"Yo, I see a familiar face, Qin Zhangming." Fa Zheng spotted Zhao Yun’s deputy and got up to greet him with a smile by the side of the road.
"Halt, all troops." Qin Shao, upon seeing Fa Zheng, raised his spear to stop the march. Lul Xun heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that while it was obvious this troop was returning to Mount Tai and not engaging in combat, intercepting an army was quite the situation.
[It seems I’ve underestimated Fa Xiaozhi. This guy seems to be quite famous at Mount Tai. He even stopped the army.] Lul Xun curiously thought to himself, looking at the smiling Fa Zheng.
"Wait a mont, Pri Minister Fa," Qin Shao ordered to a cavalryman beside him, then turned to Fa Zheng with a clasped-hand salute.
"Hmm, have you just been reassigned from Xuzhou?" Fa Zheng asked.
Qin Shao didn’t reply but glanced at Lul Xun, indicating the presence of an outsider.
"This is Zichuan’s disciple. Just say it out loud. I’ve just returned from Qi State myself and am on my way to report at Fenggao. Are you transferring General Zhao to Yanzhou?" Fa Zheng pointed at Lul Xun, suggesting that it was alright to let Lul Xun know most secrets.
"Yes." Qin Shao nodded and then described the entire situation to Fa Zheng.
"Oh, so that’s how it is. And here I was thinking that Guo Fengxiao had suffered a setback. I didn’t expect that." Fa Zheng grumbled a bit. He was quite keen on seeing Guo Jia face so minor troubles, but that was usually unrealistic.
Soon, Zhao Yun appeared at the forefront of the troops, riding the Night Illuminating Jade Lion and accompanied by the Curly-Haired Red Hare.
"Xiaozhi, long ti no see." Zhao Yun greeted with a salute, spear in hand.
"Mhm, it has indeed been a while. No issues at Xuzhou, I hope." Fa Zheng asked with a smile, and without waiting for Zhao Yun to reply, he asked another question, "By the way, what’s with this horse beside you?"
"Xuzhou..." Zhao Yun slightly furrowed his brows. Unlike other military generals who only dealt with military matters and stayed out of politics, he had served as a civil official as well. He had insights into administration and public sentint. Precisely because of this, he could sense the undercurrents beneath the calm surface of Xuzhou.
However, he didn’t want to discuss these matters with Fa Zheng in front of everyone. Fortunately, Fa Zheng had posed another question, which Zhao Yun was more than happy to answer.
"This is the Curly-Haired Red Hare that Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang brought back from the Southern Barbarians. It’s a fine steed." While speaking, Zhao Yun reached out to stroke the Red Hare’s mane, and the horse snorted knowingly, but then Zhao Yun’s mount, the Night Illuminating Jade Lion, began to shake its head. It took another round of pacifying from Zhao Yun before both horses settled down.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, it looks so magnificent. I rember your horse would make other horses step aside; this one must be strong," Fa Zheng remarked with amazent. "Let introduce you, this is Zichuan’s disciple, although recently I’ve been the one guiding him."
"Oh, Zichuan’s disciple." Zhao Yun’s eyebrows went up. "You aren’t going to lead him astray, are you? It’s odd that Zichuan hasn’t held a ceremony for acquiring a disciple."
"We’ll make up for it later. Can I borrow this horse for a couple of days?" Fa Zheng asked with a grin. [Zichuan probably forgot. The guy is not one for formalities and likely didn’t consider the ceremony important. I should remind him later. So things are essential and shouldn’t be forgotten.]
After all, Fa Zheng hailed from a Confucian family. Even though his family had shifted to studying military strategy, they still placed great importance on proper rites and ceremonies.
"No, if this were an ordinary horse, I’d give it to you, but this horse…" Zhao Yun said with a wry smile, then patted the Curly-Haired Red Hare’s head and pointed toward the sky. The Curly-Haired Red Hare understood the gesture and flew directly towards the sky.
Lu Xun’s eyeballs nearly popped out, and Fa Zheng was also sowhat stunned. After coughing twice to cover up his embarrassnt and bringing Lu Xun back to reality, he spoke, "Cough, cough, cough, I didn’t expect it to be a horse with Inner Qi Manifestation. Even if you gave it to , I couldn’t ride it."
To be honest, for Fa Zheng to ride such a treasure horse would be very troubleso. Although civil officials naturally intimidate animals with their Spiritual Capacity, it depends on the level. At the very least, with Red Hare’s rank, it would take Fa Zheng a good half year of rigorous training to manage riding it, and there was even a chance of being killed in retaliation.
"I’ll send you a young colt later," Zhao Yun said to Lu Xun with a laugh, knowing it would co to this.
"Thank you, General Zhao," Lu Xun quickly gave thanks with a bow.
"No need to be polite," Zhao Yun waved his hand and imdiately whistled, the Curly-Haired Red Hare, which was circling in the sky, rapidly returned.
"I hope you don’t mind hanging behind your grand army, I plan to return to Mount Tai too," Fa Zheng asked very courteously.
"If I say no, would you really not follow?" Zhao Yun said with a laugh. He was quite familiar with Fa Zheng, so such harmless jokes wouldn’t offend him.
"Then I’ll just follow behind, and I won’t obstruct your march," said Fa Zheng as he waved to his coachman and guards, and the two horse-drawn carriages went in the opposite direction of the army, towards the back.
After Fa Zheng left, Zhao Yun waved his spear, and the grand army continued to march forward. He took his place under the Command Banner with the two horses. Having two treasured horses was indeed an enviable nuisance, after all, the Night Illuminating Jade Lion and Curly-Haired Red Hare fought every day, and it was sowhat troubleso for Zhao Yun to take care of them. However, fortunately, due to the competition between the two horses, the Night Illuminating Jade Lion lost its excess fat.
"You really seem to be very familiar with that man, I thought you were joking," Lu Xun said curiously.
"I’m quite familiar with all of Mount Tai’s civil and military officials, you’ll understand when we reach Fenggao," Fa Zheng said with a smile.
A joke indeed, Fa Zheng was the only person on Mount Tai who didn’t recognize others since officials there recognized him, not the other way around. After all, he used to be the most foolish one there, but thinking about it now is unbearable. In the past, he was really young and ignorant, too accustod to courting death.
However, no matter how much Fa Zheng courted death, one must admit his abilities. During the year-end assessnt of the civil and military officials, Fa Zheng definitely ranked first among the civil officials, regardless of his youthful appearance.
"Hey, Elder Brother Zhang, long ti no see," said Fa Zheng as he reached the rear of Zhao Yun’s Army and saw Zhang Shiping, he imdiately reached out to greet him.
After being educated nurous tis by Guo Jia and Chen Xi, Fa Zheng had co to understand the importance of rchants and would no longer look down on these businessn who shared the trenches with him. Speaking of which, being educated before wasn’t the sa as realizing how crucial rchants were during the prosperity of Qi State.
"Pri Minister Fa, haha, I’m unworthy of such a title," Zhang Shiping was startled, and when he turned and saw it was Fa Zheng, he quickly demurred, but the smile on his face clearly showed his mood. Before, Fa Zheng used to look down on people; now that he was being so polite, Zhang Shiping couldn’t help but feel elated.
"There’s nothing unworthy about it," Fa Zheng said with a smile. He then looked around and suddenly caught sight of a figure that startled him, turning his previously beaming face somber.
[It seems my eyes are playing tricks on . How could she be here? It probably wouldn’t reach that place until after Lord Xuande establishes himself in the north.] Fa Zheng sighed internally. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote for it at Qidian ) with recomndation or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.)
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