Chapter 189: The Legend of Shangguan
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As Han Sanhe spoke, the situation lost its tense edge.
His words were absolutely reasonable. It was beyond doubt that the Shangguang Family of Generals was revered by the continent’s militants but they had still acc.u.mulated a world of foes. The Shangguan Family of Generals was indeed left with widows and orphans. Their meng were long gone, but there were even more generals from the other nations that had been killed in the hands of Shangguan Family of Generals. While the descendants of these fallen generals respected the patriotism of the Shangguan Family of Generals, they still stood irreconcilable with them. It was difficult to blame these families who had not gone to pay homage to the Shangguan Family of Generals today due to the grudge they held.
Yun Yang was still murmuring and mumbling, leading the way while chastising his wards incessantly, "These people are utter b.a.s.t.a.r.ds… they’re here as guests but they don’t do as the Romans do, actually making a fuss at this important time and thinking of themselves so highly. Your father curses these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds that they don’t ever wake up from their sleep…"
"They’re actually absent at such an important moment, what is the use of them being alive? May they die so that they can quickly reincarnate."
The foreign generals glared at him, but they had nowhere to vent the bitterness they felt. They could not even rebuke him, despite the terrible temptation to do so.
Yun Yang talked under his breath for as long as they walked; the generals were about to break down from his muttering. It was an unprecedented experience of helpless incredulity.
They had been chided along their way to the Residence of Nine Supremes and they had been once again chided on their way to the family of generals.
Did they really come all their way and spend their fortunes at Yutang only to be scolded at every turn?
They had basically not done anything other than spend a fortune coming to Yutang this time; other than losing their manpower and suffering damage to their combat powers, the only other thing they had done was to get chastised by a young scoundrel…
…
"What are the generals from the four empires doing now?"
The emperor looked at Old Marshal Qiu casually seated facing hin. "I heard that the Residence of Nine Supremes experienced some turmoil last night, so severe that the entire Tiantang could feel it."
As Qiu Jianhan was about to speak, his shoulders jerked abruptly while his face beamed like a blossoming flower. Just as he opened his mouth, he coughed, "Cough, cough… Haha – cough… Hah…"
The emperor rolled his eyes discreetly and looked at the old man who was slowly going insane.
"Your Majesty might not know it yet…"
The old marshal chortled for a good amount of time before he finally stopped, his body still trembling while he looked like he could burst out laughing at any time. "Of course the Residence of Nine Supremes is safe and sound, steady like a mountain. I heard that a lot of their people died inside, even the top expert of Dayuan – Liang Yunqi, Dragon of Clouds, fell within its walls. It’s so gratifying!"
"There is one more thing that makes this old man uncontrollably thrilled. I have to say, Han Sanhe’s vision is brutal indeed. He has wanted Yun Yang ever since he saw him, wanting him to become their guide… and he couldn"t have chosen a better person."
His Majesty was puzzled. "Why so?"
"I heard that Yun Yang has almost tormented all the generals to death…" Qiu Jianhan was heaving from laughing too much, "This child is a genius. His eloquence sits at the top of this world, peerless in this universe. I heard that…"
Old Marshal Qiu was patient as he narrated what Yun Yang had done once more.
His Majesty’s eyes bulged as he listened.
"He actually used the word brothel and break so many of them down? He united our people in loathing the enemy and lifting their morale?"
"He rebuked everyone in front of the Residence of Nine Supremes and they couldn"t even find anything to say?"
"He berated them throughout the entire journey?"
"He hit the jackpot by selling them wine?"
"He’s still admonis.h.i.+ng them along the way now? Scolding the generals like their status was very much lower than him?"
As the narration went on, the emperor’s sonorous laughter boomed through the hall as it resonated through the palace, scaring all those who had heard him.
It seemed that they had not heard the emperor laugh so happily for a long time now. What had happened today?
The laughter was utterly joyous and heedless of one’s status!
What good had happened?
It must be something really amazing to have His Majesty forget himself in such a manner!
The emperor was still heaving from laughing so much. He had almost ran out of breath especially when the old marshal imitated how Yun Yang had berated the generals, how shameless he had been, how he had purposefully turned hostile and erupted in anger – making friends one moment while swearing at their mothers the next. The list went on.
He had not been this happy for a very long time.
"There shouldn’t be much today. They’re just going to pay respect to the family of generals. I believe these people won’t be able to make trouble in front of Shangguan."
His Majesty laughed and said, "I’m looking forward to what Yun Yang will do next. Old Qiu, have your people take note and report the current news at all times."
Old Marshal Qiu’s eyes had almost disappeared from how much he was grinning. "Don’t worry, Your Majesty. How will this old man forgo such an exciting event? This old man has even arranged undercover guards along their way to wherever it is that they will be going! Whatever they say will be recorded and reported to this old man. It would be best if they could record Yun Yang’s various expressions too. It"s too bad I won’t be able to witness the farce with my own eyes, what a fly in the ointment…"
The emperor was shocked. Was this old man overreacting? He had sent out so many undercover guards just for this petty matter.
However, it was still not a waste to a.s.sign so many of them as extra cast members in this farce of the century!
"This old man has never come across something so gratifying and so hilarious in my entire life. Of course, I need to collect more information. When these people leave, this old man will think about it whenever I’m free, I’ll think about it whenever I feel dispirited. Eventually, I’ll always be happy and never feel down…" Qiu Jianhan chuckled; the old marshal, at this moment, actually looked rather sleazy.
The emperor coughed and said seriously, "Send a copy to me after the recording has been completed. I shall check if you all have misappropriated public resources as personal means!"
Of course, the greatest emperor of history, too, had his sly side; he sounded righteous but he had something else in mind.
…
The family of generals had received the combined visit of the foreign generals neither with pa.s.sion nor with hostility.
They were properly prim. It was Yun Yang who had become more scrupulous instead, not even speaking much.
Honestly, the old mistress in the family of generals made Yun Yang genuinely nervous, rendering him unable to be himself and unable to crack a joke in front of her…
Shangguan Lingxiu brought the generals to pay their respects at the ancestral hall. There were also a few generals who were especially interested in the drilling ground of the Shangguan Family and took a few rounds walking there.
They looked at the various weapons that shone from so much friction like they had been polished with a layer of oil. They studied the ground, harder than steel from being stepped on for drills and practices through hundreds of years. They observed the rows of ancestral plates lined in silence, looking at the story behind each of the Shangguan members… all the generals were lulled into reticence.
"Shangguan Sheng, married at the age of fifteen, enlisted at the age of sixteen, promoted to the front line of the army at the age of eighteen, perished at the eastern border at the age of twenty…"
"Shangguan Jie, enlisted at the age of fifteen, led three hundred cavalrymen in charging through the base to save his trapped comrades and perished under the disorderly arrows without the return of his remains during the winter of the same year…"
"Shangguan Dong, a.s.sistant general at the age of sixteen, main general of a battalion at the age of eighteen, general of a troop at the age of twenty-two, a.s.sistant marshal of the army at the age of twenty-five, marshal of the eastern troops at the age of twenty-eight, marshal of Yutang at the age of thirty-two, killed by a stray arrow at the age of thirty-five…"
"Shangguan Tiannan, enlisted after being married at the age of seventeen, perished at Onyx Fort in the same month…"
"Shangguan…"
The generals suddenly realized that the men of Shangguan had all enlisted before the age of twenty; they generally entered the battlefield when they were about sixteen or seventeen years old. Then it was war after war, merit after merit until their war robes were stained with blood and until their bodies were returned, wrapped in horsehide.
It was rare that they died in the same year they had enlisted and deployed for war; it was mostly due to bad luck. Most of them had risen in the military step by step, obtaining their promotions based on their meritorious contributions and becoming generals and marshals…
There was one person in the records that the group of foreign generals was the most taken aback at.
"Shangguan Wudi, …, front line general of western troop at the age of twenty-eight, charged through the Empire of Ziyou’s two-hundred thousand men from the west to the east and back to the west again for his sworn brother who was ambushed and trapped; for the seventeen times he had charged through the enemy and killed hundreds of thousands of them, he finally perished under the surrounding attack of arrows after his warhorse lost its front leg from being expended…"
The generals from the Empire of Ziyou read this record carefully; Zi Yuanlong, Empire of Ziyou’s top marshal, paled.
Old General w.a.n.g Yutang from the Empire of Ziyou, who was covered in silver strands of hair and beard, exclaimed in remembrance, "This old man is ninety-three years old this year… I’m of senior age in the military now… This old man was nineteen during the battle when Shangguan Wudi charged through our troops. I was only a team leader, leading five brothers in serving the military. Despite the battle being 74 years apart from now, my memory of it is brand new. Each time I dream of it, it’s as if I can still see Warrior Wudi holding his spear and whipping his horse, coming at us menacingly..."
"Shangguan Wudi held the golden spear of an overlord mounted on a lightning beast then, seeing the hundreds and thousands of army as naught despite being a lone man with his lone horse. He came and went like the wind, his gaze overlooking all of us… what valiance that was…"
"Before the hundreds of thousands of men, he stood there alone, saying to Ziyou’s two hundred thousand men, ‘The marshal’s flag shall not be raised! Otherwise, it shall be chopped down!’."
"How could the marshal feel threatened by him then? The marshal’s flag was raised high and proud to show our pride, yet right when the flag stood tall, Shangguan Wudi had dashed towards us alone, through the thousands of cavalrymen, and to the marshal’s flag. He hacked the flag off and turned away, disappearing within the blink of an eye. Within that one month, he had chopped off seventeen of the marshal’s flags! The marshal was angered to his death, spewing blood at this affront."
"The courage Shangguan Wudi had then was peerless in this world."
Han Sanhe spoke softly from the side, "Why did such a hero expend himself in charging through two hundred thousand cavalrymen for seventeen times? Who was the sworn brother who could make him do this?"