Chapter 885

Yu Yan Chu gritted her teeth and held on for a while; that piercing, bone‑deep pain finally began to slowly subside. In that brief moment, sweat poured from her face as if she had just washed her hair.

"As a princess, I truly admire you now." Chen Wuji said, "From now on, don't go into the mountains; I'll leave some troops here to protect you. Stay here, rest, and wait for me."

"No way!" Yu Yan Chu said stubbornly, "You said that on the battlefield there's no husband‑wife relation; I'm just a soldier in your hands. How could a soldier be allowed to have the commander detach troops to stay and protect him just for a minor wound? Don't give me special treatment—I can handle it."

"That said, you are still my wife, so this privilege definitely stands." Chen Wuji picked up Yu Yan Chu's trousers and examined them, "The trousers are almost worn through, but luckily they're not really torn. Rest now; I'll patch them for you."

"Ah?!" Yu Yan Chu stared at Chen Wuji in shock, "Husband, you'll mend them for me? No, no, no, that's improper—I'll do it myself."

"Can you?" Chen Wuji handed the trousers to Yu Yan Chu.

Yu Yan Chu's face flushed red, she bit her lip, and shook her head embarrassedly, "I can't……"

In the palace they taught needlework, but she never learned it.

Since childhood, aside from dance and pole‑play, the only things she seriously studied were the lute and calligraphy/painting; things like needlework and archery were never seriously studied.

"What would you use to mend it?" Chen Wuji knew she couldn't possibly know these handicrafts, "I'll mend it; you watch and learn. In the army, mending clothes is a necessary skill—when clothes tear, you sew them yourself; no one will bother to help you over such a trifle."

Yu Yan Chu glanced embarrassedly at Chen Wuji, "Husband, do you even have to mend your own clothes?"

"What else?" Chen Wuji countered.

"Such a small matter should be handled by the Personal Guard, right?"

"Since you say it's a small thing, what's wrong with doing it yourself?"

"Oh……"

Chen Wuji skillfully produced needle and thread, helping Yu Yan Chu deal with the two holes on her trousers that were about to wear through.

Liu Bei once sighed while on the toilet about the regeneration of thigh flesh—that's exactly what this is.

For any cavalryman, those two chunks of flesh on the thigh can never be good; they repeatedly heal and rot, until the area becomes a patch of dead flesh, after which the pain lessens.

Yu Yan Chu intently watched Chen Wuji's hands, "Looks not that hard."

"Want to try?" Chen Wuji handed over the clothing.

"I'll try."

Yu Yan Chu eagerly grabbed the trousers, went at it with tiger‑like vigor; the result could only be said to be sewn together—it looks terrible, but it's barely wearable. Fortunately, under the armor no one can notice.

"It's truly ugly, but for a first try, being able to do this much is already pretty good; a few more times and she'll surely get the hang of it." Chen Wuji hadn't even gotten a chance to praise her when she started praising herself.

Chen Wuji chuckled, "Rest now; I'm going to inspect the camp."

"Oh." Yu Yan Chu lowered her head to glance at her thigh, then suddenly, a bit shy, said, "Husband, I feel like I might have misspoken?"

"What misspoken?"

"In this state, I probably can't warm the bed, nor can I dispel my husband's loneliness……"

Chen Wuji stared in shock.

Look at her like this, and she's still worrying about those things.

"Face‑to‑face definitely won't work, but lying prone should be fine." Chen Wuji laughed.

"Uh……"

……

Chen Wuji just came out of the Camp Tent, when he bumped head-on into the hastily arriving Chen Li.

This taciturn young man now holds one of the higher posts among the Chen clan's many commanders, serving as a Training Officer in the Central Army's Scout Lìng.

"My lord, the enemy's traces have been found!" Chen Li sprang to his feet, clasping his fists and bowing.

"That fast?"

"A force of over three hundred enemy troops broke away from the main formation, intending to desert and flee back to their hometowns, and our scouts captured them. They showed us a route, which allowed our scouts to locate them smoothly." Chen Li said.

"Uncle Shi Yi Shu, quickly set up a prisoner Lìng on the spot, keep those who should be retained, and the rest will follow me into the mountains at dawn tomorrow." Chen Wuji ordered in a low voice.

"Yes!" Chen Li hesitated slightly, then whispered a suggestion: "My lord, why not let the princess take charge of the prisoner Lìng? Just guarding the prisoners, leaving two or three thousand soldiers at her disposal should be fine."

Chen Wuji felt a stir in his heart, "That really is a good idea."

Although Yu Yan Chu insisted on following the army into the mountains, her thigh is now injured, so subsequent actions will inevitably become difficult. Shenxian Ling is high and densely forested, the roads rugged; it's uncertain, but after a day or two we may have to arrange for soldiers to carry her.

Using the prisoner Lìng as an excuse, keeping her behind would be a not‑bad choice.

"Like this, let Chen Wu Dou's Bīngmǎ stay behind. Coincidentally, cavalry won't be of much use in this battle; let them drill these prisoners thoroughly and quickly organize them." Chen Wuji instructed.

"All matters of the prisoner Lìng will be headed by Chen Wu Dou, with the princess as deputy; let her just look on and assist a little. Uncle Shi Yi Shu should give Chen Wu Dou the instructions, so that this slippery fellow won't impede the princess's status and delay the battle opportunity."

"Yes!"

After thinking, Chen Wuji ordered again: "The Court Army is now in a predicament; deserters will surely not be few. Let's set up another bag at the mountain pass and leave Guo Songbai there."

"My lord, leaving the entire vanguard Lìng behind might be too much, right?" Chen Li asked.

"Not too many." Chen Wuji chuckled confidently. "Uncle Shi Yi Shu, in these mountains I doubt anyone knows warfare better than we do. Here, it's not that having more troops makes you stronger; bringing too many Bīngmǎ only makes things bloated."

Chen Li nodded slightly, "Yes!"

"Chen Li, take the Xùhòu yíng into the mountains at once, expand the search range, and promptly report any information to all units." Chen Wuji ordered, "In this battle, the Xùhòu yíng is to scout only, not engage; if discovered by the enemy, just wander about in the mountains to shake them off."

"Your focus is to locate the enemy's traces and the small paths in the mountains."

"Yes!"

Chen Wuji then turned to Chen Li, "Large formations can't deploy in the mountains; the units will enter the mountains in batches. Uncle Shi Yi Shu, pass the order: the Kangxu Lìng is the first batch, the Kui xu Lìng second, the Shixu Camp third, and I will personally lead the Jīnwèi yíng as rear guard. The units will encircle the ancient Gu Zhandao in the mountains, advancing from east and west, each fighting independently."

"Each fighting independently?!" Chen Li exclaimed in shock, "My lord, employing troops this way, might it be a bit overconfident? Once we enter the high, densely forested mountains, it will be hard for the units to stay in contact."

"Overconfident? But if we don't fight like this, our forces simply can't be spread out!" Chen Wuji said, "I could press all our strength forward, but then only the front troops would fight while the rear just follows, and the rear might never get a chance to strike."