Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 178 Gao Yan Withdraws
Gao Yan sneered and repeated a sentence that Dong Hou least wanted to recall: "Pang Xun has already been beheaded in the Minister's camp. How can such people still exist!"

On the night of the third day of the ninth month in the tenth year of Xiantong, Ming Shiyin launched a mutiny at Liuxi Pavilion in Suzhou City, killing dozens of high-ranking members of the Ming Cult, including Zhang Ru, Zhang Shi, and Liu Jing, and completely seizing military power in Suzhou, surrendering to the government army.

Dong Hou, a confidant of Ming Shiyin, tried to dissuade him at the time, but ultimately chose to obey Ming Shiyin's orders and spread the false news that Pang Xun had died in battle, causing great chaos among the people.

When Gao Yan touched on Dong Hou's most painful secret, his facial muscles twitched and his tall body trembled slightly.

Gao Yan seized the opportunity, brandished his spear, spurred his horse, and charged toward Dong Hou.

Dong Hou had not expected Gao Yan to be able to move so quickly while carrying Hua Wang. When he raised his gun to parry, he was already at a disadvantage.

Two warhorses circled in the snow-covered mountain valley, the two men brandishing their spears, the force of their clashing spear shafts whipping up the snow and sending snow dust flying everywhere.

Dong Hou, now at a disadvantage, suddenly glared and roared, "I may have been a coward in the past, but having rediscovered my original intentions today, I am a hundred times better than a two-faced scoundrel like you! Gao Yan, do you dare say that when you infiltrated my sect back then, you didn't have any scheming or opportunistic thoughts like a scion of a powerful family?"

A dynasty lasting a hundred years, a family with a thousand-year history. The Bohai Gao family once established the Northern Qi Dynasty, so how could they not understand the principle of splitting up and choosing sides to maximize their own interests? Gao Yan probably joined the Ming Cult army because he saw that Pang Xun's power was waning, so he decided to turn Ming Shiyin against him and create the image of himself as someone who had painstakingly infiltrated the enemy camp.

After saying this, Dong Hou bit his lip until it bled, then mustered his courage and suddenly turned his spear technique into a fierce and deadly one, each move a fatal blow, instantly turning the tide of the battle.

Gao Yan did not expect Dong Hou to show any fear. Although he was a skilled marksman, he could not defeat his opponent in a hurry.

Dong Hou switched from defense to offense and charged forward on horseback.

Gao Yan suddenly leaped off his horse and grabbed the long axe embedded in the saddle.

Flower King Youdi grabbed the reins, brandished his soft sword in his right hand, and attacked Dong Hou.

Gao Yan dismounted with composure and calmness, holding a large axe. Facing the charging horse, he remained unmoved and swung the axe at Dong Hou's horse's leg.

This is a foot-based defensive cavalry technique passed down through the Gao family of Bohai. In the past, Emperor Shenwu of Northern Qi, Gao Huan, and Prince Lanling, Gao Changgong, both used this method to deal with the heavily armored cavalry of the Yuwen Xianbei.

This effectively created a two-against-one situation. Caught off guard, Dong Hou's horse's legs were severed by Gao Yan's axe, and he fell from the horse, rolling on the snow.

Gao Yan sneered and was about to chop off Dong Hou's head with his axe.

Dong Hou thought Gao Yan was a scion of a noble family, lacking courage, but he hadn't expected his opponent to be a desperate man as well. Now, having fallen hastily from his horse, and with his heavy armor causing him pain, he couldn't get up for a moment. He only felt Gao Yan's axe whistling towards his head; he sighed and closed his eyes, awaiting death.

"Good man, spare your life and kill more of the court's lackeys!" Suddenly, Zhu Zhen let out a long howl and galloped over, pulling Dong Hou, who weighed two hundred pounds including his armor, onto his horse with one hand.

Dong Hou, having narrowly escaped death, quickly expressed his gratitude.

It turned out that Zhu Zhen hadn't anticipated Gao Yan's actions in his first attempt at an ambush. He thought to himself, "It's one thing if this ambush fails, but if we also lose Dong Hou, a valiant general, how can I live up to the General's expectations of me?"

Gao Yan's hasty failure to capture Dong Hou relieved Zhu Zhen, who arrived at the crucial moment and saved Dong Hou's life.

Zhu Zhen did not linger in battle, reined in his horse and retreated abruptly, ordering Ge Congzhou and others to quickly move south to join him. In this way, the two groups of cavalry converged, effectively blocking the mountain pass.

Gao Yan's cavalry were the Long-Wu Cavalry, personally trained by General Gao Pian. They were not only brave and courageous in battle, but also extremely fierce in mountain warfare.

However, the mountain pass was steep on both sides, making it difficult for even men to climb, let alone for horses. Although Gao Yan's cavalry were elite, Zhu Zhen blocked the pass and deployed his cavalry in a long line, rendering them unable to maneuver effectively. Gao Yan placed You Di on another horse, remounted, and launched a massive, overwhelming charge. But ultimately, due to the narrow front, they were unable to break through and failed to advance despite several attempts.

“Gao Pian’s nephew is quite a character. He is meticulous, ruthless, and courageous.” Dong Hou said to Zhu Zhen, “Given time, he may grow into a cavalry general of the Ghost King’s caliber.”

When Gao Yan infiltrated the Ming Cult, he learned a lot of cavalry combat techniques from Ming Shiyin.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhen replied quite calmly: "Before this boy gains power, we should eliminate him. Zhu Zhen has received great favors from the General; how can I let this scoundrel cause him trouble?"

These words sounded ordinary, but they contained an astonishing ambition, as if Gao Yan's head were already in their grasp.

Hearing this from afar, Gao Yan suddenly felt annoyed. But he had already rescued You Di and the others, and hearing the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar, he figured Zhu Wen and his men were coming. Too lazy to argue with Zhu Zhen, he gave the order: the front ranks became the rear ranks, and the rear ranks became the front ranks, and they rode off.

In the darkness, Lei Shuai's cavalry, carrying torches, transformed into a long dragon of firelight along the mountain path.

Gao Yan himself was at the very back of the column, constantly twisting his body and holding his long spear backwards, wary of the grass army cavalry pursuing him. Only when the two armies were an arrow's length apart did he lower his guard.

Zhu Wen, Tian Jun, Huo Cun, and others rode over together. After listening to Zhu Zhen's report on the battle, they praised Zhu Zhen's performance on the spot, asked about Zhu Zhen's injuries, and sighed, "That woman You Di has seduced quite a few men."

Hua Wang You Di now serves Li Tiao, the military governor of Lingnan East Circuit, and is very close to Li Tiao's eldest son, Li Yi.

This was not because Li Yi was more talented than other young heroes, but because Li Tiao and his son were descendants of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, making their ambition to seize the Tang Dynasty relatively legitimate.

With Empress Wu Zetian as an example, perhaps this woman, Youdi, also wants to become an empress.

"That fickle, promiscuous woman dares to call me a vixen!" Tian Jun snorted. "Doesn't she ever look in the mirror?"

Zhu Wen and Tian Jun were caught by Hua Wang You Di on New Year's Eve. Now that Tian Jun is talking like this, Huo Cun finally realized something was wrong—it turns out that Zhu Wen and Tian Jun are not heartless and have been secretly having an affair with Tian Jun's wife.

After being ambushed by You Di, Zhu Wen had no intention of hiding his relationship with Tian Jun any longer.

"Entering the gate, she was met with jealousy; her beautiful eyebrows refused to yield to anyone. Hiding behind her sleeves, she skillfully flattered; her foxy charm could easily bewitch the emperor." Zhu Wen aptly quoted a line from Xu Jingye's "Proclamation Against Wu Zetian": "Does this madwoman really think she's the Empress Dowager?"

Tian Jun looked bewildered: "That was a good scolding, but what does it have to do with Empress Wu?"

“This is a famous work by Luo Binwang, how could you be so ignorant…” Zhu Wen lamented, “You should read more books with Zhizhen, otherwise I’ll be embarrassed to take you out.”

Although Zhu Wen himself was not very well-educated, he had at least received some formal education from his father, Zhu Cheng, and as a disciple of a great talent like Huang Chao, he was influenced by his father's teachings and thus had a lot of confidence in disciplining Tian Jun.

Zhu Wen came and gathered the remaining soldiers at the outpost, telling them they no longer needed to guard it and could disperse to enjoy the New Year. He then selected fifty men from his own troops to relieve them of their duties.

The group returned to the village where the temple fair had been held earlier. Huo Cun smiled warmly and said, "Boss, you and General Tian have a good time. Zhu Zhen and I are taking the brothers back."

"Brothers, you've worked hard." Zhu Wen took out a packet of gold ingots and handed it to Huo Cun: "Go back and divide it among everyone. That crazy woman, she's ruined our holiday."

Huo Cun and Zhu Zhen, along with several captured female servants of the Flower King and the corpses of their fallen soldiers, rode back to their camp.

(End of this chapter)