Chapter 67: Jiang Danhe’s Worries

“General!”

Jiang Danhe let go of the burning letter in his hand. It fell to the ground and turned into ashes. He rubbed the burnt marks on his fingers and looked up at the person who had entered.

“Have all the men set off?”

It was Li Shouji. The two of them had set off from Yonghai County and traveled for three weeks before arriving at the capital.

Li Shouji took a bow and stood up, his face filled with joy.

“The men had set off safely. They were split into five groups and are quietly moving towards the capital from various locations!”

Jiang Danhe nodded and heaved a sigh of relief. Being able to set off safely was equivalent to completing one third of the plan.

The most important thing on this trip was not to attract the attention of the emperor. Although there were people in the royal court who would give him signals, as long as the emperor was still in the throne, there would always be loyal officials protecting him.

Therefore, they could not let their guard down.

“Tell the people in the imperial court to be careful. Also, instruct the various troops to keep a low profile!”

Jiang Danhe reminded Li Shouji again. Li Shouji understood and expressed that he would remind the troops again.

The arrow was now drawn. There was no turning back.

If they succeeded, it would mean a happy ending.

If they failed, it would mean death.

Li Shouji nodded cautiously. He looked at Jiang Danhe’s face and couldn’t help but feel worried.

“General, you have to rest!”

Li Shouji was a little hesitant, but he couldn’t resist reminding Jiang Danhe. He could see the dark circles under Jiang Danhe’s eyes.

Jiang Danhe knew what Li Shouji was worried about. He chuckled helplessly and rubbed between his eyebrows.

“My body is fine. It’s just…”

Jiang Danhe did not continue. His eyes were blank as his thoughts drifted off.

Li Shouji looked at him and couldn’t help but think to himself. “Here we go again…”

Ever since he left Yonghai County, Jiang Danhe had been acting strangely. When he spoke, he always seemed spaced out. He had never been like this before.

At first, Li Shouji thought that he was worried about the operation not going smoothly. But later on, he realized that it was not the case.

As a subordinate, Li Shouji did not dare speculate about the General’s affairs. But as a brother, that was another matter.

Li Shouji took his leave. When night fell, he changed into civilian clothes and came to Jiang Danhe’s door with a pot of wine in his hand. After knocking on the door, he entered the house.

Jiang Danhe looked at the other party and understood the purpose of his visit.

As the two of them were highly skilled, within a split second, they had reached the rooftop. Both of them sat down cross-legged on a selected spot of the roof.

Jiang Danhe took out two wine glasses and placed them in the middle. Li Shouji poured the wine and handed one glass to him.

“Why? What’s troubling you lately?”

Li Shouji asked him directly. Jiang Danhe’s body froze for a moment. Then, he raised his head, downed the glass of wine in his hand and sighed.

“It’s nothing serious. Just…”

Jiang Danhe stopped mid-sentence. Li Shouji was extremely anxious to hear what he had to say. It was most annoying when someone stopped halfway while speaking!

“What exactly is it?”

Jiang Danhe hesitated. He didn’t know what to say. If he told him the truth, would Li Shouji think that he was crazy?

In the end, Jiang Danhe told him everything.

“Actually, it’s nothing serious. It’s just…”

After listening to him, Li Shouji found out the reason.

The cause of his behavior was due to something he had seen. He had seen the side profile of a familiar looking person when he was leaving the county. There was also a child…

“Is that all?”

Li Shouji really didn’t understand what was going on. Was this the reason why he had been troubled for so long…?

Jiang Danhe sighed. “You’re not me. You don’t understand.”

After saying that, he took a sip of wine and continued.

“At that time, I was of marriageable age. My mother asked a matchmaker to arrange my marriage. There were two girls who were suitable and were also of marriageable age. I secretly went to check out what they looked like. With just one look, I fell in love with one of them.”

After saying that, Jiang Danhe laughed awkwardly.

“Is she very pretty?”

Li Shouji raised an eyebrow, seeing through his laugh.

“She’s indeed very beautiful. I spotted her immediately among a group of people. When I got back, I told my mother about her. We found out that her family was not doing well so my mother gave an additional half bag of grains as a betrothal gift. Actually, our family is not very well off either, but my mother still fixed the marriage for me. On the night of the wedding, when I lifted her veil. I can still remember her face until now.”

Jiang Danhe was caught up in his memories. That night, if she could be described by a poem, it would go like this: In the springtime across ten miles of Yangzhou, among the beauties behind the beaded curtains, no one could surpass you.

As Li Shouji listened to his description, he felt a tinge of envy. After all, he was a bachelor.

“But I was captured and sent to the army the next day. It’s been nearly four years since we last met. I wonder if she’s still waiting for me…”

Jiang Danhe was filled with worry. In fact, he had only said a few words to Xiaoguo on the night of their wedding.

He lifted the veil, and they drank wine from each other’s glasses, shared a room, and he was arrested the next day.

Before leaving, he did not even look back at her. If she did not wait for him, it would be understandable.

But if she was waiting for him, what had he done to deserve it?

“Maybe she’s waiting for you at home. The child is all grown up!”

As Li Shouji said those words, Jiang Danhe was perturbed. He thought of the side profile and the child…

After saying that, Li Shouji downed a glass of wine. After a while, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Why did I just remember!”

“By the way! When I went to the county fair the other day, I saw a child who looked just like you. Could it be the same person?”

Jiang Danhe’s heart skipped a beat. No way!

“Should I get someone to look into it? It’s almost time to halt the operations anyway.”

Li Shouji suggested.

As the most important person in Shao Zhan’s plan, Jiang Danhe had faked his death so that it would be convenient for him to gather troops in private. Therefore, he could not appear in public or contact his family.

In order not to be distracted, he focused on carrying out King Zhan’s mission. He endured the pain of missing his family.

At this point, Li Shouji’s suggestion was tempting, but…

Jiang Danhe finally shook his head and sighed.

If the mission was successful, he could go home and accompany them.

But if he managed to contact them, they would be filled with hope. Should anything happen to him halfway through the mission, wouldn’t they have to suffer another round of pain? Forget it. He would wait until the mission was successfully completed.

Although Li Shouji had no family, he could still understand Jiang Danhe’s dilemma.

They didn’t speak again. They drank glass after glass of wine as the sky darkened.

Both of them could hold their liquor well, so a pot of wine was nothing to them.

Jiang Danhe looked up at the moon with an unreadable expression. “The moon has been getting rounder lately.”

His voice was so soft that it seemed to be drifting with the wind.

Although his voice was soft, Li Shouji still heard him.

“A letter came?”

Jiang Danhe grunted and continued to look at the moon.

“It’s almost mid-autumn.”

He spat out a sentence that didn’t make any sense and jumped to the ground. He turned around and walked into the house, leaving Li Shouji alone.

Li Shouji was resigned to his fate and jumped down with the wine glass and wine pot in his hand.

The moon in the sky shone down with its cold and silvery glow. Li Shouji took one last look at the moon and suddenly shivered. He rubbed on both his arms and jogged back to his room.

It seemed that temperatures would drop after the Mid-Autumn Festival.