Chapter 335: Promotion
Editor: Atlas Studios
“This is a rare opportunity.” Qi Xiuyuan said, “I don’t want to give up.”
Rong Xuan rubbed his temples. He also felt that this was a rare opportunity, but he also cared about the Imperial Court’s opinion because whether Qi Xiuyuan could lead the troops depended on the Emperor.
General Yuan was extremely high-regarded by the people and had an army of more than 200,000 soldiers. Even if the Emperor was wary of him, he wouldn’t dare to do anything. However, Qi Xiuyuan was different. He had just started out and only had 70,000 to 80,000 people under him, among which only about 60,000 people could fight. Thus, they couldn’t afford to gamble.
However, he knew that it was very difficult to convince Qi Xiuyuan to give up this opportunity. He could only try to analyze the difficulty of the mission to make him give up.
“We don’t know what the defenses of the Imperial Capital Prefecture are like. The exact military strength is even more vague. With our very few men, not only do we have to guard Xingcheng Pass, but we also have to guard Hanzhong Prefecture. How many can we deploy to charge and break through?”
“Haoran is in the Jingzhao Prefecture now.” Qi Xiuyuan glanced at Rong Xuan. Back then, the Jin Kingdom’s defensive map that he had obtained from West Xia contained the defenses of the Jingzhao Prefecture. Haoran had already made a copy and went to investigate.
Rong Xuan thought that Qi Xiuyuan was asking Qi Haoran to inquire about the enemy, so he smiled bitterly and said, “I know Haoran is brilliant, and the scouts under him are also the most outstanding in the West Camp. But that doesn’t mean that he can inquire about the defense and military deployment of the Jingzhao Prefecture in a short period of time. Moreover, the border of Hanzhong Prefecture is too long. Who will guard it then? Who will attack the city? Jiang Ze and Mo Xiong can’t be in two places at once, and Xingzhou Prefecture still has to be guarded.”
However, Qi Xiuyuan had already made arrangements. “Jiang Ze will guard Hanzhong Prefecture, and Mu Shi will take care of Xingzhou Prefecture.”
“You’re crazy. Mu Shi is only a battalion commander.”
“If he guards Xingcheng Pass well, he will no longer be.”
Rong Xuan frowned. “Even if you want to promote him, you don’t be so aggressive about it, right?”
However, Qi Xiuyuan had already made up his mind. He took down the map and looked at him shamelessly. “How is it? Just tell me whether you’ll help or not.”
Rong Xuan stood up helplessly. “I’m your Military Advisor. Do I have a second choice?”
Qi Xiuyuan smiled happily.
Rong Xuan walked to the edge of the map and pointed at a canyon. “Haoran is good at raiding. Get him to lead a group of people here…”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded. He had the same thought.
At this moment, Mu Shi did not know that he would be entrusted with a big responsibility. He was brewing medicine for his wife.
When Great-aunt saw him sitting on a small stool and gently fanning the flames, she couldn’t help but shake her head. He’d insisted on snatching the work that she could have done from her.
At this moment, Shu Wanniang had already come out of the house, but she asked Bosi and the rest to stay half a room away from her so that they wouldn’t get sick.
Mu Yangling felt that her mother was being too careful. “Mother, the doctor said that you’ve almost recovered. Why are you still avoiding others?”
“It doesn’t matter since you’re strong. Your younger siblings can’t afford to fall ill.”
“How can a child not fall sick from time to time?” Mu Yangling muttered. “A child who never falls sick is the one that’s unhealthy.”
“Nonsense.” Shu Wanniang glared at her. “I really hope that you guys will be safe and sound for the rest of your lives and never fall sick.”
“Mother, only when one contracts minor illnesses every once in a while will they not fall seriously ill. Colds and fevers are all minor illnesses. After recovering from it, your immunity will go up another level. The illnesses in your body can also be brought out through these minor illnesses. If someone doesn’t fall sick all year round, the illnesses in your body will accumulate all year round. Once the illness in the body erupts, one will fall seriously ill. Therefore, it’s best to have minor illnesses once or twice a year.”
Shu Wanniang felt that her daughter was being ridiculous, so she insisted that they keep their distance.
Mu Shi brought the medicine in. “Come, Wanniang, drink the medicine first. You can argue after you’re done.”
Having grown accustomed to drinking medicine, Shu Wanniang simply drank it without changing her expression.
Bosi and Kejia widened their eyes and watched. When they saw their mother drinking the medicine, their little faces scrunched up. They even closed their eyes slightly and hissed, “It’s so bitter! So bitter!”
When Mu Yangling saw them staggering on the brick bed as if they had really drunk the medicine themselves, she immediately smiled and lay on the brick bed. She pinched their lotus root-like feet and said, “Bitter? Have you ever taken such medicine before? Should I feed you some too?”
The two children immediately shook their heads like rattle drums.
“Alright, stop teasing them.” Mu Shi took the medicine bowl down and washed it. When he returned, he carried a child in each arm and placed the twins on his knees. Smiling, he said, “Bosi, Kejia, I’ll bring you guys to buy New Year’s goods tomorrow, okay?”
“Yay! Yay!” Bosi and Kejia clapped their hands and looked around. Then, they pulled Mu Yangling and said, “Come with us, Sister.”
“We’re going to buy a lot of things!” Bosi glanced at his sister and said seriously, “Sister must go.”
Mu Yangling’s face darkened. “So my role is to pay for you?”
Every time they went out to shop, Mu Yangling would fork out money to buy things for them. The two little guys would remember it, so every time they wanted to buy something or go shopping, they would clamor to bring their sister along. They were extremely smart.
After knowing the whole story, Mu Shi laughed out loud and kissed them on the cheek. He laughed and said, “Good son, good daughter. You’re indeed my, Mu Shi’s, children. You’re smart.”
Shu Wanniang rebuked, “If you continue spoiling them, they might become extravagant in the future.”
“Didn’t Ah Ling and Bowen also grow up being pampered? I didn’t see them being lawless. Instead, they’re very capable. You don’t have to worry.” Mu Shi was very relaxed. He felt that although he doted on his children, he didn’t make any mistakes in matters concerning principle, so he didn’t have to worry at all.
Shu Wanniang hadn’t fully recovered yet, so she couldn’t go out lest she be exposed to the wind. Also, Great-aunt said that she was old and didn’t want to move around, so Mu Shi could only bring the kids out to buy New Year goods.
“We need to buymore things this year. With me being away from home these days, it’s all thanks to your uncles and the others taking care of you guys, so we need to prepare more gifts for them this year.”
Mu Yangling had no objections at all.
When they went to buy candy, she met Bowen’s classmate. The other party’s parents obviously knew Bowen too. When they saw him, their eyes lit up and they asked, “Brother Mu, which academy do you plan to study at next spring?”
Mu Bowen’s grades were very good, and his classmates’ parents knew about it. Hence, they wanted to know his choice to serve as a reference.
Bowen was a little confused. “I don’t plan to switch to a different academy.”
“You haven’t heard? Teacher Qin and Teacher Liu are going to take the exam next year. They won’t have time to teach students.”
Stunned, Mu Yangling asked, “We didn’t receive any notice.”
“Our family was informed by Teacher Qin. Little Brother Mu was taught by Teacher Liu, right? Perhaps Teacher Liu has been so busy recently that he forgot. However, now that you know the news, you have to quickly find a new academy. Otherwise, it will be too late when spring comes.”
Mu Yangling thanked the other party. Seeing that they had left, Mu Shi said with slight dissatisfaction, “Since Teacher Liu isn’t running the academy anymore, why didn’t they inform us?”