#458 - Misunderstand
The air surged, and dust fell in a rustling shower.
In the still of the night, the Stone渠Pavilion was filled with a tense atmosphere of drawn swords and ready bows.
“Clang, clang, clang!”
Outside the hall, more and more Imperial Guards armed with long sabers and spears surged in. Zhu Tianhong and Meng Shi also moved to stand in front of Li Wutong, their faces grim as they stared intently at the seven figures opposite them.
Of course, they were no match, but they would never allow the Great Feng's princess to be taken away from Fengyuan without explanation.
From what they thought was a life-saving straw to the “robbers” attempting to “kidnap” Li Wutong.
When the gray-robed old man stated the true purpose of their trip with an unquestionable tone, the despair in everyone's heart was even greater than before the appearance of these seven people.
Yes, if Li Wutong was taken to Shu Province, then the latter could indeed live.
But...
Li Qi was critically ill, and Li Wutong was fleeing. If not a single member of the Great Feng's royal bloodline remained, then what need would the generals and soldiers have to continue resisting?
This was equivalent to fast-forwarding the Great Feng's demise, and even more directly sentencing these people to their final fate.
Therefore, they naturally did not want Li Wutong to leave Fengyuan.
However, just as the gray-robed old man had said...
Faced with seven Second-Rank experts who could almost subvert a country's regime, what could they rely on to stop them?
“...”
Harboring incomparably contradictory and desperate feelings, almost everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Wutong at this moment.
Because the only one who could resolve this crisis now was her.
After a long silence, Li Wutong, the focus of everyone's attention, finally raised her head with difficulty and asked a question to the nearly hundred court officials still kneeling on the ground.
“You... who are Wei Gongzi's people?”
“...”
Who were Wei Changtian's people?
Such a question sounded a little strange at first, but everyone instantly understood what Li Wutong wanted to do.
She wanted to bypass these seven experts and speak directly with Wei Changtian.
In fact, if Li Wutong hadn't discarded the mother-child jade, she would have been able to contact Wei Changtian directly.
But “what's done is done,” and since she no longer had the mother-child jade, Li Wutong could only hope to contact the latter through the spies that Wei Changtian had planted in Great Feng.
She knew that Wei Changtian must have planted people in the court, otherwise he wouldn't have been so well-informed about Li Qi's situation.
However, several breaths had passed, but no one responded.
“...”
Smiling sadly, Li Wutong didn't ask any more questions.
Because she knew that she couldn't ask anything.
Looking at the gray-robed old man with a calm expression not far away, she seemed a little weak as she said to Zhu Tianhong and Meng Shi:
“Grandpa Zhu, General Meng, let the Imperial Guards disperse.”
“Princess! You!”
Zhu Tianhong's expression changed, and he was about to say something, but Li Wutong shook her head and interrupted him:
“Grandpa Zhu, I trust Wei Gongzi. He will definitely explain everything to me.”
“Senior, I wonder if you can wait a few more days?”
“I want to clarify this matter with Wei Gongzi first.”
“If Wei Gongzi doesn't send any new orders to you by then, then I will go to Shu Province with you. Would that be alright?”
“...”
The gray-robed old man frowned slightly and thought about Li Wutong's suggestion.
In his opinion, even if Li Wutong contacted Wei Changtian, there would only be two possible outcomes—
Either the order would remain unchanged, and they would still have to forcibly take Li Wutong away.
Or Li Wutong would be allowed to stay in Fengyuan, and the mission would be abandoned.
As for things like “helping Great Feng fight,” there was simply no possibility.
“Since Your Highness has said so... very well.”
After figuring out the key points, the gray-robed old man didn't continue to press her, but only added a time limit to the process.
“Two days.”
“Princess, we will wait two more days in Fengyuan.”
“If we haven't received any new orders after two days, then I hope Your Highness will not forget your promise.”
“Of course.”
Nodding solemnly, Li Wutong finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced at the officials in the hall, then waved her hand gently.
“That's all, you may all leave.”
“Yes.”
A few breaths later, nearly a hundred court officials got up from the ground and then left the Tianlu Hall one after another, each with their own thoughts.
For most people, what they were thinking about at this time was whether Wei Changtian would let these seven experts stay and help Great Feng through this life-and-death crisis.
However, there were also a few individuals who had different ideas...
Half an hour later.
Two Great Feng officials, whose identities were not particularly high, each heated up the mother-child jade in their hands in a secret room.
And if the signal emitted by the mother-child jade could be tracked, then it would be seen that two messages flew out from Fengyuan, heading straight for Da Ning, thousands of miles away.
One went to the capital.
One went to Shu Province.
The first watch of the night.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
Advance at the sound of the drum, retreat at the sound of the gong.
When the ear-piercing gong sounded in the night, and the imperial army retreated like a tide, the first battle of Guanghan City ended just like that.
From the start of the fighting to the end, it lasted less than two hours.
The time wasn't very long, but as a probing attack, it was just right.
As for the result, it wasn't too different from the designed script.
Although it was fraught with danger, the Shu army still “barely” held off the first wave of attacks.
Wei Changtian was very satisfied with such a result.
Moreover, he himself had killed his way in and out of the battlefield seven times, completing the task of “deterring Han Zhao” very well.
“...”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Leaping back onto the city wall, fifty long sabers stained with blood also flew back into the Star Luo saber sheaths one after another in the admiring gazes of the surrounding soldiers.
Wei Changtian imitated the way it was done in the TV dramas of his previous life, wiping the blood off the last Lou Ying saber with the corner of his clothes in a very pretentious manner, and then prepared to say a few words to boost morale.
But before he could finish acting out this pretense, Chu Xianping ran over from the foot of the city wall in a hurry.
“Gongzi, there's been a change in Fengyuan!”
“...”
A quarter of an hour later.
Wei Changtian had basically understood everything that had just happened in Fengyuan.
Li Wutong guessed correctly, there were indeed spies he had planted among those court officials.
But the latter wasn't stupid and naturally wouldn't expose himself in that situation.
However, this person also knew the relationship between Wei Changtian and Li Wutong, so he immediately sent a message back to ask him how to deal with this matter.
For Wei Changtian, although he didn't know why Li Wutong didn't contact him directly, he could roughly guess that the former no longer had the means to contact him.
Of course, with this spy around, it wouldn't be difficult for the two to contact each other again. Presumably, Li Wutong was now waiting for him to send her a message.
But...
Wei Changtian knew what Li Wutong wanted to ask and what she wanted to say.
She must want him to let those seven Second-Rank experts stay and help Great Feng through the crisis, or at least not let them forcibly bring her to Shu Province.
However, Wei Changtian couldn't fulfill any of her “requests.”
Those seven Second-Rank experts belonged to Kui Long, and he had no qualifications to command them, let alone directly participate in the war.
On the other hand, he couldn't possibly watch Li Wutong die in Fengyuan.
Therefore, after only thinking for a moment, Wei Changtian made a “heartless” choice.
“Tell that person not to expose his identity, and don't say anything to Li Wutong.”
Looking at Chu Xianping, Wei Changtian slowly said, “Just pretend you don't know anything.”
“This...”
Chu Xianping was stunned when he heard this, and whispered to confirm, “Gongzi, do you mean that we won't contact Princess Wuping?”
“What can I say if I contact her?”
Shaking his head, Wei Changtian gently patted Chu Xianping's shoulder: “It's okay, I'll explain it to her clearly when she arrives in Shu Province.”
“...”
“Yes, I'll go and do it now.”
The night was as dark as ink, and the air was filled with a heavy bloody smell.
Chu Xianping seemed to vaguely understand something, nodded without asking any further questions, and quickly left in a hurry.
Wei Changtian was still standing in place, looking up at the night sky, and then sighed helplessly.
Alas, I don't know what Li Wutong will think.
I'm afraid she will misunderstand me...
