Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 846 - 704 Where’s My Horse?

Chapter 846: Chapter 704 Where’s My Horse?

Li Xuan felt unnerved by Xue Yunrou’s unusual gaze, a chill running down his spine, "Yunrou, why are you looking at me like that?"

He reflected on whether he had done anything wrong recently and then realized he had been a bit too buoyant these days.

Xue Yunrou remained silent, thinking that there wasn’t much to criticize about Li Xuan’s recent behavior.

Though busy with official duties, Li Xuan always made time for her, occasionally surprising her with little romantic gestures—as he would put it, "a dash of romance."

The key issue was in the bedroom—um, he was very dedicated in marital matters.

Although as time went on, he tended to become lazier and more negligent.

Yet when Xue Yunrou thought about Li Xuan’s marriage to her cousin in two days, she felt like there was a stone lodged in her heart.

She was supposed to be able to be with Li Xuan, officially and honorably married, in a big red wedding gown—

Feeling upset about this, it was particularly annoying that he came to borrow the "Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle" from her just to appease Jiang Hanyun.

Xue Yunrou’s eyes reddened, almost bursting into tears, but she forcefully restrained herself. Her inner thoughts flickered, "I need the Pixie Demigod Shuttle recently, so I can’t lend it out casually. However, Xuan, if you can guess what’s on my mind right now, I wouldn’t mind lending it to you."

Li Xuan immediately sensed alarms going off inside him. His nearly perfected time management skills made him instinctively aware that this was not just about the ’Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle’.

Li Xuan decided to seek help from Tingtian Ao and secretly sent a message using his Divine Consciousness, "Tingtian, can you help me listen in on what Yunrou is thinking right now?"

Tingtian Ao couldn’t help but laugh with a ’heh’, thinking that the inner thoughts of a heavenly level being were not so easily heard. It would take a lot of effort.

You didn’t pray regularly, but now you want to cling to Buddha’s foot in haste, wishful thinking!

Poor thing—after coming from afar to Beijing to seek shelter, this guy kept dragging his feet on making it his master.

Ultimately, it was Xue Yunrou and Luo Yan who stepped in and persuaded Immortal Master Shuide to accept it as a protector Divine Beast.

Now that Li Xuan remembered it, he wanted to use its power again, but there was no such good fortune.

Their brotherhood was completely severed! Severed!

The next moment, Tingtian Ao heard Li Xuan’s Divine Consciousness, "Help me this once, and afterwards, I’ll help you connect with the Six-Eared General from the Duchenghuang family." He knew that Tingtian Ao had been regularly visiting the Chenghuang Temple in Beijing lately, likely fancying Liuru, the six-eared lion from Zhonglie Duke Wen’s retinue.

Tingtian Ao’s body trembled slightly, thinking that Li Xuan had still been quite decent to him.

Since this guy was the Immortal Master Shuide’s Wangfu, there was no offense to be taken. Perhaps this time it should make an exception—

But in that instant, it saw Xue Yunrou’s eyes staring at it.

Her gaze was so fierce and venomous, Tingtian Ao didn’t need to listen to her thoughts to know what she was thinking.

If you dare to help Li Xuan, I’ll skin you alive—

Tingtian Ao let out a whimper and shrank its body immediately.

Seeing this, Li Xuan knew it had turned cowardly and thought it was unreliable no matter how much incense he had offered it in the past.

However, this time for his trip to Jiangnan, he had to rely on the local serpent’s power, so he chose not to kick it away.

Li Xuan could only shake his head, then looked at Xue Yunrou sincerely, "Yunrou, are you shaken by our marriage arrangement?"

Seeing Xue Yunrou on the verge of tears, biting her lower lip fiercely, he knew what she was thinking. Li Xuan sighed softly and then firmly held Xue Yunrou’s hand, "Although we can’t declare it publicly, we can still have our wedding ceremony. I’ve thought about this before, we can choose a remote place to hold it. We could invite my mother, Madam Xue, Master Zhang, and everybody else. We’ll follow all the marriage rituals, the eight palanquin bearers, nothing will be missing."

Xue Yunrou was stunned for a moment, and as warmth blossomed in her heart, she was also secretly moved.

She looked at Li Xuan and then ’hmmphed’, "I can’t give you the item. Hongshang has asked me and my father to go to Yizhou to conduct a ritual to shift the trajectory of the Nanyang storm.

This storm is very large, said to surpass all previous records. Hongshang has gathered six hundred spellcasters and has also requested assistance from the East Sea Dragon Clan, but it’s still not enough. My father and I must rush there as soon as possible, so I can’t lend you the ’Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle’. I have to leave for Xi’an in half a day to meet my father, and it’s not the same direction as yours."

Li Xuan inwardly smiled bitterly, knowing he still hadn’t passed the test, just delaying the crisis.

At the same time, he also worried that the Nanyang storm was indeed a major issue affecting the livelihood of the southern coastal people, far more critical than his marriage matter.

Suddenly, Li Xuan looked concerned, "Is the storm in Nanyang that severe? Is the East Sea Dragon Clan helpless against it?"

He had handed this issue over to Yu Hongchang a long time ago and hadn’t inquired about it for a while.

"It’s said that there are not one, but two eyes of the storm, originating from the boundless ocean east of Song."

As Xue Yunrou spoke, she pointed southward, "According to the astrologer of the East Sea Dragon Clan, the wind’s strength will continue to increase, such a might unseen for a thousand years. Then, in a few days, they will merge south of Qiongzhou (Hainan), and it could well be the worst wind disaster in a millennium."

Xue Yunrou looked at Li Xuan with a solemn voice, "Li Xuan, your words were not wrong, this is a disaster foretelling the downfall of a nation."

※※※※

Unable to borrow Xue Yunrou’s ’Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle’, Li Xuan could only think of seeking out the ’Red Thunder Chariot’.

On his way to the Forbidden City, Li Xuan made a hasty return to the Dadudu of five armies’ mansion and personally issued two military orders.

"Order the Zongdu of Guangxi and Guangdong to promptly prepare the Guangdong Navy and refurbish gunships. Consider recruiting from among the South Sea pirates those with numerous gunships, whose loyalty and righteousness are intact. The fifty thousand troopers under their command are to take orders from Guangxi Zongbingguan Zhang Zhong."

By this time, the Shenqi Union was already helping him to develop an affordable, steel-clad steam-powered gunship.

Powered by steam, propelled by a propeller—but it was obviously too late for the current war.

Li Xuan knew the principle of the propeller, so he skipped the ’Minglun’ stage directly.

But since he hadn’t found any large oil fields for the time being, and there was more than enough coal available, he was still using steam, supplemented with an Array of spells.

It was expected that, once these gunships were built, they would secure maritime supremacy for the Jin Dynasty both near and far, and even possess the power to confront most sea beasts.

But as for now, the keels of these gunships had not even been laid.

Li Xuan had too much to do at the moment and could not attend to everything.

The second order was for the Guangxi Zongbingguan, Earl Huaiyuan Zhang Zhong, to quickly assemble ninety thousand troops and, additionally, conscript one hundred thousand wolf soldiers from various Tu Divisions in Guangxi to station along the Jiaozhi border. The supply of provisions and military salaries was the sole responsibility of the Zongdu of Guangxi and Guangdong, to be provided abundantly and generously.

Wolf soldiers were local militias organized by the Tu Divisions, also known as "Lu soldiers."

Fuguogong Huangfu Mao, standing beside him, was immediately intrigued, "Is Prince Fenyang planning to make a move on Jiaozhi? To re-establish the Jiaozhi Buzheng Division?"

This duke was only twenty-two years old and served in the Right Army Dudufu of the Left Army.

Not long ago, he had personally requested an order from the Jianguo Princess to transfer to the Dadudu of five armies’ mansion to serve under Li Xuan, effectively acting as Li Xuan’s assistant and secretary.

Although Huangfu Mao was the son of Huangfu Shenji and the current Fuguogong, he was closer to Li Xuan in the court than to his two uncles.

A few months earlier, Li Xuan’s decisive victory over Meng Wu and his capture of Tuotuobuhua made Fuguogong Huangfu Mao decide to throw his lot in with him.

He knew that if anyone in this world could help him avenge his father, Huangfu Shenji, it was undoubtedly Li Xuan.

"This is just a precautionary measure. The specific strategy will depend on the situation," Li Xuan’s eyes revealed severity. "But before that, I need to ensure that Jiaozhi has no spare capacity to assist Luchuan Tu Division."

Huangfu Mao thought for a moment, "Allow me to head south and personally oversee this matter."

Li Xuan looked intently at Huangfu Mao. He knew Jiaozhi was pacified solely by the efforts of Huangfu Mao’s father, Huangfu Shenji. Although Huangfu Shenji had left his position in Jiaozhi many years before its abandonment in the early years of Xuan Emperor’s reign,

this issue was always regarded by Huangfu Shenji as a major failure in his life.

So, without hesitation, he waved his hand, "If you want to go, then go. I can give you the title of an imperial envoy. Once there, help me keep an eye on Hanoi."

Li Xuan pointed on the map, "See if there’s an opportunity to seize this land. I do not seek to occupy Jiaozhi’s territory, but I do need to eradicate the Li Dynasty. The majestic might of the Jin Dynasty should not tolerate defiance from barbarians and the insignificant!"

At least, not while he was in charge of the Jin Dynasty—

After arranging the temporary military affairs, Li Xuan hurried into the palace to find Yu Hongshang.

"You want to borrow my Red Thunder Chariot to go to Jiangnan?"

Yu Hongshang examined Li Xuan up and down, "I hear that Zhonglangjiang Jiang Hanyun has not yet returned. Is Xuan seeking her out?"

"Yes—" Li Xuan was about to nod when he suddenly remembered the setback he had encountered recently at Madam Xue’s. He quickly stopped himself, "It’s for official business! Official business! The Shenqi Union has already built two steel mills and four arms factories in South Zhili. This is greatly beneficial to the nation, and I plan to go inspect them to see the situation for myself."

This was the truth as spellcraft in this world facilitated the construction of anything rather quickly.

But upon hearing this, Yu Hongshang laughed without a hint of vulgarity, "I see. If it were for your marriage to Zhonglangjiang Jiang, I might lend you the Red Thunder Chariot. But since it’s just for inspection, there’s no need to rush.

Moreover, Shaofu Yu also sought to borrow the chariot for a trip to Yunnan to inspect military conditions and monitor the war situation, which is far more critical than factory matters. How about this—I will have the palace lend you a flying boat, and along the way, you can help me check on the canal transport. I’ve heard the water level of the canals has dropped, causing severe congestion recently."

Li Xuan almost bit his tongue in regret.

His wedding with Jiang Hanyun was just two days away, and ordinary flying boats would never make it in time.

But by the time he thought of retracting his statement, it was already too late.

Li Xuan instinctively sensed something was amiss and knew it would be risky to speak up now.

With no other choice, Li Xuan had to leave the palace in haste once again.

He had no choice but to consider using the power of the Jade Qilin. The speed of the Jade Qilin was only slightly slower than the Red Thunder Chariot and the ’Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle.’

Although the journey would be taxing, as the saying goes, "Raise horses for a thousand days, use them in a moment of need."

But as he exited the Forbidden City, he found the luxurious stable built specifically for his Jade Qilin outside Wu Gate to be completely empty.

Li Xuan’s eyes widened in astonishment, wondering where his horse had gone.