Chapter 55: The Servant

  Spring warmth, almost overnight, the ice and snow between heaven and earth disappeared without a trace, replaced by the emergence of starry dots of tender green color, adding infinite vitality to this northern land that was ravaged by ice and snow for a whole winter.

  At this time, the city of Qingyang had regained some vitality with the arrival of grain convoys, just like a spring day. Although the pedestrians on the streets still looked weak and haggard, they no longer showed the panic and fear of the past few days. With the departure of the border troops and the return of tens of thousands of soldiers to their camps outside the city, daily life had returned to normal. However, after the winter riots and the subsequent military mutiny, many officials in the Qingyang government office had either fled or been killed, and imperial edicts had not yet been issued. As a result, order was maintained by the armed guards alone, who were naturally brave in battle but somewhat rough in their daily dealings compared to the usual government clerks. This led to many disputes and conflicts. Although Qingyang city had gradually stabilized, the presence of soldiers in light red uniforms patrolling the streets and alleys, shouting and yelling, still created an atmosphere of sadness and disorder, especially with almost every household mourning and wearing white clothes.

  In front of the Commander's Mansion, six people walked out from around the corner with the sound of footsteps. The one leading them was Zhao Shi, who had a cold and indifferent expression. After more than a month of hard work, Zhao Shi's face looked thinner, but his height seemed to have suddenly increased by a notch, making him almost indistinguishable from a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth. A pair of icy eyes revealed a hint of calmness that he had never shown before, and as he walked slowly towards them, it was impossible for anyone to associate him with a twelve-year-old boy.

  Beside him was Shang Yan Zu, and the four people following behind him were Da Niu and several other young men from Zhao Jia Village. At this time, they all wore brand new Imperial Army uniforms, with horizontal swords hanging from their waists, and their chests puffed out, giving off an air of complacency.

  Several people came to the front gate of the Commander's Mansion, looking at the few people in front of the gate. Zhao Shi's eyes flickered, and before that, those who guarded here were all personal guards of several generals, those people were all crawling out of piles of dead bodies with their own masters, although they didn't have high ranks, but they had a kind of pride that ordinary people couldn't understand, they were not small in stature, but overall, they were straightforward men, and in Zhao Shi's eyes, they looked quite pleasing to the eye.

  But now the people in front of the door, in Zhao Shi's eyes, calling them soldiers is simply an insult to the word soldier. He knows that these people are all from the capital, following some prince to Qingyang. From other people's conversations, he also learned about their origins. These flashy, arrogant guys are all Donggong Shuaiwei. As for their organization, he doesn't understand history, but from the mouths of old soldiers in the army, he still learns that these so-called Shuaiwei seem to be like the attendants and servants of the prince's mansion. So, it's easy to understand their behavior. They're just lackeys, with a prince above them, and naturally they can't help but put on airs. People like this, hadn't he seen enough of them in his past life?

  It's not surprising that Zhao Shi thought of these things. At this time, in front of the Commander's Mansion, a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard was sitting steadily on the edge of the gate, several men wearing bright armor and red cloaks were standing scattered on both sides of the gate, their laughter could be heard clearly from a distance.

  "Who's there? Stop right now! Do you know where this is and still dare to barge in?" The lazy, shrill voice sent shivers down one's spine.

  The person speaking was the middle-aged man sitting there with a big air, Zhao Shi stopped in his tracks and looked at this guy with a somewhat strange expression, just one glance, the word "eunuch" immediately flashed through his mind, for him who had only seen human monsters before, the person in front of him was also considered to have seen something quite rare.

  The origin of the eunuchs is where? Naturally, it's the imperial palace. Those who can come here are not to be asked, they must be people around that prince. Zhao Shi doesn't know much about history, but he still knows the great name of the Ming dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard. He doesn't know if the eunuchs at this time have the same power as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but he understands that with his current identity and status, offending such a guy has no benefits to speak of.

  The people around him had not experienced such scenes, and when they saw these people, their expressions naturally shrank, which made those doorkeepers stare at them with great interest, pointing and laughing from time to time, occasionally accompanied by a few bursts of unscrupulous laughter.

  Zhao Shi's eyes flashed and he stopped in his tracks, clasped his fists together and said, "We are the Grain Escort Army, we want to see Li Jin Hua, Commander Li."

  Next to him, a man shouted loudly: "How dare you, seeing Li Neishi and still standing so straight, are you tired of living?"

  He listened in but just waved his hand, "Still a young kid, and the official is only slightly older, our family won't bother with him, shoo them away..."

  Actually, seeing these people guarding the door, Zhao Shi also didn't have any intention of really going in. As the saying goes, "Yan Wang is easy to see, but small ghosts are hard to entangle". He had seen many big shots in his previous life, but none of them had such a detestable face, nor would they offend people so meaninglessly, even if the other party's status was far inferior to theirs.

  However, since the servant knows the master, there must be such arrogant and foolish servants. The prince's enemies in the capital will not be few, right? Pulling back Shang Yan Zu who was about to speak, he said coldly: "Let's go..."

  Before the other party could even come up to drive them away, the six of them turned around and left, with a few snickers coming from behind them. Faintly, someone was heard saying something like, "People from small places just don't know etiquette... Fortunately, it's all thanks to Master Neishi being magnanimous, or else..." and so on.

  "Nothing, let's return to the barracks." Seeing that several people around him were all looking uncomfortable, Zhao Shi glanced back at the spacious main gate of the Commander's Mansion and said softly.

  Shang Yanzu said, "Stones, Uncle Er also used to be a soldier, I want to advise you, don't take offense, we people have no roots and no foundation, if we really join the army, this loss will not be small, I think it's better to go back to our Zhaojia Village, life may be bitter, but at least we won't suffer from unprovoked abuse.

  "Don't think that the school lieutenant likes you, but she's a woman and not a big official. If you follow her, you'll suffer from it later. I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid you're young and hot-headed, offending people you shouldn't offend. We all know those people today were brought by the prince from the capital. You'd better swallow your anger, or if you encounter someone who doesn't know their identity in the future, I'll be really worried about you..."

  Zhao Shi's heart warmed up, the people around him, although not relatives, showed a thick concern that was hard to fake. He thought of the time on the small hill, when these villagers from Zhao's village were fearless of death and fought to protect their own emotions. His voice also softened, "Uncle, I have my own measure..."

  "It's just some watchmen, what's the big deal? Wait for me..." The burly man muttered to himself in a loud voice, perhaps feeling ashamed of his earlier cowardice. As he spoke, he couldn't help but show off his porcelain teeth and glance at Zhao Shi from time to time, trying to appear nonchalant but only revealing his own nervousness.

  He didn't even finish speaking, when Shang Yan Zu slapped him on the head and shouted: "You little brat, what nonsense are you talking about? I'm telling you all, if you want to follow Shi Tou in the future, you must have your own judgment and determination. You can't cause trouble for Shi Tou, even if it means risking your own life. That's what you should be doing! What kind of man is this who just spouts nonsense? Otherwise, I think you all should go back to the village and behave yourselves. I'm afraid that in the future, you'll lose your lives without even knowing how..."

  As Shang Yan's stern rebuke faded away, accompanied by the murmurs of several others, the group gradually dispersed into the distance. Zhao Shi turned his head to glance at the crooked silhouettes in front of the Commander's mansion, and sneered inwardly. This Crown Prince had been stuck in Pingliang for over a month, but now that everything was settled, he rushed over hastily. His intentions were truly hard to fathom, and his governance was so lax that it invited disgust. If he really became Emperor one day, who knows what would happen to Western Qin? Hopefully, that woman wouldn't be sold out...

  (Once again, the update time is around 9 pm every day. It's also around this time that I can rush out one or two chapters. If there's another update, it'll be at dawn. Thank you everyone for your support.)