webnovelvip Chapter 309 Old Zhao's arrival in the Northern Territory shocked Xu Longxiang! Had Liu Hongyan
Chapter 309 Old Zhao's arrival in the Northern Territory shocked Xu Longxiang! Had Liu Hongyan
Zhao Laosi left for another three days.
During those three days, he did not encounter any more pursuers.
The cavalry of Liyang only operated along the riverbank.
Once you cross the river, you'll be in the northern border region.
Riders from the North occasionally pass by.
He had seen them several times from afar, those familiar figures straddling their horses, their armor gleaming in the sunlight, their banners bearing the emblem of the North.
He did not step forward.
It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't.
He was dressed in rags, covered in mud, barefoot, with injuries on his face, a swollen left shoulder, and a wound under his ribs that was still bleeding.
Any normal Northern Ranger would treat him as a fugitive and arrest him first.
He didn't have time to waste on explanations.
He must see His Highness the Crown Prince as soon as possible.
On the third day at dusk, he stood on a hill and saw the outline of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.
It was a huge building complex built at the foot of the mountain, with gray walls and black tiles, square and heavy, like a giant beast lying on the ground.
The setting sun sank behind it, casting its silhouette as a dark golden shadow.
In front of the Prince's Mansion was a vast military camp, with tents spread out densely, like a wheat field after the autumn harvest.
Smoke rose from between the tents, wisps of it stretched into slanted lines by the evening breeze.
His eyes suddenly felt a little sore.
He took a deep breath and suppressed the sour feeling.
Then he started walking down the mountain.
The gates of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion slowly opened in the twilight.
When the guard at the gate saw him, he froze at first, then drew his knife and shouted sternly, "Halt! Who goes there!"
He didn't stop.
He continued walking forward, stopping only three steps away from the guard.
"I want to see His Highness the Crown Prince."
His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, but every word was clear, like a hammer striking an anvil, one strike after another.
"I am a spy from the North, codenamed 'Iron.' I have important military intelligence that I must present to His Highness."
The guard was stunned.
They looked at the middle-aged man, dressed in rags, covered in mud, and barefoot, standing in the twilight, at his bloodshot eyes, which had been streaked with soot from a stove fire for half his life, yet remained unusually calm.
One of the guards turned and ran into the mansion.
The other guard was still holding a knife, but it no longer seemed to be pointing at the enemy.
Zhao Laosi stood there, waiting.
The wind blew in from the north, carrying the familiar, dry, and cold scent of early winter.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The breath, inhaled, carried the unique, crisp, and razor-sharp cold of the North, found only on the snowfields.
He lived in Liyang for eight years, but he still couldn't get used to the snow there.
But he would never forget the wind of the North.
Hurried footsteps came from inside the door.
The guard ran back, followed by an old man in a gray robe.
Zhao Laosi recognized him; he was Sikong Xuan, the Crown Prince's chief advisor.
Sikong Xuan walked up to him and stopped.
His gaze swept over Zhao Laosi, from his tattered clothes to his muddy body, to his bare, wounded feet, to the short knife he had brought back from Liyang, its blade already dulled.
"Are you Iron?" Sikong Xuan asked, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion.
"Yes," Zhao Laosi said.
"What happened in Liyang?"
Zhao Laosi looked at him, at that aged yet unusually calm face.
His throat moved, as if something was stuck there, unable to be swallowed or spat out.
"I want to see His Highness the Crown Prince," he said.
Sikong Xuan looked at him for a while, then turned around.
"Come with me."
They walked through the front yard, through the corridor, and through door after door.
With each step Zhao Laosi took, his knees ached, the wound under his ribs was torn open, and his left shoulder felt heavier.
His vision began to blur, and the scenery in front of him seemed to be seen through a layer of mist.
He bit his tongue, and the sweet, metallic taste brought him back to his senses.
Finally, Sikong Xuan stopped in front of a door.
A plaque hangs above the door—"Zhenyue Hall".
Sikong Xuan pushed open the door.
The hall was brightly lit, with thick candles, as thick as a child's arm, burning on the bronze lampstands in the four corners.
Directly opposite the door was a long table made of rosewood, behind which sat a person.
The man was very young, about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing a dark black python robe and a jade belt around his waist.
His face was thin, with high cheekbones, prominent brow bones, and deep-set eyes. He looked like a sword that had been repeatedly tempered, cold, sharp, and silent.
Xu Longxiang.
The heir of the Prince of Zhenbei, the master of 300,000 iron cavalry in the northern border.
Zhao Laosi's legs went weak, and he knelt down with a thud.
His knee slammed onto the carpet with a dull thud.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince..."
His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, like a broken breath squeezed from deep in his throat.
"Liu Hongyan... has betrayed us."
The hall was deathly silent.
The candle crackled on the lampstand, a sound that was particularly jarring in the silence.
Xu Longxiang's hand, which was holding the teacup, suddenly stiffened.
The celadon teacup made a soft "click" sound between his fingers, and a fine crack appeared on the porcelain wall.
He didn't speak, he just sat there, motionless.
The candlelight flickered across his face, casting a half-light, half-shadow on his cold, hard features.
"impossible."
His voice was flat, so flat that no emotion could be detected.
"Absolutely impossible."
Zhao Laosi knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the carpet.
"Within the territory of the Li Yang Dynasty, all of my spies in the northern border have been eliminated by the Li Yang Imperial Guard."
"Only my subordinates survived."
"Your subordinate fled north from the capital of Liyang, encountering ambushes and assassinations along the way."
"The person who set up the ambush knew all the possible escape routes of his subordinates, knew every hiding place of his subordinates, and even knew the top secret passage clearly."
His voice grew softer and softer, like an echo coming from underground.
"She is the only person in the North who can possess all this information at the same time."
"Liu Hongyan".
Xu Longxiang remained motionless.
He sat there, holding the cracked teacup in his hand.
Zhao Laosi continued speaking.
"The first ambush is on the riverbank."
"The Imperial Guards of Liyang have sealed off all the crossings, leaving only one opening in the most dangerous section of the river."
"I went into the water from there and swam for half an hour before crossing the river."
"When we got ashore, they were already waiting there. Three second-rank martial artists, and she was the one leading them. Liu Hongyan."
"My subordinate was no match for him and was stabbed in the ribs."
"She stabbed me with her own hands."
He raised his left hand and pointed to the blood-soaked patch of his shirt below his ribs.
The movement was very slow, like lifting a rusty iron rod.
The candlelight shone on his hands, which were trembling violently, his fingertips covered in dried blood and dirt.
"The second ambush will take place in the black pine forest."
"They calculated their subordinates' pace and set up an ambush there half a day in advance."
"This time, I fought my way out with my life on the line, and was stabbed twice in the back."
He turned around, letting the candlelight shine on his back.
The clothes on his back were tattered beyond recognition, and two knife marks stretched diagonally from his left shoulder to his right rib.
The rolled-up flesh had formed a thin scab, but pale yellow liquid was still oozing from the edges, a sign that the wound was becoming infected.
"The third ambush is at Beiwangpo."
Zhao Laosi's voice went even lower, so low it sounded like he was talking in his sleep.
"That's already in the northern territory."
"My subordinates have run out of rations and water, their vital energy is depleted, their wounds are festering, and they can barely walk."
"But she's still chasing after her."
"She led a troop of light cavalry and caught up from behind."
"My subordinate rolled down the hillside and fell into a ditch. He buried himself with dry branches and leaves and that's how he escaped that disaster."
His voice stopped.
The hall was very quiet, so quiet that you could hear his heavy breathing.
Zhao Laosi knelt there, head bowed, his shoulders heaving violently.
His breathing was heavy, like an old bellows being pulled repeatedly.
He raised his head.
The candlelight shone on his face, which was so thin it was almost unrecognizable.
His cheekbones protruded high, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his lips were chapped and peeling.
His chin was covered in mud, and his beard was a messy, stubble-covered tangled mess.
Only those eyes remained bright.
Eyes bloodshot, eyes that had been stained by the fire for half their lives, yet unusually calm.
He looked at Xu Longxiang, the man he had served for half his life.
"Your Highness, Liu Hongyan has completely sided with Li Yang."
The teacup in Xu Longxiang's hand shattered.
The cracks stretched from the rim of the cup all the way to the bottom, like a dense spider web.
Tea seeped out from the crack, trickling down his fingers and dripping onto the dark table—one drop, two drops, three drops.
He didn't look down.
He just sat there, loosening his fingers one by one.
The shards of porcelain slipped from his palm and landed on the table, making a soft, crisp sound, like icicles breaking.
He looked down at his hands.
Liu Hongyan. She betrayed them.
These six words echoed in his mind over and over again.
He remembered the day she first appeared at the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion.
She was still young then, with her hair in two buns, wearing a faded blue cloth dress, standing under the porch, looking up at the plaque that read "Zhenyue Hall".
He asked her if she wanted to stay and work at the Prince's residence, and she said yes.
He asked her what she could do, and she said she could learn.
When she said this, her eyes were bright, as bright as stars in a winter night in the North.
Later, she actually learned it.
I learned to read account books, to analyze intelligence, and to dance on the edge of a knife.
She went from being a clueless young girl to one of his most trusted advisors.
She walked the most dangerous roads for him, did the most difficult things for him, and drove nail after nail for him in the capital city of Liyang.
She never let him down.
there has never been.
But at that moment, Zhao Laosi knelt in front of him and said that Liu Hongyan had betrayed him.
Xu Longxiang closed his eyes.
"Your Highness."
Zhao Laosi's voice rang out again.
"I have been in Liyang for eight years and have never had any direct contact with Liu Hongyan."
"Only she knows my identity."
"She arranged all of her subordinates' contact methods, hiding places, and escape routes."
"She is the only person in the North who can possess all this information at the same time."
"I personally witnessed her traveling with the Li Yang Imperial Guards and heard her order to intercept and kill me."
"The short blade in her hand is a standard issue weapon of the Northern Army. There is a notch three inches from the edge, which was left by my subordinate when he sharpened it for her years ago."
"That stab into my subordinate's ribs, the force, angle, and depth—it was all done with murderous intent."
"Your Highness, I am not here to complain."
Zhao Laosi's voice suddenly became soft, as soft as a withered leaf falling from a branch.
"I've come to deliver a message."
"All the spies within the territory of the Liyang Dynasty have been eliminated."
"The alliance between my northern border and Liyang has become a dead letter."
"Your Highness gave me this life."
"Now there's half left, which I'll also give to Your Highness."
"Whether Your Highness believes it or not, every word I have said has been earned with my life."
After he finished speaking, his forehead touched the ground.
The carpet was thick and soft, but when his forehead touched it, it felt like touching a block of ice, making him shiver with cold.
He didn't say anything more.
A deathly silence fell over the hall.