Chapter 4: A Small Test of Cow Knife

  Li Mengsheng and Lian Zhu arrived at the county of Erhe on the second day at noon. They were stopped by guards in front of General Han's mansion gate, waiting for the steward to go and report, they had already waited for half an hour, Li Mengsheng's heart sank: Could it be that General Han would not take him in despite his friendship with his father? Just as he was thinking wildly, the steward returned and said: "The general has summoned Mr. Li." The two followed the steward to the courtyard, where they saw two rows of guards standing at attention on either side of the path, Li Mengsheng felt a chill run down his spine.

  Arriving at the Commander's mansion, General Han came out to greet him. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he grasped Meng Xing's hand and shed tears, saying: "I just received news of your father's passing, alas, my poor brother! I had originally planned to send troops to punish Tang Hu's army, but the Northwestern Army behind me is clamoring to overthrow the warlords. I must divide my forces to defend against them, truly a case of having the will but not the power! For now, you stay here with me, and after I've dealt with the Northwestern Army, I'll send troops to punish Tang Hu's army and avenge your father!"

  Meng Sheng wiped away his tears and said, "Thank you, Uncle Han. Tang Huanzi's power is now too great, wait until Uncle can counter it before sending troops again. Nephew has nowhere to turn and can only bother Uncle for the time being."

  "A family doesn't speak two languages, you can rest assured and stay here, this is your home!" Han Dashuai turned his head to the male servant behind him and said "Go call Ming Ju over." Han Dashuai saw that Meng Sheng found it strange that there were no female servants here, so he explained: "Alas! My little girl Ya Jun returned from Yanjing University and insisted on forming some kind of women's army, recruiting female soldiers in the county town, and driving the female servants in our house to the training ground. Isn't this nonsense?! It's all because her mother died early and didn't teach her well, how would a little girl know the cruelty of the battlefield?! Nonsense, nonsense!"

  Li Mengsheng thought to himself: This Ya Jun was a quiet and obedient child when she was young, how did she become the leader of an all-female army after not seeing her for several years? He couldn't help but feel secretly amazed.

  "It's been a long time! It's been years since we last met, and Dream's younger brother is even more handsome and tall now!" A 20-year-old or so thin and tall individual with a face full of smiles walked in, none other than Han Dae-soo's son, Han Myung-hoi.

  Meng Sheng hurriedly got up and said: "Ming Jie brother, it's been a few years since we last met, and as soon as we meet again, you're scolding your younger brother?"

  "Let Meng Sheng stay with you tonight, you two brothers haven't seen each other for years, have a good chat! You take Meng Sheng to various places first!" Han Da Shuai instructed his son.

  Han Mingju was a big smoker and after arranging things for Meng Sheng, he hastily ran out to smoke.

  Meng Sheng said to Lian Zhu: "Let's settle down here first and see how things go."

  "Big brother, I'll listen to you," Lianzhu said.

  After a while, the servant brought in food and the two people had a hearty meal. The days of rushing around with exhaustion and the miserable changes at home had kept both people's nerves tight, until they finally arrived at the Han residence and had a place to settle down, relaxing their nerves and falling into a deep sleep.

  The two slept until dawn the next day, and Li Mengsheng and Lianzhu got up to see that Han Ming was still sleeping, so they didn't call him out. They went out to wash their faces on their own. The water pool was in front of a row of servant rooms. The two were washing their faces with their heads down when they suddenly heard a sharp whistle sound behind them. They quickly got up to check and saw a beautiful woman wearing a dark gray military uniform, with a military belt around her waist, carrying a .45 caliber 1911 Browning pistol, and wearing small leather boots. The woman looked at them and asked: "Li Mengsheng?"

  "Is that so? You're Ya Jun's sister?"

  Li Mengsheng saw that Ya Jun had grown taller than before, slender and elegant, wearing a military uniform that couldn't hide her prominent chest. Her neck was white and delicate, her face was pretty, and her lips were just the right thickness to exude sensuality. Just as Li Mengsheng was sizing up Han Ya Jun with a customer's gaze, he suddenly discovered that Ya Jun's eyes had a contemptuous and cold look. This cold look also blocked out the flirtatious words that Li Mengsheng was about to say.

  Six women in military uniforms ran out of the servant's room, all of them quite young, looking like they were seventeen or eighteen years old. Yajun ignored Mengsheng and said to the female soldiers standing at attention: "Today we will go to the training ground to continue practicing shooting and bayonet fighting." With a wave of her hand, she shouted "Depart!" The six women marched in formation towards the back courtyard of the commander's mansion.

  Wang Tong and Lian Zhu exchanged a glance, couldn't help but laugh, "This group of little girls is simply crazy!" Lian Zhu chuckled.

  "Her brain is a bit abnormal, who dares to marry such a woman? Lian Zhu, choose one from inside for me as a daughter-in-law?" Meng Sheng teased Lian Zhu.

  "Bring it on! I'm after Miss Ya Jun, I have martial arts skills, and I can definitely subdue her in bed." Lian Zhu retorted.

  "What are you thinking?! As soon as you mention Ya Jun, your tongue is tied up! Ya Jun is mine, I don't need to use martial arts to subdue her in bed." Li Meng Sheng said with a sly smile: "Let's go, take a look!"

  Two people jogged along, following behind the team.

  After leaving the backyard of the General's Mansion, there was a training ground covering an area of about five mu. On the west side of the training ground, there was a small hill that served as a shooting range, with a row of wooden targets in front of it. Six female soldiers were divided into three groups practicing bayonet fighting with wooden guns. Those maids had no intention of practicing and were complaining that making money at the General's Mansion was really tiring, and they also had to accompany the young lady playing soldier games. Each one was holding a soft gun, occasionally making funny faces and laughing at each other. When these maids saw Li Mengsheng and Lianzhu pointing and smiling at them with good intentions, they felt embarrassed and stopped practicing one after another.

  Yajun saw this scene and angrily shouted at the two: "You two! Come here!"

  Li Mengsheng and Lian Zhu walked up with a smile, Li Mengsheng said: "Seriously, you'd better teach them battlefield first aid and nursing, women are more suitable for this kind of work. Besides, they won't have the chance to go to the battlefield anyway? Unless all the men die, then maybe women will be allowed to go to the battlefield."

  "Are you saying you have the skills to protect women? Alright, follow me!" she said with a slanted gaze of disdain, pulling out her handgun and heading towards the shooting range.

  When Ya Jun pulled out the pistol, Li Mengsheng's heart skipped a beat, thinking that this young lady was going to shoot him. But when he saw her intention was to test his marksmanship, he felt relieved.

  Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu followed Ya Jun to the shooting range, where they saw Ya Jun standing 30 meters away from the wooden target. With his right hand stretched out holding the gun, he took aim, took a deep breath, and with a "bang" sound, one of the wooden targets fell to the ground. After knocking down three wooden targets, he tossed the gun to Li Meng Sheng, looking at him with disdain.

  Six maids also ran to the shooting range to watch the excitement, chattering and praising Miss's marksmanship. Li Mengsheng knew that the accurate shooting of this Browning 1911 pistol within ten meters, and the target more than ten meters away, if not professionally trained, almost had no chance of hitting it. Yajun was able to hit a target thirty meters away, which really made him look at her in a new light.

  Li Mengsheng weighed the gun in his hand, took aim at a wooden target for a full minute before firing, and the bullet grazed the wooden target and burrowed into the soil behind it, kicking up a cloud of dust. The maids all burst out laughing, and Ya Jun couldn't help but feel secretly annoyed as she looked at this "fiancé" who was only marrying her for her family's wealth: She had long heard that he was a dissolute young master, a prodigal son of a wealthy family. If her father hadn't forced her to marry this good-for-nothing, she would have gone south to join the revolutionary army! With hatred in her eyes, she shouted at Li Mengsheng, "Stop making a fool of yourself, let's go!"

  Meng Sheng didn't respond, suddenly raised his gun and fired in succession, four shots rang out - four wooden targets were almost knocked down at the same time!

  Yajun didn't know that when Li Mengsheng was a child, he had few toys. His father, General Li, often gave him his own pistol to play with. At the age of three, he could already shoot a gun, and at seven years old, he secretly took his father's gun and shot the flower vase in the living room, for which he received his first scolding from his mother. When attending private school, he would often sneak out and go to his father's military camp to play, where shooting was his favorite pastime. He was proficient with everything from handguns to rifles to light and heavy machine guns. Later, when he went to Tianjin's Lecture Hall for Military Studies, there were also marksmanship courses, so shooting was child's play for Mengsheng.

  In his father's military camp, Meng Sheng not only learned shooting but also mastered many hand-to-hand combat techniques. These combat skills, although different from traditional martial arts, were the most effective and practical moves that soldiers had summarized with their blood and lives on the battlefield. They were absolutely free of fancy moves and nonsense, one move to kill without dragging or hesitation. However, Meng Sheng's personality did not like to fight aggressively, and his identity and status also determined that no one would dare to fight him. So, even he himself did not know that he had already possessed the basic qualities of a high-ranking military officer.

  At this time, Li Mengsheng blew the gunpowder smoke from the muzzle and said with satisfaction: "The first shot is to adjust the error, the gun is not bad, I'll give it back to you." After finishing, he handed the gun to Ya Jun. Taking advantage of Ya Jun's slow reaction, he touched Ya Jun's hand that received the gun, and said with pity: "What a delicate and beautiful hand! Unfortunately, it's always dancing with knives and guns, and it's almost worn out."

  Yajun suddenly woke up and quickly pulled out his hand, his face turned bright red in an instant, and he said casually: "It turns out your marksmanship is pretty good, why haven't I seen it before?"

  "I can still 'eighteen touch' too, have you seen it?" Li Mengsheng said with a sly smile.

  Yajun said angrily: "Ruffian! No matter how good your marksmanship is, you are just a beast!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and walked towards the commander's mansion with big strides.

  "Haha" Li Mengsheng looked at Ya Jun's back and sang loudly: "First touch hands, then touch head, follow **down to massage..."

  Ya Jun heard the sound and ran even faster.