Chapter 410

Xueqi left Luoshui Pass; the first city he could not avoid was Gu Yuan County, which also belonged to the northern border defense of Shangdang. The terrain here is higher, connecting to the Taiyuan Basin. To save time without detouring, passing directly through Gu Yuan is the most effortless; Changli also does it this way.

From afar, Gu Yuan County appears to have a complete, towering city wall; the Youzhou-born cavalry feel resentful.

Indeed, the southern regions are all more prosperous than their northern border; since leaving Youzhou, they have not seen any decent city walls, and Pingkang County is the last walled county town they have seen.

The cavalry stopped more than fifty meters outside the city; behind Changli fluttered a silver-edged military banner bearing the character 'You', with no intention of keeping a low profile, he directly gave the order: 'Knock on the gate!'

The county magistrate in charge of the city's defenses inside was terrified!

Gu Yuan's city gate was tightly shut, and the area around the gate was deathly silent.

Gu Yuan's city defense combat strength might not even match that of the aristocratic clans living in the tall-walled mansions inside the city. Now, in these troubled times, the gentry had already built forts years ago, buying large numbers of slaves to train as estate guards; after several years, these great clans' combat strength might be stronger than Gu Yuan's city defense today.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the heat baked into the ground all day had not dissipated at all; the scorching heat showed no decrease, making those outdoors especially irritable.

Xueqi is now wearing full armor, and it feels unpleasant. Since leaving Luoshui Pass and entering the Great Jin, Changli has required Xueqi to wear full armor at all times to stay combat-ready.

Three thousand fully armored cavalry formed up before the city gate, and the whole of Gu Yuan panicked.

Heaven knows, this place can even be considered part of the Central Plains; ahead lie several states far from the border, and they haven't seen the scene of troops massing at the city walls for hundreds of years.

The county magistrate's voice trembled as he spoke; 'Has this day finally come?' Since the Prince of You rebelled and Luoshui Pass was built, he had anticipated this day, hoping long before to be transferred away.

He previously did not know whether the court's rebel-suppressing army or the Northern King would arrive first in Gu Yuan; now he knows.

"... You mean the cavalry flying the You-character banner has reached our city gate? What should we do, what should we do! Quick, quick, send someone to Gaodu to ask for help!"

The county magistrate paced twice inside the room, panicking beyond control, 'Is now the time for me to go out and surrender?'

"Report, report to the county lord, we haven't shouted for surrender; we only knocked on the gate to ask you to open it, they want to borrow a passage through Gu Yuan heading south."

"That's not the same meaning?!"

While the county magistrate scrambled running to the north city gate, Changli's patience had just run out.

"Why isn't the gate open yet? I, the general, am only borrowing a passage; if Gu Yuan still refuses to open the gate, don't blame me for smashing it down!" Given the scorching weather, they usually travel more in the evening and night, resting during the midday when the sun is fiercest to avoid the heat.

Now Gu Yuan's dilly-dallying is as if they aren't listening at all, simply wasting his precious travel time.

The county magistrate also knew that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so he himself ran up onto the city wall to negotiate with the soldiers knocking at the gate below. Upon learning that the Northern King's cavalry merely wanted to pass through to Fanyang, he immediately believed it.

He had no choice but to believe it!

Who would dare dream that those city guards hiding behind the battlements could stop the Youzhou cavalry? Even in his sleep he wouldn't dare imagine such a thing!

The Northern King's cavalry is famed like thunder in the ears; they drove out the Xiongnu cavalry in the north, lightning-fast seized the three kingdoms of the Western Regions and repaired the passes to the foot of the Tian Shan; the Northern King dares to reach out to neighboring states for tribute—what is it relying on?

Isn't it the renowned Xuanjia cavalry?

Although he also doesn't know how the Xuanjia cavalry changed its color, as the county nearest to the northern border outside Luoshui Pass, they know far more than those in the south.

Gu Yuan's county magistrate had not a shred of will to resist; he could only hope that what the other side said was true.

"You say that in this day and age, feudal lords surely couldn't honestly have no private troops; I don't know how many Shangdang has, but if any exist they'd be stationed with the commandery prince in Gaodu; Gu Yuan is empty-handed, with no hope at all."

"The Northern King's highness and our commandery prince are of the same family; borrowing a passage is certainly permissible, only hoping the general won't disturb the townspeople." The county magistrate had already resigned himself; he could only put on a smiling face to beg for his life.

The soldiers knocking at the gate were quickly becoming irritated from the heat, 'You should open the gate promptly; we have already passed through Gu Yuan at this point! Who has time to bother the populace? We are a regular army, not bandits!'

Gu Yuan's county magistrate had no alternative; he could only believe them.

After all, just one glance at the opposing cavalry made him dizzy; the reflected evening light from the silver armor was enough to make his eyes swim. He had also never seen cavalry whose horses were fully armored, and he dared not dream that his own city guards and walls could withstand them.

The main gate of Gu Yuan county seat slowly opened; the county magistrate and county magistrate, leading the entire county's city guards, stood on either side of the road, devoid of any shred of resistance, all he could do was try to keep his back straight.

That day, Gu Yuan County personally witnessed what the Northern King's cavalry was like.

Everything in view was white horses and silver armor; the dust kicked up by the hooves engulfed the people on both sides of the road in grime, the column passed swiftly, with nothing but the sound of hooves and no other noise.

Three thousand cavalry passed through, with no human speech and no horse neighing.

The cold gleam of Xueqi's weapon in his hand stabbed the eyes of the Gu Yuan people; everyone who saw it instinctively held their breath.

Gu Yuan's county magistrate's face turned deathly pale.

Xueqi entered through the north gate and exited through the south gate; in a very short time it made Gu Yuan feel as if it had hit pause.

After the last rank of warhorses exited the south gate, the city guards, as if startled awake, sprinted over and closed the south gate; only then did the whole city come back to life.

Until the south gate closed, not a trace of the cavalry could be seen; on the street stood a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy, stiff as a statue, staring at the closed gate without moving. After a long while, he turned and ran home.

Dashan's family lived in Jiuxiang Lane, the most densely populated part of Xifang; that was where Gu Yuan's poorest residents gathered, near the West City Gate, with a mixed crowd and extremely high density, and even the house they rented was leased. When they first heard the news of his father's death in battle, the family's elderly grandmother immediately lay down, spent all the household savings, and changed the rented small courtyard into three low, dilapidated rooms, yet still could not save the old woman's life.

Dashan ran home; his mother was chopping wild vegetables to feed the chickens.

Now his household consists only of him and his widowed mother, Lady Fang, depending on each other; Lady Fang takes in some laundry work in the mornings, only returning home in the afternoons. Their food supplies are barely enough to get by; even the three or five chickens they raise can't be fed properly. She returns with no moment to spare, then under the blazing sun goes to the wilderness outside the city to dig two baskets of wild vegetables, adding a little beans and millet just enough to get by for two days; even tender greens can be picked to serve as a dish.

Lady Fang saw Dashan return home, sweat covering his head and face, and busily took out a handkerchief to wipe his face.

The sun has set and it's still scorching—what are you running for? How did you get back so early today, and you didn't even help your master pack up the stall?

Da Shan's father died in Emperor Ningde's Northern Expedition; he was temporarily conscripted into the Northern Expedition Army, and everyone knows how that ended—hardly anyone from that batch came home. In life, Da Shan had slaughtered sheep and pigs at a meat shop in West Ward; after he died, his partner took him on as an apprentice.

The stall basically has no business—what's there to collect? …Mother!

You gave me a start—what are you shouting about all of a sudden, you kid!

Mother, I want to enlist in You Province to avenge my father! Only You Province's troops can defeat the Xiongnu—I just saw them!

Fang Shi nearly choked, grabbed the courtyard broom and was about to lash him, saying, "Join the army? I think you're itching for a beating! I'll make you stop talking nonsense!"

Da Shan leapt high to dodge, crying, "Mother, mother, mother! Hear me out—I just saw the You Province cavalry riding out from our city; they looked… different, anyway, very imposing!" He didn't know how to put it into words, but he felt that joining such a force was the only hope of avenging his father.

What does it matter whether they're imposing? The Northern Barbarians have been driven off—what grudge are you still nursing? Stand still! I'll make you stop talking nonsense—you can enlist only if your mother shuts her eyes!

I will avenge my father! It doesn't count until the Northern Barbarians are wiped out!

Fang Shi steeled herself and gave Da Shan a sound thrashing, hoping to dissuade him from the notion of enlisting—whether in the army or heading north to fight.

But she didn't know that once such a thought takes root in the heart, no wind or flame can extinguish it.

Gu Yuan sent a messenger to the Prince of Shangdang in High Capital, but the messenger couldn't outrun the Snow Cavalry; by the time he arrived at High Capital, the Snow Cavalry had already marched out of Shangdang.

The Great King of Changli's order gave the two old uncles face, bypassing Shangdang's capital outright to spare everyone embarrassment.

Hearing the news, the Prince of Shangdang Commandery stood there, not knowing what expression to put on.

Not only Gu Yuan, the counties of Xiangyuan, Tunliu, and Huguan that the snow cavalry passed through all sent people to report, and without exception these people were running behind the snow cavalry.

So his fief was casually passed through by someone's army, he was reminded repeatedly three, four, five, six times, and as for the Prince of Shangdang Commandery's facial expression, don't even mention it.

They urgently sent someone to investigate, and indeed, the Youzhou cavalry had already left Shangdang.

The Northern Border King's blood relation to him is already distant; the Prince of Shangdang Commandery is now fifty-seven and already has a great-grandson about the same age as the Great King's. But by seniority, the Great King is actually of his sons' and nephews' generation.