Chapter 180: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Part 20) [Taking a break]
The subordinate official finally couldn't hold back any longer.
He leaned forward and whispered words of advice.
"Young General, this won't do..."
The young man immediately frowned, clearly displeased. Not wanting to lose face in front of his newly acquainted "confidant," he adopted a fierce expression, his brow furrowing slightly, and asked his subordinate with displeasure, "What's wrong? This won't work, that won't work? Are you the general and I'm the general?"
The official was rendered speechless by the question. If it were anyone else, he could have argued back, but not the young man before him.
No one knew the young man's background. Although he looked foolish, he was already quite capable at a young age and was adopted as a son by the general who valued his talent.
The general was extremely indulgent and doting on this adopted son whom he had taken in later in life. As long as the young man didn't commit any serious offenses, it was others who were punished. The extent of his favoritism even over the general's own sons, which made everyone suspicious.
The officials sent here were not there to assist the young people.
More often than not, he would "keep an eye on things," "play along with the young man," and "always do as the young general pleases." Even the task of escorting grain rations was given to him by the young man when he complained of being bored.
Tsk tsk, we can't afford to offend them!
The subordinate officials immediately dared not utter another word to obstruct them.
Shen Tang used one hand to push and jump onto the supply truck.
The young man laughed and said, "Mama, what a skillful move!"
Shen Tang said, "Is this considered handsome?"
"I've been out for so long, hehe, and I've only seen Mama act like this. The others..." The young man, chewing on a blade of grass, sat with his chin in his hand, deep in thought for a moment, and said, "They either ride in sedan chairs or carriages, or you simply don't see them at all. They're all so delicate and frail..."
It's hard to believe, but the women he saw most often were the old women sweeping the courtyard, followed by the group of singing and dancing girls kept by his adoptive father. Whenever there was a banquet, they would be called out to dance or pour wine for the attending generals…
Young people often get itchy to watch.
He also wanted to go down and play some music, dance, or sing a song.
Unfortunately, the customs here are different from those in his hometown. As an adopted son, he cannot get too close to his adoptive father's women, supposedly to "avoid suspicion"—but then again, if they really wanted to avoid suspicion, why did they have those singing and dancing girls perform for the guests?
So guests don't need to avoid suspicion?
He still couldn't understand this problem.
The lack of a stage to showcase his talents and the absence of appreciative listeners for his singing and dancing left the young man quite depressed—after all, since the age of twelve, he had consistently won first place at the annual song and dance festivals held in his hometown, and everyone from eighty-year-olds to thirty-five-year-olds was delighted by him!
Leaving his hometown, he had hoped to find more kindred spirits and friends in the vast world, but instead, he felt stifled, only daring to indulge himself when no one was around. Just now, as he was passing by, he heard a heavenly song coming from the woods, striking straight to his soul!
Ah, this is the person he's been looking for!
This is probably what my godfather often says: "A worthy opponent, a worthy general." So, without saying a word, he extended an invitation!
Shen Tang said, "Sigh, I don't think they wanted this either."
If there were a wider world, who would willingly be a canary manipulated and rendered useless, unable to survive?
Hearing Shen Tang's words was more valuable than reading books for ten years.
In an instant, the young man felt inspiration erupting like a volcano.
So they stretched their necks and sang, and sang in harmony.
Young people's songs are all improvised.
This is a unique custom of their tribe; they sing whatever comes to mind, regardless of whether it is vulgar or elegant, rhyming or not.
The tunes are varied and the lyrics are diverse.
Qi Shan's face twisted for a moment: "..."
At that moment, he desperately wanted to shut down his hearing with the power of "ignoring everything outside the window," but he was afraid that losing his hearing would prevent him from dealing with any unexpected situations. So he could only suppress the throbbing veins on his forehead and silently recite the "Heart-Cleansing Mantra" in an attempt to cleanse his mind and gain peace of mind.
Unfortunately, the demonic sound entered my ears.
Qi Shan thought the young man's singing was utter nonsense, vulgar and dissolute, but Shen Tang thought the young man's voice was bright, clear, simple, clean and transparent. The key was the emotion in the song, which was surging, passionate, and fiery!
So she thought of a song.
Qi Shan: "..."
Double the magic sound!
Double the pain!
He secretly observed the expressions of the soldiers and cooks around him out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that their faces twitched from time to time, and their brows clearly showed their disgust, Qi Shan knew that his aesthetic sense was still normal. However, neither the young man nor Shen Tang were aware of this, and their relationship quickly became closer.
Shen Tang asked the young man, "Hey, what do you call 'young master' in your hometown? You call me 'Mama,' so I have to reciprocate."
Upon hearing this, Qi Shan's brows trembled slightly, and the corners of her lips seemed to want to rise but didn't.
As expected—
The young man replied with a smile, "It's 'Daidai'."
Shen Tang: "..."
Shen Tang: "???"
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Her expression and mood at that moment could only be accurately described by two memes: the confused face of a Black man and the old man on the subway looking at his phone.
If the young man hadn't looked serious and honest, without any hint of mockery, she would have thought he was deliberately taking advantage of her.
What's with the "sweet and coquettish" thing?!
Shen Tang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Well, I thought about it and it's not quite right—you called me in your hometown dialect, so in return, I should call you in my hometown dialect too..."
The young man looked at Shen Tang with anticipation.
Shen Tang racked her brains but couldn't recall any hometown dialects. This was too difficult for her, as she had very few memories left. So she randomly selected a hometown dialect for herself and replied, "Handsome!"
"Handsome guy?"
Shen Tang opened his eyes wide and lied: "It means that you are very handsome and beautiful, it means 'handsome and beautiful young man'."
Who knows, she almost blurted out "you little brat".
Thankfully, she changed her mind at the last minute, otherwise they would have been fighting by now. Shen Tang secretly rejoiced, maintaining an impeccable smile as she chatted and laughed with the young man, subtly trying to get information out of him. The young man was warm and hospitable, and had no guard up against this rare "kindred spirit."
If it weren't for the occasional cough or noise from his subordinates, he probably would have even revealed the color of his trousers. Shen Tang also knew how to maintain a proper distance, probing for a while before starting to talk about music and dance, much to the young man's delight.
The atmosphere looked very harmonious.
However, I only watched.
Qi Shan had secretly ascertained the location and layout of the grain transport convoy and was making plans. If he could escape, he would do so safely; if not—
Some bloody and violent methods will have to be used!
Before a decision could be made, the people who were to meet the supply convoy arrived.
Leading the group was a bearded man in armor, who looked to be in his early thirties. He was broad-shouldered and burly, with two large iron hammers hanging from his horse's back.
Seeing this, Qi Shan could only temporarily suppress his urge to take action.
The rebel camp was not far from Xiaocheng.
Although they made thorough preparations before taking action, they dared not make any major moves—such as mobilizing supplies—because they could not arouse suspicion from Zheng Qiao's troops beforehand. As a result, the rebel army was short of supplies and provisions, and several teams had to be temporarily dispatched to procure them.
Although the amount of grain the young man was escorting was not much, it was barely enough considering that it wouldn't take long to capture Xiaocheng.
It certainly solved the immediate problem.
Seeing that the provisions were safe and sound, the bearded man relaxed his brow.
|ω)
That evening, I wasn't paying attention to the kitchen glass door and accidentally kicked it with my right foot. It hurt terribly...
(End of this chapter)
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