pappabearbooks Chapter 312 Raising an Army! An army must be raised! Xu Longxiang could no longer tolerate it; he wa
Chapter 312 Raising an Army! An army must be raised! Xu Longxiang could no longer tolerate it; he wa
Inside Zhenyue Hall, candlelight flickered.
Xu Longxiang was being supported by his deputy Zhao Hu, and was half-reclining in a round-backed chair behind a long sandalwood table.
His face was so pale it was almost transparent, and there were still traces of blood on his lips from when he vomited blood, with a thin, dark red line running down his chin.
His eyes were closed, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his brows were furrowed into a deep "川" (river) shape.
Footsteps came from outside the hall, hurried and disorderly.
Sikong Xuan turned around abruptly and went to the door to greet him.
The curtain was lifted, and an elderly man carrying a medicine box strode in. His white beard fluttered in front of his chest, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
"Doctor Lang! Quick!" Sikong Xuan grabbed his arm and practically dragged him in front of Xu Longxiang.
The physician didn't even bother with formalities; he simply placed his medicine box on the table and placed his fingers on Xu Longxiang's pulse.
The hall fell silent.
Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the doctor's wrinkled face.
The candlelight flickered on his face, casting the lines etched by time on and off.
The doctor frowned for a moment, then relaxed.
Wrinkle it again, then relax it.
Sikong Xuan's heart pounded with his furrowed brow, and his palms were sweaty.
Finally, the doctor released his grip and let out a long breath.
"His Highness was overcome by anger and anger, which damaged his liver, causing liver qi stagnation and blood rushing upwards, which is why he vomited blood."
He took a cloth bag from his medicine box, unfolded it, and inside was a row of slender silver needles, which gleamed with a cold light in the candlelight.
"It's nothing serious. After I perform acupuncture to clear the meridians, you can take a few doses of herbal medicine to soothe the liver and regulate qi. After a few days of rest, you'll be fine."
Sikong Xuan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally felt a little relieved.
The physician picked up a silver needle, heated it over a candle flame, and then gently inserted it into the Baihui acupoint on the top of Xu Longxiang's head.
Next are the temples, the center of the chest (CV17), and the Neiguan acupoint.
His technique was extremely fast; each needle landed precisely on the acupoint, at the correct depth, without the slightest error.
As the last needle was inserted, Xu Longxiang's eyelashes suddenly trembled violently.
Then, his eyes slowly opened.
The candlelight was blinding, and he squinted slightly, his pupils contracting and then slowly dilating in the light.
The light in those eyes was scattered and empty, as if they had just woken up from a deep nightmare and hadn't yet distinguished between dream and reality.
He blinked, then blinked again.
Sikong Xuan's face appeared in the candlelight—an old, wrinkled face filled with worry.
Then came Zhao Hu.
That cold, perpetually expressionless face now had its brows furrowed and its jaw clenched tightly.
Then there's Fan Li.
Tie Tu, Mo Ya, and many others were also present.
Xu Longxiang looked at them, his lips slightly parted.
"I..." His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, like a broken breath squeezed out from deep in his throat.
Then, a picture suddenly flashed through his mind.
Bright red invitations.
Gold foil lettering.
Seven words—Empress Zhao Qingxue of Liyang.
His heart skipped a beat.
The pain came without warning, yet it was so fierce and uncontrollable, like an invisible hand reaching into his chest cavity, gripping his heart tightly, and kneading it forcefully and frantically.
His face instantly turned even paler, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead, sliding down his pale cheeks.
He suddenly raised his hand, pressed it to his chest, and gasped for breath, like a fish stranded on the shore.
"Your Highness!" Sikong Xuan's expression changed drastically. He stepped forward and supported the prince's shoulder. "Physician! His Highness—"
The doctor quickly stepped forward and placed his fingers on Xu Longxiang's pulse again.
After a moment, he released his grip and sighed.
"Your Highness, you cannot afford to be agitated again. If you choke on this again, it won't just be as simple as vomiting blood."
Xu Longxiang remained silent.
He simply leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and gasped for breath.
The hand pressed against her chest was still trembling slightly.
Looking at his pale face, soaked in cold sweat, his furrowed brows and trembling eyelashes, Sikong Xuan felt a sudden surge of deep regret.
He shouldn't have shown the invitation to His Highness.
This is not the right time.
It shouldn't have happened right after Zhao Laosi announced Liu Hongyan's betrayal.
It was inappropriate to do this when His Highness was already exhausted.
"Your Highness," he said, his voice hoarse like the grinding of gravel, "please stop thinking about that matter."
Fan Li stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, there is plenty of time in the future. We can discuss this matter later. The most important thing right now is to recover your health."
Tie Tu remained silent.
He simply stood there, head bowed, his hands, which never trembled, now clenched slightly inside his sleeves.
Xu Longxiang opened his eyes.
The candlelight flickered across his face, casting a half-light, half-shadow on his cold, hard features.
He gazed at the horizontal beam above his head, at the carvings on it, blackened by the passage of time and candlelight.
Those were carvings he had seen since he was a child.
When he was a child, his father would hold him in this chair, and he would look up at the carvings, thinking they looked like clouds in the sky.
My father said that those were auspicious clouds, bestowed upon the Xu family by the founding emperor to protect the Xu family for generations to come.
Later, when his father died, he sat in this chair, looking at the carvings, and thought they looked like the snow in the North.
They were densely packed, so dense that it was suffocating.
Later, he decided to raise an army. Sitting in this chair and looking at the carvings, he felt it resembled the map of the Qin Dynasty.
He wanted to tear it apart piece by piece and drag that tyrant off the throne.
But now he lay here, utterly powerless, his chest still throbbing with the soreness of that spasm. Looking at the carvings, they seemed to resemble everything, yet nothing at all.
It was just some wood blackened by candlelight.
His eyes suddenly felt a little sore.
He blinked, suppressing the bitterness in his eyes.
The hall was very quiet.
Everyone stood there, looking at their prince.
This once spirited young man now lies in this chair, his face pale, his lips chapped, and his eyes lifeless.
Once upon a time, their prince was so full of vigor and ambition.
At the age of sixteen, when 100,000 cavalrymen from the Northern Barbarians pressed in, he personally led 3,000 cavalrymen in a night raid on the enemy camp, beheading the enemy general and returning home.
When he returned, it was just dawn, and the morning light shone on him, making his blood-stained armor gleam.
He rode on horseback, holding the enemy general's head in his hand, and shouted to the trembling people on the city wall:
"My lords of the North, do you see? The Northern Barbarians are human too, and they too die. As long as I, Xu Longxiang, live, no one will be able to set foot in the North!"
At that moment, a thunderous cheer erupted from the city wall.
Countless people cried and laughed as they waved, shouted, and knelt before the boy.
At that moment, he was the sun of the North, a god in everyone's hearts.
Later, the late emperor passed away, and a new emperor ascended the throne. That incompetent ruler neglected state affairs, indulged in debauchery, caused chaos in the court, and made the people suffer.
They began plotting an uprising to overthrow the tyrannical ruler and restore peace to the land.
At that time, His Highness was also full of vigor and ambition.
He stood on the northern city wall, looking south, and said, "When I rule the world, I will use the vast land as a dowry to marry her as my queen."
He asked His Highness who he wanted to marry, but His Highness did not answer. He simply looked south and smiled.
The smile was faint and gentle, like the rare sunshine in the northern winter.
But what happened next?
My sister was forcibly taken as a concubine, my childhood sweetheart was sent to the deep palace, Liu Hongyan betrayed and defected to the enemy, and my white moonlight was to marry that tyrannical emperor.
One blow after another, like a blizzard in the North during winter, each one more violent, each one colder, each one more despairing than the last.
Their prince descended from the city wall, dismounted from his warhorse, and stepped out of the blinding sunlight into the dimly lit Zhenyue Hall.
He no longer laughed, no longer stood on the city wall gazing south, and no longer said, "When I, the king, rule the world."
He simply sat in that chair, approving official documents, reviewing intelligence, deploying troops, and planning an uprising.
Day after day, night after night.
His face grew thinner, his cheekbones higher, his eye sockets deeper, and the light in his eyes dimmer.
Even now, lying here, staring at the carved patterns above my head, blackened by candlelight, I remain motionless.
Looking at Xu Longxiang's pale face, a thought suddenly came to Sikong Xuan's mind.
A thought he had never dared to consider, yet now it was growing wildly like weeds.
Were they wrong?
Should we not have planned to start a rebellion?
Shouldn't His Highness have been prevented from going down this path?
If we hadn't raised an army, my sister wouldn't have been forcibly taken as a concubine, my childhood sweetheart wouldn't have been sent to the palace, Liu Hongyan wouldn't have betrayed us, and my beloved wouldn't have married someone else.
His Highness was still the same spirited prince, standing on the northern city wall, gazing south, waiting for the person he wanted to wait for.
This thought, like a venomous snake, tore at his heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
He abruptly closed his eyes, forcefully suppressing the thought.
I can't think about it.
There's no turning back.
We've come this far; there's no turning back.
He opened his eyes, his gaze returning to Xu Longxiang's face.
His Highness moved.
His lips were slightly parted, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, yet every word was clear, as if squeezed from his chest.
"Where is our plan at?"
Sikong Xuan was slightly taken aback.
Xu Longxiang turned his gaze from the crossbeam to Sikong Xuan's face.
Those eyes were dark and gloomy, like the sky before a storm.
"Could we launch our rebellion on the day of Qin Mu and Zhao Qingxue's wedding?"
The moment the words were spoken, everyone in the hall changed their expressions.
Fan Li suddenly raised his head, his usually calm and steady eyes now filled with shock.
Tie Tu gripped the sword hilt tightly, his knuckles turning white.
Sikong Xuan's pupils contracted slightly, and his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.
After a brief silence, Fan Li was the first to react.
He stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, you mustn't."
His voice was urgent, every word filled with barely suppressed anxiety.
"Raising an army now is far too hasty! Supplies are not yet ready, troops are not yet deployed, the alliance with Liyang is now worthless, and Qin must already be prepared. Raising an army now, I fear—"
He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant by leaving it unsaid.
It will probably fail.
Xu Longxiang looked at him, his eyes showing no anger or disappointment, only a deep-seated stubbornness and determination.
"I'm not waiting anymore." He said, his voice still hoarse, but with an undeniable resolve.
"At this very moment, I will ensure his utter destruction."
His fingers slowly tightened on the armrest, his knuckles turning white, and the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
He didn't want to wait any longer; he was going to start a rebellion now and ruin Qin Mu's wedding!
"Qin Mu." He uttered the name, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"He married my sister, then he married my Qingxue, and now he wants to marry Zhao Qingxue. What gives him the right? Who does he think he is? Does he think he can take everyone around me away, one by one, while I can only sit here and watch? Wait?"
His voice grew louder and more agitated, and an unnatural flush rose on his pale face.
"I want him to know that I, Xu Longxiang, am not someone to be slaughtered. I want him to know that I will take back every single person he stole. I want him to know that on his wedding day, on his most triumphant, most glorious, and most arrogant day—I will hold a knife to his throat!"
"Your Highness!"
Another voice rang out.
This time it's Iron Slaughter.
He knelt on one knee, head bowed, his voice low and urgent.
"Your Highness, Miss and Lady Jiang are still in the palace. If we raise an army now, their lives may be in danger—"
He didn't finish his sentence, but the unfinished words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Xu Longxiang's head.
Xu Longxiang's pupils contracted slightly.
His hand suddenly froze, the tightening force abruptly stopping in mid-air.
sister.
Clear snow.
They are still in the capital.
Still by that tyrannical emperor's side.
If he raises an army, if he marches south, if his iron hooves break through the passes of the Great Qin.
What will that tyrannical emperor do to them?
Would they be taken hostage?
Would they push them onto the city wall?
I will cut him, slice by slice—
Countless images flashed through Xu Longxiang's mind, each one more cruel, more bloody, and more unbearable than the last.
His face turned deathly pale again, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead, sliding down his pale cheeks.
The hand resting on the armrest was trembling slightly.
"Then let's get them out first." His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, yet it carried an almost stubborn determination.
Fan Li shook his head, his expression grave.
"Your Highness, on the day of the wedding, the imperial city will be heavily guarded. There will be sentries in the open and in the shadows, the Dragon Shadow Guards, the Imperial Guards, and that unfathomable terrestrial immortal. If we bring people here now and things are exposed, it will be like stirring up trouble, and we will lose everything."
"At that time, not only will we be unable to rescue Miss and Miss Jiang, but all our plans will be in vain."
Xu Longxiang fell silent.
Of course he knows these principles.
He knew, of course, that it was not the right time to raise an army.
He knew, of course, that he should wait, wait until the provisions were ready, wait until the troops were deployed, and wait until the time was right.
But he couldn't wait any longer.
I don't want to wait any longer!
He's going to steal the bride!