Chapter 76: The God of War (22)
Chapter 76: The God of War (22)
As soon as Lin Dan returned to the military camp, she was hugged by Ding Mujie, who was rushing over. He kept patting her back and then distanced himself from her. Then, he carefully looked at her blood-stained face and said in a hoarse voice, "You have lost weight."
Lin Dan pushed him away and said awkwardly, "Apart from being thin, don't you see anything else?"
"Is there a problem?" Ding Mujie immediately showed an anxious expression.
"It's not right anywhere", Lin Dan tugged her clothes which had been lumped together, and said in a serious tone, "I haven't taken a shower for more than a month, and I slept with the horses every day. Don't you smell it? I felt like I'm rotten."
Ding Mujie's worried expression froze for a moment, and then he smiled helplessly. "Guards," he shouted, "Go and boil a bucket of hot water for General Lin!"
"Wait a minute," Lin Dan raised her hand and emphasized, "I'm afraid one bucket isn't enough; boil me a few buckets of water!"
The ordered soldier ran away excitedly as if he had received an important task. Ding Mujie and Li Xian laughed uncontrollably. She was still as straightforward and lovely as before. She had left for more than a month, but to them, it seemed as long as ten years had passed.
"Come to my tent after taking a shower. Let's sit down and have a talk." Li Xian said in a hoarse voice.
"I want to come along too." Ding Mujie gave him a meaningful look.
"Me too. I'll bring along some good wine and dishes." The other generals responded before they went far. It was not easy for them to get general Lin back, so they must have a big celebration.
Li Xian was downhearted. Seeing that Lin Dan agreed, so he naturally couldn't drive them out. He cursed in his heart, "So inconsiderate.".
After freshening up, Lin Dan went into the big tent and began to tell what she had been through for more than a month. " leaving that village, I wanted to go back to the military camp, but then I thought about it. Even if I came back, what could I do? After all, the three hundred thousand soldiers of the Western army are no match for the eight hundred thousand five Hu cavalries. What can I change by myself? If I had thousands of troops and horses, I would definitely kill the five Hu joint forces. "
Speaking of this, Lin Dan raised the wine flask and gulped down a mouthful of wine. Her face had already turned red as if it was dyed with two red clouds, which made her particularly charming. Her eyes were like the stars in the sky, shining brightly. The soldiers looked at her with burning eyes, cautiously hiding their admiration. This was their leader and also the one they respect the most. How could they be ill-mannered towards her?
Li Xian took a glance at her and then lowered his head and drank up.
Ding Mujie seemed fine; he just leaned on the bench and looked at Lin Dan with a smile. He didn't dare to blaspheme her, nor did he dare to approach her, nor let her out of his sight.
After drinking a flask of wine, Lin Dan casually wiped her red lips and continued, "Thinking of this, I seize a glimmer of inspiration. It's rare to have a thousand soldiers, but there are diverse wild horses on this vast grassland. So, I wandered around the grassland, gathered five to six herds of wild horses in a row. I picked out the strongest one from the five to six horses to tame and killed the rest of the horses. In this way, this herd of wild horses that are pieced together listened to me. As long as I control the leading horses, it was equivalent to control all the horses. I commanded them to go east, and they won't dare to go west. On my way back, I met several groups of Huns, but I hid under the horse, and they didn't notice me at all "
Lin Dan seldom talked much. But today was very different. She won the battle and drank a lot, causing her to have a sense of pride that needs to be expressed, which made her talked more. It was heart-warming to see her unrestrained appearance, with blushing face, glistening eyes, and talked freely.
Everyone looked at her intently. When she laughed, they also laughed. When she drank, they also raised their glasses to drink. As long as they could be with her, it was the happiest and luckiest thing in the world. In the end, everyone was drunk, but Lin Dan was only slightly tipsy. She put down her glass and asked in a low voice, "Why is Lin Qing not here?"
Ding Mujie avoided the toasts deliberately, so he was still sober and gradually said, "He was forced by the great empress to stay in the capital to get married. And claimed that he wouldn't be at the frontier until his wife gets pregnant. Almost all the sons of the Lin family died, leaving him alone. He had to carry on the Lin family line. Speaking of which, you have also reached the age to get married. "
If the day he was reborn, he hadn't avoided Lin Wan's intention, Lin Dan would have become his wife, wouldn't she? This thought stuck in Ding Mujie's mind like a maggot attached to his bone, which made him unable to get rid of it. But he also profoundly realized that even if Lin Dan became his wife, he would end their relationship because of that misunderstanding.
It was better to be as peaceful as it was now. At least they could be friends. Thinking of this, Ding Mujie couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. He had planned not to drink and accompanied Lin Dan soberly without drinking, but at this moment, he felt an urge to get himself drunk.
Lin Dan leaned against the chair and said, "The soldiers who guarded the border had been through hundreds of battles. Their armor had been worn through. They were brave and indomitable; I will never return if the Huns had not been defeated. As long as the Huns are still alive, I will not get married. The blood of the Lin family was passed down by Lin Qing. Let's not talk about this. Drink." She filled a glass of wine for Ding Mujie while she picked up the flask and drank up. She acted so free and easy.
When she closed her eyes, Ding Mujie stared at her for a while. Then he drank up the wine in a gulp and smiled, "You take care of the war, while Lin Qing will be responsible for the succession of the family, which can be regarded as each exhibiting their strengths."
Seeing that him teasing Lin Qing, Lin Dan couldn't help laughing.
Ding Mujie was fascinated by her beauty in that instance. Li Xian, lying on the bed, opened one of his eyes secretly and looked at her rare smile without a blink. Countless tenderness surged in his chest, but he didn't dare to vent it. This person was like a towering mountain. It was also like the flowing water. The cool breeze was her, the icy snow was her, the sun was her, and the morning dew was her All the beautiful things in the world seemed to be condensed on her. But it was because she was too good that no one dared to approach her.
Not getting married? Li Xian closed his eyes, feeling a little regretful but also a little relaxed in thought: This is also good
Ding Mujie swirled the wine glass in his hand, and his eyebrows slowly relaxed as if he was relieved.
In the capital, the haggard emperor was waiting for the news of the war at the border. The crown prince and a group of courtiers stood outside the palace, not daring to breathe.
Until now, no news had been heard from the frontier, but everyone knew that it was impossible to stop the five Hu joint army with the strength of the Wei Kingdom. At that time, the land would be divided among the five Hu, and the citizens would be enslaved by them. The consequences were almost predictable. If the nobles wanted to survive, the best way was to cross the Yangtze River south and abandon the north.
"Father, this is the constitution for crossing to the south. Please have a look." The crown prince took out a thick memorial.
"Let's wait for a while." The emperor waved his hand and rejected. His tone sounded a little tired. He refused to leave his people behind and fled unless he had no choice.
The crown prince sighed helplessly. The officials standing behind him all looked anxious. They wanted to urge the emperor to make a decision as soon as possible, but they didn't dare to speak rashly. The officials led by the nine princes were determined as if they were ready to die for their country.
No one thought the Wei kingdom would win, so when the news came, they were all stunned.
"What What did you just say?" The emperor held the report tightly in his hand, but he didn't dare to open it.
The envoy repeated, "Your Majesty, our army has defeated the five Hu, and currently, we have successively retaken the Northern Shanxi, Hetao, and other places; They went even deeper into the desert and defeated the Huns!"
Only then did the emperor opened the envelope with his hands trembling. He began to read eagerly. At last, he laughed loudly with overwhelming joy on his face. "Well, well, well, What a Lin Dan! It's my great honor to have such a powerful general! "
All the princes and courtiers finally realized what happened, but their faces still showed a disbelief expression. The emperor's pale, haggard face turned red in that instance. After reading the report, he handed it to the eunuch and said happily, "Read it for them!"
The eunuch cleared his throat and read word by word loudly. Then everyone understood what had happened at the frontier. However, it turned out that Lin Dan was not dead. When the battle was at its worst, she suddenly led a herd of wild horses to appear behind the five Hu joint army, disrupting their formation; their foot soldiers were trampled to death. She beheaded the leaders of the four clans alone, completely breaking the five Hu joint army apart. Mo Xiao scared out of his wits and immediately turned around and fled back to the grassland. His arm was almost chopped off by her while he was escaping. His shoulder was injured and shed a lot of blood. It was uncertain if he could be saved after he fled back.
After the victory, she besieged the remnant of the five Hu in the grassland and retook the lost land one by one. Up until now, the border had been completely stabilized. This time, Mo Xiao didn't dare to request to sign a peace treaty but wrote a letter of surrender. He ordered his special envoy to bring to the capital and bow to the Wei Kingdom.
After reading the news, there was silence in the hall. It took a long time before someone cried out in surprise. Only a few princes looked a little unnatural, but no one paid attention to them under such worth celebrating moment. Since the Wei Kingdom was saved, all the officials were definitely happier than anything else that they didn't have to give up their property to travel south.
The emperor pounded the table hard and said in a hoarse voice, "She successively beheaded the leaders of the four clans and saved our country from danger. How will General Lin Dan be rewarded this time?"
At this time, no one dared to impeach her for stealing the general position as a woman, let alone the crime of killing her father. They hurriedly responded, "She deserves to be rewarded. She deserves a big reward!" General Lin was disappointed again. From now on, she would leave the border and return to the capital to marry. Then who could scare away the barbarians outside of the border? They need to be aware that there were still the Mongolians and Jin in the vast desert beside the five Hu. They were ambitious and eager to take action; They were just waiting for the opportunity to strike an attack on the Wei Kingdom. The seemingly boundless grassland was far from being as calm as it looked.
The emperor took up his writing brush and wrote down a scroll of the imperial edict. He directly promoted Lin Dan to be the senior general for the peace of the kingdom, substituted the position of the late senior commander in chief. She was also given a knighthood, and a thousand households, which was rare in the history of the Wei Kingdom. In order to win over Lin Dan, the emperor had spent a lot of money.