Dream of the Red Chamber: From a Border Ruffian to a Capital Tyrant

Inside a small courtyard at Yanmen Pass.

Pulling his thoughts away from the bustling yet cannibalistic capital, Jia Lang slowly shook his head, a complex smile playing on his lips.

Is it to express gratitude to the Jia family?

That's bullshit!

But then again, without the Ningguo Mansion's reputation, it would be a pipe dream for a newcomer like him to climb to the position of deputy general within two years.

However, since they have come to this Dream of the Red Chamber, why should those exceptionally beautiful young women suffer the fate of "a thousand beauties weeping and ten thousand fairies grieving"?

Qin Keqing's graceful charm, Lin Daiyu's otherworldly beauty, Xue Baochai's reclusive elegance, and the shrewd and shrewd Wang Xifeng...

Why should these vibrant beauties become sacrifices for the rise and fall of a family?

Even the four women who "should have been pitied," if they could be saved, Jia Lang would never stand idly by!

Well, it's purely out of pity for my sisters, I didn't have any bad intentions.

Absolutely not!

Jia Lang inwardly condemned his "beastly" thoughts, and then his eyes gradually turned cold as knives.

The past two years at Yanmen Pass have worn away all his naivety.

Outsiders only see his early success, becoming a deputy general at the age of eighteen, and his imposing presence. But who knows that behind this glory were several close calls with his life hanging by a thread?

Although this body is extraordinary and possesses immense strength, after two years of fighting, it is covered with scars of all sizes.

Especially the hideous scar on his left shoulder that runs from his collarbone down to his right abdomen, a "souvenir" left from last year.

If that knife had been half an inch off, or if he had dodged a fraction of a second slower, he would have lost his life!

From that moment on, Jia Lang completely abandoned all his arrogance and naivety.

Once upon a time, relying on his unparalleled divine strength, he regarded barbarians as worthless on the battlefield, and even had the absurd idea that "the fifty-six ethnic groups are one family". He showed mercy to those fallen barbarian soldiers and even tried to recruit them and traitors, attempting to carry out some kind of "ethnic integration" in this era.

That's absolutely incredibly stupid!

The bloody lesson taught him what it meant to be "those who are not of our kind will surely have different hearts"!

It was a routine patrol, and he easily led his troops to defeat a small group of Xiongnu cavalry.

Seeing a barbarian soldier who had fallen from his horse and appeared to be on the verge of death, he felt compassion and turned to surrender.

And what happened? The soldier who was begging for mercy a moment ago suddenly revealed a wolf-like ferocity in his eyes. He drew his curved sword and slashed it fiercely at the back of the man!

If it weren't for the guards' desperate warning, and if he hadn't reacted so quickly that he turned around and stabbed the beast in the chest with his spear, that gleaming scimitar would have already cleaved him in two!

At the time, in order to look cool, he only wore a thin brocade robe and didn't even wear armor!

That single strike shattered his arrogance and awakened his soul.

From then on, Jia Lang never removed his armor even when he slept, and when he went to the battlefield, he became a demon, leaving no one alive in his wake!

He learned from his mistakes and would never repeat them!

Recalling the bloody battles of the past two years, Jia Lang felt his blood boiling.

He chose this path himself, and even if it's full of thorns, he'll fight his way through to the end!

Just then, as Jia Lang got up to go back to his room, a series of hurried footsteps, like raindrops pattering on banana leaves, suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

"Report—!!"

A piercing shout shattered the tranquility of the courtyard.

A scout, covered in dirt, scrambled in and before he could even stand properly, he fell to his knees with a thud, his armor plates clanging together.

"speak!"

Jia Lang's gaze was sharp as lightning, and his voice was steady, yet it exuded an aura of ruthless power.

"Report...Report to Vice General Jia!"

"Urgent report from the northern front!"

"The Xiongnu...the Xiongnu are making a great disturbance!"

"The General requests your immediate presence in the council chamber. Do not delay!"

The scout lowered his head, not daring to look directly into Jia Lang's tiger-like eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts, and his voice trembled slightly due to his urgency.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lang's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints, and his languid aura vanished instantly, replaced by a suffocating killing intent.

"understood."

"Prepare the horses, let's go to the council chamber!"

Before he finished speaking, he strode out of the courtyard with steady and powerful steps, each step like stepping on the beat of a war drum, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

.........

At this moment, the atmosphere in the council hall of Yanmen Pass was so oppressive that it seemed as if even the air had frozen. The flickering candlelight cast distorted shadows of everyone, making them look like ghosts.

In the main seat, General Jia Ren of Yanmen Pass sat upright as if on a mountain.

This veteran general, who had been through many battles, looked somewhat haggard at this moment. Even his imposing armor could not hide the bloodshot eyes and exhaustion in them.

Upon seeing Jia Lang, travel-worn and disheveled, step into the hall, Jia Ren managed to force a smile that was more like a grimace onto his face, which seemed cast in iron.

"Lang'er is here?"

"Please sit down first, we'll talk once everyone is here."

Jia Ren's voice was hoarse and dry, as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.

Jia Lang's heart sank.

He knew his old boss all too well.

Even if the sky were to fall, this old general had never shown such a grief-stricken expression.

It seems that this trouble is ten times bigger than expected!

But he remained expressionless, simply nodding heavily before walking straight to the first chair on his left and sitting down, his back ramrod straight, like a javelin.

Before long, the officers and deputy officers arrived one after another.

However, General Wang, who usually loves to make his presence known, was nowhere to be seen today.

"I'm not waiting any longer!"

Jia Ren glanced at the empty spot, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes, then coldly waved his hand at the guards at the door:

"Close the door! Lock it!"

"No one is allowed to enter or leave today's meeting, even if the sky falls!"

"Bang!"

The heavy hall door was slammed shut, cutting off the outside light and the last glimmer of hope.

The atmosphere in the hall instantly plummeted to freezing point; everyone held their breath, and even their heartbeats could be clearly heard.

"General Li, you speak."

Jia Ren rubbed his throbbing temples and pointed to Li, the military officer in charge of intelligence.

Li Canjun, pale-faced, stood up shakily, first bowing to Jia Ren and Jia Lang, then swallowing hard, and said in a trembling voice:

"Generals... We have just received an urgent report from our assassins."

"Outside the pass... the Xiongnu have made their move."

"This is not a small-scale disturbance, but... over 100,000 troops!"

"According to intelligence gathered by scouts risking their lives, the Xiongnu royal court has mobilized all able-bodied men from its tribes, totaling... no less than 100,000 troops!"

"Among them, 20,000 elite archers (cavalry) have already established a continuous camp a hundred miles outside the pass, like a pack of wolves, keeping a close watch on our Yanmen Pass!"

boom!

This number struck like a thunderbolt in the small council chamber!

All the generals present, even the most seasoned veterans, couldn't help but change their expressions and gasp in shock.

100,000!

A full 100,000 troops!

Moreover, 20,000 of them were the most elite cavalry of the Xiongnu!

"The Xiongnu are invincible if they number less than ten thousand, but if they number ten thousand..."

This curse, which had been circulating in the Great Qian Dynasty for a hundred years, now hung like a sharp sword over everyone's head, piercing their hearts.

The Huns were demons on horseback, wolves on the grasslands.

A single adult Xiongnu warrior on horseback could exert the fighting power of three Daqian infantrymen.

Although Yanmen Pass had high walls and thick walls, the garrison numbered no more than 30,000 at most!

Thirty thousand infantrymen were used to fight against one hundred thousand ferocious barbarian cavalry, including twenty thousand archers who could move like the wind...

How should we fight this battle?

This is absolutely a hopeless situation with no chance of survival!