Chapter 5.26 – He’s actually so quick (2)

Editor: DarkNaivety

After disembarking, Xiang Han felt a little sore and his legs buckled. Xu Yan Ze was there to support him but was mercilessly shoved aside. He could only scratch his nose.

By now, the cart carrying the supplies had also arrived. Xiang Han hobbled over with a darkened expression. “Hurry up and unload everything so we can go back.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Xu Yan Ze was flabbergasted and finally realised that he had really angered his wife. He quickly tried to appease him, “It’s almost dark. It’s not safe to return and after delivering such a large quantity of provisions, everyone must be tired. Why don’t you rest for a few days before…”

Xiang Han ignored him and turned around to instruct them. “Move faster, everyone. We need to set up the tents before nightfall. We’ll rest for a night before leaving tomorrow morning.”

Xu Yan Ze touched his nose and no longer dared to speak.

Jin Er muttered to Jin Da, “This is why everyone says a man cannot marry in. Look at Brother-in-law, no matter how great of a general he is, isn’t he just like a little wife in front of Third Brother?”

Jin Da was stunned. “Are you stupid? Between them, isn’t it obvious Third Brother is on the bottom?”

“How can that be?” Jin Er tried to explain, “After they did that, Brother-in-law’s body was unwell and even asked me for medicine. It’s obvious he’s on the bottom.”

“How can it not be?” Jin Da also explained, “Look at the way Third Brother dismounted the horse. Obviously… they’d just done it. But Brother Yan looked normal.”

Hearing this, Jin Er immediately grew uncertain. “That seems a little impossible. How can they finish so quickly?”

Jin Da, “Oh, it seems a little too quick.”

Neither of them could be convinced and after their argument grew heated, they decided to eavesdrop by the wall to prove their conjecture.

But when they arrived outside of Xu Yan Ze’s camp that night, they felt a little guilty.

Jin Da asked, “Are you sure this is ok? It’d be too shameful if we were caught by the patrol.”

Jin Da reassured him. “Don’t worry, I’m familiar with this camp.”

Inside the tent, Xu Yan Ze had finally appeased Xiang Han and pushed him down. Just as they were about to remove their garments, Xiang Han suddenly stopped him. “Do you hear something?”

“It’s probably the wind. The wind in this area is stronger.” Xu Yan Ze took back his hand and continued.

Xiang Han slapped the back of his hand. “Really, I hear something. Someone is speaking.”

Xu Yan Ze also heard it and could only give in. He rearranged his uniform. “Don’t move from here. I’ll go take a look.”

Leaving the tent, Xu Yan Ze hadn’t even gone far before seeing Jin Da and Jin Er sneakily lying in the grass and whispering, “Why’s there no sound?”

“Don’t tell me Third Brother is really so quick? They’ve already finished?”

“Is that possible?”

“What are you two doing here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?” Xu Yan Ze suddenly appeared and kicked them with a dark expression.

With a cry of surprise, the two began to feel guilty upon being caught.

Jin Er grew frantic as he tried to spin an excuse. “I… I am on patrol tonight.”

Jin Da heard this and hurriedly joined in, “I followed him to learn.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes!” Their heads bobbed back and forth.

Xu Yan Ze laughed but his voice was cold. “I see. Since you two love patrolling, you needn’t rest tonight. You two can patrol till daybreak.”

“Ah?” Jin Er looked as if you’d just killed his mother.

Jin Da was also dumbstruck. After coming back to his senses, he hurriedly tried to worm his way out. “Brother Yan, I’m not your subordinate. I only came to learn…”

Xu Yan Ze laughed lightly, “I know. That’s why Eldest Brother can take your time to look around and learn.”

“Wait!”

Jin Da wanted to refuse but Xu Yan Ze didn’t want to listen. He immediately turned towards the patrol team that had hurried over and said, “These two will follow you on patrol tonight. Remember to let the others know when you’re changing shifts. Those two are not allowed to rest until morning.”

“No, Brother Yan, I…” Jin Dan wanted to give a final struggle but once he turned around, he saw Jin Er had already succumbed and joined the patrol team. He was speechless.

“Why are you so obedient?” After being stuffed into the team by the tough and stocky soldiers, he asked Jin Er resentfully.

“A soldier must obey commands.” Jin Er stuck out his chest and repeated the words Xu Yan Ze loved to say. But soon, he whispered once he was sure others could not hear. “This is called adapting to circumstances. If we don’t obey, we’ll definitely be worse off than now. It’s better to give in.”

Jin Da, “…” He suddenly rejoiced for not enlisting.

When Xu Yan Ze returned to the tent, his face was still dark.

Xiang Han rolled the blanket up and asked, “Was it Eldest Brother and Second Brother?”

Hearing this, Xu Yan Ze’s mood turned gloomier. “Those two are really mature. They actually came to eavesdrop.”

Xiang Han’s lips quirked. “Why would you be afraid of them hearing if we haven’t done anything?”

Xu Yan Ze didn’t want to continue this topic. He had been interrupted earlier, and now had a belly-full of anger.

But now couldn’t be compared to earlier. Just as he pushed Xiang Han down, Xiang Han shoved him aside with a frown. “What if they come back?”

“I’ve already sent them to the patrol team.” Xu Yan Ze held him once more and began pulling away the covers.

Xiang Han held onto the covers tightly. “It’s easy to hear from the outside. The patrol will pass us by later.”

Xu Yan Ze, “But I can’t hold it in…”

“Use your hands, then. Be quiet.” Xiang Han suggested seriously. Then, he bundled himself in the covers and went to sleep.

Xu Yan Ze was dumbstruck. Seeing that Xiang Han didn’t want to bother with him any longer, he could only direct his hatred elsewhere: If it weren’t for Jin Da and Jin Er, he would now be… sigh.

The next day, Xu Yan Ze took his men to the training grounds early in the morning. Jin Er was astonished and depressed. It had been a night, why had his Brother-in-law not quelled his anger.

After getting up, Xiang Han found that Jin Da was sleeping like a pig and could only delay their departure time.

Guessing that they have not left, Xu Yan Ze came back to try to convince him. “Since you rarely come, why don’t you stay for a couple more days? We have a horse track and I can teach you horseback riding.”

Xiang Han snorted and silently thought to himself: Do I need you to teach me? I’d already learned it in the last world.

“Let’s go to the horse track.” He raised his chin arrogantly.

Xu Yan Ze took him to the track. He had wanted to help Xiang Han pick a smaller and tamer horse, but Xiang Han selected a red steed for himself. With a graceful swing, he mounted the horse and galloped around the track before stopping in front of Xu Yan Ze. After dismounting, he deliberately looked down on Xu Yan Ze, akin to a proud peacock.

Xu Yan Ze only felt he was more dazzling, wishing he could drag the person into his arms and ravage him.

When they returned to the camo, Jin Da was finally awake and watching the soldiers tidy up the weapons nonchalantly. Seeing Xiang Han returned, he quickly stood up. “Third Brother, I feel that I don’t have much interest towards accounting or managing the stocks.”

“This…” Hearing this, Xiang Han was at a loss.

At this time, one of the soldiers discovered that a crossbow was faulty. This was something rarely seen, so the soldier hurriedly went to report it. The officer in charge of this took a look and said, “It can’t be fixed.”

Jin Da had been watching them for some time and said, “Let me look at it.”

Xiang Han glanced at Xu Yan Ze and the two exchanged a look. Half an hour later, Jin Da had managed to fix the broken crossbow.

“Eldest Brother? How did you know how to fix it?”

Jin Da was embarrassed. “I like to eat roast birds but mother and father did not allow me to. I had to craft one on my own.”

“You can actually do that?” Xiang Han was surprised.

“In the east of the city, there’s a crippled carpenter who once served in the army. I spent a few days learning from him.”

“That’s also amazing.” Xiang Han pondered before speaking, “Eldest Brother, I know what suits you.”

Before long, Xu Yan Ze’s army suddenly had an additional weapons research department with Jin Da at the core of the team.

When returning to Jin Zhou, Xiang Han patted Xu Yan Ze’s shoulders. “I’m leaving my two dumb brothers to you. After I return, I plan to take the caravans out and search for some iron. It’ll probably take a few months before I return.”

Xu Yan Ze knew he couldn’t stop him. He sighed and touched his head, “Bring more men with you and take care on the road.”

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.” Even if he couldn’t, didn’t he still have his system?

Xiang Han was full of confidence. When he was sure no one was looking, he suddenly kissed Xu Yan Ze’s cheeks and withdrew just as swiftly. He laughed, “I’m leaving.”

Xu Yan Ze was frozen on the spot. By the time he came out of his daze, Xiang Han had already whipped the horse and was far away.

Back in the capital, the emperor didn’t say anything after learning that Xu Yan Ze had recruited a bunch of refugees and bandits to train. He also felt that Xu Yan Ze had too little men, more would be better to suppress Xue Qing Lin. Moreover, the refugees and bandits had always made the civilians uneasy. This time, Xu Yan Ze had helped him solve a hidden danger.

However, the emperor was silent for a long time when he heard that Xu Yan Ze returned the troops to Zhang Yong.

The third prince was anxious. “Emperor Father, Yan Xiao Ze is simply not putting you in his eyes. How could he trade those troops privately like selling a horse? He’s even colluding with Zhang Yong for personal interest.”

Unexpectedly, the emperor said, “Colluding for personal interest? This is simply a case of acting first and reporting later.”

The Third Prince didn’t understand, so the emperor explained, “Anyone can see that the imperial army is the emperor’s trusted aide. If Yan Xiao Ze really wanted to conceal this matter, he can definitely do things more secretly or even send the imperial army away. But he didn’t do so and this can be considered a way of declaring his stance.”

Hesitating for a moment, the third prince continued, “But he’s like a noble steed that cannot be tamed. I’m afraid he’d become another Xue Qing Lin.”

“That’s something for the future. We’d let them fight for now.” The emperor waved his hand and diverted the topic. “How have you been handling the matter of the Turkic Prince?”

Hearing this, the third prince laughed confidently. “Emperor Father doesn’t need to worry. I’ve already ordered for him to be sent back in secrecy.”

Once Xue Qing Lin learnt that the Turkic Prince had returned, he shattered a whole case of glasses. Then, when he knew that the 30,000 ‘soldiers’ Xu Yan Ze had were merely refugees, bandits, and that he had recently recruited another 20,000 men, he directly smashed the teapot.

“Didn’t I tell you to investigate earlier? Why have you only reported back now?” Xue Qing Lin fumed.

His subordinate trembled in fear. “This servant reported it once. But the regional commander…”

“Are you saying this is all my fault?”

“This servant doesn’t dare.”

“Scram!”

After driving him away, Xue Qing Lin sat by the table with heavy breaths. He wanted a cup of tea to moisten his throat but saw the fragmented remains of the cup instead and roared, “Where the hell did everyone die at?”

In a timely manner, Lady Mei appeared with tea to soothe his mind. After a round of gentle persuasion, he was calmed.

The Turks were still a mess and the prince had merely returned. He had yet to become the emperor. Xue Qing Lin made a decision to deal a heavy hand and solve this problem from the root. For the sake of preserving his power, he had to let Xu Yan Ze and Zhang Yong go to the frontlines.

After Xue Qing Lin’s military strategist learnt of this matter, he rushed back under orders to dissuade him. However, after drinking Lady Mei’s calming tea, he was sleeping soundly and unable to meet him.

T/n: Happy new year!! Apologies,,, In case some people saw this chapter previously QAQ I scheduled it for 1 Jan 2021 but forgot to change the year, so it actually came out as posted on 2020…