OFTLHFRO C120

Chapter 120: Departure

Troop inspection?!

Luo Mingchen was dumbfounded. Did this mean they were preparing to leave already?

By “after the New Year,” didn’t it usually mean after the Lantern Festival?

And they had just moved into their new home…

He grumbled inwardly, but still watched as Huo Yan left with the attendants.

Truth be told, Luo Mingchen didn’t know exactly what Huo Yan had done inside the palace.

He only knew the emperor was very pleased with him, granted him the rank of general, and ordered him to lead the army to the frontier as soon as possible.

Once the troop review was complete and provisions were loaded, they set out on the third day of the new year, taking along the five secret guards they had only just hired.

It was bitter cold, and they left without hesitation.

Casting one last look at the capital they had barely lived in, Luo Mingchen pulled back his gaze and said: “I thought we’d at least stay until after the Lantern Festival.”

Riding alongside the carriage, Huo Yan said: “They can’t wait that long.”

Luo Mingchen squinted at him. “It’s freezing outside. Why don’t you ride in the carriage instead?”

From the capital to the frontier, the journey would take at least half a month.

The cold was unbearable. He’d even heard that much of the road near the frontier was unpaved, and who knew how much time would be wasted along the way?

If he stayed on horseback the whole way, even if his body endured it, wouldn’t his face be ruined?

The icy wind cut like knives. What if his face got blown crooked?

Huo Yan didn’t know what was running through Luo Mingchen’s mind. He thought he was merely worried for his health, so he said: “I’m not cold.”

And this wasn’t just lip service—Huo Yan had activated his internal force to ward off the chill. For seven or eight hours at a time, it was no problem.

Luo Mingchen looked out at his face through the window, sighed softly, and handed him a scarf.

The scarf was from his space, but the design was plain, nothing too conspicuous—except the color was a bit on the pink side.

“Make sure to wrap up your face well.”

Hearing this, Huo Yan glanced at the scarf being handed over and finally understood his meaning.

“Oh.”

He took it and actually wrapped it around his head.

From the front he looked cute; from the back he probably resembled a burly village woman.

Luo Mingchen imagined it and burst out laughing. “You’re really so obedient.”

Driving the carriage, Xiao Chen: “…”

Had he misheard? What on earth did this “General Huo” have to do with the word “obedient”?

Yet when he glanced back and saw him sitting there obediently wrapped up, Xiao Chen fell silent. Come to think of it, yes—he was rather obedient.

Huo Xiang only dared laugh in secret, while Huo Yuhui forced himself to keep a straight face, trying hard not to look different from usual.

Luo Mingchen saw little Xinyue staring unblinkingly at Huo Yan and asked with a grin: “Yueyue, does your Little Daddy look handsome?”

Xinyue nodded hard. “Mm! Handsome.”

“Pfft—hahaha!”

Luo Mingchen couldn’t hold back.

When Xinyue saw him laughing, she laughed along too.

Huo Yan, however, paid it no mind.

Regardless of the color, the scarf really did keep his face warm.

After laughing for quite a while, Luo Mingchen saw how calmly Huo Yan took it and lost interest. Propping his chin with one hand, he said, “If you won’t come inside, then I’ll close the window.”

The wind that rushed in as the carriage moved cut against the face. Even with a brazier inside, it wasn’t warm enough.

“All right.”

Huo Yan paused, then added: “I’ll be fine.”

Only then did Luo Mingchen shut the window.

After a day’s journey, they camped for the night in tents.

Luo Mingchen pulled out a large pot, planning to have hotpot.

Out in the wilderness, it was hard to make a spicy broth, so he simmered a pot of clear mushroom-and-pork-rib soup, added chicken, Chinese yam, potato slices, and a big bowl of duck’s blood. Finally, he mixed a bowl of chili sauce, giving a little to each person except for Xinyue.

Knowing they were going on a long trip, Luo Mingchen had bought plenty of pork and slaughtered eight chickens and ducks, keeping them in his space where they wouldn’t spoil. Whenever they wanted to eat, he could just take one out.

These chickens and ducks were much larger than ordinary ones. When the couple left Taohua Town, they’d taken the poultry along. Fortunately, there hadn’t been too many. They’d already eaten some, and the freed-up planting area in his space was just right for raising them.

In the space, they had grown even bigger. Each one weighed over ten jin—almost like geese.

Thankfully the meat wasn’t tough. Their size was somewhere between mutated beasts and normal poultry.

They had the bulk of small mutated beasts but the tenderness of regular chickens and ducks, unlike mutated beasts, whose meat was always stringy and coarse.

It was the children’s first night in tents, and they were all a little excited.

After dinner, night had fallen. Huo Xiang poked his head out of the tent, his little face turning red with cold before he quickly pulled back inside.

Whenever it got this cold, Luo Mingchen always sighed: “If only I had fire powers.”

Fire plus water meant instant hot water.

They wouldn’t have to go searching for firewood.

Huo Yan looked at him and, guessing he wanted to bathe, asked: “Shall I fetch some firewood?”

“Forget it. Soaking our feet is fine too.”

Though they had a decent supply of charcoal in his space, the journey was long and it was better to save it.

He had only managed to fit the charcoal in by unloading lots of things like detergent and glass counters.

Otherwise, the road would’ve been far less convenient.

And in this kind of cold, finding firewood in the snowy wilds was no easy matter.

On the third day after Huo Yan departed with his men, in the imperial palace, inside the imperial study—

The emperor sat in the upper seat, brooding over the reports in his hand.

So it had been Huo Yan who repelled the rebel army in Yuanzhou?

But why would the prefect of Yuanzhou believe in a powerless, positionless Huo Yan?

Then he remembered that during that time, the Third Prince had also gone out on campaign. The emperor’s voice turned cold: “Summon Prince Yi.”

The grand chamberlain at his side bowed. “Yes.”

Unaware of what was happening back in the capital, the group pressed onward.

When they passed through Yuanzhou Prefecture, they stayed in the yamen.

The prefect came to call on them, and Luo Mingchen asked: “Does Your Excellency have some matter?”

The prefect, surprised to see them again, now treated them with far more respect since Huo Yan had become a general. “There is someone who claims to be General Huo’s friend, requesting to see him.”

Luo Mingchen blinked, puzzled, and looked to Huo Yan. “A friend?”

He hadn’t heard of Huo Yan having any friends here.

“Yes. His name is Xiao Lin.”

Hearing that name, Luo Mingchen was even more astonished. “Your Excellency is certain it was Xiao Lin? Did he bring anyone?”

The prefect replied: “He brought a woman.”

So it really was the Xiao Lin they knew…

Huo Yan said: “Please trouble Your Excellency to bring them here.”

“There is no need to be so polite, General.”

Soon enough, a yamen runner escorted the pair inside.

Xiao Lin bowed. “I pay my respects to General Huo.”

Huo Yan dismissed the runner before turning to Xiao Lin. “Stand up straight. Speak.”

“Alrighty.”

Xiao Lin resumed his usual demeanor, grinning. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for you lot to come through. You don’t know, Hua-niang and I have been stuck in Yuanzhou for half a month.”

Luo Mingchen frowned. “Brother Xiao, what were you waiting for us for?”

“Why, to go make our fortune together, of course.” Xiao Lin spoke with righteous certainty. “Now that you’ve risen up, as your elder brother, how could I not latch on? After all we’ve been through together, Huo little brother, you can’t have forgotten me!”

Uh…

But they were heading to the frontier, a perilous place. If Xiao Lin were truly just after a cushy position, he could’ve waited until they were actually successful and then come to join them.

As it was, they were being used as pawns, sent out to stall for time. Hardly anyone believed they would win and return alive.

As for why the emperor hadn’t sent a stronger general—according to Huo Yan, those who could go didn’t want to, and those who wanted to weren’t allowed. Everyone was waiting for Huo Yuntao to relinquish his military authority.

But the emperor knew his two favored sons well enough. If he’d sent their men instead, the frontier probably couldn’t be held.

Those two only knew how to squabble endlessly, caring nothing for the lives of the people, thinking only that as long as they toppled the other, all was well.

With no better choice, Huo Yuntao had recommended Huo Yan to the emperor.

That way, the Huo family army wouldn’t fall under either prince’s control, the frontier could be properly defended, and no political infighting would drag it down.

And so, once the emperor had seen Huo Yan’s abilities for himself, he immediately granted him the title of general.