Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 285 The Last Pride
Many people who have attempted suicide know that the first time is very easy; it can be done in a moment of impulse. However, the second time... is really difficult.

Cao Zhen was that kind of person.

The first time he saw the devastation of the city's fall, he jumped from the city wall onto the bluestone slabs wearing armor, intending to give Cao Cao an explanation with his precious life.

As it turned out, Yun Ce caught him and he didn't die.

Then he felt that he had done very well for the Cao family.

People with this mindset basically have no bottom line, because they feel justified in doing so, and therefore can continue to cause harm without any limits.

Longshou Pass was breached, yet it seemed not to have been breached, mainly because the defending general continued fighting. Although the city was breached in the middle, didn't he take it back with his fearless spirit?
How can this be considered a city being breached?

As for the heavy losses, Cao Zhen believed that every general who had experienced a brutal siege knew that heavy losses were unavoidable when facing 50,000 to 60,000 attackers.

He was well aware of this, as were his own men who had fled the battlefield.

Thus, a military report, detailing the heavy losses suffered by the city after blocking the attack of 50,000 to 60,000 refugees, was delivered to Qiuhe Prefecture by a messenger bird.

The military report would certainly not mention Yun Ce, the god of war, nor the black-feathered eagle that wreaked havoc, nor would it mention trivial matters such as the fact that Yun Ce's subordinates were generally tall and strong.

After Yun Ce left, Cao Zhen continued to patrol and guard the city every day. At the same time, he also secretly raised the south city wall.

Even though the funding for the expansion of the south city wall hadn't been approved yet, Cao Zhen believed that even if he had to spend his own money, the wall should be raised by at least two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters). Otherwise, it would be too easy for people to climb up the wall.

Back north of the Great Wall, Yun Ce felt as if he had come home.

In fact, six days after he led his troops eastward, Feng An came to greet them with provisions.

Facing nearly 2,600 tall and imposing Tiger Legion soldiers, Feng Anxiao's little tongue lolled out.

"My lord, this time, our Yun clan finally has an army that truly belongs to us. I just wonder if you have obtained the secret method to continuously produce the Tiger Legion?"

Seeing Feng An laughing uncontrollably, Yun Ce shook his head and said, "Secret technique? I know, we don't need it."

Upon hearing this, Feng An's smile immediately froze on his face. After a long while, he cautiously said, "Loyalty, fearlessness, obedience to orders, composure in the face of adversity, and striving to survive even in the face of death—isn't this the kind of army that our lord has always desired?"

Yun Ce looked at Feng An, who was eight feet tall, and said, "I think you are very suitable to be made into a tiger warrior. How about we start by testing you?"

Feng An immediately shook his head and said, "This joke is not funny at all."

Yun Ce said angrily, "You were the one who joked with me first."

Feng An knew Yun Ce well. Hearing him say this, he knew that continuing to create the Tiger Army was basically impossible, so he changed the subject and said, "When the lord returns to the manor, Liang Kun will probably be back too."

Yun Ce frowned and said, "Didn't you say he was coming back with his wife?"

Feng An smiled wryly and said, "Madam is going to hold a palace banquet at the Changsha Prince's Mansion in Chang'an."

Yun Ce said, "Judging by the time, it should have been completed long ago."

Feng An shook his head and said, "Not yet. The scale is just too big. There are too many powerful families who want to attend the palace banquet. Madam wants to get more gold, so she keeps postponing the banquet. The latest date is six days from now."

Yun Ce was silent for a moment before saying, "It's very dangerous."

Feng Andao said, "This also involves He Junnian's affairs. I wonder if His Majesty is aware of this."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "E Ji said in her letter that Wu Tong and the others want to get rid of this high priest of the Gui Fang people."

Feng An sighed and said, "Many times, we really can't understand people like He Junnian. He is clearly one of the top Han people, but he doesn't work with the Han people. Instead, he is very interested in the Guifang people."

Originally mortal enemies, in recent years, as the Guifang people have grown stronger, many strange tales and theories have emerged. Among them, the idea that the Han Dynasty and the Guifang are one family has become increasingly prevalent. Some even say that the Guifang are actually cousins ​​of the Han Dynasty, especially after it was discovered that He Junnian was the first priest of the Guifang.

"Is Cao Kun in Pingcheng, or has he already gone to Qiuhe City?"

Feng An shook his head and said, "He's in Taizhou City." "Did he go to Qiuhe City?"

"I heard that the head of the Cao family issued six orders in succession, ordering him to go to Qiuhe City as soon as possible. However, Cao Kun did not listen and went to Taizhou City instead. I think that if Cao Kun does not go to Qiuhe City for a long time, the Cao family father and son will definitely have a battle."

Yun Ce thought for a moment and said, "I don't think Cao Kun will fight against the head of the Cao family."

"What?"

"Cao Kun is a man of great ambition. With the Battle of Chang'an as a precedent, Cao Kun will certainly not waste the Cao family's elite forces like the Grand Marshal did, and he is even more reluctant to let the Cao family members fight each other. If they, father and son, go to war, no matter what, it will be the Cao family that suffers."

"However, the rift between them is so obvious that it is impossible for them to return to a state of filial piety."

Yun Ce smiled and said, "There is still a chance."

"What kind of opportunity do I not see?"

"When Cao Kun wore mourning clothes for his father."

"Are you saying that Cao Kun wanted to kill his father?"

"Why not? Cao Kun had lofty ambitions. He wouldn't do something like causing his descendants to fight each other, but he was capable of doing something like killing his father, which would solve the problem once and for all."

Feng An stared blankly at Yun Ce for a long time without saying a word. Many times, he found that his thoughts were different from his lord's. Now, after listening to his lord explain Cao Kun's matter, he realized that the reason why his thoughts differed from his lord's was that what he thought was taboo was not taboo at all in the eyes of his lord and Cao Kun.

Their thinking is broader and more unrestrained.

Yun Ce planned to secretly go to Chang'an.

Entrusting his wife and children to someone else always made him very uneasy. In his ancestral homeland, entrusting one's wife and children to someone else was not a pleasant thing to do. Even if the person was Liu Changsheng, Yun Ce still felt it was very inappropriate.

Especially when his wife was preparing to make a fortune in Chang'an, danger could strike at any moment. Eji was a very bold woman with poor self-control, especially when it came to things like gold. If there was enough gold, Eji would risk her life.

The problem is that she has no fighting ability at all. The only thing she can rely on is a few dozen new bombs that Gouzi made himself. Those things are too powerful. With her little strength, she can't throw the bombs outside the blast radius at all. Throwing the bombs is basically suicide.

This time, Yun Ce will be separated from Gouzi for a while because he doesn't want to hand over the power of the Tiger Legion to Feng An or Qin Shu. Perhaps he can hand it over to E Ji, and maybe later to his two sons. He doesn't need to think about anyone else.

This isn't a matter of trust or distrust. The main issue is that ambition is something that is cultivated gradually. A general commanding 500 troops will definitely listen to the emperor, as will a general commanding 5,000 troops. A general commanding 50,000 troops is bound to be arrogant and domineering. As for a general commanding 500,000 troops, no one would believe that he has no ambition for imperial power.

Feng An was filled with doubt about the fact that the Tiger Army was free to move around. Since Yun Ce told him that the Tiger Army would make its own arrangements and that he didn't need to worry about it, he took a few more glances at the Tiger Army, who were marching in formation in silence. Even if he was still puzzled, he only arranged for the 60,000-strong refugee caravan. As for the Tiger Army, he would just watch them.

At the speed of a chestnut horse, Yun Ce could reach Chang'an in two days.

This time, with a black eagle leading the way in the sky, the chestnut horse seemed to travel even faster over mountains and valleys. In just a day and a half, Yun Ce saw Chang'an City.

Today, Chang'an is outwardly magnificent but inwardly rotten. Just by looking at the city walls, the wide drawbridges, and the majestic city gates, Chang'an is still the largest city in the world.

After entering Chang'an City, Yun Ce finally understood why anyone could now easily enter and exit the city, which used to require special access control.

Because Chang'an had long been ravaged by war, many of the former tall buildings had been burned to rubble, and some prosperous places had long been reduced to ruins.

The struggle between the Grand Marshal and the Emperor was a truly mutually destructive one, leaving the Grand Marshal without even the power to control Chang'an. He could only watch helplessly as various warlords brazenly entered Chang'an, showing no respect whatsoever to him, the local master.

The bustling crowds of pedestrians in Chang'an are no longer a sight to behold, and the scene of people sweating profusely has become a legend.

Yun Ce rode his horse along Zhuque Street. The wide street was quite empty, with only a few carriages passing by occasionally. It was extremely rare to see someone as leisurely as Yun Ce. There were some people on the sidewalks on both sides of the street, but they were all in a hurry as if they were fleeing for their lives. You could even see dogs carrying skulls and crawling through holes in the city.

Standing on Zhuque Avenue, one can see the imperial city gates opening one after another. If the weather is clear, Yun Ce can see the Divine Dragon Palace, which is usually hidden in the clouds and mist.

Even without Gouzi, Yun Ce could clearly sense the presence of Yun Shuo and Yun Tui. This bloodline connection, though vague and intangible, made Yun Ce certain that his two sons were there.

The Panxing Tower remained largely unchanged. However, after the collapse of several other towering buildings around it, this tall building, constructed during the prosperous period of the Han Dynasty, stood there all alone, resembling a giant phallus, or perhaps the last pride of Wu Tong and his ilk.

(End of this chapter)