NOVEL WEB
Chapter 443
After everyone had left, traces of ghastly paleness finally appeared on Ye Zhuojiang and Junyi's cheeks.
He called Su Huanfeng and Huai An, who had been waiting outside, and walked into the inner room.
There were not many people in the room. Apart from Zhao Changdu and Gu Ying, there were only Yin Lan and Yanzhi, two confidants.
No one spoke. Gu Ying sat quietly by the bed.
A blue grass gauze lamp burned on the table, its dim halo enveloping the woman's delicate little face like white jade. Her long lush eyelashes cast two strips of gentle shadows under her eyes, and her soft profile was smooth and tender, with two dried tear trails that made her look somehow helpless and fragile, gentle and stubborn at the same time, pitiful at first sight.
The whole room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Gu Ying had been holding the unconscious prince's icy hand. Hearing Ye Zhuojiang and the others come in, she slowly turned around.
"Young Lord Hou, Huai An, please sit down."
Two chairs were placed in front of Gu Ying.
Su Huanfeng and Huai An walked over to the woman and sat down, unconsciously raising their eyes and pressing their lips into a pained line as they met Gu Ying's dark and profound gaze.
Huai An said, "My lady..."
Gu Ying closed her eyes, suppressed the mist in them, and spoke directly, "I know what kind of general the prince is, so I believe he would never make a rash, reckless decision just to gain quick success... What exactly happened...that made him ride alone and deep into enemy territory?"
Her voice choked with sobs. She took a deep breath, the corners of her mouth trembling, "with only himself?"
Su Huanfeng was silent for a moment.
Speaking of this... he also found it strange. After he went to the border, he had been learning under Lord Guogong.
Later, when the war between Dong Li and the Qiang Tribe broke out, Lord Guogong fell seriously ill, so he was taken under Zhao's army, under Zhao Changdu's command.
In this battle, he was exceptionally brave and performed outstandingly, killing no less than a thousand enemies.
He was exceptionally promoted to General of the Left by Zhao Changdu, to be kept by his side and fight alongside him.
So in the later stages of this war, he had always been with Zhao Changdu. Even the plan for the five hundred light cavalry to penetrate deep behind enemy lines, he had taken part in.
Zhao Changdu was a born general who fought like a demon, moving as swift as lightning.
Five hundred men... five hundred men!
It only took six days, traveling over a thousand li.
Using the tactic of living off the land, he stormed through the Qiang Tribe King's court straight to Huanglong, beheading Prince Talmu, brother of Princess Lesu, and capturing Yanling, the supreme commander of the Qiang Tribe this time. The vanguard led by General Gu took advantage of the victory to pursue the attack, and the Qiang Tribe was thrown into complete disarray, retreating defeat after defeat.
The Qiang Tribe's defeat was almost a foregone conclusion.
Only that night, after they returned from the left side of Zhumu Mountain to Licheng for the last time, and set up camp at Yitiantian Valley, Zhao Changdu left the camp alone on horseback in the dark of night.
No one knew where he went or who he met.
It was only when they found him that he was lying unconscious by Moon Lake, barely breathing.
No one had expected that such an exquisite ambush would end up in total chaos because the commander-in-chief was poisoned.
Fortunately, the Qiang Tribe was badly weakened, and there was General Gu guarding them that they avoided the Qiang Tribe rising again from the ashes.
But where did Lord Zhao go and who did he meet that night, and how was he poisoned, still remains a mystery.
The two men's silence caused Gu Ying's chest to throb with dull pain. "Why aren't you talking?"
Huai An pursed his lips. "My lady, your subordinate did not go with my lord that day... so your subordinate does not know what happened either... I only know that before he left, my lord received a letter. After reading it, my lord took his cloak and told us not to follow him. He went out alone with his sword."
"What letter?"
"Your subordinate does not know either. After my lord read it, he threw it directly into the fireplace and burned it to ashes."
"..."
Gu Ying shifted her hopeful gaze to Su Huanfeng.
Su Huanfeng's throat tightened slightly. "After our five hundred men launched a surprise attack, we set up camp at Yitiantian Valley. It was that night that Changdu left the camp alone on horseback... We found him by Moon Lake."
Gu Ying's mind raced. "Moon Lake is Qiang Tribe territory."
Su Huanfeng said, "That's right. Princess Lesu was stationed there with her men. That princess seemed to have taken a liking to Changdu... Even during the war between the two armies, she still tried to pass information to Changdu through some insiders..."
Gu Ying frowned, trying her best to recall everything about Princess Lesu in her mind.
She remembered!
It seemed that in her previous life, after being defeated, it was her who returned to Bianjing with the prince to seek peace through marriage!
Her intended husband was originally His Highness Prince Shu, but the proud princess disliked the prince and instead fancied the prince.
Unfortunately, the prince was already engaged to Huo Qixian at that time, so Princess Lesu had to settle for second best - she wanted to become the prince's concubine!
But in this life, Princess Lesu and the prince did not have much contact. The only person who could have cooperated with Princess Lesu and lured the prince into a trap alone was one person—
The two words "Jiang Yin" suddenly appeared in her mind.
Gu Ying suddenly clenched her fists tightly, her face deathly pale, but her eyes were blood red. "It may have been him..."
Su Huanfeng wondered, "Who?"
Leaning against a bed post with his arms crossed, Ye Zhuojiang said expressionlessly, "If my guess is not wrong, it's Jiang Yin."
Huai An frowned. "Jiang Yin? Isn't he dead?"
Ye Zhuojiang hooked up the corners of his mouth slightly, his smile not reaching his eyes. "You guys still don't know, do you? This man is alive again. He even showed up in Bianjing. He's like a plaster that just won't come off, no matter how hard you try to shake him."
While Ye Zhuojiang was breezy about it, a storm seemed to surge in Gu Ying's heart.
She suddenly turned her face to look with astonishment and doubt at the unconscious man lying on the bed. Her mind was thrown into complete chaos in an instant.
The wise and martial prince could not possibly have been plotted against so easily.
Unless... that man had used her secret to exchange for it.
The prince could keep calm about anything except her... He regarded her as his soft spot.
It was precisely this point that Jiang Yin took advantage of... to lure the prince and set traps to kill him...
But with the prince's superior martial arts, how could a nearly crippled person like Jiang Yin be his match?
Thinking hard about it, there could only be one reason...
That could only explain the prince suddenly losing all reason in rage...
Other than her disgraceful past and rebirth... nothing else could make the prince lose his reason like that.
Thinking of this, Gu Ying felt as if an iron clamp was choking her throat. She barely straightened up, her whole body seemed to have turned into a stone statue.
Jiang Yin was too clever. While Su He was looking for him all over the world, he secretly went beyond the frontier.
While she was being vigilant day and night, he actually told the prince everything... broke through the prince's psychological defenses, and tried to harm the prince!
How could he be so vicious!
Life had started over again. She had already given up on him, didn't like him anymore, and would not block his eyes by marrying him again!
Why did he still want to destroy everything she now had!
She was clearly the victim. On what basis should she be treated like this!