She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 196 Under Xiliang City, Welcoming and Cleansing Dust

Chapter 196: Chapter 196 Under Xiliang City, Welcoming and Cleansing Dust

Yan Wanqing withdrew her gaze first, then left without looking back.

Gesang followed Yizhi’s gaze but saw nothing.

"What are you looking at?"

Yizhi shook his head and looked away, "Nothing, just spacing out."

"You’re really cute, such a grown person still spacing out," Gesang said with a laugh.

Yizhi curled his lips but said nothing.

The following morning.

At the break of dawn, Yan Wanqing had already washed up and was ready to depart.

She had put on her battle armor again, dressed in men’s clothing, and had her hair tied up high, giving her an exceptionally sharp and neat appearance.

They had agreed to meet at the small square in front of Gesang’s house.

When Yan Wanqing arrived, Yizhi was just bringing the horse carriage over.

"You’re up early," Yizhi was the first to speak.

Yan Wanqing nodded without making a sound.

Silence fell between the two of them.

You could hear activity inside Gesang’s house, but the person in question did not come out.

While waiting for Gesang, Yan Wanqing, holding her long sword, leaned against the horse carriage and pretended to doze, not giving Yizhi a single glance. On the other hand, Yizhi kept looking at her, sizing her up out of the corner of his eye.

When the sun had drawn half an orange halo in the sky, Gesang finally came out of the house.

She was also dressed in a red gown today, evidently having put effort into her attire, with tinkling bells fastened to her hands and feet, making a crisp sound with every step she took.

"You both are here!" When Gesang opened the door and saw the two of them, she stuck out her tongue apologetically, "Did I take too long?"

Yan Wanqing kept her eyes closed as if she hadn’t heard.

Yizhi said, "It’s fine, leaving now is just right."

"Yes!" Gesang nodded vigorously and then helped Yizhi onto the horse carriage. She turned to Yan Wanqing, who was still on the ground, and reminded her, "Wanqing, if you’re tired, come up and sleep, we’re about to set off."

Yan Wanqing slowly opened her eyes, her gaze clear. She even smiled, "Alright." Then she leapt onto the horse carriage and sat inside without any hesitation.

"Let’s set off then," Yizhi, who took the reins outside, said. The horse carriage, heading toward Xiliang City, began its journey.

On the way, Gesang was like a vivacious Bailing Bird, singing melodies non-stop, sometimes sitting back in the carriage talking to Yan Wanqing, at other times helping Yizhi with the driving.

But most of the time, Gesang preferred to sit outside with Yizhi.

Yan Wanqing could not have wished for better.

In the carriage, she stretched out her limbs and slept, waking and sleeping again.

"There’s a dead body here," Gesang suddenly exclaimed.

Yan Wanqing opened her eyes. She first drew back the carriage curtain; outside was a mangled corpse.

"Stop the carriage!" Yan Wanqing commanded.

Gesang looked at Yan Wanqing with puzzlement as she jumped down from the carriage, approached the body, and turned it over, picking up a tag. She froze, "What are you doing, Wanqing?"

Yan Wanqing recognized the old soldier who had helped her escape the wolf pack the previous night, risking his life.

He had not been able to escape this calamity after all.

Without answering Gesang’s question, Yan Wanqing rubbed the old soldier’s name tag in her palm, wiping off the sand and dust. She then carefully wrapped it in a cloth and placed it into her bosom before returning to the carriage.

Throughout the process, she did not utter a word.

Fortunately, Gesang was not an inconsiderate girl; she stopped talking upon seeing that Yan Wanqing didn’t want to speak.

Only Yizhi kept looking at Yan Wanqing with a very complex expression.

Along the way, they encountered many such corpses.

Every time, Yan Wanqing would dismount to collect the fallen soldiers’ name tags and wrap them carefully.

She had already collected twenty, including that of the soldier who had deserted during the battle.

Twenty neatly arranged green jade tokens lay on the handkerchief.

Every soldier of Dawei had a jade token that proved their identity, about half the size of a palm and very thin.

They called these tokens identity plaques, engraved with the soldiers’ names, dates of birth, and places of origin.

For those whose remains could not be found intact on the battlefield, they would pick up the plaques and bring them back so that the soldiers’ families could bury them and have peace.

Yan Wanqing’s elder brother, Yan Li’an, was one such case.

He died without a body intact.

In the huge coffin, only a thin name plaque was placed, the blood seeping into the cracked plaque, staining the jade with threads of blood.

Because of this incident, Gesang considered Yan Wanqing’s feelings and stopped humming and singing for the rest of the trip.

The three finally arrived at Xiliang City as the sun was setting in the west.

Yan Wanqing descended from the carriage and said to Gesang and Yizhi with clasped fists, "Our paths diverge here, from now on take care of yourselves."

Beautiful eyes resting on Yan Wanqing, Gesang pursed her lips, "You’re leaving, Wanqing?"

"Yes," chuckled Yan Wanqing lightly.

She still had very important things to do.

"Then, will we ever see you again?" Gesang asked somewhat reluctantly.

"I hope you don’t," Yan Wanqing replied with a light chuckle. "If you see me again in the future, it’s probably not going to be for anything good."

From now on, she would only appear on the battlefield; if Gesang saw her there, she would probably be scared out of her wits.

Upon hearing this, Gesang looked down unhappily: "I will miss you, Wanqing."

"So will I," Yan Wanqing replied with politeness.

After a brief farewell with Gesang, Yan Wanqing’s gaze met Yizhi’s in the air; she forcefully curved the corners of her lips, revealing a slight smile, "Until we meet again."

"Hmm, until we meet again," Yizhi said in a husky voice.

Someone at the city gate had already spotted Yan Wanqing from afar, leading a small team as they ran towards her direction.

Yan Wanqing turned to face the oncoming Officer Chang as she approached.

Standing by the carriage, Gesang and Yizhi watched Yan Wanqing mount her horse, then ride away without looking back.

"Her status seems quite extraordinary," Gesang couldn’t help saying.

"A girl who can spare from the Wolf King’s jaws on the wastelands is naturally no ordinary person," Yizhi said as he reboarded the carriage, looking at Gesang. "Let’s enter the city to find a place to stay first; later, I will take you out for a stroll."

Hearing they would go out to the market at night, Gesang immediately cheered up, boarded the carriage, and they slowly made their way towards the city gates.

Meanwhile, Yan Wanqing had been riding, listening to Officer Chang’s report; finally, her horse stopped at the entrance of the City Lord Residence.

"Prince Seven and Princess Yaochi are currently inside the City Lord Residence. Today the lord of Xiliang City is throwing a big reception banquet to welcome and cleanse them from their journey’s dust," Officer Chang explained.

Yan Wanqing scoffed, dismounting from her horse.

"At a time of war, and they still have the mood to welcome and cleanse from dust?" She revealed a mischievously mocking smile, "This City Lord has quite the nerve."

She was the Great Marshal, yet the banquet was already being prepared before her arrival; were they so eager to fawn over Xiao Hongshen and Li Chengyuan?

Just from this one matter, Yan Wanqing already had a very poor impression of the Xiliang City Lord.