Chapter: 6577

The leading man was looking at the direction of the iron tracks, occasionally glancing at his watch, muttering to himself: "It's already around eight o'clock. Where is the train?"

Just then, a white-skinned man with a worried look rushed over, approached the leading man, and said in perfect Chinese without any accent: "Commander, Qián (Song) asked me what time the train would arrive. She said that if it can't be installed by today, she'll report to the Dujudao, asking the Grand Duke to punish you."

The man called Commander looked annoyed and said: "I reported to her this morning about the damage to the electrical circuit at the Casa Blanca Port freight station. At the same time, I confirmed it with my colleagues on that side. The freight station's electrical circuit is indeed damaged, causing all trains to be affected differently today. But the train will leave around five o'clock in the afternoon and should arrive tonight. Why does she keep asking me repeatedly?"

Just as he was speaking, a woman's voice rang out coldly: "You, Commander, are also working for our Lord's sake. I'm urging you because this progress is already lagging behind schedule. If the Grand Duke finds out, Song may just get scolded a few times. But you're the one directly responsible. When the time comes, you won't be able to hide it easily."

Commander immediately turned around and saw a young woman with long hair tied up behind her head and wearing a white shirt, already walking onto the platform.

This woman's white shirt had a hint of ancient Chinese flavor. Her hair was bound with a silver-colored thread, and she even wore a slender silver sword at her waist. If she weren't standing on this train platform, she would seem like a character from a martial arts novel.

However, despite being hundreds of meters away, her voice could suddenly reverberate in Commander's ear like thunder.

He paled, thinking to himself: "This is the true power of the mages. With just a few words, they can make people tremble with fear. This is not just a display of inner energy but also a demonstration of their control over their own physical strength. If she uses her full strength again, I might even lose my footing..."

Commander was startled after that, and quickly turned around to face the woman. Before reaching out to her, he had already formed fists at his headtop, waiting until he reached the front of the row to then kneel down on one knee, greeting respectfully: "Sir, please don't misunderstand, I have no intention to offend you, only that this batch is indeed difficult, and since purchasing it has been a hassle, taking a very long time to finally arrive at my post. I thought for sure we would be able to depart early today, but didn't expect the cargo station to have another circuit problem again..."

He hurriedly added: "But please, sir, don't worry, the train is indeed departing, even if it's slow, it should arrive within half an hour."

The young woman remained silent, her eyes looking at the other end of the railroad tracks. She opened her mouth and said: "Commodore Yu, I'll listen to your explanations about these objective reasons, but General doesn't necessarily understand them today. If this equipment arrives on time, you only have three days to install and test it, and after that, everything will be done without error. Then you all need to prepare for the exchange of blood in readiness, time is very urgent now."

As the woman referred to as Song Sir spoke out the words "exchange of blood", everyone's expression around her suddenly turned tense.

The commander hurriedly asked respectfully: "Song Sir, I dare ask, what do you mean by 'exchange of blood'?"

Song Sir replied calmly: "Look at how people react when they hear those three words. You should already have some understanding about it. Your Cavalry Guards are not just ordinary soldiers; information hasn't been that closed off from the top. Something this big would have the special envoys above coming to brief you as well."

The commander immediately bowed his head, speaking with a serious and frightened tone: "I don't dare to speculate about the orders from above. I only asked because Song Sir mentioned it, if Song Sir is not willing to reveal it, then I will treat it as if I never asked..."

Song Sir spoke calmly again: "There's no harm in telling you, since this is also one of my purposes for coming this time. It's about time I started preparing too."

She paused briefly and looked around at everyone before continuing: "The exchange of blood means that the imperial court requires all stationed Cavalry Guards and family members to carry out a rotation. Some leave with the Cavalry Guards, while others stay behind; some stay with their family members leaving, and others take over as replacements..."

"It's natural for those staying behind to have other Cavalry Guards replace them in value. Those who leave will also have their family members replaced by other Cavalry Guards' family members so that you all can care for them on behalf of us."

When everyone heard this, their hearts sank to the bottom instantly.

These Cavalry Guards, although they don't need to be as loyal as those who died for their country, still have no freedom to speak of. They and their family members' lives are all sustained by the emperor's remedy, and deserting? That's something they dare not do, because if they dare to flee, even if the Imperial Court doesn't pursue them, they would still be bound to die.

So, their greatest driving force is their family members.

At least, they still have family members by their side.

If they perform well and achieve great things, they may even have opportunities for promotion. After being promoted, they can take up more important positions under the Duke's command, which would allow their family members to have better living conditions. They might even be able to nurture their children into scholars, who could then obtain a legitimate identity in society.

However, now the Imperial Court is actually forcing them and their family members apart, which is a crushing blow to them!

The commander's mood was heavy as he asked, "Song Sir, this... this exchange of blood is meant to make all Cavalry Guards part with their family members?" JrNovels.com