Chapter 16: Can’t Lose Part Three
He knew that he was going to lose the support of the 800 elite soldiers in Fangu; he earned this support in the last three years, and it didn’t come easy. From today on, the soldiers would look at him with hostility; this would come extremely easily.
However, he didn’t regret this decision. He knew that his future couldn’t be destroyed in this cold and remote place.
Life was a drama, and everyone was an actor.
As someone who graduated from Great Sui’s Martial Arts Academy with excellent grades and had a great background, how could he be satisfied with this little border city?
“Three years… it is enough,” Li Xiaozong murmured to himself and walked out of the encampment without turning around. His three years at Fangu was the stepping stone that he needed to advance. With this on his resume, no one could object if the Ministry of War promoted him. As long as he returned to the Capital, he would be promoted to be a rank 4 first-tier colonel.
[TL Note: In each official rank, there are two tiers.]
Once he reached that level, he would get an piece of land and could build his estate.
All the major families in Great Sui were willing to get close to such a young rank 4 first-tier colonel. As long as nothing went wrong, perhaps he would become a rank 2 governor-general of a circuit in his thirties just as Principal Zhou predicted.
This was the reason why Great General Li Yuanshan of Right Valiant Guard was willing to help him. As to the fact that they were from the same family? That was some BS.
Li Yuanshan saw Li Xiaozong’s great future and was willing to spend a lot of money to get latter closer to him. Since they were both from the Li Family, Li Yuanshan wouldn’t allow Li Xiaozong to stand with another force.
The power dynamics of Great Sui were as deep as the ocean. If he couldn’t see through this, Li Xiaozong didn’t need to return to Chang’an.
Even if there weren’t Wu Peisheng, Li Yuanshan, and the law enforcers, Li Xiaozong would want to kill Fang Jie before he returned to Chang’an. He wouldn’t allow dirt on his resume. Since people from Chang’an were here, he could use others’ knives to kill Fang Jie instead.
He had to build relationships after he returned to Chang’an, and money was required for building relationships.
Li Xiaozong didn’t give up on the idea of attacking Nirvana City due to Fang Jie’s persuasion; he discovered a great way of making money instead. He needed a ton of money.
He wanted to conquer Nirvana City to make His Majesty remember him. It was a known fact that His Majesty liked hot-blooded young generals. Even if he caused trouble, the Emperor of Great Sui wouldn’t submit to Mongo-Yuan’s pressure due to his pride and ego.
Compared to the risky way of attacking Nirvana City, Fang Jie’s way of making money was better.
With enough money, Li Xiaozong could give a ton of gifts to the influential figures in Chang’an. It was a lot more useful compared to attacking Nirvana City. A praising word from the Grand Chancellor in front of the Emperor was better than killing tens of thousands of enemies.
Li Xiaozong felt like Fang Jie was a gift that Heaven sent him. Now, this gift… was useless.
When walking out of the encampment, he still recalled when he first met Fang Jie. That dirty young boy blocked his warhorse and said confidently, “Great General, do you want to be rich?”
He remembered that he decided to chat with this boy not because the latter asked if he wanted to be rich; the first two words made him feel good – Great General.
Only an idiot would call Li Xiaozong, a rank 5 major, a great general. Of course, Li Xiaozong felt that Fang Jie was an idiot who would make others feel great at that time. Later, he realized that Fang Jie was no idiot.
These three years in Fangu were interesting. This was Li Xiaozong’s comment on his last three years here.
By walking on the widest street in Fangu, Li Xiaozong got to a shop that already closed its doors in 15 minutes.
He knocked on the door and asked politely, “Hello, are you still doing business today?”
The door opened, and the woman who appeared before him was beautiful and had a great figure. She was wearing a simple blue floral cotton jacket and had a apron on her waist. Her hands and face were covered in flour; it seemed like she was cooking.
“Oh, General Li. Sorry, my man went on a trip; we aren’t doing business before he comes back.”
“Then, can I chat with you? There is something important that I think you should know,” Li Xiaozong said with a smile.
The woman froze for a second and nodded.
She moved away so that Li Xiaozong could enter, but she didn’t close the door.
After Li Xiaozong entered and sat beside the brazier, he sniffed and praised, “You have the best liquor in Fangu. I remember that its name is unique… pear flower wine?”
The woman took out a jar of pear flower wine from the counter and placed it before Li Xiaozong.
“You came at the right time. If you came later, I would have drunk it today. Since it is the last jar, it will be more expensive.”
Li Xiaozong nodded but didn’t drink. “I don’t know where you two came from and why you are here, and I don’t want to interfere. I have to come today; you can hide from everyone at Fangu but not me. However, as long as you don’t move tonight, I will leave very soon. I’m being rude when visiting a hermit; I can’t help but feel nervous…”
“I should be nervous since General Li came here in person.” The woman smiled and drank from the jar of pear flower wine. “We don’t like minding others’ businesses. When my man isn’t here, I would avoid as much trouble as possible. If we aren’t afraid of trouble, do you think we would come to this remote little place to do business?”
“You are on another level.” Li Xiaozong smiled and relaxed.
“However… the person who you want to kill still owes me something. If you don’t mind, you need to pay it back for him. If he is killed, how can I get it back?”
“How much?” Li Xiaozong didn’t know that this hermit was so cheap.
“One.”
“One what?”
“One life.”
The woman took off her apron, folded it, and placed it on the table carefully.
“I wasted half a jar of ten-year-old pear flower wine to trade for his life. How can you take it away that easily? I can tolerate most of the things in the world, but two things are exceptions. I can’t tolerate Su Tugou cheating on me first, and I can’t tolerate losing on a trade!”
However, he didn’t regret this decision. He knew that his future couldn’t be destroyed in this cold and remote place.
Life was a drama, and everyone was an actor.
As someone who graduated from Great Sui’s Martial Arts Academy with excellent grades and had a great background, how could he be satisfied with this little border city?
“Three years… it is enough,” Li Xiaozong murmured to himself and walked out of the encampment without turning around. His three years at Fangu was the stepping stone that he needed to advance. With this on his resume, no one could object if the Ministry of War promoted him. As long as he returned to the Capital, he would be promoted to be a rank 4 first-tier colonel.
[TL Note: In each official rank, there are two tiers.]
Once he reached that level, he would get an piece of land and could build his estate.
All the major families in Great Sui were willing to get close to such a young rank 4 first-tier colonel. As long as nothing went wrong, perhaps he would become a rank 2 governor-general of a circuit in his thirties just as Principal Zhou predicted.
This was the reason why Great General Li Yuanshan of Right Valiant Guard was willing to help him. As to the fact that they were from the same family? That was some BS.
Li Yuanshan saw Li Xiaozong’s great future and was willing to spend a lot of money to get latter closer to him. Since they were both from the Li Family, Li Yuanshan wouldn’t allow Li Xiaozong to stand with another force.
The power dynamics of Great Sui were as deep as the ocean. If he couldn’t see through this, Li Xiaozong didn’t need to return to Chang’an.
Even if there weren’t Wu Peisheng, Li Yuanshan, and the law enforcers, Li Xiaozong would want to kill Fang Jie before he returned to Chang’an. He wouldn’t allow dirt on his resume. Since people from Chang’an were here, he could use others’ knives to kill Fang Jie instead.
He had to build relationships after he returned to Chang’an, and money was required for building relationships.
Li Xiaozong didn’t give up on the idea of attacking Nirvana City due to Fang Jie’s persuasion; he discovered a great way of making money instead. He needed a ton of money.
He wanted to conquer Nirvana City to make His Majesty remember him. It was a known fact that His Majesty liked hot-blooded young generals. Even if he caused trouble, the Emperor of Great Sui wouldn’t submit to Mongo-Yuan’s pressure due to his pride and ego.
Compared to the risky way of attacking Nirvana City, Fang Jie’s way of making money was better.
With enough money, Li Xiaozong could give a ton of gifts to the influential figures in Chang’an. It was a lot more useful compared to attacking Nirvana City. A praising word from the Grand Chancellor in front of the Emperor was better than killing tens of thousands of enemies.
Li Xiaozong felt like Fang Jie was a gift that Heaven sent him. Now, this gift… was useless.
When walking out of the encampment, he still recalled when he first met Fang Jie. That dirty young boy blocked his warhorse and said confidently, “Great General, do you want to be rich?”
He remembered that he decided to chat with this boy not because the latter asked if he wanted to be rich; the first two words made him feel good – Great General.
Only an idiot would call Li Xiaozong, a rank 5 major, a great general. Of course, Li Xiaozong felt that Fang Jie was an idiot who would make others feel great at that time. Later, he realized that Fang Jie was no idiot.
These three years in Fangu were interesting. This was Li Xiaozong’s comment on his last three years here.
By walking on the widest street in Fangu, Li Xiaozong got to a shop that already closed its doors in 15 minutes.
He knocked on the door and asked politely, “Hello, are you still doing business today?”
The door opened, and the woman who appeared before him was beautiful and had a great figure. She was wearing a simple blue floral cotton jacket and had a apron on her waist. Her hands and face were covered in flour; it seemed like she was cooking.
“Oh, General Li. Sorry, my man went on a trip; we aren’t doing business before he comes back.”
“Then, can I chat with you? There is something important that I think you should know,” Li Xiaozong said with a smile.
The woman froze for a second and nodded.
She moved away so that Li Xiaozong could enter, but she didn’t close the door.
After Li Xiaozong entered and sat beside the brazier, he sniffed and praised, “You have the best liquor in Fangu. I remember that its name is unique… pear flower wine?”
The woman took out a jar of pear flower wine from the counter and placed it before Li Xiaozong.
“You came at the right time. If you came later, I would have drunk it today. Since it is the last jar, it will be more expensive.”
Li Xiaozong nodded but didn’t drink. “I don’t know where you two came from and why you are here, and I don’t want to interfere. I have to come today; you can hide from everyone at Fangu but not me. However, as long as you don’t move tonight, I will leave very soon. I’m being rude when visiting a hermit; I can’t help but feel nervous…”
“I should be nervous since General Li came here in person.” The woman smiled and drank from the jar of pear flower wine. “We don’t like minding others’ businesses. When my man isn’t here, I would avoid as much trouble as possible. If we aren’t afraid of trouble, do you think we would come to this remote little place to do business?”
“You are on another level.” Li Xiaozong smiled and relaxed.
“However… the person who you want to kill still owes me something. If you don’t mind, you need to pay it back for him. If he is killed, how can I get it back?”
“How much?” Li Xiaozong didn’t know that this hermit was so cheap.
“One.”
“One what?”
“One life.”
The woman took off her apron, folded it, and placed it on the table carefully.
“I wasted half a jar of ten-year-old pear flower wine to trade for his life. How can you take it away that easily? I can tolerate most of the things in the world, but two things are exceptions. I can’t tolerate Su Tugou cheating on me first, and I can’t tolerate losing on a trade!”
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