The seasons on the grassland seem to change especially quickly.
But in the blink of an eye, the afterglow of summer completely disappeared.
Another year has passed as autumn goes and winter comes. Heavy snow falls from the sky, covering the ground like a quilt.
Winter is coming.
The loss of Changyuan Town crushed the morale of the Northern Di army. They could only be driven northwards, and finally when winter came, they were completely forced back to their original territory.
The North was temporarily calm.
It was already February of the following year.
The emperor had long been numbed by the frequent reports of victory on the battlefield.
“… Xie Bufeng is quite lucky,” he put the battle report aside and said with a wry smile, “All good luck will eventually run out.” After saying that, he picked up the teacup and took a sip, looking very relaxed.
Then the emperor laughed softly as if he remembered something interesting, and the anxious feeling in his body was alleviated a lot.
In the afternoon, only the emperor and the eunuch Xian who had just delivered the battle report were in the imperial study.
The heat in the room made people drowsy.
After hearing his words, the old eunuch quickly smiled and agreed.
The emperor placed his hand on his forehead, paused for a moment and said: "...Since the Northern Di have already retreated from Changyuan and lost several battles in a row and returned to the grassland, then Xie Bufeng... is of no use. Isn't it?"
—Some time ago, after a brief fit of rage, the emperor discovered from the reports of victory after victory that the young man did have some talent in military affairs, and then he began to think of using him.
If we win, we will drive the Northern Di away.
If Xie Bufeng loses, he will lose his life.
No matter how you look at it, this is a deal that won't lose money.
When the birds are gone, the good bows are put away.
Now that Beidi has left Changyuan Town and returned to where he should go... it's time.
"Your Majesty is right..." Eunuch Xian immediately nodded in agreement.
Once the flames of war are started, they will not be extinguished so easily.
The old eunuch bit his lip and couldn't help thinking in his heart - although the Beidi had left Changyuan Town and temporarily returned to the grassland, as long as they still had some strength left, they would not give up so easily.
It won’t be long before the Northern Di will come back to attack.
Even a eunuch like him understood this truth, so of course the emperor also knew it.
But the news of victory had already made this emperor dizzy.
In his opinion, since the Northern Di could be defeated by Xie Bufeng, it proved that they were not as powerful as the legend said.
It's better to be grateful for not meeting one of them, because others will still be able to defeat them in the future.
Compared with the already vulnerable Northern Di, it is more important for him to sit firmly on the throne.
The emperor's head became dizzy again. He slowly closed his eyes, sat here to rest and said no more.
The virtuous eunuch who had worked by his side for decades knew what the emperor meant—he was almost making it clear to him that he should immediately find someone to get rid of Xie Bufeng.
The emperor did not let him go down, because he wanted him to handle the matter in front of him.
The virtuous eunuch was already familiar with all of this.
Although he was good friends with Wen Qingci and helped him deliver things to Xie Bufeng, he also had the intention of considering the young man as a candidate for future successor and taking sides with him.
But how can the future be compared with the safety and security of the present
When the emperor was dozing off, Eunuch Xian called people to the side hall and passed on the news of the elimination of Xie Bufeng.
"… Remember not to act abruptly and don't let anyone see you," the old eunuch said softly, "When fighting, you can strike while the chaos is going on."
It was written in the battle report that in the eyes of the garrison soldiers, Xie Bufeng was no different from a god.
If his death was suspicious, it would definitely cause an uproar in the army.
This would not be good news.
"Yes, I will obey your command." The visitor understood what he meant and immediately bowed and responded.
"Okay, you can leave now."
"yes."
The voices of the two men's conversation were neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the emperor who was dozing in the palace to hear.
As the footsteps disappeared, the emperor's originally frowned brows gradually relaxed, and then he fell into a deep sleep with peace of mind.
After receiving the order, the man immediately left Taishu Palace and headed north.
The virtuous eunuch clenched his palms and returned to his original position.
The eunuchs and palace maids around the emperor work in shifts, so it is not time for him to leave yet.
After half an hour, someone finally replaced him.
It was already late, but Eunuch Xian did not return to his residence. Instead, he went straight to the Imperial Medical Bureau.
He told Wen Qingci about this matter as soon as possible.
The war came to an end with the temporary retreat of the Northern Di.
The supplies that were originally delivered to the base on a regular basis also stopped, and Wen Qingci temporarily lost contact with the North.
The only thing to be thankful for was that he had already given all the things that needed to be given to Xie Bufeng several months ago.
Besides, the young man, who already had a reputation of his own, could no longer be easily bullied.
After receiving the news from Eunuch Xian, Wen Qing left Taishu Palace and went to the medical clinic on the outskirts of the city.
Experience and common sense told him that winter in the north lasted nearly half a year.
Especially in recent times, the average temperature is around minus 20 degrees Celsius.
At this temperature, let alone fighting, if people don't keep warm enough, they might freeze to death on the battlefield.
Both the Northern Di and Wei Dynasty armies had to rest and recuperate at this time.
But when the coldest part of winter is over, the situation will be different...
By then, a new round of war may break out at the border at any time, and I must always pay attention to the changes in the war situation there.
Since people in the palace no longer travel frequently between the two places, he can only place his hopes on "his own people".
The reason he came to the clinic was to personally ask the medicine servant to go to Changyuan Town to keep an eye on any movement in the north for him.
Then send the news back to Yongdu as soon as possible.
—
In the blink of an eye, another half month has passed.
Winter is not over yet, but the temperature has warmed up a lot compared to before.
The security in the military camp became increasingly strict and tense.
As the hour of Yin arrived, the long silence of the night was pierced by the sound of a military bugle call.
The well-prepared army gathered together and headed north.
—The Northern Di finally arrived.
Different from last year, this time people did not avoid looking at each other or feel nervous. Some were even extremely excited.
"Line up and march forward." A slightly low voice came from under the black armor.
The strong wind blew up her slightly curly long hair, and her amber eyes were filled with murderous intent that was about to overflow.
There was still a hint of smile on the boy's lips.
Not only was he not afraid, he was even looking forward to this battle.
"Yes, General!"
The young general rode forward quickly on his horse.
—To this day, he still retains the habit he had in Guangchi Camp and always stands at the front of the team.
After several military exploits, even though he was deliberately suppressed, Xie Bufeng still became the General Dingyuan stationed here at a terrifying speed.
The soldiers around him discovered that compared to "Your Highness", Xie Bufeng preferred the title of General.
Perhaps he took advantage of these months to summarize the experience of his previous disastrous defeat, or perhaps he recovered some of his strength after a winter of rest.
Compared with last year, this battle was particularly difficult.
It was already daybreak, and the cold, blinding sunlight fell on the armor, dazzling the eyes.
Xie Bufeng's arm was scratched by the sword at some point, and the bright red blood dyed the silver armor red.
But the boy, who was born without the sense of pain, didn't even look at it.
He continued to swing his heavy sword and rode towards the Beidi camp.
At this moment, several cold lights suddenly flashed before Xie Bufeng's eyes.
A soldier wearing Northern Di armor drew his sword and charged straight at him.
Xie Bufeng immediately raised his sword and slashed forward.
The next second, he chopped one of them in half.
However, this bloody scene did not scare the others.
Even those few people have completely put life and death aside.
They kept swinging their swords, stabbing at Xie Bufeng's throat and heart.
And he found the right moment and slashed at Xie Bufeng's wrist with his sword—
Then he laughed slowly.
The sword struck Xie Bufeng's wrist guard, and the remaining force flowed along the bones to the entire arm.
The metal wrist guard cracked, revealing a clear blue.
The next second, along with the shattering of one of the small pieces of medicinal jade, the medicinal jade that Xie Bufeng had carefully hidden under the wristband fell to the ground.
Fell into a pool of blood.
It was not until the man was knocked off his horse that the pain-free boy realized what had just happened.
Medicine Jade...
Xie Bufeng’s eyes widened instantly.
The young general's expression suddenly became panic-stricken.
He could not care about the ongoing melee, nor the Northern Di soldiers who might kill him at any time.
Xie Bufeng completely followed his instinct, jumped off his horse, and reached out to the pool of blood.
"General!!!"
His actions scared the people around him.
Several attackers looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.
They disguised themselves as Northern Di soldiers and sneaked here. They remembered what happened on the day Xie Bufeng just joined the army, and with the mentality of taking a gamble, they attacked the place where the young man hid the medicinal jade.
I didn’t expect that Xie Bufeng actually cared so much about that string of medicinal jade!
In a panic, someone's warhorse stepped on Xie Bufeng's arm, but the young man didn't even blink.
He half-knelt on the ground, searching for the medicinal jade in the pool of blood like a possessed person.
It was as if she wanted to find back the morning when Riwen Qingci stood behind her and gently tied her hair.
At this moment, Xie Bufeng completely forgot that he was on the battlefield.
Just as his fingers touched the familiar coolness, a strange sound suddenly came from his ears.
—The sharp blade cut through the armor and slashed across Xie Bufeng’s back.
The knife cut across Xie Bufeng's back, and a pungent iron smell instantly came over.
But an extremely cold smile suddenly appeared on Xie Bufeng's lips.
He carefully grasped the broken medicinal jade and slowly stood up.
found it.
The next moment, he turned around and raised his sword, slashing at the group of people like a madman.
(End of this chapter)