Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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On the night of the great victory at Guancheng, the Ninth Prince led his troops back via Kaifeng.
Seeing Le Zhengming standing at the gate of the military camp to greet him, he immediately dismounted, patted the other’s shoulder and laughed, and praised the bravery and fearlessness of the frontier soldiers.
The friendlier he acted, the warier Le Zhengming became. He bowed and said bluntly, “Your Highness, I received your letter for help before and immediately sent troops to rescue you, but we were ambushed by the Jie people. It seems that they have already discovered my movements. I suspect there is a spy in our army, and he is working together with the Jie people…”
The Ninth Prince raised his hand, interrupting Le Zhengming’s words, and waved his sleeves nonchalantly.
Then two soldiers brought up Xu Hui, who was tied up, and forced him to his knees on the ground.
Xu Hui, who had never expected that he would be used as a scapegoat by the Ninth Prince, looked towards Le Zhengming. He thought of how he had once knelt before him and swore to be forever loyal to his country and the people but had lost himself in the desire for power and betrayed his original intention. He could not help but shed tears of regret.
But he had no way out now. His parents, wife and children were all in the hands of the Ninth Prince. If he didn’t die, his whole family would have to die.
“General Le Zhengming, it was because I was greedy for power and obsessed with it that I colluded with the Jie people to harm you. I deserve to die.” He gritted his teeth and took all the blame, then slammed his head to the ground.
There was a dull sound accompanied by a slight vibration, and then a pool of blood spread out from around Xu Hui’s head. He knelt and died in front of Le Zhengming and all the soldiers. He confessed his crime and accepted the punishment.
Huai Laoer and the others originally hated him to death, but when they saw him leave so resolutely, they gritted their teeth and turned their heads away, feeling reluctant. After all, this man was a brother who had lived and died with them…
Le Zhengming had expected Xu Hui to quickly seek death, but he did not stop him. When the other party made such a crazy choice, he should have been prepared to bear all the consequences.
However, when the blood covered the ground and dyed it red, the ice on his face quickly melted. He gently pulled the little curly-haired boy standing beside him into his arms, covered his eyes with his big hands, and coaxed him softly: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
Zhuang Li grabbed the corner of Le Zhengming’s robe, nodded obediently, and took small steps to get into his arms, looking as weak as a lost animal.
7480 thought of the host smearing the blood of the dead on his face and covering his body with corpses, and couldn’t help but sneer in his heart: damn big devil, pretending to be sweet in front of Le Zhengming again. Ugh!
The Ninth Prince looked down at Xu Hui’s already stiff body, shook his head and sighed, “For a little power, he betrayed his comrades and abandoned his country and people. This man really deserves to die. Come, drag his body out. General Le Zhengming, are you satisfied with my treatment?”
Le Zhengming pulled the little curly-haired boy behind him, bowed slightly, and said nothing. Betraying his fellow soldiers and abandoning his country and people, wasn’t that what the Ninth Prince said?
I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me. The Ninth Prince’s character was even more vicious than Le Zhengming had imagined.
“Cousin, long time no see. How have you been lately?” The Ninth Prince shifted his indifferent gaze from Le Zhengming to Zhuang Li.
Zhuang Li also bowed slightly but said nothing.
He did not realize that his every move was imitating his lover. When two people were together for a long time, their eyes, expressions, movements, and preferences would gradually become similar. This was what the old saying “husband and wife look alike” meant.
Seeing the young man with the same expression, movements, and even the same clothes as Le Zhengming, the Ninth Prince’s eyes darkened and he gave up on the idea of winning him over. How long had it been? Zhuang Li had already developed an extraordinary tacit understanding with Le Zhengming, and it was difficult to separate the two.
Well, let’s leave it at that.
Thinking of this, the Ninth Prince summoned all the soldiers and said he wanted to discuss military and national affairs.
Zhuang Li didn’t have any official position yet, so he could only stand outside and wait.
The sky was twinkling with stars, embellishing the night sky with extraordinary beauty. However, the number of people who died on this continent was probably more than the stars in the sky.
Zhuang Li looked up at the starry sky, his eyes shining with determination. War would certainly kill many people, but without war, how could this land usher in peace? Kindness and showing weakness could never stop killing, only killing could stop killing.
Everything he would do in the future may make this land even more riddled with holes, but after the short-term pain, what would come was the spring when all things revived.
He wanted to change the world, he wanted to protect this land, just because his lover was the god of this land.
Thinking of this, Zhuang Li couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What are you thinking about that makes you so happy?” A gentle voice came from behind him, and then a handsome young man slowly walked forward and said with a smile: “You deceived my father and me so badly. Who could have guessed that the arrogant and unliterary young Marquis Zhuang would turn out to be a genius with a lot of wisdom and strategies.”
“You won the Battle of Guandu beautifully,” the young man turned his head to look at Zhuang Li and asked in a low voice, “I just wonder if you can deal with the Mongols?”
His face was full of pure curiosity, as if he was just asking casually and had no ill intentions.
Zhuang Li looked back at him without dodging, his lips curled slightly: “Won’t you know after we fight?”
Zhuang Xu clapped his hands lightly and said with admiration: “What courage. For so many years, my father and I didn’t even notice your disguise. At what age did you start to be wary of us?”
Zhuang Li tapped his temple and smiled mysteriously: “If I said I was born knowing, will you believe me?”
Zhuang Xu never expected Zhuang Li to say such shocking words. How could it be possible that he was born knowing everything? Did he think he was a saint?
Perhaps he was tired of such probing, so Zhuang Li shook his head and chuckled, then turned to leave, only to find Zhuang Ran standing five meters away, looking at him with a gloomy look. He had obviously heard what had just been said, and showed obvious astonishment on his face.
Zhuang Li nodded and smiled at the other party, then took a detour.
Zhuang Ran stood there stiffly for a long time before speaking in a hoarse voice: “The princess was right, Zhuang Li is indeed extraordinary. He didn’t rush over to fight me with red eyes, nor did he accuse me with tears, nor did he pretend to ignore me. In terms of character, he is slightly better than you.”
Zhuang Ran looked at his most beloved son with a solemn look in his eyes and asked, “If you were Zhuang Li, could you smile so gently and naturally when you saw me?”
Zhuang Xu thought about it silently in his mind, and his face turned pale. He couldn’t do it. Not only that, he might have collapsed long ago.
Since he was young, he felt that he was smarter and more capable than Zhuang Li, and was the most favored by his father, so he always had a sense of superiority in his heart. However, now, when he suddenly realized that Zhuang Li was not really stupid, but pretending to be stupid, and had fooled him for so many years, this sense of superiority turned into the deepest irony.
Zhuang Xu covered his chest, feeling very uncomfortable.
Zhuang Ran patted his son’s shoulder gently, comforting him silently.
Just at this moment, Le Zhengming walked out of the Ninth Prince’s tent holding a big knife, followed by a large group of people. All of them had red eyes and smoke coming out of their heads, and it was obvious that they were very angry.
Through the swaying curtains, Zhuang Ran discovered that the Ninth Prince’s desk had been split in half, with pens, ink, paper, and inkstone scattered all over the floor. It seemed that Le Zhengming had been so angry that he had used a knife.
“The matter in Jin has been settled.” Zhuang Ran said in an inaudible voice, “Don’t worry, Xu’er. Zhuang Li will die soon.”
“I want to fight him with real swords and spears.” Zhuang Xu raised his head, his eyes red, and his inner demon aroused by unwillingness.
“Don’t say such angry words. If you can kill the enemy without bloodshed, why do it yourself? You are porcelain and he is rubble. How can he compare with you?” Zhuang Ran comforted his son very patiently, but he didn’t know how funny these words would sound if they were spoken outside.
The eldest princess was a royal daughter and her child had half royal blood, but in Zhuang Ran’s eyes, he was not even as good as a bast**d born to a foot-washing maid.
….
When Le Zhengming returned to the tent, Zhuang Li was quickly flipping through piles of books, trying to understand everything about this land in the shortest time possible.
“Is it settled?” he asked without raising his head.
“It’s settled.” Le Zhengming placed the sword on the table and said in a deep voice, “It’s just as you said. The angrier and more unwilling I acted, the more the Ninth Prince insisted on sending me to rescue the State of Jin. For this, he even asked for the Emperor’s Imperial Sword and allowed me to take all his personal soldiers with me. We will set off in three days.”
“Then let’s play with the spear for a while, and then we’ll make arrangements.” Zhuang Li put the book aside, smiling with interest.
“Playing with spears?” Le Zhengming was stunned.
“Yeah, don’t you want to play?” Zhuang Li stood up and slowly untied his belt.
Le Zhengming hesitated for a moment before he said helplessly: “Let’s play for a while.” He walked to the weapon rack, pulled out a long spear and started wielding it with great vigor.
Zhuang Li, who had already taken off his outer robe and was about to take off his underwear, said: “…”
7480, who knew how much the host loved playing with spears: “…Hahaha.” The broken arm doesn’t seem to hurt so much anymore!
Zhuang Li stood there for a long time before slowly sitting back down, holding his chin, smiling at his lover who was deliberately showing off his strength. If he was asked to play with a spear, he would really play with it. Although he was a little unromantic, he was a little too cute.
Le Zhengming was so excited by the little curly-haired boy’s gaze that he played absentmindedly for a while before asking impatiently, “Can we settle down now?”
Zhuang Li slapped the table and laughed, teasing, “Silly boy, what I meant by playing with spears is the same as what you mean by settling down. Do you only have one spear on you?” As he spoke, his eyes slid to somewhere.
Le Zhengming looked down along his line of sight, and his ears immediately turned red. He gritted his teeth, then curled his lips, not knowing whether to be angry or laugh. In the end, he threw the spear away, strode to the table, carried the little curly-haired boy on his shoulders, and hurried into the inner room, “I’ll play with you.”
His hoarse voice was swallowed by Zhuang Li’s passionate kiss.
….
Le Zhengming’s 150,000 personal soldiers successfully crossed the border and arrived at Yecheng, Jin State.
The Jin monarch was like the new emperor, with no other merits except cruelty and killing people without hesitation. All the loyal and good people around him were killed, and only those who were left around him were those who had ulterior motives and were greedy and despicable.
All the brave and capable generals of Jin were killed by him under various pretexts, and those who helped him defend the country were all foreigners.
The different ethnic groups would also annex and devour each other. The victorious side would continue to conquer cities and territories, while the defeated side would seek refuge in a nearby country. The Han people and the different ethnic groups were clearly divided, but they also merged with each other. Therefore, this was the most chaotic era, but also an era of continuity and progress.
In order to resist the 150,000 Mongolian cavalry, the monarch of Jin State assembled an army of 450,000 people. It seemed that the army was strong, but the problem was that these 450,000 people were composed of remnants of various ethnic groups, large and small. They were not loyal to Jin State at all and were very wild and difficult to tame.
Such a ragtag army would probably be quickly defeated and killed by the Mongols on the battlefield.
Therefore, the monarch of Jin placed all his hopes of victory on the 150,000 soldiers brought by Le Zhengming. If Le Zhengming could fight the Mongols to a draw, he would get a great advantage for nothing.
After reviewing the topographic map and relevant battle reports, Zhuang Li said firmly, “We are only responsible for commanding your army and will not send a single soldier. You can fight, but none of our comrades must die.”
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