Chapter Sixty: Pangqidi Is About to Run Away

Pang Qidi had plundered countless women along his path, selecting over a hundred of the most beautiful to keep by his side, while the others were given as rewards to his soldiers. Among these women, the one he favored most was Wang Xiugu.

Wang Xiugu hailed from Nan’an County in Shizhou. She was born into a butcher’s family; her father and grandfather were both butchers, and for three generations, the family had made its living slaughtering pigs and sheep. As the eldest daughter, Wang Xiugu often assisted her father. Though her appearance was gentle and refined, her cheeks rosy and teeth white, she was a true heroine—unflinching, wielding a knife with a steady hand and not a flicker of hesitation.

With a solemn expression, Wang Xiugu approached Pang Qidi. His rebel forces had slaughtered her entire family, and upon seeing her beauty, he had forcibly kept her by his side. Faced with the wolfish Pang Qidi, Wang Xiugu naturally could not preserve her chastity. Unlike other women who wept or abandoned themselves to despair, she feigned submission outwardly while secretly plotting revenge.

Seeing Pang Qidi’s dazed and dejected state, Wang Xiugu said nothing, merely handed him a jar of wine. She had already heard word of his defeat, but her face betrayed not a hint of schadenfreude.

“Ah, beauty, you are the one who truly understands me!” Pang Qidi drained a large bowl of wine in one gulp, his drunkenness rising. He swayed and began to recite, “With righteous fervor, my sorrow is hard to forget. How to dispel my woes? Only with Du Kang's wine…”

Watching Pang Qidi slip into madness, Wang Xiugu was secretly delighted.

His mind weighed down by troubles, Pang Qidi became drunk quickly. He pulled Wang Xiugu into his arms, his foul mouth pressing against her with wild abandon.

Quietly, Wang Xiugu reached for the pointed ox-ear dagger she had hidden against her calf, intending to kill him while he was off guard. But just as she was about to draw the blade, Pang Qidi unexpectedly pushed her gently away.

Wang Xiugu was startled. What had gotten into him today? Usually, he would torment her relentlessly.

With a slurred tongue, Pang Qidi said, “Beauty, quickly, pack up all our gold and silver. We’re leaving tonight!”

“Leaving? Where to?” Wang Xiugu had no knowledge of military affairs; the loss of several thousand men was, for Pang Qidi, hardly unusual.

“We’re going to Mapan County, then on to Chouchi Mountain!” he replied.

…

The entire Second Merit Prefecture’s forces erupted in joyful cheers, tossing their helmets high into the air. Though they had been utterly exhausted, almost spent, after the battle their spirits were as if newly revived.

Chen Ying arranged for the troops to set up camp and, without even pausing to eat, immediately convened a meeting for all officers at the rank of brigade commander and above. Entering the command tent, he found the officers in high spirits, animatedly discussing the battle.

“That was almost too easy!”

“Taking heads felt like picking them up off the ground!”

“I wonder what magic General Chen used; even the fierce Qiang slaves became fools!”

At Chen Ying’s entrance, the officers fell silent and composed themselves.

“There’s no magic here, nor do I have such power,” Chen Ying said, pointing outside to the thunderous cheers. “Do you hear them? No one is born fearless, nor is anyone born a fierce warrior. But if you give them confidence, even mud can be built into a wall.”

Wei Wenzhong sighed, “General Chen is absolutely right. If we fight a few more battles like this, our Second Merit Prefecture will become a renowned force of tigers and wolves.”

Chen Ying replied, “The most crucial thing for us now is to forge the soul of the army.”

Among the officers present—one Deputy Commandant, five Captains, the Adjutant, and every brigade commander—most had served longer than Chen Ying himself. Of them, Wei Wenzhong had the longest service, having joined the army in the eighteenth year of the Kaihuang era, nearly twenty years ago. He had risen from a common soldier to Deputy Commandant, a fifth-rank officer, and had seen his share of battles. Yet when it came to the question of the army’s soul, he was at a loss.

What was the soul of the army? He truly could not say.

Duan Zhigan, Yin Yuan, Zhang Shigui, Zhang Huaiwei, and the others were equally puzzled.

Seeing their confusion, Chen Ying raised his voice.

“Do you not know what the army’s soul is? Just as men need a soul to be invincible, so too does an army! An army with a soul is forged from countless soldiers who each possess that same spirit. Every soldier must subordinate his will to discipline, to the interests of the nation and the people. When countless individuals unite as one, they become a might that is unbreakable! The fist clenched is powerful—this is the soul of our army!”

The officers nodded, some grasping the idea, some not.

“In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the state of Qin was weakened by a succession of inept rulers, while Wei grew strong through Li Kui’s reforms. Lord Wen of Wei sent General Wu Qi to attack Qin, and Qin suffered defeat after defeat, losing twenty-nine cities west of the Yellow River.

“But in the time of Duke Mu of Qin, he resolved to reform and strengthen the state. He trusted Shang Yang, who instigated comprehensive reforms and instilled the army with a soul: ‘O valiant old Qin, together to save the nation; O valiant old Qin, to restore our lands. Until our blood runs dry, we will not cease to fight.’ With this spirit of do-or-die for the restoration of their homeland, Qin rose from the brink of extinction, regained its strength, seized back Hexi, swept across the land, and unified the realm. ‘Together to save the nation, restore our lands; until our blood runs dry, we will not cease to fight.’ These sixteen words are the soul of the Qin army.”

“Together to save the nation, restore our lands; until our blood runs dry, we will not cease to fight!”

The officers pondered these words carefully. What Chen Ying said made perfect sense—this, perhaps, was the key to Qin’s invincibility.

Now, as the officers looked at Chen Ying, their gaze had changed. If at first he had merely commanded their obedience, now he had earned their respect.

Chen Ying continued, “It is now imperative for our officers at every level to ensure the soldiers understand who we are, what we fight for, and what our ideals are. We are the army of the Great Tang, fighting for the Tang state and for all the people of the realm…”

Unlike most of this era, Chen Ying—coming from a later time—did not possess the blind loyalty to the emperor common in his day. When passing on the spirit of the army to his men, he cleverly played a game of words. Ironically, this “great loophole” would one day be counted among the twelve capital charges for which he was condemned as a traitor.

“We are the army of the Great Tang, fighting for the Tang state, for all the people, for the countless commoners!”

…

The soldiers of the Second Merit Prefecture roared in excitement, their voices reaching the very heavens.

By the time Chen Ying had finished all his duties and returned to his small tent for a meal and some rest, he had just lifted his bowl—hadn’t even managed a mouthful—when Tang Liuniang, disguised as a man, arrived with a slender woman whose face was veiled in black.

Chen Ying paid them little heed, gesturing to Tang Liuniang as he ate, “If you have something to say, make it quick. I’m starving.”

The veiled woman was none other than Wang Xiugu.

Wang Xiugu had discovered that Pang Qidi, intending to abandon the bulk of his rebel forces, was planning to take only his most loyal Qiang warriors and escape along the ancient Yinping road to Mapan County. She had originally hoped to kill him in the chaos, but as a woman she was no match for Pang Qidi, who could have bested ten of her even unarmed.

The best opportunity for a woman to assassinate a man was, of course, in the bedchamber. Yet Pang Qidi, gripped by fear, was constantly plotting his escape with his close followers and never gave her a chance.

Left with no options, Wang Xiugu took advantage of her favored status to slip quietly out of the rebel camp. Ordinarily, even as Pang Qidi’s favorite, she would never have been able to leave so openly. However, after the crushing defeat, the Second Merit Prefecture’s ferocity plunged the rebels into despair. The lesser leaders, not part of Pang Qidi’s inner circle, feared being used as cannon fodder and began to flee in droves. The camp was in chaos, and no one noticed Wang Xiugu’s departure.

She made her way safely to the Second Merit Prefecture’s temporary camp, where she encountered Tang Liuniang, who brought her straight to Chen Ying.

Wang Xiugu bowed to Chen Ying and said anxiously, “Pang Qidi is planning to flee!”

“What? Pang Qidi is running?” Chen Ying nearly choked on his food. “Are you certain?”