Late Tang Dynasty: Descendants of the Imperial Clan

The shouts of battle grew closer and closer, shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Under the old locust tree, someone looked down at the chipped sword in his hand, then looked up at Lin Yan's pale face, his panic growing stronger.

After a moment of silence, an old soldier with a thick beard spoke first.

This man, surnamed Meng, was the oldest among the "meritorious officials," having fought alongside Huang Chao for six or seven years. He was usually taciturn, but now he spoke in a low voice:

"Brothers, it's not that I'm heartless. You've all seen the situation. The Tang army has surrounded us from three sides. How can we possibly break through with a man so badly wounded? Even if we did manage to break through, the general would probably bleed to death. How could he possibly hold on?"

The crowd looked at each other, no one responded, but no one got angry or refuted them.

Old Meng swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces. Suddenly, he lowered his voice even further, almost like a mosquito's buzz:

"I've heard that the Tang army is offering a very large reward: whoever can behead a general under the Yellow King will be rewarded with gold and a title of nobility. General, you are the Yellow King's nephew; if you were to offer your head..."

Before he could finish speaking, a young soldier next to him gasped and stared wide-eyed, saying:

"Old Meng, are you crazy? The general has treated us very well!"

The other one coldly replied:

"It's true they've treated us well. But if we die here, what's the value of that kindness?"

Upon hearing this, everyone reacted with varying expressions.

Someone else whispered:

"But my beloved son is still in the hands of King Huang..."

Old soldier Meng, also determined, replied:

"I'll say it again: the general has already bled to the point of unconsciousness. Even if we manage to protect him and break through the chaos of battle, I doubt he'll last until we return to camp to find a medic. If the general dies then, and King Huang and Commander Shang become enraged, will we have any chance of survival? Will our families have any chance of survival? It's better to preserve ourselves. If we lose our wives, we can remarry; if we lose our children, we can have more. As long as we're alive, we can always rebuild!"

His words caused the crowd to exchange bewildered glances, all seemingly inclined to take action.

The young soldier knew that Old Meng's words made sense, but he still couldn't bear it, so he said:

"If I offer my head to the Tang army, they might not believe me. Wouldn't it be better to offer me a live one?"

Old Meng sneered:

"Alive? Look how badly he's wounded. It's uncertain whether he can even make it to the Tang army's lines. If he dies on the way, we'll be sending a dead man, which will greatly diminish our merit."

He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Besides, you all know what kind of person this general is. If he wakes up, would he be willing to be a prisoner? He might even fight to the death."

Everyone nodded in agreement when they heard that what he said made sense.

Lin Yan had lost too much blood and was somewhat delirious, but he was not completely unconscious.

He leaned against the tree trunk, listening intently to every word spoken.

At first, he thought he had misheard, but when he heard "cut off his head and go to serve the country," it was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

A surge of anger suddenly rose in his chest, burning away all the drowsiness he felt.

He suddenly raised his eyes, his slightly unfocused eyes, weakened by blood loss, fixed intently on Old Soldier Meng.

"Meng, Meng Da!"

Lin Yan's voice was terribly hoarse, yet it still carried some of his former authority.

"What did you just say? Say it again!"

Startled by his sudden outburst, Old Meng instinctively took a step back.

But then he saw Lin Yan struggle a couple of times, but instead of getting up, he aggravated the wound under his ribs, making him grimace in pain, and more blood seeped out. The fear in his heart dissipated by the time he saw it.

He simply lowered his head, not daring to look Lin Yan in the eye, and did not answer.

Lin Yan then turned to look at the rest of the group, his voice hoarse, yet he spoke each word clearly:

"And you? You all think the same way?"

No one answered.

The young soldier who had just said, "The general has treated us well," now lowered his head, not daring to meet Lin Yan's gaze.

But he quietly took a half step back and stood beside Old Man Meng.

Lin Yan witnessed this scene and felt as if something had stabbed him in the heart.

He gritted his teeth, mustered all his strength, and held his sword horizontally in front of him, shouting sharply:

"I am the nephew of the Yellow King, a meritorious official of the Great Qi! You dog-like scoundrels, eating my uncle's rations and wearing my uncle's armor, now you want to use me to exchange for your dog lives?"

He grew angrier with each curse, his voice hoarse and weak, yet it carried the ferocity of a dying beast.

"Those who betray their master for personal gain are worse than pigs and dogs! Even if I die today, I'll take a few of them with me!"

After saying that, he gritted his teeth, grabbed the tree trunk with his left hand, and tried to prop himself up.

The soldiers were intimidated by his imposing manner and took two steps back in unison.

Lin Yan stood unsteadily, the knife in his hand gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

For a fleeting moment, those timid soldiers felt a pang of regret, and their steps involuntarily shrank back.

But Meng Laozu did not retreat.

He stared at Lin Yan, at his trembling legs, at the blood seeping from between his fingers covering his wound, and at his pale, bloodless face.

Old soldier Meng suddenly stepped forward and said in a cold voice:

"General, it's not that the brothers are heartless. It's just that in this world, staying alive is the most important thing. If you die here, it will just be another corpse."

He glanced back at the crowd, his gaze dark and brooding.

"What are you all standing there for? He's injured like this, he won't last much longer. Why aren't you making your move?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Yan's face turned ashen, then his eyes blazed with desperate fury. He roared and, with his last ounce of strength, swung his sword at Old Man Meng.

But after losing so much blood, he had no strength left.

The slash went awry, failing to even touch the hem of Meng Laozu's clothes, but instead causing him to stumble.

Old Meng stepped aside, sighed, seemingly both reluctant and impatient.

He winked at those around him and said loudly:

"Everyone, let's all work together!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding soldiers gritted their teeth, steeled their resolve, raised their spears, and surrounded Lin Yan.

Lin Yan's eyes were bloodshot as he brandished his waist knife wildly, shouting angrily:

"Traitors! Traitors! King Huang will surely exterminate your entire clan—"

Before he could finish speaking, a spear pierced his chest.

Then the second, third, fourth... several spears pierced his body almost simultaneously.

Lin Yan was jolted violently, the knife in his hand clattered to the ground, and he fell backward, crashing heavily to the old locust tree.

Blood gushed from the wounds in his mouth and chest, staining the yellow earth even darker.

He stared wide-eyed at the sunlight filtering through the branches overhead, making a muffled gurgling sound.

This young man, who had fought alongside his uncle for many years, did not die at the hands of the Tang army, but was killed by the spears of his own soldiers.

Old Meng stepped forward, but Lin Yan was not quite dead yet. His lips were moving, as if he was cursing or reciting someone's name.

Old Meng didn't look at him again, but drew his sword from his waist and slashed down.

The crowd stared at the bloodied head in silence for a moment.

Then, they all exhaled a long breath in unison.

Old Meng held the head in his hand, his face devoid of any joy, only numbness remained.

He tore off a piece of his robe and hastily wrapped it around his head, then looked up at the approaching Tang army flag on the official road ahead and whispered:

"Let's go. Whether we live or die depends on this."

The group immediately raised their weapons high and shouted at the oncoming Tang cavalry, "We surrender! We offer up the head of the traitorous general!"

As Li Cenji was spurring his horse to catch up, he suddenly saw that the group of soldiers had stopped fleeing and instead knelt down by the roadside, raising their weapons high above their heads and shouting "We are willing to surrender."

At the front, an old soldier with a thick beard knelt, holding a bloody head high in his hand.

Li Cenji reined in his yellow horse, twirling the lance halfway in his hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

Zhou Ping and Xu Tai caught up from behind, standing on either side of him to protect him.

Xu Tai, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the head and blurted out:

"Isn't that the same general from earlier? How come he got his head chopped off by his own soldiers?"

Old soldier Meng knelt on the ground, crawled two steps, raised his head even higher, and said in a trembling voice:

"General, please forgive us! This traitor's name is Lin Yan, and he is Huang Chao's nephew. We were originally good people, but we were coerced into joining the rebels. Now we wish to abandon the darkness and join the light, and we have prepared to present his head to you, General, in our only request that you spare our lives!"

Upon hearing this, Li Cenji rode forward, walked to the old soldier Meng, bent down, reached out and took the head, examining it for a moment.

It was indeed the traitorous general who had just fought him, but now his face was ashen and his eyes were closed.

He turned and looked again at the corpse lying under the locust tree. Its armor was torn to shreds, and several bloody holes in its chest were still seeping out blood. The death was extremely tragic.

"You just said his name is Lin Yan, and he's Huang Chao's nephew?"

Li Cenji asked.

Old Meng hurriedly kowtowed, his forehead bleeding profusely, while repeating the same old things over and over:

"Indeed! Indeed! This traitor is Huang Wang... no, no, the nephew of the traitor Huang of the pseudo-Qi dynasty. He holds the official position of 'meritorious official' military commander in the pseudo-Qi court and is highly trusted by Huang. We were originally good people, but were coerced by the rebel army to join them. We have long wanted to submit to the court, but we have never had the opportunity. Today, we risked our lives to take this traitor's head and present it to the general, which is to show our loyalty to the court!"

The soldiers behind him also chimed in with their own opinions:

Some said they were from Guanzhong and had been forcibly conscripted into the army. Others said their elderly mothers and wives were in Chang'an, and they longed day and night for the court to recover the capital. Those who were not good with words wept and kowtowed repeatedly, as if they were truly a group of kind-hearted people forced into thievery.

Li Cenji listened to these words without any expression on his face, but his gaze swept over the soldiers one by one.

These people's clothing, armor, and weapons were all of the highest quality.

Their hands were calloused from years of wielding knives, and their eyes, though darting, revealed a ruthless cruelty born of bloodshed.

These so-called innocent civilians who were coerced are clearly old thieves who have fought alongside Huang Chao for many years.

Ironically, most of the blood splattered on them belonged to their own commander.

The soldiers killed their commander.

A chill, indescribable and inexplicable, welled up in Li Cenji's heart.

In his previous life, he had read history and witnessed countless stories of soldiers killing their commanders and subordinates murdering their leaders.

Since the An Lushan Rebellion, how many such incidents have occurred in the three towns of Hebei in any given year?

Those military governors usually treated their soldiers with great leniency and gave them excessive rewards, but once the soldiers felt that their commander was blocking their way, they would turn on them faster than turning the pages of a book.

Today it's Lin Yan, but who will it be tomorrow?

This was the malignant tumor of regional warlordism, one of the root causes of the century of bloodshed during the late Tang and Five Dynasties period.

He remained silent, but the generals behind him could no longer contain themselves.

Xu Tai was the first to shout it out. He was known for his straightforward nature, and now he made no attempt to hide his disgust:

"Commander! These treacherous dogs have betrayed their master for personal gain, killing their own lord to claim credit. What use are these scum, worse than pigs and dogs, to keep alive? Cut them all down, one by one!"

Wu Kang also rode forward and said coldly:

"Old Xu is right. How can we trust those who betray their masters? If they can kill Lin Yan today, they can stab us in the back tomorrow. Commander, we should execute them on the spot as a warning to others."

The soldiers were terrified by the shouts of battle. Some kowtowed even harder, while a few of the younger ones wet themselves in fear, filling the air with a foul stench.

One of the soldiers, his face pale, kowtowed repeatedly, saying:

"General, spare us! General, spare us! We have truly surrendered and have no ulterior motives! It was all his, it was all Meng Da's idea! He was the one who first suggested offering Lin Yan's head!"

Before he could finish speaking, the leading soldier, Old Meng, widened his eyes and said urgently:

"You all agreed, everyone has a share, how can you blame me alone?"

Another person chimed in:

"General, you are wise! It was Meng Da who started it all, saying things like 'If you lose your wife, you can remarry; if you lose your children, you can have more.' We didn't want to take action, but he forced us to!"

In an instant, these soldiers who had just worked together to kill their commander began to tear at each other like a pack of wild dogs fighting for food, each vying to shift the blame onto others.

Their behavior was utterly disgraceful and disgusting.

As Li Cenji watched this scene, the chill in his heart grew even stronger.

He raised his hand and pressed it down.

The commotion from the generals behind him abruptly ceased.

The soldiers who had been attacking each other fell silent, looking at him with fear and unease.

"There's no need to argue anymore."

Li Cenji's voice wasn't loud, but it firmly commanded the atmosphere.

He rode up to the old soldier Meng and looked down at him.

Old Meng was trembling all over, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, but he didn't even have the courage to raise his head.

Li Cenji remained silent for several breaths before slowly speaking:

"Do you think I don't know who you are? With all these calluses on your bodies, which one of you could be a good, innocent person who has been coerced? You've fought alongside Huang Chao for so many years, killing countless government officials and soldiers. Now that things are not going well, you're killing your own leader to save your own lives. You've really got a good plan."

Old Meng was so frightened by his words that he thought he was going to die today, and his whole body trembled like a candle in the wind.