Duan Xinghui was also aware that there were some soldiers among them with impure motives. However, he felt that was only natural for this bunch of men to start getting lusty with a woman among them.
He had come over here because he had been worried about her, yet she had rudely accused him of expecting something to happen to her.
Duan Xinghui was stifled with anger. He was just worrying about her, why was she looking at him with such a wary gaze?
Princess Jiahui’s attitude towards him had changed so fast. It made the time when she liked him seem almost like a dream.
Having been embarrassed in this exchange, Duan Xinghui turned his horse around and headed back to Grand Marshal Shen Feng’s side.
The army continued advancing. Once the period got long, Ning Shu found it a little trying to keep going. It was near ten days into the march and during this time her thighs had already been rubbed raw from the friction. When she finally couldn’t endure it anymore, she sewed some soft cushions for herself and tied them onto her legs to relieve the pain.
Meanwhile, some of the soldiers seemed to be getting increasingly daring as they probed for Ning Shu’s bottom line. Some people had an even more preposterous idea, which was to treat Princess Jiahui as a comfort woman.
When Ning Shu found out, she just gave a cold laugh. Then she proceeded to thrash the faces of everyone who approached her tent regardless of who it was.
Seeming to finally realize how violent Ning Shu was, most of the soldiers no longer dared to stroll around in front of her tent. There was a chance of getting thrashed even if they were just passing by.
Hence, the area around Ning Shu’s tent practically became a dead zone. Ning Shu expressed that she was very happy with this. These people were all scum! They only knew fear if you beat it into them.
As the march continued, the scenery around them became increasing desolate. There were large expanses of fields but no farmers to cultivate them. Even fields that had crops had been trampled beyond recognition.
The Huns and Tartars treated the citizens living on the border of Great Yong as fat sheep. They came to harvest them whenever their fur got nice and long. Even in winter when there were no grains, they still came to plunder.
Ning Shu was enraged. The Huns and Tartars were tall and strong, yet all they knew was to rob rather than use their natural endowments to work hard.
Shen Feng’s expression was also pained as he stroked his slightly white beard and looked around. Sighing, he said, “Life truly isn’t easy for the citizens that live at the border.”
Shen Feng had yet to see how terrible life truly was for the citizens that had been captured by the Tartars. He had yet to see how malnourished and sickly those poor citizens quickly became as they toiled in the Tartars’ place. Meanwhile, those Tartars would just drink alcohol and whip those slaves as a pasttime.
Rage surged in Ning Shu’s heart and she felt the urge to charge right over to the Huns and fight them.
The closer they got to the border, the heavier the soldiers’ hearts became. The villages here were all so desolate, with barely anyone around. In addition, the closer they got to the border, the more severe the desertification became.
Shen Feng found a remote village to set up camp in. There were only old and sickly people along with some poverty-stricken children in this village. They barely had a few scraps of cotton as clothing which simply wasn’t enough to keep them warm at all. Hence, their lips were slightly purple from cold.
When the villagers saw the troops, fear and despair emerged on their faces. Even though these troops didn’t wear the attire of the Huns, the villagers were still scared.
Soldiers tended to seize ‘provisions’ as they passed through villages, so it was no wonder these citizens would be so distressed.
Ning Shu felt bad for them and said to Shen Feng, “Marshal, I think it’s best if we don’t enter the village. We shouldn’t disturb the citizens.”
Shen Feng took in the way these people were trembling with fear, then gave the order to set up camp at a location near the village. In addition, he gave an order prohibiting the soldiers from disturbing the citizens.