The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

A sharp-eyed soldier noticed that there was a Qilin pattern on the jade pendant hanging around Sima Yao's waist and asked cautiously.

In Da Sheng, the emperor wore dragon ornaments, the prince wore python ornaments, and the princes wore unicorn ornaments. Many people knew about this, but very few had seen it with their own eyes, especially the soldiers at the lowest level who had no official rank at all.

"That's right." Sima Yao said calmly: "I, Sima Yao, promise you in the name of the prince that you will return victorious within half a month."

"Really?"

“That’s great.”

"But Your Majesty, why has there been no movement in the past two days?"

"Yeah yeah."

"Why don't we catch the three-nation coalition forces off guard before they are ready?"

The soldiers were so delighted when they heard this that they even forgot about etiquette for a moment.

However, on the battlefield, everyone is willing to put their heads on the line, and few people will bother about those red tapes.

What's more, Sima Yao was not a pedantic person.

He didn't care at all. Instead, he was pleased that the soldiers could express their doubts in front of him.

"Please trust me, my soldiers. I will find a way to achieve victory with the least casualties. As long as you trust me, there will be no mistakes."

Sima Yao's words excited the surrounding soldiers. The soldiers, who were somewhat frustrated because they had not fought outside the city today, surrounded Sima Yao.

Sima Yao knew this principle well: the first beat will weaken, the second beat will weaken, and the third beat will be exhausted.

He could not tell the soldiers his strategy, but he felt that he needed to encourage everyone again regarding the two times he left the city without fighting.

He simply stood on the stone table beside him and began to say some very encouraging words.

When the soldiers saw the prince coming, they rushed over from all directions and quickly formed a circle with Sima Yao as the center.

"Soldiers, I will make sure that each of you returns with military merits! Receive the commendation and the reward!"

"Fight bravely and fight the enemy! Swear allegiance to the prince until death!"

The atmosphere was lively for a while, and Sima Yao was very satisfied with it. He stood on the stone table and waved to the soldiers around him, but he saw that in the middle of the enthusiastic faces facing him, there were two people who were leaving quickly with their backs to him.

The tall one was of sturdy build and was wearing the uniform of a deputy general. He was undoubtedly Shu Huaiyuan. The shorter one next to him was just as tall as Shu Huaiyuan's shoulders and was thin. Even wearing a soldier's armor, he looked empty.

The person Shu Huaiyuan asked him to wait and look for was such a skinny soldier?

Sima Yao was immediately filled with doubts.

He jumped off the stone table.

"There may be a big battle tomorrow. It's still early today. If you have the energy to spare, you can do some training to prepare for tomorrow."

Now that the prince had spoken, the centurions counted the number of people, led their respective teams, and began training.

Sima Yao took the opportunity to quickly step forward and follow Shu Huaiyuan.

He didn't suspect Shu Huaiyuan was doing anything bad to him, he was just purely curious.

Not long after following Shu Huaiyuan, I saw him bringing the thin man to the end of the street.

This was a quiet corner of the street, and a horse was standing there all alone.

"Hurry up and get on your horse and leave the city." Shu Huaiyuan took out a token from his arms. "This is the token for leaving the city and entering the camp. I have explained everything in the tent. As long as you arrive before the prince and I return, the prince won't find out."

Sima Yao frowned.

Is Shu Huaiyuan hiding something from me?

He was just hesitating whether to step forward when he saw the soldier turn sideways and face Shu Huaiyuan: "Thank you, General Shu, for your help."

Sima Yao looked carefully, Gu Nianzhi?

Gu Nianzhi, who should have been living a peaceful life in the base camp?

"I dare not even think about how angry the prince would be if he knew about this."

"Stop talking. There's no time left. Hurry up and leave. Remember the direction I told you. Don't go the wrong way."

"Ah."

Gu Nianzhi put the token into his waist, jumped on the horse, straightened the reins, turned the horse's head, and was about to start when he saw Sima Yao standing in the middle of the road ahead with a face as cold as ice.

Gu Nianzhi was so shocked that he couldn't move.

With a pair of big eyes, he stared at Sima Yao opposite him.

Shu Huaiyuan sensed something was wrong, and turned around following Gu Nianzhi's gaze. When he saw it was Sima Yao, he was startled.

The few seconds of silence seemed like an eternity.

Shu Huaiyuan was the first to react. He knew he could no longer hide it, so he whispered to Gu Nianzhi.

"Come down first."

Gu Nianzhi got off the horse carefully and walked towards Sima Yao, knowing that he was in the wrong.

When Gu Nianzhi walked in front of Sima Yao, he was about to speak when he heard Sima Yao sigh, "Why are you here?"

"I……"

"War is no joke. You are a civil servant and shouldn't even come to Qiangyi. Why are you sneaking onto the battlefield now?"

Sima Yao's accusations were like a barrage of cannonballs, and Gu Nianzhi was unable to get a word in.

"And you, Huaiyuan. You actually helped him to deceive me?"

Seeing that even Shu Huaiyuan was implicated, Gu Nianzhi quickly spoke up to explain.

"Don't blame General Shu. I came here secretly. He just found me here by accident and was afraid that you would be angry... Besides, hasn't the fight started yet?"

"What's going on in your head? Do you want to fight so badly?"

"It's not..."

"Do you know what a real battlefield is like? With your small body, you will be torn to pieces once you enter the battlefield!"

Sima Yao became angrier as he spoke. He turned around and walked forward with big strides.

Gu Nianzhi was short and had to trot to catch up. After running two steps, he felt uneasy and turned to look at the horse. He found that Shu Huaiyuan had caught up with him, leading the horse. Only then did he feel relieved and continued to move forward.

"Don't be angry." Gu Nianzhi explained as he ran, "I came here secretly because I knew you wouldn't let me go to the battlefield. I was thinking that if you..."

Sima Yao froze and then turned around.

Gu Nianzhi was unable to retract her legs in time and suddenly crashed into Gu Nianzhi's arms. Her forehead and Sima Yao's chest actually collided with a "bang".

"Luckily I didn't wear a helmet, otherwise you would have been in pain."

Gu Nian instinctively reached out his hand and touched Sima Yao's chest, but after touching it, he felt something was wrong and quickly withdrew his hand.

Sima Yao suddenly grabbed her hand and pressed it against his heart.

"Feel my heart and see how fast it's beating. Are you worrying me to death?"

Gu Nianzhi felt Sima Yao's heartbeat and listened to his voice which was much gentler than before. She boldly looked up at Sima Yao and asked softly, "You are just worried about me, not angry with me?"

Gu Nianzhi's eyes seemed to melt Sima Yao.

After days of missing her, he could no longer hold back. Regardless of the presence of others, he reached out and pulled Gu Nianzhi into his arms.

Shu Huaiyuan stood ten meters away from the two of them and turned his head silently.