The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 1648 - 796 Three Fierce Generals (First Update)

Hu Yang was perplexed: "Wait, did you not understand? The Han family’s heir has left! Now this Hei Feng Camp is under Master Xiao’s jurisdiction! Master Xiao appreciates you and promoted you on his first day in office! Don’t be ungrateful, I’m telling you!"

Wei Renchong said, "I said, I’m not going."

"Hey! You!" Hu Yang put his hands on his hips, about to point at Wei Renchong when suddenly a soldier strode up from behind him, "Old Chong! Is my armor fixed?"

Wei Renchong didn’t even lift his eyelids, just pointed to the wall on the left rear side: "It’s done. It’s on the third shelf over there, go get it yourself."

The soldier pushed Hu Yang aside.

Hu Yang was nominally a strategist, but in reality, he had no status in the military camp. The Han family’s previous commanders never used strategists; they had their own advisers.

To put it bluntly, he was just a figurehead, blending into the ranks to collect military pay.

Hu Yang stumbled, steadying himself against the wall.

He glared fiercely at the soldier, gritting his teeth and muttering under his breath: "You little punk, can’t you watch where you’re going?"

The soldier took his armor and, without glancing at Hu Yang or paying any attention to Wei Renchong, swaggered away.

Hu Yang stood at the entrance of the Iron Shop for only a moment before feeling like the high temperature would melt him. He looked at Wei Renchong sitting by the furnace and couldn’t understand how this guy could bear it.

Hu Yang wiped his sweat off with his sleeve, speaking earnestly: "Wei Renchong, back in the day, you were Xuanyuan Family’s trusted person. You should know in your heart that whether it is the Han Family or any other aristocratic family, you would not have the chance to be valued. You just got lucky, meeting our Master Xiao. Master Xiao is willing to risk offending all the families and even the Emperor to elevate an old subordinate of the Xuanyuan Family. Don’t you feel anything in your heart?"

Wei Renchong continued repairing the armor on his leg: "No."

Hu Yang: "..."

Hu Yang, having suffered a snub from Wei Renchong, immediately turned and bitterly complained to Gu Jiao about Wei Renchong.

"That guy, he’s too ungrateful!"

"I will take a look," Gu Jiao said.

As the commander, she had her own barracks, and within the barracks were the commander’s guards, similar to the orderlies from the past life.

Gu Jiao instructed him to take Hei Feng Wang and Ma Wang to the training ground for training, then set off with Hu Yang to the Iron Shop in the camp.

Hu Yang had intended to lead the way, but, unexpectedly, Gu Jiao walked faster than him.

"Master! Master! Ma..." Hu Yang watched as Gu Jiao turned right to the Iron Shop with dead accuracy, scratching his head, "Master, you know the way? Have you been here before? Oh, right, you came here for the selection... wait, no, the selection was in the front, this is the reserve camp... forget it, whatever!"

When Gu Jiao saw Wei Renchong, he was no longer repairing armor but forging iron with a hammer.

Gu Jiao’s gaze fell upon him.

The weather was too hot, and he was shirtless. Sweat ran down his bronze-colored skin like rain. Despite not participating in training for many years, forging iron was also physical labor. His muscles were strong and well-developed.

Gu Jiao noticed that he wore a leather glove on his right hand.

It should be to cover the broken finger.

Hu Yang chased up, sweating profusely, bending over with his hands on his thighs, panting heavily: "Wei... Wei... Renchong... Master Xiao... Master Xiao came to see you personally... aren’t you going to... greet Master Xiao..."

Wei Renchong had no interest in the new commander, continuing to ignore her while hammering the iron: "Repaired weapons go to the left, repaired armor to the right."

Gu Jiao glanced at the piles of broken armor in the courtyard and asked: "No need to register?"

"No need." Wei Renchong smashed down another hammer, sending a shower of sparks flying from the heated weapon.

Gu Jiao asked: "You remember whose armor and weapons all these are?"

Wei Renchong finally became annoyed, frowning as he looked at Gu Jiao: "Are you here to repair or not? If not, don’t block my light——"

He left the last word half-said.

His eyes couldn’t hide his surprise, clearly not expecting the supposedly injured new commander to be so young.

Gu Jiao’s official age was nineteen, but she was actually not even seventeen. Didn’t she just look like a tender young boy?

However, the boy exuded an upright aura, with a calm and composed demeanor, and eyes that carried a maturity and decisiveness beyond his years.

"Hey! How can you talk like that?" Hu Yang, no longer out of breath, pointed at Wei Renchong, "Zhang Hu was just punished for insubordination! Do you want to end up like Zhang Hu as well?"

Wei Renchong lowered his head, continuing to hammer the iron: "I don’t care."

"Hey—— you——" Hu Yang was infuriated by him.

Gu Jiao reacted quite calmly instead; she glanced at Wei Renchong and said: "Then I’ll come back tomorrow to ask you."

With that, she put her hands behind her back and turned to leave.

Wei Renchong watched her straight back, saying lightly: "It’s a waste of effort; no matter how many times you ask, it will be the same. I’m just a blacksmith."

Gu Jiao did not respond, nor did she stop walking, and left with Hu Yang.

Hu Shi sighed and said, "My lord, please don’t be angry. Wei Renchong just has this bad temper. When the Han Family tried to win him over back then, he was unappreciative, otherwise, why would he have been transferred to the reserve camp as a blacksmith?"

"Hmm." Gu Jiao nodded, seemingly taking his advice. She then asked, "You said before that Li Shen and Zhao Dengfeng are no longer in the military camp. When did they leave? Where are they now?"

Hu Shi recalled for a moment, pondering his words carefully, "They... left about three or four years ago. Li Shen left first, and Zhao Dengfeng left two months later... They never got along well before. As for where they are now... My lord, please rest in the barracks for a while. I’ll go to the training ground and inquire."

"Alright." Gu Jiao returned to her barracks.

The barracks were quite large, divided into two rooms by a screen; the outer room was the conference hall, and the inner one was her bedroom.

The luxurious furnishings in the barracks had been moved out, but the opulence of the Han Family in the camp could still be gleaned from the tent’s ceiling and walls.

The Xuanyuan Family had always been frugal in their ways. Though they had many estates and shops under their name, the money earned was mostly used to support the military camp.

Gu Jiao sat in the spacious barracks, inexplicably feeling a familiar sense of mission in her heart.

—Could it be that I have adapted to Jing Yinyin’s identity so quickly?

"My lord! My lord! I’ve found out!" Hu Shi, panting heavily, entered the barracks, respectfully saluted, and said, "Li Shen... Li Shen and Zhao Dengfeng... are both in a town outside Shengdu."

Gu Jiao asked, "How far?"

Hu Shi wiped the hot sweat from his forehead and replied, "It’s not too far. If we take a shortcut, we can get there in just over two hours."

On the first day on duty, still unfamiliar with the tasks, there wasn’t much to do... Gu Jiao said, "You come with me."

So decisive?

Hu Shi was stunned for a moment before reacting, "Yes, I’ll go prepare the carriage." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Gu Jiao stood up, grabbed the Red-Tasseled Spear from the rack, and strapped it to her back. "No need, we’ll ride."

"But I..."

I’m not very good at riding a horse—

The Horse King remained in the camp for training.

Gu Jiao mounted Hei Fengqi, and Hu Shi mounted a black Hei Fengqi horse. Together, they headed to Qiushan Town where the two were located.

Qiushan Town was in the opposite direction of Tianqiong Academy. Gu Jiao had never been to City North before; it wasn’t as bustling as City South, but it wasn’t desolate either.

Qiushan Town had a freight pier where Li Shen was doing hard labor.

People came and went at the pier, some hurrying to board or disembark from boats, and stout men laboriously transporting goods.

Li Shen, being very strong, carried three sacks on his shoulders while others only carried one each.

The veins on his forehead bulged, and sweat beads as large as beans poured down like a waterfall, evaporating with a sizzle as they hit the bluestone ground, distorted by the scorching sun.

Many of the laborers were suffering from heatstroke, lying weakly in the shade of the cargo shed, gasping for breath.

Gu Jiao could tell that Li Shen was also on the verge of heatstroke, but he stubbornly moved the three sacks into the warehouse before taking a break.

He didn’t rest long, returning to the cargo ship once more before his strength was fully regained.

"Li Shen!" Hu Shi called out to him from horseback.

Li Shen looked back at Hu Shi coldly and said, "You’ve got the wrong person."

Hu Shi said seriously, "I’m not mistaken! You are Li Shen!"

"Wang Dazhu! Come carry the goods!" a boatman shouted from the cargo ship.

"Coming!" Li Shen turned, drenched in sweat, and jogged over.

"Hey—hey—Li Shen—" Hu Shi shouted twice, but ultimately couldn’t stop him.

Gu Jiao sat on horseback, quietly gazing in the direction of Li Shen. "What was his situation back then?"

Hu Shi said, "Do you mean to ask why he retired from the military? I heard it was because something happened to his family. His younger brother died, and his sister-in-law took the children and remarried, leaving only an elderly mother. He left the military to take care of his mother. But I can’t understand why he would even change his name."

"Where is Zhao Dengfeng?" Gu Jiao asked.

Hu Shi hurriedly replied, "He’s in a restaurant three miles away. His situation is better; he opened a restaurant on his own, and I’ve heard the business is doing well."

He looked around, and cautiously said to Gu Jiao, "There were rumors at the time that Zhao Dengfeng had already sided with the Han Family and had been secretly selling information to them. Xuanyuan’s defeats had his involvement too. Earlier, no one believed it since he was Xuanyuan Sheng’s most trusted lieutenant. But, my lord, you see, Zhao Dengfeng retired around the same time as Li Shen. Li Shen ended up as a laborer at the pier, while Zhao Dengfeng somehow had enough money to start a restaurant. My lord, think about it carefully!"

Gu Jiao said, "So, it was silver from the Han Family?"

Hu Shi praised, "My lord, you are wise!"

"Let’s go take a look." Gu Jiao said.

"Yes!" Hu Shi respectfully responded.

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