Chapter 115: Fulfill Your Dream Of Creating A Golden Age

Men with power and purpose had unsurpa.s.sable charm. In this moment, as thousands focused their gazes upon him, Li Wen became the world’s center. Even Duan Xinghui, this male lead, became inferior in front of Li Wen.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ning Shu saw that Duan Xinghui was looking at the Emperor in dazed awe and envy.

Li Wen roused the soldiers’ spirits with a pa.s.sionate speech until they cheered, eager to leap onto the battlefield right now.

Ning Shu’s lips twitched. She hadn’t expected for Li Wen, who was usually taciturn, to be capable of galvanizing people to the point that they would face death so enthusiastically.

She could tell that Li Wen was serious about punis.h.i.+ng North Mongolia. Just the cost of army provisions for a two-hundred thousand troop army was shockingly high, but he invested it for the sake of teaching those North Mongolian bandits a lesson.

As Li Wen gave his resounding speech, the tempo of the drums gradually sped up and mixed with the soldiers’ cheers until the entire capital vibrated with this sound.

“Jiahui.” Li Wen beckoned Ning Shu. She immediately jumped off the horse and walked to Li Wen. Kneeling down on one knee, she cupped her fist and shouted, “This sister-subject greets Imperial Older Brother!”

Li Wen put the little gray ball on Ning Shu’s shoulder. As Ning Shu looked towards him in surprise, Li Wen folded his hands behind his back and said, “This little guy is very sensitive towards danger. We’ve tried feeding it a poisoned cake but it refused to eat for the life of it. When we tried to throw it into a pit of snakes, it immediately scampered off.”

Ning Shu: Pfff…

“Let it go with you, it’ll probably be useful.” Li Wen reached out and gave her a hard clap on the shoulder. It was seriously really hard; her shoulder slanted from the force. “Come back alive.”

Ning Shu’s nose stung and she almost cried. This was probably the original host’s emotions. Even Ning Shu could sense that though Li Wen seemed very cold, he still harbored sibling affection towards the original host.

Her voice was a little nasally as she said, “En. Imperial Older Brother, make sure to take good care of yourself as well. One’s health is everything. One can only achieve a lot if one has good health. Only then will you be able to fulfill your dream of creating a golden age.”

Li Wen’s expression was a bit complicated as he said, “Go now.”

The little gray ball squeaked nonstop and hastily jumped back onto Li Wen. It was clear it didn’t want to part with Li Wen as it clung onto Li Wen’s clothing with its tiny claws and squeaked continuously.

Ning Shu was speechless. Li Wen had tormented it that way, but it actually didn’t want to leave?

She became annoyed and walked over to grab the little gray ball. The little gray ball continued squeaking even in Ning Shu’s hand. That sound was so mournful those who heard felt sympathetic heartache and those who saw would cry.

As the troops headed towards the gates, Ning Shu rode on horseback and looked at the citizens and family members that had come to send the army off. They were crying as they gaze towards the soldiers with worry and hope.

It was very solemn and stirring. Seeing this, Ning Shu was starting to understand why Li Wen wished to build a peaceful golden age for the common people.

It was just that this golden age would require continuous struggle and would be established on top of the blood and bones of the dead.

It was of course in hopes that there would be peace, security, and happiness.

Ning Shu spotted Er Ya, Yuan Dong, and Madame Duan in the crowd. Yuan Dong had a lot of pearl ornaments in her hair and looked like the image of a wealthy married woman. However, she looked very depressed. Duan Xinghui had probably only paid attention to his true love and left Yuan Dong to wilt.

Duan Xinghui had also spotted his mother and the person he loved in the crowd. However, for some reason, he felt the urge to first glance towards Ning Shu.

When he found that her expression was indifferent and unconcerned, he inwardly sighed in relief even as his heart filled with indescribable disappointment and bitterness.

It can only be said that things one couldn’t obtain were viewed as precious. In the original storyline, when Jiahui insisted on being together with Duan Xinghui, Duan Xinghui had loathed her as if she was dog skin plaster that wouldn’t come off.

Now that she wasn’t paying attention to him, Duan Xinghui felt frustrated and started acting unreasonable.

If Ning Shu found out, she would only lift a middle finger and remark that the word ‘sc.u.m’ wasn’t enough to describe him.

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Chapter 116: First March

It took four hours for the entire army to leave the capital. As of now, the sun was already very high in the sky and the weather was quite warm. It was especially warm to the people wearing armor since the armor blocked the biting cold wind.

Ning Shu glanced back and saw that the soldiers behind her were dripping with sweat; it was to the point their tan faces seemed to glow and waves of steam rose from them.

“Princess, should we set up camp?” asked Shen Feng.

Ning Shu could tell from Shen Feng’s expression that he didn’t want to set up camp as speed was precious in war. He only asked because had to take into account Princess Jiahui’s status.

Ning Shu shook her head and said, “Marshal Shen has the highest authority. Jiahui should comply with military rules and will obey all of Marshal’s decisions.”

If they set up camp right after they left the capital, how long would it take for them to reach North Mongolia?

“Soldiers, we’re speeding up!” shouted Shen Moru. After he gave this command, the soldiers holding the flags waved the yellow banners to transmit this message.

Shen Feng did not worry about Ning Shu being a female again and led the army in the strictest fas.h.i.+on. The march continued all the way until night, then they set up camp.

Ning Shu could finally relax once she was sitting alone in a simple tent.

She was a female after all, and the nation’s princess too; there was no reason for her to sleep in the same tent as those men.

However, her meals were the same as those of normal soldiers. Ning Shu wasn’t picky and ate the meal of coa.r.s.e cornbread mixed in vegetable and meat soup without complaint. After all, she would only have the strength to fight if her stomach remained full.

Still, this situation was quite something. For the sake of completing the task, she actually had to don armor and go on the battlefield. Ning Shu’s heart pounded with anxiety even now.

As for the little gray ball, it had been depressed ever since it left the capital and kept giving Ning Shu sullen looks. Even after Ning Shu gave half of her food to the little gray ball, it still sat with its b.u.t.t facing her and gazed up towards the sky sadly.

Ning Shu: …

Ning Shu was speechless. What exactly was this little thing doing? It really missed Li Wen this much? The little gray ball seemed much more human-like than before.

After Ning Shu finished eating, she got some water in order to wash up. However, it wasn’t easy. It was to be expected, there was no way it’d be easy for a woman to wash up in the middle of a bunch of men.

What surprised her was the fact that someone actually b.u.mped into her tent in the middle of the night. It seemed to be intentional, and it wasn’t just one person that did it either.

Ning Shu smiled coldly. As expected, women were always in disadvantageous positions. If anything ended up happening to her, they would just say that she had died in battle. She felt that the best course of action was to punish one of them as an example. Otherwise l.u.s.ty people with more guts would show up in the future.

These people didn’t go too far though, probably because they were worried about the fact that Ning Shu was a princess. In addition, most of these people were still only middle-ranking military officers without that much power. Ning Shu vowed to definitely make them choke on their own b.l.o.o.d.y teeth one day.

During the march the next day, Duan Xinghui came up beside Ning Shu by horseback and asked her, “Princess, are you alright?”

From the start Ning Shu was in a bad mood, so when she heard this question, she felt that Duan Xinghui was taking Schadenfreude in her situation and replied coldly, “Guard Duan, why, did you expect this general not to be alright?”

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Chapter 117: Became a Dead Zone

Duan Xinghui was also aware that there were some soldiers among them with impure motives. However, he felt that was only natural for this bunch of men to start getting l.u.s.ty with a woman among them.

He had come over here because he had been worried about her, yet she had rudely accused him of expecting something to happen to her.

Duan Xinghui was stifled with anger. He was just worrying about her, why was she looking at him with such a wary gaze?

Princess Jiahui’s att.i.tude towards him had changed so fast. It made the time when she liked him seem almost like a dream.

Having been embarra.s.sed in this exchange, Duan Xinghui turned his horse around and headed back to Grand Marshal Shen Feng’s side.

The army continued advancing. Once the period got long, Ning Shu found it a little trying to keep going. It was near ten days into the march and during this time her thighs had already been rubbed raw from the friction. When she finally couldn’t endure it anymore, she sewed some soft cus.h.i.+ons for herself and tied them onto her legs to relieve the pain.

Meanwhile, some of the soldiers seemed to be getting increasingly daring as they probed for Ning Shu’s bottom line. Some people had an even more preposterous idea, which was to treat Princess Jiahui as a comfort woman.

When Ning Shu found out, she just gave a cold laugh. Then she proceeded to thrash the faces of everyone who approached her tent regardless of who it was.

Seeming to finally realize how violent Ning Shu was, most of the soldiers no longer dared to stroll around in front of her tent. There was a chance of getting thrashed even if they were just pa.s.sing by.

Hence, the area around Ning Shu’s tent practically became a dead zone. Ning Shu expressed that she was very happy with this. These people were all sc.u.m! They only knew fear if you beat it into them.

As the march continued, the scenery around them became increasing desolate. There were large expanses of fields but no farmers to cultivate them. Even fields that had crops had been trampled beyond recognition.

The Huns and Tartars treated the citizens living on the border of Great Yong as fat sheep. They came to harvest them whenever their fur got nice and long. Even in winter when there were no grains, they still came to plunder.

Ning Shu was enraged. The Huns and Tartars were tall and strong, yet all they knew was to rob rather than use their natural endowments to work hard.

Shen Feng’s expression was also pained as he stroked his slightly white beard and looked around. Sighing, he said, “Life truly isn’t easy for the citizens that live at the border.”

Shen Feng had yet to see how terrible life truly was for the citizens that had been captured by the Tartars. He had yet to see how malnourished and sickly those poor citizens quickly became as they toiled in the Tartars’ place. Meanwhile, those Tartars would just drink alcohol and whip those slaves as a pasttime.

Rage surged in Ning Shu’s heart and she felt the urge to charge right over to the Huns and fight them.

The closer they got to the border, the heavier the soldiers’ hearts became. The villages here were all so desolate, with barely anyone around. In addition, the closer they got to the border, the more severe the desertification became.

Shen Feng found a remote village to set up camp in. There were only old and sickly people along with some poverty-stricken children in this village. They barely had a few sc.r.a.ps of cotton as clothing which simply wasn’t enough to keep them warm at all. Hence, their lips were slightly purple from cold.

When the villagers saw the troops, fear and despair emerged on their faces. Even though these troops didn’t wear the attire of the Huns, the villagers were still scared.

Soldiers tended to seize ‘provisions’ as they pa.s.sed through villages, so it was no wonder these citizens would be so distressed.

Ning Shu felt bad for them and said to Shen Feng, “Marshal, I think it’s best if we don’t enter the village. We shouldn’t disturb the citizens.”

Shen Feng took in the way these people were trembling with fear, then gave the order to set up camp at a location near the village. In addition, he gave an order prohibiting the soldiers from disturbing the citizens.

#comment: Tartar, or at least the Chinese equivalent of it, was an insulting term used for Manchus in the 1900s.

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Chapter 118: You Guys Aren’t The Border Guards

Ning Shu sat down in her tent and took off the cus.h.i.+ons that were tied around her legs. After marching for such a long time, the saddle had already rubbed her thighs raw. It was thanks to having these cus.h.i.+ons that the condition of her thighs hadn’t gotten worse.

She sprinkled some medicinal powder over the red areas. Suddenly, she seemed to hear the sound of a girl screaming for help.

She hastily exited the tent. Outside, the sun was setting. She could faintly hear the sound of horse hooves.

Ning Shu climbed onto a tree to look around and saw that there were about twenty Huns on horseback chasing after a running woman for sport.

All of the men had heartless smiles on their faces as they played this cruel game of cat and mouse.

Ning Shu was furious. She jumped off the tree and headed straight towards the largest tent. Entering the tent, she said, “Marshal, I discovered traces of Tartars ahead. I hope Marshal can a.s.sign this general a squadron of soldiers.”

When Shen Feng heard this, he asked the high-ranking officers in the tent, “Who is willing to go with the left vanguard?”

Princess Jiahui’s status was only below Shen Feng’s, but none of these men were willing to be under the command of a woman.

When Ning Shu saw their att.i.tudes, she swung her whip and said, “Come with this princess, or this princess will whip you to death!”

Duan Xinghui was the first to step out, then Shen Feng a.s.signed about a hundred people to Ning Shu and they started heading towards that direction.

When they reached the Huns, the Huns had already caught the woman and ripped apart her clothing.

The Huns encircled this woman with obscene smiles and their laughter mixed with the sound of the woman’s angry and panicked shouts.

Ning Shu was so angry steam was practically rising from her head. She drove her horse over and whipped the man that was on top of the woman.

That man was in the process of lifting his spear when the whip struck his back. He felt a burst of pain, then numbness all over.

Ning Shu’s lash had injured the man’s vertebra and for a moment he was immobilized.

Everyone was shocked by this sudden development and stared dumbstruck at the person who had swung the whip.

Ning Shu took advantage of this moment to lean down, grab the woman’s elbow, and pull her up onto the horse.

The woman looked at Ning Shu blankly and seemed to feel herself sink into Ning Shu’s clear, cold eyes.

When the Tartars saw that their spoils of war had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away, they immediately started shouting furiously. The Huns had always been successful in all their endeavors here at the border and had never encountered an event like this before.

Ning Shu took off her red cloak and draped it over the woman. The woman seemed lost in shock up until the moment the cloak was draped over her. Upon feeling that sensation, she s.h.i.+vered, then lowered her head.

The troops caught up with Ning Shu in just a few moments. When Duan Xinghui saw the Huns, he looked as angry as if he was facing a personal sworn enemy. Last time he had fallen into these Huns’ scheme and even lost his position as general due to it.

At first the Huns were angrily shouting some things that Ning Shu couldn’t understand but when they saw that so many people had appeared, one of the Huns stammered in the language of Great Yong, “Y-you… you guys aren’t the border guards.”

All the soldiers stationed at the border had already been traumatized by them and would avoid them as much as possible. This was the main reason they were able to act so recklessly on Great Yong’s land.

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Chapter 119: First Follower

In the end, the Tartar was whipped to death by the woman. Perhaps it was due to Ning Shu’s bad example, or perhaps it was because the woman hated the Tartar that tried to violate her to the bone, but she aimed the first lash straight for his ‘down there.’

This was a man’s weakest part. To a man, getting whipped in this area was pretty much equivalent to losing half his life. Thus, all the men present felt a chill near their crotch. Upon seeing the tragic b.l.o.o.d.y sight of what was left of the Tartar, even the soldiers of Great Yong felt terrified.

Only when the Tartar died did the woman burst out crying. She sobbed heartbreakingly and cried out for her mom and dad.

After a while, she wiped away her tears and walked to Ning Shu before falling to her knees and offering up the whip with both hands. Due to this movement, the cloak lifted and revealed some of her skin.

However, all the men quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look. The event earlier had destroyed all the l.u.s.t they had.

Ning Shu took the whip and looked at the woman in front of her. Her skin was slightly dark, characteristic of people living near the border, and her hair was very thick. She couldn’t be said to be very beautiful, but her thick eyebrows made her appear to have a very firm and persistent personality.

“General, please let me follow you and go into battle to kill the Tartars,” the woman requested. “I no longer have any place to go. The Tartars have killed my family and destroyed my home.”

Ning Shu reached out and pulled her onto the horse before asking, “What’s your name? You can stay with me from now on.”

“I… this servant, this commoner, this humble…” The woman couldn’t figure out how to refer to herself and her face flushed.

“You can just call yourself ‘this servant.’ From now on, you will be serving me, so you can call me ‘princess.’”

Actually, Ning Shu had been wanting to have a woman with her. It would make things much more convenient.

“Princess?” The woman looked at Ning Shu in astonishment. It was clear she hadn’t expected for a nation’s princess to actually come to the border and fight in war.

“This servant begs Princess to grant this servant a name. Princess saved this servant’s life, so this servant’s life belongs to Princess!” The woman declared with conviction. Her voice was solemn and resolute.

A smile appeared on Ning Shu’s face. Who said that women couldn’t compare to men? Perhaps they couldn’t compare to men in physical strength, but a woman’s tenaciousness shouldn’t be underestimated.

“From now on, you will serve me. I grant you the name ‘Cai Sang.’” Ning Shu was pretty happy. She finally had followers of her own! Even if it was just one person, this person belonged completely to her.

Earlier, when she wanted to lead people here, not a single person had paid heed to her.

These men all looked down on woman. Even though she was a princess, due to her gender, they viewed her simply as a woman. They believed that all women should just stay home and raise kids, and that the battlefield was the playground for men.

Cai Sang respected Ning Shu a lot. She went to the side to change, but when she came back she didn’t sit with Ning Shu and instead walked beside her to lead the horse for her.

“Capture these Tartars and bring them back for interrogation. They’re probably scouts.” Ning Shu gave the command with cold indifference.

She had to keep up this act of being cold and unfeeling perfectly. In reality, acting cool wasn’t easy at all ah.

Just as Ning Shu turned her horse around and was about to head back to camp, she heard the sound of horse hooves. From the sound of it, there were quite a lot of people.

Her expression turned serious and she instructed Duan Xinghui, “Hurry and shoot a signal flare.”

Duan Xinghui immediately pulled out a signal flare and shot it into the sky where it exploded.

#comment: The name Cai Sang is made of the words ‘color’ and ‘mulberry tree.’