Chapter 387: Chapter 27: Inner Turmoil (Second Update)
The Tartars’ civilians had barely recovered from the news that Great Chu’s Princess Yonghe had passed away at a young age when they were bombarded with another wave of news that "the Tartars had submitted a surrender letter, Batraj was deemed a criminal through the ages and had been dethroned as Khan".
It’s not just the Tartars who were shocked, even the expedition army from Great Chu were completely bewildered.
No more fighting? Have we won just like that?
Especially seeing Tartar soldiers embracing in tears as they packed their bags, preparing to return to their respective tribes in groups of three or five, the Great Chu Army was even more confused, who exactly are the aggressors here?
Damn, you shouldn’t look so pitiful, I almost want to take out the Mantou in my arms and share it with you.
But there’s white cloth hanging in the camp, who died? Princess Yonghe, who is that... damn it, impossible!
Faced with the Tartar’s surrender, the Great Chu soldiers, initially expressionless, were first puzzled and then incredulous when they heard about Princess Yonghe’s self-immolation.
Especially the fifty thousand Qin Family Army, they were almost itching to beat up the person who said that.
Who is Princess Yonghe? She is their Northwest Pearl, a member of the Qin Family they swore allegiance to.
The generals of the Qin Family Army are either surnamed Qin or are orphaned martyrs adopted by the Qin Family.
The older ones, who consider themselves brothers with Qin Shidao, watched Qin Miao grow up.
The younger ones, who are close with Third Young Master Qin either see Qin Miao as their own sister or are her die-hard fans!
To say Qin Miao would commit suicide, they wouldn’t believe it even if beaten to death. If not for the person who said that being Liu Dusi, they would have gone over to beat him a long time ago.
But precisely because it was Liu Dusi who said it, they believed it even less.
Currently, the Qin Family Army and Liu Dusi were only outwardly amiable but inwardly opposed; those below might not know why, but how could these direct descendants of the Qin Family not know?
This rascal Liu Daneng is a cunning little man! If not for him being the Qin Family’s son-in-law, very few would be left alive to have harmed the Qin Family.
So at this moment, they all glanced at Liu Daneng sideways, leaving him feeling both stifled and aggrieved. He was merely acting under orders, why couldn’t they understand his helplessness!
However, this wasn’t the time for a conflict.
"I don’t believe it either, but this matter was told to me by Prince Yin, the Tartar regent now—Boertiechina Aleta. Sister Miao is also my niece, how could I be making up nonsense to curse her?"
After Liu Daneng finished speaking, someone among the younger ones muttered, "That may not be certain?"
This only made Liu Daneng’s face burn with embarrassment, but he was indeed at fault here; now he could only endure it.
The leader on the Qin Family’s side was Qin Shijia, a cousin within five generations to Qin Shidao and also a military genius, who asked Liu Daneng: "What do you plan to do?"
Liu Daneng hurriedly said: "Both publicly and privately, I have to bring Sister Miao home! If it’s false, that would be best. If it’s true..."
Liu Daneng smiled bitterly; if it’s true, he didn’t know how to face his wife and brother-in-law when he returns home.
Qin Shijia ignored the emotional turmoil beneath among the Qin Family Army lads, and said to Liu Daneng word by word, "It must be real; even if it’s fake, it has to become real. That child was wronged, let her live the life she wants!"
Liu Daneng was stunned, then his face wrinkled, "Shijia, how do I and your cousin explain this?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Shijia rolled his eyes rarely seen, "You weren’t afraid of such a big deal before, what are you afraid of now? At worst, my sister will divorce you, rest assured, our Qin Family can still afford to support daughters who return home."
Liu Daneng: ...
Damn it, are all brothers-in-law in the world this venomous?
Not to mention the main army, where Liu Daneng was enduring his brother-in-law’s jibes to death, let’s talk about Hong Sheng and his group, who had parted ways with the main force for independent action, crouching in a haystack.
Now it’s already October, the prairie is yellowing, looking desolate and cold, with a significant temperature difference between day and night.
But neither Hong Sheng nor his group dared to pitch tents, they could only make unobtrusive haystacks by gathering withered grass.
They never went to towns, nor did they interact with people when the war started, and only today did they learn that the Tartars had surrendered, and the army opposing the Northwest Army had disbanded. Naturally, they also learned the news of Princess Yonghe’s self-immolation.
Logically, they should immediately return to the main army, but the Tartars hunting them had only increased, so considering the bigger picture, Hong Sheng naturally couldn’t reveal any flaws, giving the Tartars a chance to retaliate!
Moreover, Ruan Yu’s emotions were very off, forcing Hong Sheng at this juncture to have everyone hide in batches.
Currently, among the eight people in this haystack, besides Hong Sheng, in the Ruan Family’s team, only Ruan Yu and Ruan Jiu remained, with Yang Xiaoshan, Leng Xiao, and four other close allies.
Since hearing the news of Qin Miao’s self-immolation, Hong Sheng and those who knew the details of the Ruan Family team had been worried, seeing Ruan Yu silent and wishing he would cry instead of being like this.
"Leng Xiao, stay here with Ruan Jiu, while I take Ruan Yu to find food. Xiaoshan, you and several others go and fetch water."
Hong Sheng wanted to have a private conversation with Ruan Yu, so they split up.
They had hidden their horses away, and now they could only rely on their two legs, walking further and further from their hiding place, Hong Sheng spoke, "What are you thinking?"
He knew very well why the "cousin-in-law" had been training desperately these years. Just as success was in sight, the person was gone. Hong Sheng imagined the pain in his own heart and couldn’t fathom Ruan Yu’s.
If it were Susu, no... what was he even comparing?
Hong Sheng thought it would be nice if his wife were here; at least her cold demeanor could be quite imposing.
To his surprise, just as he was wracking his brain on how to comfort his brother-in-law to the point of a headache, Ruan Yu, who hadn’t spoken, looked up and smiled, "Don’t worry, I’m fine!"
"Huh?" Hong Sheng was dumbfounded, has brother-in-law lost his senses from grief!
Ruan Yu glanced at his brother-in-law looking foolish and thought to himself, his sister was truly aggrieved.
"You don’t understand her; her temper can’t tolerate the least grievance; she’s not someone who’d self-immolate. Besides, there have always been Hidden Guards around her, so it’s unlikely someone harmed her. She’s probably roaming freely and carefree at this moment!"
At this, Ruan Yu smiled knowingly, "She created this situation just to tell her parents not to look for her." He continued, a bit irked but sweetly, "Perhaps it’s also telling me, to go find her!"
Hong Sheng held onto a tooth that felt like it was going to fall out from the sweetness, and realized they were worried for no reason; he wasn’t grieving but rather conflicted. Now he was concerned for himself.
How was he going to explain to his wife that he lost her brother while going to fight a war?
"What is your decision?"
Ruan Yu spread his hands, "It’s this indecision that’s making me conflicted!"
He is the eldest among the Ruan Family’s team, and though the task of restoring the Ruan Family’s glory rests with Brother Lin, he couldn’t selfishly think only of himself.
And then there’s Thirteenth Lady...
Sigh, Miao Miao probably resents him for not even giving her a hug back then, and she’s making him choose a path!
