Chapter 1 The Capital

The imperial capital of a country is often a microcosm of that country, the so-called center of politics, economy, and culture. In this era, these radiate outwards from the capital in a decreasing trend.

Here, the romance and sentiment unique to the Chu people reached their peak.

And the word "romance" doesn't simply refer to love between men and women; that's just a tiny branch of it.

Like the Chu people's penchant for walking against the wind, the long hair intentionally left on their temples fluttering in the breeze, the romance they cherished was actually an attitude of freedom and unrestrained living.

This wasn't a privilege exclusive to the nobility.

It was just that the nobility could play it in the most flamboyant way.

In Meng Shou's writings, the magnificent Chu, with its eight hundred years of empire, nurtured a deep undercurrent of popular sentiment and morale beneath the romance it so adored.

More than a century after the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty,

when Zheng Boye went south to attack Qian,

didn't he encounter a fortress commander who turned his fortress into a brothel but still went up to the beacon tower?

Didn't he encounter an old man with a spear going against the tide and his son who could have lived but still shot that arrow?

The Great Qian's army and military preparedness were quite不堪(bù kān – unbearable) that year, but there were still enough shining points. Some people were willing to dedicate their brilliance to the country that had nurtured them.

How could the Great Chu, with its eight hundred years, lack this?

Don't say that Great Chu was all slaves under the aristocracy, while Great Qian had a flourishing class of scholar-officials.

Frankly,

it was just the meat-eaters changing their names, putting on different colored clothes, and doing the same thing: sucking people's blood to fatten themselves.

When the Yan army first arrived,

Yingdu was shaken.

The high-ranking nobles keenly sensed something was wrong. The Phoenix Nest Inner Guards of Great Chu, which were almost on par with the Silver Armor Guards of Qian, had failed to deliver this military intelligence to their capital in advance.

For a moment, they vaguely guessed something, pursed their lips, and found them full of bitterness.

The middle-level nobles immediately began to run around, discussing whether to flee or stay, how to flee, and how to stay.

The lower-level nobles immediately contacted the upper-level nobles they usually fawned upon, hoping they could point them in a direction and take them along for whatever they did.

Thanks to the Yan army's swift arrival, the Great Chu's central machinery was still running and maintaining its inertia.

For example, when several minor aristocratic officials in a department under the Jingfu Yamen (capital prefecture) were discussing which high-ranking noble to rely on and advance or retreat with in their department's signing room,

a minor clerk actually came in and posted the agenda for the department's meeting today on the wall:

Should the osmanthus trees on the imperial path north of Mingfeng Gate be cut down?

Several noble officials looked at each other.

In the face of imminent disaster,

they were actually pondering

whether to run away with their families and fortunes first,

or to come up with a preliminary plan on whether to cut down the osmanthus trees first.

It could only be said that everyone subconsciously lacked the correct response when an enemy army was at the gates.

In this regard, the Chu people really needed to learn from the Qian people.

Since the Great Qian's Emperor Taizong was defeated in his northern expedition a hundred years ago, several generations of Qian people had nightmares from time to time about the Yan army's iron cavalry going south. Moreover, Li Fusheng's troops crossing the Bian River a few years ago allowed the Qian people to review it in reality.

But the Chu people really had no experience.

Unlike the officials and nobles who were either far-sighted, short-sighted, panicked, or pretending to be calm,

the "jianghu" (martial arts world) within Yingdu,

this capital of the Great Chu,

displayed the unique boldness and freedom of the jianghu.

You could say they were simple-minded,

because simplicity was not acceptable on the stage; this was the consistent impression of the jianghu in the imperial court.

But if an enemy army had already arrived outside your capital, and you were still deliberating at length, it seemed like you were truly brain-damaged.

Wherever there were many people, there was bound to be jianghu.

Jianghu manifested differently in every place.

It wasn't a place name.

More often, it was a habit.

Jianghu people had jianghu rules, and those who followed jianghu rules were often jianghu people.

Within the jianghu,

some people liked to establish their sects in remote areas.

Why choose remote areas?

Because in densely populated areas, there was a largest sect called the "Imperial Court."

But there were also people who liked to establish their legacies in densely populated areas. These people usually had their own semi-official status.

Yao Zizhan once said that the so-called jianghu was nothing more than mixing black, white, red, and all kinds of colors together. Jianghu was actually just浆糊(jiānghú – paste).

But when eaten, it ultimately couldn't escape being爽脆(shuǎngcuì - crisp and refreshing).

"Clang!"

The door of the Ma Family Saber Hall was opened from the inside.

Ma Laowu walked out carrying his Ma Family Continuous Saber. Behind him were his many disciples.

Looking at the people fleeing in panic in front of him,

Ma Laowu smiled.

When the master smiled,

all the disciples behind him also smiled.

People always had to find some sense of existence at certain times.

For example, the student in the school who liked to make trouble the most often did amazing and strange things to make his classmates laugh, even if he was hit with a ruler by the teacher, he would feel sweet in his heart.

Since they were born as human beings, they always had to find a different feeling for themselves.

Just like now,

you are running around in a panic,

but we

are preparing to go against the tide and fight those Yan dogs!

The more panicked the neighbors and local people were, the more it could show how awesome we are now, right?

The Ma Family Saber Hall had been passed down for five generations. The reason why it could have its own legacy under the feet of the emperor in Yingdu, with three hundred introductory disciples and thousands of registered disciples in various places, was because the Ma family saber had a tradition of joining the army in every generation.

The executioners of the Great Chu royal guards practiced routines that were actually improved from the Ma family saber.

Of course,

it wasn't that the Ma family gave the saber manual to the imperial court,

but because the person who created the Ma family saber was originally a company commander of the Chu army's executioners.

Since then, a small half of each generation of Ma Family Saber successors would join the military.

This was a tradition,

and also the foundation for their survival.

Ma Laowu led his disciples to the front street. There was a memorial archway on the front street with three characters:

Fo Shou Cui (Buddha Hand Cui)!

This street was also called Buddha Hand Street.

Sixty years ago, when the Chu Emperor went on a tour outside Yingdu, his entourage was ambushed by assassins. A guard named Cui in front of the Emperor led the crowd to defeat the assassins and even chased after them alone. Three days later, he brought back the heads of three assassin leaders.

The Chu Emperor asked him what reward he wanted. He said that he only asked that his lifelong learning could be passed on.

Because this guard was good at Buddha Hand, which was a kind of palm technique, after returning to the palace, the Chu Emperor wrote an imperial decree and named a street in Yingdu "Buddha Hand Street" and allowed him to open a sect.

The current Buddha Hand Sect leader was also a descendant of that guard, known in the jianghu as Cui Buddha Hand.

Because the Ma Family Saber Hall was also on this street, and both were jianghu sects, there was some discord between them.

Ma Family Saber Hall?

Where?

At the end of Buddha Hand Street!

Humiliation!

Humiliation!

Ma Laowu roared:

"Is Buddha busy worshipping Buddha?"

"Hehe."

A laugh came from the side of the street.

Cui Buddha Hand, a tall and strong man with a string of beads around his neck and a bodhi seed in his hand, led a group of his disciples.

"I was still thinking of waiting to see if you dared to show your saber to the Yan dogs. Not bad, you didn't make someone look down on you."

"Bah!"

Ma Laowu spat heavily on the ground,

and shouted:

"You're blind. How could my Ma family saber be scared? What about those Yan dogs? No matter how powerful they are, do they have three heads and six arms? Can they still jump around after eating one of my sabers?"

"That's not necessarily true. The Yan people also have cavalry sabers."

The Yan people's cavalry saber was a type of saber.

The Ma family saber was a saber technique.

"Damn it, Cui, don't look down on people. Let's compare later. If I chop off more Yan dog heads, this street will be renamed Ma Family Street!"

"Hehe, wouldn't that be a loss for me?"

"What are you still arguing about? The Imperial Guards outside the city have been defeated, and the Yan dogs are about to break in!"

At this time, a man in a Taoist robe holding a long sword said. Behind him were a group of jianghu people with various weapons and different clothes.

In fact, they weren't jianghu people. They were members of the Cao Gang (transport guild). The Taoist leader wasn't pure and desireless either. His surname was Chen, and he was known as Chen Lotus.

He was in charge of the wharf from Yingdu to the Mi River and had many people from all walks of life under his command.

On weekdays, he also did some human trafficking and lent money at high interest rates, forcing many families to ruin. He even helped some dignitaries do things they thought were dirty, so as to obtain protection from above.

He was highly skilled in swordsmanship. When he first started out at the Yingdu wharf, he was a Fifth Rank swordsman. He had taken fewer actions in recent years, but his swordsmanship should have improved even more.

Chen Lotus had a very bad reputation, but at this time, he was able to gather his Cao Gang brothers together to help the government army fight the Yan dogs. At least, he wasn't wrong in terms of righteousness.

Ma Laowu and Cui Buddha Hand didn't say anything more. They led their disciples to the north gate. During this time, many jianghu wanderers joined them, and the size of the team expanded to fifteen hundred people.

Yingdu was big enough, and the population was large enough. There was enough water in the pond to raise fish.

But when this group of people arrived at the south gate, they happened to see the defeated Chu army retreating into the city. Behind them, the Yan army followed closely. However, they didn't rush in all at once. Instead, they chose to control the gate tower as the first step.

"Damn it, kill, kill them back!"

Ma Laowu roared.

But it was useless. The rout only cared about running into the city and couldn't be gathered at all.

In fact, half of the Chu army that had collapsed outside the gate of Yingdu earlier, the ones with brains, didn't even think about running into the city. Instead, they collapsed on the spot outside the city.

Because they knew very well in their hearts that they were the last line of defense in Yingdu. If they collapsed, who could they rely on to protect themselves even if they retreated to Yingdu?

Therefore, the rout who fled into the city at this time were basically fools.

The Yan army had already occupied the city gate following the rout. Ma Laowu led a group of jianghu people and intended to rush up, but they were blocked by the Yan people's crossbows.

The jianghu people were not regular troops after all. They had no coordination, no bows and crossbows, no armor, and no shields. They had a body of martial arts, but they couldn't use it at all.

At the same time, as more and more Yan troops occupied the gate tower, although they didn't choose to rush in all at once, looking at the increasingly dense black armor on both sides of the gate tower, whether it was Ma Laowu, Cui Buddha Hand, or Chen Lotus, they gave up the idea of forcibly taking back the city gate by breaking through with their own strength.

They could break in, but the people behind them might not be able to keep up at all. The ending waiting for them would be being trapped and killed among the Yan army.

At this time, a middle-aged man in a blue official robe came riding a horse. Behind him were actually patrol yamen runners.

The position of the Patrol Division existed in every country. In fact, it was equivalent to a local security team, similar to a police station in later generations.

"I am Qin Hai, the Patrol Commandant. Please be patient, heroes. My lord has already gone to gather the rout. After a while, we will send troops together to take back this city gate!"

Qin Hai's superior was Zhao Yuelin. The superior yamen of the Patrol Division was actually the Ministry of War, and Zhao Yuelin was in charge of this part.

After seeing the Yan dogs from the Star Observation Tower,

the Jing family immediately returned to the Jing family's residence in the capital to find the ancestor.

Zhao Yuelin immediately organized manpower to prepare to support the forward Imperial Guards in their fight against the Yan people.

However, even Zhao Yuelin didn't expect that before his support could be organized, the Chu army in front had eagerly fled.

But no matter what, he had to do something, right?

He didn't bother to participate in the secret plots between the nobles, even though he was one of them himself.

He rode his horse, surrounded by Qin Hai, holding a saber,

and shouted:

"I will kill the Yan dogs with you!"

The thousands of rabble gathered at the south gate by various yamen runners, soldiers, rout, and jianghu sects immediately raised their weapons and shouted along.

Then,

they began to advance towards the south gate again.

The Yan army's bows and crossbows were ready on the gate tower and city wall, and they were also waiting in battle formation below.

To be honest,

the invincible Jingnan Army of Great Yan, which had been sweeping the world, really wouldn't take this rabble seriously.

Just then,

a dull sound of horses' hooves came.

The Yan soldiers who were originally in formation at the city gate immediately dispersed.

A majestic figure riding a貔貅(píxiū - mythical wild animal) and wearing gilded armor slowly drove out of the city gate.

Behind him,

two flag bearers rode their horses carrying flags.

One side

was the Great Yan Black Dragon Flag,

and the other side

was the Jingnan King's royal flag.

For a time,

the righteous army of Great Chu, which had been stirred up by Zhao Yuelin,

collapsed for the most part before they really fought.

In the Yan Kingdom,

because King Jingnan had a bad reputation among the people because he had exterminated his entire family,

Yan parents often used him to scare disobedient children:

"If you cry and make noise again, let the Southern Marquis eat you!"

Little did they know that

outside the Yan Kingdom,

King Jingnan's name

was enough to make the enemy's morale collapse.

————

It would be more appropriate to write this plot in one go in a long chapter, but looking at the time, I'll post it first. Don't wait tonight, read it when you wake up tomorrow.

Good night, hug everyone!