HCB Chapter 213 Yu Jie's Mistake
Chapter 213 Yu Jie's Mistake
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but none of them showed any intention of leaving.
She looked at Yuan Tianxiong and instructed him:
"General Yuan, take everyone to rest."
She then looked at Lin Xingliang.
"Lord Lin, have Lord Liu instruct the kitchen to prepare more hot meals for the brothers; they must be cold and hungry."
Lin Xingliang nodded hurriedly.
"Yes, I will do it now."
Lin Xingliang turned and left, and Yuan Tianxiong then waved to the crowd.
"Everyone, go and rest. I'll stay here and guard the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, Lan Zhi frowned slightly, offering a displeased reminder.
"General Yuan, are you perhaps made of bronze and iron?"
Yuan Tianxiong shook his head.
"No, I didn't."
"Since that's not the case, go and rest as soon as possible. We need to rush back to the capital tomorrow when the Crown Prince wakes up."
After hesitating for a moment, Yuan Tianxiong nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll have to trouble the Crown Princess."
Lan Zhi nodded slightly, thinking to herself: He is my man, it is only natural for me to take care of him, how can it be considered hard work?
Watching everyone leave the courtyard one by one, Lan Zhi finally felt relieved and was about to turn around and go back into the house when Princess Yu Jie quickly walked over.
"Sister Lan..."
Because Wei Jianning was injured, she hadn't had a chance to speak with Yu Jie yet. Seeing her approach, she hurried over, frowning as she asked...
"Why did you leave without saying goodbye? The whole capital is going crazy looking for you."
With a sense of apology, Yu Jie bit her lip lightly, then suddenly her eyes welled up with tears.
"Yujie, what's wrong?"
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky and landed on Yu Jie's slightly disheveled hair, turning it completely white. She didn't have time to clean it up, only focusing on her heartbroken tears.
Seeing how much thinner Yu Jie had become compared to before she left the capital, Lan Zhi took her hand and gently comforted her:
"It's cold outside, let's go inside and talk!"
Yu Jie turned around and gave a few instructions to the two maids before following Lan Zhi into the room.
She took off her red fox fur cloak and, at Lan Zhi's prompting, sat down at the tea table.
Lan Zhi poured her a cup of hot water and pushed it in front of her, then sat down opposite her.
Looking at her slightly pale face, Lan Zhi asked softly,
"You left Beijing without permission and chased after them just to find Yuan Tianxiong?"
Mentioning Yuan Tianxiong's name, Yu Jie's face contorted with hatred; her fists clenched, and she let out an angry snort.
"I regret going to him despite everything. If I had known this would happen, I should have ignored him and never looked at him again."
"What happened? Did he reject you?"
Yu Jie let out a soft sigh, laughed self-deprecatingly, and then told Lan Zhi about what had happened after she left the capital.
It turned out that she had disguised herself and blended into Wei Jianning's group all the way, but she was still discovered on the third day after they left the capital. Wei Jianning was furious and ordered someone to send her back to the capital. She took advantage of the night and ran away with two maids.
However, she did not return to the capital. Instead, she rode at full speed, taking shortcuts and back roads, heading straight for the border, because the person she was looking for was there.
When she arrived at the border, travel-worn and exhausted, and found Yuan Tianxiong, he was furious and wanted to forcibly take her back.
After much persuasion, Yuan Tianxiong finally agreed to let her wait there until Wei Jianning arrived before making a decision.
She had hoped to use this opportunity to get closer to Yuan Tianxiong, but he was very cold to her and even showed her a great deal of disgust.
When the people of Tianwu Kingdom brought Wei Jianning back to the border and threatened Yuan Tianxiong with his life to open the city gate, Yuan Tianxiong hesitated and even ordered that the city gate not be opened.
Yu Jie felt that he had no intention of saving Wei Jianning at all. Considering his indifference towards her, she scolded him for being too cold-hearted and heartless, not even saving his own master.
So, without consulting him, she secretly opened the city gates at night, allowing the people of Tianwu Kingdom to enter and ultimately defeat Yuan Tianxiong and his men soundly.
That night, the Northern Wei soldiers suffered countless casualties, with only a little over a hundred remaining, who were captured alive by the Tianwu Kingdom.
At this point, Yu Jie began to sob.
"On the way here from the border, Yuan Tianxiong kept cursing me for being heartless and ungrateful, saying that I didn't care about the big picture and caused the deaths of countless brothers. But I did it to save Fourth Brother! Could I just stand by and watch Fourth Brother be killed by those people? Was I wrong? Where did I go wrong?"
Seeing Yu Jie's aggrieved expression, Lan Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yu Jie, you did nothing wrong in trying to save your fourth brother, but Yuan Tianxiong was right too. You shouldn’t have opened the city gate without his permission. By doing so, you caused the deaths of countless brothers. No wonder Yuan Tianxiong scolded you.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Jie looked at Lan Zhi with a puzzled and astonished expression.
"You also think I was wrong? It's true that I opened the city gate without permission, but I did it to save Fourth Brother. Do you also think I was wrong?"
Seeing that she was getting a little emotional, Lan Zhi quickly comforted her:
“Yu Jie, your intentions were good, but those soldiers died unjustly. You should apologize to Yuan Tianxiong for this…”
"Why should I apologize to him? He's going back to the capital to complain to my father and ask him to punish me. If my father finds out about this, he'll definitely punish me. I hate him now."
Yu Jie did go a bit too far in this matter. If the Emperor finds out, he will surely punish her.
However, if the emperor doesn't find out, Yuan Tianxiong will be implicated.
After pondering for a long while, Lan Zhi spoke with a solemn expression, offering her advice:
“Yu Jie, the border has fallen, and that is the commander-in-chief’s responsibility. Your fourth brother was not at the border at the time; Yuan Tianxiong was in charge. If the emperor really investigates, although he won’t be able to exterminate his entire family, he will still be hard-pressed to escape death…”
Yu Jie seemed not to understand, staring at her in astonishment, and stammered:
"Is...is it really...that serious?"
Lan Zhi nodded firmly.
"Yes, that's why Yuan Tianxiong blames you for opening the city gate without permission, Yujie. This time you will get Yuan Tianxiong killed."
Upon hearing this, Yu Jie's face turned deathly pale. After a long silence, she asked urgently:
'What should we do now? I didn't realize it was this serious!'
"Tens of thousands of troops were trapped in the city, and the city fell overnight. The enemy broke through the defenses and marched straight to the capital of the Northern Wei Kingdom. Isn't this serious enough?"
"But I did it to save my fourth brother! Didn't you also leave the city alone today to save my fourth brother?"
“I did not open the city gate. Besides, you did not open the city gate without being absolutely certain. Fortunately, you are not a member of the military camp, otherwise you would have been dealt with by military law and beaten to death.”
Lan Zhi's words were harsh, and Yu Jie was quite frightened.
She pursed her lips, and her hand trembled as she picked up the teacup with one hand.
'Snapped! '
She placed the teacup on the table and asked eagerly,
"Sister Lan, what should I do now? I don't want Yuan Tianxiong to be punished by Father because of me, and I'm also afraid of Father punishing me. Please tell me, what should I do?"
Lan Zhi tapped the table with one hand, frowning and pondering.
"You should go back to the capital first and take the initiative to admit your mistake to the Emperor. After your fourth brother and I arrive in the capital, we will put in a good word for you. It might be useful."
"But...but I'm afraid my father will be angry."