Chapter Twenty-Three: The Eve, As Usual Quiet

  After entering the city of Qiansang, Li Guang first let the seriously wounded soldiers go for medical treatment. The lightly wounded soldiers were simply treated and continued to stay in front of the city tower, waiting for deployment. Up to now, no one knows what the situation will be like later. As for Li Guang defending the city, with more than 2,000 troops, he is not afraid of the Xiongnu cavalry. The Xiongnu cavalry has never had any good strategy in attacking cities.

  The troops were arranged to go to their posts, the city defense was strengthened, and then Li Guang ordered the remaining generals to rest. After a day of battle, they had been running wildly for another night, and everyone was very tired.

  After Qin Cheng disposed of the yellow flag, he went to the rest area of the 18th thing alone. Although the formal appointment of the military marquis had not yet come down, Li Guang's temporary appointment was naturally unavoidable. At this time, Qin Cheng was ordered to go to the 18th thing to take over some matters.

  The residents near the city wall have been relocated according to wartime requirements, and now there are only a few thousand soldiers here. Considering that the Xiongnu may still advance on Qiansang City, all the defending troops of Qiansang City were transferred to the city gate, with the most at the north gate.

  Because the dwellings were insufficient, the streets on both sides were crowded with Han military officers and men, gathered together in formation. At this moment, almost all of them had fallen asleep. Torches were arranged at intervals, illuminating a large area near the North Gate. Under the torches, the shadows of people and objects, either complete or incomplete, danced chaotically against the flickering flames.

  The autumn night was quite chilly, especially in the north. The battle robe soaked with blood and sweat clung to his body, feeling exceptionally cold in the wind. Qin Cheng moved his wrist slightly, looked up at the starry sky that was somewhat different from before he crossed over, and felt a slight sense of melancholy in his heart. He pulled out his long sword, which already had some nicks on it, and suddenly the famous poem from a thousand years later appeared in his mind: "Drunk, I look for my sword by lamplight, In dreams, I hear the sound of bugles..."

  Before he could find the landing point of eighteen, a team of nearly ten cavalry rushed over from Qin City's side. Qin City looked at it and saw Le Yi at the end of the line. At this time, Le Yi also saw Qin City, called out to the people in front, then turned his horse around and rushed towards Qin City.

  Without waiting for Qin Cheng to speak, Yue Yi swiftly dismounted his horse with a look of excitement and asked: "I heard you beheaded the Xiongnu Left Bone Lord, were you injured? I've been wanting to ask you since earlier when I saw you following General Li, but couldn't find an opportunity - at that time when you beheaded Left Bone Lord, I was unconscious."

  Lao Yi first didn't ask about anything else, and only asked if Qin Cheng was injured. This warmed Qin Cheng's heart, who replied: "I'm fine. Did you faint? How are your injuries?"

  Lao Yi still smiled, and with his fist on his chest, he pounded twice, saying: "Nothing's wrong, it's just that I fought too hard during the day, and my strength is all used up. Rushing into Eagle's Mouth, I let out a breath, but didn't catch up, and fell off the horse. Fortunately, there were people around - today I beheaded twenty Xiongnu cavalrymen!"

  "Twenty?" Qin Cheng felt a slight surprise, he naturally knew the cruelty of the melee that day, and also knew that killing twenty enemies was almost enough to be proud of in the army. He smiled and said: "It seems that your decade-long efforts have not been in vain. Such military achievements, I'm afraid there are only a few people in the army who can match them. As long as you don't die at that time, promotion and ennoblement are inevitable. This time you have truly brought honor to your ancestors."

  "It's just a small achievement, not worth mentioning. How can it compare to your one stroke that beheaded the Xiongnu general Zuo Bone Dou Hou? Lü Yi had heard others describe the scene of Zuo Bone Dou Hou at the Battle of Qin City, and in his heart, besides being shocked, he was also happy for Qin City. "To say that the Xiongnu's Zuo Bone Dou Hou has always been a brave warrior who is good at fighting, it's not an exaggeration to say that he's one in ten thousand. You've made a great contribution this time, intimidating the enemy's courage, and the army was able to withdraw safely from the Eagle's Mouth, which can't be said to be without your credit for this battle. Saying so, I still have to admire you."

  Qin Cheng and Yue Yi walked side by side, Yue Yi leading the war horse, both of them were survivors of a great disaster, their true feelings revealed in their conversation.

  "On the way back, I saw you holding a yellow flag, which was very strange. How did that yellow flag end up in your hands?" Le Yi asked.

  "The Junhou died in battle, and I took advantage of the situation to seize the yellow flag from the Xiongnu. After that, General Li had me carry... General Li appointed me as the new Junhou, but now the 18th unit doesn't have a unit leader, so General Li told me to go back and instruct, letting Dong Zhuo temporarily take over." Qin Cheng's tone was completely calm, as if becoming a cavalryman was nothing worth boasting about.

  "You've recovered the Yellow Flag?" Le Yi was taken aback for a moment, "This is another great achievement. It seems that no matter how many heads I cut off, they can't compare to your two enormous contributions. I don't know how General Li will reward you after the war, and also at court. These two achievements of yours are definitely going to be reported to the imperial court."

  Qin Cheng smiled and didn't say much more.

  While talking with Yue Yi, Qin Cheng also found eighteen, and then parted ways with Yue Yi, each returning to their own home, each finding their own mother.

  "What's long, you're back?" A sentry in the city gate opened his eyes and saw Qin Cheng, excitedly saying "Everyone get up quickly, Shi Chang is back!"

  "Hmm." Qin Cheng nodded, helpless in the face of this soldier's agitation.

  Dong Chuo didn't sleep well, when he saw Qin Cheng, he was listening to the soldier talking. He slapped the soldier on the back of his head and scolded with a smile: "What's this 'what' business? Now you're a military marquis! Do you know that, Military Marquis? The general personally appointed me as a general, I heard it with my own ears at the time. Is that right, what... no, Military Marquis?"

  The few survivors of the battlefield have all woken up. Qin Cheng said: "General Li asked me to come back and make some arrangements, Dong Chui will temporarily take over as the commander of the 18th battalion."

  "Is this true?" Dong Chao asked with surprise and delight, but then thought that it was only temporary, and his heart cooled down a bit. However, thinking that he had killed many Xiongnu people today, he thought that as long as he didn't die in battle, the matter of being granted land would definitely not be a problem. So he said: "General, you can rest assured, Dong Chao will definitely not disappoint your expectations!"

  Qin Cheng nodded and said to the crowd, "Although I am no longer your leader in the future, if you have anything that needs help, Qin will not decline as long as he can assist."

  After all, eighteen is his own place of origin, and Qin City still has some feelings for the people here.

  Everyone was flattered when they heard Qin Cheng's words.

  Finally, Qin Cheng ordered everyone to rest first and pulled Dong Chu out alone, asking: "When I came back, I didn't have time to go see Wu Daliang, how's his injury?"

  "General, don't worry, Daliang is fine. He's awake and okay. On the way back, he woke up on the road. When I went to see him, his first words after waking up were 'I'm sorry for causing trouble' and he also said that the one strike that killed the Xiongnu Left Bone General was truly impressive!" Dong Zhu reported truthfully.

  Qin Cheng nodded. Wu Daliang's kung fu was not outstanding, but as a veteran, he had seen a lot. For such a veteran, why is he still just an ordinary soldier until now, and hasn't even been promoted to squad leader? Qin Cheng didn't quite understand. He thought that if there was an opportunity in the future, he could pull him up.

  Dong Chuo saw Qin Cheng and didn't say a word, but his eyebrows danced with excitement as he said: "General Hou's previous beheading of the Xiongnu Left Bone General was truly astonishing! I watched it with my own eyes and admired it deeply. If I may say so, General Hou has such great skills that his future achievements will be boundless! If General Hou really rises to greatness in the future, I hope he won't hold it against me for being disrespectful as a subordinate before, and can pull me up with him - I would be eternally grateful!"

  "Don't worry. The brothers of the 18th Route Army will rely on you to take care of things from now on. If there's any problem in the future, I'll ask you!" Dong Zhuo had many bad habits and was quite self-interested, but he saved Qin Chong on the battlefield during the day, so Qin Chong acknowledged him. Because of this, Qin Chong wouldn't go around in circles with him.

  "General, rest assured that I will not let the eighteen vassals be bullied!" Dong Zhuo swore solemnly, seeing Qin Chengyu looking at him with interest, he changed his mind and his voice softened a few degrees, "Of course, I won't bully them either."

  "That's great."

  After handing over to Dong Chou, Qin Cheng suddenly didn't know where to go. The memories of his two lives didn't have any information about where the military marquis should live. Just as he was hesitating, someone came to call for Qin Cheng.

  "Qin Cheng, the general has summoned you." The personal guard team quickly stepped forward in front of Qin Cheng and said.

  "Alright." Qin Cheng responded and followed closely behind the commander of the Imperial Guard.

  "I don't know how to address you, Big Brother?" Qin Cheng asked after walking a few steps. On the battlefield, Qin Cheng had inadvertently seen this person take action and thought that his kung fu was very formidable. The guard Li Guang had also sacrificed himself, and he couldn't help but admire him. Moreover, when he first met him before, he had been impressed by his straightforwardness towards Li Dang, so he asked.

  "Just call me Li Hu." The bodyguard team leader said calmly.

  "It was actually Brother Hu. Today on the battlefield, I saw that Brother Hu's skills were quite impressive and I admired him in my heart. I don't know why he didn't participate when it was time to try out, but unfortunately, I couldn't exchange blows with Brother Hu!" Qin Cheng said boastfully, naturally thinking of getting closer to him in their relationship. With a loyal and righteous military officer like this, it's better to be familiar than not."

  "It's all the same, no interest." Li Hu's tone was still very calm, and after saying that, he glanced at Qin Cheng, seeing his expression was normal. "However, exchanging a couple of moves with you is still somewhat interesting."

  "Oh? That's great. Then another day, I, Qin, will certainly ask Brother Hu for guidance." Qin Cheng said with a smile.

  "Take the opportunity to practice well, I won't show mercy." Li Hu said calmly, as if beheading the Xiongnu Zuo Bone Dou's Qin City hadn't given him a second glance. "Of course, on the premise that you can survive this war."

  Li Guang had just finished inspecting the guards on the city wall and was reading by candlelight in his large tent. When Qin Cheng followed Li Hu into the account, he didn't see Li Gan, guessing that he had gone to sleep.

  "General, bring Qin Cheng." Li Hu ordered Li Guang, then turned around and walked out of the tent.

  "I have seen the general. I don't know why the general has summoned me?" Qin Cheng said with a bow.

  Li Guang put down the bamboo slips in his hand and looked at Qin Cheng, saying: "Earlier I saw that you had merit in guarding the yellow flag, so I appointed you as the new Marquis. Now thinking about it, this proposal is not suitable, so I called you to change your position."

  Li Guang paused, seeing Qin Cheng's calm expression, and continued: "However, for the time being, I won't be able to find a suitable position for you. Why don't you stay by my side for now? After this battle is over, I'll report back to the imperial court and recommend you for a proper position based on your merits. What do you think?"

  "I will follow the general's orders." Qin Cheng said respectfully. He thought to himself: It seems that Li Guang thinks my performance today is not bad, and wants me to be his assistant. Thinking of this, Qin Cheng smiled to himself, it was worth it for him to have spoken up earlier despite the difference in their status. Fortunately, he was facing the Flying General Li Guang, if it were an ordinary general, he might not have been given a chance to speak like Li Dang.

  Li Guang nodded in satisfaction with Qin Cheng's performance. Li Guang then asked Qin Cheng for his opinion on the current battlefield situation, but before Qin Cheng could express his thoughts, Li Hu entered the tent and reported to Li Guang: "Report to General, Cavalry Captain Ji Zhu has returned to camp!"

  "Let him in!" Li Guang's spirit shook, and he said. The cavalry captain Ji Zhuo was leading a team of cavalrymen to make the "hanging sheep and beating drums, hungry horses neighing" at Lao Yingkou.

  "Hello!"

  Immediately, a man with a similar build to Qin Cheng strode into the large tent. He had an ordinary appearance and was someone who would be hard to pick out in a crowd. If there was anything special about him, it was his bright eyes and the fierce aura that emanated from his entire body.

  "Ji Zhu sees the general." Hanzi entered the camp and bowed down to Li Guang.

  "Ji Zhuo, how are things?" Li Guang hastily asked.

  "We were lucky to have escaped unscathed, and by the time we reached the Eagle's Mouth at midnight, the Xiongnu had not detected us. Only then did I follow General Li's orders and lead our troops back to the city!" Ji Zhuo replied.

  "Good!" Li Guang said, "General Ji Zong is indeed brave and fierce. Now you can go rest first and prepare for another battle tomorrow!"

  "I will obey orders!"