui Pass before Zhao launches an attack, so that the two countries don't actually start fighting."

There's no way to stop Jin and Liang, but we can still try to win over Zhao, Chen, and Zhao.

No matter who the general leading the troops in Zhao Kingdom is, he and Zhuang Jinse can stop it.

As for the Chen Kingdom, after repeated discussions, Gu Jiao and Xiao Heng decided that Xiao Heng would go to negotiate peace with Yuan Tang.

Xiao Heng will bring Gu Jiao's handwritten letter and the golden seal of the eldest grandson of the Great Yan Emperor.

Actually, it would be most appropriate to entrust this matter to Gu Jiao, since Gu Jiao is the one who has a good relationship with Yuan Tang. Yuan Tang has told Gu Jiao more than once that the future crown prince of Chen owes you a favor and will repay you in the future.

However, firstly, she might not be able to run into Yuan Tang on this trip, and secondly, Gu Jiao had a more important task to complete.

Yuan Tang knew Xiao Heng and had been released from the capital by him, so Xiao Heng was also considered the second best candidate.

Xiao Heng's goal was not only to prevent the State of Chen from going to war with the State of Yan, but also to use the State of Chen's military strength to block the State of Zhao, which was taking a detour.

This is no easy task, but if we cannot stop these two states, once the eastern border of Yan is breached, the morale of the western border will also plummet, making the war with Jin and Liang even more difficult.

After finalizing the plans for both sides, Xiao Heng went to the palace and informed Shangguan Yan of the arrangements.

Shangguan Yan then held another intense discussion with the military ministers of the major families, and finally finalized the entire plan.

Xiao Heng, as the eldest grandson of the Emperor of Great Yan, went to Cangxue Pass in the northeast to negotiate peace with the Chen army, and Wang Xu led troops to escort him along the way.

Duke Anguo, as an envoy of the Great Yan, went to Chishui Pass in the southeast to negotiate peace with the Zhao army, escorted by Feng Wuxiu, the head of the Feng family.

The reason why they chose the young Feng Wuxiu was mainly because he has a powerful older brother, Daoist Qingfeng.

The great-aunt and great-uncle will be arranged in the accompanying entourage.

Next is the selection of the person to lead the western expedition.

Both Tianshan Pass and Yanmen Pass are located in the western border of the Great Yan. The Black Wind Cavalry can reach them in fifteen days by rapid march, while infantry and baggage trains will need a month.

In other words, they likely arrived there in September.

Outside the Golden Palace, Shangguan Yan stared blankly in the west: "It's already very cold at Tianshan Pass in September. Make sure the soldiers bring warm clothes."

Xiao Heng gave her a deep look: "What are you going to do?"

Shangguan Yan said softly, "I will go and request another imperial edict."

The chances of winning this battle are too slim. The morale of the Yan soldiers is not high. If they want to win, the emperor needs to lead the expedition to boost morale.

However, the king is old and has just suffered a stroke, so it is clearly not advisable for him to travel far.

same day.

The king issued an imperial edict, appointing the third princess, Shangguan Yan, as the Crown Princess of Great Yan, ordering her to lead the army westward in place of the emperor!

Accompanying them were 50,000 Black Wind Cavalry and 120,000 Imperial Army soldiers.

This is all the troops that Shengdu can currently mobilize.

The remaining troops were either taken away by the Han and Nangong families or stationed in various border areas and different cities, and could not be easily mobilized.

At the Duke's mansion, Gu Jiao was helping the Black Wind King try on his armor. It also had its own armor; the old one had fallen into the hands of the Han family, and this one was a new one made by the Duke of Anguo.

Gu Chengfeng walked over, curled his lip, and said, "Our forces are less than half of theirs. How are we supposed to fight?"

He himself didn't realize that he had used "we".

Gu Jiao straightened Black Wind King's armor and said, "Fight however you need to fight."

Gu Chengfeng was about to say something when he suddenly caught sight of Gu Changqing at the door: "Big Brother!"

Gu Changqing's health has improved significantly, and he looks quite energetic.

He had a long sword hanging at his waist and a bundle on his back, indicating that he was about to embark on a long journey.

Gu Changqing looked at his younger sister and said, "Are you planning to go alone on something so dangerous?"

Gu Jiao glanced at him and said, "You have a more important task."

The westward-bound army was scheduled to depart on August 20th.

The night before her departure, Gu Jiao decided to visit the Imperial Preceptor's Hall. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Xiao Heng standing at her door.

"What's wrong?" she asked, bewildered.

Xiao Heng opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

"Just say what you want to say," Gu Jiao said.

Xiao Heng lowered his eyes and handed over the two boxes in his hand.

"What?" Gu Jiao asked.

Xiao Heng felt a little embarrassed, took a deep breath, and said, "The box on top is your birthday gift from last year. It was prepared a long time ago, but you went to the border in a hurry and didn't have time to give it to you. This time, I probably won't be able to celebrate your birthday with you either, so I'll give you the gift first."

Gu Jiao opened the box.

Last year's birthday gift was a gold charcoal pencil.

The outer shell is made of pure gold, and it has a built-in rotating mechanism inside, allowing for the replacement of the carbon core.

Wow, it's like an ancient version of a mechanical pencil!

This year's birthday gift is a small gold foil booklet and a pair of hairpins.

Indeed, her little notebook is almost empty.

Giving pens and notebooks as gifts is not unusual, but giving hairpins as gifts is quite rare.

As expected, I've grown up, and I'm no longer making the same mistakes when giving gifts.

Gu Jiao gently touched the white jade hairpin with her fingertips: "I like it very much, thank you."

Seeing how much she cherished it, Xiao Heng knew that he had finally given her the right gift this time.

He took a deep breath and said, "Weren't you going out just now? You can go ahead."

"Oh, okay." Gu Jiao turned around, put the brocade box away, and stepped out of the room.

Watching her departing figure, Xiao Heng composed himself, suppressed the tension in his eyes, and called out to her, "Gu Jiaojiao, when you come back, we'll get married."

Gu Jiao turned around, looking at him with a bewildered expression: "Huh? Aren't we already—married?"

Xiao Heng smiled gently: "It's not Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiaoniang, it's Xiao Heng and Gu Jiao."

I want to marry you, in the name of Xiao Heng.

Gu Jiao's lips curved slightly: "Okay."

Wait for me to come back, and I'll marry you.

Hmm, good morning.

(End of this chapter)