RWNEFE -Chapter 263 Who Wants to Silence You?

Shen Yuanjing didn’t reply. He simply lowered his head, looking as if he were genuinely reminiscing about the past with Zhou Ruyuan.

“Didn’t expect that, in the blink of an eye, you’ve become a Grand General!” Zhou Ruan said, his tone full of emotion.

Shen Yuanjing smiled bitterly. “Everything is fate; nothing is in one’s control. Back then, I would never have imagined that one day I’d come to join the army!”

Seeing that Shen Yuanjing’s tone was not resistant, Zhou Ruan’s eyes flickered with calculation. He gradually steered the conversation to the main point:

“Yuanjing, Yunyue is younger than us. While in the palace, she rarely appeared, so it’s normal that you don’t have a bond. But Yunyue is a princess, her status is obvious. If Father Emperor finds out you’re neglecting her, he will punish you. I, as your brother, might not be able to cover for you!”

This statement both drew Shen Yuanjing closer and carried a warning. Any sensible person could see his good intentions.

Shen Yuanjing immediately countered: “Second Prince, you’ve experienced assassination attempts before; you should understand our current situation very well.”

Zhou Ruan looked at him in puzzlement. What did he mean?

“Besides the Turks, who never abandon their scheming, other foreign tribes also do not hope for the success of a political marriage. I don’t know if the princess told you, but on our way here, we were ambushed several times.”

Zhou Ruan’s gaze darkened. “Damn foreign tribes.”

Shen Yuanjing continued, “The goal of those foreigners is to assassinate the princess of the marriage alliance. Now that you appear so openly in the northwest, they have one more target. Their aim is to kill a royal family member and throw the Northern Garrison we painstakingly assembled into chaos!”

That assassination attempt, though ultimately unsuccessful, had given Zhou Ruan a taste of near-death. Several times, he nearly died at the hands of foreign assassins.

If what Shen Yuanjing said was true, then—

“My elder sister had someone impersonate the princess and placed her elsewhere to protect her life. That fake princess faced one or two assassination attempts a day—poisonings or assassins. She was a visible shield, taking danger on the princess’s behalf.”

Zhou Yunyue, listening attentively, was thoughtful. She had hoped Zhou Ruan would find a way to kill that little maid, but unexpectedly, the maid had such a use.

What Shen Yuanjing said made sense!

“What about the foreign princess?” Zhou Ruan was not someone easy to fool.

Shen Yuanjing explained, “She’s to appease the foreign tribes, for appearances. Over the past few days in the army, you must have noticed—most of the guards outside are women. The Northern Garrison’s name sounds impressive, but internally, only we know the truth.”

Zhou Ruan frowned tightly. He already suspected that if it were truly a well-trained army, Father Emperor would not have let him take command so easily.

Shen Yuanjing added, “The foreign princess cannot provide our army with food, but she can supply half the fodder for our horses. If it were you, would you accept such a marriage alliance?”

This question stunned Zhou Ruan. Thinking seriously about the current predicament, he realized that if marrying a foreign princess could secure supplies, he would indeed agree.

Even if he refused, Father Emperor would compel him. Didn’t Father Emperor appoint Shen Yuanjing as Grand General of Pingyi after he married the foreign princess?

Zhou Ruan’s silence served as an answer.

Shen Yuanjing did not rush. Once Zhou Ruan had made up his mind, he chatted casually for a bit before escorting Zhou Yunyue back.

This time, Zhou Ruyuan didn’t stop them but subtly hinted to Zhou Yunyue: “We siblings may stay in the northwest for a long time. If you feel bored, come find me!”

Zhou Yunyue understood the hint and didn’t make further demands.

“Second Brother, I’ll come find you tomorrow.”

Zhou Ruan nodded approvingly, personally seeing them off.

After they left, he immediately instructed the guards: “Take action!”

“Yes!”

…

“General, I’ve spotted several suspicious individuals nearby. Two are spies sent by Zhou Ruan, and one claims to be Sun Qian, a logistics officer of the Wei family army.”

Shen Lanxi could hardly believe it. Sun Qian and another logistics officer had supposedly fallen off a cliff and were missing.

If they were truly missing, falling off such a cliff meant death.

Wei Dongzhu had personally searched below the cliff; there were no trees or rivers to slow the fall. No one could survive.

Unless they never fell at all.

“Bring Sun Qian here.”

“Go fetch General Wei!”

“Yes!”

Wei Dongzhu and Sun Qian arrived one after the other before Shen Lanxi.

Sun Qian wore Northern Garrison attire, his face mostly hidden by a thick beard, skin darkened, looking disheveled. In the past, Shen Lanxi would have assumed he was unkempt.

Now claiming to be a logistics officer for the Wei family army, his appearance seemed deliberately disguised.

“What a coincidence, I happen to have a portrait of you!” Shen Lanxi presented Sun Qian’s portrait and documents related to the Wei family army’s logistics.

Wei Dongzhu took the portrait to compare with Sun Qian.

Sun Qian, seeing the portrait, asked Shen Lanxi cautiously:

“Are you from the Shen family?”

Shen Lanxi: “Yes. See the person beside you? That’s Wei Dongzhu, a junior general of the Wei family army.”

Sun Qian’s eyes were extremely cautious. He glanced at her, then quickly shifted his gaze to Wei Dongzhu.

“You are Wei Dongzhu?”

Wei Dongzhu’s gaze was firm. “My father is the northwest garrison commander, Wei Qianfan.”

Sun Qian’s wariness didn’t fade. He asked carefully what had long puzzled him:

“Everyone says the Shen family stole the military supplies. The Shen family and Wei family should be mortal enemies. You two don’t seem that way.”

Shen Lanxi laughed. “Do you mean we have to kill each other to be enemies?”

“So you’re saying you already believe the Shen family stole the supplies?”

Hearing this, Sun Qian’s pupils shook. After a long pause, he carefully explained:

“We were escorting the supplies from the capital, cautious all the way. At night, we always kept watch. Even a dog approaching would be driven off. The supplies could not have been stolen!”

Even now, he didn’t understand how the supplies were taken.

Shen Lanxi didn’t rush him. First, she needed to verify Sun Qian’s identity.

“You don’t look like the portrait!”

Sun Qian hesitated, removed the beard, borrowed a basin of warm water from Chunxue, and washed himself in front of them.

“Not hiding anything, generals. I only disguised myself to save my life!”

Sun Qian smiled bitterly. Once cleaned, he looked exactly like the portrait.

Shen Lanxi’s tone suddenly turned sharp: “Who wants to silence you?”