Chapter 16

Sun Tiejun's embarrassed face flushed; he almost couldn't keep up the act, but in the end he held back—who made him truly like Yang Hongyue? Before he truly marries her, he cannot show any displeasing demeanor.

Since Hongyue insists on this, then I will go together with Hongye to handle military affairs.

Yang Hongyue helplessly, unable to shake off this sticky plaster, could only nod, then mounted her horse again, turned her head and said to Shen Tianxing: "Follow me, I'll help you fill out the people you need."

Shen Tianxing lowered his head, clasped his fists in thanks, eyes straight ahead; even so, he was still seen by the similarly just-mounted Sun Tiejun, whose gaze turned sharp, though only fleeting.

The army's camp was just outside the South City Gate of An City; everyone exited the South City Gate and soon arrived at the camp, with the others arranged by Li Ming, while only Shen Tianxing brought his people to outside Yang Hongyue's tent.

Sun Tiejun also followed; when Yang Hongyue was about to bring Shen Tianxing into the tent, he also wanted to go in, but Yang Hongyue stopped him.

"Marshal, please stay; I have other matters to discuss with Shen Tianxing, it's not convenient for the marshal to overhear."

Yang Hongyue said that and paid no heed to Sun Tiejun, leading Shen Tianxing into the tent, with Zhao Lingfei closely following; only Sun Tiejun remained standing before the tent, his face stiff.

"Go investigate this kid's background and what happened between him and Hongyue; if you find he harbors any improper thoughts toward Hongyue, I, the marshal, will certainly make him die without a burial place."

Sun Tiejun gave an order to the vice general beside him, his eyes full of killing intent.

The vice general acknowledged and left quickly; Sun Tiejun, though extremely unwilling, also turned and walked away.

"You wait here; Li Ming will bring your uniform shortly, and he will also reinforce you with another 350 men. For now, take what you have—your current forces aren't enough to be fully equipped."

"Keep a low profile in the camp; you will act as the commander of a thousand in the third battalion of my direct troops' second army, rank sixth-grade, but only temporarily. With your ability, as long as you earn enough military merit, you'll soon become a commander of ten thousand."

Yang Hongyue, while looking at the neatly arranged battle reports on the desk and the recent situation of An City's camp, plus the grain and fodder reports sent by the imperial court, settled Shen Tianxing nicely.

"My Yang General, just now you had the marshal give me the cold shoulder and brought me in, and now you're making me a commander of a thousand in your direct troops' second army—do you think I can stay low-key?"

"I heard from Vice Commander Li that Sun Marshal is still your fiancé, Yang General; I reckon he's surely investigating me, maybe already plotting how to sabotage me or even kill me—how can you expect me to stay low-key?"

Shen Tianxing is not speaking without basis; he's all too familiar with this sort of plot, especially the look Sun Tiejun gave when he followed Yang Hongyue in just now—he looked like he wanted to swallow him alive.

"Li Ming can't keep his mouth shut; this general has an engagement with Sun Marshal, but that was decided by the older generation, and this general will not marry him."

"As for assigning you as a commander of a thousand in my direct troops, it's because you have sufficient ability, and people like you can only be under my watch so I can feel a bit more at ease."

"Between us everything is clear; Sun Marshal couldn't make things difficult for you, and if he really did, I'd set the record straight. If he investigates, you'll just as well clarify your military merits, removing any excuse for him to give you trouble."

Yang Hongyue is a bit too upright, judging others by herself; even though she doesn't like Sun Tiejun, she doesn't think too badly of him. Indeed heaven is fair—it gave Yang Hongyue beauty and martial skill, but her brains are a bit lacking.

"I hope so. Wasn't that Yang General conscripted into the army before? The wife they sent me is still at my home; I could go back and see them."

Li Yi isn't here to wrangle; he intends to hurry back to see Mingyue. The wife he's won must be cherished promptly, and as for Yang Hongyue, that thorny rose won't be easily won, so he's not in a rush.

Yang Hongyue frowned; issuing wives to soldiers is originally a tradition of the Da Zhou Army—normally they let them consummate first, hoping to get pregnant within a month.

Afterwards the new soldiers could mostly become regular troops; these women would then be sent back to the new soldiers' homes, given a month's military pay, and after that nothing more would be done.

Of course, those who didn't get pregnant but were lucky could be taken away alive; the unlucky ones were already dead.

As a woman, Yang Hongyue deeply loathes this tradition, but she now lacks the power to change it; she can only strive to attain a higher position in order to abolish such a tradition.

"With your ability, as long as you kill enemies and earn enough military merit to attain a high position, what woman couldn't you marry? Why insist on this issued wife?"

Yang Hongyue was quite displeased; her tone was obviously sour when she said that, and Shen Tianxing listened rather pleased—this somewhat indicates he has a little interest in her, but now isn't the time to expose it.

"Yang General, you're mistaken. Being a soldier is a life of licking blood from the blade's edge; on the battlefield, who knows if you'll make it back alive? Not cherishing the wife at hand while daydreaming of marrying a more beautiful one as a high official—you're just asking for extinction."

Yang Hongyue was speechless, and also felt a bit frustrated that he wasn't living up to expectations.

"Go; I'll give you three days. Return after three days, and five days later will be the best time to exterminate the Dawu Army—your best chance to earn merit."

"Thanks, Yang General, but I need an extra day—after all, the round trip takes a day. I'll make it back before the big battle."

After saying that, Shen Tianxing ran out of the tent, Zhao Lingfei closely following, leaving only Yang Hongyue helplessly patting her forehead.

"How good-looking could the wives issued below be? Is there really need to be so impatient? Indeed, men aren't anything good."

Yang Hongyue said this obviously somewhat flustered, but she didn't notice, and it was only a moment before she returned to normal and continued looking at the battle reports on the desk.

Shen Tianxing, leading his 151 men, had just left An City when, after going less than two li, he was blocked by hundreds of Da Zhou soldiers.

"Shen Tianxing, right? The marshal has ordered that no one may leave An City, let alone take troops out; if you don't want to die, get lost."

The speaker was Lin Ao, commander of ten thousand in Sun Tiejun's direct troops' second army, with fourth-grade seventh-layer strength; he had just received Sun Tiejun's order and came specially to block Shen Tianxing's departure.

If Shen Tianxing dared to utter a single 'no' or refused to go back, that would be defying military orders; he could be executed on the spot, and even if Yang Hongyue came, no one could say a word in his defense.

"A bunch of good-for-nothings also want to block my way— isn't it just that they want me to disobey military orders so they can kill me outright? If that's the case, I can only strike first; the time has come to show your strength. Come at me— don't leave a single one alive!"