Chapter 57: Stalemate

The battle with the southern barbarian tribes lasted for three days and three nights, with casualties on both sides.

In the end, it concluded with Feng Bai Su beheading the second princess of the southern barbarians on the banks of the Ye River!

……

Ye City

Wei Jing Mo paced restlessly inside the room, constantly looking outside with an unsettled mind.

At this moment, Dong Qing appeared in his line of sight, jogging towards him.

Wei Jing Mo’s eyes brightened slightly upon seeing him. He stepped forward and anxiously asked, “How is it? Have you gathered any news?”

“Reporting to my lord,” Dong Qing said, his chest heaving as he caught his breath, “Her Highness has achieved a great victory! She’s now leading the troops back!”

“Has Her Highness been injured?” Wei Jing Mo immediately asked another question.

Dong Qing shook his head and replied, “The only message that came back was about our army’s great victory! Nothing else is known.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Jing Mo nodded with some disappointment, the light in his ink-black eyes dimming. The weight on his heart still hadn’t lifted.

“Alright. Dong Qing, go out again and see if you can find out about Her Highness’s condition.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Dong Qing turned and walked back outside.

Until late at night, Wei Jing Mo still sat at the door waiting.

Dong Qing and Dong Gua had tried to persuade him several times but to no avail. They were even sent away by Wei Jing Mo.

In the silent darkness of the night, only a faint candlelight at the door illuminated a small space.

Wei Jing Mo sat in the warm yellow candlelight, his bright black eyes quietly gazing at the entrance of the courtyard.

When Feng Bai Su stepped over the threshold into the courtyard, she looked up and saw Wei Jing Mo sitting at the door of the house.

He was curled up small and delicate in the chair, with a warm yellow candle at his feet, his gaze fixed intently on the courtyard gate.

In an instant, her heart softened and felt a bit helpless.

Sure enough, she had guessed that this young gentleman would be like this!

When Wei Jing Mo saw Feng Bai Su enter, he immediately stood up from the chair.

His ink-black eyes flashed with light, and in a flurry of skirts, he instantly flew over.

“Your Highness! You’re back!”

His arms encircled Feng Bai Su’s waist, rushing into her embrace, hugging her tightly.

Feng Bai Su involuntarily took two steps back before steadying herself.

Her body stiffened for a moment before she opened her arms and hugged Wei Jing Mo’s waist.

She said in a low voice, “Mm, I’m back.”

After embracing for a while, she finally released Wei Jing Mo’s waist and took his hands instead.

Seeing that his hands were as cold as ice, she couldn’t help but frown, “Why didn’t you sit inside? There’s no need to torture yourself like this just to wait for me!”

Saying this, she pulled him towards the room.

Wei Jing Mo obediently followed her into the room, step by step, “…This way I could see Your Highness as soon as you came in.”

“Don’t do this again next time! Understand?”

The two sat down inside the room.

Feng Bai Su immediately placed the charcoal stove at Wei Jing Mo’s feet, taking his hands to warm them by the stove.

Earlier, in the dark night outside, she couldn’t see clearly. Now, enveloped by the candlelight inside, she realized.

Wei Jing Mo’s face, usually with a rosy tinge, was now stiff from the cold, his cherry-red thin lips were colorless, almost turning purple from the cold. It was evident how long he had been sitting outside.

Seeing him in this state, Feng Bai Su was truly angered. Her face unconsciously darkened: “If I hadn’t returned tonight, were you planning to freeze to death out there? Where are Dong Qing and Dong Gua? How have they been taking care of you!”

“Your Highness, it’s not their fault. I insisted on this. Besides, I knew Your Highness would definitely return.”

Wei Jing Mo blinked his ink-black eyes, looking quietly at Feng Bai Su. His long, thick eyelashes cast a shadow beneath his eyes. His pale face finally regained some color under the heat of the charcoal stove.

Feng Bai Su’s peach blossom eyes were deep as she gazed at his clear yet determined black eyes. Finally, she compromised, letting out a light sigh: “You’re counting on me not being able to do anything about you, aren’t you?”

Her voice sounded inexplicably indulgent.

Wei Jing Mo’s eyes flickered slightly, avoiding her gaze, his long eyelashes trembling lightly.

Thinking of something, he raised his head again: “Is Your Highness injured anywhere?”

Hearing this, Feng Bai Su’s fingers paused slightly, then she said casually, “No, how could those southern barbarians be a match for me?”

But Wei Jing Mo pursed his lips, insisting, “Then please take off your clothes and let me see, Your Highness.”

Feng Bai Su, however, sat there without moving, looking at him with a slightly teasing gaze, “Take off my clothes? How has the young gentleman become so immodest now! How can you say such things so easily!”

Seeing her evade the question like this, Wei Jing Mo became more convinced that she was hiding something.

His thin lips pressed into a straight line, and he directly stood up and walked towards her, reaching out to pull at her clothes.

“If Your Highness won’t do it yourself, then I’ll help you undress.”

Seeing the young gentleman’s fierce action, Feng Bai Su instinctively leaned back.

Perhaps the movement was too large, she couldn’t help but let out a light hiss, as if she had pulled at some pain.

Hearing this muffled sound of pain, Wei Jing Mo stopped, standing still in place, expressionlessly looking at her.

Feng Bai Su: “…”

Seeing that she couldn’t hide it anymore, she had to start moving under Wei Jing Mo’s gaze.

Before pulling open her clothes, she still couldn’t help but ask one more time: “Do I really have to take them off? Isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”

But Wei Jing Mo didn’t speak, just blinked his ink-black eyes, looking at her calmly.

Seeing this, Feng Bai Su completely closed her mouth and obediently unbuttoned her clothes.

As soon as she opened her inner garment, Wei Jing Mo saw the white bandages wrapped around her body. The bandages were wrapped in thick layers around her waist and abdomen, and even so, bright red blood had seeped through. It was enough to see how deep the wound under the bandages was.

And not just there, her shoulders, back, everywhere had scrapes. It was clear these were wounds caused by cold arrows grazing her body. The bright red lines were particularly striking against her fair skin.

Seeing her body covered in wounds, Wei Jing Mo’s eyes couldn’t help but moisten. Gradually, a mist of tears blurred his vision.

His eyes were red, like a little rabbit’s, and his voice choked up: “Your Highness… do these wounds hurt?”

As he spoke, he reached out his fingers wanting to touch her, but then seemed afraid of hurting her and withdrew them.

Feng Bai Su put on her inner garment again, covering the wounds on her body.

Seeing the young gentleman’s face full of concern and caution, a smile slowly curled at the corners of her lips: “It doesn’t hurt.”

“How can it not hurt!”

Wei Jing Mo’s voice was muffled as he refuted, then felt that what he had just asked was all nonsense.

He couldn’t help but press his lips tightly together, blaming himself: “It’s all my fault for being willful. Your Highness has such severe injuries and yet I made you come back and forth like this, you should have rested properly in the military camp.”

“What does this have to do with you?”

Feng Bai Su was both amused and exasperated by his demeanor, “It was because I was worried about you that I wanted to come back. Besides, how can one not get injured in battle? These wounds are all honors for a military general.”

Seeing Wei Jing Mo still in a gloomy state, she raised her hand and placed it on his head, rubbing vigorously until his hair was all messed up before withdrawing her palm.

She coaxed in a gentle voice: “Alright, young gentleman, don’t be sad anymore!”

——

Ever since Feng Bai Su was injured, Wei Jing Mo had become like a little tail behind her, sticking closely to her back.

When Feng Bai Su’s wounds had mostly healed, she returned to the military camp.

Upon receiving Wei Yun’s message, she had just gotten up to walk out when she saw Wei Jing Mo following closely behind.

Feng Bai Su stopped at the doorway and turned around to see Wei Jing Mo standing behind her.

A trace of amusement flashed through her peach blossom eyes, and she said teasingly, “Tsk, how clingy the young gentleman has become!”

Then, she lowered her head and kissed his thin lips.

Wei Jing Mo’s expression froze slightly, standing there in a daze.

After Feng Bai Su straightened up, she pinched his soft cheeks again, “I’m leaving.”

With that, she released her fingers and turned to walk outside.

It wasn’t until Feng Bai Su’s figure had disappeared from the courtyard and could no longer be seen that Wei Jing Mo came back to his senses. He belatedly added the words he hadn’t had time to say earlier: “…Be careful on the way.”

——

After Feng Bai Su beheaded the second princess of the southern barbarians, it did cause the war to pause briefly again.

But Wei Yun and Feng Bai Su didn’t relax because of this.

They both knew that since the southern barbarians had been able to ally with the surrounding thirty-six tribes to invade the Feng Ling country this time, they wouldn’t give up so easily.

Sure enough, before the first month was out, the southern barbarian tribes once again led their army to attack.

Feng Bai Su once again led troops to meet them in battle!

This time, neither side’s leaders were lost, but the soldiers on both sides suffered heavy losses. The Feng Ling army could only be said to have narrowly defeated the southern barbarians.

Thus, their battle with the southern barbarian tribes continued on and off for half a year. The southern side was like cockroaches that couldn’t be killed, constantly entangling with the Feng Ling army.

Even though Wei Yun and Feng Bai Su beheaded many enemy leaders, in the next battle they always had new leaders who would regroup and attack again.

Such persistent fighting annoyed Feng Bai Su and Wei Yun to no end!

The two of them had always been swift and decisive in their actions. What they hated most in life was this kind of clingy, pestering style of warfare.

But this time the southern barbarian tribes were fully committed to this approach, which was like jumping up and down repeatedly on their landmines. Yet they could do nothing about it and could only go to meet them in battle again and again.

“These southern barbarians are simply endless! One batch is defeated and another comes!”

Wei Yun’s face was gloomy, her chest heaving violently with anger.

“Could it be that this is their strategy, knowing they can’t match our army in direct confrontation? So they want to slowly wear us down like this!”

Feng Bai Su’s peach blossom eyes were equally dark, her red lips tightly pressed together, clearly also fed up with these southern barbarians to the extreme.

“Since we can’t disperse them, let’s cut off their support! Aren’t they relying on the backing of the thirty-six tribes? Then we’ll defeat these thirty-six tribes one by one. When the time comes, with only the southern barbarian tribe left alone, I don’t believe they can turn the tide!”

Having decided on the plan, Feng Bai Su and Wei Yun immediately set it into motion.

But to completely defeat these thirty-six tribes was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

After half a year, they had only managed to conquer twelve tribes.