Chapter 1116: A Long-distance Game
"I will immediately enforce military discipline!" When the deputy general clasped his fists, the sound of armor colliding was particularly crisp.
The blood-red cloak fluttered in the night wind. General Tianshui squinted his eyes and looked towards the city wall. The dazzling red was like a never-extinguished fire in the center of the battlefield.
The moment he saw the other party raise his hand to signal, he hurriedly ordered the horn to be sounded. After all, the only one in the entire continent who dared to wear the scarlet battle robe into battle was the "Red Phoenix" of Zhao.
Silence came suddenly. Tens of thousands of soldiers from both armies looked at the broken flag and heard their own heartbeats deafening.
The north wind at the border blew up the black battle robe. Jiang Xue pointed the sword at the envoy from afar, and a cold star-like light flashed across the corner of her eyes:
"Go back and tell Huangfu Shang that if he dares to take off his tortoise shell and confront me head-on, I will withdraw the order to abuse the troops in front of the battle."
The scouts galloped at full speed through the night.
When Huangfu Shang's golden scale armor illuminated Yumen Pass, the cold moon had already turned twice.
He looked at the fluttering flags on the top of the city wall, a playful smile appearing on his lips.
This long-distance game ended up going as he wished, but he didn't expect that the crimson figure would use such a tricky way to seek justice for Lan Feng.
"really!"
He stroked the black iron wristband, undercurrents surging in his eyes.
The Tianshui cavalry crushed the dawn of the Gobi Desert, and three hundred thousand elite soldiers pressed on, vowing to tear open the knot of fate that had spanned ten years.
Five days later, the drums of war roared, but the city tower was as silent as a dead pool.
Huangfu Shang reined in his horse in front of the formation, and clouds of dark clouds gradually gathered under his gilded helmet.
This is not how Jiang Xue should behave. Back then, she was a lunatic who dared to lead 800 light cavalry to attack the king's tent.
At this moment, the commander's tent was filled with the aroma of medicine. Jiang Xue leaned against the soft couch and counted the hours.
Yun Zhendu's Nine-transformation Golden Pill would still need three days to mature. She gathered her fox fur tightly to hide the trembling in her sleeves and tilted her head to look at the storyteller: "Yun Che, that year when Mobei had a snowstorm..."
"Your Highness the Princess was holding my cloak and talking nonsense at that time?"
Xiao Zhan blew the medicine onto the ground to warm it, and suddenly a slender finger poked his heart: "Who was it that night who secretly kissed the young general who was on guard that night?"
The fighting outside the city gradually subsided, but the soldiers inside were still waiting for their god of war.
They didn't know that behind the tightly closed city gate, their princess was using her last bit of strength to play against fate, just like when she first took control of the military at the age of fourteen, holding the blood-stained flag tightly in a sea of corpses and blood.
"It's me."
A gentle smile spread across Xiao Zhan's eyes: "To be favored by the princess, I will have no regrets in this life."
A smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Xue's eyes, and her originally pale lips were tinged with a bit of life.
Seeing that the tiredness between her brows had faded a little, Xiao Zhan leaned over and kissed her forehead: "Xiaoxue, rest in peace."
After the person on the couch's breathing gradually stabilized, Xiao Zhan carefully tucked in the quilt and turned to leave.
The snow under the eaves reflected the moonlight, casting a clear glow on his black cloak. Just as he was about to go to the east side hall to check on Lan Feng's injuries, he suddenly saw a messenger running in the snow.
"Master Prime Minister, Princess Yuyin has returned with her young son and is now in the front hall."
"Jiang Yuyin?"
Xiao Zhan paused slightly, the jade ring on his palm glowing coldly in the night.
After all, Jiang Xue kept the promise left by the late emperor. Even though that man had plotted against her aunt twice, she still left room for him.
Lowering his eyes to hide his thoughts, he brushed the falling snow off his shoulders and said, "The princess has just fallen asleep after a night of defense. I'm going to see an old friend first."
After turning around the nine-turn corridor, I saw three people in the hall from afar.
The woman in plain clothes holds a child wrapped in fox fur in her arms, and the man in green standing beside her has picturesque features but a sinister look.
Before Xiao Zhan could speak, Jiang Yuyin came forward with the child in her arms: "If I hadn't seen the Prime Minister here, I would have thought the news was a misunderstanding. My elder sister has always disliked the bitter cold in the northern border, how could she..."
"The border is in danger, Your Highness will not stay out of it."
Xiao Zhan's eyes swept across the man behind her. The black iron soft sword wrapped around his waist glowed darkly under the candlelight: "Who is this?"
Jiang Yuyin moved the child to her left arm and gently touched the man's palm with her fingertips: "Su Chang, my husband."
Before he finished his words, a white and tender little hand suddenly popped out from the swaddling clothes and grabbed Xiao Zhan's black jade ribbon.
When the man in green bowed, the unique cool fragrance of ice silk from the Western Regions wafted faintly from his sleeves.
Xiao Zhanxu gave him a helping hand, his eyes slightly frozen when he saw the snake-shaped tattoo on the man's wrist.
"You don't have to be so polite, sir."
Xiao Zhan's eyes were still fixed on Jiang Yuyin's face:
"May I ask, Your Highness, the timing of your return is so delicate. There are so many checkpoints from the capital of Tianshui to the important border town. I wonder how you managed to break through the blockade?"
Jiang Yuyin clenched her cuffs with her fingertips:
"Huangfu Shang's apparent appointment of me as queen and Wuyou as crown prince is just a cover to hide his evil ambitions.
He originally planned to wait until the government and the people relaxed their guard and then march eastward. By then, our lives would be in danger..."
"Fortunately, my eldest sister had planned ahead and placed shadow guards in the palace several years ago. The night they detected the unusual movement, they escorted me and Ah Chang out through the secret passage."
Jiang Yuyin's voice trembled slightly when she mentioned her old friend.
Xiao Zhan nodded: "Your Highness's safe return is truly a blessing from heaven. Please take a rest for a while. When Qingyun wakes up, I will arrange for you and your sister to meet."
In the early morning light, Jiang Xue woke up from her coma.
Her muscles and bones still ached as if they had been run over, but her mind was much clearer. She looked around the room and saw no one, but she saw Xiao Zhan sitting alone by the window, with an inextricable sadness between his brows.
“Yun Che?”
Upon hearing the voice, the young man hurried to the bedside and placed his palm on the back of her slightly cold hand: "Do you want to serve us food? Or should we ask the doctor to come and check our pulse again?"
"No problem."
Jiang Xue tapped his furrowed brows with her fingertips: "But you, just now you looked as if you wanted to look through that carved window."
Xiao Zhan's Adam's apple rolled: "Princess Yuyin has returned, and brought with her... the child's biological father."
"It is a blessing to have family members reunited."
"But that man..." He hesitated and finally swallowed the unfinished words.
When Jiang Yuyin stepped into the bedroom, the pale face leaning on the soft pillow in the scent of sandalwood made her heart ache.
The aunt who always stood proudly in my memory now seemed as fragile as thin porcelain.
"How could my elder sister be so sick?" She staggered to the bedside.
Jiang Xue stroked the back of her sister's trembling hand and said, "Your foundation was damaged when Yaoyao was born. This time, you forced yourself to activate your internal energy to save Lan Feng. It's okay."
The smile on the corners of her lips was so faint that it seemed to melt into the halo of light shining through the gauze curtain.
The candlelight danced on the pearl hairpins on Jiang Yuyin's temples. Her fingertips stroked the unfinished tiger-head hat on the table: "Yaoyao is taken from Taoyao? This name really suits Zhige's features."
"Xiao Zhan spent three nights reading the Book of Songs before deciding on this."
Jiang Xue leaned against the Qingluan pillow and coughed, the jade bracelet on her wrist knocking against the medicine bowl and making a tinkling sound: "But your guard Su, who gave up his future in his homeland to follow you across the river, should be taught the art of controlling a husband."
The silver scissors snapped the embroidery thread, and Jiang Yuyin suddenly looked up: "Sister, why don't you just say it directly?"
She pressed the embroidery frame heavily on the rosewood table: "You suspect that he has Huangfu Shang's rope tied around his neck and Tianshui Kingdom's boat under his feet."
A wisp of green smoke rose from the gilded incense burner, and Jiang Xue's pale fingertips traced the Tianshui territory on the map: "When my father was dying, he grabbed my wrist and asked me to protect you under my wings."
She suddenly started to cough violently, and her handkerchief was soaked with red plum blossoms. "Now that my wings are broken, I have to borrow the sword of your husband to block the wind."
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