Ch. 581..585: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 581-585

Chapter 581: Chapter 581: Madness (4)_1

"Yue Lin, how are things going on your end?" Lin Ziyin was happy, which meant Chu Suifeng was happy. Seeing Lin Ziyin start to eat heartily, he shifted the topic.

"Those bandits are cunning indeed. Just like the Prince and Mr. Situ anticipated, they took advantage of the Tatar’s siege to transport grain from the mountain. I led my troops and managed to intercept the grain; though, a few of them did manage to escape." Si Jinhan responded lazily, continuing to eat as he spoke, picking up his chopsticks once more.

"This batch of grain is connected to the Marquis Residence and You Residence. The quantity exported is not large. But our spies have found out that they have been involved in larger transactions with Hei Chu." Situ Gong said regretfully.

The Marquis Residence, being the Prince’s maternal family, used to be decent when the old Marquis was alive. Even if they did not show much concern for the Prince, they never made life difficult for him.

After the old Marquis death, the current Marquis seemed to have grown increasingly greedy.

The third generation from the Marquis Residence, Li Jiesong and the You family, were far worse in character, even ordinary aristocratic children were better than them.

But what about the old lady?

Thinking of her sacrifices over the years, Situ Gong found it extremely tricky.

"Not a single grain should leave the city." Chu Suifeng cooled his face.

Si Jinhan looked at Chu Suifeng with an ambiguous smile, and promised, "Don’t worry, Prince, the grain cannot be allowed to leave Border City. But this will certainly distress Hei Chu. Does the Prince still want to let them off?"

Luo Heng slightly furrowed his brows on the side. He knew who was backing Hei Chu.

Hei Chu led a band of bandits in the borderland of the three countries, a special presence. Their audacity to smuggle grain posed a dilemma for the prince.

To let them off or not, there are pros and cons. He was unsure whether the Prince had the heart to do it.

"If they dare to continue their frenzied ways, after dealing with the Tatars, we will wipe them out." Chu Suifeng said indifferently.

Si Jinhan was delighted. He had long set his sights on Hei Chu but that man was still useful to the Northern Land, thus his life was spared.

The prince’s leniency was interpreted as weakness by Hei Chu. Next time, he would demonstrate what ruthless meant to Hei Chu.

"Billy and Bayal have suffered a big loss; Timur has been seriously injured. They will certainly be recuperating for the next two days. Once they counterattack, it will surely become a fierce battle." Situ Gong analysed.

"Better to strike first than wait to be struck." Chu Suifeng sneered, "Do they really think we’re afraid of them?"

"With the Mo River in between and surrounded by high mountains, Border City is easily defended but difficult to attack. If our army tries to force a crossing, the losses will be tremendous." Situ Gong interjected.

"The weather has already grown cold. When the first snow falls, fighting will only become harder. It’s not pleasant to stay in tents." Luo Heng spoke up with a slight smile.

Thinking of the inconvenience and harm the cold would bring the enemy, the men at the table all brightened up.

Lin Ziyin had no input in matters of war, so she could only focus on the task at hand, which was to continuously add ingredients to the hotpot.

Men, especially those with a martial background, had large appetites. By the end of the meal, nearly all the food on the table had been consumed.

"The city isn’t very safe, don’t wander around at will." Back in their rooms, Chu Suifeng was the first to lie down on the bed. "If you have to go out, make sure to bring more people with you."

Chapter 582: Chapter 582: Madness (5)_1

"Mm." Lin Ziyin gladly agrees. She has heard him say this more than a hundred times, but she never finds it annoying. The fact that he would remember to remind her of such minor matters even in the midst of busy days and nights is a testament to how much Chu Suifeng values her.

"Tomorrow, I’ll go to the army camp and have the Firehead Army prepare bone broth for everyone. We can also make beef offal noodles." Lin Ziyin discussed with him, "The manor sent a good amount of chili peppers."

Chili peppers can fend off the cold. In the two years that have passed, every household in Shili Village, owned by Chu Suifeng, has cultivated quite a good number of them, yet the cultivation techniques have always been kept secret.

On the market, products with chili peppers are still in high demand.

In the cold weather, the chili peppers from Shili Village are much appreciated as timely help.

"You can do whatever you want, just don’t tire yourself out." He spoke dominantly, like a true man.

Lin Ziyin, accustomed to his manner of speaking, responded with a laugh, "I’m just going to teach them how to get rid of the smell, I’m not doing it myself. How could it be tiring?"

"Come here." Ever since Chu Suifeng held her for the first time, he had become addicted to it. These past few days, he was busy in the army camp and hadn’t got a chance to come back. Now that he was back, of course, he wanted to make up for all the affection he had missed.

Being intimate with a man still made Lin Ziyin feel somewhat shy. Although they haven’t crossed any boundaries, Lin Ziyin has only ever been this close with a man in her two lifetimes.

However, seeing Chu Suifeng’s fatigue, she relented and lay on the side of the bed.

But this time, Chu Suifeng didn’t simply hold her like he usually did.

He turned to face Lin Ziyin, his slender pale hand gently touched her brows and eyes, his gaze intense with affection, cherishing every move of hers.

"You see me every day, what’s there to look at?" Lin Ziyin’s face burned under his hot gaze, and she softly admonished him in a coquettish tone.

"I see you every day and it’s still not enough." Chu Suifeng laughed as he watched her blush. He felt a heat surge through his body. He rolled over and held Lin Ziyin beneath him, smothering her with passionate kisses.

French Kissing! Lin Ziyin’s mind went numb. This was her first time.

The taste was somewhat strange.

Chu Suifeng had no experience, he just went with a man’s instinct. He kissed her fiercely, and several times due to his inexperience, their teeth hit each other. It was slightly painful, but he did not wish to let her go.

The temperature of the room started to increase and the situation was gradually slipping out of control.

Feeling that the man on top of her began to pull at her clothes, Lin Ziyin snapped out of her daze.

Although she was not of ancient times, she was indeed a conservative person. She did not blame Chu Suifeng for his recklessness, but she would not allow him to take liberties with her either.

"Your Highness." Her voice was sweet and husky, with a touch of anxiety.

The man on top of her suddenly froze and held her tightly. She felt his weight lift from her and Chu Suifeng lay down next to her.

"Don’t move." Chu Suifeng hadn’t opened his eyes yet and was still catching his breath, but he tightened his arms around her, "I won’t do anything, let’s just lie here for a while."

Lin Ziyin hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but in the end, she obediently laid back down.

Hong Ying and Lun Luo were guarding the adjacent room, and upon seeing that Chu Suifeng hadn’t left for a long while, they felt conflicted. As former members of the Hidden Guard, they were bound to prioritize the Prince’s needs above all else.

However, as Lin Ziyin’s personal maids, should they intervene in the current situation and remind their mistress? Though it seemed their mistress had no complaints, they simply looked at each other and smiled in mutual understanding.

Meanwhile, Qiaoqiao was restless, "How could the Prince behave like that? It’ll harm Miss’s reputation."

Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Madness (6)_1

"The prince may have important matters to discuss with you," Hong Ying lied.

The guards outside, such as Congyi, were pleased. If things kept going this way, there might be a new mistress in the residence soon.

Chu Suifeng did not linger long in Lin Ziyin’s room, only staying for the time it took for an incense stick to burn.

Qiaoqiao was finally relieved.

As soon as Chu Suifeng left, Qiaoqiao came to Lin Ziyin’s side. Seeing that Lin Ziyin’s clothes were properly adjusted, she felt immensely relieved.

Lin Ziyin noticed Qiaoqiao discreetly appraising her. She knew Qiaoqiao was a stickler for rules and loyal to her. So concerning Qiaoqiao’s internal conflict, she could understand. After all, Chu Suifeng was her fiancé; it should be normal for them to spend more time together.

Qiaoqiao wavered for a long time, but in the end, as a proper maid, she didn’t start blabbering in front of Lin Ziyin.

Lin Ziyin let out a sigh of relief. It would be awkward if Qiaoqiao chose to start discussing this matter now.

The next morning came after a peaceful night’s dream.

Just as expected, the enemy across the river really raised the white flag of truce.

Everyone in Border City was elated when they saw this. Even the common people out shopping on the streets were significantly more than usual.

True to her words, Lin Ziyin had breakfast and then led her entourage to the camp. Once at the camp, she headed directly to the canteen.

Chu Suifeng’s men indeed worked very efficiently, having butchered and segmented the dead cows overnight. The offal and bones had been cleaned and piled up high.

Because Lin Ziyin’s team had provided them with down jackets, even though the soldiers had been busy all night and couldn’t eat any beef, none complained.

"Today we’re upgrading the food. We’ll have beef offal noodles and glass noodles," Lin Ziyin kindly informed the Firehead Army.

The Firehead Army didn’t know her identity, but they did know she was close to the prince. Since they had heard that the prince treated this "young man" exceptionally well, everyone accepted her order without objecting.

As a result, all the soldiers enjoyed a hearty meal of beef offal noodles and glass noodles at noon.

After lunch, Chu Suifeng’s men and Yu Sha’ou packed up the beef. Their team split into two.

One group quickly took the frozen beef back to Shili Village. The other escorted the injured cows and their feed back at a slower pace.

Out of a thousand head of cattle, more than half were gone. It was not a small number.

But Lin Ziyin was not greedy. She left some of the bones and didn’t take any of the offal, leaving it all in the camp to improve the soldiers’ meals.

Bone soup was delicious, and together with large amounts of chili peppers delivered from Shili Village, it was a treat. The complexion of the soldiers also became much healthier these few days.

Chu Suifeng occasionally heard praises for Lin "young master" in the camp, and his face was often seen with a smile.

Upon observing this, his high-ranking officers were determined to get on the good side of the future princess, no matter what it took.

The period of leisure didn’t last long; the ferocious counter-attack from the North Country soon arrived.

And it came without any warning. Early in the morning, Chu Suifeng’s men hadn’t even had the chance to open the city gates when the North Country’s soldiers were already scaling the walls with ladders.

The sharp alarm bells immediately rang out.

All the soldiers on standby also hurried towards the city tower for reinforcement.

It wasn’t even dawn, yet the enemy had sneaked out under the cover of the night, and they had no inkling of it. Billy and Bayal were indeed formidable.

Chapter 584: Chapter 584: Madness (7)_1

Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong realized they had been somewhat careless.

In the deep autumn of the Northern Land, the temperature at night is particularly low. There has been no moon these past few days, they hadn’t expected Billy and Bayal to be so reckless as to disregard the cold and the safety of the North Country soldiers to launch a surprise attack under the cover of darkness.

Luo Cheng was even more frustrated, he had stood guard on the city wall for several nights in a row, and only yesterday he had replaced someone to be on duty. He didn’t expect such a significant event to happen.

"We beg for punishment." The two guards of the city knelt down in shame, unable to lift their heads.

The enemy had crossed the river overnight and reached the bottom of the city, and they had not noticed it at all.

"Hmph, Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong are always cautious, believing they understand us very well. They must have thought that after our last big loss, we would definitely hold back for a while. But I intend to do the opposite. As long as their troops are trapped in the city, they won’t be able to arrange their formations. As long as we take down the city tower and break into the city, we will have the military might to easily capture Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong," Bayal sneered, growing even more proud as he watched his soldiers beginning to set up scaling ladders against the city wall.

"Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong are always cunning, don’t underestimate them," Billy said spitefully. Chu Suifeng had seriously injured his beloved apprentice, Timur, and he would have to settle this score sooner or later.

If it weren’t for his high magic medical skills, let alone saving Timur’s arm, it would have been hard to say whether Timur’s life could have been saved.

"Although Chu Suifeng’s troops are blocked in the city cannot form a formation, Border City is Chu Suifeng’s territory, he must have some preparations. Once we enter the city, that’s when the real battle will begin," Billy reminded Bayal not to let success go to his head.

"I know this," Bayal said with a light smile. "No matter how powerful Chu Suifeng is, we outnumber him by more than forty thousand. What can he do to me?"

After a pause, he continued, "Our warriors from the North Country are physically stronger and more powerful than the soldiers of the Northern Land. No matter how powerful Chu Suifeng is, he is just one man. What can he use to fight us?"

"In any case, it’s better to be careful. We’ll talk after we break into the city," Billy maintained a watchful attitude.

Even without his prompting, the soldiers from the North Country were also giving everything they had to the siege. In the last war, they thought that the Fire Bull Formation would make taking Border City a piece of cake, but in the end, it was they who suffered a terrible defeat.

For the honor of the North Country, for the food supplies in Border City, they had to fight desperately.

If the snow this year were heavy, life in the North Country would be very difficult for their families. Regardless, for survival, the soldiers from the North Country had to fight for their lives.

Seeing the soldiers of the North Country flooding like a tide under the city wall, the expressions on the faces of Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong did not change, and Situ Gong continually smiled.

"Pass the order, pour the oil." Luo Heng issued an order.

As the soldiers from the North Country climbed closer along the scaling ladders, North Land soldiers fired arrows simultaneously.

Suddenly, there were countless casualties on the scaling ladders.

But the enemy was too crazy, where there were people down, people would be replaced from behind. According to this trend, it won’t be long before the enemy will arrive.

Just then, barrels of hot oil were brought up. The soldiers on the city wall scooped up the hot oil from the barrels with ladles and poured it down along the scaling ladders.

Screams immediately erupted.

These screams were far more chilling than those of injury, looking at the enemies with their skin and flesh split open. The soldiers of the North Land on the city wall had no sympathy at all, and the oil in their hands continued to pour.

Watching with heartache, Bayal saw the number of their side suffering from hot oil burns increasing, and some soldiers began to fear and dare not go forward.

"Pass down the order, no retreating, violators will be killed," Billy ruthlessly ordered his men.

The soldiers next to him felt sorry for the ordeal of the soldiers but dared not defy Billy’s military orders. They clenched their teeth and passed on Billy’s orders. "The State Preceptor has said that their hot oil supply won’t last forever. As long as we break through Border City today, the rich and prosperous Daqin will be within our grasp."

With these words of encouragement, the temporarily retreating soldiers began their second wave of attack.

On the city wall, the expressions on the faces of Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong remained unchanged. "Pass the order, prepare the rocks."

It would be impossible to carry rocks to the city wall manually. But Chu Suifeng had a solution, long before the war began, countless rocks had been accumulated at the side and bottom of the city tower.

These rocks were not very large, but if they were thrown from the city tower onto people’s heads, those people’s heads would surely burst open.

"Transport them immediately." Under the city wall, Xiao Yang, serving as the Residence Governor, was leading a group of civilians to load rocks into the baskets.

As soon as the baskets were full, the "hoist" above immediately started lifting.

The so-called "hoist" was actually a simple device made up of pulleys by Lin Ziyin. Although simple, it was practical.

Basket after basket of rocks were transported to the top of the city tower, and soldiers immediately let the rocks roll down along the ladder. The rocks were very useful, the enemy on the ladder would surely have their heads burst open or be seriously injured if they were hit. Then they would fall off the ladder, and when they fell, they would sometimes knock down their comrades who were following them.

As a result, there were countless casualties among the attacking enemies.

"Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong are too cunning." There were so many rocks, it was obvious that they were not transported temporarily, but were prepared in advance.

"Attack again." Billy’s heart ached, but he stuck to his point of view. In his view, even though many soldiers had already been killed or injured if he gave up now, all the previous efforts would be wasted.

Especially, he did not believe that Chu Suifeng and Situ Gong could have much more rocks to supply.

Once the rocks they prepared were used up, the victory would be on his side.

Chapter 585: Chapter 585: Crushing Defeat (1)_1

The supply of broken rocks within the Border City couldn’t keep up, and fewer and fewer rocks fell from the city wall.

Billy and Bayal were delighted. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the brave warriors of their North Country could climb atop the city tower. Once they entered the heart of Border City, Chu Suifeng’s men would have no space to deploy their formations.

Just comparing the fighting prowess of their soldiers, their side undoubtedly held the absolute advantage.

Bayal and Billy looked at each other, both seeing the excitement in the other’s eyes. Victory was beckoning to them.

"Ah."

"It hurts to death."

"Ah, hot oil."

...

Just as Bayal prepared to order an attack, the situation suddenly changed. They saw rows of soldiers on the city tower of North City start pouring oil down the ladders again.

"What the hell, how much hot oil do they have?" Bayal yelled in frustrated anger.

Billy was also dumbfounded.

The emperor of Daqin had always been cautious of Chu Suifeng, never supplying abundant military pay and provisions each year. Every winter, many weaker soldiers couldn’t withstand the severe cold.

According to the information their spies sent back, Daqin’s Imperial Court was even more outrageous towards Chu Suifeng this year by not sending any military pay or provisions. They only allowed Chu Suifeng to offset them with taxes collected from his fief.

Although this proposal sounded fair, anyone familiar with circumstances in the Northern Land knew that it was sparsely populated and situated in a bitterly cold region. Each year, they could only cultivate a few crops such as soybeans and millet, both of which didn’t yield much.

The citizens of Northern Land didn’t enjoy the strong taste of beef and mutton, unlike the citizens of their North Country who were all strong and healthy from eating beef and mutton.

So, using soybeans and millet cultivated by the citizens as military provisions—assuming Chu Suifeng’s soldiers didn’t starve—would already be a good outcome.

Thinking about it, the emperor of Daqin was indeed talented. Just because he disliked Chu Suifeng, his own son, he dared to gamble with the entire border’s safety.

If they hadn’t received the news that Chu Suifeng had started growing rice in his estate, the monarch of North Country wouldn’t have been in a hurry to attack the Northern Land so early. Since the Northern Land was in a period of deprivation, if North Country didn’t seize Border City now, it would be even harder to capture once Chu Suifeng was stronger.

No matter what, they had to return triumphantly this time.

Neither Billy nor Bayal could understand why the Northern Land army, supposedly "poor" enough to not have sufficient food, could afford to extravagantly use vegetable oil as a weapon against them.

"Lin Missy is so generous, she sent us so much vegetable oil. But pouring it down...It’s a bit heartbreaking to watch," Luo Ying said, looking at the pitiful state of the North Country soldiers below, while rejoicing, he also felt a bit of regret.

"What’s there to feel sorry about?" Another commander laughed and explained, "Mr. Situ has said that this vegetable oil is waste oil, it’s extracted from leftover food. Humans can’t eat it, so it’s ideal to pour onto our enemies to give them a taste."

"Vegetable oil is truly marvelous, it can be eaten and it can kill enemies. The Queen is remarkable!"

"Yes, the Queen is remarkable."

...

The commanders who had decided to hitch a ride on Lin Ziyin’s coattails took every chance they could get in front of Chu Suifeng to praise Lin Ziyin.

Upon listening, Chu Suifeng’s mouth curved up in a smile.

The officers’ praises for Lin Ziyin were quietly approved by Situ Gong, Luo Heng, and others. Only Miss Lin could come up with such an eccentric idea as using hot oil to attack the enemy.

And despite eating rice for so many years, they never knew oil could be extracted from leftovers.