Chapter 5: Escape (Revised) Check-in for the boss
Zhou Tinglan was sleeping uneasily on the bed, and soldiers kept passing by outside the door.
She wondered in her heart, was there anything going on tonight?
Zhou Tinglan heard the shallow breathing of his parents in the next tent and changed his clothes.
She went out and grabbed the famous soldiers.
"Is there something that made you gather in the middle of the night?" Zhou Tinglan asked.
The soldier was being held back, and he was a little impatient. However, when he saw that the person coming was Zhou Tinglan, he said in a kind tone, "Miss Zhou, we need to gather at the city gate now."
Zhou Tinglan was even more confused. Why would they gather at the city gate in the middle of the night?
Could something have happened in the city?
Thinking of this, Zhou Tinglan walked quickly towards the city gate with the soldiers.
"What on earth happened?"
There are rarely such big movements in the city, is that right?
Zhou Tinglan hurriedly grabbed the soldiers and asked, "Where is your General Xie now?"
"Miss Zhou, to be honest, I don't know what happened yet. We should know when we get to the city gate."
Zhou Tinglan didn't get a clear answer from the soldiers, and his worries grew even worse. He quickened his pace and ran towards the city gate.
Xie Zechuan, please don’t let anything happen to you!
When she arrived at the city gate, she saw Xin Ping who was counting the number of soldiers. Xin Ping was the commander of the sub-camp in charge of the defense around the city. Zhou Tinglan did not see Xie Zechuan, and even could not find Qin Sinian.
Zhou Tinglan's eyes darkened as she rushed to Xin Ping and asked, "General Xin, why are you gathering at the city gate at night? Where are General Xie's men?"
Xin Ping kept moving his hands. Seeing Zhou Tinglan, he asked with a little surprise, "Miss Zhou, why are you here?"
"I can't sleep at night, General Xin, please tell me quickly, where is General Xie?"
"Thank you, General, for sneaking into the Northern Di Kingdom at night to rescue the captured soldiers. We must gather at the city gate and be ready to rescue them at any time."
Zhou Tinglan was shocked: "Is General Xie the only one here?"
Something really happened!
"There are also Deputy General Qin and General Xu Cheng."
Deputy General Qin naturally refers to Qin Sinian, and Xu Cheng is the commander of the armory branch in the barracks. Zhou Tinglan has met him several times and has some impression of him.
Zhou Tinglan looked around and saw that the soldiers were still gathering towards the city gate, which meant that Xie Zechuan had not returned to Beijiang City in time.
She looked up at the sky. Night was falling and the sky seemed to be covered with a layer of darkness. No stars were visible and the moon was hidden behind thick clouds.
"Xin Ping, I want to go out of the city with you to rescue General Xie."
Xie Zechuan has now sneaked into the Beidi Kingdom and his life is in danger. She has to go and save him!
Xin Ping sternly rejected Zhou Tinglan's proposal: "Miss Zhou, it's dangerous outside the city. You can just wait for us inside. We will leave the city in time to rescue the general."
How is this possible?
Zhou Tinglan's heart skipped a beat with worry. She said anxiously, "I won't interfere with your rescue plan. General Xie hasn't returned yet, and I'm really worried."
"Miss Zhou, you know this is impossible. We have already sent people to stake out the city. I believe we will have news soon."
Ahhhh——what should I do!
Zhou Tinglan scratched her head frantically, then thought for a moment and said, "Then can I go guard the city wall?"
Xin Ping finally agreed to Zhou Tinglan's request and let her stay on the city wall.
Zhou Tinglan stood on the city wall. The wind suddenly started to blow on the windless night, and the clouds and fog gradually dissipated. However, the distance was too far to see far away.
She grumbled, "Nighttime vision is inconvenient. If only there were something that could help me see farther."
Oh, Zhou Tinglan suddenly had an idea. How could she have forgotten this thing?
Although there were no sophisticated equipment in ancient times to provide her with farsightedness, she could make a telescope!
Zhou Tinglan did what he said. He found a piece of glass stone, ground it into a convex lens and placed it in front of his eyes. His vision immediately became much clearer.
Looking around the surrounding environment outside the city, Zhou Tinglan was the first to discover unusual movements in the distance with the help of a telescope.
"Not good!" Zhou Tinglan hurried down the city wall to find Xin Ping at the city gate.
**
The sound of galloping horses' hooves could be heard in the silent night. Dugu Xuan, riding on a tall and powerful horse, soon caught up with the group of people in front.
"Xie Zechuan, today is the anniversary of your death!"
The wild shouts of the Northern Di soldiers came from behind. Xie Zechuan raised his sword to block Dugu Xuan's attack: "Xu Cheng, quickly lead the soldiers to evacuate!"
The knife flashed, and Xie Zechuan dodged it nimbly, but Dugu Xuan raised the knife and swung it again.
What should he do? He was almost out of strength. There were sharp pains in his shoulder and the wound was tearing open again.
Xie Zechuan couldn't dodge in time and was hit hard by Dugu Xuan's knife on the waist.
When the knife fell again, Qin Sinian dodged and came in front of Xie Zechuan. The blades collided, and his shoes dug into the mud and he stepped back.
Xie Zechuan exclaimed: "Si Nian."
He wanted to pick up the knife in his hand, but found that the knife was as heavy as meteorite and difficult to lift. The gate of Beijiang City was close at hand, but it seemed to be separated by thousands of miles.
Is Xie Zechuan going to die here today?
In a trance, Xie Zechuan thought of Miss Zhou. He seemed to see her. Was it an illusion before death?
He opened and closed his mouth, letting out a breath of foul air: "Miss Zhou..." Xie was afraid that he would have to break his promise, and he was sorry.
When Xie Zechuan woke up, he carefully touched the quilt, folded his arms and patted his whole body.
Where is this, is this heaven?
But why does it look so much like his tent?
Qin Sinian's voice came from outside. Xie Zechuan looked around the tent at the familiar furnishings. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He remembered the chaotic fighting outside the city last night very clearly.
Did Xin Ping and his men send soldiers to rescue him because he survived?
The curtain was lifted from the outside. Qin Sinian saw Xie Zechuan waking up and said happily, "You finally woke up."
Seeing that Xie Zechuan remained silent, Qin Sinian didn't care. He walked out of the tent, gave a few instructions to the soldiers standing guard outside, and then went back into the tent.
Xie Zechuan suddenly thought of the soldiers who left the city last night and asked, "What happened to the soldiers who left the city last night?"
"We have to thank Miss Zhou for this."
Qin Sinian then told Xie Zechuan everything he had learned from the soldiers last night.
"You have to thank Miss Zhou a lot. If she hadn't noticed the abnormality on the city wall immediately and sent the soldiers out to rescue, I'm afraid you and I would have both been killed by Dugu Xuan's sword."
Qin Sinian still feels a lingering fear when he recalls what happened last night.
Xie Zechuan's eyelashes trembled, and he didn't hear anything Qin Sinian told him afterwards.
"Si Nian, gather the commanders of each camp for me."
Qin Sinian was dissatisfied: "You just woke up and you have to summon the generals of the sub-camp to deal with military affairs. Why don't you take this opportunity to rest for a while?"
"I went back last night and killed He Ruolan in the palace."
The generals of the Northern Frontier have been guarding the Northern Frontier for many years and have fought against them countless times. They all know that the Northern Di King Huyanlie has two generals under him, the strategist He Ruolan and the general Dugu Xuan.
Xie Zechuan killing He Ruolan was equivalent to cutting off Hu Yanlie's arm. Qin Sinian was delighted, but the next moment, Xie Zechuan's words made him feel uneasy.
"Now is not the time to be happy. Once He Ruolan dies, Hu Yanlie will surely be furious. A war between Da Zhao and Bei Di will surely rage."
Not long after, all the generals gathered around Xie Zechuan's bed to ask about his well-being, especially Xin Ping, who looked as if he wanted to kneel down and kowtow to Xie Zechuan three times.
When they learned that Xie Zechuan had killed He Ruolan, they cheered, but the current situation made the generals even more anxious.
When He Ruolan died, Hu Yanlie was furious and feared that she would start a war.
Xie Zechuan finally ordered all the camps in the city to strengthen their defenses and be on guard against the Northern Di launching a major war at all times.
Shortly after the generals left, Zhou Tinglan came to the barracks to visit Xie Zechuan. Xie Zechuan was sitting on the bed looking through the documents in his hand.
She rushed to the bed, took the document from his hand, and put the food box on the table.
"You are handling military affairs with such a serious injury on your waist. You are really courting death!" Zhou Tinglan scolded.
"Military affairs are very busy, and the Northern Di are coming with such a fierce force, how can we rest?"
Zhou Tinglan sighed, feeling somewhat distressed, knowing that Xie Zechuan was the commander of the entire Northern Frontier Barracks and had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
"I heard you were in trouble. My mother is so grateful that you took us in. She misses us so much. This is the chicken soup she made for me to bring. I hope you get well soon."
"That's thoughtful. Thank you, auntie, for me."
"No need to thank me." Zhou Tinglan curled his lips and said sourly: "She treats you better than me now."
Zhou Tinglan recalled that before she left, when Mrs. Qiao learned that she was going to visit Xie Zechuan in the barracks, she hurriedly stuffed a food box of chicken soup into her hands.
"I bought a chicken at the market early this morning and simmered it over low heat for the entire morning."
"Mother, I went to visit him and report on the recent affairs of the forging class, not to bring him soup."
Mrs. Qiao said angrily, "General Xie has helped our family so much, so what if I asked you to bring him some soup?"
Zhou Tinglan couldn't persuade Qiao, so he had no choice but to pick up the food box and go to Xie Zechuan's tent.
"I'm here to bring soup on behalf of my mother because I don't want to see those who would collaborate with me die before I can return to the capital to avenge my father and eliminate the treacherous officials who slandered my father."
Xie Zechuan smiled and said, "Since we have made an agreement, I will not break my promise."
Zhou Tinglan chuckled and thought of something important: "Just now I heard Qin Sinian say that you had the city's defenses strengthened, and you were sure that the Northern Di would use He Ruolan's death to start a war."
When mentioning this matter, Zhou Tinglan couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Miss Zhou to speed up the forging of the knife."
"That's as it should be."
Xie Zechuan took back the document, which mentioned that these Beidi soldiers could not bear the torture after being captured and revealed the royal secrets of the Beidi Kingdom.
Hu Yanlie had two sons, the eldest prince Hu Yanxu and the second prince Hu Yanlin.
The two princes are half-brothers and appear to be friendly brothers, but in reality they are at odds with each other and are competing with each other for the right to inherit the throne of the next King of Beidi.
Xie Zechuan was not interested in any of this. He glanced at it and put the document down.
In the next few days, Zhou Tinglan felt hopeless and was ordered by her mother to deliver various nourishing soups and medicines to Xie Zechuan every day.
Every time Zhou Tinglan was reluctant, Qiao would say that Xie Zechuan had done the family a favor.
His ears were almost covered with calluses, but Zhou Tinglan didn't want his mother to be sad, so he had to accept his fate and go to send her off on time every day.
What’s the difference between meeting Xie Zechuan now and checking in with the Boss!
**
The next morning, Zhou Tinglan had just brought Xie Zechuan the medicine for the day when she asked dissatisfiedly, "Are you healed yet?"
Xie Zechuan raised his eyes and smiled: "Why, if Miss Zhou doesn't want to come, you don't have to come."
"Do you think I want to see you off?" Zhou Tinglan was angry. If her mother hadn't asked her to come, she wouldn't have come.
At this moment, Qin Sinian rushed into the tent, panting, "Zechuan... outside, cough cough..."
"Speak slowly, what happened outside?"
Qin Sinian finally caught his breath and said, "Outside the city, Hu Yanxu, the eldest prince of Beidi, has arrived. He said he wants to discuss peace with you."
Peace talks?
What kind of peace talks?
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