Chapter Thirty-Three The Fisherman

  Henan.

  By the pond of "Yangshou Garden" in Changde, Hubei Province, the fishing line at the tip of Yuan Shikai's fishing rod had just been tightened when he suddenly shook his hand and the line went slack again.

  Yang Shiqi, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but smile and said, "Your tolerance is truly admirable."

  "Stop teasing me, Apricot City. Now that I'm idle at home, what cultivation can I talk about?" Yuan Shikai stood up and handed the fishing rod to his servant, then walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Yang Shiqi towards the garden, asking: "How is Sichuan doing now?"

  Kung Pao is still restless.

  Yang Shiqi was a steady and trustworthy person, having served as his aide for many years, so he knew his temper well. His face turned solemn as he said: "Yesterday's news reported that the Sichuan Paoge and rebels have joined forces and are intensifying their siege of Chengdu Prefecture. Governor Zhao Erfeng personally led troops to defend it, and there have been reports of uprisings in Huayang, Shuangliu, Xinjin, Qiong Prefecture, Pujiang, Dayi, and over 10 other counties. The rebels have gathered tens of thousands of people, and Zhao Erfeng has already petitioned the imperial court, saying that Sichuan's military strength is insufficient and requesting that new troops be deployed from Hubei, Yunnan, and Guizhou to quell the uprising in Sichuan. It is said that he even had his sights set on our Beiyang Army's Sixth Division at one point."

  "What a big commotion." Yuan Shikai looked at the fish pond and asked: "What's going on in the imperial court?"

  "Zai Yong has ordered Zhao Erfeng to actually suppress, and also strictly ordered Rui Cun and Zhang Biao to withdraw new troops from the north to support, in addition, 66th battalion was also transferred from Yunnan Army's 17th division into Sichuan."

  Yuan Shikai furrowed his brow, not expecting Sichuan to be in such a state of disarray. After some thought, he asked: "The August 15th killing of the Tartars...hmm, has there been any news from Wuchang recently?"

  Yang Shiqi nodded secretly, Yuan Shikai was indeed a man of great talent and vision, he saw through the key to the chaos in Sichuan at a glance. After all, Sichuan is just an inland province, as long as Wuhan is blocked and the Yangtze River is sealed off, it will be like fish in a pond. So he quickly said: "Although Zhang Biao and Rui Cun are not on good terms, they dare not make trouble in this matter. The two have already ordered the 8th garrison to seal off the Yangtze River, and Rui Cun has also transferred Chen Delong, Chu Yu and Chu Qian, two warships of the Yangtze River Fleet, to Wuhan to cooperate with the strict inspection of waterways."

  "However......" Yang Shiqi smiled and said: "Zhang Biao had made preparations to enter Shu, but he hesitated and didn't set off, instead recommending Rui Fang to lead the troops."

  "Oh? Why is that?"

  "Hehe, still that little trick of preserving the right to control troops. Yesterday, Rui Fang also sent a telegram to Zhao Erxun, demanding that he be given overall command of all Sichuan troops. The two of them even had a falling out over this matter, and I heard it's been taken all the way to Rui Cheng, the Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan. Rui Cheng and Rui Fang are in cahoots with each other, how could they possibly help Zhao Erxun? Zhang Biao is also turning a deaf ear to this matter, it seems he's thinking of using Rui Fang's hand to spread his New Army influence into Sichuan."

  "A bunch of fools, not afraid to bring trouble upon themselves!" Yuan Shikai cursed, looked up at the sky and sighed: "The tree wants to be still but the wind won't stop, looking at Xingcheng, is this day really going to change?"

  Yang Shiqi was quite quick-witted, but not as divine as Liu Ji's mouth-breaking words back then. He smiled and said, "Gongbao is intentionally trying to make a fool of me." Yuan Shikai was also amused and waved his hand, saying, "Xingcheng, you can bring some silver into the capital later, the court is in trouble, we old ministers should do our part, ah, what a pity about my leg..."

  After saying that, he also deliberately patted the leg that was said to be ill. Yang Shiqi understood his meaning and said: "Guo Bao will stay at home and rest assured of recovery, Xingcheng will not disappoint."

  After Yang Shiqi left, Yuan Shikai also did not dare to delay, immediately returned to the study room and wrote a few letters, called the trusted guard and said: "There are several letters here, you go to see Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui immediately, deliver the letter and don't say anything after that, come back right away."

  After the guard left, Yuan Shikai finally opened the map, and his eagle eyes stared tightly at the small Wuchang.

  －－－－

  －－－－

  Miao Luo leaned against the head of the bed, perked up her little ears to hear that there was no more talking outside, and just as she was about to sit up, a sudden burst of footsteps scared her into hastily lying back down, turning her body sideways with her back towards the door.

  Yang Qiu pushed open the door and saw that Miao Luo was already asleep, so she quickly tiptoed to the bedside, her hand just touching the quilt as she prepared to lift it up to take a look at her injuries, when suddenly she heard a soft cry.

  "You scoundrel, what do you want to do?"

  This girl, was pretending to sleep. Yang Qiu secretly smiled in his heart, but the hand holding the quilt didn't dare to turn it over again, originally he hadn't had that thought, but Miao Luo's shout made him think of that night's events again, so he rubbed his nose awkwardly and said: "I just wanted to see how your wound was doing."

  The girl's pale face, due to blood loss, also flushed with a red glow, and she hastily said: "No... no need, the doctor has already seen me this morning, saying that it has scabbed over, as long as I rest well for a while, I'll be fine."

  "That's good." Looking at Miao Luo, Yang Qiu couldn't think of anything to say for a moment, so he walked to the window and pushed it open, saying: "During the recovery period, you need to get some fresh air, can't stay in bed for too long, and move around more in places where you can. This will promote blood circulation and speed up wound healing."

  Leaning on the bed, listening to him ramble on about things she didn't understand, Miao Luoxiu shot a fierce glance, thinking to herself who knows where he learned all this stuff from. Not only is he skilled with his hands but also knows how to treat gunshot wounds. No wonder he can be a high-ranking official, what a scoundrel!

  Miao Luo was originally a restless person, but after getting injured, he had to lie down like this every day and had been feeling impatient for some time. Seeing Yang Qiu open the window, he hung his head down and said: "I... I want to take a look outside."

  Hearing the tone of homesickness in her words, Yang Qiu guessed that she was missing home and immediately added another quilt behind her back, which allowed her to see the distant river view. He said, "I'll take care of them later, let you look outside every day, and avoid getting bored."

  "Afraid I'll run away?" The girl raised an eyebrow and glared at him.

  Yang Qiu smiled: "Run if you want to run, I won't keep you locked up for the rest of your life."

  "Hmph, if I hadn't injured my foot, you wouldn't be able to catch me!"

  Seeing Miao Luo suffer such a serious gunshot wound and still being tough, Yang Qiu also smiled: "That's right, our Miao girl is a female knight, specializing in killing evil thieves like me."

  "Shameless." Miao Luo's face turned red, and after a while, she looked up at Yang Qiu with a pitiful expression and said: "I... can I..."

  "Send a telegram to report safety, right?"

  He was guessed by this scoundrel again, he should die. Miao Luo's heart was full of hatred, and he always felt that this guy who looked okay seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, so he quickly turned away his eyes and reported the telegram address.

  "What's wrong? Just say everything is all right, don't worry?" Yang Qiu asked.

  "Of course not." Miao Luo thought for a moment and said: "You can send it out, the Great River flows freely, the peacock flies southeast."

  "What's the point of saying 'the great river flows freely and the peacock flies southeast'?"

  When Yang Qiu saw her, he was stunned, and the girl felt a little proud in her heart, thinking that there was finally something he didn't know. She giggled and revealed two charming dimples: "This is a secret language, idiot."

  "Haha......" Seeing Miao Luo smile, Yang Qiu's stunned expression on his face immediately disappeared, and he also smiled: "Actually you should laugh more, because your smiling face looks very good." Seeing Miao Luo showing signs of getting angry, Yang Qiu hastily took the telegram address and walked to the door: "Take care of yourself properly, I'll come visit you again in a few days." After saying that, he closed the door and left.

  "Bastard, I knew it was a euphemism and you still pretended to be stupid! This scoundrel...can't even chat with me for a bit? It's suffocating!" Miao Luo muttered, her right foot kicking the quilt in anger, and suddenly a slender white leg appeared in the air.

  ———————————————————————————————