Chapter 13 Border Investigation
When I returned home, the night had already covered everything. The lamps in the mansion were brightly lit. Ling Anping was waiting at the door and stepped forward to greet me as soon as I returned in the carriage.
He carefully helped me down and said beside my ear, "The person sent by the Crown Prince has already been arranged to the West Wing Pavilion. I just sent a physician over."
I was stunned. The next moment, I understood exactly who it was.
I walked steadily into the house and quickly ran to the West Wing Room. I saw the thin and emaciated body. It was my mother.
She was now supporting her upper body and looking at me. I threw myself into her arms, and tears flowed endlessly.
It was so good. Not only had I escaped the prison, but I could see my mother again.
Ling Anping stood in place looking a bit at a loss. He could only bring over the dining table. In the middle was a golden roast suckling pig.
I smiled through my tears. The bitter days were finally not in vain.
The next half year was the most happy time of my life so far.
I could do anything I had once wanted to do.
Making friends, appreciating flowers, tasting tea. These things that had seemed illusory all came true in my hands.
Unfortunately, heaven did not fulfill wishes. The Northern Tribes, who had originally surrendered, suddenly rebelled and attacked several cities in succession, wiping out the granaries there.
Ling Anping received orders in the palace the next morning and had to lead the troops to the border the next day.
I hurriedly went to the palace to beg the Empress and was granted permission to follow the army.
Ling Anping had a rare moment of being magnanimous and ignored me for several days in a row, not seeing me even once on the march.
But I was not worried. The only reason I insisted on going to the front was that the place the Northern Tribes had first attacked was the commandery county where the Xu family lord had been appointed half a year ago.
I was not worried about their safety. I simply felt that the Xu family would not accept the emperors arrangement so obediently.
Only when we reached Shishuo did I know my guess was not without basis.
The Xu family lords appointment was in Yanglong Commandery, the nearest commandery county to Shishuo. Now that it had been invaded by the Northern Tribes, it had long been in ruins. The people there had fled in all directions, but there were no traces of the Xu family.
After being beaten fifty times in the palace, the Xu family had still sent people to take Xu Fengwan back. In less than seven days, the group had set off for Yanglong Commandery.
I changed into my riding clothes and went to Ling Anping's tent to find him.
Ling Anping's beard had grown much longer. His eyes also showed fatigue, yet he was still forcing himself to look at the terrain map in the sand table.
I told him what I had discovered. Ling Anping's brows relaxed, and then his eyes became fierce.
"I had always wondered how these barbarians could bypass the most heavily defended places to head straight for the granaries, but if someone deliberately leaked the city defense map, everything could be explained."
I voiced my concern about the city defense map.
Ling Anping immediately summoned his subordinates, wrote a letter, and sent it out. Then he gathered all the generals to discuss.
The other generals saw me standing beside Ling Anping wanting to speak but holding back. Ling Anping directly ignored it and carefully arranged the plan.
In the following days, I comforted the people in the city while Ling Anping arranged defenses around the surroundings.
The Northern Tribes had nearly 100,000 troops, while we only had 30,000. The difference in strength was enormous.
Moreover, according to calculations, the barbarians with the defense map would return to level the place again in these days and formally declare war.