Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 64 Each Has Its Own Way
Yun Ce didn't leave in anger; he ran away because he was overwhelmed with shame.

Previously, he had told Hong Guniang some seemingly plausible revolutionary principles, but unexpectedly, this simple and honest woman took them seriously and paid a great price to implement them.

As he left Sheyang City, he saw the streets littered with corpses. As his horse's hooves passed by the bodies, he tried to convince himself with the correct principles Yun Linchuan had taught him not to participate in the lowest level of uprising at this time.

Such riots can awaken a segment of the population who are struggling to survive, and attract them to join by offering the simplest material incentives.

Such joining is animalistic, not revolutionary. Animalistic uprisings, as long as they keep winning, will have a continuous stream of people joining. But if they suffer a defeat, it will be a defeat like the collapse of a dam.

What is revolution? Revolution requires a highly organized collective, a clear and correct goal, countless people willing to sacrifice their lives to realize the ideal, and the ability to closely unite all those who support the revolution, striving and persevering for a single goal, in order to have a chance of success.

Now, even though he knows that Hong Guniang and her group are destined to fail and die, for some reason, Yun Ce still admires them. At least, Hong Guniang is a very good revolutionary.

When Eji saw that Yun Ce had returned from teasing Hong Guniang with his head drooping listlessly, she quickly asked, "Did that woman scold you?"

Yun Ce shook his head, not wanting to speak.

"What business is it of yours how many people died in Sheyang City? You cut off Lord Yu's feet, which is already more than enough for that little girl who died of diarrhea. Why should she curse you?"

Yun Ce looked up at the woman sitting on horseback, who was anxiously comforting him, and gave her a big smile. Then, looking at the crowds coming and going on the street, his mood changed instantly.

This is a city with a clear class distinction; everyone here has a big label blatantly displayed on their face.

The person dressed in silk had just stepped onto the carriage by stepping on someone else.

The chubby, somewhat attractive madam just pricked a very young-looking girl with a needle, trying to make her laugh even more wantonly.

The young man who had just come out of the pawnshop was carrying a bundle; it seemed the shopkeeper hadn't taken a liking to his belongings.

A burly man, barefoot, pulled an extremely heavy swill cart through the alley behind the shop, where several sheep were tied up for pulling the cart.

It was still that same little street. A woman in tattered clothes was dragging a little boy, who had straw tags stuck in his hair. The child was crying, and the woman was crying too. It seemed that the fat shop owner hadn't taken a liking to her child.

If you change your perspective and look at the streets again, you'll find that the thugs, hooligans, swindlers, thieves, robbers, unscrupulous merchants, and scoundrels all have sharp teeth and seem ready to devour anyone they can.

Your mindset changes your thoughts; that's how people gradually become better or worse.

Eji was incessantly cursing Hong Guniang. Although it was very subjective, Yun Ce felt quite comfortable. He even thought that Hong Guniang deserved to be cursed, and the harsher the curse, the better.

'Liansheng Hall'—this was the meeting place Yun Ce and Feng An had agreed upon.

After settling the chestnut horse with the helper, Eji hurriedly ran into the shop to ask the shopkeeper if there were two young men with ten big and small girls staying at the inn.

Yun Ce didn't follow, because he had already seen Feng An sitting in the sunlight reading a book.

This guy was already good-looking, and now he was dressed in a blue robe, holding a bamboo scroll in his hand. He was turned to the side, and the sunlight shone on half of his face, making his handsome nose look pink. Many women were looking at him intentionally or unintentionally.

Seeing Yun Ce approaching, Feng An reluctantly put away the bamboo slips in his hand and stood up, saying, "Don't interfere with my scrolling."

Yun Ce asked, puzzled, "Tracing scrolls? Shouldn't you be studying hard to deepen your knowledge? How does this have to do with tracing scrolls?"

Feng Anchao, impatiently pointing Eji in a direction, said to Yun Ce again: "The rules have changed this year. Those recommended by the local authorities as filial and incorruptible officials, talented individuals, scholars, and literati must find a recommender in Chuyun City. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to enter the Wenlou, participate in the Grand Competition, see the Governor, or obtain a travel permit from the Registrar's Office."

Yun Ce looked around and saw that several women who had been looking at Feng An immediately turned their faces away. Two of them even put on conical hats in disgust, and the gauze curtains were lowered, so only a bright red mouth could be vaguely seen.

"The female guest at the second table on the left was originally hidden by a screen. When I sat there reading, those people removed the screen so they could watch me. They even sent a maid to bring me a cake."

Are you trying to sell your wares, or are you just trying to attract attention?

Feng An glared at Yun Ce with disdain and said, "Look at her attire, especially the silk hanging from the gold armbands. That's something only a doctor's family member can use. The young lady has her hair in a bun, so she must be an unmarried woman."

This time, only those of the rank of Grand Master or higher can make a recommendation. If I am compatible with this young lady, I might be able to obtain a recommendation from her father or brothers.

"Shameless!"

Feng An snorted coldly and said, "Is that shameless? They changed the rules specifically for certain people. Since the quotas for this competition are all for families with the rank of Grand Master or above, how is it shameless for me to curry favor with their daughter and get a letter of recommendation?"

Yun Ce looked at Feng An and said, "You don't plan to marry her daughter, do you?" Feng An replied in surprise, "She doesn't plan to marry me either."

Yun Ce scratched his head and said, "If you have an affair without a matchmaker, wouldn't her father and brothers beat you to death? Would they recommend books to you?"

"Hmph, if I pass this exam and she's pregnant with my child, believe me, her dowry will triple!"

Yun Ce tilted his head back and thought for a moment before giving a thumbs up and saying, "Very good, continue!"

After speaking, he walked in the direction Feng An pointed out. After taking two steps, he turned back and looked at Feng An seriously, saying, "What about Liang Kun? With his looks, he probably couldn't seduce the daughter of a noble family. Could it be that he went to seduce the son of a noble family in order to get the recommendation letter?"

Feng An patted the bamboo slip in his palm and said, "No, he went to sit in protest at the entrance of the governor's mansion with a group of people, thinking that if he made a big fuss, those people would release a few more places. After all, if all the candidates recommended by Yunzhou to go to Chang'an were idiots and fools, it wouldn't look good for them."

Yun Ce took out a gold bead from his pocket and slapped it into Feng An's hand, saying, "To seduce a woman, you not only need to be good-looking, but being rich is also a huge plus."

With a flick of his wrist, Feng An's golden beads disappeared. Ignoring Yun Ce, he tapped the palm of his other hand with the bamboo slip and walked toward the woman.

Yun Ce couldn't stand the disgusting way men seduced women. Their behavior was as lewd as a dog courting a mate, and seeing it too much made him want to become a woman.

Back at the private courtyard that Feng An and the others had arranged, they heard a group of women chattering around Eji. Only Anji sat quietly to one side. When Yun Ce came in, she led him to sit on a soft stool.

When Eji was away, Anji was the leader of the group of women. When Anji took out a hot towel to wipe Yun Ce's face, Eji objected. She squeezed out of the crowd, snatched the cloth from Anji's hand, and wiped Yun Ce's face like wiping a watermelon.

Yun Ce let it be, and even if E Ji was very unhappy, there would always be a time when it would stop.

Anji didn't argue, but quietly prepared the bathwater in the inner room. She even came over to tell Yun Ce that the bathwater was ready and whether he wanted her to serve him a bath.

Eji got upset again, so she gave Anji a big piece of delicious cake that she had extorted from the market and sent her out. Then she blinked her big eyes and prepared to help Yun Ce change his clothes.

Anji sat quietly on the soft stool by the door, holding a large piece of cake and eating it slowly. When she saw the door open and Eji being pushed out by Yun Ce, she covered her mouth and chuckled.

Eji broke off a large piece of cake from Anji's hand, stuffed it into her mouth, and mumbled, "Your method doesn't work either."

Anji swallowed the cake in her mouth and said, "It's good to persevere in this kind of thing. If we succeed on the first try, wouldn't it make our young master seem unrefined?"

"He was dignified; he urinated right in front of me without flinching or avoiding it."

"That means the young master feels sorry for the young lady and doesn't want you to go through the ordeal of childbirth too early. It's rare to find a young master who would rather suffer himself than let you suffer."

"Hey, you used to live at Zhang Yaliang's house. What was their husband like?"

Hearing Eji say this, Anji's smiling face immediately darkened, and she gritted her teeth and said, "A bunch of filthy dogs who indulge in debauchery day and night, in any place, don't compare them to my lord, it's disgusting to even hear about them."

Eji: "..."

Yun Ce lay in the hot water, vigorously rubbing the grime off his body. The rough cloth made of tree fiber was full of wrinkles after being soaked in water, making it perfect for scrubbing off grime.

These past few days, we've been sleeping outdoors in the wind and rain, and all we've been doing is cold showers. That kind of washing only makes the grime on our bodies adhere even more tightly to our skin.

After scrubbing off the grime, he saw that the bathwater was no longer usable, so he called Eji in to change the water for him.

After that, Eji stayed in the room to wash Yun Ce's hair, struggling with his already long hair the whole time, without any romantic atmosphere.

Zhang Min was also taking a shower at this time. She and Wu Tong searched the wasteland together with spirit-detecting insects, but found no information related to the dragon spirit.

Wu Tong was busy observing the movements of the Yi people in the prefecture and didn't have much time to continue investigating Long Ling's whereabouts, so he handed this task over to Zhang Min.

Undeterred, Zhang Min searched again after Wu Tong left, but still found nothing. She had no choice but to ride the giant bird back to Chuyun City.

The water in the bathtub rippled, and even though she hid her body underwater, the clear water couldn't hide her exquisite figure.

Zhang Min was also scrubbing herself, but when she scrubbed her left leg, she couldn't help but groan. After the pain subsided, she glanced at the spirit-hunting insect placed in an exquisite cage, and an idea suddenly came to her.

She suddenly stood up from the water, not bothering to hide her impressive figure, and said fiercely to the spirit-hunting insect, "We still missed one after all!"

(End of this chapter)