“So, when you went there, the first thing they asked was if you had eaten…” In a lavish and spacious hall, a middle-aged woman in red robes took a sip of tea and looked up. “So you had lunch at his house. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨ God¨ Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free.”

It was afternoon, and sunlight shone brightly into the courtyard from the patio. Female soldiers were stationed under the eaves of the corridors near the hall. The middle-aged woman was not particularly beautiful, probably in her thirties, but she was sturdy and tall. Dressed in red robes like a battle garment, she had an air of heroic spirit. An Xifu, dressed in black, stood at the entrance of the hall, cupping his fists in salute. “Uh… Reporting to the Marshal… yes.”

“Just call me Aunt Baihua.” This middle-aged woman was Fang La’s younger sister, Fang Baihua, now the marshal of the northwest route in Fang La’s army. She was highly skilled in martial arts and was originally a saintess of a branch of the Mani sect led by Fang La. After numerous battles, even as a woman, she possessed a formidable aura and killing intent. But now, a slight smile appeared on her face, revealing a hint of gentleness. She put down her teacup and waved her hand. “I thought you would come at noon, so I asked the kitchen to prepare dishes. Xi… Xixi also had something to do and couldn’t come. What do you think of that person?”

“Composed, not talkative, but his temperament and demeanor are quite captivating.”

“Since Xixi values him so much, he must be good. What did you talk about with him?”

“I… asked him about his views on the battle situation after the Battle of Huzhou, and how he would have dealt with the subsequent battle if he hadn’t been injured to the point of unconsciousness.”

“His answer?”

“He didn’t answer directly, only saying that the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and everything that could be done had already been done. If the enemy couldn’t be completely wiped out at that time, then the only thing to do was to proceed step by step, seek survival, preserve life, and return to Huzhou.”

Fang Baihua nodded. “That’s a very standard answer. What he did in Huzhou was just a risky gamble, forcing himself to survive from desperation. A bookworm driven to the extreme would do such a thing. But I heard that his plans in Hangzhou almost exposed Seventh Brother and the others, that’s the real skill… Let’s leave it at that. Since Xixi wants to use him, just keep an eye on him. Xixi doesn’t use people blindly, I’m still relieved.”

She herself was also a very busy person, but because the matter concerned the Badao Camp (霸刀营), she asked about it. Having said this, she no longer cared. “I’m going to see the Holy Duke later. You were supervising the battle in Huzhou and didn’t come back. I saw that the promotion list only gave you the rank of Vice General. I plan to promote you several levels, what do you think?”

“Thank you for your concern, Aunt Baihua. Xifu only leads three hundred Black Feather Guards (黑翎卫). The official position makes no difference.”

“The Black Feather Guards control military law and are an elite force. Besides, you are under my command. It’s only right and reasonable for you to have a higher official position, especially since there are many troubles in Hangzhou recently. Now that your Black Feather Guards have returned, I plan to have the Holy Duke—who should be referred to as ‘Your Majesty’ now that he has declared himself emperor—give you the position of Hangzhou Patrol Inspector. With a high official rank, you can control people and be justified.”

An Xifu frowned. “Regarding the matter of the Patrol Inspector, Buddhist Marshal (佛帅) had already assigned it to Chen Fan. Chen Fan is doing very well. If it’s given to me, I’m afraid…”

Fang Baihua waved her hand. “Chen Fan can do things and control the overall situation, but he’s too unrestrained in small matters, and he’s likely to offend many people. Now that the Holy Duke has proclaimed himself emperor, it’s ‘His Majesty’, and it’s not good to let him kill and suppress people like that in Hangzhou, there should be some decorum.”

An Xifu cupped his fists. “If it weren’t for Chen Fan like this, we wouldn’t be where we are in Hangzhou now…”

The other side interrupted him. “You are different from Chen Fan. You are also courageous in taking responsibility, but where you can be gentle, you can always be more gentle. In fact, I just came back today, and someone has already told me about Chen Fan’s affairs. Just at noon, Dao Yi also came to me. Some of his subordinates are indeed acting lawlessly, but if Chen Fan continues to kill and suppress like this, I’m afraid he won’t be able to hold them down. He’s already making concessions bitterly, Chen Fan should give him some face.”

Fang Baihua said, looking at An Xifu’s expression, and frowned again. “I also know your opinion of Celestial Master Bao (包天师). I also know that he’s a bit of a mess, likes beautiful women, and loves some wealth. But we kill people, rebel, and establish a stronghold, who isn’t like that? Small details differ, it’s not surprising. In the past, when we fought wars, everyone entered the city and didn’t seal their blades for three days, taking what they should take and robbing what they should rob. Now that we’ve proclaimed ourselves emperor, we should pay attention to some things, but this attention must come slowly.”

She then smiled. “I know Chen Fan, he’s as fierce as fire, seems like he doesn’t think about anything, but he’s actually very smart. However… he asks for too much, thinks too highly of people. Now you see that he’s only attacking Celestial Master Bao’s subordinates, he knows how to restrain himself quite well, but if this continues, in a while, I’m afraid he will really attack Dao Yi. When Seventh Brother comes back, we can talk to Dao Yi, what he’s doing is somewhat disrespectful. After thinking about it, you are the one who knows how to keep things in perspective. This matter is settled, think about how to manage Hangzhou well.”

“…Yes.” An Xifu cupped his fists and accepted the order. He also had some opinions about Bao Dao Yi, but he also knew about Fang Baihua and others’ friendship with him. Bao Dao Yi was originally a leader of the Mani sect and is now considered one of the largest strongholds under Fang La, with a mixed bag of followers. But back in the Mani sect, he, Fang La, and Fang Baihua had a life-or-death friendship. Although everyone knows that he’s not a good person, no one in Fang La’s army, except for a few people like Fang Qifo, can touch him.

He understood Fang Baihua’s intentions. Compared to Chen Fan, he was at least more suitable for maintaining order in Hangzhou in the sense of “not touching Bao Dao Yi.” He would never be able to touch Bao Dao Yi, whereas Chen Fan, although that guy would keep telling himself “can’t touch Bao Dao Yi” “can’t touch Bao Dao Yi” in his heart, perhaps he would eventually couldn’t help but grab a stone mill and smash it on Bao Dao Yi’s head – although he really hoped to see such a scene.

After this matter was finished, they exchanged a few more words of greeting. Fang Baihua asked An Xifu about his wives and concubines, saying, “Xifu, I told you last time, my niece, Aqiao, has been admiring you for a long time. How about you two meet formally sometime?”

An Xifu was expressionless. After a moment, he cupped his fists and said, “I already have one wife and two concubines at home, and I feel it’s too much trouble, I can’t handle it.”

Fang Baihua laughed. “If a woman controls a man, one wife is enough. If a man controls a woman, three wives and four concubines don’t matter. If you find it troublesome, just tell them to leave. How about it, Aqiao is very popular in the army now, the people under her…”

She had always been straightforward. Her previous husband was a scholar, and Fang Baihua was quite assertive, always managing household affairs, which put her in the former category. But she was still quite gentle and virtuous to her husband, taking care of all the household affairs. However, she also had the relatively common patriarchal idea that it was only natural for a truly capable man to have three wives and four concubines. At this time, she introduced the benefits of her niece, with a feeling of “she likes you, so you might as well just take her back as a concubine, you can beat and scold her as you please.” An Xifu listened to a few sentences and replied, “She looks like an ox.”

“Uh…” Fang Baihua thought for a moment, “Then let’s talk about it later.”

After saying a few more words, when An Xifu was about to take his leave, Fang Baihua said, “Regarding Ning Liheng’s matter, he is now considered a member of His Majesty’s command. At the Hundred Officials Banquet in a few days, it would be a good idea to arrange a seat for him, firstly to dispel his thoughts of rebelling and surrendering, and secondly, to see what kind of person he is… You can go now. If you think he’s worth making friends with, you might as well tell him about this.”

*****************

Without An Xifu’s notification or Fang Baihua’s arrangement, Ning Yi already knew about the Hundred Officials Banquet that Fang La would hold in a few days.

He had a seat.

Although the matter of joining the Badao Camp (霸刀营) was not too publicized, after Fang La established the embryonic form of the entire court, Liu Xigua still arranged an official position for him. The position was naturally not high, and the official rank was a bit vague, said to be a scribe in the Badao Camp, originally said to be ninth rank, but today when he said he was preparing to attend the Hundred Officials Banquet in a few days, Liu Xigua casually changed it to seventh rank. In short, it was still a small official who couldn’t be used to bully people.

At this time, these ranks in Fang La’s system didn’t count for much, but the Hundred Officials Banquet on August 20th was relatively formal. It was said that all the officials and generals in Hangzhou would participate, and people like Liu Xigua could arrange the number of people to go themselves, which would add up to about four or five hundred people in the end. This was the first formal banquet after Fang La’s ascension to the throne. If the imperial court were to arrange spies here, the people at the banquet would probably be formally recorded.

This matter was quite serious, but for Ning Yi, it was a relief. He was originally worried that if Liu Xigua made a big deal of his joining, this matter would be difficult to clear up in the future, and the entire Su family would probably be implicated. Fortunately, Liu Xigua didn’t do this. Now he could only be glad that the other party underestimated the power he could use behind him. With the relationship of Kang Xian and Qin Siyuan, the matter should still be able to be suppressed at this level. If it went up a few more levels, it would be difficult to say.

He hosted An Xifu for lunch at noon, and in the afternoon he came to Liu Xigua’s residence. There were no major problems today. Liu Xigua greeted him with a happy Mid-Autumn Festival, told him about the Hundred Officials Banquet, and then gave him some holiday gifts. Among them were half a catty of meat, a fish, and a few eggs. The Badao Camp didn’t have many supplies now. At least as far as Ning Yi knew, Liu Xigua herself was very frugal. Having meat and eggs was quite generous.

He collected the things from the warehouse. When he passed a courtyard corridor on the side, he suddenly heard a voice: “Qinhuai, chess friend.” The meat in Ning Yi’s hand fell to the ground. He turned his head and saw that a crack in the door of a room next to him had opened, and someone was speaking there. He took a breath and looked behind him while picking up the meat. Perhaps because everyone had gone to collect things today, this small courtyard had a brief moment of emptiness. He was now considered to have joined the Badao Camp. A Chang and A Ming, who used to follow him, could no longer follow him like that. But the Badao Camp had always been a relatively elite team in the rebel army. This person shouldn’t be one of them. He didn’t know how he had sneaked in.

As he squatted down, he heard the person say, “No one is here for the moment, we can talk. I am Wenren Bu’er, ordered to rescue Young Master Ning.”

Ning Yi had thought before that people from the outside would be sent to him, but if the other party chose to contact him in the small courtyard where Ning Yi lived or on the street, it would be very dangerous. Although it was risky at this time, it somewhat relieved Ning Yi. His thoughts raced, “Impossible for the time being, how many people know about me?”

“The higher-ups have strictly ordered that I must personally come for this matter, so as not to endanger the young master’s situation due to mistakes. Therefore, only I know about it for the time being.”

This was probably the work of old hands like Qin Lao or Kang Xian. Ning Yi finally felt relieved. “Keep it secret, stand by, contact me at least a month later.” He finished speaking softly and walked away quickly.

Someone contacting him and rescuing him was both a good thing and a bad thing. He still vividly remembered the last time he designed to capture Fang Qifo and others, and how he was exposed when a scout was captured. But this time it seemed much more reliable. However, the circle he had been in contact with recently was not large, and he had not really integrated into this Hangzhou. It was impossible for the other party to rescue him, and the risk of contact was also extremely high.

To deal with this matter, in the next month, he had to start going out, expanding the circle of contact with others, and then stirring the water a little… (To be continued.) Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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