Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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Le Zhengming was born into a family of military generals. His ancestors had shed their blood on the frontier and were loyal to the State of Wei, as the sun and the moon could attest.
When he was young, his grandfather, father and uncles were all defeated in a great war. The reason was not because of poor command, but because the friendly forces around them deliberately ignored their requests for help.
They led tens of thousands of troops to fight against hundreds of thousands of foreign coalition forces on the prairie, and eventually all of them were killed. Their bodies were chopped into piles of minced meat and fed to the wolves outside the pass.
When the news of the defeat reached Wei, the monarch at that time shed a few tears in a fake manner and gave their family a few pieces of brocade, and the matter of the Le family being betrayed by the reinforcements was settled. They died like dirt on the ground, with no value except to be a stepping stone for others.
If for none of the generals who succeeded him being incapable of fighting, and if the foreign armies had not been approaching year after year and gradually penetrating into the heartland of the Central Plains, the jealous Wei royal family would never have re-employed Le Zhengming.
He grew up in this environment of persecution and oppression. He could not be said to be loyal to the State of Wei, but he had to be loyal to this land.
It seemed as if his desire to protect this world was innate.
Therefore, when the Jie army attacked, he was determined to die. The only thing that worried him was the cunning curly-haired fox. He felt sorry for the young fox, so he sent him away.
He wanted Xiao Curly to live well with this in his heart.
However, the result of this battle was completely beyond Le Zhengming’s expectations. First, he survived; second, most of his soldiers also survived; and third, they won a great victory, killing 80,000 Jie people without leaving a single piece of armor.
But he didn’t know where Xiao Curly would dismount. If he encountered a Jie army of 100,000 on the way…
Thinking of this, Le Zhengming’s heart felt like it was burning.
He hastily took stock of the battlefield, then raised his sword and shouted, “Soldiers, follow me to encircle Guancheng!”
Everyone had already gone crazy in the exciting battle just now. It was the time when their morale was at its highest. So they shouted in response: “Surround Guancheng and kill all the Jie people! Kill, kill, kill!”
The three consecutive words “kill” made everyone’s eyes red. They tightened the reins and quickly marched towards Guancheng under the leadership of their deputy generals.
Le Zhengming was running in the front, his handsome face covered with a layer of frost, and his eyes constantly flashing with emotions such as anxiety, regret, remorse, and fear.
If he had known that this battle could be won, he would never have let Xiao Curly leave. If Xiao Curly met the Jie people on the way and something happened, what would he do?
A bloody scene unfolded in Le Zhengming’s mind, making his eyes red and his heart burst. He kept squeezing the horse’s belly, urging the horse to run faster, faster…
The next moment, he opened his eyes wide and stood there in a daze.
He saw a young boy of about fifteen or sixteen standing by the mountain road ahead. He was wearing ordinary linen clothes and dressed like an ordinary citizen. His long, slightly curly hair was casually draped behind him and was blown all over by the wind. His narrow, upturned eyes were as bright as cold stars in the sky, and there was a comfortable arc at the corners of his red mouth.
Looking at him this way, he didn’t look like an ordinary person at all, but more like a monster coming down from the mountains.
Faced with the attack of tens of thousands of troops, he did not avoid them at all, and even waved his hand in a good mood.
Seeing this familiar face, Le Zhengming almost burst into tears.
That was Xiao Curly, the one who made him feel so sincerely worried!
Le Zhengming rushed over even faster, ran close, stretched out his arms, easily pulled the young man onto the horse’s back, and continued to charge forward.
The soldiers following behind were all stunned, but they had no time to ask about the boy’s identity and the general’s abnormal behavior.
“You didn’t leave?” Le Zhengming asked in the swift wind.
“I said, I’ll be wherever you are.” Zhuang Li sat sideways in his lover’s arms, gently pulled open his collar with his slender fingertips, revealing half of his shoulder with red plum blossoms printed on it, and asked with a half-smile, “We’re already like this, do you want to deny it?”
Le Zhengming’s eyes were immediately attracted by the creamy white skin and the brightly colored marks. He quickly pulled down the curly-haired boy’s hand, gently covering the marks that made him feel dizzy and hot, and said in a hoarse voice, “I will naturally take the responsibility by taking care of you.”
“Then you must promise me that no matter what the reason is, you will not leave me alone in the future.” Zhuang Li poked his lover’s hard chest, and the slightly raised corners of his mouth revealed the joy that everything was under control.
He knew that this person could never do anything to him.
“Okay, I promise you, I will never let you leave me again.” Le Zhengming was indeed being led by the nose by the little curly-haired boy. Although they had only known each other for a short time, he seemed to have been completely controlled by the other party.
However, this oath was not made under duress, but was a promise from the bottom of his heart. As long as he was there, Xiao Curly would be there, and they would never be separated.
….
Not long after the Ninth Prince and his companions left, the Jie army launched a sneak attack on Guancheng.
General Xu, who was temporarily transferred to Guancheng, was originally very happy, thinking that he could finally replace Le Zhengming’s position. However, he did not expect that in the blink of an eye, he fell into the same situation as Le Zhengming.
His own army was still stationed in Qiuzhuang and had not been deployed in time. Most of the troops in Guancheng did not obey his command. When the enemy arrived, the entire camp was in chaos and there was no way to launch an effective counterattack in the first place.
He released smoke signals and carrier pigeons to ask for help from the Ninth Prince who was still on the way, but there was no response from the other side.
Come to think of it, the Ninth Prince was the most beloved son of the new emperor. It was very likely that he would aspire for the supreme throne in the future. How could he allow himself to stand under a dangerous wall?
After fighting for an hour without any reinforcements coming to Guancheng, General Xu was already in despair. He could not imagine what kind of disaster would happen if the enemy’s horses broke through the city gate.
These Jie people were all beasts. They slaughtered the Han people at will, just like cattle and sheep. They also piled the Han people’s corpses into high towers and placed them on the grasslands outside the Great Wall, just to attract wolves to tear them apart and vultures to peck at them for their own enjoyment.
They treated the Central Plains as a hunting ground, and the Han people could only flee under their horses’ hooves, with no chance of survival.
Looking at the red army gathered under the city wall and the precarious city gate, General Xu actually shed tears of regret on the spot.
If General Le Zhengming was still here, the border would never have been trampled by the enemy. General Le Zhengming was the pillar of Wei. What was the Duke of Zhenguo Zhuang Ran? What was the divine strategist Zhuang Xu? Even the Ninth Prince and the new emperor had to rely on General Le Zhengming’s bravery and fighting skills to stay safely in the imperial city.
While we soldiers are fighting at the front, the Ninth Prince and his nobles are enjoying soft beds, fine clothes and delicious food in the rear. How is this going on?
In desperation, General Xu actually came up with such a rebellious idea.
He walked to the city wall, drew his bow and shot arrows himself, but was almost shot to death by the enemy.
While he was still in shock, he suddenly heard someone shouting above his head: “It’s General Le Zhengming! He’s here to rescue us!”
“What? General Le Zhengming is not dead?” Xu Hui asked in horror.
There were 100,000 Jie troops in Guancheng, which meant there must be 80,000 in Guandu. 40,000 versus 80,000, with such a huge disparity in strength, how could Le Zhengming survive?
Xu Hui seriously suspected that he had heard it wrong.
But the soldier standing on the watchtower was extremely sure: “It’s General Le Zhengming. I saw his tiger-head flag! He’s outflanking them from behind!”
Xu Hui rushed up to the watchtower, took a quick look, and immediately shouted, “Open the city gate, open the city gate, we will fight our way out and join General Le Zhengming!”
Several generals who had refused to obey his orders before now opened the city gates without hesitation and rushed out on their horses. This showed the prestige and weight of the three words “Le Zhengming” on the battlefield.
The Jie people also heard the call of “Le Zhengming”, and the originally orderly offensive suddenly became chaotic. The Jie people at the end of the team looked back and saw a tiger-head flag with a blue background and black stripes fluttering in the strong wind, like a dark cloud, pressing down heavily.
“Le Zhengming is not dead! He is coming!” This news made all the Jie people panic. They couldn’t understand how Le Zhengming could escape from the crush of 80,000 troops. Could he have some magic?
However, there was no time for the Jie army to think about this difficult problem. They were attacked from both sides by the Wei army, and their neatly arranged square formations were scattered. They could only choose a direction and flee in pieces.
These brave and warlike Jie people lost the courage to continue fighting after just one encounter.
Le Zhengming was like the god of death descending from the sky, wielding a sword and reaping their lives.
In just one hour, Guancheng had safely survived the crisis.
The common people far away on the city walls raised their hands and cheered, and the soldiers on the battlefield nearby also walked towards General Le Zhengming, their eyes flashing with fanatical admiration and deep awe.
Le Zhengming suddenly turned his horse around and ran to the back of the team. He picked up a thin but handsome boy from the carriage carrying food and grass, and then let the boy sit on his shoulders. He proudly announced: “This is my military advisor Zhuang Li, the man who formulated the Crescent Moon Battle Formation and brought you the final victory.”
He carried the young man around the battlefield, like a very wealthy king showing off his priceless treasure.
“What? Our victory is due to this military advisor?”
“When did we have a military advisor?”
“The Ninth Prince’s military advisor is called Zhuang Xu, and he is known as a divine fortune teller. This man is called Zhuang Li. Are they brothers?”
“They are indeed brothers, otherwise how could he be so powerful?”
“It’s just that how did we win the previous battle? I still haven’t figured it out yet!”
All the soldiers were surprised and confused, and they gathered together to discuss the matter. Only a tall and strong, dark-faced lieutenant general sneered at the young man sitting on the general’s shoulder.
This Zhuang Li was not a military advisor at all, he was clearly a cowardly, yet arrogant chicken! He couldn’t even pretend to be dead well, what real ability could he have?
“Mr. Zhuang, you are a military advisor, so why don’t you tell us how we won the previous battle!” The black-faced deputy general shouted loudly.
The other soldiers also responded eagerly: “Yes, yes, Mr. Zhuang, please tell us everything! We are still confused and don’t understand!”
7480 was also very curious about this question. With his two broken arms hanging, he endured the humiliation and asked, “Master, how did you win? Did you pick up some golden finger when I wasn’t paying attention?”
Apart from the Lord God’s golden finger, what else could enable the host to win so beautifully in a desperate situation?
Zhuang Li touched his forehead with his slender fingertips and smiled quietly: “System, don’t you understand? My biggest golden finger has always been here.”
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