As soon as Long Fei Ye arrived at the barracks, he received news that Han Yunxi was personally leading the expedition.
His travel-worn figure came to an abrupt halt at the gates of the barracks, his naturally cold expression growing even colder.
Although he knew that Ning Cheng had already kidnapped Han Yunxi and taken her to Tianning's capital, and that Han Yunxi would personally lead the expedition as soon as she arrived, he still felt caught off guard by the news.
Han Yunxi leading the expedition meant that all his efforts over the past few days had gone to waste. No matter how much he doubted Han Yunxi's identity, the Tang Clan and the Baili Army would never believe his excuses again.
Princess of Western Qin, you must hate your lordship to the core.
Long Fei Ye took out the two letters he'd been hiding on his person. One was the purple letter he'd written to Han Yunxi after Gu Beiyue's death and his identity as East Qin was announced. It only contained one sentence: "Han Yunxi, do you still believe in me?"
The other was an empty letter from Han Yunxi.
He hadn't seen her after rushing to Medical City, only the purple letter she'd left on the table.
He'd never been able to figure out the meaning of the empty letter.
Now that she was leading the expedition herself, wasn't that a clear indication of her stance?
Could it be that Ning Cheng was the one who forced her to lead the troops? Thinking up to here, Long Fei Ye's lips quirked up in a self-mocking smile.
Why would he think that?
Han Yunxi was the princess of Western Qin, and she knew he'd deceived her for so long. How could she not hate him?
She must have resented his identity as well as his deceit. Long Fei Ye suddenly regretted it. Perhaps he shouldn't have hidden it from her.
If he hadn't, perhaps she'd hate him less.
"Your Highness! Your Highness, you've finally returned! "Baili Yuanlong's delighted voice carried over.
Long Fei Ye silently put away the letters.
"Your Highness, Han Yunxi is personally leading an expedition in Tianning's capital. She's under Ning Cheng's escort, leading her troops south! She was the princess of Western Qin, there was no mistake about it! Now that things have gotten to this point, I ask Your Highness to quickly declare your position and raise the army's morale! "Baili Yuanlong said anxiously.
As soon as his voice fell, two familiar faces appeared in front of Long Fei Ye. They were none other than Tang Zijin and Tang Yiru.
"Feiye, this is no small matter. As I see it …"
Before Aunt Ru could finish her sentence, Long Fei Ye asked Tang Zijin Coldly, "When did the rules of the Tang Sect change? What about Tang Li? Call me over immediately! "
"Feiye, with the enemy before us, the Tang Clan's rules can be abolished! Han Yunxi … "
Aunt Ru wanted to explain herself, but Long Fei Ye didn't give her a chance. He was in a bad mood to begin with, so Aunt Ru was simply asking for trouble.
"As a traitor of the Tang Clan, what right do you have to talk to your lordship about the enemy before us? Tang Zijin, take her back to wherever you brought her from. Otherwise, don't blame your lordship for being impolite! You should know that the Tang Clan and the Shadow Guard have the same rules, but anyone who violates them will be killed without mercy! "
At his words, everyone recalled how Long Fei Ye had crippled Chu Xifeng's martial arts and sent him back to Celestial Mountain. Tang Yiru shut her mouth.
The Tang Clan wasn't one of the Seven Noble Families, but a secret guard of the East Qin imperial clan. All of its expenses came from the imperial clan. Every year, the Tang Clan would send a group of guards to the imperial clan to protect its members with hidden weapons.
Because of the Tang Clan's concealment skills, it was mostly safe and sound after the East Qin Empire was destroyed. Long Feiye's grandfather had survived under its protection.
Long Fei Ye's father had fallen in love with Tang Yiwan. The Tang Clan's rules of not marrying outside the clan were invalid to the imperial clan. Moreover, because the Tang Clan's status was inferior to the Seven Noble Families, Tang Yiwan couldn't be made empress, but Consort Wan.
Thus, although Long Fei Ye was the last crown prince of East Qin, he could only call his mother "Mufei" instead of "Empress Mother."
In other words, if not for the fact that Tang Yiwan was Long Fei Ye's mother, anyone in the Tang Clan would have the same status as Chu Xifeng and the other Shadow Guards. They had no right to speak in front of Long Fei Ye, much less argue with him.
Even Baili Yuanlong was afraid at the sight of Long Fei Ye's icy expression, to say nothing of Tang Zijin and Tang Yiru.
"Someone come, take Tang Yiru back!" Tang Zijin was the first to speak up. He knew that he'd be in danger if he kept arguing.
"Did Tang Li tell you to release her?" Long Fei Ye asked.
"It has nothing to do with Tang Li. But this subordinate considered the importance of the matter and Tang Yiru had countermeasures, so …"
Long Fei Ye was so irascible that he didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence. Coldly, he said, "Without the clan head's permission, you took a criminal away from the Tang Clan. That's the same as betrayal! Someone come, take these two back to the Tang Clan for the clan head to deal with! "
Tang Yiru wanted to retort, but Tang Zijin held her back. He regretted not listening to his wife and acting so rashly. Now he'd made things difficult for his son.
Fortunately, before Long Fei Ye arrived, he and his sister had already spoken with General Baili for an entire day. He believed that the general wouldn't disappoint them.
As soon as the Tang siblings left, General Baili said what they hadn't said. "Your Highness, Han Yunxi was once the Qin Wangfei and was in charge of the South Central Military Governor's Estate. She has considerable prestige in the army, but her current status has greatly damaged the morale of our East Qin soldiers. Many people in the army are saying that you … "
Baili Yuanlong hesitated for a moment, but still resolutely continued, "They're all saying that you've been used by a woman. In this general's humble opinion, Your Highness should personally step forward and clarify this matter. With Your Highness's intelligence and wisdom, how could you be used by a woman? Your Highness should be the one using Han Yunxi! "
How could this be Baili Yuanlong's "humble opinion"? This was Tang Yiru's idea.
As long as Long Fei Ye publicly admitted that he'd used Han Yunxi, it would be impossible for the two of them to be together.
Long Fei Ye coldly looked at Baili Yuanlong and didn't say anything for a while. Unlike Tang Zijin and Aunt Ru, Baili Yuanlong didn't have anything on Long Fei Ye. He faced this matter openly and without fear.
"Your Highness, regardless of whether or not you've really used Han Yunxi, you must express your stance in order to stabilize the morale of the army!" Baili Yuanlong said seriously.
"What's Gu Beiyue's whereabouts?" Long Fei Ye changed the topic.
Baili Yuanlong directly knelt down. "On behalf of all the nameless soldiers of the Bai Clan who sacrificed themselves, this general asks Your Highness to reconsider!"
Long Fei Ye's cold eyes were as deep as a cold lake, bottomless and impossible to see through.
He squatted down and said to Baili Yuanlong word for word, "General Baili, this Crown Prince represents the East Qin Imperial Family's ancestors to tell you that my East Qin Imperial Family is not incompetent and shameless enough to use a woman to wash away our shame, recover our homeland, and conquer this land! This Crown Prince believes that this action is not something your Baili Army's thousands of soldiers will agree with! If the morale of the army cannot be stabilized, this Crown Prince will be cursed by the world! If you let the Western Qin princess win the pity of the world, can you bear the consequences? "
Baili Yuanlong was stunned. He couldn't kneel properly and almost fell to the ground.
As soon as Long Feiye finished speaking, he rose to his feet and headed for the camp. Coldly, he said, "If Gu Beiyue has any news, report it quickly. You better not lie to your lordship!"
Baili Yuanlong finally realized that this matter would damage the East Qin Crown Prince's reputation and cause the dissatisfaction of the world. After all, once the East and Western Qin officially declared war, they would need a reason and the reason would be the enmity of the past.
The East and Western Qin each had their own version of the past. Which side the world believed was very important to the situation.
Baili Yuanlong secretly rejoiced, rejoicing that his highness was wise. Otherwise, Tang Zijin and his wife would have ruined this matter.
Han Yunxi and Ning Cheng would transfer troops over and the two sides would be evenly matched. In this kind of situation, the morale of the army was important, but the morale of the people was even more important.
The morale of the army was also the people's hearts. The morale of the people would affect the morale of the army.
Baili Yuanlong quickly chased after him and presented a letter, "Your highness, a letter from Chu Tianyin."
"Chu Tianyin!"
Long Fei Ye was shocked. Chu Tianyin still didn't know about Gu Beiyue's accident. He had written several letters to Medical City, questioning Gu Beiyue's and Han Yunxi's identities. Tang Li had opened all of the letters and passed them on to him.
Thinking about it, it had been several days since there had been any news from Chu Tianyin. What did Chu Tianyin mean by sending a letter to the Baili Manor?
What was Chu Tianyin's attitude towards his and Han Yunxi's identities?
Long Fei Ye opened the letter and asked Coldly, "What does this have to do with Gu Beiyue?"
"Your highness, the person who delivered the letter also sent this. He said it was from Gu Beiyue." Baili Yuanlong took out a large envelope. This large envelope was none other than the one Long Fei Ye had entrusted to Gu Beiyue. He wanted Gu Beiyue to give it to Han Yunxi!
According to Long Fei Ye's plan, the night before he announced himself as the East Qin Crown Prince, Gu Beiyue should have given this large envelope to Han Yunxi and arranged for Han Yunxi to leave Medical City to see him.
While he was worried about Gu Beiyue's whereabouts, he was also worried about the nine letters in this large envelope! Han Yunxi had written nine letters saying she missed him, but he had replied with nine empty letters. The real letters were all in this large envelope.
Long Fei Ye opened the large envelope and saw the nine letters inside, all of them intact. He tightly held the large envelope as his heart felt like it was being blocked by something. His heart was filled with affection, but he couldn't express it.
Only he knew that this large envelope contained Gu Beiyue's understanding, trust, and affection for him as the East Qin Crown Prince!
At his most desperate moment, Gu Beiyue had used this method to give him hope.
Long Fei Ye's greatest joy in his life was not killing Gu Beiyue after discovering his true identity.
A loyal and affectionate person had to live!
Baili Yuanlong felt that something was off about His Highness Duke of Qin, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He had long known that Gu Beiyue was a member of the Shadow Clan. Like Chu Xifeng, he assumed that His Highness Duke of Qin had cooperated with Gu Beiyue to hide his identity and use Gu Beiyue.
Thus, he couldn't figure out the contents of this large envelope and was filled with curiosity.
But no matter how curious he was, he didn't dare to open it.
Since these things had been delivered, it meant two things. First, Gu Beiyue was still alive. Second, Gu Beiyue and Chu Tianyin had gotten in touch.
Long Fei Ye opened the envelope and skimmed through its contents before narrowing his eyes. "Wind Clan, it really is the Wind Clan!"
Although this letter was delivered under Chu Tianyin's name, it really did contain two letters. One was from Gu Beiyue to Long Fei Ye, while the other was from Chu Tianyin himself to Long Fei Ye.
Gu Beiyue's letter told him all about Bai Yanqing's schemes!
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