Chapter 205 – The Overbearing General’s Pretty Military Counselor (XXIV)

　　Shi Tingyun excused himself on military business.

Yan Yuanheng led Yan Yuanzhao into his tent and told Ren Qing to prepare wine, but the two brothers were speechless for a while.

Yan Yuanzhao has long since become accustomed to this saw-tipped gourd, wandering around the tent on his own with his hands folded.

Although not hopeful, he was still in the habit of trying to have some fun here.

Little did he know that he had found a rarity.

In the corner of the tent there is an earthen pond with water and three small palm-sized river turtles. Two are black and one is yellow, the two black ones are relaxing in the water and the one yellow one has climbed up to the shore, not too afraid of people and is curiously looking at Yan Yuanzhao.

Yan Yuanzhao, looking at the rarity, crouches down and gently strokes its chin with his knuckles.

The turtle was very quiet, holding its little head up and letting him do his thing.

Yan Yuanzhao asks, “What’s this?”

Yan Yuanheng : “Turtle.”

Yan Yuanzhao : “I’ve never seen a turtle? I’ve never seen a turtle run I’ve seen turtle soup. I mean, why are you raising turtles here?”

” From Su Chang.”

Yan Yuanheng deliberately bites the word ” Su Chang ” very hard.

Yan Yuanzhao was happy: “OK, this is a good gift for Stop Cloud. If you don’t raise it well, you can give it to him, but if you raise it well, he can give it to you.”

Yan Yuanheng : “……”

Yan Yuanzhao holds the little yellow turtle, which is not afraid of people, in his hands and plays with it, while Yan Yuanheng sits and drinks tea.

Yan Yuanzhao was having fun and said, “He’s just like you, he can’t talk.”

…… Yan Yuanheng felt that this sixth royal brother of his was not very good at talking either.

He put the tea down and walked over to Yan Yuanzhao.

Yan Yuanzhao, amused by the turtle, gives his brother a sidelong glance.

Yan Yuanheng coughed softly, “Sixth Brother. Does Su Chang write to you often?”

Yan Yuanzhao didn’t even look up: “Ah. How?”

Yan Yuanheng : “Nothing.”

Yan Yuanzhao had a good time with the little yellow turtle, taking it back to his seat and teasing it, and attempting to feed it a drink before Yan Yuanheng stopped him and fed him some fresh fish.

Yan Yuanheng endured for a long time and asked, “…… What did you say in your letter?”

Yan Yuanzhao replied, “How is the battle at the border, how is his health, is he still alive. What else can be said?”

Yan Yuanheng lowered his eyelashes and gave a “hmmm”, neither in a good nor a bad mood.

On the other side, Yan Yuanzhao paused and picked up a small piece of fish: “…… occasionally talks about you.”

Yan Yuanheng pricked up his ears.

Yan Yuanzhao, however, did not go down Wen: “That’s all.”

Yan Yuanheng was disappointed: “…… hmmm.”

The two brothers were silent for a while.

Yan Yuanheng tried to break the silence after weighing his words, “When the Sixth Imperial Brother has a letter with Su Chang, he should let Yuan Heng know. Yuan Heng should also write to inform his brothers of the peace ……”

”No, for the good of you and me, 13th Brother has taken a lot of trouble.” Yan Yuanzhao didn’t give Yan Yuanheng any face, “I think I know what it’s like to correspond with you. I ask you a kind word, and you give me a thank you in return, and all we have left in our letters is courtesy. I don’t know you yet, you’re the most boring. ”

Once again, the brothers were left in the cold.

Asking and asking, he failed to get to what he really wanted to ask.

Yan Yuanheng pressed on and finally made up his mind to stop beating around the bush: “…… What did Su Chang say about me in his letter?”

Yan Yuanzhao picks up the little yellow turtle with a sigh of deep boredom.

It’s better to go to Stop Cloud.

This boredom is clearly not looking for words, and it is impossible to talk to him through his teeth.

He doesn’t have the time to play brother and sister to Yan Yuanheng.

He got up, “He said Yan Yuanheng is always in the front of the line whenever there is a battle.”

Yan Yuanheng nodded his head, and his heart was overwhelmed with joy.

In the afterglow of his appearance, Yan Yuanzhao could not help but feel irritated.

He also said that Yan Yuanheng was determined to serve his country, and that he had chased Pa Sha at night with a hundred horsemen and returned with his head cut off, making him famous in the army and loved by the soldiers. But in his opinion, it was just a child who was proud of his martial arts skills, who was trying to be aggressive, and who did not know what was good for him.”

Yan Yuanheng was stunned to hear that something was not quite right.

This is not the kind of thing Shi Tingyun would say.

Yan Yuanzhao took two steps out with his back to him and stopped in front of the tent: “He said that he wished you to build a successful career, but also wished you to be greedy for life and death. May you be a pillar of the nation, not a hero after death.”

Yan Yuanheng’s mind wandered, and when he realised who was trying to say this to him, he felt a faint heat rise in his chest.

He gave a deep bow, “Thirteenth brother understands. Thank you, Sixth Imperial Brother.”

Yan Yuanzhao waved his hand a little uncomfortably.

The whole brother and brother thing really doesn’t suit him.

As he was about to leave the tent, Yan Yuanheng called out again from behind him, “Sixth brother, Su Chang gave me that turtle.

Yan Yuanzhao : “……”

He just doesn’t like Yan Yuanheng’s one-dimensional nature!

Yan Yuanzhao was indignant: “I’m playing with a turtle, it’s not a stew, why are you so petty?”

Yan Yuanheng said seriously, “This is my reward for killing Pa Sha, which Su Chang himself went to the river to catch for me.”

Yan Yuanzhao : “……”

He cupped the turtle incredulously, met the round red eyes and tsked, “You risked your life to kill Pa Sha and Shi Tingyun fetched three kingfishers for you as a reward?”

Yan Yuanheng : “Hmm. I like it a lot.”

Yan Yuanzhao was about to put the little yellow turtle down when he heard the words, and his expression changed slightly.

He thought of the question he had asked Shi Tingyun when he had played against him at the General’s residence in Wangcheng.

”…… The Sixth Master wants your word, do you have a broken sleeve?”

At that point, Shi Tingyun held up the chess piece without saying anything, but it was clear from the look on his face that he had his heart set on something else.

When he saw Yan Yuanheng again, Yan Yuanzhao also felt that he was different from his old self.

Thinking this, he felt a bit bad, so he stopped walking out and returned, taking his seat at the main table and lifting his glass of wine: “I’ll try the white wine from the southern border.”

Yan Yuanheng picked up the little yellow turtle, put it in the pond and sent it off to find its two other playmates.

Yan Yuanzhao drank two sips of wine, one hand supporting his palm, one hand playing with the wine glass, seemingly unintentionally said: “…… thirteenth brother, with stop cloud to come to the border these days, how do you think?”

……

When Chi Xiaochi entered Lou Ying’s tent, he was already in his wheelchair, smoothing out the pages of his crumpled book.

When he entered, Lou Ying put the book down in a natural way and patted the arm of the chair beside him, “Sit here.”

Chi Xiaochi sat down, “Sir, I’m chattering away there.”

Lou Ying said, “I called you here to talk about Chu Ziling.”

Chi Xiaochi pondered, “Oh…”

Lou Ying laughs, “Oh what.”

Chi Xiaochi said with a straight face, “Practising the American voice.”

Lou Ying coughed, “…… Chu Ziling .”

Chi Xiaochi fervently brings the conversation back on track: ” Chu Ziling Chu Ziling.”

Chu Ziling is having a pretty tough time.

His remorse value, however, is still stuck below 10 points.

The deaths of Pa Sha and Wu Yichun had undoubtedly left him devastated, but in his heart Ai Sha was not yet dead.

Even if he learns of Ai Sha’s death, to Chu Ziling, he has only lost a few puppets to manipulate, and there are many people who know he is an undercover agent in the South.

Chi Xiaochi says to himself, “It’s been two months, so it’s about time ‘that guy’ made some moves.”

Lou Ying said, “Since he’s not dead, he’ll always come. It’s just that he’s been fighting the northern army for the past two months, and I heard that he was hit by a vector and lost an eye, so he probably came late because he was recuperating.”

Chi Xiaochi said, “Let’s hope he does it soon. The thirteenth prince’s teenage boy heart has been a bit out of control lately and I may not be able to keep my arms around it.”

Lou Ying : “I can help you with that.”

Chi Xiaochi leaned in closer: “How can you help me? Just tell me to come back when something happens? What if I don’t come back?”

He feels less afraid of Lou Ying these days and can sometimes crack a few jokes with him.

Lou Ying looked him straight in the eye, tapped her fingertips twice on the armrest of her wheelchair and said gently but firmly, “If you hadn’t come back just now, I would have gone to fetch you back.”

Chi Xiaochi : “……”

His eyes drooped and he turned in like the wind, conceding and dutifully retreating to his chair, holding his cup and guzzling water.

I don’t know if it was because of the spirit of the word, but after they sat opposite each other for a while, a messenger from his own army arrived in a hurry and handed over a letter.

The envelope is very thick, with at least a few dozen sheets of paper when you squeeze it.

Chi Xiaochi thought it was something to do with the war, and when he opened it, his eyes lit up.

Lou Ying took a moment to recognise the glint in his eyes and his mind followed.

He asked, “Is …… here?”

Chi Xiaochi threw the letter to the floor after skimming through it and said, “Yes, it’s finally here.”

He pushes Lou Ying’s wheelchair to safety, grabs his half-drunk tea and reminds Lou Ying, “Cooperate and plug your ears.”

Lou Ying : “…… eh?”

Chi Xiaochi said, “I’m going to lose my temper.”

After Lou Ying had plugged his ears, Chi Xiaochi kicked the chair he was sitting on and threw the cup of tea to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

The sound was so loud that it could be heard from ten military tents in the vicinity.

There was a moment of silence outside when the movement inside was heard.

Within a few moments, Yan Yuanheng opened the tent and hurried in: “What’s happened?”

Chi Xiaochi did not answer, his lips bitten white, and without another word, he lifted the table.

Yan Yuanzhao followed Yan Yuanheng into the tent, and seeing the chaos, did not move a muscle, first instructing his attendants to dismiss the soldiers who heard the noise nearby, before closing the curtain tent and frowning, “^What are you making?”

Yan Yuanheng noticed a pile of letters lying on the ground, leaned down to pick them up and turned them over.

The more he turned it over, the harder his expression became.

The letter was clearly a secret letter to the southern border to inform them of the military situation!

The paper is either new or old, and the letters are not explicitly dated, but the earliest secret letters, as deduced from their contents, date from the Battle of the Twin Cities seven years ago.

That battle was supposed to be a sure win surprise attack.

But the Southern Borderers at the Twin Towns were prepared and planted fire mines outside the southern part of the city, hitting the Northerners hard, and Shi Jinghong was shot in the shoulder and nearly died in the chaos of battle.

The earliest letter, however, was so detailed that it even stated that the northern army would attack from the south of the city.

When Yan Yuanzhao saw how ugly they all looked, he was suspicious. After snatching them and flipping through two pages, he was shocked and angry: “…… Stop Cloud, isn’t this your writing?”

”It’s not Su Chang’s.” Yan Yuanheng’s face was sombre. Yan Yuanheng’s face was sullen, “The structure and strokes are identical, but it’s never written by one person. Su Chang always has some unusual little habits when he writes, for example, when he writes the word ‘之’, the topmost point is raised a little at the end ……”

Yan Yuanzhao asked, “These letters, who sent them?”

Yan Yuanheng held out the top sheet of letterhead: “This packet of letters must have come from the main camp. General Shi Jinghong has gone through it, and the enclosed letters say that they were delivered in person by a special envoy from the southern border who came to discuss the truce, and frankly said that they had a spy planted within the Central Plains army …… named Chu Ziling .”

Yan Yuanzhao drew a cold breath and turned his head to look at Shi Tingyun.

Shi Tingyun’s shoulders were shaking and his fingers felt like they were itching from a fire in his heart, curling and spasming one after the other.

Yan Yuanheng moved closer to Shi Tingyun and raised her hand to tug at his sleeve, but eventually dropped her hand and just stood beside him.

He thought that if he couldn’t stand any longer, he would be able to hold him faster by standing closer.

With this in mind, Yan Yuanheng handed the handwritten letter from Shi Jinghong to Yan Yuanzhao and asked him to read it: “The envoy is now being held in the main camp. He said that he was sincere in coming to the peace talks and that he was willing to confront Chu Ziling in order to show his sincerity by revealing his identity. General Toki has sent someone to the primus camp to bring the men, and has asked Su Chang to go and see them at once.”

Yan Yuanzhao glanced at Shi Tingyun, who was ashen-faced, and resolved not to fall on his sword first.

”The Southern Borderers? Would they be so kind as to catch the traitor for us?” Yan Yuanzhao stared, “Don’t be sowing dissension, right? Whose name did that Southern Border envoy come under?”

Lou Ying said gently, “The man who sent him was Tie Muer, but the man who told him to deliver the letter was a southern adjutant general. That man is Ai Sha’s nephew and Pa Sha’s lieutenant.”

Yan Yuanzhao said coldly, “Can such a person be trusted in what he says?”

Yan Yuanheng said, “If he was going to plant the evidence, he could have used the letters to prove that Su Chang was a secret agent. What good would it do?”

Yan Yuanzhao had nothing to say, so he kept glancing at Yan Yuanheng.

Do you know how to read faces?

Chu Ziling had been promoted by Shi Tingyun and had grown up together, so they had a very close friendship.

If Chu Ziling was falsely accused, that would be fine, but if he wasn’t, then how was he supposed to deal with it?

Shi Tingyun looks as if he has just woken up from a nightmare, glancing around in a daze, looking at the wreckage before his gaze slowly takes on substance.

As if to confirm that this was not a dream, he drew up his feet and ran outside.

Yan Yuanzhao was startled and took a few steps out of the tent after him, “What are you doing?”

Shi Tingyun sprinted to pull a good horse and sat on it: “…… I will go to him myself. I will ask him for a clear explanation!”

……

Chu Ziling was dragged straight from the stables.

The leader of the group whispered a few words to Zhan Dayuan, a large black towered man, who turned pale and called out to two stronger soldiers, who tied him up, gagged him with a tarpaulin and threw him onto a horse, transporting him like an animal.

What’s going on at ……?!

Chu Ziling was unable to speak, but after a moment of fear, he calmed down again.

He was in a special position and had the patronage of the Duke, and it goes without saying that he would be treated in such a way, for reasons that go without saying.

Unless the Southlanders returned the letters he had sent, there would be no evidence of his correspondence with the Southland.

And the only slip-ups would have been the spies in the city, I think.

Maybe the North’s army caught a spy who happened to deliver a letter for them, and the spy gave himself up in order to stay alive.

This is not to be feared.

As long as he is convinced that the man is a frame-up, what can he do if he has no token and no witnesses?

Even before we reach our destination, Chu Ziling has a plan in place to deal with the situation.

As he was writing, he heard the sound of horses’ hooves coming from a distance, followed by the sergeant who was escorting him, saluting, “…… Young General.”

Chu Ziling’s eyes lit up and he looked up and called out vaguely, “Stop ……”

The next moment, he was kicked off his horse by Shi Tingyun, who had rolled off his horse, and fell to the ground, rolling several times on the dry land and nearly breaking his neck.

Shi Tingyun took the whip and whipped him without any further ado.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but the whip was soaked in water, and salt water at that, that it was heavy and heavy, not to mention the fact that Shi Tingyun came from a military background and was so strong that it hurt to the bone as soon as the blade touched his body.

Chu Ziling was in pain and could not escape, so he had to roll and crawl to hide in disarray, calling out vaguely, “Gongzi! …… Stop Cloud, listen to my explanation, I’ll let me explain-”

Shi Tingyun, however, struck him as if he had gone mad, raining whips on him, and one of them landed on his cheek, tearing off a strip of skin from his face!

Chu Ziling, who had never suffered such pain before, nearly went mad with the pain and did not bother to explain himself, focusing all his energy on escaping.

In the middle of the whip, the same thing that he had properly hidden came loose from him and fell on top of the dry ground.

Chu Ziling rolled five or six feet away before he felt a sudden shock and turned his head to see that the jade pendant, which proved his identity, had fallen out of his pocket inside his lapel as he kept running and tumbling.

Chu Ziling’s hair stood on end and his heart was broken, so he lunged at the whip, trying to protect the jade pendant underneath him.

…… This jade pendant must not be seen by Shi Tingyun!

If he had seen it, it would have been all over!

Shi Tingyun, however, had no intention of seeing it at all.

Or rather, he didn’t even see it.

For the next moment, his boots stepped on the jade pendant.

…… ka.

Kakkak.

Chu Ziling watched as the jade pendant, wrapped in a soft handkerchief, which he had carried with him since he was a child, lest some money-grubbing person should steal it, fell apart at Shi Tingyun’s feet, splintering the remains.

Chu Ziling was dumbfounded, staring at Shi Tingyun’s feet. It took a dozen lashes from Shi Tingyun before he came back to his senses, tears and cold sweat exploding out of his eyes, teeth chattering as if it was not jade that had been crushed but his heart, liver, spleen and lungs.

Shi Tingyun can still hear what he is hissing through a tarp gagged in his mouth.

Chu Ziling growled with a sobbing voice: “- My Jade!”