Late Tang Dynasty: Descendants of the Imperial Clan

Cheng Zongchu was taken aback at first, then his eyes widened, and he blurted out:

"Shang Rang is dead? Shang Rang is dead!"

His personal guards also witnessed this scene, and their faces lit up with joy, shouting in unison:

"Shang Rang is dead! The rebel commander is dead!"

The morale of the Jingyuan soldiers soared, and with a shout, they charged fiercely towards the rebel army.

How could those rebel troops, whose morale was already low, possibly hold them off?

They were immediately routed and retreated eastward like a tide.

Cheng Zongchu had no time to pursue. He stood on the hilltop, leaning on his long sword, his eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the cavalry charging through the chaos of battle.

"When did Li Changyan become so valiant?"

Cheng Zongchu muttered to himself, his brows furrowed into a knot.

He had dealt with Li Changyan before and knew that although the man was quite brave, he was far from being as invincible as Li Changyan.

Even if you tied the brothers Li Changyan and Li Changfu together, they might not be as brave as him.

"It's not Li Changyan."

Cheng Zongchu shook his head, somewhat wavering in his earlier judgment.

If it's not Li Changyan, then who could it be?

In the Fengxiang Longyou army, is there any general or officer surnamed Li who has such abilities?

He racked his brains, but still couldn't come up with a solution.

Just as he was pondering this, Qiu Gongyu also spurred his horse up the earthen slope.

The military commissioner of Qin Prefecture had several bruises on his body, a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his left arm, and a pale face, but he was in good spirits.

He followed Cheng Zongchu's gaze and saw the "Fengxiang Li" identification flag.

"Who is that?"

Qiu Gongyu asked about the matter.

Cheng Zongchu shook his head and said with a wry smile:

"I've been thinking about this too. I know quite a few officers and soldiers with the surname Li from Fengxiang, and the only one who might raise such a flag is Li Changyan, but Li Changyan..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Qiu Gongyu understood his meaning: Li Changyan was far from capable of such things.

Cheng Zongchu suddenly sighed, plunged his long sword into the ground, put his hands on his hips, gazed at the battlefield strewn with corpses, and slowly said:

"I've fought half my life and seen brave warriors, but I've never seen anyone as brave as this. A hundred horsemen charging into battle, taking the head of a general from among ten thousand soldiers as easily as taking something from a bag. What spirit! What courage!"

He paused, his voice rising a few decibels, carrying a mixture of heartfelt admiration and indescribable emotion:

"The story of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu, defeating a million-strong Han army with just twenty-eight horsemen at Gaixia is a legendary tale, one I've only read about in books, never witnessed firsthand. Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, fought against a thousand men single-handedly, slaying several before retreating; those are heroes only found in historical records. Today, this man, stabbing Shang Rang amidst ten thousand troops as easily as killing a dog, possesses a bravery that rivals Xiang Yu and Liu Yu. The Tang Dynasty has existed for nearly three hundred years, producing numerous famous generals; the only one I can think of who can compare to him is probably Duke Hu, Qin Qiong (Qin Shubao)."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Gongyu slowly nodded and said:

"Talented people emerge in every generation!"

……

Down the slope, the Jingyuan soldiers had been suppressed by the rebels for half an hour, losing many brothers. Now, seeing the enemy chieftain beheaded, their pent-up resentment and fighting spirit erupted all at once.

With a shout, thousands of soldiers surged down the slope like a floodgate opened, unstoppable.

The rebel army's central command was already in disarray; how could it withstand such a fierce attack?

The few remaining officers were either dead or fled. The soldiers abandoned their armor and fled in all directions. Some knelt down to surrender, while others fled north towards Qishan. They trampled each other, and the number of dead and wounded was countless.

Li Cenji led his soldiers in another fierce battle amidst the chaos of the army. Suddenly, he heard the thunderous sound of horses' hooves from the west. Looking up, he saw dust obscuring the sun on the official road, and a cavalry force was galloping towards them.

The first general, holding a long spear, had a banner behind him that read "Li, the Left Wing Military Commissioner of Fengxiang," which belonged to Li Changyan.

He led his two thousand cavalrymen and the one thousand cavalrymen under Li Cenji, sweeping in from the west.

Three thousand cavalrymen galloped across the battlefield, their hooves thundering like muffled thunder, raising clouds of dust that blotted out the sky.

It turned out that after Li Changyan chased down Xu Jian's remaining troops and captured that hillside, he gathered the prisoners and hurriedly reorganized his troops to continue the pursuit eastward.

Along the way, they encountered many routed soldiers who had been driven away by Li Cenji. Upon learning that Li Cenji had led a hundred cavalrymen to pursue them, they hastened their arrival and just arrived at the battlefield.

Li Changyan spurred his horse and charged into the enemy ranks, just in time to see Li Cenji leading his elite troops out of the remnants of the rebel army, covered in blood, with three heads hanging from the side of his saddle. He reined in his horse and said:

"Quiet down! Where is Shang Rang?"

Before Li Cenji could speak, Xu Tai behind him blurted out:

"Commander Li is too late! That scoundrel Shang Rang has already been pierced through by our Commander Li with a single spear thrust, his head still hanging from his saddle!"

Li Changyan was surprised to hear this, but he assumed that Cheng Zongchu's Jingyuan troops had done a great job and that Li Cenji had just happened to benefit from it, so he just thought it was good luck.

Although she was extremely envious, she remained outwardly calm, simply nodding to Li Cenji and saying:

"Jingzhi is indeed remarkable."

At this time, Cheng Zongchu also led the Jingyuan troops down the slope and joined forces with Li Cenji and Li Changyan.

The three armies surrounded the remnants of the rebel army's central force, brandishing their swords and spears, and ordered them to surrender.

When the remaining rebel soldiers saw that their commander was dead and that Tang army flags were everywhere, they had no will to fight left.

They all dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground.

The number of soldiers captured and killed in this battle was countless, and it took more than half an hour just to gather the surrendered soldiers.

Cheng Zongchu ordered his men to lift Shang Rang's banner and head high with long poles and carry them towards the rear of the rebel army in the east.

Qiu Gongyu's side was still in a standoff with the rebel rear army. The rebel rear army commander was unaware that Shang Rang was dead and was still trying to maintain the line, attempting to break through to the west and join the central army.

Cheng Zongchu dispatched several loud-voiced messengers, who, escorting several rebel prisoners and carrying Shang Rang's head and the great banner, arrived at the front of the battle line and shouted in unison:

"Shang Rang is dead! You all must surrender now! Shang Rang is dead! You all must surrender now!"

When the rebel army soldiers saw the fallen banner and Shang Rang's bloodied head swaying on the long pole, their morale immediately collapsed.

Even after the military commander killed several men, he could not stop the rout. Knowing that the situation was hopeless, he had no choice but to gather his personal troops, abandon the provisions and supplies, and retreat towards Mei County.

Upon hearing this, Li Changyan, eager to make a name for himself, did not linger and only said to Li Cenji:

"Jingzhi, you've been fighting all day, rest here. Leave the pursuit to me."

Having said that, without waiting for Li Cenji's reply, he led three thousand cavalrymen to chase after them to the east.

Li Cenji was indeed exhausted.

From setting up his formation on the high hill of Longweipi at dawn, to wrestling with Shi Meng, then chasing Lin Yan, defeating Wang Fan, and charging into the enemy lines three times to kill Shang Rang, he hardly stopped all day.

As the fighting subsided, the strength that had been supporting him receded like the tide, leaving him with aching muscles all over his body and no strength to even lift his arm.

He found a relatively clean grassy slope to sit down, placed his lance across his lap, leaned against a half-ruined wall, and closed his eyes to rest.

Cheng Zongchu had already learned from others who had killed Shang Rang amidst the vast army.

He strode up to Li Cenji, who quickly stood up and clasped his hands in greeting. However, Cheng Zongchu grabbed his shoulder, looked him up and down, and suddenly burst into laughter. His loud laughter startled the surrounding officers and soldiers, who all turned to look at him.

"Good lad! Good lad!"

Cheng Zongchu patted Li Cenji's shoulder twice, each pat making Li Cenji's shoulder slump down.

"I thought it was that scoundrel Li Changyan who went berserk and killed Shang Rang amidst ten thousand troops. But it turns out it was you, kid! I've fought all my life, and I've never seen a young man like you who dared to charge into enemy lines twice with only a hundred riders and take down the enemy chieftain!"

He became more and more delighted as he spoke, and patted Li Cenji on the shoulder again, saying:

"I was previously suspicious that Lord Zheng's reinforcements were deliberately delaying their arrival, perhaps to harm me and Commander Qiu, and I was furious. Now it seems I was overthinking it. If there were any intention to harm us, why would they send their own disciple, you, to lead the charge? Zheng Taiwen has taken on a fine disciple. His courage and bravery are unparalleled even under Emperor Taizong! The Hegemon-King of Chu and Liu Yu of Song were no match for him!"

Hearing such praise, Li Cenji showed little joy, knowing there was an underlying meaning in the other's words. So, he clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and offered a complimentary remark:

"Commander Cheng, you flatter me. I only succeeded by taking advantage of the rebels' unpreparedness. If it weren't for Commander Cheng and Commander Qiu risking their lives to hold back the main force of the rebels, I wouldn't have been able to make a move even if I had ten times the courage. The greatest credit for this battle belongs to the two commanders."

His words were not just polite formalities.

Cheng Zongchu and Qiu Gongyu, with inferior forces, fought against the rebels' two-pronged attack. At least a thousand soldiers were killed and countless others were wounded. The cost was undeniably heavy.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zongchu's displeasure lessened somewhat.

This young man is not boastful or arrogant, and he always speaks and acts with great tact, which is quite rare.

Seeing that Cheng Zongchu's expression had eased slightly, Li Cenji took the opportunity to explain that both Li Changyan and he had taken the wrong path. Li Changyan had been delayed for a while chasing the fleeing soldiers, while he himself had been delayed chasing Lin Yan, which caused the cavalry to arrive late.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zongchu neither believed nor disbelieved it, nor did he feel comfortable saying anything more.

Although he harbored resentment, he understood that it was inappropriate to vent such anger in front of Li Cenji.

After all, Li Cenji was Zheng Tian's disciple, and he had just led a hundred cavalrymen to come to Zheng Tian's aid at great personal risk. Therefore, it was neither reasonable nor morally right for Zheng Tian to say anything unpleasant at this juncture.

He simply waved his hand and said:

"It's understandable that it's difficult to discern directions in the chaos of battle, Jingzhi. You don't need to explain; I understand. This isn't your fault. Now that Shang Rang is dead and the main rebel force has collapsed, today's battle has demonstrated the might of our Jingxi region! Come, I'll take you to see Commander Qiu and let him see who exactly killed Shang Rang!"

The group then gathered their troops, counted the prisoners, and Li Cenji sent someone to the south to fetch the wounded before finally setting up camp on the spot.

Although the rebel army did not surrender completely because of Shang Rang's death, their morale was thrown into chaos, and Qiu Gongyu took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, resulting in heavy losses for them.

His military commander led his remaining troops in a hasty eastward flight, and Li Changyan led three thousand cavalrymen in hot pursuit, chasing them relentlessly until dusk before withdrawing his troops.

It wasn't until nearly sunset that everything settled down.

Subsequently, Tang troops arrived from the direction of Longweibei and set up a joint camp in the original location of the rebel army's central camp, following the camp of Cheng Zongchu's troops.

Each battalion was busy cleaning up the battlefield, counting the casualties, treating the wounded, and gathering prisoners. The camps were brightly lit with fires, bustling with people and filled with noise.

Medical workers moved between the tents, cleaning wounds, applying medicine, and bandaging bandages for the wounded soldiers.

The captured prisoners were organized into dozens of teams, and the infantrymen escorted them to dig pits outside the camp to bury their corpses.

The cooks in each battalion set up large pots in their camps, and the aroma of millet porridge mingled with the smoke from the firewood, wafting in the twilight.

Li Cenji entered the camp, handed the horse spear to the guards for safekeeping, and instructed them to take good care of the yellow horse. This meritorious horse was exhausted today and must not be neglected.

After giving his instructions, he went straight to his own military tent.

He did not go to the central command tent to report to Zheng Tian, ​​nor did he discuss the aftermath with Chen An, Zhou Ping, and others, nor did he even wash the blood off his face.

He lifted the curtain and entered the tent, collapsing onto the camp couch without even taking off his armor before falling into a deep sleep.

I slept exceptionally well that night.

There were no dreams, no wandering, only a deep darkness enveloping him.

He couldn't hear the people coming and going outside the tent, the neighing of horses, or the voices of people.

The bloodstains splattered on his gleaming armor had long since dried, leaving dark red flakes on the bedding and bed, but he was completely unaware of it.

Li Cenji was awakened by a rumbling stomach when he slept for an unknown amount of time.

He opened his eyes. The tent was pitch black, with only a few streaks of firelight shining through the gaps in the curtains.

He sat up abruptly, feeling his bones creaking and his stomach empty, so hungry that his chest felt like it was sticking to his back.

He then realized that he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since morning.

Li Cenji got up, lifted the curtain, and stepped out of the tent. The night breeze brushed his face, carrying a slight chill, but it also dispelled most of his lingering drowsiness.

The lights in the camp were much sparser than before, and the faint sounds of footsteps and password exchanges of the night sentries could be heard in the distance.

He followed the smell of cooking smoke to the kitchen, where several cooks were squatting in front of the stove, tending the fire, warming themselves, and taking a nap. The large pot on the stove was already empty, and there were a few cold, dry steamed buns left in the rough earthenware basin next to it, with the edges already hardened.

He didn't care about the temperature, reached out and grabbed a steamed bun, tore off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing slowly.

The cooled steamed buns were a bit hard to chew, and the sweetness of the millet slowly melted on the tip of the tongue, mixed with a little bit of the bitter burnt ash from the stove, but it was more substantial than any delicacy.

An elderly cook in the kitchen was awakened by him. He rubbed his eyes and was about to speak when Li Cenji waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to pay attention to him.

The old soldier recognized him, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't speak. He just brought over a bowl of warm vegetable soup from the stove and placed it next to him.

Li Cenji took the soup bowl, lowered his head, and took a sip.

The soup was cold, with a few vegetable leaves and a few drops of oil floating on top, but it warmed his stomach instantly.

He sat on a low stool by the kitchen door, holding a steamed bun in one hand and a soup bowl in the other, and by the dim light of the fire in the camp, he made up for the meals he had missed that day, bite by bite.

Seeing Li Cenji wolfing down his food, the old cook took out a small dish of pickled radishes from behind the stove, placed it beside him, and sighed:

"Commander, you slept really soundly. You slept from yesterday evening until now, and so much has happened in the camp."