From a small soldier in the frontier army, an immortal god of war was born

Chu State, Yujia Town.

This is a peaceful village in the heart of the Chu State, built by the water. It has many houses, more than a hundred households.

This village is neither big nor small, and most of the people there are poor. However, there is a huge iron tripod standing at the entrance of the village. It is engraved with simple and elegant tripod patterns and is covered with rust. It is very old.

There is a river to the north of the town. In spring, the river bank is covered with lush vegetation, the gurgling water is clear, and there are black rocks and small fish, full of vitality.

"Miaoxi, go home!"

"Come here!"

Downstream by the river, a woman was bending over washing clothes.

He was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with fair and delicate features. He was wearing a brown coarse linen shirt, and his black hair was tied behind his back with a simple cloth strip. His rolled-up sleeves were wet, and after finally knocking a few times with a wooden hammer, he put the thick, wet clothes into the bamboo basket.

"Brother, wait for me."

Yu Miaoxi looked up and saw that her brother had already walked across the wooden bridge carrying firewood, and she immediately hurriedly and laboriously picked up the bamboo basket.

Ta da~ da da~
At this time, there were some horse hoof sounds coming from afar. Yu Miaoxi looked up and saw a group of soldiers passing by on the path ahead.

They were all high-mounted cavalrymen, wearing black and gray iron armor, looking majestic, with the flag of [Xiang] flying above them, dancing in the wind.

Wherever this team of soldiers passed, the villagers along the way knelt down to greet them respectfully, not daring to show any disrespect in front of these soldiers.

"Is there going to be another war?"

Yu Miaoxi murmured something, then pursed her lips, with a hint of helplessness on her little face.

The State of Chu has fought two wars this year. The first one was an active attack on the State of Qin. The battlefield was in Qin, and it did not cause much harm to the people of Chu.

The second time was when Qin came to retaliate. Although the battlefield was in Chu, the Chu army quickly drove them out, and Yujiagou remained peaceful.

As for why Yu Miaoxi, a girl from an ordinary family, was so familiar with this, it was because her two brothers were conscripted as soldiers in these two wars.

After all, conscription is inevitable when a war breaks out.

"Oh no, oh no! They are not here to recruit soldiers again!"

Yu Miaoxi opened her mouth slightly and breathed rapidly.

You have to know that these soldiers come to this remote area generally to recruit soldiers and collect food.

There were three males in her family. The eldest and second brothers were drafted into the army, leaving only the third brother. If he also left, wouldn't there be no male in the family?

Firstly, they were worried about the uncertainty of life and death on the battlefield. Secondly, they were also worried that it would be difficult to carry out the spring ploughing work without male adults.

Her parents are old and frail, and as a woman she is too thin to do farm work. They will definitely starve this year!
Thinking of this, Yu Miaoxi hurriedly ran along the river bank towards the wooden bridge.

"Brother, brother, hide quickly!"

She shouted anxiously, but the wooden bridge was far away, and the man on the bridge seemed not to hear her and crossed the bridge carrying the heavy wood.

"Third brother! Third brother!"

Yu Miaoxi shouted anxiously, but her feet slipped on the shore without paying attention, and she fell into the river with a scream.

puff~
There was an instant silence in her ears. Yu Miaoxi accidentally choked on the water and struggled subconsciously, but the heavy clothes on her back pulled her down like a stone.

In fact, the river was not very deep, only about three meters at most. However, Yu Miaoxi was so nervous that it was difficult for her to react. She should have removed the bamboo basket first, so she was pulled directly to the bottom of the river.

Her little face suddenly showed pain. The feeling of suffocation and choking made her feel desperate, and bubbles kept coming out of her mouth.

The lake surface was filled with wisps of light and ripples. In the silence, Yu Miaoxi's consciousness gradually became blurred...

Boom!
Suddenly, the surface of the river broke apart, the black shadow enlarged, and a big hand directly supported her waist.

Ho ho!!!

Yu Miaoxi gasped for breath, then coughed a few times, and her face looked a little better.

"Who... saved me?"

She wiped the water off her face, and then she could see clearly that there was a handsome young man in front of her. He was wearing black and gray armor, had eyes as bright as stars, and the pupil of his left eye was partially overlapped.

Wow~
Water splashed, and by the time Yu Miaoxi was distracted, he was already standing on the shore.

"My friend, why are you so careless?"

Xiang Yu crossed his arms over his chest and spoke in a clear voice.

"I……"

Yu Miaoxi hugged her chest nervously, her wet hair blowing in front of her eyes, hiding her timid look very well.

Seeing that her body was trembling, Xiang Yu thought that she was shocked by the cold water, so he stretched out his arms. The adjutant next to him was quick to hand over a cloak.

"Put it on. The river water is cold and it's easy to catch a cold."

Xiang Yu said he wanted to put it on her, but he didn't expect Yu Miaoxi to be too nervous and subconsciously took a step back.

Call! !

All of a sudden she seemed to realize that she had bumped into something. The sound of the horse neighing frightened her and she trembled all over. Looking back, she saw the warhorse breathing hot air and the cold light of its ferocious iron armor flashing in front of her.

Ah!
Yu Miaoxi's legs went limp and she collapsed to the ground. She quickly stood up, knelt down, and kowtowed repeatedly.

"I didn't mean to offend you, please forgive me, sir! Please forgive me, sir!"

"Hahaha! Look how scared she is!"

"My fellow countryman, we are not devils. Is it necessary for you to be so afraid of us?"

"You scared the young master's horse. How about you become our young master's wife? Hahaha!"

The soldiers burst into laughter, and Yu Miaoxi, who was listening, trembled like a sieve.

This is bad. Not only are these soldiers conscripting civilians, they are also robbing...

For lower-class people like Yu Miaoxi, they fear soldiers as if they were tigers. Wherever they go, they are like locusts, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities.

This is not an exaggeration at all.

At least in the past ten years or so, whenever there was a war, Yu Miaoxi would hear about villages and towns being massacred. Especially for a young girl like her, if she fell into the hands of these ferocious soldiers, her fate would be even more miserable.

Now, is it my turn?

Yu Miaoxi's heart rose to her throat and she closed her eyes in fear.

"How dare you! When has my Xiang family ever forced the people to do anything? If you continue to talk nonsense and scare the villagers, you will be punished with fifty military sticks!"

Xiang Yu kicked one of them in the buttocks, then helped Yu Miaoxi up. Seeing her trembling, he said helplessly, "These guys scared you. My Xiang family has always been upright and honest, and we will never do such shady things!"

"...Yes, yes." Yu Miaoxi still didn't dare to look up.

"Oh, what is Young Master Xiang doing? Could it be that he has taken a fancy to this village woman?"

At this time, a joking voice was heard, and Xiang Yu looked and saw that it was another Chu army unit flying the flag of the "Ma" family.

The leader was about the same age as him, with narrow eyes and a long face, a tuft of beard, and a cold smile that made people feel very uncomfortable.

Ma Quan was born into a noble family, the Ma family, which was on par with the Xiang family. Like Xiang Yu, he was also a leader of the new generation in the family. They had competed against each other many times over the years and he could be considered an old acquaintance.

But what is Ma Quan doing here?
Xiang Yu frowned slightly. You know, Yujia Town was the land allocated to the Xiang family to recruit laborers, and it was far away from the Ma family.

But before he could ask, the adjutant Xiang Yun said coldly: "Mr. Ma, this is not the Ma family's territory. What is your purpose in bringing so many people here?" Ma Quan glanced at him, ignored him, and walked past with his men in a swagger.

"Nothing, but my Ma family army still has a lot of vacancies. I heard that there are a lot of able-bodied men in Yujia Town, so I came to borrow two."

"Master Xiang, you are not reluctant to part with it, are you?"

Xiang Yu said: "The list of conscription has been drawn up. How dare your Ma family let my Xiang family give them up?"

Ma Quan sneered, "Master Xiang is too stingy. Haha, well, I won't touch the person you nominated, but the rest have nothing to do with you, right?"

"Ma Quan, bullshit! It's the farming season now, and my young master has reserved able-bodied men for every household. If you summon more, won't it cut off the livelihood of Yujia Town?" Xiang Yun's temper became even worse, and he greeted him as soon as he came up.

Ma Quan's face became much gloomier and he looked at him with murderous intent in his eyes.

"Xiang Yu, are all members of your Xiang family so vulgar? Humph, I don't care about anything else. If I can't summon a hundred people today, I'll let the old, weak, women and children take over!"

"go!"

The Ma family army passed by with such arrogance that Xiang Yu clenched his fist and wanted to hit them with a hammer, but considering that they were not here to fight today, he suppressed the urge.

Then, he seemed to hear a sob.

Looking back, it was Yu Miaoxi's big eyes with ripples and tears in them.

a hundred……

She learned from the conversation just now that the Xiang family had limited the number of civilians they recruited, and each family had able-bodied men left behind. In other words, her third brother did not have to go to war.

But Ma Quan wanted to plunder a hundred people from those who stayed behind, and his strong third brother would definitely not be able to escape!
In this way, the thing she was most worried about happened...

Soon, it was Yujia Town.

"The powerful Qin is ready to attack, and our Great Chu is about to suffer the pain of war. The so-called difficulties of the country are also the difficulties of the people. The family and the country are one, and no egg can be left unbroken when the nest is overturned."

"Today, I have been ordered by the king to recruit soldiers to resist the mighty Qin. Those whose names I have read out must report to the residence of Lord Xiang within a quarter of an hour. If you fail to do so within the deadline, there will be a penalty. Please respect yourself!"

Xiang Yun stood on the high platform, and all the people in the town gathered below, looking at him with worried expressions.

"Conscription again?!"

"Didn't a batch just leave last time? How long has it been?"

"If my grandson leaves again, I, an old woman, will really have no way to survive."

……

But their mournful cries had no effect.

Soon, Xiang Yun finished calling out the eighty names on the list, and many young men had no choice but to walk towards the Xiang family army’s base.

Fortunately, thanks to Xiang Yu's restrained conscription, the people on the field only complained a few words and there was no unrest.

"Young Master, everyone has been gathered. Should we return to the barracks first, or..."

Xiang Yu looked at the young men in front of him, waved his hand, and said calmly: "No hurry, Ma Quan is here and we can't leave."

"Give the brothers the order to be ready. If Ma Quan dares to mess around, beat them up!"

"Here!"

Xiang Yu understood from a young age that everything in the world comes from the people, so he couldn't stand Ma Quan's practice of draining the pond to catch all the fish. If he really dared to do so, he wouldn't mind giving him a severe lesson.

Afterwards, things turned out just as he had expected. The people who were about to disperse and do their work were quickly called together again. Ma Quan said something coldly on the high platform, and there was a sudden cry of surprise and commotion below.

Swish swish!
But then, the swords of the Ma family army appeared one after another, and the terrifying cold light instantly suppressed the voices of the people. Everyone looked terrified and dared not say anything.

Seeing this, Ma Quan snorted coldly and said, "Catch them! Catch a hundred of them!"

"Here!"

The Ma family army was not as disciplined as the Xiang family army. They had originally come from the wild forests and now their bandit nature was exposed. They arrested anyone they saw, and all the young people, who were already few in number among the people, were dragged out.

"You, you, and you!"

"Why are you hiding? Get out here!"

"I'm talking about you. Do you think you can't be seen by hiding among the girls?"

"How dare you push me? You're looking for death!"

……

"Third brother, third brother!"

Among them, Yu Miaoxi's family could not escape this fate. The dark and strong third brother Yu Hu was dragged out by force.

"Get out of here! If you keep yelling at me, I'll kill you on the spot!"

The soldier grabbed Yu Miaoxi's collar and pushed her away. She staggered and almost fell, but fortunately she was supported by a strong arm.

"You have the guts to go and compete with the Qin army, but you are showing off your power to your fellow countrymen here and bringing shame to the soldiers of the Great Chu."

"Young Master Xiang..."

Bang!
The soldier was stunned when he saw the person coming, but before he could say anything, he was kicked away by Xiang Yu. The huge noise immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The next moment, Xiang Jiajun rushed forward and surrounded all the Ma family soldiers. The scene suddenly became chaotic and the people were scared and retreated one after another.

"The king has ordered that the conscription of laborers should not delay the spring ploughing. You guys don't need to join the army and can leave now."

Xiang Yu spoke in a deep voice, and the captured young men were suddenly overjoyed, but this completely irritated Ma Quan.

He walked up to Xiang Yu angrily and shouted, "Master Xiang, you are meddling in other people's business! What does my Ma Army's conscription have to do with you? I didn't steal your men!"

He really didn't understand why Xiang Yu was so stubborn. Wars were frequent now, and of course the more soldiers each family recruited, the better. Who cared about the lives of the people?

In his eyes, the other party's behavior was nothing but hypocrisy.

"I am just following orders. If you don't agree, you can try it yourself."

Xiang Yu looked at him disdainfully, his handsome face full of determination.

"Do you think I don't dare? Others may be afraid of you, but I am not!"

Ma Quan's hair and beard suddenly floated, and the powerful aura of the Cangqi realm spread out, directly knocking over the people within a hundred meters around.

Yu Miaoxi was unable to open her eyes due to the strong wind and subconsciously hid behind Xiang Yu.

"Try it."

Xiang Yu stood still, but there was a hint of contempt in his eyes.

For a moment, the two sides were in a tense standoff. The cold light from the swords made people retreat again and again, fearing that they would be caught off guard.

The atmosphere was so tense that it seemed like an explosion was imminent.

"Two generals, please calm down! Please calm down!"

At this time, the head of Yujia Town hurried forward and said timidly: "It is the duty of the people of Dachu to contribute to the country. We should contribute, but we don't have many men left. If there are fewer, the whole village will have a hard time continuing."

"How about this, the two generals have a little competition, and the winner can take my men away, how about that?" (End of this chapter)