Last night’s stars
Junxu returned to the tent, and Feng Qin was no longer there. The warmth and intimacy of the room had cooled as the person had left. Junxu stood for a long time before gradually hearing Zhan Qiao’s long howl. The thick carpet on the ground softly supported the black military boots, causing one to feel an impatience to step hard on it and lose its elasticity. The flickering candlelight, however, gave her a sense of powerlessness in the face of reality.
Taking off her robe and wearing soft armour, Junxu slowly sat on the floor along with the chair. If it weren’t for Zhan Qiao’s beautiful voice dispersing the anger in her heart, she would just want to pick up her sword and chop up all the trouble and eyesores.
Can an army with such a complicated relationship fight a war?
Although the enemy is not at the gates, and the situation is not desperate, the Tong family has also amassed a million troops, poised and ready to go. Apart from the number of people in her hands, what else is left? When it comes down to life and death, who will listen to her words?
What a mess!
Xiao Ran endured the torture all night, and her body was cold. Early in the morning, she staggered out of her tent with two dark circles under her eyes and a pale face. It was early, but many soldiers were already up, working efficiently. Those who usually walked were now running. With great difficulty, she gritted her teeth and walked through the crowd, ignoring the howling of Zhan Qiao, who had been howling for half the night and was now hoarse and weak, but still going on and on, intermittently and incoherently.
Xiao Ran lowered her head and shivered as she went to Jun Xu’s tent
‘That… marshal’
Jun Xu was sitting at the desk, drinking tea, and gave her a quizzical look
‘Which marshal?’
Xiao Ran shrugged
‘Can you be more decisive and tell her to stop howling?’
‘…Are you pleading for her?’
‘No. After all, she is the sister-in-law of the crown princess. Look’
“Look at what?’
‘Look! It’s not good to offend her!‘
Junxu put down his teacup and looked at Xiao Ran
’It’s cool in the morning, go wrap up that brocade shawl, sit over here and have some hot tea, let’s have a good chat, come on‘
Xiao Ran was disheartened and obediently did as she was told. She sat down next to Junxu and her big eyes blinked. Junxu poured her a cup of tea
’You said I offended her?’
‘…Well…‘
’I offended her from the start with the Feng Qin incident.‘
’That’s different.‘
’Yes, it is. How can I explain it to you… Do you know that if I don’t move the exhibition, I’ll have to take all these in-laws, godchildren, daughters-in-law, and wives of whoever to Langji City.
Some want to bargain, others won’t listen, each with their own army, and it’s all so chaotic… We’re not going on an outing, so don’t start fighting among yourselves. If I can get them to come back together, then I’ll have succeeded.
We’re going to fight to the death! Generals die in battle, but brave warriors return after ten years. That’s different from the others, if they don’t listen to the commander, they’ll be defeated like a collapsing mountain!
‘…
‘At that time, will it be possible to avoid the word death?’
‘These people can only listen to me. If they don’t listen to orders, they will only die. Insulting the commander in chief is like showing off. Just like Zhan Qiao, the longer she screams, the more everyone will remember. I don’t want to kill one after another, and lose soldiers before the battle.’
Xiao Ran’s hands became cold
’…But…aren’t you planting the seeds of disaster…?’
‘Xiao Ran, even if I obey the orders of the crown princess and do everything she says, she won’t hesitate to get rid of me. I know this all too well.‘
’…
And once I take command of the army of a million, I will become a target for elimination. If I want to survive, I must first win the battle against Langjicheng.”
Xiao Ran suddenly looked up, grabbed Jun Xu’s hand, and looked at her earnestly
‘You go! You were never… You… You never should have… Me.‘
Junxu gave a faint smile and took her hand back
’Since I started to step into this destiny, I have been. Ran’er, thank you. I’m very happy to hear you say that. Just hearing it is enough, don’t mention it again in the future.‘
’…Do you hate me…?”
Junxu’s gaze hardened and her breathing became a little labored
‘This is… a duel between fate and me… It has nothing to do with you.‘
’What… is your name?‘
Junxu stood up and straightened his clothes.
’My name is Shen Da.”
Xiao Ran was a little dazed, holding a teacup, sitting in the morning sunshine. Junxu put on soft armour
‘One day, I hope you can escape from this environment, go to a quiet valley, build a thatched hut, plant a garden full of medicinal herbs, wear white clothes, make medicine and write books. You don’t fit in here, Xiao Ran, you will either be stained or devoured.‘
Xiao Ran lowered his eyes
’That day will never come.‘
’Why not? I said it will, so I can make it happen.”
Xiao Ran pushed the teacup away, threw himself on the desk, and said sullenly
‘Don’t be nice to me!!! I feel guilty!!!‘
Junxu laughed back, amused
’What kind of guilt are you talking about, you’re sick.”
Junxu left, leaving Xiao Ran alone in the tent. He stubbornly remained firmly on the desk, the sun shining through the skylight, the air clear and fresh. Outside the tent came the sound of the assembly horn, the sound of neat footsteps, and the assembly call.
That person had come up with countless training methods and began to implement them methodically. Obviously, Zhan Qiao was hanging there, and from the sound, she could tell that the training of these people had improved a lot.
She had asked why they needed to practise such simple walking, and the man had replied with a smile, ‘Not all battles are exciting, there are also dull and monotonous times. When charging, you must be brave and fearless and ready to die at the command! When defending a city, you must be methodical and careful at the command!
That’s what basically makes a soldier. What’s the point of walking? It’s to get them used to what is called an order and what is called obeying an order! If you think about nonsense every day, just look at Zhan Qiao and the 500 anti-soldiers. If you don’t want to die, you have to change, change until my commander-in-chief feels that you can live, that you can become a soldier. You can go to war, then, the jewellery and gold, the beauty and the horses, the position of marquis and duke that you will report to the court, none of it will be less than what you deserve!
Here, my commander-in-chief only has military merit that comes from obeying orders, no background, no discrimination!
Xiao Ran blinked, and tears once again wet her sleeves. Such a person, if she hadn’t been dragged into Shen Da’s fate, would she have been a fairy in the bright moonlight? She was a good person, and if she hadn’t been in this kind of fate, she would definitely not have been stained with blood, and her gaze would have been filled with warmth and not murderous rage.
When she faced someone she loved, she wouldn’t have had that kind of complex and helpless gaze, and she wouldn’t have restricted her own feelings.
Unfortunately, she was dragged into this fate, with Shen Da as the mastermind and her Xiao Ran as an accomplice. She still has to tell her accomplice that one day, she will send her through the days she never dared to dream of.
She wants to push her from hell, regardless of whether she also dragged her into hell. Unfortunately… her Xiao Ran can never walk away from here.
Because she is convinced that she owes her!