The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1030

Chapter 1030: 494 Siege at the City Gates (1st Update)

In the following days, a relentless snowstorm trapped them inside the rock cave, where Gu Jiao, with nothing better to do, practiced her archery.

After providing Gu Jiao some instruction last night, Tang Yueshan woke up with regret—he had inadvertently assisted an enemy of the Tang Family.

It so happened that Gu Chengfeng was skilled in archery, and upon seeing Gu Jiao practice in the cave, he came over to give her tips.

He held nothing back from Gu Jiao; whatever he knew, he shared generously, even fashioning a makeshift target with a shield and some firewood for her to shoot at on the cave wall.

Gu Chengfeng’s archery was not bad, after all he was a young master from the Marquis Residence; even the weakest member, Gu Chenglin, had learned to shoot from horseback at a young age. However, Gu Chengfeng’s skills were only impressive amongst average men—standing among Tang Family archers, he fell short.

Tang Yueshan wasn’t boasting when he said that any archer from the Tang Family could outshoot Gu Chengfeng by a long shot.

The worst archer of the Tang Family was expected to be able to hit a target from a hundred steps away.

Watching Gu Chengfeng’s pointers to Gu Jiao, Tang Yueshan found it unbearable to watch.

"You won’t go wrong listening to me!" Gu Chengfeng told Gu Jiao.

Tang Yueshan rolled his eyes in disdain. Not go wrong? The aiming was all wrong! Can the bow be pulled like that? Can arrows be aimed like that?

This was even more intolerable than Gu Jiao’s mistakes.

And then Tang Yueshan played the fool again.

Tang Yueshan played the fool, day after day.

Until the snow stopped.

The old marquis’s post-surgical infection had cleared up; although he was older, his constant physical training meant his constitution was as strong as a young man’s, and his wounds were healing well—Tang Yueshan’s even more so.

Gu Jiao removed the stitches from two of the wounds on Tang Yueshan’s thigh.

The group crossed through the forest and arrived at a small village on the outskirts of Lingguan City. There, Gu Jiao bargained with villagers for an ox cart, trading her own two horses for the ox, giving the extra horse to Tang Yueshan.

Tang Yueshan mounted the horse and said to them, "Just follow this road straight ahead, and you’ll reach Yuegu City."

Gu Chengfeng, holding the reins of his horse, hesitated for a moment before saying to Tang Yueshan, "Are you... really going to Ye City alone? Why not—"

He wanted to suggest that Tang Yueshan accompany them back to Yuegu City first, settle his grandfather, and then both of them could go to Ye City together.

Gu Chengfeng wasn’t particularly keen on helping Tang Yueshan, but trapped inside Ye City were the imperial troops after all. No longer the naive young man who had first come to the border, the flames of war and the collapse of the homeland meant that as a son of Zhan Country, he could no longer remain indifferent.

Gu Chengfeng left those words unspoken, but Tang Yueshan understood and said, "If a small number could settle it, I’d manage myself; if not, having the two of you added wouldn’t help anyway. Better not to join and march to your deaths."

The difference between one and three in fighting strength was significant in the arena, but in the face of tens of thousands on the battlefield, it made little to no difference.

Gu Chengfeng found his words reasonable and couldn’t refute them.

And so, they went their separate ways.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng returned to Yuegu City with the old marquis, while Tang Yueshan sped toward Ye City.

"What do you think he’s going to do?" Gu Chengfeng asked with concern.

Gu Jiao too wanted to know what Tang Yueshan had in mind; he didn’t seem the type to rashly seek his own death, he must have had a strategy.

Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng made it back to Yuegu City.

The situation in Yuegu City had grown three times more tense than before they left—the shops on the Avenue were almost all shut, and the pedestrians had vanished, as though a storm was brewing.

"Is this what it feels like when a battle is approaching?" Gu Chengfeng said with a mix of emotions.

Gu Jiao responded with a non-committal hum.

Three other cities had already seen the onset of battle, and the citizens of Yuegu City were as prepared as they could be, yet they couldn’t change the fact that the city became a human purgatory, the most tragic ending amongst all the border cities.

The Chen Country’s forces massacred the entire city.

Men, women, elderly, children, the sick and weak, not even the livestock were spared.

The cart arrived at the Governor’s Mansion.

The one who came out to greet them was still Master Hu.

After days apart, Master Hu looked even more haggard than before; he rushed out, holding onto his official cap, both excited and astonished, "Ah, you two lords have finally returned! The night when both of you left without a word, you scared me! I feared something might have happened to you..."

Gu Chengfeng frowned impatiently, "All right, enough, let’s get inside the residence."

The wind was howling outside; they had been exposed all the way and were nearly frozen to death!