Chapter 283: Hello Chang'an
Chapter 283: She Does Not Need a Hero Descending from Heaven
The two of them met each other’s gaze for a moment, and Chang Suining seemed to finally confirm that the figure suddenly appearing before her was not an illusion.
She dismounted.
Cui Jing instinctively raised his hand to steady her, but saw that her movements remained agile and steady; she had landed firmly on the ground.
He silently withdrew his hand.
The next moment, the girl, with clear apricot-shaped eyes, looked at him seriously: “You’ve lost weight.”
Cui Jing’s gaze lingered on the top of her head for a moment before he spoke in a warm tone: “You’ve grown taller.”
“Perhaps it’s because I didn’t use an umbrella indoors?” Chang Suining replied with mock gravity.
Cui Jing paused, then smiled: “Yes, that must be it.”
Chang Suining returned his smile.
Just as she was about to say something more, Captain Bai, having approached quickly on horseback, exclaimed in surprise: “…Grand General Cui?!”
He had known Cui Jing in the capital and earned his trust, which was why Chang Suining had previously “borrowed a horse” from him.
What began as borrowing a horse had now evolved; Cui Jing had almost “lent” himself entirely and was becoming one of Chang Suining’s closest aides.
Cui Jing nodded to Captain Bai, who quickly saluted before lowering his voice to ask: “Grand General Cui, what brings you here?”
“On a secret imperial order.”
Captain Bai , initially shocked, let out a great sigh of relief.
So that was it.
He had feared that the Grand General had gone rogue, leaving his post and traveling thousands of miles just to secretly see General Ningyuan!
Soon, the people Chang Suining had brought forward also stepped up to pay their respects to Cui Jing. Most had never seen the famed Xuanzhe Army general in person; now, facing him, their gazes were full of admiration, respect, and curiosity.
Captain Bai was about to speak when Yuan Xiang approached and interrupted: “…Captain Bai, have you brought back Xu Zhengye’s head?”
“Of course!” Captain Bai replied.
It was already secured on his horse.
Yuan Xiang’s gaze was eager: “May I see it as well?”
Captain Bai blinked. A severed head—what was there to see?
Yet Yuan Xiang had already pulled him along, calling the Xuanzhe Army soldiers to come and look as well.
Everyone went. The people Chang Suining had brought, having already saluted Cui Jing, stepped back, surrounding the head. Though they had no real interest in the sight, camaraderie in the army dictated joining in.
Seeing this, Chang Suining, as the one holding the head of Xu Zhengye and as the “host,” warmly invited Cui Jing: “Grand General Cui, would you like to take a look as well?”
“…No need,” Cui Jing replied.
As he spoke, he raised his right hand to remove the cloak from his shoulders.
The cloak caught the breeze, carrying the fresh, clean scent of grass, and fell over Chang Suining.
She looked up slightly, momentarily surprised, gazing at the young man before her.
Cui Jing, however, kept his eyes lowered, fixated only on his fingers securing the cloak around her.
His expression remained calm and impassive; his naturally cold features gave him a serene, detached appearance. Only he knew that, under her inquisitive gaze, his heart was drumming wildly despite his outward composure.
This strange feeling only appeared in her presence.
But even so, ensuring she was cloaked properly was more important.
Though she wore armor, she had been on the water for some time; the robes beneath were still wet, water clinging to their edges.
Spring winds carried a slight chill.
The cloak now shielded that chill.
Cui Jing withdrew his hand, appearing calm, and said casually, “There. Done.”
“Thank you.” Chang Suining’s eyes curved in a gentle smile as she lifted her damp hair from under the cloak, letting it fall naturally over her shoulders.
Her hair, too, was partially wet; somewhere in the pursuit of Xu Zhengye, the rest had been lost.
Cui Jing’s eyes scanned her body and hands, noticing the traces of blood. “Any serious injuries?”
There was no need to ask if she was hurt; in close combat, chasing Xu Zhengye personally, she had certainly sustained multiple injuries.
Chang Suining shook her head: “Only minor scratches.”
Yet Cui Jing still said: “Let’s mount and talk.”
He looked at her, speaking softly: “You’ve worked hard.”
“A bit,” she exhaled lightly, though her face carried a relaxed smile.
Indeed, she was tired, and sheeding his advice, climbed back onto her horse.
She instinctively looked toward Bianzhou and Luoyang.
It had been exhausting—truly so—but killing Xu Zhengye made it worthwhile.
Bianzhou and Luoyang had suffered no harm; the displaced civilians in Jiangnan could soon return home. The pain already inflicted could not be undone, but the ability to return home offered the greatest comfort for now.
As she looked into the distance, her fingers reached for the reins—but they grasped empty air.
She looked up to see Cui Jing holding the reins in his hand.
He walked beside her horse, leading it forward.
Surprised, she reached out: “I cannot let you lead my horse. I’ll do it myself.”
After all, he was the Grand General of the Xuanzhe Army, and many eyes were on them.
“Why not?” Cui Jing’s gaze remained forward. “You are General Ningyuan, having accomplished another great feat. Whoever leads your horse is entirely fitting.”
Her hands were injured, and the reins were coarse.
He paid no mind to the attention of others or his subordinates. To him, leading her horse was not beneath his station.
Seeing this, Chang Suining no longer insisted on taking back the reins. She had a question to ask anyway.
All matters had settled, and there was no rush. Both soldiers and horses were exhausted. Moving slowly allowed them to rest.
Cui Jing led the horse in front. Captain Bai, Yuan Xiang, and the dozens of Xuanzhe Army soldiers followed, some on horseback, some leading horses, moving at a leisurely pace.
The horses swished their tails and nibbled tender grass along the way.
Having endured a bloody battle, this brief respite felt all the more precious.
The scenery was beautiful: clear wind, green grass, far from human settlements. Both men and horses could feel nature’s gentle healing along this stretch of the journey.
Yet too much relaxation had its risks. The nearly hundred men and horses following strained their necks, eager to observe the pair ahead, wishing they could see every detail.
Captain Bai appeared calm, showing no impatience, yet inwardly he felt a pang of regret: he wished he could have been a fly, free to witness everything.
Why not move closer? Not because they didn’t want to.
Yuan Xiang forbade it.
He walked at the front like a herding dog, keeping the flock in line, allowing no one to interrupt the Grand General and General Ningyuan’s conversation.
Close-up gossip was impossible, so the soldiers behind tried to curry favor with Yuan Xiang, addressing him as “Brother Yuan,” hoping to glean some tidbit of news, even scraps.
Yuan Xiang’s status today was truly exceptional.
Whispering behind, the soldiers divided into two groups: the Xuanzhe Army, enthusiastic and bold, and the Ningyuan Army, more reserved, subtle, and filled with a rare sense of superiority that they had never expected to feel before, standing before the Xuanzhe Army.
The bold praised warmly: “Your General Ningyuan is truly formidable…”
When speaking of their Grand General, they boasted shamelessly: “See, our Grand General’s eyes miss nothing!”
The cloak, leading the horse… such attentiveness might even dazzle a few members of the Cui family from Qinghe.
“Those ten thousand elite cavalry of Xu Zhengye—did you intercept them?” Chang Suining asked Cui Jing.
“Yes,” he replied. “I secretly dispatched a thousand of my men to intercept Xu Zhengye’s cavalry.”
Looking at him, it sounded audacious: one thousand against ten thousand. But he was Cui Jing, commanding the Xuanzhe Army.
If an ordinary Xuanzhe Army unit could fight ten, under his command, a thousand could hold their ground against a hundred thousand.
As the saying went: armies are easy to find, but a general is rare.
Chang Suining asked further: “How did you know their marching route so precisely?”
Previously, she had addressed him formally as Grand General Cui each time, but since their farewell at the Heavenly Maiden Tower, she had known he knew her secret. With no one else present, she naturally dropped the formalities.
She alternated between calling him “General Cui” and “you,” which might sound informal to outsiders, but to him, it was sweet to the ear.
He answered patiently: “Their route is not difficult to discern.”
At least for him, it was not.
Chang Suining then asked: “Did those Xu troops surrender to you?”
“They did. They are still being escorted here,” Cui Jing explained. “What you saw earlier were not Xu soldiers, but bandits dressed in Xu’s uniforms.”
Chang Suining looked toward him. “Bandits?”
Cui Jing then told her the story. “On the way from the northern border, I encountered a group of mountain bandits who blocked the road, intending to rob my horse…”
There was no need to dwell on the details. In the end, those very bandits packed up their belongings and pledged allegiance to him.
Chang Suining: “…”
So, he had nothing when he was robbed, yet after being robbed, he ended up with an entire following?
Those bandits truly had a talent for choosing their targets.
Cui Jing said, “Among them, there are quite a few capable men. Taking to the hills was not their choice. If you do not despise their origins, you may take them under your command and have them serve under you in the future.”
So—was this his way of recruiting people for her?
Desperately short of capable hands, Chang Suining thanked Cui Jing without hesitation.
And so, it turned out those “bandits” had stripped the Xu army soldiers of their uniforms and mounted their warhorses.
When Xu Zhengye saw them from afar, he naturally mistook them for his own troops—and thus fell into error.
Of course, it was also possible that Cui Jing had done it deliberately—to confuse the enemy’s eyes.
Otherwise, why would he have placed those wearing Xu army uniforms at the very front?
An army on campaign has its own strategies—there was no need to ask too many questions.
What interested Chang Suining more was: “Just now, since Xu Zhengye had already delivered himself into your hands, why did you not kill him?”
“This is your merit,” Cui Jing replied. “It should be yours to claim.”
Chang Suining froze, then asked, “So that’s why you have not shown yourself—why you didn’t go to Luoyang to meet Li Xian and the Xuanzhe army?”
Was it all because he didn’t wish to take credit from her?
It made sense. If he had been stationed in Luoyang, once Xu Zhengye heard of it, he might well have turned back instead of walking into her carefully laid trap.
She had considered many reasons—but not this one. So simple, and yet something she had never seen before.
Cui Jing tacitly acknowledged it.
“If I had appeared, I might have startled the snake,” he said. “Moreover, if the Xuanzhe army had taken part in this campaign, then even if your name were written on the record of merits, it would have to be shared among many. And if anyone in the court chose to stir up trouble, twisting your achievements and strategy, in the end, they might still blame you for Xu Zhengye’s march to Luoyang.”
Especially since—he knew Li Xian well.
That man, once involved, would seize every possible ounce of credit.
By then, the most Chang Suining could hope for would be those four words—‘merit to offset fault.’
This entire plan was of her own making.
Others, even if they did not assist her, at the very least should not disrupt her arrangement, seize her merit, or place upon her a guilt she did not bear.
In this matter, he too was an “outsider.”
He stayed out of sight because he knew she needed no hero descending from the heavens in her moment of peril—
She herself was the hero.
All he needed to do was ensure that her plan remained undisturbed, silently clearing away any unforeseen obstacles.
And afterward, no one would ever know he had been there.
In this victory that belonged wholly to her, his name did not need to appear at all.
Chang Suining rested her hand upon the horse’s back. After a long pause, she said softly, “But how did you know I set my ambush here?”
He had been out of contact for quite some time, and she had deliberately kept Yuan Xiang from revealing any word, in case of leaks.
Cui Jing turned his head toward the young woman upon the horse. “You told me long ago.”
Chang Suining blinked. “When did I tell you?”
In a dream?
“In your proclamation,” Cui Jing said. “You said you would take Xu Zhengye’s life—and so you would.”
Chang Suining smiled. “Then it seems I told the whole world as well, didn’t I?”
Indeed, she had declared to the world in that written proclamation that she would slay Xu Zhengye.
But among all who had heard, only he truly believed her.
He believed she would succeed, believed she was not boasting, not speaking nonsense.
And his faith was not empty—it was firm, grounded, and reasoned.
He had followed her thoughts step by step, deducing how she would lay her trap.
And in the unseen places, he had removed whatever obstacles might have endangered her plan.
All this, until today, she had never known.
Now, the young man holding her horse said quietly, “I know you do not care about the credit.”
But he cared—for her.
“Still,” he said, “you must claim the merit that is yours.”
She would need the prestige earned from these victories to accomplish the greater things she wished to do.
Chang Suining said, “That’s not true. I do care—such a great merit, after all.”
Cui Jing smiled faintly.
“Cui Jing…”
At the sound of her voice, the young man turned again, his brows and eyes soft with warmth as he looked up at her.
Chang Suining’s bright eyes and white teeth curved in a radiant smile. “Thank you.”
“There’s no need. I did nothing.”
“Then thank you—for holding my horse.”
This time, Cui Jing did not refuse. He smiled. “That, I should do.”
The next moment, Chang Suining pressed lightly against the horse’s back, leaning closer toward him. Her voice lowered to a murmur. “I have one last question for you.”
(A battle won, a brief breath of ease—two chapters to relax before marching on. (づ￣3￣)づ╭ Good night—and don’t forget to vote! (づ￣3￣)づ╭)
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