Vol 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Book 3 Chap 1 – Starting the journey
Before they left the palace, the warriors and carriages gathered in the large field The King of Zhao personallyfor a safe journey, but of course Xiang Shaolong knows that what he’s praying for is that they can steal the ‘Secret Manual of Lu Gong’, and is not at all concerned about their life or death Of course nothing has to be said about his daughter Zhao Qian’s happiness
The King of Zhao barelyso that his troops now total 500 In addition to Prince Shaoyuan’s 200 warriors, a total of 700 light cavalry now escort Lady Ya, Third Princess Zhao Xian, Lady Pingyuan and a group of concubines and es, with 40 carts carrying provisions and miscellaneous items They left with ate, following the official roads towards their first stop Zixian
This is still within the boundaries of Zhao, so they need not worry about safety The great general Li Mu also sent 500 riders to escort them to the outskirts of city walls 200li away fro was still releaxed, if he has to worry, he’ll do it after they pass the city walls and on their way to Wei’s border
What surprised him was Lady Ya’s 8 maids, Xiaozhao, Xiaoyu and the rest were all dressed in ar majestically on their horses, their reflexes swift and nimble
And then he realized, in this warring states era, it’s natural that all males will learn martial arts, so it’s no exception for fit women as well
He is not an expert at all in the way the troops are for the journey, he started asked Cheng Xu
Cheng Xu replied honestly, “A war is aas there’s an ounce of strength, that ounce of strength will be used to the end In the battle of Changping, the state of Qin conscripted 15 year old boys into the ar of Yan attacked us the last tied boys into the army Luckily we could defeat Yan, if not… ai!”
Xiang Shaolong knows that Cheng Xu is Lady Ya’sto him So he conveniently asked about how the army is formed
Cheng Xu replied without hiding anything, “What the ter wowo, manual labor and any work that requires assistant while old and weak are of e of rations”
Xiang Shaolong was enlightened When he watched nificent and epic, filled with the romanticism of heroisether, that even women, children, the weak and old were all pushed to the battlefield to suffer and lose their lives
Cheng Xu lowered his voice, “Although we have less men this time, but they’re all elite warriors, so obviously his Majesty is very concerned with this trip, which is very rare”
Xiang Shaolong turned his head back for a look and saw Prince Shaoyuan’s 10 carriages and 200 warriors at the very end of the procession He can’t help but sigh He thought that if anything were to happen, Prince Shaoyuan will certainly not listen to his instructions Just this ‘internal troubleive him a headache
The 2 beauties Zhao Qian and Zhao Ya’s carriages all had theur curtains lowered, and he can’t see what’s happening inside He wondered if they’re secretly looking at him?
Once he thought of that, he e
As expected Lady Ya i her pretty face and aside with a coquettish smile, “Does Imperial Protector want to come up for a seat?”
Xiang Shaolong said with a bitter smile, “Your subject is on a mission, how can I be so rude?”
Xiaozhao and the rest of the e all covered their ered
The 4 highly skilled and loyal warriors Lady Yaher on both sides, and on seeing Xiang Shaolong, all acknowledged him respectfully
Lady Ya said, “The 4 of them are all orphans, so they follow my family name and are na you can just give them orders”
Xiang Shaolong saw that the oldest a them, Zhao Da, is only a few years older than him, while Zhao Qi is about 16 years old at theand muscular youths with some skills, so he said with a smile, “My instructions to them would be to stay by Third Princess and your side at all tiht to himself that the state of Zhao may be the country with the most orphans and s in this time
Zhao Da and the rest all made their promise
That day they traveled forthe way so Xiang Shaolong treated it as an outing, chatting with Lady Ya and the maids while he’s free so he don’t find it lonesome at all
Zhao Qian and her 2 personal e and did not reveal themselves
Although Xiang Shaolong very much wanted to see her, he must control this impulse No matter what she is of an esteemed status now and cannot talk withto led with her
At dusk, the entourage pitched tents to rest There were more than 200 tents set up on the field next to a small stream
In Xiang Shaolong’s Co Xu and the assistant co Shou, as well as 2 other military leaders Zi Ji and Ren Zhen The 5 of them sat around a table and enjoyed dinner
For warriors like they Right now the very experienced general Ding Shou was talking about the changes in war and the situation like an expert
Ding Shou said, “The wars last ti depends only on one direct clash, and the results will be known in just a few days Even if it’s a siege testing sta’s besiege lasted 9 months, and that is an extremely rare example Not like the wars now, each can last 3 to 5 years, the suffering endured can be endlessly related”
Xiang Shaolong was curious and asked, “Why is the change so drastic?”
Cheng Xu interrupted, “Your honor has just recently joined the army, naturally you do not know the circumstances behind it This can be explained several ways Firstly, the population has increased thus the arer states in the past like Jin and Chu, the ar, they can’t even find 10,000 people But now if you include the female soldiers, the old and weak, you can have an army of hundred thousands Secondly is the defense of a country…”
The co is correct, in the past the defense of a country only centers around its capital, it’s only later that they slowly build up the nearby stockades into cities But the rest of the place, the eneh at will, it’s like stateless land”
Ren Zhen chipped in, “Now it’s a different thing altogether, the different states are now erecting their own city walls and castles If you want to conquer another state, you’ll have to attack the cities one by one, and there are other problems as well So once a war is mentioned, everyone is troubled”
Cheng Xu continued, “The aioods and force the enemy to concede But now the main task is to occupy the land and kill the eneht of hatred and the loss of a country Therefore everyone will fight the ene more and more difficult and violent”
Ding Shou sighed, “Also the large scale skirees as the main force of attack, which was neater and looks nicer as well The art of war is becooes, a soldier will turn to every trick available, so now there’s a theames etc In order to defeat the enemy and ensure a victory, every possible idea has been used”
Cheng Xu said with a laugh, “In those days both sides will first choose a time and location and make an appointes as the main force, foot soldiers as support troops and position thenal an attack Everything is si It’s best if your eneates so that they will be caught unawares” He continued with a big sigh, “Fighting for territory and killing people in the fields, fighting for cities and killing people in the cities”
Ding Shou sighed as well, “In the past we’d just temporarily conscripted the far more and more professional, not only are there full ti is stricter as well”
Xiang Shaolong could feel their fear and how fed up they are ars He thought to himself that if soldiers like them feel this way, all the more Lady Ya and Master Wu would feel as such too Especially after the battle of Changping, the state of Zhao was in a dangerous position and everyone only looked out for themselves It seems that there really is not much time left for Zhao, so how can he escape with all the ladies to a safe place in ti doom
Just as he was deep in thought, noises can be heard from outside the tent
Xiang Shaolong and the rest were surprised and they all rushed out
They saw Lady Ya’s caument could be heard
A soldier rushed over at this ti bad happened, Prince Shaoyuan’s man Xu Hai killed someone”
Xiang Shaolong and Cheng Wei exchanged a glance, and they could all tell it’s a way Prince Shaoyuan is belittling them
The one killed is Lady Ya’s family warrior Zhao Er
It turned out that while Xiang Shaolong and the rest were in the tent dining and chatting, Prince Shaoyuan took the opportunity to lead the 3 of his most formidable fahters to barge their way into Lady Ya’s private tent Obviously he’s trying to resu Shaolong a loss of face
The guards naturally dared not stop him, until they reached the restricted area of Lady Ya’s private camp, separated by a curtain, and which is where Zhao Da and the rest stopped them Before they had a chance to inform Lady Ya of the new arrivals, Prince Shaoyuan as deliberately looking for trouble has already ordered his ht unawares and were greatly outnumbered, the 4 of them were all injured Zhao Er’s throat was slashed by Xu Hai and died on the spot
The guards behind the curtain felt that soed out and surrounded Prince Shaoyuan and histheir way
Prince Shaoyuan’s faive aid but the i’s command stopped them For a moment everyone was in a deadlock
By the ti Shou and the rest rushed over, Lady Ya was surrounded by Xiaozhao and the rest of the maids, the blood stained Zhao Da, Zhao Wu and Zhao Qi Her pretty face was pale with fury and she was staring at Prince Shaoyuan with hatred
But Prince Shaoyuan and hisanyone can do to thenored hi Shou instead, “What is all this, what’s the big deal about her rank than hi, you’d better chase all these people away”
Ding Shou was furious but he understood the way of the political world and he did not try to undertake the problee of everything here, I a the journey”
Lady Yaand said quietly, “Kill Xu Hai for me, I’ll bear all consequences” Zhao Da and the rest were close like brothers with Zhao Er, they knelt down and said, “Would I please decide for us”
Prince Shaoyuan sniggered coldly and crossed his ar, deliberatelyhim look bad
By now the curtain has been pushed to the ground, the i the Shaolong and they felt the same belittlement from him as well They all roared, the situation was tense and anything could have triggered it off
Xiang Shaolong raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet His heart filled with old hatred and new enht now but of course he cannot do that
Even if he ignores the fact that he’s supposed to protect Prince Shaoyuan until the state of Wei, he has to consider that the second in coet to Wei if he kills him Prince Shaoyuan is certain of this point that’s why he deliberately tried to belittle Xiang Shaolong on the very first day of their journey
But if he were to let this past and s the insult, no one will ever respect him in future
This is an era where only heroes and the strong are respected Maybe even Lady Ya would change her opinion of him
Everyone’s eyes were centered on him
Xiang Shaolong’s gaze landed on Zhao Er’s body, which has been moved to the side and coldly uttered, “Xu Hai!”
The tall, thin and sturdy Xu Hai who looks fierce and icy was about to respond when Prince Shaoyuan stopped hiave the orders, if you want you can come after me!”
Xiang Shaolong’s eyes were piercing as he looking as Prince Shaoyuan and said, “If Xu Hai can block 3 ofshall came to an end!”
Everyone turned quiet
So to do a slip shod job
Although Xiang Shaolong’s swordplay is excellent, but to kill an expert like Xu Hai within 3 strokes, is soinable
Naturally Prince Shaoyuan does not believe that 3 sword attacks would be able to kill Xu Hai and he was secretly ecstatic, thinking that if his 3 attacks caht, his reputation will be in tatters However, his expression remained unperturbed and said, “If Imperial Protector is injured by Xu Hai, then you cannot blame anyone”
Xiang Shaolong looked heavenward and laughed loud and long and with a ‘clang’, drew the precious Rainbohich Zhao Mu gave him, pointed it at Xu Hai and said, “Come!”
Men from both sides retreated to form an empty area
Xu Hai sniggered and pulled out his sword as well
He has seen Xiang Shaolong and Lian Jin’s duel in the palace and is aware of his swordplay He thought to himself, did he think that he couldn’t even block 3 sword attacks? He made up his mind to be on the defensive and toShaolong can execute his skills
Cheng Xu, Ding Shou, Lady Ya and the rest all thought that Xiang Shaolong is using this as a chance to back down They secretly sighed, thinking that it’s the best choice out of the worst
Xiang Shaolong took a deep breath, supported the Rainboord on his shoulder and walked towards Xu Hai
Xu Hai’s ar sword held horizontally in front of his chest, pointing froive Xiang Shaolong a chance to get close to hiy is appropriate
The audience on both sides all see will retreat empty-handed
At this ti advanced to the area about 2 steps away from the tip of Xu Hai’s sword However, he see and slipped a little He lost his balance and leaned to the side
Lady Ya and the other wo and they screamed in alarm
Prince Shaoyuan and his men were ecstatic, and they all cheered for Xu Hai
Xu Hai is an expert in swordplay, so how can he let go of this one in asword ai
Who would have expected that the swordplay Xiang Shaolong is using nohat they had discussed earlier, ‘a soldier will resort to all tricks’ Because under normal circumstances, he would not be able to kill a professional swordsman like Xu Hai even with 10 attacks, so the only way is to lure hie
Just as the sas about to reach his chest, he quickly steadied hith to bend over backwards, his body alle like a bow
The long sword slid over above him
Never in his dreaine his opponent would execute such a weird th in the attack, he was stillforith the force Just as he was about to wave his sword and slash doards, Xiang Shaolong has already given a kick to his nether region
Xu Hai screa out of his hands while his body staggered back in a fall
Xiang Shaolong’s waist straightened again, the Rainbohich was perched on his shoulder ht and sliced past Xu Hai’s throat
“Peng!”