The palace was already quiet, and Xiao Rong’s shout was like thunder on a clear day.

Instantly, all the nearby gates were thrown open, and even Madam Chen rushed out in a panic, holding up her little chubby hands covered in flour: “What dog? Which dog does little Rong want to kill?”

Ah Shu: “…………”

Gao Xunzhi, who had finally begun to live the single life, also heard the commotion and hurried over. When he saw the yard full of people, he was puzzled about what had happened. Just then, Xiao Rong, full of killing intent, stormed out holding a sword. He really looked like someone who was about to take a life.

That is, unless he was holding a bloodied hand.

Gao Xunzhi was stunned: “Little Rong!”

The King had only left for less than half an hour. Why did you have to hurt yourself this badly?

*

After a chaotic scene.

The sword had been forcibly taken away by Gao Xunzhi, and Xiao Rong was sitting at the table while the doctor bandaged the injured hand. Xiao Rong, still enraged, hammered the table with his good hand as he complained to Gao Xunzhi.

“…I clearly said this sword shouldn’t be sharpened!”

“And what does he do? Behind my back, he sharpens it and doesn’t tell me. Luckily, I only touched the blade. If I had held the sword in my arms, you, not Chancellor Gao, would be the one listening to me now, but it would have been King Yama instead!”

Gao Xunzhi: “……”

There were too many things to complain about.

He wanted to ask why Xiao Rong had held the sword in his arms, and why he even had an unsharpened sword. He also wanted to ask how the sword ended up in Qu Yunmie’s hands. Although Qu Yunmie was arrogant, ruthless, and increasingly twisted, he wasn’t the type to steal things.

After a long silence, seeing that Xiao Rong was clearly very upset, Gao Xun decided not to ask any of these questions. Instead, he focused on trying to calm Xiao Rong down: “Look on the bright side. The sword’s edge is pretty sharp now…”

Xiao Rong gave him a deadpan look before turning his attention back to his bandaged fingers, which now resembled a bunch of radishes.

Gao Xunzhi silently shut up.

After a moment of collecting himself, Xiao Rong finally spoke, trying to keep his voice calm, though he was still perplexed: “In just one night, this sword was made from fallen iron. How could it be fully sharpened in just one night? The King must have planned this from the beginning. He probably hired a blacksmith a month ago, waiting for the sword to be left alone so he could act!”

Gao Xunzhi: “……”

Although he had been feeling annoyed with Qu Yunmie recently, he couldn’t help but defend him: “Ah Rong, the King didn’t need to find a blacksmith. Anyone who’s been to battle can sharpen their own weapons. The King maintains his own blades. Even if someone else wanted to help, they wouldn’t have the strength.”

Xiao Rong paused, looking at the now perfectly sharpened Chilong Sword, which had been carefully honed on both edges to be smooth and sharp. It was done so precisely that it seemed like it had been measured with a ruler, and the craftsmanship was so faint that if one didn’t know better, they might think a machine had done it.

From Xiao Rong’s complaints, Gao Xunzhi guessed a part of what had happened the previous night. He smiled and shook his head: “The sword was always hung on the wall, and I didn’t realize it was such a fine weapon. The King must have thought a lot about it before he left. He was willing to risk angering you just to have this sword sharpened. I think he hoped you’d be able to use it for self-defense in a critical moment. Although I don’t know what fallen iron is, just looking at how sharp this blade is, the King probably stayed up all night working on it. Other than the Snow-Drinking Vengeance Spear, there’s no other weapon that would have caught his attention this much.”

Xiao Rong: “……”

He frowned tightly, still unhappy, but at least he didn’t scold Qu Yunmie anymore.

Just as Gao Xunzhi sighed in relief, Xiao Rong coldly said: “Sixteen.”

Gao Xunzhi looked up in confusion: “Huh? What sixteen?”

Xiao Rong: “I just counted. There are sixteen scratches in total, front and back.”

Gao Xunzhi: “……”

Even though his health was fine, at Gao Xunzhi age, his eyesight wasn’t as sharp as a younger person’s. He skeptically glanced at the sword, not understanding how Xiao Rong could have seen so many scratches. Blinking, he tentatively asked: “So… when the King comes back, should he polish it again for you?”

At that moment, Xiao Rong’s hand was already bandaged. He held up his injured right hand and looked at the four bandaged fingers with disdain. Xiao Rong snorted coldly: “He wouldn’t dare not polish it.”

After that, he stormed off in his usual angry manner. But this was his room, and after his dramatic exit, it wasn’t clear where he intended to go.

Gao Xunzhi watched Xiao Rong’s retreating figure with a complex expression. After a long time, he turned his head and looked at the sword lying quietly nearby.

Xiao Rong and the King’s relationship had truly grown much closer. Compared to the formal, cautious manner in which he first spoke to the King, now Xiao Rong was nearly riding on the King’s neck.

So disrespectful, yet so arrogant. As Qu Yunmie’s chancellor and elder, Gao Xun should have been displeased, but in his heart, he felt sweet. He knew there would never be anyone as devoted to the King as Xiao Rong. If Xiao Rong wanted to betray him, he never would have come to the King’s side in the first place. With Xiao Rong’s extraordinary talent, he could have declared himself king, and no one would have been able to stop him.

Ah, how wonderful.

Such a beautiful pair of a wise ruler and loyal minister, but… but.

Gao Xunzhi aunt-like smile slowly faded as he scowled. He muttered to himself.

Qu—Yun—Mie!

You’re imagining beautiful things!!!

*

Qu Yunmie left, but his legend lingered everywhere in the palace.

….

At the third quarter of the Mao hour, the army set off, and by the first quarter of the Wu hour, they finally stopped.

By the time they could see the Taihang Mountains, they had already left the territory of Chenliu. But as far as the eye could see, it was still just flat plains.

They only took a brief rest at noon to replenish their strength. There was no need to make a fire or cook, just eating some dry food and feeding the horses was enough.

Qu Yunmie sat under a tree, and at this point, his personal guards had taken over the duty of the sentinels. Wherever Qu Yunmie went, they followed him closely. Dongfang Jin came over with dry food and water. As the King, Qu Yunmie naturally ate better than the others. While others had flatbreads, he had both flatbread and dried meat.

Meanwhile, not far away, He Tingzhi had already set up a small copper pot.

Qu Yunmie: “……”

Of all the people Xiao Rong had mentioned, the one Qu Yunmie despised the most was He Tingzhi. Even though Huang Yanjiu was his arch-nemesis and had a cruel and vile personality, Qu Yunmie still thought Huang Yanjiu was better than He Tingzhi.

Because at least Huang Yanjiu had real skills and could trade blows with him, even if he would lose quickly. But at least he had that courage. On the other hand, He Tingzhi only knew how to flatter others and play the victim, with no talent in either the literary or martial fields. He often used the names of dead people to make himself look good.

And since the dead could not rebut him, whatever he said was taken as truth.

Qu Yunmie’s contempt for He Tingzhi was clearly written on his face. He Tingzhi noticed but didn’t provoke Qu Yunmie. Instead, he obediently stayed among his own group.

As for how he behaved in front of leaders from other factions, Qu Yunmie couldn’t see that.

Qu Yunmie was greatly irritated by the nobles’ insistence on eating fine food while going to war. He wanted to march over and kick that copper pot over, but after a long silence, he restrained himself and instead instructed Dongfang Jin, who was also eating dry food: “Go check on Mr. Yu and the others. If the dry food is too difficult to swallow, cook them some hot food.”

Dongfang Jin blinked, sighed, and ran off. But not long after, he returned and sat down again.

“It’s fine, Your Majesty. General Yu brought some meat soup for Mr. Yu in the morning. Mr. Yu then shared the soup with the other two gentlemen. They’re eating it now.”

Qu Yunmie: “……”

He silently chewed on the tough dried meat and couldn’t help but think that if Xiao Rong hadn’t been drunk last night, he would definitely have had some meat soup today.

But compared to that dance, never mind the meat soup, even fine wine wouldn’t be enough to make him trade it.

He wondered if Xiao Rong had noticed that his sword had been sharpened.

He probably had, right? Ha, now let’s see how he dances for others.

If he still insisted on dancing after all this, Qu Yunmie sincerely hoped he would lose control and accidentally stab to death anyone who dared to watch him dance.

Just imagining that scene made Qu Yunmie feel a sense of satisfaction.

……

Qu Yunmie didn’t think he was the first person to have seen Xiao Rong dance.

Because Xiao Rong had said that he had practiced the dance for four months, and he had a teacher, as well as a director. It had always been a regret in his heart that he had never danced for anyone other than his teacher. After Xiao Rong’s studies ended, he had been chasing after him, which meant that when he practiced this dance, he hadn’t known Qu Yunmie and wasn’t doing it for him. He had practiced it for someone else.

He didn’t know what had happened, but he hadn’t danced for the person who wanted to see it. So, on the eve of this campaign, he danced for himself.

The song “Breaking the Formation,” judging by the name, must have been for someone who could have had a good view, probably a general.

Who was it? Did he know him? Was it from South or north of the Han River, or perhaps it was from a different ethnic group?

Guessing wildly wouldn’t lead anywhere. In matters like this, where one had to think frequently, Qu Yunmie always felt impatient. Moreover, it was all in the past now. Regardless of who Xiao Rong had practiced for, in the end, he danced for himself and only for himself.

…… Unless he could present a second Chilong Sword.

This kind of mental trickery worked intermittently. Sometimes, Qu Yunmie would be persuaded and stop thinking about it. But at other times, especially when there was nothing else to do, he would find himself thinking about it again and feel a deep sense of regret.

But this wasn’t right, he thought to himself. He wasn’t a greedy person. He had many flaws, but he had never been infected by the greed that noblemen and royals tended to have.

Xiao Rong had treated him well. He really shouldn’t feel unhappy over such a small matter and go against his own wishes, especially when he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Qu Yunmie: “……”

Forget it. There’s nothing more to think about. It’s done, so what can be done now?

*

In the afternoon, Agusejia and the others moved to the royal residence with their large and small bundles of belongings.

The Butewu tribe had a total of around 800 people, 600 of whom had set out, with 500 soldiers and the remaining 100 serving as logistics or military medics.

The last two hundred or so people were split into two groups: one group stayed behind to guard Chenliu, and the other consisted of those who weren’t fit for the battlefield—old, weak, sick, pregnant, and so on. With the army gone, the safety of the mountains outside the city had diminished. Although it hadn’t reached the point of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields, the signs had been up for many days warning the citizens that with the departure of the army, bandits might return. People were advised to secure their homes and avoid going out unless necessary.

The remaining Butewu people lived in the city, while Agusejia and Danran moved into the royal residence. This was partly due to Gao Xunzhi’s insistence, as they were Qu Yunmie’s relatives, and partly because Agusejia had agreed. She had recently read many medical books and was just short of clinical practice.

……

 

Edited by: Antiope

 

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