Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 487 - 466 Second Update

Chapter 487: Chapter 466 Second Update

"Marquis, we can’t stay here, the formation could break at any moment," a deputy general who understood formations spoke up immediately. Upon hearing this, the fear that people had felt before now turned into sheer terror.

"How much longer can it hold?" the Marquis of Zhenbei asked his deputy general upon hearing this.

The deputy general was startled, then took a careful look again at the position of the formation and the remaining mages.

"Marquis, it’s hard to say, it could be any time. If those mages are not careful and get slightly distracted, the situation we saw earlier could happen again."

"Good, follow me—" the Marquis of Zhenbei made a decisive move, stepped forward, and made his way directly toward the camp, causing surprise among his followers, who could only hurry to catch up.

"Marquis, you—"

"Marquis, it’s too dangerous, we clearly could..." not care about anything else.

The Marquis of Zhenbei disagreed, saying that if something happened to the people from Qiandao Temple in the Northern Border, whether they cared or not, they could not escape the relationship. Now was not the time to be hostile to Qiandao Temple.

"Mage—"

Just as Master Ling Yi had just withdrawn and the second group had taken their place to guard the formation, before he even had the chance to catch his breath, he heard a team of people coming towards their camp. The Marquis of Zhenbei, leading them, looked panicked, showing too much effort as he half-ran toward them with a face full of fright, looking at everything in front of him with alarm.

"Marquis of Zhenbei—" Master Ling Yi was not surprised by such a large commotion, his voice weary.

"Mage, what has happened?" the Marquis of Zhenbei asked with a small panic, perfectly portraying the desire to step forward but the fear of doing so, while his deputy generals behind him also displayed very frightened expressions.

At that moment, Master Ling Yi could not afford to care about the other’s expressions; the situation was dangerous, and he could only ask for support.

However, the Marquis of Zhenbei spoke first.

"Mage, do you need our help..." the Marquis of Zhenbei asked eagerly, causing Master Ling Yi to be taken aback, just like his own subordinates, who were also stunned. What was going through their lord’s mind?

At that time, Master Ling Yi looked at the Marquis of Zhenbei, slightly moved. He hadn’t expected that at such a time, the words from the Marquis would be so supportive, and although he had not spoken, he was inwardly grateful.

The Marquis of Zhenbei slapped his forehead.

"Look at my blockhead, there’s no need to ask, we must help." His subordinates agreed that indeed it was a blockhead, but with the following words from the Marquis of Zhenbei, they finally understood what their lord was really up to.

"Our camp in the Northern Border is quite far from here. The nearest is General Ling’s camp from the Northwest Border. Don’t worry, I will send someone to General Ling’s camp to request soldiers to support you right now. Rest assured, they understand Ghoul Ravine far better than we do," the Marquis of Zhenbei immediately said.

Master Ling Yi knew that this was not the time for pleasantries; he indeed needed rescue, and many of his disciples didn’t even have clothes to keep out the cold. They could hold on for a day, but after that, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation would all become problems.

"Then I must thank the Marquis," Mage Ling Yi said. Moreover, he had heard of General Ling’s reputation and trusted him somewhat more than the Marquis of Zhenbei.

"Hold on, Marquis, let me write a letter and have your men deliver it to General Ling along with your message," Mage Ling Yi looked up and said, then immediately turned and hurriedly penned a letter.

"This is most satisfactory—" Mage Ling Yi’s action did indeed smooth the way for the plan of the Marquis of Zhenbei, who promptly ordered two riders to make haste to the Northwest Camp.

Seeing that there was finally support, the mages renewed their hope.

The two messengers, with the letter in hand, managed to reach the Northwest Camp in less than half a shichen, only to be stopped upon arrival. The soldiers relayed the situation, which they were already aware of through earlier messages, mentioning that General Ling was not present in the camp, hence their inaction.

"Please inform General Ling with haste. Those are the mages from Qiandao Temple. Our Marquis has already arrived, and here is the letter from Mage Ling Yi in person for the General," said the messenger, who was very careful. By now, he could see the hesitation on their faces. The whereabouts of the General Ling of the Northwest Border were hidden, and they could not detect him, uncertain if he was even in the camp at that moment.

Deputy General Bao Xing, who was third in command at the camp, took the letter. He was a trusted aide of General Ling and had followed him since childhood, climbing out from piles of corpses, and was known for his impetuous nature. He immediately opened the letter and saw Mage Ling Yi’s hurried script, which laid out the reasons for his urgent request for assistance.

In the camp, only the Crown Prince and General Ling knew of the issue involving brothers from the Fire Order Squad, and the only others who were privy to it were the folks at Qiandao Temple. Originally, a group from the Fire Order Squad had arrived at the Northwest Camp with Zhu Ping, but Zhu Ping had gone to meet someone and had not yet returned, those men—

Without hesitation, Bao Xing gritted his teeth. Saving people was paramount, and it was uncertain when Zhu Ping would return, though it should be soon.

"Deputy General Bao—" His subordinate hesitated, for the people Zhu Ping brought were from the Imperial Forest Guard, and if something went wrong—

Bao Xing pulled his subordinate aside and quietly explained the situation. The matter was extremely urgent, and the subordinate also knew of the exalted status of the mages from Qiandao Temple. Furthermore, given the gravity of the situation, should anything go awry, they could not escape blame.

Bao Xing immediately called forth the followers of Zhu Ling and, along with his own men, detailed the situation to them.

Though these men were originally from the Imperial Forest Guard, under General Ling’s command, they respected him greatly for his fairness. Moreover, Bao Xing and Zhu Ping had a good relationship on ordinary days, and in such a situation, there was no reason not to comply. Besides, while Bao Xing was hot-tempered, he was open and honest with his own men, which made him well-liked.

Without delay, the troops set out. Bao Xing took the majority of Zhu Ling’s followers and all of his own men, leaving the remainder to await the return of General Ling and Deputy General Zhu.

...

Emperor Jingzhi suddenly vomited blood at midnight, and by the time the Imperial Physician arrived, he had already fallen into a coma. When Noble Consort Wen received the news, Empress Xiao had fully surrounded Chenwen Hall, three layers inside and three out, making it impossible for Noble Consort Wen to catch even a glimpse of Emperor Jingzhi.

However, Noble Consort Wen knew that Emperor Jingzhi didn’t have much time left; even if he survived this ordeal, he wouldn’t last many more days. Failing to see Emperor Jingzhi, she decisively turned and hurried to the palace of Zheng Haoyuan.

Noble Consort Wen decided it was time to let Zheng Haoyuan in on some matters, especially under such circumstances where immediate action might become necessary. If it came to that and Zheng Haoyuan stood trembling and unable to face the civil and military officials, it would naturally be unacceptable.

Noble Consort Wen knocked on the palace gates of Zheng Haoyuan in the middle of the night, waking up the drowsy Zheng Haoyuan. The young man seemed utterly unaware of the tense atmosphere in the palace, even complaining a bit about being woken up by Noble Consort Wen.

"I don’t want it—" Zheng Haoyuan shook his head vigorously, as if hearing complete nonsense, "I simply don’t want to be the Emperor."