All Under Heaven Have Received His Grace, and the Mountains and Rivers May Overturn

Zhou Cheng came back to himself.

His gaze fell on the bearded burly man's clothes. Their style was vastly different from the south, and he could not help asking:

"Brother, are you from the north?"

The burly man did not want to say much, but the young man's bearing truly stood out among the crowd.

The bearded burly man was an old hand from an escort agency who had traveled north and south, and with one glance he could tell that although the youth had only brought a single attendant,

there was a noble air in every gesture, something born in the bones and hard to hide.

This young lord was either rich or noble, perhaps both.

Having lived through war, he had long since gained an extra measure of caution and vigilance in his heart.

In truth, peace under heaven had only lasted a few years.

Now he had brought his wife and child from the north to Mount Zhongnan solely to fulfill a vow at a Daoist temple.

The man did not wish to invite trouble and did not respond.

The child was sturdy and bright-eyed, and at this moment had already fallen peacefully asleep on his broad shoulder.

His wife waited at his side, yet she was a gentle woman from Jiangnan.

The two of them formed a contrast.

Hearing the voice, the woman turned around.

First, she tenderly took the child down from her husband's shoulder, then rubbed the man's shoulder and asked softly:

"If you're tired, say so. You're always like this!"

There was a bit of reproach in her eyes.

The man's eyes answered gently, "I'm not tired."

Zhou Cheng stepped forward with a chuckle and said:

"This must be sister-in-law. Brother, you really are blessed."

The woman had only listened to the youth speak, yet she knew this youth was definitely a noble from the south. Only one raised in the capital could speak this refined capital tongue so authentically.

In the capital, every inch of land was worth gold; living in the capital was no easy thing.

She lightly pushed her husband.

Only then did the burly man speak in a muffled voice.

"I do not deserve young master calling me brother. We did indeed come from the north."

Hearing this, doubt showed between Zhou Cheng's brows.

"Brother, you crossed mountains and rivers, not sparing a journey of a thousand li to come all the way to Mount Zhongnan. What exactly was it for?"

"It can't be only to burn incense and pray for blessings!"

The stalwart man remained silent.

The woman gently held her husband's hand and took up the conversation.

"Young master, do you know who is most famous on Mount Zhongnan?"

"Naturally, that Junior Guardian Lu whose might shakes the four directions," Zhou Cheng answered without thinking.

The woman smiled lightly:

"I imagine young master also came for the Junior Guardian. We husband and wife are the same."

Her words revealed her reverence for that Junior Guardian.

After Zhou Cheng heard this, a trace of puzzlement could not help rising in his heart.

He understood that the couple opposite him could not know his true identity, yet they had not spoken wrongly either. He had indeed come on this trip for Lu Chen.

The woman seemed to see the confusion in Zhou Cheng's heart. She pointed up the mountain road, where it was packed to the brim, people crowding shoulder to shoulder, pilgrims like clouds.

Among them were many people dressed similarly to the couple, likely people from the north.

"Most of them came from the north, all here to fulfill vows to the Junior Guardian."

"Fulfill vows?"

After hearing this, Zhou Cheng grew even more bewildered.

The woman gave a soft sigh. There was a trace of sorrow in her eyes as she slowly explained:

"In years past, this humble woman followed her father north to take up an official post. It happened just as North Wind iron cavalry went south, beacon smoke rose everywhere, and all along the north there was burning, killing, and plundering. In the end, my father also died there. His body was that of a southerner, but his soul returned to the northern land."

After Zhou Cheng listened, he roughly sketched out the woman's background.

She had originally come from a family of officials, and because her father had been transferred, they had moved north.

Her family must not have been in power; otherwise, how could they have ended up in that war-torn north?

"I originally wished to die to make my resolve clear, unwilling to suffer humiliation at the enemy's hands. Yet fortunately, my husband risked his life to save me, and only thus do I have today."

Hearing this, the man gripped his wife's hand tightly, giving her silent comfort.

"But..." Deep recollection showed in the woman's eyes. "Back then there were many refugees. My husband and I went south with more than thirty thousand people in a vast procession. Though we could look after one another, in the end the target was too large and became the target of the northern light cavalry."

"They pursued us without letting up, yet they did not wipe us out in one net. Instead, they drove us to Fengling Ferry."

"Young master perhaps has never heard this place name, but in this humble woman's heart, it is a place I will never forget in this lifetime."

Zhou Cheng nodded. He was deeply versed in the art of war and knew the terrain of the north like the back of his hand.

"Fengling Ferry is a vital crossing of the Yellow River, leading straight down to Tong Pass. One stretch of water divides north and south, and the central plains' qi is thus preserved whole. There, one cockcrow is heard by three provinces; after passing it, one may go straight into the south. Its strategic position is no less than Hulao Pass."

At the side, Chen Ji said with slight pride:

"My young master is widely learned and many-talented, knowing astronomy above and geography below. At nine years old he had already read ten thousand scrolls, his learning vast and deep. How could he not know a place like Fengling Ferry!"

After the woman heard this, if it was truly so, she could not help esteeming this young master three parts higher.

In this era, a household that could keep ten books was already well-off, much less one where someone had read ten thousand scrolls. His family must be an illustrious and famous house.

Zhou Cheng cast Chen Ji an unfriendly glance.

Chen Ji hurriedly shut his mouth.

At the side, the man spoke coldly at this moment:

"The defending general of Fengling Ferry, faced with the threat of North Wind's fifty thousand soldiers, nevertheless resolutely declared that the lives of fifty thousand people were certainly precious, but how could they be mentioned in the same breath as the safety of all under heaven and the state?"

Zhou Cheng nodded inwardly. Fifty thousand iron cavalry, fifty thousand commoners like fish and meat.

Once Fengling Ferry was breached, North Wind could bypass Hulao Pass.

The burly man sneered. "What I hate most are people like that, with all under heaven and the common people hanging from their lips all day, while their hearts are filled entirely with male thieves and female whores. Their bones are soft from head to toe, and all they do are petty villain's deeds."

After Zhou Cheng heard this, he instead gave an easy smile.

The woman continued:

"We originally thought death was unavoidable. Who would have thought that after the Junior Guardian learned of this, he brought nine thousand Lu Family Army soldiers overnight to come?"

As he spoke of this, tears glimmered in the man's eyes, as if he had returned again to that desperate moment when North Wind howled and iron cavalry surged like a tide.

When one was caught in utter despair, and another gave his life to save them,

who would not shed tears!

Men did not lightly shed tears, only because the moment of emotion had not yet come.

"I still clearly remember what the Junior Guardian looked like when he arrived. His whole body was covered in blood, and he could only lie sprawled over the horse's back."

"On the road, he had encountered several more days of great battles. The Junior Guardian had not closed his eyes for several nights, and with the northern wind and cold besides, he had long since been gravely ill. But he could not set down the safety of thirty thousand commoners, so he came personally."

"By then, he could no longer hold on, yet his mouth was still saying..."

"I came late."

"I, Lu Shenzhou, came late, and let you suffer."

When the burly man spoke to this point, his lips were trembling, and his voice sank somewhat.

"Nine thousand Lu Family Army soldiers fought a bloody battle against fifty thousand North Wind iron cavalry, killing eight thousand enemies. The brothers of the Lu Family Army died until only a little over three thousand remained. The Lu Family Army feared not death, and they also frightened North Wind into retreat."

Zhou Cheng's brows furrowed. The battle reports of the Lu Family Army in the northern lands back then had long been familiar to him by heart, and he remembered no matter concerning Fengling Ferry.

The man said somewhat indignantly:

"From beginning to end, Fengling Ferry did not send out a single soldier. In the end, after the great battle ended, the Junior Guardian called for the city gates to be opened."

"That defending general laid out conditions. The battle merits would go to him, and the city gates would open."

"The Junior Guardian agreed."

The man, for some reason, suddenly sounded a little melancholy:

"The Junior Guardian agreed without the slightest hesitation."

"At that time, among the thirty thousand commoners, no small number wanted to join the Lu Family Army, but the Junior Guardian refused them all."

The man could no longer control his voice, and grew more and more choked.

"The Junior Guardian said with a smile..."

"Out-of-towners, go home early."

When the man spoke to this point, his voice was already hoarse, and hot tears gathered in his eyes.

"If I hadn't still had to protect A'ru back then, if I hadn't truly been unable to set my heart at ease with her, a girl all alone, I would definitely have knelt down and begged the Junior Guardian to let me lead his horse and hold his whip."

A'ru was the woman's name.

The woman held the child in one arm and gripped the man's hand with the other.

The burly man said, "The Junior Guardian said back then to go home early, take a wife, marry, and have children. Once there were children, there would be hope. If we truly had one, just remember to tell him."

In a few words spoken while standing, liver and gallbladder shone clear; a man's promise weighed a thousand gold.

"I promised the Junior Guardian back then, so how would I dare go back on my word?"

"Compared with the Junior Guardian spending three days and three nights rushing a thousand li, what does our coming from the northern lands count for?"

The man gently stroked the child in the woman's arms, his eyes full of emotion:

"Later, the Junior Guardian retired to Mount Zhongnan. Now this child is already three years old. In these three years, some matters delayed us, and my wife and I thought that no matter what, this year we had to come and tell the Junior Guardian."

"Whether the Junior Guardian knows or not, we husband and wife had to come."

"We call it fulfilling a vow!"

After Zhou Cheng heard this, he carefully looked toward the mountain path at those wearing the same clothes as the burly man, and unexpectedly, many of them had also brought children.

The man smiled and said:

"Young master need not look either. Back then, only thirty thousand of us were saved by the Junior Guardian, but who knew that the countless millions of the northern lands all received the Junior Guardian's grace?"

After Zhou Cheng heard this, he could not help thinking of when Lu Chen had asked to resign and retire years ago.

At court, a minister had submitted a secret memorial.

"Please kill Lu Chen."

The reason was:

"All under heaven have received his grace. Should he harbor any disloyal heart, I fear the mountains and rivers will overturn."