"What?"
Upon hearing this news, Tuoba Hong's face turned ashen. He stared at Tuoba Ze's face in disbelief, completely stunned.
The two were silent for a moment. Tuoba Ze sighed deeply, slowly stood up, and his eyes, cold as a knife, revealed a serious expression.
"On the battlefield of Western Qin, a new general named 'General Yi' has emerged. His tactics are completely different from those of the veteran generals, catching us completely off guard. This young man, though of unknown origin, is well-versed in military strategy and is incredibly brave and skilled in battle. He is full of cunning schemes, and despite our best efforts to guard against him, he always manages to strike where we least expect it, achieving victory through surprise. This alone has already made him very difficult to deal with, and we have been suffering repeated defeats. Now, if we add the Qin King Xuanyuan Han and his 160,000-strong Western Qin army, then my Northern Lie is in grave danger..."
Tuoba Hong was well aware that Tuoba Ze had returned to the country and, without even a moment's respite, had gone straight to the battlefield.
Over the years, conflicts had frequently occurred along the borders of the four kingdoms of Lingkong, which was nothing unusual. Therefore, he hadn't paid much attention to it. However, upon hearing what Tuoba Ze said, he was unaware that the situation had become so severe and critical.
At this moment, Tuoba Hong, who had always focused solely on his research of medicinal herbs and remained oblivious to everything else, began to worry and feel anxious about national affairs for the first time in his life.
"What should we do? Such a big thing has happened, we must report it to Father immediately! Why did Western Qin suddenly launch a full-scale war against our Northern Lie?"
In contrast to his panic and helplessness, Tuoba Ze stood with his hands behind his back, appearing extremely calm and composed.
He squinted, seemingly lost in deep thought.
After a moment of quiet contemplation, he exhaled a sigh of relief, then stared intently at Tuoba Hong's face and said earnestly, "Father is now quite old and has been bedridden for over half a year. He is already struggling to take care of himself, and you know better than anyone that his days are numbered. It's best not to let anyone mention this news to Father for now; he can't withstand any more storms. Judging from the current posture of Western Qin, they probably don't just intend to swallow up my Northern Lie Kingdom. So many years have passed, and they... have finally decided to take action against this continent."
Upon hearing Tuoba Ze's words, Tuoba Hong felt immense sorrow. "Yes, my father's life of military service has ultimately come to an end, and he can no longer fight."
At this thought, he lowered his eyes and stared at the ground for a long time, then suddenly asked in a low voice, puzzled, "But, but didn't my brother say that before the fate of the Western Qin guardian's descendant is confirmed, none of the four kingdoms of Lingkong would act rashly or attack each other? Then why is Western Qin doing this..."
As they were talking, Tuoba Ze took out an envelope and handed it to him. He took it and asked in confusion, "What is this?"
Tuoba Hong then pulled out a sheet of Xuan paper and unfolded it. He was immediately stunned by the lifelike portrait of a young, beautiful, and charming woman that had been copied on it. Staring blankly at the portrait, he asked, "This woman... she... who is she?"
Tuoba Ze replied softly, "This is the portrait of the guardian of Western Qin that the Queen Consort, the bedmate of the King of Western Qin, personally gave me before I returned to my country!"
"What? This...this is really the legendary guardian of Western Qin?" Tuoba Hong looked at Tuoba Ze in surprise, then looked back at him carefully.
Besides herbal medicine, Tuoba Hong, who had always loved literature and calligraphy and was particularly fond of painting and calligraphy, suddenly felt that this woman looked somewhat familiar.
He quickly retrieved it from his memory and connected it with the murmurs in the nightmare on his clothes.
Just as he was lost in thought and hesitation, a guard hurried in.
The guard bowed respectfully to the two men and stood aside, seemingly wanting to say something, but after glancing at Tuoba Hong, he held back and did not speak.
Seeing his hesitation, Tuoba Zesu ordered him in a low voice, "Speak what you have to say!"
"Yes," the guard replied, and then reported, "It's like this. A few days ago, the people the Crown Prince sent to the Western Qin Kingdom to continue searching for the Guardian's whereabouts just sent word that King Xuanyuan Han of Qin... has secretly stopped all operations to find the Guardian's location!"
"'The search for the Guardian's whereabouts has been secretly stopped'... Why is that?" Tuoba Ze was startled and asked in a cold voice.
The guard replied, "There are many different opinions about his actions. Some say it's because he may have secretly found the Guardian and wants to keep this powerful, mysterious force for himself; others say he has ulterior motives and is doing this on purpose, wanting to seize the throne and not wanting Emperor Jing to have the protection of the Guardian's power, so he is outwardly obedient but inwardly defying his orders; but it's also very possible that he is preoccupied with the war with our country and has no time to attend to it..."
"You've already found it secretly?" Clearly, Tuoba Ze seemed more interested in this point.
The guard pondered for a moment, then glanced up and inadvertently at the clouds on the bed. He suddenly remembered something and, finding it somewhat strange, said, "By the way, a while ago, when we were still at the Four Seas Tea House in Western Qin, I overheard people on the street talking about how the descendant of the Western Qin guardian was the female physician that the Qin King's mansion was offering a reward for throughout Lingkong. Otherwise, why would the Qin King be willing to spend such a high price just to find a mere female physician?"
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Hong, who had been silently pondering to the side, suddenly snapped out of his daze and nervously looked at Yi Shangyun's face.
At the same time, Tuoba Ze glanced at her quickly, then turned back and gave her a cold laugh, saying contemptuously, "Those ignorant fools from the Western Qin Kingdom are obviously talking nonsense. She is completely different from that noble-looking guardian, there is no comparison at all. The guardian's descendant is as beautiful as a fairy, while she... humph."
Suddenly, he changed his mind and asked Tuoba Hong beside him, "Brother, what do you think about this?"
At this moment, Tuoba Hong, who was lost in his own unbelievable thoughts, suddenly came back to his senses upon hearing the voice, paused for a moment, and then deliberately echoed, "Your Majesty is absolutely right. This rumor is completely unfounded. How could Wu Le possibly be a descendant of that mysterious guardian of Western Qin?"
Tuoba Ze nodded with a smile, seemingly quite satisfied with the answer. However, upon regaining his composure, he became worried again about the rather grim situation: "But then again, we've already sent so many people and searched Lingkong for so long. Could it be that the descendant of the guardian has truly been secretly found and taken by King Xuanyuan Han of Qin? If so, wouldn't the Western Qin army be invincible and unstoppable? Wouldn't my Northern Lie really be in jeopardy...?"
As he was speaking, Tuoba Hong hurriedly interrupted him: "The great battle is imminent, Your Majesty, you must not lose your composure. So many years have passed, and there has been no news of the Guardian in the world. I suppose even the Guardian's descendants may not be alive. Even if she is lucky enough to be alive, she may not be as miraculous as the legends say. Such a gentle and dignified woman, could she really have three heads and six arms? Or could she scatter beans to create soldiers and gallop across the battlefield? Legends are always bound to be distorted and deliberately exaggerated."
After he finished speaking, Tuoba Ze nodded slightly and finally relaxed his furrowed brows. Only then did Tuoba Hong quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, the guard who had reported this suddenly spoke up again: "Your Highnesses, you may not know this, but those who told me this said it's not just a rumor..."
Before he could finish speaking, Tuoba Hong, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, sternly rebuked him: "Shut up! Don't continue spouting these nonsense and disturbing the morale of the army!"
Before he could finish speaking, Tuoba Ze also spoke up, but he stopped Tuoba Hong.
“Hey, Royal Brother, let him finish speaking first! As the saying goes, ‘The truth cannot be hidden, and the falsehood cannot be made true.’ I am quite interested in these folk tales of the Western Qin Kingdom. Think back to the beginning, we didn’t even know what that mysterious power in the Western Qin Kingdom was. Later, we gathered scattered information from all over the country, and finally, with that girl’s hint, we finally understood that the mysterious power was actually a woman. At most, it’s fine to just listen to it as gossip.”
No matter what Tuoba Ze said, for some reason, Tuoba Hong remained anxious and nervous, wanting to end the conversation as soon as possible: "No, Your Majesty, this..."
Tuoba Ze finally interrupted him with a smile: "Calm down, calm down." As he spoke, he nodded to the guard who was standing by at a loss.
At this moment, the guard timidly spoke again: "Those who said this claim that the female physician favored by the Prince of Qin's mansion is no ordinary person. She is a woman protected by the power of the phoenix, destined to be a savior of the suffering and a person of great wealth and honor..."
After exchanging only a few words, Tuoba Ze became interested and asked, "Phoenix divine power?"
The guard nodded and said, "It is said that this female physician was originally a useless and ugly daughter of a pharmacist in the Yi family in the west of the city. However, for some reason, she was in a coma in the mansion for a year. Then, on the night she woke up, a dazzling light, resembling the phantom of a seven-colored phoenix, descended from the sky in the backyard of the Yi family and landed right on the young lady's pavilion. And this young lady's personality changed drastically after she woke up. So people say... that the real young lady of the Yi family was actually already dead, and the current young lady was possessed by that seven-colored phoenix."
"Is there really such a strange thing in the world?" Tuoba Ze was stunned by these words.
Tuoba Hong clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and glared angrily at the guard, as if he wanted to devour him alive.
The guard didn't dare look at his face. After thinking for a while, he said, "This matter has now spread to almost every street and alley in the Western Qin capital. I even heard from a crazy beggar that the guardians are born with a phoenix mark on their shoulders. It is a symbol of being protected by the phoenix's divine power and also a symbol of the guardian's identity."
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Ze's eyes immediately turned to Yi Shangyun's direction, and he strode over to her bedside...
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