Chapter 79
Chapter 79
As usual, Xing Shuwei helped Zhang Mingan put his armor in order.
The armor was brand-new, sent from Panzhou.
And not only armor-wound powder, grain, sabers, and arrows had arrived as well.
Xing Shuwei ran her hand across the cold, hard armor, a faint unease stirring in her heart.
She wondered: Was Pei Xianjing truly remaining in Panzhou only so he could reinforce Qizhou at the critical moment? Or was he waiting for Zhang Mingan to take the field, intending to come and seize her without the slightest difficulty?
She lowered her eyes and suppressed the thought-
It could not possibly be the latter. She had to be imagining too much.
Pei Xianjing was a man who held the greater good in his heart. Never mind that he did not know she was alive-even if he did, he surely would not disrupt the larger situation for her sake.
Zhang Mingan’s gentle eyes remained fixed upon her.
Suddenly, he sniffed lightly and boldly leaned toward her shoulder to breathe in her scent. “You smell wonderful.”
The moment Xing Shuwei froze, he straightened at once.
Since coming to Qizhou, he had rarely acted this way.
He had once used Xing Shuwei to eliminate his elder brother.
At the time, he had known that Pei Xianjing would certainly come to rescue her from the imperial prison and that Shen Yanqi would never torture her.
He had even prepared an escape for her in case Pei Xianjing failed to come.
But in the end, he had still caused her to spend time in the imperial prison.
Regaining her trust would not be easy.
He did not dare act rashly again and drive Xing Shuwei farther and farther away.
Fortunately, they had come to Qizhou.
Now he had the time and opportunity to make her truly trust and accept him, little by little.
“What is it?”
Seeing Xing Shuwei lost in thought, Zhang Mingan’s voice softened further.
Xing Shuwei shook her head. “Nothing.”
She had merely remembered that ordeal in the imperial prison.
At the time, she had also been certain that Pei Xianjing would not come to save her, but in the end, he had.
She could not fathom Pei Xianjing’s nature. She had failed before, and she failed still.
Thus, even though Pei Xianjing had made no move in Panzhou, she still could not set her mind completely at ease.
She feared he would suddenly descend into madness again.
“Do not overthink it.” Sensing her unease, Zhang Mingan reassured her, “Wait here without worry. I will end this battle swiftly.”
“Mm.” Xing Shuwei nodded. “I trust you.”
She walked him to the door.
“I grew up in Qizhou,” she said. “Thank you for everything you have done for it.”
After a moment of silence, she continued, “Zhang Mingan, thank you for giving me-for giving all of us-a safe and peaceful home.”
As they spoke, they emerged from the cramped, dilapidated courtyard.
Xing Shuwei wore simple, dull-gray garments of coarse cloth, and her hair was casually gathered to one side.
Yet none of it diminished her beauty.
Instead, it lent her an unadorned, natural grace.
Zhang Mingan stopped and gazed at her clear, fair face.
His hand rose toward her chin, but in the end, he did not touch her.
“I am the one who should thank you.
“In twenty years, this is the most grounded and hopeful I have ever felt.
“Weiwei, I want peace and prosperity for the realm. I want to win honor and accomplish great things. I want to spend the rest of my life with you in a courtyard with an osmanthus tree…”
He wanted to say more, but calls of “General Zhang” from the people inside the gatehouse interrupted him.
Beyond the city walls, the enemy had already arrived.
Knowing that Zhang Mingan was going to meet them in battle, the citizens had come of their own accord to see him off.
“Wait for my return.” A thousand things he wished to say became a single gentle farewell.
This time, Xing Shuwei did not avoid his gaze. “All right. Come back soon.”
Her voice was like a summer breeze blowing into his heart.
Zhang Mingan’s gaze slowly traced every contour of her face. After lingering for a moment, he turned and walked toward the city gates.
The people’s calls followed every step he took.
Within their voices, he felt their trust.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
His eyes, always veiled in mist, were now resolute and clear.
Even he did not realize that his selfish desire to win military merit had quietly transformed into a single wish: to preserve forever every pair of hopeful eyes within the city.
* * *
Outside the city, the sounds of slaughter filled the air.
The battle had already raged for two days and two nights.
Xing Shuwei secretly slipped onto the main street by the city gates to watch.
From time to time, the battered gates shuddered under the impacts, shedding splinters and dust.
Since arriving in Qizhou, Zhang Mingan had not enjoyed a single quiet day.
When the two sides finally entered a temporary truce several days earlier, Zhang Mingan had taken his personal guards to fell timber, intending to rebuild the gatehouse.
Everything had been prepared, yet war had broken out again.
Hidden behind a low wall, Xing Shuwei stared intently at the brutal fighting.
“Miss.” Qiutong’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Xing Shuwei jumped. “Why did you sneak out too?”
Qiutong held a woodcutting knife in her right hand and a pair of scissors in her left. “It is not only me. All our neighbors have come.”
Xing Shuwei raised herself slightly and looked back. A great crowd of men and women, old and young, surged toward them holding hoes, shovels, and other farming tools aloft.
“If General Zhang cannot stop the enemy, we will fight them to the death!”
“We will be ready. If General Zhang needs reinforcements, he only has to call, and we will charge out at once.”
An older woman wept as she said, “General Zhang is about the same age as my son.
“Four years ago, I could not protect my son. Now I want to protect General Zhang.
“At the risk of saying something treasonous, General Zhang feels so dear to me that I think of him as my own son.”
An older man added, “General Zhang seems like my son too.”
“Perhaps it is because General Zhang said no father taught him and no mother ever cherished him.
“This old couple would like to cherish him as our own son as well.”
Xing Shuwei’s eyes reddened despite herself.
The common people were forever so honest and simple. Whoever treated them well, they were willing to repay with their lives.
Zhang Mingan, that wastrel, was always full of surprises.
Everyone in the capital called him a wastrel, yet the people of Qizhou treasured him.
* * *
While they discussed how they might support Zhang Mingan in battle, none of them imagined that Pei Xianjing was leading an army from Panzhou toward them.
He rode at the head, lashing his horse into a gallop.
Chengde followed behind him.
He was profoundly confused. Earlier, the Eldest Young Master had said that only when the enemy believed Zhang Mingan had reached the end of his road would they launch an all-out attack.
Only then would the spies Qi Yusheng had planted throughout the northwest begin to move.
They were supposed to wait until the main enemy forces both inside and outside the border mobilized to surround Qizhou from both sides, then strike and destroy them in one blow.
Otherwise, how could they root out spies who had remained hidden for more than twenty years?
The Eldest Young Master had also said that once Yelü Bao received the secret letter and saw that the Eldest Young Master remained in Panzhou without moving his troops,
he would certainly believe the Eldest Young Master intended to use his hand to eliminate his mortal rival, Zhang Mingan, and would never let such a perfect opportunity pass…
Chengde had listened while marveling inwardly again and again at the Eldest Young Master’s strategy.
But before he could voice a single word of praise, Pei Xianjing ordered him to notify the troops that they were marching to reinforce Qizhou…
Chengde understood the Eldest Young Master less and less with every passing day.