Tuoba Ze glared fiercely at the guard, and suddenly made a very important decision in his heart. The Crown Prince of Nan'an had actually come to Western Qin and even formed an alliance with the King of Qin. This was truly a case of heaven never closing off all doors.
Upon realizing this, Tuoba Ze immediately ordered his few remaining defeated soldiers, saying, "I have suddenly made a decision... we will not return to Beilie for the time being. Because I have suddenly realized that we have more important things to do in Xiqin."
"What?!" They had been eagerly anticipating this day, finally able to return home and reunite with their families. But this order struck them like a bolt from the blue, leaving them looking at each other with worried expressions.
At the foot of the mountain, Xuanyuan Han sat on a rock, lost in deep thought.
The mountain behind him was no stranger to Xuanyuan Han.
Perhaps, it's more accurate to say he will remember it for the rest of his life.
Back when he was very young, he went with his mother to the Southern Palace in the city, and it was there that they encountered that group of fierce-looking masked men in black.
It was precisely because of this that he met the woman who was about to give birth, a woman he could never repay or forget in his life.
To save him, the woman fell from the cliff edge on the east side of Beishan Mountain right in front of him, resulting in the deaths of both herself and her unborn child.
But he didn't even have time to learn her name, and he would never know it later.
To this day, he only clearly remembers the two short sentences the woman said to him from beginning to end:
The first sentence was: "Are you really Xuanyuan Han?"
The second sentence is: "From now on, we must protect Western Qin well."
Even today, when he recalls what happened here back then, he still grits his teeth, trembles, and is filled with extreme fear.
This is a regret he can never make up for in his lifetime, and it is also the deepest helplessness and fear in his heart that he can never soothe.
Halfway up the mountain, Tuoba Ze sat alone on a rock by a mountain stream, deep in thought as he made his own plans.
He thought that the madam's death would render all his years of painstaking efforts and management futile, yielding very little reward.
After much difficulty and hardship, they finally found this precious ice beauty, and with her inexplicable female body, she cultivated the rare beauty blood that is extremely rare in this world.
Thinking that this time they must be absolutely certain of taking the life of the War God King Qin, and then completely conquer and occupy the land of Western Qin.
But then a mysterious and extraordinary woman appeared—Yi Shangyun. Not only did she somehow and without anyone knowing how she cured the most potent and incurable poison in the world, the Beauty Blood, but now even the Ice Beauty Gu, which was extremely difficult to refine, has been destroyed by that damned madam herself.
All of this meant that all his carefully planned and prepared schemes, which he had meticulously infiltrated the Western Qin Kingdom for so many years, had come to naught.
At this moment, according to his usual habits, he should have been seething with hatred and flying into a rage. Or perhaps this would have been the perfect excuse for him to go on a killing spree and vent his anger.
However, when he unexpectedly learned that the Prince of Nan'an had colluded with the King of Qin of Western Qin, he immediately ordered someone to prepare pen and ink, and bent down on the rock to write a letter.
To show his sincerity, he also planned to send someone to Nan'an Kingdom immediately, carrying a "generous gift" that he had carefully prepared, to be delivered to the King of Nan'an Kingdom on his behalf.
Just as he quickly finished writing the secret letter, prepared the "generous gift" inside, and stood up to choose a reliable messenger, the guard hurriedly stood up, respectfully bowed to him, and earnestly begged, "Your Highness, do you need someone to deliver the message? Now, the King of Western Qin has learned that many foreign spies have infiltrated Western Qin, so he has ordered the entire city to block all messages carried by carrier pigeons. Checkpoints have been set up everywhere in the city, all guarded by the King of Qin Xuanyuan Han's own trusted confidants, making it very difficult for ordinary people to leave the city."
After a brief pause, the guard solemnly declared, "Your Highness, I implore you to give me another chance to redeem myself. I will do my utmost to fulfill my mission and deliver this letter back to the country, personally handing it to the king so that he may send reinforcements to attack Western Qin as soon as possible."
"Shut up! Do you think that after all these years of painstaking planning, I, the prince, still have the face to write back to my father for help? Do you think I will continue to trust you? Do you even know who is responsible for all of this? Poisoning Lanxiang… Hmph, how could you even think of that? You couldn't even subdue a weak woman with no strength to even kill a chicken, what else could you do? All these years, only those utterly stupid subordinates you trained have known how to misuse my Bei Lie's poisonous herbs, raping and plundering everywhere, committing all sorts of evil deeds. Do you really think I, the prince, am completely unaware of all this? I, the prince..." "I've turned a blind eye because you've followed me, leaving your homes and risking your lives. Do you know that this is clearly an attempt to expose our true identity in Western Qin? Or is it a deliberate hint that the King of Western Qin is unaware of my Northern Lie's infiltration? Before leaving Wanjiao Pavilion, I feared the madam would betray me and destroy the poisons she had specially prepared for me over the years. Therefore, I secretly transferred all her poisons. Tell me… are you using my Northern Lie's poisons again?" Tuoba Ze glared angrily into his eyes and rebuked him.
"Your subordinate wouldn't dare, your subordinate knows he was wrong." Upon hearing this, the guard, who had barely managed to stand up, was so frightened that he knelt back down heavily. After saying this, he silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva and dared not utter another sound.
Tuoba Ze was so angry that he didn't know what to do with him. He just let out a heavy sigh. Then he glanced at the soldiers behind him and saw that they were all staring blankly, not a single one of them was smart or quick-witted. He shook his head helplessly.
Finally, he pointed to the short guard who had timidly taken out his spare antidote from his person to offer when he was poisoned by the snake, and said solemnly, "You... come out."
Upon seeing this, the short guard immediately turned around timidly to look around. Only when he saw that everyone's eyes were on him did he realize that the person Tuoba Ze was calling out to was none other than himself, the insignificant and cowardly guard.
He then slowly and cautiously stepped out of the ranks, and carefully bowed respectfully to the prince, saying, "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
"Just now, you wanted to offer me the medicine you kept for treating snake venom, was that right?" Tuoba Ze asked.
"Your Highness, I am afraid... I am afraid that Your Highness's poison will..."
Unexpectedly, before the guard could finish his hesitant and trembling speech, Tuoba Ze raised his voice and shouted, "Good! What my Northern Lie Kingdom truly needs is someone like this—though unremarkable in appearance and merely a lowly guard—who is willing to sacrifice himself in a life-or-death situation. You… immediately set off for the Southern An Kingdom in my stead, and be sure to personally deliver this secret letter to the King of Southern An."
"I... your subordinate..." Upon hearing the unusually heavy words "King," "secret letter," and "must," the guard immediately raised his head and stared blankly into Tuoba Ze's eyes, his heart filled with extreme fear.
He was indeed very kind, but also very timid. Just now, he was only afraid that Yi Shangyun would help Tuoba Ze suck the poison and that he himself would be poisoned. Suddenly, he thought of his sickly sister, so he took out the antidote that he had been hiding on his body and had been reluctant to use.
The antidote in that white porcelain medicine bottle was prepared by his elderly mother, whose hair was graying, when he left home to join the army. She personally went up the mountain to collect herbs for him.
Initially, if it weren't for the fact that his father was forcibly conscripted into the army when he was young and eventually died on the battlefield, leaving his family impoverished and his younger sister frail and sickly from childhood, relying on the meager income he earned from military service to buy medicine and make ends meet, how could he have willingly chosen to live a life of constant danger?
He thought that by being cautious and careful in the army, he had finally made it to the day when he could return home alive, but little did he know that this dream would come and go so quickly.
So, in order to survive, and more importantly, to see his mother and sister again, he had no choice but to obey Tuoba Ze's orders. Looking at Tuoba Ze's personal guards before him, they were a perfect example; if he refused, it would likely be the moment his life ended!
After pondering for a while, he steeled his resolve and accepted the order, saying, "Your subordinate obeys!"
"Good, you all saw that, right? These are the true warriors of my Northern Lie Kingdom." Tuoba Ze immediately gave a thumbs-up to the crowd in praise.
Yet, not a single person among them truly desired to be such a warrior.
Seeing that all the soldiers present looked worried, while he alone looked delighted, he seemed to suddenly realize what he should do.
So he said, “Alright, all of you, perk up and fight to protect our homes and families. If other countries seize our territory, think about it, won't our homes also face being killed and robbed? So, do you want to follow me to kill and rob others, or be killed and robbed by others? ... After I descend the mountain and find a place to stay, I will immediately give each of you fifty taels of silver as compensation. Once we have conquered Western Qin, you will be my trusted advisors in expanding our territory. At that time, I will certainly not treat you unfairly, and your families will naturally receive a better life and protection because of your perseverance today. Do you agree with what I said?”
Just as everyone was still discussing this, the chubby guard suddenly raised his fist in the crowd and shouted, "Defend our country! We swear to follow His Highness the Crown Prince to the death!"
Upon hearing this, everyone raised their hands and shouted in unison, "Defend our homeland! We swear to follow His Highness the Crown Prince to the death!"
The calls resounded throughout the heavens and earth, one after another, rising and falling, lingering in the air of the forest for a long time...
After a long while, as the shouts gradually subsided, Tuoba Ze slowly walked up to the short guard, patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "What's your name?"
The guard hesitated, but upon seeing Tuoba Ze's resolute gaze, he said only, "My humble name is too lowly to offend Your Highness's ears... I am... Li Fugui."
Tuoba Ze then handed him the secret letter and said meaningfully, "Good, Li... Fugui, you will surely have a bright future. This prince... awaits your safe return."
"Thank you, Your Highness." After saying this, the guard turned to go and carry out his duties.
But Tuoba Ze suddenly called out to him...
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