The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1030 - 1030 494 Siege at the City Gates (1st Update)

Chapter 1030: 494 Siege at the City Gates (1st Update) Chapter 1030: 494 Siege at the City Gates (1st Update) In the following days, a relentless snowstorm trapped them inside the rock cave, where Gu Jiao, with nothing better to do, practiced her archery.

After providing Gu Jiao some instruction last night, Tang Yueshan woke up with regret—he had inadvertently assisted an enemy of the Tang Family.

It so happened that Gu Chengfeng was skilled in archery, and upon seeing Gu Jiao practice in the cave, he came over to give her tips.

He held nothing back from Gu Jiao; whatever he knew, he shared generously, even fashioning a makeshift target with a shield and some firewood for her to shoot at on the cave wall.

Gu Chengfeng’s archery was not bad, after all he was a young master from the Marquis Residence; even the weakest member, Gu Chenglin, had learned to shoot from horseback at a young age. However, Gu Chengfeng’s skills were only impressive amongst average men—standing among Tang Family archers, he fell short.

Tang Yueshan wasn’t boasting when he said that any archer from the Tang Family could outshoot Gu Chengfeng by a long shot.

The worst archer of the Tang Family was expected to be able to hit a target from a hundred steps away.

Watching Gu Chengfeng’s pointers to Gu Jiao, Tang Yueshan found it unbearable to watch.

“You won’t go wrong listening to me!” Gu Chengfeng told Gu Jiao.

Tang Yueshan rolled his eyes in disdain. Not go wrong? The aiming was all wrong! Can the bow be pulled like that? Can arrows be aimed like that?

This was even more intolerable than Gu Jiao’s mistakes.

And then Tang Yueshan played the fool again.

Tang Yueshan played the fool, day after day.

Until the snow stopped.

The old marquis’s post-surgical infection had cleared up; although he was older, his constant physical training meant his constitution was as strong as a young man’s, and his wounds were healing well—Tang Yueshan’s even more so.

Gu Jiao removed the stitches from two of the wounds on Tang Yueshan’s thigh.

The group crossed through the forest and arrived at a small village on the outskirts of Lingguan City. There, Gu Jiao bargained with villagers for an ox cart, trading her own two horses for the ox, giving the extra horse to Tang Yueshan.

Tang Yueshan mounted the horse and said to them, “Just follow this road straight ahead, and you’ll reach Yuegu City.”

Gu Chengfeng, holding the reins of his horse, hesitated for a moment before saying to Tang Yueshan, “Are you… really going to Ye City alone? Why not—”

He wanted to suggest that Tang Yueshan accompany them back to Yuegu City first, settle his grandfather, and then both of them could go to Ye City together.

Gu Chengfeng wasn’t particularly keen on helping Tang Yueshan, but trapped inside Ye City were the imperial troops after all. No longer the naive young man who had first come to the border, the flames of war and the collapse of the homeland meant that as a son of Zhan Country, he could no longer remain indifferent.

Gu Chengfeng left those words unspoken, but Tang Yueshan understood and said, “If a small number could settle it, I’d manage myself; if not, having the two of you added wouldn’t help anyway. Better not to join and march to your deaths.”

The difference between one and three in fighting strength was significant in the arena, but in the face of tens of thousands on the battlefield, it made little to no difference.

Gu Chengfeng found his words reasonable and couldn’t refute them.

And so, they went their separate ways.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng returned to Yuegu City with the old marquis, while Tang Yueshan sped toward Ye City.

“What do you think he’s going to do?” Gu Chengfeng asked with concern.

Gu Jiao too wanted to know what Tang Yueshan had in mind; he didn’t seem the type to rashly seek his own death, he must have had a strategy.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng made it back to Yuegu City.

The situation in Yuegu City had grown three times more tense than before they left—the shops on the Avenue were almost all shut, and the pedestrians had vanished, as though a storm was brewing.

“Is this what it feels like when a battle is approaching?” Gu Chengfeng said with a mix of emotions.

Gu Jiao responded with a non-committal hum.

Three other cities had already seen the onset of battle, and the citizens of Yuegu City were as prepared as they could be, yet they couldn’t change the fact that the city became a human purgatory, the most tragic ending amongst all the border cities.

The Chen Country’s forces massacred the entire city.

Men, women, elderly, children, the sick and weak, not even the livestock were spared.

The cart arrived at the Governor’s Mansion.

The one who came out to greet them was still Master Hu.

After days apart, Master Hu looked even more haggard than before; he rushed out, holding onto his official cap, both excited and astonished, “Ah, you two lords have finally returned! The night when both of you left without a word, you scared me! I feared something might have happened to you…”

Gu Chengfeng frowned impatiently, “All right, enough, let’s get inside the residence.”

The wind was howling outside; they had been exposed all the way and were nearly frozen to death!

“Yes, yes!” Master Hu quickly agreed, leading the way. Glancing back unintentionally, he noticed a person lying on a makeshift plank on the cart.

When the old marquis had traveled to the border pass, he had stayed briefly in the Governor’s Mansion with Tang Yueshan—Master Hu had received them, and quickly recognized the old marquis. Startled, he exclaimed, “Old Marquis Gu! Have you… did you go to Ye City for a rescue?”

Everyone thought that the old Marquis was imprisoned in Ye City.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng disappeared after staying for only one night, and Master Hu and the Governor had once suspected their identities, speculating that the two might not be people sent by the court, but merely imposters who came to the Governor’s Mansion to gather intelligence.

Now that they had brought back the old Marquis, their previous doubts were overturned.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng didn’t mention that they had rescued the person in Lingguan City.

However, from Master Hu’s reaction, it could be seen that at least the Governor’s Mansion had no collusion with the Chen Country’s army and the remnants of the previous dynasty for the time being.

The Governor’s Mansion was still considered safe for now.

“Enter the mansion,” Gu Chengfeng said to Master Hu in a deep voice.

“Ah, yes, yes! Let’s enter the mansion right now! The courtyard we used last time has been kept for you two!” Master Hu wiped the cold sweat from his brow and led them into the Governor’s Mansion.

It was impossible for the courtyard to still be reserved for them, and Master Hu frantically signaled to the servants with his eyes. The servants, quick-witted, hurried ahead of the two and cleared out the people from the courtyard.

“The room hasn’t been used for a few days and is covered with dust. I’ll have someone clean it up. You all can sit in the study room first,” Master Hu said with a smile.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng turned a blind eye to the charade, first bringing out the stretcher and letting the servants carry the old Marquis into the study room.

The room was quickly tidied up, with the innermost room still being Gu Jiao’s living quarters, Gu Chengfeng and the old Marquis stayed next door, which was originally Gu Chengfeng’s room.

This time, the Governor of Yuegu City happened to be in the mansion. He personally came to visit the pair and tried to indirectly probe their identities, but unfortunately, they didn’t reveal a word.

The Governor, surnamed Cheng and 39 years old, looked older than his actual age, perhaps due to the harsh life on the frontier.

Governor Cheng bowed to the two sitting in the chairs and said, “Forgive my bluntness, but Yuegu City is about to be at war. May I ask when the court’s reinforcements are expected to arrive?”

Gu Chengfeng replied indifferently, “The court’s army is already on the way. They will arrive when it’s time. How many defenders does Yuegu City have now?”

“Five thousand,” the Governor said sheepishly.

“Only five thousand?” Gu Chengfeng exclaimed in astonishment, “How come so few!”

The Governor said helplessly, “Yuegu City is just a small city with no military garrison to begin with. And half of these five thousand are hastily conscripted.”

Hastily conscripted, which basically meant they were going to the battlefield to be sacrificial lambs.

Gu Chengfeng fell silent. He truly hadn’t expected Yuegu City’s situation to be so dire. With so few people, if either the remnants of the previous dynasty or Chen Country’s army launched an attack on Yuegu City, it would surely be a disastrous defeat.

“You may go. We’ll call you if we need anything,” Gu Chengfeng said to Governor Cheng.

Governor Cheng bowed: “If the two masters have any requests, please call upon me at any time.”

After Governor Cheng left, Gu Chengfeng said to the servants guarding the door, “We have no need of you here, you may all withdraw.”

“Yes.” The servants left the courtyard in succession.

Gu Chengfeng naturally poured a cup of hot tea for Gu Jiao and said, “Have a drink first.”

Gu Jiao picked up the teacup and gently took a sip.

Gu Chengfeng also poured himself a cup and drank half of it before setting down the cup and heaving a sigh, “I don’t know when my older brother’s army will arrive. If they launched an attack on Yuegu City now, these five thousand would hardly be able to hold.”

In the dream, Yuegu City did indeed fall. The Gu Family army arrived after the city had been slaughtered.

It was not the fault of the Gu Family army for the tragedy of Yuegu City. After receiving the imperial decree, Gu Changqing had already returned to Capital City at the fastest speed, then quickly rallied the Gu Family army, leading a hundred thousand troops north.

Unfortunately, not all of the hundred thousand troops were cavalry. Under the current road conditions and military equipment in Zhan Country, the marching speed of the infantry on an urgent march could not exceed a hundred li a day or it could potentially affect their combat capability. Moreover, due to the climate near the border, the closer they got to the north, the slower the march would be, and there was even the possibility of encountering Snow-sealed Mountains.

Not to mention that the speed of an army march was actually determined not by the fastest cavalry or the second-fastest infantry, but by the slowest baggage train.

The baggage train included provisions, barracks, weapons, and military equipment necessary for sieges.

An army without a baggage train was like soldiers without weapons, unable to sustain a fight.

Considering this, it would be a miracle if Gu Changqing could arrive with the army in a matter of days.

“Five days,” Gu Jiao said.

“What about five days?” Gu Chengfeng asked.

“Your older brother,” Gu Jiao said.

If her memory served her right, in five days, Gu Changqing would lead the Gu Family army to their arrival.

But in two days, the Chen Country’s army would come to slaughter the city.

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