Chapter 2.2
“It’s the battle flag of the King of Beining! Quickly, open the gates!”
At the command of the commander, the half-closed heavy city gates were immediately pulled open to both sides, and the rumbling sound traveled far and wide on the main road. The wind swept the dense golden leaves from the ground and scattered them down in a swirl.
Guards holding spears and halberds in their hands trotted neatly. They stopped and stood upright on both sides of the road with their weapons at their sides.
“Give way, give way! Open the gates!”
It was clearly noon, the time for the common people to eat, digest their meal and rest, yet noticing the commotion, they all shunned and quickly cleared a path for the guards. When many people heard the news, they stopped eating and called friends to go out and watch, blocking the long street.
“Guards were clearing the road. Seems like some troops are returning to the capital.” Some discussed amongst the crowd. “Returning? Which army is it?”
In the Great Yuan, every martial artist’s dream was to join the Great Yuan’s forces. Whether it be the Xuan Calvary, the former Third Princes’ personal soldiers, the King of Beining’s Tianji Army, the Dingbei Troops guarding the border, the Garrison Army guarding the Imperial City, or the newly built Weishan Army. All these forces were famous for their bravery in the Great Wilderness.
“It seems to be the Tianji Army of the King of Beining!”
As soon as the words fell, the crowd of onlookers stopped in unison, and stood up in a proper manner, each and everyone became silent.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that just by mentioning this name could make a child stop from crying at night.
When the King of Beining vanquished the Huns that year, legend has it that he advanced all the way to Mobei’s hinterland and slaughtered everyone, leaving no one alive. Such harsh methods were unprecedented. The Huns certainly have been terrified after. In recent years, the border had been so peaceful that even the trivial incident of sneaking around had not happened. The words “Yu Beizhou, King of Beining” became even more associated with the malevolent ghost who takes lives, making anyone terrified.
(t/n Mobei-also known as Lingbei, refers to the desert in northern China)
(t/n Hinterland-which refers to the mainland, the area close to the center)
The Yuan people revered him, and at the same time feared him.
In the distance, the dark and profound military flag fluttered in the wind with the burning clouds at the horizon as its backdrop.
“Yu–”
Not long after, a group of men came riding in fast horses with whips. They tightened the reins and slowed down as they approached the city gate.
“Silence!”
The guards made a hard thump with their spears and halberds on the ground, and the garrison deputy took a step forward and clasped his fists. “We welcome His Highness the King of Beining of his return to the Great Yuan!”
“We welcome His Highness’ return!” In an instant, a chorus of loud voices rang together, reverberating across most of the Imperial City streets.
A neat and solemn army approached. Looking around, the soldiers were all dressed in cold armor, with somber faces and straight backs. The huge number of soldiers was so quiet that only horses’ hooves stirring sand could be heard.
The man at the forefront had a white fur cloak and dressed in fine red clothes. His long black hair was hung down loosely behind his back. The sunset glow illuminated his red clothes making it more intense yet his wanton eyes were displayed openly, which abruptly forced down this extremely gorgeous color into a foil.
Everyone present was silent. Who would have thought that the fierce and famous King of Beining would be so handsome.
Zong Luo just stood where he was and said nothing. Although his eyes were covered, he could still guess what the scene looked like. It should be nothing more than the inherent routine of the protagonist surprising the audience.
He stood behind Gu Ziyuan quietly, sighing inwardly that he was unlucky.
Pretending to be blind, pretending to have amnesia, intending to let his sword be discovered and specially choosing to appear under the city gate as the starting point…
This was his plan.
After knowing that thousands of people chose such a day to enter the Great Yuan and with careful calculations, he followed the ever indulgent Confucianists to enter the Great Yuan together. Lord Duan, the Commander-In-Chief, a loyal subordinate of Emperor Yuan, who was born a general but had no clear standing in court and with shallow foundations, was his target.
If all goes well, Duan Junhao would have sent someone to report to Zongzheng Mansion. Following that would be the issue of “the third prince escaped from death but lost his memory and became blind” be put to the table.
Who would have thought that he would meet the King of Beining, Yu Beizhou sooner. He just had to encounter the biggest and most difficult enemy.
What is this, fate and hatred?
(t/n fate and hatred-which means to describe bad luck and often encounter setbacks)
Zong Luo comforted himself.
There were a lot of people at the city gate, and the majority of them were common people wearing white clothes. As long as Beizhou doesn’t look in his direction carefully, the matter of his return to Great Yuan after his death could still be carried out according to the original plan. Although there were some slight changes, it should not have deviated too much.
When the sound of the horse’s hooves approached near the city gate, he heard Yu Beizhou’s lazy voice, “This King’s goshawk, while flying in the sky, saw people crowding under the city gate from a distance, that it could even be hardly opened. What happened?”
Zong Luo: “…”
How could he have forgotten that Yu Beizhou had a very ugly looking goshawk which was pitch-black from top to bottom. It was even better than carrier pigeons used to send messages to the troops stationed in distant locations. It had even intercepted his secret messages to his cavalry several times in the sky and simply put them back quietly like nothing happened.
The most terrible thing was that this ugly goshawk can understand human nature and secret signs. It can be regarded as the third eye.
Thinking of this, Zong Luo suddenly missed his horse, Zhao Yebai again.
His Zhao Yebai was completely snow-white, without a trace of variegation and can even travel thousands of miles a day. But the most significant aspect is that it was loyal and very well-behaved.
That tragic year, Zong Luo took off Yebai’s saddle, yet it followed him while whimpering until to the border of Bo country while he was escaping with his exhausted body. He had no choice but to slap its buttocks and force it to go back.
He didn’t know if his men had taken good care of his Zhao Yebai for more than a year.
Duan Junhao clenched his fists and said “Reporting to His Royal Highness, this subordinate found a treasured sword during the routine inspection of weapons, so this subordinate came to take a look.”
“Hm?”
Yu Beizhou raised his eyebrows, his tone was indifferent, “A treasured sword?”
“Yes… it was the Qixing Longyuan.”
After speaking, Duan Junhao suddenly remembered something.
It had been known that the Third Prince was a top disciple of Ghost Valley.
Ghost Valley’s master was the most famous great master in the Great Wilderness, a master in the art of war and military strategy. Legend has it that he possessed great wisdom. Almost all the amazing and brilliant characters in the Great Wilderness came from his family.
However, his whereabouts was a mystery, his true identity was a mystery, and even his gender and age were also a mystery. Even if the master was well known, it still depends entirely on fate to encounter and be accepted as an apprentice by the master.
Coincidentally, the King of Beining also studied at Ghost Valley and they seemed to be the only direct disciples of their generation. Not only were they apprentices from the same master, but the King of Beining was also the junior martial brother of the Third Prince.
The course of imparting knowledge to its disciples had always been important. That’s why the Ghost Valley sect closed its doors for ten years and only opened it after the disciples graduated. In other words, martial brothers who have been together for ten years should already be intimate with each other, right?
“From a Confucian disciple.”
Duan Junhao hesitantly added, “This subordinate dare not make any wild assumptions, but he…….this subordinate don’t know whether to say it or not.”
However Duan Junhao remembered to not dare test Yu Beizhou’s uncertain disposition and hurriedly continued.
“This subordinate thinks…… that the one wearing the Qixing Longyuan… may be the Third Prince himself.”
There was dead silence.
Then the King of Beining chuckled unintelligibly.
After a while, the goshawk hovering above chirped loudly, dived down, perched firmly on Beizhou’s outstretched arm and folded its wings.
In the early years, when Beizhou was still not famous, many people laughed at its ugliness. However Beizhou protected and defended it. Now, the grass on the graves of those people who mocked it was already two meters high.
Now, he was the known King of Beining. He bore the name that brought fear in the Great Wilderness. People dare not come up to him casually. Instead they go back and forth just to please him.
“Ugly. You haven’t learned the slightest bit of charm from your master for so many years.”
Beizhou lazily slapped the goshawk behind the back and threw it back into the air, “Why had I catch a stupid bird like you in the first place, get out of here.”
The latter cried out in dissatisfaction, turned around and pecked at Yu Beizhou. It flapped its wings and flew back above afterwards yet it suddenly let out a high-pitched cry as if it saw something.
Hearing the shriek that tore through the air, Zong Luo’s heart pounded. His one hand firmly clenched the edge of his sleeve, while his other grabbed the hilt of the sword. His cold blade lay waiting and is ready to attack at any time.
On the other hand, the commander who kept clenching his hands and had big drops of cold sweat on his forehead, never yet received any reply from Yu Beizhou.
Duan Junhao finally remembered what he had forgotten.
He forgot that the Third Prince and the King of Beining had a bad relationship that was known to the whole court. It’s the kind of fight that happens in the next second they meet each other. Their tit-for-tat confrontation happened everywhere, whether it be on the court or out in the field. It was so bad that some people say they had a blood feud with each other.
Now, Duan Junhao had just said in front of the King of Beining that the Third Prince might have been alive and escaped death unexpectedly. He had just experienced a narrow escape from death a year ago, why must he seek death again and pick a pot that shouldn’t be opened.
Just when Duan Junhao was so flustered and his heart was beating thunderously, Yu Beizhou, who had just thrown the goshawk above, suddenly dusted off his hands from an invisible dirt and said in a casual tone. “Where is the person? Take this King to see him.”
