Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Really Not Afraid of Death_1

The Emperor of Xiyun was filled with emotions and couldn’t help but speak out, ”Jingjing, you didn’t see, naturally, you wouldn’t know, but I saw, I saw on the battlefield, I always saw. Yi Er, he truly was not afraid of death...”

He truly was not afraid of death...

As An Jing sipped her sour plum drink, she listened to this sentence, and her heart suddenly clenched, causing her intense pain, an acute pain. Her husband had originally planned to die on the battlefield; he never intended to come back alive, so how could he possibly be afraid of death.

”I still remember,” the Emperor of Xiyun sank into his memories, ”When I led the troops myself and first entered the military camp, I inadvertently overheard that there was a strange soldier in the army, who had never spoken a word, and yet, when facing the enemy, he would rush towards danger without any fear of death, and even seemed to be seeking it.”

”I was very curious, so I had someone bring this soldier to me to see. Later, I did see this soldier, but by then he had already been lashed with a whip, his body torn and bleeding, a sight to behold.”

Hearing this, An Jing immediately clenched her fists tightly, her veins bulging on the backs of her hands.

”Although this soldier was torn and bleeding, it was as if he felt no pain at all, not even a frown on his brow, no trace of expression on his face, and he stood upright. With just one glance, one could feel his unyielding spirit. And this soldier, was Yi Er.”

Upon saying this, the Emperor of Xiyun heaved a long sigh, deeply moved.

After a long pause, he continued, ”At that time, there was a vanguard officer in the army who saw that Yi Er was so unafraid of death that he took Yi Er for himself. Whenever this officer would lead a charge, he would bring Yi Er along, letting Yi Er be at the forefront.”

”But this officer was petty-minded, and seeing that many said he actually couldn’t compare to Yi Er, a mere soldier, he grew jealous and vented his anger by lashing Yi Er viciously with a whip, which led to Yi Er’s body being covered in wounds.”

An Jing struggled to contain the hatred and fury in her heart and asked, ”What about that vanguard officer now?”

The Emperor of Xiyun sighed, ”Dead. That officer not only always stole others’ achievements to climb to the position of vanguard officer, but he also caused the death of those who had earned those merits, hoping to leave no evidence behind. Later, when the whole affair was investigated and came to light, I had him executed.”

Only then did the hatred and fury in An Jingxin’s heart start to dissipate somewhat. Had he not died, she would have made sure that man regretted ever coming into this world!

After a long silence, the Emperor of Xiyun spoke again with a sigh, ”Actually, Yi Er had already made quite a few achievements by that time, always charging to the forefront in battle; how could he have failed to earn any honors? But he never spoke, and everyone thought he was mute—there’s no precedent for a mute to become an officer, so promotion was out of the question. He remained a mere soldier. If it hadn’t been for his fierce combat skills, even the military camp would not have kept him.”

She had never doubted her husband’s abilities. An Jing was just curious, so she asked, ”Then, Imperial Father, when did you realize that Changyi was not mute?”

The Emperor of Xiyun said, ”It was seven years ago, during the simultaneous wars with Chilin and Nan Chi. The situation was extremely perilous. At that time, Meng Zhan had a squad protect me and had us leave first. But then, unexpectedly, we ran into an ambush by the Chilin Kingdom.”

”There were many ambushers, and only a squad was guarding me; I was prepared to kill myself rather than be captured. It would be a national disgrace for an emperor to be captured, and only by crushing the Chilin Kingdom could the shame be washed away.”

”But, among that squad was Yi Er. I hadn’t expected that Yi Er hadn’t been using his full strength in the previous battles; everyone protecting me died, and in the end, only Yi Er was left. It was at that moment that Yi Er spoke, his voice was commanding. He scolded me, telling me to stay right behind him and not go anywhere.”