Camping in the Forest

On Imperial Army's side...

"There is a small village ahead, commander. Should we stop there to rest for the night?" A soldier asked leading his horse to Xia Jingxi .

"Okay, we will be stopping at the village for night." Xia Jingxi announced to the soldiers.

When they reached there, the soldiers immediately set up the tents nearby a river and started preparing food.

"I have another question to ask you." Commander Shen asked Xia Jingxi.

"Go ahead." She said tying her horse to the tree near by the river.

"I noticed that these soldiers don't know your identity. Did you specifically choose them because of it?" Shen Bin asked following her as she walked to the bank of river.

"I chose them for their abilities and later found that they are all new soldiers who don't know much about me. Just that I'm a Commander." Xia Jingxi replied sitting down and washing her hands in flowing water.

Commander Shen followed the same action and asked, "What about the silent man following you, does he know?"

"His name is Ye Hong and yes he knows about it." Xia Jingxi answered and started walking back to where everyone was.

"And I thought I was the only special one here." Commander Shen said as he followed her.

...

After all of them had their dinner, they entered the tents to rest.

Xia Jingxi called out to Ye Hong who was standing guard outside her tent.

"Your Highness." Ye Hong called out bowing down.

"No one knows I'm the Princess here except Commander Shen so refrain from calling me Your Highness. Also the soldiers don't know I'm a woman so keep it in mind." She said to him.

"I will."

"I'm giving a task to you, take Concubine Jin along with you to her sister's place safely and arrange a few people there to ensure her safety. You will most probably be followed on the way, so you have to shake off the spies carefully." Xia Jingxi ordered.

Ye Hong said, "But I came here to follow you."

"Correction, I took you here to help me and that's what you will be doing for now. If you successfully do this task. I'll take you as my personal guard as you wished." Xia Jingxi.

"I will do as you instructed." Ye Hong replied.

Concubine Jin entered the tent with her maid. Xia Jingxi told her about the plan.

"I will also send a letter in the Palace to Father telling him you are pregnant after a few days." Xia Jingxi told her.

"Why? I do not plan on returning to the Palace and putting my child in danger." Concubine Jin said.

"He has the right to know. It will be unfair to the child also, living this life despite being Emperor's blood. I will tell him that you didn't know about pregnancy until we reached halfway and a doctor told it's not safe for you to travel in this condition, so you have to go to your mother's house that's nearby. And you will return back with me." Xia Jingxi told her.

Concubine Jin looked a little apprehensive and Xia Jingxi patted her hand and said, "Trust me, both of you will be safe and sound. I'll make sure of it."

Concubine Jin looked at her and said, "I trust you. I'll do as you say."

...

In the early morning, Ye Hong took Concubine Jin and headed to another path while the troop set off to Jiangnan at a much faster pace than yesterday.

After two days they finally reached much closer to Jiangnan, it was the forest area where the soldiers set up the tents as the night fell.

Commander Shen sat by the fire and looked at Xia Jingxi who was sitting opposite to him ordering some soldiers.

Shen Bin asked, "We all travelled the same but why do you look more energetic than any of us?"

"Just a bit of travel has made Commander Shen exhausted, I didn't expect that you were this gentle." Xia Jingxi said.

"We will reach Jiangnan tomorrow. A message came from General Yan's side saying they will also reach there tomorrow night or so." Commander Shen reported.

Xia Jingxi nodded and asked him, "What do you know about this General Yan?"

"His name is Yan Zhiyuan, famously known as Blood Wolf who leads Red River Army." Shen Bin said.

"Why the Blood Wolf?"

"When Jing Empire infiltrated the East, occupying the cities there and started a war. It was General Yan who lead the army there and fought fiercely forcing them to step back and getting back the land. Legend says the battle was so fierce when he walked out of the battlefield he was covered in blood of the enemy from head to toe. From there he got this nickname and the border army became Red River Army."

Xia Jingxi looked at him and asked, "If he is such a great warrior why didn't he fight when the Qin army attacked north."

"Because he became a General to fight the Jing empire and is always guarding the east. He took a oath to kill a specific General from the Jing Empire." Shen Bin answered.

"What's the story to it? Tell me." Xia Jingxi asked.

"I'm already exhausted here and you want to listen to the stories." Shen Bin said as he yawned.

"Someone has to stay guard at night and since I'm so energetic I'll do it today and you are joining me." she said.

"Have you seen any troop where soldiers go to sleep while Commanders stay guard?" Shen Bin questioned.

"They have been doing it for a few days and are also tired." She said to him and ordered the soldiers staying awake to get some rest.

Commander Shen looked at her bewildered and she sat back and said, "Now tell me."

Shen Bin sighed and leaned against the tree continuing what he was telling.

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