Chapter 71: General’s Order
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Does anyone know what song this is?” Emperor Yuan Feng asked as he watched Zhou Shu play the zither on the hill.
The ministers exchanged glances and shook their heads.
“Although this song is not very elegant, it has a unique flavor to it. It might be a folk song,” a minister said.
!!
Yin Wuyou narrowed her bright eyes. She recalled the two lines of poetry she had heard from Zhou Shu. Later, she had gone to the restaurant Zhou Shu had mentioned. The storyteller there had never even heard those two lines.
Yes, this song is also a little suspicious! Yin Wuyou thought.
“Isn’t it easy for Your Majesty to find out?” Another minister spoke.
He stepped forward and shouted, “Sir, does this song have a name?”
His voice spread far and wide. Even Zhou Shu’s singing couldn’t cover up this voice. It was obvious that this minister was a martial artist with high cultivation.
This wasn’t strange. In the Great Xia Imperial Court, the majority of the ministers were already ranked martial artists.
Zhou Shu didn’t activate his true qi as he replied in a low voice, “‘General’s Order’, also known as ‘A Man Should Strengthen Himself’!
“This song is for the warriors of Great Xia. I wish you all a triumphant return!”
After Zhou Shu finished playing the last note, he bowed toward the foot of the hill. Then with the zither on his back, he left.
“What a great ‘General’s Order’! What a great ‘A Man Should Strengthen Himself’!” The minister who asked clapped his hands. “This child has an ancient style, and he’s definitely not an ordinary person!”
“General’s Order?” Emperor Yuan Feng nodded to himself. Great General Meng’s eyes are as sharp as ever.
Although this Zhou Shu is only a mere Forging Apprentice now, from the looks of it, he is indeed a promising talent.
Hmm, you’ve exposed yourself, haven’t you? Yin Wuyou snorted coldly in her heart. How dare you deceive me about those few lines of poetry? I want to see how you explain this General’s Order!
In the army, Sun Gongping waved at the hill excitedly.
“Did you see that? My brother came to see me off!” Sun Gongping shouted excitedly at the soldiers beside him. “General’s Order was for me!”
…
Without caring about the reactions of Emperor Yuan Feng and Meng Bai’s army, Zhou Shu descended the hill from the other side. As soon as he descended, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.
He wiped his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief.
I was too careless today.
Originally, he had wanted to send off his big brother and Sun Gongping and create an alibi at the same time. After all, Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai were dead, and Zhu Chuanfeng would definitely not let it go.
But he had forgotten that the expedition of an army was no joke.
He had run over without any warning and was almost killed by the army as a spy.
Also, what’s with those guys who can fly?
Great Xia is really full of hidden experts. I can’t be so arrogant next time, Zhou Shu thought.
He had easily killed Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai, but this made Zhou Shu feel a little proud.
Now that he thought about it, his cultivation was nowhere close to allowing him to ignore everything.
Return the zither first! Zhou Shu carried the zither and walked toward the capital.
He had stolen this zither from the room of the woman named Hongxiu last night. Now that he was done with it, he should return it to her.
In the brothel, Hongxiu had already woken up.
She felt a little dizzy and couldn’t recall what had happened last night.
Looking at her naked body, Hongxiu was puzzled. Did something really happen last night?
Why don’t I have any impression of it?
Is it because I was overly exhausted?
Her brows furrowed slightly. Suddenly, she noticed that the zither on the table beside her bed was missing.
“Xing’er! Xing’er!” Hongxiu shouted.
A maid came in.
“Where’s my zither?” Hongxiu asked.
The maid Xing’er: “…”
“Miss, someone just found a zither at the entrance. Is it yours?” Xing’er said weakly.
“Oh?” Hongxiu frowned. “When did the young master who stayed in my room last night leave?”
“He left at dawn. Before he left, he told me not to disturb you. He said that you were exhausted last night and wanted you to rest well.” Xing’er blushed.
Hongxiu had a puzzled look on her face. Was I really that exhausted from last night? Why can’t I remember anything?
…
Last night, I slept in the brothel, and in the morning, I went out to send off the army. Even if Zhu Chuanfeng suspects me, he won’t be able to find any evidence, Zhou Shu thought while walking out of the city.
If not for Zhu Chuanfeng’s special status, Zhou Shu really wanted to kill him as well.
Now that he kept him alive, he would definitely continue to plot against him.
But Zhu Chuanfeng was a Grand Craftsman. If such a person died, it would be an earth-shattering matter, and the Imperial Court would definitely investigate it thoroughly.
At that time, Zhou Shu was not confident that he would be able to escape unscathed.
As for people like Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai, it was fine if they died. Although the Imperial Court would investigate, they wouldn’t spend too much time on it.
Zhen Cai said that the emperor allowed me to partic.i.p.ate in the military parade. If it’s true, I don’t know if I can reject it.
Zhou Shu didn’t want to partic.i.p.ate in the military parade. Even if there were rewards, he couldn’t be bothered to partic.i.p.ate.
If he had the time, he would rather forge a few more weapons.
The Legendary Armament Canon was much more reliable than the old emperor. As long as he persisted in forging, the rewards would come in droves.
Even if I really did partic.i.p.ate and obtained the reward, I would have obtained it with my own abilities. Why should I hand it over to you, Zhu Chuanfeng? Zhou Shu thought.
In Great Xia, the relationship between masters and disciples was an extremely serious matter. A master for a day was a father for life.
If Zhou Shu really did take Zhu Chuanfeng as his master, then his life or death could be decided by a single sentence from Zhu Chuanfeng.
Under these circ.u.mstances, Zhou Shu obviously couldn’t take Zhu Chuanfeng as his master, even if he had no other plans!
Moreover, it had already been proven that Zhu Chuanfeng was not a good person!
Now that Zhou Shu had killed Zhu Chuanfeng’s two lackeys, although Zhu Chuanfeng might not be able to find any evidence, he would definitely suspect Zhou Shu as long as he wasn’t stupid.
Zhou Shu had made some arrangements, so he wasn’t worried about the official matters.
But Zhu Chuanfeng was clearly a schemer. It was hard to say that he wouldn’t use other underhanded methods.
He had to guard against this!
Fortunately, he was still able to resist!
If that old fellow really wants to play dirty, I will make him suffer!
While thinking, Zhou Shu didn’t let down his guard.
Fortunately, it was broad daylight. On the way from the capital to the Forging Division workshops, he would occasionally encounter troops from the Forging Division escorting weapons. Zhou Shu didn’t encounter any a.s.sa.s.sins again.
After returning to the 0th Workshop, Zhou Shu immediately saw two figures standing at the workshop’s entrance.
“Grand Minister, you’re here so early.” Zhou Shu walked forward and cupped his hands.
“Early?” Yin Wuyou turned her head and glanced at Zhou Shu. “You call this early?”
“It’s alright.” Zhou Shu smiled awkwardly. Although the Forging Division workshops didn’t have any morning roll call, the Forging Apprentices had already started working at seven in the morning. It was indeed a little late for him, the superintendent, to come at this time.
Yin Wuyou obviously didn’t intend to delve deeper into this issue. She asked, “Where did you go this morning?”
“Grand Minister, didn’t you see me?” Zhou Shu said. His eyesight was very good. He had seen Yin Wuyou’s figure when the army was departing.
If he could see Yin Wuyou, she could definitely see him too.
At the time, he was the dashing person…
“Answer me!” Yin Wuyou lightly chided.
“Alright. I went to send General Meng’s army off this morning,” Zhou Shu said. A superior, especially a female superior, is the most difficult to deal with!
“Didn’t the 0th Workshop supply a batch of weapons for Great General Meng’s expedition? I was thinking that everyone’s cooperation was rather pleasant. In the interest of reason and justice, I should send the great general off, right?”
“I didn’t say you shouldn’t go!” Yin Wuyou said.
“Let me ask you again. Who taught you how to play the General’s Order today?”
“The rest—”
“The restaurant’s storyteller?” Yin Wuyou sneered. “Do you want me to send someone to invite him over so you can confront him face to face?”
“There’s no need.” Zhou Shu was startled. Why is Yin Wuyou so angry? “General’s Order was—”
“Zhou Shu, you’d better think it through before you speak.” Yin Wuyou’s pretty face turned cold. “What I hate the most is people lying to me!”
“I’m not lying to you.” Zhou Shu was confused. “General’s Order was taught to me by a white-bearded old man when I was dreaming. He also taught me how to play the zither.”
Looking at Yin Wuyou’s posture, it seemed that he could no longer use the restaurant’s storyteller, so he used another excuse commonly used by transmigrators.
Anyway, there was no way to verify the authenticity of his words.
As expected, Yin Wuyou didn’t expect Zhou Shu’s response.
“What about the verse ‘If time could stop at the moment when we first met’?” Yin Wuyou frowned.
“This was also said by the white-bearded old man. I was afraid that no one would believe me if I said it, so I said I heard it from the restaurant’s storyteller. It was indeed my fault,” Zhou Shu said with a sincere expression. When talking to certain women, one must not be reasonable.
Yin Wuyou stared straight at Zhou Shu without blinking, as if to see if he was lying.
Zhou Shu spread out his hands with an honest expression. My language teacher was indeed a white-bearded old man. I’m not lying…
After a long while, Yin Wuyou finally spoke. “Alright, I’ll believe you for now. Since you can remember such a long General’s Order, there’s no reason why you can’t remember that short poem. Write down the rest of the poem for ‘If time could stop at the moment when we first met’.”
Zhou Shu: “…”
Yin Wuyou looked up at the sky and continued, “It’s nine in the morning now. If you can’t write it by three in the afternoon, you can go back to being an apprentice.”
With that, she led Haitang away with her head held high.
“Grand Minister, I’m just a blacksmith. You’re making things difficult for me,” Zhou Shu cried out.
“I’m the grand minister. In the Forging Division, I have the final say..” Yin Wuyou’s voice came from afar.