Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 85: Chaos has begun, it's really starting to get chaotic.

“Feng An was forced into this situation by the young master and had no other choice but to come up with this plan. Please don’t blame him, Master.” Liang Kun rolled up the bamboo slip in front of him and placed it beside him.

Yun Ce said to E Ji, "So, Peng Zeng doesn't want to be a slave?"

Eji sighed and said, "Peng Zeng used to be a slave. Later, he learned martial arts and worked hard to get rid of his slave status. He told me that being a slave is bad. No one should be anyone's slave. If you insist on making him a slave, he would rather die."

I said he was strong and skilled in martial arts, and could serve as a retainer for the young master, instead of being a slave.

As a result, yesterday evening, he had his old woman tell me that he wanted to be my retainer, so I went to ask Feng An if women could have retainers, and that's when he told me those things.

Yun Ce raised his hand and tapped her nose, saying, "If you have nothing to do in the future, read some books with Feng An and Liang Kun, so you won't get deceived and think they're being kind to you."

Feng An, who hadn't run far, heard what Yun Ce said and knew that he wasn't angry, so he returned and knelt on the prayer mat to continue reading quietly.

Yun Ce said, "If you ever dare to use those low-class things to compare with E Ji again, I will definitely send you to accompany Peng Zeng to recover from your injuries."

As a result, the room became even quieter.

Life in the Royal Hunting Grounds was always peaceful. Living here for a long time would make one's heart become more at peace, like the clouds drifting over Mount Kora, sometimes white, sometimes black. When the clouds were white, it meant good weather for Izumo Castle in the distance; if black clouds drifted over, then it was sure to snow.

On this day, Yun Ce obtained a wild beast called 'Huang'. This beast resembled a deer, but had no antlers and only two egg-sized bumps on its forehead.

Out of curiosity, Yun Ce used a knife to cut open a bulge. Just as he had guessed, the bulge contained bone, resembling that of a deer whose antlers had just been cut.

Having determined that yellow meat is similar to venison, it was natural to grill it, and the whole family was delighted to hear this news.

Just as Yun Ce was instructing E Ji on how to wrap the yellow meat in wild boar fat, a large bird descended from the sky. Zhang Min, perched on the bird's back, had a serious expression and seemed to exude a murderous aura.

Yun Ce glanced at Zhang Min and thought she was extremely rude, coming to someone else's house to freeload without giving them a kind look.

After entering the Royal Hunting Grounds with Yun Ce and finding no one around, Zhang Min immediately asked, "Are you still in contact with Miss Hong?"

Yun Ce pointed at Zhang Min and said, "You are the only outsider I have seen in the past ten days. By the way, what do you want with her?"

Zhang Min hesitated for a moment before speaking, but Yun Ce interrupted her directly.

"Right now, I just want to quietly get the title I'm entitled to, and then go to Chang'an with Eji and the others to live. I won't go back to Chuyun Prefecture anymore."

I don't want any entanglement with the people and things here. If—and I mean if—we're still friends, please don't drag me into any grudges or conflicts.

Zhang Min thought for a moment, then looked up at the Gaoliang Mountain shrouded in mist in the distance and slowly said, "Let me tell you a story."

Yun Ce smiled and said, "If it's a story, I'm willing to listen."

Zhang Min pondered for a moment and then slowly said, "The story begins four hundred years ago. At that time, the dragon-breaking stone of the Huo King's tomb had just been placed, and a baby was born in the harem of Emperor Liu Shou of the Han Dynasty."

Everyone said this baby was an ominous sign, and that the baby resembled King Huo.

The Emperor was furious and wanted to kill the baby on the spot, but was persuaded by the Empress, the baby's birth mother, because the Empress's family was very powerful and the Emperor needed their help to restore order to the court without the Prince of Huo.

Instead of killing the baby, they banished him to the wilderness of Chuyun Prefecture, which was then part of the Ling Kingdom. Just when everyone thought the baby would die in the wilderness, the wild animals there did not harm him. Those animals that had milk gave the baby their milk, and some even wrapped the baby in their own bodies to shield him from the wind and snow.

When the sun is too hot, the birds in the sky will spread their wings to shield him from the scorching sun. When it rains, long-legged birds will surround him and use their wings to help him avoid the rain.

When the Grand Preceptor of the Han Dynasty, Sang Shouliang, heard about this legend, he personally came to the wilderness of Chuyun Prefecture. Under his watchful eye and that of his three hundred disciples, it was proven that the baby did indeed possess miraculous abilities.

Then they used carriages to bring the baby back to Chang'an. It is said that when the baby left Chuyun Prefecture, wild beasts of the wilderness followed the carriage for five hundred li, and flocks of birds spread their wings to provide shade for the baby for five hundred li.

Yun Ce stared wide-eyed at Zhang Min, who was telling her story in detail, until Zhang Min saw obvious resistance in his eyes and could no longer speak. Then Yun Ce said, "You should just tell me what you want to do."

Zhang Min sighed and said, "Don't you have any respect for the gods?"

Yun Ce snorted coldly and said, "I only know that when you start telling me those magical things, I know you're going to start lying to me."

Zhang Min raised her hand in exasperation and said, "Fine, fine, fine, I'll put it simply: if you see Hong Guniang and the others, I hope they will hand over the 'Ode to the Divine Dragon.' She should clearly understand that it is not something she can get her hands on."

Yun Ce glanced at Zhang Min, but his mind was filled with thoughts of the golden dragon statue he had smashed into a golden ingot a few days ago, and the glowing bead that had kept Gouzi from waking up. If that thing was the "Ode to the Divine Dragon," then it no longer existed in this world. Yun Ce feigned confusion and asked, "How did she get involved with the 'Ode to the Divine Dragon'? Back in Chuyun City, she was so poor that she had to shovel snow to sell for money."

Zhang Min didn't notice anything wrong with Yun Ce, and continued to sigh, "Nowadays, I'm afraid only your place in Chuyun City is relatively quiet; the rest of the city is already in an uproar."

The 100 million taels of tribute that Izumo Castle presented to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty were stolen by unknown bandits.

Lord Pompeii and Governor Han both dispatched all the troops that Izumo City could send out.

Even I, a member of the Climbing Star Tower, was recalled and given a death order: we must recover the stolen tribute before the winter month arrives, no matter what.

"Was the robber Hong Guniang?"

Zhang Min nodded and said, "It is indeed her."

Yun Ce looked into Zhang Min's eyes and said uncertainly, "I feel like you're lying to me again."

Zhang Min asked, "How do you know?"

"A tribute of 100 million coins would require a thousand cartloads, wouldn't it?"

"No, only 577 vehicles."

"There must be quite a few people escorting the tribute, right?"

"Three thousand eight hundred men, led by Colonel Zhao Ling, a man of unparalleled bravery."

Seeing that Yun Ce had stopped asking questions, Zhang Min urged, "Keep asking!"

Yun Ce sat down on the threshold of Chang Le Palace, took out a handful of roasted nuts from his sleeve, and shared some with Zhang Min, saying, "It's hard to keep a secret between two people, let alone something involving tens of thousands of people. I think it would be no problem for you Panxing Tower people to investigate such a case. The problem is, do you have enough power to catch the culprit?"

Zhang Min shook her head and said, "This matter is complicated and difficult to investigate. Once we start investigating, Chuyun Prefecture will definitely be in chaos. At present, the most effective way to quell the chaos is to make Hong Guniang and the others hand over the 'Ode to the Divine Dragon' and the stolen tribute. Whether it is the city lord, the governor, or even our Panxing Tower, they can forgive her crimes."

Yun Ce thought for a moment and said, "What exactly is the 'Ode to the Divine Dragon' that would make you compare it to a hundred million in tribute?"

Zhang Min shook her head and said, "In the eyes of a fool, that thing is just a piece of gold; in the eyes of a wise man, it contains supreme wisdom."

This is what the little prince I told you about left behind. It's said that a dragon went to him, and then he died, leaving behind the "Ode to the Dragon" for his disciples, telling them that it contained the power to save the Han Dynasty from peril.

Seeing that smoke was already rising from his own house, Yun Ce invited Zhang Min to eat the rare roasted yellow pork.

They thought Zhang Min wouldn't refuse, but to their surprise, after the two of them came out of the palace, she sat on the back of the big bird.

Standing atop it, he instructed again: "When you see Miss Hong, please be sure to pass on those words to her. Neither the 'Ode to the Divine Dragon' nor those tributes are things she can get her hands on. I've heard that she is very compassionate towards the poor. If she doesn't hand over these two things this time, there will be a massacre and rivers of blood in Chuyun Prefecture."

Watching Zhang Min come and go in a hurry, Yun Ce couldn't believe that she didn't know about the trap set by the city lord and the governor.

She must have known, which is why she rushed to deal with the ridiculous chaos in Sheyang City when disaster struck. However, even Zhang Min couldn't understand why the city lord and governor's schemes, which had clearly succeeded, had failed so miserably in the blink of an eye.

In the end, they even lost the tribute.

Hong Guniang and her friends must be having a very hard time right now. Everyone in the world wants to know where Hong Guniang is.

To be honest, Yun Ce also wondered if, if the city lord and the others offered a high enough price, he felt it wasn't impossible to sell Hong Guniang.

Because, given Hong Guniang's current purely revolutionary character, she would betray Yun Ce without even blinking an eye for the greater good.

After all, all she cared about was the world and its people; she only knew how to break down existing injustices and build a perfect new world.

As for Yun Ce, who was betrayed, he would naturally understand the plight of these people.

Yun Ce certainly had no objections; he only knew that the more chaotic the world became, the more valuable lessons it would be for him.

(End of this chapter)