GSY Chapter3

There are always disturbances in the northern border in autumn and winter, and this year’s severe winter came earlier than in previous years. Hanzhou was under martial law, and there were more patrols in the city. Cen Yelan left early and returned late, but the people seemed to be accustomed to it and continued to live their lives as usual.

 

Yuan Zheng was very bored, he was used to being the center of attention, and when he first arrived at the northern border, although he had a few personal attendants around him, but it was not as good as when he was in Jingdu.

 

Fang Jing also lamented listlessly, “Ah Zheng, I really miss the romantic life in the capital. I wonder if those little beauties miss me. At worst, I can also go hunting in Luochun Garden.”

 

“At this time of the year, the maple leaves at the Qi’an Temple have all turned red.” Xiao Junwang Fang muttered as he put his arm around Yuan Zheng’s shoulder. “From a high point, it’s as magnificent and gorgeous as fire, yet we’re sitting here in the cold, having to eat the northwest wind and the coarse sand.”

 

Yuan Zheng glanced at him unhappily and said, “Shut up.” Annoyed by Fang Jing’s words, he said, “If you don’t want to stay, go back. Anyway, Emperor Father didn’t even send you to the border.”

 

“I won’t leave, where can I go?” Fang Jing said with a shameless face, “Our friendship means we should share the good and the bad together.”

 

“Besides, I am loyal to Your Highness. The sun and the moon can testify to that. How can such hardships on the northern border shake me?”

 

Yuan Zheng snorted, feeling depressed, and sighed again, saying, “I want to go back too. I am sick of seeing Cen Yelan’s damn face every day.”

 

Fang Jing said, “How can General Cen be so old-fashioned and boring at such a young age? He has been like this for ten years already. He is really worthy of being Old General Cen’s adopted son. He is just like him.”

 

The two of them were walking through the busy city, and suddenly, Yuan Zheng’s eyes fixed, and he responded absentmindedly.

 

Not far away, there were two tall men wearing rough linen clothes, walking into a jade shop. Yuan Zheng looked up—Dingjin Store, a famous jade store in Hanzhou. The two men lifted the curtain and walked in with ease.

 

Yuan Zheng immediately followed him, and Fang Jing also followed while asking him where he was going.

 

As soon as they entered the jade store, the two men were there. Yuan Zheng and Fang Jing were wearing brocade clothes, which were luxurious. The people in the store looked at them for a few seconds and greeted them with a smile, saying, “What does the Two Lords want to buy?”

 

“What a coincidence! Some good stuff just arrived in the store.”

 

Yuan Zheng raised his chin, looking very noble. “Take it out, the best ones.” He glanced at the two people who were right in front of the counter. One of them turned his head, and their eyes met and then separated from Yuan Zheng’s. He lowered his head and fiddled with a few jade rings on the counter.

 

Yuan Zheng saw the man’s green eyes, a Hu person.

 

Fang Jing hadn’t noticed yet and was picking and choosing the things the shopkeeper had presented to him, saying, “The jade is impure, and the workmanship is crude. Tsk, what kind of inferior products are you daring to use to fool this little lord?”

 

Yuan Zheng’s mind was not on the jade. Not long after, the two men left. He pretended to brush away the things on the table with disgust and said, “I don’t like them. I’m leaving.”

 

It was not until the two of them walked out of the jade store and walked a few dozen steps that Fang Jing came to his senses and whispered, “Why are you following them?”

 

Yuan Zheng simply said, “Hu people.”

 

Dayan and the Hu people have cut off trade, and in recent years, the Hu people have frequently looted and harassed the northern border, so there are few traces of Hu people in Hanzhou. Fang Jing opened his eyes wide. “How do you know?”

 

“I saw it.” Yuan Zheng said impatiently, “Have you ever seen someone dressed like that while buying rings?”

 

Fang Jing suddenly realized, but the two of them were going further and further away. He grabbed Yuan Zheng’s sleeve and said, “We are unfamiliar with the place, why don’t we just ask the patrol soldiers to come and arrest them?”

 

Yuan Zheng said, “I want to see what these two barbarians want to do for myself.”

 

“Your Highness is a noble man. What if…” Fang Jing hesitated, Yuan Zheng grabbed his wrist and dodged, saying, “What a joke, they are just two barbarians. What are you afraid of?”

 

A long alley appeared in front of the two. There was no sound of people around, the sky was gray, and there was an eerie silence.

 

Fang Jing was a little panicked, but Yuan Zheng was very brave and advanced instead of retreating. But after turning two corners, they lost track of the Hu people, and they were greeted by two scimitars.

 

The nobles of Dayan were known for carrying swords. Yuan Zheng reacted quickly and blocked with his sword, and the two men came face to face.

 

As expected, they were all Hu people.

 

The sound of weapons clashing broke out in the alley. Fang Jing’s martial arts skills were mediocre, while Yuan Zheng’s were excellent. He occasionally helped Fang Jing intercept a few killing moves, and he fought back and forth with the two Hu people. But the two were young and lacked experience in fighting. The longer the fight lasted, the more they lost. Yuan Zheng gritted his teeth and sent his dangerous sword into the opponent’s chest, blood splashing. He glanced at Fang Jing, whose shoulder was cut, and said, “Go back and ask Cen Yelan to come and clean up.”

 

Fang Jing’s hands were shaking. “Call… call people?”

 

Yuan Zheng looked at the other Hu man’s fleeing back and said, “I’ll go after him.”

 

“Ah Zheng, you can’t!” Fang Jing tried to stop him, but Yuan Zheng had already chased after him. He was so scared that his face turned pale. If something happened to Yuan Zheng, his entire clan would be ruined. After hesitating for a moment, he turned back to ask for help.

 

Yuan Zheng followed the barbarian in the alley for a few turns and saw him jump into a yard. When Yuan Zheng chased him, the man disappeared, as if he had vanished into thin air. He frowned, looked around for a few turns, and finally found a few drops of blood next to a dry well.

 

The Hu person disappeared into the well.

 

Yuan Zheng stared at the dark bottom of the well for a few seconds, then jumped down while holding the thick rope for drawing water and unexpectedly found a long and narrow tunnel hidden at the bottom of the well.

 

The tunnel was dark, and at the end was a cellar.

 

Yuan Zheng clenched the hilt of his sword, and the moment he opened the cellar, a scimitar slashed directly at him. The two weapons collided, and his palms went numb.

 

The barbarian stared at him, smiled viciously, and cursed in a half-familiar Zhongyuan dialect: “You ignorant boy!”

 

Yuan Zheng said coldly, “You barbarian rat.”

 

The two men started fighting, and Yuan Zheng tried his best to capture the Hu person.

 

The Hu people must have had a long-term plan to find such a secret passage. Yuan Zheng was quick-witted. He knew that people in the entire northern border looked down on them, but Yuan Zheng didn’t care. He just wanted Cen Yelan to take a good look and slap him in the face hard.

 

Yuan Zheng was not good at other things, but he was very good at martial arts. His martial arts attainments were honed by his uncle Meng Tan. Yuan Zheng lost his mother when he was young, and Meng Tan always wanted him to have more power to protect himself, to be more motivated, and to have a chance to fight for the throne in the future. As a result, Yuan Zheng never lost a fight.

 

The two people exchanged dozens of moves, and the Hu person turned around and ran away. The two of them fought and chased. A wooden door was split open due to gravity, and Yuan Zheng discovered that there was an old room at the end of the tunnel.

 

As soon as they left the wooden room, the world was vast, and they had already left Hanzhou City.

 

The Hu person was no match for Yuan Zheng, and seeing that he was about to be captured by him, he hastily dodged and blew the bone whistle hanging around his neck.

 

The sound of the bone whistle was sharp and rapid, like the cry of a night crow. Yuan Zheng’s eyes turned cold, and the tip of his sword pointed directly at the Hu person’s wrist, slicing it down. The Hu person screamed, and the bone whistle and his entire palm fell to the ground. Yuan Zheng leaned over and grabbed the Hu person’s collar and was about to knock him out with a sword.

 

Suddenly, four people appeared from nowhere, and one of them said, “Your Highness, return to the city quickly.”

 

Yuan Zheng said coldly, “Who are you?”

 

That person showed the token, which was Cen Yelan’s.

 

Another person said, “This is a Hu people’s bone whistle for communication. There must be an ambush around.”

 

Yuan Zheng glared at the two of them, then stared at the Hu person hatefully. He had no choice but to give up.

 

The sky had already darkened, and Yuan Zheng’s nose seemed to smell the bloody smell of the Hu people’s scimitars. The Hu people indeed had many people in ambush, and shortly after Yuan Zheng ran out, someone chased after them.

 

The Hu people seemed to know Yuan Zheng’s royal identity and pursued him relentlessly, wanting to capture him alive. The journey was full of dangers, but fortunately Yuan Zheng seized a horse and escaped.

 

Yuan Zheng had never been so embarrassed before. At nightfall, it was hard to tell east, south, west, or north on the northern border, and he lost his way while escaping.

 

He couldn’t help but curse Cen Yelan in his heart, saying he was a complete waste. Fang Jing was also useless, he hadn’t brought back reinforcements in such a long time. Outside Hanzhou City was a desert with low bushes and bare mountains. There was nowhere to hide.

 

Yuan Zheng’s horse couldn’t bear the speed and broke its leg. He wasn’t paying attention and fell off the horse’s back. His internal organs seemed to be displaced, and the wounds on his body were even more painful.

 

He hid himself behind a sand dune and closed his eyes. Unexpectedly, he thought of Cen Yelan again. That cold face appeared in his mind. He listened to the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer. It was the iron hooves of the Hu people.

 

Yuan Zheng swallowed the blood in his mouth and thought, It’s over.

 

Surname Cen is really nothing, a waste. If he dies in this damn place, he will have to drag Cen Yelan with him even as a ghost.

 

Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder. Yuan Wei reflexively raised his sword to stab, but a cold voice came into his ears, “Don’t move.”