“Duke Fang, if you’re ready, let’s set off.” Eunuch Wei Zhongjun smiled in a high-pitched spoon-scratching-against-bowl squeal, which stirred chills.

Fang Junqian raised his jaw and looked playfully at him, looking humble and polite but cursing loudly to himself: "Jiarui is such an old stupid d.i.c.k that he dispatched a eunuch to follow me in the army! Should I be glad or bitter for such a fuss?"

At the ceremony before expedition, all officials and officers showed up.

The priest’s sharp voice cut into the sky, “To inform the Heaven. Beat the drums—!!!”

The burly drummers on both sides of the pledging platform began to beat the war drums, which murmured, one after another, in a low, steady and solid sound.

All of a sudden, the drums got loud like thunders. The stormy beats struck on the heart of everybody like lightning.

Some with less guts instantly felt dizzy and deafening, their heats nearly jumping out of their chests and the next moment being beaten back by invisible drum thumping. The up and downs made them almost suffocate!

In their minds, a picture of thousands of soldiers gathering onto the battlefield and weapons clanking against one another played in the mind. The armors cold, weapons heated, a ferocious battle was to break out.

Fang Junqian only felt his soul das.h.i.+ng around to break out of his body. The drum beat wakened up his boiling blood as a peerless fighter.

The war flags rustled in wind, as thousands of soldiers and horses charged forward into battle. The halberds were wielded, and a path upward made of blood staining the world would be fought out!

This was going to be a world of men!

A field of blood and fire!

The place he was heading was a battlefield that was going to devour his life!

Fang Junqian was dressed in military uniform, so shockingly alluring.

Before him stood an army of half-million well-trained soldiers. Against the suns.h.i.+ne, their armors glowed with cold light. The sense of oppression came in the face.

Fang Junqian walked along the path through the countless weapons, head raising up high from the beginning to the end, confident, proud, and imposing.

He stepped onto the pledging platform, to let everyone else see him clearly.

When the solders saw that the General Commander should be a seventeen-year-old youth, there was an invisible disturbance among them, as if a stone was pitched into a peaceful pool.

Shock and doubts rippled back and forth in the ocean of soldiers. There started whispering.

Fang Junqian took two steps forward, not talking, glancing below with stern eyes.

Immediately, all the discussions and whisperings disappeared. The soldiers stood quiet like trees, and the site occupied by five hundred thousand people was as silent as a deserted forest.

A commander must be equipped with inviolable authority! —Xiao Qingyu’s words still echoed in his ears.

No doubt that Fang Junqian had what it took to be a peerless commander!

Fang Junqian raised up a wine bowl, saying loudly, “In the past, our country has been repeatedly sacked by the enemies, which is a humiliation on us, descendants of Daqing! In the face of the invaders and in defense of our army, I, Fang Junqian, will stand on the same front with you! By this expedition, I’ll make it understood by the world that Daqing men shall not be bullied! We shall punish those who steal our territory and slaughter our people, no matter how far away they are!”

“I’d like to make a toast and pay tribute to all our brothers who are fighting fearlessly in Bafang City, in our broad land!” He raised the bowl high, flames leaping in his eyes, “I drink it up first! Respect!” He drank it up and then threw the bowl on the ground!

“We’d like to follow Duke Fang! Woohoo! Daqing Army!” Facing Fang Junqian, the first row of soldiers kneeled on one knee, and then, like rolling waves, the rest of the soldiers did the same towards the pledging platform.

Fang Junqian knew that he made it. His performance had won the trust of the soldiers! 

The dark waves rolled on, roars of protecting their homeland coming out of the men’s chests, as their oath to fight for the country, “We’d like to follow Duke Fang! Qaqing Army!”

Fang Junqian gradually widened his eyes and felt a surge of irresistible emotion in his chest!

He laughed and mounted the horse, saying loudly, “Let’s go!”

The troops automatically divided into two and made way for him…

Not far away, Xiao Qingyu watched this intently and said lightly, “The tiger is out of the cage.”

“Fight and laugh all the way in rain and frost.” Unexpectedly, Fang Junqian began to sing a military song.

His singing penetrated into all directions and reached far.

“The hearts can’t be defeated by wind or rain. It travels dauntlessly…”

This song was composed and left by Xiao Qingyu to the fortress when he had traveled around. Only those who was in the army knew it.

As the song rang, it shocked them all.

“Cross the borders and reach the dangerous land, we take the wind to fight fearlessly to the end.”

“Polish our weapons and armors, we write a legend with our swords—”

The half-million-soldiers’ army was weirdly silent. Everyone was listening.

The song seemed to contain magical powers and sucked people in it like a vortex.

The people near Fang Junqian were touched first and sang together with him:

“Let’s soar into the sky like an eagle, hold the world in awe and enemies in terror.

To achieve the goal, we don"t fear to die in snow.

Let all sceneries and emotions turn into a gla.s.s of wine.

Let us smile at the past and forget all sorrows! —”

Immediately afterwards, all other soldiers were on high spirits!

Thousands of men made out low-pitched solid cries from their chests—

“With upright spirit, our men fight without worry.

The world is always there, mountain forests thriving and waters rolling on.

The life of swords keeps fighting against eternity,

Let’s make blood storm gentle—

Destiny won’t be changed by ghosts or G.o.d. The river runs on.

We’re only visitors to this world.

Why not stand in freezing wind and wave our sleeves?

What a pleasure to see yond our heroic troops carrying rustling flags—!!”

What is a true pleasure?

Riding a horse and travelling thousands of miles!

The singing got louder and louder, rippling away to reach far. The Emperor freaked out.

He suddenly had a feeling that it was his biggest mistake ever to let Fang Junqian be the commander on this expedition…

The Crown Prince’s expression also changed, “What are those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds doing? Are they crazy?!”

Fang Junqian wore a carefree smile all the time.

Not until the figure behind him went out of sight did he finally glance back deeply at the place where Xiao Qingyu had been...