Chapter 1 (1/2)
Here's a late Christmas present: a teaser for a possible future project with historical draalore!
Oh boy oh boy, this prologue is definitely on the more ”historical” side compared to other works Don't worry, the rest of the novel definitely isn't as dry ?
I have no background knowledge of ancient Chinese dynasties, so this is honestly kind of like a history lesson forh the cracks In fact, for quite a few locations, I'm not sure if they exist in real life or not lol
Chapter 1 – Prologue
In the 25th year of the Yuan Tai1 era of Great Zhou, the Tatars2 invaded Northern Xinjiang3 The border defense ararrisons of the Ning and Tong Prefectures These forces co victory over the Tatar troops, driving the Tatars seven hundred Li5 back to reclaiust of the same year, the Tatars' Dark Pearl troops6 presented a ness to return to sub theust, the ambassadors of both sides co River It was arranged for the Dark Pearl troops to pay an annual tribute of fur, old, and silver They were also to send the Khan's own son to the capital, entering the Ie to learn the etiquette and propriety of the Central Plains
In Septe the co Ning8, Fu Shen, to escort the Tatar diplon
With the war stable at theretreated back outside the Gate, Fu Shen had no worries for the ti He therefore ordered his subordinate Yuan Huan to take the , while he himself commanded a team of his finest riders to escort the diplomats southwards
On the 9th of Septeh the Blue Sand Pass9 when the ground began to tremble incessantly The ravel and rocks falling like rain, scaring the horses to bolt wildly In the haste, the carriage of the young Tatar prince could not dodge in time, and was actually s from the sky
The terrain of the Blue Sand Pass was narrow and precipitous, but given its location within the Great Zhou's territory, it had always been peaceful Reasonably speaking, no ambush should have taken place there Fu Shen had continuously been on guard and taken extensive precautions this entire way, but he could never have iht at the threshold of his own ho the falling rocks tu directly down in front, he immediately turned the head of his horse around and shouted a “Retreat!”, leading the inal entrance of the pass
The s the entire valley into the color of the sand Aeniously crafted crossbow ht of the arrowtip lining up with the Northern Yan co his horse to run like mad
In this moment of imminent crisis, those keen instincts tempered on the battlefield hat saved his life The arrow split the wind as it flew through the air, but Fu Shen seerown eyes on his back He ducked low and bent over while abruptly pulling on the reins Theits front hooves high in the air and turning a half circle in place, just enough to avoid the cold arrow ai to take his life The arrowtip scraped his back in its rapid flight past hied half an inch into the stone wall and was then drowned by the tu sand
”Who's there?!”
Who wanted to kill hiht only flashed in Fu Shen's mind for an instant The nextsoldiers pulled him back to reality
”General, watch out!”
The enormous boulder that fell from above blotted out the sun and the sky, and coht backwards
On the 9th of September in the 25th year of the Yuan Tai era, the Tatar diplo Prefecture's Blue Sand Pass The youngest Tatar prince was killed on the scene, andMarquis of Jing Ning, Fu Shen, had both his legs crushed by a boulder Severely wounded, he was sent back to Northern Xinjiang by trusted bodyguards riding day and night Although his life was fortunately preserved, it was feared that recovery to normal would be difficult
When this neas sent back to the capital, both the court and the coed and furious Yuan Tai Emperor issued an imperial edict for the three judicial chief ate this case He also specially decreed favors to be bestowed to Fu Shen: adding ten thousand pecks of grain10 to the Marquis of Jing Ning's original salary as an official, conferring hi hioldhi to the capital for recuperation