Neun Lieder - Kapitel 105
Gently stroking his trembling back, Rongyue sighed softly. Love is something that cannot be explained or described, yet it is the most tormenting thing in the world...
Before anyone knew it, Ye Fan had already pulled the guilty-looking Zhang He out of the palace, and they walked a few steps before stopping.
"To quell public anger, the General was willing to suffer three cuts for the errant cavalry. Is the Right General of the Cavalry satisfied with this outcome?" Ye Fan said sarcastically, glancing coldly at the embarrassed Zhang He.
His face flushed red, Zhang He stiffened his neck, and said in a gruff voice, "Yes, it was my fault! I, Zhang He, acted impulsively and only cared about my own pleasure, putting the General in a dilemma and causing him to harm himself to avenge us! We will remember the General's kindness, and I will repay the General even if I have to be a cow or a horse in my next life!"
Ye Fan scoffed: "No need for the next life. Just in this life, if you obediently follow the General's orders, I believe the General will be eternally grateful!"
"Little monkey Ye, don't be so arrogant! Of all the people in this team, you're the one I dislike the most! You better watch out, or I'll catch you doing something wrong!"
Ye Fan's face turned green instantly: "Who are you calling a monkey?!"
Zhang He pursed his thick lips: "Far away, yet right before my eyes!"
Seeing Zhang He's provocative face, Ye Fan suddenly curled his lips, flicked his sleeve, and turned to leave: "I never argue with pigs."
After a long while, Zhang He's furious roar came from behind: "Little monkey Ye, who are you calling a pig! Don't go, stop right there!"
...
One month later, in Huayang West City, Nagano.
With the aroma of tea in hand, the green leaves were light and bright, with a hint of snowy mist swirling around them. Dongfang Yao took a sip of tea and sat quietly on the pear wood chair, savoring the lingering taste, occasionally glancing at the Chaoyang Gate on the east side.
Not long after, a distant drumbeat resounded, its majestic sound like thunder, echoing deeply in all directions. As the war drums thundered, a deep horn call seemed to rise from the heavens, and the Chaoyang Gate on the east side slowly opened.
Finally, they've arrived! His eyes lit up, and Dongfang Yao tossed the cup in his hand into the air, straightened his crossed legs, and with a wave of his hand, two armored attendants rushed forward to help him don his armor. Grasping the reins, he shouted and mounted his horse, holding the specially crafted Silver Snow Sword, watching with keen interest the dark, surging tide of iron cavalry from Chaoyang Gate at the forefront of the army.
Beneath the azure sky, a golden banner soars high, embroidered with a nine-clawed dragon, its form slightly angry, head held high as it rises into the clouds, fluttering in the long wind.
Before the three armies, 30,000 iron cavalrymen, all clad in black armor and robes, their weapons sharp and gleaming, stood in ten square formations, arrayed in perfect order. Behind them, 200,000 infantrymen, wielding swords and spears, trotted closely behind, their disciplined bearing and imposing presence awe-inspiring. The resounding footsteps of their troops impressed the opposing Eastern army, who were forced to be on high alert, no longer daring to underestimate this force that had conquered the entire western region of Lou in just a few months.
Looking at the legendary iron cavalry, Dongfang Yao secretly cheered: "Truly worthy of being called heroes of iron horses who have conquered thousands of miles, brave lads whose swords are soaked in blood! This Jian Xiaosan is really something else!"
The Rongyue army waited a few feet away from the Eastern army, facing the Eastern army directly in front of them.
"What, is your general a coward or so ugly that he can't be seen? Is he hiding behind his soldiers playing hide-and-seek?" Dongfang Yao sneered, stroking the ancient patterns on the silver snow sword sheath, her beautiful eyes raised in a defiant mockery towards the Rongyue army.
The Eastern army joined in the commotion, with laughter, curses, and shouts filling the air, making the opposing cavalrymen's expressions grim and their faces frosty.
Suddenly, a deafening drumbeat rang out from behind. In the originally rectangular military formation, the last wave of soldiers suddenly split to both sides. A white warhorse broke through the formation, its rider wielding armor and an iron whip, riding forward with a white robe as white as snow and a cloak billowing in the wind. Wherever it went, the military formation split in two, as if a dazzling cold light had cleaved the black-armored cavalry in two!
As he led the way, soldiers immediately followed on horseback, filling the gaps in the formation. The entire army advanced, and the wind and clouds slowly shifted, transforming into a complete square formation.
With a slight wave of his right hand, several rows of dark armor shifted simultaneously from above, their sharp, clanging sounds ringing out in unison. Almost at the same instant, all the warriors dismounted, saluted, and shouted in unison, "Long live the General!"
With another wave of his right hand, almost all the warriors mounted their horses at the same instant, holding their iron halberds and ready for battle.
Her almond-shaped eyes met those shocked, beautiful eyes with a cold gaze, and her thin lips parted slightly: "This general once again, what advice does the young prince have?"
Aloof and majestic, standing proudly on horseback, surveying the world with disdain, his spirit unparalleled! Such pride, such indifference, such peerless elegance—where in the world could one find another like him? My blood boiled like a thousand horses galloping!
"Wife... wife..." Her voice was hoarse, like a knife scraping sandpaper. Her two delicate red lips trembled, as if two mountains were pressing down on them, and she struggled to utter the name that was about to burst from her lips with all her might.
Hearing this long-unheard address, Rongyue smiled beautifully, yet her smile was icy cold: "If Your Highness misses your wife, you may simply turn your horse around and go back to your palace! That way you won't suffer the pangs of unrequited love here, constantly muttering about your wife even while the two armies are at war!"
Upon hearing this, the soldiers behind them began to jeer and shout, "Go back! Go back!"
It was like a bucket of ice-cold water being poured over him, completely freezing his newly ignited passion! His wife was still alive, but she no longer recognized him, didn't want him, ignored him, and disliked him even more...
The cold, sarcastic words, the distant and indifferent expression, the guarded and ready stance as if to kill him at any moment—these were like sharp, cold blades, cutting into his heart again and again, tearing Dongfang Yao's heart to pieces, shattering it into fragments, each blade drawing blood, each blade chilling his heart, each blade causing unbearable pain…
His eyes, parched for a year, welled up with bitter tears. Though clear and glistening, they were filled with a thousand unspoken words, a myriad of emotions, the taste and bitterness of which only he knew and tasted alone…
Tears blurred his vision, and the figures ahead became increasingly indistinct. A panic gripped him, and he quickly blinked away the mist from his eyes. Only when he clearly saw the solitary, aloof white figure directly in front of him did his flustered heart calm down.
Volume Two: The Resolute Heroines' Chronicle, Chapter Thirty-Six: Battle Between Two Armies
Dust and sand swirled, a fierce wind swept away the remnants of late spring's dreams, howling in and roaring away, relentlessly eroding the broken and desolate hearts of the heartbroken. When the sandstorm subsided, standing proudly on horseback against the wind, was her still-beautiful face, her dashing figure unparalleled in the world…
A wistful gaze pierces through the sword sheath, lingering on the eyes of the one in the dream. In the distance, that aloof white figure, so close yet unattainable, brings to life a scene long sealed away for years. Swallows fly in pairs, a lonely heart aches, unable to find release; the same old gaze remains, a debt of love yet to be repaid…
The bowstring snapped, the heartbeat ceased, life ended, and the dream faded into nothingness; my heart is like the third month of spring, like wild grass, like a swamp—it's better to sink into it...
Feeling extremely uncomfortable under Dongfang Yao's infatuated and burning gaze, she turned her face to the side, letting the east wind blow her bangs down, covering half of her cheek and also concealing all the emotions in her eyes.
The two armies were locked in a stalemate, hundreds of feet apart, for a long time, but neither side dared to charge forward.
Gripping the reins tightly, Rongyue glanced back at the restless, seemingly impatient Ironblood cavalry behind her. Her thin, red lips parted slightly: "It seems the Eastern army is adopting a 'wait and see' attitude, waiting for our army to strike first! Since the enemy is so courteous, how can we let them down? Warriors, who is willing to be the first to perform the great deed?"
"I'll go!" someone shouted, and a man stepped forward from behind. Upon closer inspection, it was General Zhang He, the Right Cavalry General.
Zhang He brandished his spear, leaped onto his horse, and charged into battle, shouting, "Eastern enemy, who dares to come and die?"
Cao Sen, the Grand General of the Eastern Dynasty, pointed at Zhang He and said to the officers around him, "Who will step forward to fight this pig general?"
Before he finished speaking, Wu Wei Gao Yi spurred his horse forward, spear in hand, and charged straight at Zhang He. After fighting for forty or fifty rounds, Zhang He finally found an opening in Gao Yi's defenses and thrust his spear at him, killing him instantly.
Upon seeing Zhang Hesheng's victory, the Rongyue army thundered its drums and urged its troops to charge. The Rongyue army advanced with overwhelming force, their battle cries shaking the heavens, raising dust on the battlefield as if a whirlwind had swept through. The Eastern army, too, fought bravely, each soldier striving to be the first to engage in a fierce battle of life and death with the Rongyue army.
Rongyue charged ahead, leading the charge and wielding her iron whip. Wherever she went, screams of men and neighing of horses filled the air, blood splattered everywhere, cries of agony rose from the sky, and a chilling wind howled. Her silver armor was stained crimson with blood, bathed in a red glow, and her ferocious momentum instilled fear and trembling in the hearts of her enemies.
After cutting a bloody path, Rongyue quickly pulled out a homemade whistle from her armor, blew it three times long and two times short, and the sound of drums all around shook the heavens and the earth! Following the rhythm of the drums, the cavalry and infantry moved in all directions and sped off in eight different directions!
Stunned, Dongfang Yao was finally brought back to his senses by the deafening shouts of battle. His gaze swept past General Cao Sen, who was protecting him, and he frantically looked left and right, desperately searching for that proud figure in white amidst the clashing armies. But the sandstorm was raging, the sunlight dim, and as far as the eye could see, in the yellow sand and red blood, a world of yellow and red, there was no trace of the beauty to be found…