Chapter 119: Flogging

"Your Highness."

At the North Gate of Yancheng, Chang Wei led the commanders of the Prince's Personal Army as they dismounted, kneeling on one knee to salute Zhao Xu.

This kneeling was a heartfelt expression of respect for their Yan Wang.

It was also an expression of gratitude for the great victory achieved under the Yan Wang's leadership.

"Rise," Zhao Xu said, helping Chang Wei up. His gaze swept over the commanders. "During this Autumn Hunt, all you soldiers fought valiantly and achieved a great victory. I am very gratified. I have already set up a banquet at the camp to reward all the soldiers."

Before Chang Wei had even departed from Wuan County, he had dispatched cavalry to head to Yancheng in advance to bring him the news of Kutu's capture.

Expecting Chang Wei and the others to arrive today, he had summoned the cooks in the city in advance to prepare food at the camp.

Now that the fighting had come to an end, he had to let the soldiers relax and, incidentally, discuss the distribution of rewards based on merit.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Chang Wei and the commanders smiled upon hearing this.

During this period, their nerves had been constantly stretched taut.

Now, they could finally enjoy a hearty meal.

Zhao Xu scanned the group again and noticed that Mo Yu and the soldiers of the Yanguan Imperial Guard were missing, so he asked, "Where has Mo Yu gone?"

"He took the Imperial Guard soldiers back. He said that coming here was a violation of the Imperial decree to begin with, done only for the sake of the country, not for petty gains. He feared that staying too long would invite criticism from the imperial court, which would be unfavorable to Your Highness." Chang Wei frowned and said with dissatisfaction, "Those officials in the imperial court have no real ability, but they are better than anyone at wagging their tongues."

Zhao Xu shook his head.

Chang Wei's words were not without reason, but that was simply how the imperial court was.

Every official stood on a different side, fighting and struggling for their own interests.

Although Mo Di was stationed at Yanguan, many people in the court coveted that position.

They all wanted to replace the commander of Yanguan with their own people, so as to increase the weight of their own faction.

Therefore, there were memorials attacking Mo Di every year.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhao Heng still had a clear head, who knows whose hands Yanguan would be in now, having become a tool for power struggles.

"To come and help me overcome the difficulties of the Autumn Hunt without fearing criticism from the court—General Mo is truly the backbone of our Great Song," Zhao Xu said solemnly.

In the long river of history, when the country is in danger and treacherous sycophants are in power, there are always men of iron backbone who shine like stars in the dark night.

In the current Great Song, imperial power is declining, powerful clans are rising, and officials in the court are at each other's throats.

They even disregard the rise and fall of the Great Song for their own selfish interests.

The Ningjin Battle was certainly due to the strength of the Northern Di, but when the great war broke out, the powerful clan commanders leading the various armies were timid and hesitant to preserve their own strength; how could that not be a reason for the defeat?

Therefore, a general like Mo Di is truly precious.

"Your Highness is absolutely right. When I was in Jingshi, I couldn't stand the sight of those people's ugly faces," Chang Wei snorted coldly.

Remembering something, he suddenly became high-spirited. "Your Highness, Kutu is in the prison cart behind, along with the two Langlü, Tamu and Charha."

Zhao Xu had already known this news in advance.

Since the war between the Great Song and the Northern Di began, the Great Song had killed Northern Di Langlü on the battlefield.

But capturing a great king from the Northern Di royal tent like him was a first.

He looked toward the back of the procession and indeed saw three prison carts.

Flicking his sleeves, he walked over to the prison carts.

Kutu and the other two, sitting in the cages, immediately looked at Zhao Xu.

Kutu sized Zhao Xu up and said coldly, "You are the Yan Wang?"

"I am," Zhao Xu looked straight at Kutu. "When you were plundering my Yan Commandery, you should have expected this day."

"Hahaha..." Kutu laughed, though he felt a surge of shame in his heart.

This Yan Wang was only sixteen years old, and to have fallen into the hands of such a boy made him truly unwilling to accept it.

He shouted angrily, "Not just Yan Commandery; in the future, our Northern Di will graze horses on every piece of land in the Great Song."

Just then, Charha suddenly rushed to the wooden bars of the cage, glaring with wide eyes and roaring, "We will kill all your men,"

"And make all your women bear offspring for us Northern Di people."

"You had better let us go, or our great Khan will trample your Great Song!" Tamu laughed hideously.

"Crack!" Zhao Xu suddenly raised his horse whip and lashed it fiercely across Charha's face.

Charha felt the pain and groaned, blood streaming down from the corner of his eye.

Zhao Xu did not stop; the whip was raised high again. He lashed Charha, then struck Tamu, and finally Kutu, beating them until they were covered in wounds and screaming in agony.

Chang Wei and Liu Fu stood to the side, feeling exceptionally gratified.

They felt no sympathy for the three of them, only deep hatred.

If not for them, how could the hardworking commoners have been slaughtered?

If not for them, how could the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army have died on the battlefield?

If not for them, how could the hard-earned possessions of the people of Yan Commandery have been snatched away completely?

These commoners and soldiers were someone's son, someone's father, or someone's husband.

They were members of the common masses, just wanting to live their lives diligently with their own two hands.

But their lives were taken away just like that by this group of invaders.

And not only did they have no shred of pity, but they were also so arrogant.

To them, this whipping was deserved; it was satisfying to watch.

"Well struck," a soldier couldn't help but exclaim.

His older brother had died in battle while defending Yancheng.

If not for the fact that military orders were as heavy as mountains, he would have loved to rush up and kill these three Northern Di leaders.

Zhao Xu was tired from the beating and threw the whip onto the ground.

Kutu, Charha, and Tamu were covered in whip marks, looking at him with venomous resentment.

Revealing a look of contempt, Zhao Xu said word by word: "This King tells you all, today, this King can capture you and trap you in a cage; one day, this King will use the very cages you stayed in to lock up your Khan!"

"You are dreaming!"

"I want to kill you."

"You are not worthy of mentioning our great Khan."

"..."

Kutu and the other two suddenly went mad.

In their hearts, their Khan was incomparably sacred and could not tolerate anyone desecrating him.

Zhao Xu sneered and waved his hand, "Lock them in the dungeon and execute them on a chosen day!"

Hearing this, the three men's faces turned ashen.

The soldiers and officers were invigorated upon hearing this, and Chen Hu shouted loudly: "Long live His Highness, Yan Wang!"

"Long live His Highness!" Lv Chang followed with a loud roar.

"Long live His Highness, long live His Highness..." The soldiers gripped their Long Spears and struck the ground, shouting loudly, the sound waves rolling.

"Long live the Ninth Highness!" Just as everyone was cheering, a discordant voice suddenly came.

Zhao Xu looked toward the sound and saw a young man in fine clothes, similar in age to him, walking toward him while repeatedly raising and lowering one hand.

Seeing Zhao Xu notice him, the young man hurried forward a few steps.

Xu Lie and the other guards immediately became vigilant and blocked him.

"Your Highness, I am Ma Han, the legitimate son of the Ma Family of Qin Prefecture; the Prefect of Qinzhou, Ma Xuan, is my biological father."

"Ma Xuan." Zhao Xu was slightly stunned; he was naturally no stranger to this person.

The Ma Family of Qin Prefecture, one of the Eight Great Clans of Da Song, occupied the northwest of Da Song and had always resisted Western Liang together with the Imperial Guards of Da Song.

The three northwestern prefectures of Qinzhou, Yongzhou, and Sizhou were all within their sphere of influence.

In recent years, they had even used the name of resisting Western Liang to reach into Jinzhou, which was adjacent to Yanzhou, and their strength was formidable.

It was just that this was Yanzhou; how did this kid get here?