AEOGA CH89

Just like Jiangnan, “Northern Frontier” was merely a collective term.

Changli was vast, possessing countless cities and towns, but the Northern Frontier was comprised of five major cities: Mobei, Yanmen, Jincheng, Linglan, and Wolong. When Qin Yulong had trained in the borderlands back then, he had been stationed in Yanmen. It bordered Xifeng, separated only by the Dayan River, which was shaped like a wild goose.

Wolong City, on the other hand, bordered Yelang Kingdom. Because the continuous Wolong Mountain Range mostly fell within its territory, it was named Wolong City. If Yelang wanted to reach Xifeng’s border, its troops had to borrow a path through Wolong City and pass through Linglan, Jincheng, and Yanmen, as if entering an unpopulated realm. Such a severe violation of Changli’s territorial sovereignty was something Changli had always swallowed in silence due to Yelang’s strong military and well-fed horses.

Xie Chongjin, however, had no intention of enduring it any longer. The military drills he had conducted over the past year were not for nothing, nor was the forging of weapons—it was all to have sufficient confidence and strength to strike back.

Although Yelang had not yet formally declared war on Changli, it had been making frequent moves in the Northern Frontier in recent years. Now, perhaps relying on the fact that their development of repeating crossbows and puppet Gu was near completion, they looked down on Changli even more, brazenly crossing the mountain to camp and train troops at its foot, revealing their open ambition to swallow the land. The local prefect was entirely inactive; instead, Night Young Villa had led people several times to beat back the Yelang soldiers attempting to cross the border.

With foreign enemies eyeing them greedily, the local official should have been filled with anxiety. For the local prefect to act so arrogantly, who knew if he hadn’t already colluded with foreign enemies, abusing power under false pretenses?

Thinking of what the Shadow Intel had uncovered over the past few days, Xie Chongjin’s eyes darkened.

Lu Xuechao noticed Xie Chongjin’s increasingly cold expression. Without a word, he squeezed his hand comfortingly.

Xie Chongjin rubbed his temples, his features showing the exhaustion of days of continuous toil: “It was my oversight. I never knew Yelang had grown so rampant as to train troops inside Changli’s borders, while the Wolong Prefect abuses his power, bringing misery to the borderland people.”

“Even the wisest can have a lapse,” Lu Xuechao said, massaging his temples. “There are too many affairs to handle, and even I am stretched thin—how could we attend to everything? Didn’t I also remain unaware? This matter should have been reported by the local prefect, yet he reported the turmoil of Night Young Villa while leaving out Yelang’s unusual movements entirely. His heart deserves death.”

Xie Chongjin spoke coldly: “I’m afraid he has sold out the country.”

“Yulong previously told me that the military pay issued to the border camps was always insufficient, and the soldiers couldn’t eat their fill—where would they get the strength to fight? When Yujing transports provisions to Yan Pass, the Panlong Pass stretching from Wolong to Linglan is a mandatory route. If it was embezzled by local officials, lining their own pockets is secondary—if it went to feed Yelang’s troops… back then, I clearly sent people to investigate Yanmen, yet missed Wolong—no, I didn’t miss it, I sent people to check it as well, and yet… cough cough!” Xie Chongjin coughed twice out of anger.

Lu Xuechao immediately patted his back: “Huaiyun.”

He pulled out a water pouch: “Have some water.”

He knew Xie Chongjin was a good emperor with a deep sense of responsibility, devoting himself entirely to the country and its people. No matter how well he usually concealed his emotions, encountering such a matter bound him to feel true fury.

Xie Chongjin shook his head: “I’m just angered. I’m not thirsty, so save this water for yourself to drink.”

They were currently on the desert path leading from Mobei to Jincheng. Large swathes of the Northern Frontier were desert; droughts occurred every year, and sandstorms were exceptionally severe. Under Lin Chanzhi’s planning, many poplars and red willows had been planted here for greening, but results would not show immediately, leaving vast stretches of desert all around.

They had abandoned carriages, replacing the draft animals with camels. Water was precious in the desert, and Xie Chongjin figured he should save every drop he could, just in case, to leave more for Qingshu.

Lu Xuechao felt helpless: “Since we came out, naturally enough water was brought along. You don’t need to worry unnecessarily.”

Along this trip, Xie Chongjin had barely drunk any water, wanting to save it all for him. Under conditions where resources were limited yet essential to life, Xie Chongjin’s concern for Lu Xuechao would skyrocket.

Xie Chongjin immediately replied: “I don’t worry about the sky, I only worry about you.”

This damned protective instinct.

“Are you drinking or not?” Lu Xuechao feigned impatience. “If your lips get chapped, don’t even think about kissing me again—I’ll find it uncomfortable.”

“…” The moment Lu Xuechao showed anger, Xie Chongjin instantly grew obedient: “I’ll drink.”

Only after seeing Xie Chongjin obediently drink the water was Lu Xuechao satisfied.

“Once we reach Wolong City, don’t alert the enemy first,” Lu Xuechao brought the topic back. “I want to meet Dugu Ye. It would be best to persuade him to surrender without bloodshed; unless absolutely necessary, we cannot resort to force.”

Because the current situation in Wolong City was unclear, with Yelang soldiers stationed and the prefect’s stance a mystery, they had not traveled with the grand procession of the Emperor and Empress this time. Instead, they disguised themselves as imperial couriers transporting military grain. Though it was still a sizeable convoy, their identity was at least far less eye-catching.

Otherwise, it would be hard to guarantee they wouldn’t run into assassinations.

For safety considerations, a high-profile journey was unsuited.

Both major borders of Yanmen and Wolong had troops stationed that required periodic grain deliveries. Lu Xuechao calculated that movement on Helian Yu’s end would be soon as well. The Empress Regnant had used Soul Severing Incense for nearly half a year and didn’t have long to live; once she passed, Xifeng’s situation was bound to fall into chaos, requiring Qin Yulong and Helian Xi to lead troops to assist. These past days, plenty of provisions had been shipped to Yanmen. To avoid showing favoritism and alerting the enemy, the amount sent to Wolong City was not small either.

Using the grain transport convoy to cover their tracks was the best choice.

“As for what you said about having sent people to investigate without finding issues…” Lu Xuechao murmured thoughtfully, “perhaps it wasn’t that nothing was found.”

“Does Qingshu mean that he found something but failed to report it, betraying me?” Xie Chongjin furrowed his brows. “The person was chosen by Shen Hezhou; he shouldn’t have misjudged someone.”

Lu Xuechao shook his head: “That’s not impossible, but there is another possibility.”

“Yelang excels at Gu, which can bewitch people.”

“It’s not as if there are no precedents, right?”

Xie Chongjin acted openly and uprightly; even his thoughts were righteous and noble, making him unlikely to easily consider despicable and shameless methods.

He was a true gentleman, but Yelang was a true villain.

Wolong City was a crucial border hub. Ever since Xie Chongjin learned that military grain was being embezzled layer by layer, every time he sent imperial couriers over, he would dispatch trusted aides to supervise and ensure the destination of the grain, as well as inspect local officials on the side. The trusted aide monitoring Wolong City had never reported anything abnormal, which was why Xie Chongjin had remained unaware of Wolong City’s state.

Regarding this, Lu Xuechao did not believe the trusted aide had betrayed them.

Yelang excelled at using Gu. Although they could not yet craft Gu that could control Xie Chongjin for three years like the rumors claimed, a century ago there had already been Gu capable of influencing a person’s mind temporarily, commanding them to do a specific task. Back then, that general had been bewitched into making a fatal error in decision-making, leading to military defeat.

Thus today, bewitching the confidant sent by Xie Chongjin into forgetting a single matter would be all too easy.

Yelang used Gu to control people so Changli would fail to notice in time, attempting to silently infiltrate the border and catch Changli completely off guard.

A filthy method.

Yet as long as it worked, it was an effective method.

At the foot of Wolong Mountain, along Panlong Pass.

The grand grain transport convoy finally traversed the desert and arrived outside Wolong City, flags fluttering with the character for “Official” standing out prominently on the government banners.

Up on the mountain, a young mountain-patrolling man spotted this grand sight from afar and immediately ran back to the manor in extreme haste to report: “Manor Master! Manor Master! A grain convoy has arrived at the foot of the mountain!”

Seated at the main seat above was a handsome man in black, resting on a chair draped with a tiger pelt. His lowered, icy-blue eyes were cold and sharp. A single glance from those dangerous eyes made one feel the hair-raising sensation of being targeted by a wild beast.

Before he could speak, the Second-in-Command beside him spoke up: “What are you shouting about? Don’t grain convoys pass by down the mountain every day? How did the steward teach you? We don’t do the business of robbing merchant caravans; only report when you see those Yelang bastards attacking.”

Merchant grain convoys frequently passed through Panlong Pass, and Night Young Villa left them alone. They never robbed ordinary people—only the government—and what they robbed, they gave back to the commoners. Aside from local officials, no one viewed them as bandits; everyone called them chivalrous heroes.

Their Manor Master said that robbing the rich to give to the poor wasn’t considered true justice, as merchants worked hard for their money too, so there was no logic in giving it to the poor just because they lacked it. But the Wolong government’s money was definitely embezzled from the common people; taking it back wasn’t called robbery, but reclaiming what was rightfully theirs, perfectly natural and justified.

The patrolling man hurriedly explained: “It’s not a merchant convoy, it’s a government convoy!”

The Second-in-Command immediately stood up: “Did you see clearly? It’s really a government convoy?”

The patrolling man said: “Though I can’t read, the steward specifically taught us to recognize the character for ‘Official’! I saw the pattern on that flag crystal clear—it’s the court sending grain!”

Dugu Ye finally opened his mouth: “Are they heading toward Linglan, or toward Wolong City?”

If they were heading toward Linglan, that meant transporting military grain to Yanmen, which they wouldn’t touch. Night Young Villa could only manage the territory of Wolong City, and could only protect the commoners of a single city. Interfering further would mean attempting to occupy the entire Northern Frontier, openly opposing the imperial court.

Because the Wolong Prefect oppressed the local populace, Dugu Ye had led the masses to resist, yet he did not wish to—nor could he—resist the current Emperor. They did not have enough military strength to contend with the court; once the court was alarmed and slapped them with the title of rebels, all the desperate commoners on the mountain would die.

Besides, he had heard that the Yanmen Prefect was dismissed and replaced last year, and all the military grain sent to Yanmen reached the army down to the last grain, so there was no need to intercept it. The situation in Wolong was far more severe; Yelang soldiers had crossed the mountain to set up camp at the foot of Wolong Mountain, and an army needed food. Since transporting grain was inconvenient, it was all obtained from within Changli’s borders. No matter how insensitive merchants were to politics, they still knew Yelang’s actions were an outright provocation against Changli, so fewer merchants had come to do business in Wolong recently, to the point that even Master Wang, who was permanently stationed in the Northern Frontier, had returned to Yujing.

Merchant convoys wouldn’t sell grain to these Yelang soldiers, yet the Wolong Prefect had defected to Yelang, proactively handing over the grain he had exploited and embezzled from Changli’s commoners and court, even giving away Wolong City’s terrain and defense plans completely. He was fearful of death, bullying the weak while fearing the strong; the Changli Emperor’s reach couldn’t extend all the way to the border, but the Yelang soldiers’ blades could chop off his head at any moment—did he even need to think about whose orders to follow?

Surprisingly, the commoners inside Wolong City retained a bit of backbone, remembering the century-old feud between the two nations and voluntarily resisting.

Under such circumstances, Night Young Villa was bound to intercept any military grain sent to Wolong City by the court. Only if they intercepted it could the grain reach the hands of Changli’s military; if they didn’t, the prefect would feed all the grain to Yelang’s soldiers.

The patrolling man answered: “They are heading toward Wolong City, looking like they intend to enter the city.”

Dugu Ye tapped his knuckles against the armrest, raising those cold, indifferent ice-blue eyes.

“Gather our men, fully armed, and go intercept the grain.”

This was not the first time they were doing this. Refraining from touching military grain had always been their rule, but when the government embezzled from within and colluded with foreign enemies, they could not sit idly by.

However, in the past, they would wait until the grain entered the government granary before intercepting it, never clashing directly with the court’s official convoy. This time, the prefect had made harsh threats, claiming he had already reported their “evil deeds” to the court, and that the court would send troops to slay them in a few days.

Since the matter had already reached the Emperor, he might as well risk it all.

It would be best if that down there was just a grain convoy; but if it was the court disguised as a grain convoy sending troops to wipe them out, it would be better to strike first.