Chapter 36 - His Majesty cheers on his enemies (1/2)
These were sturdy, healthy soldiers Gu Yuanbai had raised with sufficient meals, and they were very strong and had good endurance. Naturally, it was a piece of cake for them to fish in the river and hunt game in the mountains.
Xue Yuan didn’t let them go deep into the forest. A group of soldiers caught some pheasant and hare at the foot of the mountain, and with some fish and shrimp from the water, the soldiers had a delicious meal.
Xue Yuan looked around. “That’s quite a big meal.”
The officer beside him laughed and said, “The Emperor has been feeding them well so they have a big appetite. The soldiers in the capital alone need to eat and drink this much every day!”
The officer stretched out both hands.
“The food now is good.” Xue Yuan turned around and looked at the fire. The flames flashed before his eyes, just like the fire in the snowy borders. He said in a light tone, “Some years back, while defending the border against the nomads, the soldiers I led were so hungry that they would eat the dried grass padding their clothes.”
In the winter, the border was so cold that it could freeze people to death. The nomads had no food either and crossed the border repeatedly. Xue Yuan had to lead troops stationed at the border with thick snow covering the entire ground. There wasn’t even a single blade of grass peeking out, and one step would ice half a leg.
Standing outside in the wind and cold for less than a quarter of an hour would be enough to cover anyone’s face with ice and snow. Even going out to take a damn piss was to be avoided, less any future offspring would end up frozen as well.
But they were soldiers from the Great Heng, so, naturally, no matter how hard it was, they had to protect the poor people’s food in the winter.
Xue Yuan remembered clearly that the food and winter clothes from the imperial court had been late back then. After they had used up their provisions, unlike the nomads, they couldn’t take their own people’s food. Hungry enough to eat snow, thirsty enough to drink snow, Xue Yuan’s stomach was full of snow.
Even if they filled themselves with snow, it would turn into water nonetheless inside their stomachs. It was impossible to hunt in the winter, and they were reluctant about eating the horses they had gotten from the nomads. When they got extremely hungry and wanted to eat them, they would have to hand them over to the court in the blink of an eye.
On a cold day like that, the soldiers took off their clothes and ate the hay inside out of hunger.
Dry grass didn’t solve things, either. They were to either freeze or starve to death. At that time, Xue Yuan thought, what the fuck is the capital doing?
Where is the Emperor? Where are the ministers?
Are they all fucking dead?
They remembered to ask us for horses and cattle and sheep, but what about our food?
It was really uncomfortable for a leader to watch his soldiers starve and freeze like that.
Back then, Xue Yuan hated the ruler in the capital.
People who eat meat with a mouth coated in oil and never know what it’s like to be hungry.
The officer was interested in Xue Yuan’s experience at the border. “My lord, you should have some military merits, right?”
The corner of Xue Yuan’s mouth went up. “I’m very useless, I have no military merits whatsoever.”
The officer glanced at him strangely. It was obvious that he didn’t believe it, but he didn’t continue to ask. He passed the roasted rabbit meat to Xue Yuan. Xue Yuan gulped it down, devouring it with no difference between the soldiers next to him.
There was a lot of movement at the foot of the mountain. A minion who had been constantly watching for movement at the foot of the mountain, notified Liu Yun the moment the pile of heads was set up. Liu Yun personally walked to the side and looked down the mountain, and saw this group of Imperial officers and soldiers around the fire. They were eating, drinking, talking and laughing, their expressions were extremely relaxed, looking like they were celebrating.
What are they celebrating? They haven’t caught me yet, what are they celebrating?
Liu Yun’s face sank, he couldn’t help but think, could these people already have a way to deal with me?
How can this be!
The more he thought about it, the more he panicked, the more he believed it was just as he feared. The group of men eating and drinking at the foot of his mountain was just showing off and celebrating their victory over the bandits in advance. They had to have a way to break through Xiguang Mountain, and they planned to go up to kill him.
Liu Yun’s gaze landed on the pile of heads that was like a small mountain and his entire body shook, a chill surging through his body. He couldn’t help but think that, if they ran out of food within a month, wouldn’t his head also end up on the pile?
Xiguang Mountain would only last for a month at most.
“Keep an eye on them constantly.” Before heading off to talk with the people in the camp, he repeated his instructions several times. “Notify me if there are any changes, anything at all!”
The minion watching the situation at the foot of the mountain was also terrified, and he stammered, “Y- Yes, yes.”
Soon, the men at the foot of the mountain had a full meal. They were summoned by the official leading them. After telling them who knows what, the Imperial soldiers and cavalry lined up at the foot of the mountain. Seeing this, the young minion cried out, “Leader! It’s not good!”
When Liu Yun heard this, he hurried over, and his eyelid twitched when he saw the situation below. He sent people to investigate what the officers and soldiers were doing and finally received news that they were stacking firewood at the foot of the mountain.
Liu Yun was dumbfounded. “They want to… to set the mountain on fire?”
Naturally, Xiguang Mountain had more than just Liu Yun in charge. When the lower level leaders heard these words, they looked horrifically shocked and they personally went with their followers to check the mountain. Sure enough, the court officers and their soldiers were cutting firewood, and there were already several piles of wood down the mountain road.
It was to burn them alive!
After reporting to Liu Yun, Liu Yun’s face was grave. Finally, he touched his face and said, “It’s late at night and there’s dense dew, so they can’t light them up, and they don’t have time to gather that much firewood. Let’s pack our bags and take advantage of the enemy sleeping to flee in the middle of the night!”
As soon as this was said, many of the leaders agreed. They knew in their hearts that they would die sooner or later if they stayed on the mountain. It was better to escape at night and have a chance to survive.
And Xue Yuan happened to be of the same opinion.
The soldiers’ camp was quiet at night, and the bandits on the mountain waited until late to make sure that the group of soldiers waiting at the foot of the mountain was asleep before carefully walking down.
Darkness concealed their shapes, and it also concealed the shapes of the soldiers, hiding in the dark while watching them. Xue Yuan had hid there with some soldiers and cavalry, the archers lurking for an ambush. After all the men from the mountain camp had stepped onto flat ground, Xue Yuan made a gesture and the archers shot a rain of arrows on them, causing them to fall over screaming.
Someone cried out, “We were tricked!”
The arrows rained nonstop. After the entire group had been made to scatter by the archers, Xue Yuan made a quick decision. “Charge!”
The foot soldiers that had been hiding in the forest showed up just in time to stab the bandits that wanted to run back, the bodies slipping down the mountain. They wanted to resist, but they had already been surrounded by the enemy.
A cluster of torches suddenly lit up, the loud drums were violent and oppressive, and the entire base of Xiguang Mountain was illuminated with bright lamps.
Banners fluttered majestically and the expressions on the faces of the soldiers were imposing and terrifying. Xue Yuan approached the bandits with five hundred cavalry units, and the sound of the horses’ hooves, falling one after another, seemed to be almost hitting the bandits’ hearts.
The light of the torches swayed in the wind. Xue Yuan looked down at the crying bandits and spoke, “Surrender, and your lives will be spared.”
His sturdy horse shook its tail and neighed powerfully.
Xue Yuan hadn’t even changed his clothes, and there was even dry blood on his armor. He had killed a lot of people that day. With a furious aura, his eyes reflected the light of the fires, as horrible as a malevolent ghost’s.
“Surrender, camp leader!!” Someone unknown cried out, and then, continuous cries of “Surrender!” rang out.
The mountain of heads was the best deterrent for them. If they didn’t surrender, they would be beheaded and would die.
“Leader!” the voices cried out, “we don’t want to die! We have to surrender!”
Liu Yun slumped to the ground, shivering uncontrollably, and his teeth rattled as he said, “Lord, we surrender.”
It took a total of three and a half days to wipe out the bandits on the three mountains, of which three days were used to get there and back. The soldiers were extremely fast. Who knew how many of the capital officials’ jaws would drop to the ground over their speed.
While the other soldiers were resting, Xue Yuan had already hurried back to the capital on a fast horse.
When he entered the capital, the sky had already gone dark. It wasn’t an appropriate time to go to the palace to disturb the young Emperor, so he headed straight back to the Xue Mansion.
General Xue was taking a walk in the courtyard with Madam Xue. Hearing that he had returned, he went to take a look, his face dark. “Why are you looking like this?!”
His entire body was bloody and reeked, and his armor was still covered in God knows what. Had this sinful son of his gone on a crazy killing rampage again?
Xue Yuan took a towel a young servant handed him and wiped the dust off of his face. “Prepare a bath, this master wants to wash up.”
He ignored General Xue and was about to walk around him to leave when he suddenly took a step back and looked at Madam Xue. “Mother, where are the clothes?”
Madam Xue was surprised and asked him, “What clothes?”
Xue Yuan pressed his jaw. His nose was full of the scent of blood on his body. He said patiently, “The clothes that His Majesty wore.”
Madam Xue suddenly realized. “The clothes that were worn by His Majesty would naturally be taken away by the palace attendants. Why would they still be in our house?”
Xue Yuan was silent for a while, then suddenly he laughed, unable to suppress it. He turned around and walked towards his room, and then he abruptly said, “They didn’t even give us money for those clothes.”
The young servant behind him asked, puzzled, “What are you talking about, young master?”
The corner of Xue Yuan’s mouth went up. “I have to find a way to get something from that little ungrateful to compensate for the value of the clothes.”
The servant felt confused when he heard it and didn’t ask anything else. After they returned to the room, another servant and him took off Xue Yuan’s armor. The set of armor weighed over twenty kilograms. Without a tall body, it wouldn’t be possible to support the armor, and without a lot of endurance it wouldn’t be possible to wear it to battle.
And Xue Yuan had wore that armor even beheading at least a hundred people, spilling blood in Wangtu Mountain and defeating Xiguang Mountain, and then rushed back in the middle of the night on horseback. He had stayed vigorous even then, which showed how much energy he had. After the servants removed his armor, Xue Yuan stretched his muscles, the ones at his back bulging with strength.
“Young master, the hot water is ready,” called someone from the outside. “Will you take your bath now?”
Xue Yuan nodded and walked out with big strides.
In the Imperial Palace, Gu Yuanbai was also getting ready to rest.
He had just finished bathing, and a palace maid was drying the last bit of water from his head when he learnt of Xue Yuan’s return.
“Half a day.” Gu Yuanbai didn’t know whether to sigh or exclaim. “Tian Fusheng, did you hear that? It only took him half a day to take care of all the bandits in the three mountains.”
Tian Fusheng nodded and said, “Your Majesty, Guard Xue is excellent at strategy.”
Gu Yuanbai closed his eyes and nodded. After a moment of pause, he said, “Tomorrow, tell Qin Sheng to come over to see Us tomorrow.”
The Emperor understood Xue Yuan’s hard work and praised his good efforts to suppress the bandits, so he granted him many rewards, along with two days of rest and a position.
The Emperor gave Xue Yuan the official position of Inspector in chief.1