Dressing change
As soon as Gu Chengjue entered the military tent, a strong smell of blood hit him in the face.
Even though he was already accustomed to the fighting on the battlefield, the strong fishy smell that was enough to cover up the smell of herbs still made his dark eyes surge with cold hostility.
On the couch, the man with his eyes slightly closed slowly raised his eyes: "Cheng Jue, you're back."
Gu Chengjue looked at the bloodshot in his eyes, and the corners of his lips, which had been raised recently, were now tightened into a straight line.
He walked to the front of the bed, lowered his eyes and bowed, "General, I am late."
After he finished speaking, Gu Chengjue's lips continued to move silently. Then, he took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and handed it to the general.
They can cooperate well in fighting on the battlefield, let alone understand Gu Chengjue's lip shape.
The general took the medicine bottle, unsealed it, tilted the porcelain bottle slightly, and gently took a pill from it.
The small pill instantly dissolves the coolness in the mouth, and rolls down the throat. When passing through the internal organs, it transforms into a warm current that moisturizes the meridians, making the back of the heart that is enduring pain burn with warmth, as if it has been enlightened by an immortal, and new skin and flesh grow in the gentle care.
Feeling such miraculous effects, even the battle-hardened general couldn't help but be stunned.
He gently lifted the porcelain vase and nodded approvingly at Gu Chengjue. He then handed the specially prepared paper and pen to Gu Chengjue, whose eyes melted slightly. "It's been a while since we last met. You've been through so much on this journey. Let's sit down and talk."
Gu Chengjue continued to respond with his lips, but his hands were placed on his knees, writing secret words.
——It’s my fault that I have implicated the general.
After reading the secret letter by candlelight, the general looked at Gu Chengjue, shook his head slightly, and then ignited the paper over the candle flame.
On the newly replaced letter paper, the general moved his fingertips lightly and wrote his reply.
—There will always be such a day. It's just that they seized a great opportunity. When the enemy invades the camp and I go into battle, they can mobilize their supporters to take advantage of the chaos and kill me.
They exchanged words of comfort and their hands were constantly moving.
——Although you and I have already dealt with the soldiers with the surname Wang once before, the morale of the army has been low recently, and they must have been taken advantage of again, giving rise to many people with disloyalty. It was my fault for not noticing it, and Cheng Jue does not need to blame himself.
Seeing this, Gu Chengjue frowned.
——Those people really don’t change their bad habits.
Though your entire family has been exiled, your blood is thicker than water with Your Majesty, forever inseparable from the royal family. This conviction compels them to choose an innocent execution over a free one. Your Majesty already has few children, and ever since the Crown Prince was convicted of treason, the various royal princes have coveted the throne, their allies each supporting their own masters, eager to make a move. And now, Your Majesty is advanced in years, and earlier this year, your only surviving son, the Second Prince, suffered an assassination attempt and remains bedridden ever since. Your Majesty has been secretly visiting renowned doctors in various locations. Though these visits were made secret, now that you and I have learned of the situation, it's undoubtedly too late; the news has already reached the ears of those treacherous individuals. Your Majesty, deeply troubled by this, has not attended court in two months. Now, both the Second Prince's condition and the turmoil plaguing the empire indicate a hopeless situation.
Gu Chengjue's phoenix eyes moved slightly, and a hint of cold contempt flashed in his deep eyes.
This fight in the Gu is as exciting as ever.
However, the profit field in the name of power and desire is constantly changing, and there will never be a real winner.
Thinking of this, Gu Chengjue couldn't help but laugh.
——Parents who love their children will always plan for them. However, despite all the scheming Your Majesty has for the Second Prince, he ultimately succumbed to his lust for power. Now that the royal family has been eliminated, the next step is for the other clan members. So, now, they are so impatient, wanting to eradicate me as a warning to others, perhaps because they have already identified the true Gu King. However, I wonder how long Your Majesty's ailing body can hold out against their pressure?
Seeing this reply, the general looked deeply at Gu Chengjue, his eyes moving.
——Before that, Your Majesty will definitely choose an opponent who can rival him in order to stabilize the government.
Gu Chengjue's eyelashes trembled slightly, and without thinking, he bent his knuckles and set the tightly clenched letter on fire.
——But I believe no one knows better than Your Majesty the injustices suffered by everyone in Prince Ning’s Mansion.
The general looked at Gu Chengjue and patted his shoulder gently.
He simply needed a handy tool, even if it was a double-edged sword. You were once a distinguished figure among the imperial family, writing brilliant essays that earned His Majesty's praise, and your martial arts were renowned on the battlefield before you were even a teenager. If His Majesty were willing to select a few scapegoats from among his ministers, all the troubles could be easily resolved with a few words from him. And you, in turn, could be the imperial family member whose presence would draw crowds and earn you the praise of the entire capital.
Gu Chengjue held the letter paper and concentrated for a long time.
Seeing this, the general's eyes settled and he nodded. After Gu Chengjue burned the letter to ashes again, he said meaningfully, "Chengjue, the time is up. We should change the medicine."
Gu Chengjue's eyes flickered, and he nodded, "Yes, General."
As he walked out of the military tent, the cold north wind blew all over Gu Chengjue's body.
He instructed the guard on the side of the tent to go down and pass on the medicine.
Then he looked out at the bright moonlight in the south and took a deep breath.
The north wind washed away the bloody smell around him, but failed to dispel the depression in his heart.
In this life, the Second Prince was attacked two years earlier, and the old Emperor's suspension of court was also three years earlier.
If he were to live his life again, he would never make the same mistake again.
And those people, that person, finally couldn't sit still anymore.
His second uncle was the emperor of the Southern Dynasty.
In the past, people would rather trust treacherous officials and kill their loved ones in order to cling to the icy throne of the emperor.
Now, the cause and effect are backfiring, but can we still sit still?
But as a puppet emperor who was gradually sidelined, his every move was like a puppet, under the surveillance of everyone.
If you act rashly, once someone finds out something is wrong, the emperor on the dragon throne might die suddenly because of the shaking hands and the addition of a few too many "tonic" medicines to heal himself at night.
Thinking of this, Gu Chengjue's eyes contained no emotion and he chuckled softly.
"We are here to welcome Captain Gu."
Hearing the sound, Gu Chengjue raised his eyes and saw a large number of people blocking the road in a row in front of him.
His eyes were slightly curved, and the light hidden under his eyelashes was as cold as a pond, and his smile did not reach his eyes.
…
"Have you heard? We are negotiating peace with the Xirong."
"Negotiation? This is truly a great humiliation! Those Xirong thieves even attacked the military camp at night! It is said that they even injured a general."
"This is truly humiliating! Seeing the enemy invade our own backyard, we are actually being polite and offering them money and food to get them out. How can this be justified? It's said that taxes will be raised by 10% this year. Where exactly is the tax we pay used for? It's truly unbearable..."
"These days, the plight of those refugees is truly atrocious. Who wouldn't exclaim, 'It's abject cruelty'? For years, whenever there's been fighting on the border, peace talks have been held. But these peace talks have never solved any problems. The people in the west are suffering terribly under the increasingly arrogant arrogance of the Western Rong bandits. We can all see this. True peace is clearly secured by the unwavering strength of General Gu. Simply giving in is no different from allowing yourself to be slaughtered."
Song Tiaotiao listened to their words.
However, he did not say anything, but intended to disperse the crowd before the patrol sent by the county arrived.
The plight of the refugees was still fresh in our minds. As soon as the news of the peace talks broke, it unsurprisingly sparked widespread public outrage.
At the same time, the size of the rebel army was also affected and grew stronger.
In order to suppress the rising momentum of the rebels, the imperial court sent many patrols to various places.
However, these patrolmen who were assigned to take charge of the local areas began to disappear mysteriously one after another after capturing the rebels in the first place.
These patrolmen were sent here because they knew very well that this kind of hard work would bring them no benefits but only harm.
With the lessons learned from the previous incident, in order to protect themselves, the patrolmen sent to Songbai Village turned a blind eye and dared not say anything even if they saw suspected rebels in the village.
The intelligence network in front of Tiaotiao Food Store also collected more and more extensive information due to the influx of refugees who moved from one village to another.
The refugees affected by this disaster are not limited to ordinary people in rural villages.
Landlords, gentry, wealthy businessmen...
In the brutal war, no one can escape.
"Ten border villages, including Mobei Village, have been captured."
"The Xirong people killed several veteran generals who guarded the west."
"He was the leader of the rebel army who helped us escape from the Xirong people..."
This sentence was said by a young man.
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao's eyes flashed.
The refugees are in a difficult situation. Now they adhere to the principle of seeking benefits and avoiding harm. In order to protect themselves, they almost never reveal any news about the rebels.
Her offering of porridge in exchange for information was essentially to help the poor and vulnerable, a matter of mutual consent, and she didn't want to force anyone into doing something that would backfire. Furthermore, with all the good and bad on all sides, if she made it too obvious, it would also bring her into trouble.
Therefore, this was the first time she had heard news about the rebels in public since the war in Xirong intensified.
But the child's words were ultimately interrupted by the desire to survive of the person next to him.
The man who had drunk the charity porridge beside him hurriedly pulled his skinny arm, looked at Song Tiao Tiao with pleading eyes, and said with an apologetic smile: "Miss, children's words are innocent, just pretend you didn't hear it."
Hearing this, Song Tiaotiao narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded to him.
But when she glanced at the young man, she saw that the young man was also looking straight at her.
Song Tiaotiao knew that this conversation was not over yet.
Finally, when the food store was about to be locked, she saw the thin figure of the young man again in the pine and cypress forest next to the food store.
Song Tiaotiao handed the desserts and fruits that she had prepared in advance to the young man with a smile.
The young man was stunned when he saw this, but he suppressed his desire to eat and did not raise his arms which were as thin as dead branches.
He raised his clear eyes and looked at Song Tiaotiao steadily. "Sister, you have done me a favor, but the leader of the rebel army has also done me a favor. Therefore, I cannot reveal too much about the leader of the rebel army to you... But I can tell you something that everyone knows but does not speak of... The leader of the rebel army is a handsome man. I heard that the rebels all call him A Lang."
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