In the early morning of that day, she woke up from a dream and could not fall asleep again. As usual, she shook off the guards who were "monitoring" her and pulled Shrike to climb up the high cliffs of Sanmu Pass to get some fresh air.
It was still dark, and there was no sound except the wind. She chatted with the Shrike, and before she knew it, she brought up the future, but the Shrike became uncharacteristically unhappy.
"Xiao Nanhui, why don't you include me in your plans for the future?"
She was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't really thought about this question, and she answered subconsciously: "Haven't you always followed me? It's natural that you will do the same in the future."
Shrike pouted, as if waiting for this sentence: "That may not be the case. The Marquis gave me to you in the first place because he was afraid that one day he would not be able to protect you. Now it seems that he was worrying too much. When the time comes, I will go and beg him, maybe he can cancel the contract between you and me. By then, the mountains are high and the waters are wide, and with some silver..."
As she spoke, she unconsciously opened her mouth wide and was about to let out some silly laughter when she was suddenly slapped on the head. When she looked up angrily, she met Xiao Nanhui's expressionless face.
"It's said that the An Daoyuan family is full of loyal and brave people who will never serve two masters in their lifetime. Or do you want to challenge Xie Li, usurp the position of the head of the academy, and change the rules there?"
The Shrike glared at her fiercely, gnashing his teeth and baring his claws. Finally, he said harshly, "I will report you to the Marquis when I see him soon!"
This time it was Xiao Nanhui's turn to scratch his ears. "Whatever you say. We're both found goods anyway. The worst that can happen is we can all get out of the house and sleep on the streets. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Her words were so shameless and cruel that she left no room for him. Shrike didn't know how to refute her for a moment.
Xiao Nanhui raised the corner of his mouth proudly.
Did she think that all the time she spent with the emperor was in vain?
Hey, it turns out that speaking is really a science. You can make someone lose face without using any weapons. It feels so good.
She was just thinking about it when she suddenly heard some noise. She opened her eyes and saw a small group of black cavalry coming out from the direction of Sun Mansion and heading southwest out of the valley.
"Eh, isn't that...?" It was too dark, and she suspected she was seeing things. She rolled over a few times until she landed closer, further confirming her judgment. "Isn't that the Emperor's carriage?"
Aside from the supply wagons used for logistics, there were very few horse-drawn carriages during the march, and the black carriage looked very familiar. But the most convincing thing was that Ding Weixiang was following beside it.
"Where is the Emperor going in such a hurry? Why is he going there in person? What's the big deal?"
Shrike glanced at him, his tone still carrying some of his previous frustration: "He probably has some news about Bai Heliu."
Bai He stayed? She hadn't expected that.
However, this is the only possibility to allow the emperor to come here in person.
"It seems that this war is really coming to an end." Xiao Nanhui wiped the string habitually, but still felt a little unreal.
"Isn't it better to end it quickly? It would be terrible if it dragged on for three to five years."
Of course. People who have never been to the battlefield will never know how terrible war is, but she knew it when she was a teenager.
Now that everything seemed to be going smoothly, she should be happy.
But for some reason, she always felt a vague sense of unease. She didn't know if it was because she had been waking up from nightmares recently, or if it was because of this unease that she was having nightmares every night.
As if in response to her worries, the next moment, she saw another group of people rushing towards her from the direction of the military camp outside the Sun Mansion.
The thunderous sound of horse hooves echoed in the valley, indicating that this was a cavalry team of at least several hundred people.
Her heart tightened and she quickly looked to see who was leading the attack.
The cavalry moved very quickly, almost flashing past the valley below the cliff. She suspected she was a little dazzled, but the Shrike beside her was obviously very confident.
"Isn't that Su Pingchuan? I can recognize this annoying guy from a million miles away."
In a blink of an eye, the cavalry arrived at the fork in the road where she passed when she was chased by Kesan that day, and headed towards the depths of Bijiang without stopping.
That is the direction leading to the Bijiang battlefield. However, since Tiancheng broke through the Sanmu Pass and penetrated deep into the hinterland, in order to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the terrain to launch a local flanking battle, the strategy is to rarely use small-scale teams for clearing out. Once an attack is launched, it is usually an operation with more than 10,000 people.
Xiao Nanhui quickly filtered through the news and reports of the past few days, but he still couldn't be sure what Su Pingchuan was up to.
Based on her previous understanding of Bijiang, the locals were very good at taking advantage of the terrain. Even if it was just an ordinary village, if they were prepared in advance and set up an ambush, it would not be impossible to wipe out more than a thousand well-trained troops in one fell swoop.
Su Pingchuan had fallen into trouble before, so why would he act like this now?
After thinking it over, she still felt uneasy.
"No, I have to go and take a look."
Shrike glared at her and asked, "Aren't you afraid that the Emperor will cause you trouble?"
She almost blurted out: "Didn't he just leave?" But she swallowed the words back.
Somehow, she was reluctant to admit her fear of the emperor. The emperor hadn't explicitly forbidden her from leaving the house, but she felt inexplicably guilty if she insisted on going her own way.
"Enough of that nonsense, I'll just go by myself."
After Xiao Nanhui finished speaking, he turned around and left with the qin in his hand, but Shrike had already patted his butt and stood up.
"I just said one thing, why are you so anxious? My bones are sore from staying here for the past few days, it's a good time to stretch them out."
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