Chapter 236: "Then Properly Be the One Who Possesses Four..."
Wen Yu fastened her collar, her jet-black silky hair obediently cascading down her back. Apart from a faint weariness visible on her face from lack of sleep, nothing else seemed amiss.
Walking to the outer hall and opening the door, Zhao Bai, due to the urgency of the situation, didn't dwell on why there were no palace attendants on duty in the hall tonight and hurriedly reported:
"Your Highness, we've captured a group of Wolf Cavalry who attempted a nighttime raid on the imperial prison. They claim to have discovered thirty thousand Western Mausoleum troops heading north at Heng Lake. After rigorous interrogation of Pei Yuan, I've learned that Pei Song intends to lead these thirty thousand Western Mausoleum troops north to seize Tiger Gorge Pass! Yang Shuo is his man!"
Wen Yu's brows furrowed slightly, the sleepiness on her face instantly fading. After a brief moment of contemplation in her dark, serene eyes, she calmly ordered: "Summon Ministers Qi, Sikong Wei, Lu Yi, He Zhang, Zhao Shengming, and others to the palace immediately."
Since extracting this information during the interrogation, Zhao Bai's heart had been racing uncontrollably, her palms constantly damp with cold sweat.
The Wolf Cavalry's discovery of the Western Mausoleum Army's movement traces at Heng Lake indicated that the Western Mausoleum troops had set out long ago. Calculating the time it took for the Wolf Cavalry to return to the royal court, who knew how much farther north the Western Mausoleum Army had advanced during this period.
Currently, Chen Kingdom's forces had been beaten back to defending Gole City, struggling to maintain their hold. They couldn't possibly dispatch troops to intercept this Western Mausoleum Army, and even if they had forces to spare, they likely couldn't catch up.
More critically, Pei Yuan confessed that Yang Shuo, the general guarding Tiger Gorge Pass, was Pei Song's man.
Although Wen Yu had already sent word back within the pass after discovering Hawk Hound traces in Chen Kingdom territory, instructing Fan Yuan to lead troops deep into the western frontier to guard against Yang Shuo,
the message would take time to reach Liang territory. The vast expanse of Great Liang, combined with the western frontier's challenging terrain and climate unfavorable to Southern Border soldiers, meant that even if Fan Yuan set out immediately upon receiving the message, he couldn't possibly reach Tiger Gorge Pass before the Western Mausoleum Army.
If Yang Shuo, who had defected to Pei Song, joined forces with the Western Mausoleum Army to ambush Fan Yuan in the western frontier, the news of this defeat and Tiger Gorge Pass changing hands would inevitably cause widespread panic throughout Liang territory once it spread.
And once the Western Mausoleum Army entered Tiger Gorge Pass, there would be no geographical barriers eastward to stop them...
Just thinking about these possibilities made the veins at Zhao Bai's temples throb heavily with each surge of blood beneath.
It was no exaggeration to say this was a catastrophe even greater than the national disaster three years ago when Pei Song rebelled and stormed into Luodu!
Seeing Wen Yu's composure now helped Zhao Bai regain some calm. After receiving the orders, she didn't linger to ask further questions, immediately turning to urgently convey the imperial decree.
As the Azure Guard dispatched to deliver messages to various residences dashed out of the royal palace like morning swallows, though the lights in the east and west wing towers hadn't yet been extinguished, a strip of dawn light had already appeared on the eastern horizon.
After palace attendants finished dressing and grooming Wen Yu, an Azure Guard entered to report that Minister Qi and others had arrived at the imperial study.
Xiao Li returned from checking on A Li in the side hall but remained silent, leaning against the carved moon gate draped with bead curtains inside the hall, watching Wen Yu in the mirror.
Tong Que secured the final large hairpin in Wen Yu's hair, glanced back through the bronze mirror, and recognizing that Xiao Li wished to speak with Wen Yu alone, exchanged a look with the reporting Azure Guard before leading the palace attendants out.
With no one else left in the hall, Xiao Li finally spoke: "I'll take the Wolf Cavalry to pursue that Western Mausoleum Army."Wen Yu sat before the dressing mirror without turning her head, saying only: "The reinforcements from Liang and all border garrison troops are now at the royal court. I shall discuss with the ministers to devise a proper solution."
The intricate court robes of black and gold woven together and the glittering hairpins in her coiffure formed an invisible barrier, isolating all the tenderness and mutual dependence they had shared the previous night.
Xiao Li noticed this, his lips tightening slightly as he gazed at her back. "The border troops led by Chen Jun are trapped in Gole City. Though the royal court has reinforcements, if we dispatch troops now, can we still catch up with that Western Mausoleum Army?"
After these words fell, no response came from Wen Yu for a long while.
Xiao Li watched the cold, tense line of her slender back beneath the magnificent robes. After a moment of silence, he continued: "When I ordered Tiger to lead the Wolf Cavalry away from the royal court, I instructed them to withdraw to Tiger Gorge Pass. Having discovered the Western Mausoleum Army heading there at Heng Lake, they will certainly follow and leave markers along the way. It won't be difficult for me to lead troops in forced march to catch up."
Wen Yu finally turned to look at him. Her court-made-up face remained placid to the point of coldness, yet within her majestic bearing seemed to conceal another hidden fury. "You catch up, then what?"
She stared coldly back at him, demanding: "How many troops does your Wolf Cavalry have? How many does Western Mausoleum have?"
Without waiting for his reply, she answered for him: "The Western Mausoleum Army heading for Tiger Gorge Pass numbers thirty thousand, with another seventy thousand besieging Chen's western border! If Yang Shuo truly is Pei Song's man, then the natural defenses of Tiger Gorge Pass will be meaningless against those thirty thousand Western Mausoleum troops. What can you accomplish chasing after them with less than ten thousand Wolf Cavalry?
"Going to throw your lives away?"
The Wolf Cavalry would be caught between two Western Mausoleum forces. Even just containing the army heading for Tiger Gorge Pass would be disadvantageous given the numerical disparity. If the Western Mausoleum troops attacking Chen's western border received news and dispatched additional forces to surround them, what chance would they have to escape alive?
This wasn't a situation of narrow survival, but certain death.
After coldly posing these questions, Wen Yu stood to leave.
But as she passed by Xiao Li, he seized her elbow. "The Wolf Cavalry are all warriors worth ten ordinary soldiers each, A Yu. I want to try.
"For you, and for Great Liang."
Some word in this suddenly enraged her. She violently shook off his hand from her elbow and turned to glare coldly at him. "Xiao Li, I agreed to marry you, but I can also take it back. You are nothing to me yet.
"You didn't accept the appointment decree - you're not my general or subject of Great Liang.
"I don't need you to do anything for me, nor does Great Liang!
If Tiger Gorge Pass falls, if the western frontier is lost, that's my failure as Wen Yu. Even if my name is vilified in history, I alone will bear it! I don't need you leading thousands of men to sacrifice their lives, staining this page of history with blood just to earn future generations a tragic legend!"
Having said this, she tried to stride quickly away, but unexpectedly Xiao Li suddenly reached out, wrapping his arms across her shoulders from behind to hold her firmly.
The defined muscle contours rising beneath his narrow sleeves from his bent arms and the prominent veins on his hands clearly revealed their owner's current state of mind.Xiao Li's chin rested against Wen Yu's shoulder, his palm feeling the slender frame that could be firmly encircled by a single arm. The hand gripping Wen Yu's shoulder unconsciously tightened its grasp. His face was stern and resolute, his eyes tinged with suppressed, sharp pain that had turned faintly crimson. His breathing was ragged, yet he remained silent.
After a long while, he finally spoke: "But what can I do, Wen Yu? Even if it means rotting in the annals of history, I want my name written alongside yours.
"This land you've defended time and again through self-sacrifice—how can it be taken by foreign invaders?
"I told you before: as long as I draw breath, I will never let you fall into danger like you did back then at the Northern Border.
"The ministers of Chen and Liang aren't pleased with my assault on the royal court, are they? If I lead the Wolf Cavalry to contain the Western Mausoleum Army and lift the siege at Tiger Gorge Pass, this matter can be put to rest. When you later speak of marrying me, what grounds will they have to object?
"You can't go back on your word. You promised to marry me—that means you promised."
The crimson tinge in his eyes deepened briefly before he suppressed it, tightening his grip on Wen Yu's slender shoulders. "My going isn't about recklessness. There's no concrete evidence yet that Yang Shuo is Pei Song's man. If this is another of Pei Song's schemes to drive a wedge between us, by making a move early when the Western Mausoleum Army attacks Tiger Gorge Pass, I can alert the garrison inside.
"Moreover, given Lord Chen and General Fan's vigilance, they might have already advanced toward Tiger Gorge Pass upon learning I forced Yang Shuo to release the Wolf Cavalry. Even if Yang Shuo has truly defected to Pei Song, buying an extra day or half a day would give General Fan more time to march."
Wen Yu felt the strength of the embrace from behind, closing her eyes tightly against the stinging pain. She bore the surname Wen—avenging her family and restoring this land was her destiny.
Thus, she could die for this land, and she had been prepared for it since learning of her parents', brothers', and nephews' deaths and journeying south.
But let this fate be hers alone to bear.
She didn't want, nor was she willing, to let him walk the same path!
Swallowing the needle-like ache in her throat, Wen Yu opened her eyes again. Despite her utmost control, she couldn't suppress the flush that rose within them. She shoved aside Xiao Li's restraining hand from her shoulder and turned to face him, her expression cold and nearly fierce: "So you're betting that Yang Shuo hasn't betrayed us? Gambling on the slim chance that the Liang forces have already marched west?"
Xiao Li met her gaze silently before replying after a long pause: "At this stage, even a one-in-ten-thousand possibility must be gambled on. You understand this better than I do, A Yu."
Wen Yu lost her composure, shouting at him uncharacteristically: "I don't understand!"
She turned away, closing her eyes again coldly. "I told you, you're not my subordinate general. You don't need to—"
Xiao Li said: "Now I am."
He knelt behind her in the Liang military salute: "Xiao Li pledges allegiance to Wen Shi Hanyang as sovereign. Henceforth, the twenty-four northern provinces shall be Liang territory, and the thirty thousand Wolf Cavalry of Yan Yun shall serve as Liang's cavalry.
"I request my lord's permission to lead the Wolf Cavalry to Tiger Gorge Pass and repel the enemy."
Wen Yu turned back to stare at him in stunned silence. The rigid mask she had desperately maintained cracked, traced by a tear she hadn't known was falling.Ever since Wei Qishan introduced Wang Wanzhen, the former fake princess of Jin, and declared his allegiance to Jin again, the Northern Border had been referred to as Jin territory by those in the Wei camp. However, the Wei camp had undergone many changes over the past two years. The people of the Northern Border had lived as subjects of Liang for decades, and with the chaos of war still unresolved, no one paid much attention to the renaming of the Northern Border within the Wei camp.
Just a day ago, he had used this as leverage to force her into marriage.
Now, for a military campaign no different from a suicide mission, he was pledging his allegiance to her.
Wen Yu had not felt such heart-wrenching pain in a long time. The tears that hastily rolled down her cheeks did nothing to alleviate the suffocating ache in her chest.
She asked, "What if I refuse?"
Xiao Li fell silent again. After a few breaths, he said, "Before I became the ruler of the Northern Border, I was a Liang man. If the Western Frontier falls, countless Liang civilians will suffer the ravages of war, and the people of the Northern Border will not be spared either. As long as I command troops, even if it means death, I must fight for all the people of Liang."
His gaze was deep, pained, and tender as he looked at Wen Yu. The redness in his eyes seemed to deepen, almost like coagulated blood.
There was a time when he thought Wen Yu cared only for the people and the realm.
But now, he saw her fear—how she dared not let him risk his life for the slimmest chance of survival, how she was driven to sever all ties with him in desperation.
So he was her weakest spot.
So his moon had always been shining on him, too.
He spoke of the people, of his duty as a commander, but no longer claimed he was doing this for her. He knew that if it were Wen Yu herself, she would go.
He was protecting this land in her stead, in her way.
Another tear traced a path from the corner of her eye across the bridge of her nose as Wen Yu tilted her head slightly. She felt a sharp, persistent pain in her chest with every breath. Her expression remained cold, but a fractured agony began to seep through that icy facade. She said, "Fine, go. But if you die at Tiger Gorge Pass, don't blame me for breaking my promise..."
Xiao Li knelt on one knee, his palms clenched so tightly they nearly bled, and replied, "Naturally."
Her vision nearly blurred, Wen Yu said fiercely, "There are plenty of good men in this world, Xiao Li. If you die, I won't remember you for long. It won't take much time for me to set my sights on another..."
She couldn't finish her words, and with her blurred vision, she didn't see how the man kneeling two steps away rose to his feet, his veins bulging as he grabbed her shoulders, shoved her back several steps, and pinned her against the carved moon gate.
He trapped her firmly between the moon gate and his arms. Whether from anger, pain, or both, the rise and fall of his chest and the heaviness of his breathing were more pronounced than ever.
Enveloped in his familiar, scorching breath, she felt only a burning ache in her eyes. She turned her face away, unwilling to look at him, but he gripped her chin and forced her back.
His hand, calloused from years of wielding weapons, held her chin with such force it hurt. His eyes were bloodshot, his gaze fierce, yet his words were spoken softly: "Then be the princess who rules over all the lands, and never think of me again."
By the time his lips met hers, Wen Yu's vision was completely obscured by tears she could no longer control.Xiao Li had tried his utmost to be gentle, yet the force with which he crushed her lips remained fierce, swallowing everything about her amidst the bitter saltiness.
Their pained breaths intertwined, much like their long-entangled fate.
When it ended, he used his coarse thumb to wipe the wet traces from her face and said, "But I won't let such a thing happen."
After casting one last deep glance at Wen Yu, he turned to leave, only to be stopped by her call: "Xiao Li!"
He halted but dared not look back.
Wen Yu gazed at that tall, imposing figure, just as when they first met, and said, "When my brother sent me away from Luodu, he promised he would come to bring me home.
"He broke his word."
The crimson in her eyes deepened layer by layer, yet she never wavered from staring at his back: "After repelling the enemy at Tiger Gorge Pass, you must come to bring me back to Daliang.
"You cannot break your word."
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