IDWBE -Chapter 115 A General for the Ages

Following the Prince’s instructions, Hong Ying reluctantly handed the book over to old He Jixiang.

At first, He Jixiang dismissed it. After reading the opening few hundred characters, he found the language crude and the content utterly trivial. As a great Confucian scholar, how could he possibly take such writing seriously?

But it had been written by Prince He.

Out of courtesy and duty, he forced himself to continue. Otherwise, if the Prince later asked him about it and he knew nothing, wouldn’t that be awkward?

To his complete surprise, the more he read, the more absorbed he became.

“Ye Liangchen is truly a general for the ages!” he exclaimed after finishing.

He solemnly locked the book in a chest, refusing to let anyone read it—even his circle of old friends.

Afterward, the garrisons, schools, and constables of Sanhe all adopted Ye Liangchen’s methods of training troops.

Whitewashed walls in the garrisons were covered with slogans such as:

“Sweat more in training, bleed less in battle.”

“Sweat now, so you won’t bleed later.”

“We must clearly understand that our old habits, old ideas—even old morals—are no longer suited to present needs,” Lin Yi said, indifferent to He Jixiang’s praise.

“Tradition is not necessarily good. The outdated notion that ‘a woman’s virtue lies in her lack of talent’ is unacceptable. If there were no women, how would men like us be born? Crawled out of cracks in stones?”

Lin Yi never spoke politely in front of a group of old men.

Xie Zan’s eyes gradually reddened.

“‘The loving mother’s hand threads the needle; the wandering son wears the clothes.
Before he leaves, she sews stitch by stitch, fearing his return may be delayed.
Who says a blade of grass can repay the warmth of spring sunlight?’”

He wiped his eyes.

“I grew up poor, with no money for books. Whenever I passed a bookstore, I longed to flip through them. If the price was too high, I would dream about them at night. When my mother learned of it, she borrowed money from neighbors. I am deeply ashamed.”

Wang Qingbang wiped his one good eye and sighed. “I lost my father at three. Our family was poor. My grandmother used reed stalks to draw characters on the ground to teach me writing and had me memorize classical texts. Later, when I left home, I could no longer serve her. It remains my lifelong regret.”

Then He Jixiang, Cao Heng…

One after another, they fell into reminiscence.

Watching a group of elderly men sniffling and weeping, Lin Yi’s scalp tingled.

He hurriedly fled.

Three days later, the Provincial Administration Office officially began recruiting female constables, all selected from the girls’ school.

Dressed in black uniforms like the male constables, they nonetheless became a striking sight on Baiyun City’s streets.

The residents found it impossible to dislike them.

Even when stern-faced, they appeared adorable.

Whatever they instructed, people followed.

To make such charming young women angry would be utterly lacking in grace.

The male constables were baffled.

Such blatant favoritism wounded them deeply.

As autumn harvest ended, smoke filled Baiyun City.

Lin Yi was furious.

Why not keep the straw for fuel?

Why burn it in the fields?

The entire place was choked with smoke.

The answer: there was plenty of timber in the mountains—no need for rice straw.

He considered banning it but decided it would be unreasonable. So he let it go.

Unable to endure the smoke, he left the residence and set sail.

Of course, bringing his fishing gear.

This was his third visit to Fangniao Island.

It had changed.

There was now a two-story luxury restaurant. After eating there once, Lin Yi found it more expensive than Baiyun City—yet customers flowed in endlessly.

He also saw the so-called “foreign barbarians.”

One shabbier than the next, like beggars.

He couldn’t be bothered to pay them much attention.

Staying at Tian Shiyou’s residence, he spent his days eating, drinking, and fishing.

River fishing tools proved nearly useless at sea.

Most outings ended empty-handed.

So he joined fishermen on their small boats and became a fisherman himself.

Even after his face peeled from sunburn, he never tired of it.

A man’s happiness could be that simple.

While Lin Yi enjoyed himself, catastrophe erupted in Hongzhou.

Cao Datong led his army to besiege Hongzhou Prefecture’s capital—Hero City.

Prince Yong, Lin Can, thirty-seven years old, still appeared youthful and fair-faced.

Seated cross-legged in the government hall, he looked at his generals below and said leisurely:

“Cao the bandit surrounds the city. What strategy shall we adopt?”

His stronghold, Yongzhou, had already fallen.

If Hongzhou were lost as well, there would be no place in the world left for him.

The generals remained silent—even the decisive General Mei Jingzhi.

The enemy’s force numbered five hundred thousand!

Their own few tens of thousands would be suicidal even to sally forth.

The hall fell into silence.

Suddenly, a captain rushed in and whispered into Prince Yong’s ear.

Prince Yong’s eyes lit up. “Quickly—invite her in!”

A woman cloaked in blue entered the hall.

Without expression, she tossed a bundle onto the floor.

Out rolled a bloodied, mangled head.

“Cao Datong—”

Someone gasped.

No one could believe it.

Lin Yi, unaware, split open another coconut.

Empty again.

Qi Peng rolled over in his wheelchair and handed him a note.

“Cao Datong is dead?”

Lin Yi sighed. “Serves him right. Coercing refugees—how many families did he ruin?”

Qi Peng said, “Prince Yong absorbed Cao Datong’s forces—two hundred thousand strong—and has advanced into Yuezhou, sweeping all before him.”

“How did Cao Datong die?” Lin Yi asked.

“A ninth-rank martial artist and seven eighth-rank fighters from Jizhao Nunnery infiltrated his camp. Cao was no match. His generals were all beheaded.”

“Impressive,” Lin Yi muttered. “From now on, we should sign agreements—never to deploy ninth-rank masters or Grandmasters first!”

The power was absurd.

A decapitation strike—and hundreds of thousands of troops became irrelevant?

Inconceivable.

Qi Peng could only laugh awkwardly.

Lin Yi asked, “Any news from my sister?”

“Princess Huaiyang has remained out of sight since being reprimanded by His Majesty. Consort Yuan ordered her to reflect behind closed doors.”

Lin Yi sighed. “My mother—call her timid, yet she pushes me to fight for the throne. Call her bold, yet she’s swayed by a few words from my father.”

Qi Peng wisely lowered his head in silence.

On his return journey, passing Pingfeng Cove, Lin Yi noticed the native auctions were even livelier than those in Baiyun City.

As long as no one died and Sanhe’s laws were followed, he chose not to interfere.

Even those who didn’t get seasick would grow dizzy after long at sea.

After returning to Baiyun City, he rested for two days.

“Your Highness, it just rained. The mountain miasma is said to be heavy,” Hong Ying tried to stop Lin Yi from heading south to hunt.

“If I don’t move around, this belly of mine will be a disgrace,” Lin Yi said helplessly, patting his stomach.

How embarrassing.

He only wanted to be a homebody—

Not a fat one.