Chapter 103

He's just a kid, yet on the battlefield he's as comfortable as a fish in water—no leaf touches him.

If he said that out loud, Da Wang would absolutely object—don't think no blood means no injury! He's still young, his stature too limited; just now someone unknown stabbed him with a spear, and it hurt, but immediately Xiao Zao turned and kicked him twice with his hooves, the guy fell off his horse and couldn't get up again.

The battlefield is either you die or I die; now both sides have fought themselves into a frenzy, Da Wang's original thought of retreating if the situation turned bad has been flung to the back of his mind—this time the advantage truly lies with him.

When the Western Great Camp monitoring the battle finally realized the fight had moved outside, the commanding officer gritted his teeth and led part of the infantry charging out. Though infantry suffers greatly against cavalry, Da Wang had gone out, so they had to go rescue the sovereign.

A unit of infantry came running to the battlefield, only to see a white and a green figure leading the pursuit of fleeing Hu people to the north—this?

Winning with fewer against more?

And the victors are the Hu people?

Da Wang lowered his She Sun Bow with a sullen face, still having missed the leader.

Seeing the Western Great Camp arrive, Da Wang waved them off to clean up the battlefield: "……Quickly carry the wounded back for treatment!"

Glancing at him once, then again at the black-armored soldier lying on the ground, Wei Shen knew this kid was suffering; he spurred his horse forward. "War means someone will die—you'll understand when you grow up. With two masters on our side, this battle counts as a great victory—only six or seven escaped……We should generously reward their families."

"I, Da Wang, don't need to grow up—I understand now."

He turned to the exhausted remaining cavalry: "Your comrades died on the battlefield; they died gloriously—I won't shortchange their families, but my heart aches too. They didn't have to die—why did it have to be them? I tell you: one, they were unlucky—maybe the enemy was stronger. Two, maybe they were brave and willing to fight, not hiding in the rear. Three, they were inferior in skill. The third can be changed. Look at Ling Yin and Zhu Ti—do you now know what to do?"

At first, one person boldly said, "Hard…training."

Later, still on horseback, the cavalry shouted together: "Hard training, defend Youzhou!"

They never treated the You Prince as a child, and from today on, they never will.

In this chaotic battlefield, he remained unharmed while slaughtering countless enemies—is this a child?! The fire he draws is greater than that of ordinary soldiers; those northern barbarians started shouting about capturing him alive, to take the You Prince to the capital for merit, to negotiate with the Jin Dynasty Emperor.

See the result? These people are all lying on the ground now.

Da Wang listened quietly to their slogans, then calmly added a thunderous sentence.

"My lifelong goal is to attack the Xianbei royal court and utterly eliminate the threat from the steppes. If you want to live, you'd better keep this in mind—know what to do from now on." After this battle ends, he knows this is only the beginning. Future Youzhou will grow better and better; northern enemies will never let this fat prize go. The best defense is offense. When he has sufficient strength, he will eliminate threats to Youzhou City one by one.

Wei Shen firmly lifted his chin and asked Da Wang, "... When is that? That is, when do you plan to attack the Xianbei royal court?"

Da Wang gazed at the already withered yellow grasslands to the north: "When I come of age?"

Wei Shen let out a fierce sigh of relief.

Good, he hasn't gone mad.

Zhu Ti and Ling Yin turned around, each holding a captive, and threw them down from their horsebacks.

"Still let the leader escape! Three got away, riding fine horses, and even tossed two decoys along the way to buy them time." Zhu Ti was furious.

Da Wang's mood remained fairly stable; he asked the two fallen Hu people, "Which tribe are you from? What is the goal of your southern invasion? Eastern Xianbei or Western Xianbei? Does the royal court know of your actions?"

A big man with a full beard spat blood foam onto the ground: "Pah! Send a weaned brat to talk to me!"

Wei Shen quickly raised his hand: "I, I've been weaned! My question is the same as his—you answer!"

Da Wang gritted his teeth, regretting having just blocked a blade for his cousin; his wrist, still shaken, felt numb!

"I'll never like that cousin again!"

Zhang Tu: ……

Those two Hu people were obviously shocked too—actually lost to this kind of trash?!

Zhang Tu directed the infantry to first carry away the wounded, then to find and move the dead to one side, then stepped forward to ask the puffy-cheeked Da Wang, "What should we do with these northern Hu people on the ground?"

"Check them one by one—don't let any survivors remain. Move all corpses to pile up at the foot of Zhi Yan Mountain—aren't they fond of detouring past Zhi Yan Mountain to raid southward, capture slaves? This is a lesson from the past!"

"This……the Xianbei might be provoked to anger."

"Are they not angry now? Came with two thousand, returned with three?"

Da Wang again pointed at the two Hu people on the ground: "If you won't speak, fine—send them to Youzhou Great Prison to live with rats for a few days, then we'll ask slowly."

After speaking, Da Wang spurred his horse back to the mansion via Xihua Gate; for now he doesn't want to go through Beihua Gate. The cavalry who came out together—over a hundred won't return. Without Ling Yin and Zhu Ti, possibly even more, maybe all.

This New Year's Eve night, Da Wang should never forget.

Zhao Chuan sent away the refugees sheltered at Nanhua Gate, returned to report, and found Wei Shen peeking and craning his neck at Sui Fu Dian.

Wei Shen saw someone had come to join him in acting, and loudly greeted Zhao Chuan.

"You go back—Da Wang needs to be quiet, I'd guess he's crying inside. As subordinates, we should have some sense—don't come and be an eyesore now. What, what did you come to see Da Wang about?" Each sentence louder than the last.

Zhao Chuan: ……You really aren't afraid of death, are you! You're his cousin by blood, I'm really just a subordinate, right?!

"I come to report to Your Highness: the people have already returned home. Today I heard the northern Hu marched south; those at home resting, the Youzhou Garrison reserves, spontaneously went up the city walls to defend Youzhou—"

The words had barely fallen when the gate before them opened.

Da Wang appeared, dragging his family along.

He held Bai Ze in his arms, tucked Wei Ni under his arm, and had his newly acquired fat bird perched on his shoulder. No way—Da Wang's fragile little soul desperately needs warmth.

"Those who voluntarily went up the city walls today will all be directly enrolled into the Personal Guard Camp; Youzhou Garrison will select another from the remaining personnel."

"But the number reaches over two thousand—more than our previous plan. Those who live far away and went home on leave aren't here; otherwise, nearly everyone left in the two great camps and Youzhou City has come out to prepare for defense."

Da Wang said bluntly: "Just say the Personal Guard Camp was slaughtered by the northern barbarians—whoever has an opinion, let them come find me!"

Zhao Chuan, hearing this, knew the mood was off, and slipped away hastily; Wei Shen saw his bearing—didn't look like he had business, also preparing to slip away—Da Wang called him back.

"The precious sword for my cousin needs to be delayed—let me move some money to buy milk to drink."

Wei Shen: ……

Zhao Bao and the Second Prince collided head-on, discovering the Second Prince walking while slapping his own mouth—just with light force.