Then, he grasped Chu Huaixu's wrist, his fingertips gently stroking the area where he had been injured before. His Adam's apple bobbed violently a few times.
Almost instantly, Chu Huaixu understood what he meant.
At that moment, it felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
He chuckled softly, pinching Song Ting's chin with one hand, forcing Song Ting to raise his head. His fingertips lightly caressed Song Ting's cheek as he slowly leaned forward, his heavy breath pressing down on Song Ting.
"To hit me with a stick and then give me a treat—does the Commander really think that doing this will make me grateful?"
Song Ting shook his head. He had never thought that way; he just didn't want Huai Xu to suffer anymore.
But Chu Huaixu's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes, filled with hatred, fixed on Song Ting, like a sharp sword that wanted to rip out Song Ting's heart.
"This just makes me feel disgusted." He spoke each word slowly and heavily.
Song Ting clenched her fists tightly, her breathing becoming rapid.
“And…” Chu Huaixu suddenly let go of her hand at this moment, “I will die soon, don’t waste your energy.”
"No! I will never let you die!" No matter what Chu Huaixu said before, Song Ting had not uttered a single word of rebuttal, but the word "die" precisely struck his sore spot.
Song Ting suddenly approached, her eyes bloodshot and crimson. "I will protect you, no matter the cost, I will protect you."
I will definitely protect you.
These words flashed through Chu Huaixu's mind, repeating themselves over and over again.
The man before him had a serious and persistent expression, and his tone was almost pious. He felt a dull pain rise in his chest, as if something had flowed through his heart, and the lingering pain was long-lasting.
Chu Huaixu thought to himself that he had fallen into darkness five years ago and had never touched the sunlight since then. He had long since become accustomed to the darkness and cold.
But after painstakingly getting to this person's side, he seemed to feel a long-lost warmth again.
He hated this person, yet he was also bewitched. He feared he would forget his original intentions, once again believe this person's lies, and be doomed to eternal damnation, unable to face his loved ones in the afterlife.
So he could only remind himself again and again that this person was not his light, but a demon who was pushing him into hell.
The deep-seated hatred he harbored left him no room for wavering. He had planned for years to reach this point, and he could not afford to make any further mistakes.
We must not be soft-hearted.
...Absolutely not.
Song Ting noticed the fleeting expressions on Chu Huaixu's face. He opened his arms and pulled Chu Huaixu into his embrace, offering no further explanation, only making the same promise as before:
"I won't let you die, please believe me."
"My lord." Qi Zhou suddenly appeared outside the door.
"..." Qi Zhou's arrival was both untimely and timely, leaving Song Ting with somewhat complicated feelings.
After calming himself down for a moment, he turned his head and frowned: "What is it?"
Qi Zhou: "Someone from the palace has arrived; His Majesty has summoned us urgently."
Song Ting: "I understand."
He tucked Chu Huaixu into the blanket: "What do you want to eat? Have the kitchen prepare it."
Chu Huaixu frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "The sweet fermented rice balls from Qingfengju."
...
Shanmen Pass is steep and easy to defend, making it a natural barrier for Dayan. There is an old saying that goes, "As long as Shanmen Pass doesn't collapse, Dayan will not perish."
In the 160th year of the Dayan era, General Chu Mingde launched a coup, declared himself king, and changed the country's name to Dayan, thus establishing the Gu family's rule that lasted for more than two hundred years.
Chu Mingde recognized the importance of Shanmen Pass from the perspective of a military general. After ascending the throne, he deployed heavy troops at Shanmen Pass and decreed that it be guarded for generations.
His actions proved to be extremely prescient; the mountain gate, a natural barrier, shielded Dayan from countless predatory predators. This greatly benefited Dayan's long-term stability and security.
Three days ago, General Zhongyuan Gu Yi arrived at Shanmen Pass and was ordered to conduct the annual inspection of the deployment within the pass.
At dawn that day, after inspecting the military camp, he decided to take a walk around and unknowingly wandered into the depths of the mountains.
Just as he was about to return to camp, he heard some unusual noises around him. Looking closely, he saw several masked men in black sneaking towards him.
With longswords drawn, arrows rained down. The men in black clearly hadn't expected to encounter Gu Yi and his guards at this moment. Their momentary panic came at a heavy price, and all seven of them were killed.
The guards found a parchment on the chest of a black-clad corpse and handed it to Gu Yi. Gu Yi unfolded it, took a look, and gasped in horror—
The paper is marked with the names of various camps and important grain and fodder locations at Shanmen Pass, and the names and portraits of the officers of each barracks and garrison are also clearly written on it!
If Gu Yi hadn't suddenly decided to come and take a look, this defense map would very likely have been taken out and given to someone with ulterior motives.
The extent of the disaster this would bring to Dayan is simply unimaginable.
The young emperor urgently summoned Song Ting to the palace for this very reason.
"...So, General Gu, have you found out who these spies are?"
After listening to Gu Yi's story, Song Ting looked at the parchment in her hand, her brows furrowing in worry.
Without in-depth understanding and meticulous observation, it would be impossible to draw such an accurate and detailed defense map.
As for the generals, it would take some time to match each general's name with their appearance and create portraits that were 90% similar to theirs.
And yet, no one discovered the presence of the spy during this entire process. Will the mountain gate still be a natural shield for the Great Evolution...?
The question slowly crossed the minds of the three people present, the emperor and his minister.
“No, these people did not carry any items that could verify their identities,” Gu Yi said. “Moreover, I have also checked, and those men in black are not from the camp.”
“Not being a member of the camp doesn’t mean there aren’t disloyal people in the camp.” Chu Minghuan reached out and patted Gu Yi’s left shoulder lightly twice.
After a while, he said in a deep voice, "I will entrust this matter to my two ministers. You must find out the truth for me!"
"I obey the decree!"
"This subordinate obeys the order!"
...
Chu Huaixu couldn't stay in bed any longer. As soon as Song Ting left, he got out of bed.
The weather was quite nice today, so he ordered his men to move the chaise lounge to the garden, where he could bask in the sun and eat melon seeds.
Just as I was finishing cracking open a handful of sunflower seeds, a scorpion suddenly crawled over to my feet.
The ugly thing was baring its fangs and claws at his feet, but Chu Huaixu wasn't afraid at all. Instead, he dropped the sunflower seed shells in his hand and bent down to pick them up.
The backyard is some distance from the garden. Since this thing can climb all the way here, there are probably quite a few more in every corner of the Song mansion.
The thought of those maids and servants trembling with fear filled Chu Huaixu with joy.
"Hiss..." Before I knew it, I got stung by the scorpion.
I don't know if it's poisonous or not, but it really hurts.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com