I strolled to the water's edge and quietly admired the snow on the lake, but the snow melted immediately after it hit the water, and there was even a gust of hot air on the water surface, which made me a little anxious.
I tried to calm myself down, telling myself to get some sleep. Yunmeng would be frozen by tomorrow morning, and then I turned around and went back to my account office.
But how could I fall asleep? I tossed and turned in the tent for a long time, but I still couldn't fall asleep. Once I got up to find something heavy to hold down the curtain to prevent the snow from flying everywhere in the tent. I didn't light the stove, but just turned on the lamp and half leaned on the pillow in the tent thinking about things.
God is really considerate to me. If I can take action tomorrow morning, I will run back to Xiangyang after that.
Kong Ming should have grown up again, oh, that's unlikely, he's only half a year old, he can't be much bigger, but it's possible that he has grown fat; Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang are both old, this old couple has worked hard all their lives, it should be a good thing for them that we're not here, although they may not think so; I don't know what happened to the teacher, all my classmates are scattered all over the place, it seems that few people can "wish me a happy birthday" this year; I can't help feeling a little melancholy, I really don't know when I can get together with my brothers again.
I found that thinking about happy things is still effective. After thinking about it for a while, I fell into a deep sleep.
The soldiers bringing me food startled me awake and I shouted: Are you calling me to the big tent? This scared the soldier who brought me food. I felt a little embarrassed and said I scared him and let him go.
As soon as he left, I rushed out to see what was happening outside. It was already dark, but I could still see that the snow was getting heavier and heavier, and the wind was stronger than in the morning. But torches were often extinguished by the wind and snow. Fortunately, in the snow, the light from the tent alone could clearly see everything within thirty feet. So, everyone gave up trying and stopped using torches. My interest was obviously not in this place. I quickly ran to the shore in the nearly one-foot-deep snow. It began to freeze. As soon as the snow fell on it, it immediately turned blue, and then slowly turned white in the distance. Now Mufu Mountain looked more like a wild grave in the wind. I squatted down and pressed hard with my hands. At least the shore should be solid enough, so I stepped on it, but I stumbled and almost fell. I hurried back to the shore. The pulley was fine, but it was not a good thing for the horse to slip on it. I might need to wrap something on the horse's hooves. My sister must have told me about these things. I thought, my sister is so amazing. Why didn't I see it before? I found a stone in the snow and threw it with all my strength. The stone fell far away. On the gradually whitening ice, the stone slid far away until it was too blurry to see. Since it was frozen, I thought it would be possible to run horses in a few hours. Then I just had to wait for another night. I could go home after waiting for another night.
On the way back, I bumped into a soldier. I was just a little too excited, and bumping into someone was nothing. But after the collision, I was a little angry.
"Why haven't you distributed your winter clothes yet?" I couldn't stand the sight of a group of patrol soldiers wearing only single clothes, and I got angry all of a sudden. If this is the case, if Qu Xing doesn't freeze to death, then our soldiers will.
"No, no, General Xie, we have issued them, but we don't want to wear them."
"No, why not?" This is probably the most incredible and bizarre answer I have ever heard.
"We are all from the north. We can still stand this weather. But the southern brothers can't. But we are the only ones with winter clothes. And they have to patrol together. If we have them but they don't, I'm afraid there will be trouble. And everyone has to fight together. Our captain, General Tian Gong, is gone, but we can't abandon the rules of the Yellow Turban Army. So we can't just think about warmth alone when we have clothes, and we can't just think about eating alone when we have millet, and ignore other brothers and leave our brothers helpless. So, several of our leaders decided to give the clothes to the army from Wujun first, but Brother Guan is also one of us, and he refused to let his brothers wear them. Those southern brothers were also stubborn and wore thin clothes when they came here. In the end, we just fought like this."
With such soldiers, do we still worry about our defeat? They value loyalty and righteousness, but they are a little childish. A group of people are actually gambling together, but the price of the gambling may be the soldiers' bodies.
"Walk around more, your hearts are cold. I don't want to take you with a fever to cool those bastards down. Also, forget about it in front of me, don't bring up the Yellow Turban Army and General Tian Gong everywhere, those people in the court are waiting for us to use them. Remember, greet your brothers, don't say these things in front of those guys who look honest but are actually cunning, they are unreliable."
"Are you one?" One of the young soldiers actually made fun of me.
I also acted very angry and grabbed the boy and asked, "Did Zhou Yu say something bad about me?"
"Her husband thinks so, too."
"Her husband's wife thinks so too!" Everyone laughed.
"Am I cunning?" I acted innocent and joined everyone in laughing.
I like this feeling very much, people are not afraid of me, nor do they keep away from me. But they often deliberately spread bad things about me behind my back and let me hear them, which makes me feel helpless, because when I pretend to be fierce and ferocious, they become more honest than each other.
After sending them on patrol, I returned to the tent first, took off my coat outside the armor, and came out wearing the armor directly. I also had to act like I was sharing the hardships with the soldiers. Along the way, I suddenly felt that everyone in this camp was crazy. Even so, I still thought that I had to set an example of being as enthusiastic as the soldiers.
When I entered the big tent, only Guan Hai was reading documents at the desk next to me. My sister should be resting in the back tent. I thought this matter concerned the lives of all the brothers in the camp, so I should discuss it with my sister. So I bowed and greeted her and walked directly to the inner hall.
"Xie Zhi, your sister is resting. Please don't disturb her. You should go back and rest too." His voice was very soft, and he was obviously afraid of waking up his sister. Just this alone made me feel a little fond of him.
"I have something to discuss with my sister." I thought I didn't need to lower my voice because I wanted my sister to resolve it quickly.
"Tomorrow please."
"No, we have to do it today. This concerns the lives of all the brothers."
"No, you and I will decide what the matter is. Lady Princess will give me the current command and I can make the decision."
I don't believe that my sister will definitely pass this heavy responsibility to me, to you. I don't believe it. He must be trying to deceive me.
"This is a serious matter. I must discuss it with my sister."
"You are so ridiculous. Although the rumors about you are a little weird, at least you are still a rare heroic young man. I didn't expect that the so-called Ping An Fengyun Hou is just a snot-wiping ghost following behind his sister's skirt." Although he was mocking and angry, he tried to keep his voice down. This made me lower my voice.
"I'm not such a coward, but it will be very cold tonight. How can a soldier standing guard in only thin clothes survive the night..." I suddenly stopped and noticed something that might be very interesting. Guan Hai seemed to do it on purpose. His clothes were obviously much thinner than in the morning. He seemed to notice that I was looking him up and down, and I also noticed that he looked at me too. I believe he also noticed that I was different.
"Wear it if it's distributed, and wait if it's not distributed yet."
"But now it's just that everyone doesn't wear it."
"That's good. The Ming soldiers are very loyal."
"How about this, collect all the winter clothes..."
"Why? We have to distribute them anyway, so isn't it redundant to collect them again?"
"Shh..." I asked him to lower his voice because he seemed a little excited and forgot how loud he was at the beginning. I continued: "Wait for me to finish. As long as the remaining winter clothes have not arrived, they will only be distributed to the soldiers on patrol. They will be returned when they change shifts. The other soldiers will keep warm in the tents and wait for the order to attack."
"Well, okay, it's up to you."
I was very happy because for the first time I saw the affirmative look in his eyes.
I returned to the tent feeling somewhat proud, as that idea was definitely something I had come up with on the spot. Although it was not ingenious, because it was indeed simple, it should be an easy method to deal with a bunch of children who were acting like children and whose heads were hot.
I couldn't sleep again, I was so excited. But soon I started to worry again, and soon came to the conclusion that we couldn't attack tomorrow. Even if someone proposed this plan now, I couldn't agree. At this time, the soldiers were the most important. It would be best to freeze the people on the Shogun Island until they couldn't hold their weapons. Obviously, freezing overnight would not work. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I was now treating war like a game, just a bigger game.
I still couldn't fall asleep, even though I tried all the sleeping methods. There was no wind in the tent, but I could feel the endless warmth in the quilt just by listening to the whistling wind outside. It should be very comfortable to sleep now, but I just couldn't fall asleep. I thought about this and that, including the education that Kong Ming would receive in the future.
In the past, I didn’t have much to worry about, and the night would pass almost as soon as I closed my eyes and opened them again. But that day, I closed my eyes for several hours but to no avail. I also went to the bathroom several times before I finally felt a little sleepy. I used this to finally fall asleep.
But as soon as I fell asleep, my sister came over to bother me.
I decided to ignore her and let her push me from behind, calling me softly.
“Zirui, it’s time to get up from bed. We have to go to your master today.” After trying the soft ones and finding that they had no effect, my sister hit me hard on the butt, which finally made me start to hum a few times.
"Isn't it still early? Let me sleep a little longer." I muttered and wrapped the quilt tighter.
"It was already daybreak." I ignored her, so she continued, "I heard from the night watchman that you went out a lot last night... Why did you sleep so late? What were you thinking about? Hey, get up, this is the main camp, we have something to do."
I still just hummed and curled up in the quilt.
"It seems that you will have to bring bedding with you when you go to the battlefield next time. It's so short." My sister tucked the corners of the quilt for me. It seemed that she finally gave up the idea of waking me up.
"Last night," my sister leaned close to my ear and lowered her voice, "Why were you making so much noise? Did you want to wake me up?"
"Oh, you were woken up?"
"Of course, I just went to sleep and you came over to make trouble."
"Why don't you let me come over and take charge of the situation for you?"
"Your child has a bad temper. I am not very reassured. It is better to let Brother Guan take care of it. However, he seems to have that temper. I didn't know about this matter at first. I asked Guan Hai to handle it. I thought he would handle it well. I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen. And I took a quick look behind the tent and found that you were wearing too little clothes. Then I looked at Guan Hai and found that he was also wearing too little clothes on purpose. You two are really worrying."
"You won't come out even if I take a peek?"
"I was so disheveled that I couldn't come out. Besides, I see that you have finally resolved the matter, so I'll let it go. I found you some thick clothes in large sizes. They may be a little off, so just make do with them. It's very cold today, don't catch a cold."
"How's the ice?"
"You can go horseback riding now."
"OK."
"Why aren't you getting up? We've been talking so much, and you should have woken up a long time ago. Why are you still lying here?" My sister thought I would get up, but I curled up again.
"If you don't get up, the food will get cold."
"I will not sleep at night, and I will not get up in the morning."
"Sister, can I go play snowballs with you? It's snowing heavily."
"Impossible, this is the camp, not home." I was tempted, but I immediately ruled out this possibility.
"Don't you want to go back early? We still have to attack Shogun Mountain."
"It's not today anyway."
"How do you know it's not today?"
"We don't have complete winter clothing, so we can't fight. It's already daybreak, so it's hard to fight. The enemy hasn't frozen completely yet, so it's best not to fight."
"Aren't you very sober? Get up quickly, or I'll lift your quilt." Then he reached down to touch the corner of my quilt.
"Get up, get up! Sister, you go out first, I'll come to see you right away." I decided to give in.
"You sleep naked?"
"No, isn't it to prevent the enemy from attacking us? Of course we have to wear full armor."
"With your sleepy attitude, you must have been captured by someone, and you are still sleeping soundly."
"Impossible. If I had heard the alarm, I would have gotten up and gone to fight the enemy."
"So you just won't wake up even when I call you, right?" There was some anger in my sister's tone.
"Get up, get up." I felt some terrible threat and quickly stood up. As a result, I bumped into the shoulder of my sister who was leaning against my ear. How heavy I was and how light my sister was, the poor princess was immediately bounced away and fell to the ground.
“I, I…” I knew I made a mistake and was at a loss as to what to do.
“You are clumsy, crazy and stupid.” My sister didn’t get angry with me for this. She rubbed my shoulders and stood up to teach me a lesson for my stupidity.
“It hurts.”
My sister shook her head, and I quickly put on the clothes she gave me. They fit me well.
"It's only my sister who can do it. No one else can find clothes that fit me like this." I praised her endlessly. My sister must have put a lot of effort into it because the color of this dress is all black.
"Don't praise me, don't you see how much difference there is in kùtuǐ?"
"It's okay. Just put it in my boots. It won't be visible."
After everything was packed up, I finished my breakfast under surveillance. I went to pull open the door curtain to see how heavy the snow was outside. Unexpectedly, as soon as I pulled it open, a strong light came in, which made me feel like I was going to go blind. I quickly let go of the curtain, turned around, and when I opened my eyes again, there was darkness inside the tent.
"Your movements are too big. It's all white outside. You can't get out of such a dark tent all at once."
"Sister, you arranged this tent, right?"
"yes."
"Why did you give me such a thick tent to live in? No wonder I don't feel cold or windy at night."
"Aren't you worried that you'd get cold? You like to kick off the quilt at night..."
"Sister, we are in the camp. You can't be biased towards me like this. It's so bad." I felt that it was unreasonable for me to teach my sister a lesson like this, but I still had some opinions. But after that, I lowered my head as if I had made a mistake.
"Okay, okay, my good brother, come out with me and come to my place to discuss things with everyone." My sister seemed to have pulled open the curtain, and the tent immediately became much brighter. After a few moments, I felt my eyes were more comfortable, so I went out with my sister.
Even so, after I went out, I still squinted my eyes, and my sister looked the same. There were only two colors between heaven and earth, gray sky, white ground, and everything else was blown away by the wind between the two colors of heaven and earth. The weather was very cold, and piles of snow could be seen everywhere. The snow had obviously been cleared, but now it was nearly a foot thick. The lake was hazy and nothing could be seen. Mufu Mountain was also the same color as the sky, and nothing could be seen. I couldn't help shivering before I walked a hundred feet. I didn't bring the Tianlang because my hands were nestled in my cloak, but when I saw the soldiers patrolling next to me, I at least kept my waist straight.
My sister suddenly disappeared. Just as I noticed the newly issued winter clothes on the passing soldiers, I couldn't find her anymore! It was just a blink of an eye.
"Sister, where are you?" I tried to open my eyes as wide as possible and looked around.
"What?" My sister turned around and I realized that she was right in front of me. However, the strong north wind mixed with snow made my sister turn her face away quickly.
“Why are you wearing white clothes in this kind of weather?” My sister’s white cloak was still attached to a hood, and once she put it on, it blended into the entire camp, but I couldn’t even notice it even though it was so close.
"Then stretch out your hand. I'll hold your hand, so that you won't get lost or find me again." The wind was very strong and I couldn't hear clearly, but when my sister's hand was stretched out in front of me and the smile on her face, I could understand what she meant.
"It's not good, I'm already this old?" I went back, and my hand was held by my sister. My sister's hand was warmer than mine, and it made my face a little hot, mainly because I saw some soldiers passing by paying attention to us. My sister's hand stretched out from the thick clothes did look like a girl's hand, especially when my big hand stretched out. But I dare not use words like delicate, beautiful, cute or exquisite to describe it, otherwise my sister would pull my ears and beard in front of so many people, otherwise it would be very embarrassing.
“It’s okay, you’ll be eighteen tomorrow, and you’re still a child today.” My sister paused and sighed, “If I want to…” The wind got stronger again, and my sister’s voice was immediately suppressed, but I knew exactly what my sister meant. I didn’t care, I just held my hands tighter, and I felt my sister’s hands tightened as well.
I will be eighteen years old tomorrow, and I must pray that those hermit masters will not run around everywhere, and at least wait for me to come back.
On the way, I always felt that it was not nice to have my sister holding my hand in front of me, so I quickened my pace and walked ahead, but... I didn't recognize the road, and I was a little hesitant, but I was too embarrassed to come out.
"Go straight. Only the meeting tent is open." My sister must be able to see through my thoughts.
Before entering the account, I let go of my hand, and my sister quickly ran in front of me, holding the cloak and walking in quickly. I waited a little while before going in. I greeted the generals briefly. This morning, Guan Hai also bowed to me briefly for the first time. I was very happy in my heart, but my face was still just a little smile like him.
"I have just discussed this with General Zirui. Now I order..." As I listened, the others looked at me with admiration. I was very surprised. My sister had never discussed many details with me, but now she was involved in almost everything. For example, she had considered sending spies to monitor the actions of the District Star Bandits near Mufu Mountain and wearing white clothes.
"The specific time and location of the attack will be determined after we discuss it with the Changsha Army."
Ye Jian praised me, "Brother Zhi, you are amazing. We are thinking hard about the next plan. When we have not come to a conclusion, County Lord Yinling wants to ask for your opinion. I didn't expect that she would arrange everything properly as soon as she came back. No wonder you are only one year older than me, but you have been made a marquis."
I could only smile along, with a lot of questions in my mind. After everyone left, I grabbed my sister and led her into the inner room.
"What's going on?"
"Well, haha." My sister smiled and sighed, "I deliberately didn't look for you today, discussed it with everyone, and then looked for you, just for this effect, it seems to be working well."
"This was your plan, why should it be blamed on me?"
"They are very respectful to you, but they are not convinced. You haven't shown any outstanding performance during this period. You just eat and sleep. Even Su Fei is a little jealous of you. I know you have a good heart, but you can't just rely on high titles and good intentions in the army. If you want to gain respect and admiration from others, you have to show your true qualities. But you have been eating and sleeping recently. What else have you done? Just put on a show and hold the Heavenly Wolf to show your identity. How can you convince others? You should know that many of these soldiers have just joined our army. The Battle of Hanzhong was not commanded by you. How can you convince others?"
The words were spoken softly, but they were like a slap in the face to me.
"I know your strengths, but it's not that critical now. You are careless and can't see many things clearly. I don't want to be so scheming, but my sister will get married sooner or later. After getting married, I may not be able to make these arrangements for you. You know you will have to deal with them in the future. You have to learn everything and master it. You will be careful in the future." My sister sat on the couch with her face turned away.
I can't describe my feelings, but I know my sister was crying. I sat in front of her and wiped away her tears.
"I know you will marry me off before you consider your own marriage. You will be eighteen soon. If you don't get married, your teachers and matchmakers will come to you, so I will consider my own affairs as soon as possible... I am always worried about your character, but... it's also my fault. Although I have always been very strict with you, I still let you do it most of the time for fear of tiring you. In the end, you became lazy; you became ambitious, but you couldn't do it yourself; you were careless; and you had never suffered any setbacks; so, you were very arrogant when you were proud. Although I taught you to be humble, it was easier said than done, especially when you were made a marquis. I was very worried at the time. And when you were frustrated, you were easily discouraged and felt inferior. It was completely impulsive. I always thought that I was about the same age as you, and I would definitely be able to bring you up well. However, in recent days, I have indeed felt many of your shortcomings. This is not your fault, it is indeed my fault."
I knelt in front of my sister for a long time, with her face pressed against my breasts. I spoke intermittently, and I only remember a numb feeling on my face: "Sister, we don't have parents, and you brought me up. Actually, everything I have now is given to me by you. But I am not very capable, and you are still worrying about me. I don't know what I have done, but leave these things to me, your brother. I will not let you down, and I will not let you cry for me again. I am already an adult, and I don't want you to worry about me anymore."
"But can you tell me, how much older are you than me? From what you said just now, it seems that you are very old." Now that I have made up my mind, I have to start immediately.
"Five years old." My sister really burst into laughter, like a girl.
"Four years old." I also regained my childish temper and started arguing, but of course this still resulted in no result.
"I'll go to Master right now. Sister, you just wait in the camp. I'll discuss things with them. The journey is very difficult, so you can stay." I left without giving my sister a chance to raise any objections.
When I went back immediately, my sister was counting the time on her fingers.
"Sister, hehe..." I was grinning.
"Our winter clothes haven't arrived yet, but the trolley is already 30% full." My sister said expressionlessly, "And you can go on the trolley."
"My Lord... are you okay?" the soldier in the car asked me. Although the wind was stronger and colder on the road, my face was still burning with embarrassment.
"It's okay." I quickly changed the subject, but Wang looked around and asked, "What's tied to the horse's leg?"
"It's used to prevent the horses' legs from sinking into the snow. The snow is already nearly two feet thick. I didn't expect it to snow so heavily south of the Yangtze River."
I made up some random nonsense and finally managed to get over my strange behavior.
When I met Master, he didn't say anything, so I told him everything about my sister and me, because I was afraid I would forget it.
Finally, the master opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and he didn't close it either. It took a while for him to recover: "Is there any progress?"
I didn't know whether to be happy or ashamed, so I could only smile.
The master saw that there was no one around and asked: "Did Yinling teach you?"
"How did Master know?"
"How can you be so meticulous? Are you afraid of forgetting something when you're so fast?"
"Master, how do you know this?"
"How could I not know what kind of person you are? You are a very smart person, but your temperament is very simple and honest, without so many flowery words. Although you are a scholar, you are also a rough man. You are so comprehensive and considerate of all aspects, and your way of handling things is so consistent. It is obviously done by a woman. Who could that woman be? Don't ask me, right?"
"Master is really amazing."
"Are you a little absent-minded today?"
"You figured it out again?" I was a little discouraged, but then I cheered up again, "Okay. Master, what is your plan?"
"Were you taught a lesson by your sister today?"
"Master, how come you know everything?"
“You are a nice person, with a heart like a clear stream, clear and easy to see. People who are familiar with you... smart people can tell what you are thinking and what happened to you just by looking at you.” The master seemed to have deliberately added the word "smart", obviously excluding some people. He was probably also impressed by Zhou Cang's wisdom.
"Okay, I won't say any more to you." The master finally got back to the point. "I have already discussed with them, and they have already started to prepare. I will just keep it simple with you. Your birthday will be celebrated in your camp. Freeze those people for a few days first, and we will march on the 6th or 7th, depending on the preparations of the two camps and the reaction of District Star in the next few days. When the time comes, the troops will be divided into six groups. You will follow this map and take the three eastern lines. We have left some marks, and there are no ice caves that can trap people on those lines. Make a fire and cook at the second watch, and set off at the third watch. Use the light from the snow to attack from the six main mountain roads of Mufu Mountain before dawn. If you encounter strong resistance, difficult opponents, and heavy casualties, you only need to stay where you are, watch the opponents, and harass them from time to time, and wait for other situations to determine. The opponents are probably also If they find that there is ice and horses can run, they must be preparing to prevent our sneak attack in the next few days. Therefore, we must not attack in the next few days. After a few days, the enemy will be cold and tired, and they will definitely try their best to break out. They are most likely to try their luck in the north where the troops are empty. Therefore, I sent a letter to your teacher, asking him to prepare 3,000 people, divided into three teams, prepare war horses, and specialize in robbing and killing these bandits in Huarong, Wulin, and Hanyang. There is no need to kill them all, just drive them to the places where the other two teams are, and we will slowly go to Xiangyang and slowly pick up the last stragglers. Of course, if they are determined to resist to the end, then we will wait until they are almost frozen to death, and then we will go to collect their bodies. That's it."
"Yes, Master's plan is perfect and impeccable."
"Don't flatter me. This is something we all planned together. You know, at least Ziyu is a very powerful person."
"What about light?"
"Qing is a kid. He is very helpful to our team's battles, especially the team battles of several or more than ten people. But when it comes to such combat planning, his ideas are definitely simpler than Zhou Cang's. He once told me: Let's have a good sleep and attack tomorrow morning. I believe we can rest in Qu Xing's camp at night." The master shook his head helplessly.
I also smiled. This did sound like what the burly man said, and it was more to my taste.
"General Li Zhen has delivered the linen cloth for winter clothes." The soldier delivered the order.
"Master, oh, Zirui is here too?" Li Zhen ran really fast. He followed as soon as the order was passed on.
"Linen?" The master said with a smile.
"Yes, when you asked me to deliver winter clothes, it had just started snowing heavily. I guess you asked me to deliver winter clothes because you felt that it was going to snow heavily. I also guess that you wanted to gamble with them that the water surface would freeze due to the heavy snow. Because I heard that Qu Xing started the rebellion in a hurry and had no preparations for winter. He only robbed the treasury of Huarong Marquisate, so there was no shortage of military food. In addition, there were many hidden stakes under the water, and it was not cold this winter, so they could hold out. Now, it seems that Qu Xing's life will only be in these few days. In order to facilitate your attack in the early morning, of course I found some white, undyed white cloth to bring to you."
How did I get there? Although I had always refused to admit it before, and even felt a little self-deprecating when I mentioned it, it was the first time I felt that Jingzhou was full of talented people, and I was just a mediocre one among them. Suddenly I remembered what my sister had just taught me, and I had to have some confidence, and my back straightened up again.
"Moreover," Zishi added, "I will also bring 3,000 people to help."
"No, I won't let you go. You should know that I gave the order at that time that all married people should stay in Changsha. I already have a daughter here, and the others are unmarried. So, I let them go to fight. This battle is extremely dangerous. On Mufu Mountain, we can only know some basic roads of Mufu Mountain from a few woodcutters. We have no idea what it is like now. If it wasn't like a cancer growing in the center of my Jingzhou, I wouldn't fight it now. I won't let you go to fight. At least they won't have anything to do after they die, but if there are more widows, how many years of misery will there be in the future? Have you thought about them?"
"Master, although Yu'er and I are engaged, we haven't gotten married yet."
"That's the same!"
"What about Qing and your daughter? Aren't they engaged too?"
"If he dies, my daughter will naturally remain a widow for him, but he is already my heir, and he should fight alongside me. It is not my fault to let someone else's newlywed husband go to die while my own child hides behind."
"Wait, wait, what? Your daughter and Qing are already... Congratulations, why didn't you tell me before?"
"You have none of your business here." Two people pointed at me at the same time, telling me to shut up.
They argued for a long time, but the master insisted on giving his son-in-law special treatment. It was hard to say whether he was right or wrong in this behavior, as it was hard for me to say whether he was right or wrong.
In the end, it was the master who showed off his seniority and forced Zishi to accept this decision in his capacity as the master.
Then he chased me away again, and I could tell he was in a bad mood.
After returning, I reported everything to my sister. Everything else seemed to be within her expectations, except that she was also surprised by Huang Yun's engagement. Before she was finished being surprised, Qing arrived with winter clothes and linen.
We naturally wouldn't let him go, and we had a good time with him. But Qing came here for a purpose. Master knew that there were new soldiers in our army, so he sent their instructor to us. Qing came with a group of experienced veterans, and after a little arrangement, he began some training before the battle.
This was my first time watching our new style of alien training, and all the generals except my sister shared my interest.
Their narration was very direct. They first described which parts were fatal, such as the neck and heart; which parts could make a person lose the ability to attack, such as the hand holding a weapon and the genitals; when they talked about this part, everyone laughed as I expected, and then there was the part about bleeding, which had no effect. I came to the conclusion that their combat research seemed to be only about how to kill people.
Later, they learned about team formation, from two people to dozens of people, how to fight the enemy, how to deal with the situation when the enemy is outnumbered, or vice versa. It was really rewarding to watch. It seems that they also studied how to better protect themselves on the battlefield.
Then, Qing asked everyone to form a team of 20 people and cooperate with each other. They should know how to deal with any situation on the battlefield, and form a battle formation completely spontaneously. Everyone practiced very enthusiastically because it was really new. I was itching to practice. The veterans who came with Qing were still there to give guidance.
Finally, there is the Spartan battle formation that his tribe is most proud of, but our soldiers also have their own creations, which is the unified rhythm command summarized: "Die, kill."
In the evening, we entertained Qing, and everyone said that they had broadened their horizons and kept pouring wine for Qing to show their gratitude and admiration. Indeed, in one afternoon, we all felt that our soldiers' ability to cooperate in combat had been significantly improved.
After Qing left, they asked me about Qing's situation. It was obvious that they felt that Qing was not one of us. I exaggerated and told them the origin of their tribe from the beginning to the end, from the Spartacus uprising to the Battle of Hanzhong, and how to deal with cavalry. They were really fascinated by what they heard, and they all expressed their desire to go to Xiliang to see this group of foreigners. Especially Ye Jian, it was obvious that he had no good intentions towards the Amazon warriors.
The next day was my 18th birthday, and my sister wanted to celebrate it for me, but I said that time was tight, so forget it, I'll go back to Xiangyang. That day I was in the camp, training with the soldiers, and supervising the pulley making for two hours. At dinner, I ate steamed buns while testing the strength of several pulleys.
That night, I said to myself, "Today I am eighteen years old. I am an adult."
But I didn't feel the slightest bit strange. After I finished saying this, I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was eighteen years and one day old.
I don’t remember how I spent my birthday.
Because I was very busy in the next few days, I didn't see my sister much. Every day, besides practicing, I checked the preparations.
The soldiers have recently become fascinated by Qing's methods of fighting. They often see them teaming up with three against three, or five against five, using their scabbards as weapons to attack and defend each other. Some even make bets on this.
"The army's morale is high." Su Fei said to me at lunch one day.
I also showed off a few times, waving the Tianlang in front of the crowd, practicing the moves that Guan and Zhang taught me with great joy, and even deliberately practicing the moves faster, which made the spectators cheer continuously.
All this changed suddenly one day. My sister called everyone together at noon and said, "We will attack tomorrow morning."
"What day is it today?"
"It's the ninth day of the first lunar month." My sister reminded me again, "You must get up on time for the second watch."
At three o'clock in the morning on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Zhongping, I was on the Yunmengze Lake preparing to set off with the two thousand soldiers in our group. As usual, I said a few words before departure.
"Today we are attacking Qu Xing on Mufu Mountain. Follow me, don't panic, don't be afraid. If you find yourself rushing in first, then either I will go to hell or you will go to see your ancestors." I paused to let the brothers finish laughing, but unfortunately only the brothers nearby knew: "Follow me, I also want to go back for the New Year. I haven't married yet, let alone have children. For our future peace. Let's go and beat Qu Xing, follow me. Everyone get in the car, let's go!"
That night, it was extremely cold with a light breeze and snow, and I sat in the lead carriage wrapped in sackcloth and attacked the shogunate pirates in the dark. That year, I was eighteen years old.