Chapter 97 - 53: The Whinnying of Horses and the Hurried Hooves_2
Chapter 97: Chapter 53: The Whinnying of Horses and the Hurried Hooves_2
“Whether I go or not, Lansheng Building is right there, isn’t going anywhere, is it?” Gu Changsheng pulled back his thoughts, responding somewhat irritatedly.
Seeing this, Xiao Cui lowered her head and dared not speak again.
“Alright, let’s get ready and go to Lansheng Building to see him off.” It took a while longer before Gu Changsheng seemed to make up his mind to speak.
Xiao Cui, as if a great burden had been lifted, quickly responded with a “Yes” and bounced down to get ready.
By the time Gu Changsheng and her party squeezed into Lansheng Building, she couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from her forehead. Okay, the Commandery Prince’s departure was an event of unprecedented grandeur, with not a soul left in the streets, all crowded on the road that led out of the city, completely jammed.
“Tsk tsk, so crowded, how are the soldiers going to pass through later?” Gu Changsheng, seated close to the window in the private room, could not help but comment.
“Lady Changsheng is worrying too much, the Vanguard General will soon come and clear a way through the street. Those watching the excitement will naturally make room,” the shopkeeper replied while arranging the tea set and continued, “Lady Changsheng has come specially to see off your husband, right? I’ve heard that your husband is quite favored in front of the County Prince. He must be going along with the County Prince to the battle, right?”
Gu Changsheng felt at a loss for words under the shopkeeper’s admiring gaze.
How quickly rumors spread, she had only found out about having a husband a short while ago, and now the whole city knew?
“Lady Changsheng, you needn’t worry. Our County Prince is the invincible Great General King; your husband following him will surely return safely,” the shopkeeper said, comforting her as she furrowed her brows in silence.
Gu Changsheng looked at the shopkeeper, who was now acting as a shop assistant, with an embarrassed gaze, sweating over his wild imagination.
She was certain that the shopkeeper, in order to witness the departure spectacle, had stooped to play the role of a shop assistant and, incidentally, to give her a hard time.
But her mind was too muddled at the moment to deal with him.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲονǥᴑ.сᴑ
After a short while, just as the shopkeeper had said, the sound of horseshoes and whip cracks arrived. Before the orderly cadence of hooves approached, the crowd had already conscientiously moved to both sides of the road, watching with anticipation.
The Vanguard General rode past without a moment’s pause. In just a few moments, the distant sound of orderly hooves grew closer. The crowd was upbeat and cheered loudly, fists pumping in the air. The passage of hooves stirred up a cloud of dust as if shrouded in gun smoke, with an earthquake-like intensity.
Gu Changsheng watched as the stately soldiers below moved through the streets without a sideways glance, while cries of “Victory!” from the people filled her ears, and her heart quivered…
She too had experienced this, marched under the gaze of thousands in martial attire, and set out for the battlefield with a heart full of fervent assurance of victory. Then, she watched her comrades fall one by one before her eyes, and more rush bravely into the fray, unflinchingly sacrificing their lives for victory…
This is what soldiers are: the departing troops downstairs ignited undying memories in her heart, stinging her eyes with tears.
A steed as red as fire, a warrior in crimson armor, familiar masks, familiar figures…
“Victory to the Commandery Prince! Victory to the Commandery Prince!” voices worshipping from the side of the streets…
Gu Changsheng stared at the rider, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. That wasn’t him!
The rider, as if aware of her presence, turned his head, lifted his face, and looked up towards the building…
Sitting by the window, Gu Changsheng watched perplexedly as the figure reminiscent of the Golden Ge passed by, that curve of the mouth so like Zhou Mu. But she was absolutely sure, that wasn’t him!
“My lady, Prince Mu is truly impressive!” Xiao Cui exclaimed with amazement, leaning over the window and peering out.
“If I were twenty years younger, I’d fight my way to enlist. To be able to follow a General like the County Prince, a War God in his own right, would leave no regrets in this life!” The shopkeeper also leaned eagerly against the window, following that figure with a longing gaze.
“Twenty years ago, he hadn’t even been born!” Gu Changsheng glanced at the plump shopkeeper and shook her head. “Besides, Generals die in a hundred battles, brave warriors return after a decade. The life of a soldier means facing the bloody reality of life and death head-on. Do you dare?”
“Why wouldn’t I dare? A true man isn’t afraid of death. Only cowards are!” Just as it happened, the shopkeeper caught her eye and was instantly roused by a manly fervor.
“The brutality of the battlefield is beyond your imagination. The swords and spears don’t have eyes. Injuries and bloodshed are common. You only see the extraordinary honor of triumphal return, unaware of the horrifying bloodshed on the battlefield. The battlefield is a slaughterhouse, only not of pigs and sheep but living human lives. The sound of sharp weapons tearing through flesh, the death cries of comrades—these will haunt your dreams for the rest of your life…” Gu Changsheng murmured absentmindedly, scenes flashing through her memory, making her momentarily lose track of where she was.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper shuddered and grumbled in fear, “You talk as if you’ve seen it yourself, scaring someone to death…”
“Heh…” Gu Changsheng smiled forlornly. She wished she hadn’t seen it. In this life, she indeed had not, but in her past life, she was a soldier, a Special Forces Soldier always at the forefront of the charge!
“Look at us, getting off-topic. Lady Changsheng’s husband is in the military, he must know all this. By the way, did you just catch sight of your husband?” The shopkeeper, seeing the awkward atmosphere and smoothly trying to change the subject, couldn’t afford to offend Lady Changsheng, a person not even Mo Wu would dare to provoke—audacious, fierce, and importantly, she’d found herself a husband from the County Prince’s Mansion!
“No.” Gu Changsheng replied instinctively with a two-word answer before remembering the shopkeeper was asking about her husband! Suddenly confused, she pondered, could she and Zhou Mu really be possible?
“My lady, didn’t Mu… I mean Wood just pass by?” Xiao Cui timely adjusted her term, having seen his grandeur amidst the throngs.
“That wasn’t him.” Even if the appearance was similar, she just had a feeling, that wasn’t him!
“The junior admits he couldn’t keep it from Lady Changsheng, and he didn’t believe it. He lost the bet, so this time the command of the Vanguard Camp goes to the junior,” a teasing voice came from the doorway, interrupting Gu Changsheng’s train of thought.