Princess and the General

That’s to Deceive Him (Part Four)

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Yu Fu wrote out the prescription for the antidote for the military doctors, leaving the doctors to work overnight to prepare the medicine.
Only like this was Yu Fu able to get a good night of sleep.

The next morning, a cold wind suddenly started blowing.
Yu Fu tugged on the thin blanket covering her and got a thicker one before continuing to sleep.

Not long later, she suddenly noticed that something was off.
Still groggy, she started looking around.

At some point, the skylight of the tent had been opened up, and the wind was blowing into the tent.
The surprising part was that the wind was lacking in humidity.
The air was surprisingly dry.

After several days of heavy rain, the sudden dryness of the air made people feel quite comfortable.
Yu Fu immediately got up to get dressed and go out.
In the outer room, she found Yao Lan sleeping on a small bed with her saliva wetting the pillow.

She helplessly shook her head but did not wake Yao Lan.
Moving quietly, she headed out.

In the instant that she opened the tent flap, her hand immediately retreated as if it had been shocked.
She then looked down at her clothes to verify that her shirt had been properly buttoned up.

Sure enough, it was already bright outside, and there were many puddles of many sizes on the ground.
There were soldiers rushing around in the distance.
It seemed that they were organizing the army’s rations and weapons.

“Young miss, you’ve woken up?”

The soldier that had been standing guard outside her tent last night arrived with breakfast and saw and that she was going out, “Where is young miss going?”

Yu Fu smiled, “I don’t know how the soldiers that were poisoned are doing now, so I was going to take a look.”

“Young miss, how about eating a meal before going? Don’t worry.
The doctors worked overnight, and most of the soldiers have recovered.
Young miss’ antidote was truly too effective!”

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With this, Yu Fu felt at ease.

Upon arriving the previous day, she immediately started working to prepare medicine for the soldiers.
She was so exhausted that she immediately fell asleep when her head hit her pillow.
When Yu Fu thought of how she had not yet gone to properly visit Gu HuaiJiang, she said: “Just leave it there for now.
If Yao Lan wakes up, just tell her that I have gone to the main tent.”

“Very well, this subordinate will leave it in the tent.”

After Yu Fu left, the soldier glanced inside the tent.
The master had woken up, yet the servant was still asleep.
This maidservant surely had some amazing background.

Arriving near Gu HuaiJiang’s main tent, the soldiers had solemn expressions.
Seeing Yan Zheng stand guard outside, she hastily asked: “What’s wrong? Has something happened to the poisoned soldiers?”

Yan Zheng cupped his hands, “Young miss, don’t worry.
The soldiers that were poisoned have already started recovering.
It’s just that they aren’t able to immediately go out and fight.
But look, the sky has cleared up.”

Yan Zheng’s brow was tightly furrowed, and Yu Fu lowered her head to think things over, “I’ll trouble you with going in to report to head general that I want to see him.”

“What is there to report?”

With a whoosh, Yan Zheng opened the door to the tent, “Young miss, just go in.
Head general won’t get angry.”

With the door opened, everyone inside the tent looked toward the door.
They immediately saw Yu Fu standing outside, and Yu Fu had no choice but to grit her teeth and go in.
Seeing everyone frowning, she thought to herself that this was bad.

“Head general.”

Yu Fu stepped forward and saluted.
Gu HuaiJiang strode over to her and picked her up, “There’s no need to be so formal.
You have suffered a great deal to travel here.
The poisoned soldiers have already started to recover.
With the doctors keeping an eye on the preparation of medicine, why don’t you get some more sleep?”

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Yu Fu looked over at Gu ShuBai and the others then at Lao Jin, “Since the poisoned soldiers have been saved, why is everyone so worried?”

“Because the sky has cleared up.
Western Kun’s people won’t let go of this opportunity to attack so easily.
The scouts have reported that they are currently consolidating their forces and will be attacking soon; however, the soldiers that were poisoned cannot get out of bed thus cannot set foot on the battlefield.”

Gu HuaiJiang continued: “You came at the perfect time.
Since you have already given the doctors the prescription for the antidote, there’s no need for you to stay here.
I will have Yan Zheng escort you to Zhu Guan City.
It’s too dangerous at the camp.
It’s not suitable for you to stay here.”

Yu Fu looked at him in surprise, never expecting the situation to be so dire.

If there was even the slightest chance of victory, Gu HuaiJiang would not think of sending her somewhere else.
He would rather protect Yu Fu himself.

Yu Fu hastily said: “No! Since I have come, I never intended to leave.
Head general and elder brothers are all here.
How can I just leave?”

Gu HuaiJiang helplessly turned around and gave Gu ShuBai a look, and the latter advised Yu Fu, “Yu Fu, listen to father and don’t stay here.
You don’t know martial arts.
If anything were to happen, how do you want us to feel about it?”

They would rather get hurt or even die than see anything happen to Yu Fu.

The battle had not yet been fought, but tens of thousands of soldiers had already died.
They were no longer able to withstand any further changes.

The other people present also tried to plead with Yu Fu, “Young miss, listen to the head general.
You have already done enough good.
If not for you, who knows how many of us would already be dead!”

“That’s right, young miss.
You’re a girl.
You can’t compare with men like us! Let Yan Zheng escort you into the city.
Fighting will soon break out here!”

Yu Fu said: “Immortals Valley’s antidotes are complicated, and the soldiers are suffering from varying degrees of poisoning.
For the soldiers who have been severely poisoned, if I am not here, they will die.
I can’t leave.
I need to stay here to take care of them.”

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She used the lives of the soldiers as an excuse, and everyone immediately became hesitant.

Yu Fu’s life was a life, and the soldiers’ lives were also lives.
If they allowed those soldiers to die by sending Yu Fu away, they would find the situation even more unacceptable.

Yan Zheng, who was listening from outside the door, was panicked.
If he was told to escort Yu Fu into the city, he would not be able to go onto the battlefield with everyone else.

With head general and young general on the frontline, how could he go and hide in the city on his own? How would he be any different from a deserter?

Yu Fu thought for a moment then said: “Is there any way to delay the battle to give me five days? As long as I am given five days, most of the soldiers that were poisoned will have regained the strength to fight.
At that time, we will surely have a chance of victory in battle against Western Kun.”

Gu ShuBai shook his head, “Not to mention delaying them by five days, but we can’t even delay them by five hours.
For Kun WuShang to perpetrate such an evil thing without worrying about criticism by future generations, was it not for the sake of taking advantage of when us when our soldiers have died or become sick from the poison?”

Gu JiuGe said: “That’s right.
Based on Kun WuShang’s keen awareness, he will not miss this great opportunity.
Right now, our only option is to organize our remaining troops to fight back against the enemy.
Even if… we can’t allow them to reach Zhu Guan!”

Even without saying the sentence in full, everyone present fell silent.

Even if the entire army was annihilated, they could not allow Western Kun’s army to reach Zhu Guan.
They could not allow them to have an opportunity to trouble the citizens.

Zhu Guan, Weizhou, Changchuan… even the Lesser Zhu Pass behind them had countless citizens that trusted them and the protection that they provided because of the security that they had provided at the border.

They could not allow themselves to disappoint the citizens and allow the reputation of Eastern Ling’s soldiers to be tainted.

Amidst the silence, Yu Fu suddenly said: “Then that is to say that it’s certain that Western Kun’s new general is Kun WuShang?”

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Lao Jin said: “The scouts have confirmed it.
Western Kun’s side is flying a banner with the Kun character.
At present, the only one in Western Kun’s imperial family capable of leading troops is the seventh prince.
Half of the troops under his command are from the Liu family’s army and half are from the Wang family’s army.
Initially, we were planning to use this to try and stir up a conflict to delay the battle.
Unfortunately, the two armies have faith in him.
They think that his use of poison was exceptional.”

Yan HuaShi sneered, “They actually think this sort of unconscionable thing is good.
That’s true.
As long as they can clear out our Gu family’s army, they will be able to claim Zhu Guan, which is something that they have failed to do for decades.
Western Kun truly is barbaric.
They can’t look at things like normal people would.”

Gu HuaiJiang turned around and said with regret: “Do soldiers understand such grand ideals? What they know is to follow orders.
If the general says something is right, then it’s right.
That’s how things are in Western Kun.
That Western Kun has this way of doing things, is it not a result of the bellicose Emperor Kun.
I have heard that Western Kun’s crown prince is the exact same as Emperor Kun, so who knows if the flames of war will ever die down…”

Yu Fu said: “It now seems that Kun Wu Shang is even worse than Emperor Kun and the crown prince.
But… since he’s the head general, I have a way to delay the battle.
Five days should not be a problem.”

In the midst of the anxiety, Yu Fu’s words were like the clear skies outside.
They illuminated the hope in everyone’s eyes.

Yan Zheng’s ears were glued to the tent, and it was as if he had become a statue.

Gu ShuBai said: “What is the method?”

Yu Fu smiled and said: “To capture a thief, you must first capture the king.
If their head general has already arrived, who else would lead them into battle? Does eldest brother not remember the bottle of medicine that I gave Kun WuShang when he came to visit Eastern Ling with the special envoy?”

Gu ShuBai paused, “That medicine?”

The effects of the medicine were too normal.
It was so normal that it did not seem like something that would come from Yu Fu, thus Gu ShuBai remembered it very clearly.

“That was to deceive him.
It was actually a gu poison.”*

*TN: A gu poison is usually some sort of bug-based poison.