GSY Chapter46

Cen Yelan made a plan, but forcing Yan Le into Luoyun Valley was not an easy task.

 

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and Yuan Zheng had almost reached Luoyun Valley. The road was long and rugged, and the vast northern border was shrouded in the night. The grass on the road seemed to be covered with a layer of frost.

 

The mountain was extremely steep and difficult to climb, but in order to avoid alerting the enemy, they took a small path. Only by crossing this mountain could they reach Luoyun Valley. Yuan Zheng raised his hand and looked up at the mountain. The five thousand elite soldiers behind him all stopped.

 

“Your Highness, take a rest before going up the mountain.” The speaker was Tang Qing, a deputy general sent by Cen Yelan. He was in his forties and quite familiar with the northern border. Cen Yelan asked him to go with him to help Yuan Zheng.

 

Yuan Zheng nodded, and Tang Qing handed a wine bag to Yuan Zheng, saying, “Your Highness, get rid of the cold.”

 

Yuan Zheng had been on the northern border for so long that he naturally knew that the bag was filled with wine. The northern border was extremely cold in winter, and the soldiers would carry a bag of strong liquor to keep out the cold.

 

The wine was a strong liquor from the northern border, overbearing and fierce. Yuan Zheng drank it for the first time at Beicang Pass, where the old general Qi Bai, who beat the drum, gave it to him. Once the wine went into his throat, it was like a sharp knife, burning his internal organs like fire, and he became energetic.

 

Yuan Zheng took the wine bag and drank a sip, then said, “How is General Cen doing?”

 

Tang Qing said, “There’s still no resolution. General Cen has already set up camp outside the city. I believe the Hu people will come to Luoyun Valley in the next two days.”

 

Yuan Zheng hummed casually, raised his head, looked at the moon hanging in the dome, and said, “What day is today?”

 

Fang Jing said, “Your Highness, today is New Year’s Eve.” He has become much more honest since the incident at Beicang Pass and is no longer as casual in front of Yuan Zheng as before.

 

Yuan Zheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, “I actually forgot.”

 

In previous years, there was always a night banquet in the palace on New Year’s Eve. The court and the harem, all the civil and military officials, gathered in the South Pavilion, and music, singing, and dancing continued all night long.

 

Yuan Zheng got drunk at a banquet last year and slept in the flowers of the imperial garden with Fang Jing all night. The palace attendants anxiously looked for him everywhere, and when they found him later, Yuan Zheng was even angry and refused to get up. It was not until his emperor father came that Yuan Zheng restrained himself. He was punished with three days of confinement, and Fang Jing was fined three months’ salary.

 

He didn’t expect that he would be on the battlefield in the north this year.

 

Yuan Zheng thought of the past, patted Fang Jing on the shoulder, handed him the wine bag in his hand, and said, “Here.”

 

Fang Jing glanced at Yuan Zheng and took a sip of the strong liquor. The spiciness made his face wrinkle. Yuan Zheng laughed and said sincerely, “Ah Jing, you are suffering on this northern border because of me. I remember it all in my heart.”

 

Fang Jing was stunned and whispered, “Ah Zheng…”

 

“I’ll treat you to a drink after returning to the capital—” Yuan Zheng paused and smiled: “Saishang Chun of Feiyan Lai.”

 

Fang Jing looked at him and hummed, “Fine, then I want it brewed by Yu Niang herself.”

 

“Feiyan Lai” is the most famous brothel in Jingdu. Yuan Zheng often went there with Fang Jing when he was in the capital. Yu Niang is the courtesan of “Feiyan Lai”, and she made excellent wine. But the wine she brewed was always hard to come by, and countless princes and nobles in the capital were willing to spend a fortune just to buy a pot of wine for her.

 

That day, Yuan Zheng had a fight with the son of the minister of the Ministry of Revenue because of her, that’s why he was sent to the northern border by the emperor.

 

Yuan Zheng smiled and said, “Fine, I still have two more jars buried in my mansion, I’ll give them all to you later.”

 

The two thought of everything that happened in the capital, with the north wind howling. Somehow, they both felt as if they were in another world.

 

Yuan Zheng looked up at the boundless dome and couldn’t help thinking of Cen Yelan. That day he asked Cen Yelan if what he said was true, Yuan Zheng stared at him for a long time. Cen Yelan looked at him in astonishment for a long while before saying, “Your Highness, stop fooling around.”

 

Yuan Zheng felt a chill in his heart and said in a deep voice, “I’m not fooling around, I’m serious—”

 

He was about to say something, but Cen Yelan interrupted him and lightly said, “I have no intention of talking about romance with you.”

 

Yuan Zheng stubbornly said, “It’s not romance, it’s sincerity.”

 

Cen Yelan was stunned and looked at Yuan Zheng. The young man looked at him intently. The phrase “sincerely” seemed weighty and hot to Cen Yelan, he felt a little confused. Sincerity—why did Yuan Zheng say sincerity?

 

He humiliated him and forced him before. Besides, this person was just a youth of eighteen or nineteen, and he was a member of the royal family too. How could he be sincere to him?

 

But Cen Yelan remembered the day at Beicang Pass again, when the city gate was about to close, Yuan Zheng jumped on the horseback into the dangerous city alone.

 

After a while, Cen Yelan said, “The war is coming…”

 

Before he finished speaking, Yuan Zheng’s eyes lit up, and he grabbed Cen Yelan’s hand and said, “What about the end of the war?”

 

“General Cen, when the war is over and the northern border is at peace—” Yuan Zheng was young after all, and his emotions came and went quickly. Cen Yelan’s words made him feel lost, but his hesitation gave Yuan Zheng a glimmer of hope. He couldn’t hide the smile on his face. He whispered, “Cen Yelan, I won’t force you. Think about it, hmm?”

 

Yuan Zheng has seen all kinds of beauty and colors in the capital, but now he feels that none of them can compare to Cen Yelan. This man is perfect in every way and looks awe-inspiring and unattainable, like the bright moon in the north.

 

Perhaps Yuan Zheng was born noble, he had everything he wanted, and he never had any ambitions.

 

Now Yuan Zheng actually had a little ambition, he wanted to pick the moon and to hold this bright moon in his arms.

 

Cen Yelan and Yan Le had three head-on confrontations. Even if the Hu alliance was on the verge of collapse, Yan Le would not allow himself to be slaughtered either.

 

He was the most courageous warrior among the Hu people, he was not someone who could be easily dealt with.

 

The two fought along the way, and both suffered heavy casualties. That road was paved with blood.

 

It was not until the third day after the New Year that Yan Le set foot on the narrow road to Luoyun Valley, and Cen Yelan finally felt relieved. The two sides chased and fought endlessly, and Yan Le rarely saw Cen Yelan chasing so relentlessly, as if he would not stop until he killed him.

 

Yan Le knew that Cen Yelan really hated him this time.

 

Yan Le remembered what Cen Yelan said when he killed Cen Yi, he said that he would pay him back a thousand times, and his expression was gloomy. He felt a little anxious.

 

The royal court had sent five urgent orders for him to go back, but Yan Le ignored them all and even killed those who delivered the orders. He was so annoyed that he even hated Shu Dan.

 

Such a waste, he didn’t know why his father favored him, not to mention that Shu Dan’s mother was whispering in his father’s ear. Everyone thought that Shu Dan’s death was related to him.

 

Yan Le coldly thought, His father was really getting old and confused and was actually swayed by a woman’s words.

 

Just like the emperor of Dayan, he heard that the emperor of Dayan also favored a dandy who was not presentable, and all the princes below were jealous and eyeing the supreme throne. They were even willing to trade cities and land with him to eliminate dissidents.

 

Yan Le suddenly tightened the reins and looked at a stone tablet sticking diagonally into the ground. The tablet was broken, and only a few strokes of the “Luoyun Valley” three-character scripture were left after being eroded by wind and frost. Yan Le looked at it and somehow felt that the stone tablet looked like a tombstone.

 

His heart trembled for no reason. Behind him were Cen Yelan’s men. There were many poisonous snakes and strange beasts in Luoyun Valley, and the mountain path was rugged, so it was not easy to find ambushes. As long as he passed Luoyun Valley, he could reach Yuping Pass directly.

 

As long as he returns to Yuping Pass, he will be able to fight with Cen Yelan again or return to the royal court to seize the throne.

 

There is still a chance for everything.

 

The Hu soldiers behind him asked in confusion, “Your Highness?”

 

Yan Le shook the reins and said, “Go.”