Having lived a lonely life for seven years, then moved to Fengjing, Jiang Sheng's life finally had a father and grandmother.
Jiang Sheng was not a greedy person. She has always been content. But for this affection, she could not let go easily or forget about it.
In this world, besides her five brothers, the only ones she wanted to hold on tightly were her dad and grandmother.
She could not accept losing any one of them.
"No, no." The little girl shook her head with tears flying.
The whole imperial city gate fell silent. Everyone dared not speak.
Only Zheng Ruqian felt heartbroken. He shouted hoarsely, "Little Five, what you said is wrong. General Jiang has been fighting on the battlefield for decades. How could he possibly fall easily to the Northern Nomads?"
"That's right, that's right," Jiang San chimed in. "Miss, you are only thirteen this year. General Jiang must be not that old and still young."
Jiang Si poked him beside and glanced at the black-faced Jiang Chengyuan, "His age is nineteen."
General Jiang was forty years old this year. Years of fighting left him scarred and more weary than his peers.
Jiang San shut his mouth and watched Jiang Sheng cry more and more in panic.
She was so far from her dad that she could not do anything.
A strong sense of powerlessness shrouded her whole body. The despair of losing invaded her.
Just when everyone was worried, Jiang Chengyuan finally plucked up his courage. He went to his sister and said loudly, "Little Jiang Kuo, do not cry. I will go back to the border now. I will not let Father suffer any harm. I will bring him back safely."
"Believe me once, okay, just once."
He was nineteen now. Fighting at the border made him lose the fair skin of a young master. His fingertips were rough, cracked and scabbed, no longer elegant, but oddly reassuring.
Jiang Sheng stopped crying and stared blankly at her brother by blood.
"Don't, don't cry." Jiang Chengyuan seemed to want to reach out to wipe tears for his sister. Remembering their previous unpleasantness, he shrank back behind, "I will not let Father get hurt or let the Northern Nomads have their way."
"Believe me once." With his eyes he hinted, then bowed to Jiang Chengfeng, as if handing over Fengjing and his sister, then briskly got on the horse.
Hundreds of border soldiers who came with him also got into action. They were clearly Jiang Chengyuan’s confidants.
Seeing these people about to leave, Fang Heng finally reacted, "Wait a minute."
Since they came together, they should leave together too.
But before leaving, there were still some things that needed discussion.
"The Second Prince does not understand border affairs. Even if he defected to the Northern Nomads, he would not be able to endanger General Jiang's life."
Fang Heng racked his brains and thought hard, "The Northern Nomads have explored everything they could after fighting us for so many years. How could they possibly listen to the Second Prince and make plans against General Jiang?"
The hearts of those not our kind must be different.
This applies to the Dayu Dynasty and also to the Northern Nomads.
Anda Khagan would not easily trust the prince of an enemy country. He might even suspect that this was a trap jointly set up by the Dayu Dynasty.
"Unless the Second Prince has something that can convince the Northern Nomads." Xu Mo finally spoke up with worry in his eyes.
The situation instantly became tense.
Chang Yan did not dare to delay. He went to the imperial study at the fastest speed, passed through the heavily guarded inner eunuchs, and took out the golden key that only the regent could control.
Even ordinary families’ studies contained confidential affairs, let alone the imperial study in the imperial city.
It was heavily guarded by inner eunuchs who only took orders from the emperor, ensuring that not even a fly could fly in.
Chang Yan held his breath and took out the border defense map, confirming it was not lost, and his eyebrows wrinkled even more.
"Shouldn't Your Highness be happy that the defense map was not stolen by the Second Prince?" The eunuch beside was puzzled.
He shook his head. "The Second Brother wanted to defect to the Northern Nomads. He must offer some sincerity. Even if it's not the defense map in the imperial study, it would have to be some other important item."
But what could it be?
Chang Yan did not think alone. He left the imperial study and met everyone in the imperial garden.
"Apart from the defense map, what else could make Anda Khagan think it was a priceless treasure?" he asked.
Fang Heng and Jiang Chengyuan looked at each other and said in unison, "Battle plans."
The defense map showed the outposts arranged by the border to resist the Northern Nomads. Once known by others, all weaknesses would be exposed, just waiting to be slaughtered and exterminated by the Northern Nomads.
The battle plans were strategies for troop deployment handed down from their ancestors, using fewer to withstand more, and using more to crush the enemy.
Outstanding people like General Fang even created quite a few battle formations. Now Fang Heng had passed them on to his confidants. The battle tactics became even more glorious in the northern border.
If leaked out, decades of hard work would be wasted.
Not to mention redeploying troops and wasting manpower and resources, they would suffer unnecessary casualties when caught off guard.
Furthermore, Fang Yuan who left with the Second Prince was also amongst them. Fang Heng gritted his teeth. "Could it be the battle plans left behind by my father...by my late father?"
The national defense map had to be handed over to the court after the death of the General.
Personally designed battle plans could be passed down forever.
Most importantly, General Fang's battle plans also contained a lot of suggestions and future plans for border defense that he had poured his heart and soul into.
More than half of those plans had been realized over the past seven years.
The battle plans were no longer just the Fang family's troop deployment. They were also equivalent to half of the defense map.
"No, it can't be. There is no way the Second Branch would know where Father's legacy was. Even I don't know clearly." Fang Heng still refused to believe.
If this was true, the late General Fang would even be implicated as a traitor.
"Whether it is true or not can be found out by taking a look at the Fang family residence," Chang Yan no longer hesitated. "Go, Third Brother. Don't delay the time."
Indeed, they had no time to delay.
Fang Heng took a look at the tearful Jiang Sheng, then briskly got on the horse.
After escaping from Fengjing for so many years, this was the first time he set foot in the Fang family residence.
The childhood scene of his mother leading him expectantly was still in his ears. Now it had changed into the bleakness and desolation after the raid.
The once bustling eminent family was now desolate from infighting.
Fang Heng rushed to his father's study with red eyes. He searched repeatedly inside and finally opened a secret chamber.
This was the secret chamber passed down from his grandfather. It contained half of the Fang family's wealth. Some had been taken out now and the layout was a bit messy.
Further inside was a dark purple wooden box. It had been forcibly chopped open with an axe. Letters and envelopes were scattered around randomly.
Picking up one at random, the opening was either "My son Aheng" or "My wife Fuliu", from the general on the battlefield who missed his wife and son.
Fang Heng's eyes turned red again. He suddenly remembered. When he was young, his father had pointed to this box and laughed heartily, "Inside are all my treasures, as well as my insights from years of fighting. In the future, they must be passed on to the Fang family's offspring. Little Aheng must work hard to inherit your father's legacy."
