Chapter 263 Blood Debt
Su Qingwan slowly woke up, her whole body seemed to be crushed by heavy stones, the pain was excruciating. Her injuries were too severe, and the people around her were afraid to take any action. Even the doctor, facing her miserable condition, could only frown and shake his head, not daring to act rashly, and could only let her lie quietly.
When she woke up, she saw only Lu Jing guarding her bedside. Su Qingwan was stunned. She had never expected that Lu Jing would resolutely return to Huainan in such a turbulent situation, and she did not dare to hope that she could save her life from the gates of hell.
She thought she would die on the battlefield, sacrificing her blood for the land of Huainan. Before she fell into a coma, her consciousness was already blurred, but there was only one thought in her mind, like a life-saving straw that she would not let go of: The soldiers and horses of Zhongzhou, come faster, faster!
She tried her best to delay time. The journey to the southwest was long. If Zhongzhou saw the beacon fire and sent troops immediately, the light cavalry would travel day and night, and theoretically they could reach Huainan in time. But what she feared most was that the governor of Zhongzhou would be unwilling to send troops to rescue for his own selfish reasons.
She and her soldiers had already made up their minds to sacrifice their lives for the city. She only hoped that reinforcements from Zhongzhou would arrive in time to save the millions of people in Huainan.
The Xilin army has always been notorious. If they were allowed to break through Huainan City, the massacre would surely happen again. She hoped that Huainan could survive this disaster and rebuild her homeland in the future. But fate played tricks on her. Who would have thought that she could miraculously survive.
Lu Jing whispered in her ear that the crisis in Huainan City had been resolved. Lu Nianqing had returned and was now taking over the military power, and together with General Xiao Ning, they were busy deploying the city defense.
The reinforcements from Zhongzhou had also arrived, and the Xilin border troops were beaten back step by step, all the way to the Lanning River. Su Qingwan stared blankly out the door. The sun shone through the window lattice, casting a warm glow, and everything in sight was bright and clear. But there was no warmth in her eyes, the morning breeze was dead, and the green bamboo was dead too.
Before she passed out, she saw with her own eyes that Luzhu was brutally killed by the enemy in order to protect her. The little girl stood in front of her without hesitation, and with her weak body, she went to this life-and-death appointment.
Luzhu, Chenfeng and Qingyun were all trained as death warriors since childhood. In their belief, if the master is humiliated, the servant will die. Everyone has undergone rigorous training and is always ready to block guns and knives for her.
They were loyal to her and would not hesitate to sacrifice their own lives to save hers. "How many people are left in the Huainan Army?"
Su Qingwan's hoarse voice broke the long silence. It was difficult to accurately estimate the number of bandits, but it was about 4,000. The light cavalry and the escort team originally had 5,000 people, but after fighting hard outside the city, there were less than 4,000 people, more than half of them were killed.
Hearing this, Lu Jing's expression darkened and he fell silent. Seeing this, Su Qingwan slowly closed her eyes and tears welled up in her eyes. Lu Jing raised his hand and gently wiped her tears, wanting to comfort her, but he was speechless and didn't know where to start.
Su Qingwan's defensive strategy and offensive decision-making in this battle were perfect. Unfortunately, the enemy was outnumbered and the Xilin Army launched a surprise attack. The soldiers in Huainan City were undermanned and lacked military supplies. All the arrows were shot out and the kerosene was exhausted.
Taking the initiative to attack is their only way out of the desperate situation. If they just defend the city gate, they will undoubtedly be lambs to be slaughtered, without any ability to fight back.
"I'm fine." Su Qingwan said with all her might, but she couldn't hide the sadness on her face.
Fortunately, Lu Nianqing, General Xiaoning and Yun Zhizhou were in charge of the overall situation in the city, and military supplies allocated by Zhongzhou also arrived one after another. Soldiers were stationed outside the city, always on the alert for foreign enemies, and Huainan City gradually became a little lively.
In addition to accompanying Su Qingwan, Lu Jing spent the rest of his time patrolling and keeping an eye on the city defense situation. The court already knew about the Xilin border army's raid on Huainan, and the princess was also raising supplies everywhere, preparing to ship them to Huainan to support the front line. Lu Nianqing is now in Huainan. General Xiao Ning understands the righteousness of the matter and takes the initiative to reduce his prestige in the army, fully supporting Lu Nianqing to establish his prestige.
As a direct descendant of Huainan, Lu Nianqing is like a growing wolf cub. Su Qingwan, General Xiaoning and Yun Zhizhou have all devoted their efforts to him. Today, Lu Nianqing is already the real King of Huainan, and his prestige in Huainan is second only to Su Qingwan. The eldest princess wants Lu Nianqing to control Huainan. At this critical juncture, she will naturally not turn against Lu Jing. Instead, she will do her best to help Lu Jing stabilize the situation in Beijing and help Huainan overcome the crisis. Because of this, Lu Jing is not in a hurry to return to Beijing.
Su Qingwan was in a terrible condition. As soon as Qingyun was able to get out of bed, he couldn't wait to come and accompany her.
Qingyun was extremely depressed after suddenly losing so many close people. She had experienced such grief when Qingyi passed away, and now she had to endure it again. But she didn't dare to show her inner sorrow completely, after all, she was the only one left by the girl's side. Luzhu, Chenfeng and a group of secret guards had all died in the battle, and she was the only one alive. Qingyun felt that this was a shame from the bottom of her heart.
She was thinking that she would rather die on the battlefield with Lu Zhu than live alone in this way.
But she didn't dare to tell Su Qingwan this, for fear of irritating the fragile Su Qingwan. That day, she couldn't suppress her emotions, so she confided her distress to Zhang Huaining.
Zhang Huaining looked gentle and comforted her softly, "Qingyun, I know you feel bad. We have lost too many people in this battle. I also lost my neighbors and comrades who were as close as brothers and sisters. Every decision made by the princess during the defense of the city was a heavy burden. Those who died were all willing to sacrifice for Huainan. They fought desperately to delay time and protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Huainan City. You are the only one left among the princess's confidants. If you are gone, how lonely and pitiful the princess will be. She really needs you!"
Zhang Huaining's words "The princess needs you" were like a beam of light shining into Qingyun's heart. Since then, Qingyun has been trying to stay alert, eat and take medicine on time. Once a person has energy and spirit, injuries will recover quickly. Under the meticulous care of Lu Jing and Qingyun, although Su Qingwan is still immersed in grief, her health has gradually improved.
After she was able to get out of bed and walk, Qingyun accompanied her to pay tribute to Chenfeng, Luzhu and others. Many dead soldiers were buried in the forest to the west. Yun Zhizhou personally collected the remains of Chenfeng and Luzhu and buried them not far from the ancestral tomb of Huainan. That place was the burial place of Huainan's meritorious officials.
Su Qingwan looked at the tombstone in front of her, grief overwhelmed, tears blurring her eyes again.
A few months ago, she had just moved her sister to the ancestral tomb for burial, and now she had to bury Luzhu and Chenfeng. She had brought them back to Huainan in the hope of giving them a free and comfortable life.
Qingyun said softly, "Princess, we are a group of warriors born to die for you. Without you, we wouldn't be where we are today. Luzhu and Chenfeng are both willing to die for you. As long as you are safe, they will die without regrets."
Su Qingwan shook her head slowly and said softly: "Qingyun, your life is your own, not mine! You are an excellent doctor, martial artist, and good at calculating accounts and disguising yourself. Even without me, you will definitely live a wonderful life, better than most women in the world. It's me... I feel ashamed of you."
In her heart, failing to protect the people around her will always be a scar that is difficult to heal.
Qingyun looked determined and said in a deep voice: "Princess, please don't blame yourself. This is all Xilin's fault. They went back on their word and invaded the border with their army. This is a man-made disaster. We will get back this blood debt sooner or later!"
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