Chapter 84: The Difficulty of Traveling (V)
At daybreak, Duan Rong was ordered to lead soldiers to open the city gates to deliver food to the rebels stationed outside. Grain-carrying carts rumbled by, and Ni Su slept in a felt tent at the foot of the city wall. The wound on her shoulder was too painful, so she slept very lightly. When she heard the noise, she got up and hurriedly combed her hair and straightened her clothes.
Madam Zhong was still sleeping beside her. She quietly lifted the felt curtain and went out. She saw the city gate was open and it was foggy outside. She ran over quickly.
"Miss Ni?"
Duan Rong was reminded by the soldiers, so he turned around and saw Ni Su coming, so he went to meet her.
"Captain Duan, can I follow you out?"
The city gate was not wide open, leaving only a narrow passage for grain carts and several soldiers to pass through.
Duan Rong looked back at the grain carts slowly moving out. He nodded, "We are just about to unload the grain. We still have some time before closing the city gates."
Ni Su thanked him and followed Duan Rong for a few steps before he suddenly stopped and turned around, "Miss Ni, aren't you going to stay outside?"
"No,"
Ni Su shook her head, "I still have some patients to treat, so I won't stay outside the city gate for long."
"That's good. You are not suitable to stay outside in this situation." Duan Rong breathed a sigh of relief and walked out with her. "I didn't protect you well last time..."
He looked ashamed.
"Things change rapidly on the battlefield. How can Captain Duan predict everything?" Ni Su smiled a little and said while supporting his left arm.
"Your injury hasn't healed yet?"
Duan Rong scratched his head and saw that she looked pale, so he said with concern, "Miss Ni is still injured, so don't overwork yourself."
Qingqiong followed his father Fan Jiang back holding a clay pot. He saw Ni Su and Duan Rong walking out of the corridor of the city gate. He didn't know what Ni Su said, but Qingqiong saw Duan Rong grinning foolishly. Without thinking, he immediately stuffed the clay pot into his father's arms and ran to the felt tent next to the city wall.
It was still not very bright outside and the candles in the tent had long burned out. Xu Hexue was lying on the bed with blurry vision. He vaguely heard Ni Su's voice and immediately sat up.
Before Qingqiong reached out to lift the felt curtain, he saw a hand reaching out, and then a person walked out. He lowered his voice and called out, "General Xu."
The light outside was much brighter than in the tent. Xu Hexue just happened to see the woman with messy hair walking towards them, holding her arm and talking to Duan Rong.
Qing Qiong was beside him. He looked up at Xu Hexue, but there was no sign of emotion on his dull face.
Ghosts are like this, they can never be as lively and vivid as humans.
Qingqiong saw Ni Su turn around, and when she saw them, her eyes brightened and she walked towards them quickly.
"I think you should learn from my father."
Qingqiong couldn't help but whisper.
Fan Jiang happened to be approaching and didn't hear it clearly. He said "Ah", "What are you learning from me?"
"I say you are heartless."
Qingqiong muttered.
"Why are you talking about your father for no reason?"
"If you weren't heartless, why would you give birth to me? You're just asking for trouble..."
Qingqiong snorted.
Ni Sucai approached and saw Fan Jiang raised his hand as if to hit Qingqiong. She looked at Qingqiong who was hiding behind her in confusion, "What's wrong?"
"nothing,"
Qing Qiong raised his hands and compromised with Fan Jiang, "Father, shall we go make some tea?"
Duan Rong and his soldiers were busy unloading grain, Qingqiong and his father went straight into the tent, Ni Su and Xu Hexue stood opposite each other, and no one spoke first.
"What are you looking at?"
Ni Su couldn't help but raise her lips.
Xu Hexue saw a faint blue look of fatigue under her eyes, "Your injury is not healed yet, take care of yourself."
"I know."
Ni Su nodded, and for some reason the conversation between the two of them became quiet again. However, time was so tight, and when she looked back at the grain cart, she felt that she should say more so as not to waste the current time.
She thought of Yang Tianzhe and asked, "You should have talked to Yang Tianzhe yesterday? What did he say to you?"
The wind and sand were a bit strong in the early morning. Xu Hexue saw her eyes blinking from time to time, and her eyelids had been rubbed red by her fingers, so she said, "Come with me into the tent first."
Qingqiong and Fan Jiang were busy and bickering, but they calmed down when they saw the two of them coming in. Xu Hexue sat down on the corner of the table and looked at them: "The war is imminent, so you should not go to Agate Lake anymore."
"How can that be possible?"
Fan Jiang raised his head and said, "General Xu, you rely on this reed dew to comfort your soul. If you lose it, what will you do?"
"Thanks to you and your son, I am much better now."
Xu Hexue nodded slightly at them.
"Well, there's still some dew left, so I'll save it for you." Fan Jiang sighed, but finally didn't insist. He got up and went to pick tea leaves again.
Ni Su lit a few lamps, and Xu Hexue pushed the soybean cake on the table in front of Ni Su, "This was made by the cook of the uprising army last night, you can have a taste."
Ni Su said "hmm" and picked up a piece.
"Yesterday, Yang Tianzhe told me that he found a military report about Yongzhou from the Hu people sixteen years ago in the Nanyan tribe. The report said that when they attacked Yongzhou, they found that Yongzhou's garrison was insufficient. Later, Yang Tianzhe found out from another military report that the part of the Yongzhou army that was withdrawn was wiped out by them on the way to Jianchi. Only my military commander and Yongzhou Commander Miao Tianning can mobilize that part of the Yongzhou army."
"Miao Tianning."
Ni Su repeated the name.
"He is the younger brother of General Miao. Sixteen years ago, I sent troops to Mushen Mountain and ordered him to stay in Yongzhou to guard against a surprise attack by the Hu people."
Xu Hexue's words attracted Fan Jiang and Qing Qiong. They looked in his direction while busy with their own work.
"Yang Tianzhe guessed that it was Miao Tianning who ignored his father Yang Ming's obstruction and secretly went to Zeng Bingjianchi."
"Impossible, Commander Miao is a good man!"
Fan Jiang limped over and said, "The Hu people came to the city and he led the soldiers to drive them out of the city! He died outside the city gate, hacked to pieces by the Hu people..."
"A Shuang also said that she clearly heard the quarrel between Yang Zhizhou and Miao Tongzhi. Miao Tongzhi refused to withdraw half of the garrison troops in Yongzhou, saying that it was your military order, but Yang Zhizhou refused to listen..."
Fan Jiang said anxiously.
Fan Jiang had mentioned this matter to Xu Hexue before, and Xu Hexue certainly had not forgotten it.
"this……"
Ni Su felt that the matter was becoming more and more confusing. "What Qingqiong's mother said must be true. Does that mean Yang Tianzhe's guess was wrong?"
"Yang Ming has no right to mobilize the Yongzhou garrison. Even if he wants to, he has no power to do so."
Xu Hexue paused and thought of Miao Tianning. When he first joined the Huning Army, Miao Tianzhao handed him over to Miao Tianning, and Miao Tianning gave him almost all the experience and skills he had accumulated on the battlefield without reservation.
Apart from Xue Huai, Miao Tianning is the person he trusts most.
This is also the reason why Xu Hexue handed over Yongzhou City to him.
"General Miao will definitely not disobey your military orders." Fan Jiang witnessed the battle to defend the city sixteen years ago. His leg was injured by the Hu people who broke into the city gate at that time. Fortunately, he survived. He also saw General Miao leading his soldiers to run past him and go straight to the Hu soldiers.
That battle was so brutal that when the reinforcements arrived, the Yongzhou army was almost wiped out, and the only survivors were the civilians hiding under the ruins.
There was silence in the tent for a moment.
After a while, Xu Hexue closed her eyes and said, "I know."
Qingqiong had just brought two bowls of hot tea when Duan Rong's voice came from outside the felt curtain: "Miss Ni, the grain carts have been unloaded. We should go back to the city."
Ni Sucai stopped her hand from touching the tea bowl and stood up. "Well, I'll go first."
As she turned around, she paused and lowered her eyes, only to see the hand holding her sleeve, with light blue veins covered under the pale skin, slender knuckles bent, and smooth tendons on the back of the hand.
"Go back to the city and ask someone to tell Magistrate Shen that I want to see the military report from Yongzhou back then. It should be kept in the Magistrate's Mansion."
He said.
"Um."
Ni Su nodded, and when she saw his fingers loosen, she pursed her lips, not knowing what to say next.
"Remember to apply medicine to your wound."
Xu Hexue sat at the table. His voice was very calm and even without any emotion. But Ni Su smiled and said, "I'll apply it when I get home."
Xu Hexue didn't say anything else. He watched her walk over and lift the felt curtain. A blue-grey light shone in. The wind and sand blew her sleeves. She suddenly stopped and turned back, meeting his gaze.
But she said nothing and left quickly.
The felt curtain swayed, and the light and shadow on the ground moved with it. Xu Hexue picked up the tea bowl, but heard Qingqiong mutter again, "General Xu, why don't you want to learn from my father? What if Miss Ni treats you the same way..."
Fan Jiang went to put the earthenware jar containing the reed flower dew, and did not hear these words.
Xu Hexue looked at the hot smoke rising from the edge of the bowl and said, "Your father is a human being, but I am not."
"What's the difference?"
Qingqiong didn't understand.
Aren’t they both a mortal and a ghost?
"General Xu, in my opinion, you should cherish the present! At least tell Miss Ni what you think."
Xu Hexue said calmly, "It doesn't matter what I think."
If he cherishes his present, then who will cherish the rest of her life?
Qingqiong suddenly fell silent. He seemed to understand something. Just like his father, although he never told him how much he missed his mother, Qingqiong could feel it sometimes.
They were husband and wife for too short a time, and there was a river of hatred between them that made it impossible for them to be together again.
"Ghosts can't stay in the human world for long. If I indulge in my own selfish desires, then I don't respect her enough."
When Xu Hexue saw Duan Rong just now, he thought to himself that if he were still alive, he would have a lot of greed and selfishness, even possession.
If she was a ghost and he was a human, he would not need to be so patient. He would be more decisive and determined than he thought, and be a person like Fan Jiang, committed to one person for his entire life.
But as a ghost,
He could only watch the desire in his heart coldly. If he couldn't kill it, he would at least restrain it.
"I can do it for her, but I shouldn't let her do it for me."
