Chapter 4 Frost Descent (Six Up)

  Wang Xuan's eyes were sharp, and with just a slight glance, he noticed that the waist card in Ma Fang's hand looked somewhat familiar. Before the other party could finish speaking, he snatched it over with a swift motion.

  "Don't grab, don't grab, it's definitely not fake, you're being cheated by a little dog!" Ma Fang grasped Wang Yun's arm with both hands and refused to let go. "Hurry up and return it to me. That was obtained by my grandfather after great effort. I won't give it to you, otherwise I'll be dead meat when I get home!"

  "I don't care about this thing!" Wang Xuan carefully examined the waist card and then casually threw it back to Ma Fang. "I just got one too, so I brought it over to take a look."

  He said, then reached into his close-fitting pocket and pulled out his own Vice Commander's waist card, "Look, isn't it almost the same as yours!"

  This time, Ma Fang couldn't believe the other's words. He reached out and snatched Wang Xun's waist card, holding it in front of his eyes for a close comparison. "Really? It's almost identical. Where did you get this from? I didn't expect us to be mixed up together again!"

  "Haven't had a chance to tell you all yet. Aunt Yun has arranged for me to go to the military to gain some experience through a family friend of my father's. In the future, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to meet up with everyone!" Wang Xun smiled and took the opportunity to explain his plans for the recent period.

  "It doesn't matter. The Flying Dragon Imperial Guard's camp is just south of the city, as long as you can get a leave, you can go home anytime!" Qin Guo waved his hand with an air of having expected Wang Xun to react this way, and smiled reassuringly.

  Ma Fang, however, was somewhat disappointed. He flipped the two waist plaques back and forth several times, shook his head, pouted, and said: "This plaque is actually a Proclamation Vice General, which is two levels higher than mine! My grandfather said he used a lot of effort for me, but it's clear he was trying to deceive me!"

  "You silly kid, these are just nominal titles. They look good but without a real position, they're useless." Wang Xun patted Ma Fang's head with force and reminded him with a smile.

  "Oh! That's also true!" After hearing his explanation, Ma Fang's heart felt a bit more balanced. But then he huffed and puffed again, saying: "But your monthly salary is one and a half times higher than mine! I can only get three taels every month!"

  "What's wrong with your family!" Seeing his indignant look, Qin Guoyong, who was usually calm and composed, couldn't help but step forward and pinch his face hard, "1,500 yuan, is it enough for you to eat a meal?"

  "This isn't about whether I eat or not!" Ma Fang rubbed her reddened face with force, muttering discontentedly, "This means whether he takes me seriously or not. Yun Ni just casually entrusted someone, Ming Yun is only an eighth-grade proclamation official. But my grandfather said he used all his might......"

  "How did you know it was just a casual entrustment!" Wang Xuan chuckled and explained in a low voice. "Recently, the capital is full of rumors and panic, I don't know how many people are planning to take refuge in the Imperial Guard. It's fortunate that Cloud Aunt found one of my father's old acquaintances. Otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to get close to the Flying Dragon Imperial Guard's camp gate. If you're not happy about my position being higher than yours, we can swap if you'd like. After all, we're both irregular officials, who knows how long it'll take before we fill a real vacancy!"

  "That's not necessary!" Ma Fang shook his head and responded with a scowl. "Anyway, you don't have to think that I'll salute you every day when I see you! Otherwise, I'd rather continue staying at home!"

  It turned out that he was most dissatisfied with this! Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized. They laughed and counted: "Hey, your wings have hardened, right? Your wings have hardened and you don't see Mingyun anymore. Think back to those years, who was it that followed behind Mingyun's horse butt with tears in their eyes calling him second brother?"

  "You and Ming Yun have a wrist-wrestling match. If you win, he'll call you 'brother'! Every day when he sees you, he'll bow to you, how about that?"

  "I'm too lazy to care about you guys!" Ma Fang couldn't withstand the gang's attack, rolled his eyes, and tossed Wang Xun's waist card back.

  "Be content with what you have, I'd rather blend in with the army camp and pay respects to Ming Yun every day, but no one wants me yet!" Yuwen Zhi pushed Ma Fang with a smile, feeling sentimental.

  As soon as the words fell, the laughter of the crowd immediately cooled down. In order to force Yang Guozhong to take action and rescue him, Wang Xun had previously asked someone to send a portion of the account books left by Yuwen Zhi to Zhu Jiannan's shop, which was funded by Yang Guozhong. Now that Yuwen Zhi has been rescued by others, although he temporarily escaped from prison, he also thoroughly offended the Yang family. If the Yang family were to "settle accounts after autumn", Yuwen Zhi would probably have just escaped from the tiger's den and fallen into the wolf's lair!

  The Qin brothers' news was more sensitive than others, and their minds turned quickly. After a moment's thought, they came up with a clever plan. Second brother Qin Guo Jian nodded to his older brother first, then smiled and said: "If Ma Fang hadn't shown off his waist card, I really wouldn't have thought of it. Now there's a place that just happens to be suitable for Zi Da to temporarily avoid the storm!"

  "What?" The other three people immediately surrounded him and asked in unison.

  "Of course, it's the Flying Dragon Imperial Guard. Your Majesty has been dissatisfied with the sloppiness of the Flying Dragon Imperial Guard since seeing the elite troops of Anxi. An edict has already been issued to retrain the Flying Dragon Imperial Guard. General Gao Lishi is in charge, but the one actually responsible for this matter is General Feng Changqing, who has just returned from Anxi."

  "How did Nazha get in? Can you think of a way to help?" Ma Fang's temper was the most impatient, and before Qin Guoquan had finished speaking, he immediately asked anxiously.

  Qin Guozhen waved his hand, making a gesture to calm down, "It's said that General Feng is very disappointed with the current state of the Feilong Imperial Guard. He has decided to put up a recruitment notice, and all young men from good families in the capital who are willing to serve the country can go and sign up. At that time, General Gao will personally come down to screen and select the best candidates, and grant them official positions. Zida's martial skills were already not bad, and with these two days of intense practice, I don't believe he still can't compare to a group of ordinary people who haven't even learned martial arts!"

  This is a good idea! Especially with the brilliant sign of General Gao Lishi. With his achievements in following the dragon, this man's position in the emperor's heart is not ordinary. Although he rarely intervenes in court affairs, neither Li Linfu, who has been in charge of the prime minister for many years, nor Yang Guozhong, who wants to replace Li Linfu, dares to provoke him easily. As long as Yuwen Zhi performs well in the selection and enters Gao Lishi's eyes, Yang Guozhong will have to carefully weigh the pros and cons if he wants to find trouble with him again.

  At the moment, Wang Jun and Ma Fang were both speaking in unison, strongly urging Yuwen to give it a try. Knowing that both of them were thinking without any reserve for their own benefit, Yuwen smiled and responded, "If we can take refuge under General Gao's command, of course it would be good. But what about our industries..."

  "Don't worry, without you, the sun will still rise from the east every day!" Wang Xuan slapped him hard on the back, interrupting his hesitation. "The bosses are all down-to-earth people, even if we don't keep an eye on them every day, they won't make any big mistakes. At worst, I'll ask Cloud Aunt to help take a look, after all, she was the one who managed my family's business before, and did a much better job than me!"

  "We two brothers can also run around more often. Zida, you can rest assured to go and enlist!" Qin Guoyong also agreed with Yuwen Zhixian going to the military camp to hide for a while, thought for a moment, and said with a smile.

  Qin Guozhen nodded and smiled in agreement: "Yes, all the industries before relied on Mingyun and Zida to take care of them. We two brothers only took care of dividing the money at the end of the year. This time, you two can relax for a few months and let me and my brother support it for a while! Anyway, the Feilong Imperial Guard won't go out to battle, and when the storm subsides, Zida can think of a way to retire!"

  "Alright then, I'll have to trouble both of you brothers!" Yuwen Zhi was no longer worried and immediately made a decision.

  Now that Yuwen had made up his mind, everyone started thinking of ways to help him get through. Qin Guoquan's thoughts were quick and sharp, and soon he came up with a fairly suitable plan: "If we're going to take the exam, it'll be testing our strength, martial arts skills, horsemanship, and archery - just these four areas. At that time, several thousand people will be on stage at the same time; if you want to stand out from the crowd, Zida might as well focus on one area he's best at."

  "In terms of physical strength, you don't have to compete with others. It's hard for a soldier to stand out. As for horsemanship, we who ride fine horses and charge forward every day will definitely not lose to those who can't even afford a horse." Wang Xuan nodded and added in a low voice, "But if you want to attract attention, I think you should focus on archery! First, among us, your archery has always been the most accurate. Second, there's a target, so it's impossible to cheat. After one round of shooting, who's high and who's low can be seen at a glance from the target!"

  "It's said that General Gao is most skilled at archery!" Ma Fang's thoughts were not slow, and with one sentence he hit the key point. "When it comes to testing marksmanship, he will definitely come in person to observe. As long as Zida seizes this opportunity, even if he loses the other items, he can still pass!"

  In the midst of the lively discussion, Zhang Zhou and Lei Wanchun also arrived. Wang Xun was shocked to see them, hastily stepped forward a few steps, stretched out his hand to support him, "Brother Lei, how did you come too? Your injury..."

  "It's just a needle-sized wound. If you don't even let me out the door, won't that suffocate Old Lei to death!" Lei Wanchun pushed him away with one arm, his face full of nonchalance.

  "Is Big Brother Lei injured?" In Ma Fang's eyes, Lei Wanchun was a god-like existence. Upon hearing that the latter was injured, he immediately widened his eyes and loudly asked, "How did you get injured? What about the guy who snuck up on you? Did you catch him?"

  "Missed it! I almost got caught by him!" Lei Wanchun patted Ma Fang's shoulder affectionately and replied in a low voice, "That man is a divine shooter. Even if we were to face off against each other, I'm not sure I could get close to him. There's always someone better than you out there. In the world of martial arts, no one has ever dared to claim they're the best!"

  Note 1: The scattered officials were only a title representing identity and status, without actual authority. For example, the eighth-grade Xuanjie deputy captain appointed by Wang Chong in the text only represented that he had the qualifications to be granted an actual position below the eighth grade, not that he could immediately lead troops.

  Note 2: The Fubing system had already declined during the Kaiyuan era. In the eighth year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang formally abolished the Fubing system and replaced it with a volunteer army system.