Published at 26th of August 2019 11:32 pm

Chapter 25- Good Teacher

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Yan Palace. Wenqi was playing chess with King Yan, Murong Yuan, when Murong Yuan said, "Currently Western Jing, Gu Zhu, and Tu He are all busy fighting wars, and actually my Great Yan has managed to exchange it for this peaceful time. With this one act, beloved subject has performed considerable merit."

Wenqi's eyes drooped, saying, "Your majesty, the matter that this subject has mentioned to your majesty......"

Murong Yuan frowned, finally saying, "The Zuo Canglang you have mentioned, I have seen her to still be too young, so just keep her by your side so that she has a few more years of practice."

Wenqi said, "Your majesty, this subject has guarded the border for many years, and my thought processes have always been on defense and guarding our territories, but currently, the military needs some fresh blood. This person......" Before he finished speaking, Murong Yuan had started speaking, "What you mean, it's not that I don't understand, but she is after all a woman, and in two years, she will ultimately need to marry someone. My Great Yan hasn't fallen to the state where it needs women to enter the battlefield. As I see it, that Xu Lang is not bad."

Wenqi sighed inwardly, knowing that this wasn't the time to bicker. Murong Yuan said, "Okay, I'm already this old, and currently the other states don't have an intention to encroach on my Great Yan again, so regarding these matters, just leave it to the crown prince and the others to worry over."

Wenqi understood that he could no longer say anything even if he wanted to. This king Yan was the same as he was, advanced in age, and within his heart, he only wants to defend the cities they have, and maintain the current peace. The tiredness of their age had crept up on them, and their youth had already ended.

After he left the palace, he immediately entered the camp, but did not see Zuo Canglang. Looking about the dormitory, he asked about, and discovered that she had not returned at all the previous night. It was until really late, that Zuo Canglang returned from outside; Wenqi asked, "Where did you go last night? Based on my knowledge, you don't have any relatives in Jinyang."

Zuo Canglang didn't deceive him, but directly said, "It has been a long time since I saw his second highness, so I went forward to visit him." Wenqi was startled, saying, "His majesty and his highness the crown prince, towards you, have great expectations. Currently Great Yan is exactly lacking in those generals that can fight wars and go on campaigns, so your future is looking boundless. Some matters, it is better if you plan for all contingencies in the future."

How could Zuo Canglang not understood what the meaning was hidden in these words, but she didn't say anything. Wenqi continued, saying, "I have defended cities for many years, and my courage is no longer like all you young people, that great. The crown prince, within the military, does not have his right hand man. Even though his second highness is extremely talented, but between the future heir and his highness, there is ultimately still some difference. If in the future...... the heir ascends the throne, and you are greatly used, then those whom you want to protect, will also be safe and without worry."

Zuo Canglang was afraid to say more, as he had again mentioned his majesty and the crown prince. This time, he had practically said it bluntly, and she only said, "This subject is willing to listen to marshal Wen's orders. Whether it is to lead at the forefront, or to follow, there is no order I am unwilling to follow."

Wenqi wanted to say some more stuff, but he only opened his mouth, finally still not speaking more, but only sighing softly, "Let's return to our assignment." The group mounted to head towards the great military camp of the northwest, and Zuo Canglang followed behind Wenqi, side-by-side with Xu Lang and the others.

The whole way, she conversed with great rapport with Xu Lang, and on their way, when eating at an inn, she even drank some win with Wenqi's close guards. Wenqi was such a detail-oriented person, and now, he discovered that in the short days where he had not been present, Zuo Canglang had already become extremely well acquainted with the soldiers.

They traversed the whole way, returning to the northwest army camp, and Zuo Canglang asked, "Marshal Wen, what should I do next?"

Wenqi thought for a while, finally saying, "To the west of Suye city, there is a farm field, and there is also a lack of pig pens and cow corrals. If you are bored, you can take care of them." Zuo Canglang's expression turned stern, as though she had turned deaf, and asked again, "Huh?"

Wenqi held back his laughter, saying, "If you don't like it, you can also follow Zhuge Jin and the others to go and plant trees; Suye city suffers from a lot of dust storms, and planting trees and grass can help block the wind."

Zuo Canglang thought for a while, but finally still said "yes" and then turned around, leaving.

When she had first entered the camp, it was with Murong Yan. Right when she had entered the camp, she immediately encountered an ultimate fight to the death between Northern Yu and Great Yan. And then, it was coincidentally running into Western Jing waiting by the side for an opportunity, so although she hadn't been in the army for long, but ultimately, she had also experienced the scenes of sweaty clothes and seas of blood. She had even thought that life within the military camp was just like this.

This time, when she walked to the west of Suye city, this place indeed had a row of pig pens. The soldier chef was currently boiling a big pot of something very black. Zuo Canglang walked over and took a look, asking, "What is this?"

The army only ever had one woman, and everyone knew her. The soldier chef immediately bowed, "Reporting military observer, this is pig food!"

Zuo Canglang pulled back her sleeves, saying, "Let me try."

The soldier chef quickly said, "Military official, you're killing me; this type of rough work, how could I let you perform!"

Zuo Canglang didn't care, but lifted a bucket of pig food to the side of the pig pens. Of course the pig pen was stinky, but she wasn't a pampered little miss, and this wasn't anything much. She poured the food into the food trough, and several pigs immediately squealed, rushing over.

Zuo Canglang felt it was actually pretty interesting, and couldn't help but pat several of those pigs' heads as they were happily munching away. The pigs were busy fighting over the food, and didn't pay any attention to her. She stood at the side, but saw that the sand storms were beating against the tree bark, and saw the pig pens built with dry grass, and the western sun slowly setting.

She suddenly thought again of Jinyang city, and unwittingly, she once again thought of that person within the city.

Zuo Canglang stayed in the camp within Suye city, and soon, she had been there for two months, the time passing like flowing water. And as the military observer, her job everyday was...... farming, raising pigs, planting trees. Everyday, her happiest moment, was when people in the city misplaced pigs, lambs, cattle, etc. because she would get an opportunity to place bets with Yuan Xi and the others as to whether or not the lost livestock would be found......

One day like such was not anything much, but if every day was like this, Zuo Canglang would lose her mind.

And Wenqi, as a great marshal, everyday other than reading books on military strategy, he would lead the troops to practice. And then he would farm, and irrigate the land. Occasionally, he would listen to the villagers gossiping about the harvest, or local state of affairs, or rumors in society.

Murong Yan came and went, and it seemed as though he didn't do anything that would garner him fame. Occasionally going out to hunt, what he would catch would practically be less than his subjects or the regular soldiers. How was this like a great marshal? He was practically like a village chief!

Although Zuo Canglang was young, but she was also someone who had climbed up out of a pile of corpses, even if she wasn't greatly used, at least she couldn't be a village hillbilly, right? She had experienced Murong Yan's situation. Murong Yan, as a prince that had lost favor, when other people only did the effort of four, they would be repaid with the compensation for seven, and enter into their large fiefs. Wenqi was lucky, as a great general, he held the position of the marshal, and only needed to water plants and participate in mock battles; when he returned, he would just fall into bed and sleep.

All the subordinates were soldiers, and don't talk about bathing in fragrant water, as even if they could remember to wash their feet, you would hail Buddha for his mercy. Zuo Canglang really couldn't speak of any respect towards him, but the matter of initially respecting someone and then slowly losing that respect was in peoples' nature. And once she had gotten used to seeing Murong Yan, when she saw this type of rough soldier, she could not find herself respecting him.

Luckily because she was a girl, she had her own personal tent. Normally when planting trees or bringing water, if she was a little bit late, nobody would bother complaining. But since she only performed these duties all day, sometimes she couldn't help but ask, "Marshal Wen, at the very least, you're still a Marshal, so why not bother with teaching me some martial skills, huh?"

But Wenqi would always shake his head, "You've received personal instruction from his second highness, and you already have excellent marksmanship, and with regards to martial prowess, I am not your match."

Zuo Canglang didn't give up, "Then teach me some military texts."

Wenqi would partially smile, "Military tactics, how would they be in books?"

Zuo Canglang would turn around in anger, "If military tactics aren't in the books, why does Marshal Wen read them every day?"

Wenqi's smile grew even more apparent, "I found things boring, so I learned a few lofty phrases and concepts, so that this marshal could look a bit more educated. That is all."

Zuo Canglang: "......"

Young people are hot-blooded, and she couldn't just sit there, so when there weren't any matters, she would just leave the city to demolish traveling bandits. To the west of Suye city, was the borderlands with Western Jing, with old land from Northern Lin and Northern Yu, so normally, there would be many bandits that would roam the area. Murder and theft were already everyday matters here. In the past, whenever soldiers would pursue them, they would just flee towards Western Jing and Northern Yu, and chasing them down was always a very difficult matter.

Zuo Canglang was bored with nothing to do, so like a cat chasing mice, she would go every day to squash the bandits. Yuan Xi and the others also began to feel bored, so later on, they also accompanied her to go and quash them-- the bandits actually had money on them! The wealth which they could not locate the owners of, still managed to fall into their own pockets.

As time grew longer, the soldiers within the camp begin crushing the bandits of their own accord, and so they would reduce the number of days they had to be on duty, and would bring soldiers into Suye city, stooping to wait at the market. Everyone knew that the horse bandits had some gains they could make, and so they waited patiently on the ground. Slowly but surely, Suye, this border city began turning into an place where you no longer had to watch your every move, and a place where you did not have to stay off the streets at night.

Thus, eventually, there were no bandits to seize.

Zuo Canglang would wander about camp everyday, as Wenqi didn't permit her to intervene in the military practice or military matters, but every morning, as long as the military trumpet was blown, she would immediately get up. The winters in the northwest were devastatingly frigid, but she would never miss a practice session.

Wenqi never bothered with regulating her, and every time soldiers were named on a list, there also would never be her name in the list. But she just managed to just silently exist there, and under the presence of the sandstorms, the soft and supple skin of a young woman slowly began to lose its whiteness and suppleness, but turned into a wild maize color. She, along with the old soldiers here, learned how to gamble money with them, learned to drink the strong and spicy old wines, and also learned to listen to them talk about all sorts of ridiculous crap.

This day, in the middle of the night, Zuo Canglang had just returned from hunting with everyone, holding onto a rabbit, she passed by the city gate, and lifting up her face, she saw Wenqi standing at the head of the city. She went up the city wall, and stood by the signal fire, "Marshal Wen? What are you doing here?"

Wenqi said, "Taking a look at this place."

Zuo Canglang followed his gaze and also took a look; in front of them, it was Mayi city, and past Mayi city, there was White Wolf lake. There weren't many trees blocking the view, and yellow sand blew in the sky. She asked, "You've looked for so long, you don't find it irksome?"

Wenqi smiled, turning around to ask, "You've been here for a time that is not short, have you become irked?"

Zuo Canglang lifted the rabbit in her hands, "Speaking frankly, it is actually pretty boring."

Wenqi smiled, asking, "Haven't you thought of returning?"

Zuo Canglang immediately became serious, asking, "Marshal Wen, you're once again trying to drive me away? Based on what, it's not like I've defied any military rules!"

Wenqi turned his head, and once again took a look at the border city, saying, "You don't understand. This type of boring calmness, to a military personnel, how truly rare it is."

Zuo Canglang smiled without a bit of sincerity, "I really don't understand, as I only know that under his second highness's use, I used my hands to develop excellent archery, but after coming here, I used my hands to feed pigs excellently. Look, isn't this rabbit fat or not? Tonight, we'll roast rabbit."

Wenqi smiled as though he couldn't anymore, suddenly asking, "If today, the one standing here was you, what would you do?"

He had suddenly asked without any provocation, and Zuo Canglang was a bit dazed from it; a while passed before she finally asked, "What?"

Wenqi turned around, looking at her, as he knew that she had already understood his words. Zuo Canglang thought for a while, saying, "Western Jing is mighty, and sooner or later, it will swallow up a great portion of Yu land. At that time, Great Yan will practically be boxed in by it, Gu Zhu, and Tu He. Currently, the peace is only a demonstration." Wenqi didn't interrupt her, and she thought it over, thinking, "I think, at this time, we need to publicly reject paying tribute to Western Jing, and turn around, splitting the tribute into two portions, one portion, we will give to Gu Zhu, and the other portion, we will give to Tu He."

Wenqi raised his eyebrows, and Zuo Canglang said, "The sum of this gold and silver is large, and neither Gu Zhu nor Tu He would be willing to return it. But this way, Western Jing will definitely be greatly enraged. And will grow suspicious of the two other factions. And while its right hand is tied up managing the two factions, it won't attack Yan country in the short term. Gu Zhu and Tu He are greedy for Great Yan's tribute, and would both desire for Great Yan to become their subject, to receive the patron state status that Western Jing had formerly experienced. They would definitely be on their guard against each other, and will turn around trying to warm up relations with Great Yan. Thus, firstly, Great Yan would get rid of the humiliation of being a vassal state of Western Jing, but secondly, it can extract many benefits from Tu He and Gu Zhu. Thirdly, it would entirely be seizing the initiative. And with a little bit of time, it can probably once again cause Tu He and Gu Zhu attack Jing as a possibility."

Wenqi took a deep breath, finally asking, "Who is your teacher? These thoughts, who taught you them? Could it be the White Emperor?1

Zuo Canglang said, "When I was small, I would hunt in the mountains, and slowly accumulated some experience with hunting prey. Later, when I was in the orphan camp, I read a few books on tactics, but I didn't know many letters then, and only partially understood them." Wenqi's eyes apparently still had some suspicion, so Zuo Canglang stretched her shoulders, saying, "Marshal Wen, don't underestimate hunting, as when you cannot communicate, but even the uncontrollable beasts can catch prey, let along people with wishes and aspirations."

Wenqi took a look at that city that was covered with dust, a long time later, saying, "I also have some military texts in my place, and have not read them for a long time, and am afraid that they will grow moldy or house bugs. So if you have an opportunity, come over to my place and help me dry them out."

"Huh?" Zuo Canglang was startled, turning around, before happily exclaiming, "Okay!"

Wenqi was descended from a line of military professionals, Old Sir Wen's father was one of the founding officials of Great Yan, and the Wen family had for many generations, all assisted the Murong clan. The military texts he had gathered, many were original printings.

Zuo Canglang brought them out to air them out, and sometimes Wenqi would take the time to speculate about various concepts, and sometimes he would explain some of the murkier aspects. Although Zuo Canglang was intelligent, but her education was insufficient. Luckily, she was determined, as no matter how the military texts were, it was still more interesting than planting trees, or searching for dogs and cats!

She found other hobbies, and since Wenqi was just sitting around anyways, if he didn't have other matters, he would sit by her side, watching her read.

Wenqi and Zuo Canglang had grown closer, and every could tell this fact. But there were no rumors of anything between the two, as Wenqi had already been in the northwest region, leading troops for eight years, and during those eight years, he was like a benevolent elder.

No matter how unruly a soldier was in camp, as long as he used his gaze, they would immediately drop their gazes.

Zuo Canglang treated him as her teacher, as this person, the more she interacted with him, the more she could feel his charisma. That face was difficult to upset, fresh and pleasant, his eyes that were so deep you could not spot their depths, his polite composure, his steps were fast, but could also withstand any storms.

She started understanding how Wenqi could hold onto Suye city. He was like the Yan troops' sun, and here, where the mountains were high, and the emperor was distant, king Yan only had the title of a king, but he was the Yan troops' soul.

In the night, within the tent, Wenqi received Murong Yuan's return letter; Murong Yuan had rejected the suggestions of splitting the tribute in two, sending them to Gu Zhu and Tu He. On one side, he was worried that Western Jing, would, in a fit of fury, immediately drop its claims in Yu country and attack Great Yan, but on the other side, he was worried that henceforth, Gu Zhu and Tu He would have experienced the benefits, and be covetous of Great Yan.

Wenqi lifted his brush, dipping it in ink, and he wanted to write a letter, but only wrote two lines, and then crumpled the letter. And then he began writing a letter home; Zuo Canglang just stood behind him, and although she knew it wasn't right to snoop on others' letters, but she couldn't help but be curious.

Wenqi had been married for many years, but had been out for most of it, and his wife and child were in their old family home in Hua Tai.

Because his father, Old Sir Wen was wounded early on, and currently it was inconvenient for him to move about, so his family couldn't have anyone leave currently. Thus his wife, Su Ru had also never come to the camp to visit. But Wenqi would often send some books and paintings as well as toys back. The letters home every month would also never be forgotten. It was apparent that the relationship between the husband and wife was harmonious.

Zuo Canglang didn't say anything, but Wenqi suddenly said, "I have two sons. Yi Xuan is ten, and Yi Rong is four." Zuo Canglang "mmm'd" and Wenqi continued, saying, "I haven't seen them in two years. The last time I saw them, Yi Rong did not know how to speak yet."

Zuo Canglang didn't understand why he suddenly said these, as Wenqi would very rarely speak of personal matters. She thought for a while, asking, "Doesn't marshal Wen miss them?"

Wenqi said, "I miss them, but the border is cold and harsh, and all the soldiers are all on their own, away from home, so how could I be an exception? Additionally...... I actually don't hope that the elders and the young within my family and drawn into court fights."

Zuo Canglang didn't say anything more, and Wenqi continued, "That's why, you know, if you continue going, this path you have chosen, will be so painfully lonely."

Zuo Canglang's expression slowly turned grave, she lightly said, "May the battlefield spill blood, if deserted cities can guard the borders, if the heavens could take a vacation for a year, if anyone could spend the rest of their lives in the rural and untamed mountains. If there was really such a day, I would feel proud."2

Wenqi lowered his head, continuing that letter, and two phrases later, she said, "At that time, I can probably return."

With each stroke, he painted and wrote of the wind-blown state of the border city.

TN: 1. White Emperor is a Chinese mythological figure. Basically, it's like saying, "Was it gifted from heaven?"

2. I think, here she is saying that she can't take the easy way out. Deserted Cities guarding borders = there is no threat to need a border garrison. If the heavens could take a vacation = if the gods that people prayed to didn't have to do their jobs, because there weren't any disasters for people to pray to the gods in the first place, if anyone could spend the rest of their lives in the rural and untamed mountains = in times of war, it's usually the rural places that can be at the greatest risk, ask people will congregate in the cities to avoid being victims of roving bandits or pillaging troops.

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