Chapter 165 From "Servant" to "I"

Nian Yao drank the wine,
And started referring to himself as "I" instead of "servant,"
His change in temperament was especially obvious;
The previously cautious servant was gone, replaced by the great general of Da Chu.

The Eighth Prince felt a little breathless at this moment. This "servant" gave him the same feeling he had when facing Qu Tiannan.

After all, he was once the commander of the 200,000-strong Da Chu Royal Forbidden Army. Even though he was now unemployed in Yingdu, this experience and qualification could not be erased.

Jing Renli lowered his head slightly. In fact, after learning that the flower boat opposite was Nian Yao's boat, he had quietly retreated to the corner and stopped speaking.

Others could look down on Nian Yao's background,
Even if he, Jing Renli, didn't pay much attention to it, he still bore the surname Jing and could naturally put on airs in front of Nian Yao. But after all, Jing Renli was pushed by Nian Yao, which was why he had the opportunity to enter this circle as a member of the Jing family's collateral line.

Logically and emotionally, he couldn't be disrespectful to Nian Yao.

In addition, Nian Yao was a person whose methods were known to be very sophisticated, although others might not be aware of it.

A good background could make one's official career twice as effective, while a poor background often meant half the effort. Therefore, Nian Yao's ability to rise to a high position from the status of a family slave was a testament to his capabilities.

Nian Yao pointed his finger at the boatmen on the flower boat and said, "Bring the boat to shore."

The boatmen felt a chill from their foreheads to their tailbones when they were pointed at, and immediately began to row the boat to shore.

After the flower boat docked steadily,
Nian Yao tidied his clothes and adjusted the accessories around his waist. Then, with a gentle wave of his sleeve, he disembarked.

Zhao Cha looked at the departing figures of Nian Yao and the Fengchao (Phoenix Nest) inner guard,
And said disdainfully:
"Heh, this servant really knows how to put on airs."

The Eighth Prince picked up the wine pot and filled Zhao Cha's glass.
Zhao Cha smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Highn—"

"Pa!"
The Eighth Prince picked up the wine glass in front of Zhao Cha and poured the wine directly on Zhao Cha's face.

Si Kang was shocked by this scene.
Jing Renli, on the other hand, placed his hands under his body, his face calm.

Zhao Cha blinked, not wiping the wine off his face, letting it drip down.

The Eighth Prince silently poured another cup for Zhao Cha,
This time,
He didn't pour it,
But instead, he said:
"In the army, if something happens, the soldiers look to the squad leader, the squad leader looks to the platoon leader, and so on, all the way up to their own general. Then, all the generals look to the commander.

Therefore, anyone can be chaotic, but only the commander of the army cannot be chaotic. He is the needle that stabilizes the sea and must remain steady.

The Pillar of our Da Chu, the Pillar of the Nation, what does it mean? It means the cornerstone of the nation.

Look here at Mijiang, how many dignitaries and nobles are gathered here? How many commoners' eyes are focused here?

Earlier, Deng Man wore a suit of fire phoenix cloud-burning clothes and used qinggong (light body skill) to step on the water. This outfit and this skill attracted the attention of many families nearby.

Tell me,
If they see Nian Yao in a hurry, not even waiting for the flower boat to dock before going ashore like this, and rushing to the palace;

All kinds of guesses and rumors will immediately arise, causing panic and instability.

Nian Yao did the right thing, understand?"
Zhao Cha nodded and said:
"Understood."

The Eighth Prince smiled, took out a handkerchief, and helped Zhao Cha wipe his face. Zhao Cha just sat there and let him wipe.

"I was born into the royal family, and you were born into the Zhao family. As long as Da Chu is still here, we can continue to be rich and happy;

We can indulge in pleasure and enjoy ourselves, and it's good to be a rice worm;

But we must never be stupid worms."

Zhao Cha nodded again and said, "Understood, thank you for your teaching, Your Highness."

"So, what should we do next?"

Zhao Cha said; "Go back and tell the family about this?"

The Eighth Prince shook his head and sighed, obviously dissatisfied with this answer.
Then,
The Eighth Prince pointed to Jing Renli standing there,
And said:
"You speak."

Jing Renli immediately pointed to the boatmen and shouted:
"Take the boat back to the river."

The boatmen followed the order and sailed the boat back to the river, and docked with Nian Yao's flower boat again.

At this time,
Seeing that the boat had returned,
Nian Yao's brother-in-law and the big Han servant were all kneeling on the deck, trembling.

They had previously learned from Nian Yao the identity of the owner of this boat.
Combining this with their previous impolite words, even those foul language, and seeing the boat coming again, it was as if the sky had fallen.

Jing Renli, however, climbed onto the other party's flower boat, put his arm around Nian Yao's brother-in-law's shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Come on, get down, our Highness invites you for a drink."

The brother-in-law was dazed and was brought onto the flower boat where the Eighth Prince and others were.

Jing Renli silently retreated to the side again,
The Eighth Prince took the initiative to get up, took Nian Yao's brother-in-law's sleeve, and let him sit down.

At the same time, he said with a smile:
"Meeting is fate, just like what the girls in those red tents like to say, 'Hitting is hurting, scolding is love, it's just brotherly affection.' But brother, you have to change your bad breath in the future, and don't scold so harshly."

"Yes, yes, yes, Your Highness, I deserve to die…"

The Eighth Prince patted him on the shoulder affectionately,
And said to Zhao Cha, who was sitting opposite him:
"What are you doing, standing there blankly? Pour wine for our new friend. From now on, everyone will play together."

Zhao Cha put on a gentle and amiable smile on his face, got up, and poured the wine.

Soon,
Laughter and cheers came from this flower boat again,
The Eighth Prince even composed a poem and recited it loudly.

Gradually,
The noisy sounds from the nearby flower boats and shore stands gradually returned.
…

On the other side,
Nian Yao refused Deng Man's suggestion to ride a fast horse into the palace, and instead got into his family's carriage.

Inside the carriage,
Nian Yao said to the trusted Fengchao (Phoenix Nest) inner guard beside the Regent:

"Dengzi, don't panic, panicking is useless. The more this is the case, the more you can't panic, the more you panic, the more likely things will go wrong. I know you've had a talent for martial arts since you were a kid, but today's qinggong (light body skill) water-walking trick wasn't the right time to show it off."

Deng Man was also a member of Fourth Master's family, only a generation younger than Nian Yao. When Deng Man was a child, he liked to follow behind Nian Yao, so there was no restraint when speaking.

"Yes, Brother Nian, I was reckless."

"You, ah, you still lack experience. Come, tell me in detail, so I don't waste my breath in front of the King."

"Right now, I only know that the Yan Emperor has issued an edict to attack Chu. I don't know the rest yet. This news was desperately sent back from Yanjing City. In order to get it to Yingdu as soon as possible, many of our brothers on the line between Yan and Jin have been lost."

The Yan Kingdom's Secret Spy Agency, the Qian Kingdom's Silver Armor Guards, and the Chu Kingdom's Fengchao (Phoenix Nest), internally, they are special affairs departments, convenient for the Emperor to control his own country, to control the hundred officials, but at the same time, they also bear the role of spying on military intelligence abroad.

To a certain extent, external infiltration and reconnaissance is their true primary function.

On this point, the Qian Kingdom's Silver Armor Guards did the best. On the intelligence front, the Silver Armor Guards had never been at a disadvantage, and had even made the Yan Kingdom's Secret Spy Agency very embarrassed for a time. It was just a pity that the Qian people's army was too weak, wasting the sacrifices of many of their Silver Armor Guards.

The Yan Emperor issued the edict in front of the hundred officials and people in Yanjing. This matter cannot be concealed, and cannot be concealed.

Including the total war mobilization that is currently taking place in the Great Yan and the Three Jin lands, which can be called crazy, it is also impossible to hide.

This, after all, is a national war.

But the difference is that if one side can find out earlier and make a response earlier, the situation will be very different.

Therefore, in order to get this news back to Yingdu as soon as possible, the Fengchao (Phoenix Nest) spies had to violate the regulations and guidelines for being a latent agent in another country, and were thus dug out by the Secret Spy Agency along the line.

But at least,
The news,
Was delivered in time.

The "timely" here refers to an extreme that they can achieve.

But in fact,
When Great Yan has already begun total war mobilization, the Chu Kingdom will inevitably be slow, but fortunately, the Chu Kingdom is the defending side, and there is still relatively large room for maneuver.

Nian Yao frowned. As a general, he really didn't like the feeling of being in the dark during a war, but he also knew that he couldn't ask for too much on this matter. The Fengchao (Phoenix Nest) had already done its best in this matter.

"Now, the most important thing is the scale of this Yan Kingdom's dispatch of troops, which must be found out as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Brother Nian, I think news will come soon."

Because of the geographical distance, it is too late to add strength to intelligence at this time, and we can only pin our hopes on the Fengchao (Phoenix Nest) inner guards over there, who can continue to transmit a few more messages.

"Brother Nian, what do you think of this time…"

Nian Yao shook his head and said, "Do you know the Earl of Pingye who came to our Chu land to rob the princess before?"

"Of course I know, letting him leave is a disgrace to our Fengchao (Phoenix Nest)."

"When he was a garrison in a fortress in Yinlang County, Yan Kingdom, he had taken the initiative to lead troops south to the Qian Kingdom several times without military orders, and he attacked Mianzhou City twice."

"Brother Nian, I know this, Zheng Fan's resume is already in my mind."

"No, what I mean is that the original Zheng Fan was like Tian Wujing now. In the beginning, Zheng Fan had few troops under his command, so every time he went south, although he could plunder military exploits and make the Qian people embarrassed and very boring, the Three Borders of the Qian people were still the Three Borders.

Tian Wujing is the same, the last time I played chess with Tian Wujing, it was because I was sure that Tian Wujing couldn't really come to attack the city at this moment, so I could be relatively calm. I knew that as long as I held my breath, even if Tian Wujing was a military god in this world, he couldn't possibly come to Zhennanguan alone to assassinate me, right?"

"Brother Nian, what you mean is…"

Nian Yao pursed his lips,
And said:
"But when the Yan people's army went south, the Three Borders of the Qian people, which Zheng Fan couldn't have gnawed down in three to five years, were instantly torn open a huge gap, and the Yan people's cavalry even reached the capital city of the Qian people.

By the same token,
Last time, Tian Wujing was just playing around, and we both knew that there couldn't be mountains of corpses and seas of blood under Zhennanguan (Suppress South Pass);

But this time,
The Yan Emperor who issued the edict,
Is completely different.

One is a border army general using troops because his hands are itchy, and the other is a country using troops with all its strength. The gap between the two is comparable to a chasm!"

Speaking of this,
Nian Yao silently closed his eyes,
And continued:
"Zhennanguan (Suppress South Pass) must not be lost."

This is nonsense.

Originally, the Chu and Yan people did not border each other, but after the Yan people annexed the Jin land, they could directly threaten the Chu Kingdom from north to south.

In the beginning, the Three Jin knights were also extremely proud, but they were still defeated by the Yan people.

And the Chu Kingdom's Shanggu County behind Zhennanguan (Suppress South Pass) can be described as a plain, and once the Yan people break through Zhennanguan (Suppress South Pass), their iron cavalry will immediately sweep out quickly, relying on the terrain of Shanggu County to directly dig a piece of meat from the Chu Kingdom.

Nian Yao's eyes slowly opened again,
He reached out,
Rubbed his brow,
And said:
"It depends on who places bets faster and more ruthlessly on this gambling table, but the problem is that I know that the Yan Emperor is a man of his word in the Yan Kingdom. After the Yan Kingdom's aristocratic families are gone, unless Li Liangting or Tian Wujing suddenly rebel, otherwise, no one in the entire Yan Kingdom can challenge his authority…"

Speaking of this,
Nian Yao's eyes began to turn slightly red, looking a little hideous:
"What I'm most afraid of now is that the Yan people really dare to go all out, or rather, judging from the time the military intelligence is transmitted back, the Yan people may already be going all out…"

Nian Yao paused,
Bit his teeth,
And said word by word:
"And our King must first convene the domestic nobles to discuss matters, and discuss with those nobles how many soldiers each family will send, how much food, and how many civilians!"

The power of the Chu Kingdom's court has indeed been strengthened in the process of the Regent's ascension to the throne after the chaos of the princes, because some nobles who supported the princes to compete for the throne have been liquidated.

But overall, the power of the Chu Kingdom's nobles is still strong and cannot be ignored.

If the Yan people launch a real national war, the power of the court alone is not enough.

"Brother Nian, these words are not what you and I can say." Deng Man said with concern in his eyes.

Nian Yao smiled and said, "I know."

Immediately afterwards, Deng Man seemed to have discovered something, looked out of the carriage, and asked, "Brother Nian, isn't this the way to the palace?"

"I have to go back first, change into court clothes, and then enter the palace to meet the King."

"This…"

"It doesn't matter if it's a moment or two later. To repeat, we must take it easy. No matter what happens on the Yan people's side, we ourselves must not lose our footing."

"But the King didn't tell me to do this when he sent me to find you, Brother Nian."

"Because the King knows that I know how to do it."

The carriage,
Drove into the General's Mansion.

When Nian Yao got off the carriage, he said to Deng Man, "You can go back to the palace first, and I will enter the palace later, going out from the back."

"Yes."

Deng Man had to leave from the back to return to the palace to report.

Nian Yao then came to the back house. In the back house, his wife, Sun, was playing with a boy and a girl.

Seeing Nian Yao come back, Sun stood up and said, "Good, you actually dare to hide it from me and take that bastard out to play."

The bastard is Sun's younger brother.

Nian Yao shook his head and said, "I can't keep him cooped up in the mansion all the time."

"He doesn't follow the rules. This is Yingdu. After knowing that you are the Great General, he started bullying men and women in his hometown, and even the county magistrate dared not control him. That's why I sent someone to arrest him and bring him to Yingdu. You're good, you actually took him out to make trouble."

"Alas."

Nian Yao sighed,
First kicked a bamboo ball on the ground, and his son and daughter immediately ran to pick it up;
Nian Yao then took the opportunity to kiss Sun on the face.

Sun came back to her senses, immediately pinched Nian Yao, and cursed, "What are you doing?"

"Hehe, I just think my wife is beautiful, and I can't help it."

Although they were an old couple, Sun's face still turned red when she heard this,
And said:
"Where's that bastard? Didn't he come back with you?"

"I came back first. I'm going to change my clothes and enter the palace to see the master. He's still drinking on Mijiang."

"There are many dignitaries on Mijiang. How can you leave him alone there? He might offend…"

"My wife, the achievements that your man has earned by risking his life outside, someone has to help us put on airs, otherwise I always feel like I'm losing out."

"What kind of logic is this?"

"It's the logic of my Nian family."

"You're spoiling him."

"I'm not spoiling him, I'm spoiling myself. In this life, I'm used to being a servant. Even if I'm a Great General, some habits can't be changed.

So, when I see him, I feel like I'm seeing another version of myself."

"You're saying these strange things again. What's wrong with being a servant? We're from the master's family, and others can't envy us."

"Yes, yes, yes, my wife, but your brother is my brother. Can I not be good to him? Okay, okay, quickly bring my official uniform, I can't let the master wait."

With Sun's help, Nian Yao put on his official uniform, got on his horse, and summoned his entourage and guards from the mansion, and went to the palace gate openly.

Xiong Liqing once said that the Yan Kingdom's palace was shabby compared to the Chu Kingdom's palace.

The fact is indeed so,
The walls and gates of the Chu Kingdom's palace gave people a sense of utmost magnificence and grandeur.

At the palace gate, the Great General Nian, who was allowed to ride a horse inside the palace, still took the initiative to dismount and walk in.

He had a premonition,
This time,
It was a true harbinger of a storm.

So, for some reason, he suddenly felt a little sentimental this time when entering the palace.

He remembered,
Just the year before last,
When he captured the Second Prince back,
He asked the master:
Master, why don't we simply learn from that Yan Kingdom and clear out those things in our country.

The master asked him: Why are you suddenly so arrogant today, you servant?

He replied: This servant thinks that the master should be a man of his word in this Da Chu and become the true supreme being of Da Chu!

Later,
Because the Yan people suddenly collapsed the Jin land, forcing many of the Regent's plans in the country to fall through, and instead first asked Qu Tiannan to lead troops north.

Nian Yao walked to the front of the hall,
Looking at the golden bricks and green tiles above, his eyes narrowed.

In fact, that day, he didn't tell the master the truth.

The reason why he, Nian Yao, suddenly asked that question,
Was because,
In his opinion,
If those pesky nobles in Da Chu were all swept away,
Then he, Nian Yao,
Would no longer be a servant.

————
I'm attending a writing training class recently, with half-day classes every morning, so it affects the updates. In addition, I'm forcibly adjusting my schedule to be too normal, and I need to adapt.

There will be only one update today, and a big chapter tomorrow.

Also, I want to lay the groundwork for this big plot better and write it carefully, so the rhythm will inevitably be slower. Please forgive me, slow work produces fine work.