Chapter 134

Chapter 134

Tonight was bound to be a sleepless night.

After clearing the Shen family courtyard, Ji Pingan led the Imperial Guards back to the palace. The servants sent by various families, having overheard snippets about the Sacred Gu and the Holy Son, also retreated with their able-bodied guards.

The people of Younan Country remained fixed in place, rooted in the Shen family courtyard.

Shen Ye held Little Black in his palm, staring them down.

Xu Qingxuan and Shen Liushu, responsible for protecting Shen Anniang and the others, went outside to gather information. The Shen family guards stood watch at the courtyard gate, while the hidden guards once again melted into the shadows.

After confirming his relatives inside the house were safe, Shen Yuan stepped out and saw the Younan people kneeling on the ground, calling his uncle the Holy Son. Guessing it was related to Little Black and realizing this stalemate was pointless, he decided to call everyone inside to talk things through slowly.

"Everyone, come inside."

Hearing his eldest nephew's voice, Shen Ye snapped back to reality, stiffly turned, and walked straight into the house.

Led by the Grand Elder, the Younan people also filed into the house one after another.

When Shen Yuan asked what was going on, the Grand Elder of Younan Country explained everything.

The original You Country had fallen into internal strife and collapsed. During the chaos, someone stole the Sacred Gu.

Without the Sacred Gu, the Younan people could not breed their Life Gu. The Sacred Gu rarely recognized a master; historical records showed such instances were few and far between. If the Sacred Gu recognized a master, that person would become their Holy Son or Holy Maiden.

Their status was even higher than the emperor's.

The Sacred Gu could control all gu worms, meaning its master could command all gu worms.

Having finally quelled the internal strife, they even changed the country's name. Through secret arts, they learned the Sacred Gu's approximate location was in Wu Country.

Also genuinely interested in Wu Country's drama *Catching Demons*, they used it as a pretext to come to Wu Country.

Who would have thought that even after turning Youyang City upside down, they couldn't find the Sacred Gu.

Now it seemed the gu worms had found it, but the Sacred Gu had told them to conceal it, which was why they never knew its whereabouts.

Shen Yuan finally understood what the Younan people were searching for. He never expected it to be right under their noses.

His biggest concern was Shen Ye and Little Black's safety. "My uncle is not from Younan Country. He is bound to Little Black by a life bond. Recently, during Little Black's mating season, the physician said if it wasn't taken care of three times, Little Black would die. Then my uncle's life would also be in grave danger. Even if saved, he would spend the rest of his days relying on herbal medicines."

The Grand Elder knew of this. He hadn't realized that when the Wu Country's Prime Minister consulted him, it was about the Sacred Gu.

The Grand Elder said, "The situation I described to Prime Minister Xie applies to ordinary Life Gu. The Sacred Gu is called that for a reason; it is unique."

Hearing there was hope, Shen Yuan and Shen Ye both had their eyes light up, waiting for the Grand Elder to continue.

"No gu worm can match the Sacred Gu. We can only select the most powerful batch of gu worms. Place them together, and it will be resolved once the mating season ends."

"A batch?" Shen Ye was puzzled.

The Grand Elder explained, "Yes. Because no gu worm can suppress the Sacred Gu, it will consume its partner during the process. However, the signals it emits will irresistibly attract other gu worms. Since we don't know which one will finally get it through the mating season, we need to release a batch at once."

Shen Ye looked down at Little Black wagging its tail in his palm. Who would have thought? You, so black and shiny, round and plump, yet so ferocious.

"The Sacred Gu's recognition of a master is also different from other Life Gu. It has no such restrictions and is not bound by bloodline." The Grand Elder gave the Shen family a reassurance.

But there was a catch.

"However, the Sacred Gu must return to the Holy Land of Younan Country." The Grand Elder glanced at Shen Ye. "A Life Gu and its master should not be separated for too long, so the Holy Son must also return to the Holy Land of Younan Country."

Shen Ye let out a cry of surprise, "Go to Younan Country?"

The Grand Elder also felt this request was unreasonable for someone from Wu Country.

But he had no choice.

"The Sacred Gu's mating season can only be resolved in the Holy Land because it needs to consume a type of grass that only grows there. This grass rots within a day after being picked and cannot be transplanted. Without that grass, it cannot get through the mating season."

What the Grand Elder didn't say was that if the Sacred Gu didn't go to the Holy Land, they couldn't properly breed and develop new Life Gu either.

This matter needed further discussion; an answer couldn't be given immediately.

Although the Younan people were thrilled to have found the Sacred Gu, they didn't persistently pester him or force Shen Ye to agree. The Grand Elder led them away, agreeing to meet again in five days for a reply.

After seeing them off, Shen Yuan didn't press Shen Ye with more questions.

Tonight had been exhausting enough. After washing up, everyone went to rest.

Shen Yuan lay in bed, holding the rabbit-shaped warm jade, pondering whether the truth about Xie Yulin was real or not, and also worrying about his brother's safety.

The turmoil of Prince Rui's rebellion had just settled, only for another shock to strike.

Prince Rui's injuries were severe, leaving him with only a faint breath.

Li Xing still had questions to ask. Seeing the man wasn't dead yet, he summoned the imperial physician for diagnosis.

The old imperial physician felt the pulse and immediately froze, his expression growing increasingly panicked, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Noticing the old physician's unease, Song Zijuan asked, "What's wrong?"

The old physician didn't speak, only trembling slightly. Song Zijuan immediately whispered to Li Xing, and the next moment, Li Xing ordered everyone else out.

Only the old imperial physician, Song Zijuan, and the dying Prince Rui remained in the room.

Once the others left, the old physician hastily knelt, his nose almost touching the wooden floor, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, this... this is not Prince Rui."

"Not Prince Rui?" Li Xing walked over with his sword, his gaze fixed on the person lying there.

The nose and eyes were identical. How could it not be?

Song Zijuan also stepped forward immediately, checking the head to confirm there were no signs of disguise.

Before he could speak, the old physician stammered, "This person... is female."

The room fell silent.

Song Zijuan suddenly thought of something, his expression turning strange.

Xie Yulin's people had long since shared all information about Prince Rui with him.

Today, being able to have Zhang Weiyuan take action relied entirely on a jade pendant.

The jade pendant given to State Preceptor Shen Yuan by Deputy Magistrate Wang of Qingyun County.

It was also the jade pendant Prince Rui had given to Deputy Magistrate Wang.

No one expected that the jade pendant stolen back by the gu insect would have patterns that matched this design. After posing as a ghost to frighten people, they learned about the jade pendant from the delirious Zhang Weiyuan.

This jade pendant was also his mother's jade pendant.

It was originally thought that the jade pendant was either given by Zhang Weiyuan's birth mother to Prince Rui, or given by Prince Rui to Zhang Weiyuan's birth mother.

No one saw this coming.

Song Zijuan had previously asked Guo Mingchen to use a disguise and sneak into Zhang Weiyuan's room with the jade pendant, telling him that his birth mother was actually killed by Prince Rui. Prince Rui's special treatment of him was merely to use him, so that when he became emperor, he could be controlled. Prince Rui himself did not want to become emperor because he had a hidden ailment and could not bear children.

If Zhang Weiyuan would avenge his birth mother, that would be best, since Prince Rui trusted him and was completely unsuspecting.

If he did not seek revenge, they had other options.

They had prepared multiple contingency plans, but they never expected it to go so smoothly, or that they'd uncover such a shocking truth.

Prince Rui was a woman.

Prince Rui was not Zhang Weiyuan's father, but was his mother.

Song Zijuan had previously thought Zhang Weiyuan was Prince Rui's son, but it turned out Prince Rui was Zhang Weiyuan's mother.

No wonder the late emperor had made so many preparations for Prince Rui but still did not give her the throne.

And Prince Rui had also refused when she could have succeeded to the throne initially.

Instead, she proposed selecting another member of the royal family...

The Pingcheng Commandery Prince was young and sickly, and though his surname was Li, his destiny was too fragile to withstand it, so he took his mother's surname.

It would take three generations before his descendants could return to using the Li surname.

Logically, unless the entire royal family was wiped out, they would not have chosen the Pingcheng Commandery Prince, who still carried an outside surname at that time.

Yet he was precisely the one chosen.

It must have taken a lot of effort from Prince Rui back then.

But how did Prince Rui have such power? And why did the late emperor leave so many safeguards to protect Prince Rui?

Li Xing was also puzzled, so he ordered Song Zijuan to investigate.

Three days later, Song Zijuan revealed the truth.

Some of it was gathered from Prince Rui's estate, and some was obtained by threatening the dying Prince Rui with Zhang Weiyuan's life.

The reason they chose the least likely candidate, the Pingcheng Commandery Prince—and even the dimmest of his many children—was that Zhang Weiyuan's biological father was the late emperor.

The reason Prince Rui pushed to have Zhang Weiyuan adopted and prepared for the throne was because his bloodline was the purest.

Two senior ministers knew about this.

The former prime minister and the old general. One civil, one military, both entrusted by the late emperor to protect the child.

During Prince Rui's rebellion, they also took action.

Li Xing pored over the findings and, based on his own understanding, realized that his father was not his grandmother's biological child. His biological mother died in childbirth, and he was placed under his grandmother's care from birth.

Since he was frail from a young age and was a slow learner, he was not favored by his grandfather.

His grandmother, as the empress, had previously had two children, both of whom died young. Having a son who was not her own and also lacked promise, she feared the position of crown prince would not go to her son, so she wanted a child of her own. However, his grandfather did not want his grandmother to conceive again.

So his grandmother resorted to some methods and finally became pregnant, hoping for a boy.

His grandmother wanted a biological son so badly because she was not favored and was constantly under suspicion.

To ensure success, his grandmother made two preparations, planning to swap the child if it turned out to be a girl.

Unexpectedly, a month before giving birth, an epidemic broke out in Youyang City. The palace guards were extremely strict, leaving no loopholes.

Not only that, but his grandmother also fell victim to someone's scheme and went into premature labor.

The child did not die but was born prematurely.

Coincidentally, a palace maid in his grandmother's palace had secretly given birth to a son and was discovered.

It was a baby boy.

After silencing the palace maid, the baby boy became his grandmother's child.

As for her biological daughter, she originally intended to send her out of the palace but could not, so she secretly raised her in the palace.

The fake son was short-lived and died before turning one. For reasons unknown, his grandmother brought her biological daughter into the public eye and began disguising her as a boy.

Later, his father suddenly became clever, excelling in everything and earning his grandfather's appreciation and affection.

His grandmother was overjoyed when she learned that his grandfather intended to make his father the crown prince.

However, extreme joy turned to sorrow because his grandmother had previously made a mistake, and both children suffered as a result.

His grandmother's rival used the same method his grandmother had employed, drugging his father and his "uncle" and locking them in a room together.

Two biological siblings engaging in such an act of violation of ethics would be caught and both ruined at once.

In any case, the crown prince position would be out of reach.

But the schemer miscalculated—one of them was a woman disguised as a man.

His grandmother reacted quickly, preventing anyone from witnessing the scene and disposing of a group of people. However, she never expected that Prince Rui, then still a prince, would end up with a child.

With his grandmother's push, his father was quickly named crown prince, and the other princes were all enfeoffed and sent out of the palace to their territories.

Prince Rui happened to leave and gave birth to a child. Later, the child was sent to the Pingcheng Commandery Prince. The Pingcheng Commandery Prince's family had once been saved by his grandmother, and his grandmother also held enough leverage to destroy the Pingcheng Commandery Prince's family.

The two sides were locked in a delicate balance, pulling against each other.

After his father ascended the throne, for reasons unknown, he allowed Prince Rui to return from the territory and promised that Prince Rui could reside permanently in Youyang City.

Everything that followed was no secret; everyone knew it.

Li Xing gasped repeatedly as he read, exclaiming in amazement.

"My goodness."

"Oh boy."

Tsk tsk.

Could it really be like this?

Well, I’ll be! That’s eye-opening.

After reading it, Li Xing pondered for a long while, then patted his chest, relieved that he had so few wives.

He himself had only married one.

His ministers had foisted two more on him.

He couldn't take any more later; these three were it, not one more.

More folks, more trouble. Just look at the shocking secrets Song Zijun uncovered; it was terrifying.

Prince Rui was dead, and his identity remained hidden.

Li Xing kept it under wraps.

Otherwise, with Zhang Weiyuan alive, his special identity would have destabilized the court again.

Wiping them out completely wasn't an option yet, either. On the surface, Zhang Weiyuan was still the son of the Pingcheng Commandery Prince. If Li Xing killed a meritorious official like Zhang Weiyuan now, it would be a dead giveaway that he knew the man's identity and was silencing a witness.

It would be like handing leverage directly to the Pingcheng Commandery Prince.

Claiming "in the fog of war, blades have no eyes" wouldn't wash either; more than one person saw Zhang Weiyuan leave without a scratch that day.

However, Zhang Weiyuan was no longer a threat.

He’d lost his mind.

The old imperial physician diagnosed him personally; there was no mistake.

They said it was terror and shock, compounded by the fact that he’d been frail since birth. It hadn't shown before, but this scare brought it all out.

Guo Mingchen watched the raving Zhang Weiyuan, who shouted for his mother at the empty air and cried that he wanted to go home. Most of the hatred in Guo Mingchen's heart faded.

But he still hated him.

It was a burning hatred that not even flaying him alive could quench.

However, he didn't want Zhang Weiyuan dead anymore.

Guo Mingchen watched coldly as the lunatic grabbed handfuls of filthy dirt and stuffed them into his mouth, then slapped his own face because it tasted bad, banging his head against a tree.

Death would be a mercy for Zhang Weiyuan.

Let him live on like this.

...

Shen Yuan learned from Li Xing that the frontline battle report was fake, meant to confuse Prince Rui and lure him into making a move.

However, the situation at the border wasn't very clear either.

The two sides were truly deadlocked.

And that night, none of the other families were attacked; only the Shen family was targeted.

That's because every one of those kingdoms had a hand in attacking the Shen family.

They all wanted Shen Yuan for themselves, and if they couldn't get him, they'd rather see him dead.

Prince Rui thought the same way; if Shen Yuan couldn't be used, he had to be eliminated.

Better that than letting him aid Li Xing.

Who knew that the noble families would send people? Although not many from each, their numbers added up. Later, people from the Younan Kingdom also appeared, directly turning the tide of the battle.

That golden opportunity was missed, and it would be even harder to try again later.

Youyang City settled back into peace.

Life for the common folk went back to normal, as if the disturbances of the previous days had never happened.

Shen Yuan's new play, "The Guardian," was already written, and rehearsals had begun.

He wanted to debut this play on the big outdoor stage.

When Li Xing heard Shen Yuan's new play was in rehearsal, he had him summoned specifically, wanting Shen Yuan to add something to the script.

Song Zijun was also present; he was the one who came up with the idea.

After hearing them out, Shen Yuan caught their drift. "Your Majesty wants me to incorporate the military's system for casualties, rewards, and punishments into the play?"

"Vice Premier Song said if the actual content of the system spreads widely and everyone knows about it, those skimming from the military payroll would have to think twice; it wouldn't be as severe."

Li Xing had led troops in battle and had real interactions with soldiers. He knew best how serious payroll padding was.

He’d long wanted to fix it but never found a way.

The Prince Rui affair was just over. Regardless of what happened later, at least for now, those itching to make trouble would lie low.

He also knew it wouldn't hold for long, but some things shouldn't be abandoned from the start just because they can't be sustained forever.

Shen Yuan nodded; that wasn't hard.

Li Xing added that it would be best to start public performances on the Lantern Festival, as there would be many people then.

Considering the schedule, they could make it if they pushed. Shen Yuan didn't refuse.

...

The theater was swamped again, everyone run ragged.

Time was tight. Everything from props needed to be prepared within five days, and the play had to be rehearsed.

Shen Yuan also threw himself into it, making props, setting up the stage, and coaching the actors.

Shen Xi practiced by making several human-skin masks, fake beards, and fake eyebrows, all of which were sent to the theater.

This gave the actors many more choices for their makeup; the same person could even play characters of different ages.

While Shen Yuan was busy with theater matters, Shen Ye had also decided on his reply to the people of the Younan Kingdom.

He definitely wouldn't stay in Younan permanently. So, whenever Little Black went into heat, he would be in the Younan Kingdom, and return to the Wu Country after it ended.

The back-and-forth was a hassle, but he could also see different scenery along the way.

He was pretty keen to get out and see something new; staying cooped up and only active at night in the West City Ghost Market had gotten old.

The people of the Younan Kingdom were hoping Shen Ye would stay in their holy land with the Sacred Gu, but they knew it was impossible.

For now, this was the best they could do, so they had to go with it.

There was no keeping this from Li Xing. After both sides reached an agreement, Grand Elder Mu Yan went to meet with Emperor Wu to explain the situation.

Shen Ye’s identity was a sticky issue; without the emperor’s special pardon, he’d have a hard time leaving Youyang.

By now, Li Xing wasn’t the hampered ruler he used to be.

The Prince Rui rebellion case let him arrest a lot of people, and the troublemakers had all quieted down.

Through this incident, Li Xing also got full control of the troops at the garrison outside the city. Might makes right, so Li Xing immediately granted Shen Ye a special pardon.

If they hadn't been worried earlier that someone might target Shen Ye, his identity issue would have been resolved long ago.

Not only did Li Xing remove Shen Ye’s slave status, but he also gave him an official post.

He was posted to the Ministry of Rites, specifically in charge of setting up relations between Wu and Younan.

An official title would make traveling easier.

Shen Ye had also picked up a lot of info in the black market. Currently, no country was friendly with Wu, which wasn't good.

If he could help get Younan and Wu on good terms, it would be a good thing.

He gave a serious nod, promising to give it his all.

Five days passed quickly, and Youyang City was hopping for the Lantern Festival.

Although the weather was cold, tons of people were out strolling and having fun.

Compared to the empty streets of previous days, it was a world of difference.

The southern part of the city was the liveliest, and Shen Yuan had his stage set up there.

Shen Yuan had advertised earlier that a new play would premiere on the Lantern Festival, and the stage was jammed on three sides with people.

Many children in the crowd sat on their fathers’ shoulders, little hands wrapped around their fathers' heads, watching the stage with excitement.

Due to the large crowd, there were more patrols than in previous years to prevent accidents.

"Clang! Clang! Clang—"

The sound of the gong rang out, marking the start of the new play.

Lively, festive music swelled, and the stage showed a bustling wedding scene.

"The bride's here! Make a path, clear the way!"

The matchmaker, all smiles, yelled at the crowd gathered to see the bride to move it.

"Feng family's oldest, quit standing around and get your bride inside!"

At the matchmaker’s urging, Feng Ping grinned a simple, honest grin, his dark face turning red. Carrying his bride, he squeezed through the crowd toward the wedding chamber all done up.

Everyone in the village attended the wedding. Feng Ping held his wife’s hand—it wasn't soft, and a lot smaller than his, but his heart felt full and warm.

He dreamed about the days to come, with a wife and children.

However, just three days after the wedding, county clerks showed up, saying there was a draft.

Old Feng, with his lame leg, wasn't wanted. The third son of the Feng family was too young and didn't qualify.

Only Feng Ping in the Feng family qualified for conscription.

His wife cried her eyes red and fainted more than once. At the moment of parting, she grabbed her husband's clothes and wouldn't let go, demanding he promise her one thing.

To come back alive.

Feng Ping tried to comfort his wife and reassure his parents and kid brother.

He promised he'd come back.

It was the same story in every house—tears and reluctance.

In the middle of all the tearful goodbyes, Feng Ping packed his belongings and left his hometown with the conscription team.

The joyful atmosphere on stage moments ago contrasted sharply with the tearful goodbyes of this moment.

The sound of the suona seemed to linger in the air, but the joy was gradually replaced by sorrow.

The scene on stage moved the watching commoners to tears, as it stirred their own memories of sending loved ones off to war.

All they could do was follow the procession until they were forced to turn back.

Of those who left, few ever returned.

The stage setting changed seamlessly as the characters moved.

A dilapidated city gate appeared before their eyes.

It was the last line of defense in the war. If it couldn’t be held, all the cities behind it would soon be trampled by the enemy’s cavalry.

Along the way, Feng Ping had long stopped fantasizing that this was just a dream from which he would wake up and return home.

"Feng Ping, you don’t look well. Are you feeling unwell?" Cao Shan reached out to touch Feng Ping’s forehead—no fever.

For easier management, people were mixed up, and those from the same place weren’t grouped together.

Feng Ping was lucky to be assigned with Cao Shan from the same village. Along the way, the two supported and looked out for each other, managing to persevere.

Many had died from exhaustion or illness on the journey.

"I’m fine, just a bit homesick."

Feng Ping’s words made Cao Shan sigh. He withdrew his hand, his eyes filled with melancholy. "Who isn’t? My wife is due to give birth next month. I don’t know if it’ll be a daughter or a son."

"When the war is over, we can go back. Then you’ll see," Feng Ping offered dryly.

Cao Shan chuckled softly in agreement. "Yeah, we’ll know once the war ends and we return."

This time, unfortunately, Cao Shan and Feng Ping weren’t assigned to the same place.

Cao Shan went to guard the provisions, while Feng Ping was responsible for clearing the battlefield.

After one battle, the enemy suffered significant losses among their various city-defense chariots.

Following waves of fierce fighting, the ground was stained with blood and strewn with countless corpses.

Military medics, carrying small wooden boxes, darted back and forth, providing emergency treatment to the wounded soldiers.

Feng Ping’s job was to clear the battlefield: not only to collect and dispose of bodies, but also to salvage usable weapons. The recovered weapons had to be wiped clean to slow the rusting process.

Some arrows had lost their fletching and needed to be re-fletched. If an arrowhead was usable but the shaft wasn't, they had to fit a suitable new shaft.

Clothing and shoes were stripped entirely from the corpses to be reused as military supplies.

Any concern for dignity or propriety in death had long been abandoned.

Although Feng Ping did not fight on the front lines, dealing with the dead every day gave him nightmares night after night.

Feng Ping was terrified.

He feared that one day he too would die by enemy sword or arrow. Not a single day passed without him missing home; he longed to return at every moment.

Even if he couldn't go home, just getting away from here would be enough.

This desire reached its peak after he dug out the body of a fellow villager from under a pile of corpses.

Trembling and weeping, he stripped all the clothing from the body.

The dead man was Zhou Hu, the second son of the Zhou family next door to his home. On Feng Ping's wedding day, it was Zhou Hu who had driven the oxcart and helped with all the preparations.

And now he was dead.

Dead.

Feng Ping stared at the body, stripped completely bare like a dead pig, and couldn't control himself from stepping back.

Desertion meant punishment for one's family.

Feng Ping forced himself to stop, then continued handling the corpses.

On stage, the actors playing the stripped corpses actually wore flesh-colored undergarments to represent nudity.

The dyed fabric was sent by the Liu family from Qingyun County. The color closely matched skin tone, and the tight-fitting garments, combined with the distance between the stage and the audience, were convincing enough to seem real.

They couldn't actually strip the actors completely naked.

Unaware that the actors still wore skin-toned undergarments, the audience genuinely believed the people on stage had been stripped bare.

The sight moved them to tears.

Several even tried to climb onto the stage to plead with them to stop.

When a person dies, to lack even a straw mat is bad enough, but to end up without even a piece of clothing for cover...

It was truly pitiful.

Thinking of their own relatives who had gone to war, whose bones were never brought back and likely received the same treatment, their sorrow deepened.

The actors on stage addressed the intervening audience.

"If we don't strip their clothes, the remaining soldiers will go without. Military supplies require silver, and where does that silver come from?"

The common folk understood all too well—the silver came from them.

But where could they find extra grain to pay taxes and silver?

Ah, it's difficult, so difficult.

The audience members, red-eyed as they left the stage, felt a deep ache in their hearts. They dared not dwell on the thought of their own relatives who had died at the front.

The battle on stage grew increasingly intense: the sounds of clashing, weapons striking, arrows flying back and forth, splattering blood...

Soldiers, their swords gone, fought hand-to-hand. Hands severed, they used their teeth. An enemy soldier, his ear bitten, screamed in pain and, in the chaos, thrust his sword into the soldier's back.

The soldier's body stiffened, then collapsed to the side.

The audience gasped, their hearts clenched.

That young soldier, barely more than a boy, had lost an arm, his mouth full of blood, a gaping bloody hole in his back.

As more and more soldiers died, the enemy sent someone to shout a message.

"The Wu army is surely defeated! Surrender and you may yet live! Why not abandon your resistance quickly!"

On the city gate tower, the old general stood firm as a pine tree, his voice hoarse but loud enough. "Even if we fight to the last man, we will never surrender!"

Too many soldiers in the army had died. Feng Ping's unit, originally responsible for clearing the battlefield, now had to join the fight.

In this battle, many more on their side perished.

But now, there was no need to strip the corpses of their clothes.

Because there weren't many soldiers left alive.

Feng Ping stared at the unit, now reduced by half, and asked the one-armed captain with a dazed expression, "Why doesn't the general surrender?"

The captain smacked Feng Ping on the head with his good hand. Then, under the curious gazes of the other soldiers, he explained, "If our defense here fails, the enemy won't bother managing the city—they'll slaughter everyone first, loot everything they can, then attack the next city. If we fall here, the path behind us will be cleared like cutting melons and vegetables. We can't surrender. We must hold out and wait for reinforcements."

The captain sighed deeply. "Think about what's behind us. Once you understand that, you'll know why we can't surrender, even if it means death."

Feng Ping thought about what was behind him.

He thought all night, and finally understood.

Behind him were his loved ones. Behind him was home.

He was guarding the foremost line of defense. He would use his own flesh and blood to protect his family.

The enemy attacked again.

Compared to the enemy forces, Feng Ping felt their own soldiers were pitifully few.

This must be the final battle.

Feng Ping prepared himself for death.

What he didn't expect was that the common people in the city also began to mobilize.

The general ordered the city gates opened, to draw the enemy inside the city to be killed.

The townspeople, intimately familiar with the city's layout, picked up broadswords. Those skilled with bows and arrows took up high positions to provide support. Soldiers and civilians worked together, united in their efforts, and managed to turn the tide brilliantly.

The street fighting fired up the common folk. With their frustration built up from earlier, they felt a burning hatred for the enemy soldiers portrayed on stage.

Before anyone knew it, a good number of them had climbed onto the stage, fighting the enemy alongside the soldiers.

Without weapons, they used their bare hands.

Common folk aren't weaklings; their hands pack a serious punch. A single slap could sting badly. Fortunately, the actors playing soldiers and townspeople would quickly intervene, saying they'd handle this enemy first and urging the civilians to get to safety.

This deeply moved the common folk. They insisted on standing or falling with the city, vowing not to give up until the enemy was driven back.

Only when told to go protect the children did they finally back off.

Shen Yuan watched from the sidelines, torn between laughter and frustration.

For future performances, they'd need to post more people to hold back the crowd.

The scene ended, and they changed scenes.

When the curtain rose again, the street fighting had concluded, and they were cleaning up the battlefield.

Feng Ping saw a little girl dragging a corpse.

He rushed over to help.

"Uncle, can you help dig a hole for my mother to sleep in?" The little girl pulled out a hardened, dry flatbread from her clothes. The edges were marked with bites, showing how carefully it had been nibbled, taking only tiny bites each time. She held out the flatbread to Feng Ping, her eyes pleading. "Will this do as payment?"

Feng Ping refused the flatbread. He helped the little girl bury her mother.

Another audience member, unable to control their emotions, climbed up in tears, offering to help dig the hole.

While digging, they told the little girl not to be afraid, to carry on, and that the enemy would surely be defeated.

That area of the stage had been prepared beforehand; the floorboards could be lifted, exposing dirt below that could be dug into and refilled.

After the hole was dug, the audience member was guided off the stage by other actors. The little girl's mother was replaced with a paper effigy and buried in the hole.

The play continued.

The child, who hadn't cried until then, pressed her cheek to the packed earth, sobbing until she was breathless.

There were many who had died.

As Feng Ping walked along, everywhere he heard weeping.

Below the stage, the audience was also in tears—men, women, old, and young—all weeping openly.

But the war didn't even allow them a chance to mourn properly for their lost loved ones. The enemy attacked again.

Many others perished.

Later on, the dead weren't even buried anymore. There was no place to bury them, and no energy left for it.

Soldiers on the city walls fell one after another, fighting to their last breath.

Feng Ping, who initially struggled to even lift a blade, could now raise it and bring it down swiftly, cutting down enemies with ease.

He dared not stop, nor could he allow himself to.

Like all the soldiers and civilians defending the city, behind him lay what he cherished and wished to protect.

Everything was a red blur. Feng Ping swayed unsteadily, his sight unclear.

But at any hint of movement ahead, his hand would instinctively rise and strike.

No one could get past him to what he protected, unless he died.

"Kill—!"

A thunderous roar of rage barely pulled Feng Ping's fading consciousness back. Was the enemy attacking again?

It was actually reinforcements arriving.

Feng Ping swayed a few times and completely lost consciousness.

Their dogged defense had succeeded in holding out until reinforcements arrived. Seeing the situation was hopeless, the enemy forces could only retreat.

The city was saved.

The surviving soldiers prepared to return home. Feng Ping, relying on sheer brute force, emerged with all his limbs intact, though his face and body bore many scars.

Cao Shan lost his left eye to an arrow, but thankfully, his life was spared.

Dozens from their village had gone; only three returned. Besides Feng Ping and Cao Shan, there was a young man who had lost his left hand. The trio made their way home together.

All three had military achievements to their credit. Military merit could be exchanged for land, and land granted for merit was tax-exempt. Although their merits at most entitled them to only five mu of land, it wasn't much, but five tax-free mu meant a lifeline for a family.

The army also issued pay. Depending on the extent of disability, there was additional compensation silver.

Feng Ping received no compensation silver, but his army pay was five taels. Cao Shan received nine taels in total. Their fellow villager who lost a hand got twelve taels.

For those who died for the country, their parents, wives, and children were exempt from taxes and corvée labor, with a pension of twenty taels of silver.

The audience below the stage, listening to the play, doubted their ears.

Since when did soldiers receive so much pay? There was even compensation silver for injuries? For soldiers killed in battle, a pension of five taels was considered the absolute maximum—how could it possibly be twenty taels? Not to mention the exemption from taxes and corvée for at least four family members.

Exempting just one person would give a family breathing room, let alone four.

Feng Ping handed the lock of Zhou Hu's hair, which he had cut off with an arrowhead, to the Zhou family. Zhou Hu's elderly mother held the hair, crying "my son" as she collapsed to the ground.

In the village, it wasn't just the Zhou family who wept.

White paper money fluttered on stage. Several cenotaphs appeared in the village.

Joy rises, mourning falls.

"Guardian" had ended.

Since it was told from the perspective of an ordinary soldier, focusing on common folk, it created an incredibly strong sense of identification for the audience.

Even after the play ended, they couldn't stop their tears. Children whimpered, telling their parents not to die.

The Lantern Festival is a joyous celebration, but in a way, "Guardian" is a realistic tragedy.

Precisely because the main perspective is that of an ordinary soldier—Feng Ping could be the father, son, brother, or grandson of anyone in the audience—it becomes a tragedy of reality.

Ji Pingan walked onto the stage with a sword at his hip; he had an announcement to make.

The audience below the stage, seeing a majestic general appear, thought the play wasn't over yet. They watched while quietly sobbing, waiting for him to continue the performance.

Ji Pingan had an expressionless face, looking like he wanted to be left alone. He cleared his throat lightly, then announced loudly, "The military pay, disability subsidies, pensions, and land grants for military merit depicted at the end of the drama 'Guardian' are all regulations within the Wu army. If any families have similar circumstances but find errors in their records, they may report to the yamen to register. Officials will be dispatched later to verify the details. Once everything checks out, compensation will be issued according to the regulations. However, anyone found to have submitted fake claims or stirred up trouble will be punished severely, no exceptions."

As Ji Pingan spoke each sentence, a row of Imperial Guards below bellowed it back, ensuring even those at the back could hear clearly.

After delivering the message, he repeated it twice more before stopping.

The audience erupted into a cacophony of chatter, like countless little sparrows chirping all at once.

The news spread like wildfire, and within just a day, it had spread all over Youyang City.

The next day, Shen Yuan deliberately took a detour past the yamen entrance and noticed that only a few people had come to register.

He could roughly guess the reason.

Distrust.

Who knew if speaking up at the government office might lead to arrest?

However, he didn't know how to fix this. Even if he did, it wasn't a quick fix, especially not under the current circumstances.

...

Shen Yuan and Shen Anniang were at home packing Shen Ye's belongings; he was about to depart for the Southern Kingdom of You.

Midway through their preparations, a palace messenger showed up, saying the Emperor wanted to see him.

Whenever Emperor Wu summoned him, it was always for a reason. Shen Yuan didn't delay and hurried to the palace.

Li Xing had sent for Shen Yuan because he had sneaked out again to watch the drama.

It was one thing not to watch, but seeing it had been a real eye-opener.

In 'Guardian,' the two armies fought using a type of long blade—he knew this weapon was called a *modao*.

Previously, his friend Xie Yulin had mentioned wanting to forge a batch of new blades to take to the battlefield. If they proved effective, they would also train a *modao* unit.

It was said they could chop down horses, but no one had actually used them, so nobody knew how well they’d really work.

There hadn't been enough time to test them properly; they could only be tried out in actual combat on the battlefield.

It wasn't until today, after watching 'Guardian,' that Li Xing realized just how formidable the *modao* could be.

With such a weapon, the iron cavalry of the North Country wouldn't stand a chance!

It wasn't just the long blade; the drama also featured various defensive chariots and emergency medical techniques used by army physicians.

These were things that hadn't been mentioned before.

As soon as Shen Yuan arrived, Li Xing pulled him over to sit down and asked excitedly, "If we forge those horse-slashing long blades, can they really achieve the effects shown in the drama? And those defensive chariots—can they actually be built, or are they just imaginative props for the performance?"

Naturally, the performance on stage didn't use real horses or blades; they were prop horses manipulated by people from the sides.

The blades were also prop weapons, with actors reacting according to the choreographed movements.

Shen Yuan had only remembered the *modao* as a usable weapon when writing the later parts of the story. Knowing it didn't exist here, he had informed Xie Yulin about it.

As for the chariots, he didn't have specific blueprints and could only create a rough shape—essentially an empty frame.

Even if the *modao* failed, it could still be used as a regular blade. But if the chariots failed and were deployed, it could lead to disaster.

Thus, the chariots weren't adopted; Shen Yuan had only used them as props.

But Li Xing had taken a keen interest in them.

Shen Yuan voiced his concerns, and Li Xing understood the reasoning.

If there had been no concerns, his friend Xie would have already developed them together.

"No matter, let the Ministry of Works figure it out. If they can make something usable, we'll send it to the front. If not, we'll reconsider. After all, we're not treating it as a trump card; there's plenty of time to research and refine it."

Li Xing thought pragmatically—whether it could be done or not, they should try first.

Shen Yuan naturally had no objections. He would draw up the blueprints, and the Ministry of Works could work out the details through research and experimentation.

Li Xing examined the drawings repeatedly, planning to summon the Ministry of Works officials later.

With the weapon matter addressed, there was still one issue unresolved.

Li Xing set the drawings aside carefully. "What about those emergency medical techniques? Are there detailed instructions? Are they effective?"

"I don't know much. What I can share is that wounds should be treated with strong liquor, or tools should be sterilized over fire to slightly reduce the risk of severe subsequent infection. Deep wounds can be stitched with needles. If a treated wound worsens, honey can be applied. In an emergency, to stop bleeding quickly, gauze can be packed into the wound."

Shen Yuan, worried Li Xing wouldn't understand terms like bacteria or infection, rephrased his explanation. He then described methods for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as simple treatments for burns, scalds, and hypothermia. Beyond that, he could offer little more.

Li Xing asked Shen Yuan to write everything down in detail. Combined with what army physicians already knew, this would be sufficient to handle basic emergencies.

After Shen Yuan finished writing, Li Xing studied the notes for a while. He fidgeted as if something were bothering him; hesitation and beating around the bush weren't in his nature. After a moment of internal struggle, he spoke directly: "Should we keep these techniques to ourselves, known only within Wu Country? What about removing the emergency medical methods and weapon details from the drama?"

"The *modao* can't be hidden; it will be used on the battlefield. As for the chariots, without blueprints, they'd be difficult to replicate. The emergency medical techniques weren't depicted in great detail in the performance anyway, so even if others watched, they wouldn't be able to learn them."

Shen Yuan's words dispelled Li Xing's concerns, so they decided to let the drama proceed as it was.