Chapter 52
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A dozen or so students, selected from the Imperial Academy and Grand Academy, were naturally not following closely behind Gu Yuanbai, but were instead trailing far behind, led by eunuchs to observe the rice fields.
The term “five grains” in the context of staple foods generally refers to rice, millet, millet, wheat, and beans. In ancient China, millet held a high status; millet is grains, it was considered the leader of all grains. The term “Sheji,” representing state, included this grain, with “ji” referring to millet.
However, over time, rice gradually became the most productive crop in the Great Heng, while millet and broomcorn millet, requiring less water, were gradually relegated to upland and dry fields.
Naturally, the rice yield of today couldn’t compare to that of future generations. Gu Yuanbai didn’t have the capability to research hybrid rice—he lacked both the skill and the resources.
Strolling leisurely along the narrow paths in the fields, Gu Yuanbai occasionally glanced at the newly planted fields on either side and nodded slightly.
Seemingly relaxed, he was actually on high alert.
Those protecting Gu Yuanbai were tense, ready for anything, both openly and covertly. The chief guard, with his usual serious expression, maintained his composed demeanor, not attracting any undue attention.
However, Xue Yuan, with his wolf-like sharp instincts, had repeatedly cast suspicious glances at the chief guard.
Xue Yuan, in a state of heightened tension and readiness to strike at any moment, squinted as he scanned the group of guards, noticing that many of them were in a similar state.
He pondered for a moment, then pulled up a smile that betrayed a hint of displeasure.
Suddenly, someone drew close to Gu Yuanbai from behind. When he turned his head, he saw Xue Yuan smiling at him grimly, “Your Majesty, am I not even comparable to Chief Guard Zhang?”
This strange remark made Gu Yuanbai respond indifferently, “Why do you say that, Guard Xue?”
Xue Yuan replied, “Your Majesty, my loyalty to you is as clear as day and night.”
So what exactly is being hidden from him?
Gu Yuanbai found it amusing. For some reason, even though Xue Yuan had been increasingly showing his loyalty these days, every time he expressed it, Gu Yuanbai felt like laughing.
And this time, his laughter left Xue Yuan feeling even more bewildered.
The group walked out of the fields. The students in the back, seeing that the emperor was now far ahead, hurriedly tried to catch up. “Gonggong, we should move quickly too.”
But the eunuch smilingly stopped them, saying leisurely, “Young masters, no need to rush. Why not take a good look at the rice again?”
The students, suppressing their anxiety, began to ponder what was different about the rice.
Meanwhile, Gu Yuanbai had already led his group into a shaded grove beside the fields.
The guards found a spot for Gu Yuanbai to sit down. The guards at the rear led the horses, tethered them to the trees, and fetched some clean water for the emperor to wash his face.
Tian Fusheng wiped the sweat from the emperor’s forehead and whispered, “Your Majesty, are you holding up well?”
Gu Yuanbai looked up at the sun through the swaying leaves and nodded slightly, “It’s hot in the countryside, but it’s nothing unbearable.”
Tian Fusheng responded with a simple acknowledgment and said no more.
The guards busied themselves discreetly, surrounding the emperor tightly, awaiting the enemy’s attack to turn the situation to their advantage.
Despite the calm, the atmosphere was fraught with hidden tension.
Suddenly, Xue Yuan’s eyelid twitched. He swiftly drew his broadsword and turned around.
Suddenly, several fierce-looking assassins wielding large blades emerged from the forest, charging relentlessly towards Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai’s expression remained unchanged. He gripped the crossbow hidden in his sleeve and even took a sip of cold tea from his water pouch.
Tian Fusheng shouted, “Protect His Majesty!”
The guards, who had already been alerted, quickly shielded Gu Yuanbai and met the attackers with swift and ruthless force. Amid the chaos of flashing blades and clashing weapons, Xue Yuan’s heart pounded. He cut a bloody path toward Gu Yuanbai with his broadsword, but when he looked up, he saw an assassin raising a weapon towards the emperor.
Xue Yuan’s heart stopped for a moment, and bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes. He threw his broadsword with all his might, and the blade flashed coldly as it struck the assassin’s weapon, knocking it from his hand.
The assassin was stunned.
Gu Yuanbai, who had orchestrated the assassination attempt to feign injury and manipulate the situation, was also taken aback.
In the brief moment of their mutual shock, Xue Yuan, emanating a deadly aura, rushed forward. Though unarmed, he fended off numerous assassins with his bare hands. In an instant, he was covered in blood. With a grim expression, he picked up a broadsword from the ground, cut down an attacker behind him, and then stretched out his iron arm to pull Gu Yuanbai into his embrace.
Holding Gu Yuanbai, he made his way towards a Ferghana horse.
Once Xue Yuan had mounted the horse with Gu Yuanbai, he whispered through gritted teeth, “Xue Yuan—”
That was one of my men!
Covered in blood, Xue Yuan tightened his grip around Gu Yuanbai’s waist and, full of hostility, said, “Don’t speak.”
With a flick of the reins, the Ferghana horse reared up and then galloped away, swiftly leaving the chaotic forest behind as if carried by the wind.
Still dealing with the guards’, the assassins leader shouted hoarsely, “Shoot—”
A hundred arrows came flying, and the guards rushed to kill the assassins. Xue Yuan on horseback heard the sound of arrows whistling through the air and urged his horse forward, swinging his sword to cut down the arrows.
As the horses galloped away, the leader of the assassins gritted his teeth. It was too rushed, and no one knew if they had injured the d*mned Emperor. All they could do now was wait for news from the court. He shouted, “Retreat!”
Tian Fusheng was completely baffled by Xue Yuan’s actions. Without time to think it over, when he heard the assassins preparing to retreat, he sneered and shouted loudly, “Lord Zhang! It’s up to you now!”
As the Emperor had said, only around ten of the assassins needed to be left alive as messengers. The rest, those who dared to disrespect the Emperor, would pay with their lives!
Chief Guard Zhang responded in a deep voice, but he was still in a panic. The fields and forests were vast and full of dangers. What if something went wrong?
He sighed repeatedly, regretting that he hadn’t quietly warned Xue Yuan beforehand.
Not only was Chief Guard Zhang in a panic, but the others who had memorized the plan were also panicking. Even the assassins who had been pretending to be fish in troubled waters and had almost been killed by Xue Yuan were panicking.
Tian Fusheng felt even more panicked. But after dealing with the assassins, he had to follow the Emperor’s orders and hurriedly return to the palace with his men. The carriage sped up, everyone’s expressions were solemn, and when they returned to the palace, a large number of imperial physicians were immediately summoned to the bedchamber to treat the Emperor. The palace attendants looked grave, as if they were carrying out buckets of blood from the palace.
In less than half a day, news of the Emperor’s assassination attempt and injury spread within a certain range.
No one was allowed to enter the palace, but this time, the plan was not to cause panic among the court officials. So Tian Fusheng sent people to visit every household to reassure them that the Emperor was fine, just a little scared and lightly injured, so there was no need to worry.
At the same time, officials from the Ministry of State Affairs and the Grand Council came out. The Assistant Minister and the Grand Chancellor took over the current state affairs from the Emperor with smiles on their faces. The calm and composure of these two ministries reassured the officials of the court.
As the Emperor’s confidants, the heads of state affairs and the military, as well as the Supervisory Bureau and the Donglingwei, they naturally knew what the Emperor was planning. They followed the Emperor’s orders and suppressed any panic before it could rise. Everything proceeded as usual, calmly and quietly.
But in the eyes of the members of the Jiashen Association, this calmness seemed to be whitewashing the situation.
A hundred attackers, but in the end, only about a dozen survived. This assassination attempt had achieved an extremely heavy result, a result that no one had expected. The leader of the assassins had originally felt despair, but after hearing the news from the court, this despair turned into ecstasy.
The Emperor was injured!
They had spent a lot of money to inquire about the situation inside the palace. After learning that everyone in the bedchamber looked solemn and the imperial physicians looked uneasy, and seeing blood being carried out of the palace from time to time, they could hardly resist bursting into laughter.
How could this be a light injury?!
This was clearly a serious injury that could shake the court!
The leader of the assassins burst into laughter. “The Emperor must have been hit by our arrows when he was being protected and escaped!”
Others were also extremely excited. “All the brothers who shot arrows were killed by the Emperor’s lackeys! Master, we must avenge them!”
“This grudge must be avenged,” the leader of the assassins laughed ferociously. “Since the Emperor is injured, he won’t have the energy to manage Jing Hunan and Jiangnan. He might even lose his life. We must hurry back to report to the general and take advantage of this opportunity to completely turn these two places into territory belonging to our Jiashen Association!”
Gu Yuanbai had a serious expression, his black hair blowing back in the wind, while Xue Yuan exuded a bloody smell, mixed with the murderous aura and determination forged between the flashes of blades and swords.
After a while, Gu Yuanbai resigned himself to his fate and could only silently pray that the plan would proceed as he wished. He spoke first, “Are you injured?”
Xue Yuan, who was constantly aware of his surroundings, replied with a bloody breath, “No.”
Once he was sure there was no one following behind him, Xue Yuan slowly pulled on the reins, stopping the excited Hongyun.
As the horse halted, he let out a roar, then dismounted and led the horse towards a tree.
His body was covered in bloodstains, but it was unclear whether it was the blood of others or his own. His voice was hoarse, perhaps from killing too many people. A chilling aura surrounded him, making him seem like a demon crawling out of h*ll, dark and oppressive.
Gu Yuanbai looked at the cuts on his body from swords and arrows, as well as the minor wounds from arrows grazing his sleeves, his expression complex.
Gu Yuanbai hadn’t expected Xue Yuan to be so reckless in saving him.
When Xue Yuan rushed towards him, his expression was terrifying, almost monstrous. He didn’t even have a weapon in his hand, but his steps were resolute.
That blood-red gaze was unforgettable with just one glance, clearly conveying the message: anyone who dared to touch Gu Yuanbai would die.
The heavy aura of killing intent pressed down, as ferocious as the fierceness of countless battles. This gaze frightened the “assassins” who had come to assassinate Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai also noticed Xue Yuan’s expression, his anger so fierce and his fury seemingly able to burn everything, that he couldn’t help but be stunned.
This moment of hesitation was seized by Xue Yuan, who pulled him onto the horse.
Why did he risk his life to save him like this?
Gu Yuanbai wondered if Xue Yuan’s loyalty to the Emperor was true, despite how difficult it was to believe.
….But the facts were right in front of him.
No matter how much he calculated, he hadn’t expected Xue Yuan to behave like this.
Gu Yuanbai sighed silently. Xue Yuan tied the reins to a tree and stretched his shoulders, the muscles on his back bulging and then relaxing. He still looked gloomy, like the most ruthless bandit leader on a bandit mountain, with no trace of an official.
Xue Yuan turned and reached out towards Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai said, “I can get down by myself.”
Xue Yuan remained silent as he approached, as if handling a precious treasure that had just been recovered, and he lifted Gu Yuanbai down as gently as possible.
He didn’t let go once he had Gu Yuanbai in his arms, and some of the still-wet blood on him rubbed off onto Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai said, “You can put me down now.”
Xue Yuan’s brows furrowed, his face solemn, not saying a word.
Gu Yuanbai said for the last time, “Xue Jiuyao.”
“Your Majesty,” Xue Yuan finally spoke, his lips already chapped, his voice hoarse and dry, “Haven’t you noticed? You scared me.”
Gu Yuanbai was taken aback for a moment, then sighed after a moment of silence. “There’s no need for that.”
Xue Yuan wanted to laugh, so he did.
Why bother?
Who the h*ll could know?
Xue Yuan set Gu Yuanbai down on a clean rock and went to inspect the items hastily brought from the horse. He had a large blade on him and a dagger, and the horse carried a bag of water skins, nothing else.
Gu Yuanbai stood up and looked around. In the deep forest, the trees blocked out the sky, and there were sounds of birds and insects everywhere. After looking around, he spotted an old tree and went to tear off some pine moss growing on it.
Xue Yuan followed and lifted his eyelids to look. “What’s this?”
“Pine moss,” Gu Yuanbai said lightly as he continued to gather the moss. “It can stop bleeding and detoxify. It’s a good thing.”
With only the two of them here, it was obvious who it was for. Xue Yuan’s tense body slightly relaxed, and he watched Gu Yuanbai’s profile, still thinking of the image of the big blade coming towards Gu Yuanbai just now.
The sharp blade, about to strike Gu Yuanbai.
A piercing sound echoed in his ears, and Gu Yuanbai followed his gaze to find that Xue Yuan’s hand had inadvertently pressed against the handle of the blade, causing it to rub against the scabbard, emitting a sharp noise.
“Xue Yuan?”
Xue Yuan was lost in thought, not hearing him.
Gu Yuanbai removed his hand from the blade handle.
Xue Yuan snapped out of it and took off his blood-stained outer garment. Several wounds were still bleeding, and Gu Yuanbai placed the pine moss on them. As the light green moss turned red with blood, Xue Yuan remained silent. Gu Yuanbai finished treating the prominent wounds on his body and asked, “Any other injuries?”
Xue Yuan lifted his inner garment, revealing another bloody wound on his side.
Compared to him, Gu Yuanbai only had some of Xue Yuan’s blood on him.
Gu Yuanbai personally treated Xue Yuan’s wounds and sighed inwardly.
He couldn’t tell Xue Yuan about using the assassination attempt by the enemy forces to his advantage.
Except for his trusted aides, no one else could know.
The reason behind this assassination attempt was that Gu Yuanbai wanted to force those people into rebellion, compelling them to act against the powerful nobles.
The situation within the Jiashen Association was currently chaotic. They lacked troops and food. Their leader, Xu Xiongyuan, lacked strategic vision but was extremely arrogant. Although he could pretend to be respectful and humble now, his inherent greed still prioritized personal gain above all else.
He followed Lu Feng because Lu Feng gave him a lot of money. Now, as long as there was money and food, he would dare to do anything for these resources.
In ancient times, there was a term called “military disaster.”
A military disaster was a disaster like locusts. This was a disaster brought about by Liu Bang. When Liu Bang was conquering the world, he was extremely poor, and his peasant uprising army was a bunch of rogues. In order to obtain military pay and rewards for his soldiers, every time he captured a city, he would allow his soldiers to plunder everything in the city.
The fields, food, gold and silver of the local tyrants, as well as the women and food of ordinary families, were all plundered. Some soldiers, blinded by rage, would even kill ordinary people to vent their anger.
That was a military disaster.
If you wanted strict military discipline, in ancient times soldiers could only rely on military pay to maintain discipline and form a crack force. But without military pay, why would soldiers risk their lives for you?
Similarly, without military pay, the Jiashen Association would act in the same way. If there was chaos in Jing Hunan, the local tyrants were never their allies. They would directly seize everything from the local tyrants. If they were rebelling, disregarding the Emperor, why should they care? After plundering the wealth of the local tyrants, they would continue to conquer new territories with their troops, capturing one city after another. It would be best if they could trample all the local tyrants, so that the new territory would be clean, and they wouldn’t be as manipulated by the local tyrants and nobles as Liu Bang was. Wouldn’t that be great?
The court officials and soldiers represent the righteous army of the king and cannot engage in the actions of rebel forces, such as acts of robbery. In such cases, sometimes it’s necessary to “borrow a knife to kill.”
And if the Jiashen Association didn’t rebel, then the local tyrants would become local overlords. They would enslave the tenants on their fields, collect taxes for their own use, control the official government, and privately cultivate small countries. Over time, the court would weaken, the country would not be a country, and when the country collapsed and the family was destroyed, uprisings would break out everywhere. More importantly, there were still enemy countries lurking.
Gu Yuanbai had been emperor for three and a half years, in power for six months. He clearly saw the flaws in the Great Heng Dynasty. He really wanted to be a good emperor and create a peaceful and prosperous era.
But here’s the problem.
Is it better to promote the rebellion of the rebel army now, to plunge the people of two provinces into a military disaster, to start pulling out the heads of the local tyrants and contain their momentum, or is it better to let the entire Great Heng Dynasty fall into turmoil in twenty or thirty years?
Neither option was good.
The controlled disaster in two provinces and the future turmoil of the entire Great Heng Dynasty in twenty or thirty years. Gu Yuanbai didn’t know how others would choose, but he chose to secretly promote the development of the rebel army. Before making this decision, he had doubted and hesitated, feeling that he was too cold and heartless, but indecision was not Gu Yuanbai’s character.
He had made this decision half a year ago, so now he would do his utmost and plan meticulously to protect the people of these two provinces, but that was all he could do.
The national situation could not tolerate an emperor who was indecisive, and the conscience of a modern person, at this time, also had to be suppressed to that of an ancient emperor.
Perhaps the main characters in the original text also made the same choice as him.
But such matters couldn’t be discussed with a subordinate. Regardless of whether Xue Yuan truly harbored loyalty to the emperor, regardless of whether Xue Yuan would remain loyal to Gu Yuanbai in the future, Gu Yuanbai would never inform him of such matters.
After a while, the bleeding stopped. Gu Yuanbai felt somewhat heavy-hearted and casually sat aside. After Xue Yuan put on his clothes, he approached and asked hoarsely, “Feeling uncomfortable?”
Gu Yuanbai casually replied, “No.”
Xue Yuan leaned closer, chuckling softly. “I don’t believe you, Your Majesty.”
Gu Yuanbai glanced at him lightly, and Xue Yuan sat down beside him, saying, “Since Your Majesty is not in a good mood, let me tell you an interesting story.”
Despite his own injuries, Xue Yuan was still trying to amuse Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai felt like he was bullying his subordinate, and he rubbed his nose, smiling helplessly. “You should take care of yourself.”
Seeing him smile, Xue Yuan continued, “Your Majesty, the sun is setting. It’s going to be dark soon. It’s very unsafe to travel through the forest on horseback at night. It’s better to find a cave nearby and stay there for the night.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded and stood up. “Let’s go.”
The two were fortunate as they found a dry cave not far from a stream after riding for a while. Inside the cave, there was a grass bed and a dirty blanket, likely a resting place occasionally used by a hunter.
Xue Yuan went to gather some firewood, and as he looked at the flowing stream not far away, he suddenly had an idea. “Your Majesty, would you like to wash your face?”
Gu Yuanbai replied, “No need.”
At this point, he didn’t care about anything anymore. He said, “Guard Xue is injured too, so don’t bother washing up.”
Xue Yuan replied honestly, “Yes.”
After tidying up the cave, Gu Yuanbai and Xue Yuan strolled through the jungle to find some edible wild fruits. Gu Yuanbai saw quite a few snakeberries and picked a few. When he looked up, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his expression becoming serious. He said sharply, “Don’t move!”
Xue Yuan immediately halted his steps, furrowing his brows calmly. “Snake?”
A long snake had just emerged from behind him, fixing its gaze on Xue Yuan’s neck.
Short-tailed and slender, with colorful patterns on its body, triangular head— it was a venomous snake!
Gu Yuanbai dropped the snakeberries and swiftly took out a small crossbow from his sleeve, loading it with arrows and aiming at the snake.
Xue Yuan chuckled leisurely, “Your Majesty, please don’t hit this official.'”
“Shut up,” Gu Yuanbai’s eyes sharpened as he approached slowly. “Stop talking.”
The sound of breaking air could startle the venomous snake. It was best to get closer, strike before it could react. Gu Yuanbai narrowed his eyes, three short arrows aimed at the snake’s head, midsection, and tail.
Xue Yuan appeared relaxed, but in reality, every muscle in his body was tense. His hand moved to his dagger. Just as the two were focused, a rabbit suddenly darted out from the bushes!
Gu Yuanbai inwardly cursed. Almost instantly, he activated the crossbow. Three arrows shot through the air towards the snake. However, startled by the rabbit, the snake lunged towards Xue Yuan’s neck.
Xue Yuan swiftly turned, wielding his dagger. As the arrows hit the snake, he sliced it in half.
The snake convulsed briefly and then died. Gu Yuanbai sighed in relief, his features softening. “Are you injured?”
Xue Yuan glanced at his forearm, exhaling heavily.
Gu Yuanbai, now beside him, suddenly felt a twitch in his eyelid.
“Your Majesty, I’ve been bitten,” Xue Yuan said, “It tore through my clothes.”
Veins bulged on Gu Yuanbai’s forehead. He held back, then couldn’t hold back, angrily shouting, “Why the h*ll didn’t you say so sooner?”
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