Chapter 24: The Superior Man

  The western suburb of Baihuo Village.

  Looking at the crowd gathered in front of the Baihu Suo gate, and those eager and innocent eyes... Why say innocent? Because Wu Mouren will soon tell them... Wu Fan felt that he was really quite shameless, a small matter, but still playing behind-the-scenes operations. He just thought so, in fact, what to do is what to do, without any mercy.

  "Cough! Cough!"

  With a loud cough, Wu Fan raised his hand to signal for silence and said loudly: "Everyone! Everyone! Please calm down and listen to me!" After the crowd quieted down and looked at him with eager eyes, Wu Fan continued: "You all know that our Western City Garrison has lost 53 brothers in this campaign against the Maitreya Sect. I am deeply grieved, but... the dead are gone, and the living must move on! As members of the Eagle Guard, the Emperor's personal army, it is only natural for us to repay the imperial favor and bring benefits to the people, even if it means sacrificing our lives! Everyone! You are all descendants of the Eagle Guard and offspring of meritorious officials..."

  "Too much nonsense!", Wu Fan didn't know when, but Zhong Xiu was leaning against the door frame with a mischievous look on his face, cracking melon seeds and teasing: "Why doesn't President Wu just tell everyone directly who to choose? Why bother saying all these useless words? You guys think what he said is right or not? Haha!"

  Hahaha...

  A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd immediately.

  Wu Fan's eyes flashed with cruelty and murderous intent, but he quickly covered it up with a fake smile. He turned his head and said, "Does Lord Bai have a better way? In that case... why don't you take charge?"

  "No way! Someone can't handle this! You're still the best, Director Wu. Come on, you come!"

  The Eagle Guard's filling of vacancies has always been a contentious issue. To mention only one example, last year when the captain of the Patroling Troop took charge of this matter, he was so obviously biased towards his own disciples that on the second day, hundreds of people with connections to the Eagle Guard surrounded him and pelted him with rotten eggs and vegetables for an entire day. Not long after, within three days, that captain was found dead in the streets. Even the commander-in-chief Wu Fang didn't dare to intervene in this matter, so one can imagine how severe it was. Now that Wu Fang wants to shift the blame, how could Zhong Xiu possibly dare to take it?

  "Since the hundred households don't want to preside, then don't delay me? Alright?" Wu Fan said earnestly: "If the vacancy of the hundred households is not filled in time, you can't blame me, right?"

  Zhong Xiu was stunned, wanting to explode, but having no reason to do so in front of so many people, suddenly feeling a flush of shame on her face, extremely humiliated and filled with great resentment.

  He cleared his throat twice, and Wu Fan continued to speak nonsense with his eyes open: "You are all descendants of meritorious officials, no matter who you choose this time, it is unfair to those who were not chosen. I am really struggling, really struggling, and I didn't sleep all night for this! Put yourself in others' shoes, think about it, if I chose you, would it be fair to others? Would it be fair to the martyrs who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives for the empire?! Sorry! Really sorry!"

  Wu Fan's voice was extremely passionate, and his natural low and husky tone made the sentimental words even more resonant, instantly making those who had come to mock Wu Fan dare not laugh again, but instead thought...【Ah! So General Wu is actually such a sincere and noble gentleman! What a good person!】

  In the eyes of others, Mr. Wu, who was considered a gentleman, let out a long sigh and slowly pulled out a prepared divination tube from his sleeve, saying: "I've thought it over and over, even burning incense to make a wish, and under the guidance of the spirits of our ancestors, I finally came up with a good idea! Let's leave it to fate! We'll use the fairest method to solve this! If you draw it, that means your luck has arrived. If not, don't worry, there's always next time! What do you think?"

  With Wu Fan's loud shout, many people who originally had no confidence and thought they had no hope suddenly lit up their eyes. This game is all about luck! Who's afraid of whom? At that moment, everyone was stirred up and shouted in agreement. Some people with a strong background were even more fearless. If their names weren't on the list later, they could just deny it, right? At this point, there was a chorus of approval.

  If Wu Fan knew they were thinking this way, he would definitely say to himself - [Hehe! Kid, you're still too young!]

  "Whoosh... whoosh..."

  Wu Fan shook the lottery drum, saying: "Since everyone agrees, don't say I didn't tell you, this is heaven's choice. If you're not chosen and still make trouble, you'll be struck by lightning!", He smiled strangely, looking at the reverent expressions of the crowd, Wu Fan was very pleased with his own trick of borrowing heavenly fate. Looking at the lottery drum, he said: "There are over 300 names in here, every applicant's name is recorded, I guarantee that! This time, the West City office needs to fill 53 people, so we need to draw out 53 lots! Let's start now!"

  "The first one! Zhang Maocai!"

  "Second! An Lushan!"

  "Third! Lu Yuming!"

  In this way, under Wu Fan's behind-the-scenes operation, all the people he wanted to choose were chosen. Of course, leaving a margin for things, he only chose twenty people he wanted to choose, and another twenty who had some hints in the backup, but did not really sweep away... The selected people were naturally overjoyed, while those who were not selected simply sighed and regretted their bad luck, basically everyone was happy.

  But...

  Zhong Xiuxiu's temper was a bit violent, but being violent didn't mean she was stupid. She took a glance and saw that among the people who were selected, there were several whom she knew, all of whom were originally under Wu Fan when he was a small flag-bearer. Was it just a coincidence? Thinking about this, Zhong Xiuxiu ran to Wu Fan's side and suddenly snatched the lottery drum from his hand while he wasn't paying attention!

  The atmosphere changed in an instant.

  Wu Fan calmly looked at Zhong Xiu and said, "Lord Bai Hu, is there something?"

  Zhong Xiu didn't look at Wu Fan, but rather sized up the shaking lottery drum and said with a meaningful tone: "A certain someone thinks there's something going on inside... Can I take a look?"

  You're holding all the power with the dice shaker, can I even say a word? Hypocrite!

  Wu Fan smiled slightly, without a hint of guilt, and said, "But it doesn't matter!"

  Zhong Xiu poured all the bamboo slips into his hands, shook and shook the divination cylinder, and the result was - [No problem? How could it be? Could it really be fate?]

  Seeing the shaking lottery tube without a problem, Zhong Xiudou couldn't help but doubt herself.

  "Since there's nothing going on, then I ask you, Sir Baihu, to return me and also that one person!"

  Wu Fan reached out and snatched back the lottery drum, making a gesture as if he was about to shake it.

  The people around him said: "General Wu, we have enough men!"

  "Is that enough? Oh! Good!", Wu Fan turned around with a look of sudden realization, and smiled at those who were not selected: "You don't have to be discouraged... This time you weren't selected, but there's always next time, there will always be opportunities! It's not me... I'm afraid something might happen to the brothers in the hundred households, as the old saying goes! A clay pot can't avoid being broken on a well, and a general can't avoid dying on the battlefield. Maybe the one who dies will be me, who knows?! Let's disperse like this! Thank you all for your support and trust!"

  Those who were not selected looked at me, I looked at them, and they all sighed, giving Wu Fan this "honest gentleman" a courtesy, and they all left. Throughout the process, no one uttered a single complaint, even if there was any, it was a complaint about their own bad luck! It can be seen that Wu Fan's handling of this matter is so beautiful, it is simply the most beautiful one in the more than 50 years since the problem of filling the gap between the eagle and the shield was raised.

  Turning his head, Wu Fan looked at Zhong Xiu and said: "Commander Bai Hu, the selection of the 53 new Eagle Guards has been completed. It's your turn to have them register their names in the flower name book, issue official uniforms and waist knives!"

  Zhong Xiu took the newly promoted Eagle Guard away, but from time to time, he turned his head to look at Wu Fan, and looked at the divination tube in Wu Fan's hand. He couldn't help it, he really couldn't figure it out!

  After waiting for a while with no one around, Wu Fan let out a long sigh of relief and took out all the bamboo slips. He looked at the bottom of the bamboo tube and pulled out a black piece of cake from inside! He had expected that Zhong Xiu would suddenly come to find fault with him, so he was extremely careful when cheating. The soft cake was stuffed tightly into the bottom by him, and he even used ink to dye the cake the same color as the bamboo tube. When Zhong Xiu shook the tube vigorously, Wu Fan's heart was in his throat! He really couldn't imagine how he would face those hundreds of angry people if he were exposed. Fortunately, it was stuffed tightly enough, and Zhong Xiu didn't shake it again with more force, otherwise... it would have been discovered!

  With a smile of relief and sarcasm mixed together, Wu Fan saw a small dog passing by and threw the bread to the dog. Watching the dog swallow the bread cleanly, he smiled and entered the Baohu Suo.

  "Dare to fight with me? Do you have the brains for that?"

  Wu Mouren sneered repeatedly.

  ……

  PS1: Seeking collection, seeking recommendation votes, seeking likes, whatever it takes, rolling on the ground and begging...

  PS2: Thank you for the 100 coin reward from Mo Ming Han Qiu Tong Zi, thank you.