Eighth Prince, Bowing All His Life Before Shenzhou

Mount Zhongnan towered in majestic silence, like a natural barrier that cut the realms of immortals and mortals apart.

The footpath at the mountain's base wound on and on. It should have been quiet and secluded, yet it was jammed by a bustling crowd until not even water could trickle through.

The ancient plank road along the mountain was narrow, and the stream of people wove together, surging without end.

Chen Ji looked at the long line before him, his brows tightly furrowed, helplessness showing on his face.

"Young master, with it this crowded, who knows when we'll reach the summit? Can you still endure it?"

He turned and asked the young gentleman in Confucian robes behind him with concern.

Chen Ji had complaints in his heart as well.

With the young master's status, there was naturally no need for him to climb the mountain together with these mud-legged peasants.

He hoped the young master would change his mind.

However, he did not dare show even the slightest hint of it.

When the master had made a decision, a servant did not dare harbor a second heart.

Hearing this, the young gentleman smiled calmly.

"No matter. Let us treat this trip as an outing, and take in the beauty of mountains and waters."

"After all, when climbing a mountain to worship at a temple, sincerity brings efficacy."

After Chen Ji heard this, he did not dare say more.

He shoved the burly man in front of him in distaste and reminded him, "Stop squeezing. You're practically stuck to someone."

Chen Ji pinched his nose. Being squeezed together with these lowly commoners was truly far too foul.

He did not know how his incomparably noble master could bear it.

The air was filled with a stench mixed with sour sweat and the occasional waft of body odor. It was truly nauseating.

Though the weather was cold, with people squeezed together in a heap, they still sweated without pause. His back was covered in dense sweat, making Chen Ji's brows wrinkle.

These commoners who had come from all directions had traveled long distances and had no time to mind their personal hygiene. The smell on their bodies was truly hard to endure.

Their greasy heads of hair, one after another, made the odor even more irritating to him.

Couldn't they take a bath!

The bearded man in front, shoved by Chen Ji, turned back and glared at him, shouting in displeasure:

"You brat, why are you acting like a woman? Everyone's just squeezing a bit. It's not like it'll take your life."

When Chen Ji heard this, his face instantly flushed crimson. One hand went to his waist, while the other lifted high with an orchid-finger gesture, just about to lose his temper.

In the prince's manor, when had he ever suffered such arrogance?

Just then.

The young gentleman beside him gave a soft cough, cutting off the dispute.

The young gentleman in Confucian robes took the initiative to step forward, cupped his hands in salute to the bearded man, and wore a kindly smile on his face:

"Elder brother, my little brother is leaving home for the first time and does not understand the ways of the world. If he has offended you, please be magnanimous."

The bearded man sized up the gentleman in Confucian robes. Seeing that he was dressed with care and had an extraordinary bearing, he did not want to cause trouble, so he merely snorted coldly and did not haggle further. "Pay attention next time."

Seeing the young master speak, Chen Ji immediately reined in his temper and did not dare make another sound.

He knew the young master's refined mood could not be disturbed.

Not to mention, the master had personally stepped forward to apologize on his behalf. How could he continue acting willful and reckless?

Chen Ji lowered his head even further, and for a moment forgot the discomfort on his body.

The youth in white, however, did not take it to heart and said softly:

"Little Jizi, when away from home, harmony brings wealth."

Chen Ji hurriedly nodded in response. "Yes, young master."

His attitude became respectful and obedient.

This young gentleman's status was beyond noble. He was the eighth son beneath the knees of the current Emperor Qing.

To call him a true dragon among men would not be excessive.

Prince Jing—Zhou Cheng.

His mother was a noble consort in the palace, and her maternal clan was also a great aristocratic family.

At thirteen, he had been granted the title of prince. The current emperor had even praised him before the assembled ministers, saying he possessed both virtue and talent.

At the age of fifteen, he sat in on court affairs.

At sixteen, he opened his own manor in the capital and held great power in his hands.

His favor and authority were truly immense!

However, this eighth prince had quite a unique temperament.

He had been exceedingly clever by nature, and in his youth had once been obsessed with seeking immortals, pursuing the Dao, and the arts of Huang-Lao.

Later, as the Great Qing Kingdom's fortunes declined day by day, and it suffered defeat after defeat in the north, Zhou Cheng suddenly came to his senses. "Studying the Dao cannot save the world."

Thus, he resolutely abandoned the Dao and focused entirely on the art of war.

In just a few short years, he revealed his edge in the debates of the Student Directorate, defeating several of Great Qing's masters of military strategy in literary debate one after another, and his name shook the capital.

Four years ago, the North Wind carried three hundred thousand troops south.

That same year, the Lu Family Army led thirty thousand men north to the Yellow River.

The two armies faced each other.

The whole world shook because of it.

At that time, the one who submitted the most memorials in opposition, and whose voice was the firmest, was precisely Prince Jing, Zhou Cheng.

He was deeply versed in the way of military strategy and knew well that Tuoba Shuyi's command of troops had already grasped its inner essence. His deployment and formations were all first-rate in the present age.

Moreover, the enemy army was powerful and pressing upon the border. Only by relying on dangerous terrain and defending could there be a chance of victory.

Yet the Lu Family Army instead went straight to the Yellow River, and the two armies arrayed their formations. In Zhou Cheng's eyes, this was no different from striking a stone with an egg. It was simply seeking death.

On top of that, Zhou Cheng learned a shocking piece of news—the true commander of the Lu Family Army was actually a youth barely in his early twenties.

He had no experience leading soldiers whatsoever. For the first twenty years of his life, he had merely been a Daoist priest in a temple, reading scriptures.

This news made Zhou Cheng fly into a rage. In the capital, he cursed bitterly, "Young and bringing chaos to the state, this is utterly absurd!"

He submitted memorials many times, striving to have Lu Chen replaced. However, in the end, Wang Yang, the defending general of Hulao Pass, used his own head as guarantee and shouldered the court's censure.

Zhou Cheng's heart was filled with doubts. What outstanding qualities could a junior possess, to actually win the favor of such an important minister as Wang Yang, even to the point that he would risk his life to protect him?

He had never imagined that in a short three months.

News came from the northern battlefield: Lu Chen had led his troops to three battles and three victories.

Zhou Cheng carefully studied the battle reports and praised Lu Chen's way of using troops without end, believing that the seasoned nature of his command was no inferior to Tuoba Shuyi's.

He indeed had the qualifications to lead an army.

However, Zhou Cheng also knew very well that the Lu Family Army had insufficient troops and horses and could only rely on surprise forces to win. In the end, that was not a lasting plan.

Another three months passed, and the Lu Family Army was trapped in a heavy encirclement. Zhou Cheng burned with anxiety, summoned his strategists, and studied terrain and river maps day and night, seeking a strategy to break the enemy.

With everyone pooling wisdom and strength, they still reached only one conclusion:

Pursuers were before and behind, with the rolling Yellow River at the rear. Tuoba Shuyi used troops steadily, strengthening walls and clearing the fields. The Lu Family Army had already fallen into a desperate situation, with no path to life remaining.

Zhou Cheng knew in his heart that even if it were him, he would be powerless to reverse the heavens and could only sit still and await death.

He let out a long sigh and waited for news of defeat.

However, half a month later, a report of victory arrived.

Lu Chen had actually led his troops to cross the Yellow River three times, gone south, joined the encirclement, and won a great victory.

The world was shaken.

The messengers traveling between the north and the capital rode day and night, exhausting ten prized horses.

Holding the report of victory, they knocked on the imperial city gate and cried out in a ringing voice:

"A great victory in the north."

"A great victory in the north! The Lu Family Army has slain sixty thousand enemies!"

The capital boiled over.

It was a great victory unseen in twenty years.

For a time, in the imperial capital, fish and dragons danced through the night.

Zhou Cheng looked at the mere several hundred words on the battle report.

Between the lines, it was like iron cavalry and icy rivers, like a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses galloping straight toward him.

His heart could not calm for a long time.

Especially at the end, Lu Chen's line: "Why should a man not bear the Wu hook, and reclaim the fifty provinces beyond the passes?"

His heart felt utterly refreshed, and Prince Jing's Manor set out banquets along ten li of streets.

That day, he summoned many retainers, sat around the brazier with them, and together analyzed the changes in the battle situation.

They discussed spiritedly, each expressing their own views. Yet in the end, when all their analyses came together, they all let out a sigh as if by tacit agreement.

"This man's use of troops is already like that of ghosts and gods."

In the year that followed, the Lu Family Army fought and won again and again. Across several hundred battles, there was not one in which they did not defeat many with few. In half a month, they broke through Yun Prefecture; in one month, they seized Yan Prefecture.

Where they attacked, they took; where they fought, they won. The North Wind Army's courage turned cold.

The Lu family led two thousand troops to a ferry crossing, scaring thirty thousand northern troops into fleeing like beaten dogs.

Later, there was once an order in the North Wind Army: those who fled upon seeing the Lu family banner would not be beheaded.

For a time, this eighth prince who had opposed Lu Chen the most became the person who admired Lu Chen the most.

That line, "In four hundred years, none has surpassed him in the use of troops."

It came from the mouth of this eighth prince.

He actually had another line as well, only because of his status, no one dared spread it.

"Bowing all my life before Shenzhou."

Lu Chen, courtesy name Shenzhou.

Thank you all for your support.

I'm stunned, brothers. I'm kneeling lightly for my esteemed reader lords.

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