Happy reading~

Chapter 125: People That Thought Themselves to be Men

He Lianying turned his horse around and prepared to leave, giving up on the captured Tartars. Ning Shu laughed coldly. Did you think that you were free to come and go as you please on the soil of Great Yong?

She grabbed her bow and arrow, and with a pull, drew the bow into the shape of a full moon. The tip of the arrow gleamed with cold light as it pointed towards He Lianying's back.

She released the bowstring, and the arrow flew straight towards He Lianying. However, he immediately dropped down flat on top of his horse and the arrow flew past above him to pierce into the tree trunk ahead.

He Lianying looked at the arrow on the tree trunk, then couldn't stop himself from turning back to glance at Ning Shu. She was sitting up tall on her horse and her cold gaze was filled with murderous intent.

Ning Shu was a little disappointed to have failed to kill He Lianying. As they say, scourges live past a thousand.

>There's a Chinese saying that basically says good people die young, bad people live past one thousand.

It really would have been unrealistic for He Lianying to die so easily. The original host and He Lianying were probably destined to be involved with each other since in their last lifetime, they had even gotten married. How could the ties of destiny possibly be broken that easily?

Ning Shu stopped thinking about it and turned around to say coldly, "Clean up the battlefield and record the names of all the soldiers that died in battle. Evaluate their merit and reward them accordingly. Give their families three times the compensation."

Ning Shu looked towards the corpses on the ground. Some had been trampled beyond recognition by the horses, and some bodies had even been split in two, exposing the entrails which were still warm.

The dusty soil was dyed by blood and turned into clumps of black as the blood dried. The stench of blood hovering over this battlefield was so heavy it caused people to feel dizzy.

War was cruel. The corners of Ning Shu's eyes felt a bit hot. She smiled coldly as she looked towards the general who had arrived so late. When he noticed Ning Shu's gaze, he stiffened and immediately s.h.i.+fted his gaze away. Following that, he cupped his fist towards Ning Shu in salute and asked, "Princess, what about these Tartars?"

"The heads of Tartars can be exchanged for military merits." That general's gaze was glowing as he looked at the Tartars.

He had come late and he still wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h credit? Ning Shu was currently very annoyed with the generals of Great Yong. It was no wonder the Tartars were able to do as they please on the nation's soil. If they had so much energy to scheme, why didn't they use it to fight the Tartars?

Ning Shu looked at him coldly and said, "This princess will cripple whomever that dares to touch these Tartars. So, you want merit?"

"This general doesn't dare." That general hastily lowered his head. Ning Shu was not just a princess, she was also the left vanguard so her status was higher than his even in military rank. Discontent and unhappiness born of having to lower his head to a woman emerged in his heart.

However, Ning Shu didn't care what these people thought and shouted, "Return to camp."

The woman Ning Shu had rescued, Cai Sang, followed after Ning Shu on horseback, her eyes s.h.i.+ning brightly.

When they got back to camp, Ning Shu had the soldiers bring the twenty Tartars to the stage in the middle of the campgrounds.

The Tartars had probably gotten too used to doing as they pleased at the borders of Great Yong since even though they were scared to face the soldiers below, they were still confident that the people of Great Yong wouldn't dare to kill them. Thus, they even looked towards the soldiers with provocative expressions.

Ning Shu headed inside the main tent and knelt down on one knee to salute Shen Feng. Following that, she reported the situation, including the fact that the military officer was slow in coming, showing that he didn't care about the lives of his comrades.

That officer's expression immediately darkened and he glared at Ning Shu angrily. Ning Shu just gave a cold laugh and rubbed the whip at her waist in response.

How were they supposed to fight with such complete lack of unity? Power must be pulled together and unified, but it was inevitable for there to be some mice s.h.i.+t mixed in. Ning Shu felt that she had to establish her prestige in order to stop these people that thought themselves to be men from looking down on her just because she was a woman.

She'd kill the chicken to warn the monkey, with the chicken being those Tartars.

Ning Shu ignored that officer's blame-filled glare and walked onto the stage, declaring coldly, "The Tartars have harmed our siblings, kill! The Tartars have trampled our land, kill…"

"Kill, kill…"

All the soldiers below lifted their spears as they chanted, scaring the Tartars on the stage pale. When they saw Ning Shu walk over with whip in hand, they were immediately scared out of their wits and started talking rapidly in their native language.

#comment:

About He Lianying… It has to be kept in mind that he's a product of his time. In that era, a lot of people's lives are trampled like gra.s.s. He killed, Ning Shu killed, our unreadable Emperor killed all his siblings except for Princess Jiahui. Due to his personality and the mindset he was raised with, in the original storyline, he didn't uphold the duties of a husband and allowed the Tartars to abuse Princess Jiahui however they wanted. As some commenters pointed out, it was because Princess Jiahui at that time was a disgrace. In this version of the 'story' though, it has to be acknowledged that he's good male lead material. If this was a typical story and he got together with Ning Shu, he definitely wouldn't treat her like he did Princess Jiahui because she obtained his 'admiration and appreciation.'

In real life, I judge people more by what they do rather than what they say or think, because in the end, it's the actions that impact the world and other people. The problem with that is, going by actions, in this world, He Lianying hadn't yet abused Princess Jiahui, and probably would not abuse Ning Shu if she married him, so he shouldn't be 'guilty' for what he might do in reaction to a different set of environmental factors. However, Ning Shu is going around punis.h.i.+ng people for what they did 'originally' before she came into the picture… So, it's really hard to judge.

Based on feeling alone though, without thinking that much about the rest of the picture, I prefer He Lianying as a male lead over Duan Xinghui, just because his interactions with Ning Shu are more fun. And I agree with Ning Shu, I love the way he's driven crazy but still can't obtain her the most~ XD

Or for more options. Happy reading~

Chapter 126: Perfect Weather for Making Dried Meat

Ning Shu gave a cold laugh, then swung her whip towards a Tartar's lower body. The securely tied up Tartar was. .h.i.t with so much pain that his eyes rolled back as he emitted a blood-curdling scream.

The soldiers who had still been chanting spiritedly a moment earlier were so horrified that they fell completely silent, and a moment of quiet swept over the field with two hundred thousand soldiers. All of them simultaneously reached to cover their crotch.

Ning Shu laughed coldly. "This is the price for insulting the women of my Great Yong."

Ning Shu swung her whip and proceeded to whip the Tartar until his lower body was a mess of mangled flesh and blood. Then she turned to look towards the field. The men who sensed Ning Shu's gaze sweeping over them felt uncomfortable tingles on their scalp and stared at her as if she was a demon.

Meanwhile, Cai Sang who was also below the stage gazed at Ning Shu with wors.h.i.+p in her eyes.

In the end, the rest of the Tartars also had their b.a.l.l.s thrashed by Ning Shu and died. Even Shen Feng who had spent half his lifetime on the battlefield had never seen someone humiliate the enemy the way Ning Shu did.

"Princess, that's enough. The army must pay attention to upholding benevolence and righteousness, else, what difference would there be between our Great Yong and the parasitic North Mongolia?" Shen Feng said to Ning Shu.

Ning Shu looked at Shen Feng and replied, "Marshal, Jiahui can't agree with what you said. If we act with 'benevolence and righteousness,' our enemies will only view it as weakness to be taken advantage of, and look down on us even more. Using violence to curb violence, avenging a death with a death, is the only way to intimidate the enemy."

Since I can't reform you, then I'll just freaking exterminate you!

Shen Feng had no hope of convincing Ning Shu since she didn't endorse the so-called benevolence and righteousness that Shen Feng spoke of in the first place.

Ning Shu beckoned Cai Sang and Cai Sang immediately ran over to ask, "Princess, what instructions do you have?"

"Find a couple pig butchers and bring them here."

"Understood." After Cai Sang brought the butchers back, Ning Shu told the butchers to scoop out these people's stomachs.

Several of the butchers were so stunned to hear this that they almost wet their pants. Their occupancy was killing pigs, not people.

It wasn't just the butchers that were alarmed, even the soldiers below the stage felt their hair rise on end. Their gazes were filled with admiration and fear as they looked at Ning Shu who had an indifferent expression on her face.

In the end, the butchers obeyed and cut open the Tartars. After they did their part, Ning Shu had soldiers rub salt on the Tartars' corpses, then hang them at the city gates.

It was December and the height of winter, so it was perfect weather for making dried meat.

Ning Shu's method truly awed everyone. Shen Feng continuously shook his head as he looked at Ning Shu, but Ning Shu ignored him and proceeded to declare, "This is the price of encroaching on our Great Yong!"

She had those corpses hung up side by side in a row in front of the city gates for those arrogant Tartars to see. She wanted to show them that the people they had been freely oppressing for so long also had the ability to fight back.

Those corpses hung on the city walls for a very long time. Due to the wind and the sun, the corpses became even more stiff. All of the Tartars that pa.s.sed by the city gates felt chills from seeing the atrocious sight.

Ning Shu paid no attention to these people's fearful or terrified… gazes.

Then, the rumors that Princess Jiahui was a female devil quietly started spreading. If it was said that in the past, some people still harbored thoughts about Princess Jiahui, now, whenever they saw her, they'd feel the urge to put armor around their crotch. Just a glimpse of her made their crotch area feel a chill.

Ning Shu entered her own tent, then her entire body went limp and she almost threw up. Despite that, she still felt indescribably happy and light. These were probably the original host's emotions.

Princess Jiahui hated the Tartars since she had been humiliated and abused by them after she had gotten married, so it was natural for her to feel happy upon seeing these Tartars meet a tragic end.

Ning Shu smiled. It was great to be able to help the original host a little.