CH 69.2

Chapter 69.2 – Jing town Had Not Fallen

The group rested on that location and managed to light a bonfire to drive away the cold. However, they were still facing trouble, and the biggest one was hunger. When the city was breached, they fled in a hurry and no one thought about bringing some dried food. It took a day and night to break away from the siege, and everyone was already hungry. Coupled with the ice and snow, they wouldn’t be able to find any pretty even if they wanted to hunt.

Someone looked at the horses tied to the side, and watched as they dug through the snow and mud to look for grass roots to eat on the ground. He couldn’t help covering his stomach and say admiringly, “It’s good to still be able to find something to eat.”

His voice fell, but he was already so tired that he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Aside from several people who stayed on guard, most of them soon fell asleep. They formed a circle, barely protecting the Crown Prince in the middle while leaving him in the position closest to the fire.

Right now, two of his personal guards were surrounding him, helping him deal with his wounds.

When the heavy fur coat was opened, you could see the apricot-yellow clothes beneath soaked red with blood. The blood had congealed and turned dark, but it still looked shocking. There was a deep wound on the Crown Prince’s right shoulder, caused by a knife slash from the back.

His attendant had discovered it quickly and pushed the Crown Prince away, and blocked most of the blade. Otherwise, the knife would’ve directly cut the Crown Prince’s neck and killed him.

The personal guard carefully untied the temporary bandage covering the wound; the blood had dried and stuck to the cloth, but the Crown Prince’s wound was causing him a fever and couldn’t be left untreated. Finally, the personal guard could only bite his teeth and plead forgiveness, then pulled the cloth that was stuck in one breath.

The Crown Prince clenched his teeth, groaning as red blood gushed out.

Seeing this, the northern border veteran who stood on guard hesitatingly handed him a wine bag. Facing the Crown Prince, he was obviously nervous and a bit hesitant, “There’s some alcohol inside. It would be best to wash the injury with it…”

The Crown Prince didn’t doubt him. He thanked him and asked his personal guard to check that the alcohol was fine, then poured them on the wound.

The pain was so much that he almost collapsed in cold sweat. The Crown Prince felt that he had never been so wronged before. But in the end, he gritted his teeth and endured it. Once the pain subsided, he commanded in a hoarse voice. “Apply medicine.”

The guards quickly reapplied medicine and bandaged him – wound medicine was something that everyone remembered to bring before going to the battlefield. Ordinary soldiers might not be able to afford medicine, but the royal guards and the Crown Prince’s personal guards were not short on medicine.

After his wound was cleaned with strong alcohol and the best medicines were applied, the Crown Prince’s initially dazed mind had now turned completely awake.

He raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat on his face, and the hot breath he exhaled condensed into mist. “Where are we now? What’s the situation?”

The personal guard wrapped back the medicine and returned the wine bag to the northern border veteran, then replied, “Your Highness, Huai town has been taken, and Ping town is also lost. Now we are heading for Jing town. It should… take another day.”

When the Crown Prince heard that Ping town had been lost, he was obviously shocked. He abruptly sat up, almost causing the bandaged wound to burst open again. “How could it be? Ping town is the granary, and there’s a lot of soldiers guarding it…” As he said that, he was reminded of the betrayal in Huai town and paused again.

After a moment, he asked with a heavy voice. “Where is the Third Prince? Did he manage to escape?”

They went to Ping town before, and the northern border veterans also went to scout. Hearing the question, he replied, “The Third Prince abandoned the city and fled from the start.”

They didn’t know how Ping town was taken, but found the news that the Third Prince abandoned the city and fled. After hearing this, the Crown Prince didn’t blame him. If Ping town’s situation was really the same as Huai town, it was wise for the Third Prince to run away ahead of time to save himself.

Thinking about how the situation was still bad, the Crown Prince sighed after a while and said, “Let’s go to Jing town as soon as possible.”

In this current situation, even with the limited information, the Crown Prince obviously still felt bad. Both Huai town and Ping town was very important. The former represented the Crown Prince’s location. When it was taken, it was like they had been beheaded. The impact on the army’s morale was something that could easily be imagined.

As the granary, the latter was even more important. Money and grain were undoubtedly vital for war. The Rong army’s sneak attack could be described as a remarkable achievement, and could even change the tide of battle!

Right now, even if he only had one breath left, he had to appear in front of people as soon as possible to restore the military’s morale. He was also worried that Jing town’s situation would change if he went there too late, and it would be even more difficult for them to go to the next city after it.

The party rested for half a day without eating anything, and in the end they could only swallow some snow to fool their stomach, then resumed the journey again.

When it started getting dark, they met another group of people. There were five to six hundred people wearing Liang’s military uniform. Their armors were stained with blood and they looked in a mess; they were the remnant soldiers that retreated from Ping town and were also preparing to flee to Jing town.

The two sides met and probed each other, then the Crown Prince revealed his identity and easily gathered the remnant soldiers.

From their mouth, the Crown Prince managed to piece together the situation behind Ping town’s fall – it was very similar to what happened to Huai town. The Rong army appeared as if out of nowhere; someone unknown had opened the gate, then they fought overnight, leading to Ping town’s destruction.

There were obviously moles in both cities, making the Crown Prince even more worried. But meeting the group of remnant soldiers also solved one urgent problem for the Crown Prince; from their hands, the Crown Prince and the other finally got some food, barely enough to feed themselves.

The combined group continued rushing towards Jing town, and met many remnant soldiers on the way. The Crown Prince didn’t blame them for their defeat, and they all gathered together. Before they arrive at Jing town, there were almost two thousand people following him.

Fortunately, Jing town had not fallen.

Author notes:

Crown Prince (bloodied all over): pushing away the lunchbox…

Qi Yang (touched): Royal Brother, you must come back safely. Me and my Prince Consort’s peaceful life depends on you!

The prince (with blood on his face): Can you stop setting flags so casually? You’re making me feel very in danger.