Novel Bin Chapter 187 - The Overbearing General’s Pretty Warlord (VI)
Chapter 187 - The Overbearing General’s Pretty Warlord (VI)
Once the schedule for departure had been set, the Emperor dismissed the crowd.
After leaving the imperial study, Fang Xing went to a secluded place, where Yan Yuanzhao pulled Chi Xiaochi away without any further ado.
The brothers, already accustomed to Yan Yuanzhao’s unconventional style, dispersed.
”All right, Shi Tingyun.” Yan Yuanzhao stopped and said, “I went to the general’s residence yesterday, but you were calm enough not to say a word to me?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “It’s not too late. I received a letter from my father’s family last night to set this in motion.”
”You ……” Yan Yuanzhao looked around and lowered his voice, “You give me an accurate answer, is there really nothing wrong at the southern border?”
Chi Xiaochi said indifferently, “The Shi family would never commit the crime of deceiving the emperor. The Sixth Prince has spoken too highly of you.”
Yan Yuanzhao was a little relieved, but he knew that he had lost his tongue, so he changed his demeanor and raised his fan frivolously: “Okay, I get it. …… There is still half a month before you leave town, so you must be very busy. The pot of good flower carvings was meant for you and me to enjoy the beauty of the painting boat, but now it seems that it is only for you to strengthen your journey, which is worthy of it.”
Chi Xiaochi looked at him with interest and said, “A pot of flower carvings is not a disappointment, just don’t let down your ambition.”
Yan Yuanzhao did not take up his words, as if he was not the one who wanted to go to the edge in the imperial study just now, and with a twist of the golden silk fan, he pointed somewhere: “If you have a mind to talk to me, why don’t you think about how to amuse yourself on the way to Zhen Nan Guan with that bored gourd?”
Chi Xiaochi looked in the direction Yan Yuanzhao’s fan was pointing and saw Yan Yuanheng standing under an almond blossom tree not far away, staring at the pair.
When he noticed Chi Xiaochi looking over, Yan Yuanheng changed his expression slightly, clenched his fist against his lips and coughed lightly, then approached with his hands behind his back.
He asked, “You have only recovered from your illness and you are only half a month away, will that be a problem for the army?”
As he was on official business, Chi Xiaochi was naturally respectful: “No matter, please be at ease, Thirteenth Prince.”
Yan Yuanheng wanted to say something else, but Yan Yuanzhao was impatient to listen to the two men’s polite words and waved his fan, “Let’s go.”
Yan Yuanzhao is sent off, and Yan Yuanheng walks alongside him in the palace.
Unlike Yan Yuanzhao, Yan Yuanheng is really quiet and quiet, and came to him just to ask him what he needed to do before he went to the border.
Chi Xiaochi had listened to his tutor’s lectures before coming here, and had taken enough notes to answer them all, but apart from that, he had not been clever enough to add to his friendship with the thirteenth prince, and had on the contrary distanced himself from him.
After Yan Yuanheng had asked the questions he wanted to ask, the pair fell into an awkward silence.
Yan Yuanheng had to struggle to find a topic, “You have something on your mind?”
Chi Xiaochi bowed his head and smiled: “Yes.”
Yan Yuanheng : “A family matter?”
Chi Xiaochi : “Sort of a letter from …… my father, in which he urged me to …… hey, don’t mention it.”
Yan Yuanheng had just vaguely heard Yan Yuanzhao talking to Shi Tingyun about the ‘family letter’, and now that he was being vague, his face was vaguely ugly.
He had been with Shi Tingyun since he was six years old, and knew him best; he was a bright, clear-headed man who rarely acted like this.
He pretended to be relaxed and said, “What is there not to say. Do you have someone in mind?”
He was just making a casual remark, who thought the person in front of him would admit it, “…… yes.”
Yan Yuanheng changed colour and immediately asked, “Which family’s daughter? If you are attracted to her, why didn’t …… you do the wedding ceremony earlier, and why did you rush to the border at this time?”
Chi Xiaochi thought, “Oh, isn’t that a talker, with a little mouth.
Chi Xiaochi gives an embarrassed smile.
Yan Yuanheng thought of Shi Tingyun’s odd behaviour when he came to the door a few days ago and became increasingly uneasy, so he stopped and waited for him to explain.
Chi Xiaochi has timed the hesitation just right: ” Yuan Heng ……”
The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you are getting into. …… It’s time for you to get married. The actual fact is that you’ll be able to get a lot more than just a few of the most popular and popular ones. Which family was chosen? Which one did you choose? The second young lady of the Minister of Household Qu’s family, or Qu Ying’s sister?”
Chi Xiaochi: ” Yuan Heng, let me tell you something …… you must not tell anyone else.”
Yan Yuanheng was inexplicably a little nervous: “Well.”
Chi Xiaochi lifted his breath, lowered his voice and said, “The man I am in love with …… is a man.”
Yan Yuanheng : “………………”
Yan Yuanheng’s knuckles clacked harshly as he said in a subdued voice, “Who is it? Chu Ziling?”
Chi Xiaochi wondered, “What made you think it would be A Ling?”
Yan Yuanheng’s body trembled with fear: “Is it really him?”
Chi Xiaochi reassured, “You have not seen it before.”
Yan Yuanheng pressed the question, “Really?”
Chi Xiaochi said helplessly, “…… thirteen princes.”
Yan Yuanheng Fang just returned to his senses and realized that he had lost his temper, so he took a deep breath to calm his mind and said in a low voice: “How do you think? A man, you and he …… Shi family loyalty for seven generations, you want to let the Shi family end up without a descendant?”
”How could the Toki family not have any descendants?” Chi Xiaochi was mildly angry, “My uncle is my father’s brother and also belongs to my family, but my second uncle is really not talented in martial arts, so my grandfather passed the Toki family spear to my father.”
Yan Yuanheng’s pretty face stiffened to a point of wood: “Really? Then you are going to the southern border this time, do you intend to make this matter clear to General Shi?”
Chi Xiaochi says, “Not really. He may not know my heart yet, and I have no intention of letting him know. If I love someone, I don’t wish for anything, I will just bury him in my heart forever, promise him my country for life and never marry.”
Yan Yuanheng did not expect to hear such frank words, stunned for a moment, looked slightly gloomy down: ” Su Chang with deep love …… I am not the first time to go to the southern border, but there are still a lot of unknown, these days may have to bother the house. …… farewell.”
With an arch of his hand, he turned away, his departing back a barely maintained poise.
Chi Xiaochi looks at his back, laughs silently and walks with him on his back.
He was reluctant to believe the original owner’s dream; after all, seeing is not believing.
So he chose to take the initiative.
A letter from home, fabricated out of thin air, measures two genuine hearts.
–The Sixth Prince is a fop on the surface, but his family and country are no less important. Although he is very plastic with Thirteen in private, he deliberately avoids competing with him on important matters.
–The Thirteenth Prince is outwardly cloudy, but his heart is full of love for the original owner.
Chi Xiaochi has been playing Shi Tingyun for the past two days and has really built up a lot of acting experience.
The fact that Shi Tingyun was treated so well by the two princes does not exclude the purpose of our initial friendship, but it is clear from these few days of probing that Shi Tingyun is a straightforward person who speaks his mind and is a friend who can only be gained by exchanging sincerity for sincerity.
Yan Yuanheng, a man of great affection and a rare youthful open-mindedness, had a strong sense of proportion, and only had personal relations with the two princes, never mixing them with public affairs.
The purity of this emotion, which has been nurtured since childhood, is even more evident.
So here’s the question.
Who on earth could have beaten Shi Tingyun?
If it were the betrayal of Van Chang, it would not have caused the original owner to say such words as he thought of himself as a slave, nor would it have caused him to be so upset even after his death that he would have preferred to give his body to someone else and come back for revenge.
Therefore, the only thing that can hurt him so much is a heart.
Shi Tingyun is the only one of his generation who is a general.
When General Shi asked him to come back to Wangcheng, he wanted him to leave behind his heir and family, but he disobeyed his father’s expectation and returned to Wangcheng for a long time, still not doing his proper job, hanging out with the Sixth Prince all day long, playing games with his life.
But judging from the messages revealed in Ah Shu’s words, this young General Shi has been back in Wangcheng for a whole year, practising his guns day in and day out.
Last night, Lou asked him after he and he had gotten back into bed, “Perhaps Shi Tingyun is not interested in marriage?”
Chi Xiaochi smiled at him with his head in his hands, “Sir, Shi Tingyun is nineteen years old, almost halfway through his life according to the average age of ancient people. Who needs his heart to pass on his bloodline, just his kidneys.”
The Toki family did not have the throne to inherit, but it was not far off in terms of family importance.
Shi Tingyun’s willingness to disobey his father’s wishes and not mention marriage could be a sign that he has a secret love for someone who cannot be named.
……
Compared to the stormy times in the Imperial City, the General’s residence was in perfect order.
Shi Tingyun was not going to the border for the first time, and it was a time of peace on both sides, so he and the Thirteenth Prince could travel with the troop transfer team to the border.
Chi Xiaochi had nothing else to do, so he went to the back of the college and pulled off his silver crown with a hairband.
Chi Xiaochi turns back and blocks with his long lance, his silver spear grasping an iron spear with a muffled clang.
Chu Ziling had no intention of hurting him, he was just faking a shot. He turned his iron spear around behind him with one hand and bowed slightly, “My lord.”
Chi Xiaochi simply said, “A game?”
Chu Ziling was not ambivalent: “As ordered.”
Before the words were out of his mouth, a silver light came in a semi-circle and struck Chu Ziling directly in the face.
Chi Xiaochi’s instinct for the gun was still present in his body, and he side-stepped the gun, breaking free from Chu Ziling’s grip and slicing the silvery white blade of the gun into the ground before shaking it slightly to block Chu Ziling’s incoming punches and kicks.
After about fifty rounds, Chu Ziling lost the battle and his spear flew out of his hand in the shape of a cross.
In the next instant, a ray of silver light landed three inches in front of Chu Ziling’s neck.
Chu Ziling raised his hand, his words smiling, “My lord, spare my life.”
Chi Xiaochi, who has withdrawn his gun.
Just now, as he watched from the wall, he noticed that the original owner’s gun was well restrained and did not look like he wanted to take his life.
After the match, both of them were slightly sweating, so they sat side by side by the schoolyard and talked.
”Do you know about the southern border?”
Chu Ziling smiled and said, “I don’t know. All Ziling knows is that wherever your son goes, A Ling will go. This promise is valid for life until A Ling’s death.”
Chi Xiaochi sighed and covered his face with one hand.
He asked, “Where did you go last night?”
Chu Ziling smiled, “I’m sorry, my lord, but I’ve been sneaking out.”
Chi Xiaochi gave a curious “huh?” A little.
Chu Ziling said, “Yesterday I heard from Su’s mother, who is in charge of shopping in the palace, that some peach blossoms were in bloom at the South City Gate, rare enough to be the earliest in Wangcheng. Ziling wanted to let His Excellency see the first peach blossoms before anyone else, so he sneaked over the wall to steal a few of them while His Excellency was asleep yesterday.”
Chi Xiaochi sidled up to him and asked, “Where are the flowers.”
Chu Ziling smiled, “On the male’s hair.”
When Chi Xiaochi lifted his hand, he found that there had indeed been an additional sprig of luscious peach blossoms on his ponytail at some point, still covered with clear dew, and it seemed that he had sprinkled it with water to prevent it from wilting and had carefully kept it until now.
He removed the peach blossom and played with it for a moment before letting out another soft sigh.
Chu Ziling realised that something was on his son’s mind and turned sideways to look at him, “My lord?”
Chi Xiaochi said, “Something has happened at Zhen Nan Guan. …… Do you remember Wen Feiru, my father’s lieutenant, who was escorting a shipment of bows and arrows when he was hit by a hidden trap from a straggler on the Great Green Mountain and was seriously wounded?”
”Vice Admiral Wen?” Chu Ziling was taken aback, “What about Dingyuan City?”
”My father wrote to me about this matter, and I happened to be bored with staying in Wangcheng, so I wrote back to my father and went to guard Dingyuan City on his behalf. Otherwise, if I leave Governor Zhang alone in the city, I am afraid that I will have more wisdom than strength. It is difficult to support him alone.” Chi Xiaochi lowered his eyes and said, “Don’t mention this to others, but prepare some good medicine for your wounds in private. By the way, make sure you pretend to think he was injured by the Southlanders, otherwise with Uncle Wen’s temperament ……”
Chu Ziling nods his head.
He went to the border with Shi Tingyun and met Wen Feiru, a big, burly man who wanted to save face.
Given his character, he was afraid that he would rather run headlong into the ground than swallow this stifling loss.
He said, “My lord, I’ll make a note of it.”
When he had finished, Chi Xiaochi went to the bath and returned to the house, he saw Ah Shu kneeling in front of his room, wiping his tears away, while Lou Ying, in a wheelchair and wearing a power hedge to keep the light off his face, spoke gently to him.
Chi Xiaochi wondered, “What is this? Meng Jiang Niu crying at the Great Wall or Yang Bailao begging for Huang Shi Ren?”
Ah Shu, who did not understand very well, walked up to Chi Xiaochi, bowed deeply and said, “My lord, I …… am small and would like to go with you to Zhen Nan Guan.”
”You?” Chi Xiaochi crouched down with a tearful look on his face, “You’ve been inadequate in martial arts since you were a child, what can you do if you go?”
”I can take the horses and stirrups, or wait on you for food and drink.” Ah Shu wiped his tears and said, “I don’t want to wait for you at home anymore, it’s too tiring. You don’t know, before you went to war, the war reports came in one after another, I was on tenterhooks at home all day, staring at the border map, anxious, afraid that if there was a war report, it would be ……”
Ah Shu could not go on, choked up twice, his young and beautiful cheeks were covered with tears, but his eyes were more determined: “Ah Shu has given his sister all that he has saved over the years overnight, although it cannot guarantee her a lifetime of food and clothing, but it is enough for her to be married to a suitable family …… Ah Shu will go to war with you, even if he does not return, he can still seek peace of mind. Even if I don’t return, I can still have peace of mind ……”
Chi Xiaochi slapped his head and gave a tsk, “What are you talking about? This time is different from the last time, it’s not a rebellion in the South, it’s just that Vice General Bai of Yongzhou City disobeyed his orders and hurt ……”
As she speaks, Chi Xiaochi passes a glance to Lou Ying.
Lou Ying stopped it just in time, “…… gongzi.”
Chi Xiaochi feigns a slip of the tongue and immediately stops talking.
Shu looked up at Chi Xiaochi a little confused.
Chi Xiaochi blushed a little in embarrassment, looking like a student who had made a mistake: “…… sir.”
Lou Ying couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to blush so genuinely.
”Yongzhou?” Ah Shu was surprised, “My lord, we are going to Yongzhou? Not the Jinji Mausoleum?”
Chi Xiaochi interrupted him slightly sharply, “Shu!”
Shu choked.
Chi Xiaochi ordered, “If you wish to come with me, do not mention this to anyone, it is a military secret, do you understand?”
Ah Shu was surprised: “Your Excellency has allowed me to go with you?”
Chi Xiaochi waved a hand.
Ah Shu got up happily and said she would go and clean up before coming to serve the Prince, and then hurried back to her hut to clean up her appearance.
Chi Xiaochi cursed at the unsteadiness of the situation, lifted his robe and ascended the steps to his husband, pushing him along the porch.
Lou Ying turned back and whispered, “A letter that doesn’t even exist can be used by you like that.”
”Who says it doesn’t exist anymore.” Chi Xiaochi slides around moodily on top of her wheelchair, “The letters are in their hearts.”
The four people closest to Shi Tingyun and most trusted by him were Yan Yuanzhao, Yan Yuanheng, Chu Ziling and Li Yeshu.
The four of them, in turn, can be divided into two groups.
The Sixth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince are members of the royal family, so if it was the two of them who wanted to make a profit, it would be nothing more than a fight for power and usurpation of great power.
At first, Chi Xiaochi was rather suspicious of the Sixth Prince.
However, the sixth prince clearly wanted to go to the southern border, but did not seize this valuable opportunity to grasp military power and establish prestige in the army, and even stopped requesting to go with him after the thirteenth took the initiative to claim it, clearly avoiding him, not as if he was holding his breath to compete with the thirteenth for the throne.
Although the thirteenth prince had an interest in Shi Tingyun, he took the initiative and did not resist in the face of the frontier.
At least for the moment, it seems that the two men have not lost out on the big picture, even if they have lost out on the little things.
After the initial test of the two princes, the next step was Shi Tingyun’s sidekick.
Chi Xiaochi was not worried about which prince’s eyes they were, only whether their minds were so big that they harboured the will to swallow the heavens.
Last night, he sent a letter to Shi Jinghong’s father via the family’s carrier pigeon, and used a special ‘delivery’ card to ensure that the letter could only be received and opened by Shi Jinghong.
In the letter, he wrote: “A change has occurred at home, and I hope my father will assist me: Uncle Wen in Dingyuan, Uncle Bai in Yongzhou, whoever is coming from the enemy, feigning injury and defeat.”
Chi Xiaochi cannot rule out the possibility that both of the boys around him are spies.
As soon as they had met in private and exchanged information, they would have realised that Shi Tingyun suspected their identity and would have taken other measures, either by jumping the gun or by running away.
Naturally, we cannot rule out the possibility that the spy was vigilant and did not move even after learning the news, thus letting go of the opportunity to win a battle for nothing.
But Chi Xiaochi believed that if there were any foreign spies among them, if they had been lurking around for years, they would have to choose the right moment to do something to prove themselves.
Besides, they are doing Chi Xiaochi no harm by staying put, so why not?
Chi Xiaochi pushed his wheelchair and said with a smile, “Ding Yuan Wen Feiru , Yong Zhou Bai Mirror Lake. It depends on which side will be attacked.”
……
Lord GOD space, “in a moment’s notice”.
The dark red mastermind squirms slowly, keeping a close eye on that Chi Xiaochi worldline.
It just wasn’t really in a pleasant mood.
After seeing yet another carrier pigeon flying out of the Watchtower in the night, Lord GOD really wanted to shoot that one down.
However, it can only think about this alleged serious violation.
…… is such an idiot! So indolent!
As he was cursing, he heard a loud commotion from outside the “whisper”.
These days it has been overwhelmed by one thing after another and could not help but gasp, “What’s going on?! What’s the mess again?”
The door of the “between the hours” was thrown open with a bang and in ran a sweaty system, panting and pale, unable to speak a word.
Lord GOD is anxious: “Speak!”
”Boss, the report we submitted last week ……” that system took a fright and spoke back smoothly, “is, is the report stating that the system was broken into by abnormal energy and was modified ……”
”…… modified?!”
The system cried and shuddered as it projected the display onto the public screen.
What was originally a serious report in black and white has been doctored into a highly polished and softened emoji of a man.
”You’re so slutty.gif”
…… is also a fucking motion picture.
…… also has a hundred pages of TM cloth.
The mental pollution can be imagined when a hundred people open their mouths at the same time to say you’re a slut.
Lord GOD is distraught: “Why didn’t you check it when you sent it over?!”
This system is dedicated to writing reports and it looks like it’s been poisoned too: “I checked …… before I sent it yesterday …… but I only found out there was something wrong with it when the main system sent a reply asking what it was ……”
”Are you a wanker?!” Lord GOD got really angry, “Check! Check it out! Who came into your office yesterday? Who had access to your computer yesterday?”
”There’s ……” the system shuddered, “129, 872, 399, 737, 121, and 089 …… I was on duty yesterday, so there were a lot of people coming in asking about things… …”
Lord GOD reluctantly calmed down, “089 ignore him for now, investigate the rest one by one!”
The system trembled, “No, boss …… The main system said that we’ve been having trouble lately and we’re going to send the monitoring system in for another full audit ……”
Lord GOD choked: “Get out!”
That system then rolled away in a sweat.
As soon as the door closed, the AI spoke up to solicit Lord GOD’s opinion, “Greetings. That unissued worldline we’re withholding ……”
Lord GOD’s voice grew colder, almost gritting his teeth, “Pretend to delay! Hold it for as long as you can!”
Word of what happened spread quickly.
The shift sitter, 023, was not in a bad mood, his light stand crackling on his desk playing a game, “It’s finally bad luck for the sloppy guy who manages to write reports.”
089 took hold of the mango and manipulated the energy to peel the skin off, “What did he do?”
”You forgot?” 023 glanced at him, “When 61 was first formatted, he said 61’s memories weren’t cleaned up, reported with Brainflower, threw him in for a second time , and it’s not something. …… Hey, I say, with that memory you’re still a human father.”
089 With a giggle, he trailed off, “Ah-”
023 opened his mouth, “Ah.”
089 will agree and takes a small fork and sticks fresh chunks of mango and pitches it to 023, while deleting the ass-kicker’s name from his memo.
Above that horseshit are seven or eight other system numbers that have been deleted.
089 It has always been a tenet of life that if you become a peaceful wreck, no one can take advantage of you.
But he would also flag up the lapdogs who were mixed up in the system and responsible for snitching on Lord GOD, put them on a memo list and wait for the right moment to pull them out for a lightning strike.
He believed that whatever Lord GOD had done to 061 and Chi Xiaochi would have to be undone by tonight at the earliest, or the day before the main system came to visit, and everything would be back on track.
And he was not wrong in his anticipation.
Chi Xiaochi suddenly suffered a severe headache the night before he was due to leave for Zhennan Pass because of the different speed of time passing in and out of the system.
This time, the world line was shoved into his head without warning, and the reception was extraordinarily painful. For a few seconds, Chi Xiaochi’s eyes went black and he couldn’t see anything.
He was held tightly from behind by a startled Lou Ying, his body curled up, his teeth chattering, and it was a long time before the image of a young boy came to him.
He sits on the blood-soaked hillside, panting slightly, his legs braced forward, his calves slightly sunken as if broken, a hacked silver helmet thrown at his feet and his dying white horse lying upside down at his side.
He has a bent silver gun stuck in his side, and his eyelashes, which are stained with dried blood, look extraordinarily long.
The wind blew from behind him to in front of him, lifting his hairband and making him look like he was holding and chewing on a bloodstained hairband in a daze.
That was Shi Tingyun on the battlefield when the thirteenth prince, Yan Yuanheng, first went to the frontier.
Seeing himself, he rose shakily and dragged his wounded leg down to worship, with all the clear light of a teenager in his eyes.
He smiled broadly, with little courtesy as always, ” Yuan Heng , there you are, it’s good to see you.”
Yan Yuanheng stepped forward to support him, “It was my father who sent me to support ……”
Shi Tingyun clasped hands with him and raised his eyes, his smile shaking his face: “Then thank you, Your Majesty, for bestowing the thirteenth prince on the last general.”