"I can't leave." He finally spoke after a long pause, giving a reason that seemed to be directed at no one.
I grabbed his sleeve and shook it again.
Some things, no matter how many reasons or how much fear you have, you have to face them, sooner or later.
"After today's events are over." There was a hint of compromise in his tone.
He's the commander-in-chief, he can't leave after just one defeat. I know that, but how much time is left? Without victory, no one will feel at ease, but can he wait until the day they win?
He looked again at the letter he was holding in his hand, his thumb twitched slightly, and he suddenly looked up and said, "Qingqiu Mountain is in the south?"
I looked at him and nodded. That's what Fu Xi wrote in his letter.
"In Fuchi?"
I lowered my head. We'd traveled south all this way and had never heard of Qingqiu Mountain. If it existed, it could only be further south in Fuqi. But how could we advance south without conquering it?
"We'll depart in five days." His words were so decisive, appearing and disappearing in an instant. For a moment, I thought it was just my imagination.
He looked at my incredulous expression and smirked, "Haven't you been thinking about this all along? What, you don't want to go?"
I'm thinking about it so much I'm going crazy.
He possessed a defiant and unyielding spirit, and could disbelieve Fu Xi's words, but I had no choice. Otherwise, I wouldn't have risked my life to return to the capital to retrieve his severed arm. The South is mild; an arm severed from a body wouldn't last long before it begins to rot. We don't have much time to waste. But I couldn't tell him this. Now that he promised to depart in five days, I am naturally delighted.
But who knows what might happen if we head south so rashly?
"Don't worry, we'll take the mountain path, it'll be very secluded and safe." He patted the top of my head.
I spent five days in anticipation, but he didn't rest for a moment. He mobilized his troops, launched small-scale raids, captured a granary in Fuqi, and repeatedly directed his forces to harass the enemy. His formidable foe, however, never revealed to me who it was.
I had no mind to ask any more questions; my mind was filled with thoughts of the South. My personal weapons and armor were all ready, and my rations and clothes were packed away. But then I felt I had too much stuff, so I started cutting things off one by one. My leg wasn't fully healed, yet I began hopping around in the tent on one leg.
The passion that welled up inside me was a feeling I hadn't experienced in nearly twenty years of my life, but when I had some free time, I felt a bit out of place and strange.
Nothing could change me so quickly, not even Jimo.
"Liao Yan".
I looked up, and he lifted the curtain and entered.
"Military affairs have been handed over to General Nan; we can leave now."
General Nan is Nan Qing's father. One of his veteran generals is calm, capable, and very reliable.
Up until this moment, I began to feel afraid. My heart was pounding, my hands and feet were ice-cold, and I didn't know what I was afraid of. I could only reluctantly agree to his request and reach for the light bundle.
The mountain road was too difficult to traverse by carriage, and my leg injury had not yet healed, so I could not ride alone. Therefore, I rode with him, and we took a spare horse. We then officially set off, telling the army that he was personally going to investigate the disaster at Wolongkou, and that I was accompanying him. Considering he was an emperor, this reason was understandable. Therefore, we could only travel north and then turn back south to avoid gossip.
Halfway there, I suddenly thought, if he weren't a king, and hadn't been born in a chaotic era, I wouldn't look like this. Would I not have to take such a roundabout way to avoid being seen? Would I be able to walk in the sunlight, oblivious to everyone around me?
Without looking up, she simply gazed at the pattern on his shirt lapel and sighed softly.
He was destined for nobility. There was no escaping it, no hiding it.
Thinking back, I was indifferent, contemptuous, and disgusted with him; I did all sorts of things. But now that he has become an emperor, why am I willing to worship him?
No way, no way.
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