Her guards

Chapter 257 Wei Jiao's Dream
Wei Jiao hasn't dreamed in a long time.

Moreover, I have never had such a peaceful dream before.

They were not attacked by hunting dogs, nor were they mocked by a crowd of people.

He crawled on the top of an undulating wall, with palaces visible in the distance.

He recognized it as the palace occupied by Zhao Tan.

His mother had won Zhao Tan's favor, and he was able to occasionally escape the torment, avoid the crowds, and enjoy a moment of peace.

This is the most deserted, remote, and quietest place in the palace.

He felt like he had entered another world here, and he was no longer himself.

It's a brick, a blade of grass on the wall, an insect crawling on the wall...
In short, as long as it wasn't Wei Jiao, he felt he could have a moment of happiness.

But this joy was interrupted.

The piercing cawing of crows.

Birds can be quite terrifying. They can bite people just like hunting dogs, especially when you're small and lying on the ground, watching helplessly as they spread their wings and swoop down, as if the sky and earth are covered and there's nowhere to escape.

Wei Jiao froze instantly, looked ahead, and then saw...
That baby.

The infant stretched out his thin arms and grabbed a crow that was bigger than his head, tearing at it with his beak.

Blood flowed from the corner of the infant's mouth; his face was pale, his lips were blood red, and he stared at the child.

very scary.

More frightening than hunting dogs, more frightening than vultures that eat carcasses.

He stood motionless, staring at the baby's face, which was blurry, but countless sounds came from all around.

"...This was mentioned by the teacher when he was lecturing in Mengzhou."

"...There's a little boy who squats here every day listening to Wang Zaitian's lectures, and they even want to take him on as a disciple."

"...He was only seven or eight years old, thin and small."

"...Captain, someone has seen the bandits of Yunling."

"...He was a young scholar."

"...holding a book in his hand."

As the noise subsided, his vision became clearer, and the face of the child biting a crow and bleeding profusely drew closer, revealing a young boy's face.

The boy looked at him quietly.

"Don't touch my young lady!" he shouted, raising his sword.

As the old man described the scene in Yunling, the boy in the portrait appeared. Although his face was blurry, he recognized him at a glance.

In Zhao County, during the investigation of Jiang Wangchun's case, the dog guard who suddenly attacked the young lady.

……

……

Wei Jiao laughed, and then the boy also laughed, his smile faint, his face flushed, his hair styled, and he dressed in women's clothing.

"Wei Jiao, I have a secret."

"I have a secret. I ran away from my arranged marriage, and I need to conceal my identity."

"I have a secret, I am Yang Luo."

"I have a secret. I am a maid, and I have switched identities with my mistress."

She constantly shifted her demeanor in front of him, sometimes smiling faintly, sometimes helplessly, sometimes anxiously.

Once a clue is brought to light and becomes clear, many strange and overlooked pieces of information are suddenly explained.

Why did Wang Zaitian, that seemingly kind but actually picky old man, suddenly take on a female disciple?

Ling Yu's dead fish eyes, which could see nothing but books, were constantly staring at that young lady/junior sister.

Why does Miss Yang, whose entire family was almost wiped out, still have hidden agents?

They still have a very capable workforce.

And even more ancient and bizarre...

The strangeness that was covered up with the fall of the previous dynasty.

For example, Zhao Tan only allowed the young prince to appear once or twice, and then kept him locked up in the deep palace, forbidding anyone to visit him.

It turns out she wasn't a prince at all, but a princess.

"I have a secret."

She always told him.

She has more than one secret.

She was a secret from the moment she was born.

She is shrouded in layers of secrets in this world.

but……

He had seen her as a child, he had seen her disguised as a guard, he had seen her disguised as a young lady, and he had seen her disguised as a maid.

She actually had no secrets from him.

……

……

He never intended to expose her secret.

He never considered what she was hiding from him to be a secret.

He was even happy to share a secret with her.

did not expect……

The biggest secret she kept from him was that she didn't want him.

She kept that secret so well.

He didn't notice at all.

Wei Jiao closed his eyes and laughed silently. How funny.

He recalled that when he left Zhao County and returned to the capital, he saw a young lady being sent away in the carriage of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion.

He thought it was the dog guard and chased after him to see what was going on.

When he lifted the carriage curtain and saw the unfamiliar face, he felt incredibly funny.

I actually got tricked by that bastard.

He was both angry and amused at the time.

That's so funny.

He thought that day was over.

But it turns out he had always been stuck on that day.

Wei Jiao looked up. The weather was clear today, and the night sky was like a river of stars.

But his vision was completely dark, and he couldn't see anything.

……

……

Under the starry sky, the lights of White Stone Fortress shone brightly, and even in the deep of night, the troops continued to move about.

This is the last pass leading to Yancheng.

A contingent of Yunyang troops has been stationed here for more than ten days.

Standing on the high observation platform in the night, one can faintly see the flickering torches in the west.

Although the darkness obscured his vision, Bingwei could still imagine what was happening there.

About a dozen fast horses were galloping.

A group of men resembled bandits.

No, they were bandits to begin with.

But with a large flag in hand, they became invincible.

Bingwei turned and descended from the watchtower, wandering through the barracks filled with Xia and Yunyang army flags, until he arrived at the main tent, which was fluttering with the Yongwu Zhuzi flag.

"Report——"

With a report, the lookout was allowed into the tent.

The tent was brightly lit. Zhu Yunxiao, dressed in military robes, sat at a desk with a map behind him and a sand table in front of him. There were stacks of letters and reports on the table.

However, Zhu Yunxiao did not look at the map, perform the sand table, or read the news reports. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Captain Zhu," the lookout said, "Mo, mo, the Yunling bandits are getting close."

Zhu Yunxiao didn't open his eyes, but grunted and said, "Order all areas to be on high alert."

The lookout responded and stood still.

Zhu Yunxiao hummed in agreement again: "Is there anything else?"

The lookout hurriedly said no, lowered his head, and retreated.

"……How about it?"

"...The young prince of the Mo family has attacked again?"

"...What did the captain say?"

"……alert."

"...Still on guard? They didn't say they'd engage in battle?"

"...What's the point of fighting? We'll still be defeated in the first battle..."

"...Why did General Feng send him to lead the troops?"

"...What could it be? He's the heir of the Marquis of Yongwu..."

"...What are you talking about? The captain was personally appointed by His Majesty to be transferred to the Yunyang Army to assist General Feng Su. How dare you criticize him!"

With the shout, the whispers outside the tent, near and far, dissipated.

Zhu Yunxiao's deputy walked in and looked at Zhu Yunxiao, who was still asleep with his eyes closed.

"Captain," he stepped forward and said, "what are the next steps? What instructions does General Feng have?"

He frowned.

“We cannot always retreat. Others do not know the details and do not know that you are acting under General Feng’s orders. They may misunderstand that you, Captain, are not good at fighting.”

Zhu Yunxiao opened his eyes and smiled at the deputy general.

After his maid, Ah Sheng, consulted the emperor and received the order to transfer him to the Yunyang Army, he brought some trustworthy troops from the capital garrison.

Thanks to these followers, he was able to better control the portion of the Yunyang army assigned to him.

However, no matter how much you trust them, you shouldn't tell them all your secrets.

For example, when the bandits who called themselves the young prince of the Mo family captured the city, he was ordered to "suppress the bandits." However, after arriving, he suffered repeated defeats, which led to the Yunling bandits being invincible in their attacks and plundering of the city. This was not under the orders of General Feng, but rather under the orders of Miss Yang.

For example, it wasn't actually the Yunling bandits, nor was it Prince Mo; it was someone the Emperor and Miss Yang arranged to impersonate them, with the aim of luring hidden rebels in Longxi, like the Wang family of Wucheng and the Zhou family of Gangu...

And, the ultimate goal, is Cui, the garrison commander of Longxi.

Only an overwhelming and invincible aura can attract Wei Cui's heart.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Zhu Yunxiao waved to his deputy.

"It's alright, I don't care about my reputation. I'll avoid their sharp edge to prevent innocent people from suffering," he said, then reassured his deputy, "Don't worry, General Feng has a brilliant plan. These thieves won't last long."

Upon hearing this, the deputy general said no more. As soldiers, they should obey the general's orders. If there was any merit, it would belong to the general; if there was any fault, it would not be attributed to them. He then withdrew.

Zhu Yunxiao stopped pretending to sleep and looked at the map with a flicker in his eyes.

However, if Wei Cuizhen takes the bait...

He didn't want to keep retreating and refusing to move his troops.

Obeying Miss Yang's orders is a great achievement, but he doesn't want to let go of the obvious credit that everyone knows about.

I wonder if Miss Yang has arranged his position in her plans?
　Chapter 79, Wei Jiao's good news, wasn't described directly for the sake of storytelling. Later chapters repeatedly pointed out Wei Jiao's unusual behavior, such as looking at Mo Zheng's face and lips. However, many people said they didn't know that Wei Jiao knew Mo Zheng's identity, so I'll elaborate on it here (originally intended to be shown later when he questioned Mo Zheng).
　　(End of this chapter)