Chapter 24: Rest All You Can, And Don’t Exhaust Yourself With Work.

On the fifth day after Gu Miao’s funeral, an Imperial decree was issued to Wei Lingyun, the General of the Rong Yan army stationed at the Northwest border. The title of Great General1 was bestowed to him, commanding him to continue to fight against the Western Rong tribe and guard the Country. The son of Gu Miao, the young Marshal2 of the Rong Yan army, was appointed as a Lieutenant in the Yulin army3. He was also commanded to lead 30,000 troops to the Northwest border to support the Rong Yan army.

The next day, Fu Ji’an slept until Chen hour4. When he finally woke up, he was stunned….

The reason being that Mu Zhiming didn’t come to take his life, or scream at him until Fu Ji’an finally got up from bed.

Fu Ji’an got up and asked the Palace maid, waiting at the side, why Mu Zhiming hadn’t come. The Palace maid replied with a smile: “When the son of the Duke of Yan greeted the Noble Consort yesterday, he told her that he had to do something today, so he wouldn’t be able to enter the Palace. The Noble Consort also agreed.”

Fu Ji’an scratched his head and muttered: “What can Mu-gege possibly do today? Oh! Wait, today is the day my Shifu will leave the Capital! I have to go see him off! Aahh!!”

The Seventh Prince howled as he hurried to get up. However, he was held down by the Palace maid: “Your Highness, calm down. At this hour, the army must have already left the Capital.”

—

On the outskirts of the Capital, the sound of drums and trumpets resounded in the surroundings, while flags fluttered in the wind. 30,000 soldiers marched, ready to go to the frontier.

Gu Heyan, dressed in military attire, rode a horse. Beside him, his best friend Pei Hantang, was also riding a horse. As he looked at the mighty army, Pei Hantang sighed with emotion: “When my father sent me to General Gu’s Residence to learn martial arts, you and I were only six years old. But now, in the blink of an eye, things have changed.”

“You don’t need to send me that far. Go back.” Gu Heyan said calmly.

“Alright,” Pei Hantang nodded helplessly and said with a smile: “Since you don’t like exchanging parting words, I won’t say them. Anyway, I just wanted to say….you’d better hurry back. I’ll invite you to drink wine, while we enjoy the moon reflected on the lake.”

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“Alright,” Gu Heyan nodded with certainty.

Pei Hantang clasped his fist and said goodbye. As he returned to the Capital with his horse, he brushed past a carriage.

Gu Heyan tightened the reins, ready to ride his horse to the front of the procession, when all of a sudden, a carriage stopped by the road. The floating dust hadn’t yet dissipated, when a person opened the curtain and jumped out of the carriage. That man looked around, until his eyes collided with Gu Heyan midair. At that, he hurried towards Gu Heyan.

Behind him, Wen Heyin bent down and lifted the curtain. Originally, he wanted to get off the carriage and follow Mu Zhiming, but when he saw that Gu Heyan was a short distance ahead, he went back inside the carriage.

Gu Heyan quickly turned around and dismounted the horse. As soon as he landed on the ground, Mu Zhiming stood in front of him.

The two looked at each other for a while, but it was Gu Heyan who averted his gaze first. He asked: “Why are you here?”

Without hesitation, Mu Zhiming replied: “I wanted to see you off, so I came.”

Gu Heyan suddenly raised his eyes, surprised and confused. After a short while, he immediately collected his expression and lowered his gaze: “Hmm.”

Mu Zhiming asked: “What’s wrong? Can’t I come to see you off?”

Gu Heyan: “….You can.”

Mu Zhiming lowered his eyes and smiled. After pondering for a while, he finally asked: “Gu-xiong, do you want to hear the sentimental farewell words and wish you all the best on your journey, or do you want to hear what I wanted to tell you?”

Gu Heyan: “What you wanted to say.”

“Then….” The son of the Duke of Yan felt a little self-conscious, even hesitant: “The environment in the border is dangerous, you have to take care of yourself.”

Gu Heyan nodded: “Mm-hmm.”

“I will take care of Aunt Liang’s family for you.” Mu Zhiming promised.

Gu Heyan was slightly stunned, but he didn’t ask why the servants in the Gu Residence needed Mu Zhiming’s care. Instead, he said: “Thank you.”

“And….” Mu Zhiming, who was usually quite eloquent when he speaks, stammered: “You, you should eat well, rest all you can, and, and don’t exhaust yourself with work.”

Gu Heyan continued to nod: “Hmm.”

“And then….and….uhm….and….” Mu Zhiming thought again and again, but finally, he managed to say: “Don’t get hurt.”

Gu Heyan narrowed his eyes and remained silent.

After seeing that he wasn’t saying anything, Mu Zhiming slightly panicked and hurried to ask: “Why aren’t you replying? Did I say something wrong?”

Gu Heyan said softly: “It’s impossible not to get hurt in war. I can’t promise you that.”

Mu Zhiming stood in a daze for a long while, and his heart inexplicably pounded with pain. But then, he let out a long breath.

Suddenly, a soldier came on horseback and urged: “Young Marshal, it’s getting late. It’s time to set off.”

AD
Gu Heyan nodded at the soldier: “Hmm.”

Then, he turned his head to look at Mu Zhiming and said: “I must go now.” He paused for a few seconds and added, “Thank you for coming to see me off.”

“Of course,” Mu Zhiming clasped his fist and saluted: “After all, Gu-xiong is my savior.”

Gu Heyan nodded and said indifferently: “I see….”

Mu Zhiming didn’t understand what Gu Heyan meant by ‘I see’, but before he could say anything, Gu Heyan spoke again: “You should go back to the carriage.”

Mu Zhiming was amused, and with a smile, he said: “Gu-xiong, I’m the one who came to see you off. How can I go back with the carriage first? Of course, I have to see you leave.”

Gu Heyan coldly frowned: “Go back.”

Mu Zhiming never expected that Gu Heyan would insist on this matter, and when he saw that Gu Heyan’s expression looked already displeased, he had to do as he was told. After bowing his head, Mu Zhiming bid his farewell again, turned around, and walked back to the carriage.

Gu Heyan watched Mu Zhiming walk away. As soon as Mu Zhiming got in the carriage, he turned over and leaped back onto the horse. Then, he rode the horse all the way to the front of the army procession.

When Mu Zhiming lifted the curtain to enter the carriage, Wen Heyin reached out to help him: “Young Master, I was worried that you would only return to the carriage after standing by the side of the road to watch the army march away. Fortunately, you didn’t. Otherwise, it would have been bad for your lungs to be around the dust floating up in the air, as you waited for the army to leave. If you were to inhale the dust for a long period of time, you would relapse into your old disease. You would have to cough for three days and three nights before you could recover!”

“I’m not that sick and weak!” Mu Zhiming said feeling depressed. “It’s just dust, I could have just fanned it away.”

“Who was the one who coughed up blood from a lung disease when he was 8 years old, and could only recover after three years of constant treatment?” Wen Heyin mercilessly exposed Mu Zhiming’s weakness.

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“I was only 8 years old!” Mu Zhiming shouted exasperatedly. “How many years have passed since then? Have I not healed?!”

Wen Heyin grimaced his mouth and didn’t express his opinion.

When Mu Zhiming lifted the carriage curtain again, he leaned out, only to see the marching flags facing the dazzling sun. The number of soldiers was so large, he couldn’t see where it ended. Meaning that he was also unable to see Gu Heyan’s figure.

“Young Master, aren’t we going back to the Residence?” Wen Heyin asked.

“Yes, let’s go.” Mu Zhiming said as he lowered his eyes.

The carriage then drove slowly back to the Capital, while the army marched to the opposite path. In the vast expanse of a Country, there will be times when people have the opportunity to meet each other, as well as having to part ways.

At the beginning of Spring of next year, the war present in the Northwest border calmed down significantly. In only three months, the Western Rong tribe went from rampantly slaughtering the towns, to being defeated and hastily scurrying away.

The moment the war report arrived at the Capital, everyone wondered: What had happened on the frontier?!

Another war report solved this doubt.

Gu Heyan fought and won seven battles, defeating the powerful enemy with a small amount of troops. Finally, he led the elite cavalry of the Rong Yan army directly into the enemy’s hinterland, invaded the enemy’s barrack straight on, and captured the leader of the Western Rong tribe alive.

From then on, Gu Heyan’s reputation became unmatched.

Stationed at the Northwest border, Gu Heyan spent more than half a year fighting against the lingering forces of the Western Rong tribe. He built defensive lines, trained troops, and protected the stability of the people.

AD
In a year, Gu Heyan, who was already 18 years old, was appointed as the General of the Yulin army, as well as replacing Gu Miao as the Commander-in-chief of the Rong Yan army.

Six months later, the Gouji Kingdom in the Northeast of the White Mountains suddenly gathered their troops to invade. The two countries were originally on good terms with each other, and even had trade exchanges, so no one expected the Gouji Kingdom would suddenly attack. The Generals on the Northeast border couldn’t even resist the attack. Soon, three cities were occupied by the brave and skillful warriors of the Gouji Kingdom. Like this, another war was going to spread to the Central Plains5.

Gu Heyan was then ordered to lead the Rong Yan army to support the Northeast Border.

Sure enough, the young man lived up to the expectations and defeated the Gouji Kingdom army, majestically recapturing the three occupied cities.

That year, the story of an outstanding and talented young General spread all over the Country.

In that same year, the Emperor discussed politics with the Ministers in the Xuande Hall, as to why the Gouji Kingdom had gathered their troops to invade.

The Ministers argued: “These barbarians must be greedy! They are coveting our land, food, cattle and cloth. We should use force to deter them!”

In the midst of the discussion, the Duke of Yan advised: “When the former Emperor was young and in power, he took the initiative to send envoys to the Gouji Kingdom to exchange poetry, literature, as well as music. Ever since then, our two countries have been on good terms, passing that relation through the years. Now, His Majesty the Emperor has been on the throne for more than 20 years. As I look around, I wonder if any of the Civil and Military Ministers of the Imperial Court know the language of the Gouji Kingdom? Is there anyone in this country who can bear the great responsibility of acting as an envoy?”

When the Emperor heard this, he only felt enlightened. As if Mu Boren’s words had opened the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind. Immediately after, the Emperor decided to select a person from the Ministry of Rites and send him to the Northeast border to learn the Gouji language; in order to prepare for when the border situation stabilizes in the future, and send him as an envoy to bring peace to both countries.

However, this was a dangerous job. Not to mention the current complicated situation on the border, in the future, when the envoy travels to the country in which there is a complicated political situation, there’s a possibility that he will be imprisoned or even killed.

Right when the Emperor couldn’t decide on the candidate, a person submitted a letter, volunteering to help.

The person in question was someone no one expected, or even thought, would volunteer.

It was the young son of the Duke of Yan, Mu Zhiming.