Chapter 79
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Xue Yuan had just emerged from the relief of securing the roots of his descendants when the emperor abruptly delivered the news that he was to go to the border to deliver grain and troops.
Accepting the decree, Xue Yuan thought about the border and the sandstorms many times on his way back from the palace, then thought also of Gu Yuanbai. This trip to the border, to deal with the locusts and to deploy troops, Xue Yuan couldn’t just return after delivering the grain and troops. He was unwilling to return like that. He needed to do something to dissipate the resentment and malice in his heart.
The arrogance of the nomads at the border, the plight of the people, the weakness of the army, he needed to vent his frustration before he could return.
He also had to show Gu Yuanbai what Xue Yuan was capable of. He had to intimidate those petty individuals and let them know that no one could compare to Xue Yuan.
He had to go to the Northern Frontier. This trip would take at least four or five months.
By the time he returned, it might already be the next year, and Gu Yuanbai’s birthday would have long passed. Did he miss it? Of course, he did.
Missing is indeed real, and wanting to go is also genuine. Xue Yuan pondered for a long time, thinking about how to make the emperor remember him.
In the midst of numerous talented individuals emerging one after another, he wanted to be remembered for four or five months.
As he pondered on his way home, he saw Madam Xue coming back neatly dressed from outside. Xue Yuan raised an eyebrow and casually asked, “Where have you been?”
Madam Xue froze for a moment without showing any trace, “I went to visit the wives of various officials.”
Xue Yuan nodded casually, then suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned to the side, and asked, “Mother, what if I’m interested in someone, kissed them, touched them, but they still refuse? What should I do?”
Kissed them, touched them. These two sentences hit Madam Xue hard. Xue Yuan didn’t get a response for a while. When he turned to look, he saw Madam Xue wiping her eyes with a handkerchief, tears already wetting half of it.
“…” Xue Yuan murmured softly, “Something’s wrong with her.”
Without asking any further, he went back to his room on his own.
***
The grain and forage were quickly mobilized and loaded onto the wagons for transportation. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War followed closely, preparing various military supplies and equipment needed for the army’s march. While they prepared, they needed precise data obtained through rapid and meticulous calculations.
The Grand Council was busy with troop deployments and arranging march affairs, while the Ministry of State Affairs was even busier than the Grand Council. They had to calculate various accounts urgently, with the sudden occurrence of events leaving no room for delay. They could only put aside all other matters day and night, dedicating themselves to calculating the exact number of military supplies needed.
Gu Yuanbai and the ministers discussed matters in the morning court and continued to discuss after the morning court. Sometimes, the candlelight in the Xuanzheng Hall would burn late into the night, with constant discussions echoing in the hall. In this busy atmosphere, a large amount of grain and troops gradually gathered. The specific and meticulous marching plans were continuously overturned, proposed, and improved upon.
Finally, the day arrived for Xue Yuan to depart for the Northern Frontier.
Xue Yuan, with his scruffy beard, brought two adult wolves from the Xue Mansion and presented them to Gu Yuanbai.
These two wolves had thick fur, sturdy and powerful limbs. Xue Yuan held them in his hands, and they glared at everyone in the hall with fierce eyes. The palace maids paled and involuntarily took a few steps back.
Amidst his busy schedule, Gu Yuanbai glanced over and was surprised to see these two fierce wolves. “Weren’t there two wolf cubs brought earlier? Why have two wolves been sent again?”
“The previous ones were too small, not suitable,” Xue Yuan’s voice was hoarse. “These two can protect Your Majesty.”
Gu Yuanbai paused, his pen stopped. “Protect me?”
Xue Yuan nodded heavily, then suddenly released his hands. The palace attendants exclaimed in shock, but they saw the two wolves walking leisurely, sniffing at Gu Yuanbai’s robes, then lying down beside the emperor.
Gu Yuanbai’s heart raced faster when Xue Yuan suddenly let go of his hand. He remained tense, looking down at the two wolves beside him.
Xue Yuan said, “They’ve been tamed. They won’t bite anyone, especially not Your Majesty. When I’m not around, they’ll protect you, so I can leave with peace of mind.”
Gu Yuanbai blinked, still motionless. “You can leave with peace of mind? Are you suggesting that our Imperial Guards are useless in your eyes?”
“It’s not the same.”
Xue Yuan pointed to Tian Fusheng and succinctly instructed, “Steward Tian, go pour a cup of tea for His Majesty.”
Tian Fusheng’s legs trembled like chaff, forcing a smile. “Uh, Lord Xue… Isn’t this inappropriate?”
Xue Yuan insisted, “Hurry up.”
Tian Fusheng glanced at the Emperor. Gu Yuanbai had relaxed as soon as he realized the two wolves were obedient. Leaning back in his chair, he nodded at Tian Fusheng.
Wolves weren’t dogs, and Gu Yuanbai was quite curious about what these two wolves trained by Xue Yuan would do for their master.
With a strained face, Tian Fusheng approached, trembling, holding a cup of tea. The cup shook violently. As he neared within five steps of Gu Yuanbai, the two wolves lying beside the Emperor opened their eyes and stared at him, their gaze eerie. Tian Fusheng’s hand holding the cup trembled even more, but he managed to place the tea on the table in front of the Emperor under the watchful eyes of the wolves.
Xue Yuan smirked and signaled for a guard to approach with a drawn sword. Before the guard could get close, the two wolves stood up, their fur bristling, teeth bared as they growled lowly, their eyes fixed on the guard, ready to attack at any moment.
Gu Yuanbai remained silent for a moment. His excitement seemed to rise as if he had been given a wild new toy. With a calm expression, he said, “What if they bite the wrong person?”
“They don’t eat human flesh,” Xue Yuan replied. “You feed them raw meat every day, so they won’t kill people with their bites. And if they do bite the wrong person, anyone who dares to approach you with a blade will deserve it.”
Xue Yuan paused. “They’re smart. They know who to bite and who not to. You just need to point, and even if their teeth break, they’ll still rush forward for you.”
Gu Yuanbai leaned down and tentatively touched the heads of the two wolves. Slowly, he said, “Those who know will understand you’re talking about wolves, but those who don’t will think you’re talking about dogs.”
Xue Yuan chuckled quietly. The disheveled and scruffy stubble now seemed strangely handsome. “Any wolf that meets the emperor must turn into an obedient dog.”
He said it so softly that Gu Yuanbai didn’t hear, his attention stolen by the majestic appearance of the two wolves. “What dogs?”
“I just meant, Your Majesty can rest assured and treat them like dogs,” Xue Yuan smiled faintly. “If their teeth break, I have plenty more wolves in my mansion. Whether they’re disciplined or not, they’ll be trained by me. These two can be thrown away, and Your Majesty can pick another one directly from my mansion.”
“If they can’t protect you,” he mused for a moment, casually adding, “when I come back, I’ll invite Your Majesty to have a pot of wolf meat soup.”
The two wolves lying beside Gu Yuanbai seemed to understand Xue Yuan’s words. They shivered all over, tails tucked, and stood up, moving closer to Gu Yuanbai’s hand, whining as they actively let Gu Yuanbai touch their fur.
Gu Yuanbai smiled and stroked their fur, but his tone was ruthless, “Good. I’ve never eaten wolf meat before.”
The whining of the two wolves grew louder.
Xue Yuan turned to Tian Fusheng and asked, “Steward Tian, I wonder how those two wolf pups I gave to His Majesty earlier are doing now?”
Tian Fusheng was a bit intimidated by Xue Yuan now. He replied honestly, “Lord Xue’s two wolf pups are still being raised in the Beast Garden.”
“What about the red fox?”
“They’re all in the Beast Garden.”
They had all been abandoned and forgotten.
Xue Yuan sighed. “The two wolf pups are affectionate. If I’m not around, Your Majesty, remember to visit them often.”
Gu Yuanbai withdrew his hand, took the handkerchief from a palace attendant, and wiped it. “If they’re so affectionate, do they only stick to me? Aren’t the eunuchs and palace maids who serve them considered people?”
It’s not the same.
When Xue Yuan trained these wolves, he made them smell Gu Yuanbai’s scent and said, “This is the smell of your other master. Your mother has this smell too. Understand?”
But he couldn’t say this out loud. He might accidentally offend the wolves’ mother and get his descendants cut off.
Xue Yuan tilted his head slightly. “Your Majesty is right. Previously, when Your Majesty expressed interest in my horse, I brought it here. That horse is called Liefeng. Your Majesty can send someone to take it to the stable now.”
“You…” Gu Yuanbai paused. “I indeed took a liking to that horse, but there are urgent matters at hand. Minister Xue, you currently need a good horse to go to the northern frontier. Keep it for yourself, and it saves me from rewarding it to you.”
Another wolf, another horse. Gu Yuanbai couldn’t shake off the feeling that Xue Yuan was trying to leave everything to him before leaving.
As the emperor finished speaking, Xue Yuan didn’t argue. He just smiled and quietly watched as the emperor’s fingers brushed over the wolf’s fur. “Does Your Majesty like gray fur?”
“It doesn’t matter if I like it or not,” Gu Yuanbai replied casually. “As long as it feels comfortable to touch.”
As he said this, he suddenly remembered Xue Yuan’s vigorous fur. His expression changed slightly, and his hand, which was about to touch the wolf’s head, stopped abruptly.
He had been busy lately, so busy that he seemed to have forgotten something. It was only now that he suddenly remembered, and what he had forgotten seemed to be the matter of cutting off Xue Yuan’s lifeline earlier.
Truly deserving of being the proud son of heaven, the protagonist in this story. Gu Yuanbai thought about how coincidentally, he had encountered the urgent news from eight hundred miles away just when he wanted to exterminate Xue Yuan’s descendants.
Tomorrow was the expedition. Gu Yuanbai thought absentmindedly, if he got cut today, could he still ride tomorrow?
“Your Majesty,” after a while, Xue Yuan spoke again, “the words I said before about the jade ring for my future wife were just casual remarks. The things presented to Your Majesty belong to Your Majesty. There’s no such thing as wanting them back.”
Gu Yuanbai touched the jade ring on his hand, turned it around, and his voice sounded heavy, “Hmm?”
Xue Yuan smiled gently. “May I ask if my previous reward still holds any value?”
Gu Yuanbai twirled the jade ring back and forth. “It holds.”
“Your Majesty’s grace,” Xue Yuan said, “before I depart, I wish to bathe in Your Majesty’s blessing.”
“This official want to soak… in your bathwater.”
***
After leaving the palace, Xue Yuan not only soaked in the Emperor’s bathwater but also filled a waterskin with it before leaving.
The palace’s spring water was changed regularly and cleaned, but Xue Yuan knew that the Emperor had bathed just this morning. When speaking with Xue Yuan, one could still smell the fragrance of the water. Gu Yuanbai was a man of his word, and even though Xue Yuan’s request was somewhat unconventional, he agreed with a nod.
Xue Yuan patted the bulging waterskin, feeling pleased.
He had also acquired a faint scent of the palace, mixed with a very subtle medicinal fragrance. This scent was quite similar to the Emperor’s. When Xue Yuan bathed, it felt as if Gu Yuanbai was right beside him.
It was as if they were both naked, intimately touching each other.
After bathing, Xue Yuan stood by the pool for a while, calming himself down from this beautiful illusion.
Later, in the palace…
Tian Fusheng secretly conversed with the head of the guards, “Look at Lord Xue, he’s sent wolves, big and small. I just took one look and felt scared. How is he not afraid?”
The head of the guards was very alert, closely watching the two wolves lying beside the Emperor. He replied, “Lord Xue is bold and likes these things. It’s not surprising.”
Tian Fusheng sighed. “Lord Xue’s temperament is so terrifying. Just looking at him makes me nervous. But when it comes to the Emperor, he’s not like that at all. His Majesty is dignified, yet you see him daringly soaking in the Emperor’s bathwater. This man, indeed, he can change a thousand times, but his lustful heart cannot change.”
The head of the guards disagreed. “How can it be called lustful? Doesn’t Lord Xue just want to bathe in the Emperor’s blessing, seeking solace in his heart?”
Tian Fusheng paused, then glanced at him. It was only then that he remembered that the head of the guards didn’t know about Xue Yuan’s previous declarations of affection to the Emperor. He shivered, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, hastily correcting himself, “That’s right, I misspoke. Lord Zhang, please don’t take it seriously. I was talking nonsense. Please don’t believe me.”
The head of the guards sighed and gently said, “Steward Tian, next time, please be more careful with your words.”
Tian Fusheng wiped his sweat. “Yes.”
That night, as Gu Yuanbai slept, the two wolves also laid before the inner hall for rest. The palace attendants exited the inner hall with trembling hearts, speaking in hushed tones.
But Gu Yuanbai’s sleep that night was heavier than usual.
As dawn broke the next day, it was the day of Xue Yuan’s departure for the Northern Frontier.
***
Gu Yuanbai bid farewell to the soldiers with the officials, his expression solemn, his eyes filled with earnest instructions, “Minister Xue, lead the soldiers and provisions safely to the border, and return safely.”
Xue Yuan was already clad in silver-white armor, the heavy armor fitting his tall figure, making him look exceptionally imposing. After bowing, he straightened up, lowered his head slightly, and gazed into Gu Yuanbai’s eyes.
His long hair, tied up high, fell behind him. He was fully prepared, and between his eyebrows and eyes, there was a hidden fierceness and sharpness.
Under the scorching sun, with sharp coldness, he moved forward.
The two men stared at each other for a moment. Suddenly, Xue Yuan lifted his robe, swiftly knelt down, and cleanly planted a kiss on Gu Yuanbai’s cheek while he was still bent over to help him up.
This sudden gesture was so fast that no one saw it.
Gu Yuanbai paused in his attempt to help him up.
“I’ll be away for four or five months. You can’t forget about me,” Xue Yuan whispered softly, his warm breath reaching Gu Yuanbai’s face. “Wait for me. Before I come back, don’t let anyone touch you, not even a finger or a strand of hair, alright?”
Suppressed for over two months, learning for over two months, Xue Yuan knew he wouldn’t get Gu Yuanbai like this.
Because Gu Yuanbai wouldn’t fall for an obedient dog.
But Gu Yuanbai didn’t erupt in anger. He smiled gently and said softly, “No.”
“It’s okay,” Xue Yuan chuckled. “With the wolves protecting you, whoever dares to touch you, the wolves will bite off their fingers. When I return from the Northern Frontier, I’ll see whose hands are missing fingers, and I’ll personally come looking for trouble.”
With that, he lowered his head, ceremoniously performing three kowtows and nine prostrations.
After completing the ritual, he stood up, turned around and mounted his horse neatly. His cloak fluttered, and his robes rustled.
“Depart.”
The thousands of soldiers and supplies formed a winding procession, with the provisions protected in the middle. In addition to Xue Yuan, there were dozens of experts selected by the court who were proficient in pest control. And there were hundreds of carts filled with medicinal herbs, always prepared.
Hundreds of doctors accompanied them to prevent diseases that might arise after the locust plague.
Each of these soldiers was strong and tall, well-fed and well-salted. They were fully equipped, able to wield heavy swords and shields, and wear heavy armor. The horses were even fatter and stronger, their cavalry roars echoing as they reared up.
The roar echoed with the sound of the horses enjoying the delicious horse feed they had been accustomed to.
With such a force, there was no reason they couldn’t achieve victory.
Gu Yuanbai stood there, watching the long line of soldiers gradually disappearing from sight. The people beside him were filled with blood, their breathing becoming heavy at the sight.
He took out a handkerchief and calmly wiped his face. He, too, was thinking, bring me back a victory.
A great victory, using the silver that flowed like water to train soldiers, exchanging it for victory.
Let the nomadic tribes see what the Great Heng’s soldiers had become, and let them see what the Great Heng’s Emperor had become.
And now, with these appearances of the Emperor and the soldiers, do they have enough strength to make them obediently cheer?
Gu Yuanbai was very much looking forward to it.
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