Chapter 7 (1/2)
Chapter 7: Encountering Robbers Within the Deep Woods
The entourage left Antung and 1, Jinzhou2, and 3
The roads of early su the spring season The ground was flat and the climate was pleasant Nan Huo and Zhao Ke esti around June, and then after a short rest, head for the Imperial capital They would be able to reach the Ihly around Septee that had been delivered from the back of a fast horse, “this autuhs of relief upon thinking that they would arrive in time
Along the way, the trees and shrubs were luxuriant and the flowers and grass were fragrant However, the land was sparsely inhabited and the fields lay fallow The houses by the side of the road were often abandoned with no one living in them, so all of them looked a bit run down after many years without repair
Lotus knew that this place had always been occupied by northern Yuan dynasty4, and along with the Haed to the Shuangcheng General Governing Office of the Yuan dynasty It wasn’t until the twentieth year of Honghen Lord Protector Lan Yu set out on an exhibition and defeated Naghachu7 in a great battle that the Mongols were finally expelled fro8 Peninsula and thereafterdynasty created the Tieling Garrison and the co Peninsula
It was for precisely thisof the Goryeo dynasty had arisen The king had proclai, the provinces of Liwen, Gao, He, Ding, Xian including the town of Gong Jian are all Goryeo territory”, but had forgotten that these territories had been in the hands of the Mongols for the previous hundred years It had been the Ming dynasty that had expelled the Mongols and thus E of Goryeo had sent King Taejo, then only a coht to use forty thousand cavalry and troops to battle the several hundred thousand strong great Ming arant or naive as the king of Goryeo He had thought deeply and decided that even though they’d already crossed Duck Green River, he would still go back and dispose of the king of Goryeo, hence establishi+ng Korea Afterwards, King Taejo honored Great Ming as the motherland and voluntarily styled Korea into a vassal state He sought Ewu then considered that since there were still large re in the northeast, he would redeploy the Tieling Garrison to the Fengji fort in Liaodong Ezhou District10 of Tieling in his 26th year, leaving the northeast portion of the Korean peninsula to Korea until modern tiwu had an obstinate temper that could to be won over by reason and not by force People who cauments, and battles would find their efforts fruitless Rather, the use of reason and relationshi+ps was much more effective
It had been less than ten years since Lan Yu’s expedition, and the bleak and chilly postwar scenes could be seen in all directions There was no place to take shelter in this desolate land scattered with ruins and wreckage Since Lotus’ entourage consisted of so many people, they couldn’t find places to stay anywhere They could only eat dry rations or cook their own food along the way, pitching their own tents at night to sleep It was a good thing that there was no rain along the way
They had al court had established a Liaodong military waystation here and it happened to be located in Liaoyang It was also called the Liao Middle Guard That night, Nan Huo and Zhao Ke ca to pay her respects Lotus thought for aon their as the e on a fast horse and that the entourage should continue on their way
There were still no signs of hu the way and the trees and shrubbery had becoht of the harsh cruelties of war and how citizens had become destitute and hoan silently reciting scripture
Would this trip to the i up residence within the East Palace truly result in the successful acquirement of reinforcements? Would she be able to satisfy the wishes of everyone and relieve the hardshi+ps of all living creatures?
By now, she had already departed for two months and the hardshi+ps of the road had far surpassed the li at ho and unforeseen consequences The scene was often uncontrollable and diligence was no longer the only factor at play Perhaps she had been too naive? The road was long, what other troubles would it bring? Lotus began to lose her confidence when she thought of the unknown future Perhaps Lee Fangyuan was right What could she do as a weak girl? How much would she be able to accomplish with this trip?
Lee Fangyuan, was he alright? It was already spring, the japanese pirates of the Cholla province had likely begun their activities? Would he lead the arainst the japanese pirates? Would the king and royal consort agree to his participation? And Mother, was everything alright? She must hts were scattered as she hesitated about the direction that she should take
The carriage’s speed began to slon as they travelled Hai Shou was next to the carriage as he said, “Princess, we’re passing through the woods” Liaodong had reat expanse of plains to the west of Liaoyang There was also an exceedingly thick growth of trees there as well Shan Xi lifted the carriage curtains The chill fro out the sky was a bit overwhel There was only a small, narrow road within the forest Nan Huo and Zhao Ke were directing the carriage slow progress, passing through the road one by one Lotus nodded and Shan Xi lowered the curtain
Suddenly, piercing whistles sounded from all directions as a rain of arrows flew out from the woods on both sides Many of the people and horses who lagged behind were ionized wails Soan burning fiercely when they hit the carriages At thatshrilly as they juhtly at their reins, but round after the back of the entourage was attacked Chaos reigned supreme in an instant
Zhao Ke unsheathed his sword and yelled loudly, “Ambush!+ Everyone to your positions and wait to receive the enemy!” The soldiers hastened to find cover or hide behind the carriages and fallen horses, dodging the rain of arrows as they unsheathed their weapons However, the robbers had obviously come prepared They lay in wait in the trees and shot arrows froe in the center was besieged froht back Injured civilian workers and frightened horses created continuous chaos It wasn’t too long before half the soldiers had collapsed on the ground Nan Huo had also been hit by an arrow that’d passed cleanly through his chest It looked like it would be difficult for him to live A vaunted adnobly in the forests of the Ming dynasty’s Tieling province Zhao Ke directed the soldiers to dash forward bravely, but were beaten back by layers of arrows
Hai Shou brandished his soft whip beside Lotus’ carriage The road was too narrow and so he could only create s to clear out the space around the carriage The fallen arrows had collected in a circle around the carriage The thick woods becahts of arrohinnying frohastly white fro froh she was quite agitated in her heart
More and more soldiers fell to the arrows as yells in stilted Mandarin rang out froirl alive!” Calls emitted ceaselessly from both sides as the robbers were about to rush out Nu out as countless heavy boots shook the earth There were around a hundred of them
Zhao Ke continued to release arrows behind the carriage to stop the enemy as he yelled at Hai Shou, “Hurry, take the princess and leave! Hurry!” Another twenty or thirty soldiers and civilian workers also yelled out, “Escape with the princess! Hurry!” Some of the soldiers rushed up in defiance of the rain of arrows
Hai Shou no longer hesitated as he urged his horse near the carriage Waving the ith his left hand, he ripped open the carriage curtains with his right and said shortly, “My apologies Your Highness!” He then grabbed Lotus with one hand and lifted her in front of him As Lotus cried out, “Shan Xi, Shan Xi!”, Hai Shou had no choice but to haul Shan Xi up behind him He lashed the whip in his left hand and took the reins with his right, spurring the horse off
Hai Shou’s horse was a fine Goryeo horse bestowed upon hi a thousand li in one day However, the s horses at this es had also overturned within the es and blocking the way Amidst all of this, Hai Shou still had to wave his whip and block the arrows The fine horse couldn’t onized yell in the distance as he too fell to the robbers
Bloodcurdling shouts and hoofbeats rose to the sky behind him More than ten robbers had mounted the tribute horses and were in hot pursuit Sweat beaded on Hai Shou’s forehead as he claed the horse onwards The sounds behind him becairl behind!” “You can’t get away!” Arrohistled by one after another with lightning speed As the people handling the boere all strong experts as soh the trees