Chapter 58: A Message for Prince Rui
His clothes were torn and dirty, and dried blood covered much of his body. One of the physicians was cleaning a deep cut on his arm while another wrapped a bandage around his leg.
The soldier looked exhausted, but the moment he saw Rong Shuyan, he struggled to sit up. "Your Highness..."
"Don’t move," Rong Shuyan ordered.
The soldier stopped immediately. Then Rong Shuyan pushed his wheelchair closer to the bed.
"You were one of the soldiers captured near the hidden trail?" Rong Shuyan asked firmly.
The soldier nodded lightly. "Yes, Your Highness."
"How did you escape?"
The soldier swallowed hard. "I... I don’t think I escaped."
Rong Shuyan’s eyes narrowed, meanwhile the officers around them exchanged confused looks.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
The soldier’s face became even paler. "They let me go, Your Highness."
Rong Shuyan stared at him for a moment, and then his voice grew colder. "Why would they let you go?"
The soldier’s hands began to shake. "They wanted me to bring you a message."
Rong Shuyan frowned, but before he could say anything, one of the older physicians suddenly spoke. "There is something you need to see, Your Highness."
Physician Xu carefully took hold of the soldier’s left arm, which had not yet been bandaged, and slowly turned it over so Rong Shuyan could see the underside.
A short sentence had been carved into the soldier’s skin. The cuts were deep and uneven, most likely made with a dagger or another sharp object.
’Bastard Shuyan, don’t hide.’
Anyone who saw those words could tell that the message was meant for Rong Shuyan.
His expression immediately turned cold. "Leave the tent," Rong Shuyan ordered. "I need to speak to him alone."
Physician Xu was the first to object. "But Your Highness, he is still in critical condition. I—"
"Will he die in the next ten minutes?" Rong Shuyan interrupted.
He lifted his head and looked directly into Physician Xu’s eyes.
The old physician swallowed hard. There was something frightening about the Sixth Prince’s gaze at that moment, and he quickly lowered his head.
"No, Your Highness. He will not die in the next ten minutes."
"Then leave the tent," Rong Shuyan repeated his order, and this time, no one dared to argue with him.
One by one, the physicians and soldiers left until only Rong Shuyan and the wounded soldier remained inside.
Once the tent flap fell shut behind the last person, Rong Shuyan pushed his wheelchair closer to the bed.
He didn’t speak right away and he simply stared at the soldier.
The silence stretched on, making the wounded soldier more and more uneasy. His fingers moved weakly against the blanket, and he could barely bring himself to meet Rong Shuyan’s eyes.
A moment later, Prince Rui finally opened his mouth. "Did they choose you to deliver this message to me because you had already given them all the information they needed?"
The soldier’s face stiffened. "No, Your Highness," he answered quickly. "I didn’t tell them anything."
Rong Shuyan continued to stare at him. "Nothing?"
"Nothing, Your Highness." The soldier’s voice was weak, but his answer remained firm.
Rong Shuyan lowered his gaze to the words carved into the man’s arm. "Then why are you alive?"
Rong Shuyan slowly raised his eyes again. "They captured dozens of our soldiers. Yet you are the one who returned alive, carrying a message meant specifically for me." His voice remained calm. "Do you really expect me to believe they chose you at random?"
The soldier opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Rong Shuyan continued, "If they wanted nothing more than to insult me, they could have carved that message into the body of a dead soldier and left him somewhere for our scouts to find."
His fingers rested lightly against the arm of his wheelchair. "But they kept you alive."
A few years ago, Rong Shuyan had learned about a disturbing tradition of the Southern Wolf Tribe.
Whenever they captured prisoners, those prisoners would never live long enough to see the sun rise the next morning.
The Southern Wolf Tribe was a group of barbarians who believed that eating the flesh of their prisoners would bring them victory in battle.
Rong Shuyan had already proven that belief wrong years ago, but he refused to believe that those barbarians had completely abandoned such a deeply rooted tradition.
"Tell me the truth now," Rong Shuyan said. "Because if I have to find out what you told them after they use that information against us, I will no longer care about the reason you gave it to them."
The soldier’s lips trembled and for several seconds, the only sound inside the tent was his heavy breathing.
Finally, his shoulders dropped. "I’m sorry, Your Highness."
Rong Shuyan’s expression didn’t change much after hearing his apology.
"They tortured us," the soldier whispered. "At first, I didn’t say anything. I swear. But they kept asking questions, and I..." His eyes turned red. "I couldn’t endure it anymore."
"What did you tell them?"
The soldier swallowed. "The number of soldiers in our main camp. Some of our supply routes. The places where we have guards stationed..." His voice grew quieter with every word. "They also asked about Blackstone Pass."
Rong Shuyan listened without interrupting. "What else?"
"They asked who was giving the orders in the camp."
"And?"
"I told them that Your Highness was responsible for most of the plans."
There was a short silence, then Rong Shuyan asked a question that made the soldier blink. "What about Princess Consort Rui?"
The soldier looked confused. "What?"
Rong Shuyan sharpened his gaze. "Did you tell them that Lin Xueyi is here?"
"No!" The soldier immediately shook his head, only to wince when the movement pulled at his wounds. "No, Your Highness. I never mentioned Her Highness."
"Did they ask about her?"
"No."
"Did you mention that I brought my wife to the border?"
"No, Your Highness."
"Her name?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes!" The soldier’s voice cracked. "I swear on my life, Your Highness. I told them nothing about Princess Consort Rui. They don’t know she is here!"