Chapter 187 Jinjiang Debut
"What?"
Mother looked at Wuyan, as if she had heard a huge joke. Wuyan was fearless and repeated what she had just said, saying confidently:
"Mom, I've thought about it. This is the best way. If I leave you, it will not only reduce your burden, but also save you from worrying about my marriage all day. Qiu Sheng and Ping An have been taken away. They are not as good as me. Since they can go, why can't I go? Everyone should serve the motherland. Since I can't read and write, I will go to the battlefield to kill the enemy!"
Mother was furious: "I really doted on you too much. I spoiled you to the point of being lawless and doing whatever you want. How could you even say such foolish words! Going to the battlefield to kill the enemy is something you, a girl, should think about? Do you know the difference between men and women? The battlefield is full of men. How can a girl like you who enters the barracks have a good ending?"
Wuyan wanted to argue, but her mother had given up talking to her. She dragged her into the inner room and locked the door from the outside: "You stay here for the next few days. You are not allowed to go out until the conscripts leave!"
Wuyan sighed, it seemed impossible to get her mother's support. She looked at Xiaoqing silently, and a plan came to her mind immediately. She was much stronger now than before, and it was impossible to trap her in such a room. She just didn't want to confront her mother head-on, for fear of making her mother sad.
After nightfall, everything was quiet. Mother had fallen asleep. Wuyan punched the window and escaped with Xiaoqing.
She ran all the way to the county. The sergeant in charge of conscription was in an inn in the county. The inn was brightly lit. Although it was very late, the sergeant and his men were still awake. They were counting the new recruits' books. The sergeant shook his head and sighed as he read. Although they had made great efforts to recruit soldiers this time, they still did not reach the number of recruits required by the court. Now the war on the border was tense and the army was short of people.
The sergeant was just worrying when there was a knock on the door. He didn't look up and asked tiredly who was on the other end. A loud voice came from the other side of the door: "Sir, I want to join the army!"
The sergeant's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this. This was a talent who had taken the initiative to come to his door. He hurriedly opened the door to welcome the other party in, but after opening the door, the sergeant's face changed -
Although this person is tall and strong, she is actually a woman?
"Are you drunk? Why are you trying to make fun of me so late at night?" The sergeant spat impatiently and tried to close the door.
Wuyan quickly held the door and volunteered, "Sir, although I am just a woman, I am very strong. I can beat a group of people by myself. Sir, let me try!"
The soldier still planned to close the door, but he pushed and pushed and found that he could not close the door at all. The door had been pushed by Wuyan, and the soldier became a little annoyed for a moment - his strength was not as good as the woman in front of him.
He angrily swung his sleeves and returned to the table. Seeing him like this, Wuyan thought that he had tacitly allowed her to come in, so she pushed the door open and went in. The soldier was shocked. He had never seen a woman who came uninvited like this. He pointed at Wuyan and cursed: "You - you woman - how can you be so shameless?"
Wuyan smiled and ignored his insults. She now only wanted to prove her strength. She looked around the room and finally picked up the halberd that the soldier was standing beside the bed. After playing with it for a few times, she held it with both hands and broke it easily.
Seeing this scene, the soldier was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He shouted: "Come here, come here - take down this traitor for me -"
Before he finished speaking, a group of people rushed into the house and arrested Wuyan. Wuyan had no intention of struggling, but said to the sergeant sincerely: "Sir, I am a commoner, my family is very poor, I damaged your weapon today, if you want me to compensate, I certainly can't afford it, at most you can chop me off, the worst case scenario is that my head will fall off, but if you let me join the barracks, I will definitely repay you when I become successful in the future!"
Hearing this, the soldiers on both sides started laughing.
"A woman also wants to join the military camp, did I hear correctly?"
"She still wants to stand out. It makes me laugh. What does she think of us brothers?"
"I think she's dreaming! My Lord, there's no need to waste time talking to her. Just chop off her head and stop her nonsense!"
The soldier thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. Besides, he had just witnessed Wuyan's strength. If he just killed him like that, it would be a waste of such a talent.
After some consideration, the sergeant asked others to release Wuyan, and then registered Wuyan's name in the register, really counting her as a soldier.
On the day the conscription team left, Wuyan followed them. Although it was really a strange thing for a woman to join the military camp, Wuyan encountered a lot of doubts and ridicule along the way, but she proved her strength every time. Gradually, people accepted the fact that there was a woman in the army, and no one raised any objections anymore.
The imperial court urgently needed troops, and Wuyan and his group were sent to the border to guard the border with almost no training. The team was full of newcomers, and the extremely talented Wuyan quickly overwhelmed the other recruits and became a junior officer in the barracks. At first, the newcomers were a little unconvinced, but Wuyan conquered them with force time and time again. Even Qiu Sheng and Ping An became Wuyan's subordinates, and they even admired Wuyan a little now.
Under Wuyan's leadership, the army made rapid progress. The border was bitterly cold, and the neighboring Zheng people invaded from time to time. Wuyan led the soldiers to kill the enemy, and would rather bleed on the spot than give in. She was born with great strength, bravery and good at fighting, and she was self-taught in military strategies. Wherever she appeared on the battlefield, the Ji State never lost. Such Wuyan intimidated the Zheng people, who had always been good at fighting, and they actually stabilized a lot. For a whole year, they did not dare to invade again.
In the past two years, Xiaoqing has lived with Wuyan in the military camp and has grown bigger and bigger. She is good at catching insects and mice. The brothers in the barracks like her very much. She has become the group pet in the barracks and a good helper for Wuyan to kill enemies on the battlefield.
Although Wuyan was extremely strong, Zheng State was not without its prodigies. Sometimes when Wuyan was in a stalemate with the enemy, he would shout:
"Xiaoqing—come out!"
Xiaoqing would fly out from Wuyan's collar, jump onto the enemy like lightning, bite the opponent's neck fiercely, and kill the enemy in one blow. Yes, it is a poisonous snake, and its venom is quite strong.
With Xiaoqing's help, Bai Wuyan won every battle. During the three years at the border, she was promoted out of turn all the way and finally became the general's deputy.
At the end of the three-year period, Wuyan and others were recalled by the court. Because of their contributions in protecting the Ji State, the emperor decided to summon them in person.
In the hall, the emperor rewarded Wuyan generously. He did not look down on her because she was a woman, nor did he hate her because of her appearance. Instead, he praised her again and again, and even rewarded her with 100 taels of gold and officially appointed her as a general at the border.
It just so happened that the former border general had reached retirement age, so Wuyan knelt down respectfully to receive the order. She could finally go back to see her mother.
On the day Bai Wuyan returned home, all the villagers gathered at the entrance of the village, welcoming Wuyan as if they were welcoming an emperor. When she entered the village, Wuyan got off her horse and the villagers came up to her hurriedly, congratulating her with warm words on their faces, as if they had never bullied her before.
Mother was also in the crowd. She knelt down to Wuyan according to etiquette. Wuyan hurriedly helped her up. They looked up at each other. Wuyan's eyes turned red and mother's tears were streaming down her face. She recounted how hard she had been working for the past three years. Since Wuyan disappeared, she had been looking for Wuyan like crazy. Later, she learned that Wuyan had gone to the military camp, and mother completely lost hope. She had already erected a tombstone for Wuyan on the back mountain, but she didn't expect Wuyan to return home in glory.
"I thought I would never see you again in this life, but I didn't expect..." Mother beat Wuyan sadly and angrily, "You damn child, you left without saying a word. Do you know that you almost pissed me off to death!"
Wuyan apologized profusely, took her mother's hand and went into the house, and talked about her future plans. Now that Wuyan was rich, she planned to bring her mother to live in the capital, completely away from these people in the village.
After comforting her mother, Wuyan brought offerings to the temple of Biyuan Immortal Lord. The temple was more dilapidated than before. Although Wuyan had never seen Biyuan Immortal Lord appear since she was six years old, she believed that Biyuan Immortal Lord had always been blessing her in heaven. The reason why she was able to return safely was also due to Biyuan Immortal Lord's credit.
Wuyan clasped her hands together and said devoutly, "My Lord, I once said that if I had money one day, I would definitely rebuild the temple for you. Today I am here to fulfill my promise."
After saying this, she immediately hired some workers from the city, demolished the now dilapidated small temple, and rebuilt a magnificent large temple for the Immortal Lord Biyuan.
The Immortal Lord Biyuan, who was far away in the sky, sensed the changes in the mortal world. He looked at Bai Wuyan in the mortal world through the mirror of the human world, and suddenly felt something touched in his heart. Many years ago, he saw Wuyan in trouble, being chased and hiding in a temple. He helped her at that time, but it was just out of the instinct of a god. He didn't expect that the little girl would be grateful to her until now and really fulfilled her promise.
The Immortal Lord Bi Yuan was originally a deity in charge of the demons in the human world. All plants, animals, and beasts in the human world who wanted to become demons through cultivation had to obtain the approval of the Immortal Lord Bi Yuan. Demons were divided into good and evil. If a demon became an evil demon and brought disaster to the human world, the Immortal Lord Bi Yuan would take timely action to deal with it.
Although the Immortal Lord Biyuan has been benefiting the human world all the time, what he has done has no direct connection with the world, and the world does not know his contributions, so he is a god without believers. Even if there are occasional temples in the world, no one worships him. The Immortal Lord Biyuan was used to such a lonely life, but he did not expect that one day he suddenly had a little believer.
Over the years, he has been watching the growth of this little believer through the mirror of the world in heaven. He has personally tasted every offering sent by Wuyan, and even tried the steamed buns that little Wuyan steamed himself, but found them not cooked.
Now Wuyan has grown up and become a mature woman. Although she is ugly, Immortal Lord Biyuan is really moved by her act of rebuilding the temple. He has been a god for thousands of years and has seen countless bodies. Naturally, he no longer cares about appearance. What he sees is Wuyan's tenacity and courage, and the inextinguishable vitality beneath her skin.
The heaven allows gods to fall in love and have children, but few gods would choose mortals or demons for love, because gods cannot come down to the mortal world without permission. If they do, they will lose all their magical powers and become an ordinary mortal. They can only restore their powers by returning to heaven. Therefore, every meeting with a mortal is a huge risk, and no god is willing to take on this trouble.
Immortal Lord Biyuan is different. He is famous for his true nature in the heaven. He once broke into the demon world to save his friend and almost lost his life. If he sets his eyes on someone, he will put life and death aside.
However, Immortal Lord Biyuan was a little hesitant. He was not clear about Bai Wuyan's intentions. What if... what if Wuyan only worshipped him as a god? What if she already has a crush on someone?
In the mortal world, after hearing that Wuyan was going to rebuild the temple, A Niang didn't say much. Anyway, Wuyan was rich now, and it was up to her to spend the money. A Niang cooked a table of delicious food, waited for Wuyan to sit down, then took her hand and started nagging about the same old topic again:
"My son, you are already this old, what are your plans for marriage? Xiaomei from the next village is the same age as you, she already has three children and is pregnant with another, but you have not had any!"
Wuyan spread out her hands calmly: "I don't want to get married in this life, mother. In the past, I was ugly and those men looked down on me. Now I look down on them. They can't lift anything with their hands or shoulders. They have never even been to the battlefield. They are addicted to gambling and have lustful faces. If I marry them, I'm afraid I won't be able to eat!"
A'niang smiled: "Of course, you are now a general, so your standards are naturally higher. You don't like the boys in our town, but are there any good boys in the capital? If that doesn't work, you can marry a son-in-law, and only choose one with good looks. Will you be satisfied with this?"
Wuyan still shook her head: "I look down on a son-in-law. A dignified six-foot-tall man who doesn't do a proper job but wants to be a gigolo, how can I trust his character?"
Mother was very puzzled: "You don't like this, you don't like that, what do you want? Wuyan, is there no man in the world who can catch your eye?"
Wuyan thought about it, and then said seriously: "If I have to marry in this life, then I must marry Biyuan Xianjun, only he can catch my eye!"
Although the statue of the Immortal Lord Biyuan is dilapidated, its charm is still there. It can be seen that he is a handsome and elegant young man. Wuyan fell in love with him at first sight since she first saw him in a dilapidated temple at the age of six.
The mother didn't take it seriously at all: "Child, I think you went out to fight and became stupid, what nonsense are you talking about? Biyuan Immortal Lord is just a character in folk legends, he doesn't exist at all, how can you marry and have children with someone you can't see or touch?"
Wuyan said unconvincedly: "No, the Immortal King really exists. When I was six years old——"
Mother interrupted her again: "Alright, I've heard this story so many times that my ears are callused. You were just a child at that time, how could you remember anything? I think maybe you had a dream and took it seriously. Don't say such nonsense again in the future, or people will laugh at you!"
Wuyan stopped talking and ate her meal in a depressed mood. Her mother started nagging again: "Even if you don't like those men, you have to pick one. People always want to get married and have children. Otherwise, if you don't leave an offspring, who will take care of you when you are old? Look at me, I have a good daughter like you. You can bring me to the capital to enjoy a good life..."
Not long after, the house in the capital was settled, Wuyan took his mother there, and the temple in the village was also built. Thanks to Wuyan, all the villagers have become believers of the Immortal Lord Biyuan. Even people from the capital have flocked to worship the Immortal Lord Biyuan. The temple entrance was so crowded that Wuyan was squeezed and could not get in.
Wuyan stood outside the crowd and bowed towards the temple from afar to express her feelings. Today was her last day of rest. After today, she would have to return to the battlefield. She didn't know when they would meet again.
Thinking of this, Wuyan felt reluctant to leave. She drove away the people following her and wanted to go out for a walk alone. After all, she was strong and no one could hurt her.
There is a pond in the village. It is summer now, and the lotus flowers in the pond are in full bloom. The petals are full and look like pink jade carvings. Wuyan couldn't help but walk down and wanted to pick a lotus flower. Unexpectedly, the pond looked shallow, but it was actually very deep, and there was silt at the bottom of the water. After Wuyan went down, his feet were entangled and he couldn't get out for a while.
She called for help under the water, but her voice could not be heard. Just as she was struggling, a hand suddenly stretched out from the water and tightly grasped Bai Wuyan's hand. The fingers of that hand were slender, with distinct joints, and they were glowing white underwater, not like those of an ordinary person.
That hand pulled Wuyan out of the water. Before coming out of the water, Wuyan saw a hazy face across the water. That face was like a sculpture of white jade, cold and noble. It was exactly the statue of the Immortal Lord Biyuan that she had seen in the temple!
Before she could feel surprised, she was pulled up, splashing water all over the pond. The water droplets hit the lotus flowers and leaves, causing all the lotus flowers in the pond to sway.
"Immortal Lord Biyuan?!" Wuyan exclaimed in surprise. This was exactly the face she had seen countless times in her dreams!
Immortal Bi Yuan smiled and nodded slightly: "It's been a long time since we last met. Is everything going well?"
When he said he hadn't seen him for a long time, he meant that Wuyan hadn't seen him appear in spirit since she was six years old.
Wuyan ignored etiquette and threw herself on Biyuan Xianjun, rubbing his face with both hands. "Ahhh, it's real. I couldn't be dreaming. I told you that you must exist. I've seen you appear. I've always remembered what happened in that temple, but no one believed me! Great, you finally appeared. I'm going to take you to see A Niang and let her see that you really exist!"
Wuyan was about to leave when Biyuan Xianjun grabbed her hand and said, "Shh, don't go. My coming to the mortal world this time is a secret."
Wuyan looked as if she understood: "Oh - I see, you must have come down to earth to carry out a mysterious mission, take me with you, I can help you!"
Bi Yuan Xianjun looked at her gently: "I came here for you."
Wuyan was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer. She had never been pursued by a man in her life, let alone such a handsome man, and a man she had liked for many years. Wuyan took a few deep breaths, fearing that she would faint.
"I have watched your every move over the years." Immortal Lord Biyuan naturally extended his hand to Wuyan and silently invited her.
Wuyan didn't even think twice and directly grabbed the hand of Immortal Lord Biyuan, as if she was afraid that he would fly away the next moment.
The two of them walked leisurely by the pond, arm in arm like an ordinary couple in the mortal world. Xiaoqing happily stuck her head out to act as a light bulb. Biyuan Immortal Lord could not reveal anything about the heaven, so Bai Wuyan was the one talking all the time. She told him about her admiration for Biyuan Immortal Lord over the years, the hardships she had endured alone, and the dreams she had had. Biyuan Immortal Lord just listened silently and held her hand tightly.
That day they went to a nearby town and went shopping together. Following the custom of mortal love, Immortal Bi Yuan bought Wu Yan a lot of beautiful clothes, but Wu Yan was not interested in them. Instead, she dragged Immortal Bi Yuan to the weapons shop and picked out a few weapons that suited her. Immortal Bi Yuan smiled and bought the clothes.
When they met an old lady selling flowers on the road, Bi Yuan Xianjun was kind-hearted and bought all the flowers in the old lady's basket. He asked Wu Yan to sit in front of him and carefully pinned a bunch of flowers on her head. Wu Yan became the focus of the street.
They ate snacks together and watched the acrobatic show together. Wuyan was very interested in the show and even tried out the weapon she had just bought. The Immortal Lord Biyuan applauded her in the crowd.
At night, there were more people at the market. In order to avoid the crowd, Wuyan pulled Biyuan Xianjun onto a cruise ship. They went boating on the lake together. The two sides of the lake were brightly lit and bustling with people. In such an atmosphere, the two of them set off lanterns.
When they released the lanterns, they both put their wishes in the lanterns. Wuyan peeked at Biyuan Xianjun's lantern, and the note inside read:
“Peace and Joy without Salt”
For a general going to the battlefield, safety seems to be a luxury. Wuyan patted Biyuan Xianjun on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely return safely. Not only that, I will kill them all without leaving a single piece of armor!"
Realizing that his wish had been read, Bi Yuan Xian Jun was a little dissatisfied: "Then what wish did you make?"
Wuyan said frankly: "I hope I can be with you every day in the future!"
Bi Yuan Xianjun was in a dilemma. This time he violated the rules and came to the mortal world, which was a violation of the rules. It was really difficult for him to do this every day. He had no choice but to ask Wuyan: "Can you change your wish?"
Wuyan's eyes dimmed for a moment, then she immediately perked up and said, "Okay, then I want you to have a baby with me!"
It seemed that these words were not what a woman should say, but Wuyan was not an ordinary girl in the boudoir. She had been on the battlefield for a long time and always spoke boldly and frankly. She also knew that Immortal Lord Biyuan was a god and he probably could not marry her like an earthly man. In that case, she wanted to leave a child.
Although Wuyan had said before that she would remain single until old age and never have children, her mood was different now. If marriage was just a calculation and compromise between each other, then there was really no need to have children. But now her beloved was right in front of her, and she wanted to have a child with the person she loved so that this love would have a visible result. Even if Immortal Biyuan disappeared and left her alone to raise the child, she would be willing to do so.
Immortal Lord Biyuan was not surprised, he knew Wuyan had always been like this. If she wanted a child, it would not be difficult. Immortals did not give birth like mortals. They did not need to have sex. They just needed to take a token of love and then let it be stained with the blood of both parties, and it would turn into a child.
It was just too late. The night was already deep, and Bi Yuan Xianjun had to return to the heaven. He looked at the sky and said, "Okay, next time we meet, please bring me a gift--"
Before she could finish her remaining words, Bi Yuan Xianjun disappeared. Wu Yan looked up at the sky, feeling empty inside. She shouted to the sky:
"Hey - when is the next time we meet -"
There was silence in the sky and no one answered her.
Although she didn't know the date of their next meeting, Wuyan still prepared gifts. Among the rewards given to her by the emperor, there was a piece of the most precious mutton-fat white jade. There was only one such piece in the whole country, and even the emperor's treasury did not have any of comparable quality. Because of her great military achievements, the jade was given to her.
Now she decided to give this piece of mutton-fat white jade to the Immortal Lord Bi Yuan. In her heart, the Immortal Lord Bi Yuan was a man as beautiful as jade, and this piece of white jade should be matched with him.
Because she didn't know when they would meet again, Wuyan kept the jade close to her body at all times, hoping to give it to Immortal Lord Biyuan personally when she saw him again.
After that day, an imperial edict came down, and Wuyan hurriedly rode back to the border. During the days when Wuyan was away, the border was in chaos, and Zheng State took the opportunity to invade. The acting general's poor command caused heavy losses to the Ji State army. Now everyone on the border is waiting for Wuyan to go back and lead them to fight back.
When Wuyan arrived at the border, he went to the battlefield with a gun in hand before dismounting from his horse. He led the soldiers to break the four-sided formation of Zheng State and won a small victory.
According to convention, after losing the battle, Zheng would wisely retreat to its own territory and would not dare to commit the offense again for a period of time. But this time, for some unknown reason, Zheng made a comeback in just a few days.
"Report - the enemy is invading - they have reached the border!"
Wuyan was sitting alone in the sheepskin tent when a soldier broke into the tent and said.
"How many people?" Wuyan asked calmly.
The soldier answered hesitantly: "Only, only one thousand people."
"A thousand people?" Wuyan was a little confused. The last time the people of Zheng came with an army of five thousand, they were completely killed by Wuyan and his men. This time they only brought a thousand people, which was simply a way to die.
Ji State has tens of thousands of soldiers stationed at the border alone. It would be easy to kill these thousand people. However, Wuyan was silent for a moment and waved his hand: "I'm afraid it's a trick. Don't send troops yet. Observe the enemy's movements."
The soldier took the order and left, but soon a cavalryman came to the tent and delivered an imperial decree, saying that the emperor had ordered Wuyan to go and fight.
Wuyan took the imperial edict in her own hands and read it again and again, confirming that it was truly the emperor's order, and had no choice but to obey the order.
After Wuyan led his men to the front line, they realized that something was wrong. Only the front few rows of the army sent by Zheng State were young and strong, while the troops behind were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and even children. How could this be an army coming to fight?
Wuyan wanted to evacuate, but it was too late. The people of Zheng opened a wooden box and set the contents on fire. Then thick black smoke rose on the battlefield and a strange fragrance wafted over. Wuyan instantly knew what that thing was.
The terrain of Zheng State was rugged, and on the mountains grew a highly poisonous herb called the Five Poison Grass. If this grass was burned into powder and entered the human body through the mouth and nose, it would cause bleeding from all seven orifices and sudden death. There was no antidote for the Five Poison Grass, and once a person was touched by even a little bit of it, they would surely die.
But Zheng State had never used it before because such poison would also harm its own army.
No wonder Zheng State sent so few people this time. There were also old, weak, sick and disabled people in the team. These were "useless people" who were useless to Zheng State. They came here with the idea that they would die. They had no intention of going back. They wanted to die together with Bai Wuyan.
Wuyan hurriedly turned around and shouted, asking the soldiers at the rear to cover their mouths and noses with clothes, but she herself no longer needed to do so. She was at the front, and a large amount of black powder had already entered her nasal cavity.
Wuyan was reluctant to accept the challenge because he was worried about this, but in the end he could not disobey the emperor's order.
Then why did the emperor have to go into battle himself? Didn't he really know that the enemy was cheating?
The emperor must have known that he was doing this because he wanted to use Zheng Guo to kill himself. Wuyan figured this out before she lost consciousness.
Although the Emperor of Ji State appeared to be magnanimous, he ultimately could not tolerate this female general. Was it because he was worried that her achievements would overshadow his own, or because she was a woman and violated a man's dignity?
She would never know the answer again.
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