The Innocent Heart - Chapter 48

On this afternoon, Guan Yueyao was leading the soldiers through an intense drill when, to her surprise, she encountered two people she hadn’t expected to see together.

“Qubing… and that Chen-whatever… Chen Zhi? What are you guys doing here?!” Guan Yueyao’s eyes widened as she looked at the two teenagers. They were clearly standing in the same spot, yet both had their heads turned away, refusing to even acknowledge the other’s presence out of the corners of their eyes.

“His Majesty ordered us to the Northern Army for experience,” they answered simultaneously.

“Oh…” Guan Yueyao watched their behavior and felt a secret urge to laugh. She had no personal grudge against Chen Zhi; her hostility toward him was entirely due to his rivalry with Huo Qubing.

Seeing that he was now going to train alongside her, she felt a wave of awkwardness. After all, Qubing was right there.

“You two, fall in,” Guan Yueyao said after a moment of thought. In the army, one shouldn’t act based on personal likes or dislikes.

“Who are you to order me around? I am the legitimate grandson of the Marquis of Tangyi. Who do you think you are?!”

As soon as her words left her mouth, Chen Zhi snapped back with an insolent rebuttal. Guan Yueyao’s temperament hadn’t softened during her time in the barracks; if anything, her fuse had grown shorter and her temper more explosive.

“You little sh—” She began cursing and rolling up her sleeves, ready to march over and throw a punch at the noble boy whose attitude was as rotten as his face. Suddenly, her best friend blocked her path.

“If you don’t want to go, then don’t. A-Yao, let’s go. We have training to do.” Compared to his friend’s burning rage, Huo Qubing’s performance was remarkably steady.

He firmly caught Guan Yueyao’s fist just as she was about to swing it into Chen Zhi’s face. He then half-dragged, half-pulled her away from Chen Zhi.

“Why are you stopping me? He brings his young master temper into the army—watch me slap him to death!” Even from a distance, Guan Yueyao’s furious shouting could still be heard.

“Just ignore him. The Chen family just lost the position of Empress; having Chen Zhi enter the Northern Army was His Majesty’s idea. It’s to put the Chen family’s mind at ease so they don’t start plotting anything in private,” Huo Qubing whispered as he leaned close to her.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Guan Yueyao turned to her friend, confused. Why would the Emperor send a member of the deposed Empress’s family into the military right after stripping her title? Was there a connection?

“Ever since Marquis Chen Wu passed, the Chen family hasn’t produced any ‘pillars of the state’ among the younger generation. After much consideration, they probably pushed Chen Zhi forward. They hope he can earn some military merit to secure the Chen family’s prosperity and status for the next few decades.”

Huo Qubing’s gaze drifted toward the horizon. Ultimately, Chen Zhi was in the same situation as himself and his uncle—they all had to achieve merit on the battlefield to guarantee the future of their families.

The harem and the imperial court had always been two sides of the same coin. They elevated each other and restrained each other; both were merely chips in His Majesty’s hand—pawns for him to complete his grand ambition of hegemony.

But if I can realize my own dreams, what does it matter if I’m someone else’s pawn? Huo Qubing thought. He didn’t find the idea humiliating; instead, he was excited about the military life ahead of him.

“A-Yao, what are we training today?” He changed the subject, looking expectantly at his friend.

“Just the daily routines. Lord Wei said that as cavalry fighting the Xiongnu, the first priority is horsemanship. Endurance, coordination with the mount, and being able to use weapons proficiently on horseback are all vital. So, after the riding practice this afternoon, we’ll do combat drills in pairs using the Miao Dao [sprout sabers] on horseback.”

Over these many days, these repetitive exercises had become second nature to Guan Yueyao. She didn’t even have to think before explaining them to her friend.

“Excellent! I’ll be in your group for the drill!” Huo Qubing’s eyes lit up as he touched the saber, Liedi (Earth-Render), at his waist. Although the name was a bit underwhelming, it was a rare and high-quality blade.

By now, thanks to the overtime efforts of the Chang’an Arsenal, all four hundred soldiers under Wei Qing’s command had been equipped with Miao Dao. They were practicing their saber techniques daily, trying to master them so they could be effectively utilized in the saddle.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Where’s Benxiao? Go fetch him quickly; training is about to start.” At the thought of training with her friend, Guan Yueyao felt genuinely happy. She completely forgot about whether Chen Zhi had followed them, grabbed Huo Qubing’s arm, and ran impatiently toward the stables.

The afternoon training of the Northern Army officially began. After two laps around the field to warm up, the cavalrymen mounted their beloved horses and lined up in pre-assigned squads to begin their equestrian drills.

Chen Zhi stood at the edge of the field, frowning and pursing his lips. He watched the dust clouds kicked up by the galloping horses, feeling stuck. He didn’t want to stay, but he didn’t want to leave either.

Initially, when the soldiers rode past him, they would look at him with curiosity. Gradually, everyone got used to this teenage boy standing there like a wooden post at the edge of the field, and no one spared him a glance anymore.

“Why hasn’t anyone come to pull me into the ranks!” Chen Zhi felt like an idiot. However, if he were to walk over and ask that boy [Guan Yueyao] to let him join, he truly couldn’t swallow his pride. Especially since that boy was Huo Qubing’s friend!

“Where is Wei Qing? If he were here, he would definitely give me a way out [save my face],” the thought flashed unbidden through his mind before he quickly dismissed it.

How could he show weakness to a member of the Wei family? For all he knew, the loss of his aunt’s title was the result of the scheming Weis plotting behind the scenes! What was the Emperor thinking, putting him under Wei Qing’s command? And his grandmother… how could she have agreed to it?!

The more he thought about it, the more depressed Chen Zhi became. He crossed his arms, stubbornly refusing to watch the bustling training scene on the field. He was unwilling to admit that all of this looked far more interesting than his time in the Qimen Army, where he and other noble youths spent their days wasting time with cockfighting and dog racing.

“Young Master Chen, why are you standing at the sidelines instead of joining the training?” A gentle, slightly puzzled voice came from behind him.

Chen Zhi turned and saw Wei Qing.

“I… I just like sunbathing here. Is that a problem?” Chen Zhi answered aggressively, his neck stiff with defiance.

Wei Qing closed his eyes briefly, feeling a headache coming on. His Majesty was truly putting him through the wringer, seemingly stuffing every “thorny” individual in the entire army into his command.

“Zhongqing, I’ll have to trouble you during this time. Currently, only your camp in the Northern Army is attempting these new tactics. The old tactics will be obsolete one day. These newcomers will go to the battlefield to kill enemies in the future; I hope they can be exposed to new tactics and new ideas early, and not be hindered by ancient ways of thinking.”

The Emperor’s words from before he arrived at the camp rang in his ears. Wei Qing felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavy. But since these tactics were his own proposal, he had to see them through.

He would face the challenge head-on; it wasn’t the first time. Thinking this, Wei Qing patted Chen Zhi on the shoulder.

“Go on. Go train with Qubing and the others. Aren’t you always dissatisfied with him? In literature there is no ‘first,’ but in martial arts there is no ‘second.’ Since that is the case, work hard on your martial skills to defeat him and prove yourself.”

“Hmph, I don’t need you to tell me that!” Chen Zhi did not appreciate Wei Qing’s encouragement. Or rather, he pretended not to appreciate it. He let out a cold snort, snatched the reins from his servant, flipped onto his horse, and merged into the training formation.

“Hey, Qubing, look. That Chen Zhi… he came over on his own after all.” Guan Yueyao quickly noticed Chen Zhi’s figure appearing in the training ranks. Her tone was teasing; looking at her posture, it seemed she intended to use the upcoming break to go over and mock him.

“Ignore him. Just act like you don’t see him,” Huo Qubing advised her again.

“He treated you like that before, and you’re not even angry? Hmph, before you met me, you must have been bullied by that crowd often,” Guan Yueyao’s eyebrows shot up in disapproval. “Since when did you become so good-tempered?”

Huo Qubing shook his head. Despite his friend’s words, he held firm to his view. “That was then, this is now. Now that we have entered the army, we are comrades-in-arms. On the battlefield, if internal strife breaks out due to personal grudges, it gives the enemy an opening. That is not something to be trifled with.”

Huo Qubing spoke solemnly. Guan Yueyao felt a bit sheepish and rubbed her nose. “Fine, whatever. You’re the one who had a problem with him anyway, not me.”

Her words carried a hint of a sulky tone. Huo Qubing heard it and couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“A-Yao, I know you are speaking up for me because you feel I was wronged. But now you and I are soldiers. A soldier must uphold a soldier’s bottom line. Have you forgotten? I want to be a general! How can a man who wants to be a general have such a narrow mind?”

Huo Qubing’s words were logical, and Guan Yueyao couldn’t think of anything to refute him. She sighed like a little adult. “Since you put it that way, if I keep trying to mess with him, it’ll make me look petty.”

“Exactly. We just won’t pay him any mind.” Huo Qubing nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. “Actually, that’s not right. We still have to supervise him strictly. We can’t let one person drag down the combat effectiveness of my uncle’s camp.”

Chen Zhi, who was currently riding hard with the other soldiers, had no idea what kind of “grinding” awaited him in the days to come.

He looked at the soldiers around him, some of whom were starting to show signs of fatigue, and felt secretly proud. Although he was a bit spoiled at home, he naturally loved riding and was superior in horsemanship to most of the soldiers. Although the House of Tangyi was in decline, “a centipede dies but never falls”—it wasn’t difficult for them to provide him with several excellent horses.

While they weren’t as good as the Emperor’s gifted Benxiao and Chizhou, they were much better than the horses of the average soldier.

Soon, relying on his equestrian skills and his fine steed, he rode to the very front of the formation. He turned and gave a provocative whistle toward the leaders, Guan Yueyao and Huo Qubing, before galloping away.

“No organization, no discipline! I’m going to make him run ten extra laps around the field later!”

Looking at Chen Zhi’s arrogant receding back, Guan Yueyao spoke through gritted teeth.