Chapter 21: Conscription Notice
On the way back, He Yun Sheng kept observing He Yan's expression.
"You won't have anything to do with that Fan guy anymore, right?" he pressed again.
"I promise you, I'll never have anything to do with him," He Yan replied. "Satisfied?"
Seeing her firm attitude, He Yun Sheng finally relaxed a little.
For some reason, He Yun Sheng chattered nonstop the entire way, more like a fussy old nanny than a nanny himself.
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that that Fan guy is too cunning and a habitual liar," He Yun Sheng rambled on. "What's so great about a man like that? You must have been blind to ever like him. If you ask me, General Feng Yun is the one truly worthy of admiration..."
He Yan listened to He Yun Sheng with one ear in and the other out, but she suddenly paused and cut off his endless stream of words. "What does Xiao Jue have to do with this?"
"Isn't the Second Young Master Xiao good-looking?" He Yun Sheng asked.
Graceful and peerless in appearance—there really wasn't a single flaw to pick.
"Well... yes, he's good-looking."
"And what about his family background?"
The Xiao family was a prestigious Military Family. General Xiao Zhongwu had fought alongside the late emperor to conquer vast territories and was one of the emperor's most trusted generals. The general's wife was the niece of the Empress Dowager. The eldest son, Xiao Jing, had already become a Senior Officer of Counsel at a young age, while the second son, Xiao Jue, had risen even higher in rank and was now the illustrious Right Army Commander, General Feng Yun.
"Wealthy beyond measure."
"And his talents in both civil and military affairs?"
"...One in a million, unparalleled."
"Then there you have it," He Yun Sheng concluded. "A man like that—handsome, from a Noble Family, and outstanding in every way—isn't he worthy of admiration? If I were a woman, I'd admire only him for the rest of my life!"
He Yan: "...Just shut up already."
No matter how perfect Xiao Jue might be, his infuriatingly cold temperament was hardly praiseworthy. Besides, countless women admired him—there probably wasn't a single woman in Great Wei who didn't. Had he ever spared any of them a second glance? No. This man was arrogant to the core, and his standards were as high as his looks. It was unlikely anyone could ever meet his expectations. Would he ever take a liking to her? Not a chance.
She couldn't help but wonder what kind of peerless beauty—radiant and unmatched—he would choose in the future.
The thought made He Yan strangely wistful.
Just then, He Yun Sheng suddenly stopped in his tracks. "What's going on up ahead?"
A notice was posted on a stone wall by the roadside, and a crowd had gathered around it. He Yan and He Yun Sheng moved closer, and when they saw what it was, He Yan nodded in understanding. "So it's a Conscription Notice."
"Haven't they stopped conscripting for a long time? Why suddenly now?" He Yun Sheng wondered suspiciously.
But He Yan understood. She and Xiao Jue had spent years quelling the rebellions of the Western Qiang and Southern Man tribes but had overlooked the neighboring kingdom of Wutu. The Wutu people had spent these years growing stronger, and their ambitions could no longer be hidden. After marrying into the Xu family, she had kept a close watch on the Northwest Fortress. This conscription was likely to station troops in Liang Province and train new recruits.
As He Yun Sheng stared at the notice, he suddenly tore one off the wall and tucked it into his sleeve.
He Yan frowned. "What are you doing?"
"...Nothing. I just want to keep it as a memento," He Yun Sheng mumbled. "It's a shame I'm still too young to fight on the battlefield. If I were older and stronger, I'd enlist too."He Yan laughed upon hearing this, "Enlisting in the army is no simple matter. You must endure the hardships of wind and sand, constantly witness the sacrifices of those around you, and be prepared to fall at any moment on the battlefield. You can't even bring yourself to kill a fish... how could you kill a person?"
He Yun Sheng was left speechless, and after a long pause, he muttered, "You talk as if you've been there before."
He Yan walked home with him, merely lowering her head with a faint smile.
Of course, she had been there. Back then, she had been about the same age as He Yun Sheng.
The Pacify Yue Army was recruiting soldiers to go to Mo County at the time. After another fierce argument with He Yuansheng, she secretly packed some silver and clothes at night, took her mask, and went to enlist.
She used He Rufei's name.
No one had expected He Rufei to enlist, not even the He family. It wasn't until He Yan won her first battle, was promoted, and received rewards that the news reached the He family.
Her days in the army weren't as smooth as others might imagine. A teenage girl had to conceal her identity while competing with men stronger than her. On the battlefield, she couldn't cry or make a sound. She was often scolded by commanders, sometimes robbed of her military merits without a word of protest, and even had to smile while serving tea to her superiors.
Before enlisting, He Yan had been a quiet, reserved girl who kept her thoughts buried deep inside. It was only after joining the army that she truly grew up.
Compared to life and death, everything else was trivial. Just staying alive was already a blessing. The Flying Goose General replaced the young lady of the He family, and from then on, she persevered step by step, bearing hardships she could never speak of.
Sometimes she reflected on how tightly the name "Flying Goose General" was intertwined with her life. Even when she saw the recruitment notice tucked into He Yun Sheng's pocket, she wasn't as calm as she appeared.
He Yun Sheng noticed her sudden silence, mistaking it for her dwelling on Fan Cheng's matter. Upon returning home, he carefully reminded He Yan once more before retreating to his room.
Qingmei had already withdrawn. The torn notice lay on the table, its thin paper weighing heavily on He Yan's heart under the oil lamp.
After being preoccupied with the He family's affairs for so long, now that they had money and He Yun Sheng had found a school, it was time for her to plan for herself. How to approach He Rufei was the question. Currently, she had no power or influence—just an ordinary commoner whose words no one would heed.
In her past life, whether as He Rufei or as the wife of the Xu family, she had only known how to wield weapons, oblivious to schemes and plots. Even with a second chance at life, she couldn't bring herself to engage in such dirty, underhanded tactics.
What did she have? Only her life. What could she do? Only fight on the battlefield.
But what could she do now?
He Yan's gaze fell on the recruitment notice. Those few short lines stirred her heart, as if she had returned to that year when she was fifteen, clutching silver and a bundle, running to the recruitment tent under the cover of night to write her name. And so began her military career.
Everything had to start anew.
This was the worst path, but also the best method.
She would begin again, this time under the name He Yan.
Ironclad fan He Yun Sheng showers her with praise.
(End of chapter)
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