Chapter 8

"Unceasingly, we slashed and killed until we were numb. Even when we saw our brothers fall under the enemy's blades, no one would frown. We only knew to closely follow our leaders, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and charge forward!" Liu Yi’s tone changed, and he spoke with a somewhat tragic voice: "How many of our brothers died in that battle? Out of five hundred soldiers, almost everyone was injured. After the battle, fewer than a hundred could still stand, and over a hundred of them would never rise again."

Everyone in the tent, hearing Liu Yi recount how five hundred men defeated an army of fifty thousand Yellow Turbans, could not help but clench their fists, their hearts surging. What a magnificent scene! How stirring it was!

If they hadn’t heard Liu Yi’s account, they would never have dared to imagine such a grand and tragic event.

"You, you are too amazing, too great! You are all great heroes!" After Liu Yi finished, Princess Wannian took a long time to recover from her excitement, and her gaze towards Liu Yi now held a hint of admiration.

Liu Yi snorted coldly: "Amazing? Great? Heroes?"

"Uh, of course! You five hundred men defeated fifty thousand. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that great?" Princess Wannian awkwardly sheathed the long sword behind her back, her face showing a childish and innocent charm, her eyes darting, avoiding Liu Yi’s gaze.

"Our militia fought over thirty battles, and in almost every battle, our brothers died or were injured. In the end, we won and defeated the enemy, but what did we gain? Our wounded received no aid, and the court never inquired. Merit and rewards? We never got a share. Forget about the rewards; what about the compensation for our fallen brothers? Did they receive even a single tael of silver? Their blood was shed in vain, and they died in vain. Sigh... We don’t know how to face their parents, siblings, and children!" Liu Yi did not intend to let Princess Wannian off the hook. His eyes suddenly turned fierce as he stared at her: "Do you know? We are not amazing, not great, and not heroes. We are also very timid. With just one order from you, you can take my head, and even my two battle-hardened leaders would kneel and beg for mercy, perhaps even too afraid to look at you."

"This, this... it’s not... you..." Princess Wannian felt a bit guilty and could not find the words to speak.

She had just threatened to cut Liu Yi with her sword. Compared to the military achievements of these militia soldiers, what was it to look at her and Sister Zhang Shao? Moreover, she knew that what Liu Yi said was true. The military achievements would be recorded in the war reports, which she could ask her father to check. As for the militia not receiving rewards, she had already heard about it from Sister Zhang Shao. No matter how she looked at it, she seemed to be in the wrong. These wounded soldiers had been injured for the sake of the Han Dynasty but received no treatment. This seemed to be the fault of the court... Uh, this court belonged to her royal family, the Lius. As a member of the royal family, wasn’t she also in the wrong? So, Princess Wannian really felt guilty.

Liu Yi glared at her and then shouted angrily: "Do you know? You say we are great? No! We only joined the militia because we had no food to eat and no clothes to wear. We joined the army just to have food and clothes! We fought bravely not to be heroes, but because we didn’t want to live in such misery! We wanted to defeat the enemy to have food, to earn merit, to receive rewards! We wanted to live better!"

The final heavy words, "We want to live," struck everyone like a hammer, leaving them speechless. No one dared to speak at this moment, and no one would mention Liu Yi’s earlier rudeness to Doctor Zhang Shao.

Liu Yi looked at Princess Wannian, who had her mouth open in shame, and said nothing more. He dragged his slightly painful leg and limped back to the bed, then slowly sat down.

"Sniff..."

Just as Liu Yi sat down, a sob echoed in the tent. Everyone looked and saw that a wounded soldier had woken up.

"Oh, it’s Brother Zheng Shi, Brother Zheng Shi is awake." Huang Zheng and Wuyang, as surprised as when Liu Yi woke up, rushed to Zheng Shi’s bedside.

Liu Yi knew Zheng Shi. He was thirty-five years old, originally a blacksmith in Zhuo County, strong and sturdy. He made a living by forging farming tools and had an elderly mother, a wife, and three children. When the enemy came, his business suffered, and in the chaos, who would think about farming? Without work, he sent his family to the countryside and joined the militia.

His plan was to return to his old place and continue his blacksmithing after defeating the enemy. However, he heard that if he earned merit, he would receive a lot of rewards, and perhaps even land. He thought that continuing his blacksmithing was not a long-term solution, and if he earned merit, his family would be well provided for. So, he followed Liu Bei until he was injured in the leg.

Like Liu Yi, he suffered because there were no doctors in the army, and his condition worsened, eventually leading to a severe coma. Without proper treatment, his dreams of rewards and land vanished, and with Liu Bei’s departure, he woke up to hear Liu Yi’s words, which touched his inner pain. Thinking of his family, he couldn’t help but cry.

"Sniff... Brother Liu, what you said is right, I just want to live..." Zheng Shi sobbed weakly, speaking intermittently: "I just saw my children, they are waiting for me to bring money to buy food, they are crying, hungry..."

Hearing Zheng Shi’s words, Liu Yi’s heart tightened. Was this a sign of a dying person’s last moments? Hadn’t someone said that when they woke up, they thought it was their last moment? When a person, declared hopeless by doctors, wakes up from a deep coma, each awakening is often seen as a sign of impending death.

Zheng Shi was not like him; he had no Yuan Yang Gong. This last moment, though not certain, was not far off. If he did not receive proper treatment, he could die at any moment.

Thinking of this, Liu Yi suddenly stood up and rushed to Zheng Shi’s small bed, gripping his hand: "Brother Zheng Shi, you must hold on. Don’t say such things. The court’s rewards have come, and each of us will receive several dozen taels of silver and twenty to thirty acres of land. We are waiting for you to get better and take the money back."

"Is, is this true?" Hearing Liu Yi’s words, Zheng Shi’s spirit lifted, and his somewhat vacant eyes slowly regained focus.

"Of course it’s true. The court has even sent imperial doctors to treat your injuries." Liu Yi held his hand and tried to channel a stream of Yuan Yang True Qi, nodding affirmatively.

"Ah, this is too good. I thought no one would care for us after Lord Liu Bei left."

"Imperial doctors! Doctors!" Liu Yi turned and shouted at the still stunned female doctor: "Haven’t you seen to my brother’s injuries yet?"

Zhang Shao was startled by Liu Yi’s shout. The small soldier’s unexpected performance, combined with Liu Yi’s overwhelming presence, had left her in a daze. Moreover, she was shocked by the tragic stories of the battlefield.

"Oh, I, I’ll see to it right away." Zhang Shao steadied herself and walked over with small, quick steps.