Seeing as there was nothing else for her to say, Bai Luochu returned to the general"s residence. She wanted to prepare for the upcoming journey. She even gave Pei Rumo a list of herbs she needed before leaving.
When Cai Ling saw that Bai Luochu was back, she laid the table. When Bai Luochu was eating, she asked, “Mistress, did His First Highness say anything else?”
Bai Luochu shook her head and placed her chopsticks down, “We merely a.n.a.lyzed the dangers along the journey. What else is there to talk about?” Bai Luochu knew the meaning behind Cai Ling"s question but she didn"t wish to talk about Pei Rumo.
In the blink of an eye, the day to depart rolled around and Bai Luochu grabbed her luggage. Even though Pei Rumo was at the entrance, she sat in the residence in a daze. It seemed like she was waiting for someone.
“Mistress, His First Highness has been waiting for some time. You shouldn"t make him wait any longer.” Cai Ling reported.
Bai Luochu"s eyes twitched and after a short sigh, she picked up her luggage. “Let"s go. I"m not waiting anymore.”
Cai Ling tilted her head in confusion. A moment later, it struck her. His Second Highness! Mistress is waiting for His Second Highness to send her off!
“Sigh...” Cai Ling couldn"t help but sigh. Mistress definitely lied about not being moved by anyone...
“Luo Chu, it is late and we need to hurry. We might not even be able to arrive at our first camping grounds!” When Pei Rumo saw Bai Luochu walking out of the general"s residence, he beckoned her to hurry up.
Bai Luochu knew that in the military, timing was everything. There was a saying, "Speed is the soldiers" a.s.set". If she delayed the campaign because of selfish reasons, she would be committing a serious crime.
Bai Luochu mounted the horse and immediately headed for the city gates. Together with Pei Rumo, they charged towards the West Mountain Camp to rendezvous with the army before marching out. When they reached the Ten Miles Gentleman Pavilion, Lu Wenshu could be seen waiting on his horse.
"Your First Highness, Divine Physician Bai, if possible, we should depart immediately." No one knew why Lu Wenshu was so anxious to head to the Desolate Region.
Bai Luochu wanted to stop for a moment. What if he comes? What if I don"t get to say goodbye?
When Lu Wenshu and Pei Rumo saw how hesitant Bai Luochu was, they looked at each other and knew the other party"s thoughts. Since they didn"t want to disappoint her, they decided to delay the schedule.
Before Pei Rumo could say anything, Bai Luochu interrupted him.
"Let"s go." Bai Luochu then urged the horse to advance.
Pei Rumo and Lu Wenshu were startled for a moment before spurring their horses on as well. The campaign officially began.
....
Three days later, there was a huge downpour and the speed of the soldiers" march was disrupted. They had no choice but to set up camp. Bai Luochu was inside her tent as she studied the map. The road ahead of them was precisely the one she pointed out. It seemed like they shouldn"t set out immediately after the rain stopped, otherwise, they might be caught up in a landslide.
However, she wasn"t the Commander in Chief, thus, she had to have a proper discussion with Pei Rumo.
Bai Luochu made her way to Pei Rumo"s tent.
"Why did you come over? It"s raining so heavily… you should stay in your tent." Pei Rumo helped Bai Luochu with her umbrella and asked with concern.
"I need to talk to you about something important." Bai Luochu shook the water off her body and immediately turned to Pei Rumo, "Do you remember about the location I talked about? The one with frequent landslides?”
Pei Rumo pondered for a moment before nodding. He didn"t understand why she brought it up.
When she saw that Pei Rumo still remembered, she immediately explained herself, "It"s raining heavily now and if we depart immediately, we might meet with a landslide. There are too many people and the soil might be loose. I suggest we wait a day before heading out.”
Bai Luochu initially thought that Pei Rumo would agree, but she didn"t expect that after a brief consideration, Pei Rumo actually rejected the suggestion, "I"m afraid that will not work. Our journey has been delayed for too long due to this downpour. We might not be able to make it to the Desolate Region in time. If some other faction has their eyes on the Desolate Region as well, we might meet with trouble if we are late.”
"If it"s just the three of us, the landslide wouldn"t be a problem! But there are tens of thousands of soldiers! They can"t circulate spirit qi and fly over the danger region… We can"t risk their lives for the sake of getting there a day or two earlier, right?!" Bai Luochu didn"t imagine that Pei Rumo would be so stupid. She didn"t know how this man could be the war hero of the Cloud Water Nation.
Pei Rumo naturally understood the reasoning behind this matter. Were he just an ordinary commander he would definitely be able to delay the journey by using the rain as an excuse. However, he was the First Prince and the old emperor was his father. The order to conquer the Desolate Region was like a sword hanging over his head and how would he dare to delay the campaign?! Moreover, the old emperor gave him a strict time limit and it wasn"t possible for him to defy his Emperor Father"s orders.
Pei Rumo knew it was impossible to delay the journey. "It is really... not possible." He couldn"t bear to lose his soldiers too, but the bowstring was already taut and he had to release it.
"Good. Pei Rumo, you are truly brilliant." Bai Luochu was furious. She didn"t take the umbrella as she rushed out of the tent.
"Luo Chu..." Pei Rumo saw the umbrella in his hand and quickly ran out of the tent to chase Bai Luochu. By the time he charged out of the tent, she was already gone.