Chapter 758: East Lai Turmoil

Li Xu's trip to Youzhou brought information far exceeding his expectations by a hundredfold; during it he caught news of the Great King's victorious northern campaign, and also that Bai Li Hu issued a statement withdrawing to Youzhou and renouncing military power forever. Taken individually, each piece would be major bad news for Guangling.

The journey had been delayed far too long; surely Guangling must be getting impatient, so after leaving Yingtaizhou Li Xu rushed nonstop toward Guangling.

Who would have thought that shortly after leaving the Northern Border's sphere of influence, they encountered a refugee mob blocking and looting the road in Gunzhou. Whether the refugees were genuine or not, they looked like they had already become a force; even after they managed to break free and escape, the strong entourage lost some of its members. Having anticipated that a thousand‑mile journey would inevitably involve setbacks, they had brought only elite guards from the army, yet running into a rabble left them in such a sorry state.

Li Xu once again confronted the military gap between Guangling and Bai Li Jing, and he laughed bitterly. 'Bai Li Jing still has the leisure to go escape the heat—does he even know what it's like outside the Northern Border?!'

The attendant's arm had been badly bruised by a rock, and he was terrified. 'Looks like it's even more chaotic out there than when we came—we should hurry on our way!'

'Don't worry, we'll reach Donghai Commandery soon—once we enter Donghai Commandery we'll be safe.' Donghai Commandery has long been under the control of the Guangling King.

'Alas, it's still at least half a month to Donghai Commandery from here—I don't know if His Highness knows that Gunzhou has produced some sort of Lu King.'

'Many of the accents sound like they're from Donglai Commandery; Donglai has been hit by a landing typhoon, many places suffered disaster, and Langya is completely ignoring it.' Li Xu first thought this was the Wang clan abandoning their agreement concerning the Langya region—for them, … who knows whether it's good or bad.

Fortunately, the rest of the way was relatively peaceful; after traveling day and night for another ten days, before even entering Donghai Commandery they met a detachment sent to meet them, and Li Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Leaving the Northern Border's territory has this downside: the roads are hard to travel. Safety is no longer a concern, so they focus on dealing with the difficult routes. Thus Li Xu's impression of the Great King grows ever more complicated. Roads are truly vital—where did Bai Li Jing get the money to build a highway of that scale?!

He could not figure it out after much thought.

What Bai Li Heng received in Guangling was just a travel‑worn, exhausted maternal uncle.

He was startled at that moment!

This second maternal uncle kept claiming poor health, but he never believed it—the man had no actual illness, just a well‑worn excuse. Indeed, it was merely a pretext for refusing to join them in their games.

Now he doesn't think that way; looking at Li Xu's current state, he feels this trip has cost him half his life—right now he's barely hanging on by a breath, his whole body ashen, yes, a dull, light‑less gray.

The Guangling King felt extremely guilty.

After entering his study, he immediately asked with a bright smile. Li Xu exhaled; thousands of words condensed into a complex glance.

'It's rare that Your Highness can still laugh.' Soon you won't be able to laugh at all.

Bai Li Heng was bewildered.

He didn't get straight to the point but started with a relatively light topic, saying that besides seeing Bai Li Jing on this trip, he had also met the fourth and seventh sons of the Bai Li family.

'Bai Li Zhang has grown sensible and is very close to Bai Li Jing, so it seems he treats this younger brother well. Even the Jing King, though he seems a bit awkward, can be seen to get along fine. Back when I was in Chang'an I didn't misjudge—your family's third son is no pushover!' Li Xu sighed weakly.

Bai Li Heng gave no clear answer, then asked how his fourth son went to Youzhou, and whether, since he wasn't being detained, he had truly voluntarily relinquished Jingzhou and so on.

Li Xu shook his head. 'These can wait; let me catch my breath, then later when Father and the Chancellor arrive we can discuss everything together.' His expression was too grave, he was too weak, and Bai Li Heng showed understanding.

Li Xu had someone present first the gift the Great King had given his eldest niece, and only then did he notice that over this journey everyone had lost a lot of weight, while the Wind Cloud Beast 'Er Pang' remained plump.

'This item is a gift from Bai Li Jing to A Tang.'

Bai Li Heng walked around Er Pang, discovered his limited knowledge, and was surprised he didn't recognize what it was.

'What is this? Why didn't you send a treasure horse this time?!' Despite his specific instructions to his second maternal uncle to be sure to mention his newborn daughter when going to Youzhou.

Li Xu: ……

No, what is this in your family?

Great King: 'Exactly! Our family's genes are toxic!'

Great King nodded firmly. jpg

【Delayed leave request.

Sorry for keeping you all waiting; I've been busy with real‑life matters these days and didn't update, but now I'm free—I'll resume daily updates starting tomorrow. Thanks for your concern. (≧∇≦)