Ch50 - Tiger’s Teeth and Crane’s Beak

“Good skill!” The right protectorate general, who had been helplessly given three bloody scratches, saw Ge Ruoyi’s step movement and couldn’t help admiring her. No wonder the military advisor was taking this maid to the battlefield; she turned out to be an expert! 

Mu Hanzhang was slightly surprised. Ge Ruoyi had learned concealed weaponry from Ghost of Nine Blades for only a few months. How could she be so skilled in martial arts already?

“This is footwork passed down through my family. It’s called ‘Treading on the Waves Barefoot’, and is just a little trick. I’ve let the right protectorate general see a laughable performance,” Ge Ruoyi said with a smile as she comforted the little tiger in her arms.

“Aiya, this is a good trick. Teach me too when you have time!” The right protectorate general grinned and moved closer to poke the little tiger in Ge Ruoyi’s arms in the head. “Little thing, you have a pretty fierce temper!”

“Ruoyi said it’s a family tradition. If the right protectorate general wants to learn, he must first become a Ge family member.” Seeing that Ge Ruoyi had some awkwardness on her face, Mu Hanzhang went over to pick up the tiger cub and joked. 

“OK! I agree to… Ouch! ” The right protectorate general laughed “hehe” and was about to say something else, when he was suddenly slapped on the head. He turned around angrily, and came face to face with the expressionless left protectorate general. “Why did you hit me again?”

“Your face is bleeding,” the left protectorate general said.

“Is it?” The right protectorate general touched his face, and sure enough, the scratches had already begun bleeding, and were rather painful. “It’s OK, this little wound will be fine in a moment.”

“Medicine.” The left protectorate general pulled at him and took him back to apply medicine to the scratches.

“Does this need medicine? A scar on the face is a symbol of a man. Perhaps the emperor will even record me as having done a meritorious deed in the military because of this injury!” The right protectorate general struggled incessantly; if this little wound was treated with medicine, he would surely be laughed at by Zhao Meng that guy.

“Then how are you going to report this merit to the emperor? Are you going to say that it was the Southwest King who scratched you?” The left protectorate general grabbed him by the collar impatiently and dragged the endlessly noisy man into the tent.

At last, it was quiet now. Mu Hanzhang rubbed the little tiger’s head with a smile, thinking in his heart that he would have to trim this little thing’s claws.

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At the smell of the meal, Mu Hanzhang, who had been eating dry rations for a day, immediately became hungry. He pulled his hair out of the tiger’s mouth and wiped the saliva off it with a cloth towel. He got up and sat down at the small table. Looking at the fragrant meal in front of him that looked and smelled great, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “You made this?” Although the food in the army had improved, it wasn’t to this level.

“Gongzi is tired. It’s better to have some good food.” Ge Ruoyi smiled; the Wang Ye had specially gotten her to personally cook a couple of dishes for the Wang Fei.

“You are considerate, but it’s better to do this kind of thing less. I’m a military advisor, and I should eat the same as the officers and soldiers.” Nevertheless, Mu Hanzhang still picked up his chopsticks and said, “Go get some minced meat to feed the tiger cub ba.” He still couldn’t call out the name Xiao Huang. He still felt it was silly to call a tiger Xiao Huang.

Ge Ruoyi watched the little tiger gnaw on the pillow on the bed, and ladled a bowl of soup for Mu Hanzhang. “This maid will go get it later. If Gongzi wants to raise this tiger cub in the long term, you must personally feed it.” If this kind of fierce beast cub was fed personally at a young age, they would regard the person who fed them as their mother, and when they grew up, they wouldn’t hurt their master. 

Mu Hanzhang heard this and nodded slightly. “How do you know this, Ruoyi?”

“This maidservant’s family used to do business on the sea. Father once obtained a young lion…” Ge Ruoyi said, then the smile on her face gradually vanished. In order to protect her, that lion had been shot full of arrows by an archer of the Southeast King. It was only by hiding under the lion that she had been able to escape.

She took out a small embroidered purse from her lapel and showed it to Mu Hanzhang. There was a handful of golden lion fur in it. The fur was solid and bright. One could imagine how powerful the lion had once been. Mu Hanzhang tied the bag back up to return to Ge Ruoyi and sighed. “Ruoyi, now that the war has started, without the lips, the teeth will feel cold. The Southeast King will not just sit by indifferently and watch the southwest vassal state be removed, because he knows that sooner or later, the southeast will be attacked as well…”

“Gongzi need not try to persuade me anymore. Ruoyi has already decided.” Gripping the purse tightly in her hand, Ge Ruoyi smiled, yet her eyelashes were wet with tears. “This maidservant lives for the sake of revenge. It would be hard to dispel my hatred by relying on the army to destroy the southeast!” 

Mu Hanzhang looked at her and couldn’t help but sigh.

After their return, the army marched for another half a month. The first group of soldiers met up with the Cheng Wang’s army and they marched to the border of Shu. There was a sudden rainstorm, however, and Jing Shao ordered them to immediately set up camp. They would get wet on the way, and they also lacked medicinal ingredients. It was easy to get sick in the army. The march also wouldn’t be fast in the rain. It wasn’t worth the losses. Everyone agreed that it was better to wait for the rain to stop before setting off again.

“Jun Qing, don’t come out first. I’ll call you when the camp is ready,” Jing Shao pushed aside the curtain of the carriage and said to the person inside.

“You come up, too.” Mu Hanzhang put down the tiger cub in his arms and used a cloth towel to wipe the rain on Jing Shao’s face. 

Jing Shao smiled and poked the little tiger with a wet finger. “I’m OK. I have to look after them.” After saying that, he jumped out of the carriage to direct everyone in setting up camp. The army that had come to join them was led by a general. He would never listen to instructions from Zhao Meng and the others, so Jing Shao could only personally step in.

“Gongzi, Ruoyi would like to set off first.” Sitting in front of the carriage, Ge Ruoyi looked at the sky and spoke to Mu Hanzhang.

“Now?” Mu Hanzhang was somewhat stunned. All the strong men in the army had to sit around and wait for a few days in this torrential downpour, yet a young and weaker woman wanted to hurry on now.

Ge Ruoyi smiled. “This kind of rain won’t stop for four or five days. Yesterday, the Wang Ye received news that the Southwest King is currently choosing beauties to give to the Southeast King. If I arrive late, I’m afraid I won’t make it.” 

Mu Hanzhang frowned and looked at the girl who said such words with the lightness of clouds and the clarity of wind, inexplicably feeling his heart ache. “Take this. Once you have gotten your revenge, don’t do anything foolish; wait for us in the southeast.”

Ge Ruoyi took the silver banknote which Mu Hanzhang gave her and remained silent for a long time. She knelt at his feet and kowtowed to him three times. “If this one has the fortune to survive this time, Ruoyi will definitely use the rest of my life to properly repay Wang Ye and Wang Fei’s benevolence!”

Jing Shao was directing everyone in setting up camp. He was completely drenched. Dressed in a woven rush raincoat, Guo Ruoyi led a horse toward him.

“You go ahead; there’ll be someone outside the Sheng Jing mountain pass to help you.” Jing Shao gave her a token. “Have you said goodbye to the Wang Ye?” 

“I did just now,” Ge Ruoyi replied, the sound of the rain muffling her words as she choked with emotion. She knelt in the rain and kowtowed to Jing Shao three times as was the custom, before mounting the horse and cracking the whip as she rode away. Muddy water splashed everywhere under the horse’s hooves, and the graceful figure covered in that coir raincoat disappeared quickly in the pouring rain.

People who had nothing left were the most terrifying, and the ancient people spoke of how in everything, one must prepare for the unpredictable. As dictated by the natural law of righteous human relationships, there would always be appropriate retribution. The consequences of the evil of killing to the last would sooner or later be revealed. Just like his own rebirth, perhaps the will of heaven did exist in the unseen supernatural world. Jing Shao was distracted for a moment, before he walked towards the carriage, the coachman quickly rushing in the same direction.

Since their journey was impeded by heavy rain, Jing Shao idled for several days in the gentle and tender home that was the military advisor’s tent, but Xiao Huang was becoming more and more unpleasant to the eye.

“Jun Qing…” Jing Shao pushed his Wang Fei down on the bed. “There’s nothing to do, let’s do something interesting…” He then began to untie the lapel of the person under him. 

“No, it’s broad daylight, wu…” Mu Hanzhang struggled, wanting to push away the body on top of him.

“Wawu~” When the tiger cub saw Jing Shao peeling off its master’s lapel, it also pounced on him and scratched at the snow-white belt, trying to bite it.

“Go away, this is mine!” Jing Shao was immediately unhappy as he grabbed the tiger with two fingers and threw it to one side. However, the little tiger was full of energy. When it was thrown, it thought that Jing Shao was playing with it. It jumped over again and grabbed Jing Shao’s hand, biting and gnawing with its belly facing up. Its rear claws also wouldn’t stop moving and scratching.

“Hahaha…” Looking at this scene, Mu Hanzhang couldn’t help laughing. Jing Shao looked at his Wang Fei with a gloomy face. Actually laughing at this time; the mood was gone… 

Finally, after waiting for the rain clouds to scatter, the army began moving again, and soon met up with the Shu army. It was already the ninth lunar month by the time they finally arrived at the southwest border, where the Qian army had been waiting. Thus, the army of 100,000 had gathered.

They were originally supposed to camp fifty li away from the Sheng Jing mountain pass, but Jing Shao ordered them to camp a hundred li west of it.

“Wang Ye, to enter the southwest, we must go through the Sheng Jing mountain pass,” Zhao Meng said in front of the map. He didn’t agree with Jing Shao’s plan to camp a hundred li away; only when they were close would they be able to move in the siege equipment.

The Lao Hei mountains crisscrossed the north and south over an area of around two hundred li. The Sheng Jing mountain pass was low-lying. If they wanted to march into the southwest, that was the only way. 

“There will definitely be a massive military force stationed at the Sheng Jing mountain pass. If we attack there, we will definitely suffer disastrous casualties,” Jing Shao said in a deep voice from where he sat on a raised platform. Everyone thought that the best way to attack the southwest was to enter through the Sheng Jing pass. He also thought the same in his last life, but unexpectedly, the Sheng Jing pass was easy to break through. Beyond the pass stretched a narrow mountain pass that was tens of li of long and unbroken terrain, and ambushes lay everywhere. Moreover, within the pass lay other passes. Even if they could force their way in, it would require much time and effort to enter like that. Moreover, this would allow the Southwest King to take advantage of them. Their forces would be exhausted, and by the time they finally dragged themselves out, the Southeast King would have already rushed over with reinforcements.

“Then what can we do? Apart from the Sheng Jing pass, there’s only the Tiger’s Teeth pass within a radius of a hundred li. Can it be that you want us to enter from there?” Hao Dadao couldn’t help but speak up. He had read military books since he was a child, and he knew all these mountain passes like the back of his hand. The Tiger’s Teeth mountain pass here was different from the Tiger’s Teeth pass in Jingzhou. This one was known by the name Tiger’s Teeth, Crane’s Beak. The terrain was extremely steep and had strange rocks that were craggy and shaped like a crane’s beak, while the perilous, jagged rocks that hung above were like a tiger’s teeth. There was only a single mountain road through this pass; it truly was a place where “one man could hold the pass against ten thousand enemies”!

“Wawu~” These days, only Jing Shao called the little cub by its name, while everyone else called it Little Tiger. Thus, when Xiao Huang heard someone mention “tiger’s teeth”, it thought it was being called, so it immediately responded with a yowl.