Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 358 - Two Hundred Fifty-Two: Loss_2

Chapter 358: Chapter Two Hundred Fifty-Two: Loss_2

"..."

At the sound of her words, Xu Yuan felt a slight tremor in his heart, and as a strange feeling began to spread, he suddenly came back to his senses.

Staring at her soft gaze, Xu Yuan felt somewhat intimidated.

Fucking hell, it’s like playing a game of chess with a king.

This dangerous woman was far too risky.

He felt that even the bad girls from his past life, who had been exposed to an explosion of information, weren’t as high-level as this Wu Yuan.

Wait a minute... Was the pain and excitement she showed before also fake?

If that were the case...

Su Jinxuan, you’re really embarrassing yourself.

Gathering his thoughts,

Xu Yuan casually crossed his legs and said with a leisurely smile,

"Qingyan, I don’t really believe in promises. Unfulfilled promises can only serve as shackles."

In other words, give me something concrete, don’t just write checks you can’t cash. Buddy here doesn’t buy it.

Li Qingyan chuckled lightly,

"Whether it can be achieved or not, Prince Consort, you will naturally find out after our marriage."

Fuck.

Xu Yuan realized that with her words, he was already starting to look forward to this political marriage.

This was not a good sign.

Thinking of Big Ice Lump, that good woman, twice, Xu Yuan suppressed the ripples in his heart and stared at her with a smile, saying nothing.

Seeing this, Li Qingyan also brought the conversation back on track,

"So, Prince Consort, does my Second Brother really want to kill you?"

"I can only say it seems likely, but there is no evidence." Xu Yuan responded truthfully this time.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Xu Yuan spread his hands in a rascally manner.

Indeed, he had no evidence, aside from the scant information, all his previous inferences were based on logical behavior.

The Sect storage had been bombed by Qin Weijiu’s people, and Su Jinxuan had not found any connection between Qin Weijiu and Li Zhaoyuan.

And Li Zhaoyuan’s trip to East City could also be explained as an attempt to win over the military’s hearts.

All their actions were impeccable.

Li Qingyan thought for a moment, then suddenly asked,

"Prince Consort, you must have some information that I am not aware of, right?"

Xu Yuan denied it without hesitation,

"No, all the information is with Lou Ji. He only gave me a few ways to escape."

He did not intend to get involved in this struggle for succession.

It wasn’t that he lacked interest, but rather that his prime minister father might have his own plans, and getting involved blindly without knowledge could disrupt those plans.

The idle chatter with that Sixth Brother, Li Junqing, served both as fanning the flames and as laying a backup route.

If the Third Prince truly took his words to heart, then the promise would likely turn into a worthless check, leaving that Sixth Brother having to sell the shirt off his back.

Li Qingyan looked at Xu Yuan deeply and sighed,

"Alright, I think I understand now. I won’t leave the city again. With you by my side, Li Zhaoyuan won’t be able to harm you."

Seeing this, Xu Yuan smiled faintly.

If the Second Prince Li Zhaoyuan really wanted to kill him, he could only do so when Li Qingyan was out of the city, but unfortunately, he had already missed his best chance.

After changing into her formal Commander’s armor, Li Qingyan brought Xu Yuan with her to the camp outside, and they called Li Zhaoyuan in.

Dressed in the armor of a trusted aide, Xu Yuan stood behind Li Qingyan like a door god, watching the two converse.

There was no sign of sibling interaction between Li Zhaoyuan and Li Qingyan, instead, their interaction resembled that of a superior and a subordinate.

Li Qingyan expressed her gratitude, Li Zhaoyuan modestly demurred, and then she proceeded to assign him a series of tasks for the defense of the city.

The two talked about the military affairs of city defense for half an hour, then Li Zhaoyuan bowed his hands and returned to the Government Office.

After Li Zhaoyuan left, the barracks were once again left with just Xu Yuan and Li Qingyan.

Li Qingyan, clad in armor, leaned back on her chair with the demeanor of a queen.

Xu Yuan stood behind and slightly to the side of her, looking at her in contemplation.

Beautiful people truly are always a delight to behold, no matter how long one looks at them.

After approximately an hour, following the announcements, several Colonels entered the barracks one after another, handing over several documents to Li Qingyan.

A thick stack of them.

Li Qingyan, without avoiding Xu Yuan who stood behind her, boldly flipped through the pages one by one.

The contents of the documents pertained to some statistics within Northern Border City.

As a key military stronghold of the Border Army, Northern Border City was not as prosperous as other cities within Dayan Territory. Most areas were military camps, and the population of non-military personnel was only about three hundred thousand—mostly families of the soldiers and merchants who conducted business there.

Including private Xia Groups and Escort Agencies, the proportion of cultivators among the city’s residents was frighteningly high.

One third.

In other words, just over a hundred thousand.

Of course, this part was basically those who had just reached Entry Level or were around Ninth Grade, the cannon fodder.

Xu Yuan was looking at these statistics when he suddenly heard Li Qingyan’s indifferent voice:

"Colonel Jin, come in."

After waiting for a few breaths,

a young man in armor, a colonel, hurried into the tent and knelt on one knee. With his head bowed respectfully, hands clasped in front of him, he said,

"Your Highness."

Li Qingyan scanned the figures on the scroll, her head not lifting as she casually said,

"Go and send all these cultivators and martial practitioners in the city to defend the walls."

"...." Xu Yuan

Colonel Jin was visibly startled by the order, lifting his gaze hesitantly and ventured,

"Your Highness, such actions could provoke rebellion among those people."

Low-grade martial practitioners who didn’t understand battle formations were merely cannon fodder on the battlefield; against the Barbarian Tribes, a casualty ratio of ten to one was already high.

People who had lived in Northern Border City all year round would understand this.

Li Qingyan lifted her gaze and glanced at him emotionlessly:

"Rebellion? Go tell those officers of the Border Army that this palace allows them to ’hire’ city martial practitioners to assist in defending the walls, they will find a way to solve it."

Colonel Jin hesitated for a moment but did not speak further, bowing his hands:

"Yes, I will see to it immediately."

"......"

As he watched Colonel Jin leave, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke up:

"Won’t these forcefully conscripted men desert when faced with battle?"

Li Qingyan’s cold face showed a trace of warmth as she looked back and sighed,

"They might, but we must do this. Otherwise, we cannot hold Northern Border City."

Saying this,

she passed the next few scrolls to Xu Yuan:

"Take a look."

Accepting the scrolls, Xu Yuan asked,

"Aren’t you going to read them?"

Li Qingyan gave a faint smile:

"My will-spirit isn’t just for show."

"......" Xu Yuan.

Great, the scrutinizing of scrolls she had just done was purely for his benefit.

Bad women always let you know in these subtle ways after they’ve done something.

Then it adds up over time.

Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and calmly began to read the scrolls, but as he perused, his mind was no longer on these muddled thoughts.

The previous ones were statistics from within the city, while the ones Li Qingyan had handed him detailed today’s losses within Northern Border City.

Since dawn today, the battle lasted no more than two hours, resulting in fifty thousand casualties among the three hundred thousand civilians in the city.

In order to concentrate energy on protecting the city walls, Li Zhaoyuan had retracted the city’s sky-covering canopy, allowing the Barbarians’ miraculous trebuchets to hurl countless boulders and ice spikes without obstruction into the city.

Buildings were destroyed, ruins piled up like mountains and countless civilians who had just gone to sleep with trepidation were directly buried beneath the rubble.

And these were predominantly civilian casualties.

For cultivators, even those of only Ninth Grade, avoiding these projectiles was not too difficult, as long as their line of sight was unobstructed and they did not lose their formation.

However, civilian casualties were just a small part; the main losses were among the Northern Border City’s defending troops.

About twenty-three thousand dead, thirty-seven thousand missing, thirteen thousand with light injuries, and seven thousand with severe injuries.

Looking at the word "missing" at the bottom, Xu Yuan opened his mouth, feeling it a bit preposterous.

Missing... Does it refer to those soldiers who were struck into pulp on the walls of East City?

Without a body, they naturally count as missing...

Xu Yuan silently finished reviewing various statistics and handed the scrolls back to Li Qingyan.

Out of Northern Border City’s defending force of a hundred and thirty thousand, more than half had perished in less than two hours...

After a while,

Xu Yuan asked,

"What about the losses on the Barbarian side?"

Upon hearing this,

Li Qingyan slowly stood up from her chair, leaned against the desk, her crimson eyes glancing sideways. With slender fingers gently twirling her loose hair, she spoke softly,

"The Barbarian losses are even greater, but the Barbarian King will soon receive news of the ’Cloud Qi Bomb.’ We must immediately get those Xia Groups and Escort Agencies in the city to wear down their living resources, only then can we safeguard this Northern Border City before the Sects’ elite troops can return to reinforce."