Detecting the enemy
The men in black who were traveling with Yifei and the people from Qi who were wearing Nansai costumes did not take away a single wooden box.
After they had gone far away, Shangguan Yichen waved his hand and led the others to gather around, searching the area where Yifei and his group had camped, fearing they would miss even a hair, but to no avail. Apart from discarded items and food scraps left behind by them, there was no trace of anything suspicious on the ground.
"Could it be that the boxes don't contain military rations and supplies, but other things, such as small items, clothes, or powder, which they took out of the boxes for easy carrying and put into the packages they carried with them?" someone said.
"Where is the box? The abandoned box can't just disappear out of thin air! We saw them enter the tent with our own eyes, but we didn't see any box being carried out." Another soldier said.
A young soldier rubbed his chin, thinking, "It's said that the people of Nansai are good at poison and witchcraft. Maybe they used some kind of burrowing technique to make all the boxes disappear."
An older soldier poked him on the head and said, "You're always thinking about nonsense. Has your brain been poisoned by a poisonous insect since you came to Nansai?" The young soldier was dissatisfied and said, "Then where did you say the box went? How do you explain it?"
The older man snorted, "Those people who moved the boxes and dumped the goods were all from Qi. How could they use witchcraft? I don't believe they could disappear out of thin air. I'll dig three feet underground to find them." Turning to Shangguan Yichen, he asked, "General, there's no trace on the ground. Should we explore underground?"
Shangguan Yichen surveyed the empty space, overgrown with weeds and devoid of even freshly turned soil. Even if the supplies were right beneath their feet, forcibly digging up the ground to search for them would inevitably leave traces. Yifei's men would undoubtedly return to investigate. If they discovered our movements, they would surely alert them, which would be disadvantageous to us. Furthermore, there was another question: the contents of the wooden crate, whether or not they were military supplies, had been transported thousands of miles here, making them crucial to Yifei's settlement. Since they had been hidden somewhere, if they needed to retrieve them later, where would they go? How would they do it? This was the enemy's subsequent movements, and the focus of our military supply operations.
Shangguan Yichen then turned and said to the soldiers, "Let's not explore the area yet. Today's events must not be leaked to anyone, so as not to alert the enemy. If the enemy is aware of the situation while we are in the dark, the situation will be favorable to us. You have all been holding out all night and have worked very hard. Return to camp now to rest and make the next deployment tomorrow."
The generals received the order, returned to the forest, mounted their horses, and returned home, trampling on the grass and raising dust.
Shangguan Yichen and Zhong Yujing came to Benlei. Shangguan Yichen did not rush to mount the horse. He slowly touched Benlei's head and smoothed its hair. Benlei obediently rubbed his head into his hand.
Shangguan Yichen looked at Ben Lei enjoying himself and asked Zhong Yujing, "Are you tired?"
Zhong Yujing shook her head, "No."
Shangguan Yichen turned his head, the corners of his lips slightly raised, a hint of mystery flashed in his eyes, "How about you accompany me?"
Zhong Yujing was stunned for a moment, then nodded happily, "Okay!" Then Shangguan Yichen helped her onto the horse. Then a breeze passed behind him, and Shangguan Yichen also jumped on the horse. Without stopping for a moment, he slightly clamped his legs under the horse's belly and galloped out wildly.
"You haven't asked me where I'm going or what I'm going to do?" Shangguan Yichen's voice was right behind her ear. Perhaps it was the rushing wind, or perhaps it was his presence right next to her, like the soft fur of an animal, tickling her ears and numbing her back. Yet, she remained calm and composed, her mind clear as she spoke, "I believe the General's decision. There's no need to doubt it, let alone question it."
Zhong Yujing heard Shangguan Yichen chuckle in her ear, the sound like the wind in the valley blowing into her ears, "Accompany me to find out what Yifei and the others are up to, and see what tricks they are up to."
Zhong Yujing felt an urge to explore, eager to give it a try. She nodded yes and turned back to look at him. The moment she turned her head, she saw his face, so close to her, so clearly reflected in her eyes. Her eyes met his, their noses almost touching. She could actually see her own face clearly in his eyes...
Zhong Yujing's heart was like a ball, bouncing up and getting stuck in her throat, unable to move. She couldn't even breathe, and her cheeks flushed from holding it in. She stared blankly for a moment, and when she came to her senses, she turned her head abruptly, and took a breath in panic, but inhaled the cold air, which choked her throat and made her cough.
Shangguan Yichen asked her: "What's wrong?"
She pretended to be calm and said, "It's okay, I just choked on the cold air." She coughed a few more times on purpose, trying desperately to cover it up.
Shangguan Yichen chuckled behind her. When he smiled, his breath brushed her cheeks and neck... The blush on her face deepened. She didn't dare to turn her head to look at him again. She just looked straight ahead, her whole body stiff, not daring to breathe. But she always felt that he was looking at her from behind, as if she had a pair of eyes on her ears, as if she could feel his burning gaze. Zhong Yujing tensed her body with an expressionless face, and her hands unconsciously grasped the hair on Benlei's head.
Poor Benlei felt really uncomfortable being pulled like this, and he shook his head from time to time to express his protest. However, the master didn't care about him at all and only used his hair to relieve his anxiety.
Shangguan Yichen behind her took everything in, and he found it all very interesting. He was always an inch behind her, never even half an inch away.
One person was reserved, one was amused, and one horse was suffering, and they finally arrived outside the Setu military camp.
Shangguan Yichen jumped off his horse and stretched out his arms as usual, but Zhong Yujing sat on the horse with her head down and did not move.
"What's wrong?" Shangguan Yichen asked again.
Zhong Yujing said solemnly, "General, I have been riding since I was young. Although my riding skills are not superb, I can dismount on my own. There is no need for you, General..." Before he could finish his words, Shangguan Yichen had already picked him up from the horse...
Zhong Yujing was suddenly thrown backwards, her center of gravity tilted, and the corners of her clothes flew. She was still in shock and had been turned around in a big circle and then placed steadily on the ground. After a moment of reaction, she realized that Shangguan Yichen had carried her off the horse. Only then did she have the strength to stand firmly on her feet, and Shangguan Yichen's hand was always on her waist, not letting her go.
Ben Lei kicked his hind legs and shook the hair on his head. Haha, he finally felt comfortable.
Zhong Yujing stood still, her heart in panic, but her face remained calm. She quickly stepped aside, bowed, and said, "Thank you, General."
Shangguan Yichen only found it more amusing. He stood still, his eyes slightly narrowed, his lips curled in a smile, and he looked at her with his hands behind his back and said, "There's no need to be so polite, Inspector Jing."
Although Zhong Yujing's face remained expressionless, his eyes were lowered. He did not look at Shangguan Yichen, and he did not move or say a word.
"Someone is coming!" Shangguan Yichen said suddenly, and immediately bent down to drag Zhong Yujing into the forest and hide behind a tree. Ben Lei also quietly followed them and hid.
I saw two people, one tall and one short, wearing Nansai clothing, coming towards this side. When they reached the forest, the tall one extended his hand and handed the short one a piece of something. "There's not much good stuff in this barbaric land, but this is something fun to chew."
The short man put the thing into his mouth and chewed it with difficulty twice. "It stings my mouth."
The taller one looked around, seeing no one, and nudged the shorter one with his elbow. "When will this month's military pay be paid? Any news?"
The shorter one glanced at the taller one and said with difficulty, "You are not a soldier in the army, yet you are always thinking about the military pay."
The tall one put his hands on his waist and said to the short one, "Aren't you worried about me? Then why did you come here?" He rolled his eyes at the short one.
The short man scratched his right arm with his left hand and smacked his lips, saying, "This is a filthy place. There's nothing good to eat, and I can't sleep well. There are mosquitoes, snakes, and ants everywhere. It's really not a place to be a good person."
The tall man curled his lips and said, "You are the only one who suffers, and your whole family enjoys happiness. It's worth it."
The short man sighed when he heard that, sat down on the ground, and scratched the grass. "I don't know how tall little Tiger has grown, and whether he listens to his mother at home."
These words seemed to touch the tall man, so he sighed and sat down next to the short man. "Didn't I send all the banknotes from last month to them? They won't have a bad life. You can relax."
The shorter man nodded. "I followed the military advisor out of here because I wanted a good life. I wanted to make sure that Little Tiger wouldn't have to work like me, toiling in the fields, and that Ah Xiang wouldn't have to suffer with me. When the military pay is distributed to us, it will be a large sum. I'll have saved enough for Little Tiger's annual salary. I really want to quit this job and go back to be with him and his mother."
The tall man said, "Have you forgotten how the military advisor gathered us together in the first place? How can we just leave now when our great cause is not yet accomplished?"
The short man picked up a wooden stick from the ground and tapped it irritably. "What does the restoration of Dan Kingdom have to do with me? Although my ancestors were soldiers of Dan Kingdom, our family fell into decline after the defeat. Now that I have lived like this, I have never complained about the fate. I decided to follow the military advisor that day just to prevent my wife and children from suffering with me. But Ah Xiang has been complaining about me all these years, saying that if I am not with her and her mother, what is the use of having more money? We will be bullied by the neighbors and there will be no man to support us at home. Now I think that money and other things are not important. The most important thing is to have a wife and children who are warm and comfortable."
The tall man was deeply moved by what he heard. He looked up at the sky and said, "I miss my mother very much. I haven't been back to visit her in a few days. I wonder if she's in good health."
The shorter man suddenly turned around and asked the taller man, "I've never heard you tell me about your ancestors' connection to the Dan Kingdom."
The tall man said with a wistful look, "That's all in the past. My mother told me that my ancestors were officials in the Dan Kingdom. Like your family, they fell into decline after the defeat. My mother always hoped that I would pass the imperial examinations and bring glory back to our family. It was because I was useless and failed the exams many times that I was summoned by the military advisor to do something great. This is to live up to the family's expectations and trust."
The shorter man nodded. "I also sincerely hope that my little tiger can be more diligent and get a high-ranking official position in the court in the future, so as to revive the family."
The two men wanted to talk and were melancholy, but finally they sighed together that if they had not gone out with the military advisor to pursue great achievements, and returned home to take the imperial examinations or support their wives and children, no matter how big their ambitions were, they could have achieved them and lived a good life.
The tall man slanted his eyebrows and whispered to the shorter one, "Besides, the military pay we received this time was distributed by the court to the officers and soldiers. How could the military advisor steal it and give it to us? If the emperor knew about this and investigated it thoroughly, we would lose our heads!"
The shorter man slapped his thigh in fear and said, "You still don't know, but some of the military pay issued by the court also comes from unknown sources."
The tall man widened his eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"
The shorter man glanced around, raised a hand, covered his mouth, and whispered to the taller man, "I heard that the emperor is unaware of the military pay and supplies that have been delivered."
The tall one exclaimed, "That's..." He didn't dare to say the name behind it, but the short one understood and nodded in agreement.
The tall man's voice was a little shrill, "Isn't that a rebellion?"
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