MM Racing Chapter 431 Tianfei Pass
Chapter 431 Tianfei Pass
Li Yuanke said irritably, "What kind of demands could I possibly have? It's not like I'm the one choosing."
Shen Shixi quickly rolled over and sat on his chest. "Really? Li Yuanke, are you serious? You want to choose a concubine too, right? You should have said so earlier! I would have chosen one for you sooner!"
Li Yuanke flipped her over, angrily saying, "When did I say that? Don't try to pin this on me. I was just joking. If you take it seriously, I'll get rough with you!"
Shen Shixi grabbed his arm, preventing him from being lifted up. Li Yuanke wasn't really trying to lift him up either, so she pressed him down onto the bed again.
"Li Yuanke, it's really not worth it for you to be the emperor. Look, other emperors have three palaces and six courtyards, but although you have them, they're practically useless. Sigh, it's all my fault. If I hadn't entered the palace..."
Li Yuanke felt very uncomfortable and covered her mouth, saying, "Can't you even keep this lousy mouth of yours?"
Shen Shixi laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "To be honest, you really don't want to participate in the talent show?"
Li Yuanke glanced at her sideways, too lazy to pay her any attention.
In the winter of the twenty-seventh year of Yongxi, the Empress issued an imperial edict to select women for the imperial concubine selection. Women from respectable families in all prefectures who were fourteen years of age or older and no more than eighteen years of age could participate in the selection, but there were conditions: they were required to be literate.
Those outside the palace didn't know, but those inside knew: this was a selection of princes.
In the palace, from the Third Prince to the Crown Prince, as well as Fu Guang and Wang Shu, none of them are married, not even engaged. The Third Prince is guarding the imperial tombs and is almost twenty-two years old.
The fourth and fifth princes are only a few months younger than the third prince. Even the crown prince is seventeen years old and has reached the age for marriage. If they are from a family with certain standards, Fu Guang and Wang Shu will have to start looking at each other.
Shen Shixi was quite depressed, wondering how she had reached the age where she was really going to be a mother-in-law.
While the palace was preparing for the imperial concubine selection, the battle at Tianfei Pass had begun. Xiling had mobilized 100,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on Tianfei Pass. What was most frustrating was that Xiling had actually moved the divine stone from the sacred mountain over there.
The divine stone emits radiation, which others may not know, but the Crown Prince does, as does Ling Menghui, who is a fellow disciple of the Emperor.
The massive catapult hurled stones at them. Upon seeing the large rock, the prince turned and ran back, shouting, "Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
Seeing this, Ling Menghui quickly reined in his horse. A short guard beside him said, "What's wrong with that bastard Shen Changce? He's not a general, why is he issuing orders?"
Ling Meng glanced back at her personal guards' words, her expression solemn, and shouted, "Order to retreat!"
Everyone was fighting hard when the divine stone was thrown at them. They could have just dodged it. Why did they retreat?
Since it was the general who ordered a retreat, everyone quickly withdrew. The soldiers of the Great Zhou retreated in an orderly manner, going back for about ten miles. The crown prince ran at the front, followed by the ninth prince and the others.
Wei Shuo was puzzled and asked, "Why retreat? We can repel this attack soon."
The prince, still shaken, cried, "That huge rock... that rock... it's a death rock! Anyone who gets close to it will die!"
I don't know when it was transported from Xiling, it's been sitting in Tianfei Pass for a few days now.
Obviously, no one believed it. They all thought that it was because the Crown Prince shouted "retreat" that the General had no choice but to sound the retreat to avoid riots in the army.
The short guard rode over on horseback, looking down at the Crown Prince and saying, "Shen Changce, you're dead! Who gave you the audacity to give orders on the battlefield? And to the entire army? Are you out of your mind?"
Judging by his age, the guard still had a childish look in his eyes. He was wearing a suit of armor, and his black hair was tied back in a ponytail with a bright red rope. He had a round face, almond-shaped eyes, and pink cheeks. At this moment, his cheeks were puffed out, making him look like a round-faced cat.
Shen Changce was the name the Crown Prince gave himself. He confessed this to Wei Shuo on his way here. Fu Guang was his younger brother's name, his name was Dong Jun, and his military advisor's name was Shen Changce.
Poor Wei Shuo was just a lowly person; even though he made it so obvious, Wei Shuo still didn't know that Dong Jun was the name of the current crown prince.
Ling Meng returned, and the Crown Prince apologized to her, saying, "This humble general was wrong; I shouldn't have given orders on the battlefield. Please punish me, Commander!"
Ling Meng replied, "Go back and get twenty lashes! How did you know there was something wrong with that stone?"
The punishment should still be imposed. Ling Menghui's subsequent question was an attempt to cover up for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince said, "This humble general has heard my mother say that there is a sacred mountain in Xiling, and on the sacred mountain is a sacred stone. Within a radius of ten miles, no grass or trees grow, and creatures mutate. Rats can grow as big as piglets. If a person is affected by it, they will be plagued by all kinds of diseases and will not live more than three years."
Everyone gasped in shock!
The short bodyguard hurriedly said, "General, if that's the case, wouldn't Shen Changce be considered to have made amends for his mistake? Should he still receive the twenty lashes?"
The prince glanced at her and hurriedly said, "Military orders are absolute, General. No matter what, I should not have given orders on the battlefield. I am indeed wrong and am willing to accept these twenty lashes."
The crown prince was still given twenty strokes of the military rod, but those who carried out the punishment knew that Shen Changce's actions were to save everyone, and they went easy on him during the beating.
However, it was inevitable that the skin would be torn and bleeding.
The army doctor came and applied medicine to his wounds. The crown prince lay in his tent to recover. Then the short personal guard came over, brought him a bowl of porridge with a few pickled vegetables on top, and tossed him a letter. "You're from the capital. What's your background? You're so mysterious. I asked my father, but he won't tell me."
The crown prince immediately recognized the letter as coming from his mother. Without even looking at it, he tucked it under his pillow. He moved, wincing in pain. "My nickname is Dongjun. I'm from the capital. My father and your father are fellow disciples. Who do you think I am?"
Ling Xinian grew up on the frontier and was unaware of the intricacies of the capital. She said irritably, "Don't you know I've never been to the capital? How boring. When you first came to Tianfei Pass, didn't I show you around?"
"Why won't you just tell me? Tell me about what's happening in the capital, okay?"
"Sure, but what have you brought me? I'm so badly injured, how can I get better with just some porridge and pickled vegetables? Shouldn't I eat something better?"
The prince moved again, which aggravated the pain in his buttocks.
"Hey, don't move! Be careful of your wound!"
"How can I eat if I don't move? If I'm not full, how can I have the energy to talk to you?"
Ling Xinian didn't think much of it. She squatted down and fed him while speaking gently, "It's not that I don't want to give you good food. I even went out to catch a rabbit for you, but my father said you were injured and can't eat meat. You can only eat bland food. What can I do?"
The crown prince, valuing his life, stopped shouting and asked, "What are you going to do with that stone?"
Ling Xinian said, "I don't know, my dad is trying to come up with a solution."
"I have a way. Summon the General to see me, and I'll tell him how to do it."
Soon, Ling Menghui arrived. He wanted to pay his respects to the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince quickly waved his hand, saying, "General, this is a military camp. I am now a lowly soldier under your command. I don't even have the right to call myself a subordinate general."
"Your Highness is joking."
"You can't call me Crown Prince."
With no one in the tent, the Crown Prince explained his plan, which was the same method his mother had used to send people to the isolated peaks on either side of Tianfei Pass.
"After the start of spring, when the southeast wind blows, we will use a hot air balloon to lift the large stone. Once it is moved a few dozen miles into Xiling territory, the stone will fall into Xiling territory."