Chapter 34: The Fierce and Fiery Army Slave

  Contrary to Yang Shuang's and everyone else's expectations, what appeared before their eyes was not a rescue team, but a group of Imperial Guards escorting a slave convoy. They were all wearing bright red Imperial Guard uniforms, with crescent-shaped curved knives at their waists. There were over 230 slaves being escorted, and more than 230 Imperial Guards responsible for the escort, almost equal in number. Each Imperial Guard was responsible for one slave, but instead of whipping or scolding them, they seemed to be helping them walk.

  Yang Shuangfeng struggled to get up, standing in the middle of the road, looking at the team in front of him with a strange expression. He was surprised by the unusual calmness of the Imperial Guards and even more surprised by the identity of the slaves. The slaves were all men, ranging from 20 to 40 years old, with robust bodies, but they had all lost their right hands, and the sleeves on the right side of each person's clothes were empty, looking very obvious yet eerie at the same time.

  On the continent of Yilan, slave trading has always been booming and legal. He was already familiar with it when he was young. Slave trading is not limited to men or women, but generally, there are more women because female slaves can not only work but also give birth to offspring. Younger and more beautiful ones can also satisfy their masters' desires, which is a multi-benefit thing. Therefore, in the slave market, beautiful female slaves, especially those who were born into noble families with wealth and knowledge but became slaves due to political reasons, are always extremely popular objects, with prices often skyrocketing, even selling for astonishingly high prices.

  However, male slaves were not unheard of, but there were very few public auctions. Male slaves were bought back to work, and they did the most exhausting and laborious jobs, such as building construction and mining, rather than wasting food. The empire explicitly stipulated that slaves were not allowed to hold weapons, so even if some people had this idea, they dared not use slaves to organize private armies. For slaves, if they were men, of course, the stronger the better, if they were women, naturally the more beautiful the better. Slaves with physical disabilities generally couldn't sell for much money, and sometimes no one wanted them, let alone this group of slaves without right hands.

  However, this was not what made Yang Shuang most astonished. What made Yang Shuang most puzzled was the origin of these slaves. Each of them had a military slave mark on their forehead, which meant that they were all cleared out from the army for committing serious mistakes. But no matter how big the mistake was, it shouldn't be necessary to cut off their right hand before becoming a slave! This double punishment seemed to have obvious malice.

  The one leading the Imperial Guard was a very young cavalry captain, short in stature but sturdy, with a somewhat tiger-like appearance. The soldiers under his command were all equipped with uniform swords, except for him, who used a black-patterned halberd with a square head, which made Yang Su feel that he looked a bit like Lü Bu from the Three Kingdoms, with a very heroic appearance. This team of Imperial Guards looked good in spirit and appearance, and their commander had a somewhat brave and fierce look, obviously being the elite of the Imperial Guard. Seeing Yang Su standing in the middle of the road, the cavalry captain, who looked like Lü Bu, was slightly surprised and hesitated for a moment before swallowing hard and reluctantly running over to salute.

  "Respected General Yang, Lieutenant Kesu Han of the Imperial Guard Cavalry pays his respects!" The young lieutenant was clearly perfunctory in his greeting to Yang Suofeng, and even his military salute was somewhat lackadaisical, merely raising his hand slightly before dropping it again, without even looking at Yang Suofeng.

  Yang Shuangfen returned the courtesy lightly, her eyes falling on this small car riding school lieutenant. It seems that Gesu Han did not cover up his disgust for himself very well, if not for the strict military discipline, he would have quietly slipped away from his side a long time ago.

  "Kushuo Xiaowei, where are you from? Which unit do these military slaves belong to?" Yang Shuangfeng ignored Kushuo Han's cold expression and walked closer to him, looking at the slaves with curiosity. Unintentionally, he suddenly noticed that the eyes of those slaves all carried a painful and angry look, which made his heart tremble slightly.

  "Reporting to Admiral, these brothers are from the distant Azure Corridor, they are under the command of Tang Hu, we came all the way from Azure Corridor." Geshu Han had no good feelings towards Yang Shuangfeng's familiarity, instead he retreated a few steps with an air of avoiding plague, his facial expression almost explicitly conveying to Yang Shuangfeng not to meddle in other people's business and ask unnecessary questions.

  Yang Xuan's heart was touched, and he nodded lightly, sighing: "It turns out it's the troops of Tang Hu's mansion..."

  "Those are the ones assigned under Tang Hu's command..."

  No sooner had the words fallen than someone among the slaves suddenly shouted loudly: "No, we are not Tang Hu's troops! We are from the 19th Division of the Central Army, we are people of the Fiery Bird Division!" The voice was extremely loud and full of indignant emotion.

  Yang Shuang's expression was uncontrollable, but he heard Ge Shu Han hastily rushing over and stomping his foot anxiously, saying: "Aide, can you please say less? We all know that you are from the Huolie Bird Brigade, no one doesn't know that... What's the point of telling him again? He is just a helpless naval lieutenant general, and now he is on land. Look at the corpses in front of us, he himself is struggling to survive!"

  Yang Shuangfeng couldn't help but feel both angry and amused, this Ge Shuhan really knew how to talk nonsense, not understanding the need to be a bit more tactful! However, this also indirectly reflected the Emperor's thoughts, using an old saying, it was indeed "the hearts of Tang Ming are known to all", even a small Jinyiwei cavalry lieutenant like himself knew that the Emperor's granting him the title of naval lieutenant general was just a way to have him die with dignity.

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel even more depressed, and it seemed like a sense of resentment had accumulated in my heart, but there was no way to vent it. I couldn't help but say: "Geshu, let him speak, I've indeed heard of the name of the Firebird Brigade, the Blood-colored Medal Brigade that made a big name for itself during the 12th Loona War Council. How is General Vache's body now? Is he doing well?"

  Geshu Han's face sank, and he didn't speak. His eyes seemed to be brewing some deep emotions.

  Yang Shuangfen furrowed her brow in confusion, but then heard a slave coldly say: "Our commander is doing great now, someone takes care of his food, someone takes care of his lodging, and someone even takes care of whipping him every day to ask for his well-being! He spent his whole life dedicating himself to the country, but in his later years, he ended up like this."

  Yang Shuangfeng was taken aback, and then suddenly felt a chill in his heart, inexplicably saying: "What did you say?"

  Ko Shou Han jumped over and patted the talking slave on the back, saying discontentedly: "Aide, can you just say a few less words? No one takes you for a mute. Look at Monty and Doug, they don't talk as much as you do. The more you speak, the more mistakes you make. Haven't you had enough of being scolded? Even if you haven't had enough, don't drag your brothers down with you! What's the point of bringing up Lieutenant Wache?"

  Yang Shuang carefully examined the slave who was speaking, but he was a thin man with no obvious characteristics. However, the two men beside him were quite distinctive. The one on the left had a very red face, which seemed almost sickly, and his skin was covered in many unsightly pimples. He didn't look very pleasant at first glance. But he was tall and sturdy, with an unyielding gaze that made him seem rather deep. The man on the right didn't look much better, also being tall and sturdy, but his face had several deep scars of strange shapes, seemingly not from a knife wound, but from shrapnel flying across the battlefield. Each scar was almost deep enough to see bone, some wounds still hadn't scabbed over, revealing dark red festering flesh, which indeed made people feel extremely terrified.

  Seeing Yang Suofeng's meticulous observation of himself, the two burly men were also nonchalant, with no abnormality in their expressions. It was Ge Shuhan who couldn't help but say: "Lieutenant General of the Navy, it seems that your family is calling you!"

  Yang Songfen turned her head to look, but saw Cai Bingxiao and others still supporting Su Yunruo as they walked slowly. After experiencing the baptism of heavy rain and crawling in the mud, several women looked very disheveled, with a lot of dirt on their faces, so no one noticed their beauty. Yang Songfen took a closer look and found that their eyes were not looking here, but were discussing something in a low voice. Su Yunruo was obviously chilled and kept sneezing.

  Yang Shuang looked at Su Yun with concern, and he himself felt a strange feeling in his heart. He wanted to go over and comfort her, but he didn't make a move. It wasn't until after a while that he turned back around, only to see that Ge Shu Han had already left his side. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Brothers, let's continue on our way. Once we arrive at Bao Ying Fu, we can take a good rest. At that time, I'll get some wine for everyone to drive away the chill."

  The man with a scarred face and a menacing look nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "Thanks for your concern, just burn the knife."

  Ge Shu Han didn't pay any attention to Yang Su Feng beside him, and said straightforwardly: "No problem, Du Ge old big mouth has spoken, there's no unfinished business."

  The other slaves all burst out laughing, and someone said: "Damn it, Ge Shu, if only you were one of our Flamingo Legion!"

  He burst out laughing and walked with big strides, saying loudly: "I've long considered myself a member of the Firebird Squad! The Imperial Guard is stuck in the capital all day, bored to death, only knowing about battles at the front. I'm anxious to the point of fuming behind the scenes. I need to think of a way to get transferred to Bai Yulou's side, that's the only chance I'll have to go into battle."

  That skinny slave smiled and said: "Geshu, if you come to our squad, we'll be brothers, no questions asked. If you need artillery support, we'll provide it even if we have to dismantle the cannon itself." His voice suddenly dropped again, with a hint of despair, saying: "Alas, forget it, don't come. You'll end up like us anyway! What's the point?"

  "Damn it, we'll have chances in the future, won't we? We can't be unlucky all our lives, right? Let's go! This damn rain is so depressing, I'm freezing like an ice block, almost dying of cold!"

  Yang Shuangfeng's heart slightly moved, and he said to Gao Shuhan: "Gaosu Cheji Jiaowei, trouble you to come over for a moment, I have something to ask you."

  Gesu Han walked over with a reluctant expression, his whole body feeling uncomfortable. He didn't even bother to salute and said somewhat impatiently: "I don't know if there's anything else the Navy Lieutenant General needs help with?"

  Yang Shuang said in a low voice: "Are they all artillery officers?"

  "Yes, they are all artillery officers of the 19th Division of the Central Army, from the highest rank of Tiger General to the lowest rank of Changlin Lieutenant. There are a total of 236 people here. Tang Hu said that not one can be missed. Does General have anything else to ask? Does General want to go over and pay his respects, show some leadership care? Or give them some comfort goods?"

  Yang Shuang's expression clearly felt the unwelcome atmosphere, but he didn't get angry, only a little urgently said: "Then, can you tell me why they became slaves? How is Major Vache now?"

  "Admiral, don't you think your curiosity is a bit too much? As for why these brothers have become like this, you should ask His Excellency Tang Tu. As for what happened to General Wache now, I think you should consult with the Military Tribunal's Superior Officer Lin!"

  Yang Shuangfeng was shocked and exclaimed: "Is Major Vache going to be court-martialed?"

  "Indeed!" Ge Shu said coldly, and with that, he turned around and left without looking back. Under his command, the imperial guards lifted up the slaves who were having trouble moving, and the procession continued to move forward slowly and laboriously. As they walked through the road littered with corpses, they didn't even give them a proper look, as if the bodies on the ground were just pieces of wood.