She Holds the World After Being Reborn
Chapter 173: A Woman Joins the Army, Ridiculous and Laughable

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: A Woman Joins the Army, Ridiculous and Laughable

Zhang Feng was stunned for a moment.

The voice sounded familiar, but he definitely had not seen the scar-faced youth before him.

At that moment, he was holding the Marshal’s Seal in his hand.

Could it be?

Trepidation arose in Zhang Feng’s heart.

Yan Wanqing sneered, "You blockhead, after so many years, you haven’t improved one bit. Even if you’ve forgotten my voice, you should recognize this Marshal’s Seal."

"You, you are!" Zhang Feng was flabbergasted.

Yan Wanqing shook her head in disdain, "I really don’t know how, after all these years, you managed to become a Deputy General."

Zhang Feng’s underling, the head constable Chang, frowned, unable to watch this farce any longer: "This is Princess Anping, our Commander-in-chief."

Back when Yan Wanqing was still in the camp, Zhang Feng was just a lowly soldier, not very bright, and, to make matters worse, he was both stupid and nasty.

He always looked down on Yan Wanqing for being a woman, and often tripped her up.

Even though she was his superior, Zhang Feng still did as he pleased, and in the beginning, Yan Wanqing chose to ignore him with magnanimity.

But after being provoked time and time again, and unable to bear it any longer, Yan Wanqing lost her temper and tied him to a post, lashing him severely.

After that, Zhang Feng became much more behaved whenever he saw Yan Wanqing.

No wonder that sneaky-looking nephew of his was acting so dejectedly; it turns out he was Zhang Feng’s nephew.

That explained it.

"These people went out without authorization, plundered the commoners and even attempted to abduct a village girl. Drag them out and punish them according to military law," Yan Wanqing said, pointing to the people kneeling on the ground.

According to military regulations, these people should be executed on the spot!

"Spare us, Commandery Princess!" the robust man was now dumbfounded as tears overflowed from his eyes.

Yan Wanqing glanced at him, her voice icy, "In the army, you should call me ’Marshal Yan’."

"Marshal Yan, spare us, Marshal Yan!" they cried out.

Yan Wanqing gestured dismissively, "Drag them away."

No one moved.

All the soldiers stood where they were, no one daring to budge.

Seeing this from the back of the crowd, Xiao Hongshen smirked contemptuously.

The army was not like the royal court; a high rank did not necessarily command the power to call the shots.

In the army, you had to have authority, make the soldiers truly respect you from their hearts.

Only then would they be willing to follow your orders and take you seriously.

For someone like Yan Wanqing, who started by brandishing her Marshal’s Seal, these soldiers, many of whom barely knew their letters, were not likely to take her seriously.

Xiao Hongshen didn’t plan to speak up; he wanted to see how Yan Wanqing would handle the situation.

Over the years, the rumors about the extraordinary female Zhuge, Yan Wanqing, had spread far and wide, and many in the military were eager to take this opportunity to see for themselves.

"Heh," Yan Wanqing chuckled softly, "Interesting."

She reached up and pulled off the human skin mask from her face, revealing her stunningly beautiful features.

As soon as this face was revealed, many people were taken aback.

Time flies; the memory of the young general on horseback wielding the Red Tasseled Spear suddenly came flooding back into their minds.

After so many years, the general had shed her armor, her attire plain and her figure delicate, she had clearly grown into someone different from the person in their memories.

While they were still in shock,

"Since that’s the case, I’ll have to do it myself." No sooner had the words left her mouth than her long sword shot out of its scabbard, bringing with it a fierce Sword Intent. The sword sang with a resonant ’zing’, its yearning for blood far from being sated by just one person.

The long sword transformed in mid-air, leaving afterimages that almost no one could clearly see how it was wielded, feeling only the bone-chilling Sword Intent. In a flash, several people on the ground suddenly widened their eyes and then clutched their throats!

By that time, the plain long sword had already been sheathed by Yan Wanqing.

Several soldiers collapsed with a thud, their blood instantly staining the land red.

Silence.

A silence as of death.

From the back of the crowd, Xiao Hongshen’s eyes widened abruptly.

Yan Wanqing, she wasn’t...

"I will say this one last time, drag them away, or I won’t mind personally cleaning up disobedient soldiers before we even engage in battle!" Yan Wanqing’s voice was chilling, not loud, but it echoed in everyone’s ears present.

This time, finally, someone moved. The first to act was Chief Chang, pale-faced, swallowing down his saliva: "Quickly, drag these people away."

Seeing the bodies finally being hauled off, Chief Chang ingratiatingly approached Yan Wanqing: "Commander Yan, it’s getting late, should we not make some preparations and set out soon?"

Yan Wanqing glanced at him, a smile that was not quite a smile on her face: "What’s the rush? Haven’t we still some unfinished business dealing with those who delayed military operations?"

"Ah? Haven’t they already..." Chief Chang abruptly stopped speaking.

Yan Wanqing then walked up to Zhang Feng.

"Those men were all under your command." Her tone was certain.

The sweat on Zhang Feng’s forehead slowly trickled down his cheeks.

Yan Wanqing sneered: "Who gave you the courage? A mere Deputy General dares to let his men fill their own pockets and go off on their own. Zhang Feng, you tell me, how should you be punished!"

Zhang Feng looked at Yan Wanqing’s face.

This girl, ten years his junior.

Her features were no longer those of naive youthfulness and ostentation, but more of composed maturity. Over the years, she had grown increasingly similar to her father.

Especially those eyes.

Zhang Feng felt as if he were transported back to eight years ago.

After Yan Wanqing had tied him to a tree and beaten him, he felt incredibly resentful, so he secretly lay in ambush on her way back, intending to teach her a harsh lesson.

Yet, before he could act, someone tied him up and delivered him to the very heart of the military camp, inside the General’s tent.

That was his first close-up encounter with the Duke of the State.

He was clad in soft armor, his beard unkempt, but his eyes unexpectedly bright.

The Duke was dining then, with the refinement of a scholar yet biting directly into bloody lamb and beef, his dagger moving across the lamb as if it had eyes, slicing the meat deftly.

"You’re displeased because she beat you?" the Duke asked him then.

Zhang Feng certainly wasn’t pleased: "Women serving in the army is simply unreasonable, only serving to destabilize the military spirit and invite ridicule from other nations! The General is mistaken!"

"Hahaha!" The Duke set down his dagger. He spat out a tough sinew of meat from his mouth: "Well said, mistaken indeed."

The Duke looked at Zhang Feng with a smile: "So according to your words, what should this General do?"

"Naturally, the women should be expelled from the camp. There’s simply no need for them here! Even those who attend the fires are men, what use are they staying here?" Zhang Feng spoke energetically, though he dared not say. The reality was that women in the camp had only one use, but this Yan Wanqing was not only young but also the legitimate eldest daughter of the Duke, Zhang Feng wouldn’t dare voice his true thoughts even if he had the brains to do so.

He was foolish, but not irredeemable.

Such matters were better left as secret thoughts.

Upon hearing his words, the Duke stopped eating completely. He gestured with his hand, and the young servant holding the tray departed.

Zhang Feng knelt on the ground. Behind him, the tent curtain lowered, shielding out the sun outside.

Inside the tent, the charcoal fire crackled loudly.

The Duke, seated above, stared at him, his gaze seemingly gentle, yet tinged with a hint of bloodlust.

"Tell me, have you ever been to battle, killed an enemy?" the General asked.