Chapter 108: Hearts in Turmoil

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Hearts in Turmoil

"War’s broken out! We’re going to war! They’re rounding up men again!"

The words were shouted by different people in a chaotic medley of voices. Every person who ran past her wore an expression of sheer terror, and Ji Huan felt her own heart begin to race in panic.

Hu Liang led them straight back to the Hu family home. Once inside, he set Dabao down, turned, and bolted the courtyard gate. He even found two thick wooden beams to brace it shut.

They had just entered the main hall when Widow Xie, her face still streaked with tears, rushed over and grabbed Ji Huan’s hand. "What are you doing, running around at a time like this! I had Liangzi searching all over for you..."

"I took Dabao to visit the graves. We were a bit slow on the road..."

At first, Widow Xie hadn’t guessed that Ji Huan had gone to visit the graves. According to tradition, women weren’t allowed to go to the burial grounds to pay respects to ancestors.

It was only when people returning from the burial hill saw them searching everywhere that they told them where Ji Huan was.

Ji Huan was still completely bewildered.

She had long suspected a war would break out this winter. It was just a cruel twist of fate that the first sparks flew on New Year’s Eve.

But the fighting had just begun. For the villagers to already be a flock of startled birds... wasn’t that a bit of an overreaction?

"Aunt Xie, you... you don’t have to be this terrified. Don’t people say the new general is incredibly capable? We might not necessarily lose this war..."

"You don’t understand..." As Widow Xie shook her head, tears streamed down her face.

Hu Ximei huddled in a corner, clutching a clueless Xiao’an and Hua, also crying her eyes out.

Ji Huan could only turn to Hu Liang.

Hu Liang’s face was also grim. "Win or lose, people die. And when they die, they need to be replaced with the living. It might be different for places far away, but we’re so close. We’re the first stop for conscription. There’s nowhere to run..."

They called it recruitment, but the common folk called it what it is: rounding up able-bodied men.

From the final years of the late emperor’s reign to the new emperor’s ascension, wars have been frequent and the casualties devastating. Is there any family here in the Northern Pass that hasn’t lost a man on the battlefield? If the court tried to conscript by the book, they’d hardly find anyone left. That’s why they have to resort to force.

Especially after Old General Nie died and his son took command. Out of an army of 250,000, nearly 30,000 were killed in the first battle alone, and the number of wounded was far greater.

Those were the darkest days for the people of the Northern Pass.

Standard conscription was supposed to use a lottery, with restrictions on age and other conditions. But General Nie, desperate to salvage the situation after a defeat, couldn’t wait for reinforcements from the court. He gave a direct order: "conscript locally."

The official regulations became a worthless piece of paper that no one followed. Wealthy families could still pay their way out of it, but in poor families, even only sons were snatched away.

Wave after wave of men were taken, yet battle after battle was lost. Just as it seemed the Northern Pass was on the verge of falling, the court finally sent Kou Changqing.

Ji Huan had heard Kou Changqing’s name from many people.

They said he was a master strategist, dominating every corner of the battlefield. That he led his men with a harsh discipline but never troubled the common folk. That he could be pushed to the brink, yet always fought his way out of an encirclement, drenched in blood. That every one of his battles, though fraught with peril, would end in a stroke of genius that left all in awe.

Because of all this, an image had unconsciously formed in her mind: a lone general on horseback, sword held ready, holding a pass against ten thousand men.

So, despite never having met him, she felt an inexplicable sense of trust in this General Kou.

’With him guarding the Northern Pass, we should be safe, right? But... would he still order a conscription?’

Ji Huan wasn’t sure.

’After all, swords and spears have no eyes on the battlefield. Death and injury are inevitable.’

’Even if Kou Changqing commands his troops like a god, what if his numbers dwindle? Even the most skilled housewife can’t cook a meal without rice, can she?’

"Maybe we should wait and see? What if... what if it doesn’t happen this year..."

"How could it not?" Widow Xie’s eyes were red as she spoke in a choked voice. "You must have seen it coming through the village. If people hadn’t heard rumors, why would they be so terrified?"

Ji Huan froze. "There’s definite news?"

Even if the county government received a conscription order, it would take time to pass the notice down to every town and village. It shouldn’t have been this fast.

"Someone from the county government came just now. They went to the village chief’s house, closed the doors, and no one knows what was said. Then the village chief left with him. The chief’s little grandson only overheard them talking about war..."

’With this much snow on the roads, making travel by cart and horse nearly impossible... what good could possibly bring them here on New Year’s Eve?’

’If it were good news, the village chief would have gathered everyone under the old banyan tree to announce it. He wouldn’t have just left his family with a vague warning like, "The weather is turning, keep the children from running wild."’

The more Ji Huan heard, the more conflicted she felt.

’She remembered Zhen Jili saying last time he visited that the court was constantly pressuring them, but supplies of weapons and grain couldn’t keep up... So, was this war started by Beiliang? Or did Kou Changqing finally yield to the court’s pressure and rush his troops into battle?’

’But there was no point in dwelling on who started it. With the court unable to provide strong reinforcements or support, the situation for the Northern Pass’s forces was anything but optimistic.’

’Kou Changqing was called a god of war, but he wasn’t a real god.’

’If he were to fall, the entire Northern Pass would be finished. There would be no second Kou Changqing to come and turn the tide.’

Ji Huan had wondered before: at a critical moment like this, shouldn’t those who were being protected do something in return?

’How long can we hide? We can hide for now, but when the city walls fall, where will we run then?’

’And what about the young men on the battlefield, the ones falling in pools of their own blood? They are our countrymen, fighting to defend the people of Great Zhou, to defend every inch of Great Zhou’s land.’

’No one wants to die, and no one wants to fight. But the enemy is at our doorstep. If we don’t want to just stretch out our necks for the slaughter, we have to fight back!’

’At a time like this, the army and the people should be united, strong as a fortress. We shouldn’t be deserters...’

That was what she thought, but she couldn’t say it out loud.

Because such words would ring hollow, spoken by someone who wasn’t being asked to make the same sacrifice.

From the perspective of ordinary people, they had endured too much turmoil and separation. They had sent off son after son, grandson after grandson. They just wanted to farm their land and live their lives in peace. They didn’t want to die. They didn’t want to fight. Was that so wrong?

No, it wasn’t wrong. Everyone has a survival instinct, and the right not to be emotionally blackmailed by appeals to patriotism and morality.

’What good would it do to go to them now and say, "Let’s not hide. Men and women, let’s all pick up our weapons. Don’t be afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice now, for peace will one day belong to our descendants"...’

’Thinking of Widow Xie’s family, of Sixth Ancestor Grandma’s family... how could she possibly begin to say such things? Ji Huan couldn’t utter a single word.’

They were illiterate. They didn’t understand grand principles. They just wanted to live.

"...Why is it so hard..." Widow Xie seemed to be in a daze, muttering to herself again and again, "Why is it so hard just to stay alive?"

The steely resolve she had always forced herself to maintain suddenly crumbled. She was more terrified than anyone.

She still had two sons. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing them, too.

"Go... Yes, go!" Widow Xie shot to her feet. "I’ll pack your things right now. You take Dacheng and leave immediately. Go south. Go far, far away..."

She went into the inner room and began frantically rummaging through chests and cabinets. Ji Huan and Hu Liang exchanged a look and quickly followed her inside.