Big Moon Ballad

Chapter 2679 Standing Guard
Ying Baoyue arrived at Yanggao County with her army three days later.

Before the main army arrived, the remaining Western Rong people had already fled completely. After Meng Shi and Gui Chen led the vanguard into the city, they collected the corpses and cleaned the streets. By the time Ying Baoyue and the others arrived, Yanggao County had been cleaned up and the city gates were wide open to welcome the main army.

Meng Shi cleaned up the original county government compound for Ying Baoyue to live in. The moment Ying Baoyue stepped across the threshold, she suddenly stopped.

"Sister, what's wrong? Is something the problem?"

Meng Shi knew that Ying Baoyue wouldn't mind the simple place. The place had been cleaned three times and thoroughly searched, so there shouldn't be anything dirty there.

"It has the feel of a Zen temple."

Ying Baoyue frowned, then suddenly drew her sword and plunged it into a crack in the bricks of the ground.

"Hug the moon!?"

The others around her were startled. Before they could react, wisps of black smoke rose from the cracks in the bricks, turning into streams of black mud.

Ji Jiashu's hair stood on end when he saw the familiar object, and he immediately drew his sword.

Several high-level cultivators attacked almost simultaneously, with lightning, fire, and water light engulfing the ground at the same time. Several loud booms rang out, and the black mud was blasted away, leaving only a dozen or so sword marks on the ground.

Ji Jiashu finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the black mud had completely disappeared.

"Sister, it's all my fault! I didn't check the people carefully enough!" Meng Shi said, her face full of self-reproach.

“It’s not your fault,” Ying Baoyue shook her head. “It’s just some remaining traces, which the Western Rong people probably didn’t take with them when they left.”

If it were truly an ambush, these black muds wouldn't have been so easily defeated.

Ying Baoyue looked at the ground, lost in thought, "There should be secret passages and hidden chambers underground."

Meng Shi gave a wink to her subordinate, "Go and investigate!"

"Ashi, have them search in the direction of the Kan position. If they search three feet into the ground, they should be able to find something."

Meng Shi immediately ordered her men to do so.

“Kan position…” Ji Jiashu paused for a moment. Kan belongs to the water element in the Bagua and represents the north.

“There shouldn’t be anything else unclean in this mansion,” Ying Baoyue said, looking at him. “Let’s go in.”

The group entered the government office together.

……

……

According to Ying Baoyue's plan, the army would rest for two days in Yanggao County, waiting for scouts to investigate news from the Yongye Great Wall.

Because the city had been "cleaned" three times, all kinds of intelligence and confessions that could be found were piled up on Ying Baoyue's desk. Meng Shi and Gui Chen arranged everything perfectly. After reading through the pile of intelligence, Ying Baoyue suddenly had nothing to do.

By the afternoon of the next day, Ying Baoyue had read through all the intelligence she could find in Yanggao County, but the scouts she had sent to the Eternal Night Great Wall had not yet brought any new intelligence.

Ying Baoyue sat at her desk in the main room, staring blankly at the empty table.

"His Majesty?"

Ji Jiashu sat at another table to the side. He had finished his official business, but he was still not familiar enough with the geographical location in the north. He was studying the map carefully, trying to memorize every river and every route.

Sensing the change in Ying Baoyue's aura, Ji Jiashu raised his head.

Unlike him, further north from Yanggao County, one officially enters the former border region of the Great Qin Dynasty. Ying Baoyue is intimately familiar with the terrain and routes of these places near the Eternal Night Great Wall, and no longer needs to study maps.

"What's wrong, Baoyue?"

"It's nothing," Ying Baoyue smiled, "I'm just a little unaccustomed to suddenly having nothing to do."

Ji Jiashu stared at her intently for a moment, then asked, "Would you like to go for a walk?"

Ying Baoyue was somewhat surprised, "I thought you would advise me to rest."

These past few days, Ji Jiashu has practically become the embodiment of Gui Li, urging her to eat or sleep every day, even more so than the female official.

“Even if I advise you to rest, you can’t fall asleep,” Ji Jiashu said helplessly. “You’re just someone who can’t stay still.”

It's not even dark yet, so getting Ying Baoyue to sleep is harder than climbing to heaven. "Let's go, haven't we inspected the city walls yet today?" Ji Jiashu stood up. "I'll go with you."

There are currently no enemies near Yanggao County, and the city walls have been reinforced by Meng Shi and Gui Chen. Li Jinniang has also stationed the Silver Cicada Guards at key locations, so there is no need for patrols. Both of them are well aware of this.

Ji Jiashu noticed that Ying Baoyue had this habit: when she was upset, she liked to run to the city wall.

“Okay,” Ying Baoyue nodded, “I was just thinking of going.”

Her quick agreement shows that she was indeed upset.

Ji Jiashu sighed inwardly but smiled outwardly, "Let's go."

……

……

Just as the two walked out of the county government office, it got dark.

The streets were deserted and deathly silent.

Bloodstains remained on the ground, difficult to wash away, and the surviving people locked their doors and windows early, before nightfall.

The two walked along the empty street. Torches had been lit on the city wall not far away. Before they could get close to the wall, the soldiers guarding the city had already spotted them.

"My lord, His Majesty and the Imperial Advisor have arrived!"

Li Jinniang glanced at the two from the top of the wall but did not come down to greet them.

“Jinniang, you don’t seem to welcome me very much.”

Ying Baoyue and Ji Jiashu climbed the city wall, and Li Jinniang turned around with a faint expression.

"Who told you to come here to inspect things all the time?" Li Jinniang glanced at her. "I would have thought something had happened if I didn't know better."

Every time Ying Baoyue came, the soldiers guarding the city would be on high alert, causing everyone to be on edge.

"It's nothing serious, I just came for a stroll," Ying Baoyue said, somewhat embarrassed by the scolding. "I should have concealed my presence when I came."

“If you’re going to be wandering around the city walls again, please do this,” Li Jinniang glared at her. “The brothers guarding the city have been working hard for days and they’re all on edge. Don’t come and cause trouble.”

“Okay, I got it,” Ying Baoyue rubbed her nose. “Do you have any Silver Cicada Guard armor? I’d like to borrow a set for Jia Shu and me.”

Being a king is really inconvenient; even just strolling around the city walls requires traveling incognito.

When they came out of Li Jinniang's cell, Ying Baoyue and Ji Jiashu had already disguised themselves as two ordinary Silver Cicada Guard soldiers.

"It's been a long time since I wore this outfit," Ying Baoyue said, pulling down her face armor and looking at the armor she was wearing, feeling a little nostalgic.

Ji Jiashu was wearing the Silver Cicada Guard's armor for the first time, and found it very novel.

He never expected that accompanying Ying Baoyue out for a stroll would lead to him disguising himself as a Silver Cicada Guard.

The two men took their long spears and, like ordinary city guards, climbed the city wall and began patrolling side by side.

Li Jinniang not only gave the two of them armor, but also thoughtfully arranged a relatively secluded route. The two walked a long way along the city wall, all the way to the corner tower, and turned around to head back.

Ying Baoyue suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"hug……"

Ji Jiashu stopped speaking and followed Ying Baoyue's gaze to the corner tower.

In the shadows at the corner of the tower, a Silver Cicada Guard was standing there, unnoticed by either of them. Neither of them had sensed the other's presence.

"You are……"

Ji Jiashu's voice stopped abruptly again.

"Your Majesty is in high spirits."

Standing in the shadows, the Silver Cicada Guard pulled down his armor, revealing a pair of emerald eyes, and smiled as he looked at Ying Baoyue.