Chapter 40: The Old General in Military Uniform

  Several figures stumbled out of the dense forest, limping and staggering, and gazed out at the desolate landscape before them. Chen Yunsheng couldn't help but shake his head.

  However, he and Chang Ying were not like Tang Guan Xiao Qi, who was a naive child. After several decades, they did not give up in vain, and immediately recognized the direction to go.

  Tang Guanwo was in Chen Yunsheng's arms, and because of the cold, he would shiver from time to time. Fortunately, his body was not heavy, and Chen Yunsheng, being a scholar, could hold him without much effort.

  "Go away, hold on a bit" Chen Yunsheng tried to hold Tang Guan tighter, this child was born unlucky, first with epilepsy, then suffered poisoning, and now drowning.

  If it weren't for his innate talent, outsiders would definitely call him a troublemaker, or as Tang Guan put it, an unlucky bear child.

  "It will take about two to three hours on foot for the imperial historian to reach the borders of Yangzhou."

  "Let's hurry up then." Chen Yunsheng said, quickening his pace a bit. Chang Ying could naturally walk faster than him, and even shorten the time by more than half, but he had to travel with Chen Yunsheng together.

  The two walked and stopped, Chen Yunsheng occasionally holding Tang Guan in his arms and sitting down, stretching out his hand to feel the temperature of his head, which was not too hot, secretly letting out a breath of relief, before continuing on their way.

  Although this is not a wide road, fortunately after walking for an hour, the fields gradually come into view, it seems that we have arrived at a place with people and smoke, there are small paths, and the two of them walk more quickly.

  Chang Ying's arm was constantly seeping out fresh blood, soaking through the back of Xiao Qi's clothes. Xiao Qi was still in a coma, his condition slightly better than Tang Guan's, after all, he didn't have any underlying illnesses, and at this point, he was half asleep and half awake.

  The road was difficult to walk on at night, and Chen Yunsheng's feet often slipped into puddles, getting him covered in mud.

  A few people stumbled forward, the sky had already broken dawn, a wheel of sunrise slowly rose, and this morning sun did not bring them warmth, the early morning was the coldest.

  Changying exhaled a mouthful of hot air and gazed ahead, saying: "Yu Shi, hold on, we're almost there."

  Chen Yunsheng was a bit out of breath and spoke in a stuttering tone: "Y-you... your injury isn't serious, r-right?"

  "Hey, Your Excellency, don't worry about me, I've never been seriously injured before." Chang Ying smiled carelessly, his eyes still shining brightly despite his pale face from blood loss.

  Seeing him like this, Chen Yunsheng was also secretly shocked. He had never paid attention to these martial artists before and didn't know their bodies were so tough.

  "This eagle is indeed a personal talent" Chen Yunsheng thought to himself as he walked, if it weren't for him, they would have probably sunk to the bottom of the river long ago.

  He did not know that in addition to being a "professional soldier" loyal, the biggest relationship with Tian Hou was actually her death order. If he fled in battle, he would also be killed. Moreover, Chang Ying did not think he had Ma Lie's skills and could not live a life of dodging and hiding.

  Just as the two were advancing cautiously in the field, a nearby haystack shook slightly. The eagle's ears moved and he shouted: "Get down!"

  Chen Yunsheng had been on high alert since he nearly drowned, and when he heard the order, he quickly dropped down.

  "Hiss, hiss"

  They had just lain down when two feathered arrows shot across almost grazing their scalps.

  Chang Ying suddenly stood up, like a falcon swooping down on that arrow coming from the grass thicket.

  This move is extremely fierce and is the most ferocious in the Eagle Claw style, named after the eagle swooping down on a rabbit.

  When the eagle-eyed man saw clearly the figure of the hidden person, his strength suddenly relaxed, and he picked him up as soon as he fell to the ground. It turned out that it was a military officer wearing a dark green uniform.

  "Don't move!"

  Jiang Ying had just captured this man when a group of people rushed out from the other side, holding horizontal knives and surrounding Chen Yunsheng and Tang Guan.

  Chang Ying let go of the person in his hand and shouted: "Which one of you is the brave warrior of the Wei army?"

  The soldiers were taken aback by his words and looked at Chen Yunsheng on the ground, saying: "Ahead is a military restricted area, no passage is allowed within 30 miles"

  Chen Yunshang was overjoyed when he heard the words and responded with a proverb that would be passed down for generations: "After trampling on iron shoes, there's no need to search; what comes is effortless."

  There was only one old general named Xiang Yan in Yangzhou who had a military camp, and he immediately spoke up: "I am an imperial censor from the capital, I have been attacked by bandits, and I have come to seek your help."

  Everyone looked at each other after hearing this, and Chen Yunsheng slowly got up, took out the tiger tally from his waist, and wiped it with his sleeve to make it shine.

  The soldiers were shocked and said, "We wish to see General."

  It turned out that this tiger tally could only be held by generals who went on expeditions, and although Chen You Sheng's block did not have the effect of deploying troops, it was unimpeded within the imperial borders.

  Ordinary civil officials naturally did not have such an honor, which shows how much the Empress Dowager valued Tang Guan. She treated the announcement of Tang Guan's appointment as if it were a declaration of war.

  The crowd bowed and saluted, sizing up Chen Yunsheng and Chang Ying. Seeing their disheveled appearance, the scouts who had been hiding here initially took them for spies and were about to execute them on the spot, now thinking back they couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

  "Take me to see your commander"

  They were originally standing with their hands clasped, but upon hearing this, they hesitated. A soldier awkwardly stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, we have military orders to follow and cannot let you proceed."

  Chen Yunsheng furrowed his brow upon hearing the words, untied his bundle, and pulled out the golden imperial edict. The soldiers had still been harboring doubts, but when they saw this object, they instantly knelt down in unison: "We pay our respects to Your Majesty."

  "I have military matters to report, take me there quickly"

  "Obeying the Holy Command"

  The crowd then stood up, Chen Yunsheng tightened his arms around Tang Guan's waist and followed the two soldiers forward.

  While the other soldiers dispersed and lay in ambush, Chang Ying saw this scene and nodded secretly. Pei Yan had also joined the army when he was young, not a pedantic scholar who only talked about military strategy on paper.

  Two men closely followed behind the soldier, it has to be said that this military camp is heavily guarded, with a checkpoint every three steps and a sentry post every five steps.

  Two soldiers in front occasionally make strange noises, and the surrounding bushes move slightly before they can pass.

  Chen Yunsheng didn't understand this way of thinking, but he also felt a twitch in his eyelid. This kind of marching and fighting was much more difficult than he had imagined.

  They walked for about half an hour, and the horse-drawn carriages and fences appeared before their eyes. Chen Yusheng looked up and saw that the military camp was set up on a small hill with a flat surface, facing the sun, and there were no higher commanding heights around it.

  "Your Honor, the execution ground is just ahead, please bring out the Tiger Tally."

  Chen Yunsheng nodded upon hearing this and handed over the tiger tally, knowing that this was to verify his identity. He only had half of it, while the old general in the camp had the other half.

  He dismissed the scout and took over the tiger tally, then walked into the military camp.

  He hastily walked quickly towards the main tent of the army, and there were guards standing in front of the tent.

  "Present!" The herald raised the tiger tally in his hand and shouted.

  The two guards took a glance at the object in their hands, blinked, and without asking further questions, went to report to the emperor.

  The room was extremely simple, with only a kang bed and a desk. On the desk, there was an oil lamp that had not been extinguished, apparently having burned all night.

  After the case, an old man with white temples looked at the map on the table, his eyebrows furrowed. He wore a suit of armor that shone brightly, and although he was advanced in years, the black war cloak behind him was dotted with dark red stains - anyone who saw it would know at a glance that these were bloodstains from battles fought long ago, which could never be washed away.

  This man is indeed Laozi's incarnation!

  "Report to the commander, there is a tiger tally outside the tent that needs to be presented."

  "Tiger tally!?" Pei Yan heard this and raised his head.

  "Enter"

  The guard heard this and walked out of the tent, shouting at the scout: "Advance"

  Ji Hou nodded and bowed his head to enter, then looked up at Pei Yan: "Reporting to the commander, there is an imperial censor seeking an audience below the mountain. This is the military tiger tally."

  After finishing speaking, Shi Hou respectfully presented the tiger tally to Pei Yan, and Pei Yan took it over and played with it for a while.

  The tiger tally had a pattern of a black turtle engraved on it. "Which one is Yu Sheng's?" Pei Yan muttered to himself.

  See

  "Yes" Shi Qiu saw Pei Yan's test was unverifiable, and he had some doubts, but still accepted the order with a bow.

  This old general was always concise in his speech when speaking in the army, and they also gradually got used to Pei Yan's few words.

  Ji Hou turned around and walked out of the tent. Pei Yan then took out a tiger tally from his bosom, which was identical in shape to Chen Yun Sheng's.

  The two tiger-shaped pieces fit together with a "click", and Pei Yan nodded slightly before standing up and walking out of the tent.

  "The Grand Secretary summons the Commander-in-Chief"

  Na Zhihou came out of the camp and immediately walked towards Chen Yusheng and others, saying.

  Chen Yunsheng and Chang Ying followed the scout's footsteps into the camp.

  In a moment, they arrived in front of the main tent, and saw that Pei Yan had already come out.

  Chen Yunsheng saw Pei Yan and rushed forward, shouting loudly: "Old Master!"

  Bai Yan was shocked at the sight and asked: "Yun Sheng, is that really you? How did you end up looking like this?"

  At this time, Chen Yunsheng was covered in mud and tightly wrapped around Tang Guan. He didn't have the slightest appearance of an imperial official, but rather looked like a refugee fleeing famine.

  Chang Ying carried Xiao Qi on his back, silent and motionless, secretly sizing up Pei Yan. This was the first time he had been so close to this old general in armor.

  "Ah, it's a long story! Liu Xun is going to rebel!" Chen Yunsheng felt like he had seen a family member when he saw Pei Yan, and his tense nerves relaxed, with some incoherent words.

  Bai Yan's heart moved upon hearing this, but his face remained expressionless as he said, "Enter the tent first."

  Chang Ying also wanted to carry Xiao Qi together into the account, but two guards blocked him. Pei Yan turned his head and looked at him, waved his hand, and Chang Ying entered the account.

  "Yun Sheng, didn't you go to Hangzhou to pick up Tang who was ill?"

  Chen Yunsheng glanced around and, without regard for etiquette, placed the Tang crown on the couch, then took Little Qi from her side. Pei Yan saw this but didn't think it was unusual.

  Chen Yunsheng then turned his head and said: "That's it"

  Pei Yan was startled by the words and fixed his eyes on the two people on the bed, asking: "Which one?"

  Chen Yunsheng pointed at Tang Guan, and Pei Yan looked him up and down again before saying, "How did you end up looking like this?"

  Chen Yunsheng collapsed to the ground, as if venting out all his hardships along the way, and said: "Please call a doctor first, please call a doctor first!"

  Pei Yan only then noticed Chang Ying's injuries and Tang Guan's constant trembling. He waved his hand and ordered, "Summon the military doctor!"