Hua Yuanyi: “...”
His heart, which had leaped with excitement, instantly sank.
He said helplessly, “Now that I’ve arrived in Fengzhou, of course I had to come and see you.”
Zhou Sui smiled and patted Hua Yuanyi on the shoulder. “Now you’ve seen me.”
Looking at the great general, who seemed not to have changed much after all these years, Hua Yuanyi felt both sorrowful and happy.
After a long while, he finally asked, “What should I do next?”
Zhou Sui glanced at him and shook his head. “You should ask our liege, not me.”
He looked into the distance, his voice tinged with melancholy. “Our liege is different from His Majesty. From now on, whenever you’re unable to make a decision, ask her directly.”
Hua Yuanyi stared at him in astonishment.
Back in the Yan State, military matters were usually taken directly to Zhou Sui. Of course, he could not interfere with matters involving the interests of the various aristocratic clans, but he could decide almost everything else.
After all, His Majesty truly did not concern himself with much.
Zhou Sui smiled. “Our liege cares about the entire realm and is exceptionally resourceful, so you need to change the way you think.”
Hua Yuanyi’s feelings were complicated. “Great General, you’ve changed.”
Zhou Sui could not help laughing loudly. “You should change, too.”
He knew that Hua Yuanyi had yet to break away from his old habits. That was only natural. He was not one of the princess’s people yet, so he naturally did not understand her way of doing things.
Hua Yuanyi did not dwell on the matter. Instead, he asked, “How do you think the princess will have me proceed?”
Zhou Sui shook his head. “I don’t know. However, you can play a greater role by remaining in Sizhou, so I believe there’s a greater chance that our liege will ask you to stay there.”
Hua Yuanyi frowned. “To stab the First Prince in the back someday?”
Zhou Sui gave him a strange look. “Why would you think that? Our liege and the First Prince are siblings—a family. How could she possibly harm her own brother?”
Hua Yuanyi: “...”
Do I look like an idiot to you?
Still, he more or less understood what Zhou Sui meant. Princess Jinyang would not take the initiative to move against the First Prince—at least, not in the near future.
Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Is she asking me to stay in Sizhou because of Feng Gexuan? To protect your people there?”
It was no wonder he thought so. Gofeng had glass, while Feng Gexuan sold glass. Although they could claim that the goods came from Gofeng, it was still enough to make people suspicious—especially those in positions of power.
Zhou Sui smiled. “Do you think the First Prince would still dare move against our liege’s people?”
“Besides, some matters are actually harder to interfere with when they’re out in the open. The First Prince would have to think carefully about the consequences of moving against Feng Gexuan.”
“Moreover, do you really think Feng Gexuan is the only one our liege has in Sizhou?”
Hua Yuanyi froze. After a moment, he understood what Zhou Sui was implying. Clearly, Feng Gexuan was merely the force placed in plain sight. As for how many of Princess Jinyang’s people were hidden in the shadows, that was impossible to say.
Zhou Sui sighed. “You aren’t one of us yet, so there are some things I can’t tell you.”
Hua Yuanyi: “...”
The great general had truly changed. He had once been such an upright and transparent man, but now... Alas!
“Then there’s not much point in my continuing to stay in Sizhou,” he said, puzzled.
Zhou Sui shook his head. “That’s only because you haven’t seen it.”
A sorrowful look filled his eyes. “You’ve remained in Ji’an City all this time, guarding it, so you haven’t seen how the refugees who fled to Sizhou are living. Even most of those who were given wasteland to cultivate can barely survive.”
“Our liege has arranged for some people to help in Sizhou, but there are only so many of them. With your assistance, perhaps we could save more of those commoners.”
He looked at Hua Yuanyi—a man older than himself who had experienced the destruction of his homeland, yet had remained in Sizhou guarding Ji’an City and therefore did not fully understand the world beyond it.
Under Zhou Sui’s gaze, Hua Yuanyi lowered his head in shame. At that moment, he suddenly felt ashamed. It was true—he had not done enough.
No. It would be more accurate to say that he had done nothing at all.
In that regard, he was indeed inferior to his daughter. At the very least, she had ventured out into the world and was doing her best.
Zhou Sui patted him on the shoulder again. “Of course, you can’t really be blamed for this. Understanding the lives of ordinary people was never your responsibility.”
“But the suffering of the people is the same everywhere. In the eyes of most people in power, the number of deaths is merely a figure. They don’t understand that behind every one of those figures is a living, breathing human being.”
“Our liege understands. That’s why she’s doing everything she can to save them, to keep those lives from becoming nothing more than cold numbers. I hope you can work alongside her.”
Hua Yuanyi’s throat tightened, and for a moment he could not speak. His heart felt unbearably heavy.
That very day, he returned to Gofeng and once again requested an audience with Jiang Jin.
Two days later, Hua Yuanyi returned to Sizhou with the remaining wounded soldiers and able-bodied troops he had managed to scrape together—about three hundred men in all.
They had not brought back every soldier. Some of the wounded were too badly injured to travel, while others, having learned that Gofeng offered preferential treatment to disabled soldiers, refused to leave even if it meant dying there.
They knew very well that if they returned to Sizhou with their disabilities, they would inevitably be discharged. They might not even receive compensation.
So they entrusted letters to the soldiers who were returning—men they considered reliable—and asked them to deliver the letters to their families, telling their families to come to Fengzhou as well.
Others simply refused to return for no particular reason.
In the end, they had managed to gather roughly three hundred soldiers by piecing together whatever they could.
They even left behind eighty percent of their ships, claiming that they did not have enough men to sail them back.
Zhou Leng finally arrived in Liang City.
Having met once before, Jiao Tai and the others had already experienced Zhou Leng’s venomous tongue and naturally had no desire to provoke him again.
Even though they saw women among the group, they confined their disdain to their thoughts and did not show it on their faces.
“Envoy Zhou, may I ask why you’ve come this time?” Jiao Tai’s attitude was fairly amiable.
Zhou Leng remained neither servile nor overbearing. “I’ve come because my liege hopes that the Jiao Army will not interfere in the conflict between the Jinyang Army and Qu Zhao.”
Jiao Tai frowned. “Are you mistaken? We have never interfered.”
Remembering something, he asked, “Weren’t you from Daqing Commandery? Why are you now speaking on behalf of the Jinyang Army?”
Zhou Leng ignored his question. “If my liege continues westward, Qu Zhao is highly likely to seek your assistance. I hope that, when the time comes, you will maintain the same attitude you have now.”
Jiao Tai leaned forward slightly. “The Jinyang Army is continuing westward? Are you planning to seize all of Fengzhou?”
Zhou Leng curled his lips into a smile. “Exactly.”
Jiao Tai let out a derisive sound. “That’s quite an ambitious claim. Do you really think Qu Zhao is helpless just because you’ve taken half of Fengzhou?”
Zhou Leng corrected him with complete seriousness, “Not half. More than half.”
His face was filled with arrogance. “If Qu Zhao had the means to stop us, why would they have retreated again and again? Surely it wasn’t because they were gracious enough to yield the territory to us.”
Jiao Tai was momentarily at a loss for words. Though he secretly seethed with resentment, he did not let it show. “Why not stop here? Your Jinyang Army already occupies a considerable amount of territory.”
If Fengzhou truly fell into the hands of the Jinyang Army and Qu Zhao were driven out, it would be highly disadvantageous for his own province, Zhuan. Who knew whether the Jinyang Army’s next target would be them?
Zhou Leng gave a soft laugh. “Stopping is impossible. If you refuse to interfere in the conflict between the Jinyang Army and Qu Zhao, we will continue westward. Otherwise, marching south is not out of the question.”
“Oh, and I nearly forgot to tell you—my liege is the sixth daughter of Emperor Yan. The First Prince in Sizhou has always hoped that the siblings could reunite.”
