Continued from the previous chapter → When Chu Changge saw the appearance of the messenger, he was stunned.
How could it be Huberg?!
Chu Changge could not believe his eyes. This number one sorcerer of the Li clan, who had sworn in front of him a few months ago that he had the Mandate of Heaven, had unexpectedly cast himself under Hua Yeli's command in the blink of an eye. This was Chu Changge's second 'surprise' after arriving in the western province. And the first 'surprise' was――Mister Shi Er built a dungeon for Hua Yeli to hold King Sheng.
Unlike the surprised Chu Changge, Huberg was very calm. "Leader Chu, hope you are well."
Chu Changge didn't bother to exchange pleasantries with him and directly asked, "Where is the letter?"
"Here it is." Huberg took a letter out of his broad sleeve and handed it to Chu Changge.
Chu Changge opened the letter carelessly, looking at its contents with some impatience, when suddenly, his deep eyes snapped to attention, and he looked up at Huberg. He noticed that Huberg was also looking at him, and his face expressionless. But he could see something in those lifeless eyes. Something that they had a tacit understanding of.
"Leader Chu, what does the letter say?" Wei Zhentian asked anxiously. The rest of the generals also looked at Chu Changge, impatient to know the letter's contents.
Without answering them, Chu Changge gave Huberg another look and handed the letter to Wei Zhentian.
"......exchange Murong Yunshu for King Sheng......" Wei Zhentian almost tore the letter with the shaking of both of his hands when he saw this sentence. "Hua Yeli really does not have good intentions!" Wei Zhentian rebuked bitterly.
"Who is Murong Yunshu?" One of the young deputy generals couldn't help but ask. It seemed like he hadn't heard of this figure?
"Leader Chu's unmarried wife." Wei Zhentian answered in a heavy tone.
As soon as the young lieutenant heard Wei Zhentian's words, he immediately shut his mouth tight and dared not say another word. In his heart, however, he had a lot of doubts. Why did King Liang Jr want Chu Changge's unmarried wife? What exactly did Murong Yunshu have that would make King Liang Jr willing to exchange His Highness for her......
Not only the young lieutenant but also the rest of the generals were confused. Although the Murong Mansion was rich, Murong Yunshu was only a woman in the end. How could a man as ambitious as King Liang Jr love beauty over the country? [T/N]
Only Chu Changge knew in his heart that this letter from King Liang Jr was not a peace letter but a war letter. "You go back and tell Hua Yeli that I am running out of patience. Tonight at midnight, I will visit the Liang army main camp, and he can either prepare King Sheng's or his own neck to be saved."
A hint of astonishment flashed in Huberg's eyes at his words. "His Highness and I will await Leader Chu with great pleasure." Before walking out of the camp, he turned back and added with a smile, "And Mister Shi Er, I am sure he is also looking forward to meeting Leader Chu."
"What a double-dealing person. Let me kill you first!" North Guardian was furious.
"Stop!" Chu Changge stopped North Guardian and coldly reminded, "Have you forgotten the rules of the Mojiao Sect?"
North Guardian immediately lost his momentum. He hung his head and muttered, "I haven't forgotten." One of the teachings of the Mojiao Sect: there must be a reason to kill a person.
"Who is Mister Shi Er?" Wei Zhentian asked. His intuition told him that Mister Shi Er was bound to be a key figure. When the Liang army envoy spoke the name Mister Shi Er, Chu Changge's expression was noticeably colder by a few degrees.
"A bricklayer from Murong Mansion." Chu Changge answered indifferently. [+]
A bricklayer from Murong Mansion? Wei Zhentian was slightly shocked. "Why is the bricklayer of the Murong Mansion in the Liang army camp?"
Chu Changge's dark eyes sank as he asked coldly, "Isn't the King of Yanzhou also in the Liang army camp?"
Wei Zhentian was speechless. Knowing that Chu Changge did not want to say more, he stopped asking and only asked, "What are your plans?"
Chu Changge replied indifferently, "Save King Sheng."
Wei Zhentian pondered for a while and said, "If you could have saved His Highness by barging into the Liang army camp alone, you would have gone a long time ago and would not have waited until now." He believed that Chu Changge had visited the Liang army camp many times before that. There must be a reason why he had returned empty-handed every time.
Chu Changge: "That's not something you need to be concerned about."
"Anything that has to do with His Highness is something I need to be concerned about." Wei Zhentian was not about to back down on this issue.
Chu Changge gave him a faint glance after hearing his words. "In that case, you will come together with me tonight." With that, he left with a flick of his sleeve.
As soon as Chu Changge left, the four men, South, East, North and West, followed suit. As soon as the four men left, Wei Zhentian's camp exploded into a frenzy.
"This Chu Changge is so reckless! How dare he not even take the Great General into account because of his superior martial arts skills!"
"Great General, even we can't stand this anymore. How can you still endure it?"
"Yes. Even without Chu Changge, we can still save His Highness! Just one word from you, and we'll have him out of the Liang army camp immediately!"
……
……
Every word everyone said was full of discontentment towards Chu Changge.
"Shut up!" Wei Zhentian bellowed, and the whole room immediately fell silent. Not a single sound could be heard anymore. "Chu Changge can come and go in the Liang army camp as he pleases. Which one of you has the ability to do so?" Sweeping a glance at the crowd, Wei Zhentian added, "Whoever has this ability, I will abdicate immediately and let him be the Great General!"
"That's not what we meant. Everyone is just not used to seeing Chu Changge riding on your head, General."
"If you guys are capable, you can also ride on my head." Wei Zhentian said in a deep voice, "You must remember that the reason why our Yanzhou army has been able to hold on until now is that it is backed by the strong financial power of the Murong Mansion. Murong Yunshu is like your parents who provide you with food and clothes. You may disrespect me, but you cannot disrespect your parents."
When everyone listened to Wei Zhentian's words, they bowed their heads in shame.
Wei Zhentian continued, "No matter how rampant or arrogant Chu Changge is, he is still our friend because he came here to save His Highness. As long as one has a common enemy and a common goal on the battlefield, one is a friend. Anyone who dares to talk about Chu Changge's faults behind his back again in the future will be dealt with military law!"
"Yes!" Everyone accepted the instruction.
*
While Chu Changge was badly burned about the head regarding Huberg and Mister Shi Er defected to Hua Yeli’s side, Murong Yunshu, who was far away in Sheng Wang Residence in Yanzhou, was also facing trouble.
Murong Yunshu had never dreamed that in a place like Yanzhou, she could still meet an old friend――an old friend with whom she had no good friendship.
"Miss, who is that person? Why does that person keep staring at you?" Lu-er carefully asked as she hid behind Murong Yunshu with Little Murong in her arms.
Murong Yunshu looked at the visitor and answered indifferently, "The Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect."
Upon hearing the word 'five poisons', Lu-er's back arched a few degrees, and she nervously held Little Murong firmly in her arms.
"I can't believe Miss Murong still remembers me. This is so delightful." The Holy Maiden smiled as she walked towards Murong Yunshu.
That smile looked so strange in Murong Yunshu's eyes that it made her body uncomfortable, and her hair stood on end. She had never been afraid of anyone in her life, except for the Holy Maiden of the Five Poisons Sect, whom she tried to avoid in any way.
The more people you didn't want to meet, the more you would meet them, especially when you were unprepared and caught off guard. Heaven liked her indeed, and wanted to make fun of her when she couldn't stand any loneliness.
"Do you know what I am most proud of?" The Holy Maiden asked softly.
Murong Yunshu did not answer because she could not answer. This person in front of her, she could not guess her and did not want to spend time thinking. [+]
The Holy Maiden moved a few more steps closer. "The thing I am most proud of is that even if I do nothing, whenever you see me, there is always a look of fear in your eyes. Isn't it something to be proud of to have the Young Mistress of Murong Mansion, who fears neither Heaven nor Earth and the wife of the Mojiao Sect Master, afraid of me so much?"
Murong Yunshu wanted to step back and open the distance between the two, but she knew that once she stepped back at this time, she would never be able to stop until she fell into the hands of the Holy Maiden. Thus she suppressed her fears, looked straight at the Holy Maiden with her head held high, and said as calmly as possible, "Holy Maiden has high martial arts skills and is clever at using poison. So everyone stays away from you. Murong Yunshu is just an ordinary woman and is no exception."
"Is that so?" The Holy Maiden's light eyebrows raised slightly, and a few moments of coldness passed through her eyes, "You are not an ordinary woman. If you were an ordinary woman, you wouldn't be showing that fearful......and disgusted expression."
She knows? Murong Yunshu's heart sank. She did not dare to continue. She feared that once she spoke, she would reveal the trepidation that she could not even hide.
"Do you know why I came to the Central Plains this time, especially to Yanzhou?" The Holy Maiden asked.
Murong Yunshu's face was expressionless and silent.
The Holy Maiden also stared at her expressionlessly for a long time and asked, "Where is Chu Changge?"
Murong Yunshu's hand trembled as she coldly responded, "If you didn't know where he was, you wouldn't have come to Yanzhou."
"Haha." The Holy Maiden laughed a few times towards the sky before her smile faded and said, "Not bad. I know he is not in Yanzhou. That's why I came to find you......and your son." After speaking, she swept over Murong Yunshu's right shoulder. She looked at Little Murong in Lu-er's arms and said with a smile, "Although he is only seven months old, that eyebrow, that eye, that unbeatable and arrogant demeanour, he is indeed the same as Chu Changge. One can't help but think of――tearing his body to thousands of pieces!" The Holy Maiden instantly transformed her expression into a rakshasa with a hideous face when she said the last sentence.
Those vicious, gnashing teeth, with a strong sense of hatred, the words 'tearing his body to thousands of pieces', made Murong Yunshu almost fail to stand still.
"He had spared your life." Murong Yunshu tried to awaken the conscience in the Holy Maiden.
"He should have known this day would come when he released me. Jianghu is supposed to be a place where you kill me, and I kill you. Although he didn't kill me in the first place, he has branded me with a mark of shame. If I don't kill him, I will have to live with that mark for the rest of my life. It is already not easy to come to this world, so how can I bear it and let myself live in such humiliation?" The Holy Maiden's eyes burned with a fierce, destructive fire of hatred, with paranoia that would not stop until she died and her urgency to be reborn.
Noob Translator's Musing
The storyline is getting weirder and weirder. And from now on, the story will be a bit serious, especially the next chapter...with another death of someone we know. 🥺
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Black Belly Wife