“General, according to information, the Hu people sneaked into Yuping Pass, opened the gate, and cooperated with the sudden attack of the Hu people from inside and outside.” The dusty soldiers reported the military situation: “General Zou of Yuping Pass is dead.”
Cen Yelan’s face was grim, and he asked, “How did the enemy sneak into Yuping Pass when the two armies were fighting?”
The soldier lowered his head and stammered, “They came too suddenly and disguised themselves as civilians…”
The hall was in complete silence, and no one dared to speak.
After a while, Cen Yelan asked, “Have all the people evacuated the city?”
“Answer General, General Zou had already arranged for the evacuation yesterday, and most of the people have already evacuated Yuping Pass.” The soldier said, “General Zou… General Zou said that the loss of Yuping Pass was his fault, and he—”
Cen Yelan’s face became even uglier, but he endured it and didn’t call the soldier an idiot. He just let the soldier retreat.
Cen Yi said, “Those barbarians must have been hiding in the city before the war.”
Yuan Zheng remembered something and asked, “The secret passage?”
Cen Yelan said nothing, but Cen Yi nodded and said, “I heard that it was the secret passage that was discovered by His Highness. Later, Ah Lan ordered each city to thoroughly check the list and liquidate the Hu spies who sneaked into the city.”
“We also caught a lot of people at Beicang Pass at that time.” Cen Yi sighed, “General Zou is a veteran of the border army. He has always been proud of his achievements. I guess he didn’t take Ah Lan’s orders seriously, which led to the trouble today and ended up dying for the country.”
There are many veterans who have been guarding the northern border for their entire lives. Most of these veterans are very proud. Cen Yelan is indeed highly respected and has made great military achievements, but he is still young and is just an adopted son of the Cen family. He is not legitimate and naturally disobedient. Yuan Zheng sneered, “How can this be called dying for the country? If he hadn’t thought highly of himself, how could Yuping Pass be lost and the soldiers die in vain?”
“This man—his sins cannot be redeemed by death.”
Hearing this, Cen Yelan glanced at Yuan Zheng. The youth’s brocade clothes were stained with blood, his hair was tied up with a jade crown, and his face with raised eyebrows and eyes showed a bit of rebelliousness. He probably just came off the battlefield, and his body was still covered with blood and sharpness. He looked much more pleasing to the eye than that dandy boy.
Cen Yi smiled bitterly and said, “Your Highness, what you said… makes sense.”
Yuan Zheng did not comment.
Suddenly, Cen Yi said, “Your Highness, it is too dangerous for you to rashly go to the battlefield today.”
Yuan Zheng asked, “Why, does General Cen think that I can’t go to the battlefield?”
He turned his gaze to Cen Yelan, and raised his voice at the end, with a hint of provocation. Cen Yi hesitated for a moment, and Cen Yelan slowly opened his mouth and said, “Brother, it’s fine.”
“Since His Highness insisted on going to the battlefield with us. I believe he understands that there is no distinction between high and low status and that life and death are determined by fate on the battlefield.”
Yuan Zheng was repeatedly treated coldly today, feeling unhappy, and sneered: “Don’t worry, Cen Yelan has already told me very clearly. If I die, I will not implicate you all.”
This battle, fought in the winter of the 28th year of Taihe, lasted for several months. In later generations, many poets wrote about the bitter cold at the border and the dangerous battlefield during those months.
At that time, Cen Yelan had not thought that the fight would last so long.
It was common for the Hu people to invade the border, but they rarely fought for a long time. They always plundered the people of Dayan for supplies. Once the battle line was prolonged, the Hu people will be powerless and could only end in a miserable defeat. Now, the Hu people’s Eldest Prince Shu Dan occupied Yuping Pass, and Yan Le was in a stalemate with Cen Yelan at Beicang Pass. This battle has been going on for a full half month.
There was a lot of snow in the north, and the north wind was as sharp as a knife, whistling at the large black flag with a gold border and the word “Cen” hanging high on the city wall.
Under the city wall, the two armies were fighting, the Hu people were about to retreat, and Yan Le’s long sword was stained with blood. He alone killed dozens of Dayan soldiers, his green eyes flashing with a fierce light, like a lone wolf.
He sat on his horse, and the Hu soldiers around him shouted in unison, the sound was like a tide, and the momentum was very intimidating.
Cen Yelan stood by the city wall, looking at him coldly.
Yan Le laughed loudly and said, “General Cen, what’s the point of resisting stubbornly? You can’t stop my royal cavalry. It’s better to give up the dark and join the light as soon as possible to avoid making unnecessary sacrifices.”
“Cen Yelan, I already told you, if you join us, not only can you be a general, but also a king!”
Cen Yelan pursed his lips, his face cold.
These days, Yan Le came to provoke and challenge every now and then and sent troops to attack the city. He didn’t care about the life and death of the soldiers around him at all and even didn’t hesitate to use their corpses to exhaust them to death.
Suddenly, a cold arrow whizzed towards Yan Le.
The arrow was like a light, fierce and accurate, pointing directly at Yan Le, who was surrounded by people.
Yan Le’s pupils shrank, and he raised his arm to block. The blade trembled violently, and his palm was numb from the shock. In a flash, three more arrows came, all of which were intended to kill him quickly.
Yan Le groaned and knocked the arrows to the ground one by one. Looking up, he saw a young man standing on the city wall. That young man held a bow in his hand, his eyes full of arrogance. He put an arrow on his right hand and said coldly, “You are just a bunch of barbarians who eat raw meat and drink blood. Are you guys worthy?”
As he finished speaking, the arrow had already slipped out of his hand. This arrow was extremely tricky, and it was not aimed at Yan Le but at the flag bearer.
With a creaking sound, the flagpole that the flag bearer was holding high was broken in the middle, and the eagle on the flag fell to the ground with a loud bang.
Yan Le’s face suddenly turned gloomy. The two men looked at each other, neither of them backed down. For no reason, smoke rose up, as if there was a silent sword fight.
Cen Yelan turned his head and glanced at Yuan Zheng. The young man’s hands were stained with blood, and he was still holding the longbow. His posture was upright, like the scorching sun in June.
The northern border was tough, especially during the war, but Yuan Zheng had never backed down in the past half month, which made Cen Yelan look at him differently. He originally thought that Yuan Zheng was a spoiled and arrogant dandy, but he didn’t expect that Yuan Zheng had some blood in his bones.
Most warriors admired the strong, and Yuan Zheng was a master of martial arts. He killed many Hu people with his sword on the battlefield and saved several soldiers. Within a few days, he mixed in with the ordinary soldiers.
Cen Yelan discovered that as long as Yuan Zheng wanted, he could easily become the center of the crowd and make others revolve around him.
Just like when he first arrived, within a few days he asked the soldiers who were training in the parade ground to gather with him to gamble on dice and fight crickets, ignoring the rules.
But—Cen Yelan thought calmly, What does Yuan Zheng have anything to do with him?
Things are getting interesting 😎🍿