He Changdi slipped the letter into his clothes once he was done reading.
The crease between his sharp brows deepened. He sent out orders to cancel the scheduled break for tonight and to rush back to camp at the fastest speed they could manage.
He Changdi and his party sprinted back to the border camp without any break for a whole day and night.
The original two day journey was shortened to a single day and they managed to reach just as the border army had reached breaking point. The secretary of the northern army personally led a group of men out to welcome them back to camp, before ordering the cooks to prepare a full meal for all of the soldiers on the frontlines.
Now that they were well fed, the troops under Great General Qian’s command turned into ruthless warriors. They quickly took back the upper hand and mounted a counterattack against the Tuhun army. Their equipment was a few magnitudes better than the Tuhuns’ in the first place. They had only been held back by their supply problem earlier. Now that they didn’t have to worry about their rations, the morale of the army swelled.
After getting their well deserved fill of food, all of the northern border troops revealed their fighting strength, fiercely attempting to make up for their lack of performance in the earlier clashes.
Now that the border troops’ morale had been stoked, there was no longer any uncertainty about their victory.
General Qian admired He Changdi even more now. He hadn’t expected this junior noble from House Jing’an to have shown off such capability.
Needless to say, He Changdi’s timely delivery of supplies was one of the most important factors that had brought about their victory.
The Tuhun army was in decline now. The strict and inflexible General Qian bent his own rules and decided to sent He Changdi out to the battlefield right this moment.
There was close to no danger now in heading to the battlefields. He Changdi might even be able to add another achievement to his belt if he went out with the last wave of soldiers to clean up the Tuhuns. Furthermore, he had already earned plenty of merit from contributing the snowboat blueprints and delivering supplies. The person who made the most contribution to the northern war efforts would likely be none other than him.
This was going to be an easy task. Anyone else would probably have agreed to it on the spot.
However, He Sanlang rejected General Qian’s rare good intentions.
It wasn’t because he was stupid, but because Chu Lian had gone missing!
In a certain tent in the main camp, a group of people were kneeling on the ground.
The ones in the front were Wenqing, Wenlan and Manager Qin.
He Changdi sat at the head of the tent with a stormy expression and looked down upon the kneeling servants, holding back the urge to slap each and every one of them.
“What happened! How was Third Young Madam taken away?!”
Anger flooded his chest, overwhelming him as he choked on his frustration.
Wasn’t that wicked woman usually infallible? She even had guards by her side this time! Where was the quick wit that she always turned against him? She had actually let herself get kidnapped!
Wenqing and Wenlan had been serving He Sanlang ever since they were young girls. Although they didn’t get to meet him much, they had never seen him looking so fearsome before. The pressure he exuded was like a mountain pressing over their heads. None of them dared to look up at their master at all.
If they even glanced at him, they might be sent down to hell immediately.
The servants were all extremely worried about their mistress, so they didn’t hide any bit of what had happened. They reported the whole chain of events that had led to Chu Lian getting abducted.
He Changdi gripped the arms of his chair hard. His eyes narrowed dangerously. Although his gaze seemed to be focused on the tent flap, it didn’t seem like it either.
No one dared to say a word. They tried to make their breaths as silent as possible.
He Sanlang suddenly thought of the snowboat. He remembered how Xiao Bojian had been so desperate to get the blueprints for the snowboat and the jealous and begrudging look that Xiao Bojian had given him when he had left Su City with the supplies. Then the Tuhuns had suddenly attacked…
In his previous life, even though he had been hurt by the wicked Chu Lian, he had been one of Xiao Bojian and Chu Lian’s closest friends. Later on, he had found out in one way or another that Xiao Bojian had some sort of power hidden behind the scenes. He had more people backing him than the one Old Duke Ying that everyone else could see.
He had also been able to get a foothold in court so quickly, due to that mysterious power he had behind him.
He Changdi hadn’t touched Xiao Bojian at all after reviving in this life because he knew that Xiao Bojian was more than he seemed on the surface and that he was going to be a tough nut to crack.
As for Chu Lian’s sudden disappearance, he didn’t even have to guess to know who the mastermind was.
He Sanlang clenched his fists. Xiao Bojian… Did he really think that he would be just as easy to bully as he had been in his past life?
The Chu Lian of this lifetime was his wife! No one else would be able to take her away from him!
He Changdi already had some plans formed in his mind.
He summoned Laiyue with a cold expression on his face, then sent a message to Prince Jin via Tang Yan about searching for Chu Lian in Liangzhou.
After he had returned to the main camp, he hadn’t even changed into a fresh set of clothes before setting off to lead the investigation personally.
Even though he kept his cool on the outside and seemed almost heartless about his wife’s disappearance, no one could see the mix of anxiety, upset and heartache in his heart right now.
He kept himself busy and numb so that his thoughts wouldn’t wander in bad directions…