Chapter 59: Hasty Parting
"Your Highness, go! I’ll hold them off!"
The lead Iron Kite shouted in a low voice.
Ms. Xiao had no time for anything else. She dismounted and pulled her daughter along, saying, "Let’s go first."
After speaking, she walked toward an available warhorse.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan, who was not far off, naturally heard them. An ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to hear from this distance, but he had already entered the Organ Refining realm. Of course, their conversation couldn’t escape his ears.
He raised an eyebrow and rode his horse forward.
"SHIING!"
All the Iron Kites raised their weapons at once.
At that moment, Lu Yuan stared at Ms. Xiao and her daughter and said softly, "Xiao Hua?"
His voice was questioning.
The girl, who had already mounted her horse, turned her sparkling eyes toward him.
Ms. Xiao also wore a look of shock and suspicion.
"It’s me." Although Lu Yuan wore a mask, his voice was all too familiar to Xiao Hua and her mother.
Ms. Xiao pressed her palm down, signaling the Iron Kites to lower their weapons.
"What are you doing here? Are you Northern Barbarians?" Lu Yuan asked.
Xiao Hua quickly said, "I didn’t mean to hide it from you..."
"Now’s not the time for this. You need to go. I’ll hold off the court’s men," Lu Yuan said, glancing at the approaching cavalry.
That one sentence was worth a thousand words.
’I don’t care if you’re a Northern Barbarian, one of the Dayong people, or even one of their court officials. I only know you as Xiao Hua.’
Ms. Xiao gave Lu Yuan a deep look and said softly, "Take care."
Then, she pulled her daughter along.
Leading the Iron Kites, they passed by Lu Yuan’s group.
Although Zhou He and Wu Han looked confused, the three of them were now completely tied together. Besides, they owed Lu Yuan their lives. Forget letting some Northern Barbarians go; if he announced he was going to rebel, those two would probably help him draw up the plans.
After Xiao Hua and her group left, Lu Yuan wasted no time. He raised his long saber, pointed at the imperial forces that had caught up, and commanded, "Block them!"
"You got it!"
Wu Han shouted in reply, hefted his wolf-toothed club, and charged forward with Lu Yuan.
He held no goodwill toward the imperial court. The powerful officials in charge abused their authority and bullied the common people. Even a military man like him couldn’t escape their abuse.
’Besides, I haven’t had my fill of killing yet.’
Zhou He gritted his teeth and followed.
The three men took the lead, instantly plunging into the ranks of the imperial troops.
Lu Yuan swung his saber sideways, and a Hundred Households commander of the Brocade Robe Envoys fell, cleaved in two from the shoulder down.
The men of the army had never liked them.
Every year, countless brave soldiers who hadn’t died on the battlefield instead lost their lives to the schemes of the Brocade Robe Envoys.
This was because they could only prove their own importance to the Yong Emperor by constantly arresting people.
Seeing their commander killed, the remaining mercenaries lost all will to fight to the death. Those in the rear even began to flee.
After Wu Han and the others cut through them for a while, the squad completely scattered.
When the battle ended, Lu Yuan looked into the distance. In the pitch-black night sky, dazzling flashes of light appeared intermittently, followed by waves of rumbling. Even the ground beneath their feet trembled from afar.
That was where Helian Tielin was fighting the expert from the Northern Barbarians’ National Preceptor’s Mansion.
After a single glance and feeling the immense energy fluctuations, he didn’t hesitate. He said to Wu Han and the others, "Let’s leave, quickly."
With that, he whipped his horse’s flank hard.
They rode toward the outskirts of the battlefield.
Too much had happened tonight. The Northern Border would likely be shaken by tomorrow. Most importantly, the imperial court sending out forces on such a large scale was a clear sign they were no longer holding back and were preparing for war.
In the past, during the standoff, any force sent beyond the pass would number a hundred men at most.
But now, they had dispatched so many, and there were even powerful experts among them.
Lu Yuan planned to drop off the supplies at the stockade, then return to Icefield Fortress with Zhou He tomorrow.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. As dawn was about to break, the group finally returned to Wu Han’s stockade.
They ate a quick meal.
Lu Yuan then prepared to leave.
At the stockade gate, he looked at Wu Han, who had come to see him off, and said, "For the near future, Zhou He and I probably won’t have time to meet with you. Now that you have armor and equipment, focus on developing your forces.
Only with more men under your command will you be safe."
"Yeah, don’t worry," Wu Han replied.
Lu Yuan nodded, patted his shoulder, then leaped onto his warhorse and rode off with Zhou He toward Icefield City.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua and her mother had already entered the territory of the Manyan Tribe.
The chieftain of the Manyan Tribe, along with the clan Elders, had personally come a hundred li out to welcome them.
Upon seeing Ms. Xiao, they immediately knelt to the ground. "The Manyan Tribe respectfully welcomes Your Highness’s return."
Watching this scene, Xiao Hua showed little joy on her face. Instead, she was filled with worry.
She was worried about Lu Yuan.
She had been distracted all night.
Ms. Xiao naturally saw what was on her daughter’s mind. After glancing at the Manyan chieftain, she said coolly, "You may all rise. Two things. First, send someone to find out what happened to the people who helped us yesterday.
Second, prepare a detachment for me. I am leaving for the Royal City tomorrow."
"As you command!"
The Manyan chieftain replied hurriedly.
He then rose and cautiously led the way.
Ms. Xiao turned her head and softly reassured her daughter, "Don’t worry, Yuan will be fine."
"Mm," Xiao Hua nodded.
She didn’t want to be too obvious and make her mother worry.
Xiao Hua knew a little about the current situation of the Northern Barbarians. Although her maternal grandfather had defeated his rival in the recent struggle, he was now a spent force.
That was why he was so anxious for her and her mother to return.
Outside their borders, Dayong was watching them like a tiger, ready to go to war at any moment.
And all of this rested on her mother’s shoulders alone.
The pressure on her right now was immense.
’But things should get better after we return and undo the seal.’
Years ago, to hide her identity in Dayong, a seal had been placed on Ms. Xiao. This was why she was left with a latent ailment, causing her to cough incessantly every winter.
As long as they returned to the Royal City and entered the ancestral lands, the seal could be completely removed.
Meanwhile, in Yan Province, Zhou Hongling, who had remained there instead of returning to Icefield City, walked into her father Zhou Ren’s parlor holding a secret letter.
"Why the hurry? Did the Helian family catch someone?" Zhou Ren asked, taking a sip of tea after his daughter entered.
His voice sounded somewhat lazy.
Zhou Hongling said softly, "A message just arrived by carrier pigeon. Last night, Helian Tielin fought the Northern Barbarian National Preceptor’s disciple all night. The Northern Barbarian leadership escaped with the help of a mysterious person.
Many Brocade Robe Envoys also died."
"Let them be dead then. The Astronomical Bureau saw long ago that the Northern Barbarians’ fortune has not yet run out, so the chances of success were never high. We don’t need to get involved. Your most important task right now is to choose a suitable woman from our family to marry Lu Yuan.
We’re about to go to war with the Northern Barbarians. If that boy survives this war, he’s bound to rise even higher. We must make him completely one of ours."
Zhou Hongling looked at her father, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes, before saying, "Alright, I’ll go see to it. But the Northern Barbarian leadership was hiding in Icefield Pass all this time. Won’t the imperial court place blame on us?"
"Blame us for what? The Brocade Robe Envoys are the ones in charge of investigations. We’re only responsible for fighting wars. Besides, with a war about to start, no one would dare try to pin the blame on us."
As Zhou Ren spoke, his voice grew much firmer.
Military generals throughout history have always been like this. As soon as a war begins, their backbones become countless times stiffer than usual.
This was also why Military Generals loved it when war broke out.