The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 44 Departure
Nie Wenjin offered a few words of encouragement and left, leaving a group of sixteen to regroup at the drill ground.

Xiao Yi's gaze swept over them and saw that the twelve selected soldiers were all fierce and wore the standard armor of the Imperial Guard. However, the quality and weaving of the lamellar armor were visibly inferior, and there were no metal embellishments.

At first glance, it exudes a murderous aura.

Upon closer inspection, apart from Cao Dang, no one else's armor was as neatly worn as Xiao Yi's.

Some had their armbands askew, some had their robes loose, some had their military jackets open, and some had their waistbands unfastened.

The Crane Control Guard is responsible for guarding the palace within the Imperial Guard. The people selected from it are theoretically the elite of the elite, but they are likely either sons of officials who are there to gain experience or cunning and sycophantic soldiers.

Suddenly, Xiao Yi's gaze froze, stopping on the face of a team member.

This man had high brow bones, long and narrow eyes with a somewhat arrogant look, and a sparse, yellowish beard with each hair clearly visible. He was the team leader who had led the search party to the inn that day.

Xiao Yi then looked at an archer beside him. He was tall and thin, wearing armor and with a slightly hunched back. His face was narrow like a cone, his eyes were wide-set, with a lot of white in his eyes and small pupils. He was the soldier who had taken his silver and pearls.

The two of them must have recognized Xiao Yi as well, and were also stunned.

"This is the new deputy captain..."

Upon hearing Cao Dang's voice, the two men's expressions turned grim. After a moment of stunned silence, they bowed and greeted the others.

"Greetings, Deputy Commander!"

Xiao Yi walked up to the group and asked, "What are your names?"

Last time, when he yelled at them to give their names, they laughed and ignored him. This time, however, they could only reluctantly bow and answer.

“Bu Hai, the commander of the fourth squad of the Left Capital, pays his respects to Deputy Commander Xiao.”

"What about you?"

"This humble servant, Luo Erhu, greets Deputy Commander Xiao. Deputy Commander, how did you come to be from the school..."

Xiao Yi interrupted him, shouting, "I'll ask you one more time: you dare to take money from officials appointed by the imperial court, how will you exploit the common people?"

"I don't dare to do this in a humble position."

Although Bu Hai's eyes were filled with extreme surprise, his attitude remained calm, exuding an air of arrogance, as if he wanted to spit out a curse: "Damn it, what bad luck, running into this monkey again."

Luo Erhu glanced sideways at Bu Hai, and seeing that the captain was not afraid, he did not respond and his eyes darted around.

Xiao Yi remained silent with a cold expression, spreading his hands in front of the two of them.

Luo Erhu reluctantly reached into his robes and, after a while, pulled out a pearl from under his armor.

"Deputy Commander, the silver has already... has already been distributed, only..."

Xiao Yi took the pearl, glanced at the soldiers, and said sternly, "Put on your armor properly."

This statement, seemingly directed at Luo Erhu alone, was actually a test to see who would obey and who would be defiant.

A glance revealed that, apart from Luo Erhu who had to straighten his armor, only Lü You and two other soldiers who were already dressed fairly neatly bowed their heads to straighten their armor.

"Get ready to depart, don't be late."

Cao Dang suddenly spoke up and gave an order, interrupting Xiao Yi's order to discipline the soldiers.

But the horses had not yet been brought in.

Bu Hai quickly grasped the captain's intention to suppress the deputy captain. The surprise and worry on his face disappeared, and he regained his previous arrogance. As he turned around, he sneered.

"How stingy! None of the brothers got much to begin with."

After saying that, he spat at his feet.

In short, accompanied by a spit of phlegm, his intention to deliberately deflate Xiao Yi's ego became quite clear.

If Xiao Yi tolerates this, who will still respect him as a head constable? Although he intends to get away, the more authoritative he is, the easier it will be for him to act.

He immediately shouted, "Stop!"

Bu Hai kept walking, pretending to be conscientious, and said, "The captain has given the order, let's go get the horses."

"I told you to stop right there. Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will be flogged twenty times."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," Bu Hai said in a nonchalant tone, "Let's get ready to go."

Xiao Yi wanted him to make a mistake. He took a few steps forward and raised his hand to press Bu Hai's shoulder.

"call--"

Before his hand could even touch him, Bu Hai's elbow struck towards his face, clearly indicating that he had intended to attack earlier.

Xiao Yi dodged to the side and delivered a powerful punch straight to Bu Hai's face.

"Oh!"

A sharp "thud" came from Bu Hai's left cheek as he spat out a broken tooth after being hit.

Enraged, he roared and lunged at Xiao Yi.

"Dry!"

"Wow!"

Instead of dissuading them, the surrounding soldiers cheered and jeered, watching the spectacle with excitement. Cao Dang did not stop them either, but watched coldly with a sneer on his lips.

Bu Hai was extremely aggressive and delivered a punch to Xiao Yi's face.

Xiao Yi parried with his left arm, the metal of his arms clashing together with a deep thud.

"Luo Erhu! What are you standing there for? Go!"

Hearing the wind from the punch, Xiao Yi dodged Luo Erhu's fist by the side, then swept his right leg across, kicking Bu Hai on the outside of his knee. Bu Hai lost his balance and staggered to the side. Xiao Yi grabbed him by the back of his collar and slammed him hard to the ground.

The armor struck the frozen ground with a remarkably clear thud.

At the same time, Luo Erhu tried to grab Xiao Yi's neck with both hands, but Xiao Yi seized the opportunity to grab his wrists and slammed his right elbow into his chest. He groaned, his face turned deathly pale, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to catch his breath for a long time.

In an instant, the two were knocked to the ground.

Bu Hai reached out to draw his sword.

"You dare?"

"what!"

Xiao Yi stomped heavily on his hand, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding soldiers. He saw that they had stopped their earlier jeering and were all looking surprised.

"You two, step forward!"

Xiao Yi pointed to the soldiers who had obediently straightened their armor and gave the order in a deep voice.

The two soldiers were taken aback and quickly stepped forward.

"The villain is here."

"What is your name?"

“Fan Si, the archer of the Eighth Team of the Left Capital, may be addressed as Fan Xiao Si, the deputy captain.”

“Wei Liang, I am a swordsman in the second squad of the Left Capital.”

Xiao Yi nodded, making a mental note of it, and said in a cold tone, "Bu Hai and Luo Erhu have committed insubordination and disobeyed military orders. Each shall be given twenty strokes of the cane!"

"enough!"

Before Xiao Yi could finish speaking, Cao Dang interrupted him.

Then, his tone softened considerably, and he said, "It was just a verbal altercation, why resort to torture?"

"Captain, these two not only disobeyed military orders, but also attacked their superior. If they are not severely punished, who in the army will respect military discipline in the future?"

Cao Dang was displeased and said, "We are about to leave the city on official business. This is not the time to use torture. I am the head constable, and I make the decisions."

"Very well, since it was the head constable who spoke up, we will be lenient today and give each of them five strokes of the cane as a punishment."

"you dare!"

"If I cannot win the hearts of the people, I am afraid I will not be able to handle this task well. I ask the Imperial Uncle and General Nie to choose another capable person!"

Cao Dang slowed his speech but emphasized his words, saying, "You must not disappoint the Emperor's brother-in-law and General Nie's high expectations."

Xiao Yi had already given him face, but now he wouldn't back down an inch, saying, "If you can't do a job properly, it's better not to do it at all. Either the captain arrests me, or you report this matter."

The two faced off, remaining silent for a long while.

The horses had already been brought over, but no one dared to mount them; they watched them silently.

Finally, Cao Dang turned and walked towards his horse, shouting, "Prepare to depart!"

Xiao Yi then gave the order to Fan Si and Wei Liang again: "Make your move."

The two glanced at Cao Dang's back, and seeing that the head constable did not stop them, they had no choice but to pick up the wooden staffs by the training ground and walk to Bu Hai and Luo Erhu respectively.

"Captain Bu, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Snapped!"

"Snapped……"

Xiao Yi didn't care whether it was a real fight or a fierce one; he didn't want to hurt anyone, but rather to crush the arrogance of his soldiers.

Unfortunately, he was only a deputy captain and was unable to manage the troops as he pleased.

The five blows were quickly finished. Bu Hai and Luo Erhu got up, didn't speak to Xiao Yi, glared at Fan Si and Wei Liang, stretched, and hurried towards Cao Dang.

"You two wait."

They were in some pain, but they forced themselves to sit on the saddle and shouted defiantly.

"Men! Now that you've scratched your itch, follow the constable out of town on errands! Hahaha!"

Xiao Yi gave a barely perceptible cold laugh, patted Fan Si and Wei Liang on the shoulder, mounted his horse, and looked up at the distant city wall.

It's time to leave the city.

……

Afternoon, North City.

The massive bolts locking the Fengqiu Gate were pulled open, and the heavy gate slowly opened from the inside, revealing a sloping archway behind it.

Xiao Yi looked up and saw that the brick seams in the city gate were still inlaid with knife marks and arrow holes left by the sieges during the change of dynasties, which showed how short the current dynasty was.

Ahead, the drawbridge slowly lowered and landed with a loud thud on the moat, which was three zhang wide.

The horses' hooves clattered on the bridge, the iron chains on either side rattling as ice shards shattered. On the other side of the bridge, the barricades, planted diagonally in the frozen ground, had been moved to just enough space for one rider to pass.

Xiao Yi rode out with an upright and dignified air.

Looking back, as the cavalrymen behind him left the city one by one, the drawbridge was raised, the city gate was slowly closed, and finally, a loud "bang" was heard.

The world before me was vast and desolate...

(End of this chapter)