Chapter 554: A Lesson Learned

"You bastards, how dare you treat me with such disrespect and dare to lock me up! Do you know who I am? I want to see Zhao Hui!"

The arrogant shouts made the soldiers holding Murong Chengtai in front of the marshal's residence tighten their grip, causing his face to flush red with pain. The junior officer at the gate stared at him coldly: "Boy, whoever you are, daring to act so insolently before the marshal's residence — if the commander-in-chief gives the order, I'll cut you down right now!"

"You wouldn't dare!" Though intimidated by the junior officer's icy gaze, Murong Chengtai refused to yield in words, stiffening his neck as he spoke.

Xiang Xun walked out and happened to see the scene. Scanning around, he saw several soldiers who appeared to be household retainers, all disarmed, their expressions indifferent. He fixed his gaze on Murong Chengtai: "So you're Murong Chengtai?"

"That's me! Who are you?" Murong Chengtai struggled instinctively, but the more he struggled, the more it hurt. He gritted his teeth and answered.

"Xiang Xun, Southwest Relief Commissioner!" Xiang Xun said.

"Where's Zhao Hui? I want to see him!" Murong Chengtai remained arrogant.

Looking coldly at the man, a trace of disgust flickered in Xiang Xun's eyes. He immediately raised his hand and ordered: "This man, arrogant and rude, has offended the marshal's residence. One more word, and he dies on the spot!"

"Yes!" The surrounding soldiers acknowledged in unison.

Murong Chengtai could feel the killing intent. He opened his mouth, but ultimately dared not make a sound. Instead, he glared stubbornly at Xiang Xun, his face full of defiance.

Meeting Murong Chengtai's gaze, Xiang Xun stepped forward and said coldly: "This is the marshal's residence, the place commanding tens of thousands of troops against Shu. Even if you were imperial kin, for today's arrogant outburst and your insulting conduct toward the commander-in-chief, if you were beheaded here, His Majesty would not say a word!"

Facing Xiang Xun's nearly emotionless eyes, for the first time, Murong Chengtai felt an emotion called "fear" rise in his heart: "I..."

Seeing him show weakness, Xiang Xun finally waved his hand and said: "I do not advocate executing without warning. Considering you've just arrived, I'll spare your life for now. But let me give you one piece of advice: once you enter the army, you must obey military law. Do not violate it, or military law will be merciless — when it falls upon you, regret will come too late!"

With that, Xiang Xun instructed those around him: "First give him fifty strokes of the rod, then teach him the camp rules and military discipline!"

"Yes!"

In the barracks in the southern quarter of Baoji, Murong Chengtai lay face down on a military cot, his trousers completely removed, his buttocks beaten to a bloody pulp, the welts nearly spreading up to his waist. Fifty strokes of the rod — not one fewer, not one spared. Had Murong Chengtai not trained in martial arts since childhood and possessed a strong physique, any pampered young dandy would have been beaten to death or crippled.

The household officer Murong Yanchao had assigned to him carefully applied medicine, saying: "Young master, in the army, things are different from elsewhere. Military law is no joke. What happened at the marshal's residence earlier frightened us. If you had truly been killed, we would have had no choice but to die on the battlefield..."

"I still don't believe they'd really dare to kill me!" Murong Chengtai replied, seemingly still unwilling to yield.

However, even as he said this, he himself wasn't confident.

"Young master—"

"Enough! Since when did you become so talkative, daring to lecture me!" Murong Chengtai couldn't help but snap angrily.

The weather was hot, and with the wounds on his buttocks, sweat beaded on Murong Chengtai's forehead like raindrops, streaming down his dark-skinned face and nearly seeping into his eyes. In all his life, he had never suffered such humiliation. But perhaps there was a stubbornness in his bones — even during the beating, he hadn't let out a single groan from start to finish.

In his eyes, it was hard to tell whether it was sweat or tears...

"Young master, does it hurt? Should I be gentler?"

"Just apply the medicine!" Murong Chengtai took a deep breath and answered. After a pause, he asked: "How long will it take for my wounds to heal?"

"You probably won't be able to get out of bed for two or three days!"

Rarely, Murong Chengtai let out a sigh, somewhat unwilling: "I came to Fengxiang wanting to kill enemies and earn merit. This beating is really holding me back!"

Hearing this, the household officer didn't know what to think. In his current state, merely surviving meant the other side had shown mercy — and this young lord was still thinking about going to the battlefield.

"Don't worry, young master. Once your wounds heal, there will be opportunities!" The household officer could only console him with these words.

After a while, Murong Chengtai suddenly asked, seeming puzzled: "Commander Zhao and Governor Xiang and the others... they really don't seem to care about my identity..."

The household officer fell silent. He was a rough man, not good with words, and had no idea how to resolve this young master's confusion. Of course, in his view, Murong Yanchao doted far too much on this youngest son.

"Do you think I should go apologize to Commander Zhao and Governor Xiang?" Murong Chengtai asked abruptly again, his voice very low, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

Iron horses and autumn wind at Dasan Pass.

This referred to the pass standing in the southern outskirts of Baoji, a strategic chokepoint controlling the throat between Sichuan and Shaanxi. Though it was still high summer, without the bleak autumn wind to set the mood, the pass still stubbornly fulfilled its purpose — a hard bone lodged in the throat of the Shu army.

When the Shu army first arrived this spring, their momentum had overwhelmed the Qi army. Zhao Hui, with few troops, had managed to hold Chencang, while Li Tinggui, with many troops, found it hard to take — partly because the presence of the pass prevented him from committing his full force.

After retreating south of the Wei River, Li Tinggui decided to eliminate the pass entirely. Up to now, the more than fifteen thousand Shu troops camped beneath the pass had launched over twenty assaults, suffering more than two thousand direct casualties — yet the pass remained firmly in Han hands.

After Zhao Hui succeeded Wang Jun as Military Governor of Fengxiang, he treated the pass as a vital throat and focused on strengthening its fortifications for defense. There was no choice — the fall of the four prefectures of Qinfeng had left the Great Han's southwestern defenses so passive that the Shu army could emerge from the Qinling Mountains at any time, threatening Guanzhong, with their spearheads pointed directly at the Wei River fortifications.

The defender of the pass was a man named Wang Renshan, formerly a yabing officer under Liu Ci, Military Governor of Baoyi Army, who had been recommended for the post. Before the Shu army made its move, Zhao Hui had urgently reinforced the garrison to three thousand men and stockpiled large quantities of grain and weapons. Thus, after months of attrition, the pass still had strength to spare.

And Wang Renshan did not disappoint the trust placed in him. With three thousand men against several times that number of enemies, he held his position and inflicted heavy casualties on the Shu army. Like a reef in a vast ocean, he stood unyielding, greatly vexing the Shu commander Li Tinggui.

The most recent battle at the walls had been ten days ago. As the weather grew hotter, both sides had tacitly agreed to collect and cremate the corpses of soldiers fallen beneath the pass, to prevent plague from spreading.

On the pass wall, a burly, dashing military officer stood gazing into the distance, silently calculating: "With this achievement of defending the pass against the enemy, a three-rank promotion after the war shouldn't be a problem, right..."

This Han general was, of course, Wang Renshan. Watching the Shu army, which had lifted the siege of the pass and set up camp in a defensive posture along the mountain ridges, he couldn't help wondering — could the Shu army be thinking of retreating?

"General, an order has arrived from the marshal's residence!"

Soon, after reading through Zhao Hui's military order, Wang Renshan immediately perked up, instinctively leaning over the wall. After a moment's thought, he instructed his subordinates: "Gather all able-bodied fighters in the pass at the eastern gate. Give them wine and meat, and have them ready to sally forth at any moment!"

"Yes!"

After months of stubborn defense, only half of the Han troops in the pass remained, and fewer than a thousand were still fit to sally forth. Even so, this did not dampen Wang Renshan's burning desire to earn merit. He was already thirty-six years old, having drifted through life into his prime years — when an opportunity came, he had to seize it.

Meanwhile, in the Shu army camp, the commander-in-chief also held a military council, summoning the generals of the Chencang and Gudao camps.

"I have called you all here today for one matter. His Majesty has ordered: abandon the campaign against Han and withdraw the army back to Xingyuan!" Li Tinggui sat upright behind the commander's desk, his voice somewhat low as he relayed the edict from Chengdu.

It surely wasn't an illusion — the moment he finished speaking, the Shu generals present visibly relaxed, their postures becoming much more at ease.

Li Tinggui felt somewhat helpless and dispirited. He had followed the Later Shu's founding ruler Meng Zhixiang since childhood and had been raised by him. Having backed the right man, he had risen smoothly with Meng Zhixiang's establishment of an independent state in Shu, his official career flourishing as he held successive military commands. After Meng Chang ascended the throne, he too entrusted this man of known origins, a household officer by background, with important responsibilities.

Precisely because of this, having failed to achieve anything in the campaign against Han, Li Tinggui felt he had let down Meng Chang's trust. This was, in fact, the Meng Shu's second northern expedition. The first time, though Zhang Qianzhao had been lost, they had at least taken the four prefectures of Qinfeng.

But this time, leading troops north with the four prefectures of Qinfeng as his base, he had not taken a single city nor gained a single merit, merely wasting soldiers, money, and grain. How could his conscience be at ease? And how would the civil and military officials in Chengdu view him...

"General He, the only concern in retreat is a Han pursuit. I leave the rearguard to you!" Li Tinggui looked at He Chongjian, a Jin minister who had surrendered to Shu several years earlier.

He Chongjian was inwardly reluctant, but dared not disobey the order. He could only answer in a muffled voice: "Yes!"

"The rest of you, return to your camps, reorganize your troops, and break camp tomorrow. Withdraw slowly southward."