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墨書 Inktalez
Moreover—he had a name that Qin Yaru couldn't help but pay attention to, and that was Gao Feng.
Rising up, Qin Yaru had thought about it; on the last day of the Twenty-First Century, she bid farewell to Gao Feng under the brilliant fireworks, only to inexplicably return to her past life.
Since she could come here, perhaps Gao Feng could too. However, she tried hard to suppress such fantasies, believing that direct despair was better than hoping and then falling into despair.
Half a year ago, on her first day in the capital, she felt lost and uncertain about the future. Suddenly hearing the name Gao Feng made her head spin, but once she regained her senses, her heart felt much more settled.
Gao Feng could indeed be considered a legendary figure who turned his life around. The Gao Family, like the Pang Family, was originally a Scholarly Family. However, the Gao Family typically held only minor official positions in court without any noble titles. In terms of influence, they might not compare to the Pang Family, whose connections spread throughout the court and beyond. Yet, the reputation of the Gao Family in Qingliu was even more prominent than that of the Pang Family.
Furthermore, the Gao Family and the Pang Family were two extremes. The daughters of the Pang Family were very eager to marry into powerful families; for instance, Pang Chunzhi's eldest daughter married into the royal family and became a consort, while her second daughter married the Crown Prince of Xiangyang and became a noble consort. Even the illegitimate daughters often married sons from prominent families.
The Gao Family, however, was entirely different.
The daughters of the Gao Family would never marry as concubines, not even for royalty. No girl from the Gao Family would enter the palace as a consort. When choosing a husband, they did not consider status or position but focused solely on character. In fact, one legitimate daughter from the Gao Family married a blind man simply because he had lost his sight while saving a girl from the Gao Family.
Since marrying, this daughter upheld her duties as a wife, taught her children well, honored her in-laws, and maintained daily rituals without ever feeling proud due to her status. After her husband passed away early, she cared for her in-laws for life; even without children of her own, she never remarried.
It should be noted that during this time, it was quite normal for widows to remarry; no one would think anything of it. Even her in-laws felt that such a young bride should not live alone and worried about her. Yet she remained resolute.
At that time, her grandfather, who served as the Crown Prince's Grand Tutor, simply stated— as long as there was still one male descendant in the Gao Family, they would provide for her until the end of her days.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this somewhat old-fashioned insistence that although the Pang Family was also considered a Scholarly Family, with considerable prestige held by Pang Laogongye, their reputation in Qingliu could not compare to that of the Gao Family.
The statuses of both families were similar; they had served in government for several generations and naturally compared themselves with each other. It was strange that both families were always neck-and-neck in terms of their offspring serving in government or other matters; they could not distinguish who was superior or inferior. Even when there were wayward sons appearing in their households, they ended up together.
Gao Feng was one such wayward son from the Gao Family. He never liked studying and spent his days indulging in pleasures with a group of friends. Moreover, he was an illegitimate son and did not receive as much attention from his family as someone like Pang Yuanying. When he got into trouble outside, no one came to his aid; his reputation was tenfold worse than that of Pang Yuanying.
In the capital, when the men mentioned Pang Yuanying, they spoke with great respect, but when Gao Feng was brought up, they couldn't help but roll their eyes.
Five years ago, the Gao Family could no longer tolerate Gao Feng's reckless behavior and sent him to Dingzhou. They intended for him to face some hardships and broaden his horizons. Even if he didn't achieve much, they hoped he would at least settle down and marry, eventually inheriting a portion of the family estate to live a stable life.
However, unexpectedly, in the same year, the Liao Dynasty suddenly broke their alliance with eight thousand troops and invaded Songjing, committing acts of arson and plunder. The Song Dynasty was unprepared and suffered three consecutive defeats at the hands of the Liao Dynasty.
At that time, more than half of the defending generals were killed or injured. The Song Dynasty had always relied on scholars to lead their armies. Gao Feng happened to be in Dingzhou at that time. It was unclear what he did, but he was granted military authority despite being only seventeen years old. He led three thousand troops to launch a surprise attack on the Liao forces, killing over a thousand enemies without taking any prisoners. He executed the Liao general Yelü Jing, who had acted without orders from the Liao ruler. Afterward, he pressed on and launched a surprise attack on Youzhou, successfully reclaiming it.
From that point on, Gao Feng seemed like a different person. For five years, he fought countless battles against the Liao army. Although these were merely border skirmishes rather than large-scale wars, he won every single one of them and remained undefeated for five years. The generals of the Liao Dynasty referred to him as the Invincible General.
His presence was like a thunderous battle flag that made all rivals retreat in fear; he was truly formidable.
Qin Yaru leaned against the railing and looked down.
It was early spring at this time; just a few days ago, the last snow of winter had fallen. The streets of Yujie were spotless, lined with fresh flowers. The common people flocked in droves, jostling against one another.
This was Qin Yaru's first time witnessing such a scene. Previously, she thought Tokyo was bustling; in the Twenty-First Century, it might be considered just a city by population scale and not much else. But now it felt as if there were world-class stars holding concerts.
The Northern Song and Li Xue had not yet deeply rooted themselves in people's hearts; the culture was open-minded, and the emperor was famously approachable. Even plans to build a palace were shelved because the locals refused to relocate. In such a court, it was naturally difficult for common people to feel overly intimidated. As General Gao entered the capital, curious citizens gathered on rooftops, chatting and laughing without paying much attention to the Imperial Forest Army maintaining order.
Qin Yaru even spotted Commander Zhan Yu sitting across from her in a casual robe at a teahouse, raising his teacup and looking around—whether for official business or simply to catch a glimpse of the general was unclear.
Upon seeing Consort Qin, Zhan Yu raised his teacup slightly in salute.
Before long, a synchronized sound of hooves echoed from afar. Qin Yaru looked up and first noticed a large yellow flag emblazoned with an ornate character for "Song." Following that was a black banner embroidered with golden characters spelling "Qilin." Finally came the flag bearing the character "Gao."
Three-Flag Banner fluttered in the wind, dazzling and eye-catching.
Gao Feng rode at the forefront, behind him was his thousand-strong Qilin Army, all dressed alike. They wore fitted chainmail that looked somewhat thin but was smooth and shiny, glimmering brilliantly in the sunlight.
Each person had a Treasure Blade hanging at their waist, with long or short bows slung over their saddles. The horses had water pouches made of wolf fur on their heads, exuding a fierce and bloody aura. Their expressions were solemn, and even the hoofbeats they made were perfectly synchronized, without a single misstep.
Qin Yaru was taken aback—this level of training felt oddly familiar to her. She suddenly stood up, squeezed through the railing, and fixed her gaze on the silver-armored general at the front.
After staring for a long time, as the general rode closer, almost within reach to see his face, Qin Yaru felt her heart pounding loudly, heat rising to her cheeks, which usually remained calm and composed.
The silver armor was clearly crafted based on Saint Seiya Saint Cloth. Although Qin Yaru hadn’t watched the anime much, she vaguely remembered that Gao Feng had taken various leftover metals from the research institute and insisted they forge him a Pegasus Saint Cloth.
Of course, the people at the research institute weren’t as showy as he was and wouldn’t want to embarrass themselves.
The general on the white horse had a tall and slender figure, his face serious and cold. Yet deep in his eyes lay a hint of concealed pride that was hard to miss.
Qin Yaru smiled slightly; it was him. No one else could be so pretentious—clearly a reserved man yet worshipped like a god by all his team members, commanding respect with no one daring to defy him.
In Consort Qin’s eyes, he appeared serious on the outside but loved to play pranks and enjoyed mischief. He often did things that seemed calm but were actually quite impulsive.
However, in the eyes of others, especially among the citizens of this Yujie, he was a figure of grace and majesty, regarded as an outstanding young man.
Perhaps due to the crowding, a mischievous child sitting on the railing of the tavern across suddenly lost balance and fell headfirst down.
Everyone couldn’t help but gasp; although it was only from the second floor, a fall like that would surely result in serious injury for the child.
As the gasps of surprise subsided, General Gao suddenly flicked his cloak, the black fabric billowing in the wind, perfectly landing beneath the child. With a swift motion of his arm, he secured himself on the horse's back and galloped down to the tavern below, effortlessly catching the child in his arms.
The child's mother stood on the upper floor, her heart that had nearly leaped from her throat now swallowed back down, her face unconsciously revealing deep gratitude.
Gao Feng smiled broadly, extending a hand to place the still-frightened child on his shoulder. He tilted his head and whispered a few words to him; though no one could hear what he said, the child who had been on the verge of tears suddenly broke into a joyful smile, revealing two little tiger teeth.
The previously tense atmosphere relaxed immediately.
Gao Feng lightly whistled, and a person on horseback quickly caught up behind him, stopping beside Gao Feng. In an instant, Gao Feng leaped onto the shoulder of the person next to him and gracefully ascended to the upper floor, lifting the child and placing him back within the railing.
The crowd in the tavern was astonished to see General Gao up close. Only then did they realize that this general who commanded respect from the Liao people was surprisingly young, appearing to be just in his twenties.
Perhaps due to exposure to wind and sun, his skin had a honeyed hue. While it might differ slightly from the contemporary aesthetic of powdered faces, his features were well-defined; his bright eyes and high nose were straight and prominent. His lips were thin but did not seem unkind. Every gesture he made was dignified and graceful, far surpassing the more effeminate appearance typical of men in the Song Dynasty.
Upon seeing his true appearance, countless noblewomen and daughters of wealthy families clutched their chests in excitement and fainted.
Qin Yaru took a deep breath. Previously, she thought herself handsome enough to be compared with Wei Jie, who had been executed. Now that she finally had a chance to test herself against him, how could she possibly resist showing off?
Fortunately, she was already accustomed to it; after all, others would not discern the hidden thoughts of this man, so her embarrassment would not be too severe.
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