Chapter 96: Chapter 53 The Whinnying of Horses and the Urgency of Marching Hooves
Prince Mu had ruled Liuzhou for ten years without issuing a single king’s decree, seen no harsh taxation or heavy conscription, and the people were all fortunate enough to live and work in peace and contentment.
In ten years, they had only heard of him, but never seen his orders.
But all for the sake of Lady Changsheng, he broke his own rules.
Wherever the king’s decree reached, lands under the vassal king, none dared not comply! Everyone knew from the moment Eunuch Yuan Bao appeared that the beating was likely in vain, with a greater shock to follow the initial surprise. Once the king’s decree was issued, they all secretly felt relieved that things had not escalated too far; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been settled with just a beating.
If they truly followed what was written in the king’s decree, wouldn’t they have actually been shot on the spot?
With all sorts of speculations, everyone left with great shock and a hint of doubt.
Gu Changsheng looked at the paper in her hand, stamped with the royal seal, speechless and on the verge of tears. Zhou Mu, that evildoer, was indeed here to trap her!
“Xiao Cui, where is Lansheng Building?”
After everyone left, Zhou Mu scarcely lingered a moment, simply dropping a line for her to go to Lansheng Building by noon today before she could even regain her composure.
“Lady, the Lansheng Building is that tallest restaurant we saw when we entered the city,” Xiao Cui answered while cleaning up the mess in the main hall.
“Restaurant?” Gu Changsheng was puzzled, “Is he inviting me to a meal?”
Would he really need such a big commotion to invite her to a meal and act so out of the ordinary?
“Lady, aren’t you just pretending not to know!” Xiao Cui couldn’t believe what her mistress seemed not to understand.
“What do I know?” Gu Changsheng’s confusion deepened even further. Today had been too fantastical, Zhou Mu’s reaction was as if he had become a different person, and she was lost.
“Lady, do you really not know?” Xiao Cui still couldn’t believe it.
“If I knew, would I have been duped by that evildoer?” Zhou Mu was so unfair, digging a hole and then running away, leaving her with no chance even to question him before he acted. What did she know?
“I thought Sister Qiu had told you…” Xiao Cui looked towards Han Qiu with her head down.
“I thought you would tell the Lady…” Han Qiu responded to Xiao Cui also with her head down.
Now, Gu Changsheng was unhappy. It seemed that everyone else was in the loop except her!
The feeling was damnable, and she couldn’t describe how stifled she felt.
“Speak up, what’s going on? If you don’t make it clear, neither of you are allowed to eat today!” With hands on her hips, Gu Changsheng was on the verge of an outburst.
“Prince Mu marches south at noon, which is today.” Han Qiu replied crisply, as it was common knowledge by now, and they really didn’t know that the Lady was unaware!
“March south? Today?” Gu Changsheng’s mind couldn’t quite keep up. What was this supposed to be? So Zhou Mu made such a scene today as a parting gift?
Was this really a parting gift to throw her into irretrievable doom?
Her mind in chaos, vaguely she remembered someone mentioning something about a campaign in Southern Fujian. She had been too busy at the time and seemed to have overlooked it!
As memory cleared from its haziness, Gu Changsheng couldn’t help cursing. Eunuch Yuan Bao, couldn’t you deliver a message directly to someone’s ears? If she had known Zhou Mu was leaving, she would have been prepared and not caught off guard. How could she suddenly end up with a ‘Husband’ without any warning?
Glancing at the sun, noon was approaching; she didn’t have much time left to sort her thoughts.
“The soldier sets out when the sun is at its zenith, and returns triumphant when the sun rises. He’s really going to war…” Muttering to herself, Gu Changsheng walked towards the back yard in a daze.
Go or not, he was leaving either way. That really was the question!
No one knew better than her the cruelty of war, let alone ancient warfare, which was outright close combat. It could be said to be a situation of nine deaths and one life.
Was he really going to war?
In Gu Changsheng’s heart, from Capital City all the way down south, she had seen countless ruffians and beggars in tattered clothes, but it seemed to reflect a country at peace, with harmonious prosperity. She had thought that such a scene meant there were no wars anywhere nearby, but war turned out to be so close to her.
She did not fear war, but she hated it!
War meant death, it meant people deported from their homes, it meant soldiers dying on the battlefield, losing their homes and loved ones…
She had forgotten that Zhou Mu had become renowned for his military achievements, that he, cold and hard as ice, was born for conquest!
“Lady, it’s almost noon. Are we going or not?” Seeing her mistress drift further away in thought, Xiao Cui had to speak up to remind her.
Though Prince Mu held her in higher regard, at the end of the day, he was the lofty County Prince. In Liuzhou Region, his word was as good as an imperial edict. Surely the Lady wasn’t really going to skip it?