Chapter 73 Are You Willing?: Although Yu Lang is now officially a second-class bodyguard, he's doing the work of a first-class bodyguard. ...

Although Yu Lang is now a second-class bodyguard, he is doing the work of a first-class bodyguard.

Whenever he was on duty, he was always in charge of guarding the Crown Prince. Yu Lang had taken turns guarding the study rooms in the left and right side halls of Dunben Hall. It could be said that apart from the living quarters of the women in the rear hall, people listened to Lord Yu when he spoke in Yuqing Palace.

Some people were envious, while others were jealous. Yu Lang's old trick of scattering money everywhere after entering Yuqing Palace as the God of Wealth was no longer effective.

He was dim-witted and spoke ill of others behind their backs, as if saying such things would make others listen to him and dislike Yu Lang. Over time, the guards of Yuqing Palace isolated him, and even the Crown Prince began to dislike him.

Those with a sharp mind should take the initiative to get closer to him. After all, he has already climbed up the ladder first, and it's too late to say anything sarcastic now. It's better to think about how to get to know him more naturally.

Just like Eshan, he was originally the closest guard to the Crown Prince among the new guards in Yuqing Palace, and people couldn't help but feel a hint of envy when they mentioned him.

After all, who else but him could have made the Crown Prince remember him for so many years, managing to get him from the Qianqing Palace to the Yuqing Palace? Just that prestige alone was enough for Eshan to walk around with an air of superiority.

Everyone thought that Eshan had a bright future after entering Yuqing Palace, but who knew that Yulang from the Hesheli family would come along. Now the two are both second-class guards in Yuqing Palace, but Yulang's popularity is subtly surpassing that of Eshan.

Regardless of what those people said or did, Yu Lang and E Shan, who were resting and sleeping in the same duty room, didn't care at all. They both clearly understood each other's value, and that such trivial matters couldn't be bothered by them.

"If you intend to see Lord Suo, please be extremely careful."

"Geng'e... how is the lord now?"

"He's still on sick leave, and I heard he hasn't left the house for more than half a month."

Geng'e serves as a cautionary tale for Yu Lang. He was brought before the Crown Prince as the Emperor's eyes and ears to demonstrate the Crown Prince and Yu Qing Palace's unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. However, after being approached by Suo'etu, he attempted to play both sides, trying to please both the Emperor and Suo'etu.

What is this if not madness? Even if you had to choose the Crown Prince, you shouldn't have chosen Suo'etu.

There's no need to listen to Suo'etu's claims that "he did it all for the Crown Prince." Those kinds of words are meant for those outside who can't see the Crown Prince and have no opportunity to directly pledge their loyalty to him.

As a first-class imperial guard, you were asked by the Crown Prince to serve by his side. Even if you had disloyal intentions, you should have hesitated between your two masters. No matter how powerful Suo'etu is, in His Majesty's eyes he is still a servant. How can you put His Majesty and Suo'etu on the same scale to weigh them? Who are you insulting?

Geng'e believed that appropriate hesitation and indecision could raise his price, since genuine sincerity, once chosen, is sometimes more valuable.

Unfortunately, he didn't grasp the right balance. While Suo'etu was waiting for his reply, the Crown Prince was unwilling to keep such a person by his side any longer.

Even though Suo'etu repeatedly told him to keep Geng'e for his own use, the Emperor might not know the details of what Yuqing Palace and Suo'etu were going to do in the future.

The day after the winter solstice, the Crown Prince still went to the warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace. Yulang was not on duty that day and had no idea what was going on. When he went back to the palace to be on duty, there was another unfamiliar first-class guard, Fucha Deyin, in Yuqing Palace.

Deyin's name sounds quite nice, but he is actually a big, burly man. Shen Wanqing once carefully measured Yulang's height. He was a tall man of 1.83 meters, which is five feet seven inches according to the current measurement. In addition, he had long legs, a slim waist and good body proportions, so he would stand out even among a group of guards.

Even so, he looked a bit short when he stood in front of Deyin. Yulang had secretly measured it in private and then complained to Shen Wanqing that Deyin must be at least six feet tall (1.95 meters).

The nearly two-meter-tall man was a man of few words, and after taking over Geng'e's position, he continued to work the night shift. However, within just a few days, all the guards in Yuqing Palace were saying that Deyin was a steady and capable person, and that once he arrived, it would be truly difficult for Geng'e to return.

However, Geng'e was not very bright but was lucky. Kangxi and Yinreng had already been arguing for long enough because of what happened last year, and it would be too much of a loss to cause trouble for another year or two over a guard.

So he wasn't dismissed from the Imperial Guard, and he's been sick at home recuperating ever since. It's unclear when he'll recover; perhaps he won't get better as long as His Majesty doesn't give any orders. Even if he does recover, his future is ruined. He'll just be shoved into some random corner, and that'll be the end of his life.

"Be careful with this matter, don't follow the same path as Geng'e."

There are some things that can't be said unless it's relevant. Eshan gave Yulang a deep look. He still remembered that night when the two of them talked about Geng'e. What wasn't said at the time was that they both thought Eshan would be the one to face a dilemma first, but who knew that Yulang would be so lucky, getting the joy of this dilemma.

"Next year, my grandmother and sister-in-law have agreed to charter a boat from Fujian to transport goods for business. I can't afford to make any mistakes, so don't worry."

Despite telling Eshan to rest assured, when Master Yu returned home from his shift outside the palace, he looked like a cat whose tail had been shaved. He was still majestic, but he was keeping his tail between his legs and dared not let anyone see it. Shen Wanqing glanced at him and knew that he was hiding something.

"There's some Laba porridge left over from yesterday, I specially saved it for you. Do you want some tonight?"

"I won't eat it. His Majesty and the Crown Prince have already given it to us in the palace. What's so good about eating it every year?"

Yulang left the palace again this afternoon. This time he will have eight days off. The minister in charge of Yuqing Palace has specially given Yulang, a guard who still holds a position and title within his own banner, an extra holiday. They all have to deal with banner affairs as the year draws to a close.

"Rest well today, and don't cause any trouble tonight. Urgun has already prepared rice, flour, vegetables, and meat. Tomorrow we need to take a trip around the Zuo Ling area and visit all the families we need to see. The New Year is coming soon, and we can't let them go without any meat on their tables."

Shen Wanqing had already made a count, and there were a total of 18 households to visit. There were only 221 households in the entire Zuo Ling (military command). For the Manchus, who could serve as cavalry and infantrymen and had advantages over ordinary people in every way, nearly one-tenth of the population was not a low number.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ve been at war for years. Our Zuo Ling originally had nearly 250 households. Neither Yaksa nor Galdan is easy to defeat. The men inevitably die on the front lines.”

In Yu Lang's view, the principle that one must fight is the same as a person who is hungry and needs to eat. Whoever feeds him should be loyal to him, and he cannot and should not avoid it.

"If you ask me, it's better if the men who die outside don't leave behind any children. The women can remarry and rely on the government's pension to get through their lives. The real problem is if they leave behind children. The women in the family can't leave, and the elderly can't afford to die. No matter how bad life is, they have to endure it and hope that their children will grow up."

Yu Lang didn't say the rest of his sentence. When he grew up, the best path was to take a job as a cavalryman and earn a salary, or if he was more capable, he could go to the guard battalion, the imperial guard, the vanguard battalion, or the elite cavalry battalion.

To outsiders, it's a good place, provided you don't go to war. Once you go, everyone's the same, risking their lives and charging forward. Whether you come back or not depends entirely on fate; it's the same old path your ancestors took.

"What exactly happened? Is His Majesty going to attack Galdan again after the New Year, or is someone making things difficult for you? I'm only asking you this once, so hurry up and tell me what's going on."

Shen Wanqing already knew that Yulang had been to the battlefield. Precisely because of this, Yulang's personality was actually more mature than that of his peers. As a captain, he not only had to go to the battlefield himself, but also lead so many men under his command. With so many lives entrusted to him, he dared not make the slightest mistake.

But he never says these things. The fact that he suddenly said them today must mean that someone did something to upset him, making him feel that his good life was threatened, which is why he couldn't help but complain.

“Song’etu wanted to see me, but he didn’t want to win me over like he did with Geng’e. He just felt that I was too popular lately and didn’t like me.”

Shen Wanqing said she would only ask once, and she really would only ask once. One day, Yulang was in the study, and in the afternoon, Shen Wanqing asked Ningxiang to make fried pork tenderloin skewers. The two of them had a few words of quarrel that day, but Yulang couldn't remember what it was about. He only remembered that he said he wouldn't eat it in a huff.

He originally planned to wait for his grandmother to come over with food to coax him, and then he would back down and the matter would be over.

But no one came. When I finally couldn't stand it anymore and got up to go back to the main room, everyone had already finished eating. I even washed my hands and rinsed my mouth. Apart from a faint smell of meat mixed with chili peppers, there was nothing else left in the room.

"You've only been in Yuqing Palace for a short time and he's already wary of you? Isn't that a bit too early?"

One day, Yu Lang and she would have to deal with Suo'etu. This was something Shen Wanqing had prepared for long ago, but she really didn't expect it to be so soon.

She had heard about Geng'e from Yulang. She didn't think Suo'etu was mentally challenged, and that he would repeat his old habits right after what happened with Geng'e.

After all, if this were to reach the ears of the Crown Prince or Emperor Kangxi, and if it were him, he would have stripped Suo'etu of all his power right now, without having to wait several years. He was simply an incredibly arrogant person.

But if he were to be wary of Yu Lang now, that would be too petty. "We are nothing to him, we are just small fry. If that's the case, there are too many people in the court he would have to be wary of. Can he really expect the Crown Prince to only use and trust him?"

That makes sense. After saying that, Shen Wanqing looked at Yu Lang, who had a helpless expression, and couldn't help but exclaim "Damn it!" in her heart.

Yu Lang isn't stupid; he knows what he wants, so he's troubled because Suo'etu is a princeling who can't tell when to stop, never learns from his mistakes, and is so petty that he can't tolerate anyone.

"Can we not go?"

"cannot."

Not at least not now.

Yu Lang was merely a second-class guard, and Suo'etu held a significant advantage over him in terms of official rank, status, and seniority. Yu Lang truly had no choice but to make this trip.

“I think he’s jealous. The Crown Prince often takes me with him when he goes out. It would be better if I weren’t a member of the Hesheli family. But I also have the surname Hesheli. The Crown Prince can rely on his uncle from the Hesheli family, so why can’t he promote me, a guard from the Hesheli family?”

Therefore, this time, sending him there is probably a combination of both: to win him over if possible, and to suppress him if not. In short, he cannot tolerate anyone being more trusted by the Crown Prince than himself, not even the slightest hint of it.

"Then let's go."

Shen Wanqing was initially troubled, but when Yulang mentioned the Hesheli family, she suddenly had a change of heart. "We were going to send New Year's gifts to their house anyway, so let's go together tomorrow and give them to them in advance."

Kangxi must have had spies, and the Crown Prince might have had some too, otherwise Geng'e's affair wouldn't have ended this way. Suo'etu has been blinded by power; his downfall was only a matter of time. Yulang's trip was definitely being watched secretly.

Since that's the case, let them see for themselves. Let them know that Yulang has no intention of surrendering to Suo'etu. This might be an opportunity, an opportunity to replace Suo'etu.

If they could really take this path, the Crown Prince's faction might not be so feared by Emperor Kangxi that he would have to depose the Crown Prince. In that case, they might not have had to go to Siberia or Hainan Island.

However, even if Yulang did not side with Suo'etu, he still had to make his stance clear.

As a Manchu captain under the Plain Yellow Banner of the Imperial Guard, who was he loyal to—the Emperor or the Crown Prince? He would certainly report back truthfully to those hiding in the shadows. Shen Wanqing didn't know how to make this choice; it was truly up to Yu Lang himself to decide.

Shen Wanqing specifically instructed that the matter of distributing rice, flour, meat, and vegetables to the Zuo Ling should not be mentioned in advance, so as not to make people look forward to it.

Some families, upon hearing that their wife, a military officer, is coming, might start cleaning and preparing in advance, then slaughtering chickens and ducks to prepare a good meal. In the end, what you bring might not even be as much as what they spend on preparing to welcome you.

Secondly, there are so many things to do as the year draws to a close, and she's afraid that something else might come up at the last minute, so Shen Wanqing doesn't dare to give any specific timeframes for anything she does these days.

They had agreed to deliver rice and noodles the next day, and now the two were standing at the gate of Suo'etu's residence. They turned to look at each other and both felt that it would have been better to spend the whole day working and at least get something done, rather than wasting their time and energy here.

Soetu's mansion was bestowed by the emperor, and its scale and grandeur were among the best in the entire capital. Only the Prince's Mansion was more illustrious and imposing than his; at least the Duke of Cheng'en's mansion certainly couldn't compare.

Shen Wanqing followed Yu Lang inside, looking around with great curiosity, much like a poor relative visiting the Grand View Garden.

Suo'etu had sent a message to Yulang to come over, but he didn't expect Yulang to bring his female relatives with him, and even bring the New Year's gifts. What was originally a private meeting and plot had turned into a New Year's visit between two families.

Suo'etu thought Yulang was very cunning, but he still had to maintain appearances. He had no choice but to send someone to the inner courtyard to tell the stewardess to take Shen Wanqing to the inner courtyard, while he led Yulang into the study in the front courtyard.

In terms of seniority, Suo'etu was Yu Lang's uncle, but the two had never had any contact before. Yu Lang had no intention of claiming this kinship, and upon entering the study, he simply bowed and addressed Suo'etu as "Your Excellency, Grand Master."

"We're relatives, there's no need for such formalities, it's too much of a formality."

"Propriety must not be disregarded. Lord Suo is a pillar of the nation, and I dare not overstep my bounds."

Tsk! Suo'etu never expected Yulang to have this attitude, and his face immediately turned ugly. Since they didn't care about being relatives, there was no need to waste words.

"I won't beat around the bush with why I've summoned you today. It's your good fortune and luck that the Crown Prince is willing to use you. Now, I'll ask you again: I also wish to use you. I wonder if you, Guard Yu, are willing?"