Chapter 46: For the King
In the desert, there was a solitary ancient city. Only a few broken tiles and ruined walls remained, but inside, it was bustling with people. Teams of soldiers in armor were running and training around the ancient city.
This was the new stronghold of the Great Xi’s army.
When Rong Qing entered the main tent with a battle report, he saw that the atmosphere inside was not harmonious. Porcelain shards and a pillow were scattered on the ground. Feng Juhua was kneeling by the chair where Feng Juheng was sitting, his face stained with tears, mumbling something.
Rong Qing was Feng Juheng’s confidant and the only one who knew about the mess between Feng Juheng and Feng Juhua. Feng Juheng didn’t shy away from him. He looked up and said, “What’s wrong?”
Rong Qing lowered his eyes, not looking at them, and his tone was flat. “Reporting to Your Highness, a battle report has come from the front. The Great Gong retreated in the first battle and is now camped in the West Forest.”
“Then chase after them and annihilate them. Kill them all,” Feng Juheng said sternly. “Can’t you do it?”
“Your Highness, the North-South army and the Ghost-Faced Army have joined forces, and the North-South general has led his troops into the deep forest. They are familiar with the terrain. It would be risky for us to launch a surprise attack.”
“Oh? The Ghost-Faced Army?” Feng Juheng bent down slightly, grabbed Feng Juhua’s black hair, and forced him to look up at him. “Imperial Brother, what do you think?”
“Give… give it back to me.”
“It’s just a broken piece of jade! Is it worth all this?” Feng Juheng sneered. “You want it back so badly, right? Then you’d better watch closely.”
With that, Feng Juheng took a jade pendant from his sleeve and threw it to Rong Qing. “Smash it with your Slashing Blade.”
Rong Qing was stunned.
Rong Qing had watched the two of them entangle themselves all this time, but this was the first time he had seen Feng Juheng truly lose his composure in anger, and also the first time he had seen Feng Juhua abandon the pride and resilience he had always held onto and beg Feng Juheng so humbly.
Lowering his head slightly, Rong Qing saw that he was holding half a jade pendant. It was smooth and lustrous, with a large cut on the side. It seemed it had to be joined with the other half to be complete.
Rong Qing was slightly stunned. This jade… was it the one from the person in his memory…?
How could it be… him.
Rong Qing looked up at Feng Juhua, but he quickly suppressed the shock in his eyes and didn’t let Feng Juheng notice.
“Don’t! I beg you, I beg you! Give it back to me…” Feng Juhua was completely panicked. He grabbed Feng Juheng’s trouser leg and shouted until his voice was hoarse.
Rong Qing looked at Feng Juheng with some difficulty.
Was he really going to smash it?
This was different from before.
“Smash it!” A fierce look filled Feng Juheng’s eyes.
He knew this jade pendant. When he was a child, he had seen Feng Juhua cherish it, and he had wanted to snatch it and destroy it. But at that time, he had not yet had the confidence and strength to shed his sheep’s clothing.
Now, he finally had the chance. A sense of pleasure grew in Feng Juheng’s heart.
“I beg you—”
Clang!
After that, the tent was completely silent.
Feng Juhua stared blankly at the shattered jade on the ground, his mouth agape, his face pale, and his whole body trembling, as if he were suppressing something.
Rong Qing turned his head away, not looking at him.
“Do you see clearly? Next time, don’t defy me,” Feng Juheng said, pinching Feng Juhua’s chin. “You brought this on yourself.”
Feng Juhua turned to look at the brother he had once gently cared for and cherished. His eyes dimmed, and the anger, unwillingness, and fear in them finally dissipated, leaving only a deathly gray.
Then, Feng Juhua fainted.
XXXXXX
“Your Majesty!”
When the deputy general came to report, Zhao Linxu was in the tent, teaching Li Jianyu sword techniques.
“The Empress of the Great Chai has arrived!”
Zhao Linxu raised an eyebrow. So soon?
“She actually arrived faster than City Lord Hua,” Li Jianyu said, shaking his head. “She probably set off after learning that the Great Gong and the Great Xi were at war. I wonder what her purpose is.”
“What other purpose could there be? Naturally, she wants a piece of the pie. You still don’t know how much trouble the Great Xi has caused the Great Chai. An ally like this is the best kind of ally, because they are more anxious to fight the Great Xi than we are, but they can’t show it for fear that we will take advantage of them.” Zhao Linxu smiled, put away the two wooden swords, and said, “Let’s go and meet her.”
The Great Chai, a small country by the sea, had been ruled by an empress for generations. But the spirit of each generation of empresses was in no way inferior to that of men. They were truly heroines.
Because of the constant battles with pirates, the soldiers of the Great Chai were fierce and brave, and the fighting strength of the empress’s female army was not to be underestimated. However, what they were good at was ultimately naval warfare. And the neighboring Great Xi was eyeing the Great Chai covetously. If a war really broke out one day, the Great Chai would not be able to resist. So, it seemed that she wanted to join forces with Zhao Linxu and the others to get rid of this thorn in her side.
“Your Majesty, it has been a long time.”
Zhao Linxu led Li Jianyu back to the main tent. The Empress had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Zhao Linxu now, she bowed slightly in greeting.
Li Jianyu looked at the graceful and noble woman before him. Her long hair was coiled up with a golden hairpin, and her delicate features, with a hint of heroism, and her fine figure were all stunning.
The woman was also holding a wolf with a smooth coat. At this moment, the wolf was obediently lying behind her.
Li Jianyu had heard the story that had spread throughout the continent, that the Empress of the Great Chai had found an injured and lone wolf in the forest as a child. Being kind, she had taken the wolf cub back, and from then on, the wolf had been close to her.
And later, the Empress discovered that this was one of the few remaining rare mythical beasts on the continent—the Thousand-Li Wolf.
The Empress of the Great Chai’s wolf was the only Thousand-Li Wolf that people had ever seen in this world. After all, this mythical beast was too sensitive and would never let mortals capture its tracks.
“E Zhu has grown more and more beautiful,” Zhao Linxu said, looking easygoing. A casual sentence had closed the distance between the two, making the Empress E Zhu smile brightly.
She was the ruler of a country. Not many people would call her by her name, and even fewer would praise her like this. So, hearing this rare man who was in the same position as her and was also witty, she felt that she wanted to get closer. Although she didn’t show it on her face, she was naturally happy in her heart.
Li Jianyu sat beside Zhao Linxu, watching the two of them with a slightly raised eyebrow.
“E Zhu heard that Your Majesty is at war with the Great Xi and has specially come to offer a humble contribution.”
“You are very kind,” Zhao Linxu said with a smile. “We really do need E Zhu’s help.”
E Zhu raised an eyebrow.
“We need to borrow E Zhu’s wolf,” Zhao Linxu explained. “With the help of the Great Chai and the Hundred Flowers Sect, with our current strength, we have nothing to fear even if we fight the goblins and Taotie. But we can’t make a move.”
“We can’t find the Great Xi’s camp. It’s probably because the Taotie and goblins can help them move their stronghold quickly, and there’s also secret arts to conceal it. This is too passive.”
E Zhu immediately understood.
The nose of a male Thousand-Li Wolf could find things a thousand li away. If they had a male wolf in hand, would they still have to worry about not finding the Great Xi’s stronghold?
However, it was said that Thousand-Li Wolves were rare and hard to find. The only way was to use E Zhu’s female wolf as bait to lure out the male wolf on this border.
Legend had it that the den of the Thousand-Li Wolves was on the border.
“This is a bit risky. Mingzhu has been with me for more than ten years, and we have a deep bond,” E Zhu said with a frown. “What if Mingzhu really lures out a male wolf, and we can’t subdue it, and instead, the male wolf takes Mingzhu away with it?”
Male wolves were naturally attracted to female wolves. No matter how far, a male wolf could find a female wolf. This was why Thousand-Li Wolves were good at hiding and their tracks were hard to find, but their population could still continue. And during the mating season, the male wolf would release a signal to let the female wolf follow them.
“We are not forcing you. If E Zhu is unwilling, we can think of another way.” Zhao Linxu stood up, looked at E Zhu, and bowed slightly with a smile. “But We are confident. It is just one wolf. We can subdue it.”
The man seemed to have a natural ability to convince people, not just because of his tall frame, but also because of an aura that others could not imitate.
E Zhu was stunned.
“I will… consider it.”
After E Zhu left with her wolf, Zhao Linxu sat in his original seat, his hand stroking his teacup, slightly lost in thought.
Li Jianyu looked at Zhao Linxu, a sour feeling in his heart.
He didn’t know if Zhao Linxu was naturally like this, or if he was deliberately flirting.
Li Jianyu also didn’t know if he would seem petty if he was dissatisfied with Zhao Linxu’s attitude towards the Empress of the Great Chai.
“What’s wrong, Little Carp?”
Zhao Linxu noticed that Li Jianyu was sitting on the side without speaking. He smiled, pulled him onto his lap, and affectionately kissed his chin.
Li Jianyu frowned slightly.
When he and Zhao Linxu had first met, Zhao Linxu had also had such a frivolous attitude. And before seeing E Zhu, Zhao Linxu had been telling him that E Zhu had her own motives for this trip and that he should be careful. But the next moment, Zhao Linxu’s attitude towards E Zhu was like that of a close friend, grasping E Zhu’s weaknesses and interacting with her in the way she liked best.
If Li Jianyu hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have really thought that Zhao Linxu liked E Zhu very much.
Aren’t I also like a fool, captivated by Zhao Linxu? Li Jianyu thought. First, I was barbarically possessed, then I became addicted to being with him, and finally, I foolishly chased him to the border.
So when was Zhao Linxu being real, and when was he being fake?
Was Zhao Linxu serious about him, or was he just like the others, just a novelty to him?
“Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
Zhao Linxu gently rubbed Li Jianyu’s stomach. “Or does your stomach hurt again?”
Last night, in the middle of his sleep, Li Jianyu had suddenly woken up saying his stomach hurt and his leg had cramped. It had almost scared Zhao Linxu to death.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Looking at Zhao Linxu’s worried expression, Li Jianyu felt a lot more relieved. He smiled and pinched Zhao Linxu’s ear. “You… do you want to be king?”
“Aren’t I already a king?”
“I mean, the king who unifies the five kingdoms.” Li Jianyu looked at Zhao Linxu’s rugged, three-dimensional features and couldn’t help but touch them.
Zhao Linxu paused.
“Naturally. But everything still depends on opportunity. I won’t force it either.” Zhao Linxu held Li Jianyu’s waist and smiled. “Little Carp, you have to accompany me.”
“Mm.”
