The Blood Crown - Chapter 68

From the moment they entered the city, the two of them carefully observed everything about Kuizhou City.

Most of the city gate guards were under Bao Yunyong’s command, with a few remnants of the Kuizhou old guard. It was easy to identify them because they hadn’t yet adopted a unified armor. The city defense was lax, and military discipline was loose. Some people gathered in groups of three or five, chatting idly. This couldn’t solely be blamed on Bao Yunyong’s incompetence; the soldiers he commanded were mostly militia, half a year ago they were mostly barefoot farmers, merchants, or laborers. Now, with armor on their bodies, they appeared more like soldiers, but to train them effectively in such a short time was beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

Feng Ye lowered his helmet and followed silently behind Yan Sikong, silently recording the layout of the streets and alleys in his mind.

The two of them were directly taken to Bao Yunyong’s command post. Upon entering the main hall, they saw a burly man seated in the main seat. Despite wearing luxurious clothing, with a belt made of rhinoceros horn and embroidered shoes, his background was still evident. To his right sat a group of thin middle-aged men. Among them, one man with an unremarkable appearance had eyes that gleamed with sharpness.

On both sides of the hall sat some generals, all staring straight at Yan Sikong and Feng Ye.

As Yan Sikong stepped over the threshold, a carefree smile appeared on his face. He arched his hand from afar and said loudly, “Yan Sikong, a reader of the Hanlin Academy, pays his respects to General Bao.”

Bao Yunyong’s face was originally stern. Upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and looked towards the thin man beside him, who didn’t react much, just scrutinizing Yan Sikong. Most of the people in the room felt somewhat surprised because they had all witnessed the unshakeable arrogance of the envoys who had come before, especially Liang Guang’s envoy. The current envoy seemed too casual in comparison.

Yan Sikong looked at Bao Yunyong with a faint smile. Even though people who had come with similar purposes as him a few days ago had lost their heads, he didn’t show any fear of his situation.

After a moment of hesitation, Bao Yunyong asked, “Are you… the person sent by Zhao Fuyi?”

“Exactly so, I am Yan Sikong.”

Bao Yunyong cleared his throat. “I have already sent Liang Guang back to you. Why did you send someone else?”

“Our general has set up camp upstream of Kuizhou, troubled day and night, thinking about how to end the rebellion. He wants to give the Emperor and the people an explanation, so he had to send me again.”

“What do you mean?”

The thin man squinted his eyes. “Are you suggesting that even if Liang Guang returns empty-handed, you still want to come to seek reconciliation?”

Yan Sikong smiled, “May I ask who you are?”

Bao Yunyong interjected, “This is my military adviser, Yang Weiqi.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of you.” Yan Sikong nodded. “What you said is correct. General, and the people of Kuizhou, are all subjects of our Great Sheng. When we take up arms, it pains the Emperor. His Majesty still hopes that you, General, will submit to the court. Now that spring has arrived, I believe many people who followed you to Shu are starting to miss their hometown fields.”

“Humph, if that’s the case, you should retreat thirty miles first, then we can talk.”

“It’s difficult to retreat. As long as the General agrees to submit to the court and join me in attacking Prince Liang, General Zhao will immediately march towards Jingzhou. By then, we will be more than thirty miles away from Kuizhou, hahaha.”

Yang Weiqi furrowed his brows, staring coldly at Yan Sikong, saying, “This person is young and frivolous in speech, difficult to gauge for a while. Detain him first and let me talk to him.”

Yan Sikong just smiled without saying a word.

Bao Yunyong pondered for a moment. “But if we detain him, Zhao Fuyi will still find ways to criticize me indirectly. Let’s just settle them first.”

“Thank you, General.” Yan Sikong smiled at Yang Weiqi and emphasized, “Thank you, sir.”

The two of them were settled in an inn. Although Bao Yunyong said they wouldn’t be detained, there were people watching them inside and outside the inn.

Once inside the room, Feng Ye removed his helmet. His appearance was too outstanding to pass off as a mere bodyguard. If he didn’t conceal himself a bit, he would inevitably attract attention.

Yan Sikong, on the other hand, no longer wore his earlier smiling face, but instead remained expressionless, deep in thought.

Feng Ye poured each of them a cup of tea and handed it to Yan Sikong.

Taking the cup, Yan Sikong gestured for silence as Feng Ye was about to speak, making a “shh” sound.

“Don’t worry, if anyone comes close, I can sense it. There’s no one eavesdropping on us right now.” Feng Ye had strong internal energy, making it impossible for anyone to hide within close range.

Only then did Yan Sikong breathe a sigh of relief. “It was close. They didn’t notice you just now.”

“With your eloquence, who would notice me?” Feng Ye chuckled. “What are you planning this time?”

Just now, facing Bao Yunyong, Yan Sikong behaved completely differently from his usual calm demeanor, appearing rather impatient, as if he truly believed he could convince Bao Yunyong with just a few words and a box of gold and silver. Feng Ye, of course, didn’t believe Yan Sikong could be so shallow; the only possibility was that he was pretending.

Yan Sikong said, “I carefully questioned Liang Guang’s envoy about what happened. Liang Guang is somewhat arrogant and looks down on Bao Yunyong, which he probably couldn’t hide. Add to that his quick wit, which allowed him to outsmart Yang Weiqi in speech, thus offending both of them. His attendant being killed is partly his own fault.”

“So you pretended to be humble in front of Bao Yunyong and… inexperienced in front of Yang Weiqi?”

Yan Sikong blinked. “Knowing what they want and then appealing to it can achieve twice the result with half the effort.”

“But now both of them seem unwilling. They’re probably thinking about how to delay us and send us back.”

“Whether this succeeds or not depends not on Bao Yunyong, but on Yang Weiqi.”

“Oh?”

“Have you noticed that Yang Weiqi gave orders beyond Bao Yunyong twice? Once he told me to retreat, and the other time he wanted to detain us.”

Feng Ye thought for a moment. “That’s right. Yang Weiqi, as Bao Yunyong’s strategist, seems to have little regard for Bao Yunyong.”

“How can an intelligent person regard an ignorant brute highly? Yang Weiqi looks down on Bao Yunyong even more than Liang Guang does. But now he can only submit to him. I guess he must have some talent but couldn’t pass the imperial exams, feeling unfulfilled, wanting to showcase his abilities through Bao Yunyong. Now that he’s commanding an army of fifty to sixty thousand troops as Bao Yunyong’s strategist, he naturally holds himself in even higher regard.”

“You can figure all that out.”

“There are too many people like him. From the childhood imperial exams to the palace exams, I’ve seen countless people who consider themselves talented but underappreciated. Most of them just aren’t good enough.” Yan Sikong shook his head. “It’s just speculation on my part, but Yang Weiqi definitely doesn’t respect Bao Yunyong. So, we need to handle him.”

“Wait for him to come to us.” Feng Ye smirked coldly.

“No rush. I can tell Yang Weiqi wants to keep us hanging for a few days.” Yan Sikong opened the window and looked at the old man sweeping the courtyard. “Feng Ye, can you sneak out at night?”

“It’s difficult. I’ve already familiarized myself with the layout of the inn. They’ve placed many people, surrounding the room we’re staying in.”

Yan Sikong nodded. “We’ll play it by ear.”

Feng Ye pulled Yan Sikong closer, letting him sit on his lap. “Having a few days of leisure unexpectedly is a pleasant surprise.”

Yan Sikong smiled. “Where’s the leisure? We need to find a way to contact the old guards of Kuizhou. Besides, this is enemy territory. We can’t afford to relax even a bit.”

Feng Ye hugged Yan Sikong’s waist, burying his face in his chest. “Even though it’s enemy territory, with me here, you have nothing to fear.”

“Mm, I’m not afraid.” 

These past two days, my cold has almost cleared up, but now I’m coughing so hard that my abdominal muscles ache, and now my lower back is starting to hurt? I don’t know what’s going on with this situation_（：з」∠）_ I just want to get better soon. I’d like to read a couple more chapters when I feel better. (End of this chapter)