Chapter 867: The Elopement
A surge of warhorses was delivered into the eager hands of the reserve cavalry.
In a flash, the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion swelled from a thousand riders to two thousand.
The instant one reserve cavalryman received his warhorse, he joyfully vaulted onto its back, tearing in a wide circle around the training grounds, roaring with laughter: "Hahahaha, I'm a proper badass now! I've got my own warhorse, hahahaha! I finally don't have to be stuck in the rear, awaiting word from the veterans, hahahaha!"
Overwhelmed with excitement, he raised his musket, charging towards the firing range. With a practiced flourish from horseback, "bang," he hit the bullseye. His aim was remarkably good.
However, the sharp "bang" severely spooked the warhorse beneath him. The animal bucked and reared, flinging the reserve cavalryman from its back.
Bystanders immediately erupted in laughter: "Hahaha, you dolt, are you alright?"
The reserve cavalryman scrambled to his feet, a bewildered expression on his face. "Why did it do that?" he mumbled.
Zao Ying approached, a smirk playing on her lips. "These are Manchu horses, not our own," she explained with a chiding tone. "They haven't undergone adaptive training. Of course, firing a musket so close to them while on their back would spook them!"
"Oh? Our horses *do* get adaptive training, then?" The reserve cavalryman asked, wide-eyed and somewhat guileless.
The reserve cavalrymen finally understood the profound intricacies involved. Becoming a skilled cavalryman was no simple feat, indeed.
Zao Ying’s voice boomed. "Intensify your training! Forge a deeper bond with your warhorses! A monumental battle awaits us, soon to commence. The pacification of the Ordos Tribe—only our Cavalry Battalion can achieve it. Let us fight fiercely and show the infantry our true might!"
The cavalrymen roared in unison: "Oorah!"
——
Henan Province, nestled within an obscure mountain range...
Lady Xing, wife of Chuang Jiang, was in the midst of distributing supplies to the rebel soldiers.
Lady Xing was no ordinary, delicate woman; she possessed a unique blend of quiet courage and subtle wit. Chuang Jiang had always held her in high regard, tasking her with the crucial responsibility of managing all military provisions, from distributing daily rations to supplying weapons for battle.
All negotiations with the Jin merchants were also entrusted to Lady Xing.
Consequently, Lady Xing had become quite worldly.
As a song once lamented: "Oh, if only you'd never seen the world, and loved only this plain face of mine for eternity."
Reversing those lyrics, one might surmise that those who have experienced much of the world rarely settle for the ordinary. This holds true for all humanity, a universal characteristic.
Regrettably, Chuang Jiang, by all accounts—*ahem*—was not a man of pleasant appearance. Historical records describe him as tall, with prominent cheekbones, piercing eyes, an aquiline nose, and a raspy voice. He had no taste for drink or carnal pleasures, subsisting on plain, unpolished grain and sharing every hardship with his subordinates.
Lady Xing found her husband increasingly unappealing.
As these thoughts occupied her mind, a personal guard entered the tent to report: "General Fan Shan Yao has arrived to collect military provisions."
"Oh? Fan Shan Yao is here?" Lady Xing's spirits soared. Fan Shan Yao, after all, was an exceptionally handsome man, and she found herself quite drawn to his face. "Quickly, usher General Fan Shan Yao inside!"
Moments later, Fan Shan Yao entered.
His strikingly handsome face appeared before Lady Xing, making her heart flutter uncontrollably.
With a casual excuse, she dismissed her personal guard, leaving just the two of them in the tent.
Fan Shan Yao suddenly took a decisive step forward, reaching out an arm to draw Lady Xing into his embrace. "Heh heh, I knew it all along," he murmured, "you're fond of me, aren't you?"
Lady Xing let out a soft gasp, stammering an inarticulate reply.
Fan Shan Yao, delighted, swiftly lifted her and gently laid her on the campaign bed, his hands moving to loosen her garments...
The Deity of Decorum, with a dramatic flourish, suddenly leaped into view, obscuring the scene from the camera's gaze.
Reluctantly, the camera panned away, shifting from the intimate scene on the bed to a tree just outside the tent. There, a pair of crows nestled intimately, billing and cooing. When the lens finally returned to the tent, Fan Shan Yao was already fully clad in his armor.
Lady Xing, meanwhile, lay in bed, clutching the quilt, her cheeks faintly flushed.
"My lord, we are truly together now," Lady Xing purred, her voice dripping with syrupy sweetness. "You must take responsibility for me."
Fan Shan Yao replied, "If your husband were to discover our secret, we'd both be dead men walking, with no place to rest our bones. The only path forward is to elope."
Elopement: (noun, verb) – the act of two lovers fleeing their families and society, often to a distant, harsh land, to forge a difficult life together.
Lady Xing countered, "But I have no desire to flee to some forgotten corner of the world, enduring such a harsh existence. I haven't yet had my fill of this world's splendors and riches."
Fan Shan Yao declared, "And I, too, refuse to spend the rest of my days as a rustic country bumpkin. But if word of this dalliance with my brother's wife spreads, I'll be outcast from the brotherhood of the greenwood. No man who seduces his brother's wife is ever respected."
Lady Xing fretted, "Then what *can* we do?"
Fan Shan Yao stated, "Given our predicament, our only recourse is to defect to the government forces."
Lady Xing gasped, "What? Will the government forces even take us in?"
Fan Shan Yao reasoned, "I command five thousand men. The government forces are desperately short of manpower right now; why wouldn't they accept me? I've heard that 'Madman He,' He Renlong, is active in the vicinity. Let us pledge our allegiance to 'Madman He.'"
Lady Xing conceded, "Then I shall place my trust in you, my lord."
Fan Shan Yao flashed a self-satisfied, handsome grin. "Heh heh heh, leave everything to me. Oh, dearest... I find myself suddenly wanting you again..."
Lady Xing whispered seductively, "Come to me... come now..."
Gao Jie, in a few swift motions, shed the armor he had only just donned, and once more leaped onto the bed.
And so, the camera once again discreetly turned to the tree outside the tent, where a pair of squirrels frolicked, entwined in affectionate play. Slowly, dusk painted the sky.
When the sky before the lens next brightened, it was already the fresh dawn of the following day.
Chuang Jiang had barely risen from his cot, his teeth still unbrushed, when a soldier burst in, delivering a frantic report: "Brother Chuang Jiang, disaster! Lady Xing and Fan Shan Yao have been in a secret affair! They absconded with their troops overnight and their whereabouts are now unknown!"
Chuang Jiang was utterly stunned. In a single bound, he surged towards Lady Xing's tent, yanking back the flap to peer inside. What greeted him was the aftermath of a "fierce struggle"—bedsheets in disarray, a sight too scandalous to bear...
Chuang Jiang's eyes instantly blazed crimson!
"Why? My first wife, Han Jin'er, betrayed me. Now my second wife, Lady Xing, has done the same? Why? Why does this keep happening to me?"
"No!"
Chuang Jiang collapsed to his knees with a thud, howling up at the heavens: "This cannot be real! Why do you torment me so?"
His nephew, Li Guo, stepped forward and helped him to his feet. "Uncle!" he urged. "From this day forward, let us devote ourselves wholly to our rebellion. Women? We want nothing more to do with them!"
Chuang Jiang clenched his fists, a grim determination hardening his features. "We will rebel, and we will do it right," he declared. "But women, too, are essential. Next time, I shall simply have to choose far more wisely."
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