Volume 1-A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated

Gu Fang Bu Zi Shang Vol01 Ch04

He Xia turned his head, "What's wrong? If you haven't recovered, don't push yourself. The sun is very strong yet you still want to come riding with me. If you don't listen, I really won't let you come alongside the army next time."

Pingting quickly covered her mouth to hide her coughing. Glancing up, she saw that He Xia's face look concerned so she smiled gently. "Don't worry Master; I'm healthier than any horse. Her beady eyes studied He Xia for a moment, before lowering them, quietly saying, "I'm just afraid that... sigh, that when Master feels anxious, there won't be anyone beside you to cheer you up."

She sighed deeply and He Xia's heart melted. He gave a twisted smile while shaking his head, "You are such a strange maid. I can't hide anything from you." Seeing that Pingting hadn't her usual rosy cheeks, he smiled. "Come here then. Let me ride behind you on the same horse so you won't worry about it too much. Let's share our thoughts."

"Ok." Pingting nodded and slid off her horse.

He Xia reached out his hand and pulled Pingting onto his horse. He put one hand on her waist for support and the other one on the reins. He slowly gathered his thoughts and carefully chose his words, "Our opposition was the Dong Lin army. This war with Chu Beijie has lasted two months, on the surface we won but underneath we lost."

Pingting nodded, "Master is right. Though Dong Lin may have retreated, Gui Le had huge casualties. If Dong Lin attacked again, there's no way the Gui Le army would be able to hold up against them. If only the King was on Master's side and didn't stubbornly refuse to let Master take charge for two whole years, then the situation wouldn't've been so bad."

"Pingting, don't carelessly criticise the King." He Xia thought for a moment, "Just remember that the new King is not the Prince Su before he took the throne."

Pingting bit her lip and thought hard. After Prince Su took the throne, he had indeed changed a lot. She swallowed her worry and tried to say comfortingly, "I understand why Master feels so upset but the number of casualties of our army is not Master's fault. It has been a difficult two years. The King finally letting Master taking charge must've been because he wanted to embarrass you."

"That's exactly why I'm anxious. If we don't win this battle and return to the capital, a lot of people will protest and even Father will be affected. The House of Jing-An holds far too much influence and power. Even if I were the King, I'd try to get rid of them as well."

Remembering the new king's cold behaviour after taking the throne was extremely unpleasant. The two immediately felt a chilling sensation running down their spines.

Seeing his own little maid frowning over the royal heritage problems, He Xia smiled. He reached out and using his thumb, gently smoothed out the wrinkles on her forehead. "Stop thinking about it. Let's say some happy things. It's thanks to you to think of the extremely clever plan of changing the course of the river to threaten flooding enemy troops when we led them to the mountains. Chu Beijie totally lost to that and had to retreat. Now everyone in the army knows that we have a female advisor. When we get back to the capital, I'll make sure Father gives you a huge reward. Say, what would you like?"

"More rewards? The Duke has already given me enough rewards to last me more than ten lifetimes." Pingting looked at the sky; the sun was slightly to one side, beside the high-raised Duke of Jing-An's flag. She carefully looked back at He Xia then turned away again. It a quiet voice she murmured, "Master, there's something I don't know whether I should say or not."

"What can't you say to me?"

Pingting looked uncomfortable then suddenly cracked a smile. "Actually I won't say it. If I did, you'd feel annoyed again."