Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

50. Sink or Swim

Translator: Antonia

Yuxing Tianrui frowned, not understanding what he was doing, but still reached out to take over the thing. He weighed it. It wasn’t heavy. Then, he stole a glance at Du Chuxuan and planned to stealthily lift up the cover to see what was inside.

Du Chuxuan of course saw through Yuxing Tianrui’s mind. However, such a thing couldn’t be known to Yuxing Tianrui right now, not to mention let him study it, Du Chuxuan would be torn up immediately. For the sake of his safety, he didn’t plan to do such a dangerous thing.

“I think Your Highness understands that there are things better to be known to as few people as possible.” He put on a cryptic face. Besides, the previous topic of things in bed had already made Yuxing Tianrui flush, so the latter decided not to say more.

Time passed little by little. Shenglan Army had suffered a huge loss so far, with several generals injured by this formation. Right away, many were dissatisfied with the practice of Shan Zhongli.

General Leng had maintained a neutral attitude in the entire process. The facts unknown to other gave him a clearer picture.

The current popularity and glory the son of Duke Ningyuan enjoyed was based on the premise that they thought the Crown Prince was dead and the Army was in an urgent need of a commander to count on. Therefore, they frantically throw the olive branch towards Shan Zhongli.

In order to hold more military power, certainly Shan Zhongli didn’t refuse anyone. However, eager to contribute and be rewarded by the imperial court, Shan Zhongli was dealing with everything in an overly hasty manner. At least, without breaking the Turks’ formation, the situation at the battlefield couldn’t be turned over.

With the increasingly loud yelling of threatening from the Turks, Shan Zhongli looked more and more irritated, “I’m asking again. Which general is willing to lead the battle today?”

He had just asked this question, but even the generals who intended to join his camp were all clammed up. Obviously, they were clever and cherished their lives more.

General Leng made a sneer. Even a fool could tell that the battle would mean nothing but futile casualties. None of the generals wanted their soldier brothers to suffer this.

Seeing there was no general standing out, the Turks laughed harder and harder. Today, the Turkic general leading the battle was the ‘Hercules’ that had fought against Yang Guang. Now, he was laughing loud in ridicule with his shocking lung capacity.

“If this situation lasts, in less than three days, we’ll lose.” Yuxing Tianrui stood high and witnessed the whole situation on the battlefield. His voice sounded cold, “A stupid thing that can’t do anything right.”

He had believed that Shan Zhongli would at least hold on for some time. Unexpectedly, it hadn’t been half a month yet, Shan Zhongli began to lose fights one after another. So far, the casualties reached at least twenty thousand people.

Ada knew why His Highness was sad, but there was no other choice. Casualties were inevitable on the battlefield. Even if they didn’t start a fight, the Turks would march over anyway.

The two of them didn’t linger long there. Yuxing Tianrui had a feeling that a small group of people were still searching for them with perseverance. He didn’t know which party these people belonged, but believed he should be careful.

In addition, very likely the next step Shan Zhongli was taking was to withdraw, a scene that Yuxing Tianrui didn’t want to witness. As expected, soon after the two left, Shenglan Army beat the gongs to retreat, which was a real move to boost the morale of the enemy while harming their own.

In Shan Zhongli’s tent, the man they called Mister pulled a cold face, “I’ve told you many times. Don’t be provoked by the enemy. You have to dispatch a general to fight every time they yell and curse? You know it’s a trap! Their aim is to hurt our morale!”

Shan Zhongli was already nervous when he sensed the dissatisfaction of the generals and soldiers around him when the gongs were beat. Now being scolded harshly by Mister, he was more annoyed.

“Mister has been a man of schemes. How come you haven’t worked out a way to break the formation yet?!” It was because he had always told him that it was nearly there that he tried again and again to confront the enemy.

To him, ‘nearly there’ meant a worked-out solution to solve the problem at any time. However, a long time had passed, but this man made out nothing. The time he spent on scolding was much more than on studying the formation.

His angry questioning caught the man by surprise. He turned to glance at Shan Zhongli, his eyes uncontrollably paling. The man certainly had knowledge but had lacked social connections. Hence, every time he took the national exam, he fell victim of inside dealings.

At last, he had no choice but to become Shan Zhongli’s advisor. He aimed to help Shan Zhongli climb onto that position so that he himself as the dragon-assistant wouldn’t be looked down upon anymore.

Nonetheless, it never occurred to him that he not only had bad luck but also bad sight. If Shan Zhongli was really a promising man, the current situation wouldn’t have occurred at all.

Alright, at this point, with the Crown Prince impatient to take actions, nothing could be obtained if he didn’t try all out now.

Making up his mind, a touch of gloom flickered in his eyes. He took out a scroll, “If you want it, then try this. This is the final chance.” Both for Shan Zhongli and himself.

The formation was too strange that no conclusion was drawn even after he invited many people to study it. The solution on this scroll was made based on the information he acquired through spies he arranged in the Turkic barracks.

The essence of a formation lied on the changes of it. As long as they were able to cut it through completely, nothing could be formed, let alone a complicated united formation.

At the sight of the scroll, Shan Zhongli smiled, eyes lit up, “Really?” How long had he been longing for it? And he actually got it when he thought he was going to a dead end.

The man was proud after all. He took a cold glance at Shan Zhong, “If you think I’m useless, then take it as a joke. I think I should stay away from you in the future. It’d be better for both of us.”

Knowing his questioning irritated this man, Shan Zhongli replied with a grin, “Don’t be mad at me, Mister. It’s okay you scold me. I should apologize to you.”