Strong Winds Return Home

Liu Xian’an got up early and hadn’t eaten anything. On the way, he met a cook delivering food and asked for a steamed bun. The solid and slightly bitter yellow rice flour took a lot of teeth to bite, and he ate slowly while asking: “Is there still a shortage of food in the army?”

“If we can quickly attack Qianqu City, there will be no shortage, and there is just enough for the time being.” Liang Shu stretched out his arm to be used as a handrail, and the two climbed up to a high hill together. “I was discussing with Gao Lin this morning about sending you back to Baihe Mountain Village.”

When he heard this, Liu Xian’an was slightly taken aback, and after a long silence, he said doubtfully: “How long will it take to fight Qianqu City?”

“Not long.” Liang Shu said, “I plan to hand over Qianqu City to Hong Feng for him to fight.”

Lu Xiang had been dismissed for dereliction of duty, but the position of commander could not remain vacant forever. There must be someone to take it over temporarily, and Hong Feng was the best candidate selected by Liang Shu and Gao Lin from the army after so many days of observation. Liu Xian’an also felt that Qianqu City would not be difficult to attack, because Huang Wangxiang’s banner had already fallen and the rebel army had lost its backbone. And the two cities Qingyang and Sanshui had been captured by the Yan army with the force of lightning, which should have an enormous psychological deterrent effect on the rebels in Qianqu City.

He asked: “Since the battle can be resolved quickly, why are you rushing to send me and A-Ning back?”

Liang Shu was helpless: “Because the plan has changed. Emperor Brother sent a long-distance urgent decree last night so that I don’t have to go back to Wangcheng, and after the rebel army is wiped out, I will go directly to the Southwest to investigate the Baifu Sect.”

Investigate the Baifu Sect. These few words sounded simple, but they were a venomous constrictor that had been entrenched in the Southwest mountains for many years, and if they were not careful, they might be swallowed by it. The Imperial court had sent troops many times in recent years, but they were only knocks on the partition wall intended to deter them from being too arrogant. Liu Xian’an asked: “This is a provisional decision made by the Emperor?”

“It doesn’t count as such,” Liang Shu said. “Emperor Brother has been making arrangements in secret since he ascended the throne, the timeline has just moved up a little. To eradicate the cult and to divert the Bai River, these two events are his greatest wish. The Bai River may take many generations of working together, but that is not so for the cult. The Baifu Sect’s reach is getting longer and longer. If these ghastly claws are not cut clean, sooner or later the entire territory of Dayan will wither.”

Taking advantage of the security of the border at this time, he could free up his hands to take care of it.

When Liu Xian’an was lying in the waterside pavilion, watching the sky and sleeping, he just felt that his parents, brothers, and sisters were very busy every day. And now that he had met Liang Shu, he realized that ‘being busy’ could reach the height of a mountain.

Marching and fighting without sleep, now that the war was finally coming to an end, he was sent to the Southwest again before he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Whether the Emperor was a wise ruler, Liu Xian’an couldn’t discern for the time being, but he truly could see that the Emperor was very short of people around him.

Liang Shu asked: “Why are you in a daze again?”

Liu Xian’an swallowed the yellow rice bread in his mouth: “Then I’ll go to the Southwest too.”

Liang Shu gazed at him. Go to the Southwest together. This idea had also ignited in him for a short time, but in the end, he extinguished the flames. When carrying him back to camp under the moonlight last night, that body was light in his arms. Wrapped in a loose robe, he was slender and weak, very much like a weightless cat. So he would send him back to Baihe Mountain Village, ba, to that stable and wealthy town. Let him continue to eat and sleep, and watch the sky and clouds, and when he was tired of lying down, he could play chess and talk with those annoying white-bearded old men.

Liu Xian’an asked: “Why does the prince keep looking at me?”

Liang Shu said: “The forests in the Southwest lands are dense, with miasma everywhere. In the deep mountains where the Baifu Sect are located, there are even more snakes, insects, and rats crawling around.”

“Then I must go. The prince must have a doctor by his side, right?” Of course, there must be an army in the Southwest, as well as local military doctors. But Liu Xian’an thought, I’m different from them, I have to go.

Liang Shu frowned: “You cannot.”

Liu Xian’an turned his back to him and muttered, that’s your call, I have my own legs.

The sound was like a hum, but Liang Shu heard it clearly and grabbed his hairband: “Turn around, how can there be a person who brings suffering upon himself?”

Liu Xian’an said: “It cannot be considered suffering.” In ancient times, there were sages who sought the true, good, pure, and beautiful dao of heaven, traveling thousands of miles and walking barefoot all over the mountains and rivers. He himself would go to the Southwest to seek the same sort of pure new world. Wasn’t this very reasonable? Then he continued, “And the prince has promised to help me rearrange the worlds in my mind.”

Liang Shu knocked on his forehead: “I think you can come in and out freely now.”

“Not so, not so.” Liu Xian’an put on an act. “I still have a bit of a headache.”

Liang Shu didn’t expose his clumsy acting skills. Sliding his fingers down, he took advantage of the opportunity to pinch the other’s cheek: “You just want to go. What about those white-bearded old men who told you to do nothing and ignore the world? When it’s time to implement it, you throw it clean away.”

Liu Xian’an’s voice was pulled out by him – but the sages also say that if you go to rule the country and then leave it, there will be chaos.

In any case, I am going.

Liang Shu asked: “Just to save the country?”

Liu Xian’an tried to bluff his way out, answering: “Something like that.”

“Where is the point of difference?”

“Don’t know.”

“Then you are not allowed to go.”

“…….”

In the end, Liu Xian’an had no choice but to acknowledge that the point of difference was the prince. But admitting it was not enough, and His Royal Highness Xiao Wang continued to interrogate him about how many points that “point of difference” was. Liu Xian’an gestured that a cun was not enough, nor a chi or a zhang, and in the end, he could only point to the east, west, north, and south, taking in the entire world as far as he could see. Liang Shu was, with difficulty, satisfied with his own measure.

Liu Xian’an asked: “Then can I go to the Southwest now?”

Liang Shu nodded: “All right.”

After returning to camp, he told Gao Lin about the incident. Lieutenant General Gao sighed repeatedly, pulled the prince to a deserted corner, and persuaded him earnestly, didn’t we agree to send Second Young Master Liu back to Baihe City? Why did you suddenly change your mind? Asking for a wife is all about romantic surroundings, what the hell is a cult lair? There are dangers and miasma, who has the brains to take his sweetheart there? Is the prince menacing someone again?

Liang Shu was dizzy from his nattering: “Stay away from me.”

And A-Ning, as always, was very supportive of this decision. He said: “I think the young master should be with the prince.”

Liu Xian’an, half lying down: “En, I think so too.”

After lying down for a while, he wrote a letter to his parents at home, telling them that he must go to the Southwest. A-Ning was at his side grinding ink for him, and also leaned over to look at the two lines, reminding him: “Young Master, write a little more, ba. This time it’s all about the war and the cult again, the Village Master and his wife must be very worried. You must let them rest assured. En……just say that the prince has taken good care of us, and it is safe here.”

Liu Xian’an wrote as he said. The family letter reached the level of a family tree, and could be said to be thick. The letter described in detail how brave and invincible His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was, commanding troops like a god, and how caring and considerate he was to himself personally, voluminous and flowing, eloquent in every detail. A-Ning finally dozed off. Rubbing his eyes, he reminded, don’t just write about His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, also write about yourself, ah. Didn’t the young master also do many capable things in the war?

But Liu Xian’an had already dropped the brush. He was tired from writing and his arm was sore, so he went to the bed and lay down: “That’s all, ba. I don’t want to move.”

A-Ning was very regretful, and carefully sorted out the letter. Halfway through, Liang Shu’s voice suddenly came from outside, and he just watched as the lazy young master who claimed that he was “very tired, his arms were sore, and he didn’t even have the energy to write an extra word” immediately got up and ran out energetically.

“……”

After a short rest, the army struck out again and moved forward.

Although Miao Changqing was a rebel, due to his meritorious service in protecting the common people, along with his illness and old age, Liang Shu sent him to Kunzhou to work as a tomb guard there. 

Although it sounded bitter, Kunzhou had a warm climate and was a place where there was no shortage of food. There was also a Baihe Medical Center nearby, which could see him at any time, and there was no need for heavy work when guarding the tombs. Just living in the village amounted to a peaceful retirement.

As expected by Liang Shu, the battle for Qianqu City was fought without much effort. Taking advantage of the terrain, Hong Feng ordered the army to slow down its marching speed in order to confuse the rebels’ spies, and personally led three thousand vanguard troops to march rapidly from another direction and raid the city overnight. The leader of the rebel army was beheaded while still in a dream, and blood splattered three feet high.

This rebellion caused by floods and famine ended at the edge of this sword.

In a dark prison, Lu Xiang looked at the bowl of rice with a piece of fat before him. He raised his head and said: “You’re trying to kill me!”

Liang Shu said: “You are corrupted and took bribes, and were lax in governing, neglected your duties, and disregarded human life. Should you not be killed?”

“Only the Emperor—”

“It is the Emperor who wants your head,” Liang Shu interrupted him coldly. “Kneel down and receive the Imperial edict.”

Lu Xiang’s face was ashen, and he slumped to the ground: “Impossible, my uncle…..it’s you, you and my uncle have always been at odds, so you’re getting in the way. I want to face the Emperor for vindication!”

Gao Lin was amazed by his thick skin. You have the injustice of a fart. He ordered the jailer to go in and force the puddle of melting snow into a kneeling position, then opened the Imperial edict with a snap, and read it quickly. “Okay, take him out.”

“Liang Shu!” Lu Xiang shouted loudly, “You’re too arrogant! My uncle will not let you get away with this!”

Gao Lin kicked him until he was breathless: “You had better let your uncle off first, ba. This time, your beheading was personally requested by Lu-daren. He’s old enough to mop the floor with his beard, and he still has to take care of your mess. If you really have a conscience, your soul will drift far away after death and not frighten that hapless old man.”

Lu Xiang was dragged the whole way out, along with a continuous pattering of liquid. Gao Lin covered his nose and followed Liang Shu out to supervise the beheading. The people of Qianqu City were all there. The executioner went down and beheaded Lu Xiang, which also slew the corruption and dereliction of duty in the hearts of officials in the Baihe area.

Food for disaster relief had been shipped from all over the nation. The Imperial envoys were about to arrive, and refugees were being accepted in an orderly manner by local governments, so they could at least live through a winter that was no longer hungry or cold.

Liu Xian’an was sitting in a southbound carriage, holding a heater in his hands, his nose still red from the cold.

“I heard from Lieutenant General Gao that it’s already snowing in the north.” A-Ning also squeezed in beside him. “It would be great if we were in Wangcheng.”

Liu Xian’an also felt a little regretful, because it never snowed in Baihe City. He had never seen snow before, and his nose itched at the thought.

“Achoo!”

A-Ning picked up a cloak to the side and wrapped him up completely. The black fur was embellished with golden lace, very luxurious and exquisite. It was not of the same tailoring style as Second Young Master Liu’s usual robes, so one could tell it was something from the palace at a glance. And besides the cloak, the blankets, cushions, and pillows were all sent by His Royal Highness Xiao Wang.

A-Ning was baffled, waving his hands again and again: “We have them, we have them already.”

Gao Lin was resolute: “It doesn’t matter if you already have them, you have to keep them.”

The journey is long and the country is remote, and my prince really has nothing else to give. But this is his first awakening of love, the time where there are butterflies in his stomach and a little spark can cause a wildfire. He truly wishes that he could hold out all the good things in the world to his sweetheart, and after searching and searching, he could only find these. Although they look shabby and disgraceful, and your family’s young master may not need them, they must still be accepted.

A-Ning held a huge quilt in his arms. Feeling very dazed, he got into the carriage with great difficulty and said: “I tried to refuse. We have blankets, but Lieutenant General Gao ran after stuffing it into my arms, and I couldn’t catch up at all.”

Liu Xian’an spread his hands on the bed: “Give it to me.”

A-Ning crawled over and tidied up for a long time, saying with a troubled look: “I really can’t put any more down, our original quilt is not small. We should still return this to the prince.”

Liu Xian’an hugged his big quilt tightly.

Won’t return it.