CH 13

As soon as Ji You returned to the Red Robe Army, he went to the tent in the center to find General Xie to report the mission.

When he arrived in front of the tent, he tidied up his appearance nervously while waiting. He had been with General Xie for several years already as General Xie’s personal guard. But he still felt nervous every time he saw General Xie.

Ugh! Having said that, there shouldn’t be anyone who isn’t nervous when seeing General Xie, right? Just facing that all year round cold face, their hearts were chilled.

After a while, the person who passed him the message let him in. Ji You relaxed his mind. After thanking him, he strode into the tent.

Xie Yixiu sat behind the table. He was dealing with official duties with a pen and scribbling rapidly by himself.

Ji You cupped his hands in salute, “General, Mojiang* was fortunate enough to survive and come back after successfully completing the mission.” After finishing speaking, he also reported the process of the escort back to him. 

(Mojiang: this subordinate but used for military)

“En, Got it.” The pen in Xie Yixiu’s hand paused, then without raising his eyes, he just said in a cold voice.  

It is reasonable to say that Ji You should leave after reporting his own affairs, but he did not move his foot, both hands were rubbing each other restlessly.

Xie Yixiu wrote for a passage of time, then found that the person was still there. He raised his eyes to look at him and said coldly: “Is there something else?” 

Ji You nodded in embarrassment, “Mojiang still has something else to report to General.” He quietly measured the General Daren, and said boldly, “It’s about Duan Wang.”

Xie Yixiu frowned, what’s the matter with Duan Wang? He originally was impatient to listen to these trivial matters. However, looking at Ji You’s appearance that was at a loss of what to do, the words that wanted to refuse were swallowed back down. He changed his tone: “Speak.” 

Ji You was overjoyed and quickly told Ming Yu’s request at the time when he was bidding him farewell.

After Xie Yixiu listened, he put down the pen in his hand. “You mean, Duan Wang requested to dispatch two Red-Robed soldiers to assist him in training the imperial guards from the capital?”

“Yes.” Ji You nodded: “Previously, when we were on the way, Mojiang occasionally heard him mention about building a training ground. Moreover, the name of those trainings apparently seem to be very different.” 

He hadn’t even heard many of the things Ming Yu said at the beginning. He sneered when he first heard it. What can a prince who only knows how to eat, drink and have fun know about training troops? It was just drawing a gourd from the model. (copying things without understanding or any originality)

Many things that Ming Yu proposed, he thought it was funny at first. What station formation? What five-kilometer running? Such a simple thing can also be used for training? Shouldn’t real troop training be trained with swords, spear, blades and halberds used to chop, split, cut, and stab? Is it possible that you can kill the enemy by just standing there or by running and jumping? It’s too childish.

Hehe! It’s extremely ridiculous. Sure enough, it was just a way for the spoiled rich son to have fun, that’s all. However, when he calmed down and thought about it, he felt that it was not that simple, but he couldn’t tell the reason why.

This was also one of the reasons why he agreed to help Ming Yu to inquire. If their General agreed to send someone over, then he could figure out what was that strange feeling in his heart.

He said everything he had heard in full detail. In the end, he also said his own thoughts, then waited anxiously while looking at his General Daren. 

Xie Yixiu didn’t care about it at the beginning, but with his intuition of many years, he only needed to think a little about it, and he found the difference in this kind of training. Long-distance running every day can train people’s endurance and physical strength, and station formation can also train the soldiers’ obedience capability very well. The training of soldiers in the army is all about training soldiers to be familiar with following orders and being proficient in practicing weapons. He had no choice but to say that Ming Yu’s training was very comprehensive and suitable for personal combat capabilities.

“These are all what Duan Wang said?” Xie Yixiu’s cold face had a difficult to detect astonished look.

Ji You didn’t notice it. He nodded repeatedly and said, “It is what Duan Wang personally said.” Seeing that Xie Yixiu seemed to be thinking over it, he said: “Mojiang had escorted His Highness Duan Wang throughout the whole journey, and after staying in contact all those days, I’ve also found out that he wasn’t like the rumors at all.” 

Many people knew of the rumors about Duan Wang, and he found that this Royal Highness Duan Wang and the one in the rumors were two different people. He had been observing for a long time in secret, if it was a pretense, it would be impossible not to reveal the tiniest clues. Sometimes he could expose that true nature outside unconsciously.

He believed in his own vision, and what he saw was the real, unpretentious Duan Wang.

Xie Yixiu’s mind suddenly floated up to the boy he had a fateful encounter with at the time. A person with such insight was indeed not like an imperious and domineering good for nothing fool.

At that time, if he had met him once, maybe he would have had a genuine pleasant surprise. However, this thought only flashed through his mind. Xie Yixiu was not someone who would regret things. At that time, Duan Wang had come to meet him, he was really busy with his affairs, and on the other hand, he didn’t want to get too involved with him. If he missed it then he missed it, there was nothing to be regretful about.  

Xie Yixiu thought about it for a long time, then finally decided: “Okay, since that’s the case, then you and Cao Jian will go.” One matter shouldn’t bother two masters. Ji You stayed with Duan Wang for so long, so everything was relatively familiar. It was best for him to lead and train these imperial guards.

Upon hearing this, Ji You had a bitter face. It wasn’t easy to come back. He wanted to follow the general to go into battle. Now he had him go back to help Duan Wang to handle some training, how could he be willing?

“General, you saw me return with great difficulty. Could you give this mission to someone else? In any case, whoever goes will still be the same, why must it be me?” Ji You said pitifully.

Xie Yixiu’s cold gaze swept over, and Ji You froze immediately. He withered, grumbled and looked at Xie Yixiu with grievances.

He was also his personal guard, if it was someone else, who would dare to negotiate with him? “Since everyone going is the same, is there any difference? After you go, you will report the training process and results honestly back.” Xie Yixiu ordered.

His purpose was also to see if the training method proposed by Duan Wang can really surprise him.

Now that General Xie said so, Ji You also knew that the matter had already been decided, there was no room for change. He really had crushed his own foot while trying to lift the rock. If he had known earlier that it would be like this, he definitely would never have agreed to His Royal Highness Duan Wang to come back to talk about this matter.

Since it couldn’t be changed, he could only fight for his own benefit as much as possible.  Ji You knew this well, and reluctantly agreed. He put on a hesitant expression wanting to say something. 

Xie Yixiu frowned as he saw, “Speak if you have anything else to say!”

Ji You hurriedly said with a mischievous smile on his face: “General, Mojiang promises to complete the task, but after this mission, can the general let Mojiang be the vanguard in the next battle against the barbarians?”

It is necessary to talk about the conditions that can be mentioned. He had already accepted the compromise, so this kind of small request should still be mentioned. It’s great to be on a vanguard, as long as he can attack and slay a few barbarians, what could this small grievance be regarded as?

Xie Yixiu was helpless against this shameless Ji You. If he didn’t agree, he was afraid that he would be nagged until he agreed. This request was of no great matter, so he simply agreed.

Ji You happily said goodbye and left. Being able to exchange this for being a vanguard, if he said it out loud, he’s afraid it will lead fellow soldiers to be envious and jealous of him. Hahaha!

Not mentioning Ji You’s beautiful bubbling thoughts, Ming Yu’s carriage had already driven all the way out of the city.

At this moment, Xu Wen was sitting upright in the carriage. Opposite him was Ming Yu, who was leaning, reclining his body down.

Facing His Highness Duan Wang, Xu Wen felt very stressed and pressured. With the atmosphere, he did not dare to take a breath.

This carriage was very spacious and shiny, with thick mattresses underneath the body, so the people sitting on it felt very comfortable and soft. But Xu Wen, nevertheless, felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, wishing that the farther away he was, the better.

“Relax, don’t be nervous.” Ming Yu has said this many times, but it still had no effect. Seeing Xu Daren sitting upright, Ming Yu felt tired for him.

Xu Wen nodded, but sat even more upright.

Ming Yu helplessly placed his hand on his forehead. He could only bring up the main topic to talk about. Maybe talking like this would gradually relieve his nervousness. “Xu Daren doesn’t look like a person here, right? Where are you from? How long have you been here?” Ming Yu began to chit-chat casually about ordinary daily life. 

“Report to Wangye…..” Xu Wen cupped his hands and reported back, but was stopped by Ming Yu. 

“Both of us are just chitchatting, it’s not official business, so don’t be like this.”

“Yes!” Xu Wen replied, then cautiously and solemnly answered: “My Xu family’s ancestors were from Suzhou, and it was in my father’s generation that we moved here. So, Chen was born in Liangzhou.”  

(Chen: I, your lowly servant, speaking from low officials to prince or king or emperor)

“How many people are there in your family?”

“Chen’s parents are still alive, and I still have my wife and young children.” When talking about his family, Xu Wen’s tone was a little more cheerful, and his body was not as tense.

“Not bad. With this kind of harmony at home, you can work with peace of mind when you are away.” Ming Yu was very pleased and said with a smile: “You grew up here, and you know more about the commoners’ conditions, that’s why I arranged for you to come over. You can tell Ben Wang about the folk customs here and the surrounding geographical environment, these kinds of things.”

Talking to Duan Wang really felt like a spring breeze. Xu Wen’s nervousness gradually relaxed. “Chen will say all that Chen knows without any reservations.”

Ming Yu was satisfied. He lifted one leg and changed to a comfortable lying position. Leaning on the small case table with his hand supporting half of his head, he said with a smile: “That’s perfect, we will go out of the city to visit the villages today. Do you have any good suggestions?

When Xu Wen heard this, he was shocked. He only heard that Duan Wang’s carriage was going outside the city, and he didn’t dare to ask where they were going. He could only follow and get in the carriage. Before leaving the city, Duan Wang asked someone to tell him to get on the prince’s carriage. He thought that Wangye was looking for him because he had something important for him. Unexpectedly, as soon as he got into the carriage, Duan Wang told him to sit down and told him to talk and accompany him. This is why there was the chit-chat about normal family stuff just now. 

Now, Wangye’s intention was to go all around the place to see the villages in his territory? Although Wangye can inspect his territory at any time, this place was not like other places. Outside Liangzhou city was very dangerous, not to mention the barbarians had swept past to invade and loot just recently. Even if there were no barbarians, some treacherous bandits could be extremely evil.

“Wangye, I’m afraid it’s inappropriate to go.” Xu Wen persuaded.

Wangye’s precious gold body, how could he go to such a dangerous place in person? If something were to happen, even with ten thousand deaths, they wouldn’t escape the blame.

“What’s not appropriate?” Ming Yu smiled, but it was not a smile. Nevertheless, he also understood Xu Wen’s concerns. But he didn’t intend to change his course.