Chapter 37: The Army Sets Out (Part 2)

  Tang Yuwei continued: "Originally, Your Highness would not have been punished, but the King of Yue distorted the truth in the imperial court and framed you for rebellion."

  Zhao Yan bowed his hands and said: "Thank you, Miss Yu Wei."

  At this moment, Wu gently lifted the military tent door curtain and walked in elegantly. Seeing Tang Yuwei, she smiled and said: "Sister Tang is also here."

  "I won't disturb you anymore, I'll take my leave." Tang Yuwei smiled charmingly and walked out of the military tent with a light step.

  Wu Caiyun leaned forward and gently grasped Zhao Yan's arm, saying softly: "Your Highness, have you been thinking of me?"

  Zhao Xiao gently stroked Wu Caiyun's hair and said lovingly: "That's natural."

  "Then shouldn't you..." Just as Zhao Jing's face turned slightly red, Wu Caiyun stuffed a small box into his arms. Zhao Jing raised an eyebrow and nodded lightly when he saw the look in Wu Caiyun's eyes.

  "Then we..." Zhao Yan smiled in agreement.

  Tang Yuwei's face turned red as she stood outside the military tent eavesdropping, and then left the military tent.

  Wu Caiyun gently turned around and said to Zhao Yan: "Your Highness, Grandfather wants me to go back, I may not be able to accompany you anymore."

  "Don't call me 'Your Highness' anymore, just call me Zhao Song. I'll have Hou Yi escort you back home. Remember to give my regards to your grandfather."

  "It's okay." Wu Caiyun suddenly ran over and hugged Zhao Jian.

  Zhao Kang gently patted Wu Caiyun's back and comforted her.

  Wu Caiyun left the military tent with a hint of red in her eyes, and Zhao Yun's eyes had a tinge of loss. During this time, Zhao Yun had grown accustomed to Wu Caiyun being by his side, which brought comfort to his heart. Now, Wu Caiyun's departure made Zhao Yun somewhat sorrowful, so he ordered someone to summon Hou Yi.

  "Your Highness, you're looking for me."

  "Hou Yi, I order you to lead a team to escort Miss Wu to the south, are you willing to go?"

  "I will live up to Your Highness's trust, as long as I still breathe, I must ensure Miss Wu's safety."

  "Be careful on the road, I'll give you fifty men, send Miss Wu to the south and come back quickly, there are still many things waiting for you to do here." Zhao Xiao smiled and patted Hou Yi's shoulder.

  "Take care, Your Highness." Hou Yi left the military tent.

  Zhao Kan took out the box from Wu Caiyun's bosom and opened it casually. Inside, there was a crystal glass bottle with a note beside it that read: "Your Highness, Grandfather already knows about your poisoning. This medicine is the divine elixir of life, Tianxian Xunming Dan, from the Lingyin Temple, which can help you resist the poison of the Yinyang Creation Pill. I and Tang Yuwei are just pretending to be together. After I leave, Your Highness must always be on guard against her."

  The Book of Odes.

  Zhao Yin burned the letter, Zhao Yin took out the Tian Xian Xu Ming Dan. The dan medicine was crystal clear and translucent, with a slight chill, like a pearl shining brightly. Since taking the yin-yang creation pill, after being tortured to death, he had some psychological shadow on this kind of dan medicine, maybe it's true that once bitten by a snake for ten years, one will fear the rope used to draw water from a well.

  Zhao Yan hesitated for a moment, and then swallowed the Tianshen Xunming Dan. Now that he was controlled by Feng Huang Lou in many things, Zhao Yan did not dare to do anything. If he could resolve the toxicity of the Yinyang Zaohua Wan, he would be more proactive.

  The Tianxian Xunming Dan melted instantly, turning into a cool and refreshing ice crystal that entered Zhao Jian's body. It shot out like an arrow, rushing towards all parts of the meridians in his body. The Yin-yang Zaohua Wan medicine power, which had been lurking inside his body, felt threatened by the external force and immediately transformed into a scorching hot torrent, rushing towards the icy medicinal liquid of the Tianxian Xunming Dan. The two torrents, one cold and one hot, continuously collided within Zhao Jian's body, destroying all the meridians they encountered without any hindrance.

  Yin Yang Creation Pill and Heaven Fairy's Life-Extending Elixir were both sacred medicines for healing injuries, but as the saying goes, "all medicines are poisonous to some extent". Adding to that, the two medicines had conflicting properties of water and fire, which made Zhao Yin's internal organs not only withered and damaged, but also encased in a thick layer of frost. At this point, Zhao Yin was already lying on the ground in agony, his entire body drenched in sweat that flowed like a spring.

  A scorching sensation filled his entire body, sweat had just begun to seep out of his pores when it instantly froze into ice crystals. Zhao Xiao's sweat kept circulating between solids, the blood in his body was speeding up and then suddenly stopping.

  Zhao Yin wanted to let out a painful scream, but at this moment his throat seemed to have lost its function and couldn't make any sound. Zhao Yin really wanted to give himself a knife to relieve his own pain, but he couldn't even move a finger now. The guards outside the military tent had left on their own after Wu Caiyun entered the tent, so no one noticed your abnormality.

  Zhao Yan's unconsciousness was interrupted by the pain, and he repeated this process many times. He felt as if he were in hell, his body suffering from both ice and fire. His nerves had long since gone numb, and the scene before him slowly became dark and blurry. The pulse of his heart slowed down beat by beat until it finally stopped. Zhao Yan slowly closed his eyes, quietly, like a corpse.

  Zhao Yin's spirit tablet suddenly emitted a dazzling purple light, and a golden giant dragon flew out of the tablet with its body covered in spiritual fire. The golden giant dragon looked at Zhao Yin with its majestic eyes, shook its head slightly, and flew over to wrap its body around Zhao Yin. The halo on the golden giant dragon's body turned into tiny spots of light that flew into Zhao Yin's body. The golden giant dragon's body gradually dimmed and eventually shattered into a shadow that flew into Zhao Yin's chest.

  At this time, Zhao Jian's heart slowly began to beat, and the two sacred medicines in his body formed an ice-fire Bagua that revolved in his stomach, like flames and icy flames entwining together, and slowly merged. After the fusion was complete, the medicinal power began to repair Zhao Jian's long-broken body. Through the divine dragon's transformation, Zhao Jian's body was repaired with great ease. Wherever the medicine reached, all the organs were renewed like withered wood meeting spring, and the meridians expanded freely, emitting a strong life force.

  Zhao Yin slowly opened his eyes, his two eyes gleaming like electricity. He felt as if he had been dreaming for a very long time, and in the dream, a golden giant dragon had saved him. Zhao Yin sat up with a start, only to discover that his body was extremely sticky, with black filth emitting a faint stench. His physique had also suddenly grown much taller and more robust, so much so that if he were to blend into a crowd, no one would ever suspect that Zhao Yin was just a fifteen-year-old youth.

  Zhao Yan hastily bathed and changed his clothes. After washing away the dirt from his body, he suddenly found that his skin had become as tender as a baby's. He picked up a mirror to take a look and discovered that his temperament had undergone some changes, becoming even more handsome and seemingly more beautiful. Zhao Yan muttered to himself: "Could it be that this Heavenly Immortal Revival Dan is actually a beauty tonic?"

  Unfortunately, Zhao Jiong didn't know that he had just passed through the Ghost Gate again and almost lost his life.

  When Zhao Yi went to find Cai Jing to discuss matters, all the martial arts present were stunned, and a military officer was even slightly red-faced. Zhao Yi cursed in his heart: "What's the point of seeing you blush?"

  Cai Jing coughed lightly and said: "Your Highness, you're becoming more and more handsome and elegant."

  Zhao Yan said calmly: "Cai Zhi Fu, our army will set out soon, I wonder if the grain and fodder are well prepared."

  "It has been done as you instructed, and is being loaded onto the carts. Due to a shortage of heavy-load vehicles, it will be ready in three days, and can depart with the main army." Cai Jing replied.

  "Have the families of soldiers who died in battle all been taken care of?" Zhao Yan continued to ask.

  "Your Highness can rest assured, those families have all been allocated land, given oxen and seeds, and distributed silver coins." Cai Jing said confidently. Indeed, Cai Jing did not lie, solving the necessities of life for everyone in an extremely short period of time, it must be said that Cai Jing is a talent in domestic governance.

  "Magistrate Cai has worked hard, this is a 30,000 taels silver note, I hope Magistrate will not think it's too little." Zhao Jiong handed the silver note to Cai Jing.

  Cai Jing knelt down and said: "Thank you, Your Excellency. It is an honor for me to serve you."

  Zhao Kuang also distributed silver taels to the other generals, and everyone was in a great mood, feeling an extra closeness to Zhao Kuang.

  At this time a guard said: "A scout was caught in front and claimed to be from Bianjing."

  Zhao Song was shocked in his heart, he did not expect the scouts from Bianjing to arrive so quickly, this disrupted his own deployment, it seems that he needs to set out early, but at this time the soldiers were tired and the horses were exhausted, if they were forced to let the army start, the officers and men would be dissatisfied, and if they encountered mountain bandits, they might suffer losses. Most importantly, the logistics food was insufficient, which would cause the military morale to be unstable, Zhao Song did not dare to take such a risk.

  "Bring him up."

  The scout was brought up, his body tied up with five flowers, his face calm and without any major features, his whole body covered in mud and tattered clothes, with several scratches. The scout looked at the crowd in confusion, not understanding why the Song army would catch him.

  "Who are you and why have you come to Yanshan Prefecture?"

  "Gentlemen, I am Hu Zhao, a scout of the Imperial Guard in Bianjing. A few days ago, I got separated from my comrades and was hiding in a mountain cave near the river when the Jin army attacked Yanshan Prefecture. Luckily, I escaped with my life. Now that I've met you, Song soldiers, I'm finally safe."

  "How dare you still lie? You must be a spy left by Jin Jun. Take him out and behead him."

  That executioner looked at Zhao Yi in disbelief, until he was dragged out of the government office and shouted for mercy, but it was too late, and his fate could not be changed.

  The rest of the people saw Zhao Yi being so silent and dared not to provoke Zhao Yi. Cai Jing understood that it was very inappropriate to do so, and also found out that Zhao Yi was eager to execute this scout. However, no matter how Zhao Yi judged, he would never go against him. Cai Jing knew the way of being a minister, as a minister, one must know when to speak and what to say, otherwise, he would not live for long.

  Zhao Yi deeply carved Hu Zhao's name in his heart and vowed to clear her name one day.

  Zhao Yun's mood was somewhat heavy, and after discussing a few words with Cai Jing and others, the meeting ended. Lying in bed, Zhao Yun couldn't fall asleep for a long time. The scout's panicked look was deeply etched in Zhao Yun's memory. He had casually deprived someone of their life for the sake of his plan. Was this right or wrong?

  Zhao Song forcefully shook his head, now was not the time to think about these things. He should focus on planning a rescue of Taiyuan City with minimal casualties. Otherwise, if the 20,000 imperial guards following him suffered heavy losses, Zhao Song would never forgive himself. Even if the court wanted to execute him, it would have to wait until after the siege of Taiyuan was lifted. The storm had arrived fiercely, and only then did it make sense.

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