Chapter 8: Joining the Army

  The horse was still a bit inferior, although Chen Yingliang had spent half of the copper coins he got from selling his engagement jade pendant to buy this horse. However, when he rushed to the east capital city on horseback, risking exhausting the horse, it was already noon on June 11th. The new eastern capital city was already under martial law, with all gates closed, blocking Chen Yingliang's way into the city to join the army.

  After much difficulty, Chen Yingliang finally arrived here and was not willing to give up. After a little thought, Chen Yingliang circled around the eastern capital for half a circle and turned to the northeast corner of the eastern capital, outside the Anxi Gate. Judging from the buildings outside the city, Anxi Gate should be a gate that ordinary people can enter and exit. He got off his horse and walked slowly towards the city gate, leading his horse. As soon as he approached the moat, before he could walk onto the stone bridge over the moat, a loud shout came from above the city gate: "Halt! Are your eyes blind? Don't you see that the city gate is already closed? What do you want to do by crossing the bridge?"

  Chen Yingliang followed the sound and saw that the person shouting at him from the city wall was a Sui general wearing a bright armor, and behind the arrow tower on the city wall, a row of bows and arrows were also exposed, ready to be fired. Chen Yingliang was still somewhat frightened, took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly: "General, don't misunderstand! I am a native of Daxing, and I heard that the rebel Yang Xuangan is rebelling and threatening the Eastern Capital. I have come specifically to join the army and serve the country, to kill the rebel Yang Xuangan. Please accept me, General!"

  "Join the army?" Chen Yingliang's response caused that Sui general to pause, looking down at Chen Yingliang for a few moments before loudly asking: "How old are you this year? Not yet twenty-one?"

  "I am seventeen years old this year." Chen Yingliang answered truthfully, but also with some confusion, thinking to himself, why is he asking about my age?

  "You little scoundrel, what are you doing here?" The Sui general was furious and bellowed: "According to the laws of our dynasty, a soldier must be at least 21 years old. What is a 17-year-old kid like you doing here? Get out! If you want to join my Right Wuwei Army, come back when you're 21!"

  "Was there such a regulation in the Sui Dynasty army?" This time, Chen Yingliang was stunned, because Chen Yingliang really didn't know that the Sui Dynasty military had this regulation.

  "Get out! Otherwise, I'll shoot an arrow!" The Sui army general was a hot-headed person and urged: "If you want to be a local soldier or auxiliary soldier, go to the old city of Luoyang. This is the Eastern Capital Imperial City, no local soldiers are accepted here, get out now!"

  "General, can you let me come closer to talk?" Chen Yingliang opened his mouth to plead, wanting to get closer and show Fang Xuanling's letter of recommendation, to see if there was anyone in the city of Dongdu who could recognize its value.

  "Cut the crap! Scram!" The Sui general didn't bother with Chen Yingliang, shouting: "The Eastern Capital is under martial law, no idlers are allowed to enter or exit. If you want to be a soldier and eat rations, go to the old city in the west, or go to Baishi Ma Slope, they're fighting there, maybe they'll take you!"

  "Is Baisemart Hill in battle?" Chen Yingliang was overjoyed and hastily asked: "General, how is the situation at Baisemart Hill? I am willing to go to the front line to make a contribution!"

  "Hahaha! He's really a fearless little kid!" The Sui general burst out laughing, and the Sui soldiers beside him also laughed loudly. —— It was impossible not to laugh, you know, just yesterday when the defender of Dongdu, Fan Zigai, decided to send troops to fight, the generals and soldiers in the city were all afraid of being chosen for their own team. As a result, those who were not chosen to go out and fight were overjoyed, while those who were chosen to go on stage were crying and wiping away tears. Now Chen Yingliang was actually asking where the battlefield was and going there, and the Dongdu defenders who had not been sent to the battlefield really couldn't help but laugh.

  After laughing loudly, the Sui general, still in a playful mood, actually pointed out to Chen Yingliang the road to the battlefield of Baishi Ma Slope, and even kindly told him that the commander-in-chief who was leading the army to quell the rebellion was Pei Hongce, the governor of Henan. Chen Yingliang was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly, and immediately mounted his horse and rushed towards the eastern battlefield. As they watched Chen Yingliang leave with a happy and joyful expression, the Sui general's soldiers on the city wall all doubled over in laughter, holding their bellies. However, their joy was short-lived, for just as they were laughing uncontrollably, a stern shout came from behind them, "What are you laughing at? You're guarding a critical location on the city wall, why are you being so undisciplined?"

  Upon hearing the rebuke, everyone turned around and was immediately frightened out of their wits. They quickly fell silent, stood at attention, and paid their respects. It turned out that the person who had appeared before them was none other than Fan Zigai, the Eastern Capital's garrison commander and currently the highest military and civil official in the Eastern Capital, accompanied by a large contingent of his troops!

  A nearly seventy-year-old Fan Zigai was already with a head full of white hair, but he still wore dozens of kilograms of Mingguang armor, his armor was neat and tidy, his old body stood upright like a pine tree, his expression was majestic and unmatched, his aura was overwhelming, and he shouted: "What's going on? Why are you all smiling like this?"

  "Report to the general, just now a little devil came to join the army, saying he wanted to serve the country and kill the rebel Yang Xuangan." The previous Sui general reported truthfully: "Because he was only 17 years old, I didn't accept him. I told him that if he wanted to be a local soldier or auxiliary soldier, he could go to the front line at Bai Sima Slope. As a result, the little devil really went to the front line in a daze, and everyone thought it was strange and laughed."

  "What's so funny?" Fan Zhen'ge burst into anger, furious: "Look at other people's ambitions, at the age of 17, they want to serve the country, they want to kill the rebel Yang Xuangan, and then look at yourselves, who is more ridiculous?!"

  All the Sui army generals present were speechless, but Fan Zigai shouted again: "And another thing, don't think that just because he's only 17 years old, he can't do great things! Let me tell you, Zhang Xu, the governor of Qi Prefecture, has recently recruited a young general named Luo Shixin, who is only 14 years old! This 14-year-old young general killed how many enemies on the battlefield of Weishui, do you know? It's scary to say it out loud! In the Battle of Weishui, he single-handedly beheaded three rebel leaders and 25 rebel soldiers!"

  "A fourteen-year-old little devil, how crazy?!"

  Everyone who heard this sucked in a breath of cold air, and someone even shouted out loud. Fan Ziga however let out a heavy cold hum and said: "That 17 year old youth from just now, although I didn't see him personally, but based on his ambition alone, I dare say that you all missed out on a talented person! In the future you will regret it!"

  "Lord Lu Shou, shall we send someone to bring him back?" The Sui general who had spoken earlier said timidly: "He just left, it's still possible to catch up with him now."

  "No need." Fan Zige shook his head and said, "Since he's gone to the White Horse Slope, he must be going to join Pei Hongce. Pei Hongce is there fighting against the rebel Yang Xuanting, which would give him a great opportunity to show off his skills. If this kid is really talented, I'll definitely see him again in the future."

  The Sui army general nodded and retreated to the side, but Fan Ziga turned his gaze towards the eastern battlefield, muttering in his heart, "It should have reached the intense battle stage by now. Pei Hongce, Da Xishan, you must not disappoint me."

  ………

  Let's go back and take a look at Chen Yingliang's situation. After bidding farewell to the Sui army general who guided him, Chen Yingliang originally wanted to rush to the battlefield quickly, but after running for two or three miles, Chen Yingliang's horse was already exhausted from continuous running for several days. The speed became slower and slower, and it even started foaming at the mouth. Chen Yingliang had no choice but to get off the horse again and walk with the horse for a while to conserve its energy. Fortunately, Baishi Ma Slope is not too far away, and they can still arrive before dark on foot.

  In his mind, Chen Yingliang was thinking about how to flatter and fawn over Pei Hongce after meeting him, when he unknowingly walked out of seven or eight miles. Seeing that his horse had recovered a bit, Chen Yingliang got back on the horse and prepared to continue galloping eastward. However, not long after getting back on the horse, Chen Yingliang suddenly heard a loud commotion in front of him. A knight wearing bright armor but no helmet came rushing over on horseback, followed by more than ten armed cavalrymen, shouting loudly, "Chase! Chase! Catch him! Catch this official!"

  "What's going on?" Chen Yingliang was shocked, subconsciously tightening his grip on the reins of his horse and quickly drawing his sword.

  "Hiss!" When he was only a dozen or so steps away from Chen Yingliang, the helmetless knight's warhorse suddenly let out a mournful whinny and crashed to the ground. It was also at this moment that Chen Yingliang saw that the helmetless knight's warhorse had been wounded, with horse blood staining one leg bright red. At the same time, after the warhorse fell, it pinned the disheveled helmetless knight under its body.

  "Hahaha!" The cavalrymen chasing after the helmetless knight burst into mad laughter, shouting in a frenzy, "Take him alive! Take him alive!"

  "Little brother, save me!" The helmetless knight also shouted out loud, with a crying tone begging: "Save me, hurry up and save me!"

  "What to do?!" In a flash, Chen Yingliang made a decision that would determine the direction of his life, "I'd rather send charcoal in snowy weather than add flowers to brocade! Save people! The gain is greater than helping the victor!"

  With a determined look, Chen Yingliang immediately spurred his horse forward, arrived at the side of the helmetless knight's horse, jumped off and pulled him out of the warhorse, then pushed him onto his own mount. The pursuing soldiers behind were furious, each one shouting loudly, "You little brat! You're looking for death! Halt! Halt! Don't let you run!"

  Behind them were more than a dozen pursuers, Chen Yingliang would not dare to run, without saying a word, he climbed onto his mount and sat behind the helmetless knight, fleeing westward with him. The pursuing soldiers behind refused to give up and continued to chase after them relentlessly.

  Logically speaking, with Chen Yingliang riding this expensive dead horse, it would be difficult to run too fast after carrying two people, but fortunately, the war horses of the pursuing soldiers may have also consumed a lot of energy in the previous battle. Therefore, Chen Yingliang and the helmetless knight rode together for more than two miles before one of the pursuers finally caught up with Chen Yingliang's side rear, swinging his sword to chop at Chen Yingliang. Chen Yingliang hastily swung his sword to parry, using the military knife technique left in Chen Yingliang's memory, and clashed swords with the pursuer, exerting great effort to sweep away the pursuer's horse sword. The pursuer exclaimed and came again with another slash of his sword.

  "My goodness! I'm done for!" In the chaotic world, Chen Yingliang didn't want to kill anyone, but he also didn't want to be killed. Seeing that the pursuing soldiers were taking turns trying to take his life with two consecutive knives, and the pursuing soldiers behind him were getting closer and closer, Chen Yingliang also let go of himself, neither dodging nor evading, shouting loudly as he swung his knife directly at the pursuing soldier's head, using a ruthless and desperate fighting style.

  "Damn it!" The pursuing soldier was startled by Chen Yingliang's rogue blow, and with victory in sight, he did not want to perish together with Chen Yingliang. He could only hastily turn sideways on his horse, dodging Chen Yingliang's fatal slash. At the same time, his own slash at Chen Yingliang also fell empty. The unhelmeted knight who was controlling Chen Yingliang's mount took advantage of the moment to spur the horse's belly, forcing Chen Yingliang's dying noble steed to speed up and reopen the distance with the pursuer.

  "Halt!" Another pursuer approached, thrusting his spear to stab Chen Yingliang's back. Chen Yingliang dodged without a way out, and could only turn around to swing his sword fiercely at the long spear, shouting "Die!"

  With a loud crash, Chen Yingliang was quite surprised to find that his ordinary good knife had cut off the spear handle with one slash. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the spear shaft was rather rough and made of ordinary miscellaneous wood, its quality was very poor, and it couldn't withstand the powerful slash from Chen Yingliang.

  "Good job!" The helmetless knight caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but shout in praise, "Little brother, if all my soldiers were like you, we wouldn't have lost so badly today!"

  Chen Yingliang didn't care about the words of the helmetless knight, he just shouted loudly towards a small grove by the roadside, "Brothers, come out quickly! I've lured him here, come out and kill him to rob his horse! Quick! Come out and kill him to rob his horse! Quick, brothers!"

  "Is there an ambush?!" The pursuing soldiers behind were startled, subconsciously turning their heads to look at the small woods, unknowingly slowing down their horse speed, cautiously guarding against the ambush from the woods. Chen Yingliang took advantage of the situation and used the knife handle to heavily strike the horse's buttocks, the horse in pain let out a loud whinny and galloped wildly, reopening the distance with the dozen or so pursuing soldiers.

  It's unclear whether it was due to Chen Yingliang's successful deception or the fact that the walls and towers of Dongdu were already in sight, but after seeing Chen Yingliang run far away, the dozen or so pursuers finally stopped chasing him, cursing as they turned back to return by the original road. When they looked back at the scene, both Chen Yingliang and the helmetless knight let out a sigh of relief, but still didn't dare stop in their tracks, continuing to urge their horses on wildly as they fled for their lives towards Dongdu.

  It was probably fate, the helmetless knight controlled his horse and brought Chen Yingliang back to the outside of Anxi Gate, where he had previously been rejected by the army. When they were less than a mile away from the city gate, Chen Yingliang's precious warhorse finally couldn't withstand the intense galloping and fell to the ground with a loud whinny, spitting out white foam. Chen Yingliang and the helmetless knight also fell to the ground together. However, since the pursuing soldiers had already gone far away and the danger had been eliminated, the helmetless knight and Chen Yingliang not only didn't cry out in fear but instead burst into laughter as they lay on the ground together.

  After laughing enough, Chen Yingliang pulled his legs out from under the horse and stood up with his hands on the ground. He helped the helmetless knight, who was wearing heavy armor, to stand up again. It wasn't until then that Chen Yingliang noticed that the helmetless knight was a middle-aged man in his forties, with sweat, mud, and blood on his face. The bright armor also had bloodstains all over it, as if he had just been through an intense battle. In addition to this, Chen Yingliang carefully observed that the helmetless knight only had a sword scabbard on him, but the precious sword itself was nowhere to be seen.

  "Little brother, thank you so much today. If it weren't for you, I would have been done for." The helmetless knight bowed his head in gratitude, then asked again: "By the way, I haven't asked your surname and given name yet."

  "It's a trivial matter, I don't dare say thanks." Chen Yingliang hypocritically showed humility and replied: "I am Chen Yingliang from Daxing."

  "It was Brother Chen." The helmetless knight nodded and curiously asked, "Brother Chen, why did you head towards Baishi Ma Slope earlier? Didn't you know there's a battle going on there?"

  "I knew, it was because I knew that I went to Baishi Ma Slope." Chen Yingliang replied truthfully: "I was recommended by someone and originally wanted to go to Liaodong to join the army and serve the country. Who would have thought that after arriving at Miquan, I heard about the rebel Yang Xuangan's uprising? I was so angry that I decided to join the army to participate in the suppression of the rebellion. After inquiring, I found out that Baishi Ma Slope was the front line of the battle, so I planned to join the army there. As a result, I coincidentally encountered General, unfortunately, you were in trouble, and fortunately, I helped General a bit."

  "You're heading towards Hakuba Sakamori, are you planning to join the army? Aren't you afraid of death?" The helmetless knight's face was full of astonishment.

  "To serve the country, to be loyal to the Emperor, what is there to fear?" Chen Yingliang replied shamelessly.

  "Then who are you going to turn to?" asked the helmetless knight.

  "Henan Zanzhi, Pei Hongce Pei Daren." Chen Yingliang continued to answer truthfully, "I heard that he was the commander-in-chief of the imperial court's rebel-suppressing army, so I wanted to go and join him, serve under his command, and participate in the rebellion-quelling battle."

  Having said that, Chen Yingliang had another idea and hurriedly bowed to the helmetless knight, saying: "Sir, I am not acquainted with Lord Pei, and I come from a humble background. Even if I were to go to his place, it would be difficult for me to get an audience with him personally. Would you, sir, be so kind as to introduce me to him?"

  "No need for introductions, I am Pei Hongzhe." The helmetless knight smiled wryly and replied: "Unfortunately, you're a step too late. My 8,000 troops have been completely annihilated, leaving only me, the lone commander."

  "Ah!" Chen Yingliang was really surprised this time, not at the complete defeat of Pei Hongzhi's army, but at his own good fortune in being able to join the military and save the commander-in-chief of the target army!

  After the shock, Chen Yingliang hastily knelt down to Pei Hongzhi and said with courtesy: "I am Chen Yingliang, I have seen Zanzhi Pei. I have no great skills, but I have a sincere wish to serve the court. I am willing to serve you, sir, and I dare to ask you to accept me. I will risk being boiled in water or jumping into fire, and I will not regret even if I am torn apart!"