Chapter 14 Now, Do You Know Who I Am?

Around him, the ranks of the Zhenbei Army soldiers stood, yet not a single one dared step forward to assist their commanding officer.

Military contests held to this standard were the norm, and within the Yan Kingdom's army, adherence to rules was paramount.

Had the soldiers led by the Prince of Jingnan been Jingnan Army troops storming their gates, these Zhenbei Army soldiers would have undoubtedly refused and would not have stood idly by.

But their own general had been defeated in a one-on-one battle against the Prince, leaving them no justifiable reason to swarm him.

After all, no matter how much the Zhenbei Marquis's manor was likened to the Yan Kingdom's foremost border fiefdom, as long as they did not blatantly raise the flag of rebellion, they were still part of the Yan army, still Yan people.

Within this place, a Yan Kingdom's military meritorious prince still held immense influence, and most importantly, resonated with their sense of identity.

Tian Wujing's boot pressed down with even greater force than before, suppressing Li Yuanhu's head.

"I... you..."

Some people's most impressive words sounded like threats;

Others said nothing, but you wouldn't dare consider it a threat;

Clearly, the Prince of Jingnan belonged to the latter category.

Previously, separated by distance, merely hearing of deeds and renown did not convey the full truth, but now, facing him directly, the sensation was entirely different.

Li Yuanhu's hands pressed against the ground,

And clapped.

This was considered a surrender.

The Prince of Jingnan withdrew his boot, not even glancing at Li Yuanhu lying on the ground. He surveyed his surroundings and declared,

"To see the Marquis's Edict is to see the Zhenbei King himself. These were the very words Li Liangting spoke when entrusting this Edict to me. Today, I intend to witness whether his vaunted Zhenbei Army veterans are as obedient and disciplined as he claims.

Where is the Chief Clerk of Military Orders!"

"This subordinate is present!"

"This subordinate is present!"

"Immediately issue orders to seal off the encampment within a twenty-mile radius. No outsiders are to set foot within, and any of unknown identity are to be killed without exception!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

...

Inside the main tent;

Li Yuanhu sat on the ground, massaging his neck.

"Hiss… oh… hiss…"

Tian Wujing sat upon the general's seat, before him lay various lists of military supplies and provisions.

The lists were insufficiently detailed.

After a brief perusal, Tian Wujing set them aside. With differing troops and attributes, the original Zhenbei Army divisions of Li Fusheng and Li Bao had long deviated from the original Zhenbei Army structure;

In Jin, he could summon them at will, and whether they were Zhenbei Army, local forces, or Jin soldiers, they would all cooperate in accordance with his Jingnan Prince's style.

However, the Zhenbei Army remaining in Beifeng County continued to uphold the style inherited from the Zhenbei Marquis's manor;

In short, it was unrefined.

This, for the Prince of Jingnan who always favored meticulous tactics, was truly…uncomfortable.

His gaze fell below, watching Li Yuanhu, who was massaging his body and constantly sucking in cold air. Tian Wujing spoke,

"You shouldn't have taken that second punch head-on."

Though Li Yuanhu's body was currently aching immensely, upon hearing this, he chuckled and said,

"Your Highness, this subordinate was greedy, harboring the intention of testing Your Highness's martial skill. But I truly did not expect Your Highness's strength to be this… no, it is the application of strength; this subordinate is in admiration.

But this is also good. With Your Highness beating this subordinate to a pulp, those little bastards below will no longer dare to show the slightest disobedience toward Your Highness.

You may not know, but in our Zhenbei Army, whoever has the toughest fist is often the one they obey, and whoever acts more domineering is the one they are more willing to serve.

Military law is for outsiders; internally, they are constantly tearing at each other.

Your Highness's reputation is already great. Add to that a beating for me, and everyone will be thoroughly convinced."

Li Yuanhu could not possibly be a fool to become the Zhenbei Army's commanding officer and be adopted by Li Liangting as a son.

Even Li Fusheng, who enjoyed slaughter and preferred to feast on beans and drink wine from iron armor drenched in blood after battlefield skirmishes, was actually a man who was rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside;

Li Yuanhu was the same.

With the Prince of Jingnan arriving bearing the Marquis's Edict, no matter how disgruntled or uncomfortable they were, they shouldn't have proactively stepped forward to provoke him. This was…deliberately seeking a beating;

But for the Prince of Jingnan, who had just arrived in the army and wanted to quickly establish his authority, beating the main general in front of the entire army was indeed the most direct and effective method.

"As long as you don't feel you've lost face in front of your subordinates."

"Heh heh, that depends on who is doing the beating, doesn't it? Being beaten by Your Highness, this humble one is convinced in his heart. Besides, as long as it can contribute to the upcoming battle, I'd be willing to have my arms and legs chopped off."

Li Yuanhu knew what was about to happen, but only he and Li Chenghui, the two commanding officers, were privy to the details.

Beifeng County bordered the desert, and in recent years, trade between the two sides had been extremely close and frequent. Although there were occasional frictions, overall, a state of peace was maintained.

Moreover, in recent years, the barbarian little prince had repeatedly shown goodwill toward the Yan Emperor, willingly serving him as a nephew would to an uncle. Local sensibilities were inevitably somewhat numbed.

Therefore, the most important aspect of this expedition was secrecy.

Otherwise, there would have been no need for the two Princes, North and South, to leave the capital under the cover of night.

"Your own Qi and blood are very vigorous, but their application is too crude. It poses no issue in the midst of battle, but in one-on-one duels, you will inevitably suffer."

"That's not a problem; this one is not a martial artist of the Jianghu (martial world)."

Li Yuanhu didn't care much about this. His skills were all honed to suit military life.

Back then, when the barbarian Left Guli King, Shatuo Queshi, stormed the Zhenbei Marquis's manor, he chose to avoid engaging him directly because he saw that Shatuo Queshi had a death wish and didn't want to risk serious injury. But this also reflected his lack of confidence in his "one-on-one" abilities.

It could only be said that existences like Tian Wujing were rare in this world.

Martial cultivators excelled in physical strength, but to combine a martial cultivator's physique with a rudimentary understanding of sorcery was akin to a rough man playing with embroidery needles.

"Your Highness, are military equipment and provisions still sufficient?"

"They are insufficient, yet sufficient."

Insufficient, because more could still be prepared and more could be carried.

Sufficient, because they were only preparing to fight a surprise attack.

The biggest trade-off between the two was that mass mobilization of military equipment and provisions would likely alert the enemy.

Back when Zheng Fan was here, even the blind man could gather intelligence about the outflow of Zhenbei Army equipment, demonstrating how difficult it was to maintain secrecy in this place;

However, viewed from another angle, once the secrecy was done well enough, how unexpected the deployment would be.

The desert barbarians and the Zhenbei Marquis's manor had been neighbors for a century, so they knew each other well. Moreover, there were extremely close civilian exchanges between the two sides, and there were quite a few barbarian merchants in Tuman City. At the same time, there were also many barbarians in the Zhenbei Army auxiliary battalion.

Back then, the Wild Man King had infiltrated this place as a wild man to learn skills;

Closer to the present, the hundreds of barbarian soldiers that Marquis Zheng used when he raised his army were also recruited from here.

This was an objective reality; one could not change it, only overcome it.

Therefore,

The Prince of Jingnan only ordered the sealing off of the military camp's surroundings. This was not an excessive measure because the Zhenbei Army themselves would do the same whenever they held drills.

Li Yuanhu looked at the Prince of Jingnan and asked,

"Your Highness, when exactly are we departing?"

"Waiting for Li Liangting."

Li Yuanhu nodded and said, "Indeed, we need our King to show his face."

Tian Wujing lifted his eyelids slightly,

And said;

"He will be joining the expedition."

"What?"

Li Yuanhu was genuinely shocked.

In the eyes of outsiders, especially the military and civilians of Beifeng County, their Zhenbei King was a magnificent existence that could be pasted on the door during the New Year;

But those truly close to the Marquis's manor knew that the Zhenbei King's health had always been poor.

"Maintain control over the military camp, both inside and out. The key to success or failure in this battle lies in surprise."

"This subordinate understands!"

...

"Ouch, ouch..."

The Zhenbei King, Li Liangting, was currently lying on a carriage.

Pulling the carriage were not Pixiu, but two horses.

Protecting the perimeter were not knights in armor, but rather people dressed as ordinary merchant followers.

The Zhenbei King's Pixiu had collapsed from exhaustion.

It wasn't that his Pixiu was inferior to the Prince of Jingnan's Pixiu in any way.

The reason was that

Li Liangting's health was poor, so the Pixiu had to deliberately maintain the balance of its back when carrying him, so as to make his seat more stable. This was actually an additional burden on the Pixiu, equivalent to a person not being able to bend their knees when climbing a mountain.

However, the Prince of Jingnan's Pixiu had no such concerns at all.

It was carrying the most powerful man in this Great Yan,

So it just happily ran west as much as it wanted.

There was no reason why this beast could not bear it when the man on its back could!

But despite this, it was almost exhausted when the Prince of Jingnan arrived at Li Yuanhu's military camp.

Li Liangting, on the other hand, had changed to a horse-drawn carriage and, despite hurrying, was still left a day and a half behind the Prince of Jingnan.

Fortunately, he had now finally entered Beifeng County.

"King, we have arrived."

The carriage team turned off the road and entered a forest ahead, and in the depths of the forest, there was a newly built tea shed.

Outside the tea shed,

Stood three figures: a lame teenager, a beautiful woman, and a withered old man.

Inside the tea shed, sat a woman.

Li Liangting was helped out of the carriage;

Li Fei, Li Qian, and Uncle Qi saluted together:

"Greetings, Father."

"Greetings, King."

"Heh heh."

Li Liangting sized up his pair of children with a smile on his lips, but soon, his gaze fell to the rear.

Immediately,

He gestured for the pair of children to move aside and, supporting his back, staggered into the tea shed.

It was called a tea shed, but there was no good tea, and the tea fragrance was not strong.

Li Liangting was not someone who paid attention to tea ceremony. He picked up the teapot, brought it to his mouth, and took a big gulp.

Then he put it down, wiped his mouth, and sat sideways on the long bench.

Uncle Qi stayed outside, while Li Fei and Li Qian walked in.

"At your age, you should rest."

The old madam looked at her husband and advised.

Back when the Zhenbei King was still the Zhenbei Marquis, he stayed in the rear garden when he entered the capital, and the Yan Emperor had talked with him intimately over wine and meat. After the drinking, the Yan Emperor had said that Qian'er looked like her mother.

The future emperor and the former marquis had not staged a drama of chasing after a woman,

But the two had first seen this woman together.

When two men saw a beautiful woman, they would always comment on her.

The former Ji Runhao said she was beautiful, exquisite;

The former Li Liangting said she was beautiful, and he would take her home.

It was naturally impossible to do it by force, but if the Marquis's manor proposed marriage, no Great Yan aristocratic family, even the most esteemed noble family of the time, would refuse, let alone dare to refuse.

The Yan Emperor had three palaces and six courtyards,

But the Zhenbei King had only one wife in his life.

Faced with the advice of his old wife, Li Liangting smiled and waved his hand, saying:

"It is precisely because I fear that this old body won't be able to move for many more days that I am even more reluctant to rest now."

"You're old, not as young as you used to be. When people get old, they become burdens." The King's Consort spoke very directly.

Li Liangting only had this one woman in his life. If she couldn't even figure out what her man was thinking and what he was going to do, then she would be truly useless.

"A burden, indeed a burden. I left the capital with Wujing, and in the end, I couldn't keep up and had to let him go ahead to control the troops.

If this were back in the days when I was young, hehe..."

A hero doesn't mention his past bravery unless he's not a hero now.

Li Liangting's gaze fell on his daughter, and he smiled;

"My daughter is getting prettier and prettier, exactly like your mother when she was young. When you were first born, your father was afraid, afraid that this girl would take after your father when she grew up. Wouldn't that be too unfair to you, daughter?

Thankfully, thankfully, hehe."

The King's Consort sighed and said,

"She's an old maid."

"What? Can't my Li Liangting, my Li family, afford to keep a daughter at home?"

"Bang!"

The King's Consort slammed the table abruptly,

Scolding:

"You old fool, you were the one who sent your daughter into the capital back then, and then what? What now? I say, it would have been better to marry her off to a family of equal standing earlier rather than..."

"The Tian family? The Liu family? The Xue family? Tsk tsk tsk, look, where are those families you wanted to arrange for your daughter back then?"

The great aristocratic families of equal standing had vanished in the horse's trampling of aristocratic families.

It was Li Liangting who had personally done it!

"Then what about that Tian family's daughter-in-law!" The King's Consort mocked.

"This is Father's fault." Li Liangting looked at his daughter. "Father is sorry, daughter."

Li Qian knelt down:

"Father, this is daughter's fate, it has nothing to do with Father, and daughter has never harbored the slightest resentment towards Father."

"It has nothing to do with him?" The King's Consort pointed at Li Liangting. "Do you really think your father doesn't know anything? Do you really think your father just chose the wrong person and saw the wrong prince?"

Li Qian lowered her head and said nothing.

At this time, what was happening in the capital had not yet been able to reach here, firstly because of the great distance, and secondly because they had returned as quickly as possible. Even the imperial messengers or the informants of various families could not be faster than the two princes.

Li Liangting blinked and did not even bother to refute this accusation.

And at this time, seeing the atmosphere become stagnant, Li Fei stepped forward and said;

"Son heard Father say earlier that the Prince of Jingnan has also arrived?"

"Yes, he's here."

"Then has Marquis Pingxi also..."

"Marquis Pingxi didn't come."

Li Fei was thinking of his childhood friend, Chen Xianba.

"Are you still used to being at home?" Li Liangting asked.

"Replying to Father, the family is very well."

"Mm."

Li Liangting took a breath,

And slowly exhaled it,

Saying:

"In a few days, the barbarian royal court will convene the Golden Horde Assembly; you will go there for Father and congratulate our old neighbor on behalf of the Zhenbei Marquis's manor."