Voluret (1/2)

Voluret

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When the Duke first becaeneral, he replaced his father in the defense of Sichuan Although he did not gain prestige, the troops and elders all ady and stationed soldiers in Jiangxia and oversaw Jianghuai, not allowing northern horse took power as regent and did not consider pushi+ng forward Can could only silently cotai, Can did not ask for orders froe of the tur Pass with light cavalry, cutting off the Yong ar heard the news, he furiously reproached hi troops under the pretext of the ruler’s orders The Duke openly declared, “Can carries on the legacy of his father, bearing the heavy responsibility of being regent The entire court has been turned over to the Prime Minister If Can had waited for the court to order Can carry out the y, the secrets would have been leaked!”

When Pri heard this, he recanted his reproachment and was truly fearful

In the eleventh year of Tongtai, the Yong Emperor started a war over a trifle The three colu, Huaixi, and Huaidong When Huaidong fell into enenan The Duke personally defended Jingkou with the navy and dispatched his eldest son, Yun, in a hurry to Shouchun, Huaixi to assist shi+ Guan in the defense of Huaixi The Yong are of the discord to attack Huaixi A fierce battle for Shouchun took place over a dozen days When the soldiers and people heard Yun was present, they all said, “The Grand General has not abandoned us We shall fight to the death!”

The long battle exhausted the Yong ar Cavalry broke them Huaixi returned to peace With the triuzhou On a snowy night, he routed the Yong army at Guazhou Ferry The successive victories restored Huaidong By himself, the Duke turned the tide of desperation

Many years later, in the Yong-Chu War, the ravages of war stretched for thousands of , they could never cross the river The Duke fought all across the country, undefeated When people discussed the enerals, they ranked the Duke as nu Cavalry was raised in the fifth year of Tongtai Originally, the Duke had plans to raise nan lacked elite cavalry and couldn’t co arhuai but was blocked by courtiers The Duke had no choice but to hope to borrow Xiangyang as a place to secretly train elite troops Yuan suspected the Duke was trying to seize , so covertly blocked the Duke fro As a result, a rift was born between the twoPass and Sichuan and took both under his control, he used the lands to secretly train elite cavalry, calling the Cavalry In the Battle of Huaixi, they becahly valued the Flying Cavalry, selecting each and every officer of the cavalry unit During every truce, he ordered all the horsemen to wear heavy armor and practice horseback archery Rewards and punishhty, and not even father-sons could avoid it The elite Flying Cavalry were not inferior to Great Yong’s heavy cavalry In the fierce fighting in Huaixi, he relied on the Flying Cavalry many tiraphy of the Duke of Loyal Courage</e, and the doubt that had arisen since leaving Dinghai was resolved He asked, “Sir, was Yun Zishan, the person who’s helping the Southern Chu volunteer army construct forts and tunnels in Wuyue, dispatched by Sir?”

I s I raised an eyebrow to indicate he continue, and Huo Cong deterement to be accurate He proceeded, “This disciple learned from the Duke of the Tranquil Sea that a unique individual was helping in Wuyue I found it rather peculiar Sir has quite the strength in Jiangnan If it weren’t for this, we couldn’t easily traverse Wuyue and Jianghuai If so, Sir would know The fighting in Wuyue is due to Sir’s single-handed provocation If Sir knew so his plans, he certainly would not sit idle and watch it happen With Sir’s hidden influence in Southern Chu, he absolutely wouldn’t allow Yun Zishan to expand to this state As such, this disciple surmises that person is souards the secrets of his disciples’ activities Others only know the na Chi, Hai Li, Liu Hua, and Lu Er, all of whom are Sir’s disciples and adopted his surname However, fe their real names are Chiji, Daoli, Hualiu, and Lü’er Every scholar has probably read the story of the Eight Horses of King Mu, so this disciple sur Chiji and the others Presuh Sir has never told this disciple the detailed circumstances, this disciple knows Sir has had ems Presumably, that person has inherited Sir’s mantle in that area?”

I smiled “If another heard what you said, wouldn’t they believe I defected to Great Yong to secretly help my hoive in order to take,” Huo Con said with a smile “Sir ordered that older h this ains in Wuyue, it has reduced the fighting spirit of the volunteer army If every person hides in the tunnels to avoid battle, wouldn’t that let our ar the tunnels are our people, we only need a map for our arhts Sir shouldn’t be considering the ca as bait, I presuet the upper hand is to hed softly in response “I tried for three years to force Lu Can to enter h the deadlock is Xiangyang Lu Can definitely doesn’t know that the deadlock in Wuyue is n Without fear of troubles in the rear, he’ll be sure to forge ahead with keen deterhuai is defended by the Prince of Qi Even if he has an incredible strategy, he can’t achieve thatappears slightly weak, though garrisoned by Zhangsun Ji In addition, Rong Yuan will never forget, for the rest of his life, the hu, Rong Yuan would bravely co is a hIf he doesn’t take the opportunity to ain”

“But this disciple doesn’t understand how Xiangyang is Sir’sin uncertainty

I cast a look at him and evenly replied, “Stay by o hand in hand”

Huo Cong quietly responded, “This disciple would rather see that Sir and General Lu, master and disciple, never destroy each other Even if Sir wins, I fear you won’t feel any joy”

I had been reaching out to grab the teacup on the table when my hand tre while, I finally said calmly, “You still don’t understand Lu Can’s personality If he can take htest hesitation Yet his reverence for me also won’t lessen the least bit Since I decided to come south, I won’t show hi’er, if you rebel against me, I will personally kill you But if you have any hardshi+ps, I’ll take responsibility for the was rocked to the core, and his face drained of all color, but he kept his mouth shut A stubborn expression appeared on his face

While Huo Cong and I were conversing, Xiaoshunzi had gotten up and , noperfectly But out of respect, he still had to giveHuo Cong defying the youngintent dashed across his face The air in the inn see was very clever and, feeling the hair on his nape rise, he knew Xiaoshunzi had aroused the intent to kill But he was a tough and persistent person Although the pressure rolled in, he sustained hi to show any weakness

I sighed at the sight This child was still unwilling to speak his heart He clearly knew I could banish hiain with a word and even take his life, but he was still just as stubborn Although I had so s difficult for hiet it We can talk about these yang”

Huo Cong felt his body relax, the surging killing intent suddenly fading He couldn’t restrain hiazed at Jiang Zhe and thought to hiht not have the opportunity to attend to respected teacher I just don’t know if respected teacher will treat me with the love of master and disciple like with Lu Can yet still act without mercy when it comes time for him to deal withZhe and Huo Cong, , two Southern Chua private discussion aboard a tower shi+p on the Han River outside the city of Jiangling One of the eneral of Jiangling, Rong Yuan Less than three years after Xiangyang fell, Rong Yuan had aged and wasted away a great deal Although he was facing the head of the Southern Chu military, his expression was apathetic and distant Lu Can’s expression was cal in his eyes

Rong Yuan was silent for a long ti, “Recapturing Xiangyang has been my dream for years As the Grand General has made this decision, how could I refuse to obey? It’s just that Grand General is also going to hide thiswill censure you?”

“I didn’t expect this action would cause criticished Lu Can “If I had actually requested orders to act, I fear the Yong areneral in the field need not adhere to all the orders of the sovereign Since I ayang is easy to defend and difficult to assault I will try sun Ji out of the fortified city Brother Rong will take the opportunity to stor unforeseen happens in thecan act as circu Yuan’s eyes “The Grand General should know that if we don’t capture Xiangyang this ti will denounce the Grand General Now that the King has assuent powers have been retaken by the court If you act independently, Grand General, you’ll give thee over you”

Lu Can said serenely, “If we can recapture Xiangyang, there won’t be any hares The ene areance, looking for a chance in battle to avenge the hued down, giving us an opportunity to dispatch troops to Jingxiang Xiangyang is a key military location in the north-south conflict If we can’t take Xiangyang, both Jiangling and Jiangxia will be threatened Our army doesn’t have the eneral will go all out If I can’t recapture Xiangyang, IYuan respectfully replied

Lu Can was slightly relieved Rong Yuan and heYuan had already realigned hi Weijun, but he believed that if there were a chance to retake Xiangyang, Rong Yuan would do anything to execute the order If he wanted to recapture Xiangyang and he didn’t get Rong Yuan, the hope would beYuan right as Rong Yuan was turning to look at hi spirit in each other’s eyes The twoBecause of this reason, the animosity between them disappeared without a trace in this hth xia upstrea Co were three passes, split into the Wusheng Pass, the Pingjing Pass, and the Jiuli Pass The Wusheng and Jiuli Passes were controlled by the Southern Chumilitary’s hands The three passes supported each other and were all well-fortified As a result, the twoa chance like this But in fact, Lu Can had set out on this task , his ar several days ago The general defending Yiyang died in battle

On the fifteenth day of the eighthWan Prefecture² and Deng Prefecture³ with little resistance This action happened abruptly, and as Lu Can expected, Zhangsun Ji had to personally lead his arenerals in the cosun Ji could y

The city of Xiangyang had high walls and a deep htly vacant Zhangsun Ji would definitely dispatch troops back to Nanyang unless he lacked consideration for the basics Unexpectedly, Zhangsun Ji merely dispatched his deputy Mo Ye to ht in the river, and Mo Ye was defeated, retreating to defend Nanyang

Lu Can thenfrom all sides Mo Ye led troops in an attack on his rear, so Lu Can set up an ambush in Xinye Mo Ye noticed and was afraid to advance Lu Can left a general to defend Xinye and personally led his

Co Yuan’s every step was a struggle On the fourteenth day of the eighthto take Xiangyang To his surprise, Zhangsun Ji ignored Lu Can’s threat and personally defended Yicheng with his ared each other for a dozen days in the area between Yicheng and Jingling

Rong Yuan learned froyang and was attacking it fro Yuan was infuriated and led his troops in a fierce assault on Yicheng Zhangsun Ji secretly sent troops into hiding in the countryside during theYuan’s assault on Yichang, the a the Southern Chu arsun Ji counterattacked Jingling, where Rong Yuan firmly defended for six days

On the twenty-seventh day of the eighth sun Ji suddenly retreated far away Rong Yuan gathered intelligence, and after learning Lu Can had captured Xiangyang, he was seized by an outburst of anger Having already taken a serious injury while defending the city, he kept coughing up blood and was bed-ridden

On the twenty-ninth day of the eighthand petitioned the Southern Chu court He accused Grand General Lu Can of disobeying the king’s orders, of rashly dispatching troops, of plunging the troops under his command and allied forces into extre arbitrarily

Lu Can was also very surprised about capturing Xiangyang The garrison of Xiangyang was quite weak, and in less than nine days, the Southern Chu army captured the city Lu Can questioned the prisoners of war and learned that on the seventh day of the eighth nan Co After a private talk with Zhangsun Ji, thirty thousand troops were secretly split off, heading so had holes in the defense such that it was taken by Lu Can He knew Jiang Zhe had all manner of schemes and worried, so dispatched scout cavalry in every direction to fish for intelligence on the YongZhe by hi troops

In splitting his attention, he didn’t send troops in ti Yuan He assu Yuan didn’t win, it wouldn’t be a probleot about Rong Yuan’s rancor, and the dayslong delay led to irreversible regret

On the twenty-sixth day of the eighthZhe had stationed troops in Gucheng⁴ Afterand personally led his ar wasn’t a big city, it was a strategictheit, it couldn’t be taken in haste

I stood on the walls, gently fanning a folding fan Looking down at the Southern Chu troops in resplendent ar behind me with a composed face, and asked, “You saw Lu Can co will hold out for?”

Huo Cong s in the tower conducting the defense of the city, he thought, It’s lucky that person can’t hear what Sir says He replied, “In the naval battle of Wuyue, General Lu and the Duke of the Tranquil Sea engaged each other multiple times This disciple observed that General Lu coreat skill, and the Duke of the Tranquil Sea often sighed If not for the Eastern Sea Navy excelling at naval combat, defeat would have been inevitable Look at how he took an alternate path this ti fro warfare is truly as powerful and unrestrained as a heavenly steed soaring across the skies Our Great Yong enerals, but none can co can’t be held for ten days”

“Although that’s the truth, you didn’t let ently at all After all, I’ to lose?” I couldn’t helpheard but dared not speak Xiaoshunzi, though, scoffed, “Youngout for ten days would be an achievement If you meddle, I fear it would take even fewer days” His voice wasn’t loud, but Huyan Shou and several bodyguards not far behind hter, afraid to make a sound

Helpless, I shookdown the wall, I sighed, “It’s a pity he doesn’t have ten days Lu Can is open and candid, as well as of aristocratic birth But he knows far too little about the evil ofHis true intention was to, while Zhao Long is still early in his reign and he can still act as he sees fit, capture Xiangyang In order to be more assured, he would surely launch a cosun Ji to favor one over the other and block Rong Yuan Rong Yuan gnashed his teeth and re Lu Can used hiht to the death With Lu Can’s reputation, it was reasonable to expect Zhangsun Ji would personallyYuan could swoop in and capture Xiangyang Not only would that achieve his goal, he could also patch up the ill will between Rong Yuan and hi two birds with one stone But I deliberately had Zhangsun Ji stop Rong Yuan, reserving the glory of capturing Xiangyang for Lu Can to take For Lu Can, he didn’t have a choice He couldn’t just wait for Rong Yuan to capture Xiangyang But Rong Yuan is narrow-minded by nature, and he had ani of forces was to ta Xiangyang Once Lu Can captured Xiangyang, Rong Yuan’s fury was enough to hout Southern Chu How can Lu Can possibly ith assurance?”

Although Huo Cong ell aware of this, he still felt a chill in his heart After a little hesitation, he asked, “Since Sir has long had the ability to use the strife between general and coainst Grand General Lu to cause internal trouble, why did Sir hold back for three years?”

I grumbled under my breath, “Did you think I didn’t want to conquer Southern Chu earlier?” Then I answered, “It wasn’t the right time Even if the threat erupted, it wouldn’t break their back In three years of fighting, relying on his own strength to resist the Yong army multiple times the size of his own, Lu Can has become Southern Chu’s God of war He’s deeply respected by the troops and citizens Only at this ti spirit of Southern Chu citizens and troops the most If I had acted too early, the Southern Chu military would only have splintered even if Lu Can had died They wouldn’t give up on resisting our military The ould continue for at least a decade Moreover, if I had used this stratageents, even if Shang Weijun had planned to oppose Lu Can, Lu Can wouldn’t have willingly bent his head But it’s different now Zhao Long has assuenuine royal orders Unless Lu Can intends to rebel, he absolutely won’t publicly disobey”

“Grand General Luthe state, but in theof Southern Chu, I’e arhed Huo Cong gently “If the two countries were living peacefully with one another, during a tienerals are useless, I fear the Grand General would find it difficult to escape thedisposed of, as he’s served his purpose But war rages between the two nations, so the Southern Chu court shouldn’t destroy their own pillar, right?”

A light glittered in my eyes “I naturally have a way to reassure the Southern Chu monarch and ht now Let’s first take care not to let hi”

Xiaoshunzi sternly interjected, “Since younga city, whyand face an ar, Lu Can is a fa master believe he will show mercy?”

“If Lu Can showed er If not, how could I make it difficult for Lu Can to vindicate hih

Xiaoshunzi’s expression slightly softened “The eneo to the city center to hide Weapons are blind Don’t stay in a dangerous place for too long”

I listened to battle cries co from the botto ready I said with a sh I’m not the commander-in-chief, I have the title of marquis How can I hide in the city center? Xiaoshunzi, fetch uqin Let me play a piece in the tower to entertain the troops of the army”

I then flicked hed and eventually proffered the zither I sat on high, gazing down at the Southern Chu ar the city, as well as at the tall and upright figure wearing a brocade gown andthe powerful host In the reat deal, which pained ht As a matter of fact, we hadn’tthe zither strings, the indistinct sound of the zither drifted out of the tower The sound of the zither wound like a river, the river flowing endlessly, sounding like the sorrow of parting I cast aside the war before , not even thinking of how to use the e thespirit of the ene to the flowers, or on the river, playing into the wind

Below the walls directing the siege, Lu Can tightly knit his brows The h the Heavens and the Earth Note by note, thehih to play the zither at this tih his y How could he ether and overflow the Heavens?

However, he wasn’t in the mood to ponder this He ordered the soldiers in the army to beat the war druh the Heavens and the Earth, trying to block out the zither But the zither h the rests like a cool breeze, like running water soaking sand Even though it was barely audible, it never stopped the entire ti his ear Dejection arose within Lu Can, feeling like the sky before him was entirely trapped within the net of the zither player

On the bank of the Han River, two figures stood silently, watching the raging battle fro clothes white as snow and had bladelike eyebrows and big, bright eyes He looked charant and stood with his arms folded behind his back, his expression indifferent The other person was a black-clothed youngwith an icy expression He held a zither bag, his eyes bright as he gazed at the battlefield splattered with blood His whole body was briht

The white-clothed youngti, “When it comes to skill at the zither, Suiyun is far inferior toHe doesn’t need to rely on external energy to sink into one’s heart and soul Even with a wall of thunderous noise, it’s difficult to block it out I just reached this realht he could play this kind of zitherDuan, hand meDuan curled his lips Although the Devil Sect was now a subject of Great Yong, for Ling Duan, that Jiang Zhe was still his eet killed in action, dying on the battlefield, as that was Tan Ji’s long-cherished wish Nor was it because that h he knew shi+ Ying’s death was due to Great Yong’shad never faded For him, the one he kept in mind all the ti Zhe for an abo Zhe, petty individuals like him were probably lower than ants

Over the years, he’d followed the fourth youngZhe le word to hi the man He feared he wouldn’t be able to hold back and would interrogate the h hatred filled his heart, he dared not disobey Qiu Yufei’s order He respectfully offered up the a Guest froed and placed the zither on his knees, gently plucking the strings, a lonely tone spilling froers The sound of the zither soared into the sky like spectacular peaks, evoking wonder and elegance Yet it also see fro

Of the twowater, while the other rese around the spectacular peaks, sounding sorrowful Although the difference between the two ether to reflect a landscape of flowing rivers and lonely peaks

Whether it was the Yong troops on the walls or the Southern Chu troops on the ground, they were all dazed in this very moment, absorbed in the radually disappeared, brutality turning into peace Lu Can couldn’t help shaking his head and sighing froain their fighting spirit today A uqin piece dispersed seventy thousand Southern Chu troops’ will to fight This truly made it difficult for his beat the retreat to prevent his side fro troops in the city

When the Southern Chu troops heard the gongs, they all wore unwilling expressions, but they dared not be insubordinate and sloithdrew The deputy generals of the arritted his sharp teeth and waved for his personal bodyguard to give hi his horse out of forraved bow back until it rese He was located a full five hundred paces⁵ fro a trace and traveled the great distance in the blink of an eye, flying at the throat of Jiang Zhe, as playing the zither in the tower When the Yong soldiers on the wall saw Lu Can draw the bow and loose the arrow, they opened their </e Zhe

However, the arrow didn’t have a chance to go any further An empty hand that looked like it had been carved froers, the arroith eagle feather fletching powerful as thunder generated by lightning was flicked to the ground Xiaoshunzi wore a severe expression, boundless killing intent shi+ning in his eyes

Lu Can had superhuth in both his arenerals dead with the bow He may not have been as skilled at archery as people like Great Yong’s Zhangsun Ji, but his arrows didn’t et within five hundred paces It was just that after he becao into battle And because he ell-versed in the classics and the histories, he had the reputation of being a scholarly general, so his faotten

However, Lu Can wasn’t trying to blow off stea Zhe’s life He knew Jiang Zhe had someone with him who could block the arrow This arrow represented the severing of ties between master and disciple So once he shot the arrow, he didn’t even take a look at the result, galloping his horse back into the aruard into the distance

Whether it was the Southern Chu troops on the ground or the Yong troops on the walls, any who saw this arroas sorrowful Aout, old friends perreat pity in life

In the tower, Jiang Zhe had slightly closed his eyes, focusing only on playing the zither, see noticed the arrow that aled, now rese with the Southern Chu withdrawal And the zither playing fro a massive reef that had towered in the ocean for ale and waves had died down, it still stood proud in the roaring waves, unchanged since time immemorial Green mountains and clear waters turned into sapphire seas with reefs and cliffs The ether, ure of the Southern Chu host disappeared froreed upon beforehand I pushed the zither away and stood, evenly saying, “If Yufei has co’er, invite hi couldn’t help but reply, “Sir, was General Lu’s arrow really meant to kill Sir?”