A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 58

The battle standard with the lion-tiger pattern fluttered and billowed in the wind.

The victorious soldiers worked without stopping, reinforcing trenches, moving broken wood and stones, clearing battlefield debris, and collecting the scattered weapons and spears, piling them up neatly in one place.

The wounded were continually carried back to the field hospital on stretchers.

Chen Liangyu dismounted outside the rear camp, looking around, but didn’t see the female soldiers drilling.

New recruits, fresh to the camp, were all led and trained by drillmasters, learning basic combat skills, tactics, and formations before being sent to the front line to face the enemy. When the front line was bogged down, they also served as “laborers” and “stretcher bearers.” She glanced toward the field hospital and indeed saw female soldiers busy treating the wounded.

Pu Ping’er lifted the curtain and emerged from the field hospital, walking towards her. “General, how was the battle?”

Chen Liangyu replied, “We made quick work of them, didn’t need to deploy many troops. All of Prince Qi’s vanguard was captured.”

The captives were bound with ropes around their wrists, tied one after the other, and driven toward a temporary camp constructed of tree branches and thatch.

“How are the troops you’re leading? Are they scared?”

Pu Ping’er said, “Anyone who sees a scene of torn flesh and blood flying for the first time will be timid.”

Pu Ping’er served as the drillmaster for the female soldiers.

Chen Liangyu placed great importance on the female soldiers. If the first batch couldn’t be trained, the plan for a women’s army would be largely ruined. Therefore, when she was in the rear camp, she trained them personally, and when she was away, Pu Ping’er took charge.

This was not an easy unit to raise.

That day by the female conscription stall, Chen Liangyu set a goal for Pu Ping’er: first form a squad (a shi), then form a company (a dui).

A squad of ten people was perhaps not difficult. There were always a few brave souls who came for the military pay and guaranteed food. However, a company of fifty people was a little trickier.

First came a few bold and spirited older women, who arrived in a group. They were dressed as ordinary farm women, with calloused hands from hard work, loud voices, and strong qi. They asked a few questions:

“Can women really go to war?” “Is there pay?” “Is food provided?” “Can I do it?” …

Pu Ping’er answered them one by one: “Yes,” “Yes, there is,” “Yes, it is,” “Yes, you can!”

The women immediately expressed their intention to enlist. Registration of their names took some effort, as commoners were illiterate, let alone able to write. Pu Ping’er could only register them based on the pronunciation of their surnames and given names.

After that, although people came to inquire, no one else signed up.

After waiting for most of the day, she suddenly realized that waiting like this was not the way to go.

So, she tried a new approach.

She took a few of the older women and went door-to-door, shouting out the need for soldiers like a beggar seeking alms. Only then did she gather nearly fifty people.

The remaining few vacancies still needed to be filled at a later time.

Chen Liangyu walked toward the field hospital.

Pu Ping’er followed her. “Two of the soldiers under Drillmaster Jiang cried, and one went limp. Drillmaster Jiang punished them both with twenty military lashes. Look over there.”

Chen Liangyu glanced in the direction Pu Ping’er indicated. In front of the neat square formation of new recruits, several young boys stood at attention, being scolded. Beside them, one was sprawled on the ground, tears and snot running down his face, indeed too weak-legged to stand up.

The drillmaster’s furious curses drew other soldiers from their barracks, who stood at a distance, watching the spectacle.

“What do you all look like! You, your father, are a complete weakling! You’ll just be cannoning fodder on the battlefield!”

The cane swung past his eyes and smacked the ground, leaving a groove.

The roar of rage filled their ears again.

“When you go back, you better kowtow to your ancestors for eight generations! You’ve shamed all of them!”

Watching the scene, Pu Ping’er shook her head unconsciously. “Although they all come from impoverished backgrounds, poverty and poverty are truly not the same. The girls have been hardworking since they were young—they handle all the rough work, farm work, and miscellaneous chores. If a child couldn’t be supported, the girl infant was abandoned first. If there was food or clothing, it was always prioritized for the males in the family. After years of such neglect, the girls, on the contrary, are more resilient. When they saw those dismembered limbs and bloody messes, not even the youngest one behaved like that—scared, collapsed on the ground, paralyzed, unable to be lifted by Drillmaster Jiang.”

Chen Liangyu lifted the tent flap of the field hospital. Zhu Ying, wrapped in black cloth like a mysterious shadow, was particularly conspicuous among the busy wounded soldiers and army doctors. After their drill, the female soldiers were borrowed by Zhu Ying for the field hospital to treat the wounded, and they were helping to bandage wounds and stop bleeding for the injured soldiers.

They were of various heights and builds, and there was one skinny little ‘radish sprout.’

Chen Liangyu looked at the “little general” with sparse, yellowish hair tied into two grass buns, and she took a sharp breath. “How old is this child?”

Pu Ping’er said, “Her parents said she is already fourteen.” This child had just been brought in by her, and Chen Liangyu had not met her yet.

“Nonsense!”

Chen Liangyu looked at the child and was reminded of the time she brought Xie Wenjun out of the abandoned civil residences.

This radish sprout was even smaller than Xie Wenjun when they first met. How could she be fourteen?

At that time, Xie Wenjun was probably no older than twelve? Her frame was delicate and small, not much younger than Chen Liangyu, yet walking together somehow made people feel they were not of the same generation.

Clearly afraid and trembling, yet she still put on a solemn face and pretended to be an adult.

A sudden blow, like a heavy punch, struck Chen Liangyu’s chest.

She was so frail; simply opening her arms was enough to embrace her whole body.

Why was she unwilling to bend her leg back then?

You clearly saw her fear and anxiety. Why were you unwilling to squat down and hold her, gently telling her not to be afraid?

Those past moments of indifference and distance were like a spring-time hailstorm returning after a thaw, smashing together to form an ice pick that pierced her own heart.

Chen Liangyu asked the radish sprout, “How old are you?”

The radish sprout held up five fingers. “Eleven.”

She doesn’t even know how to count!

In folk custom, people are often considered two years older than their actual age. The radish sprout, full count, was no more than nine years old.

Chen Liangyu turned and looked at Pu Ping’er. “You brought her to the army camp? To be rations?”

Pu Ping’er pulled the radish sprout over. “That’s not what you said before. You said you were fourteen.”

The radish sprout mumbled, “My parents told me I absolutely must say that.”

Tsk!

What a mess!

“How about we raise her?” Pu Ping’er suggested. “She’ll grow up eventually. Children grow very quickly.”

“Who will raise her?”

Pu Ping’er choked a little and said, “What a fine prospect for a personal guard. Raising her yourself means you can trust her in the future.”

“Me? Raise her?” Chen Liangyu pointed to herself.

Chen Liangyu tossed a simple knife, the scabbard pressing toward the radish sprout. “Catch.”

The radish sprouts barely managed to catch it, staggered back a few steps while clutching the knife, and landed on her butt.

Pu Ping’er: “…”

I gave you a chance, but you were useless!

Chen Liangyu: “What time is it now? What place is this? Raising a child—how can you even think of it? She’s so small; one day a stray arrow could pierce her if we’re not careful!”

Pu Ping’er said, “Before her parents sent her here, they were haggling with the human trafficker. They failed to reach a deal, so they brought her to me. It’s obvious the family has too many children and can’t afford to raise them; they want to sell her… Sending her back might mean she’ll die faster than on the battlefield.”

Well, she’s already here!

Chen Liangyu pondered for a moment. “What is her name?”

Pu Ping’er: “No name. Her family name is Hu, and since she’s a girl, they just call her Hu Nü (Hu Girl).”

“Can you write?” Chen Liangyu asked the radish sprout.

The radish sprout nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken.

She quickly scrambled up from the ground and, as if showing off a skill, swiftly drew the crooked characters for Hu Nü on the ground with her finger.

Pu Ping’er had just taught her.

The family ties are severed.

From now on, she will not support the living, nor mourn the dead, and the surname can also be discarded.

Hú Nǚ

“Born in the wild weeds, her person is insignificant like mustard dust. She should possess the ambition of a great swan goose, and not act as a sparrow.” (The character for hú  from her surname is phonetically replaced with the character hú meaning ‘swan goose,’ giving her a new, aspirational name.)

Chen Liangyu stood up and clapped her hands.

“From now on, you will be called Hú Nǚ .”

Hú Nǚ nodded, half-understanding.

“Come back to the Prince’s residence with me first. If you want to join the army and fight, wait until you are a few years older.”

Hú Nǚ looked at Pu Ping’er’s expression. Seeing Pu Ping’er nod to her, she confidently walked toward Chen Liangyu.

“Are you leaving today? When will you return?” Pu Ping’er asked.

“Three to five days. When the 100,000 troops from the Southern Territory are mobilized, we will immediately march north and attack Yongdu directly.” Chen Liangyu took Hú Nǚ’s hand and prepared to leave. “Before we reach Yongdu, expand the female troops to a qu (a unit of 500 soldiers), and I will credit you with a major merit.”

A qu is five hundred people.

“Do you find that difficult?”

Pu Ping’er: “Your subordinate will do her utmost.”

“If a few hundred people require your utmost effort, what will happen when it’s a battalion or an army? Will it cost you your life?”

“Your subordinate accepts the order!”

The bell from the distant temple had just rung three times.

The soldiers guarding Linxia City saw a troop of horses surging rapidly from the horizon, raising plumes of dust.

The commander recognized the person leading the troop and immediately opened the city gates to let them through.

The sound of hooves rapidly struck the city gate road. The axle of the gate made a huge, dull sound, and the gate leaves slowly closed again immediately after.

Chen Luan was in the flower hall, organizing land and field ledgers with several people.

Chen Liangyu handed Hú Nǚ over to Chen Luan. “Second Brother, find her a place to stay. Later, please hire a teacher to instruct her in some characters.”

“Whose child is this?”

“Just treat her as someone I found.”

Chen Luan said, “Coincidentally, Hanhong Academy just opened a girls’ school. The Princess will be back in a few days; let her take Hú Nǚ back to the academy.”

Chen Liangyu: “Hú Nǚ, are you willing to go to school?”

“Yes, I am.”

Asking was pointless; she had no choice, and whatever decision others made, she could only accept.

“Really?” Hú Nǚ looked up with a small face, full of hope.

Although she didn’t know what schooling was like, she knew that scholars were respected, and having a scholar in the family was the most glorious thing.

She was truly willing, which was naturally good.

Chen Liangyu: “Really. When did the Grand Princess leave?”

Chen Luan said, “She finished organizing the field ledger the day before yesterday and set off at chen hour (7-9 AM) yesterday.”

The land and field ledgers he organized did not only include the fields bestowed by Xie Wenjun but also the tax silver due from all the land belonging to the officials who received those rewards.

It was good to be an official; the gentry did not pay grain tax.

Taking advantage of this grand bestowal and rewarding, Xie Wenjun secretly ordered Qiu Renshan to gather evidence. She now had a rough idea of how much land each family had concealed.

With Rong Jun’s successful example, Chen Luan’s subsequent task was carried out smoothly.

Not only officials in the neighboring prefectures of Chongan and Cangnan, but even those in the southeast up to Yongdu knew that their colleagues in Linxia Prefecture were continuously being promoted and getting rich.

The Grand Princess personally approved the official seal and rewards.

Although Chen Luan was a bit tired from traveling on the road, no matter where he went to invite people, the local officials would greet him with smiles. Without much prompting, they came with him.

The officials gathered at the Prince’s residence, happily waiting to drink tea and receive their rewards. Xie Wenjun then issued an edict banishing Du Peixun to Wuzhou.

Considering the potential for him to die en route due to the two armies’ engagement, she didn’t make him set off immediately.

Among the three northern prefectures, Wuzhou was the poorest.

The security was chaotic, and the locals were unruly.

Prefectures were divided into eight grades: Fu (Major), Fu (Assisting), Xiong (Grand), Wang (Prestigious), Jin (Critical), Shang (Upper), Zhong (Middle), and Xia (Lower). The higher the status of the prefecture, the higher the rank of the Prefectural Governor. Linxia Prefecture was graded Fu (Assisting), and the Governor was a third-rank official. Wuzhou was graded Zhong (Middle) or Xia (Lower)—it was not yet definitively settled whether it was Middle or Lower—but regardless, the Governor of either Zhong or Xia was a fourth-rank official.

It looked like Du Peixun was promoted from a fifth-rank Commander to a fourth-rank Governor, but it was an apparent promotion that was actually a demotion.

It seemed that the Grand Princess was not only going to reward meritorious service but also settle accounts afterward.

Du Peixun had only managed to raise one hundred taels of silver for the task, a hundred-tael silver note, along with a letter in which he angrily criticized the court for excessive taxes and levies. At the end, he defiantly wrote: “There is not one single extra coin!”

Some people gloated, some watched the spectacle, and others secretly blamed him for being foolish. Du Peixun was a poor, pragmatic man who deserved the title of a local official who cared for the people. He did not seek recognition or fame, and he did not quibble over minor disadvantages, simply living his life in his small corner of Chongan.

It was true that he had no money.

But he should have at least completed the assigned task first and talked about it later. Now that he was being transferred, who would protect the people of Chongan?

Wasn’t this a case of sacrificing a major interest for a minor one?

After sending Du Peixun away, Xie Wenjun looked troubled, tapping the tabletop with her finger in a restless rhythm.

The tapping of her fingernail against the table made everyone uneasy.

“This Princess has a vexing matter these past few days.”

“What is troubling the Grand Princess?”

“The Heng family in the Southern Territory is unwilling to send troops. This Princess worries that if the Heng family assists the rebels and my third brother fails to ascend the throne, even if I sincerely wish to look after all your careers and bestow thousands of acres of fertile land, when will that promise be fulfilled?”