Chapter 61 Scion of a Military Lineage

Crossing the earthen mound, several familiar faces appeared before his eyes once more. The warhorse, seemingly sensing its master's surging emotions, broke into a mad, desperate gallop.

When they were still more than thirty paces apart, Gu Zhenhua vaulted off his warhorse and ran forward with large strides.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, we meet again!"

"We meet again, indeed!" Sun Cheng and the others laughed heartily, dismounting their horses one after another and rushing toward Gu Zhenhua.

It had been less than a month since they parted ways, yet to everyone, it felt as long as a century. The grown men embraced fiercely, slapping each other's shoulders, laughing and shouting, their lips split in wide grins while tears rolled down their cheeks—these were tears of sheer joy!

"Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, are you all unharmed?"

"What could possibly happen to us?" Sun Cheng said. "We spent the past few days recovering from our injuries, and no sooner had we nearly healed than we heard you had run off to Wu Sangui's side. It scared the wits out of your brothers!"

Lu Yong also chuckled, saying, "When we heard that Wu Sangui was about to surrender to the Da Shun regime, we were terrified out of our minds, even plotting how to charge into the Guan ning Army camp and rescue you."

"Second Brother, didn't I explain everything before? Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng could never see eye to eye. Didn't Zhou Kun relay that to you?"

Failing to head south as originally planned, Gu Zhenhua had conceived the idea of intervening in the Battle of Shanhaiguan. He had dispatched his personal guard, Zhou Kun, to secretly slip away from the Guanning Army and report to Sun Cheng and the others.

"Ah, he told us, true enough, but with all sorts of rumors flying everywhere those days, we couldn't be certain," Sun Cheng laughed. "Well, all is well now, Fourth Brother. Quickly tell your brothers what on earth has happened during this time. You've got so many soldiers following behind you—don't tell me you sweet-talked them away as well?"

"Big Brother, you certainly have a sharp eye," Gu Zhenhua replied. "These are brothers from the Guanning Army. They were unwilling to follow Wu Sangui in surrendering to the Later Jin Manchus, so they let your younger brother lead them out."

Wu Sangui? The Manchus? Xie Bin's eyes widened in sheer astonishment as he asked anxiously, "Lord Gu, has Wu Sangui really surrendered to the Manchus? Just what kind of a battle was fought at Shanhaiguan?"

"Let's find a place and talk about it slowly!"

Gu Zhenhua pulled the group over to the shade of a large tree. Once seated, he recounted the events of the past few days to Sun Cheng and the others from beginning to end.

Everyone listened intently, their eyes growing wider and wider with every detail. At the end, Lu Yong could not help but punch Gu Zhenhua lightly on the chest, laughing loudly, "Fourth Brother, you are simply too formidable! Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng, and even Dorgon of the Manchus—you've managed to outmaneuver them all. Tell me, is there anything in this world you wouldn't dare to do?"

Xue Biao also cried out in amazement, "Fourth Brother, this is even more thrilling than a storyteller's tale!"

Xie Bin stomped his foot and beat his chest in deep regret, saying, "My Lord, had I known it would be this exciting, I would have followed you as well. It's just such a pity; if only we could have killed that great traitor Wu Sangui, we would have rid the world of a major scourge."

Sun Cheng frowned, clearly not sharing their lighthearted mood. "Fourth Brother, with the Manchus entering the Pass, is this world truly going to turn out just as you predicted previously?"

Gu Zhenhua nodded slightly as well. "Big Brother, regardless of anything else, the Manchus have severely crippled the Da Shun army. Their next step will surely be to expand their gains, perhaps even driving their horses across the Central Plains. Our brothers should seriously consider our next move."

"No doubt about it, we will all listen to you!" Lu Yong said with a smile. "Fourth Brother is a master of foresight; those high and mighty figures could not escape your calculations, so you must already have a plan."

Gu Zhenhua smiled back. "We can discuss what to do shortly, but first, I must introduce a few new brothers to you all."

As they spoke, Li Jibo, Li Xu, Guo Yunlong, Yue Polu, and the others hurried over. Upon meeting, they introduced themselves to one another and exchanged warm greetings.

Sun Cheng had once served in the border troops himself, and after exchanging merely a couple of remarks with Li Xu, they hit it off instantly, their conversation growing increasingly animated, much like everyone else present.

Gu Zhenhua smiled and said, "Back in the capital, I shared life and death with Big Brother and the others; at Shanhaiguan, I fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Brother Li and his men, sharing life and death once more. From this day forward, we are all brothers, bound as flesh and blood despite different surnames!"

"Good!" Sun Cheng laughed first. "Though we come from different backgrounds, Heaven has brought us together, and that is fate. I say we might as well take an oath of brotherhood and kowtow to the ground together."

Everyone shouted their approval in unison. Suddenly, Lu Yong chuckled and said, "Big Brother, I think we need to add one more person to the ceremony!"

Sun Cheng snapped to his senses and laughed heartily, "Fourth Brother, I was so caught up in listening to your tale that I almost forgot—your brothers haven't been wasting time either. Let me introduce someone to you."

Gu Zhenhua had long noticed the smug look of triumph on Sun Cheng and the others' faces and had guessed that they might have secured some special gains. He immediately smiled and asked, "What kind of extraordinary hero is it? Let your younger brother witness him as well."

Xue Biao laughed, "Big Brother, tell Fourth Brother the details while I go fetch General Zhou." With that, Xue Biao turned and left, while Sun Cheng smilingly recounted their recent experiences to Gu Zhenhua.

After parting ways, Sun Cheng and his men had taken their subordinates to hide in a small mountain village, nursing their injuries on one hand while gathering intelligence on the other. After suffering a defeat, Li Yan remained unreconciled and dispatched numerous soldiers to scout for information. Sun Cheng and his group kept hiding out for half a month until everyone had largely recovered, and the Da Shun army's attention shifted entirely toward Wu Sangui.

Following Gu Zhenhua's instructions, Sun Cheng and his men secretly dispatched operatives to raid the manorial estates of the nobility, successfully seizing the gold and silver hidden there.

During the raid, however, they unexpectedly stumbled upon another band of outlaws. Unwilling to engage in a bloody turf war, Sun Cheng agreed to join forces with them and split the spoils equally.

During the operation, Sun Cheng noticed that this group bore little resemblance to ordinary bandits; their movements possessed strict discipline, closely mirroring those of regular troops. Realizing something unusual about Sun Cheng's men, the other group sat down for a talk after the raid concluded, and only then did Sun Cheng learn their true identity.

The leader was named Zhou Yingjie, nephew of Shanxi Regional Commander Zhou Yuji, and he had retreated from Ningwuguan Pass.

Along Li Zicheng's march to capture the capital, the most fierce and brutal battle had occurred at Ningwuguan Pass, where Regional Commander Zhou Yuji led his troops in a desperate, unyielding defense, inflicting heavy casualties on Li Zicheng's forces.

Zhou Yingjie recounted the details of the Battle of Ningwuguan to them: "My uncle defended an isolated city, repelling countless attacks by the rebel bandits until the corpses piled as high as the city walls. We fought the rebel bandits day and night. When our gunpowder ran out, my uncle feigned surrender, luring the rebel vanguard into the city before striking down four major rebel generals in rapid succession!"

"After holding out bitterly for half a month and slaying tens of thousands of rebel bandits, the imperial court refused to send reinforcements! In the end, the city walls were breached, and my uncle engaged the rebels in hand-to-hand combat, killing dozens of enemy soldiers. Struck by numerous arrows, his body was covered so densely that he looked just like a hedgehog!" At this point, Zhou Yingjie's eyes turned bloodshot, and his fists clenched so tightly they crackled.

"To allow my uncle to fight with an undivided mind, my grandmother set fire to the residence and committed suicide when the city fell. Our old family retainer also cast himself into the flames. My aunt led dozens of female soldiers, fighting with desperate fury until each of their arrows found its mark, and in the end, they were ruthlessly burned to death by the rebel bandits!"

Listening to Zhou Yingjie's account, Sun Cheng, Lu Yong, and the others nodded repeatedly. The entire Zhou family had died for the country—truly an embodiment of absolute loyalty and filial piety, worthy of everyone's deep reverence. Sun Cheng and his comrades couldn't help but feel a deep sense of admiration and pity for his talent.

"Young General Zhou, to tell you the truth, the rebel bandits broke into the capital, and we, alongside our sworn Fourth Brother, rescued the Crown Prince from the city!"

"What? Where is the Crown Prince?" Zhou Yingjie asked eagerly. "I must go pay my respects to His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince is not with us; he was taken away by Fourth Brother," Sun Cheng replied. He immediately gave a brief summary of their dealings with Gu Zhenhua.

Hearing this, Zhou Yingjie hurriedly bowed in salute, saying, "For you gentlemen to risk your lives to rescue the Crown Prince is truly admirable. My Zhou family has passed down a legacy of loyalty and filial piety. Because I failed to die in battle alongside my uncle, I have already brought shame upon my ancestors. I am willing to follow you gentlemen, hoping that one day we can escort the Crown Prince southward and restore the Great Ming dynasty."

Hearing that Zhou Yingjie was willing to join them, Sun Cheng and the others were overjoyed. Just like that, their total force swelled to over five hundred men.

With strength in numbers, they proceeded to raid all the manorial estates of the nobility, amassing a fortune exceeding two million taels of silver—a colossal sum by any standard.

Zhou Yingjie suggested recruiting more men. Although Li Zicheng had accepted numerous surrenders along his path of conquest, a great many border troops had simply turned into bandits. Following the Battle of Ningwuguan, quite a few of Zhou Yuji's subordinates had broken through the encirclement and scattered, most of them eventually reduced to banditry.

Originally, Zhou Yingjie had lacked both funds and grain, struggling just to sustain his few hundred men and daring not to expand his forces. But with the assistance of Sun Cheng and his men in acquiring vast amounts of gold, silver, and provisions, that problem vanished, and their force rapidly grew past two thousand men.

As it happened, around that time, the Da Shun army marched north toward Shanhaiguan to battle Wu Sangui. Sun Cheng and his men quietly followed with their troops. According to their initial plan, they had intended to rendezvous with and rescue Gu Zhenhua, but the Battle of Shanhaiguan concluded far faster than anticipated; by the time they arrived, the fighting was already over.

Their dispatched scouts discovered Gu Zhenhua's contingent, which bore no identifying banners, transported numerous carriages, and possessed far more warhorses than soldiers.

Upon receiving the scout's report, Sun Cheng was overjoyed, recognizing this signature style as quintessentially Gu Zhenhua's—much like how they had departed the capital. He immediately tracked them down, and now the brothers were reunited once more!

Just as they were talking, Xue Biao brought Zhou Yingjie over. Gu Zhenhua immediately rose to his feet, studying Zhou Yingjie closely. In his early twenties, the young man possessed striking, handsome features and a vigorous, tiger-like stride, proving himself a true scion of a military family.

"Young General Zhou, I am Gu Zhenhua. My brothers have already made introductions. I have long admired Regional Commander Zhou, especially for his victory at the Yangliu River, where he used a smaller force to defeat a larger one, slaying thousands of Manchu Tatars—a truly stirring and tragic feat. Now that the Manchus have once again crossed the Pass, their ambitions are undoubtedly even greater. We are resolved to resist the Manchus; would the young general be willing to join us?"

Zhou Yingjie had also been quietly sizing up Gu Zhenhua. Standing half a head taller than himself, Gu Zhenhua radiated a heroic aura from head to toe. Standing there, his imposing presence was not a whit inferior to that of his late uncle Zhou Yuji, clearly forged through countless bloody battles among thousands of horses—a martial spirit that compelled heartfelt admiration.

Especially after hearing Sun Cheng and the others recount the events in the capital over the past few days, learning that Gu Zhenhua had risked certain death to rescue the Crown Prince, Zhou Yingjie held him in absolute, unquestioning reverence.

Zhou Yingjie immediately bowed deeply in salute and said, "Lord Gu, my uncle spent his entire life fighting either the Manchus or the roving bandits; Yingjie dares not tarnish the reputation of the Zhou family. Whatever orders you have, sir, just give them."

Gu Zhenhua burst into hearty laughter. "Young General Zhou, there is indeed one matter right now. I just don't know if you are willing to take the oath of brotherhood with the brothers present here?"