“Don’t be afraid.” A low voice suddenly sounded in her ear. Yang Feng approached from behind, patting Qing Xia’s shoulder and taking her horse’s reins in his hand, saying in a deep voice: “Just follow behind me later. Be careful sitting on the horse—don’t fall off.”
Such concern was understandable. After all, in others’ minds, she was just an abandoned palace consort—for such a sheltered lady from a noble family to mount a war horse unharmed was already extremely fortunate.
“Alright.” Qing Xia nodded, giving Yang Feng a brilliant smile. Even with her completely altered features and added mustache, it was still dazzling. Yang Feng was slightly stunned, then turned away, leading Qing Xia’s horse reins as he walked ahead.
Following behind Yang Feng, they took their positions in the formation. One hundred thousand men gathered in one place, yet it was extraordinarily quiet—no one spoke loudly. The war drums on the command platform suddenly began thundering. Qing Xia raised her head to look toward the platform. She saw Chu Li in silver-white armor, wearing a helmet with white tassels hanging from the top, his hand on his sword hilt, heroic and spirited with an air that pierced the clouds—truly possessing the kingly bearing of a young emperor.
Fierce drumbeats shook the heavens. In such cold winter, the drummer was bare-chested, sweat slowly flowing down his muscular body in the morning mist. Suddenly, the drumbeats stopped abruptly. Yang Feng pulled Qing Xia down, and she knelt accordingly. All soldiers almost simultaneously prostrated themselves, shouting in unison: “Long live our King!”
Perhaps the pedantic, impoverished scholars of the court were still obsessing over whether Chu Li had ascended the throne and whether imperial ceremonies should be used, but in the eyes of these imperial soldiers, Chu Li had long been Chu State’s true ruler in name and reality.
The deafening sound echoed loudly across the training ground. Chu Li raised his hand and waved. A guard on the high platform pulled the black canvas behind him. With a thunderous sound, canvas as tall as a house immediately fell, followed by a wild beast’s roar. Qing Xia looked closely and saw it was a fierce striped tiger. On both sides of the tiger were two bloody large characters: “WAR” and “PEACE.”
“The small territory of the Black Wu tribe in the southern borderlands dares to rebel, with beacon fires burning through twenty-eight stockades. Seventeen of our Great Chu’s southern border outposts have been challenged. All the civil officials in court advise me, saying: ‘A new emperor’s enthronement should adopt lenient policies to pacify the frontiers.’ But I want to hear the voices of Great Chu’s sword-bearers. You conquered this kingdom—you tell me: is it WAR! or PEACE!”
“WAR!” A tremendous sound exploded like thunder on flat ground. Chu Li stood high on the platform, shouting his question, while the crowd below was filled with righteous indignation. One hundred thousand men shouted in unison with earth-shaking momentum, yellow sand swirling everywhere.
At this moment, with a whooshing sound, a sharp gleam suddenly shot from the crowd toward the command platform. The guards behind Chu Li panicked, shouting loudly, but Chu Li remained unmoved.
A piercing scream immediately rang out. Everyone looked closely and saw that the arrow had struck the tiger’s eye with perfect precision. While hundred-pace marksmanship wasn’t considered a supreme skill in the army, this arrow’s miraculous aspect was that it entered through the left eye and exited through the right, piercing both of the tiger’s eyes with one arrow, finally penetrating completely through and steadily embedding in the character “PEACE”!
All eyes immediately turned downward. Yang Feng stood majestically in place, his blue armor making his figure appear even more upright and dashingly unrestrained. Holding a massive strong bow, his face stern as water, he still maintained his archery stance.
“Who dares! How bold!” A close guard immediately drew his sword, jumping in front of Chu Li and shouting: “Daring to assassinate His Highness!”
Yang Feng remained fearless, speaking clearly: “The southern borderlands are barren, with few soldiers and sparse population. For a hundred years they’ve submitted to Great Chu without incident. This time they dare openly challenge Great Chu’s authority—they must have been incited by treacherous people to be so bold. Your Highness has just assumed the throne—it’s truly inadvisable to wage war against the southern borders, lest we fall into villains’ traps and cause the southern territories to fragment. This humble soldier advocates peace. Please reconsider, Your Highness!”
“How dare you! What’s your status? Is it your place to speak here?” The close guard shouted, still blocking in front of Chu Li.
“This humble soldier is a small squad leader in the first imperial guard unit.”
“Haha!” Thunderous laughter immediately spread throughout the entire military camp—everyone burst into laughter. They thought to themselves: you’re just a small squad leader daring to speak so boldly here. Captain Li of the first unit glared at Yang Feng with angry eyes, extremely furious.
“Guards! Arrest him!”
“Wait!” Chu Li said lightly, slowly turning his head, his eyes like a hawk’s, fixing on Yang Feng.
Yellow sand rose from the ground, striking against everyone’s cold armor. Qing Xia stood behind Yang Feng, seeming to feel that all the cold wind became somewhat warmer when it reached her.
Chu Li stood on the command platform, looking down at that low-ranking soldier standing majestically below, his cold gaze like frost. Holding a whip with the handle pointing diagonally at Yang Feng, he said in a deep voice: “Continue.”
“Though my position is humble, I dare not forget my concern for the country. Though this humble person’s rank is low, I dare not forget my responsibilities for a single day. Your Highness once resolved national crisis by spending ten years as a hostage in another country. Today, this humble person is also willing to repay Great Chu with my passionate blood and this head. When Great Chu’s revival comes, that will be when this humble person can rest in peace beneath the yellow springs. I request Your Highness to dispatch me to investigate the southern borders, to clear the way for our Southern Chu iron cavalry!”
The resonant words fell upon the sand-covered training ground. All eyes focused on Yang Feng with various expressions. Every person from South Chu knew well the strange and dangerous aspects of the southern borderlands. The southern borders occupied vast territory with abundant resources, but over the years, South Chu’s several military expeditions had failed to bring the southern territories under control. The reason wasn’t whether the south had many soldiers and generals or sufficient reserves, but because that place was filled with poisonous insects, had fierce customs, and extremely treacherous terrain—the slightest carelessness could result in total annihilation.
Suddenly, Qing Xia seemed to understand what this man intended to do. A thick sourness struck her heart, and flying sand immediately blurred Qing Xia’s eyes.
“Do you know that I’ve already sent over thirty teams, more than nine hundred scouts, yet not one has returned alive from the southern borders? Even so, do you still want to go?” Chu Li’s voice was low but clearly echoed across the vast training ground, carrying heavy oppressive weight. Everyone held their breath, waiting for this recklessly bold small squad leader’s response.
“This subject is willing!” Yang Feng lifted the front of his armor, knelt on one knee, and declared loudly: “To share the country’s worries is my bounden duty!”
“Oh?” Chu Li snorted lightly, saying in a deep voice: “Then what makes you think I should believe you—believe you can surpass my country’s nine hundred properly trained scouts, believe you can bring back useful intelligence, believe you can return safely from the southern borders?”
“Because this subject was born in the southern borders.” Yang Feng suddenly raised his head, his eyes tough as iron with the stubborn sharpness of pressing forward regardless. “This subject isn’t going as a scout—I’m merely returning home.”
“Haha! What a fine ‘merely returning home’!” A great laugh suddenly soared skyward. Qing Xia stood dazedly among the hundred thousand troops, looking toward that young emperor who had always been gloomy, mysterious, and taciturn, unable to imagine he could have such an expression of hearty laughter. Chu Li laughed boldly and loudly: “You have courage and brains—being a small squad leader truly wastes your talents.”
At this point, Chu Li’s expression suddenly became stern, his voice turning cold: “However, though you possess exceptional abilities, you’re eager for quick success, don’t understand the middle way, don’t know how to protect yourself wisely, don’t comprehend military camp philosophy. In seeking advancement, you’ve angered the masses. It seems you’ve spent too little time in the army and need tempering. Last night, someone said I couldn’t distinguish good from evil, that my rewards and punishments were unclear. Today I’ll have both rewards and punishments. You dare speak directly with every word hitting the mark—you have courage and insight. I reward you with a hundred taels of gold, ten fine horses, and three chests of brocade. But you spoke rashly with arrogant attitude, showing disrespect to your superior generals—this is disrespectful and unrighteous. I demote you one rank, remove your small squad leader position, and assign you to night watch duty at the front camp for one month. Do you accept this?”
“Your Highness speaks extremely well—this subject is completely convinced!” Yang Feng responded in a deep voice without the slightest hesitation.
Chu Li looked at Yang Feng with a faint smile, saying: “You’re quite good. If you can make me take notice of you again next time, I’ll give you the opportunity to tell me your name.”
As soon as these words fell, everyone immediately buzzed with excitement. Yang Feng knelt on one knee, responding loudly: “Thank you for Your Highness’s great kindness!”
“This matter ends here. General Hou, begin training!”
“Yes!” Hou Yong shouted loudly, leaping forward, mounting his horse with a thunderous leap, his blade held horizontally as he commanded sternly: “Form battle array!”
Yang Feng stood up, quickly grasping Qing Xia’s horse reins and returning to the ranks. All worries were obviously unnecessary. When Qing Xia returned to camp, the sky had gradually darkened. Yang Feng sat on the felt mat, repeatedly polishing a short sword in his hands. Qing Xia suddenly stepped forward, snatched away the short sword, and said in a deep voice: “I’ll handle my own affairs myself. You and I are neither relatives nor friends—you needn’t take such great risks for me.”
Yang Feng looked up, raising an eyebrow, saying lightly: “I’m merely trying to win some performance opportunities before His Highness the Crown Prince. It has nothing to do with you.”
“Don’t try to deceive me!” Qing Xia shouted angrily: “You want to go to the southern borders as a scout—isn’t it to find me an escape opportunity along the way?”
Seeing Yang Feng bow his head in silence, Qing Xia crouched down, speaking seriously and sincerely: “Yang Feng, you’ve already helped me greatly. I’m very grateful.”
“No need.” Yang Feng shook his head, his voice somewhat low: “Just take good care of yourself—that’s enough.”
“You and I have known each other for only one day,” Qing Xia said in a deep voice: “Yet you’ve repeatedly saved me. When I saved you that day, it was merely a small effort, but now if things go wrong, you face the serious crime of family extermination.”
“I have no family to exterminate.”