Chapter 247 Ridiculous
Lesser Heat, the bayberries are newly arrived.
There is a bayberry orchard on the outskirts of Jiangning City, which is closest to the Lion Power Army camp.
Whenever a greedy guy came to steal bayberries, the old man who looked after the garden would come out with his hands behind his back and a stern face to teach the guy a lesson.
Unfortunately, the soldiers of the Lion Army were all young men with thick skins, and they all knew that the old man was a "paper tiger".
Therefore, the soldiers always smiled and destroyed the bayberry trees, eating their fill, while they found work in the garden such as sweeping the floor, carrying things, and digging cellars, and completed them for the old man swiftly.
Because the soldiers visited too frequently, and finally to the point where the team had to go to build a team, the old man who looked after the garden simply tore down all the fences around the garden and just lay under the leafy bayberry tree, fanning himself and sleeping.
When I woke up, the spring water had been picked, the fertilizer had been added, and the ground had been swept. Except for the bare bayberry trees, everything else was clean, and not even a single kernel was thrown away.
The old man couldn't help but sigh that the Lion-Powerful Military Committee had strict military discipline and was a group of good kids.
He couldn't understand why such good children, who must have been led by good officials, could have caused such a major incident that killed more than 5,000 people in Guying City and caused an uproar throughout the country, leaving no peace.
"Oh..." The old man sighed and couldn't help but worry about others.
Just as the old man was rocking in his rocking chair and about to fall asleep, a woman in official uniform rode a horse and came to the door.
In order to make it easier for the soldiers to enter the orchard from all directions without having to climb over walls or trees, the orchard fences have all been removed.
But the woman in official uniform still dismounted and stood at the main gate of the garden built of a few simple wooden beams, saluting the old man from a distance:
"Old man, I heard you have bayberries here. How much are they? I want to buy some."
Having never seen a woman in official uniform before, the old man was quite curious. He went to take a look and found that the official uniform had a lion head emblem, the same as the ones worn by the boys who came to eat bayberries every day. He couldn't help but ask:
"Are you from the Lion Army?"
Zhi Luo saluted again, "Yes."
"Can women still be officials?"
"No, I'm not an official anymore."
Hearing the sadness in Zhiluo's tone, the old man said no more, brought a ladder, climbed up the tree, picked up the two ripest plums, put them in a paper bag, tied it up, and handed it to Zhiluo.
Zhi Luo accepted it with gratitude, "Old man, how much is it? I'll give it to you."
The old man waved his hand and said, "Never have those young men in your army ever come to pay me. I don't need any money. I'm very happy to have 300,000 of you guarding my garden. Take it and eat it!"
Seeing that the old man was very stubborn, Zhiluo no longer insisted and thanked him again.
When he was about to leave, the old man seemed to sigh, or to talk to himself, and said:
"It's better not to be an official. If you don't work as an official, you won't have to work so hard and it won't be dangerous. Who says you have to be a high-ranking official to be capable? It's hard to be a good wife and take care of your husband and children!"
Zhi Luo's face darkened and he bowed and left.
Holding the bayberry, she slowly walked back to the Lion Army's camp.
Now that the Eastern Palace has issued an order, she has been removed from all official positions, Luo Dongdong has been demoted from battalion commander to non-commissioned officer, and Huo Gannian has been fined one year's salary and demoted one level.
She is no longer the military advisor of the Lion Army, but when the soldiers see her, they will still say, "How are you, military advisor?"
She neither explained nor responded.
Because she was about to leave here and go to the East Palace in Kyoto to answer for her crime.
This road, which took more than ten years to climb to the top, returned to the starting point overnight.
From now on, she is no longer the respected female military advisor of the Lion Army, but just a little girl named Zhiluo.
The carriage to the East Palace was already waiting, and Zhiluo wanted to go and say goodbye to her young general.
When I walked into the commander-in-chief's tent, Huo Gannian was looking at official documents inside, and Yun Chen was rarely absent from the tent.
Huo Gannian put down the document in his hand, his expression expressionless.
Zhiluo suddenly didn't know how to behave, whether to call herself a subordinate or "a little girl".
As if seeing Zhiluo's embarrassment, Huo Gannian spoke first:
"The capital city has been properly prepared. You can go there at will."
Zhi Luo's face turned pale, and he said "Thank you, General", then held back his tears and looked up at Huo Gannian.
He was not wearing armor today, only a brown Taoist robe with a golden python pattern, a black and gold-threaded lion-awake belt tied in the middle, and a round collar that slightly highlighted his thin jaw.
Above the high bridge of the nose are a pair of phoenix eyes that do not easily reveal their emotions, yet seem to see through everything.
Looking into those eyes, it was as if I had fallen into a dark night with no end in sight.
Without any gold, jade or rock as a background, nor any decoration on his body, Huo Gannian just put his hands on the armrests and sat there simply, looking dignified and indomitable.
Zhi Luo felt sad: Is it possible that Yun Chen likes Huo Gan Nian like this?
Is it possible that she is the only one in this world who cares about worldly opinions, while Huo Gannian and Yun Chen are so indifferent?
Unable to utter a word, Zhi Luo just stared at Huo Gannian, tears streaming down his face until his vision became completely blurred and he could not see Huo Gannian's face at all.
Looking at the bayberry in Zhiluo's arms, Huo Gannian frowned slightly and said what he was reluctant to say:
"Zhiluo, you are very smart, but you think too much and worry too much. Sharpness is also sensitivity, and pride is also blindness. I hope you understand."
Zhi Luo gave a bleak smile, "Am I thinking too much? The general has also thought of everything I have thought of, hasn't he?"
Having said that, there was no need to hide it any more. Zhi Luo looked directly at Huo Gannian and said bitterly:
"You've always known that I...love General Mu Yun."
Huo Gannian sighed imperceptibly.
Zhi Luo hid his feelings for Yun Chen very well, but he could hide it from everyone else, except Huo Gannian, who was always paying attention to Yun Chen.
Whether it was the day when Yun Chen was scheduled to steal the defense map, or the day when Huo Luyu bid farewell to Yun Chen, who was holding a long sword, under the moon in the suburbs when leaving Yancheng, and was caught by Zhiluo, she looked depressed for a long time afterwards.
Huo Gannian saw everything Zhiluo was thinking.
Huo Gan read: "'Battle of the City Gate' and 'Crossing the Southwest', two pieces of paper, one black and one white. Many people know that Yun Chen and I have the habit of drawing lots, but they don't know that if the paper is of different colors, Yun Chen always chooses the darker one.
You noticed this, so you wrote "Battle City Gate" on the black paper. Your jealousy made you not want her to have much contact with the girls in the brothel. You wanted her to go to the Battle City Gate. But you don't know Yun Chen well enough. She has never been one to put personal feelings above official duties.
Zhi Luo's face turned pale.
That’s right, she did think a lot and in detail, and always used all kinds of little thoughts on Yun Chen.
When she saw Yun Chen and Huo Luyu together, she felt upset; when she saw Yun Chen and Huo Gannian together, she wanted to go crazy.
Whenever Zhi Luo thought about Yun Chen going to "venture in the southwest" and going to the city to mingle with so many coquettish brothel girls, just imagining that scene made him jealous like fire.
It was this kind of jealousy and failure to distinguish between public and private that ultimately led to the deaths of more than 5,000 innocent people.
Huo Gannian might have guessed this later, but he would never say it out loud.
This is not for Bao Zhiluo, but because he doesn't want Yun Chen to know the truth and feel uneasy.
Looking at the plums in his arms with pale purple juice overflowing, that was the taste that Yun Chen liked, but it seemed that they were too dirty to be delivered to Yun Chen.
Zhiluo shed two lines of tears and felt extremely ridiculous.
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