Two days later, Zhou Shen and Zhou Che, leading an army of two hundred thousand, arrived at Heiya Pass.
Upon their arrival, they found Heiya Pass peaceful without any signs of battle or rising smoke from warfare, which left them startled.
Zhou Gu personally greeted the two, "Second elder brother, third elder brother."
Zhou Che immediately asked, "Fourth brother, where are the troops from Dawei?"
"Two days ago, they withdrew." Zhou Gu said.
Zhou Che gasped, "Dawei actually withdrew their troops? Why? Didn’t we come here for nothing then?"
"It’s not for nothing. Let’s enter the city first and then talk." Zhou Gu led them into the city.
Zhou Shen and Zhou Che nodded and followed him into the city.
After entering the city, Zhou Gu simply explained to them how the Dawei Crown Prince Yuan Zhao had been attacking Heiya Pass for several days without being able to capture it, breaking six siege cannons in the process. The conflict at Heiya Pass had now reached a stalemate, with Dawei presumably guessing that the Daliang reinforcements would arrive soon, hence their withdrawal.
Zhou Shen and Zhou Che sighed.
Zhou Shen asked, "Fourth brother, you must have had a hard time a few days ago, right? I can tell from your face that your injuries haven’t completely healed."
Zhou Gu nodded, "Yes, I almost died at the hands of Yuan Zhao."
Zhou Che clenched his teeth, "We will definitely take revenge on Dawei for our old and new grudges."
He would never forget how his father, uncle, and other relatives had died at the hands of Dawei.
"We don’t have to wait for the future - rest for a day today, and we will set out for Dawei tomorrow," Zhou Gu said: "To take revenge".
"What?" Zhou Che was once again shocked, "Fourth brother, what do you mean? Dawei just withdrew their troops, we are going to chase after them? Do we have enough provisions and military supplies?"
"Enough to conquer a few cities," Zhou Gu said.
"This..." Zhou Che was stunned.
Zhou Shen was also astonished, "Fourth brother, is the princess planning to counterattack Dawei?"
"Yes." Zhou Gu then analyzed the pros and cons and the reasons for making this decision for them. Even if they could only capture a few cities, it would still peel a layer off Dawei.
After they heard his analysis, they also felt it was feasible and immediately became invigorated, "We initially thought we had come too late and couldn’t perform our military duties. This is wonderful."
When they arrived at the Commanding General Residence, Su Rong was already waiting at the entrance, and she greeted them with a smile, "Second brother, third brother."
Zhou Shen and Zhou Che were both stunned at her address. They quickly turned their heads to look at Zhou Gu, seemingly surprised at when the great wedding had taken place? She had even changed how she addressed them.
Zhou Gu cleared his throat, "Let’s just call it that for now."
He probably understood that Su Rong had accepted being called sister-in-law by Cui Xingzhi and Cui Yanjin and had never corrected the two of them, so she naturally had to change her address now that his two cousins had arrived, to avoid appearing biased.
Hearing this, Zhou Shen and Zhou Che turned back around and quickly greeted Su Rong, "Fourth sister."
Su Rong smiled and invited the two men into the residence.
They came to the front hall and had two cups of tea. After a bit of small talk, someone showed them to their quarters to rest.
Zhou Gu accompanied them to their lodgings, with Zhou Che closely following Zhou Gu and whisperly asked him, "Fourth brother, you and the princess..."
"She’s my sister," Zhou Gu corrected.
"Alright, alright, she’s my fourth sister," Zhou Che changed his words, "the two of you, you haven’t had the big wedding yet, right? Have you already had the big wedding, and we don’t know?"
"Not yet," Zhou Gu said, "But we already have a marriage contract, and I have recognized this by the king and Ye Xiang. If it weren’t for the incursion of Dawei, we would have returned to the Nanchu Capital long ago and accepted the canonization. Her change of address in advance is also to reassure you that I am the only one who will be the king’s husband."
Zhou Che understood, "I see."
He smiled and said, "You scared us there. It seems the fourth sister treats you quite well."
"Naturally," Zhou Gu smiled, "At the very moment of life and death, she would rather die on the battlefield than let others protect me. She was so angry with me, I ignored her all night."
Zhou Che: "....."
He looked at Zhou Gu carefully, "Ignored for a night?"
"Yeah, ignored for a night."
"How did you ignore her?" Zhou Che was curious.
"I was so angry at her that I didn’t want to talk to her," Zhou Gu certainly didn’t say that when Su Rong was unconscious, he was angry enough not to want to stay with her in the same room, and that he didn’t sleep well in the next room. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Zhou Che clicked his tongue, patted Zhou Gu’s shoulder and said, "Fourth brother, even when you lose your temper and throw a fit, you’re not like other people. Sleep for a night, and your anger will go away, and it will be fine the next day? Is this what you call ignoring for a night?"
Zhou Gu: "..."
Zhou Shen laughed beside them, pulling Zhou Che’s arm, "It’s a great relief to see that both the princess and our fourth brother are safe. Back in the front hall, the two cousins from the Cui family in Qinghe were talking about the dangerous situation back then, and it still gives us a chill."
He asked Zhou Gu, "Did you send a letter to our family after Dawei withdrew its troops? Our grandmother and aunt must be very worried about you."
Zhou Gu nodded, "A letter has been sent. The falcons Xiaoqi keeps aren’t enough, so a messenger was dispatched urgently. It isn’t possible to reach the Capital City of Daliang that quickly."
Zhou Shen nodded.
The day Dawei withdrew its troops, Luo Yan, the future crown princess, led the people of the Poison Doctor Sect to take the lead in attacking Heiya Pass, and due to continuous fatigue and her unhealed old wounds combined with new ones, she fell into a coma again.
After she regained consciousness two days later, she found herself lying in a carriage with the army on the move. She immediately sat up, pulled back the curtain of the carriage, and looked outside. Indeed, they were on the move. She was puzzled and called out, "Someone here."
A member of the Poison Doctor Sect immediately came to her, "Sect Leader, you’re awake? Are you hungry? Or thirsty?"
Luo Yan was neither hungry nor thirsty, "Why are we on the move?"
The person immediately replied, "The Crown Prince has withdrawn the troops. We are on the road back to Dawei."
Luo Yan’s face changed, "Why did he withdraw the troops without capturing Heiya Pass?"
The person shook his head.
Luo Yan immediately ordered, "Stop the carriage, I want to see the Crown Prince."
The person nodded and immediately went to the front carriage to report.
In a short while, the procession stopped. Luo Yan was helped down from the carriage and came to the carriage of Yuan Zhao. After seeing Yuan Zhao, she questioned him, "Your Highness, why did you withdraw the troops? We haven’t avenged Hongying’s death yet."
Yuan Zhao looked at Luo Yan. The just-awakened person, though pale and supported by someone, was not weak, but full of vigor. He was quite satisfied with his prospective crown princess. She was capable and ruthless, but she was not calm and patient.
He gently explained to her, "Heiya Pass received reinforcements. Unable to take Heiya Pass and not wanting to waste resources, this prince had to withdraw the troops. You can rest assured, Hongying was killed by Zhou Gu, and I remember this. At the right time, I will let you personally avenge her. Now, you’re very injured. Go back to Dawei with me and recuperate. A gentleman’s revenge is not too late, even after ten years."
Luo Yan was disgruntled, "So, we’re just leaving like this?"
Yuan Zhao said, "I understand your dissatisfaction. I lost six siege cannons, and fifty-thousand soldiers; I’m even more reluctant to leave. But now, I can only withdraw troops. Nanchu has Daliang as its backing, and I must take Daliang into account because I fear that over time, Daliang will take the opportunity to cause chaos in our rear."
Luo Yan pursed her lips, but she was also reasonable. After listening to Yuan Zhao’s words, she no longer held a grudge, "Alright! But you said it, you will let me avenge my brother personally sooner or later."
Yuan Zhao affirmed, "Yes, this prince said it, you can rest assured."
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