For fourteen days, Zhao Che stayed in the camp without taking a single step out, but news continued to come in. These were not Zhao Che's spies. He understood more and more cruelly that these messages were just baits to stimulate him and force him to leave the camp. Although his eyes were not open, he had already seen the cold sword lights outside the tent.
On the second day of April, Shengjin Palace issued a commendation order: praising Zhao Che for his deep understanding of justice, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and specially awarded him two thousand taels of gold and promoted him to the rank of General of the Eastern Route. Although this military rank does not carry any real power at the moment, once the emperor leads the army in person, he will be his personal general, which shows the emperor's satisfaction with and trust in him.
On the night when he received the imperial edict, Zhao Che stood on the military training ground of the Cavalry Battalion, standing quietly without saying a word for a long time. He could hate the Muhe family, hate their arrogance, hate their lack of distinction between superiors and subordinates, and hate their abuse of power and disorderly government.
However, he had to admit that he was able to stand firm among the many princes for many years thanks to his powerful maternal family. Now that the Muhe family has collapsed, how can he survive in the face of his royal brothers who are like bloodthirsty wolves?
For five whole days, the Cavalry Battalion was immersed in gloom. Those with strong family backgrounds had bribed the military and were secretly transferred from the Cavalry Battalion to the Green Battalion. The rest of those who could not be transferred also retired due to illness and returned home. Zhao Che did not stop them. After all, these noble children all understood that if they wanted to gain a foothold in Daxia, in addition to the emperor's favor, the most important thing was to have strong backup strength.
Within five days, the personnel of the Cavalry Battalion were reduced by two-thirds. The remaining ones were either loyal subordinates who had followed Zhao Che for many years, or young men from poor families who had been promoted from the border.
No matter how thick the blood is, there will come a day when it will be washed clean, and the imperial capital finally became quiet. On this day, the official document from the Ministry of War finally came down. The messenger went straight to the central military tent, but when he saw that Zhao Che was not there, he put down the letter and turned away. Seeing Zhao Che coming from afar, he pretended not to see him, mounted his horse and rode away.
Deputy General Cheng handed over the letter and frowned, saying, "Your Highness, the Ministry of War has received an official document stating that they will dispatch the Cavalry Battalion to go out of the city and build a highway to Yucheng, 130 miles away, to facilitate the travel of Crown Prince Bian Tang."
Zhao Che did not take the letter, but slowly clenched his fists.
Half a month ago, the third prince Zhao Qi had personally requested to go out of the city to build a highway, but Mu He's incident proved that Zhao Qi had not left the imperial city at all, and the Green Camp Army had been lurking outside the city, waiting for the opportunity.
Now that the Muhe clan has been eradicated and the Wei clan is the only powerful one, he has also received all the rewards for building the Chidao and the love of the people. Now, he wants Zhao Che to take the Cavalry Battalion out of the city to build the Tao. Is this considered the contempt of a strong man? Or is it bullying by the victor?
Zhao Che stood there silently for a long time. Although he was already used to such people bullying the weak, he still couldn't hide his anger. He smiled coldly, turned around suddenly, and his eyes were like sharp knives, shooting straight at the magnificent palace.
On the second day, the entire Cavalry Battalion set out for Yucheng and built a highway to welcome the Crown Prince of Bian Tang, Li Ce.
Bian Tang is not far away from Daxia. It only takes one month by fast horse, and two months by slow carriage. But this prince actually left four months ahead of schedule, and is still nowhere to be seen.
Most of the princes of Daxia had experience in guarding the border and could travel anywhere with the army, including grasslands, wastelands, mountain streams and rivers. But this distinguished guest of Bian Tang needed to build a bridge to cross the river. It had to be a solid stone bridge that four war horses could pass side by side. He also had to reclaim the grassland first, under the pretext of not wanting to dirty the hooves of the golden horse given by Bian Tang. He did not wade through water, take a boat, walk on mountain roads or in deserts, travel through towns within fifty miles, or stay in tents. He did not drink anything other than spring water, new tea, or fine wine, and all his food was brought from Bian Tang. For each trip, there were more than 200 carriages just to carry the accompanying clothes, utensils, etc. No matter what it is, don't touch anything that has passed through a man's hands. In order to feed this only child, Emperor Bian Tang put a lot of thought into it. It is said that even the rice, vegetables, and fruits that Li Ce ate were grown in the fertile land of the harem. Outstanding farmers were selected from the public, and young girls in the palace learned to grow them by hand before the prince could eat them.
After learning all this, Chu Qiao was secretly shocked. To welcome such a powerful figure, the Great Xia royal family actually sent Zhao Che, and brought a large number of soldiers from the Cavalry Battalion. Wasn't that intentional making things difficult?
In short, the soldiers of the Cavalry Battalion worked for ten days in the wind and snow to open up a snowy road, and finally got everything ready. They were looking forward to the arrival of Prince Bian Tang. Suddenly, news came from the front: the prince kicked off the quilt at night, caught a cold, and has turned back.
When Zhao Che heard this, he was so angry that his nose almost crooked. He mounted his horse and led his troops away.
Chu Qiao heard the news and sighed slightly. For some reason, a trace of fear arose in his heart. If this Prince Bian Tang was not a truly absurd person, then he must be a truly terrifying master who knew how to hide himself.
In any case, she was transferred to the Cavalry Battalion after all. Since she had known about the previous turmoil of the Muhe family, she deliberately postponed the reporting time. Although Zhao Che is not as powerful as before, he is still the master of the Cavalry Battalion. Chu Qiao, with the title of a cavalry and archery instructor, has to report to the army.
However, in the evening, Zhao Che sent someone to bring back news that the arrogant prince finally agreed to stop and recuperate temporarily, but refused to enter the military camp. He ordered Deputy General Cheng to temporarily lead the Cavalry Battalion and stay on standby. He also informed the vanguard camp's archery instructor Chu Qiao to follow his personal soldiers to the front camp to meet him.
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows and asked in confusion.
The soldier hesitated for a long time before whispering, "The prince refused to see Your Highness, saying that Your Highness has too much evil spirit and it will make his condition worse. These words were conveyed by the maidservant beside Prince Bian Tang."
When everyone heard this, they were immediately confused. Could it be that this top-notch prince was a man who was unwilling to talk to men?
The soldier specifically told Chu Qiao to wear women's clothes, so she dressed up hastily and set off immediately.
Fortunately, there has been no heavy snow in the past few days, otherwise all the previous efforts would have been in vain. Chu Qiao and four of her personal soldiers were riding their horses at full speed. She was wearing a fiery red fur coat. Although it was a men's coat, it looked gorgeous and made her features more picturesque and her skin as white as snow stand out even more.
The two places were not far apart, only a two-hour journey. But less than an hour had passed when a horse-drawn carriage came slowly towards them. It was decorated with gold and had fluttering silk. A majestic white horse was used to pull the carriage. Four horses rode side by side, and for a moment they blocked the road completely.
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows and reined in her horse. I saw that there were two young girls driving in the opposite direction. One of them was wearing a white mink fur jacket and a pastel-colored cotton skirt. The other one was wearing a light green outfit, looking like a hunter's family. They both wore hoods and cloaks, and their faces were red from the cold, but they turned around from time to time to talk and laugh with the people in the carriage. Their clear voices came from afar.
"Oh! Sister Fu, there is someone in front?" The carriage stopped in front of Chu Qiao and the other four. The girl in green clothes and pants' eyes lit up and she turned around and said with a smile.
"Who is it?" A charming voice suddenly sounded, "Male or female?"
The girl bit her lip and chuckled, saying as if no one was around: "Four men and one woman."
"Oh?" The voice inside paused and continued, "Master asks you, what does that woman look like? How old is she?"
The girl looked Chu Qiao up and down for a while, then pouted her lips and said, "Not bad, sixteen or seventeen years old, not much better than me, and can't be compared with Sister Fu, Sister E, and Sister Qing."
Suddenly there was a burst of laughter from inside, and the voice from before said while laughing: "The master said that the person who could make you, Lu'er, say such words must be extremely beautiful. Let the man go, and leave the woman behind. The master wants to question her."
The girl snorted in dissatisfaction and said to Chu Qiao and the others, "Did you hear what my sister Fu said? The men can go, and the women can stay."
Several people were stunned for a moment, and the four bodyguards were even more furious. They knew from their attire that they were not ordinary people, and no matter who these women were, they should not be so bold.
Chu Qiao was secretly worried. There were many wealthy families in Da Xia, and most of them behaved outrageously. Not only were they extremely extravagant, but the young masters of the families were even more lawless. I don’t know which wealthy family these people belong to, so I need to be careful not to offend them.
Unexpectedly, before they spoke, the girl got anxious and shouted angrily, "Didn't you hear me? You are so stupid." Then, she took out two gold bars, threw them on the ground, and said proudly, "I see there is no jade token on your belt, which means you are not from the clan. This is a good price for a girl from the Han clan. You guys should leave quickly."
A young soldier flew into a rage and shouted, "Where did you come from, you little yellow-haired girl? If you dare to..."
Before he could finish his words, a whip shadow suddenly came towards him. The little maidservant looks young, but she is quite skilled. The soldier was so angry that he was attacked by her. He was hit on the face with a whip, leaving a bloody whip mark. The tip of the whip hit his eyes and he didn't know how serious the injury was. The soldier immediately fell off his horse, covering his eyes and screaming loudly.
"Hmph! You're a dog who doesn't know how to live or die!" The little maidservant snorted coldly and pulled again.
Seeing her being so arrogant, Chu Qiao became angry unconsciously. She urged her horse forward, grabbed the whip tip, and snatched it away with a little force and skillful means.
"Don't go too far." Chu Qiao said in a cold voice, looking at the little maid.
Another guard suddenly shouted.
Chu Qiao lowered her head and saw that the soldier who had just been hit had blood all over his palm, and it was all flowing out of his eyes. It was obvious that the eye could not be saved.
"Hmph!" The little maid named Lu'er snorted disdainfully, "What's so great about him? He's just a lowly person. At worst, I can compensate you...ah!"
Before she could finish her words, a whip suddenly came and hit her fair and smooth cheek with a swish. The force was stronger than before, and blood immediately flowed down her cheek. The girl screamed, covered her cheek, and looked over angrily.
"What's the big deal? You're just a heartless beast. I'll blind one of your eyes for fun. The worst that can happen is I'll have to compensate you with silver." Chu Qiao said coldly, imitating her previous tone.
The girl was quite tough. She didn't even scream, but just looked at her with gritted teeth, her eyes full of resentment.
"You stupid girl, I won't let you go!"
"Who asked you to let me go?" Chu Qiao half-squinted her eyes and asked back, "Didn't you just say you wanted to buy me? Now let's see what you can do." After saying that, a flying knife was swung out, and it rushed forward like lightning and stabbed the buttocks of a horse pulling a carriage. The warhorse was frightened and immediately raised its hooves, galloping away with a whimper.