Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2591 Atonement for Crimes 54.0
Song Yaojia slept very soundly, and didn't wake up until the sun was setting.

He moved slightly and realized that he seemed to be lying in bed, but he vaguely remembered that he had fallen asleep in the central command tent.

Thinking about it, he suddenly sat up and realized by the dim candlelight that he was indeed still in the central command tent, but had been moved to a small couch in the corner.

After confirming that he was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief, looked around, and coughed lightly.

Merlin was dozing off not far away when he heard the sound coming from the small couch. He immediately stood up and walked over, carefully examining Song Yaojia, who had just woken up.

"Your Highness is awake?"

"Water!" Song Yaojia nodded, looked at Meilin, and said in a low voice.

Merlin responded and quickly poured him a glass of warm water, watching him sip it slowly.

After finishing the glass of water, Song Yaojia's previously dazed mind finally cleared up. He handed the blanket to Merlin and stretched out a big yawn.

"Where are Haolin and Xiaocha?" Song Yaojia rubbed her stiff neck, looking at Merlin with a blank expression. "How come we're all alone here after waking up?"

Merlin stood up and went to light the candlesticks in the large tent, replying to Song Yaojia as he did so.

"The Duke and the eldest son have gone to the drill ground and should be back soon." Merlin handed Song Yaojia a hot towel and said, "Your Highness, wipe your face and wake yourself up."

"Oh, I'm going to watch the arena match." Song Yaojia smeared a hot towel on his face, the warmth making him hum comfortably. "What time is it? It's already dark."

"It's almost time for dinner, and it's getting dark, isn't it?" Merlin looked at him. "Your Highness, would you like to get up and stretch? You slept very soundly. Before the Duke and the eldest son left, they instructed us not to face you and to let you wake up naturally."

"I don't know why, but I suddenly felt very sleepy, and my whole body felt dizzy." Song Yaojia stood up and slowly strolled around, swinging her arms as she did so, and said, "How's Miaomiao? She hasn't woken up yet?"

"Not yet." Merlin finished lighting the candlesticks, illuminating the entire tent as bright as day. She then busied herself preparing water for those who would be returning soon to wash their hands and faces. Looking at Song Yaojia, who was kicking his legs and swinging his arms, she said, "That guy surnamed Luan was so tough before, but I didn't expect him to be all bark and no bite."

“His previous toughness was all an act, or rather, it wasn’t an act. He just felt confident and had powerful backers, so he wanted to confront us.” Song Yaojia sighed. “Now his backers are ignoring him. Not only are they ignoring him, they’re also trying to kill him to silence him. His world has collapsed. How can he still be tough?” He sneered. “Actually, he should have expected to end up like this.”

“That’s true.” Merlin nodded. “As the boss said before, Master Falian only cares about himself. He doesn’t care about the Empress Dowager, Ning Changguo, Yan You, or even his master, the old abbot of Xiangguo Temple. Besides, the man surnamed Luan is just a worker.”

Song Yaojia smiled at Mei Lin and said, "Even among those who do the work, there are different kinds of people. The man surnamed Luan knows too much, and now that he's in our hands, Master Falian will definitely not let him live."

Before Merlin could speak, they heard hurried footsteps outside the tent. He and Merlin exchanged glances and stepped out of the tent at the same time. They saw Shadow Five leading several people rushing toward them.

"What happened?" Shadow Five stopped in front of the two men, took a few breaths, and said, "Nothing happened, it's just that a few of the brothers who escorted Yan You came back."

Merlin looked behind him and saw the shadowy figures standing behind him. They were indeed responsible for escorting Yan You, but their faces were more or less covered in wounds.

"What happened to this injury?" She frowned slightly, beckoned to Ying Wu to stand beside her, and the two of them shielded Song Yaojia behind them, saying, "Were you attacked?"

"No, it is." The leader of the Shadows looked dejected, glancing at Merlin, then at Shadow Five, and said dejectedly, "Yes."

"What is it?" Merlin narrowed his eyes, walked up to them, pinched their faces a few times to make sure they were genuine and not imposters, before saying, "Why are you stammering? What have you been doing behind the boss's back?"

"It wasn't us, it was..."

"What is it?" Merlin's eyes widened, and he said sharply, "What exactly did you do!"

"So," the leader of the Shadows glanced at Merlin, then at Shadow Five, who seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and with a resigned air, said, "We fought with the Eagle King's army, but..." He swallowed hard and muttered under his breath, "...we just didn't win."

"Nothing? Speak louder!" Merlin was amused by their behavior and kicked them twice. "You dare to do it but not admit it!"

"Reporting to the general, we fought a battle with the Eagle King's army, but we lost!"

Upon hearing this, Merlin angrily kicked him twice more. Before he could even curse, he turned around and saw Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, Xue Ruitian, Bai Meng, and Yingbao standing in a row behind him.

She glared fiercely at the group of people, then walked up to Shen Haolin and his group with Ying Wu and bowed.

"Fighting with our people?" Eagle Leopard glanced at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and seeing them nod at him, he knew they tacitly approved of his involvement. He stood in front of the shadows and asked, "What's going on?"

"It wasn't exactly a fight with your people, but there was some connection. We handed the person over to your people, and they stayed at an inn in the city that night, called Yuefu Inn." The leader of the shadows looked at Eagle Leopard. "It's a stronghold of the Eagle King Army, right?"

“Yes, we run it jointly with Liu Shuai’s side.” Eagle Leopard nodded. “Did you have a conflict?”

"During the meal, we were talking about how we hadn't sparred with anyone under the Eagle King's command yet, and when we'd have a chance to do so. Everyone knew we all had missions to fulfill, and we all agreed to meet up sometime. It should have ended there, but then two groups of thugs appeared out of nowhere, got drunk, and started fighting, almost turning the inn upside down. We couldn't just ignore something like that, so we decided to deal with each group separately. Wasn't that a perfect opportunity for a spar? Whoever finished first would win. And then…"

"You didn't win against the thugs?" Shen Cha walked over, looked at this one, then at that one, exchanged a glance with Shen Haolin and Ying Bao, and sneered, "You fell for it, didn't you? They came for you, didn't they?"

“Boss, it really isn’t.” Shadow looked at Shen Cha, then at Eagle Leopard. “They are indeed local thugs, but they have quite a background. They’re backed by wealthy local businessmen who supposedly have connections in Beijing. So, when they attacked, they had absolutely no scruples; they were completely intent on killing us. At first, we were worried about exposing our identities, so…”

"You were injured? And then the Eagle King Army helped you?" Seeing the shadow nod, Shen Cha thought for a moment, then looked at the shadows behind her. "Go back and treat your injuries first. We can talk about the rest after you've rested."