Chapter 265: The General

Chapter 265: The General

It turned out that Pei Mingqi, ever since he had handed over the military command of Qingyuan County and returned to the capital, had been in contact with Xiang Zhijie.

Over the years, Pei Mingqi, believing his own lifespan to be short, had poured nearly all of his life's skills into teaching his younger brother Pei Shaoji, holding nothing back.

Though Pei Shaoji was diligent and eager to learn, his talent for military affairs was, unfortunately, sorely lacking.

As their father, the old General Pei Ying, put it, his second son had "two eggs under his brows—all blink and no sight."

Pei Mingqi, however, had some understanding for Pei Shaoji:

Shaoji had relied on him since childhood, always figuring that as long as his capable big brother was there to shield him, even if the sky caved in, no big deal. So he had no drive to stand on his own two feet, always wanting to ride his brother's coattails for life—when trouble hit, all he had to do was run over grinning and yell "Big Bro!" and the problem would resolve itself.

But Pei Mingqi couldn't tell his family he didn't have long to live.

Stuck with no other option, Pei Mingqi had to dig deep and use every bit of his cleverness to try and teach this brother of his.

In those years, border clashes were rare, so he threw all his energy into garrisoning troops and drilling soldiers.

Dayu law strictly banned border generals from privately recruiting soldiers; troops were usually supported by the locals.

But Pei Mingqi stubbornly went against the grain, pulling off the trick of "using soldiers to support the people."

By reclaiming wasteland, improving crop varieties, and protecting border trade markets, he single-handedly turned Qingyuan County into a prosperous place famous near and far.

It was exactly the year-over-year jump in Qingyuan County's tax revenue that tipped Xiang Zheng off to Pei Mingqi's extraordinary logistical and defensive skills.

Worried that this son of a second-rank General Dingyuan might be secretly building a private army by running the border so shrewdly, he just issued a transfer order and yanked him back to the capital.

Luckily, Pei Mingqi's record was squeaky clean, and his biggest potential liability had already found a body to inhabit and was being kept fat and happy.

Xiang Zheng dug into him thoroughly—not only did he find no fault, but he found this young general was a straight-shooting, capable official, skilled in cold weapon drills, firearms training, engineering, and self-sufficient farming—a jack of all trades and master of them all.

Xiang Zheng was seriously impressed. Not only did he let Pei Mingqi take over Yuan Weiyan's post, but he also put him in charge of the training camps, overseeing the capital's and its outskirts' defense—clearly marking him as the new hotshot.

Yet this rising star had come scaling the Sixth Prince's wall in the dead of night.

The reason was simple enough.

When Pei Mingqi had last come back, he'd been too nervous to face Le Wuya because of his mixed feelings, and scared that getting too close would draw unwanted eyes. He'd hastily handed off the new recruits and gone back to his training base at Shihaizi.

But Pei Mingqi clearly remembered that when he'd left last time, Xiang Zhijie had been running the Ministry of Revenue.

This time, Xiang Zhijie had been shuffled off to the Ministry of Works—the least liked of the six ministries—while the Fifth Prince had climbed up and taken his spot.

Pei Mingqi didn't get the details, but he knew Xiang Zhijie was Little Crow's political backer.

If Xiang Zhijie didn't hold his ground, wouldn't Little Crow end up getting pushed around too?

So Pei Mingqi had come in the dead of night to demand answers, and to warn Xiang Zhijie not to pull any of that "the higher you climb, the harder you fall" crap.

If Xiang Zhijie hurt himself, fine, but if he dragged Le Wuya down with him, Pei Mingqi would have a bone to pick with him.

Unexpectedly, they'd barely exchanged a few words when a crow came flapping down from the sky.

...

Hearing Pei Mingqi's furious rant, Le Wuya stayed eerily calm: "So that's what this is about."

"The Ministry of Revenue handles the empire's grain and cash—what a crucial gig!" Pei Mingqi, who now had a rough read on the capital's political scene, said hotly. "If it'd landed in anyone else's hands, fine—but of all people, the Fifth Prince! The Fifth Prince's Secondary Consort is the Minister of Personnel's daughter, and now he's got his mitts on the Ministry of Revenue's purse strings. So tell me, how the hell did you manage this?"

Pei Mingqi's blunt talk didn't offend Xiang Zhijie.

Back in the day, they'd jointly raised Le Wuya's soul—they were comrades on the same vine, in the same boat, tighter than most, so no need to mince words.

Le Wuya: "Don't blame him. I'm the one who dragged him down."

Pei Mingqi: "..."

Pei Mingqi: "...Huh?"

"You heard about Scholar Tian killing his son?"

After Le Wuya laid out the matter in a few quick words, Pei Mingqi went quiet for a beat, then turned and shot Xiang Zhijie a dirty look: "That was him being a smartass and trying to take credit. What's that got to do with you?"

"The idea to take credit was mine, too."

Pei Mingqi: "...Your ideas are solid, so it must be that the Sixth Prince didn't play his part right and showed his hand in front of the emperor!"

Hearing Pei Mingqi defend him without a second thought, Xiang Zhijie actually felt relieved.

Pei Mingqi's willingness to have his back no questions asked was good for their teacher.

But then Le Wuya rolled his eyes hard and shot back, "Bullshit. My little Xiaoliu's just fine—don't you badmouth him."

Pei Mingqi: "..."

His heart shattered into a million pieces, like dumpling filling.

But Le Wuya had already spelled out the nature of their relationship back in Nanting.

No matter how wistful or regretful Pei Mingqi felt, his little crow was never coming back to him.

Maybe as far back as the Bronze Horse Battle, it had been shot down by a hail of arrows.

Everything Pei Mingqi had chased since then was just a ghost.

Pei Mingqi dropped his head, and after a few breaths, pulled himself together and glared hard at Xiang Zhijie.

...And why the hell did it have to be this guy!

This was his enemy's son!

If he could pull it off, why couldn't Pei Mingqi?

"Good, you're here. Saves me a trip to track you down." Le Wuya, acting like nothing was wrong, reached into his robes, fished around, and pulled out a sketch, waving it in front of Pei Mingqi. "Take a look for me. I drew up a firearms design, but what I've got in my head are old models from years back. I'm wondering how far military firearms have come by now?"

His head had been all over the place today, so he'd ditched official business and focused on tinkering with this instead.

Pei Mingqi snorted, a bit pleased, and reached out to grab the sketch: "The Sixth Prince runs the Ministry of Works now—why don't you ask him?"

Le Wuya said flatly, "I brought the sketch here exactly to ask him. Who knew you'd be here?"

Pei Mingqi: "...Then forget it!"

"Fine, don't look then." Le Wuya turned to hand the sketch to Xiang Zhijie. "Xiaoliu, find someone good to help me—"

Before he could finish, Pei Mingqi swiped the sketch from his hand and quickly stuffed it into his robes: "When do you need it?"

"The faster, the better."

"How do I get it to you?"

"The usual way. You still got Daya around?"

"What're you on about? Daya's twenty-one now, too lazy to even step out of camp, hasn't run errands in years. You'd use Sanya and Siya now."

"You know where I'm staying, right?"

"...Yes. Wait, why're you making guns? I remember your second brother's under me in the Guanshan Camp..."

"Oh, you still remember that? Since we're on it, let me ask—my second brother's under you, why haven't you been looking out for him?"

"...You got a screw loose? Isn't it better for the Yue family to stay under the radar now? I'm already drawing enough heat as it is. If I gave him extra favor, wouldn't that just be tossing him to the wolves?"

"Oh." Le Wuya drawled, "No need to get so worked up, we can talk nice and easy."

A vein pulsed in Pei Mingqi's temple: "You—"

He couldn't hold it back and, furious as he was, burst out laughing.

...He and the little crow hadn't had such an easy, fun back-and-forth in a long time.

"Still laughing!" Le Wuya was enjoying himself too, ribbing him, "You really are off your rocker!"

Zhi Jie watched the two of them trade barbs with a smile, their back-and-forth flowing easy. His right hand tucked in his sleeve, he fingered the "Wuming" bead, his face clear and calm as a moonlit breeze, silently reciting, "Anger harms the liver, joy harms the heart, worry harms the spleen, grief harms the lungs, fear harms the kidneys."

...Nope, still pissed.

Pei Mingqi tucked away the blueprint, tempted to stick around and stir the pot, to dig into how these two had suddenly gotten so close they were climbing walls to see each other at midnight.

But Zhi Jie clearly wasn't going to let him have his way: "Young General Pei, let me see you out?"

With the host giving him the boot, Pei Mingqi couldn't exactly insist on staying.

Escorted to a wall ladder against his will, Pei Mingqi kept glancing back.

Through the bamboo shadows, Le Wuya waved at him.

He waved back in a hurry.

"Young General Pei, let's just write from now on, meet less." Zhi Jie stepped to the side, blocking Pei Mingqi's view, and said quietly, "I'm afraid my teacher might get the wrong idea."

Pei Mingqi's brow furrowed hard, and he jumped a few yards back like he'd seen a ghost: "...You crazy? How could I ever—"

He was speechless.

He finally got why Le Wuya had been acting so weird earlier!

He was jealous of himself!

They'd grown up together, thick as thieves, and now he was jealous of himself!

The realization hit Pei Mingqi hard, and he stormed off, hurt and pissed.

The noisy phoenix took off over walls and rooftops, leaving just the two of them in the bamboo grove.

...And Jiang He, keeping watch in the distance.

Le Wuya waved a hand: "Done here. Let's go."

Startled, Zhi Jie grabbed his sleeve and gave it a couple of tugs: "Teacher, you just got here, why're you leaving so soon?"

Unlike Xiao Qi, he wasn't good at coaxing; he had to figure it out as he went.

"Don't cling to me." Le Wuya gave him a lazy kick, "I'm tired. Seeing you's the only way I can sleep easy."

Leaning in, Zhi Jie noticed the faint dark circles under his eyes and immediately dropped whatever he was thinking: "Teacher, you been sleeping okay lately? Want me to make you a calming pillow?"

Le Wuya laughed.

Maybe it was his mind settling, but sleepiness suddenly hit him like a wave.

He yawned lazily: "I was scared you'd be mad at me, so I didn't sleep a wink last night."

A faint light flickered in Zhi Jie's eyes.

Everything was too good, so good it made his eyes burn: "...Teacher?"

"See, it's all good now. One look at your eyes and I know you're not mad." Le Wuya grinned, leaning in a couple inches closer, his violet eyes looking like they held a whole galaxy, "This trip wasn't a waste."

"How could I ever be mad at you?"

"I made you lose that cushy job at the Ministry of Revenue. I had other plans, sure, but I didn't give you a heads-up." Le Wuya came clean: "My chess piece bit back at you—don't you hold it against me?"

Zhi Jie was taken aback: "Teacher, did you get something mixed up?"

Le Wuya: "..." He never thought he'd get called out for being "wrong" by his own student.

If Zhi Jie couldn't explain himself, he'd have to pull rank as teacher and smack his hand.

Just as Le Wuya was about to make his move, Zhi Jie said, "Sorry about this," and reached into his collar, pulling out the jade chess piece on a black cord.

It had no writing on it, and felt warm to the touch.

Zhi Jie held the piece, soaking up the lingering warmth: "It's true you're a chess piece. But I'm on the board too."

"No matter how many other pieces get lost, it doesn't matter—including me."

"But you can't be lost."

"This game was set up for you from the start. As long as you're here, we can't lose."

Above them, bamboo leaves rustled in the night breeze.

Ten thousand leaves cut the light, casting dappled shadows on the ground, like a scattered chessboard.

Zhi Jie looked at him, his tone as earnest as a vow: "...Because you're my Young General Yue."