"Alright, go back and sit down and eat properly. Once you're done eating, we'll... we'll set off?" Quan Jinghuai swallowed the medicine in his mouth with tea and wanted to tell Tian Shu that they would set off after he finished eating. However, he remembered halfway through his sentence that Hong Xiaoduo hadn't said where they were going or which direction they were going.
Never mind, let's leave it at that for now. She'll tell us where we're going when we set off to leave this military camp.
Seeing that his master had swallowed the medicine, Tian Shu walked back to his seat.
"Brother Quan, there's no need to leave in such a hurry. It would be much better if you stayed in our camp for a few days. Perhaps you could even see us capture that second-in-command," Shang Lan said, trying to persuade him to stay.
This man is so skilled in martial arts, what a great opportunity it would be to keep him here for a few days to give me and the soldiers some pointers.
“Our itinerary is set and we don’t want to change it. I think that if that second-in-command is lucky enough to survive, he probably won’t dare to stay here any longer and might flee far away.”
General Mu suddenly thought of something else, turned around and beckoned, and the middle-aged man sitting at another table immediately got up and came over, saying, "General, please speak."
General Mu gestured for him to come closer, then lowered his voice and said, "Yunhu, do you still remember the contents of the letter my father wrote before the New Year?"
Yunhu was taken aback. Why did he suddenly bring this up out of nowhere?
"I remember, the old general said in his letter that his hidden illness had improved, and he told us not to slack off and to train the troops diligently," Yunhu replied as he recalled.
General Mu shook his head: "Think about it again, there are other things."
Is there anything else? "Oh, right, the letter also mentioned that Sanjin, who is by General Zitao's side, said that General Zitao seems to have a woman he likes. Apparently, he met her on a trip to clear his head. Hmm, he said that the woman is quite special, and she was with seven children."
As Yunhu thought about it, he spoke. In fact, he still remembered this matter quite well. After all, among the several branches of the Mu family, Mu Zitao of the third branch was already of marriageable age but refused to get married.
She gets angry whenever she mentions arranging a marriage for him, finding fault with everyone he's not good enough for and criticizing everything he's not good enough for. She even said that the Mu family has many offspring, so why bother urging him to get married?
This is the first time in recent years that I've heard any news about Mu Zitao and a woman.
"General, why did you suddenly think of asking this?" Yunhu asked in a low voice, puzzled.
Could it be that the general got so drunk that he suddenly wanted to attend his nephew's wedding?
General Mu waved his hand, signaling him to go back and finish eating.
After watching Yunhu, whom he had brought from the Mu family, walk away, General Mu looked at the table not far away, the table with two young ladies and seven children.
The information about the seven good-looking girls matches up, but is it really that much of a coincidence? Are they really the girls that Zitao likes?
"Brother Quan, do you know my nephew Mu Zitao?" General Mu asked tentatively.
Quan Jinghuai shook his head after hearing this.
After shaking my head, I suddenly realized that the people and things in front of me were no longer double images.
My dizziness has subsided, and I no longer feel unwell.
Furthermore, I feel myself becoming more and more sober, just like before I started drinking.
It was the eldest disciple, Tian Shu, who came to feed him that pill. The toothache medicine was just a pretext; it was actually a hangover cure!
Quan Jinghuai thought to himself, then turned to look at his disciple, only to see her still eating.
She may seem carefree, but she is actually very meticulous.
But why would she carry hangover medicine with her when neither she nor her usually drinks alcohol? And it seems to be quite effective.
This made him eager to try his luck, so he picked up the wine jar and returned the favor to each of them.
Come on, keep drinking! Who's afraid of who!
Wait, why did General Mu ask me that just now? It's a bit strange. General Mu doesn't seem to be drunk at all.
He's the top dog in the army, who would dare to take turns toasting him!
Seeing Quan Jinghuai shake his head in denial, General Mu smiled and shook his head, wondering what was wrong with him. What a coincidence!
Besides, that group consisted of three adults and seven children; they couldn't possibly be the same people the nephew had met.
General Mu remembered that Master Quan and his group were about to leave after the meal, so he quickly whispered to Shang Lan, who was at the same table, to go to the storeroom to prepare the silver.
Shang Lan stood up and whispered in General Mu's ear, "How much should we prepare?"
How much would be appropriate? General Mu thought about it seriously.
A few hundred taels is definitely not enough; it's too little.
That gang of pirates had been entrenched on the sea for many years. Although they had stopped coming ashore to disturb the people in recent years out of fear of him, they still robbed merchant ships coming and going on the sea.
Although the court did not reprimand him for being useless, he himself could not get over it in his heart.
They were determined to suppress the bandits, but their naval forces were insufficient.
With just a few dilapidated warships, even skilled naval warriors couldn't handle it. When he arrived, he discovered that quite a few soldiers were seasick after boarding!
In recent years, he has been frugal with military spending and focused on training naval troops. He was originally frustrated, wondering when he would be able to wipe out the pirates at sea. But now, the perfect opportunity has come.
Having successfully destroyed the pirates' stronghold, how could a few hundred taels of silver be enough to thank them?
"Here, one... never mind, three thousand taels." General Mu finally settled on the amount.
He had seized tens of thousands of taels of silver, and he planned to keep a portion of it for training naval troops. However, he couldn't keep too much, as it would be embarrassing if he were exposed later.
However, when General Mu thought about how much of the embezzled silver would end up in the hands of corrupt officials, he felt that it would be better to give it to those who made great contributions to the suppression of bandits than to let those parasites benefit from it.
Upon hearing this, Shang Lan didn't feel it was too much and immediately left to arrange it in the warehouse.
Those who do this are naturally trusted confidants who have followed General Mu through many years of bloody battles and shared life and death hardships.
Quan Jinghuai heard their conversation clearly and felt a little excited. He finally had some use for this family besides teaching the disciples martial arts.
After several rounds of drinks, the luncheon came to an end.
When Shang Lan returned, she first nodded to General Mu, indicating that the matter had been settled.
He then walked up to Quan Jinghuai and said with a smile, "If you ever pass by here again, Master Quan, you must come and have a drink with us!"
"Alright, then I'll take my leave. We'll meet again someday if fate allows." Quan Jinghuai also quite enjoyed interacting with these people in the military; they were simple, direct, and without any ulterior motives.
Seeing that they were about to leave, Hong Xiaoduo and the others led the children over and greeted General Mu and the others with smiles and nods.
"Young lady, please wait." After watching his men see Master Quan and his party off, having already walked more than ten meters away, General Mu suddenly called out.
Hong Xiaoduo and her group stopped and turned around to look.
"If I may ask, do you know my nephew, Mu Zitao?" General Mu asked Feiyan.
This must be the one my nephew has his eye on...
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