Chapter 522 Returning to the Capital (First Update)
Prince Bo was a member of the royal family and was considered highly skilled in martial arts, but he was no match for a renowned general like Rong Yao. In the end, Prince Bo was seriously injured and died at Rong Yao's hands.
“I was rash. I intended to capture him alive, but this man was too troublesome, and I accidentally killed him. I beg Your Highness to punish me.”
These are the words Rong Yao said when he came down from the city wall and bowed to Yuan Tang to apologize.
Yuan Tang was still beside Gu Changqing, riding a tall horse and looking down at her uncle Rong Yao.
He smiled coldly to himself.
Even his uncle wouldn't believe such nonsense, would he?
That's true. If we don't kill Prince Bo, what if he returns to the palace and reveals things that are detrimental to Rong Yao?
This uncle is truly shrewd and ruthless.
But did he really think that everything would be foolproof without Prince Bo?
Yuan Tang looked at Rong Yao with a half-smile: "Uncle, you've worked hard. You've done a great job killing the traitor. When we return to the capital, Father will definitely reward you for your merits."
Rong Yao knelt on one knee, cupped his hands, and said with a look of fear and trepidation, "I dare not reward you for your merits, I only ask to make amends for my mistakes. I was misled by Prince Bo and really thought that everything was His Majesty's decree. Who would have thought that this person was falsely conveying the imperial decree and causing us to follow him on the expedition... I beg Your Highness to investigate this matter thoroughly."
Gu Changqing, who was standing to the side, parted his thin lips slightly and said, "Heh."
Rong Yao's expression turned very ugly.
Rong Yao's youngest son, Rong Fu, died at the hands of Gu Changqing. Rong Yao harbored great resentment towards Gu Changqing, but he had no choice but to submit to his fate.
Yuan Tang glanced at Gu Changqing, then at Rong Yao, and said with a faint smile, "Uncle, you flatter me. Once we return to the capital, Father will investigate the truth. As long as you have a clear conscience, I believe the truth will come out one day."
A layer of cold sweat appeared on Rong Yao's forehead.
He didn't dare to look Yuan Tang in the eye; he could already feel the threat emanating from her.
"Sixth Prince, may I speak with you in private?" Rong Yao said to Yuan Tang.
Yuan Tang rode his horse back to the camp of the Chen army.
General Zhang glanced at the two men's retreating figures and said to Gu Changqing, "General, that man surnamed Rong seems to be in favor of war."
With 80,000 reinforcements from Chen and 60,000 troops from Ye, the Gu family army is overwhelmingly larger in number, making a bloody battle inevitable.
Gu Changqing showed no anxiety on his face. He said calmly, "Yuan Tang will not agree."
If Yuan Tang really wanted to start a war, she wouldn't have come alone, nor would she have introduced herself as Gu Jiao's friend.
It is unknown what Yuan Tang and Rong Yao said, but Rong Yao nearly went berserk. However, Yuan Tang ignored him completely and directly ordered the 60,000 Chen troops to withdraw from Ye City.
This matter is certainly not over yet. It was the State of Chen that violated the peace treaty and started the war. All the war losses will be borne by the State of Chen alone, which is like adding insult to injury for the State of Chen court, which has already suffered losses in one battle.
However, this experience truly made Yuan Tang realize the cruelty of war and the terrible price it brought.
If Yuan Tang was still thinking about going to war with Zhao when he was a hostage in Zhao, he no longer has that idea now.
War is a power struggle among those in power, and it is innocent soldiers and civilians who pay the price for it.
Yuan Tang rode his horse back to the Gu family army's camp and said to Gu Changqing in a serious tone, "If you trust me, I would like to take Rong Yao back to the capital of Chen Kingdom first, and then I will personally go to Zhaodu to apologize and negotiate with His Majesty the Emperor of your country later."
Yuan Tang's current status is still that of a hostage from the State of Chen. Logically, he should return to the capital with Gu Changqing. Letting him go is tantamount to releasing a tiger back into the mountains.
Before Gu Changqing could answer, Yuan Tang continued, "But before that, I hope to go to Yuegu City with you to pay our respects to the Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces and the old Marquis."
“Okay,” Gu Changqing said.
Yuan Tang went to Yuegu City alone with Gu Changqing, and his openness and courage were truly admirable.
However, once Gu Changqing arrived at Moon City, he realized he had been tricked!
This kid isn't here to visit Tang Yueshan and his grandfather; he's clearly here to see his sister!
As soon as Yuan Tang entered the city, he went straight to the wounded soldiers' camp: "Doctor Gu, I'm here!"
Looking at Yuan Tang, who treated him like family, Gu Changqing narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Gu Jiao had long since recovered from the epidemic and had passed the quarantine period. At this time, she was in the wounded soldiers' camp instructing several soldiers on rehabilitation.
He was wearing the armor of a general from the State of Chen.
The soldiers in the wounded soldiers' camp were so startled by the sudden intrusion that they immediately drew their swords from beside their beds.
Yuan Tang clicked his tongue, unfastened the sword from his waist, and tossed it to the wounded soldier closest to him: "Here you go."
Wounded soldier: "..."
Gu Jiao's expression was calm. She glanced at Yuan Tang and then said to the wounded soldier who was recovering beside her, "You continue."
The wounded soldier, still recovering, continued to walk forward, leaning on his crutches.
Yuan Tang stood uninvited next to Gu Jiao and exclaimed dramatically, "You're not even a little excited to see me? I should have known better than to come see you!"
"Is something the matter?" Gu Jiao asked.
Yuan Tang opened her mouth, but seemed to be fine.
He clicked his tongue and said, "Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here at the border?"
Gu Jiao said "Oh," and then asked, "Should we kill Prince Bo or Rong Yao?"
Yuan Tang: "..."
"Here you go." Yuan Tang handed her a small bundle he always carried with him.
"What?" Gu Jiao asked.
Yuan Tang stuffed the bundle into her arms and said, "The begonia flower box is for you, and the bamboo leaf box is for my cousin. I need to go back to the capital to deal with my uncle first, and I may not be able to go to Zhaodu for a while. Please give this to my cousin for me."
"Mm," Gu Jiao replied.
Yuan Tang raised an eyebrow: "Don't overthink it. I gave you the gift just to thank you for helping my cousin carry things. Besides... I was able to escape from Zhaodu thanks to your husband."
Yuan Tang originally thought that he had hidden it well and hadn't let Xiao Liulang know, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that Xiao Liulang was originally going to the yamen to go on duty, but suddenly changed his route and left the north gate of the capital, and even stopped at the post station for a while.
It's likely that Xiao Liulang discovered him long ago and deliberately sent him away.
Gu Jiao was unaware of this.
It was truly fortunate that Xiao Heng let Yuan Tang go; otherwise, this battle wouldn't have ended so quickly, and both sides would have suffered heavy casualties.
Yuan Tang said, "Alright, I've said everything I needed to say. I should go now. Remember to tell your cousin that he misses me."
Hearing this, Gu Changqing finally sheathed the sword he had drawn.
Yuan Tang rode away from Yuegu City.
Watching his departing figure, Lieutenant General Zhang asked, "General, are we really just letting him go like this? The Chen Kingdom has 140,000 troops. If they start a war with us now..."
“He won’t,” Gu Changqing said.
Jiaojiao trusts him, so he trusts him too.
As Gu Jiao emerged from the wounded soldiers' camp, she immediately spotted Gu Changqing waiting at the door.
"Are you here to change your dressing?" Gu Jiao asked.
Gu Changqing said in a serious tone, "...Hmm."
Gu Jiao led him to the next tent and cut the gauze off his hands with scissors. This was not the injury he sustained when he first arrived in Yuegu City and grabbed the red-tasseled spear to protect the out-of-control Gu Jiao, but the injury he sustained when he went to the lair of the remnants of the previous dynasty to find Gu Jiao.
Gu Changqing downplayed the events of that day, but the process was actually far more difficult and complicated than imagined.
He learned from his advisors that the map of the former dynasty's army's lair and secret passage was indeed real, but unfortunately the map was incomplete, and the wooden bridge leading to the lair had been destroyed by Huangfu Zheng.
Gu Changqing stood on the cliff for a long time, and was certain that unless he grew wings, it would be impossible for him to leap over it with his lightness skill.
He then decided to go down the mountain first, go around from the foot of the mountain, and then climb up to the top of the opposite mountain.
The hardships involved are self-evident.
Fortunately, although the map was incomplete, the general direction was correct. He climbed the cliff face with great difficulty, and almost fell into the abyss several times.
At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: he had to live, and live to find his sister.
The wound on his hand was from climbing the cliff, and it has not yet healed. He also led troops into battle, which repeatedly aggravated the wound.
In Gu Changqing's opinion, this kind of injury was nothing serious. If Gu Jiao hadn't been there, he wouldn't have bothered to change the dressing.
"They can't get injured again, or these hands will be ruined," Gu Jiao said seriously as she changed the dressing.
Gu Changqing smiled gently: "Yes, no more, the war is over."
"The stitches here can be removed," Gu Jiao said, looking at the wound on the back of his left hand.
Gu Changqing obediently stretched out his hand.
Gu Jiao took out sterilized scissors: "It will hurt a little."
Gu Changqing said, "It won't hurt. You didn't feel any pain when you got stitches."
It's no wonder it hurts since there was no anesthesia.
Gu Jiao paused when this was mentioned.
After escaping from the mountains, she stitched up Gu Changqing's wounds, just as another wounded soldier also needed stitches.
However, there was only one anesthetic in the small medicine box.
Gu Changqing gave the anesthetic to the wounded soldier, explaining that he didn't need it. As a martial artist, he was prone to injuries, and occasionally, when the injuries were severe, he would need to drink some anesthetic soup, but none of the anesthetic soups worked for him.
Gu Jiao couldn't help but recall when she first came to the capital and stitched up Gu Changqing's wound for the first time, there was no anesthetic in her medicine kit.
She didn't think much of it at the time, but now that she thinks about it, perhaps the first-aid kit had already determined that the patient was intolerant to anesthesia.
So all his wounds, big and small, were stitched up without any anesthesia?
Gu Changqing gazed at Gu Jiao and smiled gently: "It doesn't hurt, really."
"Mmm." Gu Jiao responded with a very serious tone, but her movements became much gentler.
The battle is over, the plague patients have recovered, and now Gu Jiao and her group should return to the capital.
Tang Yueshan left behind a portion of the garrison, and Gu Changqing also left behind 20,000 Gu family troops to work together on the post-disaster reconstruction of the three cities.
The governors of Beiyang and Ye were killed, and the imperial court issued an edict overnight to appoint two new governors.
After the newly appointed prefects arrived at their respective residences, the Gu family army and the imperial guards were also ready to go.
Princess Ning'an was to return to the capital with them.
Rescuing Princess Ning'an and bringing her back to the capital was the old Marquis's mission. However, the old Marquis was still bedridden and recovering from his injuries, so Gu Changqing stepped forward to ask Princess Ning'an for instructions.
In a side room of the prefect's mansion, Gu Changqing met Princess Ning'an in the study.
Since coming down from the mountain, Princess Ning'an has stayed in her room, neither going out nor speaking to anyone.
Gu Changqing understood that the remnants of the previous dynasty had greatly affected her, so he never mentioned the war or the prince consort in front of her.
Gu Changqing bowed respectfully and said solemnly, "We will set off for the capital tomorrow morning. Does the princess have any other instructions?"
Princess Ning'an stared blankly at the snow scene outside the window. After a long while, she murmured, "On the way back to the capital, could we go to Jicheng... to pick someone up?"
As if afraid of troubling Gu Changqing, she added, "We don't need too many people, just a few will do. He won't have trouble accepting them."
Gu Changqing roughly understood who he was to meet, and he said, "Your Majesty, I will go there in person."
"I want to go too!"
In another room of the prefect's mansion, Gu Chengfeng, who had already removed the splint from his arm and was back to his lively self, said in a fit of anger.
He had finally recovered from his injuries and was planning to go to the battlefield for a good fight, only to be told that the State of Chen had surrendered!
He's only just become a member of the Gu family army, and he's already taken on the title for nothing!
He mainly wanted his older brother to witness his abilities.
"Okay," Gu Changqing agreed.
Gu Chengfeng was excited all night long, finally able to go on a mission with his elder brother. But when he walked out of the military camp fully armed, he saw that his elder brother had a Gu Jiao by his side.
Gu Chengfeng's face immediately darkened: "Is she going too?"
Am I the only one?
Why should there be a girl to share this honor of fighting alongside the eldest brother?
"Mount up," Gu Changqing said, patting his mount.
Hmph, that's more like it.
Gu Chengfeng pouted and walked towards his elder brother's mount. He had been eyeing his elder brother's mount for a long time. Apart from his grandfather's horse, his elder brother's horse was the best in their family.
It's better than the horse that was stolen from the prince consort.
"It's not you." Gu Changqing ruthlessly blocked him, picked up Gu Jiao around the waist, gently placed her on the horse's back, and said tenderly, "Hold on tight."
Gu Jiao nodded.
Gu Changqing then turned and mounted Gu Jiao's horse.
Then the two of them sped away!
Gu Chengfeng was left completely bewildered: "..."
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(End of this chapter)
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