Chapter 64: The Princess Consort Knows the Answer (1)
Lin Xueyi accidentally woke up when she heard General Zhou talking to Rong Shuyan outside.
Her headache was still there, but it was manageable. She took the robe beside the bed and put it on before finally stepping out of the tent.
There, she saw General Zhou handing a wooden cage to Rong Shuyan. There were at least three eagles inside the cage.
She stared at them in confusion. [Why did General Zhou bring eagles here?]
She had no idea what they were planning. As far as she knew, Rong Shuyan had never mentioned anything about birds before.
However, she did remember him saying that he had a way that might prevent the Southern Wolf Tribe from completely destroying them.
[But why the birds—Oh!] Something suddenly clicked in her mind. [I remember now! Rong Shuyan developed something called... the Scouting Hawks Project? I think that’s the one.]
Lin Xueyi quickly searched through her memories of the novel. Rong Shuyan had once developed a way to scout his enemies from far away, making it much easier for him to find their hidden camps and secret routes.
But then, another memory came to her. [Wait...]
Her expression immediately changed. [Wasn’t Yanyan supposed to use this method only after he had already recovered halfway?]
[If he tries to use it in his current condition, isn’t that basically suicide?!]
On the other side, Rong Shuyan, who had been listening to the words inside her mind all this time, finally turned around and looked at her.
"Princess Consort, did I wake you up?" he asked as General Zhou took one of the eagles out.
Lin Xueyi walked toward Rong Shuyan and pretended that she knew nothing.
"Your Highness..." She glanced at the eagle before looking back at him. "Are you planning to play with the birds?"
Rong Shuyan lightly shook his head. "No. I want to use these birds to scout the Southern Wolf Tribe and find out which route they are taking."
Lin Xueyi slowly nodded. Although she already had some idea of how it worked, she still pretended to be curious. "That sounds interesting. But how is that possible?"
Rong Shuyan then explained how a person could connect their vision with the bird and see through its eyes. He explained it in such a simple way that Lin Xueyi could easily understand.
Of course, Rong Shuyan already knew that Lin Xueyi knew far more than she should. Even so, he strangely enjoyed explaining things to her and watching her pretend that she was hearing them for the first time.
"But Your Highness, you’re not going to... do it yourself, are you?" Lin Xueyi quickly asked.
Before Rong Shuyan could answer, she hurriedly added, "This Consort isn’t saying that because I think Your Highness can’t do it. I’m just... worried about your health."
"No, I won’t do that," Rong Shuyan replied in a low voice, without even a hint of annoyance in his tone. "General Zhou will be the one using the bird."
Lin Xueyi immediately let out a sigh of relief when she heard his answer. "Then... can I stay and see how it works?" she asked, looking at him with interest. "I promise I won’t get in the way."
Rong Shuyan didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked at her face carefully. "Are you feeling better now?"
Lin Xueyi quickly nodded, a soft smile appearing on her face. "Yes! I’m already feeling much better."
Rong Shuyan continued to look at her for another moment, as if making sure she wasn’t forcing herself to act fine.
Lin Xueyi kept smiling at him, speaking inside her mind. [Why does he has to check on me so much? I’m really fine!]
In the end, Rong Shuyan couldn’t find any reason to send her back inside the tent. "Alright, then," he finally said. "You can sit beside me later."
Lin Xueyi’s smile immediately grew wider. "Alright!"
They soon made their way toward a large open area not far from the camp. There were fewer tents there, giving the eagles enough space to take off without anything getting in their way.
Once they arrived, Rong Shuyan asked one of the soldiers to bring a chair for Lin Xueyi.
She sat down beside his wheelchair while General Zhou stood a short distance in front of them with one of the eagles resting on his arm.
"Do you still remember what you need to do?" Rong Shuyan asked.
General Zhou nodded without hesitation. "I do, Your Highness."
He took out a sheet of paper and tore it into two pieces. Then, using his own blood, he drew the same circular symbol on both pieces.
After that, he placed one of them between his eyebrows. The other piece was folded again and again until it became small enough to be tied to a thin string, which would then be placed around the eagle’s neck.
"Oh, wait!"
Just as General Zhou was about to release the eagle, Lin Xueyi suddenly stopped him. She had even risen from her chair without realizing it.
Everyone immediately turned to look at her. Their confused expressions made it clear that they didn’t understand why the Princess Consort was suddenly getting involved in something she knew little about.
Lin Xueyi swallowed hard under their stares. [Why are all of you looking at me like that?!]
Still, Rong Shuyan didn’t stop her or tell her to sit back down. Seeing that, Lin Xueyi gathered her courage and continued. "I... I don’t think putting the paper on the bird will work very well."
General Zhou frowned. "Why? We used this method when His Highness started the project several years ago."
"But..." Lin Xueyi hesitated for a moment before asking, "Did it work?"
General Zhou immediately fell silent. His lips pressed into a thin line, and his gaze slowly shifted to the side. "It’s... a little complicated."
Lin Xueyi immediately understood. "So it failed, right?"
General Zhou said nothing.
[In the novel, Yanyan also had a hard time finding a way to make this method work properly,] Lin Xueyi thought. [He failed again and again before finally finding the best way to do it.]