Chapter 315
The soldier carried "Murong Yan" and walked into the city.
Just as Duan Gan was about to look away, his gaze suddenly fell on Duan Gan's naturally hanging palm. Duan Gan frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes.
Murong Yan felt a thorn in his back, cold sweat broke out uncontrollably all over his body, his heart pounded like thunder, and he couldn't even hear his own breathing.
He closed his eyes tightly, salty sweat streaming into them, gritting his teeth, thinking that it would be good to get into the city.
A gust of cold wind blew, and he shivered.
The soldier carrying him sensed this and sighed silently, his heart filled with sympathy and pity for him.
It's truly lamentable to think that the once dashing and spirited Murong Yan has become so timid.
Back in the room, someone immediately brought a doctor to treat "Murong Yan's" injuries.
The doctor went in, stood by the bed, looked at his body covered in wounds, shook his head and sighed, prepared medicine and gauze, and reached out to take off his tattered clothes covered in dust and grit.
When the doctor saw his injuries, his eyes narrowed, not out of pity, but with a look of doubt and confusion.
If he remembered correctly, Lord Murong had been in the enemy camp for more than a month. Why were his injuries so fresh, the whip marks as new as if they were from yesterday?
Looking at the person cowering in fear, he suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Lord Murong, I'll go out and get the other medicines first."
He smiled kindly, walked out, turned around and went to the study door, where he knocked.
The people inside stopped talking instantly and all looked towards the door.
Meng Tian got up and went to open the door, only to find it was Doctor Chen. He frowned, thinking that he had gone to treat Murong Yan.
"What's wrong, Dr. Chen?"
Doctor Chen, however, looked panicked, as if facing imminent disaster. He didn't have time for small talk and said directly, "That Lord Murong is an imposter!"
He had expected Meng Tian to be just as nervous as he was, but to his surprise, Meng Tian didn't react at all.
Meng Tian cautiously looked around, then pulled the bewildered Doctor Chen inside.
Dr. Chen looked blankly at everyone in the room, seemingly unsurprised by their presence.
Chen Jinghe crossed his arms and asked with interest, "Dr. Chen, how did you figure out that he wasn't Murong Yan?"
“I can tell by looking at the wound. The wound wasn’t from a month ago, but from the last two days. This means they deliberately injured him in order to impersonate Lord Murong.”
Zhang Cheng nodded. "Yes, the injuries are also visible."
"I just don't know why they assume we're stupid. We wouldn't know if it were someone else."
Meng Tian clasped his hands in a fist salute to Duan Gan and said admiringly, "Your Highness has such discerning eyes that you could tell at a glance that there was something wrong with that person."
Dr. Chen then realized that Duan Gan had figured it out long ago.
"In that case, should we just leave the injury untreated and have it dragged away and killed?"
Chen Jinghe exclaimed "Eh!" and said with a smile, "Old man Chen, how come even you have become so cruel? A prisoner is a prisoner, so we should treat him properly."
The word "hospitality" was emphasized a bit, and anyone could hear the underlying meaning.
Doctor Chen stroked his white beard and looked at Duan Gan, asking, "So what now? Should we let him fend for himself, or will you handle it yourselves?"
Duan Gan: "Don't let him die yet, he might be useful."
He nodded. "Understood. I'll take my leave now."
The door opened and then closed.
Meng Tian asked with some doubt, "Your Highness, why keep that thief alive? I think that since they sent him here, they probably didn't expect him to still be alive."
“But he was wearing Murong Yan’s clothes, which would prove that Murong Yan is still alive. But they even switched people this time, so it’s even more impossible that they would use them to replace him.”
Chen Jinghe glanced at Duan Gan and guessed, "Does Fourth Master want him to pass on false information to Nuhaci?"
“In his eyes, he was lucky that we hadn’t discovered him, and he would definitely try to find a way to tell Nuhaci about our situation.”
"We want to launch a coordinated attack from within and without to break through Yuquan Pass."
Duan Gan remained silent, neither nodding nor denying.
It was night, and unusually, it didn't snow. The gloomy sky even had a few stars shining through.
The camps where the Turkic army was stationed were filled with bonfires. Soldiers, with wine in one hand and meat in the other, danced wildly in circles, their laughter echoing in the air for a long time.
Nuhachi, dragging his wounds, lay in a chair, holding a wine jug in his arms, gazing at the gunpowder and cannons not far away, a smug smile on his face.
"So what if he's General Dingyuan? He hasn't fought a war in so many years, he's long forgotten that the battlefield is inherently treacherous. He's probably regretting his past actions now, hahaha..."
"Once I've crushed the Celestial Empire, the first thing I'll do is offer Duan Gan's head as a sacrifice to the heavens!"
He took another satisfying sip of the spicy liquor, and while drinking and eating, he felt no cold at all in the snow.
The pent-up frustration that had been building up in his chest all day, and the pressure that felt like an invisible knife hanging over his head, vanished the moment he acquired this batch of gunpowder.
Some soldiers were so excited that they took off their shirts, which drew cheers and jeers.
Unbeknownst to anyone, in the darkness beyond the reach of the firelight, a dark shadow swept through the air like a gust of wind.
Dressed in a black outfit, Leng Xu hid in the shadows, his eyes secretly observing his surroundings.
Suddenly, his gaze stopped, fixed on Nuhachi lying at the entrance of the tent, his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a hint of aggression.
As night deepened, the laughter gradually faded, leaving only the murmurs of drunken people, and some lying in the snow fast asleep.
The howling wind blew across the orange-yellow campfire, causing the flames to flicker and cast eerie shadows on the ground.
Like a wild beast waiting to devour its prey, it stared menacingly at the swaying soldier.
"Hey! Get up... You can't sleep here... Uh..."
Anachus hiccuped, his eyes glazed over. Despite being clearly drunk, he still made sure the soldiers who were having a wild time went into their tents to sleep.
Sleeping outside in the dead of winter would freeze you to death.
He kicked the corpses lying there, then groggily walked towards his tent.
As soon as I stepped inside, I found it pitch black. I couldn't help but curse those lazy people, and staggered toward the candlestick to light it.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind him and covered his mouth.
Anachuo's pupils immediately constricted, he was terrified and struggled frantically.
Moonlight refracted through the slightly open curtains, reflecting the image of a gleaming, cold blade. In his terror, a gush of warm blood spurted from his throat, arcing through the air.
Leng Xu released his grip, and a soft thud echoed in the quiet environment, along with the faint whirring of someone struggling to breathe.
It quickly died out.
With a cold expression, Leng Xu squatted down and wiped the blood-stained dagger on his body before getting up and heading towards a target.
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