Chapter 244: Settling in Secluded Prefecture

Zhou Huang mingled in the crowd, keeping his head raised the whole time; being short-sighted, his field of view limited, when the people ahead knelt he stretched his neck to look; turning back, he wanted to write to Chang Prefecture to describe this grand scene properly, but he couldn't see clearly which line.

The previous letter was sent back too early!

The previous letter had him detail to his family the You Prefecture grand review; the letter to his classmates, however, showed off the awesomeness of the Northern Border Academy. Who knew the King would stir up trouble again so soon?

As the King passed, everyone knelt except him, still standing; though not tall, he was conspicuous. A nearby woman grabbed his arm and pulled him down……

Zhou Huang: ……

The woman, who did farm work year-round, left the minor who studied daily completely unable to resist.

Zhou Huang fell and then knelt naturally; he sincerely kowtowed, hoping everyone would return safely, and at that time he didn't mind kneeling again to welcome them.

After the troop went far, the nearby people all rose; some even got up and continued forward, apparently wanting to see them off further. The woman who had pulled him still knelt on the ground, head touching the earth, unmoving; Zhou Huang went over and helped her up.

"Ma'am, get up, they've gone far!"

The woman lifted her head, face full of tears, and Zhou Huang was startled.

"You, what's wrong with you?"

"My second son is also in the troop, his face covered so I can't tell who he is. Everyone says his good performance earned him a chance to fight the northern barbarians; yesterday we happily sent him off to the barracks, but… but, those are northern barbarians—how could they be easy to fight…" She was tearful, yet her voice calm.

Zhou Huang fell silent for a moment; someone's son had gone to the battlefield, and outsiders' words were powerless.

After thinking, he still spoke to comfort the woman: "Have you seen their armor? I come from Southwest Border Prefecture; my hometown also has many border troops, but I've never seen such fine armor—they will return safely. Now, not taking the initiative could make things worse; I've heard fighting has also broken out in the northwest… Please stay at home and wait for your son to return."

The woman wiped her face with her sleeve: "Exactly! It's bound to happen! Since the heavy snow, my heart's been uneasy—whether we fight or not, it's the same…" She said while walking against the crowd into the city.

Zhou Huang stood there dazed for a while until his classmate called him.

"Should we still follow them out?"

"Forget it; once out of the city the horses bolted, and we couldn't see anything—we who skipped class should head back early."

"It's fine; I just saw the Grand Tutor……"

The King left through the North City Gate, looking back at Secluded Prefecture City in the distance; a large crowd of people saw him out beyond the walls.

He gripped the You King's Sword at his side, sped up northward without looking back.

Inside, who knows how many soldiers' relatives there are; they must be full of anxiety and fear.

I, the King, will bring them back alive as soon as possible—certainly.

However, the King in the afternoon wrote a letter and sent someone to Upper Valley Pass; the Marquis of the Eastern Capital, seeing that brief letter, simply could not believe it.

If an adult made this decision, he'd think nothing wrong with it—but the You King is only nine, and yet he has such resolve?

From that day's review onward, he knew the You King was no ordinary pond creature; he told himself it was nothing, yet he still admired him greatly.

He had indeed taken back Secluded Prefecture City from the Xianbei after a fight, but at that time the city's defending main force had already withdrawn. The Xianbei looted the city's wealth and fled back to the steppes, leaving less than ten thousand inside. Now Secluded Prefecture dares to launch a northern expedition, whether for his father or his own ambition, the Marquis of the Eastern Capital admires it.

Everyone was discussing when his family's wayward son ran in, "Dad~ let me return to Everlasting Peace! I truly have no thought of joining the army, and I'm not cut out for it—why tie me up here? Grandmother must miss me!"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital rose and kicked him over, looking at other people's sons, then at his own son!

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital, being greatly disloyal, began to dislike the Ningde Emperor.

"Don't even think about returning to Everlasting Peace—maybe your grandmother will have to come too. I've already sent people to look for a residence in Secluded Prefecture; if you don't like Upper Valley Pass, that's fine—you'll live in Secluded Prefecture from now on. Conveniently, Secluded Prefecture has an academy; go there and study!"

Upon hearing he'd have to live in Secluded Prefecture, Liang Bin immediately thought of the You King; going to see the You King, letting him stay long-term, he refused.

Still study?

"Heh, Dad really is confident—with my grades, which proper academy would want me?"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital sat back down calmly: "It's fine; the Northern Border Academy belongs to the You King, your father and he are on decent terms, so I'm sure if you audit his lectures he'll grant you favor regarding Upper Valley Pass."

Liang Bin: ……

"Dad, you're serious?"

"Absolutely. As long as…… it won't take long; after I think it over, your grandmother and sister-in-law might also come over."

Liang Bin was stunned, "Why?" He then thought of the widespread rumor of the Ningde Emperor's personal campaign, lowering his voice: "Could it be… Dad, you think the Emperor will lose?"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital, already seated, rose again and kicked him!

"Get lost! And shut your mouth!" Fortunately, everyone here is our own; this second son truly cannot be sent back to Everlasting Peace.

After driving off Liang Bin, thinking of the nine-year-old You King, the Marquis of the Eastern Capital became even more overwhelmed.

Look at other people's sons!

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital returned to his room to rest; after lying a while he got up again.

"Let's go see off the You King."

He summoned Wu Jian, also brought a few personal guards, and soon several riders galloped out of Upper Valley Pass.

Wu Jian asked, and he only said, "As General, I'll just go see how many troops the You King has brought, then dare to launch a northern expedition."

Wu Jian laughed heartily, "Marquis, you're still not at ease!"

"If he had backing I wouldn't worry, but the previous You Prefecture campaign made me feel… the You Prefecture's affairs are his own doing. That chancellor couldn't be his master." After all, he's only nine, the Marquis of the Eastern Capital truly feels uneasy. Such fine cavalry must not be lost on the steppes.

Before they could reach the Branch Yan Mountains, far off they saw a black cloud drifting from the east, moving fast; at a distance no sound could be heard, but up close it must be the sound of hooves like thunder.

It was all cavalry!

And they were all fully armored cavalry!

Those nearby had already exclaimed; Wu Jian even more so, possessed by Ge Zhong, cursed: "xx…… where does the You King get such resources?!"

"There are tens of thousands."

"And they're all the tall black horses he gave us!"

"The You King's white big guy is among them too, a hulk bigger than a horse!"

"The Second Young Master earlier asked if I could get one for him; he wanted……"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital suddenly felt a bit relieved.

The King, rushing at full speed, noticed the White Ze beside him suddenly turn his head; he followed its gaze but saw only a few horsemen's silhouettes, unable to make out their faces.

Little Date doesn't need him to worry about handling it; this guy openly pulls out a map on horseback, that spot should be on the edge of Youzhou, maybe we can see it?

The King quickly zoomed in on the northernmost fringe, soon recognizing the horse he knew well—the white-gold horse and several black-wind horses he had sent to the Marquis of Eastern Capital.

The King lowered his head, pulled out his mint-green handkerchief from his saddlebag; that color really stands out among all that black armor, right?

He stepped on the stirrup, stood up, raised that green piece and waved it downward as a signal, thank you for seeing me off.

The Earl of Dongdu spotted it at a glance, he burst out laughing, how interesting.

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After leaving Youzhou and heading north for a long stretch, it was all barren wasteland; the king had the intelligence group's people act as guides, the route was fine, just boring and dull.

His nervousness at leading troops for the first time quickly faded.

He was again glad he had paid for a face cover; otherwise his face would not only be blown by the north wind, but also be covered in dirt kicked up by horse hooves. After leaving the city, part of the owl cavalry went ahead to clear the way, and the king also couldn't avoid eating dirt.

When I return this trip, I'll have a metal one made for the other soldiers too!

The first night camping in the wild, the king found it quite novel; the system's wool‑harvesting cold‑proof tent went up quickly, and with the king, Wei Shen, Ling Yin, and a white marsh, it was packed full.

At noon the king chewed two mouthfuls of dry rations; in the evening he planned to sneak some tasty food.

As a result, he felt around in the warehouse and pulled out a bun…… and it was still hot.

Bai Ge, you can do it.

So he had no choice but to eat alone first.

Taking advantage of a bathroom break behind the dirt slope, the king pulled out a plump white bun and had his little follower bird keep watch.

Bai Ge said to have the supermarket's prepared‑food section make him fresh buns. The king bit into one, okay, the green‑green didn't know what vegetable plus tofu noodles.

Where's the meat? You said we'd supplement it!

Fortunately, although it was just vegetables, after a day's journey a hot bite was still quite fragrant.

The king reached in again, this time pulling out a different box, took a nervous bite, and wow, this one's good!

Success opening the blind box—beef filling!

The king quickly stuffed two into his mouth, washed them down with a box of milk, smooth and easy. Taking a break, he opened another blind box, and inside turned out to be steaming hot braised pork knuckles!

The king clenched his fists in regret!

Why did he hastily stuff three big buns?

He only hated that his belly wasn't big enough; the king resentfully took out two more buns, which had frozen solid outside, then wrapped them in oil paper and tucked them into his bosom. It's not that he's stingy; having more would be hard to explain.

Wei Shen was studying the king's sleeping bag in the tent when he saw that guy mysteriously return and slip him a paper packet; when he opened it, two plump buns……

"Where did these buns come from? You're hiding contraband again?"

The king sternly said: "None of your business! Eat them heated, give one to Ling Yin."

Wei Shen took it to the fire to heat, took a bite, and exclaimed, "This isn't a bun at all! The filling is huge chunks of beef bigger than his fingers and some unknown vegetable."

As he chewed, he muttered to the king, "Extravagant, too extravagant! Any more?"

The king ignored him.

There is some, but I dare not give it to you to eat.

He glanced furtively; besides the buns and braised pork knuckles, there were many pastries whose fillings couldn't be seen from the outside—Bai Ge definitely did this on purpose, the insides surely full of vegetables! There was even a bucket of boiled eggs, and a handful was still hot to the touch.

Bai Ge couldn't possibly think we'd be fighting for a year and a half, could he?!

The king, carrying his happy worries, soon fell asleep on their turf.

Wei Shen lifted his gaze; this guy fell asleep in a moment, his little face flushed red. He thought, this guy's little heart—who knows how it's made—having grown up in the small palace, this environment suited him surprisingly well; lying on enemy territory he felt not a trace of tension or unease.

Is there really someone born able to withstand great events?

He too, with a head full of questions, quickly fell asleep as well—enough, let nobody criticize anybody.

At dawn the next day, as soon as a glimmer of light appeared on the horizon, they broke camp and set off again.

This time they trekked for another two days and saw signs of habitation.

A fairly sizable tribal settlement.

The king gazed into the distance and saw that the Xianbei had no city walls at all, saying, "Look at how carefree their lives are—there's never been any external threat, right? Only you lot come south to snatch others' shares, right? Not even a city wall! Today I'll teach you a lesson: your good days are over! From now on I'll often go north to cultivate friendly relations!"

Aside from stopping to sleep these two days, they spent all other time on the road. In two days they only boiled hot water to warm their stomachs.

Wei Shen gnawed on compressed biscuits with hot water for two days, and upon seeing such a large settlement his eyes turned green.

"Swift battle, swift decision—first seize the sheep!"

The king: ……

"Look at this little ambition!" He didn't mention at all that he had previously thought the same.

The king was pondering whether to hurry and detour to take the capital directly, or……

Before he could think too much, it turned out they had already been spotted.

Soon several hundred horsemen rode out to meet them, with more horses continually galloping out behind.

Wei Shen gave a cold chuckle, "Yo, wearing armor~ This must be the Eastern Xianbei border troops, right? I've been running for three days—finally someone's going to spot us?"

The king raised the Sun‑Shooting Bow, shouting, "Soldiers, the first battle is here—give the Xianbei a taste of color! Their history and memory will be rewritten starting today—charge!"

He loosed the first arrow; even though the leading horses were still more than a li away, a rider toppled from his mount without warning.

Wei Shen bellowed, "Good!"

The king: …… He didn't say he was aiming at the guy beside him.

The Sun‑Shooting Bow flew forward at great speed; the few in the lead couldn't react in time and kept running a fair distance before reining in their horses. What's going on?

They didn't have time to think further—the owl cavalry had already lunged forward first.

With just this few people, the Great King didn't go over; he watched from behind as the Owl Cavalry, growing ever steadier, performed alone.

They had already shaken off the inexperience from when they first attacked Rock Sparrow Fort. Looking closely, not one of them made an extra move—hand up, blade down, their motions were light and agile.

Wei Shen, tasked with watching the Great King, stood at his side; it was rare that he could restrain himself from charging forward, and this guy just cheered from the side.

"Good! Good!... Really, there's no suitable word to describe it—what should we call this? Our Owl Cavalry's bearing is superb!"

The Great King stared intently at the battlefield ahead; a few thousand had come out, and there was no real suspense. Hearing that, his cousin summed it up: "Silky smooth~"

Wei Shen couldn't appreciate the Great King's occasional outbursts, and asked Ling Yin: "What do you say?"

Ling Yin, expressionless, said: "Irresistible force, brave and skilled in battle."

Wei Shen: ……

The Great King laughed heartily: "Isn't it even worse? It's still up to this king!"

In just a few moments, the thousands of Xianbei who had charged out collapsed, easily dealt with.

It can be said that they had no power to resist when facing the Owl Cavalry.

The soldiers in the back who never got a chance to fight were completely fired up.

What an exciting scene—this is the very dream they had as children, the Youzhou people!

We can now march north on the Xianbei's heels—from now on, nothing is impossible.

The days when the Northern Bearded casually grabbed a rope and went south to capture slaves are over!

Ling Yin raised the sword in his hand, pointed it at the Xianbei tribe ahead, and the troops behind, eyes red, surged forward.