The adjutant also clearly saw that the contingent blocking the way were not refugees this time, but they didn’t seem like rebels either.
There was still rain and fog in the mountains, and his vision was very blurred, so he could only crane his neck and look forward like a confused tortoise.


Because of the rain, Liu Xian’an was wrapped up in a white cloak and wearing a hat that covered most of his head and face, only revealing a pair of eyes.
The adjutant couldn’t actually see anything clearly, but the more this was so, he became even more curious to see, so engrossed that he didn’t notice that there was another person on the horse.

Gao Lin was also in awe of this idiot.

Seeing the team of horses coming closer and closer, Xuan Jiao took two steps in place warningly.
It was born fat and strong, and after being wetted down by rain and fog, its hair became wetter and shinier, comparable to the scales of a transformed dragon.
When it gave a short neigh, all the horses on the other side stopped in unison, flicking their tails nervously.

Caught off guard, the adjutant tightened the reins and rushed forward, shouting indiscriminately: “Presumptuous! Where did you come from –”

Before he could finish his sentence, the horse under him had already bucked.
First, he hung sideways in the saddle, and then he thumped and rolled to the ground due to his insufficient arm strength. 

Liu Xian’an was simply astonished. 

You can’t even ride a horse?

The rest of the soldiers quickly helped their adjutant up.
Among them was a horse trainer who caught a hint and whispered in his ear that the black horse seemed to be the divine horse, Xuan Jiao.

“Xuan what…..” The adjutant was still in a state of embarrassment, unable to react for a moment.
After he spoke, he was startled and raised his head tremblingly with numb nerves.
This time, he at last saw another god-like person on Xuan Jiao.
His knees went weak, and it was convenient to kneel: “Xiao, Xiao, Xiao, Your Royal Highness Xiao Wang.”

Gao Lin didn’t want to say much, and only said: “Go and call Lu Xiang.”

“Yes.” The adjutant scrambled onto his horse without asking any more questions, and ran away without taking a breath.

Lu Xiang was still waiting for news when he saw him running back with an out-of-sorts expression, his face pale and his body foul-smelling.
He was so frightened that he had urinated in his pants.
Guessing the identity of the team blocking them, Lu Xiang only cursed, “Useless trash, you embarrass me.” Then he kicked the adjutant away, tidied up his armor, and took another troop of soldiers to greet His Royal Highness Xiao Wang.

At this time, the drizzle had stopped.
Liu Xian’an tried to take off his hat, but Liang Shu fastened it back and even casually tugged the brim even lower: “You take a nap and look at fewer dirty things.”

“…….”

The “dirty thing” who came in a hurry tightened the reins and bowed down: “This commander has seen the prince.”


“Get up,” Liang Shu said.
“Get on the horse, let’s talk about the military situation first.”

“Yes.” Lu Xiang had already prepared for this.
After all, he came from a wealthy family, and when he was young, he was also part of the royal city scene.
He cold handle both his appearance and his words well, at least enough to not look like an idiot.
He threw out well-thought-out rhetoric, eight points false and two points true.
The truth was what Huang Wangxiang did during this time, and the false was to cover up his dereliction of duty.

But Liang Shu didn’t intend to settle accounts with him at this time, and only asked: “What preparations has Commander Lu made to fight?”

Lu Xiang replied: “Destroy the leader and the gang will collapse.
Attack Sanshui City first.”

Liang Shu took a cowhide scroll from Gao Lin and tossed it to Lu Xiang: “Dispatch orders.
The army will change course at Buddha Cliff and attack Qingyang City instead.”

“Yes!” Lu Xiang caught the cowhide scroll, and after opening it, he couldn’t comprehend it for a long time.
“All this timber, cowhide, and elite soldiers must be procured within five days?”

“Is there a problem?”

“There isn’t.”

Lu Xiang didn’t know the particulars, so he didn’t dare to ask any more questions.
He could only grit his teeth and accept the job, accompanying Liang Shu all the way back to the army.

After setting eyes on His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, the morale of the army immediately increased several levels.
Liu Xian’an could clearly perceive all of this.
If the previous army was a hard block of iron, then presently it was covered in a layer of hot magma, making the whole sky red and bright.

The adjutant was anxious for several days.
Seeing that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang didn’t seem to want to trouble him, and solely focused on military affairs all day long, his heart slowly returned to his chest.
He comforted himself, there is no one who does not collect rations during wartime, I haven’t done anything outrageous, so I don’t have to be overly suspicious.

He even had the courage to find Gao Lin, and boasted about his patriotism for a long time.

Gao Lin listened to him patiently, and first expressed his approval before saying kindly: “Since that is the case, let Adjutant Li go and help cut down trees.
It happens that there is a shortage of manpower at that end, so you can set an example.” After saying so, he beckoned two guards over and “invited” him into the forest without further explanation.
He himself went before Lu Xiang and praised this noble choice of not being afraid of hardships and hard work.

Lu Xiang’s face was full of “En, en, yes, yes,” but in his heart, he didn’t believe a word.
He could see that Gao Lin was deliberately embarrassing him.
In fact, Lu Xiang didn’t care too much about if this straw bag was going to cut trees or dig coal, but he did care about why he was targeted by the people of Xiao Wang Palace and sent to chop trees or dig coal – could it be that they had heard some rumors?

Thus, he deliberately found an opportunity to seek out the adjutant in the forest.
This dirty, tiring work could not be done cleanly, so everyone was covered in mud, but because Adjutant Li was used to being pampered, the mud was very obvious, and his hands were so worn out that the webs between his fingers were bleeding.
He cried and begged in unspeakable misery: “Commander, save me!”


When Lu Xiang asked him what was going on, Adjutant Li hesitated at first and refused to say anything.
Presently, he confessed that he tried to make a connection with Lieutenant General Gao, but failed and was sent to chop down trees instead.

“Foolish,” Lu Xiang cursed, but was internally relieved.
He supposed it was only that this dog’s flattery just didn’t land correctly, so he gave a few perfunctory words of comfort, and also said that after their great victory, he would go to the emperor and fight for his merits.
Then he sent him back to logging.

The entire contingent was moving fast.
Because there were always people seeking out Liang Shu, during this time, Liu Xian’an had been riding his own horse.
When he was truly sleepy, he went to lie down in a cart carrying food and fodder, and when he emerged, his hair was often covered in whiskers of wheat.

The soldiers around all laughed.
They already knew that this was the lazy Second Young Master Liu, so they were very tolerant of his napping behavior.
Liu Xian’an also smiled.
He liked these energetic young people.
They looked much more pleasing to the eye than those soldiers who bullied others, so he stretched hard and climbed up to sit next to the coachman, chatting with everyone.

But Lu Xiang became worried again and arranged for one of his confidants to mix in with the team of chatterers, wanting to see if Liu Xian’an was talking nonsense.
As a result, his confidant was forced to listen for the whole day about how one begets two, two begets three, three begets all things,[1] something about not being alone or an only son.
When he went back, his head was dizzy and he didn’t remember half a word.
After thinking about it, he racked his brains for a long time and choked out a sentence: “Something about a widow.”[2]

Lu Xiang almost vomited blood.

He went to listen in person, and Liu Xian’an happened to be talking about the widows and the lonely.

In fact, few soldiers could comprehend this sort of erudite rhetoric and fluttering daoist speech.
But they liked Liu Xian’an’s demeanor and tone of voice when he spoke.
Slowly, like a cool spring, tranquilly describing the good life after war, a stable society and industry revitalized.

Lu Xiang thought to himself, so he is a bookworm.

The army quickly reached the outskirts of Qingyang City.

This night, Liu Xian’an was lazily sleeping in the grain cart again.
Halfway through sleeping, he felt as if there was an earthquake, so he grasped the void with his hands and tried to wake up.

A-Ning watched on helplessly as the prince carried his young master into the woods, sighing deeply with a feeling of powerlessness.

Why is it like this every time? Can’t you wait for me to wake him up first?

Liang Shu called: “Wake up.”

Liu Xian’an let out a wu, not fully awake.


Liang Shu set him on the ground: “Everyone is waiting for you.”

Liu Xian’an thought, what are they waiting for me for? Yawning, he still didn’t move.

Liang Shu flicked a string of water droplets onto his face.

Liu Xian’an: “Achoo!”

He forced his eyes to open a small slit.
Seeing that the person before him was His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, he opened the slit a little wider and looked at him.

Liang Shu turned his head to the other side.

The stars connected to form a galaxy, shining brightly, and within the galaxy were countless giant, silver-white birds spreading their wings and soaring across the sky one by one.
At first, Liu Xian’an didn’t think it was strange, since in his world, this sort of spectacle was so common, and there was nothing to be surprised about.
But he quickly realized that this wasn’t right!

This time, his eyes were completely open, wide and round, comparable to A-Ning’s.
He hastened forward a short distance, trying to see more clearly.

Dozens of soldiers were flying down from a high cliff one after another with flying wings, circling in the air as they pleased.
Relying on the steering wheel at hand, they would always fall to the predetermined centerpoint.
Liu Xian’an said happily: “Isn’t the test flight tomorrow night?” After speaking, he doubted himself again.
Had he slept for another day and night?

“I couldn’t wait for you to see it,” Liang Shu said.
“It is better than expected.
This battle will definitely be a victory.”

Liu Xian’an didn’t blink, staring at the Mute Condors in the sky.

After a while, Liang Shu said: “Why haven’t you said anything in a long time? What are you thinking?”

Liu Xian’an was eager to try: “I want to wear flying wings too.”

Liang Shu took his hand: “Let’s go.”

Huh? Liu Xian’an jogged to keep up with him, and hurriedly clarified: “I meant after the war.”


“Why wait until after the war?” Liang Shu led him onto the horse.
“You made them, so you can fly one whenever you want.”

“But the prince still has to lead the army to fight.” Liu Xian’an blocked the wind with his sleeves.
“These few days should be more……cough, cough, cough.” He got a stomach full of cold air.

Liang Shu smiled and wrapped his cloak around him: “All right, don’t talk anymore.”

Liu Xian’an pushed hard to peek out with his two eyes.

Because it was a test flight, there was no suitable wind direction this night, so the cliff everyone chose was not dangerous.
Xuan Jiao galloped all the way, and soon reached the peak.

Liu Xian’an asked a soldier to help put on the flying wings.
Twisting and turning, he approached the edge of the cliff and closed his eyes, about to jump down. 

“Ah, ah, ah, wait a moment!” Everyone at the scene was shocked.

With sharp eyes and quick hands, Liang Shu brought the person back and felt a headache: “When will you correct your habit of actively seeking death?”

Liu Xian’an didn’t understand: “What about seeking death, I drew the blueprint, so I naturally know how to use it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you know how to use it.” Liang Shu loosened the flying wings and encircled him from behind.
“I’ll take you with me.”

Second Young Master Liu promptly drew in his hands.
This was also fine.

It was good to not have to do it himself.

[1] This is an extract from the Daoist text “The Book of Dao” by Lao Tzu, which is famously so mysterious and hard to interpret that I’m not even going to try to figure out what this means. ⮐

[2] Part of the text of “The Book of Dao” reads: What people hate are loneliness, widowhood, and lack of food. ⮐

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