ChangNing’s Imperial Army

The smell of the food in the front yard of the Daoist temple drifted to the backyard. Zhuang Yong, Cen Zheng, and Mr. Shen were still talking in the study as soft as they could. Shen Leng grabbed Master Cha and left the study. He went to look at the east wing and saw the kitchen there. He took the vegetables, fish and meat they brought with them into the kitchen and tidied up before preparing dinner.

And at this moment, there were three people outside the Navy’s camp who were from out of town. They stopped in their tracks right outside of the Navy’s camp for a moment before walking away. The picked an inn in town and stayed there. Each one of them looked as though they were already at their limit.

When the leader sat down, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief. They had been walking around for way too long to the point where their legs were numb. When he sat down, he felt as though it was the most comfortable feeling in the world.

He took down the conical bamboo hat and placed it at one side. He opened up his bundle of things and took out the money from his money pouch before splitting them into three portions. He kept two taels of silver for himself, and gave approximately two to three hundred taels to the other two people.

“We will split up early in the morning tomorrow.”

He lifted his head. He was not worried at all that someone in Jiangnan would recognize him. He was a person who did not attract much attention in the first place. In his own words, he was a nobody; a nobody that would never be able to achieve anything great.

Hence, even if what he wanted to do was earth-shattering, he still felt as though it was not a big deal. That was because there was only one thing that mattered…revenge.

His name was Gui Si. He was the squad leader of Pei Xiao’s soldiers.

When Pei Xiao died, he was not in Feng Yan Tai. When Xing Keda, Chen Sheng and Pei Qiang died, he was not in Hulan city. Fate played a cruel joke on him. When he had finished the task given to him by Pei Xiao and rushed over to Feng Yan Tai, all he saw was the bloodstained ground within the city. When he rushed over to Hulan city, he was greeted by the dead atmosphere in the houses of those three men.

Hence, he felt that life was truly nonsensical. He did not die, but he was not lucky.

“Why?”

One of his subordinates turned pale and stood up. “Squad leader, you plan to stay behind all by yourself?”

“Someone has to go back to the eastern border to notify the great general. I am the squad leader of the general’s soldiers. The general died, but I’m still alive…”

Gui Si pushed the silver to the front. “These money were awarded to me by the general over the past two years. I can’t fork out any more than this. Split the silver between the both of you, and bring my letter back to the eastern border tomorrow. Tell the great general everything that happened and also tell him that I, Gui Si, am not a coward who is afraid of death. I will avenge the general’s death on my own.”

The other subordinate shook his head repeatedly. “Squad leader, how can you find an opportunity to take action in a foreign and unfamiliar place alone? You need people to help you. After all, this is the Navy’s territory.”

“I will wait.”

Gui Si leaned back and exhaled a long breath. “From today onwards, I am like a weed that has taken root. I will keep waiting, and waiting, until an opportunity arises. Even if I can’t kill Meng Changan, do you think I am unable to kill that Navy fella? It was not easy for me to get all these information. Hence, someone has to bring the information back. Both of you have been with me for a few years, you should understand me well enough, as well as the great general. I did not manage to protect the general, even if I go back, I will still die. Not only that, I will end up implicating my family as well. Why don’t I go all out and risk my life in exchange for my family’s safety?”

Those two people looked at each other. There was fear in their eyes.

“Squad leader, what’s the point?”

One of them said, “Since you know that we must not do that, why don’t we go incognito. The great general would assume that we died in Feng Yan Tai, and it will not implicate our families.”

Gui Si shook his head. “I’m different from you.”

He did not want to say more. He waved his hand, indicating that he did not want to argue anymore. Thereafter, he threw himself onto the bed, falling asleep soon after. During this period, they were hiding everywhere, like ghosts. They racked their brains and finally found out who their enemy was – the fella named Shen Leng left those words behind in Hulan, but shortly after, General Guo Leiming sent someone to erase those words. He only found out about it after bribing one of Guo Leiming’s men.

On the second day, when the sun just came up, two of Gui Si’s subordinates had no choice but to leave. After Gui Si got out of bed, he went to wash up, get changed and also shaved his mustache. After looking into the copper mirror, when he saw how energetic he looked, he could not help but smile, even though it was slightly forced.

He only had two taels of silver left, hence, he had to be more frugal. The reason why it was as such, was because he clung to the belief that he would die. Hence, there was no point in leaving behind too much money. Instead, it was better to give them to his subordinates and at the same time buying their loyalty. That letter must be sent to the eastern border no matter what.

After asking around on the streets for a while, he managed to find a job in a silk fabric shop as a coolie, just like Shen Leng, when he was in Yulin town. He delivered silk fabric to the river bank and loaded them onto the ships every day. He only had to make a living by doing manual labor in order for him to survive. Fortunately, he had a lot of strength.

As for Mr. Shen and the other two people, after they returned from Zhuang Yong’s residence, they did not sleep the entire night. What Zhuang Yong said greatly affected Mr. Shen. At that time, the empress was extremely malicious and determined, to the extent she managed to suffer in silence for almost twenty years. Ultimately, she still won.

Her son, Li Changze was about to become the crown prince. The day where her family would rise to power again was finally here.

In order for that day to arrive, her entire family, including her, spent a long period of time making arrangements, while enduring in silence. They knew how much the emperor hated the empress, as well as her family. Hence, they had no choice but to back down and conduct themselves properly, while engaging with one another to come up with a plan in secret.

The empress understood the emperor more than anyone else. She knew that the emperor was a ruthless person. Hence, there were some things she had to make preparations for.

Mr. Shen looked at the sky, which was already bright. He sighed. He thought about how he wanted to investigate the truth for His Majesty all those years and yet ultimately, he could not control anything. Whatever that was bound to happen still happened.

That night, or even earlier in the day, while His Majesty was busy preparing to enter the capital, how many vile things happened within the prince’s residence? Who could be clear about it?

“Sir.”

Shen Leng carried a bowl of noodles and walked in. Even though they were noodles in a clear soup, the smell of it made people drool, especially in the morning after a sleepless night.

There was a golden fried egg on top of the noodles. There were four to five pieces of chopped onions next to it, and two to three drops of oil, as well as a green spinach.

“Eat first, before talking.”

Shen Leng passed the bowl to Mr. Shen. Mr. Shen nodded and said, “There’s no point thinking about it. It’s not something within our control. Eat.”

He looked outside. “What about Cha’er? Is she not able to eat because she is worried about me?”

After he said that, he saw Master Cha walking in with a bowl that was larger than that of Mr. Shen’s. She walked and ate at the same time. Her cheeks were bulging, making her look exceptionally adorable.

Mr. Shen stared blankly for a moment. “Look at the way you’re eating. We met Zhuang Yong’s daughter yesterday. You should learn from her.”

Master Cha could no longer continue eating.

Shen Leng quickly patted her on the shoulder, as though he was coaxing a small child. “In the eyes of parents, other people’s children are always better. Isn’t it the same for us too? We feel that other people’s parents are better than ours as well.”

Master Cha started hitting her chest. “I choked.”

Shen Leng poured her a cup of warm water. “Where is the fried egg in your bowl?”

Master Cha smirked. “I already ate it.”

Shen Leng went to look at his bowl of noodles. It looked ordinary. He used his chopsticks to look underneath the noodles, and found a fried egg. He carried his bowl and entered the house. Master Cha glared at him. Shen Leng was forced to look for a place to sit down to eat his noodles.

Master Cha drank some water. “An embroidered pouch (Note: ‘He bao’ in chinese) and a fried egg (Note: ‘He bao dan’ in chinese). Which one is better?”

Shen Leng choked too.

Mr. Shen looked out of the window and sighed, “We have no control over major things. So we should focus on doing what we’re supposed to do. We can’t possibly present ourselves on a silver platter for people who want to kill us. People who are anxious to fall in always end up paying a price…Leng, have you met Bai Shangnian before?”

“No.”

“But I have.”

Mr. Shen was silent for a moment before he started smiling. “He does not have good features. He looks as though he will die early.”

And at the same time, in a northern border town that was thousands of miles away from Anyang, Meng Changan just returned from Heiwu, after entering it for the eighth time. Because he was promoted to a general, he was transferred out of Hulan and was currently guarding An city.

An city was the newly constructed border town after Feng Yan Tai was abandoned. It was rather bustling. All 1,200 border army troops were his. Apart from that, Great General Tie Liuli selected a regiment of troops from the Northern Border Cavalry and assigned them to Meng Changan for him to train them. The great general said that he would not interfere or ask any questions, and that Meng Changan had full authority to train them as he pleased.

After he returned to An city, Meng Changan rested for a while before heading to that restaurant that he went with Shen Leng the last time. He did not even remove his armor. The owner, who had some white hairs, saw Meng Changan walking in and started smiling. He looked gratified, as though he was looking at his son.

“General, why are you here so early?”

“I want to drink some wine.”

Meng Changan casually selected a table in the main hall and sat down. The restaurant had just opened for business. It was not lunchtime yet, hence he was the only customer.

The owner personally prepared some dishes and served them to him. He carried a pot of wine in his hand and sat down across from Meng Changan. “In the future, it’s better to avoid drinking wine in the morning. The physicians said that your liver mainly dispels the toxins in your body. Drinking wine in the morning hurts your liver.”

Meng Changan grunted. He poured a cup of wine. However, he did not drink it – he poured it onto the ground.

The owner was shocked. In an instant, his chest somewhat tightened.

Meng Changan finished the second cup of wine at one go. It was still the strong wine, Yi Bei Feng Hou (Note: it’s the name of the strong northern aged wine, which literally translates to: a cup of it will seal one’s throat); it still burned. A cup of it caused one’s stomach to feel as though it was on fire. The other night, his brothers became very drunk and passed out because of this wine.

“Actually, the name of the wine has another meaning.”

The owner was silent for a long time. He forced a smile and said, “Yi Bei Feng Hou…Yi Bei Feng Hou. Which soldier does not wish to be conferred a title and leave their name in the historical records? In the past, I used to tell people I meet that after drinking this wine, they will definitely become a Marquis. They would then laugh and say that I was spouting nonsense. However, when they were drinking, all of them were rather pious…”

He lifted his hand and patted Meng Changan on the shoulder. “Some people are bound to leave first. This is because heaven takes pity on them, and want them to rest earlier.”

Meng Changan sat there. His eyes were slightly red.

“It is the eighth time, and also the last one.”

He poured the wine, drank it, and poured some more, before drinking again. He was like a robot.

The owner knew long ago that drinking wine would hurt the liver. However, he did not advise him to drink less. He merely sat there quietly, looking at him.

After he finished a pot of wine, Meng Changan rested against the table. It seemed as though he was thoroughly exhausted; the moment he shut his eyes, he fell asleep. However, his shoulders were trembling slightly. The sleeve of the arm his face was resting on seemed to have a wet patch.

After a long time, Meng Changan sat upright and took a deep breath. He got up and was about to leave.

He took out bloodstained money pouch and placed it on the table, before making his way out.

“General, this is too much.”

“A while ago, I came here with a few of my brothers and we ate here without paying. Before they died, I asked them if there is anything they can’t let go of. One of them told me that we owed you some money and have yet to pay you back, and he insisted on doing so. We soldiers cannot go back on our word.”

The owner’s face went pale. He lowered his head and looked at the money pouch on the table. Suddenly, he started bursting into tears. His hands trembled as they reached out for the money pouch, and yet he did not dare to lift it up. The white hairs on his temples pierced his eyes. It was very painful.

Meng Changan walked out of the restaurant and looked up at the glaring sun. It was so glaring that he started tearing up.