Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 37 Newbie's First Care

Pei Chuan ordered the laborers of the relocation camp to form a long line, with women and children leading the way, in preparation for entering Pingyuan City.

Yun Ce and E Ji were among them. Although Yun Ce and E Ji both believed that they were traitors at this moment, the soldiers guarding the city did not think so. They happily searched the women's bodies, fearing that they might bring dangerous goods into the city.

They searched women very thoroughly, and for men carrying weapons, if they didn't have money or other benefits, they would drive them into the city by beating and kicking them.

In utter shock, Yun Ce and E Ji, wearing masks, drove a sheep-drawn cart into Pingyuan City. Yun Ce initially thought it might be a dream. He drove the cart out of the city from the other side and then came back in, only to find that it was a reality that couldn't be more real.

Upon entering the city, Yun Ce saw a girl in red, wearing a cloak, squatting in a corner of the city wall. The girl in red also saw Yun Ce and smiled at him, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

Yun Ce drove the sheep cart to Hong Guniang's side, handed her a pancake, and asked, "How did you do that?"

As she tore at her pancake, the girl in red said, "A large number of free people are coming into the city to sell themselves into slavery. The noble lords are overjoyed."

Yun Ce looked back at the crowded city gate and shook his head, saying, "There are too many people entering the city; there will always be some discerning individuals among them."

After finishing her pancake, Red Girl pulled up her cloak to cover her head and said nonchalantly, "The moment they discover us will be our chance to seize the city."

"You are the leader. What are you doing standing at the city gate? You should be in charge of directing things from the center. For example, who to send to seize the city lord's mansion, who to send to the military camp, who to send to seize the granary, and who to send to protect the bamboo slips, wooden tablets, and silk books that I need."

"No need. There are three garrisons stationed in Pingyuan City, totaling 1,800 men, commanded by a Polu Colonel. This afternoon, the Polu Colonel and his men went to the slave market to select slaves for them. I sent quite a few strong and capable slaves for them to choose from..."

Hearing what Hong Guniang said, Yun Ce sighed and said, "It wasn't just the Commandant of Po Lu who went, was it?"

Hong Guniang nodded, suppressing a smile, and said, "All the wealthy families in the city went, including Zhang Yaliang, the city lord of Pingyuan City."

Yun Ce looked at the vagrants crowding the streets and said, "I feel like my existence is somewhat superfluous."

Hong Guniang reached out and pulled over the basket of dry rations prepared by Eji. She held it in her hand and said to Yun Ce, "Taking advantage of the chaos to ambush a master should excite you."

Having her food stolen, Eji leaped onto Hong Guniang's back and, pulling at her cloak, shouted, "Give me back my rations!"

With a mere shake, Hong Gu Niang flung E Ji away, even shoving E Ji's bottom in mid-air, sending the unwilling girl flying towards Yun Ce.

"Keep an eye on your beauty. With tens of thousands of people in chaos, this city won't be able to calm down for at least two or three days."

Yun Ce held E Ji in his arms, watching as the red-clad girl disappeared into the crowd after a few turns.

After placing Eji on the cart, she stamped her foot and said, "She took away the rations, what are we going to eat?"

"Don't worry, we have plenty of food."

"Where will our food come from? We don't have much grass left."

Amidst Eji's incessant complaints, Yun Ce drove the sheep cart along the curved road. After several turns, a straight road appeared on the side, leading to a city gate.

Upon seeing this, Yun Ce couldn't help but laugh. The city was three li in circumference and the outer wall was seven li in circumference. This architectural style of the Han people was exactly the same as that of ancient China.

The city lord was not a good-for-nothing. He allowed refugees into the city but kept the inner city gates tightly closed. If chaos broke out in the city, he would have the army guarding the city close the gates, leaving the rebels trapped inside with no way out when attacked from both sides.

Yun Ce shook his head and drove the sheep cart toward the inner city. If they could get into the inner city, that would be the essence of the entire city.

He also believed that the Red Maiden and the main force of the rebels might have already entered the inner city.

The city walls were like a huge haystack; a single spark could ignite a raging fire. Mass riots were difficult to control, and the only way to control the struggle was through complete and absolute chaos.

Upon reaching the inner city gate, Yun Ce discovered that transportation within the inner city was not disrupted; however, entry required payment of one green coin per person, plus the cost of a carriage, totaling five green coins.

This was almost all of Eji's property. Although she was very reluctant to part with it, she still took out a small pouch from her bosom, poured out all five green coins inside, and handed them to the guard.

Yun Ce drove the sheep cart into the inner city. After walking a long way, E Ji was still watching the soldiers tossing and playing with the five green coins that originally belonged to her.

The inner city and the outer city were almost two different worlds. One was chaotic and like a cattle pen, while the other was quiet, with clean roads paved with yellow sand, and even the shop assistants were prettier than those in the outer city.

Although Yun Ce was dressed in a coarse, undyed white cloth, his demeanor was even more arrogant than that of aristocratic scions in big cities.

This arrogance wasn't overbearing, but rather reflected in his pristine white collar, the fair and strong arms beneath his rolled-up sleeves, the rough yet top-quality clothing, his slightly weathered yet refined features, and his seemingly warm yet aloof smile...

Seeing Yun Ce alight from the carriage and prepare to enter the shop, the shop assistant immediately bowed and greeted him with a smile, saying, "Young master, would you like to come in and rest?"

Yun Ce looked up at the words "Inn" on the lintel, smiled and nodded to the waiter, and went straight into the inn. An elderly man came out from behind the counter, bowed, and said, "What are your orders, young master?"

Yun Ce smiled and took out the gold nugget from his pocket, placing it in the old man's hand without saying a word. Seeing that the old man didn't seem puzzled, but instead held the gold nugget in both hands, biting it, looking at it, and smelling it, Yun Ce knew that this thing must be very valuable in the Han Dynasty.

"This is the upper currency, and there is a distribution center on the street."

"There are too many refugees outside, so I had no choice but to stay in an inn. I don't have much money on hand, so this is all I have left."

The old man naturally understood the unspoken meaning in Yun Ce's words. He instructed the waiter to take the carriage reins and send them to the backyard, while also calling a maid to take Yun Ce to his guest room.

Worried that the servants would steal her meat and food, Eji decisively followed them to the backyard. Yun Ce entered the backyard, spotted a room with flowering trees at the entrance, and pushed open the door and went in without waiting for the maid to call him.

The room was simply furnished with a bed, a low table, a screen, two cushions, and an oil lamp on the low table, with no other clutter.

After seeing the furnishings of the house, Yun Ce's heart temperature dropped even further. It was one thing for wild people to live a simple life in such a remote place, but he never expected that the furnishings of an inn in the inner city of a city would be so simple. It was truly heartbreaking.

Yun Ce knelt cross-legged on the prayer mat, resting his arms on the low table, looking worried. Meanwhile, E Ji was running around doing the work of the waiter, moving everything from the sheep cart to the inn, including the meat jar that E Ji cherished as her life, which weighed over a hundred pounds.

The old man returned, bringing Yun Ce a large money bag. The green coins inside jingled as the old man moved around.

"Young Master's coins were of very high quality, and he exchanged them for 26,400 coins."

Yun Ce poured the money onto the low table, creating a huge pile. He picked up a coin from the pile that was different from ordinary green coins in terms of thickness, weight, and color, and looked at the old man with a puzzled expression.

"It is worth a thousand coins, and is also known as a precious treasure."

Yun Ce flicked the coin with his finger, and the pale blue coin emitted a long buzzing sound. Then, Yun Ce threw the coin on the low table, gesturing for the old man to take the money.

The old man carefully counted out twenty-four green coins from the pile of money, then bowed and stepped back. Then, Eji pounced over like a tiger, grabbed the pile of money with her arms, and her soul soared to the heavens.

As dusk settled, the maid brought in food, along with a wine pot and two wine cups. She bowed to Yun Ce and then left.

Yun Ce glanced at the food, but didn't feel like eating, so he took off his shoes, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

He could see clearly that the two earthenware bowls contained cooked wheat grains, the legendary wheat porridge that Yuan Shu, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, would rather starve to death than eat when he was at his wit's end.

A large bowl of dark, slightly foul-smelling sauce, a piece of half-cooked meat (whose appearance made it impossible to identify), and a plate of cooked vegetables—Yun Ce, with his limited knowledge of Han Dynasty vegetables, didn't even know what these vegetables were.

Finally, there was a bowl of soup with a fish floating in it...

Cooked wheat porridge is naturally not as refined as Yishu starch, and even if the half-cooked meat were animal meat, Yun Ce would not eat it. After all, this is the Han Dynasty, and it would be bad to eat human flesh when traveling.

As for the fish soup, Yun Ce was full after just one look. The Han Dynasty was still a culinary wasteland, far inferior to Hangzhou.

After taking a bite of wheat porridge, Eji pouted and mumbled to Yun Ce, "Why don't they eat grass? Grass is so delicious."

While listening to the sounds outside, Yun Ce said, "People probably wouldn't even look at what the savages eat."

Eji took another bite of boiled vegetables, swallowed it with difficulty, and said to Yun Ce, "It's not as tasty as the climbing grass, nor as tasty as the newly grown hooked thorns."

This time, Yun Ce did not answer him.

"The meat is quite delicious, but it has a strong urine smell."

"Oh, there's fish too. I like to eat fish, uh—it's bitter."

Yun Ce listened intently for half an hour, while E Ji vented for half an hour. Yun Ce didn't quite catch the final summary, but it was basically that someone who could make delicious meat taste so bad didn't need to have a mouth.

Eji was exhausted from traveling all day. After washing up, she lay down on the bed to sleep. Instead of using the animal skin blanket provided by the inn, she took out her beloved sleeping bag from a large bag, patted it to make it soft, and invited Yun Ce to sleep with her. When Yun Ce refused, she took off her outer garment, hummed and scurried into the sleeping bag, zipped it up, and blinked at Yun Ce under the lamp. When he ignored her, she angrily went to sleep.

On the low table sat a longbow, a crossbow, and an exquisite saber that didn't fit the era. Yun Ce, who had originally been dressed as a burly man, had changed into his stab-proof vest, which was much better than armor and lighter.

Looking down at the dog bouncing on his wristband, he lowered his voice and said, "The first real-life experience of a grassroots uprising has begun."

As soon as Yun Ce finished speaking, he saw a large ball of fire suddenly rise outside the window, and then he heard someone shout that there was a fire.

Yun Ce carried the longbow on his back, tucked the scabbard into his belt, took a bag of arrows, and left the crossbow with its string loaded and the arrows on the low table.

Once Eji's breathing became steady, she opened the window, jumped out, and then went up to the roof.

Braving the night wind, Yun Ce ran swiftly across the rooftops. This time, he was determined to finish quickly and return before the riots spread to the inn.

(End of this chapter)