Tang Chen: Starting from the Xuanwu Gate Incident

Chapter 1: All military merits of the realm belong to the King of Qin; 95 soldiers are assigned to t

On the third day of the sixth month of the ninth year of the Tang Dynasty's Wude era, in the morning.

Outside, the sun blazed fiercely. In the guardhouse of the Prince of Qin's mansion, wooden stakes in the corner were piled high with swords, and on the table stood a calendar and a helmet, with a long slung over a foot long pressed beneath them.

From the exposed portion, we can see Shen Ce, a squad leader in the Qin Prince's mansion, twenty-one years old, from Jingzhao Prefecture in Guanzhong, seven feet tall, with a yellowish complexion and no beard, and a mole on his left cheek...

On the hard bed, Shen Ce lay with his clothes open, a damp towel spread out on his back, his hands behind his head, his gaze wandering over the roof tiles.

Two guards stood by his left and right, waiting for him to put on his armor.

Shen Ce ignored their urging and focused on processing the information in his mind.

As an orphan, he was forced to work overtime day and night, or work long hours, which caused him to suddenly faint and lose consciousness.

After opening my eyes, I found myself here.

After a long pause, Shen Ce subconsciously reached out and touched the outside of his thigh, patting it all over, only to find it empty. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, wondering where Tang Chao had gotten his phone.

Only then did they shift their gaze to the body, and at a glance, they saw a light ochre shirt with a gap in the waistband, coarse linen wide-legged trousers, and leggings tied around the feet.

"Ah, there's no going back," he murmured softly.

Turning his head toward the light, his gaze swept across the table, and after taking a closer look at what was written on it, he suddenly sat up, rubbing his cheeks vigorously with both hands to hide his panicked expression.

The third day of the sixth month in the ninth year of the Wude era...

Tomorrow... will be the day when Li Yuan has no eldest son and Shimin has no elder brother.

Prince Qin, Li Shimin, led 800 soldiers to launch the Xuanwu Gate Incident. The unparalleled Xue Wanche led 2,000 Changlin soldiers to fight to the death to save his lord. General Jing Junhong and General Lü Shiheng, the two top commanders of the Xuanwu Gate garrison, were killed in action...

Shen Ce raised his arm, looking at his sharply defined forearm, his fists clenched tightly—he had some strength...

But all I know is military boxing, maybe with some dagger drills, and I don't count practicing with compound bows at the archery range.

With my attire, I'm clearly an infantryman. Am I supposed to go head-to-head with Xue Wanche, a man capable of taking on ten thousand men, right in front of the city gate?

Playing dead won't work then; these days, people have a habit of finishing off the victim—either cutting off an ear or beheading them.

Why didn't Heaven let him finish fighting at Xuanwu Gate before he died...?

Just as Shen Ce was lost in thought, the guard beside him noticed that he was not moving and reminded him, "Squad leader, Protector Yuchi is looking for you. He wants you to go and confess your crimes as soon as you wake up."

"Accept punishment?" Shen Ce's body convulsed suddenly, and he tensed up instinctively. He knew that this was a physical reaction, and it seemed that his predecessor was instinctively afraid of Yuchi Jingde.

Yes, yesterday, while out on official business, he couldn't stand hearing the Crown Prince's soldiers mocking the King of Qin, so he got angry and attacked them. As a result, both sides were injured, and he was escorted back by the night patrol officer, Zhuge Liang.

"Could you cover for me and say that he is still unconscious?" Shen Ce's eyes darted around, and he turned his back to the two of them and lay down straight.

He is currently unable to accept his current situation, and he does not want to face the enraged Yuchi.

"Squad leader," the guard beside him was taken aback at first, then turned around with difficulty and pointed to the person behind him, saying, "This... is General Yuchi's personal guard."

"I must have gotten confused from the fall!"

Shen Ce ripped off the handkerchief from his chest, propped himself up on the bed, and hurriedly said, "You all wait outside the door. I will put on my armor and go see General Yuchi right away."

According to Tang law, those on duty must not stray far from their posts when armed; violators will be punished with sixty strokes of the cane. Having digested the memories, he naturally knew this.

After the two left, Shen Ce sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, deep in thought.

Alternatively, one could be stubborn, endure a few dozen strokes of the cane, then lie down on the bed for three to five days to avoid tomorrow's crisis.

You can dodge the first day of the month, but you can't dodge the fifteenth. The expanding Tang Dynasty will have endless wars in the future. You can't get rid of your military status and you can't avoid going to the battlefield.

Shen Ce shook his head, dismissing the crazy idea from his mind. "I'm a scholar, why would I want to fight with knives? What's the point of studying?"

After a moment's thought, Shen Ce slammed his fist on the bed, his eyes flashing with ruthlessness. "Damn it," he thought, "we've all died once before. Fortune favors the bold." He then donned his armor, quickly searched the small guardhouse, and, finding nothing he was looking for, left.

He pushed aside the guards who came forward to ask questions, peeked to his left and right, saw that the left neighbor was the horse harness shop, went straight in, and came out a short while later with his chest bulging.

"Lead the way."

General Yuchi's official residence is not far away; it takes about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to get there.

Along the way, the guard slowed down and landed beside Shen Ce, whispering a reminder, "Squad Leader Shen, you must be careful. General Yuchi is in a bad mood, so don't talk back."

Shen Ce nodded thoughtfully, and subtly slipped more than ten coins into the belt of his personal guard.

As they approached the Hall of General Yuchi, Shen Ce began to take a detour, running quickly under the sun until he was drenched in sweat before finally bowing down inside the hall.

After bowing, Shen Ce received no response for a long time, so he mustered up his courage and looked up ahead.

Inside the hall stood a burly, black-haired man, over eight feet tall, shirtless, with a beard as stiff as steel needles on his cheeks. He stood with his back to him and hands on his hips, looking almost exactly like the man in the New Year's picture.

When Yuchi Jingde did not ask any questions, Shen Ce also felt uneasy. Seeing a piece of cloth lying not far away, driven by curiosity, he mustered up his courage and looked closely. It read:

Imperial Edict: General Yuchi Jingde, Right General of the Martial Guard, the Turkic tribe Yusheshe has invaded the border, and Wucheng is in grave danger. Therefore, Prince Yuanji of Qi is hereby appointed Grand Marshal of the Northern Expedition, in command of all armies.

You shall immediately go to Yuanji's army and await further orders, and accompany the army on the northern expedition; you shall not disobey...

Oh no, I've really messed with them.

Prince Qi, Li Yuanji, was about to launch a campaign against the Turks. Li Yuan summoned Yuchi and General Cheng from the Prince of Qin's mansion to be the vanguard. Given their fiery tempers, they were probably furious.

A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, so Shen Ce quickly apologized: "General, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yuchi Jingde suddenly turned around, swung his whip, and his helmet flew more than ten feet away.

"To fight in the street is a disgrace to the Qin Prince's Mansion!" Yuchi Jingde shouted angrily, his hair and beard bristling.

When a burly, dark-faced man around forty years old, at the peak of his martial prowess, with a towering physique and whip-like arms, lashes out at you with a horsewhip, you'd better be fully armored.

Unfortunately, his status was not high enough, so he had to wear a half-body sleeveless armor. No matter how he dodged, Yuchi's whip would always land precisely on the same spot on both of his legs.

Yuchi Jingde is skilled with the horse spear, how come he's so adept at using the horsewhip?

"Did you win or lose?"

Shen Ce, who was holding his head in his hands, was suddenly asked such a question. He instantly recalled the scene from yesterday. The man's arm was twisted at a strange angle, and his nose and mouth were pointing to one side. He would not recover without several months of recuperation. On the other hand, he was still able to stand on the spot and take a beating. Yu Chi would never know that there was a different person in this body.

He immediately blurted out, "I won! That bastard's probably still lying in the medicine hut, while I can now stand up and take the beating..."

Yuchi Jingde laughed loudly, and the whip's aim became more focused and denser, but all of it landed on the armor.

He stopped after a moment and said coldly, "That's not bad. If there's a next time, it won't just be a whipping. Go back."

Shen Ce lowered his head, bared his teeth, rubbed his arms vigorously, and said softly, "General, won't you ask why?"

Yuchi Jingde gave a light hum and said, "Soldiers often speak without thinking, and when they get angry, they often playfully tease each other. My approach is to punish the winner with a whip and punish the loser with a cane."

At this moment, Shen Ce hated the army's brutal methods. He had laid out the bait, but Yuchi wouldn't take the bait.

Seeing that he was about to be kicked out, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, word by word, "All military merits of the world belong to the King of Qin, and the nine ranks are assigned to the Eastern Palace."

Yuchi Jingde, whose anger had mostly subsided, was suddenly enraged again. He kicked the man against the wall with a whip kick, raised his whip, and shouted, "Damn it, who said that?"

Shen Ce gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and quickly said, "That's what the people from the Eastern Palace and the Qi Prince's residence said yesterday. General Yuchi, do you think this is true?"

"Nonsense! I and the King of Qin conquered most of the world, so naturally I should rule it." Yuchi Jingde's voice boomed like thunder.

Shen Ce pointed to the imperial edict on the ground and asked in confusion, "Then why did General Yuchi still go to help Prince Qi?"

Yuchi Jingde held his whip high, but did not bring it down. He had already realized that Shen Ce seemed to have other intentions, and asked calmly, "What is your plan?"

So, Shen Ce took out the yellow satin from his armor...