Chapter 710: Proclaiming the New Decree: Peel‑Skin Real Grass, the Whole Army Draws Their Blades to Honor the Heroic Souls

The white banners on both sides of the sacred road flapped violently in the bleak wind, as if the souls of the fallen were marching to greet them.

Beside the sacred road, on a high platform, two wounded men whose bodies were wrapped in bandages were being carefully supported by a few personal guards, silently watching all of this.

They were the two commanders of Gancao City: Wang Xiong and Huang Shizhang.

Because their injuries were too severe, they could not walk on the ground and could only be placed on a special wheelchair and a soft couch to observe the ceremony.

Seeing Chen Yan and his father Wang Zheng, along with the top generals of Great Zhou, carrying the heavy coffin step by step like laborers, Wang Xiong's eyes suddenly overflowed.

Scalding tears washed over his scarred, grimy face from the burns, and the sand‑like stabbing pain was far less than the turmoil churning in his heart.

He clutched the wooden armrest of the wheelchair so tightly that several fingernails snapped off, blood streaming down the gaps of his fingers and dripping onto the yellow earth, yet he remained oblivious.

"Old Huang…" Wang Xiong gritted his teeth, his body trembling violently from extreme emotional upheaval. He turned his head toward the equally tear‑streaked Huang Shizhang, his voice hoarse like a broken wind‑box, "Did you see… the Pillar Duke carrying our brothers' coffins…"

"I saw it! The Subordinate General saw it!" Huang Shizhang clamped his intact right hand over his mouth, struggling not to cry out, yet the tears wouldn't stop, "Our brothers didn't die in vain! In this life… to fight this battle alongside the Pillar Duke, it's truly worth it!"

"Lower the coffin!"

In front of the main burial chamber, Chen Yan and the generals together shouted a low command, placing the heavy coffin steadily at the bottom of the deep grave pit.

There was no elaborate altar, no monks chanting sutras.

Chen Yan took an iron spade from a nearby personal guard and walked to the mound of yellow earth.

He cast a deep gaze at the coffin, then with both hands he forcefully lifted a full spade of yellow earth and, without hesitation, threw it down.

"Into the earth, for peace!"

Shalala—

The sound of yellow earth striking the coffin was like a heavy period ending this brutal battle.

Wang Zheng, Lu Ming and others also stepped forward, personally covering the heroes with earth.

Half an hour later, a massive earth mound had formed.

At that moment, the sandstorm seemed to intensify, whipping up countless white banners that rustled, like ten thousand troops and horses howling in the clouds, as if the thousands of heroic souls were responding to their comrades' farewell.

After the burial was complete, Chen Yan did not step down from the altar.

He turned, took long strides onto a massive stone platform beside it that overlooked the entire army and the populace.

The raging wind tossed his long hair, and his black robe flailed wildly, like a descending demon god.

He suddenly drew the Horizontal Blade at his waist, its blade reflecting the gloomy sky, pointing straight to the heavens.

"Soldiers of the Left Martial Guard! Elders and fellow townsfolk of Xiazhou!"

Chen Yan's voice, amplified by his deep internal force, burst across the wilderness like rolling thunder, drowning out the howling wind and making everyone's eardrums buzz.

"Open your eyes, look closely at this necropolis! Look closely at these tombstones!"

He swung the Horizontal Blade in his hand, slashing across the rows of orderly graves, "Those lying here were once brothers who drank and ate meat with you, the Ah Lang next door, the sons beneath your knees! They could have been farming at home, enjoying peace! But the Qi State came! The barbarian tribes of Rouran came!"

"Why didn't they flee? Because they knew that if they stepped back, their parents behind them would be trampled by the barbarians! Their wives and daughters would become playthings of the Qi State! So they chose to use their own flesh and blood to build a wall beneath Gancao City!"

"They died so that we, the living, could stand tall and live like proper people!"

These words lacked ornate rhetoric, containing only raw reality and a soul‑piercing interrogation.

The soldiers below began breathing heavily, their eyes reddening, as an uncontrollable wave of grief, fury, and murderous intent spread wildly among the crowd.

"I know, since ancient times, a soldier's life has been as insignificant as weeds. Dying out there, there's not even a corpse collector; the orphans and widows at home are left to be bullied to starvation!"

Chen Yan's gaze suddenly sharpened, a domineering stare that seized hearts, "Transmit the Duke's military order!"

The whole venue fell silent, a pin could be heard dropping, only the wind howled.

All soldiers who fell in Gancao City and in this Xiazhou campaign shall receive relief money doubled from the Court's standard amount! This sum will be paid by my Weiguo Gongfu!

This money will not pass through layers of offices! No clerks or minor officials! Under my command, the Mingjing Embroidered Attire Envoy will directly verify the registers and personally deliver it into each family's hands!

When these words were spoken, a suppressed gasp rose from the previously silent civil officials' camp.

Bypassing the bureaucracy to distribute money directly?

That is tantamount to uprooting the local officials' profiteering channels.

But seeing Chen Yan's wolf‑like gaze, not a single civil official dared to utter even a single "no".

Chen Yan's cold laugh rang chillingly in the wind, "The Duke has spoken plainly! This relief silver is the life‑selling money the brothers earned with their lives! Whoever dares to claw at this money, whoever dares to covet even a single coin…"

Chen Yan stomped his foot, cracking several fissures in the hard stone platform, "The Duke cares not whether they are high‑ranking officials, nor what powerful backers they have! Capture one, kill one! Verify one, Peel‑skin Real Grass, hang it on Xiazhou's city‑gate tower to air‑dry!"

The mere utterance of 'Peel‑skin Real Grass' sent a bone‑chilling cold sweeping the entire venue.

Not only the civil officials, but even some generals whose hands were usually less than clean were terrified, breaking into cold sweats, their legs weakening.

Everyone knows that this living Yama King who controls the secret agency Mingjing Department can do whatever he says.

But he did not stop; an even weightier promise followed immediately.

For any child of a fallen soldier who has no surviving family, regardless of gender, the government shall establish a dedicated bureau to support them until adulthood! Those who reach ten years old shall be admitted to the county school to study reading and writing! All expenses required, if the Summer State Treasury cannot provide, the Duke will personally petition the Son of Heaven!

Boom!

If the previous doubling of relief money was merely a morsel of rice, then the 'admission to county school' clause is tantamount to forcefully slashing open a door to the upper class before all the rank‑and‑file soldiers.

In an era when knowledge was absolutely monopolized by great clan families, could an ordinary foot soldier's child even hope to study?

That was nothing short of a pipe‑dream!

But now, Chen Yan has given them that hope!

The soldiers below were completely inflamed.

They do not fear death; they fear dying without anyone to care, and their wives and children begging on the streets.

Now that this way out exists, this life, even if sold to Chen Yan, what does it matter?!

"Bring the wine!" Chen Yan barked.

A Mingjing Embroidered Attire Envoy hurried forward, offering with both hands a high‑quality unopened Toupianxiang.

Chen Yan snapped open the clay seal with one hand, and a strong wine aroma instantly spread.

He did not use a bowl, but lifted the dozens‑of‑kilograms‑heavy Wine Jar with one arm, and poured half of the strong liquor lavishly onto the yellow earth before the platform.

"This half, I salute the heroic souls beneath the Nine Springs! Huangquan Lu is cold, so drink a mouthful of strong liquor to warm the body!"

Having said that, Chen Yan looked up and wildly poured the remaining half‑pitcher of strong liquor straight into his own mouth.

The spicy liquor, like a fire dragon, rolled down his throat into his belly, then ran down his chin, wetting the front collar of his dark robe, adding a few more touches of wildness and resolve.

"Clang!"

Chen Yan smashed the empty Wine Jar hard against the stone platform, shards of tile scattering.

He wiped the remaining liquor from his mouth corner, his Red Eyes blazing, and roared like a maddened male lion: "Brothers of Great Zhou! I, the Duke, swear here: as long as I, Chen Yan, have a breath left, as long as Great Zhou's flag still flutters! Great Zhou… shall never betray the blood of heroes!!"

Never betray the blood of heroes!

Those words were like a spark igniting a barrel of explosives.

In the spot nearest the altar, Wang Xiong, who had originally been seated in a wheelchair, was already so emotionally agitated it could not be heightened further.

His blood‑shot eyes fixed rigidly on Chen Yan atop the Gaotai, and a beast‑like roar emanated from his throat.

"Prince! What are you doing! Your bones haven't healed yet!" The nearby guard, terrified, realized Wang Xiong was actually trying to push himself up from the wheelchair's armrest.

"Get out of the way!"

Wang Xiong shoved the guard aside, gritting his teeth against the searing pain from his broken bones, and cold sweat the size of beans instantly soaked his bandages.

Each ounce of weight on his right leg felt as if countless knives were mincing meat, yet he clenched his jaw, emitting not a single whimper.

Under everyone's stunned gaze, this heavily wounded iron man, relying on his left leg and an unyielding will, staggered and managed to stand upright!

He raised his bandage‑wrapped right hand with difficulty, brought his fingers together, fingertips touching his brow bone, and with all his might, performed the most proper, highest‑standard military salute of the Zhou Army toward Chen Yan on the Gaotai and toward the national mourning monument.

"How can one say there is no clothing—" Wang Xiong roared hoarsely, blood spilling from his mouth corner, yet he laughed wildly.

Seeing this scene, Chen Yan's eyes instantly reddened.

Lu Ming suddenly drew his Horizontal Blade from his waist, the blade pointing skyward, and shouted with a hoarse voice: "Wear the same coat with you!!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

In the next instant, the stationed troops, as if rehearsed, uniformly drew the Weapons from their waists.

The gleaming battle swords gathered under the sun into a forest of steel.

"How can one say there is no clothing, share the same coat!!"

"I am willing to die for the pillar of the state! I am willing to die for Great Zhou!!"

The roars rose wave after wave, soaring into the heavens, shattering the lingering dark clouds, while golden sunlight, like a sharp sword, pierced the clouds and precisely fell upon the marble national mourning monument.