Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family-Chapter 884 - : Splitting Up
Chapter 884 -884: Splitting Up
Di Yelei’s face was especially grim, “Nowadays, with the chaos of war, and moreover, this concerns matters of the army and the state, where is it your place to interfere as a virtuous woman? Let Zhang Peng make a trip to Yingchang Prefecture. As for you, I will assign another fifty people to escort you back to the capital.”
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Having said that, he turned around and began to arrange his men.
“Return to the capital? I refuse to go back!”
Liu Sisi suddenly grew angry! “Surnamed Di, at present this is a critical moment — put away your male chauvinism and stop looking down on others through a crack in the door!” While speaking, she turned around, grabbed the reins from a follower beside her and attempted to mount the horse.
“Sisi, listen to me…”
Di Yelei dismounted as well and forcefully grabbed Liu Sisi’s arm, patiently trying to reason with her: “No matter what, you and His Majesty are father and daughter; even beasts do not eat their own offspring, so at the very least, there will be no concern for your life once you’re back in the capital. That way, Zhang Peng and I can free up our hands to attend to other matters we must take care of.”
“Never mind the former Crown Princes and others, just look at the recent cases of Zhao Zhen, Zhao Xian and the like — those who were raised by his side from childhood were executed at a moment’s notice. Now you tell me that even beasts do not eat their own offspring, do you think that I can believe that?”
There wasn’t the slightest sign of yielding on Liu Sisi’s face; she defiantly took hold of the reins and mounted the horse.
She silently felt fortunate that she had insisted on learning to ride a horse from Di Yelei some days ago; otherwise what would she do?
Di Yelei understood as well that the imperial family had no room for sentimentality since ancient times.
Yet, he still harbored a sliver of futile hope, wishing that His Majesty would make an exception for Liu Sisi.
As for Liu Sisi, she didn’t harbor the slightest bit of such hope. The last time she had sensed a trace of murderous intent from Zhao Yuanlang, that tingling fear was something she still remembered to this day.
“My Lord Marquis, why not let your subordinate and the Princess together head to Yingchang Prefecture to request an audience with Director Dong? What do you think of this?” Qi Yuanzheng, standing by, offered his opinion.
Originally a minor official tasked with guarding the city gate at Macheng County, Qi Yuanzheng had decisively accompanied Di Yelei when he was escorting His Majesty into the capital. Over the years, he had always been by Di Yelei’s side, becoming his right-hand man.
This was indeed a compromise!
Despite his numerous concerns for Sisi, with the current shortage of men, there was no other viable solution at hand.
Di Yelei looked at the sky and realized it was not fitting to delay any longer. After weighing the pros and cons, he gave Zhang Peng a meaningful glance.
“Fine! I will leave this task to you. Select two hundred of your best and hasten on your way, and be cautious on the road. Do not fall into the hands of Zhao Heng at all costs.”
“Rest assured, My Lord Marquis! Zhang Peng will protect the Princess’s safety with his life.”
Zhang Peng was making a certain kind of promise to Di Yelei.
Liu Sisi didn’t say much, instead watching the interaction between the two men with a cold gaze. It wasn’t until Di Yelei left with his eight hundred elite riders that Zhang Peng hastily led Liu Sisi towards Yingchang Prefecture.
When they came, they did not hide from people, but since they were departing the capital in secret, they had not entered Yingchang Prefecture. Now, en route to the Prefecture and fearing they might run into Nan Tianzong’s forces on the road, they all proceeded with the utmost caution.
Just as Di Yelei had predicted, despite their extreme care, they encountered Nan Tianzong’s forces not far from Yingchang Prefecture.
It was only to be expected. Knowing in advance that Zhao Heng (under the alias Nan Tianzong) would attack, Yingchang Prefecture had already made preparations. Relying on the city’s defenses and strategic checkpoints, they battled against Zhao Heng’s forces. However, they were steadily pushed back by his advancing troops and finally forced to retreat into the precincts of Yingchang, raising the drawbridge and facing off against Zhao Heng’s soldiers.
Hence, no matter where Liu Sisi and the others came from, they were bound to encounter Zhao Heng’s forces surrounding Yingchang Prefecture.
The gates of Yingchang Prefecture were tightly closed, and outside the city were stationed an array of troops. One could clearly see the many soldiers in the vicinity as well as the numerous tents pitched outside the city. Inside, there was a flurry of soldiers coming and going, ferrying various items.
“Brother Zhang, with so many soldiers, how can we break through their defenses?”
A group of people cautiously lay in ambush within the bushes not far from Yingchang Prefecture, watching the army ahead as Liu Sisi asked in a low voice.
After traveling for most of the day, everyone was already hungry, and at this moment they were all exhausted. Aside from Liu Sisi, Zhang Peng, and Qi Yuanzheng, the other brothers had stayed behind in the small grove.
In order to assess the situation, they had no choice but to lie in ambush in the bushes covered by a thick layer of snow. The icy wind and flying snow kept pouring down their necks, making them feel even colder and hungrier.
Zhang Peng meticulously observed the troops ahead, looking at the forces that had securely besieged Yingchang Prefecture and shook his head.
“The target is too big during the day, and we have too few hands. Charging through would be like delivering ourselves on a platter unless we wait until nightfall, when perhaps there might be a glimmer of hope.”
Liu Sisi agreed with Zhang Peng’s opinion, while Qi Yuanzheng also furrowed his eyebrows beside them.
“With so many soldiers, even at night, it will be tough to break through their defense. We need to come up with a good plan.”
It was indeed true. Liu Sisi glanced back; the snow falling from the sky grew denser, slowly covering the footprints they had made on their way. In the same vein, more than two hundred people huddled here, shivering with cold, it was clear this was no place to linger.
“Let’s go! We’ll retreat to the dense forest we passed earlier, replenish our strength, and take a rest. It’s not smart to stay here for long; we must be careful not to get wrapped up like dumplings.”
Naturally, no one objected, and they carefully retreated back into the dense forest.
Upon entering the forest, everyone felt markedly warmer. They each took out their grains and nibbled on them with a handful of snow.
Watching everyone’s actions, Liu Sisi followed suit, gathering a handful of snow from the branches and chewing it, crunching away. But after just a few bites, the cold was so intense she couldn’t even feel her lips anymore.
The grains were long-term provisions for marching armies, made by mixing corn, black beans, soybeans, vegetable leaves, millet, rice, and the like into dumplings. These were tough to chew, and they filled every bite with grit, clearly meant just to satiate hunger without any consideration for taste.
Liu Sisi stretched her neck and forced a mouthful of grains down, involuntarily tears welling up in her eyes. It was incredibly distasteful!
Yet, to fill her stomach, she still forced herself to swallow the rest of the dumpling in her hand.
Once her stomach was no longer empty, she finally felt a bit warmer. Liu Sisi then turned her attention to the surrounding situation.
The brothers silently huddled around her, each occupying a direction and guarding against potential enemies from all sides. Everyone quietly ate their food without making a sound, their vigilant eyes all watchful of the movements around them in precisely the same manner.
Even the horses that were with them did not neigh or cause any disturbance, indicating that this finely trained cavalry was indeed well-disciplined!
