As the sun dipped westward, two riders moved slowly across a flat sandy expanse commonly known as the Dragon’s Eye. Thirty miles further south lay the formidable fortress city of Hutou Cheng, the first great stronghold along Beiliang’s northern frontier. Within and around this city were stationed 30,000 elite troops, including 3,000 ironclad cavalry, 6,000 light cavalry, and over 20,000 infantry. Even the common citizens, not officially enlisted in the military, could be mobilized in an emergency to don armor and ride into battle if they were of age and strength.
Behind Hutou Cheng was the newly established Beiliang Protectorate at Huaiyang Pass. To its left and right stood two other major fortresses—Liuyu and Tiefuling. Together they housed over 10,000 troops. Unlike Hutou Cheng, which was heavily fortified with a large infantry force primarily tasked with defense against the southern advance of the Beiman hordes, these two smaller border towns were almost exclusively garrisoned with light cavalry clad in swift mounts and light armor. Their role was clearly one of offensive maneuvering rather than static defense.
Behind this first line of defense, the second line was anchored at the three strategic passes of Jinyuan, Qinghe, and Chongzhong, with Xuanshen and Shenwu cities forming the flanks along the northern border of Liangzhou. Supporting this line were the Snow Dragon Cavalry, the elite mounted force of Beiliang stationed year-round along the Liangzhou frontier, and the combined armies under the two deputy commanders, Chen Yunchui and He Zhonghu. With a network of fortified watchtowers and defensive bastions interlocking like canine teeth, there was no doubt that the northern frontier of Liangzhou was the most unshakable battlefield in all of Beiliang. It was commonly accepted that the Beiman horde would find it nearly impossible to breach this heavily defended, rock-solid northern line. If the northern barbarians truly wished to swallow this region whole, they would likely find themselves not only losing teeth but also swallowing blood.
Compared to the swift cavalry and decisive swordplay that dominated the northern frontier of Liangzhou, the border of Youzhou relied more heavily on infantry. Thus, the headquarters of the great infantry commander Yan Wenluan was stationed there. Whether considering the terrain north of Youzhou or the distribution of its garrisons, Youzhou was the classic battleground where the nomadic forces of the north clashed with the agrarian armies of the Central Plains—one side attacking cities, the other defending. It was unlike the northern frontier of Liangzhou, where the Xu family’s iron cavalry dared to challenge the Beiman riders in open mounted combat.
Originally, the Dragon and Elephant Cavalry were stationed in the neutral zone between Liangzhou and Youzhou, allowing them to support either flank or even roam freely to seek out opportunities for battle. However, with the recent establishment of the fourth province, Liuzhou, the 30,000-strong Dragon and Elephant Army moved there, creating a subtle rift in the previously tight connection between Youzhou and Liangzhou.
The largest city in the northwest of the Great Yan Dynasty was not any of the provincial capitals of Liangzhou, Lingzhou, or Youzhou, but this formidable fortress city of Hutou Cheng, which stood defiantly against the Beiman threat.
Along the border of Youzhou, there were still minor passes like Daoma Pass that allowed merchants to travel between Beiliang and Beiman. But north of Liangzhou, not a single such pass existed.
This place was destined only for rising smoke signals and endless battles in the yellow sands—never for the gentle tinkling of camel bells from merchant caravans.
Though only two riders approached, one of them dragged behind a woman bound and battered. Her body was covered in dust, her lips cracked and bleeding, her feet shod in delicate embroidered slippers once fit for a graceful Jiangnan maiden, now tattered and torn, revealing bloodied toes. Her body swayed precariously in the saddle, yet she clung to consciousness. When she finally managed to lift her head and glimpse the legendary Hutou Cheng—the city known for displaying the severed heads of Beiman prisoners along its walls—she hesitated at the sight. That moment of weakness caused her to be dragged from the horse and thrown to the ground. The rider did not turn his head. She struggled to rise, knowing that if she didn’t, she would be dragged all the way into the city. But her strength was gone. She could only roll onto her back, feeling the searing pain of her body scraping against the gravel. The agony was not sudden or sharp, but a slow, relentless torment that built with every passing moment.
The Beiman rider, following orders, couldn’t help but glance back. A woman who once sat high in the heavens had now fallen from her pedestal, dragged like a dog by him and his mount.
He turned his gaze forward to the other rider. He didn’t understand why this man had spared him, nor why he had spared the woman either.
In the distance, dust clouds rose as a massive cavalry formation of several hundred riders thundered toward them, shaking the earth.
His heart clenched. It was the first time in his life he had seen such a large force of Beiliang cavalry. He quickly noticed something different about them compared to the cavalry of the Liu family army he had once belonged to. The Liu cavalry were fierce and brutal in battle, and he himself had become one of General Liu Gui’s personal guards precisely because of his own ferocity. But these Beiliang riders felt even more terrifying. During the earlier skirmish with the Beiliang scouts, it hadn’t been so obvious—the famed Beiliang Scout Ranger were indeed formidable. But when the number exceeded three hundred, a strange sensation arose. It was as if these three or four hundred riders moved as one. Their galloping and riding exuded a strange restraint and discipline that no Beiman warrior would find comfortable. Even the way their bodies moved in perfect unison with their horses was uncanny.
He had only heard tales of the elite heavy cavalry units, whose formations were so tightly coordinated that they could charge forward in perfect synchronization, like a single blade cutting through the battlefield.
Almost as one, the four hundred riders dismounted.
A middle-aged knight at their head knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and saluted with clenched fist: “General Liu Jinu, reporting for duty, Your Highness!”
Then, in unison, the four hundred riders shouted: “Reporting for duty, Your Highness!”
Xu Fengnian smiled and said, “Rise, all of you. I appreciate General Liu’s courtesy in coming out to greet me.”
The young prisoner behind Xu Fengnian, still mounted and armored, was momentarily stunned. His mind struggled to catch up. But when he saw General Liu, who looked no different from the riders behind him, rise to his feet with a limp, he suddenly understood.
He now knew who this unassuming, lame general was—Liu Jinu, the legendary commander of Hutou Cheng, the most revered border general under the Beiliang commanders.
He had never heard of Liu Jinu, but every soldier in the Liu family army had heard of the legendary “Lame Liu.” This general was known in Beiliang for his strict discipline and for treating his soldiers like his own children. He had four children—two sons and two daughters. Both sons had died in battle, the youngest at only sixteen. His daughters had married his subordinates, only to become widows. Liu Jinu was merciless in battle but never cruel to the innocent. Fourteen years ago, during a retaliatory raid deep into the heart of the Guse Province, he had led a campaign that claimed over ten thousand enemy heads. It was during that campaign that a captured woman had stabbed him in the leg with a dagger. Yet he had spared her life, uttering a phrase that spread across the grasslands—whether true or not, no one knew: “In both our Beiliang and your Beiman, only when the men have all perished will it be the women’s turn.”
As Liu Jinu rode alongside Xu Fengnian toward the mighty walls of Hutou Cheng, his heart swelled. He had poured his life into this fortress. As he gazed at the towering ramparts, the great general’s eyes softened with warmth.
Behind them, the four hundred elite riders slowly turned their horses to return. As they rode away, they couldn’t help but glance back at the strange pair: the young man in Beiman garb, heavily armed, and the woman in a Marten forehead covering (fox fur headpiece) dragged behind him on foot.
Inside the city, after Xu Fengnian had bathed and changed, Liu Jinu and several officers of Hutou Cheng stood respectfully in the courtyard outside.
The last time Xu Fengnian, now the new Prince of Beiliang, had toured the frontier, he had stopped at Huaiyang Pass and never made it here. At the time, several officers had grumbled, claiming the Prince looked down on Hutou Cheng and treated its soldiers like unwanted orphans. One officer, who commanded three thousand heavy cavalry, had openly declared that if the garrison at Huaiyang Pass wanted to test their mettle, they could borrow another two or three thousand troops and still be routed in less than three charges.
Now, as Xu Fengnian saw one of the officers—pretending to be calm but clearly nervous—standing stiffly, he waved for all the officers of Hutou Cheng to sit. Liu Jinu’s reputation and achievements were well known. He had once spoken calmly with the old Prince of Beiliang, and now, facing the new Prince, he remained composed, sitting easily on the stone bench. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ma Jili, the officer who had cursed the loudest after drinking, now acting like a shy maiden meeting her lover for the first time, sitting at the very back with his head lowered.
Xu Fengnian tilted his head slightly, as if searching for someone, and asked with a smile, “General Liu, is that officer Ma who once boasted that even if he couldn’t best me in combat, he could at least drink me under the table?”
Liu Jinu suppressed a chuckle and said nothing.
The other officers, rough as the desert winds, couldn’t help but burst into laughter, their mirth hearty and sincere.
Even the most delicate of men would have been hardened by the relentless sun of this land.
Even the most narrow-minded of men would have had their hearts broadened by the endless sky and boundless horizon.
Ma Jili straightened up, his head sticking out from behind his comrades, and said with a resigned tone, “Your Highness, I’m here. If you’re truly angry and wish to punish me with the whip, I will not utter a word of protest. Just… when it happens, could you do it somewhere my subordinates won’t see? Otherwise, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Xu Fengnian clearly had no intention of holding a grudge. He asked, “General Liu, can you all drink?”
Liu Jinu nodded with a grin. “Of course we can. They’re only so-so in battle, but at the drinking table, they’re all kings of heaven. However, Ma Jili and Chu Hanqing have night patrols to attend to. As long as the others don’t get too drunk, there’s no problem.”
Xu Fengnian nodded. “Then let’s drink with restraint. As for what was left unfinished last time, we’ll make it up another day.”
Liu Jinu turned and called out, “Ma Jili, go with Chu Hanqing and bring two jars of Green Ant wine, then get back to patrol.”
Relieved, Ma Jili hurried off with another officer, soon returning with two jars of the famed wine.
Uncomfortable, Ma Jili didn’t dare linger, but the refined-looking officer Chu Hanqing hesitated. He looked toward Xu Fengnian and asked, “Your Highness, I am not permitted to drink tonight. I do not know when or where I may next have the chance. May I raise an empty bowl in your honor?”
Xu Fengnian nodded.
Chu Hanqing raised his empty bowl high, while Xu Fengnian stood and drained his bowl of Green Ant wine in one go.
Ma Jili, still uneasy, asked cautiously, “Your Highness, may I also offer you a toast?”
Xu Fengnian smiled again and drank another bowl.
After sitting back down, Xu Fengnian looked at the officers, their faces glowing with genuine joy, and asked, “General Liu, does Hutou Cheng need anything else? Speak freely.”
Liu Jinu held his bowl in one hand and rested the other on his crippled leg. He smiled and shook his head. “No.”
Xu Fengnian said nothing more, simply sitting with these grizzled old generals of Beiliang, all in their forties, and drinking quietly with them.
In the end, Liu Jinu spoke only one sentence: “Now that the Prince is seated here, I can finally say what I once thought I would never dare to speak. Today, all forty thousand of us in Hutou Cheng have shared in the farewell toast from the Prince. If we must die, we die without regret.”
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