Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda grimaced as they stretched their feet into the steaming copper basins to wash them. Each person’s feet had large patches of frostbite. The spices were hot and dry—perfectly suited for the condition. One or two pounds of spices boiled into liquid, cooled slightly, and then feet placed inside would have excellent therapeutic effects.
“What a sin, Old Niu. These feet of ours have rendered great service to us in this lifetime. Who would have thought that only today could we finally reward them properly? We must soak them well and absolutely mustn’t waste this. By the time we’re done soaking, these two pairs of feet will probably be edible. Tsk tsk, boy, just how much spice did you bring back? You’re not afraid heaven will strike you with lightning for squandering it like this.”
Niu Jinda closed his eyes, enjoying the piercing tingling sensation coming from his frostbitten areas. Old Cheng’s chatter was annoying, so he threw a foot cloth at him and said, “Settle down for a bit. This tingling sensation isn’t comfortable enough for you? Why so much talk? The child’s filial devotion becomes money in your eyes. No respect for your elders.”
Yun Ye smiled and didn’t join in the conversation, busy on the side adding hot water to the basins. Their frostbite had actually mostly healed. Soaking in spice water at this point could barely relieve their fatigue and help them sleep well at night.
Everything was very harmonious and warm, except that Zhang Liang’s screams constantly coming from behind the tent rather spoiled the mood.
The Emperor probably felt Zhang Liang was still respectful enough, or perhaps he was in a relatively pleasant mood at the moment. Eighty military rod strikes had fallen solidly on Zhang Liang’s buttocks. According to Old Cheng, not a single stroke had been light. His buttocks were beaten until there wasn’t a good piece of flesh left, so they moved the military rods upward. The Emperor showed mercy and passed over the vulnerable parts at the waist, then viciously delivered the remaining twenty military rod strikes on his back.
Zhang Liang had already been beaten until he vomited blood. Old Cheng estimated his internal organs had been displaced. If he didn’t recuperate properly, he wouldn’t live more than two years. Whether he lived or died was in the Emperor’s single thought. As long as no military physician was assigned and no medicinal materials given, that meant the Emperor deliberately wanted Zhang Liang’s life. If a military physician was sent and medicinal materials given, Zhang Liang would have escaped death this time. At most he would be demoted in rank when he returned to Chang’an, and there would be no further troubles. He could live on peacefully.
Li Er ultimately wasn’t a heartless person. Although he was very angry at Zhang Liang’s actions, in the end he remembered his bitter service of preferring death to betraying him in the past. He had Zhang Liang thrown into a dilapidated tent and had a military physician brew medicine and send it over—all medicines for treating displaced internal organs. As for external flesh wounds, the military physician seemed not to have bothered with them.
“Uncle Niu, no matter how you look at it, Zhang Liang is a fierce general of your generation. How can he not even endure rod wounds and shout so loudly? It’s undignified. When this nephew was beaten with rods in the past, I didn’t howl heart-rendingly like him.” Yun Ye asked Niu Jinda with confusion. As for Cheng Yaojin, he was holding his foot basin studying how many types of spices were in it, smacking his lips as if he wanted to drink the foot water.
Before Niu Jinda could speak, Old Cheng spoke first: “You don’t know shit. His Majesty isn’t treating Zhang Liang’s rod wounds—this is punishment. Punishment must be effective, so Zhang Liang is shouting loudly to beg mercy from His Majesty, clearly stating that he knows he was wrong.”
“Also, hehe, let me teach you something, boy. Remember this—when internal organs are displaced, you must shout loudly. This helps the internal organs return to their proper positions. Zhang Liang is a veteran soldier, so he naturally knows this trick.”
“Little Ye, learn from this. Being unyielding is a good thing, but compared to one’s life, it doesn’t count as anything. Although begging for mercy is somewhat contemptible, it can preserve your life. Only by preserving your life can you speak of other things. You must remember this.”
“But the books say: ‘Poverty cannot change him, wealth cannot corrupt him, might cannot bend him—this makes a great man!’ Could what the books say all be wrong? According to Uncle Niu’s explanation, the ancient virtues passed down seem all unsuitable.”
In Yun Ye’s impression, these two before him were absolutely models of manhood, paragons of great men. How could they also approve of Zhang Liang’s wretched behavior?
“Ha, ha, ha!” Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda laughed together. After finishing their laughter, Niu Jinda said to Yun Ye, “Boy, do you know that Old Niu, your Uncle Cheng, and your Uncle Qin are all surrendered generals?”
“Back then, Wagang Mountain was scattered, and your Uncle Cheng, Uncle Qin, and I all followed Wang Shichong to make a living. We fought against the Tang army at first, and we all worked very hard. But your Uncle Qin said no, this Wang Shichong fellow is going to be defeated, and following him won’t bring us any good fruit.”
“So, when Wang Shichong was fighting His Majesty at the Nine Bends, your Uncle Cheng said we brothers should run for it. Thus, right on the battlefield, we few ran out a hundred or so paces, turned around to the dumbfounded Wang Shichong and said: ‘We received your hospitality and wished to repay your kindness. But your suspicious nature and the many slanderers around you make this no place for us to pledge our loyalty. We now respectfully take our leave.'”
“After saying that, we rode our horses at full gallop and ran, afraid Wang Shichong would send people after us. Tell me, was our behavior of betraying our side in battle shameless or not? When we entered the Tang army camp, we few reported for enrollment on our knees. The Tang army’s axemen were lined up like a forest of blades. If anyone’s hand had trembled even slightly, your Uncle Qin, Uncle Cheng, and I would have immediately become ghosts beneath the blade.”
“The humiliation of those days was exchanged for purple robes on our bodies. People in the world always say heroes are not judged by their origins. Han Xin suffered the humiliation of crawling between someone’s legs. Before Su Qin wore the seals of Prime Minister of six states, he too was utterly destitute. The people who say these things are actually not clean themselves.”
“Back then, we were only single-mindedly seeking to survive. Child, don’t look down on Zhang Liang’s behavior. This is seeking to survive. If the head is gone, then truly nothing remains.”
“Uncle doesn’t want you to live too unyieldingly. Unyielding people don’t meet good ends. The previous dynasty’s Gao Ying and Wu Jianzhang both had unyielding natures, yet they didn’t escape the fate of death and clan extermination.”
“Remember, no matter what happens in the future, you must preserve your life. Even if everyone despises you, it doesn’t matter. Your Uncle Cheng, Uncle Niu, and Uncle Qin won’t. No matter what method you use to survive, we won’t despise you—we’ll only be happy. As long as you can survive, we’ll be happy.”
Niu Jinda’s words made Cheng Yaojin sigh endlessly. Thinking of the years past, he couldn’t help but feel melancholy. He patted Yun Ye’s shoulder and went back to his own tent with Niu Jinda.
Though the words sounded harsh, they were absolutely golden advice. Two old generals who had weathered countless storms were treating their past stains as jokes, hoping Yun Ye could live longer in this era. Their experiences were actually a history written in blood and tears.
Zhang Liang’s wailing continued, his voice already hoarse. Lying in the dilapidated tent constantly eroded by bitter wind and rain, he struggled for his old life.
Yun Ye inexplicably felt the sorrow of a rabbit mourning a dead fox. He pulled a thick blanket from his own bed, grabbed a jar of wine with his other hand, and walked to the entrance of Zhang Liang’s tent, preparing to enter.
Two guards wearing bright armor blocked Yun Ye. One of them said in a low voice, “Marquis Yun, please leave quickly. This place is a nest of trouble, and you shouldn’t be tainted by it. Zhang Liang deserves his punishment. You are kindhearted and cannot bear to hear his wailing, but wailing can save lives. You really needn’t do this.”
“Thank you for the reminder, brothers. I served in court alongside Zhang Liang. If His Majesty wants to cut off his head, I have nothing to say. Since His Majesty has spared him from death and needs him to suffer some living punishment, I won’t plead for him either. Just for the sake of former comrades-in-arms, I’m sending him a blanket to ward off the wind and cold, and a jar of wine for him to apply to his wounds so they won’t fester at least. This is all I can do. Please trouble yourselves, brothers, to send these in. I won’t go in myself.”
The guard bit his teeth and sent the blanket and wine jar inside. Zhang Liang’s hoarse voice came out: “Marquis Yun is righteous. Zhang Liang remembers this.”
Yun Ye didn’t do this seeking to bestow favor on others, only seeking peace of mind. Such behavior was foolish, but Yun Ye couldn’t convince himself otherwise, so he would just follow his own nature forward.
Wang Cai was in Lingnan. Yun Ye sat astride a gentle mare instead. Liu Jinbao led the horse, walking with unsteady steps through the muddy ground. Gou Zi had changed into a suit of iron armor covered by a cloak, looking more like a great general than Yun Ye. The white warhorse beneath him was very conspicuous. A great iron spear hung on the bird-wing ring, and a huge bow was slung on his back, making Liu Jinbao purse his lips.
After circling the broken and dilapidated Anshi City once, Yun Ye gained a new understanding of this city. Although the city walls had been blown full of holes by gunpowder, the bricks, tiles, earth, and iron spikes blocking the breaches made them even harder to climb. Yang Wanchun had already used the city’s strength to its utmost limit.
The Goguryeo people were very alert. After just one circuit, Gou Zi had already taken seven or eight stray arrows. The most terrifying time was actually a ballista bolt from an eight-ox ballista. The thick ballista bolt whistled through the air. If Gou Zi hadn’t quickly jumped off his horse, his corpse might already be cold by now. Only the poor white horse was pinned to the ground by the ballista bolt, its hooves twitching feebly a few times—clearly it wouldn’t survive.
Liu Jinbao laughed heartily watching Gou Zi with his cloak covered in muddy water. He finally understood what his lordship had said earlier—on the battlefield, if you want to die quickly, dress like a show-off. Wasn’t it so? Clearly the highest-ranking official here was his lordship, yet the Goguryeo people’s crossbow arrows all greeted Gou Zi.
There were always exceptions. A fellow riding a red horse, wearing white armor, and holding a Sky Piercer halberd was living just fine. This fellow who was even more like Lü Bu than Lü Bu himself, upon seeing Gou Zi attacked, without a word hung up his Sky Piercer halberd, took down his huge bow, nocked a thumb-thick arrow, and shot it toward the city wall.
He shot three arrows in succession, and three or possibly four Goguryeo people collapsed limply on the city wall. This was within the shooting range of an eight-ox ballista, yet this fellow’s arrows could reach the city wall? Even more soul-stirring than Feng Ang’s archery.
Yun Ye had seen such a person before—the one called Eagle Shooting Hand, Heichi Chang. Now that fellow could only shoot a few arrows casually on the Great Tang’s festive days, drawing a few shrieks from noble ladies, and that completed his mission. Now the Great Tang had produced another such abnormal fellow?
“What’s so great about that? My lordship once ordered a eagle shooting hand’s arm cut off. Hehe, the one who carried it out was me. I still have that arm—I’ll show you when we get back to Chang’an.”
Liu Jinbao’s domineering behavior was famous in the military camp. Ever since his lordship became a famous Great Tang general, he found everything displeasing to his eyes, including this white-armored captain who had just avenged Gou Zi.