Chapter 61 Mask 1
Fang Yilan rode into the city, followed by the defected Northwestern and Southwestern armies. Yuan Qingjun came with a medicine box and bandaged the wounded.
"Miss Yuan... no... Doctor Yuan," the young soldier's ears turned red, and he stretched out his arms and asked, "You have such a kind heart. I wonder... which young man is lucky enough to have such a kind heart..." He turned his head away in shame before he finished speaking.
Yuan Qingjun wrapped the gauze and was about to speak when she suddenly felt a piercing chill on the back of her neck. In the Southwestern Army formation, a sinister gaze was fixed on her.
She felt something was wrong and wanted to get up and look for Fang Yilan. But before she could take a step, the wind mixed with the smell of leather and blood blew on the back of her neck, and the cold sharp blade touched her throat.
"Who do you want to tell the news to?"
The bandaged young soldier stumbled to his feet, pointed at the man with the knife, and shouted, "What are you doing? Put the knife down!"
After saying that, he quickly turned his head and said to the soldiers beside him: "Go and call the general!"
Zhang Ye held Yuan Qingjun hostage and shouted to the crowd, "We in the Southwest Army have been deceived! The masked man is not the Major General at all, but Fang Yicen of the Fang family. They are colluding with each other to annex our Southwest Army!"
Yuan Qingjun groaned and leaned back, twisting his wrist desperately. "Are you crazy? Fang Yicen died in the northwest a long time ago. Who wants to listen to your nonsense?"
"Stop pretending!" The blade pressed against the side of Yuan Qingjun's neck, drawing blood. "The Fang family appointed a fake Major General. Do they really think the Southwest Army is blind and easy to fool?"
He pulled Yuan Qingjun's hair and forced her to look up. "Fang Yicen! If you want this woman to live, take off the mask!"
The general wearing the Green Fang mask walked over and the crowd automatically made way for him.
"Let her go."
A soldier from the southwest who knew him advised, "Zhang Ye, don't go crazy! Release him immediately."
Yuan Qingjun looked at the approaching person, her eyes condensed with ice: "Whether you are looking for He Wei or the Fang family, what does it have to do with a weak woman like me?"
Zhang Ye grinned grimly: "Hmph! Stop pretending."
Fang Yilan hurried over and saw Zhao Huaixu quietly walk around behind Zhang Ye. He hurriedly said, "You said He Wei is a member of my family. Do you have any evidence?"
"Evidence? Ha..." Zhang Ye suddenly reacted and pressed his sword a little deeper: "Stop playing those time-delaying tricks and take off the mask immediately. Don't force me to do anything!"
The sharp sound of metal falling to the ground startled everyone, and everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to the source of the sound.
The air suddenly froze.
A horrifying scar ran diagonally from the man's brow to his jaw, as ugly as a centipede.
There were intermittent gasps on the training ground, and the torches cast flickering shadows on Fang Yicen's horrific scar.
"See?" Zhang Ye laughed wildly, "I told you! I knew it would be like this!"
Lieutenant General Lin's spear clanged to the ground, his eyes filled with tears. "Major General! You're still alive!"
The commotion in the Southwestern Army was even worse. Some men lowered their swords, while others aimed their arrows at the scar covering half of his face.
"Put down your weapons!" Fang Yilan shouted.
Yuan Qingjun took advantage of the chaos and elbowed Wang Ye in the ribs. Zhao Huaixu also threw out a hidden weapon from his sleeve, which pierced Wang Ye's chest and raised a bloody mist.
Wang Ye was spitting blood and wanted to raise his knife to swing at Yuan Qingjun, but the silver spear and the black knife shot towards him at the same time.
The next moment, a silver spear was stuck in King Ye's throat and a scimitar was nailed in his abdomen, and his corpse cast a distorted black shadow on the city wall.
Yuan Qingjun covered his cut arm and fell to the ground.
"Sister Qingjun, are you okay?" Fang Yilan knelt beside her and asked with concern.
Yuan Qingjun stared at the man in black clothes three steps away, her eyelashes trembling violently.
Fang Yicen stepped forward and knelt on one knee.
"Don't touch me. I don't need General Fang's kindness." Yuan Qingjun's eyes were red, but he still raised his chin and sneered, "I already thought you were dead. There's no need for you to reveal your identity to save me."
Just as the cloth with body temperature was about to cover her shoulders, Yuan Qingjun suddenly raised his hand, and a crisp slap sounded, and Fang Yilan's exclamation was stuck in her throat.
Fang Yicen did not dodge and let the slap fall. Blood appeared on the side of his face, but he still stubbornly covered her trembling shoulders with the cloak that still had his body temperature.
"Who are you acting for?" Yuan Qingjun sneered. "When I fell behind you, you didn't even look back at me. Fang Yicen, since you have your own path to take, there's no need to stop for me."
Fang Yicen kept his eyes down as he bandaged her with the gauze, neither denying nor uttering a word. Only after he had tied the last knot did he speak in a hoarse, untuned voice, "Next time... don't let yourself fall on the blade."
Yuan Qingjun grabbed the roll of gauze and threw it at the figure, and it finally fell to the ground powerlessly. She stared at Fang Yicen's figure as he walked away without hesitation, and her eyes were hurt by the night wind.
...
Fang Yicen tilted his head back and took a sip of the liquor. The moonlight leaking through the battlements of the city wall shattered on his knees. His Adam's apple rolled as he swallowed the spicy liquid. Thinking about the slap he had just received, his thoughts drifted back to three years ago.
When marching back to the camp, He Wei found that Fang Yicen was always looking in the direction of Shangjing and stroking a glass hairpin.
"What are you daydreaming about?" He Wei gently stabbed Fang Yicen's soft armor on the back of his waist with his scabbard. "This broken hairpin is already patinated. Which young lady is this unrequited love for?"
Fang Yicen stuffed the hairpin back into the armor's interlayer and kicked He Wei: "It's better than some people who can't even get the girl's sachet at the age of twenty-three."
"Bullshit! Miss Yan from the south of the city sewed the soles of my shoes last month!" He Wei said with a red face to save face.
After saying that, he suddenly threw a warm object towards Fang Yicen. It was a piece of mutton-fat jade with two fish connected head to tail.
"Take it. When you see your sister-in-law, tell her that this is the betrothal gift from your brother! It must be quite pitiful for her to be favored by your boy."
Fang Yicen nearly choked on his saliva and pretended to throw it away: "Shameless you, you're only twenty-eight days older than me and you dare to act like an elder?"
He Wei pursed his lips and said, "You little brat, you have no respect for your age! Even if you are one day older, you are still older!"
"Ah Wei!" Fang Yicen glanced at him, then turned his head to look at the pale yellow sky. The tips of his ears were redder than the sunset, and his mouth was grinning, revealing his canine teeth. "After we win the battle... I'll take you to see her."
"OK!"
A lone goose flew across the dusky sky, and two war horses rode side by side, neither of them knowing at that time that this was their final peace.
...
The sound of footsteps approaching from afar interrupted Fang Yicen's thoughts. He frowned and looked up, but it was the person he least wanted to see.
Zhao Huaixu had a faint smile on his face and spoke in a gentle and polite voice, "Uncle, you are in such a refined mood. I'm sorry that Yu'an is being a little rude."
"I truly don't deserve to be called 'uncle' by your Highness the Seventh Prince."
Zhao Huaixu's smile remained unchanged, and he continued to act calmly: "There seems to be some disagreement between Miss Qingyun and my uncle. Why don't you clear up the misunderstanding?"
Fang Yicen glanced at Zhao Huaixu and said coldly, "First take care of your hand that provoked my sister, and then come and meddle in my affairs."
Fang Yicen said coldly, "It's not anyone else's turn to interfere in what's going on between her and me."
Zhao Huaixu sighed softly and said slowly, "Life is like morning dew, like a chaotic poem, and time flies by. We should cherish every day we live. Uncle, don't miss out on the many beautiful things you should have because of a momentary impulse."
The wine jar burst in Fang Yicen's palm: "None of you in the Tian family are good people! Stop pretending to be nice in front of me!"
There were hurried footsteps at the end of the stone path.
"Brother! I finally found you." Fang Yilan ran closer, turned his eyes, and said, "Yuan, you are here too."
Fang Yicen's knuckles were blue and white from being pinched, and the wine jar made a dull thud as it hit the wall tiles.
He raised his hand to wipe the wine stain from his chin, and a hoarse sneer escaped from his Adam's apple. "You've come just in time! Don't you want to know the truth of that year? I'll tell you."
"Emperor Jingwen used me as bait, and those jackals from Xiling have already surrounded the granary like an iron barrel."
"Back then, when I went to steal food and supplies, torches suddenly appeared from all directions. That's when I knew I was ambushed."
"He Wei knew I had made a mistake in advance and led his personal guards to rescue me. When he arrived, I was already seriously injured and lying in a pool of blood."
At that time...
"Change clothes." He Wei was tearing off his blood-soaked silver armor, his fingers colder than ice and snow. "Put on your mask."
Fang Yicen struggled to grab his combat boots: "Asshole...you're courting death!"
The bright moon colt neighed. The young man reined in his horse amidst the sky full of sparks, looking back and saying, "When you see my brother, tell him... I will definitely come back..." Perhaps even he felt hopeless, so he added, "If I don't come back, you take good care of him for me!"
…
Fang Yicen took another sip of wine. "I lay in the mud watching He Wei tear our clothes apart. I could only watch helplessly as he donned my silver armor and rushed towards the flames. When the Southwestern Army found me, the mask had already been welded to my festering face and couldn't be peeled off."
"I still remember when He Wei climbed onto his horse, he turned around and smiled, revealing his canine fangs, which were always ridiculed. He said, 'Keep the jade pendant. It will be a family heirloom.'"
Fang Yicen suddenly began to cough violently, dark red blood seeping from between his fingers. He stared at the crimson palms and sneered, "He died believing he could go home and eat longevity noodles cooked by his brother."
But He Wei failed to escape. He was surrounded by Xiling's people. In the end, not even his body was left as he was cruelly taken away by Xiling.
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