Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

121. Meeting Xiao Shengnian Again

Translator: Flying Lines

“Your Highness, the provisions have been prepared. Are we going to continue attacking cities tomorrow?”

After resting for a full two to three days, Ju Liandao was a little restless. With Su Jie present at the battle, the soldiers fought like they went into berserk mode. Their condition was better than usual, causing Ju Liandao to feel like he was living a memory from ten years ago.

The attack on the city this time was split into two groups. One group was led by Gongsun Yi with Zhou Zaiyue following. The other was led by Ju Liandao, with Su Jie following.

“Let’s rest for a few days. The soldiers are tired these days.” Su Jie put down the scroll in his hands and rubbed his temples, which was aching a little. He now knew that being a crown prince wasn’t easy, especially one who had to lead troops to retake a lost throne.

In the morning, Su Jie had to personally go to the healers to inquire about the injuries the troops sustained. In the afternoon, he needed to listen to Ju Liandao’s report about the result of the battles and their strategy. In the evening, Su Jie needed to read books on the art of war and other similar books. He was always busy, from the morning to the evening.

During the first few days when he first arrived in State Yanling, Su Jie still had some time to miss Xiao Shengnian. After all, Xiao Shengnian was the only man whom he had been intimate with. But in the days after that, he couldn’t be as relaxed. Su Jie usually fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Sometimes, he would even fall asleep whilst reading books at his desk.

But now, the soldiers had been fighting consecutively for days on end. Even if Su Jie was there to boost morale, their bodies wouldn’t be able to bear the strain.

Although Su Jie wasn’t great at deploying soldiers, he knew that they couldn’t let the soldiers become too tired.

Su Jie actually wanted to fight in battle personally too. Battles were cruel. Every time he saw soldiers down one by one, Su Jie wanted to fight himself. But he couldn’t. He could only stay behind the soldiers, watching countless soldiers spill blood onto the battlefield for his sake and sleep forever on State Yanling’s soil.

“Your Majesty, a message has come from Elder Zhou’s side. It’s saying that everything is under control.” Hearing Su Jie object to continue their advancement, Ju Liandao became a little more clear-minded.

In these few years, Ju Liandao hadn’t fought or experienced such a satisfying battle in too long a time. For a moment, he was indeed anxious for success.

However, the fact that Su Jie could be so calm astounded Ju Liandao. Ju Liandao didn’t fully know about Su Jie’s background. He only knew that the crown prince, who had just returned to Yanling, had lived many years in State Yanhui – that was it.

Originally, Ju Liandao thought Su Jie was young and vigorous and plus so many soldiers fighting passionately for him, the victories would go to Su Jie’s head. However, after so many days, Ju Liandao discovered that the crown prince wasn’t so simple.

At least His Highness was a cruel person who had seen blood being split before. Sometimes, he would reveal a terrifying aura… an aura Ju Liandao was very familiar with and only those who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and stepped upon bodies with blood-stained hands could possess.

This caused Ju Liandao to feel confused. Did His Highness kill a lot of people in State Yanhui?

But, if Su Jie didn’t say anything, Ju Liandao naturally wouldn’t ask about it.

The years that Ju Liandao guarded the borders and fighting with Lan Buhui were because he was waiting for someone of the Su royal family to return. Years after years, Ju Liandao was already numb from waiting. Sixteen years could cause Ju Liandao to grow white hair. Sixteen years could cause Ju Liandao’s memory of the founding emperor to become blurry. Sixteen years… could also cause His Highness to turn from the babbling three-year-old toddler to a handsome and elegant young man.

Sixteen years. State Yanling could finally reunite as one again.

As much as Ju Liandao’s heart was as tough as iron, at this moment, he couldn’t help but feel his feelings surge. He had been persevering for too long. Now that the dawn of retaking the lost throne had finally appeared because of the crown prince, how could he not be overjoyed?

“General, you have been working hard these few days. You should go and rest,” Su Jie said with a smile as he rose from his seat.

“I thank Your Highness for caring.” Ju Liandao saluted and walked out of the study.

The place Su Jie was now living in was the mansion of the city lord. Countless soldiers, who were patrolling, guarded this place so tightly that even a fly wouldn’t be able to get in. They were afraid of something happening to Su Jie.

Under normal circumstances, few people dared to enter the city lord’s mansion to disturb the crown prince. Yet, on this night, there was a huge fire in the mansion’s side courtyard.

The fire was fierce, and thick smoke rose from everywhere. The glow of the fire rose towards the sky, like a cruel beast swallowing everything, alerting all the patrolling soldiers in an instant.

How did this fire start?

Was this aimed at His Highness the Crown Prince?

Therefore, some soldiers chose to help put out the fire, and some others rushed to the study to tighten up the security. They had to ensure the crown prince’s safety. Not even a fly must get in.

Inside the study, Su Jie was tired from reading and was circulating his internal energy with crossed legs when he heard a noise coming from the outside of the room. The footfalls were hurried, like a lot of soldiers were sent to the front of his door.

Su Jie thought that it was a little strange. He opened the door and saw Xuan Wu and Shang Liu guarding outside.

The two were assigned the task because they had contacts with Su Jie back in State Yanhui.

The thing worth mentioning was that, when Sheng Liu knew that Su Jie was the crown prince, he couldn’t help but remember about that time in City Yang when Su Jie grabbed his wrist. This caused Shang Liu to be ecstatic for a good while – because the crown prince, a descendent of the immortal, grabbed his wrist!

Xuan Wu shot Shang Liu a look of disdain, but he couldn’t stop Shang Liu from gloating about this.

“What happened?” Su Jie asked.

“There’s been a fire in the side courtyard of the mansion. The soldiers are putting out the fire.” Shang Liu answered first.

Su Jie nodded. He felt that the fire wasn’t that simple. Perhaps there were people wanting to assassinate him?

In these days, Su Jie did indeed encounter assassination attempts. The assassins wore the amour of Ju Liandao’s troops, and some even disguised as the injured soldiers. When Su Jie walked past him, the injured soldier would suddenly attempt an assassination. Because there were no soldiers following Su Jie when he went to visit the infirmary, that assassin could have said to have spent a lot of effort to find such a good chance.

Yet, what the assassin didn’t consider was that Su Jie wasn’t a weak person. Unexpectedly, Su Jie blocked his attack with just a hidden weapon. When the assassin wanted to attack Su Jie once more, the surrounding soldiers already held him down.

“Your Highness, you should return to your room. You have us outside.” Xuan Wu said.

“It’s not like I can’t protect myself. You don’t need to be so worried about my safety.” Su Jie laughed, but still decided to return to the study like Xuan Wu wanted. If he was outside, the soldiers would probably be nervous and refused to relax.

Yet, just when Su Jie was going to turn around to return to the study, he suddenly heard a familiar voice call out.

“Your Highness!”

That voice was as gentle as the flowing water. It seemed to contain a faint trace of a smile as well as some other emotions.

Su Jie froze a little. He turned back to see a tall and sturdy man dressed in armor standing not too far away.

Perhaps it was because there was a previous assassination attempt on Su Jie by an assassin in the disguise of an injured soldier, all the nearby soldiers surrounded the man when he shouted out ‘Your Highness’ and aimed their weapons at him. The cold and sharp weapons seemed like they were going to pierce through the man’s body in the next second.

But when Su Jie saw the man’s appearance, his eyes widened, like he had seen a ghost.

Surprisingly, the man in armor had a noble and dignified air and was handsome, carrying a faint smile by the corners of his lips, and his expression was gentle and indifferent——

Xiao Shengnian!

This man was Xiao Shengnian!

Xiao Shengnian even dressed up in armor to sneak in here!

Countless thoughts flashed through Su Jie’s mind. At this moment, his feelings were complicated. He felt moved, ashamed, and uneasy.

Was Xiao Shengnian here to find him?

The gentle man under the moonlight looked calm, a faint smile in his deep, black eyes that seemed able to see into Su Jie’s heart.