At first light, Xue Changxiong arrived early at the little knoll from which he had watched the battle yesterday. From here, a thin morning mist seemed to linger ahead, half concealing the dark encampments of the Exorcising the Dragon Army.
In truth, however, no one knew how much of that mist was cooking smoke and how much was natural moisture.
Gazing at this scene, Xue Changxiong—the Northern Hebei Campaign Commander, General of the Left Martial Guard, head of the Xue Clan, one of Guanlong's core clans, son of Supreme Pillar of the State Xue Ben, and clearly the foremost of Hebei's contenders since the realm had fallen into chaos—looked rather grave.
Only a handful of people followed behind him, all silently watching the great general's back.
Xue Changxiong's eldest son, Xue Wanlun, was a hostage in Jiangdu; his second, Xue Wanliang, had died in battle; and his third, Xue Wannian, was guarding the vital position behind them, Ande City, the seat of Pingyuan Commandery. His remaining sons—the fourth, Xue Wanbi; the fifth, Xue Wanping; the sixth, Xue Wancheng; and the seventh, Xue Wanquan—were all here, along with just two men ordinarily considered his trusted confidants: Army-Supervising Sima Chen Bin and Gentleman of the Palace General Wang Yu.
After watching for a while, Xue Changxiong finally turned around, an unexpected note of reflection entering his voice. "A man born into troubled times, entrusted with command over a region, ought at least to wield a four-foot blade and cleanse his own territory, even if he has no ambition to lash the whole realm beneath his whip, so that he need not stand beneath others... but looking at things now, accomplishing anything is still far too difficult."
Chen Bin remained expressionless, while Wang Yu looked as though he wanted to speak but stopped