Chapter 8: Zhao Kuangyin of the Northern and Southern Dynasties

  "Ah, young master, how are you still..." Lu Ping said in surprise.

  Delighted, he laughed and said: "I have a plan. I'm very satisfied with the things Mr. Lu has made, I'd like to ask Mr. Lu to work for me, continue making some things, and I'll pay you a salary that will satisfy you!"

  "This..." Lu Ping looked at Lu Zhishen with some difficulty, then looked at the destroyed gate.

  "Sir, are you worried about the eighth master? Don't worry, I will protect you and your son. As for your son's various bad habits, I have a way to deal with them!"

  "Really?" Lu Ping looked at Gao Xing with a eager face. Although Ba Ye was formidable, Lu Ping had nothing to lose but his own life, what he couldn't put his mind at ease about was Lu Zhishen.

  Lu Zhishen was clever and resourceful from a young age, learning quickly and skilled with his hands. Lu Ping had high hopes for him, and the girls in the neighborhood liked him too. However, fate played tricks on him, and he fell in love with a servant girl, which led to a tragic outcome due to their different social status. What's more unfortunate was that when Lu Zhishen was 18 years old, his wife of just one year was taken away by the son of the former county magistrate to be a concubine.

  Lu Zhishen suffered a series of blows, his temperament changed greatly, and he fell into depravity. He could often be seen in brothels and gambling dens. Under such profligacy, his family, which was not wealthy to begin with, became even more impoverished. Fortunately, Lu Ping's craftsmanship was exquisite, and some people would come to him to make wooden objects, barely managing to sustain their livelihood.

  "Mr. Lu can rest assured that within a month, I will make your son transform completely!" He guaranteed with excitement and confidence, smiling.

  "Alright, thank you, Master Gao!" Lu Ping thought for a moment and finally made up his mind, agreeing with Gao Xing's opinion.

  "You're still not dead, can you take charge of my affairs?" Lu Zhishen's face was full of sarcastic smiles, and his eyes, which were covered in blood vessels, had little interest.

  "Father!" He looked at Lu Zhishen with a happy smile and said in a light tone.

  "You little brat, it's none of your business! Pay for the wooden goods quickly, I still want to have some fun!" Lu Zhishen said impatiently.

  "Father!" The smile on his excited face brightened a few degrees, but his voice took on a hint of chill.

  "What business is it of yours?" Lu Zhishen said with a slightly stern tone.

  "Ah!" The next moment, Lu Zhishen let out a painful wail.

  His face wore a warm and gentle smile, like the spring breeze or the morning sun, but his eyes were piercing with a chilling intent. His right hand was claw-like, tightly grasping Lu Zhishen's left shoulder at the Jing point.

  "Brother!" Looking at Lu Zhishen's painfully twisted face, Lu Ping couldn't bear his worry.

  Gaoxing smiled and nodded to reassure him, his voice seeming to carry a hint of icicles, "Aren't you going to call out?" As he spoke, Gaoxing increased the force in his hand.

  "Ah! I'm calling, calling, Dad, Dad, hurry and save me, let him go, it hurts, ah——” Lu Zhishen looked at Lu Ping with a pleading expression. He didn't dare move, nor could he move. As soon as he made the slightest movement, his shoulder would send waves of unrelenting pain.

  "Mr. Lu, please hurry up and pack your belongings. I'll send someone to take you to a new residence soon. Firstly, it's for your protection from the revenge of Eighth Master, and secondly, it will help me to better manage the household items. As for your son, I've taken him away first. In a month, I promise you a lively and healthy child."

  "Good." Lu Ping was reluctant and uneasy, but ultimately agreed with Gao Xing's opinion.

  Farewell Lu Ping, happily took Lu Zhishen and directly left the city.

  "What do you want to do, isn't it just murder and robbery? I'll tell you, you promised my father that if I'm not seen in a month, he will definitely report to the authorities!" Looking at the excited and evil smile, Lu Zhishen felt a chill run down his back, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, his voice trembling.

  "Hmph, what's there to be afraid of? Your scrawny body, even a stray dog wouldn't want it. I, the young master, could kill you and still not get any money for it! Come along quietly with me, don't waste words!" He looked at Lu Zhishen's lean physique with disdain, pretending to wrinkle his nose in distaste, his face full of disgust.

  "You..." Lu Zhishen was furious, but looking at the excited and cold eyes of the upper class, thinking of the scene where the eighth grandfather and eleven people fell to the ground and wailed, finally closed his mouth obediently.

  Before long, they arrived at a place with Lu Zhishen.

  "What did you bring me here for? Let me go back, let me go back quickly!" Looking at the military camp in front of him and listening to the neat shouts from within, Lu Zhishen shouted angrily.

  Delighted, he laughed even more happily, "Don't worry, the food here is not bad, you will like it soon." After finishing speaking, Delight pulled Lu Zhishen into the military camp.

  Jian Guangxing dragged a frail young man in, and all the soldiers couldn't help but cast surprised glances.

  "What are you looking at? What is a soldier's duty?" shouted General Han in a cold rage.

  "Obey orders, unconditionally obey!" The soldiers were shocked and quickly looked around, answering loudly.

  "As long as you don't forget, it's not abandoned yet!"

  "Arrived!" Not yet abandoning his run, he rushed to the front of the excited face, made a bow after standing at attention, with his waist straight as a pen and not a single expression on his face.

  "Today's lunch break is cancelled, we'll be having extra training on military posture. If anyone still slacks off, no one will get dinner tonight!" he exclaimed loudly.

  "It is." Shang said loudly.

  Nodding with a smile, he pulled Lu Zhishen forward and said: "Give him a good workout, be strict with him, got it?"

  "Let me go! I want to go home! I want to go home!" Lu Zhishen shouted loudly, the hardships in this military camp were not something ordinary people could endure.

  Delighted, he didn't even bother with him, and gave a signal to Shang Zhong, who understood, waved his hand, and two soldiers rushed forward, dragging Lu Zhishen away.

  Gao Xing only stayed in the military camp for a moment before leaving, with him around, the soldiers trained even more seriously, afraid of triggering Gao Xing's anger if they did anything wrong. The extra training was a small matter, not having meat to eat was the big issue.

  Out of the military camp, happy to go home directly, took a stack of manuscripts and then hurriedly came out of the house, went straight to Ye Jin's residence.

  Hearing the joyful news of your visit, Ye Jin personally came out to welcome you at the door.

  "Uncle Ye, it's been a few days, you're still as dashing as ever!" Ye Jin exclaimed with a big smile and a wave of his hand.

  "Gao Gongzi has arrived, Ye Mou is overjoyed, naturally his spirit is a hundred times better! Please come in!" Ye Jin said with a smile.

  Delighted to smile and follow Ye Yin into the house, after the servant sent tea and snacks and retreated, Delight said: "Uncle Ye, today I came to discuss our cooperation matters with you, and secondly, to ask for your help."

  "What? The son of the Marquis still needs my help?" Yu Jin smiled and said, his expression turning serious: "Just speak up, I'll do my best to assist you!"

  "Thank you!" He said with a happy fist bump, then briefly told Ye Jin about what had happened at Lu Ping's place and asked him to send someone to pick up Lu Ping.

  Ye Jin let out a sigh of relief, smiled and said: "That Lu Ping is crucial to our future business, I won't let him come to harm!" After finishing speaking, Ye Jin instructed the housekeeper to bring some guards to go pick up Lu Ping.

  After smiling and thanking him again, his expression turned serious: "Uncle Ye, is there a safe place here where we can discuss the specifics of our cooperation?"

  Ye Jin nodded and walked quickly into a quiet room with excitement.

  After the two sat down, Gao Xing handed over some plans he had written in the past few nights to Ye Jin and said: "Uncle Ye, let's start with the chair first. This process is simple, ordinary craftsmen can complete it as long as they have drawings. As for other business, you do some preparatory work first, and we'll start again when I come back!"

  As soon as she got those papers, the things recorded on them immediately caught Ye Jin's attention.

  Ye Jin raised his head in surprise and asked: "Young master, is there something that needs Ye's help?"

  Delighted, he said: "Thank you, Uncle Ye. I'm going out of the city to train troops and will be back in about seven or eight days."

  Yue Jin said: "Young master, be careful, business matters will be handled by me. The many novel ideas you have are unheard of to Yue, truly broadening one's horizons. That day's big gamble had Yue worried all along. Now seeing your meticulous planning, I can finally put my mind at ease."

  "Even if it were me, taking out 20,000 taels of gold to cooperate with a stranger would be a huge concern. But Uncle Ye is so generous and bold, I truly admire him."

  Ye Jin shook his head and sighed, "It's not that I, Ye, am being arrogant, but rather I have no other choice. Although my family is ranked in the top ten in Xuyi County, we are only at the bottom of the list. Moreover, as outsiders, we face increasing discrimination from the locals, making it difficult for us to take a step forward. As the son of the Imperial Historian, cooperating with you would undoubtedly allow my family to gain a firmer foothold. Your father, King Langya, is renowned throughout the land, and I have always admired him, which is why I dared to take this risk!"

  "Even so, there are still few people with your courage. I wish our cooperation goes smoothly. There are some things that need to be arranged, I'll take my leave now."

  "Since it's like that, I won't delay you any further, sir! Please!"

  After leaving Ye Jin's place, he happily arrived at an inn in the east of the city, booked a room and instructed the young servant that if someone came looking for him, to bring them up directly.

  He happily went upstairs and sat cross-legged on his bed to cultivate. Whenever he had time, he would work hard to cultivate in order to reach a higher level.

  "The Longevity Code" has a total of eighteen levels, and it took more than twenty days to reach the second level. Although he was ten times faster than in his previous life, he was still not very satisfied. With war looming, only strong power can be the capital for survival and competing for dominance.

  When the sky was about to turn dark, Gaoxing suddenly opened his eyes, feeling a surge of power in his body and a refreshing comfort. A faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Through his clothes, he reached out to touch the warm Buddha pendant on his chest, and muttered to himself in wonder: "What is it after all, that can help me cultivate?"

  Just then, footsteps were heard outside the door. Gao Xing concentrated and listened carefully, feeling that there were six people walking towards his room.

  Before long, there was a knock at the door and the voice of the waiter came in: "Young master, someone is looking for you!"

  "Come in!"

  The door opened and five young men, including Zhang Shun, walked in one after another. If it weren't for the excitement of memories that surpassed the ordinary, they would hardly dare to recognize each other.

  All five of them changed their clothes, carefully tidied themselves up, although their faces were still somewhat pale and sallow, but they were no longer the dirty and disheveled beggars they once were.

  "Boss!" Zhang Shun stepped forward and saluted.

  Delighted, she sat up in bed and softly said: "Have you told them all?"

  "Yes, they all agree and are willing to follow the leader!" Zhang Shun replied.

  "Great, you introduce yourselves first."

  Zhang Shun nodded at the four people behind him and let them make way.

  "I'll go first, my name is Zhao Gouwa, I'm 14 years old." The speaker said in a deep and resonant voice, his face was sturdy, among the five young men he looked the strongest, but not particularly tall.

  "Hmm? This name doesn't sound good, ah, a name is given by one's parents, I don't dare to change it for you. How about this, from now on you'll be called Zhao Gou, nickname Dog Wa, what do you think?" Gao Xing said with a frown, but in his heart he was thinking: It seems that in the future I'll have to urge him to practice writing well, so as not to lose face for Zhao Gou.