Чистое сердце в нефритовом сосуде - Глава 113
I forced a smile and said, "Both are true. General Cui is a renowned teacher, but my talent cannot be ignored either."
“Talent?” Gan Lin raised his voice. “I wonder who shot the arrow at the target in the first place.”
I pouted in dissatisfaction. My archery skills are pretty good now, but I still can't get rid of that embarrassing incident from that day?
Seeing that I was unhappy, Gan Lin continued, "However, the most admirable people are those who get up wherever they fall."
That's more like it, I laughed again.
After hunting a few more small animals, we returned to the agreed-upon location. Shen Haoyu and the others also returned one after another, each with their own catch. We found a place with water, broke the ice, washed and divided our prey, and then started a fire to roast it. I thought this method of roasting would produce too much smoke, and since we didn't have any seasonings, I refused to offer up my prey, insisting that we prepare it properly back in the city.
After a hearty meal, everyone returned to Huizhou City satisfied.
Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 096
Chapter word count: 3790 Update time: 09-09-02 02:41
Gan Lin has disappeared again. This time she stayed for several months, and then suddenly vanished again.
Gan Lin hasn't shown up for two days in a row. I wonder how long he'll be gone this time. Song Zhixuan and Lin Zhao are busy, and Gan Lin and Zinuo have been by my side these past few days. I really can't get used to it all at once.
Zi Nuo was also quite disappointed. Over the past few months, his relationship with Gan Lin had probably become quite deep, and he had often received guidance from Gan Lin in swordsmanship.
The snow stopped for a few days but hadn't melted, and then it started falling in big clumps again. Ganlin even said he'd get me a snowmobile to have some fun. Looking at the thick snow on the ground, this much snow should be enough, right?
Shen Haoyu then had someone bring over a charcoal stove and wire rack. After eating the meat I roasted last time, he often sent people out to hunt more game to roast together. They ate and drank some wine, and he was living a pretty good life.
I sighed, fanned the fire to make it burn brighter, and the oil on the rack sizzled. A fragrant aroma wafted over, and Shen Haoyu busied himself flipping through the skewers, moving them around as if having a great time. I couldn't help but ask, "Young Prince, you eat this almost every day, aren't you afraid of getting a sore throat?" Aren't you afraid of getting cancer? He wouldn't understand, so I let it go.
Shen Haoyu picked up a skewer of meat from some unknown animal that had been grilled to a golden brown color, looked at it, and then put it back on the rack: "If you have a sore throat, don't eat it. Eat it after the sore throat has subsided."
She rolled her eyes helplessly and continued to fan the flames for him.
"I knew it smelled so good, turns out it was Brother Yu who personally prepared the food." Shen Zexuan's voice came over, with Cui Lang following behind him.
I quickly stood up and bowed, while Shen Haoyu ate his meat skewers, ignoring Shen Zexuan. Shen Zexuan sat down smugly on a chair nearby, and Cui Lang looked at me and asked with a smile, "You managed to hunt live prey?"
I nodded happily; this was the proudest thing I had done in days.
"It's that bow, isn't it?" Shen Haoyu said coolly. I snorted and didn't care. It was rare that he could still spare the attention to talk to us.
Several skewers of meat were already grilled, their color incredibly tempting. Shen Haoyu's skills were getting better and better; it seemed that if the Prince Qing's mansion ever lost power, he would still have a skill to make a living—running a barbecue stall. A servant nearby hurriedly handed over a plate, and Shen Haoyu arranged the grilled skewers on it, his expression focused, seemingly not only enjoying the food but also thoroughly appreciating the grilling process.
"Since you're here, let's try some together," Shen Haoyu said generously. It's understandable that he wanted to show off his skills.
Shen Zexuan picked up a skewer without ceremony, but ate it very elegantly. After finishing the skewer, there was no oil stain on his face. That's a superb technique. Unlike me, I always have to wipe my face while eating, otherwise it'll be quite a sight.
The servants brought over a pot of warm osmanthus wine, which wasn't bought from outside but sent by the Prince Qing's mansion. They also sent twenty more guards to Shen Haoyu.
After Shen Zexuan finished his skewer, Cui Lang took a skewer and started eating. Unlike Shen Zexuan, Cui Lang was not elegant and ate his skewer cleanly and neatly. He then took a big gulp of wine and praised without reservation, "Really good."
Shen Haoyu laughed, "In that case, why not eat more? There's plenty of meat." And it's free meat. Poor little animals on the mountain.
Shen Zexuan took a sip of wine and said, "Brother Yu has changed a lot recently, and he has become quite skilled."
As Shen Haoyu flipped the meat skewers, he said, "Third Brother, you might as well try some; it'll be quite fun." Then, he glanced at me and added, "If you're hungry, you should eat some too."
I shook my head. Barbecue is delicious, but you can't eat too much of it. He doesn't seem to care, but I should be more mindful of health. I continued fanning him, being careful not to stir up the charcoal ash – quite a skill indeed!
"What does this scene resemble?" Cui Lang suddenly asked, his eyes filled with amusement. "Doesn't it have a touch of a harmonious husband and wife relationship?"
Cui Lang's words, though seemingly unintentional, sounded like a bolt from the blue to me. My hand trembled, and I almost dropped my fan. I glanced at Shen Haoyu, whose face remained adorned with a faint smile, lost in thought. Shen Zexuan, however, looked grim. He glared at Cui Lang, raised his wine cup to his lips, but didn't drink.
After grilling a full plate of meat, Shen Haoyu finally stopped. He took a hot towel from the waiter, wiped his hands, and sat down at the table to drink and eat with Shen Zexuan and Cui Lang. Seeing that there was nothing more for me to do, I took my leave to avoid being caught in the crossfire if I stayed.
On the tenth day of the tenth month, Dai Chongyan led a group of men out of the city, but they did not return for several days and their whereabouts became unknown. With Dai Chongyan absent, military affairs were always entrusted to Du Zhai. With Dai Chongyan gone, Du Zhai had to shoulder the heavy responsibility once again. An army without a commander is ultimately not a good thing, and Du Zhai could not go out again to avoid further chaos. The task of searching for the commander fell to Shen Zexuan, Shen Haoyu, and Cui Lang, while the others stayed with Du Zhai in Fengzhou to prepare for any eventuality.
Although Shen Zexuan and Shen Haoyu were of noble status, their military ranks were not high, so they naturally had to obey the orders of a general. Moreover, Shen Haoyu didn't even have a military rank; he was merely Shen Zexuan's assistant. Therefore, they had no choice but to leave the city and search for Dai Chongyan separately. This time, I also went out. I really didn't want to stay in the house alone, and I thought that with the heavy snow, the enemy wouldn't dare to act rashly, and we wouldn't encounter them so easily.
Dai Chongyan left the city with few men, and it's unclear whether he got lost in the mountains or accidentally encountered the enemy; hopefully, it was the former. Dai Chongyan hadn't returned for several days, so everyone was probably too far away. They prepared ample rations for a long battle and searched the mountains for two days without finding anything. Their footprints had long been buried by the snow, and even if they returned in an hour, they wouldn't be able to find their own.
The days of searching for the missing person were alright during the day, as I could avoid certain activities. But the nights were terrible; my legs and feet would go numb from the cold, and I would shiver uncontrollably. Seeing that I was cold, Zinuo kept trying to give me his cloak, but how could I take it? Didn't he get cold too? In the end, we reached an agreement: we would share his cloak and lie down side by side on the dry grass spread out by the fire.
On the fourth day, fearing they might wander too far and lose themselves, Shen Haoyu ordered a retreat. In this heavy snow, even landmarks were hard to find, making it extremely easy to get lost. Perhaps Dai Chongyan had already returned to Huizhou by now.
When we returned to Huizhou, we received news that Jingzhou had been captured. It turned out that Dai Chongyan had discovered a deep ravine in the mountains. Because the water was frozen, he followed the ravine upstream and found that he could bypass it to reach Caizhou. Without hesitation, he sent a message to Du Zhai via carrier pigeon, launching a pincer attack that captured Jingzhou in one fell swoop. He then advanced towards Caizhou, and after a long stalemate, recaptured another city.
This discovery provided much inspiration, and everyone rushed into the mountains to investigate where the streams came from and where they flowed to. Shen Haoyu's map was indeed detailed, but how could one possibly draw every single stream in the forest? He only drew the important ones, which left Shen Haoyu sullen for several days, thinking the map was nothing special. I shook my head and smiled; even modern electronic maps can't completely include every nook and cranny, so he was being too picky.
As November arrived, the supply lines to Xuan Ying's rear were finally completely cut off by heavy snow. It was unknown how well their food supplies were prepared or how long they could last. The Iron Army also quieted down, ceasing its proactive attacks on the city, seemingly content to simply wait for the enemy to run out of ammunition and food.
Dai Chongyan sent men to burn the enemy's provisions, but the enemy knew how important provisions were at this time, so they sent seriously ill soldiers to guard the area, and even forbade the lighting of torches, for fear that they might accidentally burn them down. Left with no other option, they had to continue waiting.
By the end of November, the enemy could no longer contain themselves and attacked Jingzhou twice, ultimately retreating in defeat. News then arrived that Caizhou's food supplies wouldn't last more than twenty days; most of the supplies were held back in several larger cities further downstream. Caizhou, being too close to the front lines, was practically becoming a pawn to be abandoned. This news emboldened the Iron Army, and infighting broke out within the enemy ranks over supplies. They became even more compliant and focused on defending Jingzhou.
Ten days or so passed, and just when everyone thought that the food supply in Caizhou was running out and that the city would be captured in a few days, another shocking message came from Caizhou: the enemy army had begun to massacre the city, and no one, men, women, or children, was spared. All the food in the people's homes was taken into the army.
This news enraged the entire Iron Army. How many civilians must have lived in the city? To seize their grain, to stop them from consuming it, they had been slaughtered! Everyone clamored to volunteer for battle, but Dai Chongyan stopped them, saying it was likely a trap, and Chen Dan would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen. If it did, Chen Dan would likely be unable to continue cooperating with Xuan Ying.
Knowing the deep affection the people of the Northwest held for Chen Dan, and given that Dai Chongyan had known Chen Dan for a long time and must know him well, Dai Chongyan's considerations were not without merit. However, when the scouts reported that Caizhou City was indeed awash in blood and had become a ghost town, Chen Dan slumped into his chair.
The enemy army slaughtered all the people of Caizhou City, robbed them of their food, and retreated to Rongzhou, leaving behind a dead city for the Youjing Dynasty.
When we broke down the city gates of Caizhou and saw the city littered with corpses, my chest heaved, and I immediately ran to the roadside to vomit. It wasn't that I hadn't seen dead people before; in the past six months, I'd probably seen more than six figures, the vast majority of whom were soldiers who had died in battle—enemy soldiers and our own. But the people lying in the snow before me were all unarmed civilians!
What will happen to the people of Caizhou when they run out of food? Will they do the same thing again? What will happen to the people in the city? Do they even know about the dire situation in Caizhou? Why didn't Chen Dan stop them?