Chapter Forty-two Let's Play for Life

  An old man and a young boy sat down to eat together, able to share the same food as the butcher, which is undoubtedly the dream of most bookworms, but Tang Guan couldn't help but curl his lip.

  The reason is none other than that Pei Yan, as the prime minister, eats such a simple meal, and even the two extra dishes added especially for him make Tang Guan somewhat speechless.

  A plate of green vegetables, a plate of radish, good for Tang Guan's hungry stomach. He ate slowly and silently with his head down. Pei Yan was an old-fashioned person who followed the rules of not speaking while eating and not talking in bed. Occasionally, he would stop his chopsticks and gaze at Tang Guan's eating posture, which resembled a whirlwind sweeping away the remaining clouds, and smile wryly to himself.

  This appearance cannot be combined with the image of being thoughtful and agile just now.

  After a long time, the two finished their meal. A guard came in to clear the table. Pei Yan smiled at Tang Guan, who was full and drunk: "Little friend, are you full?"

  Although the food was somewhat disappointing, Tang Guan ate his fill and immediately replied: "I'm full"

  Pei Yan smiled slightly and immediately took out the "Oath Letter" from beside him, saying to Tang Guan: "Tang Guan, tell me, do you really have a connection with Liu Xun, the governor of Hangzhou?"

  Tang Guan heard this and his heart skipped a beat. He immediately said: "The student indeed killed his family members by mistake."

  Pei Yan put down the document, stroked his beard and said thoughtfully: "As far as I know, Liu's son is already at a weak age, how can you, so young, harm him?"

  Upon hearing this, Tang Guan's heart was filled with joy. It seemed that Pei Yan was on his side and didn't blame him for the crime of murder, instead asking how he had killed them.

  But he couldn't say that he had been omnipotent at the time, so he downplayed it and said: "That Liu Chunliang was evil and bullied the people in Yuhang, and on that day, he molested my sister in the cloth shop. In a fit of rage, I lost control and killed him."

  Pei Yan's eyelid twitched at the words, and he remained silent. Tang Guan continued to speak, observing his expression: "Liu Xun is just like this barbarian! He actually dared to hire bandits to ambush and kill the Imperial Censor and my student on the road. If it weren't for the great martial arts skills of the Imperial Guard, I wouldn't have been able to see you, old sir!"

  When he heard this, Pei Yan's eyes flashed with a hint of killing intent. Let alone how Tang Guan, as a child, could kill the adult Liu Chunliang, just based on Liu Xunming knowing that Tang Guan was a sacred recruit and still daring to intercept him, this point alone had already committed a great taboo.

  Tang Guan stood up from the side, bowing his head and standing upright, with a look of a victim seeking help. However, Pei Yan hesitated and did not speak. Tang Guan knew that the complexity of officialdom far exceeded his imagination, and it seemed that Pei Yan also had some concerns.

  Just as Pei Yan's eyes were fixed and he was about to speak, the imperial guard rushed in and reported: "Commander, the Imperial Censor requests an audience."

  "Enter"

  Tang Guan heard this and was overjoyed. He turned his head to look outside the tent, and saw two figures, one big and one small, walking in. They were Chen Yunsheng and Xiao Qi.

  Xiao Qi saw Tang Guan and excitedly shouted: "Guan Ge!"

  "Liáng Jūn, you mustn't be rude in front of Sir!" Chen Yu's eyebrows furrowed as he pinched Xiaō Qī's hand hard, and only then did Xiaō Qī stop making a sound.

  It was clear that before entering the account, it had been instructed that there were big people to see. Xiao Qi hurriedly agreed to meet Tang Guan for the sake of seeing him, and as soon as he saw him, he threw him in the back of his mind.

  Pei Yan saw Xiao Qi's unbridled words and smiled: "No harm"

  Chen Yunsheng finally let go of Xiao Qi and stepped forward, saying: "Old Master, that Liu Xun..."

  He didn't finish speaking, Pei Yan waved his hand and interrupted: "Let the child go out first"

  Chen Yunsheng nodded and said to Xiao Qi Tang Guan: "Go with the illness, take your brother to find Chang Shiwei to play, don't run around"

  Tang Guan had already perked up his ears to listen in on the conversation between the two, but now that he was being shooed away again, he felt rather displeased. He could only pull Xiao Qi out of the tent.

  Pei Yan sat down and said: "Yun Sheng, tell me the whole story from beginning to end."

  Chen Yunsheng bowed his head and thought for a moment, then began to speak from the beginning of Tang Guan's imprisonment. Pei Yan listened silently as Chen Yunsheng spoke in detail.

  Xiao Qi and Tang Guan came out of the main account, naturally not so obedient.

  The two of them went on a long trip for the first time and arrived at this military stronghold, everything felt very fresh.

  Looking at the soldiers lined up for drills on the school field not far away, Xiao Qi said: "Guang Ge, look at that!"

  Tang Guan looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a wooden fence with several long guns lined up, at least two zhang or more.

  "Brother Tang, let's go take a look!" Xiaowu looked at the soldiers with some excitement and pulled Tang Guan to the front of the school field. The soldiers saw two children coming over and didn't think much of it, just thinking to themselves: "These scholars are useless in other ways, but they even bring kids to cause trouble during military exercises."

  Two people stood under the long gun, and only when they approached did they realize that the long gun was even taller than the two of them. Tang Guan is currently only about 1.45 meters tall, so this gun must be at least 2 meters or more.

  "What a big gun, it shouldn't be for infantry use." Tang Guan narrowed his eyes slightly in the sunlight, this gun was obviously not light.

  Just as the two were about to touch it, a loud shout came from the other side: "You two little brats, stop messing around here, go back and find your family's adults!"

  The two heard the sound and looked over, only to see a burly man with a mustache, who was likely not an ordinary soldier judging by his armor, but rather a military officer.

  Xiao Qi saw that he was born with a strong and powerful physique, and was somewhat intimidated, but still refused to admit defeat, saying: "You're just a little kid, my brother's strength is even greater!"

  Tang Guan heard the words and shook his head with a bitter smile. Xiao Qi had been blindly worshiping him since he saw Tang Guan kill Liu Chunliang, but he didn't know that it was just a blind cat hitting a dead mouse, and until now, he still didn't know where his strength lay.

  The big Han heard this and burst out laughing, striding forward with large steps. The soldiers stopped their training exercises and looked on at the scene with great interest.

  Xiao Qi saw this and involuntarily shrank back behind Tang Guan's back.

  The big Han walked forward, picked up a long spear from the fence with one hand, and threw it in front of the two with a "clang".

  "You're not a little kid, so pick this up!"

  Xiao Qi's face suddenly turned red, he himself still had self-awareness, knowing that he absolutely could not lift it up. Tang Guan saw the situation and smiled silently, knowing that this big man had no malice, but was just teasing Xiao Qi.

  The big man sized up Tang Guan, slightly startled, and said: "Little bookworm, I don't want to make things difficult for a scholar. You go first, let your little brother try."

  It's said that one can tell a person's character by the sound of their voice. Xia Qi's speech has a heroic tone, unlike Tang Guan who remains calm in the face of change. That's why Da Han was able to distinguish between the two personalities at once.

  Xiao Qi's face turned red as she said, "So what if I lift it? It's no big deal!"

  He said, and actually went forward directly, with both hands tightly grasping the gun handle. "Ah!" he shouted, and this gun was actually lifted by him! However, the scene was very comical, as Xiao Qi used his own body weight to hug the gun handle, stumbling backwards, constantly retreating.

  "Hahaha!" The big man burst out laughing at this sight.

  Just then a tall figure stood behind him, snatched the long gun from Xiaogui's arms, and Xiaogui lost his balance, falling to the ground with a thud.

  "Big Brother Chang" Tang Guan looked at the person's appearance and smiled.

  Chang Ying held a gun in one hand and made a gesture with it, smiling: "Master, sorry to trouble you. These two young masters are too mischievous and have caused some inconvenience."

  He turned his head to look at Chang Ying, seeing him holding a gun with one hand, lifting it as if it were light, and his heart skipped a beat. This was the cavalry spear used by heavy cavalry, although it couldn't compare to the divine weapons used by the main generals in the army that weighed hundreds of catties, but it was still quite weighty.

  "No harm in asking, may I ask where this gentleman is serving?"

  "Under the Lesser Spotted Eagle is the Common Buzzard"

  "No wonder, it turns out to be a master of the Central Army" The sturdy man muttered a sentence, they were just local militia drawn from various places, and could not be considered elite, but Ma Lie's Eagle Guard was an imperial guard, which could be considered elite.

  Chang Ying grasped the long spear in his hand, suddenly exerted force, and the spear handle flew out and fell silently into the wooden fence.

  "Good kung fu!" The strong man couldn't help but cheer.

  Chang Ying smiled slightly and bowed his head, then stretched out his hand to pull up Xiao Qi.

  Ke Xiaoqi saw that Changle was so relaxed, and also saw that the strong man looked at himself with a mocking intention. He actually lay on the ground and didn't get up, saying: "Guan Ge, you have great strength, you try it"

  Tang Guan heard this and shook his head, saying: "Xiao Qi, stop messing around, let's go"

  Xiao Qi reluctantly got up, patted his butt, and followed Chang Ying. Before leaving, he turned back to make a face at the robust man.

  The great Han slightly shook his head, while the soldiers on the other side burst into loud laughter.

  "What's so funny? Continue!"

  The big Han's face immediately became stern, and the soldiers continued their training.

  Chang Ying took Tang Guan and Xiao Qi back to the tent, saying: "You two don't run around anymore, I'll go out and ask if there are any boats in this camp."

  Tang Guan responded with a sound, and Chang Ying only turned his head to leave, still muttering: "It's actually a biased camp, ah"

  Until Zhang Ying left, Xiao Qi spoke up and said: "Guang Ge, the big shot that Uncle Chen mentioned is the white-bearded old man we just met, right?"

  Tang Guan heard this and laughed, saying: "That's the prime minister, even if you become an official and reach the highest position, it will still be like that."

  "Wow, Prime Minister! The big painted face in the play, the one sitting below the Emperor!"

  "Haha, you just know how to watch plays and listen to music, read more books"

  Xiao Qi scratched her head, seemingly thinking of something, and asked: "Is the Emperor bigger or is the Empress bigger or is the Prime Minister bigger?"

  Xiao Qi grew up in the midst of the city, and as for the lofty temple system, he didn't understand it at all, thinking that being an official was somewhat prestigious.

  Tang Guan heard this question and was stunned for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

  After a long while, he looked around cautiously and said in a low voice: "The Emperor is gone, the Empress is the most powerful, but sometimes the Empress also has to listen to the Prime Minister."

  "Oh, when will you become emperor, Crown Brother?"

  "Ah!" Tang Guan was originally still quite nonchalant, but upon hearing this, he let out a startled cry and hastily covered Xiao Qi's mouth.

  "Uh... uh..." Xia Qi couldn't help but choke back a sob, Tang Guan said in a low voice: "This can't be spread around, Crown Brother can't become the Emperor."

  Seeing Xiao Qi stop struggling, Tang Guansong let go of his hand. To his surprise, Xiao Qi immediately spoke up and said: "Then can you become the empress?"

  "Hmm..." Xia Qi's mouth was covered again, and Tang Guan looked outside the tent to make sure no one was passing by. This Xia Qi really spoke without thinking, although the custom of not speaking ill of the dead wasn't prevalent yet, he had already committed a taboo.

  "Guang Ge can't be an emperor, nor can he be a heavenly queen. If we become officials, the highest position we can hold is just like that old uncle, got it?"

  Xiao Qi nodded, but Tang Guan still didn't dare let go and continued: "Don't talk nonsense about these things in the future."

  Just then, he relaxed, and Xiao Qi, who had just been freed, wanted to make a sound again, but was kicked by Tang Guan and suddenly choked back.

  Tang Guan smiled lightly and said: "Don't just ask me, what do you want to do in the future?"

  Xiao Qi was stunned and a look of confusion appeared on his face. Previously, what he wanted to do most was to cure Xiao Hua's illness and be able to eat a full meal every day.

  Now both dreams have come true, and it all started from meeting Tang Guan.

  "I want to play with you for a lifetime"

  This time it was Tang Guan's turn to be stunned, and after a long while, he said: "Alright, let's play for a lifetime!"