Chapter 10: The Return to Tokyo

 

In the early summer of the twentieth year of the Tianlong era, in Yizhou, a heavy rain fell.

Seventeen-year-old Shen Qingwu, dressed in the tattered armor commonly worn by soldiers, knelt in the rain.

Soldiers moved in and out of the camp, occasionally stealing glances at her.

She was the first woman to join the Yizhou army disguised as a man. After her identity was discovered, her commander expelled her from the camp, but she refused to leave—kneeling there for three consecutive days without showing the slightest sign of retreat.

Such willpower naturally inspired admiration. But how could a military camp accommodate a woman?

The rain was heavy. Many chaotic footsteps came and went, their sounds intermittent and difficult for Shen Qingwu to distinguish.

The punishment of kneeling for three days seemed simple to outsiders, but she knew its true taste. Her refusal to leave wasn't because she particularly loved the military camp—she simply had nowhere else to go.

Having grown to this point, Shen Qingwu knew nothing but martial arts. Her family had been soldiers for generations, and the only place she could think of after leaving home was the military camp.

The Shen family commanded the army in the Northwest Longyou region. Shen Qingwu didn't want to go there.

Tokyo had the Imperial Guard, and Zhang Xingjian was in contact with them, even offering to arrange a position for her there. Shen Qingwu didn't want to accept Zhang Xingjian's "repayment."

She was confused, yet stubbornness was ingrained in her bones. She didn't know what she wanted, but she knew with certainty what she didn't want.

So she could only come to Yizhou, to a Yizhou army where no one knew her, and try to blend in as a lowly soldier. This life was neither good nor bad, but at least she had a place to stay. Her commander wanted to send her away. She tried to resist.

Looking down through the rain, Shen Qingwu saw a pair of mud-splattered military boots stop before her.

The downpour was relentless. She slowly raised her head and saw a young man wearing a straw hat and oilcloth, standing before her, staring at her intently. Several men dressed as generals stood silently behind him, holding umbrellas.

Shen Qingwu stared back at the man. In the shadow of his straw hat, the man's features were somewhat delicate, his temperament gentle, his eyes slightly upturned at the corners, his gaze both dark and clear...

He reminded her of Zhang Xingjian.

She had thought Zhang Xingjian's looks were unique. Now it seemed there were many handsome men in the world.

Zhang Xingjian was nothing compared to him.

The man looked at her with a complicated gaze for a long moment. "Are you the woman who refused to leave and insisted on joining the army?"

Shen Qingwu remained silent.

She felt annoyed. She was already kneeling here—what questions could there possibly be?

Her silence earned her a sharp rebuke from a general behind the man. "Insolence! The commander-in-chief is asking you a question. How dare you not answer?"

Commander-in-chief!

Shen Qingwu's eyes widened in confusion. Was he the supreme commander of the Yizhou army, the one who wanted to expel her from the camp?

After a moment's thought, Shen Qingwu lowered her head, placed her hands on the ground, and kowtowed loudly with a resounding "thud," startling everyone. "General, please don't send me away! I'm willing to give my life for you, to shed my blood!"

After a long, eerie silence, Shen Qingwu heard a low laugh.

The general bent down and helped her up, his voice clear and gentle. "You mean to shed your blood and give your life? What's your name?"

Shen Qingwu looked up and saw the man's eyes. The image of another pair of smiling eyes flashed through her mind. Her heart skipped a beat, and her expression turned cold.

She didn't speak, but the man introduced himself. "My name is Bo Rong."

Bo Rong, the supreme commander of the Yizhou army—

---

Two days later, Shen Qingwu found Bo Rong waiting for her at the foot of a steep cliff.

It wasn't raining, and they weren't in the military camp. Bo Rong wore a slightly worn light ochre Taoist robe, looking incredibly elegant. At this moment, Shen Qingwu didn't know what a scholar-general was, nor had she met many outstanding men. She only felt that this man was handsome and gentle—unlike a warrior, more like a scholar like Zhang Xingjian.

Bo Rong observed her expression carefully.

She was exceptionally different from ordinary women, wearing a carelessly patched military robe, her hair tied up with straw that wasn't neatly combed, and the cut at the corner of her mouth left untreated. She seemed to adapt to the rough and uncertain life of the military camp more easily than ordinary people.

But this woman didn't have to be like this. She possessed bright, sharp, and extraordinarily beautiful eyes. Even without considering those eyes, if she had taken the time to groom herself, she would have been a beauty.

However, perhaps most women in this world, besides being all the same, are always a little different.

Bo Rong sighed softly, but Shen Qingwu remained expressionless.

"Actually, I shouldn't have kept you," Bo Rong said.

She remained silent.

"Your personality is too stubborn and obstinate. You act only with brute force, without thinking."

She remained silent. From childhood to adulthood, what she was most accustomed to was negativity from others.

"You'll suffer too much because of your inflexible and unyielding personality."

The cold wind brushed against her icy cheeks, but her eyes remained unmoved, like frost.

Bo Rong reached out and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. He remained silent for a long time, and Shen Qingwu looked up at him curiously.

Backlit, his gaze was shrouded in mist. Was it the mist of the mountains, or his own bewilderment?

He seemed to be thinking, lost in thought, or reminiscing through her. Such complex emotions moved even Shen Qingwu.

She stared blankly at him for a long time, then stepped forward and called out, "General."

Bo Rong looked up.

"Am I really that bad?" Shen Qingwu asked.

Bo Rong was slightly taken aback.

Shen Qingwu lowered her head, her fists clenched in struggle, resentment swirling within her. When she opened her eyes, her gaze was sharp and unwavering.

"I can't do anything right. I mess everything up. I can't satisfy anyone. Is that why no one chooses me?

If you came to me today to say these things, you don't need to repeat yourself. I know what kind of person I am. If the army doesn't want me, I won't make things difficult for you."

Shen Qingwu's eyes burned with a raging fire, ready to devour everything in its path. That slowly burning fire made Bo Rong's blood boil. Only after Shen Qingwu had turned and taken two steps did Bo Rong react.

He called out to her. "To punish without teaching is cruelty."

Shen Qingwu retorted confidently, "I don't understand."

Bo Rong almost laughed and sighed. "You haven't even read many books, have you?"

Shen Qingwu's face turned cold, and she was about to leave again, but this time, Bo Rong grabbed her shoulder. "What I mean is, if I haven't taught you anything, I shouldn't criticize you. Although you may not seem likable, stubbornness isn't a flaw to me—it's a virtue."

"You don't use your brain, you rely on brute force to get noticed by a general like me in the military camp. That's your skill."

"You have many strengths. It's just that you use them haphazardly. If someone were to teach you and help you organize them, you would become an even better version of yourself."

Shen Qingwu had a pair of bright yet cold eyes, which were quietly and incomprehensibly scrutinizing him.

Her gaze moved Bo Rong deeply.

He sighed. "Good child, has no one ever praised you before? I won't ask any more questions. A woman who joins the army must have countless unspeakable reasons. If you are willing, you can stay under my command, and I will do everything I can to teach you. Are you willing?"

Shen Qingwu remained silent for a long time.

She was very curious. "Teach me?"

Bo Rong seemed to recall something, and his voice became even gentler. "Yes, teach you to read, teach you strategy, teach you self-cultivation, teach you... everything you should learn. You have great talent—it shouldn't be wasted."

Shen Qingwu had a whimsical thought. "What if I use the skills you teach me to do bad things?"

Bo Rong was stumped by the question. "What kind of bad things do you want to do?"

Shen Qingwu thought for a long time.

"I don't know. Maybe... plucking the moon from the sky."

Bo Rong breathed a sigh of relief, chuckled, and ruffled her hair. "All right, now can you tell me your name?"

Shen Qingwu, unusually, used her brain—the one Bo Rong claimed she never used. She didn't want others to associate her with the Shen family, and she didn't want to take advantage of them in any way.

But her very blood and bones were given to her by the Shen family. If she wasn't called Shen Qingwu, what should she be called?

On the pine-covered platform, the tall trees were sparse, and the cold mountain wind blew against Shen Qingwu's snow-white cheek. "My name is 'A Wu.'"

The "Wu" in "a life without anything."

Not the "Wu" of the phoenix tree—

So the name recorded in official documents for Shen Qingwu was "Wu Shi."

Through misinterpretation, some people called her "General Wu," and she accepted it.

---

Bo Rong was a good teacher—perhaps he was even better at teaching than being a general. He kept Shen Qingwu by his side, teaching her everything he thought she should learn in meticulous detail.

Shen Qingwu spent several years in the army, not only fighting but also reading, writing, playing chess, and contemplating.

Initially, the soldiers were dissatisfied with Commander Bo's apparent infatuation with a woman, but after Shen Qingwu began leading troops into battle, and after she earned the title of "General Who Guards the West" through her own abilities and with Bo Rong's assistance, the soldiers no longer questioned her capabilities.

However, rumors were never few in the army. For example, many generals privately felt that Commander Bo might be in love with Shen Qingwu.

Commander Bo was unmarried and had no lover, while Shen Qingwu was a rather unusual woman.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain Bo Rong's almost doting behavior towards Shen Qingwu.

These voices were mixed, and Bo Rong was initially worried that they would bother Shen Qingwu, but after observing her, he found that she didn't care about the rumors and showed no reaction, so he was relieved.

Shen Qingwu's life in the army continued for two or three years. Until the winter of the twenty-second year of Tianlong, there was a fierce battle between Yizhou and the Western Di. After the victory, the court summoned Commander Bo to the capital to report on the battle.

Bo Rong never went to Tokyo, always making excuses to avoid it. Fortunately, it was a major taboo for the commander-in-chief to go to the capital, and the court usually didn't question it much. However, this war was the first large-scale conflict after the peace talks, so the court strongly demanded his presence in the capital.

Bo Rong still refused.

But he recommended someone to go in his place—General Wu, the General Who Guards the West.

The court agreed—

---

On New Year's Eve of the winter of the twenty-second year of Tianlong, a heavy snow fell. Shen Qingwu returned to Tokyo, which she had left behind, with only a few remaining soldiers.

Adorned with gold and jewels, and filled with the festive atmosphere of the day, the streets of Jiuqiaomen were as bustling and prosperous as ever, the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks audible from afar.

Standing in the snow, Shen Qingwu looked up at the ancient city, the snow falling heavily, the lights shining brightly like daytime.

She never missed Tokyo, but she wasn't afraid to return.

The warhorse panted, and a junior officer jumped down. "General."

Shen Qingwu turned around.

The young general, handsome and dashing, grinned. "The commander told me to follow you. Why aren't you leaving?"

He craned his neck curiously. "I heard there's a moon-worshiping ceremony in the palace on New Year's Eve, presided over by some young master from the Zhang family—the Zhang family's moon deity. I've never seen a moon-worshiping ceremony before..."

Shen Qingwu slowly said, "Zhang Yuelu."

The young general was taken aback, then nodded. "General, you know him?"

A slightly cool smile appeared in Shen Qingwu's eyes, a snowflake landing on her thick, dark eyelashes. She walked past the young general, leaving behind a light, airy sentence:

"He's my sister's fiancé."

The young general suddenly realized. "So they're relatives—that's great, someone will look after us..."

Shen Qingwu's smile deepened.

She was never afraid to return to Tokyo!