Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After riding through a vast area of open s.p.a.ce, Shangguan Ru and the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance realized that they were lost.
The wind had slowed slightly by now, but the sun in the sky seemed very peculiar - it seemed to be in the wrong position. It should be in the west, but it was actually in the east.
"What time is it now?" asked Shangguan Ru.
All of the female soldiers, including Red Bat, shook their heads. The battle had started in the morning, and it felt like it had lasted a long time. However, it also felt like it had just started.
"Stay here and wait."
Shangguan Ru spurred the Flame Foal to gallop forward at full speed, and her figure soon disappeared into the dusty air. Red Bat didn't have enough time to stop her. But her worry was abated when the Instructor soon appeared in another direction.
After glancing at the female soldiers receding into the distance, Shangguan Ru dashed into the dusty air again, searching for signs of battle.
The female soldiers felt restless and uncertain, as if there were enemies lurking all around them. Also, there were only fifty of them. When compared to the average Norland cavalryman, they were like children who had just learned how to walk.
The Instructor was their only source of comfort. They became depressed when Shangguan Ru disappeared out of their sight, and they only regained their composure when she reappeared again. As their moods vacillated back and forth, their nervousness began to peak.
Finally, when Shangguan Ru appeared for the fifth time, she waved her hands at them. This meant that she had found the right direction.
And Shangguan Ru had indeed found a battleground. The yelling that was specific to gra.s.slands men sounded like the howl of a pack of wolves, which suggested that this was a vast battleground.
A couple of arrows were shot at them. Shangguan Ru hurriedly cried out, "We're subordinates of the Dragon King!"
If the opposing side was Luoluo's troops, then Shangguan Ru's declaration would bring lethal danger to them.
But she was very lucky.
"The Dragon King? Did the Dragon King lead his army here?" An excited voice came from the opposite side. A couple of Norland cavalrymen rapidly rode over. But after seeing that there were only a couple dozen of female soldiers, they appeared disappointed.
Red Bat was about to speak up, but Shangguan Ru raised her hand and stopped her. The Dragon King was clearly not here. Her question would only further disappoint these soldiers who were fighting hard.
"The Middle Corps won their battle. I'm here to deliver this message."
"The Middle Corps won?" The soldiers could scarcely believe their ears. One of them immediately turned his horse around and started retracing his steps to report this G.o.dsend to his commanding officer.
"The Middle Corps will soon and reinforce us soon, right?" Another soldier asked, looking past Shangguan Ru and the others into the s.p.a.ce behind them. It was as if he expected an army to miraculously materialized and rush over in the blink of an eye.
"Kind of. There was only a small group of enemies left when I set out," Shangguan Ru lied. Under Dugu Xian's command, the Middle Corps were currently advancing towards Luoluo's headquarters, and it would be impossible for them to spare any troops to reinforce the left wing.
The soldiers ignored the Shangguan Ru's vague remarks and drew their own conclusions that reinforcements would definitely come.
An officer rode towards them from the distance, yelling, "General Liman has requested to meet with you, Instructor Shangguan."
Liman had been struggling to hold the enemy back, and he knew that his army wouldn't last long. The three 10,000-men armies had already been defeated, and these 10,000 men under his command were the only troops left. Additionally, they were facing at least 50,000 enemies if not even more.
He had sent a couple of small contingents, scattering in several directions. Under the cover of the dusty air, they were supposed to bluff the enemies into believing that they had met a formidable force. However, this ruse wouldn't last long either.
At this time, some soldiers suddenly brought some unexpected good news. Like the common soldiers, Lima was also looking toward the south in antic.i.p.ation.
And Shangguan Ru appeared, riding that conspicuous Flame Foal.
Regular horses would run with their heads down when faced with strong wind, but this unique steed that was the Flame Foal ran with its head up. As if it had been running under some kind of restriction and hadn't been fully enjoying the feel of the wind, it suddenly picked up its speed after seeing Liman.
Liman used to be an animal caretaker whose sole duty was to groom the Flame Foal. To the Norlanders, this was an admirable and respectable ident.i.ty, and Liman had always been proud of it.
The precious horse itself, rather than the rider on it, had given Liman hope for the first time since the battle had started.
"The Middle Corps won?" Liman was even more nervous than the troops beside him because he was the only one who knew about Prince Duodun's overall plan. In his mind, there was no way for the Middle Corps to win even if only half of Duodun's plan had been successfully enacted.
Shangguan Ru nodded. She knew that Liman was one of the insiders of the conspiracies, so she didn't fill him in on the entire situation of the overall battle. Instead, she asked somewhat abruptly, "Where's Prince Duodun?"
Liman didn't answer directly, and instead briefly introduced the current situation that the Left Corps was in, and he especially emphasized the part where the Naihang Tribe had made way for Luoluo. But soon, the situation revealed itself.
The Second Consort had led all her troops here, and she had even armed all of the servants of the rear encampment. It was only because of the fact that there weren't enough horses that she hadn't turned all of them into soldiers.
She had managed to rally an army of around 15,000 to 16,000 men, and as a result, the encampment was now nearly empty. The remnant servants leftover in the camp were the ones who had been lucky enough to not be a.s.signed to any horse because there weren't any left. After realizing that n.o.body was watching them, they immediately fled in the opposite direction.
But the Second Consort didn't care. She would regain everything if she won, and she would lose everything if she lost. Thus, she would rather die on the battlefield than become an ordinary gra.s.slands woman with no power.
Duodun was right beside her, riding the same horse as Mo Lin. He had come around from the coma, but the look on his face was cold, as if all this had nothing to do with him.
"The Middle Corps won?" The Second Consort's first question was the same as that of the others.
Shangguan Ru nodded again. "General Dugu directed the operations himself."
"What about the Right Corps?"
"They should have engaged the enemy by now, but I don't know any details about their specific situation." Shangguan Ru told the truth this time.
The Second Consort raised her head and exhaled deeply, ignoring the sand that entered her mouth due to the wind. "When will the Middle Corps come to back us?"
"I'm only responsible for delivering this message. I don't know much about the other news." Shangguan Ru thought there was no longer any need for her to lie more.
The Second Consort moved closer to Shangguan Ru, signaled Liman and Mo Chu to come over by waving her arm, and then said in a muted voice, "Tell me the truth."
"The Middle Corps did win. Under the command of General Dugu, they're now attacking Luoluo's Middle Corps."
Hope had come and gone even quicker than the sand in the wind. The Second Consort nearly went went. Clenching her teeth, she asked, "The Left Corps can't hold on any longer. Is the Dragon King not going to do anything?"
Shangguan Ru responded coldly, "The Dragon King thinks that the Left Corps is standing by and merely enjoying the show."
The Second Consort's face flushed. Had Duodun's plan succeeded, the Left Corps indeed would have been watching the battle as if they were enjoying a show with the Naihang Tribe right now.
"I'll explain in the future. But once the Left Corps is defeated, we'll lose the war. The Middle Corps will be under attack from both the front and the rear. What's the point of defeating Luoluo by then? Mo Chu! You're the Commander-in-chief, so give the command."
Mo Chu said with a wry smile, "Second Consort, General Dugu's choice… was right. If he manages to capture or kill Luoluo, the enemies will-"
n.o.body supported the Second Consort. She turned her head and said to Shangguan Ru, "Where's my army? I have 10,000 men in the Middle Corps and I want them back now."
The Second Consort's tone was aggressive. And Red Bat couldn't help herself from responding, "Second Consort, you handed over your army to the Middle Corps yourself. When troops are on the battlefield, the commander is the only one who can command them. You can't just demand for them to return."
The Second Consort knew that she had misbehaved, but she was still unwilling to publicly apologize. So she instead just said in a gentler tone, "Liman, the army I brought here will be under your command. Hold the enemies back for as long as you can. Instructor Shangguan, let's have a word in private."
Liman immediately went to dispatch these troops. But as he looked at these panic-stricken servants, he was deeply concerned.
Mo Chu walked back to Mo Lin's side, sighed, and said, "I've been fighting for decades, but never once have I seen such a chaotic situation. This doesn't look like a proper battle at all."
Neither Mo Lin nor Duodun replied to the emotional remarks of this old Commander-in-chief.
Red Bat and those female soldiers also took a dozen steps backwards. Only Qian Ying stayed beside Shangguan Ru. The Second Consort glanced at her and mildly felt that she looked a little familiar. However, she didn't identify her as one of her maidservants.
Shangguan Ru turned her head back around and signaled Qian Ying to leave. "Talk." Her tone was still abrupt as before.
But the Second Consort had changed her att.i.tude. She leaned her upper body slightly closer to Shangguan Ru and said with a smile, "Sister Shangguan, you won't be angry just because I said a few words that were born out of my anxiety, will you?"
"The troops are fighting a b.l.o.o.d.y battle, so it's normal for the Second Consort to be a little anxious. We don't have much time, so if you have something to say, then please say it."
"Tell the Dragon King to send reinforcements to help the Left Corps."
"That's beyond my power." Shangguan Ru didn't say that she couldn't even find the Dragon King even if she wanted to.
"The Dragon King will be rewarded greatly if he helps us." As if she hadn't heard her words, the Second Consort resumed talking. "Duodun won't be the Khan anymore. He'll withdraw from the race."
"This is an affair of the Norlands. It has nothing to do with the Dragon King."
"That's true. But there's one thing that has everything to do with the Dragon King."
Shangguan Ru's heart lurched, but she maintained a composed look on her face as she asked, "What is it?"
"Parentage."
"Parentage?"
"Dragon King's parentage is different from what he thinks, and I'm the only one who knows the truth."
"Hha, so you want to pretend that you're the Dragon King's mother again? He told me that he's no longer interested."
The Second Consort shook her head. "I made that up, but the truth does exist, and I have definitive evidence. This is all that I can tell you. Go and tell the Dragon King, and see if he's interested. Send reinforcements, and I'll give him the evidence."
Shangguan Ru believed her words, but she still affected an air of suspicion anyways. "You've made up a lot of stories that you told the Dragon King. If you want him to trust you, you'll have to offer him the evidence first."
"Believe me or not - it's up to the Dragon King. Anyways, if I die, the truth will be buried for good."
The look on the Second Consort's face was very firm, and she obviously wouldn't make any concessions.
"I'll deliver the message to the Dragon King. Please get your evidence ready - if you really have any that is."
"Do it quickly."
The female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance left. All the soldiers believed that large numbers of reinforcements were coming soon.
After returning to her original position, the Second Consort found that nearly all of the troops that she had mustered up were gone. She said to Mo Lin, "The enemies are coming. Prince Duodun should be on the battleground."
"No. Today, His Highness must remain alive." Mo Lin flatly refused.
The Second Consort didn't know how Duodun had managed to offend the old Khan's wing guard. She gently sighed and said, "Maybe it's not so bad. Take Prince Duodun with you and leave when the enemies come."
Mo Lin didn't reply.
At this point, Duodun looked at the Second Consort and asked, "What about you? Are you going to stay?"
"I can draw a bow, so of course I'm staying."
"I hope that you'll… die here," Duodun coldly shot the first arrow at her.
The Second Consort gave a bright smile, "I'll be with you even if I become a ghost. You can't escape from me."
Duodun's eyes were blazing with fury. He still believed that it was purely the people close to him who had ruined his plan, and that the Second Consort was one of them. But what made him feel ashamed were the tears spilling from his eyes. "No, no. I don't want you to die. Please leave with me."
The Second Consort felt like her heart was about to melt.
Leaving aside where the Dragon King was, Shangguan Ru rode toward the Middle Corps, hoping to borrow some troops from Dugu Xian in order to have the Second Consort hand over her supposed evidence.
A group of cavalrymen were riding towards her head-on. At the sight of the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance, they yelled, "The King Flag is down! The King Flag is down!"
Shangguan Ru was startled and she asked, "Whose King Flag?"
"Luoluo's Flag! The Dragon King shot it down! Luoluo has fled. We've achieved a great victory."
"Will the Middle Corps come?" Shangguan Ru rejoiced.
After those cavalrymen arrived in front of her, their leader shook his head. "The fight isn't over yet. The Middle Corps has gone to reinforce the Right Corps."
After figuring out the Dragon King's whereabouts, Shangguan Ru was relieved, but she knew the Dragon King well. He probably wouldn't willingly change his operational plans in order to get some secret information on his parentage. It was also clearly against the army's overall interests to leave Shulitu's Right Corps behind and go to help Duodun's Left Corps.
"Are you going to the Left Corps to deliver the message?"
"Yes."
"Tell them that reinforcements will arrive soon."
"But…"
"Just do it. I'll take care of it."
"Yes…" The leader answered hesitantly.
"Red Bat, take the others and leave with them," Shangguan Ru ordered.
"Instructor-"
Red Bat had scarcely finished speaking that word when Shangguan Ru spurred her horse on and galloped away so quickly that even Qian Ying failed to catch up with her.
She had a plan, but she didn't know how likely it was to succeed.
