[In the battle of Hulao Pass, you proved yourself.]
[Your father trusted you more and more. Wang Yang even personally requested rewards for the three of you—father and two sons.]
[Yet unexpectedly, despite the Lu Family Army's great victory and thirty thousand enemies slain, Lu Jiaxuan, supreme commander of the Lu Family Army, was granted only the title of Martial Merit Gentleman and the post of Chang Prefecture Defense Commissioner.]
[Lu Yu and Lu Chen were merely appointed assistant generals in the army.]
[Meanwhile, Wang Yang was promoted to Military Commissioner of the Divine Martial Rear Army, overseeing three provinces. He was appointed Grand Commandant, Principal Second Rank.]
[After learning of this, Wang Yang submitted several more memorials, earnestly stating that the Lu Clan had rendered great merit and should not be treated thus. The court rejected every one.]
[Wang Yang found your father, his face full of helplessness. The Lu Family Pavilion's foundation was still too thin, with no one in court to speak up for them. Yet he consoled him, saying, "Jiaxuan, you have already won the Sacred Heart. His Majesty mentioned you repeatedly in the decree. Your future promotion is only a matter of time, so do not lose heart."]
["His Majesty is now striving diligently to govern, a rare wise ruler and the lord who will restore the realm."]
[Wang Yang held authority over promotions, so he raised Lu Chen and Lu Yu to the fifty-seventh grade of the First Rank and appointed them deputy generals in the army. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to soothe the army's hearts; such enormous military merit had earned them only an unranked military post.]
[Your father did not care much about it.]
[Lu Yu muttered, "The Emperor is really stingy."]
[Over the following year, the Lu Family Army entered a true period of rest and reorganization. With their superior Wang Yang's assistance, many affairs went quite smoothly.]
[This year, you turned twenty-two. After two years of training, the Lu Family Army had reached twenty thousand men.]
[Though North Wind occasionally launched incursions, they were all small-scale battles. Every battle you took part in ended in victory.]
[You gained a modest reputation among the Northern Region armies.]
[And Wang Yang's words, "He holds a thousand armies and ten thousand horses in his belly," became widely known.]
[The north welcomed a long-awaited peace.]
[You possessed the talent of Insight into People. Among refugees and soldiers alike, you could always spot gifted individuals with discerning eyes and select capable, astute people.]
[Wang Yang saw that you handled matters steadily and conducted affairs in perfect order. Having made no mistakes in two years, you earned his high praise for your abilities.]
[Wang Yang had, after all, risen from civil office and did not favor military men. Seeing your refined scholarly air, he often discussed state affairs with you, and your words always scratched exactly where he itched.]
[He grew increasingly fond of you.]
[In the third year, Wang Yang decided to marry his beloved daughter to you, undoubtedly recognizing both your talent and character.]
[Most of the Wang Clan opposed it. The Wang Clan was a great family of generations; your grandfather and great-grandfather were renowned Confucian scholars of the realm, having served as Grand Tutors under two dynasties. They were eminent figures among the court's upright officials.]
[The Lu Clan was merely a fallen northern poor family. The gap between their households was enormous.]
[Yet Wang Yang ignored his family's objections and merely replied, "This child is no creature that can remain trapped in a pond."]
[However, at the end of that year, the North Wind army invaded again, and the matter was put aside.]
[The North Wind Hundred-Thousand Army, four hundred thousand strong, descended with fierce momentum, intending to wipe out Great Qing.]
[That year, the Lu Family Army also expanded to thirty thousand men, its strength greatly increased.]
[Upon hearing the news, you decided...]
1. Recommend leading the army north. 2. Hold the cities and defend. 3. Participate personally (1/3)
Yu Ke looked at the three choices and pondered for a while.
After developing for three years, they had fought eight thousand against forty thousand at Hulao Pass. What was there to fear?
Besides, if they held Hulao Pass, Tuoba Shuyi, who had likely learned from his previous loss, would most likely split his forces into two routes and march south.
Better to march north.
Yu Ke directly chose 1 and recommended leading the army north.
[When your father learned of your proposal, his heart surged with emotion.]
[For twenty years, Great Qing had done nothing but defend cities, lose cities, and flee in disgrace. Never had it marched north to meet the enemy.]
[When news of North Wind's invasion reached the south, the people were once again seized by panic.]
[After all, twenty years of defeats had bent Great Qing's spine. Its sole great victory had been at Hulao Pass.]
[News of the Lu Family Army's northern march began to thunder across the realm. Many southern scholars viewed it unfavorably, believing the Lu Family Army was acting rashly, seeking fame and profit while disregarding Great Qing's rivers, mountains, and altars of state.]
[Memorials drifted like snowflakes into that prosperous yet oppressive capital. The war faction and the surrender faction each argued their case, and the court's disputes never ceased.]
[At last, within that same year, an imperial decree came down. One portion would hold Hulao Pass, while another would march north with the Lu Family Army.]
[In the spring of the following year, the Lu Family Army marched north.]
[After crossing the Yellow River, you encountered Tuoba Shuyi once again.]
[After three years of tempering, you had fully proven your abilities. Your father entrusted command entirely to you, while you took your seat at the center.]
[The Lu Family Army's discipline was strict. Every general had been promoted by your own hand, and you knew their strengths and weaknesses like the back of your hand.]
[Your father, meanwhile, remained at your side, filling in gaps and remedying omissions.]
[When Tuoba Shuyi learned that the Lu Family Army's true commander was actually a youth barely in his twenties, his heart was filled with contempt.]
[When he further heard that the brilliant schemes at Hulao Pass had also come from this twenty-year-old youth, he snorted disdainfully and thought, In an age without heroes, even a brat can become famous.]
[Tuoba Shuyi could not help sneering. "That old fox Lu Jiaxuan has likely grown old and muddleheaded, yet refuses to hand power to another. He can only pass it to his son and pave the road for him."]
[The generals of the North Wind Profound Kingdom mostly echoed him.]
[Tuoba Shuyi's contempt for the Lu Clan deepened further, while the flames of vengeance blazed fiercely in his chest.]
[His crushing defeat at Hulao Pass last time had not reflected his true strength. He had merely let his guard down for a moment.]
[This time, he would wipe away his former humiliation and cleanse the shame of Hulao Pass.]
[Tuoba Shuyi led one hundred thousand troops into battle against the Lu Family Army under your command.]
[The two armies faced one another.]
[You sat calmly in the command tent, issuing orders with composed precision. Every command was like a sharp arrow striking straight at the vital point, swiftly spreading through the whole army. None dared disobey.]
[In their first clash, Tuoba Shuyi keenly felt how extraordinary you were. Though young, you commanded troops with veteran skill.]
[After several engagements, Tuoba Shuyi attempted a stratagem, deliberately revealing a flaw to lure you deeper in.]
[Yet you saw through it before it unfolded, turned his scheme against him, and counterattacked with skill, ultimately winning a small victory.]
[Within that month, you clashed dozens of times.]
[Your deployments were steady, yet never lacking in decisive action. Tuoba Shuyi began to see you in a new light. Several times, he moved your name higher on his roster, attaching greater importance to you with each passing day.]
[In the battle of Chan County, you made use of the favorable terrain and, at the cost of three thousand troops, slew ten thousand enemies.]
[After that battle, Tuoba Shuyi became three parts more wary of you. You understood the timing of heaven, the advantages of terrain, and the harmony of men.]
[In only three months, his opinion of you had changed beyond all recognition. More than once in his command tent, he called you, "A famed commander of this age, a master of military strategy."]
[He knew that even a lion used its full strength to catch a rabbit. Thus, he gathered three hundred thousand troops, intending to crush you in a single blow on the frontal battlefield.]
[Yet you did not choose to fight him head-on, nor did you choose to flee south.]
[You led your troops across the Yellow River, pretending to march north, while in truth secretly crossing at Chencang.]
[Tuoba Shuyi pursued relentlessly, never expecting you to cross the Yellow River again and split your troops into three routes, leaving him grasping at empty air.]
[Tuoba Shuyi hurriedly divided his forces to surround you, intending to capture you in one stroke.]
[Tuoba Shuyi was beside himself with rage. He had never expected that you would cross the Yellow River once more and vanish.]
[Taking advantage of Tuoba Shuyi's divided forces, you descended like heavenly troops and slew over twenty thousand enemies, shaking the entire army with your might.]
[When he tried to surround you again, you crossed the Yellow River and departed once more.]
Before you continue