Chapter 1368 - 1044: Tough as Nails, Stubborn to the End

Yu Wenye immediately said, "Come in."

A young soldier, travel-worn and dusty, walked in from outside. As soon as he entered the command tent, he knelt and saluted him. Yu Wenye gave a simple wave of his hand: "What is the situation at Mengjin Pass?"

It was obvious that this soldier had ridden hard to get here; his whole person was begrimed, but even the dust on his face could not hide the joy beneath. He lifted his head toward Yu Wenye and said, "Reporting to Prince Qin, at noon today, General Shen Tu led the army to take Mengjin Pass!"

"Good!"

Yu Wenye’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. "Well done!"

Standing to the side, Mu Xian also let out a long breath of relief at these words, then joy crept over his brows and he said with a smile, "This is truly excellent. General Shen Tu has indeed not failed Your Highness’s expectations."

Yu Wenye nodded again, then said, "However, according to my estimate, he ought to have taken Mengjin Pass somewhat earlier. To only capture it by noon today—did some unexpected incident occur?"

At these words, the messenger soldier’s face showed clear astonishment. He felt that this Prince Qin before him not only wielded troops like divine aid, but foresaw events like divine aid. In his heart he could not help wondering whether the rumors were true: does Prince Qin truly have an immortal assisting him? Or is he himself a heaven-sent general descended to this world?

Thinking thus in his heart, admiration inevitably rose in his eyes. The soldier nodded and said, "Your Highness’s prediction is not mistaken."

"Oh?" Yu Wenye said. "What happened?"

At this point, that soldier instead grew somewhat hesitant and did not dare speak. Yu Wenye frowned: "What on earth is going on? Speak!"

The soldier had no choice but to say, "Previously, when General Shen Tu pulled his troops back to ride to Cijian’s aid, although he drove off the men sent from Luoyang, Prince Qi’s people claimed that General Shen Tu had colluded with the rebel army of Luoyang, committed insubordination and rebellion, and thrust Your Highness into peril. They were drafting a memorial to Chang An, requesting an imperial decree to punish General Shen Tu."

"What?"

"Moreover, the Captain of Zhaowu intends to take over General Shen Tu’s troops and horses."

"..."

Yu Wenye’s expression immediately darkened.

On this expedition, Yu Wenquan had appointed Yu Wencheng as Vice Commander of Henan Road, and Shang Shoufei as Captain of Zhaowu. Although these two men had little skill in warfare, their official ranks were there all the same—especially Yu Wencheng, who moreover held the status of Prince. Shen Tu Tai, even if on military matters he could disregard him, still could not afford to be overly disrespectful.

Earlier at Cijian, even in such a perilous situation, Yu Wenye had still ordered Shen Tu Tai to lead two thousand men away to cut off the five thousand troops marching south from Mengjin Pass; it was indeed putting his third younger brother in an extremely dangerous position. For Cijian was precisely the key target of attack from the Luoyang side, and during that period it helped them draw a great deal of Luoyang’s attention, which was how they could smoothly take several passes. Now that Yu Wencheng wanted to flare up and settle accounts, naturally his anger was directed at Shen Tu Tai.

Only, in his heart he likely still had some fear of Shen Tu Tai and did not dare deal with him directly under military law, so he wanted to write to Chang An and let the Emperor decide this matter.

But Yu Wenye had not expected that he would even attempt to strip Shen Tu Tai of his military command!

Once that side’s forces were entirely under his control, Yu Wenye would be nearly equivalent to losing an arm, to say nothing of the fact that the subsequent plan to advance on Luoyang would likely be hamstrung by his incompetence and hostility.

However, since Shen Tu Tai had already taken Mengjin Pass by noon today, that meant the matter had been resolved.

Yu Wenye said, "Then how was the matter resolved?"

The soldier said, "Fortunately, Shen Canjun came forward and eased the situation."

Yu Wenye raised his brows slightly. "Fu Ming? What did he do?"

The soldier said, "Right after Your Highness took Dagu Pass and Huanxuan Pass, Shen Canjun submitted a memorial to the court, urgently requesting an allocation of grain and fodder, and he attached the multiple battle merits of Your Highness and General Shen Tu to the document. At that time, Your Majesty’s decree happened to arrive, not only approving additional grain allocations, but also conveying an oral commendation praising General Shen Tu as the bravest of the three armies."

"..."

"With Your Majesty’s oral commendation, Prince Qi could no longer say much more."

Hearing this, three-tenths of a smile appeared in Yu Wenye’s eyes.

He had known that Shen Wuzheng could not possibly sit by and do nothing.

This was one reason why, prior to this expedition, Shen Wuzheng had not transferred too much grain from the Ministry of Revenue—the main reason, of course, was that they were preparing to attack Huilu Storehouse; with that nearby granary, they would not need to overly rely on supply shipments from the rear. But at the same time, before they seized Huilu Storehouse, they would have to request grain from the court multiple times. In this way, he had a perfectly legitimate pretext to submit the battle reports from this front to the Emperor repeatedly, obtaining the Emperor’s responses.

No matter how hostile Yu Wencheng was toward them, he would not dare oppose the Emperor’s decrees directly.

Upon hearing this, Mu Xian also let out a long breath beside him and sighed, "All thanks to Mr. Shen."

Yu Wenye nodded as well, but when he lifted his head and saw, on Mu Xian’s and the messenger soldier’s faces, admiration and praise for Shen Wuzheng that they could not conceal, a faint displeasure inexplicably rose in his heart. He let out a light snort: "This is all he’s good for."

The soldier was standing rather far and had not heard clearly, but Mu Xian did, and he looked at him in astonishment.

Yu Wenye seemed to realize that in that instant his emotions had been overly exposed, that he had actually spoken his heart aloud, which was far too shallow. He could only cough twice, somewhat awkwardly, and say, "Mm, he did very well, and Shen Tu Tai also did well. You, go and receive—"

Before the word "reward" was spoken, the tent flap was pushed open again.

Zhao Deyan, who had just taken forty strokes of the army cudgel, limped in.

Military law was strict; since Yu Wenye had issued the order, not a single stroke would be spared. Even if the soldiers carrying out the sentence restrained themselves, forty strokes of the army cudgel were enough to crush even a man of iron—let alone flesh and blood. Zhao Deyan was tough enough, though, to force himself to walk back to report to the commander-in-chief.

"This officer..."

But he had only spoken two words, and as he moved to kneel, the wounds between his buttocks were jarred. The pain made his vision go black; he collapsed forward to the ground, a hoarse, suppressed cry of pain spilling from his mouth: "Ah—!"

The messenger soldier was already staring, dumbstruck, not daring to breathe loudly, and quietly withdrew to the side.

Mu Xian could not bear it and was about to step forward to help Zhao Deyan up, but Zhao Deyan waved him off. Beads of sweat the size of beans streamed down his forehead one after another, yet he gritted his teeth and straightened his body again, cupping his hands toward Yu Wenye as he said, "This officer reports back."

Seeing his eyes bloodshot, Yu Wenye said impassively, "Do you admit your fault?"

"..."

Zhao Deyan did not answer immediately. He panted roughly, wheezing, and after a long silence finally said, "This officer acknowledges his crime. It is only that—my anger is not yet settled."

Mu Xian’s brows knit at once.

He had not expected that this man would not only have a hard backside but a hard mouth as well. Beaten into such a state and still refusing to yield—Yu Wenye would surely flare with anger and double his punishment. Mu Xian was just about to plead for him when he heard Yu Wenye let out a long sigh.

Mu Xian immediately held his breath.