Taj-kis had obviously sensed Song Qingshu's intentions. To prevent Tang Kuobian from getting into trouble, she had even ordered Fu San Zhongyi's men to imprison Guo Jing. This was to prevent Tang Kuobian's reputation from being tarnished if Guo Jing were to be rescued.
Song QingShu was filled with emotion. He had to admit that in addition to her beautiful appearance, this woman also had the unique wisdom of a mature woman. She was really charming.
The remaining Song soldiers on the mountain who could still leave had taken advantage of the chaos that Guo Jingchong had created to escape down the mountain. As for whether they could escape alive, it was up to fate. As for the heavily injured soldiers, they were unable to leave. To not be a burden to their comrades, they stayed behind to cover the retreat.
They were the ones who had been watching Guo Jing charge into the camp. When they saw Guo Jing taking the lead and breaking through the Jin camp, they cheered with joy. However, when they saw Guo Jing fall into the encirclement and fail, they all sighed. When they saw Guo Jing fall to the ground, they all cried out in pain, "Hero Guo!"
The group of men could not help but hug each other and cry. Soon, they noticed that the Jin soldiers were approaching the mountain. They discussed, "We kidnapped the wife and daughter of a Jin soldier from Xuzhou. Now that we are captured, we will definitely be tortured. Why don't we end it ourselves?"
"That's right. Hero Guo is leaving first. We will follow him immediately!"
With that, the rest of the group prepared to be slaughtered …
Fu San Zhongyi could not help but sigh after hearing the Song soldiers' choice. "If the Song soldiers were all as unyielding as they are now, the Jin would never be able to occupy their territory."
He quickly changed the topic. "However, such people are destined to be in the minority. Most Song soldiers are like Chen Xiaoqing, who abandoned their comrades on the battlefield."
Song Qingshu was obviously not in the mood to discuss human nature with him. He secretly transmitted his voice to Taj-kis, "How is Guo Jing now?"
"A doctor from the army has just examined him. There are eight serious injuries, thirty-six minor injuries, and twelve arrow wounds. If it weren't for his strong internal energy and good physique, he would have died long ago." Fu San Zhongyi replied, "Even so, he is now half a foot in the gates of hell. Whether he can be saved or not is still a fifty-fifty chance."
Taitish waved her hand. "Have the physician treat him at all costs. His life must be preserved."
San Zhongyi asked doubtfully, "Marshal, forgive this subordinate for speaking bluntly, but Guo Jing has always been loyal. Even if we save him, he will not surrender. Since that is the case, why should we waste so much effort to save him?" Clearly, he was not interested in Tang Kuo's argument for sparing Guo Jing's life. In his opinion, it would be better to just chop off Guo Jing's head and use it as a sign to clear the way south.
Taitish frowned and snorted. "I have my own arrangements. You don't have to worry about this."
Fu San Zhongyi smiled bitterly. "Marshal, even if you don't say it, I can guess. Most likely, you feel that Guo Jing is a rare commodity. But this time, Guo Jing has clearly been abandoned by the Southern Song. This is enough to prove that although his prestige among the people is high, he is not important in the eyes of the Southern Song officials."
"Who said I want to use him to threaten the Southern Song?" Taitish replied unhurriedly. "Guo Jing was once the Golden Blade Prince Consort of the Mongols. Since then, he has always been at odds with the Mongols. I believe the Mongols have no lack of interest in him. Compared to the Southern Song, the Mongols will surely offer a higher price."
Fu San Zhongyi cried out in alarm. "If we hand Guo Jing over to the Mongols, won't we be releasing a tiger back into the mountains?"
Taitish plainly replied, "Who said I want to hand Guo Jing over to them in one piece? With a few tricks, he will be a cripple. When the time comes, what is there to be afraid of? "
Fu San Zhongyi sucked in a breath of cold air. "Marshal is brilliant!"
Beside her, Song QingShu couldn't help but gasp in admiration. Throughout the entire conversation, he hadn't given any hints to Taitish through his secret voice transmission. Yet, she had cleverly filled in the gaps of the plot, making it perfectly reasonable to spare Guo Jing's life and dispelling the suspicions of the other soldiers.
Recalling her splendid performance while she was pretending to be Tang Kuo Bian, Song Qingshu secretly sighed with emotion. The cold and aloof Zi Shan Dragon Queen of yesteryear has now turned into a different kind of brilliance from her.
Once they were done with their tasks, they returned to their respective tents. Taitish ordered her personal guards to stand guard outside and forbid anyone from approaching the Marshal's tent. Inside the tent, she removed her mask and looked at Song Qingshu meaningfully. "Do you really want to save Guo Jing?"
Song Qingshu sat on a stool and pulled her into his embrace. "Of course. Otherwise, why would I have gone through so much trouble?"
Taitish doubtfully asked, "But what benefits would saving Guo Jing bring to you?"
Before Song Qingshu could answer, Taitish continued, "I really cannot think of what benefits saving Guo Jing would bring to you. After all, you cannot openly use Song Qingshu's identity to save him. If you do so, you will thoroughly offend the Jin Kingdom and easily incur their vengeance against the Golden Snake Battalion. If the imperial court becomes agitated, even if we are the actual rulers of the Jin Kingdom, we will still be coerced by the will of the people and have no choice but to attack the Golden Snake Battalion. Moreover, sooner or later, your identity in the Jin Kingdom will be made public. Sowing hatred now will be detrimental to the overall situation in the future."
Song Qingshu bitterly smiled and said, "That's right. From the perspective of benefits, saving Guo Jing will only bring harm and no benefit."
Taitish stretched out her slender finger and shook it in front of his face. "No, no, no. There is still a benefit. For example … winning Madam Guo's favor?"
Song QingShu replied angrily, "What are you thinking about?"
Taitish answered, "Is there even a need to think about it? Huang Rong was once hailed as the number one beauty of the martial world. Moreover, her unique identity and temperament have caused countless men to drool over her. Don't tell me you are not a man? "
"Of course I am a man. Eh?" Song Qingshu suddenly reacted. "You have led me into a ditch."
Taitish revealed a ruminating smile. "I know your temperament the best. I do not believe that you will not be moved by a woman of the highest quality like Huang Rong. It is a pity that Guo Jing and Huang Rong are deeply in love and are a famous immortal couple in the martial world. Other men simply do not stand a chance. Originally, this was a very good opportunity to borrow the hands of the Jin Kingdom to eliminate Guo Jing. No one in the world would blame you for Guo Jing's death, including Huang Rong. This way, you can appear by that charming widow's side with a warm and caring attitude. You can take care of her and avenge her husband. With your abilities and the absence of Guo Jing as the biggest obstacle, I believe she will not be able to escape from your evil clutches. "
"Evil clutches?" Hearing this adjective, Song Qingshu could not help but pinch her. What kind of words are those!
"Isn't that so?" Taitish chuckled. "Didn't she also fall into your evil clutches?"
Without waiting for his response, she continued. "What I have just said is what I cannot understand. You obviously had a great chance of obtaining Huang Rong, yet you gave up and chose to save Guo Jing. After thinking about it, there is only one explanation."
Song Qingshu's finger lightly grazed the smooth skin of her cheeks. He curiously asked, "What explanation?"
"That you have already obtained Huang Rong." Taitish said as she carefully observed his expression. "This is the only explanation for your insistence on saving Guo Jing. You are afraid that Huang Rong will find out about this and turn against you."
Song QingShu's heart was in turmoil. His relationship with Huang Rong could be said to be one of his greatest secrets. He knew how great the impact of this matter would be. Therefore, he had never told anyone about it, not even the women closest to him. Yet, Taitish had actually managed to deduce it based on some clues.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
