By the time Situ and the rest hurried over to the deserts of the North, two of Yanmen"s neighboring cities had already been seized. Ever since Situ became the General-in-Chief of the Northern Army and he led the four generals to oversee the borders at the deserts of the North, none of the cities had been lost before, so this was a first.
As one of the most important garrisons of the deserts of the North, Yunzhong Pa.s.s was still stable, which made many feel rea.s.sured.
As soon as Situ arrived in the barracks, he went straight to the meeting tent, clearly showing the graveness of the situation. Feng Luodi cleverly picked up her cloth bundle and went to Situ"s tent by herself. She entered and sure enough, there was another small tent inside it, just like two years ago.
Images of the past events suddenly popped up in her mind. As she reminisced, she thought about the recent worrisome events as well. After putting down the cloth bundle, she consciously started to sort out her tent. When she was done, she went out to tidy up Situ"s desk.
She knew that as the General-in-Chief, Situ would definitely be very busy. No matter if it was this time"s unprecedented enemy, whatever order the Emperor gave, or the hopes of the common people, Situ couldn"t afford to lose.
Feng Luodi asked Situ earnestly to bring her along this time because she wanted to confirm whether that the scene she had seen in her dream was illusory or not. After all, Situ"s original plan was to let her wait in Chang"an for his triumphant return.
"I have to believe in him."
Feng Luodi kept encouraged herself, forcing back the unpleasant thoughts as she continued to tidy up.
Situ only entered the tent four hours later, just as the sun was starting to set. The sunset view at the deserts of the North was as gorgeous and enchanting as usual. Just as Feng Luodi was pondering about how to get to the dining area to grab some food, Situ opened the tent and walked in with an indifferent expression.
Feng Luodi was puzzled. Could it be that the battlefield"s situation wasn"t as grim as she had imagined?
Feng Luodi was just about to speak when Situ spoke first.
"Let"s go eat together."
As Situ said that, he walked over to the wall and picked up his bow and quiver.
"Want to go hunting?"
Feng Luodi"s eyes brightened for a moment before turning doubtful.
"But, wouldn"t it be bad if we went out now?"
Feng Luodi poked his cheek. As the General-in-Chief, he needed to set an example.
"n.o.body will gossip about it."
Situ"s expression didn"t change as he held Feng Luodi"s hand and walked out. Whirlwind cooperatively walked in front of them and with a cloud of dust, all the soldiers and officers of the armies could see was two figures galloping into the distance.
If somebody asked her what was the most beautiful moment in the world for her, Feng Luodi would definitely calmly reply: It"s this moment.
The clouds were dyed hues of red, orange and purple as the sun started to set. As it fell on the horizon, all the colors blended together, forming a magical view that you absolutely couldn"t ignore.
At Feng Luodi"s side, Situ was skillfully cooking a piece of lamb leg, the rest tossed to the pack of wolves in the forest.
Illuminated by the flame, Situ"s features appeared gentle and attentive. He looked nothing like the cold-blooded General in the rumours that was adored by the people of the Xuan Kingdom and detested by the people of enemy countries.
Feng Luodi knew that the smile on her face probably looked very foolish, but she was very happy to engrave this moment in her memory.
"Hungry?"
Alright, it seemed that Situ had misunderstood her infatuated expression and thought that she was pining after the lamb leg. His perception made her feel embarra.s.sed.
"Oh right, I"m curious, what"s the current situation like?" Since the allied forces of those enemy countries were approaching the city gates at this critical juncture, Feng Luodi couldn"t help but brood over the current state of affairs. Although Zhang Xin, Cheng s.h.i.+fei, and the others were very formidable, the Huns and the allied forces were all largely populated countries, so their army must be ma.s.sive. On the other hand, the Northern Army was made up of solely eight hundred thousand soldiers and they still had to take care of the commoners while defending the gates. Wouldn"t it be a very strenuous task?
Feng Luodi didn"t really understand military affairs, but she also knew that it would require incomparable resourcefulness and leaders.h.i.+p skills to win an outnumbered battle.
"The Huns has an army of five hundred thousand, Xianbei an army of three hundred thousand, Fuyu and Sushen an army of two hundred each."
Situ"s expression didn"t have the slightest change as he took out a dagger to cut a slice of meat for Feng Luodi.
Hearing this, Feng Luodi blanked out, completely ignoring the meat Situ was giving her.
"An army of 1.2 million?"
What a spectacular and terrifying scene that would be!
Situ lightly smiled instead, his originally dark eyes seeming to turn bright with all the light in the world contained within.
"The Xuan Kingdom had also faced such a situation thirty years ago."
"Thirty years ago?"
Feng Luodi carefully thought about Situ"s age. That was to say that the General-in-Chief of the Northern Army at that time was…
Images of her first encounter with the kind old man suddenly popped up in her mind, so she commented, "Old General Situ? He must have certainly repelled the enemy back then."
"I"m certain that you can repel them too. Let"s hurry and finish eating so that we can go back and discuss countermeasures with the rest."
Situ continued what he was doing and didn"t stop. He was quite surprised and wondered why Feng Luodi had such a reaction when he mentioned the incident from thirty years ago. But when his gaze fell on Feng Luodi"s face, his features subconsciously softened again.
Just as the two were about to finish up all the meat, Feng Luodi suddenly spoke again.
"Situ, I just remembered that you"re turning 29 soon."
"Hmm?" Situ looked up and glanced at her.
Feng Luodi gritted her teeth and continued, "But I"m currently 19 and eight months."
She just realised that there was nearly a ten-year age gap between them. If this was in the modern era, she absolutely wouldn"t be able to accept it.
"What?" Situ raised an eyebrow and smirked. His expression made Feng Luodi unconsciously step back, only to be embraced by him.
"Avoiding me because I"m old, hmm?"
"…No."
Feng Luodi wanted to cry but had no tears.
By the time they"d returned to the barracks, lanterns were already hung everywhere. The flames flickered gently, making the atmosphere in the camp appear all the more solemn.
As they approached Situ"s tent, they saw two people standing outside.
One was the extremely busy General of the Left, Zhang Xin, and the other was Mama, who was said to have taken care of Situ since he was a kid.
At this instant, the smile on Feng Luodi"s face diminished a bit. She remembered how much this Mama had looked down on her the last time she was here.
At this thought, a smile gradually returned to her face.
It seemed that Zhang Xin treated Mama with respect. When he saw Situ and Feng Luodi arrive, he immediately said, "Mama knows that General had returned, so she came over to attend to you."
"No need." Situ indifferently responded.
Feng Luodi became a bit doubtful. This time, they had taken a remote pathway to come here and didn"t pa.s.s through Yunzhong Pa.s.s as they did the last time. Could it be that someone in the barracks had deliberately told Mama that Situ had returned?
"Please don"t be angry, General. I just thought that since Miss Feng is a young lady, it would be inconvenient for her to stay in the barracks by herself. I simply wish to be of help here to lessen your worries."
Feng Luodi secretly sneered. To think that she could utter such pleasant words. It was as if she was a completely different person.
At this thought, a trace of doubt suddenly arose in her heart. She observed Mama quietly for a while. She had only spend a few days with this old lady the last time, so she couldn"t remember all the details clearly. This person seemed alright, she didn"t see anything out of the ordinary.
"Luodi, you decide."
Situ only said this one sentence before he brushed past Mama and entered the meeting tent.
Feng Luodi and Mama looked at each other in dismay, neither one saying anything.
In the end, Mama stayed behind. Situ didn"t ask about this matter again and Feng Luodi didn"t bother to say much about this either. Following this, there was nothing peculiar about Mama"s behaviour, but the situation on the battlefield was becoming more critical by the minute.
The armies of the Huns and the allied countries chose to attack from Yanmen and Yuyang, wisely avoiding the Yunzhong Pa.s.s. The one guarding the Yanmen Pa.s.s was the General of the Right, Cheng s.h.i.+fei. After losing two cities, Cheng s.h.i.+fei"s tactics became somewhat aggressive and he no longer listened to the Deputy General"s counsel. He wanted to use one move to lure the enemy in deep. It would all depend on the army of two hundred stationed at the Yunzhong Pa.s.s to rope in the enemy forces in one clean sweep.
However, Cheng s.h.i.+fei miscalculated. The letter sent to Yunzhong Pa.s.s didn"t arrive in time. By the time Yunzhong"s army arrived, Yanmen"s army had already suffered great losses.
Feng Luodi heard that this was the biggest mistake Cheng s.h.i.+fei had ever made since a.s.suming the position of the General of the Right. As such, he came to the barracks in person to accept punishment by military law and right now, he was in the meeting tent.
When Feng Luodi heard this news from a soldier, she was completely baffled. First of all, the Cheng s.h.i.+fei she knew was a very steady and resourceful person who would never make such a hasty move. Secondly, the current situation in Yanmen was very tense, so how could the General possibly leave at this critical moment? Lastly, Situ would never punish a general of the Second Rank at this critical juncture.
This turn of events was too strange. Feng Luodi"s thoughts were a mess and she unknowingly walked towards the meeting tent. From a distance she caught sight of Mama standing outside the meeting tent, holding a serving tray in her hand with an indistinct expression.
The doubt in Feng Luodi"s heart instantly intensified. Didn"t they instruct that no one was to casually approach the meeting tent? Where was the patrol guard?
A lot of strange things had happened lately. Feng Luodi patted her head in confusion and she was about to confront Mama when she saw a fl.u.s.tered Mama leave in a hurry. At this instant, she suddenly recalled what Zhang Xin had said to her before.
"The two cities near Yanmen were seized because a spy had leaked cla.s.sified information."
At first, she suspected that it was the doing of the traitor, Eight Prince. However, on second thoughts, she deemed that an impossibility. The Eight Prince never left Chang"an, so he shouldn"t be aware of the defence formation in the deserts of the North. This could only mean that the spy was someone who was in close contact with the army.
This old lady had a certain prestige in the army because of Situ, and she could move freely in the barracks.
Feng Luodi bit her lower lip, looking in the direction of Mama"s disappearing figure. She was still deliberating about whether she should tell Situ her conjectures or not when a voice sounded behind her.
"It looks like Miss Feng"s also starting to have her doubts."
Feng Luodi turned around to see Cheng s.h.i.+fei, who was supposed to be receiving his punishment in the meeting tent. It had been two years since she last saw him, but he was still the same scholarly and elegant Cheng s.h.i.+fei from her memories. He now carried the demeanor of a general, astuteness flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes. It didn"t seem like he"d suffered any humiliation of losing a battle.
Realisation suddenly dawned on her.
"You guys were putting on an act for her?"
"That"s right. Even if she knows the plan, it won"t affect the general situation."
Feng Luodi hurriedly turned back to see Situ in martial attire. The smile tugged at his lips against that frigid gleaming armor appeared particularly prominent, with traces of admiration and satisfaction flickering across his eyes.
At this instant, Feng Luodi indistinctly felt that Situ had long prepared countermeasures for this battle.