A step into the past - 寻秦记 - by Huang Yi

[eliza bennet]

but y does none of the women spurn him.>>?

Hahahahaaa this is the man's fantasy world, where he can have sex with as many women he likes and no one is going to oppose him or even be sad about it! All of them get along very well and help him to have even more sex! Also when he is jelaous with any of them they immediately apologise and promise to be only with him from now on. Hahahahaaaaaa, our hero is really having the good life.

But apart from all these I like that he is somehow in a conflict on who to be loyal to or whether to live for the moment or whether to help out to shape history as he knows it. Yes, he is having a good life (of sorts) but at the same time he is confused and tries to make sense of it all.

And as always, thank you so much Jean

[dustbiter]

There's truth in things being a nice fantasy for the reader to picture in, but I don't think it's that impossible considering the setting. Say if there'll be more written of jealousy and conflict between his women, it would be more distracting to the flow of main story.

His modern built, looks, attitude, speech and manners are attractive and he values and respects his women more than most other men in the time period he is in. And his harem isn't that big compared to others then.

[overjoy71]

Thanks Jean.
Man, the way XSL is going.. he will need to spend the whole lifetime to protect all the women he loves...

[KChill]

hmmm... is this the kind of life that all men dream about?

uh...is that a trick question?

[tweety365]

uh...is that a trick question?

i suppose your answer is yes, then?

[cloud_188]

i suppose your answer is yes, then?

I fink most guys will prefer to live in XSL world than going to heaven..... I know I am....

Thanks Jean for your effort and hard work.

[Jean]

to continue.....

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Book 3 Chap 1 – Starting the journey

Before they left the palace, the warriors and carriages gathered in the large field. The King of Zhao personally made prayers to Heaven and ancestors in a ceremony, praying for a safe journey, but of course Xiang Shaolong knows that what he’s praying for is that they can steal the ‘Secret Manual of Lu Gong’, and is not at all concerned about their life or death. Of course nothing has to be said about his daughter Zhao Qian’s happiness.

The King of Zhao barely managed to transfer a few more men to Xiang Shaolong so that his troops now total 500. In addition to Prince Shaoyuan’s 200 warriors, a total of 700 light cavalry now escort Lady Ya, Third Princess Zhao Xian, Lady Pingyuan and a group of concubines and maids who are traveling in 27 carriages, with 40 carts carrying provisions and miscellaneous items. They left with much fanfare out of Zhao’s capital Handan via the southern gate, following the official roads towards their first stop Zixian.

This is still within the boundaries of Zhao, so they need not worry about safety. The great general Li Mu also sent 500 riders to escort them to the outskirts of city walls 200li away from Zixian city. Therefore Xiang Shaolong was still releaxed, if he has to worry, he’ll do it after they pass the city walls and on their way to Wei’s border.

What surprised him was Lady Ya’s 8 maids, Xiaozhao, Xiaoyu and the rest were all dressed in armor and riding majestically on their horses, their reflexes swift and nimble.

And then he realized, in this warring states era, it’s natural that all males will learn martial arts, so it’s no exception for fit women as well.

He is not an expert at all in the way the troops are formed in this era, so while there’s nothing to do during the journey, he started asked Cheng Xu.

Cheng Xu replied honestly, “A war is a matter of life and death, as long as there’s an ounce of strength, that ounce of strength will be used to the end. In the battle of Changping, the state of Qin conscripted 15 year old boys into the army for battle. When the King of Yan attacked us the last time, his Majesty even conscripted under aged boys into the army. Luckily we could defeat Yan, if not… ai!”

Xiang Shaolong knows that Cheng Xu is Lady Ya’s man, so he was a lot less guarded when talking to him. So he conveniently asked about how the army is formed.

Cheng Xu replied without hiding anything, “What the term 3 armies mean generally refers to strong men, strong women and old and weak armies. The army of strong men is the main force in battle, strong women are usually in charge of engineering, manual labor and any work that requires assistant while old and weak army are the back ups and in charge of miscellaneous work like being in charge of rations.”

Xiang Shaolong was enlightened. When he watched movies in the past, all those battle scenes were magnificent and epic, filled with the romanticism of heroism. So it turns out that the truth is another matter altogether, that even women, children, the weak and old were all pushed to the battlefield to suffer and lose their lives.

Cheng Xu lowered his voice, “Although we have less men this time, but they’re all elite warriors, so obviously his Majesty is very concerned with this trip, which is very rare.”

Xiang Shaolong turned his head back for a look and saw Prince Shaoyuan’s 10 carriages and 200 warriors at the very end of the procession. He can’t help but sigh. He thought that if anything were to happen, Prince Shaoyuan will certainly not listen to his instructions. Just this ‘internal troublemaker’ is enough to give him a headache.

The 2 beauties Zhao Qian and Zhao Ya’s carriages all had theur curtains lowered, and he can’t see what’s happening inside. He wondered if they’re secretly looking at him?

Once he thought of that, he moved his horse next to Lady Ya’s carriage.

As expected Lady Ya immediately rolled up her curtains, revealing her pretty face and aside with a coquettish smile, “Does Imperial Protector want to come up for a seat?”

Xiang Shaolong said with a bitter smile, “Your subject is on a mission, how can I be so rude?”

Xiaozhao and the rest of the maids who were behind the carriage all covered their mouths and sniggered.

The 4 highly skilled and loyal warriors Lady Ya mentioned were split into 2 groups and protecting her on both sides, and on seeing Xiang Shaolong, all acknowledged him respectfully.

Lady Ya said, “The 4 of them are all orphans, so they follow my family name and are named Zhao Da, Zhao Er, Zhao Wu and Zhao Qi, if there’s anything you can just give them orders.”

Xiang Shaolong saw that the oldest among them, Zhao Da, is only a few years older than him, while Zhao Qi is about 16 years old at the most. But they all look like strong and muscular youths with some skills, so he said with a smile, “My instructions to them would be to stay by Third Princess and your side at all times, that is enough.” And secretly thought to himself that the state of Zhao may be the country with the most orphans and widows in this time.

Zhao Da and the rest all made their promise.

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[dustbiter]

I wouldn't want to be in XSL's place cos'

MAJOR SPOILER

click to show/hide spoilers

He's sterile. The exact reason is unclear, but I think it's because he doesn't belong in the time period he is in so he can't cause a major change in history like this. This caught me by surprise cos' I saw the drama's ending where he had children.

[Enishi]

You wouldn't want to believe everything from the drama. The ending is a bit different than the drama. TVB changed a lot stuffs which ruined the story. I watched the drama before I read the novel and thought the drama was good but I was wrong. The novel is totally different and 100x better.

[overjoy71]

Thanks jean.. so the journey begins...

[Jean]

the journey has just started and already trouble is brewing....

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That day they traveled for more than 30li, luckily the scenery was picturesque along the way so Xiang Shaolong treated it as an outing, chatting with Lady Ya and the maids while he’s free so he don’t find it lonesome at all.

Zhao Qian and her 2 personal maids were hiding in their carriage and did not reveal themselves.

Although Xiang Shaolong very much wanted to see her, he must control this impulse. No matter what she is of an esteemed status now and cannot talk with men so easily. Besides he knows that she’s going to marry to the state of Wei, so it’s better not to be tangled with her.

At dusk, the entourage pitched tents to rest. There were more than 200 tents set up on the field next to a small stream.

In Xiang Shaolong’s Commander’s tent, Xiang Shaolong, Cheng Xu and the assistant commander Li Mu sent, Ding Shou, as well as 2 other military leaders Zi Ji and Ren Zhen. The 5 of them sat around a table and enjoyed dinner.

For warriors like them, the topics talked about are naturally about war and strategy. Right now the very experienced general Ding Shou was talking about the changes in war and the situation like an expert.

Ding Shou said, “The wars last time were a lot simpler, wining or losing depends only on one direct clash, and the results will be known in just a few days. Even if it’s a siege testing stamina, it will last only 20 to 30 days. King Chu Zhuang’s besiegement of Song lasted 9 months, and that is an extremely rare example. Not like the wars now, each can last 3 to 5 years, the suffering endured can be endlessly related.”

Xiang Shaolong was curious and asked, “Why is the change so drastic?”

Cheng Xu interrupted, “Your honor has just recently joined the army, naturally you do not know the circumstances behind it. This can be explained several ways. Firstly, the population has increased thus the army has become stronger as well. The larger states in the past like Jin and Chu, the army is only about 4000 strong, they can’t even find 10,000 people. But now if you include the female soldiers, the old and weak, you can have an army of hundred thousands. Secondly is the defense of a country…”

The commander Zi Ji added, “Imperial Protector Cheng is correct, in the past the defense of a country only centers around its capital, it’s only later that they slowly build up the nearby stockades into cities. But the rest of the place, the enemy forces can still pass through at will, it’s like stateless land.”

Ren Zhen chipped in, “Now it’s a different thing altogether, the different states are now erecting their own city walls and castles. If you want to conquer another state, you’ll have to attack the cities one by one, and there are other problems as well. So once a war is mentioned, everyone is troubled.”

Cheng Xu continued, “The aims of battles in the past were to obtain goods and force the enemy to concede. But now the main task is to occupy the land and kill the enemy. The losers will perish with the thought of hatred and the loss of a country. Therefore everyone will fight the enemy to the death. Wars are really getting more and more difficult and violent.”

Ding Shou sighed, “Also the large scale skirmishes for foot soldiers and cavalry and besiegement attacks have replaced the old strategy of using carriages as the main force of attack, which was neater and looks nicer as well. The art of war is becoming more complicated, and as the saying goes, a soldier will turn to every trick available, so now there’s ambushes, luring the enemies, surrounding them, attacking them in the middle, waiting games etc. In order to defeat the enemy and ensure a victory, every possible idea has been used.”

Cheng Xu said with a laugh, “In those days both sides will first choose a time and location and make an appointment. On the day of battle they will both use war carriages as the main force, foot soldiers as support troops and position themselves nicely before beating the drums to signal an attack. Everything is simple and quick. But now there’s no such thing. It’s best if your enemy doesn’t even know that you’re right outside their gates so that they will be caught unawares.” He continued with a big sigh, “Fighting for territory and killing people in the fields, fighting for cities and killing people in the cities.”

Ding Shou sighed as well, “In the past we’d just temporarily conscripted the farmers to be soldiers, but now warfare is getting more and more professional, not only are there full time soldiers, even the training is stricter as well.”

Xiang Shaolong could feel their fear and how fed up they are with wars. He thought to himself that if soldiers like them feel this way, all the more Lady Ya and Master Wu would feel as such too. Especially after the battle of Changping, the state of Zhao was in a dangerous position and everyone only looked out for themselves. It seems that there really is not much time left for Zhao, so how can he escape with all the ladies to a safe place in time so that they will not end up casualties of the impending doom.

Just as he was deep in thought, noises can be heard from outside the tent.

Xiang Shaolong and the rest were surprised and they all rushed out.

They saw Lady Ya’s camp area were full of soldiers, and sounds of argument could be heard.

A soldier rushed over at this time and huffed, “Something bad happened, Prince Shaoyuan’s man Xu Hai killed someone.”

Xiang Shaolong and Cheng Wei exchanged a glance, and they could all tell it’s a way Prince Shaoyuan is belittling them.

The one killed is Lady Ya’s family warrior Zhao Er.

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[tweety365]

i say XSL should sneak into that prince's tent and slit his throat at night. trouble gone. of course he should wait until they are out of zhao first . XSL has too many women to worry about that it's gonna be a real headache getting them out of zhao. it's good to travel light in times of war

update soon, jean!

[eliza bennet]

Thank you so much Jean!

The styles of war are really interesting. I'm now reading The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and this nicely complement it.

There would be trouble sooner or later but I wasn't expecting it this early. I think our hero should be cautious and listen to what Lady Ya has to say about the incident.

[overjoy71]

Like I said, Lady Ya is an invaluable to XSL as she is probably the only one who is not just a pretty face but is intelligence with political knowledge. I will XSL is going to kick that prince's butt..

Thanks Jean

[Jean]

to continue....

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It turned out that while Xiang Shaolong and the rest were in the tent dining and chatting, Prince Shaoyuan took the opportunity to lead the 3 of his most formidable family warriors Xu Hai, Pu Bu and Liu Chao as well as 10 odd fighters to barge their way into Lady Ya’s private tent. Obviously he’s trying to resume their old relationship and at the same time cause Xiang Shaolong a loss of face.

The guards naturally dared not stop him, until they reached the restricted area of Lady Ya’s private camp, separated by a curtain, and which is where Zhao Da and the rest stopped them. Before they had a chance to inform Lady Ya of the new arrivals, Prince Shaoyuan who was deliberately looking for trouble has already ordered his men to attack the 4 of them. They were caught unawares and were greatly outnumbered, the 4 of them were all injured. Zhao Er’s throat was slashed by Xu Hai and died on the spot.

The guards behind the curtain felt that something was wrong and they all charged out and surrounded Prince Shaoyuan and his men, thus blocking their way.

Prince Shaoyuan’s family warriors heard about the news and were rushing to give aid but the imperial soldiers under Xiang Shaolong’s command stopped them. For a moment everyone was in a deadlock.

By the time Xiang Shaolong, Cheng Xu, Ding Shou and the rest rushed over, Lady Ya was surrounded by Xiaozhao and the rest of the maids, the blood stained Zhao Da, Zhao Wu and Zhao Qi. Her pretty face was pale with fury and she was staring at Prince Shaoyuan with hatred.

But Prince Shaoyuan and his men stood around with a look that said there’s nothing anyone can do to them. When he saw Xiang Shaolong arriving, he ignored him and spoke to Ding Shou instead, “What is all this, what’s the big deal about me killing a rude person who offended someone of a higher rank than him. Assistant Commander Ding, you’d better chase all these people away.”

Ding Shou was furious but he understood the way of the political world and he did not try to undertake the problem. He said somberly, “Imperial Protector Xiang is in charge of everything here, I am only in charge of everyone’s safety along the journey.”

Lady Ya moved next to Xiang Shaolong and said quietly, “Kill Xu Hai for me, I’ll bear all consequences.” Zhao Da and the rest were close like brothers with Zhao Er, they knelt down and said, “Would Imperial Protector Xiang please decide for us.”

Prince Shaoyuan sniggered coldly and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking insolently at Xiang Shaolong, deliberately making him look bad.

By now the curtain has been pushed to the ground, the imperial soldiers surrounding them saw how disrespectful Prince Shaoyuan was towards Xiang Shaolong and they felt the same belittlement from him as well. They all roared, the situation was tense and anything could have triggered it off.

Xiang Shaolong raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. His heart filled with old hatred and new enmity, he really felt like killing Prince Shaoyuan right now but of course he cannot do that.

Even if he ignores the fact that he’s supposed to protect Prince Shaoyuan until the state of Wei, he has to consider that the second in command in Wei is Prince Shaoyuan’s uncle, so how can he ever get to Wei if he kills him. Prince Shaoyuan is certain of this point that’s why he deliberately tried to belittle Xiang Shaolong on the very first day of their journey.

But if he were to let this past and swallow the insult, no one will ever respect him in future.

This is an era where only heroes and the strong are respected. Maybe even Lady Ya would change her opinion of him.

Everyone’s eyes were centered on him.

Xiang Shaolong’s gaze landed on Zhao Er’s body, which has been moved to the side and coldly uttered, “Xu Hai!”

The tall, thin and sturdy Xu Hai who looks fierce and icy was about to respond when Prince Shaoyuan stopped him, “I gave the orders, if you want you can come after me!”

Xiang Shaolong’s eyes were piercing as he looking as Prince Shaoyuan and said, “If Xu Hai can block 3 of my sword attacks without dying, then this thing shall came to an end!”

Everyone turned quiet.

Some even thought that Xiang Shaolong is just trying to do a slip shod job.

Although Xiang Shaolong’s swordplay is excellent, but to kill an expert like Xu Hai within 3 strokes, is something unimaginable.

Naturally Prince Shaoyuan does not believe that 3 sword attacks would be able to kill Xu Hai and he was secretly ecstatic, thinking that if his 3 attacks came to naught, his reputation will be in tatters. However, his expression remained unperturbed and said, “If Imperial Protector is injured by Xu Hai, then you cannot blame anyone.”

Xiang Shaolong looked heavenward and laughed loud and long and with a ‘clang’, drew the precious Rainbow Sword which Zhao Mu gave him, pointed it at Xu Hai and said, “Come!”

Men from both sides retreated to form an empty area.

Xu Hai sniggered and pulled out his sword as well.

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[Tom]

nooo!! just when it was about to get exciting!

thanks for the update, jean

[overjoy71]

ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! Jean.. you did it again.. just when it is getting exciting.. Ok OK, I'll be back for the next update.. Thank you!

[ChronoReverse]

I hope XSL destroys him with ONE stroke grrrr...

[Icefrog]

thanks jean.... i have my share of the update... i'm willing to wait

[CC]

Too bad he said 'sword' strokes. Or he can just throw his special force nails.