Chapter 414: A Marriage Alliance (Part 4)
Although the teacher hadn't provided many specific details about the target, Lin Feng was certain he was the only son of the Queen of the Ten Crows Royal Court. The only problem was: when and where would he encounter this person?
What if I miss out?
On second thought, my lord needs to collect 30,000 heads of Wu Qingzhuang. Who cares who they are? If we find one that fits the bill, we'll kill him. Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free!
A chilling glint flashed deep within Lin Feng's eyes.
But it vanished in a flash, quickly concealed beneath a sweet and gentle face.
Chu Yao seemed oblivious to her change in expression, and said with a kind smile, "Didn't your father say he had something to ask his teacher?"
Lin Feng said, "...Yes, the student is a little nervous."
Although she had weathered some storms and handled administrative matters skillfully and efficiently over the past two or three years, she had always had her teachers and mentors to back her up. Now, being sent to accompany the army, she was already feeling anxious about what kind of difficult situations she would face, especially knowing the important role she was playing, which made her so nervous that she couldn't sleep at night.
I felt a mix of excitement and apprehension.
A mix of emotions welled up inside me, and I couldn't shake them off.
After much thought, she could only confide in her teacher, Chu Yao, who was like a mentor and father to her, hoping to find a way to calm herself down and boost her confidence. And Chu Yao, of course, did not disappoint her: "It's only human nature."
"Did the teacher ever get nervous before?"
Chu Yao pondered for a moment and said, "No."
Lin Feng: "..."
Chu Yao asked again, "Why are you nervous?"
Lin Feng bit his lower lip and whispered, "When two armies clash, countless people will die... I'm very worried... So, I want to know how I can stop being afraid of this..."
The visual impact of an imagined scene is on a completely different level from that of a scene seen with one's own eyes.
The most cruel and chaotic scene she had ever witnessed was probably that night in the woods, when her family and relatives were poisoned by villains.
However, compared to wars involving thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people, the two are not on the same scale.
Chu Yao: "When I was your age, I had already taken countless lives."
How could this be?
"...At that time, the State of Chu was weak, and its territory was only slightly larger than that of the State of He. The surrounding neighboring countries coveted this land, which was rich in grain, and there was no peace all year round. Bandits from various places often harassed the common people in the territory, and some of them were so cruel that they were appalling. I couldn't stand seeing this, so I teamed up with three or five friends to kill bandits. As the number of times we did this increased, we naturally took many lives."
He paused for a moment.
"Some of those bandits were actually quite pitiful."
Not every bandit is born a vicious and wicked person; just like the common people of He Yin. Before their survival is guaranteed, they are all vicious and cruel, and all of them are evil.
Outsiders frowned as soon as they heard about this place.
In just two years, everyone seemed to have become honest and kind ordinary people. The people of Heyin were known for their simple and honest character, and their good reputation spread far and wide.
He and his friends killed bandits to protect the common people from harassment; the bandits, on the other hand, were forced to live in other places and thus relied on this plundering method to seize resources for survival.
They are all ordinary people struggling to survive in the mundane world.
“But they are evil bandits and must be killed.”
"Whether it's a struggle between powerful clans or a war between nations, the essence is no different from 'bandit suppression.' It's just that the former two result in more deaths and more bloodshed. What you and I can do is to ensure that the dead and the bloodshed do not fall on our side! Lingde, why don't you think about the people you know? Which of them would you want to be buried forever in the earth? To lie in eternal rest in a foreign land?"
Lin Feng said, "I don't want either of them!"
"What's more terrifying than 'the two armies clashing and countless dead and wounded' is that the 'countless' dead and wounded are on your own side. It could be a soldier you've only met once, a general who fought alongside you, or even your teacher! The battlefield is cruel. You can be nervous and worried in front of your teacher, but once you step out of this door, any enemy who stands in your way should be beheaded!"
Finally, Chu Yao had a sudden inspiration.
He took off his hanging sword: "Come with me."
Although Lin Feng didn't understand, he still followed.
——————
The sun rises in the east, its rays first painting the sky with rosy hues.
When Shen Tang saw Lin Feng, she noticed that the little girl's face was pale with a slight bluish tinge, and her eyes showed signs of weariness. Although she was usually very clean, there were specks of dark crimson stains on the hem of her clothes.
She looked as if she had lost her soul, appearing somewhat dazed and haggard.
"Didn't Lingde sleep well last night?"
When Shen Tang asked casually, Lin Feng's reaction was surprisingly strong. He turned his head and leaned against the corner of the wall, retching.
She looked at Chu Yao, who had come to see her off, with a puzzled expression. The latter, however, remained calm and seemed not to care at all.
"What is she doing...?"
Chu Yao said, "I was stimulated."
"Stimulated?"
"It will be fine after a while."
After hearing Chu Yao's words, Shen Tang no longer took them to heart.
However, as I left the city, I vaguely overheard the soldiers guarding the city whispering among themselves in the farewell procession—
The content itself isn't particularly unusual.
In the latter half of last night, the ten bandits in the pit outside the city were beheaded by some hateful commoner. The head was thrown into the pit several meters away. The surrounding land was soaked with gushing blood, making it muddy and slippery underfoot. The soldiers guarding the city, fearing punishment from their superiors, searched for the head for a long time.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big deal; as long as the bodies could be collected, that was fine.
Shen Tang: "..."
She seemed to have guessed something.
Gu Chi leaned closer and whispered gossip, "My lord, while it's true that strict teachers produce outstanding students, this is a bit too strict..."
Chu Yao is a ruthless person.
Ordinary families would take their children to the fields before dawn to pick vegetables and make a living, but he took his apprentice to pick heads for courage...
But the results are fantastic.
Shen Tang: "..."
Shen Tang: "...How is your mind?"
Gu Chi examined it carefully: "At this moment, all is vanity..."
My mind went completely blank.
Shen Tang's heart skipped a beat, and she said with pity, "...To be honest, it was my oversight. Your daughter is still young, and she usually does the work of an official, dealing with a lot of mundane affairs. Where would she have seen such a bloody scene? And she is indispensable in this trip to the Ten Crows. Wu Hui was worried that she hadn't adjusted her mindset, so he came up with this plan... This matter is known only to you, me, and the master and disciple. How could a fifth person know..."
Gu Chi's face turned green.
A complaint: "My lord, could you be any more blatant about your favoritism?"
He was just gossiping about his colleagues, not tattling. Why should his lord act like this?
Shen Tang said calmly, "He's getting old."
Gu Chi: "..."
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
He was certain his lord was doing this on purpose. Couldn't he at least suppress his inward chuckles while teasing him? So what if Chu Wu Hui was "getting old"? He himself was still constantly on his medicine bottle!
And I never saw the lord show any favoritism.
Jiang Sheng went ahead to pick up the princess, and only met up with Shen Tang around noon. He saw Gu Chi's long face and casually asked, "Is Wang Chao feeling unwell?"
Shen Tang teased, "No, I choked on vinegar."
Jiang Sheng: "Drinking vinegar???"
The pleasant atmosphere didn't last long. Just half an hour later, the princess sent someone over to summon Shen Tang.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
