Chapter 80 Chapter 80 I Should Have Told You Sooner
Lou Qi searched the battlefield, but only found a trace of his blood, broken armor, and a tiger-head amulet. He picked it up, held it in his palm, and remained silent for a long time.
He ordered his men to transport the bodies of the Dongyang and Hanbei armies to the camp, and when he returned, he would find a place to bury them properly.
The Liangzhou coalition forces finally defeated the main forces of Beiting and Xiliang in this battle and saved Zichuan.
However, they suffered heavy losses and were nearly annihilated, and Ji Yang's whereabouts were unknown.
No joy in victory.
At this time, in the medicine shed in the corner of the camp, Jiang Ci was bending over the stove to boil medicine, and the medicine pot was boiling.
She quietly watched the fire, not saying a word. Behind her, Wanniang was busy gathering up the dried wound dressings when she suddenly heard a soft clang, and the long spoon Jiang Ci was using to stir the medicine fell to the ground.
"Girl!" Wanniang's heart tightened and she stepped forward quickly.
Jiang Ci's face was pale, he held his chest tightly, his brows twisted into a knot, as if he was in so much pain that he couldn't breathe.
Wanniang quickly supported her arm: "What's wrong with you? Are you tired? Don't keep going, I'll do it, you take a break first."
Jiang Ci took a moment to relax before slowly straightening up, his face still showing a hint of fatigue and daze. "It's not tiredness... I don't know what happened, but just now I suddenly felt like... my heart was stabbed by a knife."
Just as he finished speaking, a burst of hurried horse hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the camp.
"Report——!" A loud shout shook people's hearts.
A dusty soldier galloped in. Before his voice had even finished uttering, he had dismounted and was running towards the central army tent. "The Beiting and Xiliang armies have retreated! Our army has narrowly won a victory, and Liangzhou has been secured!"
Jiang Ci was stunned, and felt a buzzing in his head. When he came to his senses, tears instantly welled up in his eyes. He didn't even care about the medicine and ran out with his skirt lifted up.
"What did you say?!" She rushed to the young general who reported the news and asked anxiously, "Are you saying... we won? They... they are coming back?"
The young general was suddenly stopped by her, and he didn't dare to neglect it. He nodded quickly: "Yes, yes! The King of Yan is leading his men to clean up the battlefield and settle the wounded. They will be able to return to the base as early as tomorrow noon."
Jiang Ci couldn't hold it back any longer, tears rolling down her cheeks, as if dispelling all the anxiety that had weighed on her heart for the past few days. She turned to look at Wan Niang, her eyes gleaming, "Wan Niang, they're coming back soon."
Tears welled up in Wanniang's eyes as she walked forward and held her hand tightly: "Yes, girl, we made it through. They are all fine and have returned victoriously."
That night, Jiang Ci was finally able to put down the burden on his heart.
Wanniang had already boiled some hot water for her, stoked the fire in the tent, and changed her into clean clothes and a thick blanket. Jiang Ci still smelled of herbs, but he was finally able to relax, shed his outer clothes, and soak in the warm water.
The air was filled with mist. She closed her eyes and soaked in the quiet hot soup. She felt the coldness and fatigue accumulated over the past few days being evaporated bit by bit.
After soaking, she leaned on the couch. Wan Niang tucked the corners of the quilt for her and said softly, "Girl, take a rest. You can wait for them in your dreams."
Jiang Ci nodded, and when he closed his eyes, a faint smile finally appeared on his lips.
That night, the wind and snow were still there, but the tent was so quiet that even the sound of the wind was a little lighter.
When Jiang Ci woke up, it was already bright outside and the snow had stopped. The sunlight shone through the gaps in the curtains, giving off a slight warmth.
She lay there for a moment, as if still half awake from her dream, until Wanniang tiptoed in, lifted the curtain, and said with a smile, "Miss, are you awake?"
She then rubbed her eyes, nodded, and sat up.
"Please give me a nice bun today." Her tone was gentle, with a long-lost brightness. "Today, they should be back."
Wan Niang was startled for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, I'll comb your hair into the prettiest one."
When combing her hair, Jiang Ci deliberately picked out a clean orange-colored curved-skirt dress with faint crabapple patterns embroidered on the corners, and a dark red cloak on the outside. The color was warm and her expression was cheerful.
She sat down in front of the couch, picked up a lacquer box, took out two hairpins from it, compared them in her hair, turned around and asked, "Wan Niang, which one do you think is more suitable?"
She brought them with her when she traveled and rarely wore them on weekdays.
Wanniang smiled and replied, "Any one will look good on you, young lady." She looked at the person in front of her, her expression clear and her eyes shining, more lively than in the past few days. "It's a pity there is no mirror in this tent, otherwise you can see for yourself."
Jiang Ci smiled lightly, his tone teasing: "Then take a good look at me and tell me what I look like now."
Wanniang caressed Jiang Ci's hair lovingly: "Girl, you'll look good even if you wear a sack."
Jiang Ci was amused by her, then pursed his lips and said to himself, "I haven't dressed properly in a long time... If he saw me, he would probably laugh."
After packing up, she lifted the curtain and walked out of the tent. The snow outside was beginning to melt, the sun was shining on the muddy ground, and many people in the camp had already started to move around.
She stood in front of the camp, staring at the mountain road leading to the battlefield in the distance, lost in thought.
She didn't say anything, but her eyes fell quietly on the sky and the earth, her eyebrows and eyes were gentle, as if she was waiting for someone who would definitely come back.
She didn't know when that person would appear.
But she knew that he would come back.
At dusk, a large number of dead and wounded soldiers were sent back to the Liangzhou camp one after another. Carriages drove in one after another, coming from the mountain pass, carrying with them blood and silence.
When the curtains were lifted, a mixture of blood and mud appeared. The wounded groaned, and the corpses lay silent. Straw mats were spread on the ground, and the corpses were covered with white cloths and lined up outside the camp, like a silent wail.
The crowd didn't dare to speak loudly, and even walked lightly for fear of disturbing anything.
Lou Qi leaped from his horse as the last carriage arrived. His armor was stained with blood, and his face was as stern as steel. He raised his hand to remove the bronze mask, holding it in his palm for a moment without moving.
As his arms dropped, he slowly walked through the line of corpses, looking at the familiar, nameless faces, his brows furrowed.
He held something in his hand, a cloth amulet with some blood stains on the corners and the pattern soaked through with blood. Only the embroidered little tiger could be vaguely made out.
When Jiang Ci ran over, her heart seemed to be stuck in her throat. She asked Lou Qi in a trembling voice:
"Where is Ji Yang?" She stood at the edge of the crowd, panting, her eyes fixed on Lou Qi.
"Where is he? Is he hurt? Where is he?"
Lou Qi looked up at her, his eyes filled with weariness and heaviness. He didn't speak immediately, but slowly handed the amulet over.
"He was carrying this at the time." His voice was hoarse. "I personally retrieved it from the battlefield..."
Jiang Ci froze, staring at the amulet in a daze, as if he was looking at something incredible.
She hesitated to reach out her hand, as if as long as she didn't take it, the worst possible scenario would not come true.
But she finally reached out her hand, took the amulet with trembling fingertips, held it in her palm, looked down, and tears instantly blurred her vision.
She had embroidered it herself. She remembered.
Her heart seemed to be torn open in an instant, and the wind and rain suddenly poured in, freezing her to the bone.
"No, impossible..." She murmured, her voice so weak that it was almost inaudible, "Impossible, he won't..."
She turned abruptly and ran towards the line of corpses covered in white cloth outside the camp, shouting as she ran, "Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way—I want to see him!"
"Jiang Ci!" Lou Qi sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped forward, grabbing her arm. "Don't go over there!"
"Let me go!" Jiang Ci yelled, almost hysterically, "I want to see him, I want to see with my own eyes where he is, I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
She pushed Lou Qi away and rushed to the corpses like a madman. She uncovered the white cloth one by one and looked at them. Her hands were shaking and her lips were pale.
"It's not... it's not him... it's not..."
She uncovered more than a dozen bodies in a row, her eyes becoming more and more panicked, her face becoming paler and paler, and she looked like she was about to collapse at any time.
"Where's Ji Yang!" Her voice was hoarse as she knelt on the ground, holding the blood-stained amulet in her hands, trembling constantly. "Where's he? He said he would come back, he said he wouldn't die!"
Lou Qi stood behind her, his eyes gloomy, and finally whispered, "...his body was not found."
These words, like a needle, pierced Jiang Ci's heart.
"We didn't find him...that means he is still alive, right?" Jiang Ci asked Lou Qi. Lou Qi turned his head away, his eyes a little moist, and he said nothing.
She froze, the amulet slipping from her fingers and falling to the muddy ground. The next moment, she staggered twice and suddenly fainted.
"Jiang Ci!" Lou Qi was shocked and quickly stepped forward to hug her.
She collapsed in his arms, her brows furrowed, her lips pale.
Lou Qi looked down at her, a rare trace of pain flashed across his eyes, and he carried her back to the tent.
Jiang Ci slept all night, and a belated high fever finally broke out after she fell down.
She kept calling someone's name in her dream, the voice sometimes loud and sometimes soft. Wanniang was guarding the bedside and felt very distressed when she heard it.
She frequently changed the ice towel, fearing that the girl's brain would be damaged, and was so busy that she couldn't sleep all night.
The lights in the tent were dim, and the silence was suffocating. Lou Qi sat not far away, his armor still on, his cloak stained with mud and blood, and he remained silent all night.
He just looked at Jiang Ci sleeping on the couch, and the tear marks and painful expressions that appeared on her face from time to time. The dull pain was like a hook, hooking his heart and lungs, making it impossible to say a word of comfort.
At dawn the next day, Jiang Ci finally opened his eyes.
The sky was turning pale before my eyes, and a cold wind blew into the tent.
She was stunned for a moment, then sat up slowly, as if she had not yet completely escaped from the dream.
The curtain was gently lifted, and a familiar figure walked in.
It's Silver Frost.
The wounds on her body were bandaged neatly, but her face was as pale as paper and her eyes were red. As soon as she entered the tent, she knelt down in front of Jiang Ci.
"Miss..." Yin Shuang choked with sobs, lowering her head as low as she could, "It's all because of me."
"That day, I led my men through a side route, thinking we could get around the enemy's rear, but we were ambushed. The terrain was narrow, and we were trapped in the valley. It was the governor... he personally led his troops in to rescue me."
"We were few in number and the terrain was low. He fought tooth and nail to clear a path and push me and the wounded out through the side road, but... but in the end, he didn't come out."
When she said this, her voice paused, and tears fell, like the pain she had endured for a long time, finally bursting out at this moment: "He said you were waiting for me, he couldn't let me die... He let me go, he was protecting me to break through..."
"Miss, I hurt him, I'm sorry..."
Yin Shuang crouched low to the ground, her shoulders shaking violently, and she almost cried herself to death.
Jiang Ci on the couch listened quietly without saying a word, his eyes empty, as if he had lost his mind.
After a long while, she slowly opened the quilt, sat up gently, looked at Yin Shuang, and said in a hoarse voice: "Get up, I don't blame you."
Yin Shuang's body trembled, but she couldn't get up from her knees. She could only mutter over and over again: "Miss, I killed him..."
Jiang Ci didn't say anything else, she just looked up at the morning light outside the window, the light stung her eyes and hurt.
"Wan Niang," she suddenly spoke, her voice surprisingly calm, "Let's go back to Zichuan."
"Ji Yang will definitely go to Zichuan to find me."
Her tone was extremely firm, as if she had placed all her efforts and hopes on this sentence.
"He can't be dead," she murmured. "If he were dead, even his body wouldn't be found.... He must still be alive..."
Wanniang's eyes were red, and she quickly stepped forward to support her: "Miss, we will be back soon. I have packed my things and the car is ready."
Lou Qi, who had been silent all night, also stood up, walked to the door, and said calmly, "Sending her back to Zichuan is the safest arrangement right now."
After he finished speaking, his gaze fell on Jiang Ci, his eyes full of suppressed emotions, but in the end he said nothing and just turned and left the tent.
Soon, the carriage was ready. Jiang Ci put on a fox fur coat and got on the carriage. The wind blew in the wild, and the cold was biting as the carriage rumbled south.
On the day the carriage entered the city gate, the streets were silent as the people spontaneously tied white silk ribbons to bid farewell to the fallen soldiers. Jiang Huaice had long been waiting in front of the mansion, but Jiang Ci never lifted the curtain to look.
Wanniang's eyes were red as she whispered a few words to Jiang Huaice. Jiang Huaice wanted to reach out, but in the end he said nothing. He just watched his daughter being helped back to her room. The back of her daughter looked very lonely.
That day, Jiang Ci entered the house and never left again.
She didn't cry or make a fuss, she just lay on the bed with her back to the door, as if she was asleep, or as if she had just hidden herself in a corner where no one could find her.
Wanniang brought in medicine several times, but she didn't drink it. Jiang Huaice also came and stood outside the door calling her name for a long time, but she didn't respond.
No one can persuade him.
She lay on her side, her hair disheveled and her face pale. The blanket wrapped her whole body, leaving only her wrist exposed, where she clutched the amulet tightly.
At sunset, she turned over, and the rosy glow reflected on her bloodless face.
Wanniang was crying outside the door. She heard it but didn't move.
From beginning to end, she only opened her eyes at a certain time when it was almost dark and murmured in a very soft voice:
"Ji Yang...I have forgiven you a long time ago. I should have told you earlier."
Snow started falling again in Zichuan.
The grayish-white snowflakes whistled and fluttered in the wind, like needles and blades, hitting the faces of pedestrians, making it almost impossible to open their eyes.
A figure slowly approached from the east gate, stumbling. He was wearing a tattered cloak with frost still clinging to the edges.
It was a woman, looking extremely disheveled and walking with difficulty, as if she had been walking for a long time.
Her stomach rumbled, and she couldn't help but cover her abdomen, swallowed dryly, and raised her head to look forward.
Lights had been turned on in the city, and the orange flames shone on her haggard and pale face. Her eyes were still clear, but showed a hint of strangeness that didn't belong here.
She looked at the people hurrying by on both sides of the street, and finally stopped at an intersection. She staggered out her hand and grabbed a middle-aged woman.
Her voice was not loud, but it was hoarse from shivering in the wind and snow: "Excuse me...how do I get to the Xie family in Zichuan?"
The woman was hurrying along, but when she heard her weak voice and looked down at her haggard and pitiful face, she couldn't help but feel soft-hearted. "The Xie family? They're just around the corner. Just keep going and you'll see them."
The woman lowered her head and bowed: "Thank you."
The woman wanted to say something else, but she saw the girl had already turned around and walked in that direction step by step. She walked very slowly, as if she would fall down at any moment.
Finally, she stopped in front of Xie's house.
In front of the door hung a plaque with black paint and gold characters, which clearly read "Xie Mansion".
The woman stood at the door, reached out and slowly pulled the hood of her cloak down from her head.
A face that looked almost harmless came into view.
Her eyebrows and eyes are picturesque, and her lips are pale, but they reveal a sense of determination and fatigue.
It was Chu Yao.
She looked up at the high walls of Xie's mansion, her eyes darkening. Snowflakes fell on her forehead, but she seemed oblivious, her gaze fixed on the vermilion lacquered gate.
After a while, she knocked on the door gently.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com