Chapter 23

The bonfire illuminated faces turning red, and Shen Yu stood up after finishing the potato, walking back to the tiger tent.

A soldier reported, “Your Highness, Lv Yao requests an audience.”

Xie Tingzhou was just about to loosen his clothes when he heard this and re-tightened the belt he had just fastened. “What’s the matter?”

Shen Yu said outside the tent, “General Shen’s children are not by his side. I want to stand guard for General Shen.”

“That’s right.”

To preserve the body, there was no charcoal basin in the mourning tent, and it was freezing inside.

Tears had long dried up, she couldn’t cry anymore, kneeling in the tent all night. Before dawn, she slipped out of the tent secretly.

The snow at Yanliang Pass had stopped for a few days and started again. A few days ago, it was all solemn and oppressive, but now the streets had returned to their pre-war appearance.

The secret guard followed closely behind Shen Yu, watching her navigate the alleys with twists and turns, always keeping a distance not too far nor too near.

At a fork in the road, with just a flash, she disappeared.

Shen Yu walked on the street for a while before tiptoeing and flipping into the backyard of a house.

There were people waiting inside the house. When they saw Shen Yu, both Hongqiao and Lv Yao knelt before her.

“Miss, we have failed your trust. Please punish us.”

Hongqiao and Lv Yao split up, one going to report to Hezhou and the other to gather food at Ganzhou Prefecture, but they were ultimately late.

Shen Yu’s eyes were teary. “You’ve done your best.”

Hongqiao cried, “If only I could deliver the food faster, the general and others…”

Shen Yu knew this was impossible. “No matter how early, they wouldn’t let you into the city.”

Hongqiao wiped her tears. “What does Miss plan to do now?”

Shen Yu said, “There are too many doubts in this battle. It’s definitely not something a mere supervising general can control. There must be someone behind Liang Jianfang, and I must catch him.”

Her eyes were filled with killing intent, which frightened the onlookers.

“We’ll follow Miss.” Both said in unison.

Shen Yu shook her head. “I’m now in the army of Xie Tingzhou, the Crown Prince of Beilin. He will escort Liang Jianfang to the capital soon. I have to find a way to stay by his side.”

“What are Miss’s orders then?” Hongqiao asked.

Shen Yu said, “Brother borrowed food from Ganzhou City. You will return it for me.”

Hongqiao was unwilling. “Why should we return it? The general and young master are fighting on the front lines to protect the people inside Yanliang Pass, but what about them? They keep the city closed and force people to death.”

Shen Yu understood this reasoning well.

But she didn’t want Shen Zhao to bear debts on his journey, and even if they were to leave, they should leave cleanly and honorably.

“I want him to leave without any burden.”

With this statement, both Hongqiao and Lv Yao’s eyes turned red.

Such a noble person as the young general, to end up with no trace of his body.

Shen Yu had slipped out secretly and couldn’t stay for long. After explaining everything, she turned back.

The gloom of the past few days weighed on everyone in the camp, but inside the city, it was a different scene. The common people only cared about their own small world, as long as their homes were not in chaos and they weren’t starving, they didn’t care about national affairs.

People hurried along the streets, vendors shouted, and the atmosphere was bustling with life.

The tea stall was full of people discussing the battle at Yanliang Pass a few days ago.

An old man said, “It was really tragic. Did you see the scale of that battle? Bodies were scattered as far as the eye could see.”

“I heard that both the supervising general and the prefect have been captured by the Crown Prince of Beilin.”

The old man continued, “What’s the use of calling them officials? They’re just unstable people.”

Shen Yu approached, ordered a bowl of tea, and interjected while the others were chatting, “Doesn’t Ganzhou Prefecture still have a commander? Why is he untouched?”

“You don’t know about this?” The old man looked her up and down, “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Shen Yu said, “Yes, I’ve come to prepare the bodies for my father and older brother.”

The people looked at her with sympathy.

An old man sat beside her with a tea bowl and whispered, “The commander of Ganzhou City is not an ordinary person. His sister married a cousin of the Beilin King.

It’s all about connections. How could the Crown Prince possibly touch him? He’s one of their own.”

Shen Yu tightly gripped the tea bowl. “The old man seems to know a lot of information.”

The old man shook his head. “I’m just a vegetable seller. I supply vegetables to the state government on weekdays and hear some small rumors. But the fact that the Ganzhou commander is related to the Beilin

King’s family is not something I heard; it was the commander himself who mentioned it in the Flower House. It’s widely known in Ganzhou City.”

…

As the sky darkened, bonfires lit up in the camp again.

After the shadow guard reported the situation of the lost people to Xie Tingzhou, a palace guard came to report:

“Your Highness, the commander of Ganzhou is here to invite you.”

Xie Tingzhou put down what he was holding. “Good timing. If he doesn’t come to invite me, I’ll go find him.”

A group entered the city, with two columns of guards on horseback on either side, guarding a carriage in the middle. They stopped at a small courtyard.

The palace guard lifted the curtain. “Your Highness, we’ve arrived.”

Xie Tingzhou stepped out of the carriage and looked around.

The courtyard was remote, with a not-so-high wall, like an ordinary residence.

Xie Tingzhou smiled. “It’s really simple enough. Hu Xingwang went to such lengths to invite me and even found a courtyard to pose as a clean official. It’s really not easy.”

The palace guards all bowed their heads. They had been with Xie Tingzhou long enough to know that when he smiled like this, someone was going to suffer.

The courtyard was lit up, but the main gate was tightly closed.

The guards called out and knocked for a while, but there was no response.

A faint smell of blood drifted in the wind.

“This is not right!” Hu Xingwang immediately ordered, “Break the door down!”

The courtyard gate was kicked open, and the well-trained guards rushed in. The courtyard had four rooms on each side, and the guards searched around quickly before coming out.

“Your Highness, there are still people alive.”

In the west wing room, Hu Xingwang was tied to a chair.

Xie Tingzhou glanced at him and averted his eyes in disgust. “Someone has messed up my plans.”

Hu Xingwang said, “The person probably hasn’t gone far yet. I’ll send someone to pursue immediately.”

“No need,” Xie Tingzhou stopped him. “They won’t catch up.”

With a gurgle, Hu Xingwang spat out blood, as if wanting to speak.

Xie Tingzhou ignored him. “Is the handover of the garrison troops ready?”

The guard said, “It’s all set.”

“Then there’s no need to save him,” Xie Tingzhou said.

This meant neither saving nor killing him, letting Hu Xingwang hang on to his last breath, suffering until his end.

“Your Highness, here is a signed confession.”

The confession was placed on the table, pressed down with a blood-stained dagger. The guard presented it to Xie Tingzhou, who didn’t take it but quickly scanned over it.

It was Hu Xingwang’s confession, admitting how he was blackmailed by Liang Jianfang, closed the city gates during wartime, and also disclosed the amount of embezzled money over the years and where the ill-gotten gains went.

After reading it, Xie Tingzhou said, “Put it away. It’ll be useful when we get to the capital.”

The guards also found several bodies around the courtyard, probably Hu Xingwang’s guards left nearby for protection.

On the way back, Hu Xingwang rode alongside.

“Your Highness, that person is very skilled. Almost all of Hu Xingwang’s men were killed with a single blow. They’re not ordinary people.”

Xie Tingzhou leaned against the carriage wall with his eyes half-closed. “Either an enemy or an ally. Their methods are a bit extreme, but at least they know to leave a backup plan.”

Hu Xingwang said, “Could it be some kind of wandering martial artist?”

Xie Tingzhou chuckled with his eyes half-open. “Wandering martial artists wouldn’t go about things like this.”

Hu Xingwang nodded. “That’s true.”

Xie Tingzhou said, “Hu Xingwang is completely battered. If it’s a grudge, the scope is too wide, and it’s not easy to confirm the target.”