Chapter 45: The Transformation of Elbow and Armpit

  Thanks to Zhao Zhi Shi and Hu Ye for the reward.

  Just as Ma Wan was chatting with the beauty, a fierce quarrel broke out in Xing Ju's tent five miles away from where he was.

  At this moment, Xing Ju was sitting upright on the first seat, with a furious expression, staring at the people under the account. And the person stared at by this Han dynasty's chief controller of the Huns in the north, was exactly the guy who Ma Yuan thought knew what to do - Yan Rou.

  At this moment, Yan Dazhu's face no longer had the usual respect, facing the furious Xing Xiaowei, his expression was calm and his tone was calm: "Your Excellency can see clearly that Rong's tribute to the court is actually for the sake of the great Han dynasty's border stability. Haven't you seen it in these days? Rong and his brother are respected by the Huren people, compared to Your Excellency, they are not inferior. Is a humble cavalry officer like me not worthy?"

  Xing Ju sneered repeatedly: "Yan Ruoshui, I know you've long wanted to enter the School Lieutenant's mansion. I once recruited you as a staff member, but you thought the position was too low and immediately wanted something bigger. Humph! As a cavalry officer, are you worthy of this position? I recruited you as a staff member because of your reputation among the Hu slaves. If not for that, with your humble family background and merchant occupation, would you be qualified to sit at the same table as me?"

  Yan Rou was originally calm, but as soon as he mentioned his origin, his expression changed, his fists clenched slowly, and his face was filled with indignation. When it came to origins, Xing Ju was just a humble scholar from a minor branch of a noble family. In the Central Plains, especially in places like Yingchuan, Nanyang, and Chenliu where noble families gathered, he wouldn't be considered anything special. But in front of people with humble origins like himself who were engaged in commerce, it was enough to hold his head high and look down on others with a sideways glance.

  Yan Rou repeatedly sought to avoid but could not get what he wanted, so he took a detour to plot his way into office. Taking advantage of Dong Zhuo's abuse of power and the chaos in the imperial court, he and his brother presented large amounts of wealth to those in power, and after several months of maneuvering, they finally got what they wanted. Soon, an imperial edict was issued, appointing Yan Rou as the Cavalry Commandant of the Protector of the Wuhuan's garrison, and his brother Yan Zhi as a History Recorder.

  Yan brothers' actions all bypassed Xing Ju, as a result, Xing Ju had just received the news, suddenly furious, immediately summoned Yan brothers, scolding them severely.

  Yan Rou took a deep breath and said calmly, "That Ma Jinglong, with an unknown background, is probably not even as good as me. Yet, you went to great lengths to recruit him, even offering him the fake position of Sima. Hmph, that Ma Jinglong indeed has some discerning eyesight, firmly declining the offer. Otherwise, within a year or two, his several hundred elite cavalry would have changed their surname to Xing..."

  "How dare you! You actually use such words to slander our lord." Li Gu, the military marquis standing behind Xing Ju, angrily shouted to stop him, and bowed his head to Xing Ju, saying, "Please grant me a sword to execute this mad and arrogant man."

  Xing Ju was furious, his eyes fixed on Yan Rou, ignoring Li Gu's request. He said word by word: "From now on, all of your family's business licenses will be cancelled."

  Yan Rou stared at Xing Ju, saying word for word: "I, Yan Shi, no longer need it."

  Xing Ju squinted his eyes, a cold intent seeping into his voice: "Alright then, let's see how long you can last as a riding officer - get out!"

  Yan Rou let out a soft sigh, gazing at Xing Ju with an odd expression, shaking her head: "It's hard to say how long I can be the Riding General, but as for you, Commander of the Black Crow Army, I know exactly how long you'll last."

  This remark is arrogant and even ruthless. Xing Ju was originally going to explode in anger, but at this moment, he saw Yan Rou's eyes - there was something that made his heart skip a beat inside. Why did the other person have such eyes? Xing Ju vaguely felt something, suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the thirty-refined steel knife beside him, throwing it at Li Gu, shouting: "Kill Yan Shi!"

  "Yes sir!" Li Gu drew his sword and suddenly slashed at Xing Ju!

  Xing Ju stared intently at Yan Rou's eyes, and when the other's eyes reflected a cold and abnormal knife light, he suddenly lost his composure, his body instinctively dodging - Ah! A miserable cry sounded, blood splattered everywhere, and a bloody arm flew up.

  Xing Ju's arm was severed and blood gushed out like a spring, in just an instant, his ruddy and square face turned pale as paper, twisted in pain, hair standing on end, glaring venomously at the black hand behind him: "Li, Gu!"

  Li Gu's face was expressionless as he raised his knife again, but Yan Rou intervened, "Wait." Then she leaned in to listen.

  At this time, a hurried footsteps and shouting sounds were heard outside the account: " Envoy... Ah!"

  Clashing of gold and iron, sharp blades entering flesh, even the sound of blood splattering on the grass can be heard, one body after another falling to the ground. After a while, Yan Zhi's voice came from outside the tent: "Brother, it's all settled."

  Yan Rou smiled contentedly and turned back to Xing Ju, who was covered in ink: "See, what I said wasn't empty words, you're now the Ink Guard Captain."

  Xing Ju leaned half his body against a short table, glaring at the two of them: "You want to rebel!"

  "No, it's not rebellion, but replacement." Yan Rou smiled and said, "Don't forget that I am a riding commander of the imperial court, when the colonel dies, the commander replaces him, this is the usual practice."

  Xing Ju sneered: "You killed your superior, and now you want to take his place?"

  Yan Rou's face was shocked: "What are you talking about? When did I ever move a finger against the messenger? The messenger's death must have been caused by another murderer. I will personally behead the murderer to avenge the messenger!"

  Xing Ju pointed his bloody hand at Li Gu, opening his blood-stained mouth wide in laughter, but unfortunately could only let out a few hoarse sounds: "Indeed, once a running dog is used up, it's always time to cook it..."

  "Don't misunderstand, the real culprit is someone else." Yan Rou smiled and said, "Li Junhou was unable to stop the assassin in time, it's just dereliction of duty. After I take over as the protector of Wumeng, I will demote him, but after a period of time, he will be reinstated and promoted."

  "Are you looking for a scapegoat? Could it be... that..." Xing Ju's eyes widened in shock.

  Yan Rou nodded in affirmation: "Just as you thought, it was him."

  "Good viciousness, good tactics." Xing Ju let out a cold breath and sneered, "However, that person is not Xing Mou. With his bravery, the few people you brought may not be enough to see."

  Yan Rou calmly admitted: "The two hundred private soldiers I brought are indeed not enough to surround and kill this person, but what about adding Li Junhou's three hundred cavalry? Then, there is also Wudai's able minister who led a hundred cavalry. What about that? And then, there is also the alliance of Qi Bi Neng, Fu Luo Han, and Suo Luohou with several thousand Xianbei elite cavalry?"

  Xing Ju was shocked speechless.

  Yan Rou sighed softly: "He dared to take risks alone because he had the help of my two brothers and your protection. But now his protection has fallen, and the help has turned into murder. The Xianbei people and the Wuhuan people will no longer have any scruples. I believe that the barbarians' intention to kill him is even more than mine."

  "You originally had a thread of life." Yan Rou finally said to Xing Juru, "The news that I was appointed as the riding commander was deliberately released by me at this time. If you can tolerate my brother standing by your side, I will not be rude to you either. Unfortunately, you forced me..."

  Yan Rou said, made a downward chopping gesture to Li Gu, turned and left the tent. In the moment he lifted the curtain, a resentful and furious roar came from behind: "Yan Rou! I'll be waiting for you in the underworld..." The voice stopped abruptly.

  Stepping out of the tent, Yan Rou took a deep breath, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

  Soon after, Yan Zhi in full armor and Li Gu with blood all over his body and a fierce aura led a group of armored soldiers to gather around.

  "Older brother."

  "Yan Sima, uh, Yan Shikun."

  Yan Rou looked around, satisfied with herself, gazed quietly in a certain direction to the west, took a deep breath and said: "It's time to pay him a visit, let's go."

  (In history, Yan Rou colluded with the Xianbei people and the Wuhuan people, killed the protector of the Wuhuan school, Xing Ju, and took his place. This probably happened around this time. Whether Yan Rou's killing of Xing Ju was right or wrong is unknown due to insufficient historical records. However, according to the law of cause and effect, the result was that the non-Han Chinese supported Yan Rou in seizing power by violent means. Therefore, Yan Rou must have been sitting on the side of the non-Han Chinese, representing their interests, and his personal nature is self-evident.)