Chapter Eighty-six,
Eliminating Locusts

“Your Highness, this mustn’t be done!” Qing Ling’s county official Lu Zhi Nian thought his ears weren’t good due to his old age, and misheard the young crown prince in front of him. After blankly standing for a moment, he then clasped his hands and clamoured, “When it comes to disasters of nature, how can they be suppressed with human power! That locust is the product of the Yin and Yang losing balance after raising troops and its violent airs becoming an insect, how could one eat it, please reconsider, your Highness!”

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 86” →

Chapter Eighty-five,
Locust Plague

“Aye, isn’t this Duke Qi’s residence?” A bit of red was still left on the tip of Xiao Zuo’s nose, he lifted his head up and looked at the plaque hanging on the doors of the residence, now fancily written with, “Crown Prince Residence”.

He Xuan glanced at the plaque, “You came here before?”

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 85” →

Chapter Eighty-four,
Return

At Mt. Hong Da, there wasn’t that big of a sensation, or perhaps Xiao Zuo simply forcefully stripped the occasional scattering slivers of yearning for home blooming from the ends of the fine branches away- in the end, Mt. Hong Da was not a place he was familiar with, that when he was staying in the room, other than the weather being a bit warmer, it seemed to not be that different from Jin.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 84” →

Chapter Eighty-three,
Reunion

No more than five days since Lan Shou Yi died, that elusive eastern expedition finally arrived late.

“Your Highness, the eastern expedition’s General Fu has arrived.” Adjutant An Qing rubbed his hands saying. He Xuan glanced as his hands that went red due to the cold, and slightly faintly thought, so he already came to Nan Liang so long that it had already entered winter.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 83” →

Chapter Eighty-two,
Nightmare

There were only a few words left in the later generations regarding Lan Shou Yi’s death.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 82” →

Chapter Eighty-one,
Defeat

Gu Cheng Ping waited for the two to exit the big tent, then wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, and headed out as well.

To hold a reception for Xiao Wen An, He Xuan ordered the chef to go to the market to chop some meat and buy a chicken. It then got washed and defeathered, placed in with sliced ginger, star anise, leeks and apples, then cooked in the pot with a big fire to remove the foulness, and added with sauce and simmered with medium heat for half the day- the fragrance was so thick and rich, it congested the entire encampment with the night winds, making the bellies of the soldiers on night’s watch all rumble.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 81” →

Chapter Eighty,
Army Inspector

The dusk-yellow daylight seemed like an oil lantern about to burn out, lingering in the whimsical overlapping between day and night, layering the mountain ranges with a hazy glow as it wanted. The horizons would occasionally pass by with a few swallows returning to their nests, the tops of theirs heads would clash with the slightly frosty cool breezes, then like their entire bodies got startled, sudden tremble up and down in the air, then stabilize once again, shake their wings, and head off towards the young swallows crying while waiting to be fed in the nest.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 80” →

Chapter Seventy-nine,
Crow

“You want to go to Feng Province?” Fu Zhan Chuan hurriedly pressed his voice down, he guiltily peeked all around, then swallowed the plum blossom pastry in his throat down, and asked, “Have you gone mad? At most, his Highness will come back in half a year, if you are bored, you can just find me some more.”

Xiao Zuo poured wine for himself, and put it by his lips to take a sip, “That…… that is not the reason why.”

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 79” →

Chapter Seventy-eight,
Sister

“Duke, Duke, someone outside is looking for you.” Zi Wan’s arm crook was hanging with a flower basket- these two days, the plum blossoms in the forest to the west of the crown prince residence bloomed, Zi Wan and Ling Xiang would use their free time each day to pick a basket of fallen plums, use water to wash them and dry, then make them into perfume sachets, with a kind of tranquil affection to it.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 78” →

Chapter Seventy-seven,
Old Man

“Your Highness, the food is warmed up……” A private soldier brought food from the mess cook’s area, it had already been warmed up three times- it was the first time he was serving royalty of this degree, a true descendant of nobility, and furthermore, this master had had naturally angry brows, prestigious without raging, and looked to be the reincarnation of Alkaid^[1], a person who was like a demon- even though he had served for about a month, but when speaking with He Xuan, he was still scared to the point of trembling with fear. Inside the room, He Xuan was draped with an outer robe, with the right hand rubbing the sword handle, turning a deaf ear to his words, and was still discussing military affairs with General Lan.

Continue reading “[Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw] Chapter 77” →