Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

225. An Oath

Translator: Bryan

News about the food delivery soon spread throughout the encampment. All soldiers and officers were filled with rapture. They had been enduring hunger for quite some time. Lack of meat dishes was no big deal for soldiers fighting a war, but if they didn’t even have enough food to fill their bellies, they would be too weak to even hold their spears steadily.

Yuxing Tianrui watched as they delivered dozens of cartfuls of food into the city, his eyes gleaming delightedly. He impassively looked behind Luo Er, but there was nobody there. Concealing the disappointment in his eyes, he asked in a low voice, “How’s the situation in the capital city? How did he come to find out about the problems we’re facing?”

Luo Er chuckled slyly, “Your Highness didn’t tell him anything, but he anticipated this.” He pulled out a letter. “Before my departure, my master asked me to give you this when I saw you. See for yourself.”

He stuffed the letter into Yuxing Tianrui’s hand and then called out to the deputy general, offering to help him transfer the food into the city. It hadn’t been easy for the Du family to hoard these foods. They had purchased them from many borderland villages at high prices, and they had had to do it covertly lest the court find out. It had been quite an effort.

Unable to subdue his eager anticipation, Yuxing Tianrui quickly walked to a secluded spot, hurriedly opened the envelope and was just about to read the letter when a very familiar voice said behind him, “Zizheng, you’re such a scalawag.”

He abruptly jerked his head back and saw Du Chuxuan’s tender eyes. Du Chuxuan still had his usual smile on his face, his eyes soulful, but his clothes were entirely different from what he would normally wear.

“How did you…” Before Yuxing Tianrui could finish his sentence, Du Chuxuan wrapped him in a fierce embrace. How long had they been separated from each other? Yuxing Tianrui might not have been counting the days, but Du Chuxuan had. It had been 47 full days, which was quite a long time.

Crushing Yuxing Tianrui hard against him, Du Chuxuan felt as if his heart had only just returned to its original position, a great sense of relief sweeping over him. “It seems I can never stop having to worry about you. I told you. No matter what happens, you must tell me. I’ll help you solve the problems. Are you starving yourself to spite me?”

Yuxing Tianrui’s ears reddened somewhat at Du Chuxuan’s words. He lifted his head and saw that a lot of people were casting them curious glances from the city gate. He immediately broke free from Du Chuxuan’s embrace and said, “There are many people around here.”

Du Chuxuan smiled, not inclined to argue with him about these things. Yuxing Wei would soon arrive. Soldiers here didn’t know that Du Chuyue was “dead”, but Yuxing Wei was fully aware of it. Therefore, the best way was to trick Yuxing Wei into believing that he had never been here. If it worked, they would be spared from a lot of trouble.

“Later tonight I’ll tell you in detail what happened in the palace. Have your men deliver these foods to a safe place. Chances are that reinforcements sent by the court will arrive in a few days. We don’t want these foods falling into their hands.”

Yuxing Tianrui inclined his head. He knew that it hadn’t been easy for Du Chuxuan to deliver so many food supplies to this place. His heart ached for Du Chuxuan due to the hardships that Du Chuxuan had suffered. There was no way he was going to let Yuxing Wei get any of these supplies. Yuxing Tianrui made a gesture at the deputy general and the latter instantly cottoned on.

The two of them were both relieved as they noticed that all arrangements had been made, and that the soldiers would be able to have their fill of food tonight. They returned to Yuxing Tianrui’s temporary dwelling place. It used to be the residence of the mayor of Sanyuan City. After they took Sanyuan City, the mayor had fled with his whole family, leaving an empty house behind.

Valuable things were scarce in Turk, but there were many hills and mineral veins here. As a result, the mayor’s abode, though not sumptuous, was decorated with top-notch materials. Du Chuxuan felt that even dignitaries in the capital city didn’t have so many ornamental items in their houses.

Du Chuxuan walked around. Fingering an exquisite porcelain vase, he couldn’t help but marvel, “This thing’s from the last dynasty, right? The Turks took a lot of precious things from our country back at that time. I think we should transfer all these lest Yuxing Wei take them. Now I can see that everybody in that palace is a viper.”

After hearing his words, Yuxing Tianrui came to realize that something unexpected must have happened after his departure. Feeling a pang of heartache, he took Du Chuxuan by the hand. It had never crossed Du Chuxuan’s mind that someday Yuxing Tianrui, a man who easily got jealous, would do something like this on his own initiative. He was secretly delighted and contented.

The two of them had a tete-a-tete talk which lasted until the sun was well up. Only then did Yuxing Tianrui come to know what the situation in the capital city was like. He was both angry and disappointed. However, his sympathy for Du Chuxuan was even more intense. He would never have left Du Chuxuan behind in the capital city if he had known beforehand that so many things would happen afterwards.

Although Du Chuxuan had only given him a sketchy account of what had happened, Yuxing Tianrui knew in his heart of hearts that the emperor had definitely meted out severe punishment to Du Chuxuan, given that Du Chuxuan had contradicted the emperor like that in the presence of that many courtiers. The reason why Du Chuxuan had not said anything about that was because he didn’t want Yuxing Tianrui to feel guilty.

Having noticed the guilt in Yuxing Tianrui’s eyes, Du Chuxuan smiled nonchalantly, “Come on. Cheer up. It’s no big deal. I’ve solved all the problems, haven’t I? So long as you don’t forget me when you ascend the throne, all my sufferings will be worthwhile.

Yuxing Tianrui felt a faint twinge of sorrow at his words. He had always believed that by staying with him, Du Chuxuan had only sacrificed his freedom to live as a man and have children. It was at this moment that Yuxing Tianrui came to realize how much more Du Chuxuan had sacrificed for him.

Du Chuxuan would never hesitate to do anything to make him happy. Du Chuxuan had also donated all the wealth that the Du family had accumulated through many years’ hard work without a second thought. Now Du Chuxuan had basically given Yuxing Tianrui everything he could offer. How could Yuxing Tianrui not love him?

Tears welled up in Yuxing Tianrui’s eyes. “I, Yuxing Tianrui, swear I will never transfer my affections from Du Chuxuan to anybody else. No matter what happens, I’ll stay by his side till death do us apart.”

“If I fail to keep my word…” Yuxing Tianrui glanced at Du Chuxuan meaningfully. “Let my punishment be eternal confinement to his side. I’ll protect him and love him and watch him live a happy life with someone else.”