Chapter 365 Give His Lordship a Kick

Yan Huaiwen chose to launch a fierce assault on the east gate.

His right hand had been cut by the bowstring earlier when he shot Northern Rong in the village, but it did not matter, he could still draw the bow with his left hand.

“Registrar Yan.” The guard beside him could not stand watching any longer. “You should rest.”

This was an eight-stone bow^[1]. Green recruits who had just joined the army could not even draw it. Registrar Yan had been desperate to save people earlier and had shot repeatedly, so it was no surprise his fingers were injured. But his hand was hurt and he still would not put the bow down. He had simply switched hands and gone on shooting. Was he planning to sacrifice both hands?

Even a rough fellow like him knew that a scholar’s hands were as important as his face. If his hands were damaged, how would he learn and write in the future…

“No problem.” Yan Huaiwen said the two words calmly.

His gaze did not shift, still fixed on the Northern Rong on the city wall.

One arrow, one life.

Every Northern Rong who dared show his head died beneath his powerful bow.

He stood there openly, without dodging or retreating.

The Northern Rong arrows could not reach him, while his arrows drew blood the instant they left the string.

On his own, he suppressed nearly thirty percent of the Northern Rong on the tower.

What a dazzling feat.

Two signal arrows were fired from the west in succession.

It was the signal for the Northern Rong to retreat.

Banner Commander Xue’s spirit lifted.

He glanced at Yan Huaiwen; Yan Huaiwen gave him a small nod.

“Brothers, with me, kill!”

Banner Commander Xue roared and was the first to charge.

Behind him, the Border Guards, eyes red from killing, climbed into the city by forming a human wall and opened the gate.

“Kill!”

The Crouching Tiger Border Guards and Gufeng garrison soldiers charged in like wolves and tigers.

The clash of blades and weapons merged into a single roar.

The Northern Rong who had no time to flee were surrounded by frenzied Border Guards and soon fell in pools of blood.

But more Northern Rong escaped on horseback, galloping straight toward the west of the city.

…

The Heir to Prince Ying spurred his horse in pursuit and finally linked up with the main army before reaching Crouching Tiger.

The timing of their arrival was both good and bad.

The good part was that they arrived just as Crouching Tiger’s east gate was flung open, so the main force could push straight in.

The bad part was that at this exact moment, the Northern Rong retreat signal arrows sounded.

They entered from the east gate and chased all the way to the west gate, crossing the whole city, and it seemed they would not be able to catch up…

The Heir Apparent saw Xiao Er’s elder uncle, Yan Huaiwen, Registrar Yan.

Mounted with bow in hand, his eyes were cold as stars.

Wherever his gaze fell, Northern Rong became souls taken by his arrows.

He handled that bow beautifully.

If he did not know the man’s background, he would have thought him the scion of some old military family, raised in the art of war.

He looked like a man as bright and gentle as the moon, yet with a powerful bow in hand, his killing intent was so heavy.

With corpses strewn across the ground before him, his brows did not even twitch.

What was even more surprising was that the Gufeng city garrison took their lead from him alone.

If he remembered correctly, this Registrar Yan was the Household Registrar of Crouching Tiger, right?

And that Xue Qianhu, no, now Banner Commander Xue, also watched his expression, circling in front of and behind him on horseback…

Was this the same maternal uncle who, in his memories, dared crane his neck and quarrel loudly with his royal father?

He almost did not recognize him.

…

Yan Huaiwen went first to the Government Office.

No one.

The grain depot…

Still no one.

He swept his gaze around the city, thought for a moment, then slowly focused his attention on the west of the city…

…

The situation changed far too quickly.

On Yan Lao’er’s side, they had finally knocked loose bricks and dug through the earth to open a hole just big enough for a person to crawl out.

He planned to send everyone out first to wait safely outside, then take two agile men to scout the grain depot.

He had not expected the Northern Rong to start running, all swarming toward the west gate.

And they, unlucky as could be, happened to be right between the west and north gates.

Inside the wall, the Northern Rong who had been on the north gate tower were running west.

Outside the wall, the Northern Rong pouring out of the west gate did not stick to a single route, but split their forces; one group was heading north, planning to dash into the mountains…

So now Yan Lao’er and his people were caught in a pincer from inside and out, unable to go out and unable to stay in.

Stuck here.

Just when they were in a dilemma, not knowing what to do.

What you fear will always come.

A group of Northern Rong who had come down from the north gate tower were running this way; when they saw them, they charged over without a thought and swung their blades down.

Yan Lao’er was truly furious.

What the hell is this!

You bastards are all trying to run, so just run properly. Who’s stopping you, huh, why do you have to make trouble for us!

Old grudges and new hatred surged up in his chest.

This was not the time to hesitate.

Since it was the same inside and out, he might as well deal with the enemies right in front of him.

“Hurry and crawl through, pull His Lordship over!” He gritted his teeth and faced the enemy head on with a few men.

In his left hand he held up the lid of a big vat he had borrowed from someone’s courtyard, wooden, with a ridge that made it easy to grip one-handed, handy and not too heavy.

His right hand swung a blade, and in a life-or-death struggle he traded blows with the Northern Rong.

Yan Lao’er did not dare shoot lightly.

Especially when friend and foe were all mixed together.

As for the Northern Rong, he had no problem shooting, he would happily put an arrow through the bastards, but when they were all in a mêlée…

Well, there was the risk of hitting his own.

He was pretty self-aware.

Fortunately his earlier caution was paying off.

The lookouts on the roof had bows in their hands and, working together, bought some time for the people crawling through the tunnel.

Liang Manshan was the first to squeeze through.

Being first was actually the most dangerous; outside the wall was chaos as well, but at this point they had no choice.

A few more burly men crawled out after him, quickly stepped forward with blades across their chests, and guarded the surroundings.

Then it was His Lordship’s turn.

Hearing Yan Lao’er shouting from the other side, Liang Manshan did not hesitate in the least and reached out to pull.

But a man who cooperated and moved along weighed very differently from one who stayed stiff and let himself be dragged.

For a moment Liang Manshan found he actually could not pull him through.

He hurriedly called for help.

Before anyone else could lend a hand…

Yan Lao’er was already anxious on the inside.

He grabbed both of His Lordship’s feet and pushed with all his strength. He did not know what exactly was stuck, only that the passage was not going smoothly.

This would not do.

Yan Lao’er reached directly for His Lordship’s backside, shifting and wiggling him left and right. His Lordship kept groaning, and no one knew if it was because he was stuck and uncomfortable or for some other reason.

Yan Lao’er could not worry about that.

He pushed again, and this time it was much better.

But still too slow.

Yan Lao’er’s eyes were about to spit sparks. He simply raised a foot and kicked His Lordship out…

“Heng’er, quick, your turn!”

Next was his Eldest Nephew, Yan Xiangheng. With quick hands and feet and training in this sort of thing, all that crawling practice had not been in vain.

With a few scrabbling motions he was through.

He slipped out like a mudfish.

When it was Yan Lao’er’s turn, he finally understood Magistrate Tian.

This damned hole really was too narrow.

There was not much room to maneuver, so it was hard to get any leverage.

He could only stretch both hands out and shout to his brother-in-arms Manshan and his nephew.

“Manshan, Heng’er, give me a pull!”

The two of them each grabbed one of his hands.

“Careful!”

Yan Lao’er instinctively clamped his legs together, feeling a chilly sensation along the outside of his thigh.

The next instant, Liang Manshan and Yan Xiangheng hauled him out together.

Yan Lao’er howled.

“Ow, ow… I have been stabbed! I have been stabbed!”

Panic flooded him.

Done for.

With his leg hurt, how was he supposed to run?

His right leg had been stabbed, he still had the left… was there time to make a crutch? Hop on one leg?

Yan Lao’er was letting his imagination run wild.

Then he heard his brother-in-arms Manshan shout anxiously, “Huai’an, where are you hurt? Where is the wound? We need to stop the bleeding, fast. Where is it, where?”

Yan Xiangheng: Uncle Liang has asked everything I wanted to ask…

(End of chapter)