Chapter 87 – Rongdi King
Long Yu instructed Long Yi to collect the black powder and, after pondering for a moment, ordered, “Bring this back to the barracks and have Murong Xiaojian study it.”
“Yes, master.”
Long Yi carefully put the item away and then asked Long Yu, “Master, since you have returned safely from the Rongdi camp, do you intend to head back to the Luo City army immediately?”
Long Yu shook his head, a flash of fierceness in his eyes.
“Long Yi, you five Longwei Guards should head back to Luo City first.”
“Master, what about you?”
Long Yi was very concerned.
Xize County was just across a mountain from Rongdi, and the master had just encountered danger. He dared not leave the master alone in Xi Ze County.
“This king will return to Luo City shortly. You five Longwei Guards should go back to the barracks first to report the death.”
“Report the death?”
Upon hearing these words, the five Longwei Guards looked at Long Yu with puzzled faces.
Long Si asked, “Master, who should we report the death to and whose death should we report?”
Could it be that they were rushing back to the army to report the deaths of the ten sacrificed secret guards?
Although the ten secret guards had sacrificed their lives to protect the master, it shouldn’t be so important to the master. The duty of the secret guards was to risk their lives to protect their master.
Long Yu glanced at Long Si and said, “Go back to the barracks and report my death. Say that this king went to Rongdi to scout for military information and fell into an ambush set by the Rongdi King, Chun Yu Hanfeng. Unfortunately, both I and the ten secret guards died in the Rongdi camp.”
The five Longwei Guards were first stunned and then puzzled. They thought about it and quickly understood the purpose of Long Yu’s actions.
The master wanted to fake his death to lure the snake out of its hole.
Long Yi saluted, “Master, you are wise. We will return to Luo City immediately.”
The five Longwei Guards left the Deyun Inn and Xize County an hour ahead of Long Yu, who had dinner at the Deyun Inn and followed closely behind.
His face still had red rashes, and as he rode a horse out of Xize County and took the official road straight to Luo City, no one could imagine that this man with a face full of rashes was the current most handsome man and War King of the Great Chu Dynasty, Long Yu.
The lights dimmed, and the scene shifted to the Rongdi camp.
Inside the luxurious and huge military tent, Rongdi King Chun Yu Hanfeng stood angrily in front of the sand table, his hands pressed on it and his eyes filled with gloom as he stared at the kneeling spies.
“With so many people, you couldn’t even find an injured person. What’s the use of having you useless people serve me?”
Chun Yu Hanfeng shouted angrily, scaring the kneeling spies into trembling.
The spy kneeling in the middle tightened his face, mustered up his courage, and dared to speak, “My king, we have searched Xize County thoroughly and have not found any trace of Great Chu’s War King Long Yu. We are incompetent, please punish us.”
Chun Yu Hanfeng gritted his teeth in anger.
“You searched the entire Xize County and didn’t find a trace of Long Yu. Are you implying that a living person has vanished from the face of the earth?”
He spoke furiously, clenching his fists, wishing he could capture Long Yu, dismember him, and tear him to pieces.
He had people research and develop the black powder with great difficulty, but before it could be used in battle, it was destroyed by Long Yu. It was infuriating and utterly detestable.
The spies hung their heads, unable to defend themselves.
“Guards, take these useless things outside and slaughter them.”
The guards waiting outside rushed in to seize the spies, who were terrified and weak in the limbs.
“Your Majesty, please calm down. Our Rongdi army is preparing for war with Great Chu. We need every able person. Please be merciful and spare the lives of these people so they can atone for their sins by making contributions.”
The military strategist Dantai Yi spoke, and the spies who were terrified and weak in the limbs let out a slight sigh of relief.
“Your Majesty, please give us another chance to sneak into Great Chu and take the head of Great Chu’s War King Long Yu.”
Chun Yu Hanfeng, who was sitting in the high seat, raised the corners of his mouth, but there was no warmth in his smile. Sneaking into Great Chu and taking the head of War King Long Yu was a difficult task, even for him. If Long Yu’s head was so easy to take, Rongdi would have already defeated Great Chu by now, and his stockpile of black powder wouldn’t have been lost.
Chun Yu Hanfeng fell silent, and the huge military tent became eerily quiet for a moment.
The faces of the kneeling spies were tense.
After a short while, Chun Yu Hanfeng’s eyes lifted, sweeping over the spies.
The military strategist was right. Rongdi was currently preparing for war with Great Chu, and it was a time to utilize everyone. It was better to spare the lives of these people than to kill them.
“I will heed the advice of the military strategist and spare your lives.”
The faces of the spies all relaxed at once, and they respectfully expressed their gratitude, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing our lives.”
Chun Yu Hanfeng said coldly, “I will let you atone for your sins by sneaking into Great Chu and monitoring every move of Long Yu’s army.”
This was the only chance for them to survive, and the spies naturally did not dare to hesitate, hastily accepting the order, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Everyone, leave. Military strategist, you too.”
Chun Yu Hanfeng furrowed his brow, rubbing his temples with his right hand, and waved his left hand at the military strategist Dantai Yi and the spies.
Seeing his expression, the spies hurriedly left the tent, but Dantai Yi did not move a step.
Dantai Yi stood in place, glanced at Chun Yu Hanfeng sitting in the high seat, and asked softly, “Is it your headache acting up again?” Ever since the war between Rongdi and Great Chu years ago, when Long Yu wielded the Cang Ming Sword and beheaded the old Rongdi King Chun Yu Jingde, Chun Yu Hanfeng had witnessed the scene and developed a headache. Over the years, many famous Rongdi doctors had been summoned to the palace to treat Chun Yu Hanfeng but to no avail. Even the Rongdi witch doctors had been summoned to the palace, but they were still helpless with Chun Yu Hanfeng’s headache.
Chun Yu Hanfeng removed his hand from his forehead, took a deep breath to suppress the pain in his head, and raised an eyebrow at Dantai Yi.
“Don’t worry. Yi, you don’t need to be concerned.”
Chun Yu Hanfeng and Dantai Yi had a great relationship. In the court, the two had a ruler-minister relationship, but in private, military strategist Dantai Yi was Chun Yu Hanfeng’s only confidant and friend.
“Yi, you can leave now. I want to rest for a while.”
Dantai Yi looked at him worriedly for a few moments, then left.
……
The scene shifted to Shaoyao Village in Daxing Town, Xize County, Great Chu.
In the evening, when the chickens and ducks were being brought into their pens, the sky above Shaoyao Village was filled with red clouds, casting a brilliant glow over the dilapidated mountain village.
In the center of the village, on the yellow mud flat, a group of women sat on small stools, chatting in groups of three or two, sewing shoe soles. Several children ran around among the women, chasing and playing with each other, creating a lively and harmonious atmosphere. “Dazhuang’s mother, I heard you’ve been helping Dazhuang with his marriage recently. Have you found a suitable girl?”
