Chapter 39 The General and the Princess

It was not easy for Dazhou to win this battle, and in fact, it was extremely difficult. Tens of thousands of soldiers had been killed on the battlefield, and even on top of the city wall in Shaoliang, they could almost see enemies. And Beiyan County was a natural barrier in the north Dazhou was always proud of, but this battle was enough to prove that no matter how perfect the barrier was, in the cultivators’ eyes, it was just a common raised path through fields. They could cross it if they wanted to.

If Li Fuyao and Qing Huai hadn’t killed all the cultivators by the Luosang River, Dazhou would have suffered a lot. At best, the cultivator would occupy the imperial palace of Dazhou and force the emperor to write a letter to surrender which would be sent to Yanling. If the emperor of Dazhou was as arrogant as they said, he would be dead now, and Dazhou would be in the territory of the Chen Country in a few days.

But both the Chen Country and Dazhou knew who was the real boss.

However, although they had got out of danger and driven the main force of the Chen Country out of Dazhou, Yanling to the north was still like a sword above the heads of people in Dazhou, and they didn’t know when it would fall. Even so, people in Shaoliang City were not jittery. When Xie Ying led his army back to the capital, the city was still cheerful with lanterns and colorful ribbons everywhere.

Xie Ying sat straight on a white horse, and the family heirloom treasured sword Qi Ke on his waist wagged from side to side, with drumming constantly. He looked ahead with a calm expression, hearing voices from both sides of the road from time to time, such as “This is Xie Ying”, while his expression didn’t change at all. In the distance, the princess Ji Nanlong in the crowd stared at Xie Ying on horseback from a perfect angle of view. Her marriage-seeking in the past few days naturally stopped because of the sudden war of Dazhou, and the emperor seemed to have decided to marry the princess Ji Nanlong to Xie Ying and let him enter the imperial palace. He even didn’t scruple to break the ancestral rules and would allow Xie Ying to continue working in the army. In fact in this battle, Xie Ying had showed his leadership, which was enough to prove that this young talent from the Xie family had the ability to lead the army of one country, but he was merely inexperienced. Someday, he would naturally be the first man in Dazhou’s army.

Seeing that Xie Ying was about to pat his horse to pass this street, the princess Ji Nanlong who had been in a daze for a short while impulsively squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of his white horse. At the moment, all people on both sides of the street noticed what happened and looked at them at the same time.

Xie Ying gently patted the horse, which accompanied him on the battlefield in danger, and it understood what he meant, so it stopped and just looked at Ji Nanlong, snorting. He didn’t plan to get off the horse’s back but sat on the saddle and asked the princess softly, “Your Highness, why did you stop me on the street?”

The military law of Dazhou made it clear that the soldiers in armor didn’t even need to kneel to the emperor, let alone the princess. Xie Ying had heard from childhood that he might become the emperor’s son-in-law, and he had seen Ji Nanlong. He thought she was good-looking, so he didn’t hate her but kind of liked her. Thus, the young man who was always arrogant didn’t want to kneel to this girl as she would probably become his wife.

Ji Nanlong was spoiled by the emperor, but she was not domineering. Under the eyes of many common people, she was a little nervous and didn’t want to do anything. She looked up at Xie Ying and moved her lips, but she couldn’t speak a word.

The common people on both sides of the street saw a young and beautiful girl rush out of the crowd and stand in front of General Xie, so they thought that a lady loved him for a long time so she dared to run out and stop his horse on the street, but then perhaps she felt shy and didn’t say anything. They were in doubt and wondered if this young lady thought that General Xie would propose marriage first.

However, not all people could bear to see that there was nothing happening. Soon some people in the crowd shouted. They made a fuss and told the young lady to express her love.

For a moment, voices appeared here and there, and it was noisy.

While Xie Ying just smiled, waiting for the princess to speak.

It was a tough time for Ji Nanlong. She glanced at Xie Ying while trying to say something, her face red.

Xie Ying didn’t break the ice. But he felt guilty as he looked down at her from a height, so he jumped off the horse’s back and put one hand on the horse’s neck.

Looking at Ji Nanlong he hadn’t seen for years, Xie Ying kept silent.

After Ji Nanlong opened her mouth and closed it several times in front of the horse, she asked, “Xie Ying, are you going to leave the capital and go to the south after you hand over to the Ministry of War?”

Xie Ying nodded and smiled peacefully, “Right, the south border is where I should stay.”

Ji Nanlong asked softly, “Can you stay here?”

While saying that, Ji Nanlong was not confident, so her voice was low.

So Xie Ying lowered his head and leaned forward, asking, “What did you say?”

When Ji Nanlong raised her head and wanted to reply, she happened to see Xie Ying’s hair with blood stains, so the princess didn’t repeat what she had said but asked, “How about I wash your hair?”

Xie Ying was stunned obviously after raising his head. He looked at Ji Nanlong and nodded soon, “Okay.”

Then the two left the street in an instant and came to a small courtyard aside.

There was an ancient well in the courtyard.

The resident in the small courtyard was warm-hearted and came out with a wooden basin. When he gave it to Ji Nanlong, he told her with a smile to put on a spurt, thinking that this young lady was very beautiful and bold enough. While Xie Ying smiled silently.

It was not cold, and Xie Ying was a warrior, so it was fine to use cold water. After they took out water from the well, they had a full basin of well water soon.

Xie Ying bent over and lowered his head, while Ji Nanlong helped him undo the bun, putting all his black hair in the wooden basin. Before she did anything, the water in the basin became red.

Ji Nanlong suddenly felt sad and asked in a sobbing tone, “Can you be less active to kill enemies on the battlefield?”

Xie Ying felt her emotion and stated calmly, “I will be worried if I leave it to somebody else. What’s more, it’s better that I die instead of you.”

Ji Nanlong stroked his hair and expressed angrily, “You just say that, but I have never seen you do anything.”

Xie Ying responded with shame, “To be honest, I don’t dare to marry you. It’s not that I don’t think you are good. If I marry you, I can only stay in the imperial palace in the future. I can’t stand it.”

Ji Nanlong clumsily washed away the blood stains on his hair and then dried his hair gently. Some words were kept in her throat, and she didn’t speak out.

While the young outstanding talent who was well-known in the army of Dazhou lowered his head and felt sad.

When Xie Ying entered the city, the people in the Evergreen Palace planned to send the emperor out in a big way, but the proposal was rejected by the emperor as he waved his hand, who then just brought the manager of the Ceremony Department, Su Jin. After they came out of the imperial palace, they sent for the prime minister, Li Ji. The three watched Xie Ying enter the city on a tall building near the city gate tower. When the young man came into the city, the emperor even praised Xie Ying for his talent of command and said that if he were not so young, they could let him lead the army in Dazhou.

Su Jin didn’t dare to give a response, while the prime minister Li Ji who had never asked about what had happened on the battlefield unprecedentedly echoed him and replied “of course”. Then the emperor stopped talking. After Princess Anyang Ji Nanlong led Xie Ying into a small courtyard, the emperor finally stated with a smile, “It appears that I have to go back right away to tell the people in the palace to make an imperial decree, telling Xie Ying to stay in Shaoliang City for several days, at least before he gets married.”

Li Ji smiled gently, “General Xie is young and promising, and he is the pillar of our country. It is reasonable that he becomes your son-in-law, but can you really bear to let him stay in the imperial palace for a lifetime, Your Majesty?”

The emperor asked in reply, “So Prime Minister Li, do you think that I have to marry Princess Anyang to somebody else?”

Li Ji smiled but didn’t answer.

This old fox who had been working at the imperial court for decades knew what the emperor was thinking about. After all, it was rumored in Shaoliang City earlier that the emperor wanted to abolish the ancestral rule that the emperor’s son-in-law couldn’t join the army, but he hadn’t found the right time. Now the emperor asked him such a question just to sound out the opinion of the first civil official.

But this slippery old fish didn’t bite the hook.

The emperor turned to Su Jin.

This manager of the Ceremony Department in the imperial palace had been serving the emperor for many years and certainly knew his plan. He whispered, “Your Majesty, since General Xie is the pillar of the country and he and Princess Anyang love each other, we shouldn’t separate them, but in front of the ancestral rule, it is difficult to deal with this matter. However, maybe Prime Minister Li has a way to…”

So he left the hot potato to Li Ji again.

Seeing that he couldn’t escape, Li Ji narrowed his eyes and glanced at the manager of the Ceremony Department who he had never looked straight at. He made use of the favorable current situation to push matters through with little effort, “Your Majesty, since you have this intention, it is acceptable to change the ancestral rule, but maybe some officials at the imperial court wouldn’t agree. However, Dazhou can go through this difficult time because of General Xie. If there is a letter from the common people to show that it is the common aspiration of the people, I think those officials won’t say anything.”

The emperor’s eyes lit up, but he didn’t say more. However, Su Jin kept it in mind.

The three didn’t continue with this subject. The emperor merely looked at the north and said, “After Dazhou goes through this difficulty, I don’t know how much trouble there would be in the future.”

Li Ji also sighed with emotion, “Your Majesty, if you learnt the king of the Chen Country, you wouldn’t be so tired.”

The emperor laughed, “I can’t learn somebody and it is unnecessary to. Dazhou is a wolf and wouldn’t learn to beg for pity.”

He looked into the distance with a smile, “Even if Dazhou is destroyed, there will be at least one citizen left. It is fine if there is one, and I won’t think it’s not enough.”