Chapter 53: Dissociation Zhao Huaixu used his tongue to roll away the sweet-scented osmanthus candy at the corner of her lips...
"Going to Cangwu Ridge is seeking death." The old soldier of the Fang family slapped his calloused hands on the wooden shaft of the grain cart and said in a deep voice.
Wan Xi, Zhao Huaixu's personal guard, kicked over the gravel at his feet and said, "Cangwu Ridge is the fastest route. Who can afford to delay the march?"
"Three years ago, the Northwestern Army rushed to the southwest to provide support. A hundred or so soldiers were trapped in the swamps of Cangwu Ridge. Not even a complete body could be retrieved." He spat and sneered, "If you want to die, don't drag your brothers down with you!"
"That's because your Fang family army is incompetent. They can't even find a path through the forest!"
Xiao Yue couldn't hold back after hearing this. He suddenly grasped his sword and shouted, "Say it again if you dare."
"What? Do you still want to take action?" Wan Xi asked provocatively.
Zhuang Gu was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, but he couldn't stop Xiao Yue who was furious.
Xiao Yue swung his arm violently, nearly throwing Zhuang Gu to the ground. His finger nearly poked Wan Xi's nose as he cursed, "Watch your mouth! Believe it or not, I'll rip your mouth apart!"
Wan Xi snorted coldly: "Come on, who's afraid of who!"
Fang Yilan was just scooping up a handful of stream water and pouring it on Jiaoyue's snow-white mane when he suddenly heard the Fang family army and Zhao Huaixu's personal guards arguing on the road.
She frowned slightly, put down the handkerchief in her hand, stood up and walked towards the source of the sound, shouting to stop it: "Stop!"
Zhao Huaixu rushed over with a sullen face, "Wanxi, step back."
As soon as Zhuang Gu saw Fang Yilan, he felt like he had found his backbone. He hurried over and complained loudly, "General, they're determined to go to Cangwu Ridge. We tried to persuade them kindly, but not only did they not listen, they even spoke harshly to us!"
Zhao Huaixu's personal guards stiffened their necks and glared back unwillingly.
Fang Yilan looked at Zhao Huaixu and sneered, "Your Highness, marching to war is no joke. The swamps are a barrier to transporting food and fodder, so how can we just avoid them? If anything goes wrong, neither you nor I can bear the responsibility!"
Zhao Huaixu looked humble and bowed, saying, "General Fang is teaching us that food and fodder are more important, so it's safer to take the official route."
Fang Yilan glanced at him coldly, said nothing more, and left with his soldiers.
…
As the bonfire licked the twilight, the Northwest Army and Zhao Huaixu's personal guards were clearly distinguished.
The Fang family army was sharing millet cakes around an iron pot, but the aroma of roasted meat wafted from Zhao Huaixu's tent.
"Look at that jade-inlaid food box," a young soldier from the Fang family said, spitting out the grass roots in his mouth. "The water the prince drinks is more precious than our rice soup!"
Upon hearing this, a shadow guard deliberately lifted the lid of the food box, revealing the greasy and fatty meat inside: "Your Highness will reward you with some meat scraps..."
He deliberately drew out his words, then with a flick of his chopsticks, the charred, fragrant minced meat rolled into the dust. "Do you want to lick it like a dog?"
The old soldier of the Fang family slammed the table and stood up, shouting, "You bunch of bastards! When the Northwest Army was out of food for seven days, you maggots were still indulging in wine and meat in the palace!"
"General Fang should have let this ungrateful bastard fend for himself!" a soldier echoed indignantly.
Zhao Huaixu's personal guard happened to overhear these words. He unsheathed his sword, the cold light reflecting off the bonfire, illuminating half his face. He threatened, "If you dare to slander His Highness again, I'll cut off your tongue!"
Several young soldiers from the Fang family army also stood up suddenly, their knuckles pressing on the hilts of their swords, veins bulging as they retorted, "What? Can't you just tell me the truth? When your Highness was begging for mercy under the general's legs, you didn't even know where you were!"
"How dare you! His Highness's name is not something that vulgar people like you can call casually!"
Without a word, Wan Xi drew his sword from his waist and stabbed a soldier from the Fang army. The soldier was unable to dodge and was stabbed in the chest, falling to the ground and dying on the spot.
Xiao Yue's long sword was already unsheathed, the blade cutting through the air as he charged towards Wan Xi: "You were the first to strike, so don't blame me!"
Seeing this, the soldiers on both sides rushed forward with roars and started fighting.
The swords collided, sending sparks flying. Wan Xi spun to avoid the sweeping blade and thrust his sword back at Xiao Yue's side. Xiao Yue reacted incredibly quickly, swinging his blade sideways to block the blow.
The two men fought in a group, with swords flashing and sabers flying.
Although Wan Xi and Xiao Yue's swords were sharp, they never hurt each other at all. Instead, several soldiers around them were accidentally injured in the chaos.
Xiao Yue kicked a personal guard away, and the man knocked over the roasting rack. The iron hook pierced his chest, and blood spurted out. Wan Xi's sword flower missed, so he simply took advantage of the momentum to stab the throat of the Fang family soldier behind Xiao Yue.
When Fang Yilan's silver spear broke through the air, he knocked away the sword tip of Wanxi that was stabbing at Xiao Yue's back, and then took out a dagger from his waist and threw it out.
Zhao Huaixu chopped off the dagger with his backhand, his face gloomy, and shouted at his guards: "Who told you to do this?"
"Seventh Prince." Fang Yilan's boots crushed the guards' token, sending debris flying in a mixture of blood and mud. "Keep your men under control. If you do it again, I won't show mercy."
Zhao Huaixu also gave a cold order: "Anyone who stirs up trouble again will be executed according to military law!"
Fang Yilan waved her hand, and the soldiers of the Fang family army put away their swords and stood behind her, still staring at each other with cold eyes.
...
At three quarters past midnight, Fang Yilan had just taken off her breastplate when someone pushed her from behind into a cloak scented with cedar. Without even turning her head, she drew the soft blade from her waist and pointed it at the man's throat.
Zhao Huaixu felt the cold blade against his throat, but he slipped a sweet-scented osmanthus candy between her teeth. "Alan acted so fierce during the day, and now that there's no one else around, why are you still treating Yu'an like this?"
Fang Yilan bent her knees and pressed him against the ribs, then turned around and pushed him onto the military couch. "If we don't let the emperor think that you and I are at odds, how can we deceive his spies in the army? Of course, we have to act more realistically."
As he spoke, he used the tip of his dagger to pry open his belt and said, "Your Highness, you killed several of my soldiers. You must pay me some interest, right?"
Zhao Huaixu smiled and let her lift his shirt. "Yu'an helped the general get rid of his spies, so why is the general blaming me?"
Fang Yilan raised an eyebrow and said, "Didn't I help you get rid of a few people? It's only right to return the favor."
The candlelight crackled and exploded into a golden flower. The light and shadow swayed wildly in the tent, stretching the figures of the two people longer and shorter.
Fang Yilan put on a ferocious look on her face, but her cheeks were bulging with candy, making her look not intimidating but rather adorable.
Zhao Huaixu's blood surged, but his rationality made him deliberately pull away from Fang Yilan's body, grinding her neck with the tip of his teeth.
"If the General's dagger had been off by half an inch, Wan Xi would have been sent to serve in Hades. How is A Lan supposed to compensate me? Hmm?"
His lips and teeth slowly moved along the side of her neck, gently biting her earlobe, his voice becoming increasingly low, with a hint of temptation, he whispered: "You are so impulsive, you should be punished, so that the general will remember it..."
Fang Yilan grabbed his hand that was moving upwards and said, "You are so disrespectful! Are you trying to lecture me?"
"It hurts..." Zhao Huaixu pretended to feel pain, "How dare Yu'an teach A Lan a lesson?"
He deliberately brought the bright red mark on the base of his thumb to Fang Yilan's eyes. It was the mark left when he quickly blocked her dagger.
"Stop pretending to be pitiful." Fang Yilan rolled her eyes at him and pulled out the jade hairpin that was tying his hair.
The long black hair covered their faces. Zhao Huaixu suddenly closed his fingers, grabbed the back of her neck and pressed her towards him, forcing her to meet this unexpected kiss.
Zhao Huaixu used the tip of his tongue to wipe away the osmanthus candy residue from the corner of her lips, mumbling, "So sweet. Yu An will accept the interest."
The two lips pressed together, and the tip of the tongue rolled up the remaining honey and probed into the teeth until it melted completely, swallowing up all of Fang Yilan's sweet saliva.
The entangled breath made the tips of her ears red, and the man even rubbed her lower lip with his canine teeth, causing a slight shiver to run up her spine.
His palm slid along his spine into the open collar, but when it touched the soft skin, his wrist was pinched hard.
Fang Yilan turned her head to avoid his lips and pushed him away: "Okay, I called you here to talk about business."
Zhao Huaixu twirled Fang Yilan's scattered hair with his fingertips and feigned innocence: "Isn't this just business?"
Fang Yilan didn't fall for his tricks at all. He glared back and asked directly, "Do you know anything about the current power in the southwest?"
Seeing her serious expression, Zhao Huaixu knew that the joke had to stop for the time being. He could only sigh helplessly, lock her in his arms, take the topographic map, and point to a certain place.
"The He family was originally the maternal family of the late Crown Princess. Because of this incident, the Southwest Army was not favored by Emperor Jingwen until the death of He Luo, the Southwest Commander."
"The current rulers of the southwest are twins. The elder brother, He Shou, is a calm and experienced man, particularly skilled in defensive warfare, and holds a high reputation within the military. His younger brother, He Wei, has always defered to him, but in recent years, He Wei has suddenly begun to divide He Shou's power."
"I heard that a few years ago, during a fierce battle with Nanzhao, He Wei's appearance was disfigured and his right hand was disabled. Since then, he has been diligently practicing his left-handed sword, and his personality seems to have become more ruthless and erratic."
Fang Yilan had also heard of this matter, but he had no way of knowing the inside story of the Nanzhao War.
Fang Yilan frowned slightly, thought for a moment and said, "So, this He Huaijiu should be He Shou's man?"
Zhao Huaixu nodded gently. "Based on the intelligence we have so far, He Huaijiu's rise to power is exactly what happened after He Shou took over the Southwest Army. I'm sure it happened."
Fang Yilan's brows furrowed even more. "The Golden Feather Restaurant must be my brother He Wei's power. And he must have guessed that after I returned to the capital, the emperor might try to take back the military power, so he chose to defect to Nanzhao and force Emperor Jingwen to send me troops. Why would he help me?"
She paused, her eyes becoming sharper. "And I suspect this person was the one who tampered with the first pot of medicine Sister Qingjun drank."
Zhao Huaixu said thoughtfully, "I heard that when your brother went to the southwest to provide support, he had a very good relationship with He Wei. It seems reasonable that he would help you out of consideration for their old friendship."
During the Battle of Yuhe, the Northwest was overwhelmed, so Fang Canghong sent Fang Yicen to the Southwest to provide support. Fang Yicen was still a rookie at the time, but he was of similar age to He Wei and they had a good relationship.
Although Fang Yicen failed to save He Shou's father, he did bring He Luo's body back intact. As far as the He family is concerned, the Fang family is indeed indebted.
Later, Fang Yi Cen returned to the northwest, and the two of them often exchanged letters.
Fang Yilan looked up at him, a complex expression flashing in her eyes. "These two brothers used to have a deep friendship, how could they suddenly turn against each other? Why did he change his temperament so drastically and start opposing He Shou?"
Suddenly, a night owl cried outside the tent, and the candlelight flickered in Zhao Huaixu's eyes, making the ink on the topographic map flicker.
"Perhaps He Wei suddenly realized that Ruining was no longer worth risking his life for?"
Fang Yilan suddenly raised her eyes and looked into the man's bottomless pupils. Her expression changed: "You..."
Zhao Huaixu reached out and held her hand, whispering into her ear in a low and gentle voice: "Why not let A Lan take charge of this chess game of life and death..."
"Only in this way can Ruining truly be auspicious and peaceful..."
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