MLIAM Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Don’t Die Yet, Your Beloved Is About to Become Someone Else’s Beloved…

Chapter 104: Don’t Die Yet, Your Beloved Is About to Become Someone Else’s Beloved…

The beacon fire ignited from the East Gate arrow tower cut through the night. Zhong Nian held his lance, sweeping aside several Xizhao military flags, and shouted, “Attack the city!”

Mu Shaoyang led his troops over, turning to ask those behind, “Have the Junior General and Prime Minister Wei been found yet?”

His subordinate replied, “Not yet… Furthermore… We haven’t seen Commander Cang, who is usually by Prime Minister Wei’s side, for quite some time.”

Mu Shaoyang frowned, spurred his horse to Zhong Nian’s side, and whispered a few words.

Zhong Nian immediately turned around to personally search for Zhao Lan.

After hearing the news, Zhao Lan glanced at the hazy moonlight and instructed, “Chen Li has already taken men to search. The rest of you must form small teams and avoid alarming the enemy when searching the mountains. The night fog is heavy, search the mountain gullies and riverbeds. I’m worried they’ll get lost due to the terrain of Xizhao. If they can’t be found, they’ll probably head towards a water source.”

*

Chen Li searched non-stop, panting heavily as he stopped at what felt like the hundredth fork in the road.

The area was desolate, with faint traces of gunpowder and explosions. All that remained in front of him was an abandoned drainage ditch.

He waved his hand behind him, “Search.”

A group of agile soldiers concealed themselves and quickly darted into the surrounding forest.

“General, this is already the fifth hidden passage entrance. The Imperial Palace has already been alerted. I fear the Xizhao Emperor may take action and try to encircle us, in which case none of us will be able to return… If… if it’s truly impossible, let’s retreat first, shall we?” A subordinate offered a heartfelt suggestion, “The Junior General said you can’t afford to be reckless.”

Chen Li glared at him, “He has the nerve to lecture me?” He snorted, “Who exactly is being reckless?”

“General…” The subordinate shuddered at Chen Li’s glare, hesitated, and muttered, “The Junior General is really too much, giving me such a difficult task…”

Chen Li sneered sarcastically, “If he had known not to be reckless earlier, he wouldn’t be constantly achieving merit one moment, and creating trouble the next! Saying something about saving Da Liang from fire and water, yet nobody is allowed to mention how we got into fire and water in the first place.”

He glanced at the terrain and then tapped the wall of the drainage ditch. The circular tunnel was unfathomably deep, and completely dark inside.

The stones had been eroded into stalactites by the flowing water, and the stagnant air filled the surroundings with a stench of decay.

Chen Li raised his eyebrows, “Let’s go, take a look inside.”

A group of soldiers stood at the entrance, staring gloomily at the narrow ditch, frowning.

“General… how could anyone hide in a place like this…”

It was smelly and dark, and nobody would believe that Wei Yan and Yu Shuli would lower themselves and flee into such a stinking ditch to save their lives.

Chen Li, however, straightened his armor, stretched his limbs, lit a fire starter, and walked in first.

The others exchanged glances, had no choice but to pinch their noses and follow.

Under the dim light of the fire starter, murky sewage and scattered rotting animal carcasses came into view.

The soldiers followed behind Chen Li, complaining, “There are animal corpses outside, wouldn’t there be wild beasts hiding in here?”

“This place is already deserted, the animal corpses are just natural selection. Don’t make a fuss,” Chen Li stepped over the sludge and waded through the sewage. His military boots were covered in the splashed mud, and their original appearance was no longer visible.

The nauseating smell intensified.

Chen Li frowned. As a wealthy young master, he couldn’t tolerate this environment either, and he had long wanted to turn tail and run.

But he couldn’t.

He remembered that he had shown Wei Yan all the secret passages, and when Wei Yan chatted with him, he had asked a few more questions about this one. Chen Li had told him that it was a secret passage used in the previous dynasty to transport the bodies of those who died suddenly or of unknown causes within the palace. Because the smell was too strong and wild animals were rampant, it had been abandoned by the current Xizhao Dynasty.

At that time, Wei Yan had nodded, saying meaningfully, “This is very close to the back door of the Imperial Palace and the water source. It’s a pity to abandon such a good place.”

Chen Li thought that if it were Wei Yan, if he were to accidentally enter a dangerous situation and needed to escape, he might come here.

Of course, this was the last resort.

After eliminating all other answers, the most unlikely one might become the most likely.

Sure enough, heaven rewards those who work hard.

Just as the group was gagging, Chen Li finally discovered the unconscious Wei Yan in a corner of the passage.

Wei Yan’s condition was very bad. His face was pale, his eyes were tightly closed, and he was lying injured in the sewage. Half of his clothes were soaked in the water, and the other half was covered in dark red blood stains, stickily merging with the mud, and drying on his outer garment.

Although Chen Li had been on the battlefield a few times, he had never seen anyone he knew in such a miserable state. His heart clenched, and he didn’t care about the dirty environment and his innate fastidiousness. He rushed to Wei Yan’s side and picked him up.

“Prime Minister Wei! Wake up!” He pinched his philtrum and shook him.

Fortunately, although Wei Yan was unconscious, he was still breathing. He opened his eyes with difficulty, raised his eyes slightly, and said in a hoarse voice, “Chen… Li…”

“It’s me!” Chen Li breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, “Where is the Junior General?! Why isn’t he with you?!”

“Explosion… Wan Yan Jun… wants to find him…” Wei Yan leaned weakly against him, and after saying this, he closed his eyes lifelessly.

Chen Li’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly held him up, signaled two soldiers to carefully hold him, while he himself ran away, “Send Prime Minister Wei back to the military camp! The rest of you, follow me through the secret passage, into the Imperial Palace!”

When Wei Yan woke up, it was already daytime.

When he opened his eyes, all that remained was the familiar military tent. There was no plum forest, no artillery fire.

And naturally, there was no Yu Shuli.

His heart leaped. Almost as soon as he regained consciousness, he tried frantically to get up, but he fell back onto the bed because his body was exhausted.

“Behave yourself,” Zhao Lan’s voice rang out from above, “Your family is really making it difficult for me.”

Wei Yan raised his eyes, his voice strained, “Your Majesty…”

“Don’t bother with formalities, just rest well,” Zhao Lan walked over and asked, “Is anything still uncomfortable?”

Wei Yan didn’t care about himself at all, and quickly shook his head, “How is Ji An?!”

Zhao Lan was silent for a moment, “Still searching.”

“What does ‘still searching’ mean?!” Wei Yan panicked, “Forget it… you can’t find him… I’ll go find him myself.”

Zhao Lan pressed down on his shoulder, stopping him from moving. “Enough!”

Wei Yan’s shoulder twitched, his face turned pale instantly, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Zhao Lan released his hand and raised his eyebrows, “You’re already like this, how can you go find him? Don’t you know how much effort the military doctor took to suppress the poison in your body? The toxins haven’t been cleared yet, you want to run out and exchange your life for his?”

He sighed, “I used to think Ji An was a reckless man, but who would have thought that our Prime Minister Wei would also panic and become confused…”

“He… Ji An… he’s different,” Wei Yan was dazed for a moment, “I have to find him… there was an explosion… I have to find him.”

Zhao Lan pressed his hands on the bed railing and blinked, “Speaking of the explosion, I’m also very curious, what exactly happened last night? The explosion was so loud that we were startled when we were attacking the city.”

Wei Yan struggled slightly for a moment, then calmed down. He pursed his lips and explained, “The pursuers caught up with us. Ji An saw that there weren’t many of them and went to lead them away, while I rested behind a big tree. Because there was too much blood on my body, I went to the nearby river to wipe it off. When I turned around, I smelled a strong smell of gunpowder behind me. I realized something was wrong and jumped into the river, avoiding the explosion.”

“When I wanted to get out of the water, I saw Xizhao soldiers passing by, searching everywhere. I guessed something was wrong and wanted to go back to find Ji An, but I fainted halfway because I lost too much blood and was too weak. I was afraid of being caught by Wan Yan Jun and used to threaten Ji An, so I went to the nearest secret passage that Chen Li had mentioned to me… and then, I fainted inside… later… Chen Li came.”

Wei Yan’s fingers gripped the quilt. The wound on his back that had been bandaged and medicated split open again because of his struggles, and trickles of blood flowed down his white undergarment.

Zhao Lan frowned, let go and walked out, and called the accompanying military doctor in. “Just take good care of yourself, or Ji An will feel sorry for you when he sees you.”

Wei Yan lowered his eyes and didn’t speak, letting the military doctor change the dressing without saying a word.

Zhao Lan turned away silently, and waited until the dressing was changed and the doctor left before he walked over, “If you don’t take care of your body, are you going to use this body to negotiate with Wan Yan Jun? Don’t you think that would just make him happy and laugh at you?”

Wei Yan was stunned. “What do you mean?” He listened to the sounds of the soldiers moving around, and concluded, “We’re still… outside the city?… Why? Didn’t we break through three city gates?”

Zhao Lan sighed, “As you guessed, Wan Yan Jun was caught off guard and his troops were indeed insufficient. Defending the city was a desperate measure. We did win that night and only the East Gate remained. However…”

His fingers clenched tightly, “He hung a person above the only East Gate.”

Wei Yan pursed his lips, “The Emperor Emeritus?”

Zhao Lan was speechless, “Yes.”

“Actually, I also wondered if I should just ignore his safety and attack the city directly.” There was some sorrow on his face, “But he’s crazy… he can’t even recognize people, he’s disheveled, and when someone tells him to kneel, he kneels. For a steamed bun, he calls people father… He’s hung up and paraded around, pointed at and ridiculed by the Xizhao people, and rotten vegetables are thrown at him… He’s still laughing…”

“But… he recognized me… he called me his Imperial Son… he suddenly cried and said, ‘Imperial Son, save me…'” Zhao Lan lowered his eyes, “Actually, he never showed me any fatherly love, but suddenly at that moment, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Wei Yan said calmly, “You said it yourself, he’s crazy. Maybe that was just his unconscious cry for help.”

“I naturally understand this… but… the whole army is watching. If I don’t consider filial piety at this time, then what’s the difference between me and a beast… How can they rest assured to entrust Da Liang to me?”

“So, Your Majesty gave up attacking the city?” Wei Yan smiled coldly, “That’s just great. If nothing unexpected happens, the Xizhao King’s reinforcements will arrive in the next two or three days. You’re not unfamiliar with the abilities of their frontier generals. Ji An suffered losses several times when he fought them back then. It seems that in this way, Wan Yan Jun can continue to survive.”

“You only care about criticizing me!” Zhao Lan leaned forward, glared at him, “Back then, it was agreed that you would stay in the rear of the military camp, stabilize morale, and make decisions at any time. But what about you? You left the military camp without permission, and even went behind enemy lines to save people! As a Prime Minister, you disregarded military law and should be punished!”

“Your Majesty, please forgive me,” Wei Yan curved his lips, “As long as we find Ji An, you can deal with me as you please.”

“Do I need you to say that?!” Zhao Lan glared at him, and then suddenly said, “You’d better not be in a hurry to die! I suspect Ji An was captured by your love rival and taken into the palace. You must protect your life, otherwise your beloved will become someone else’s beloved!”

Wei Yan finally woke up with a start when he heard this. He was as if struck by a heavy hammer, “You said… what?!”