Chapter 29: Seeing Qing

(Chapter 29)

Pu Fengtian placed his finger in his mouth and whistled loudly; the servant led the horse back, the three jumped onto the horse's back, leaving a mess behind as they departed, and before leaving his gaze lingered on Li Bucai, Wu Zhuoran and the others for a while.

When the hoofbeats faded, three groups came from the three directions outside Sand Spring: the lord Wei Zidan of Xiao Longma Guo, the lord Lou Wenfei of Rao Yang, and the lord He Qingming of Sha Ji. After them, several more parties arrived, and in the blink of an eye people from a dozen territories had gathered.

Among these lords, even the one with the fewest still had over a dozen guards; even the school‑uniform girl's retinue that had just arrived had more than ten guards, and that was only the ones she kept with her—there were also over ten stationed in the camp. Among them, Wei Zidan of Xiao Longma Guo had the most people with him; besides two generals, there were various soldiers totaling thirty.

He could not have imagined that in just a few days he had fallen so far behind; any lord attacking a territory would be enough for him to drink a pot of wine. The wandering merchant comes only once a month, so manpower cannot be replenished in between. It seems he can only try his best to rescue Jie En and use the Emperor's reward to supplement manpower.

"Hey, Huo Xing Nan." The school‑uniform girl had just stepped onto the sand beach, saw Li Bucai and the others from afar, waved, and walked over.

Wu Zhuoran said, "Lord, it's Qing'er."

"Oh?" Li Bucai heard the voice, looked behind the school‑uniform girl and saw only Rushi and Xiaoxiao, but not Qing'er, and looked puzzled at Zhuoran.

Zhuoran said oddly, "She was just there a moment ago."

At this moment the school‑uniform girl had already come up to them.

"Yo, beloved consort, I didn't expect that after just three days apart you're even more beautiful. Who are these two…" Li Bucai pointed at Rushi and Xiaoxiao and asked.

Zhuoran and the others left the roasted meat pieces there, moved aside from the fire pit, and the two groups of servants—Li Bucai's on the left, the school‑uniform girl's on the right—each lit another bonfire. The school‑uniform girl sat opposite Li Bucai; Rushi and Xiaoxiao, after meeting Li Bucai, left the school‑uniform girl's side and gathered around Li Bucai, joyfully bowing, "Finally we see the Lord, the servant has the honor of seeing the Lord."

"What… is actually going on…" Li Bucai noticed that when the two bowed to him, the school‑uniform girl's expression turned sour.

The two frowned, as if something unspeakable weighed on them, and stepped before the school‑uniform girl, saying, "The servant thanks the lord for sheltering us these past days. Now the Lord is here, we have decided to return to the Lord's side."

The school‑uniform girl gave them a cold look, then turned her gaze to Li Bucai, as if asking whether he had deliberately sent the two to her side. Li Bucai was at a loss.

"Um… right, Qing'er has returned to your side."

The school‑uniform girl questioned, "You secretly hid my servant and even sent two maids as undercover agents? Fortunately you brought them along, otherwise were you planning to collude inside and out while I'm away and raid my camp?"

He had not sent anyone, and now his mouth was full of excuses he couldn't explain, so he said, "How could I? When Zhuoran and the others returned from you, they ran into Qing'er and heard that you drove her out. I know you may have acted out of momentary loyalty, not truly intending to discard her, so I let her stay with me temporarily. I've been too busy these days and forgot to inform you. I thought you might have calmed down by now. Since today we set out, I feared your camp would be left unattended, so I had the two of them bring Qing'er back to you."

The school‑uniform girl thought to herself: "Weren't those two supposed to come to seek refuge with me? Why are they now delivering people?"

With an unreadable expression she said, "This humble girl, on behalf of Qing'er, thanks the Lord for his concern," and mimicked their manner to salute Li Bucai.

"I dare not accept, I dare not accept, beloved consort, quickly stand down, quickly stand down."

People gathered in small groups at Sand Spring, and by a little after three o'clock in the afternoon the Marshal still had not arrived. Li Bucai simply took a white cloth from his bundle and began pitching tents.

"It looks like we'll have to spend the night here tonight. Otherwise, shall we build the camp together? How does the beloved consort feel about that?"

The school‑uniform girl laughed, "Build together? Aren't you afraid your group of beauties will be bullied by my handsome fellows?"

Li Bucai suddenly wore an evil grin and said, "You're afraid your beauties will be bullied by my handsome fellows. Rest assured, I'm a good guy, I swear, I will only cherish my beloved consort and never bully her."

The school‑uniform girl kicked him hard; though it seemed forceful, it felt like a caress on his body.

Because the materials had been prepared in advance, it took only a little less than half an hour to set up five tents: two of Li Bucai's on the outer edge, three of the school‑uniform girl's inside near the pond. In front of the five tents the fire still burned, and before four o'clock the sky had already darkened…

By night's cover, Qing'er slipped gently into the school‑uniform girl's tent and asked, "Princess, what are we doing now?"

The school‑uniform girl stared at her for a long while and said, "The stomach has just been filled, the tents are already up, there's nothing else to do, so we just wait for the marshal to arrive. What, do you want to do something? I forgot to tell you, the two maids you brought yesterday, after seeing Huo Xing Nan, went back to his side. Are you also thinking of looking for Huo Xing Nan?"

Qing'er was startled and hurriedly said, "No… nothing…"

Yesterday at noon, after learning that Li Bucai was marching to Luo Ping Hai, Qing'er was determined to follow no matter what, but Li Bucai, in a commanding tone, ordered her to stay in the camp. She then went to find Wu Zhuoran and the others, hoping they would plead on her behalf. Everyone knew what kind of place Luo Ping Hai was; Qing'er and her companions were not martial, and the Lord's not bringing them naturally had its reasons. Qing'er thought that in such a dangerous place the Lord would need someone to look after his meals and daily life so he could fight wholeheartedly. The plea failed, and in desperation she thought of the Princess on South Bank, so she took Rushi and Xiaoxiao and returned to South Bank.

When the school‑uniform girl asked, she said, "The lord across the river recruited two personal maids last night and keeps them with him day and night. I heard that tomorrow's expedition to Luo Ping Hai will only bring those two maids for the non‑martial people. Qing'er would need at least ten or eight days to return from Luo Ping Hai, and no matter how much she begged, they wouldn't let her go. Ten or eight days, and by the time she returns the two might already… Qing'er thought the Princess's side also needed people, so she brought the two here. They are willing to submit to the Princess, and they are very good at serving, so this time the Princess's expedition to Luo Ping Hai will be very hard; with them there, it will be better."

The school‑uniform girl thought to herself: "Dig a corner for Huo Xing Nan—will he get angry if we do this? But since the two personal maids stay with him day and night, let them stay."

After parting from the Princess, Qing'er went to the two maids and said, "The Lord refused to take us on this expedition, so we have to use this place to go to Luo Ping Hai, then find the Lord. You first pretend to submit to my Princess, and after we find the Lord we'll figure something out."

From the two's eyes, Qing'er already knew her undercover identity had been exposed, which she had long anticipated. Luo Ping Hai is unlike other places; tens of thousands of troops from Sky City go out and never return, and the Lord has only a handful of men. Thinking that the Lord might not even get a decent meal…

…