Around noon, the main force arrived at a small town about 30 miles from the capital.
"We've all been traveling for half a day, everyone must be tired. Let's stop and rest for a bit."
Xie Yuan already had a plan, so he took the initiative to speak to Helian Jue.
"Yes! Everything is up to the Princess!"
Helian Jue had already decided to let Xie Yuan "try," so naturally he wouldn't stop him.
He appeared uninterested, letting Xie Yuan, a mere woman, run errands for him.
"Oh dear, you're resting already? Brother, I'm telling you, at this rate, when will you ever reach Yuezhou?"
The annoying fourth prince has come to cause trouble again.
Mu Shao maintained a cold expression, seemingly keeping his objectivity and neutrality, but in reality, his eyes were full of excitement at watching the show.
He was very pleased with the Fourth Prince's fault-finding behavior!
Helian Jue didn't even lift his eyelids. It was Xie Yuan who came out to greet him. "Fourth Prince, the Emperor only stipulated when we should set off, but he didn't specify when we should arrive!"
She smiled gently, but her words left the Fourth Prince speechless: "Besides, the journey to Lingnan is over three thousand li, a long and arduous one. The Emperor is wise and benevolent, and will certainly not be too harsh on us."
The sage wouldn't be demanding; it's just that the fourth prince, who's always finding fault, is being too harsh and insane!
The fourth prince's eyes widened. "Xie, are you insulting me?"
Xie Yuan looked innocent. "I'm innocent! When did this princess scold you?"
Fourth Prince: ...
Xie Yuan felt relieved after giving the Fourth Prince a little jab.
She ordered her men to summon Helian Chen, as well as several centurions of the five hundred soldiers.
"Captain Helian, go find a spacious place to set up camp. We'll be staying in this town for a while."
Helian Chen subconsciously looked at Helian Jue in the carriage.
Helian Jue leaned against the car window, holding a wine cup in his hand, drinking casually.
Noticing Helian Chen's subtle movement, he nodded slightly at Helian Chen through the car window.
"Yes! Your humble servant obeys!"
Helian Chen led several centurions to set up a temporary camp on an open space outside the town.
The soldiers busied themselves setting up cooking pots, chopping wood, and boiling water.
Mu Shao was somewhat displeased when he saw that the guards of the Prince of Yue's residence seemed to intend to stay there for an extended period.
However, considering that the Fourth Prince had just been rebuked by Princess Xie, he didn't know what to say.
"Alright! Let's take a break!"
They were the Thousand Bull Guards, the emperor's personal guards, whose treatment and status were among the best of the sixteen guards.
They are far superior to the guards of the royal palace.
As for the five hundred old, weak, sick, and disabled people who were like beggars, they were no match for the Thousand Bull Guards.
Mu Shao deliberately set up camp next to the five hundred soldiers.
Here, the five hundred soldiers were dressed in tattered clothes and didn't even have a decent pot or bronze cauldron. They could only hold the bean cakes they had brought from home and gnaw on them with difficulty.
Over there, Mu Shao's Thousand Bull Guards brought a bronze cauldron from the town, put meat soup on it, and the fire crackled and popped, the meat soup bubbling and steaming, the rich aroma of meat wafting through the vast camp.
Qianniuwei also brought out some wheat cakes he bought from the town. They were steaming hot, soft, and thick, and looked very appetizing.
Glug!
Five hundred soldiers swallowed hard.
They were all from poor families, with no money, no power, and no connections.
He joined the army in order to reduce his family's taxes and corvée labor.
After being selected for the Sixteen Guards, he was eliminated round after round because he was too thin.
When war breaks out, they can only serve as laborers transporting provisions, or as cannon fodder at the front lines.
Originally, they thought that was pitiful enough.
Unexpectedly, they were transferred directly to the Prince of Yue's residence by the Ministry of War.
The title of "Prince's Guards" sounds impressive, but in reality, they were exiled to Lingnan.
This could be fatal.
Unfortunately, his family really had no money, and even if he tried to pull some strings, he couldn't avoid being incorporated into the Yue King's mansion!
In the end, everyone accepted their fate, and their families were prepared to receive news of his death at any time.
We've set off, and it's proving to be tough. Waaah, the same guards, but the Thousand Bull Guards get to eat fine grains and lots of meat.
But they could only eat cold, hard bean cakes.
Unable to chew or swallow, the five hundred soldiers felt a despair akin to being worse than dead.
"Wow! It smells so good!"
Suddenly, someone sniffed, drawn by a very strong fragrance.
"Hmph, how could it not smell good? The neighbors are simmering meat soup in a huge bronze cauldron, cooking a whole sheep in it—"
"It's not from next door! It's coming from the direction of our central command tent!"
"What? The central command tent? Our men?"
"What do you mean by 'ours'? Don't forget, they're all royal guards, but those three hundred men are the original Crown Prince's guards, all descendants of nobles and sons of officials!"
But they were just ordinary people.
"That's not fair! We're all guards of the Prince's mansion, we should be treated the same!"
Normally, these soldiers wouldn't dare to cause trouble.
But they were all going to be exiled to Lingnan, and their worthless lives could be lost at any time, so what were they afraid of!
So everyone was spurred on, stood up, and gathered around in the direction of the fragrance.
"Huh? Are those old, weak, sick, and disabled people going to cause trouble?"
The fourth prince, having been rebuffed by Xie Yuan, was still not giving up. After eating and drinking his fill, he began to wander around the temporary camp.
He noticed the commotion and, excited, hurried over to see what was going on!
"You're all here? Perfect, saves me the trouble of going to call you!"
"Come on! Line up! Everyone get a bowl of meat soup and a flatbread, everyone gets one!"
Several centurions who were watching the cooks prepare the food saw the crowd gather around and called out with smiles.
"Centurion, we all get a share? Like...like those guys in armor over there?"
One of the soldiers couldn't believe it and asked in a low voice.
"Same! The Prince and Princess said that we are all guards of the Prince's mansion, so naturally we are treated the same!"
"Let me tell you, our Prince and Princess are always kind and benevolent. While ordinary people eat two meals a day, our guards eat three meals a day!"
"Every meal has oil and broth, and this lunch even has meat!"
"All eight hundred guards are the same, with the same food and the same pay."
"Of course, if anyone wants to eat even better, they'd better perform well!"
"You lot, stand up straight! Straighten your backs! Stop slouching and look like soldiers!"
The centurion, while recounting the benefits of the royal palace that he had just heard from Helian Chen, loudly reprimanded his soldiers.
The soldiers' eyes widened when they heard that they could eat three meals a day, each with oil and fat.
As for the centurion's instruction to "perform well," they had no objection whatsoever!
As long as they can eat their fill and have meat, they'd be happy to stand up straight, let alone just stand tall and proud. Even if they were sent to the battlefield, they'd be happy!
The morale of the five hundred soldiers was immediately boosted. Although their bodies were still thin, their spirits were completely different.
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