Chapter 682: Yang Ying's Martial Intent [Part Two]
"Prefect Shen, wait!"
Huang Lie's confidant rushed forward, shouting for Shen Tang.
Shen Tang raised his hand to signal the soldiers to let them pass, feigning ignorance, and asked, "Are you sent by Alliance Leader Huang? What important matter do you have to tell me?"
The newcomer dismounted and respectfully bowed.
"The Alliance Leader requests that Prefect Shen return to discuss the dragon-slaying ceremony."
Shen Tang sat high on the back of the motorcycle, whip in hand, and smiled sarcastically: "Alliance Leader Huang, have you forgotten that I recently said I was withdrawing from the Dragon Slaying Bureau and taking my troops back to my territory? Even if you want to discuss war, you shouldn't be looking for me, you should be looking for those who are just watching from the sidelines. My meager assets are barely enough to make a splash if thrown into the water, but if my allies betray me and cause me to lose troops... ha, a small and insignificant family, it can't withstand such a fuss."
His trusted aides secretly groaned in despair.
He knew Shen Tang was quick-witted, but he hadn't expected her to be so scathing in her sarcasm. However, Huang Lie had given a firm order to bring Shen Tang back, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say nice things. Shen Tang listened the whole time, but remained completely silent.
His confidant was sobbing that his mouth was dry and his throat felt like it was on fire.
Shen Tang asked, "Has my brother Wu gone back?"
Seeing that Shen Tang asked no one but only about Wu Xian's whereabouts, the confidant secretly noted this detail and went back to tell his lord Huang Lie: "The alliance leader has sent someone to invite Lord Zhaode."
Shen Tang said, "So there's still no result?"
The confidant was in a dilemma, wishing he could lie to Shen Tang and trick him into going back, but reason stopped him: "There is no news yet, but the Alliance Leader and Zhao De have a good personal and official relationship, and he will surely be able to persuade him to change his mind."
Shen Tang snorted, "Then I'll wait for news."
He seemed eager to stand with Tianhai Wu Xian through thick and thin.
The confidant felt his head had gotten even bigger.
Fortunately, Wu Xian was easier to persuade than Shen Tang.
This was originally just a performance for outsiders. After Huang Lie, the leader of the alliance, earnestly pleaded with him three times, Wu Xian was finally moved by his sincerity and agreed to return. Gu Ren came to offer support, but also returned with his troops to save face. Finally, Shen Tang was the last to arrive.
Huang Lie's trusted confidants were almost brought to tears by her harassment.
The effect of this farce was remarkable.
Shen Tang clearly sensed a change in the atmosphere.
If the previous coalition was "a few pragmatists and their burdens," then the current Dragon Slaying Bureau coalition is "a few pragmatists and more than twenty monkeys forced to take things seriously."
Gu Chi hesitated for a long time before asking, "Why a monkey?"
Shen Tang said, "Because it's a warning to others."
Gu Chi: "..."
When her lord gets ruthless, even she curses herself.
Shen Tang was in a good mood and greeted the soldiers who had re-established their camp with a smile on his way back. However, as he passed the temporary drill ground, he saw a group of people gathered in the open space in the distance. Thanks to his good hearing, he vaguely heard something about soldiers beating people up.
She pointed and asked, "What happened over there?"
Before anyone could answer, she changed her route.
"Never mind, I'll go take a look myself."
Upon closer inspection, one could see Yang Ying kneeling on the ground, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, wearing only a rough cloth shirt. Dark red blood seeped from beneath the shirt; perhaps from the intense pain, or from excessive bleeding, her face was deathly pale.
Yang Ying turned her head and demanded, "Why did you stop?"
A martial artist standing to one side held a long, black whip, which hung to the ground. The mottled, crisscrossing bloodstains on Yang Ying's back were from this very whip. The martial artist appeared to be in his thirties or forties, with a thick beard, but his face was not fierce; instead, it possessed a kind, aged appearance. His hand holding the whip trembled, and his voice shook as he said, "My Lady, why have you forced me into this?"
Yang Ying became angry instead.
"Just do as I say, I asked for it!"
The whip-wielding warrior earnestly advised, "Then wait until the lady's injuries have healed... This injury has been compounded; if she is not careful, it could damage her foundation for life." Besides him, several others also tried to persuade Yang Ying to get up, but Yang Ying was unwilling.
Yang Ying's attitude angered them so much that they wiped away their tears.
Some people even stomped their feet in distress, saying that Yang Ying was trying to force them to their deaths.
Shen Tang was filled with questions.
He asked, "What's going on now?"
Why is Yang Ying kneeling here receiving military flogging?
Did she make a big mistake?
The warrior wielding the whip spotted Shen Tang and rushed forward in three strides. His massive, mountain-like physique made him kneel down before Shen Tang, startling her so much that her jaw dropped. She quickly said, "What are you doing? Let's talk this out..."
Several other people also came over to plead for them.
Shen Tang recognized these faces as familiar.
He had been following Shen Tang since he was from Xiaocheng.
To be precise, because she saved Yang Gong, his private retainers also followed her. Although their numbers were small, they were experienced and knowledgeable, and made great contributions in the early days of training troops and reorganizing and incorporating bandits for Shen Tang. Those who survived from then to the present are at least centurions, and most are mid-level officers in the army.
Amidst their chatter, Shen Tang managed to piece together the story. In short, on the night of the raid, Yang Ying led her squad on patrol, but due to her arrogance and recklessness, she misjudged the enemy's strength, leading to a disastrous decision that resulted in the deaths of nineteen men in her squad. As the squad leader, Yang Ying bore immense responsibility and requested to be disciplined. Chu Yao agreed to give her fifty lashes. Yang Ying's former subordinates, who rushed to the scene, were furious and tried desperately to persuade her.
In the end, they had no choice but to back down and let them carry out the execution!
After four or five lashes, he couldn't continue.
Yang Ying forced them to do it, and they felt sorry for her.
During the calamity at Xiaocheng, the whereabouts of their relatives were unknown—whether they were slaughtered or escaped. Either way, the chances of survival in this world were slim. Even their patriarch, Yang Gong, was reduced to one man. Unexpectedly, Yang Ying was still alive, and having watched him grow up, they felt a certain attachment to him. To punish this precious child was like tearing out their own hearts. Several of them vied to take the flogging in Yang Ying's place. Yang Ying's father, Yang Gong, wasn't there; they had to protect him.
However, Yang Ying was stubborn and refused to spare a single lash.
This forced several of her uncles to want to kneel down before her.
After Shen Tang understood the whole story, her expression changed slightly, and she became even more appreciative of Yang Ying. She said, "Why are you pleading for her? Do you think she's an innocent child? Since she made the mistake, she should suffer the consequences! A dignified and courageous martial artist, and a tiger daughter from a military family, inheriting her father's ambition, how can she not endure dozens of lashes? Strike her! Not a single lash should be spared!"
Yang Ying said gratefully, "Thank you, my lord."
Shen Tang said sternly, "Remember this lesson. This time it was only nineteen people, but if you become a centurion in the army, leading a hundred men, or even rise to the rank of captain, commanding a battalion of several thousand men... then a mere fifty lashes will not be enough to atone for your sins!"
Yang Ying bowed her head and said, "I will remember this."
Several of Yang Gong's former subordinates looked distressed.
But I felt a sense of relief.
Finally, with a heavy heart, I carried out the remaining forty-five lashes.
After the final lash, Yang Ying's back was covered in blood, and she swayed and fell forward. Shen Tang reached out and caught her by the shoulder, lifting her up with a slight effort: "Call the army doctor!"
When military law is enforced, the person being punished is not allowed to use martial arts to resist. Shen Tang made Yang Ying lie face down on the bed, remove her coarse cloth shirt, revealing her torn and bleeding back. To meet the needs of the women's camp, the old doctor Dong specially selected several qualified female soldiers from the camp and trained them in medical skills. When the military doctor came over, he secretly gasped when he saw the wound.
In addition to the whip marks on her back, Yang Ying also had other injuries.
The whip marks were bleeding, and the other wounds had reopened.
"Is this person courting death?"
Yang Ying lay on the couch and said, "I'm still alive."
But those nineteen people died without any complete remains.
The remains were retrieved and barely sewn back together.
The thought of the nineteen corpses lying side by side filled her with hatred for her past self. She had survived, so what was there to complain about? The army doctor rolled his eyes in exasperation. Doctors of any era despise uncooperative patients.
Fortunately, Yang Ying was a brave and courageous martial artist.
He is physically strong and full of martial spirit.
As long as he's not dead yet, he'll be fully healed in ten days to two weeks. Unless he has a tendency to form keloids, he won't even have a scar left. For an ordinary person, such a severe injury, even without any infection, has a certain probability of not surviving. The military doctor skillfully and efficiently treated Yang Ying's wound, re-bandaged it, and then ordered Yang Gong's former subordinates to fetch medicine and prepare it.
Only after confirming that Yang Yingren was not dead did Shen Tang leave.
Several uncles and elders came into the tent to see her.
Her eyes were red, clearly she had been crying a little.
One of them felt both heartache and relief, and whispered to Yang Ying, "The Lady is far superior to the head of the family. If the head of the family knew, he would be very proud."
Yang Ying couldn't get up right now, so she could only lie down and look at people.
He exclaimed in surprise, "You found out?"
"I understand, Your Majesty will not tarnish the reputation of the head of the family!"
"Much better than the patriarch's terrible temper!"
Everyone agreed with this statement.
Don't be fooled by how easy-going Yang Gong is now; he wasn't always like this. Before the incident in Xiaocheng, Yang Gong was so strict with his troops that he was almost inhuman. He was arrogant, stubborn, and sometimes even conceited! He was also ruthless, and would severely punish even the old men who had followed him all along for making mistakes.
The subordinates had many complaints about this, but dared not speak out.
But Yang Ying, as Yang Gong's daughter, inherited his essence and discarded his dross, which made these old people very happy.
"Sigh, what a pity..."
"If everyone were still here..."
“We old bones will definitely be able to fight alongside the Lady to establish the Yang family’s reputation. Now, we’ve wronged the Lady.”
As they spoke, several of them became saddened and wiped away tears.
The private retinues of martial arts masters are all built from childhood, and Yang Ying is too old for that now. He can only accumulate military merits, climb the ranks, and eventually establish himself before building his own elite force. There's still a long road ahead.
Yang Ying: "..."
She then realized that they were talking at cross purposes.
They're not talking about the same thing at all.
She whispered, "It's not about that."
The others also lowered their voices.
"Your Majesty, what is it?"
Yang Ying said, "It is the intention of a martial artist."
Just four words were enough to turn several people into statues.
One of them even picked at his ear, and asked her with a mixture of surprise, joy, and fear: "Wait, wait, wait, what the lady just said was... was it... the meaning of a martial artist?"
Yang Ying nodded with difficulty: "Mm."
The martial spirit is the opposite of the scholar's way.
The latter awakening is unpredictable and depends entirely on luck.
With a bit of luck and a strong will, the Path of the Scholar can be acquired with ease. The types are incredibly diverse, and their strengths are hard to categorize. Their effects might be mediocre and useless, or they might be overwhelmingly powerful.
The martial artist's will belongs to their innate martial courage, and there is only one path to awaken it—to comprehend their own martial arts path amidst life and death!
Probability?
One-tenth!
In other words, when one's life is under absolute threat, if one's mind is clear and one suddenly comprehends the martial arts, there is a 10% chance of gaining talent!
There are far too few martial artists who possess the spirit and courage of a true warrior.
Because this thing requires risking your life!
How many lives can a person have?
Currently, Shen Tang only has Xun Ding and Chu Jie under her command. Strictly speaking, Chu Jie is not her general yet; their relationship is more like a cooperative employment one. Shen Tang can call on him when she needs him, but whether he comes or not depends on Chu Jie's personal willingness, just like this time with the Dragon Slaying Squad.
She returned the border troops, but invited Chu Jie.
Give the high-ranking generals a boost in prestige.
Although Chu Jie agreed, he did not come with the army because Yonggu Pass needed to be settled, and his arrival would be delayed.
And Yang Ying—
On the surface, he is a third party.
"Your Majesty, when did this happen?"
They were so excited that they kept pinching their thighs, howling in pain.
Yang Ying said, "That night raid..."
In truth, the first time Gong Xichou pushed her to the brink, she had a vague sense of uncertainty. After Gong Xichou found out, he became even more ruthless, always pushing her to the brink of death. Yang Ying knew he wanted to help her awaken her rare martial arts talent, but she always fell just short. Finally, Gong Xichou impatiently gave up, telling her to let things take their course.
Yang Ying was disheartened, but she could only accept reality.
She guessed that the reason she hadn't succeeded before was most likely because, despite facing life-or-death crises, she had believed deep down that Gong Xichou wouldn't kill her. How could she, with a subconscious belief that she would never die, risk her life to truly knock on the door of the martial arts world?
Unexpectedly, things naturally progressed that night.
Yang Ying collected the remains of nineteen people and stared at her hands in a daze for a long time. She suddenly understood why her father would occasionally show unspeakable sadness. The path of martial arts practitioners, once begun, is one of killing and destruction, from which there is no stopping until death and the annihilation of their souls.
"Your Majesty, this is a blessing in disguise!"
"That's right, the patriarch would be ecstatic if he found out!"
After they finished speaking, their old comrade patted them on the head, signaling them to be mindful of the occasion while they were having fun. Did the Queen look happy? After chatting for a while, they made an excuse to let Yang Ying rest alone. Once outside the tent, they looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"dinner?"
"Haha, please, please, please!"
On the main tent side, Shen Tang also mentioned Yang Ying.
"Yang Gong's daughter is much more fierce than him."
His temperament also suited Shen Tang's taste.
Upon her return, she carefully investigated the events of that night and learned some details from Yu Zi. Yang Ying did indeed make some strategic errors, but it wasn't entirely wrong. Given the circumstances, even if Yang Ying had let the enemy escape before firing the whistle, the squad would still have been in danger, and the camp might have been caught off guard. The situation wouldn't have been worse, but it wouldn't have been better either.
Regardless, her ability to identify the enemy and act decisively is commendable. As for her personality... well, that needs some work. Shen Tang stroked her chin: "Lu Ji comes from a military family, Zhao Wei comes from a military family, Yang Ying comes from a military family..."
Should she change her approach?
Let's take a look at the inner quarters of the martial arts master?
_(:з」∠)_
Day 22 of consistently posting twice a day. There are still 6 days left in this month. Keep it up!
ヾ(°°)
(End of this chapter)
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