The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 313 Returning Home, Flames of Revenge

Nailing Sicong, a veteran who was born a slave and spent his life fighting for the Xia Kingdom, ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died in front of Li Chunyou.

His children and grandchildren knelt in the room and wept bitterly, while Li Chunyou stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his eyes red.

But amidst this somber atmosphere, a eunuch rushed in, carrying a military report, abandoning all decorum, and breathlessly shouted:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, a military report has arrived from Keyimen... from Keyimen!"

Li Chunyou suddenly raised his head, his swollen eyes fixed on the military report, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Bring it!"

He reached out his hand, trembling, and took the military report from the eunuch.

I took a deep breath, tore open the envelope, and pulled out the letter inside.

After only a few glances, his face turned deathly pale, his hands trembled violently, and the letter slowly drifted to the ground.

"No...impossible..."

Li Chunyou muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror: "Keyimen...has fallen?"

He went mad, suddenly picking up the letter from the ground and reading it word by word. Each word felt like a sharp knife, piercing his heart.

The letter read in bold: Keyimen has been breached by the Northern Frontier Army. The garrison has either been killed or surrendered. The Northern Frontier Army of 100,000 men is marching along the ancient Yellow River route toward Dingzhou City. It is expected that they will be at the city gates in less than two days.

The troops in Dingzhou had long been withdrawn, leaving it an empty city, and it was impossible for it to stop the Northern Frontier Army.

In other words, the Northern Frontier Army will be at the gates of Xingqing Prefecture within five days at the latest.

"Heavens, do you truly intend to destroy my Great Xia?"

Li Chunyou's vision went black, his body swayed, and he almost fell to the ground.

The eunuch beside him rushed forward to support him, his face pale with fright: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please take care of your health!"

Li Chunyou pushed the eunuch aside and stumbled out of the mansion, gazing at the bustling scene on the streets of Xingqing Prefecture, where the sky remained clear and blue.

But it seemed as if a thick layer of gloom had already enveloped it, foreshadowing an impending catastrophe.

On the other side, after Li Xiao personally led the main force of the army to clean up the aftermath of the Battle of Keyimen, he immediately summoned his generals for a meeting.

The tent was brightly lit, and the red arrow on the map was pointing directly towards Xingqing Prefecture.

"Mo Jun."

"Your subordinate is here!" Mo Jun stepped forward and clasped his hands in response.

"I hereby order you to lead your army south to attack Dingzhou City."

Li Xiao pointed heavily at Dingzhou on the map: "Taking Dingzhou will tear open a gap in the heart of Xia Kingdom, clearing the final obstacle for our army to advance directly on Xingqing Prefecture."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Mo Jun replied in a deep voice, his eyes revealing a sharp edge.

He was the commander of the Fourth Garrison. In the previous Battle of Keyimen, Li Dongjiang shone brightly, but the limelight could not be entirely given to Li Erzhen.

As a leader, the most important thing is to maintain a balance among the various forces under one's command, taking into account all sides, and also to prevent any one person from having no one to reward.

Although Dingzhou is a large city, its troops have long been transferred to the Western Expeditionary Army and the Northern Garrison Army, leaving only a few hundred old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers in the city.

These people were already weak in combat, and after learning of the fall of Keyimen, they were even more panicked and lived in constant fear, with no will to defend the city.

When Mo Jun led his army of ten thousand households to the gates of Dingzhou, the Xia soldiers on the city walls turned pale with fright when they saw the yellow battle flags covering the mountains and plains, and their hands gripping their weapons trembled uncontrollably.

"Stop! Stop them... Anyone who dares to retreat even half a step will be dealt with according to military law."

The general defending the city tried to remain calm, but his voice trembled noticeably.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than the Northern Frontier Army opened fire.

"Boom boom boom~"

Several cannonballs whistled as they crashed into the city wall, sending rubble and dirt flying. Several Xia soldiers who couldn't dodge in time were knocked to the ground, their screams echoing across the city wall.

A single artillery barrage completely shattered the Xia army's last will to resist.

"Run! The Northern Frontier Army has invaded!"

Someone shouted, and the defenders on the city wall scattered and fled. Some threw down their weapons and jumped down through the gaps in the wall, while others ran into the city like rats with their heads in their hands. The entire city wall was instantly thrown into chaos.

Seeing this, Mo Jun smirked and ordered, "Infantry, advance onto the city wall!"

The grassland militia, who were fighting as auxiliary troops, quickly set up ladders and climbed up the city walls.

With no resistance on the city walls, they easily climbed up, as if they were in an empty city, and effortlessly opened the city gates from the inside.

"kill!"

The cavalry of the Northern Frontier Army surged into the city like a tidal wave, encountering almost no resistance along the way.

"Order that all civilians and soldiers be driven out of the city. Those who resist should be killed without exception."

"Take over the government treasury and government offices, and take inventory of supplies."

After issuing a series of orders, Mo Jun left a small force to garrison the area, awaiting the arrival of the main force to take over.

He himself led his men south to besiege Xingqing Prefecture.

Soon after, Li Xiao led the main force of his army to arrive. While continuing to march south to support the Mo army, he also began to clear out the villages and towns outside Dingzhou City.

……

Sandaogou is a small village located ten miles northwest of Dingzhou City.

The village is nestled in a mountain valley, with nearly a hundred households scattered throughout.

At the easternmost end of the village stands a large courtyard with blue bricks and gray tiles, which is the only wealthy family in the village, the Gao family.

The Gao family mansion occupied a large area, with walls over ten feet high. They had more than fifty servants, and almost all the households in the entire Sandaogou area were tenants of the Gao family.

However, at this moment, more than twenty men wielding knives and clubs were surrounding the entrance of the Gao family compound.

They were ragged and looked terrified; they were the defeated Xia soldiers who had fled back from Keyimen.

The leader was a one-eyed man with a hideous scar on his face, who shouted fiercely.

"Listen up, you inside, open the door and surrender now!"

"Otherwise, when I rush in, I'll kill all the men and fuck all the women to death."

As soon as he finished speaking, a skinny man next to him licked his lips and said, "Brother, the Gao family is rolling in money!"

"I heard that the copper coins and grain in the warehouse alone are piled up like mountains. If we rob this place, all of us brothers can become rich."

Beside him, another dark-skinned man gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, the Gao family is not only rich, but also ruthless!"

His name was Wang Erzhu, and he was originally a resident of Sandaogou.

Not long ago, the Xia Kingdom began a nationwide conscription, and the Gao family became the court's lackeys, increasing the military service and taxes for each household at every level.

Those who are willing to sell themselves into slavery will be spared; those who are unwilling will face the destruction of their families.

“My father’s leg was broken by his servants last year because he couldn’t pay the rent for his land, and he’s still in bed.”

"My sister was harassed by that old bastard Gao Shiren and jumped into a well because she couldn't bear the humiliation. Today, we're not only going to rob him of his money, but also to avenge this blood feud!"

As soon as he said this, several other deserters from nearby villages and towns echoed him: "That's right!"

"I've long heard that the Gao family has always been arrogant and domineering, treating us common people like livestock. They should have been punished long ago."

"The Keyi Gate has been breached by the Northern Frontier Army. The Xia Kingdom is probably doomed."

"Instead of waiting for the Northern Frontier Army to come and chop our heads off, why don't we rob the Gao family, find a mountain to become bandits, and live a carefree life?"

Upon hearing about this past grievance, One-Eyed Dragon patted Wang Erzhu on the shoulder and said, "Good brother, we should rob those heartless rich people."

"You tell us what to do, and we brothers will do whatever you say!"

Wang Erzhu pointed to the southeast corner of the courtyard wall: "The wall over there is the thinnest. Let's find some thick logs and work together to break it open!"

The group immediately found several tree trunks as thick as bowls, and under Wang Erzhu's command, they shouted slogans as they rammed them against the southeast corner of the courtyard wall.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Inside the Gao family compound, Gao Shiren, along with his two sons and a dozen servants, stood guard behind the gate, armed with clubs, knives, and spears.

Gao Shiren, who was over fifty years old and used to live a life of luxury, was now so frightened that his face turned pale and he gripped a cane tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white.

"Father, outside...who are those people outside?"

The eldest son, Gao Wenbo, asked in a trembling voice. He was a frail scholar and had never seen anything like this before.

"Who else could it be?"

Gao Shiren, panting heavily and wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, said, "Judging from their words, they seem like defeated soldiers who fled back from Keyimen."

"Keyimen... Keyimen has probably really been breached by the barbarians of the Northern Frontier!"

"What? Keyi Gate has fallen?"

The youngest son, Gao Wubo, stared wide-eyed. He had studied martial arts for a few years, but he was also flustered at this moment: "Then... then won't the barbarians from the northern frontier soon attack Dingzhou?"

"Don't worry so much."

Gao Shiren gritted his teeth and said, "Let's hold off these defeated soldiers first."

"They are a bunch of spineless deserters. They lost the battle and didn't dare to fight the Northern Frontier Army. Instead, they bullied us ordinary people."

"Dad is right!"

Gao Wenbo forced himself to remain calm and said, "Although the people of the Northern Frontier are a group of barbarians, if we want to manage the Xia Kingdom well and make our Xia Kingdom's people obediently produce grain and silver for them..."

"They can't do without us landlords and big landowners."

"On the contrary, these deserters outside know nothing and might actually kill us."

"Everyone, stay alert! We absolutely must not let them break in."

Just then, in the midst of the chaos, a low thud of hooves and a rough shout suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Giddy up! Giddy up! Giddy up!"

"Drink up~"

A trembling servant standing on the wall cried out in terror, "Master, young master, many more soldiers have come to the manor, all on horseback!"

"what?"

Gao Shiren was terrified. Had more rebel soldiers arrived?

Then, supported by his two sons, he hurriedly climbed over the wall and looked into the distance in the direction the servant pointed.

A cavalry unit of about fifty men was seen galloping towards them, all dressed in pure yellow armor.

Wearing helmets with plumes, and holding either spears or bows and crossbows, they exuded a fierce aura, like divine soldiers descending from the heavens.

Warhorses galloped, stirring up clouds of yellow sand.

"Could it be that the imperial army has come to rescue us?"

A glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the youngest son, Gao Wubo, who couldn't help but speak.

Gao Shiren glanced at him and snorted coldly: "The imperial army is all the same, how could they possibly come all this way to rescue us?"

After saying that, he said in a heavy and frightened tone, "Moreover, I have seen the troops from both Dingzhou and Xingqing Prefecture, and I have never heard of any cavalry wearing yellow armor."

Suddenly, the eldest son, Gao Wenbo, realized something. His eyes widened, and he whispered in a trembling voice, "Could it be... the Northern Frontier Army?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Shiren and Gao Wubo's expressions instantly turned even more grim, and their hearts sank to the bottom.

"Drive, drive, drive~"

"Ho ho ho~"

Meanwhile, the deserters outside the door also saw the cavalry.

The yellow armor, the high-pitched roars, and the magnificent sight of the galloping iron cavalry instantly transported them back to the battlefield of Keyimen, and the fear of being dominated by the Northern Frontier Army returned.

"The Northern Frontier Army is attacking! Run!"

Someone shouted, and the deserters immediately scattered in terror like stray dogs.

But how could their two legs outrun the warhorses of the Northern Frontier Army?

In a short time, this cavalry in yellow armor charged forward like a yellow lightning bolt, spreading out in a fan shape and surrounding all the fleeing soldiers.

The deserters were surrounded, back to back, trembling, their faces filled with despair. Some were even so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, no longer having the courage to resist. Just when everyone thought they were doomed, Wang Erzhu suddenly saw a figure directly opposite the encirclement.

He was taken aback at first, then rubbed his eyes and tentatively called out in disbelief, "Fifth Brother~ Fifth Brother?"

Are you Fifth Brother?

He looked at the figure with an incredulous expression, and his whole body instantly became excited.

That figure was Wu Kui, who had captured Wei Ming Honglie alive during the Battle of Keyimen and was appointed as a deputy centurion by Li Xiao.

He wasn't from Sandaogou, but came from another place and had worked as a long-term laborer for the Gao family.

During this period, Wang Erzhu had the best relationship with him; the two ate and slept together and were like brothers.

Until one day, Wu Kui suddenly seemed to have vanished into thin air, and no trace of him could be found.

At the time, there were some rumors that Wu Kui was having an affair with the second young mistress. When the master found out, he was furious and beat Wu Kui to death with sticks, and then threw his body into the wild to be eaten by wolves.

Moreover, after Wu Kui disappeared, Wang Erzhu never saw the second young mistress again. Some people said that her Achilles tendon was severed and she was locked in the backyard all day and could not see anyone.

Those rumors, some true and some false, are impossible to distinguish.

Because of this, Wang Erzhu was heartbroken for a long time, thinking he would never see his good brother again.

But to everyone's surprise, Wu Kui didn't die; he actually came back alive.

However, Wu Kui in front of him seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

Is this imposing Northern Frontier officer, dressed in yellow armor, riding a tall horse, with sharp eyes, really Wu Kui, who suffered alongside him in the Gao family back then?

Wu Kui also recognized Wang Erzhu. He reined in his horse and looked at his former brother, his eyes flashing with excitement: "Erzhu, it's you, Erzhu?"

He dismounted and strode over to Erzhu: "Brother, you're still alive."

Wang Erzhu grabbed Wu Kui's arm, tears streaming down his face, and choked out, "Fifth Brother, I'm still alive."

"But I thought you were dead!"

"I almost died back then, but God didn't take me, and I survived by sheer luck."

The former best friends embraced each other excitedly.

The two grown men were in tears.

Both the Northern Frontier Army and the deserters from the Xia Army looked at each other in bewilderment.

They were enemies before, how come they're now kin?
The Northern Frontier Army is alright, after all, many of them were prisoners of war from the Xia army. In the Xia Kingdom, who doesn't have a few relatives?
But these deserters from the Xia army were different. They had all thought they were going to die and were filled with despair when they found out that Wang Erzhu, that son of a bitch, actually had a good brother who was an official in the northern frontier.

This is simply great.

We should be fine, and maybe we can even get on the good side of Northern Xinjiang.

Just as the two were reunited, the gate of the Gao family compound was slowly opened.

Gao Shiren came out with his two sons and a group of servants. He deliberately straightened his clothes and had a fawning smile on his face.

As soon as he took a step, the nearby Northern Frontier cavalry immediately surrounded him, their spears pointing diagonally, exuding a murderous aura.

Gao Shiren and the others were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat, their legs went weak, and they waved their hands repeatedly, saying, "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand."

"Dear grandfathers of the Northern Frontier, please do not draw your swords."

He hurriedly stepped forward, bowed deeply to Wu Kui, and said obsequiously, "I am Gao Shiren. I have long admired the might of the Northern Frontier Army and have been eager to submit to them. It is truly an honor to meet you, my esteemed soldiers, today."

Meanwhile, the servants carried out several bags of grain and a box of silver from the courtyard.

"These grains and silver are a tribute to you grandfathers in the northern frontier. I hope you will accept them with gratitude!"

At this moment, Gao Shiren was secretly pleased with himself, thinking that his eldest son was right.

Whether it's the Xia Kingdom or the Northern Frontier, whoever rules this land, they all need these landowners and gentry to help educate the people and pay taxes.

Therefore, the change of dynasties had nothing to do with them.

Perhaps these northern barbarians didn't understand the intricacies of the Central Plains. With a wave of their hand, they granted the landowners and gentry even greater power, requiring only a small amount of taxation and ignoring everything else.

For them, that was like living in paradise.

In Gao Shiren's view, the Xia Kingdom's fate was sealed, and if he submitted to the Northern Frontier as soon as possible, he might be able to become a high-ranking official and elevate his family's status.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Kui, with a cold expression, completely ignored the gold, silver and grain, and walked step by step toward Gao Shiren.

The past experiences kept flashing through his mind, and the anger in his heart surged and churned, as if he was exuding a tangible killing intent.

Gao Shiren trembled even more from the murderous intent emanating from him. His legs shook, his back bent even lower, and the fawning smile on his old face became somewhat stiff.

He felt that the man from the northern frontier looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place him. Not daring to think about it further, he quickly buried his head even deeper.

Behind him, his youngest son, Gao Wubo, also glanced at Wu Kui curiously, his brows furrowed, but he had no clue what to do.

As for the eldest son, Gao Wenbo, he kept his head down the whole time, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Hehehe, Mr. Gao, how have you been?"

Wu Kui's voice was icy cold and tinged with sarcasm, and it was exceptionally clear outside the silent courtyard.

Gao Shiren was taken aback when he heard this voice... it seemed somewhat familiar.

He cautiously raised his head and carefully examined Wu Kui. When he saw Wu Kui's sharp eyes, a long-forgotten fragment of memory suddenly surged into his mind.

His body trembled violently, his face turned deathly pale, and his lips quivered, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

"You...you are..."

Gao Shiren's voice was filled with disbelief and terror: "Wu...Wu Kui?"

Upon hearing those two words, both sons looked up in shock, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

"Wu Kui? Is he Wu Kui?"

"Impossible, impossible, Wu Kui is long dead."

"Are you a human or a ghost?"

His face turned deathly pale, and he stared in shock at Wu Kui's face, his body trembling like a leaf.

Wu Kui curled a cold smile at the corner of his mouth, but did not answer. He just stared at the three of them, his eyes filled with growing murderous intent.

Gao Shiren was completely panicked. He never imagined that the farmhand he had casually beaten, scolded, and killed, and then abandoned in the wilderness, would actually come back to life.

Moreover, he transformed himself into an officer in the Northern Frontier Army.

This is absolutely a huge joke.

His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly: "Lord Wu, spare my life!"

"It was all my fault back then. I was blind to your greatness. Please, have mercy on me this time!"

Wu Kui looked down at Gao Shiren kneeling on the ground, without a trace of pity in his eyes.

He slowly drew the long sword from his waist, the blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Spare you?"

Wu Kui's voice was icy cold: "Did you spare the young mistress back then?"

He and Xinghua were childhood sweethearts, growing up together since they were little, and he thought he would marry her.

However, her father disliked his family for being poor and instead sold Xinghua to the Gao family in Sandaogou for twenty strings of cash to bring them good fortune.

At that time, the second young master of the Gao family was already on his deathbed, and Xinghua hadn't even married into the family yet when he suddenly passed away.

So, after Xinghua and the wooden statue got married, she immediately became a widow, and Wu Kui became a long-term servant in the Gao family.

He knew he couldn't give Xinghua the life of luxury that a young mistress could have, so he was content just to stay by her side.

But unexpectedly, Gao Shiren, that shameless old man, actually committed incest.

Wu Kui rushed over to stop him, but Gao Shiren felt he had lost face and actually accused Wu Kui of having an affair with Xinghua.

They then ordered Wu Kui to be beaten to death with sticks, and his body was dumped in the wild to be fed to wolves.

As for Xinghua, it was because she kicked him during the struggle that Gao Shiren was unable to have sex.

So his Achilles tendon was cut, and he was locked in the backyard to die.

However, it seemed that even God took pity on this pair of childhood sweethearts.

Wu Kui, who was abandoned in the wild, did not die and was rescued.

To repay the debt of gratitude for saving his life, he took the place of the family's son and served in the army.

He had intended to make a name for himself in the military to avenge the humiliation suffered by the Gao family.

Unexpectedly, in the Battle of Hexi, the Xia army collapsed completely, and he himself became a prisoner of the Northern Frontier Army, and then joined the Six Garrisons.

His merits in the Battle of the Grasslands earned him the rank of Shihu (a military rank), and his achievement of capturing Weiming Honglie alive on the battlefield of Keyimen led to his promotion to Deputy Baihu (another military rank).

His armor was patched again and again, and he had seven more scars. What sustained him through all the hardships was never fame or fortune, but the flame of revenge hidden in his heart.

"Where is Xinghua...?"

Wu Kui pressed the tip of his knife against Gao Shiren's throat, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Gao Shiren was terrified and stammered, pointing to the backyard, "In...in the woodshed..."

Wu Kui kicked Gao Shiren away and led his men into the backyard.

The moment the wooden door was pushed open, a strong smell of mold and rancidity wafted out.

In the dim light, he could vaguely see a figure huddled in the corner, with a heavy iron chain around its wrist.

“Apricot blossoms…” Wu Kui’s voice trembled as he staggered and lunged forward.

The girl who was once as beautiful as a fairy in my memory is now just skin and bones, her hair dry and yellow like straw, sticking haphazardly to her sallow face.

Beneath the tattered clothing, a gaunt skeleton was clearly visible.

Hearing the noise, Xinghua slowly raised her head, her cloudy eyes devoid of any light, as if she had become numb to everything around her.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out; her chapped lips cracked like parched earth, leaving streaks of blood.

"Xinghua, it's me, Wu Kui!"

Look at me!

Wu Kui knelt down in front of her, his hands trembling as he tried to touch her, but was afraid of hurting her.

Xinghua's eyes twitched slightly, as if she was trying to recognize the person in front of her.

After a long while, she weakly blinked, and a single, cloudy tear slid down her cheek and flowed slowly down the creases of her face.

"Wu...Kui?"

"Are you here to pick me up?" she finally managed to squeeze out, her voice barely audible.

She thought Wu Kui was already dead, and that she was going to die too; it was all just a hallucination before she died.

But it's so good to have a loved one come to take you away when you die.

"Yes, yes, I'm here to pick you up."

"I'm late, Xinghua," Wu Kui cried, carefully bringing the water pouch to her lips.

After a long time, her face finally regained some color.

With the shackles removed, Wu Kui carried her and walked out of the woodshed step by step, each step feeling incredibly heavy.

"Xinghua, don't be afraid, let's go home."

The Gao family compound was in complete chaos. Northern border soldiers rushed into every room, looted all the valuables, and drove everyone out of the compound.

All of this seemed to have nothing to do with Wu Kui. He walked slowly, lowered his head and whispered to Xinghua in his arms, "Xinghua, look, the people who harmed you are right here. I will make them pay the price."

Then, he looked up at one of his subordinates and said in a cold voice, "Everyone in this courtyard is a murderer who harmed my wife."

"I don't want to see them again."

Upon hearing this, the servant nodded emphatically and said, "Your subordinate understands."

After Wu Kui left with Xinghua, he turned to look at the soldiers around him and made a slashing motion with his sword.

"kill!"

(End of this chapter)