Su Rong nodded. She knew Cui Xingzhi. There had been a file on the Qinghe Cui family in the secret compartment of the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace. It had prominently recorded information about the patriarch of the Qinghe Cui clan, Mister Cui, as well as his most highly regarded grandson, Cui Xingzhi.
Unexpectedly, Mister Cui had sent Cui Xingzhi to Nanchu.
With his men, Cui Xingzhi quickly held up the retreat of the siege cannon. Over a thousand men tangled with the guards protecting the cannon. Then, with a swing of his sword, Cui Xingzhi destroyed two of the cannons.
Cui Yanjin belatedly shouted, "Oh dear, cousin, why did you destroy them? I wanted them!"
Cui Xingzhi paused his action, turned to Cui Yanjin, then promptly ordered, "Take these two cannons back with us."
With his command, his personal guards pushed the siege cannons away.
Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei roared angrily, "Cut them off, destroy the cannons, and don’t let them get away with them."
He would never allow the siege cannons to fall into Su Rong’s hands.
With Yuan Zhao’s order, the siege cannons were held up again, and men from both sides began to skirmish over them. The people of Dawei, being most familiar with the operation principle of the siege cannons, inadvertently triggered something during the fight, and the two siege cannons exploded instantly.
Cui Xingzhi, seeing the two cannons completely destroyed, had no choice but to call off his men.
Feeling weakened, Su Rong ordered, "Have your cousin retreat!"
"Cousin, sister-in-law said, retreat!" Cui Yanjin shouted.
Cui Xingzhi nodded and led his men in retreat. Reaching Su Rong’s side, he signaled his men to carry her, as well as Xie Yuan, Fen Ling and others who had already fallen. The group withdrew to Heiya Pass.
Yuan Zhao did not order his men to pursue them. The group was made up of masters, and pursuing them today was likely to result in no good. He could only begrudgingly order his soldiers, "Retreat! Withdraw the troops!"
Both parties retreated simultaneously. The city gate of Heiya Pass was wide open, allowing ample time for the soldiers of Nanchu to carry away their dead or injured comrades from the battlefield.
Zhou Gu was standing at the gates, watching Su Rong being carried in. He stared at her grimly, "Su Rong, you really dared!"
Su Rong looked at him helplessly, knowing that Zhou Gu would be furious, but she had no other options. Her dying with him would have achieved nothing. Even though she couldn’t get away, he could. At least somebody would be able to avenge her.
Cui Yanjin glanced warily at Zhou Gu, but still said softly, "Cousin, you are so scary, sister-in-law will be scared of you and won’t like you."
Zhou Gu shifted his gaze toward Cui Yanjin.
Cui Yanjin immediately shivered and hid behind Cui Xingzhi, pulling at his sleeve, "Cousin, Cousin, our cousin is so fierce."
Cui Xingzhi gave a light cough and saluted Zhou Gu, "Cousin, the priority right now is to get a doctor to treat the injuries, sister-in-law is seriously injured."
Zhou Gu had a stern face, "Doctor Zhang!"
Doctor Zhang rushed out from the crowd, "I-I’m here."
Zhou Gu pointed at Su Rong, seeming reluctant to speak to her any further.
Getting the hint, Doctor Zhang immediately ordered, "Quickly, take the princess back to the residence."
The group rushed toward the residence. Not long after, Su Rong fainted.
Zhou Gu, having cooled down, managed to keep from fainting through sheer willpower. He stood there, an aura of frustration and anger surrounding him. It was so palpable that nobody dared to come close to him.
"Cousin, you also need immediate medical treatment," Cui Xingzhi reminded Zhou Gu, noting his bloodied body.
Zhou Gu nodded without asking about their sudden arrival. The fact they’d appeared in Nanchu meant they’d definitely been sanctioned by his maternal grandfather. He said, "Your arrival is just in time. From now on, the defense of Heiya Pass will be entrusted to you."
Cui Xingzhi felt a big burden descend on him, "Cousin, this..."
"We have no other options. The generals have all been severely injured," Zhou Gu said.
Cui Xingzhi fell silent for a moment, then nodded, "Alright, cousin, rest assured."
He instructed Cui Yanjin, "Yanjin, escort cousin back to the residence to have the doctor attend to him. I’ll stay behind to handle the aftermath of the battle and set up the defenses."
"Alright." Cui Yanjin came out from his hiding place and softly said to Zhou Gu with a stern face, "Well, cousin, let’s go."
Zhou Gu nodded.
Cui Yanjin quickly had someone help Zhou Gu into the carriage, and he hopped in as well.
Once in the carriage, Zhou Gu leaned against the wall, sitting down. Cui Yanjin noticed his injuries were still oozing fresh blood. He instructed the carriage driver, "Hurry up, go faster."
The driver immediately whipped the horses, speeding up the carriage.
Cui Yanjin plucked up the courage to ask Zhou Gu, "Cousin, a-are you okay?"
Zhou Gu looked at him, "Are you stuttering?"
"N-no."
"Then speak properly," Zhou Gu commanded.
Cui Yanjin immediately sat up straight, unsatisfied, "Isn’t it because you are too fierce? How could sister-in-law like you, with such a ferocious appearance, to the point of giving up on the Second Young Master of the Ye Xiang Residence in Nanchu and choosing you as her husband?"
He looked at Zhou Gu doubtfully, wondering if his sister-in-law actually liked such a man?
Zhou Gu, who was initially filled with anger, now found himself laughing from Cui Yanjin’s remark. Too lazy to explain the reason to him, he asked, "I ask you, how did you and Xingzhi get here?"
At this, Cui Yanjin had quite a story to tell. He quickly relayed the information about how his great uncle Mister Cui had received their aunt’s urgent letter stating that most of the guards Su Rong had brought with her had died. Predicting that the situation within Nanchu must be extremely dangerous, a clan meeting was convened to discuss sending young clan members to Nanchu to assist their cousin and divert part of the Cui clan to Nanchu. However, the elders did not have much faith in Nanchu’s prospects and were reluctant to send their descendants. In the end, only Mister Cui sent Cui Xingzhi, and his own parents agreed to let him come, so the two of them ended up coming to Nanchu.
Cui Yanjin also thought that their arrival had been just in time. Otherwise, given today’s battlefield situation, sister-in-law would have been finished. His great-grandfather was truly wise.
Zhou Gu realized what had happened, and his face softened slightly, "I have to thank my grandfather. If you guys hadn’t arrived today, we would have certainly lost this battle."
It was not just the battle that would have been lost. He would have lost Su Rong too, and Nanchu would have been devoured and annexed by Dawei, in turn endangering Daliang. If he wanted to avenge Su Rong, it would be incredibly difficult; there was no telling when he would be able to take revenge for today’s events. How was he going to live the rest of his life?
Despite his young age, Cui Yanjin still asked Zhou Gu question after question out of pure curiosity, especially about why Zhou Gu was so ferocious. He remembered his cousin being much friendlier, teaching him how to use the sword when he was a child. He had always been patient with him. Although Zhou Gu had a temper, he rarely lost it without cause. He was usually seen with a smile on his face and was rarely seen being so hot-headed.
Zhou Gu took a deep breath, "Where did you get so much curiosity from?"
Cui Yanjin chuckled, "Cousin, just tell me, please. Based on the fact that I saved sister-in-law today, don’t you like sister-in-law?"
"Who said that I don’t like her?" Zhou Gu retorted. Would he have pursued her to Nanchu if he didn’t like her? He said, "Today on the battlefield, she let Ye Guixue forcefully take me away."
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