Chapter Fifty-Four

  After the meeting, Tang Yin originally wanted to leave with others, but was stopped by Wu Mei and Wu Ying.

  Something was wrong again, Tang Yin felt strange and sat on the chair without moving. He didn't leave, Qiu Zhen couldn't leave either, she could only stay and wait for him.

  After everyone else had left, Wu Mei spoke up and said: "Tang Yin, this time I'm going to give your battalion a task."

  "What task?" he asked curiously.

  "It's a light task if you say it lightly, and a heavy task if you say it heavily." Wu Mei tapped her forehead, pondered for a moment, and said: "We have been at war with Ningguo for several months, and Moguo is also eager to move against us. War may break out at any time, but the imperial court does not want to see large-scale wars between various vassal states. Therefore, this time the imperial court has sent someone to mediate again. Your battalion's mission is to go to the border of Fengmo and safely escort her to the capital city of Yancheng."

  "Who is she?"

  "Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess."

  "Is it a woman?!" Tang Yin said in surprise.

  "If she's a princess, can't she be a man?"

  As Mei said, once a war breaks out between the nine vassal states within the Huāntiān Empire, it is the imperial court's responsibility to intervene and stop the war.

  Originally, since the imperial court took a stand, all vassal states should have followed the sacred edict and stopped fighting, but the imperial power had become increasingly weak, and the various vassal states did not listen to the emperor's command. The emperor's sacred decree was like nothing to the kings of the vassal states.

  Fengguo is a major warlord, almost every year it mobilizes troops to fight and uses war to sustain itself. The imperial court has sent envoys to Fengguo the most number of times, but each time Fengguo has never obeyed the imperial edict, and its attitude towards mediation is also full of perfunctoriness.

  This time, Fengguo attaches great importance to the mediation of the imperial family. The current situation in Fengguo is not optimistic. The Ningguo army is pressing at the border, with troops stationed outside Tongmen, and the Mo army is also gathering on the Fengmo border, with the possibility of a major attack at any time. Fengguo has just lost 200,000 troops and lacks military strength. In addition, within Fengguo's borders, bandits are increasing and causing chaos everywhere, which can be described as internal and external troubles.

  If the imperial court can mediate successfully and stop the war, it would undoubtedly be most beneficial to Fengguo, and also take the opportunity to catch its breath.

  This time, the imperial court sent Grand Princess Yin Rou, which has the intention of mediation, and also has the heart of re-shaking the imperial family's dignity.

  Yin Rou first sent envoys to Mo Guo, and for some reason, Mo Guo did not immediately send troops to Feng Guo. Next, Yin Rou went north to Feng Guo, then west to Ning Guo.

  No matter how weak the imperial power is, Yin Rou is after all a grand princess and a member of the royal family. Once she enters Feng Guo's borders, Feng Guo must ensure her safety. It was for this reason that the Feng Guo royal court decided to dispatch an army division to escort her.

  It was a task that was both easy and meritorious to protect the princess within the borders of Feng Guo. After a heated debate with Liang Xing, Wu Yu finally managed to secure this mission for himself. He then discussed it with his sisters, Wu Mei and Wu Ying, and decided to send Tang Yin's second battalion instead, which was clearly intended to increase Tang Yin's merits in preparation for future promotions.

  "Is it necessary to mobilize an entire battalion just to protect one person?" Tang Yin found this hard to understand.

  "The princess is going out, how can she be alone? There are also a large number of palace maids and imperial guards by her side." Wu Mei smiled and said: "But no matter what, the princess is a precious treasure, in my Wind Country, there cannot be any loss, mobilizing an army to show my Wind Country's importance, it can also reflect my Wind Country's military power. In short, the task is very easy, you just need to protect the princess well, but if something unexpected happens to the princess, your ten heads will not be enough to save you, and it will also implicate the entire Wu family, so this task is also of great importance, Tang Yin, do you understand?"

  "Alright, got it." Tang Yin asked: "When will we set off?"

  "From the capital to the border, even if we march hastily, it will take six or seven days. You'll have to set out with your troops the day after tomorrow," said Yu Ying.

  "No problem." Tang Yin replied crisply.

  This time, Tang Yan quite liked the task. He was a rogue by nature and had been living in Yancheng for a while. The initial excitement had long since worn off, so this trip to the border for an escort mission was just a way to clear his mind.

  "Alright, you go prepare then."

  "Goodbye!"

  Leaving the Prime Minister's residence, Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen returned to their own residence. On the way, Qiu Zhen smiled and said: "Tang big brother, this task is a beautiful errand, it seems that Wu Xiang has the intention of promoting you!"

  Tang Yin raised his head and said: "I am now the commander of the army, what position can I be promoted to again?"

  Qiu Zhen thought for a moment, lowered his voice and said: "Now the Liang family is expanding, and it's not impossible that the Tang brothers will also expand their troops. At that time, letting Brother Tang manage two or three troops is not out of the question."

  "Haha!" Tang Yin laughed and waved his hand, saying: "I'm not interested in this kind of empty guesswork."

  He didn't take this task to heart, but Qiu Zhen did, and his mind began to turn, thinking about how to make Tang Yin complete the task perfectly and with great fanfare.

  Two days passed without incident, and on the day of departure, Tang Yin got up early and went to the barracks with Qiu Zhen.

  He had just arrived at the barracks, and Mei also rushed to see him off. After seeing Tang Yin, she repeatedly reminded him not to be careless and must ensure the princess's safety.

  Tang Yin readily agreed, but whether he actually listened or not, only he himself knew.

  The Second Legion is different from other legions, its soldiers are not simply close combat infantry, they have bows and arrows on their backs, a sword hanging from their waist, a quiver of arrows, and in their hands are long spears and shields. It looks a bit incongruous, it's hard to tell whether they're archers or close combat spearman or halberdiers.

  But with such equipment, the weight is more than double that of an ordinary soldier, yet not a single person in the entire battalion complained of fatigue, because since they joined the Second Battalion, they had always trained like this, and their usual training load was even heavier.

  The soldiers were strong, but the whole team looked messy, with people scattered around, one wave after another, left and right, a group of 10,000 soldiers, stretching for two miles.

  Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen rode tall horses, walking to the front of the team.

  The troops left Yancheng and headed south, the journey was also desolate, but fortunately the marching speed was not slow, so as not to delay the journey.

  That night, the troops entered Wan City.

  The lord of Wan City had already received the news and personally led the officials of Wan City out of the city to welcome them.

  The city master is a relatively small official in the local area, half a level lower than the commander of the garrison, let alone Tang Yin being taken care of by the Wu family is a well-known fact, how dare the city master of Wan City be slow.

  Have the troops camp outside the city, and Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen lead a dozen or so personal soldiers into the inner city of Wan.

  The lord of the city was named Li Xian, who was polite and humble. He first invited Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen to dinner at his mansion, and then wanted them to stay overnight in the mansion.

  Tang Yin refused and lived with Qiu Zhen in a hostel inside the city.

  One night without incident, at dawn on the second day, Tang Yin led his troops to continue advancing towards the border.

  On their way, they passed through Fangcheng, Fengyang, Jianchang and other places before finally arriving at Chongqing.

  Chong City is located near the border of Fengmo's two countries. Thirty miles south, it is the Ba Guan of Fengguo. The Ba Guan is a frontier fortress, similar to Tongmen, but the terrain is not as dangerous as Tongmen. North of Ba Guan is Fengtu, and south is Mòjìng. Tang Yin's destination was also Ba Guan.

  Don't look at the Second Army's scattered appearance, but their marching speed is indeed very fast. The original six or seven days' journey was completed in less than five days. Along the way, it can be said that everything went smoothly and quietly, without any unexpected events. Of course, this can also be understood. Although bandits have been rampant within the borders of Fengguo recently, no bandit group has dared to provoke an army corps, unless they themselves do not want to live.

  On the road, only in Wan City did Qiu and Tang Yin stay together at the same inn. After that, when passing through other cities, Qiu always stayed at the city lord's manor, regardless of whether the city lord had extended an invitation or not. He would shamelessly take up residence there, leaving Tang Yin baffled as to why he did so. The conditions at the inn were somewhat simple, but they hadn't reached a level that made it impossible for people to stay there.

  He had asked Qiu Zhen twice, but the latter just smiled and didn't say a word. He himself was unwilling to speak, so Tang Yin stopped asking and let it go.

  When they arrived at Chong City, it was just noon. Tang Yin wanted to pass through the city directly and head straight to Ba Guan. After all, there were only over 30 miles left, and they could arrive before dusk, so there was no need to linger here.

  Qiu Zhen insisted on landing at the city wall.

  Tang Yin didn't understand, and asked him the reason. Qiu Zhen said: "We went early, but it's useless. When we arrived at Ba Guan, we just waited in vain. Besides, that place is a border town, and the conditions are naturally not as good as Chong Cheng. The brothers below have been rushing for several days, and they're both tired and exhausted. It's better to rest well for a day in Chong Cheng!"

  Never knew Qiu Zhen was a general who would think for the soldiers, Tang Yin couldn't help but laugh and asked: "Qiu Zhen, what kind of evil idea are you thinking of?"

  Qiu Zhen smiled mysteriously and said, "It won't be long before Brother Tang finds out."

  Tang Yin shook his head helplessly, but still followed Qiu Zhen's advice and ordered the troops to set up camp for the siege.

  The lord of the city personally entertained them, and when they rested, Qiu Zhen and others, as usual, stayed in the lord's mansion.

  The next day.

  Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen set out for Ba Guan.

  Ba Guan can only be considered a medium-sized fortress, not as large as the Chengbei Garrison in Yancheng, and even during wartime, it could accommodate at most 30,000 to 40,000 people.

  The city walls on all sides are not high, let alone strong, and many places have been neglected for years, looking a bit shabby. The defensive facilities inside are still quite complete, but there are too few of them. After Tang Yin entered the fortress, he felt that this place was worlds apart from Tongmen. This also shows that although Fengmo's two countries were hostile to each other, they did not have many wars between them.

  The commander of the Ba Guan was named Ying Bu, a young general in his thirties, with a lean build and dark, rough skin. He had an eight-shaped beard on his upper lip, and when he looked at people, his eyeballs rolled around rapidly. The armor on his body seemed to have not been cleaned for several months, covered in dust, and some parts even had rust spots.

  PS: These days are too busy during the Spring Festival, I hope everyone can stay at home and accompany their family well!