The Road to Glory

Chapter 149: "I Insist on Forcing My Will..."

The tent flap had fallen back into place. The firelight from the brazier cast a golden glow upon the tent fabric, shimmering like water ripples with each flicker of the flame.

Wen Yu's profile was as exquisite as jade carving. She stood silently for a moment, her lowered long lashes concealing the emotions in her eyes, before finally pulling up the hood of her cape and lifting the flap to exit the main tent.

The two guards outside had been waiting patiently for her, completely unaware of what had transpired inside the tent. Seeing her emerge, they once again made a "please" gesture.

Wen Yu didn't know where Xiao Li had gone, nor did she ask. The cold wind whipped the edge of her cape as she calmly followed the two guards back to the tent where she was being held under house arrest.

The snow fell heavily tonight, with bitter winds that made even the patrolling armored soldiers hunch their shoulders and shrink their necks against the cold.

When Song Qin found Xiao Li, he was sitting on a low slope, gazing blankly at the camp below with its thousands of torches.

Song Qin approached and said, "We still need to reward the three armies tonight. Zheng Hu and the others went to the central military tent earlier looking for the Provincial Lord but couldn't find you. Little did they expect you'd be here."

Xiao Li glanced back at him and asked, "Got any wine?"

Song Qin replied, "With all your injuries, you really shouldn't drink anymore."

Despite saying this, he still took out his personal wine pouch and tossed it over.

Xiao Li caught it, pulled out the wooden stopper, and took a deep swig. Only after wiping the wine from his lips did he say, "Comforting."

Song Qin sat down on the wild grass beside him. "I heard from Zheng Hu that Jiang Yu's concubine is an old acquaintance of the Provincial Lord?"

Xiao Li didn't respond.

Song Qin followed Xiao Li's gaze toward the mushroom-like military tents dotting the vast, snowy landscape below. "Does the Provincial Lord want to keep her?"

Instead of answering, Xiao Li asked, "If it were Sister Mudan, what would you do?"

The wind was strong enough to make one's eyes water. After a moment, Song Qin smiled and said, "If she were willing to be with me, no matter how difficult, I'd have to risk everything to fight for it, wouldn't I?"

Xiao Li gripped the wine pouch and asked, "What if she weren't willing?"

Song Qin's smile then carried the composure and weariness of someone who had been through it all. "If she had a better place to go, what could I possibly use to keep her?"

Xiao Li fell silent, not speaking for a long time. Just as Song Qin was about to offer some comfort, he heard Xiao Li say, "I can't accept this."

Song Qin found himself at a loss for words. Finally, whether speaking to Xiao Li or to himself, he said, "In this life, eight or nine out of ten things don't go as we wish. Having something to remain unwilling about might be good—at least it keeps the remaining years from feeling so lonely."

Xiao Li asked, "Have you already guessed her identity?"

Song Qin replied, "Whoever the Provincial Lord says she is, that's who I'll recognize her as."

Xiao Li pressed, "When did you start suspecting?"

Song Qin answered, "I became suspicious the day we captured her."

He thought for a moment, then elaborated: "That day, the Provincial Lord maintained distance the entire time, putting on an act of complete indifference toward the woman. But when we reached the forest ahead, you ordered all the female guards' bodies to be buried and cleared away before Wei Ang arrived. Then, upon seeing the carriage overturned by the roadside, you had it repaired and sent over."He said, "Even ordinary official wives wouldn't have so many female guards around them, let alone a military camp concubine? So I suspect that woman's identity must be extraordinary. Even if she isn't Princess Han Yang, she couldn't possibly be Jiang Yu's concubine either. I just didn't know what connection the Prefectural Lord had with her. It wasn't until recently, when Zheng Hu mentioned that the Prefectural Lord had a past with her, that I suddenly made a guess."

With his long-buried secret finally known by his closest confidant, Xiao Li seemed to have finally released the heaviest gloom pressing on his heart. He asked, "Why didn't you advise me to hand her over to Marquis Wei?"

Song Qin lowered his eyes with a faint smile: "The Prefectural Lord already questioned me about Mudan earlier. If it were Mudan in this situation, I naturally wouldn't have the heart to expose her identity and hand her over to political enemies, destroying everything she has painstakingly built."

"But Marquis Wei invited you to join the Wei camp without questioning any of your past in the Liang Camp, and even assigned fifteen thousand righteous army troops under your command. Such trust and regard shouldn't be betrayed lightly."

He paused briefly, then spoke words identical to what Wen Yu had said earlier: "By keeping her close—neither sending her back nor handing her over to Marquis Wei—the Prefectural Lord appears to be taking a middle path, but in reality, you're cutting off both routes. You'll alienate the Liang Camp while simultaneously betraying Marquis Wei's trust."

Xiao Li smiled at this: "Didn't Elder Brother say you wouldn't advise me?"

Song Qin let the wind and snow beat against his face for a moment before responding: "If I were in your position, I might make the same choice. But since I'm not the one involved, as your elder brother, I must still advise you. Ah Huan, this world is full of unattainable desires and unbearable partings. Why torment yourself like this? When it's time to let go, you should let go."

By using Xiao Li's childhood nickname, he was clearly advising him from a genuine brotherly position.

This was already a deadlock—either offend both sides, or only offend one.

But since they were already in the Wei camp, logically, the side to offend should be the Liang Camp.

Yet when entangled by emotions, who could easily break free?

Since Xiao Li couldn't harden his heart to hand her over to Wei Qishan, why not go along with the pretense, acting as if he never recognized Wen Yu, letting her return to the Liang Camp as Jiang Yu's concubine? As long as the Liang and Chen camps weren't so despicable as to turn against them after rescuing her, then Wei Qishan would never know he had deceived him.

Conversely, keeping her captive—even if sending a substitute back—would inevitably provoke the Liang Camp's retaliation upon discovery. They would certainly expose this to Wei Qishan eventually.

When facing two evils, naturally choose the lesser.

"Unattainable desires?"

Xiao Li lowered his head with a bitter laugh, recalling how Wen Yu, despite her pregnancy, had been willing to "please" him in the military tent to secure her release—just like when he was surrounded by Hawk Hounds and she, captured by them, had said she "didn't care."

His inner ferocity surged sharply, his eyes revealing a fierce, murderous intensity in the biting cold wind: "I insist on forcing it."

Wen Yu hadn't seen Xiao Li since that night.

Tao Kui no longer came to deliver her medicine either—perhaps forbidden by Xiao Li.

However, two days later, a tailor suddenly arrived to take her measurements for winter clothes.

Additionally, she now had several tales of the strange and bizarre to read.Within thirty yards of her tent, there were heavily guarded soldiers. Within this perimeter, she could still step out to stretch her legs and get some fresh air.

But Wen Yu seldom ventured outside.

Everything that could be discussed had already been said to Xiao Li that night.

Since he showed no intention of changing his mind, if she wished to leave the Northern Border, she would have to find another way out.

Wen Yu made no further effort to inquire about Xiao Li. To pass the time each day, aside from reading a few tales of the strange and bizarre, she used charcoal to draw a chessboard on the tablecloth, using stones and broken twigs as pieces. She played game after game against herself, searching for a way to break the stalemate.

Xiao Li’s Military Camp was an iron fortress—she couldn’t get out, and her people couldn’t break in.

She thought to herself that she needed an opportunity—one that would force Xiao Li to hand her over—to escape this iron fortress and allow her people in Liang Camp to take action.

One day, as they were doing needlework in the tent as usual, they heard the enthusiastic shouts of soldiers from the distant Military Training Ground. The thinner maidservant couldn’t help but remark, “Are the officers in the camp drilling again?”

The plumper maidservant replied, “I heard that our Governor achieved great merit in the recent campaign against the barbarians, and the Marquis rewarded him with a thousand pieces of gold. After returning to camp, the Governor distributed eight hundred pieces to his officers and soldiers. The remaining two hundred were used for rewards in the training ground competitions, given to the victorious soldiers.”

The thinner maidservant clicked her tongue in astonishment. “He gave away a thousand taels of gold just like that? Our Governor is truly generous.”

The plumper maidservant, being more sociable, often went out to fetch meals and medicine and had become acquainted with some of the soldiers, so she had access to more gossip. She said, “A thousand taels of gold is nothing. Rumor has it the Marquis intends to make our Governor his son-in-law.”

By the low table, Wen Yu, who had been idly flipping through a volume of tales of the strange and bizarre, paused for a moment, her fingertips resting on the page. Her dark lashes, soft as crow feathers, half-concealed her eyes.

The thinner maidservant exclaimed in surprise, “Is that true?”

The plumper one said, “I overheard the soldiers discussing it over drinks. Apparently, when our Governor went to report his achievements in Youzhou, the Marquis offered him his daughter’s hand in marriage. Unfortunately, our Governor is still in mourning for his late mother, so the matter was postponed. But this time, when he visited the Marquis’s residence, they met at a banquet. The Marquis even had the County Princess offer our Governor a toast. From the looks of it, the engagement is almost certain to be finalized soon.”

The thinner maidservant, threading her needle, said, “That seems like a well-matched union. In those Storybooks, aren’t princesses and noble ladies always paired with scholars or peerless heroes? The County Princess is of noble birth, and our Governor is indeed a peerless hero.”

At this, both maidservants chuckled. Wen Yu listened quietly for a moment before closing her book.

The soft sound made the two maidservants immediately fall silent and turn to look at her. “Is something the matter, Miss?”

To avoid any mishaps, Wen Yu had grown accustomed to wearing a veil around the two maidservants even after the rash on her face had healed. Now, they couldn’t discern her expression, but her distant-mountain-and-autumn-water-like brows and eyes seemed veiled in a light mist—cool and detached, revealing nothing of her inner thoughts. Her tone betrayed no emotion as she said, “I’m feeling a bit stifled. I’ll take a walk outside the tent.”The two maidservants muttered about the persistently overcast sky, which made one feel rather stifled. Setting down their tasks, they went to fetch the cloak hanging on the tent wall. Hesitating for a moment, they chose the one the tailor had just finished making and delivered two days prior.

Although Wen Yu disliked wearing the two new winter outfits the military had tailored for her, the maidservants noticed the fabric seemed even finer than her original garments. The satin was smooth as water, shimmering with rippling light at the slightest movement.

When Wen Yu saw the cloak they draped over her shoulders, her brow furrowed slightly. But thinking she was only going for a short walk outside the tent, she said nothing.

Though it wasn’t snowing today, the wind still blew fiercely. The high-hanging banners beside the military tent had frozen stiff, hanging motionless from their poles with icicles forming along their edges.

Wen Yu walked halfway around the tent at a distance, coughing lightly twice from the cold wind. Just as the two maidservants were about to urge her to return for fear she might catch cold, the sound of galloping horses came from afar, accompanied by a girl’s bright, clear laughter: "Is your camp this large? Where is my brother’s tent?"

Following the sound, Wen Yu spotted a vibrant crimson figure on horseback in the distance.

The young officer guarding the camp appeared deeply troubled as he blocked the approaching horse, saying: "The Army Supervisor doesn’t reside in the camp, County Princess. This is a restricted military area—unauthorized entry is forbidden. Please don’t make this difficult for your humble officer."

The girl on horseback retorted arrogantly: "I came with Uncle Ang! The forward camp’s commanding officer personally welcomed us in. How can you call this unauthorized entry? Even when I visit my father’s camp, no one dares stop me! Who do you think you are?"

With a sharp tug on the reins, her chestnut horse reared up with a loud whinny as she pointed her coiled whip directly at the blocking officer.

This was the young officer’s first encounter with Wei Jiamin, whose temperament proved even more troublesome than Wei Pingjin’s—someone who understood nothing of military discipline yet couldn’t be offended. He quickly signaled to a soldier nearby.

The soldier understood immediately and rushed toward the Military Training Ground.

Seeing this, Wei Jiamin grew even more displeased. With a flick of her wrist, her whip struck the young officer across the face. "I wouldn’t fear your Provincial Governor even if you summoned him here!" she shouted. "If Mother hadn’t told me to accompany Uncle Ang to check on my brother, do you think I’d care to visit your wretched camp?"

The young officer quickly covered his bleeding nose and bowed his head, murmuring: "I wouldn’t dare."

Wei Jiamin, who had likely never been challenged like this before, turned her horse as if to leave. Just as the officer and his soldiers began to bow in farewell, she suddenly dug her heels sharply into the horse’s sides and charged forward: "If you won’t let this County Princess enter, then I’m determined to go in today!"

The officer and his soldiers were completely unprepared. While the officer reacted quickly enough to barely avoid being trampled, numerous soldiers were sent flying as she barged through.

Finally gritting his teeth, the officer commanded: "Shoot the horse down!"

Crossbowmen hurried forward with arrows nocked, aiming at Wei Jiamin’s chestnut horse.

"How dare you!" Wei Jiamin roared in fury.

No sooner had she spoken than an arrow struck the chestnut horse’s hind leg, sending it crashing to the ground. Wei Jiamin tumbled face-first into the snow, fortunate to escape injury. Scrambling to her feet, she stared at her whimpering chestnut horse, her eyes instantly reddening: "My chestnut horse!"She drew the sword at her waist with a swish, screaming and charging at the young officer: "I'll kill you!"

The young officer dared not draw his sword to engage her, only dodging repeatedly. The swollen whip mark on his face was clearly visible as he said, "This humble general was merely upholding Military Regulations."

Wei Jiamin swung her sword, chasing and slashing wildly at him: "Bullshit Military Regulations! That was my sixteenth birthday gift from Father! You lowly scum, your ten lives couldn't equal my Chestnut Horse! I'll have Father execute your entire clan!"

Though anger flickered across the young officer's face, he ultimately didn't dare retort. As he retreated while avoiding Wei Jiamin's attacks, he failed to notice his surroundings and was forced near the military tent where Wen Yu was held.

Outside that tent stood a dense crowd of over a hundred armored soldiers holding sharp weapons, a conspicuous sight.

Wei Jiamin, facing that direction, initially glanced over unintentionally. But when she noticed Wen Yu and the cape she wore, her expression abruptly changed. Suddenly pointing her sword at Wen Yu, she demanded of the young officer: "Who is she? Didn't your province lord forbid women in the army?"

The young officer answered truthfully: "She is Jiang Yu's concubine."

Upon hearing this answer, Wei Jiamin's gaze remained fixed on Wen Yu's brocade cape. She took several steps closer to Wen Yu, but when the surrounding armored soldiers crossed their halberds to block her path, she suppressed her anger and commanded Wen Yu: "You, come here!"

The two maidservants, seeing Wei Jiamin holding a sword, were terribly frightened. They tried to support Wen Yu back into the tent, but unexpectedly, Wen Yu actually took two steps closer to Wei Jiamin. Standing two zhang away, she calmly and patiently allowed the other to scrutinize her.

After confirming the cloud brocade pattern on Wen Yu's cape up close, Wei Jiamin's sword-gripping hand turned white with tension. She coldly interrogated Wen Yu: "Where did you get this cloud brocade cape?"

Wen Yu's typically cool eyes lifted slightly, now carrying a hint of unspoken meaning: "By the grace of the Province Lord, it was bestowed."

Wei Jiamin felt as if she had been severely insulted. Her gaze swept over Wen Yu's abdomen, her expression as if she had swallowed a fly: "Aren't you a pregnant woman? How disgusting!"

She sheathed her sword and stomped away without looking back.

The two maidservants exchanged bewildered glances before looking at Wen Yu. But Wen Yu's expression remained as calm as ever. Turning around, she said: "The wind is picking up. Let's return."

The two maidservants paused in confusion, only following when Wen Yu had already walked half a zhang away.

In the distance, someone else came rushing over. Wen Yu had no interest in watching further, cold frost seeming to emanate from beneath her lowered lashes.

The opportunity she wanted had arrived much faster than she anticipated.

She would likely be leaving this place soon.

Given the county princess's proud nature, even if she had no interest in Xiao Li, she probably couldn't accept him being so "improperly involved" with her.