Chapter 215:
Bianzhou.
The Lantern Festival had just passed, but the chill in this southern small city showed no sign of melting away. With half a month of rain, the damp cold grew even thicker, as if it could seep into the bones.
Xie Wanning settled here, halting over half a month’s toil.
It was also here that she heard the news coming from the Northern Frontier.
—The King Zhenbei, who guarded the Northern Frontier and won successive great victories, driving the Jin Raiders back to their lair, had suffered a relapse of old wounds and was clinging to life.
The Great Khan’s people, even the farmers who tilled the soil for a living, would perk up an ear to news of border warfare. They might not know much about Lu Ziyan, but his name was indeed like thunder piercing the ear.
Almost everyone was discussing the matter.
This meant that Xie Wanning didn’t even need to deliberately inquire; she could take in all the widely circulated news.
Because the news had passed through countless mouths, there were all sorts of versions. As the person involved herself, Xie Wanning sorted through and trimmed them, barely piecing together a coherent account.
The King Zhenbei had a fiancée he cherished at the heart, and the two had been childhood sweethearts for many years with deep affection, their wedding date drawing near.
Then the young lady met with an accident while out, suspected to have fallen into Dayang Lake, with neither trace of the living nor corpse of the dead.
This young general, invincible in battle with outstanding merit, suffered the pain of losing his loved one, which triggered a relapse of old wounds, causing him to spit blood and faint.
The later rumors grew much more outlandish.
Some said that after Lu Ziyan fainted, he never woke again; the empire’s general star was clinging to life and about to fall.
Some said Lu Ziyan went mad on the spot, angrily executing dozens of officials in Lu Zhou, venting his rage with heads rolling.
There were even claims that Lu Ziyan vomited blood endlessly and turned white-haired overnight.
Xie Wanning couldn’t believe a bit of it.
Though she had personally seen Lu Ziyan spit blood several times, that was under circumstances where she had greatly angered him. Otherwise, he showed no abnormality at all in daily life.
He led troops in battle, charging into the fray to kill enemies, invincible wherever he went.
Besides, how robust and strong that man’s body was, she had experienced firsthand.
Any talk of severe injuries and near-death—Xie Wanning didn’t believe a word.
She even grew wary of how widely these rumors had spread.
Who was Lu Ziyan?
He was the commander who guarded the border and greatly defeated the Jin Raiders.
In the hearts of the people, even the Emperor might not command as much prestige as he did.
If something happened to him, it wouldn’t just demoralize the border warriors; the entire Great Khan realm, already plagued by endless bandits, would grow even more unstable.
If he were truly clinging to life, then just like in her past life, the news would be strictly suppressed, with no chance of any leak.
Yet now this news had spread from the border to this southern small city in less than a month…
This simply defied reason.
Thinking of this, Xie Wanning slowly let out a breath.
Just now, upon hearing the news that Lu Ziyan was about to die, her heart felt gripped and twisted viciously by a large hand, her mind struck blank by a heavy blow, making her momentarily forget to breathe.
That was the body’s instinctive reaction; she didn’t even have the thought to resist it.
Fortunately…
These rumors were probably deliberately spread by Lu Ziyan himself.
If she hadn’t had her body sunk in Dayang Lake bottom, as long as she was still alive, how could she know he was gravely injured and dying without going to see him.
It must be so!
Xie Wanning wanted to raise her hand to wipe her face, but found her fingers trembling.
It was lingering fear.
Even after figuring out it was Lu Ziyan’s scheme, the instinctive fear her body had just felt was real. Though reason had driven it away, the lingering fear remained.
She had actually been so afraid of Lu Ziyan dying.
