Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

"Good."

After coming to an agreement, Long Qian Xing and Nan Hua went back to rest early. Tomorrow, they would start their journey to the small temple mentioned. Hopefully, this was the right temple that Gu Xia Mo mentioned before. …

<Long distance away, Border between Fei Yang Kingdom and Shi Long Kingdom, the east border of Fei Yang Kingdom and northwest border of Shi Long Kingdom.>

Shangguan Xiao was leading the army under him and made sure to defend the attack from the two generals of Shi Long Kingdom calmly. Under his defense, Shi Long Kingdom failed to take even a step forward and could only fight in this area. It has been some time and so far, there hadn't been any progress at all. Shangguan Xiao was very patient. He didn't have the intention to cause trouble and fought a battle that he would not win. There should be a chance for him to fight back against Shi Long Kingdom soon enough. "General Shangguan, there's report that Heavenly General Sang is leaving."

"Heavenly General Sang is leaving?" Shangguan Xiao shot up and then looked at his subordinate. "How accurate is this news?"

"There's a batch of army and the carriage is leaving last night."

Last night.

If they were leaving at night, then it meant that they actually didn't want him to find out at all. "This is good." Shangguan Xiao grinned. "Tell the soldiers to prepare."

"Yes, General Shangguan!"

Without Heavenly General Sang, these two generals would be much easier to deal with. But of course, Shangguan Xiao would remain careful and made sure that he didn't make any mistake that would result in another failure. Fei Yang Kingdom didn't have many generals who could be deployed to the frontline during this period of time. And there was also the lack of soldiers and supplies in overall. So if it was possible, he had to win some battles for Fei Yang Kingdom.

Shangguan Xiao took a deep breath. 'This had to work.'

…

<Fei Yang Kingdom's side, Imperial Palace>

Emperor Yang Zhou was currently reviewing the memorial. This was now mid autumn and the current situation on the frontline was not very good. The north was still alright with Great General Long on guard and Great General Wei started to finish the other areas and had started to prepare to take over Great General Long's area.

As long as Great General Wei could do this, he could focus completely on Shi Long Kingdom's side and possibly conquer the kingdom as how they have been planning before.

"Your Highness, Prime Minister Lan is here."

"Let him in."

Prime Minister Lan walked and cupped his fist politely in front of Emperor Yang Zhou. "Your Majesty, the number of soldiers recruited this year had increased and their distribution had been planned. This matter required your approval and review if there's anything unsuitable."

"Let me see." Emperor Yang Zhou rubbed his forehead.

Every year, Fei Yang Kingdom would draft a large number of soldiers to send to the frontline. These soldiers would be distributed to the generals and commanders who were within their territory or be put in the reserve troops for those who were outside.

These generals could pick who they wanted to recruit, though. So the selection was usually not so simple.

What he did was to prepare these soldiers first and trained them so that they could fight on the frontline bravely. After looking at the list, Emperor Yang Zhou's eyes stopped on the name. He raised his head. "Shangguan Xian requested to retire?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"If I'm not wrong, Shangguan Xian is not even 30 years old, right?" Emperor Yang Zhou asked again. He and Shangguan Xian were more or less around the same age. To be exact, he was younger than Shangguan Xian by only a year or two. Emperor Yang Zhou didn't remember the specific because he didn't pay attention to it, but he still remembered the gist. "Your Majesty, Shangguan Xian is 31 years old." Prime Minister Lan could guess that Emperor Yang Zhou might have mistaken the two siblings once again. "His younger brother, Shangguan Xiao is 28 years old."

Emperor Yang Zhou: "…" Right, he mistook the two of them. He was around the same age as Shangguan Xiao instead of Shangguan Xian. The two brothers' name was quite similar and Emperor Yang Zhou had too many people he had to remember, so he mistook the two of them. "Tell him to meet me," Emperor Yang Zhou said. "Even if he will retire, I would like to speak with him for a bit."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Lan cupped his fist and retreated. Emperor Yang Zhou stayed in the study room, tapping the table in front of him. He had received the report about what actually happened during the battle in frontline. For General Feng, he could only say that General Feng had done very well. Facing such a large number of soldiers from Shi Long Kingdom and hold on for a long time, he had done very well. It was them who underestimated Shi Long Kingdom and didn't expect that there would be so many soldiers and these capable generals who could be split into three battlefields. Both kingdoms were fighting fiercely and those generals were betting with their lives.

Now, General Feng was still on the frontline, but Emperor Yang Zhou was sure that once the war with Shi Long Kingdom was over, there was no doubt that General Feng will ask for retirement.

First, he was indeed already old.

His first two sons were already married and one of them was going to be a father. General Feng might want to spend more time with his wife and grandchildren after this massive loss on the frontline. Secondly, his army was hit hard and to retrain them all would require a long time. With his remaining time and energy, it didn't seem to be plausible for him to do it all. So, if he chose to retire, Emperor Yang Zhou had no opinion.

As for Shangguan Xian…