Chapter 13 - A Problem With His Intellect

The golden dazzling sun shone down on the grass by the river bank, making the green grass seem brighter than usual. Shen Cha Yan, who was laying down on the grass, did not care about what people would think about her. She was sprawled out on her back - as long as she was comfortable, that was all that mattered.

Since they had eliminated a group of water bandits, Mr. Shen decided to give them both half day off. Their entire afternoon became especially precious.

Shen Cha Yan laid on the grass of the slope by the river bank, staring at Shen Leng, who was sitting there like a meditating monk, as he fished. She did not blink, and thought to herself: His back view looks pretty nice.

Is fishing that interesting?

Shen Cha Yan could not help but think to herself..

That fella had already sat there for an hour, without saying a single word to her. But after thinking about how he had a nice back view for an hour, she started to find him detestable.

“You’re intending to spend half a day fishing?”

She finally could no longer hold back and asked that question.

“Ah?”

Shen Leng turned around and looked her in the eye before answering, “No. In fact, I forgot that I was fishing. I keep thinking back to how the Great Ning Navy executed their battle tactics in a coordinated fashion when they destroyed the water bandits, as well as their means of killing……ultimately, books could not compare to seeing it in person, as the latter was more direct and effective.

Shen Cha Yan stood up and walked over. “Is it fun to watch the soldiers kill?”

“Why would it be fun to watch them kill?”

Slap!

Shen Cha Yan hit the back of Shen Leng’s head. “Since I’m nice to look at, why won’t you look at me?”

Shen Leng was speechless.

He turned around and looked at Shen Cha Yan, “In that case, I will look at you from now on.”

Shen Cha Yan, “Hoho, do you think you can look at me just as you wish?”

Shen Leng giggled, “Well, you’re indeed nice to look at.”

Shen Cha Yan had nothing to say.

She asked Shen Leng, “Of all the things that sir taught you, did he include teaching you how to make girls happy?”

Shen Leng lamented, “Do you think sir knows how to please a girl?”

Shen Cha Yan pondered for a brief moment, “Yeah, he doesn’t. He’s pretty good-looking, but no woman has ever wanted to be with him. It’s strange……”

Shen Leng replied, “It’s probably because he did not want to get distracted. After all, he has been taking care of you since you were a little girl.”

Shen Cha Yan said, “That’s true……wait a minute, are you saying I’m a burden?”

Shen Leng answered, “There isn’t a burden as nice-looking as you!”

Shen Cha Yan scoffed, “Hmph, you’re totally saying that.”

Thereafter, she felt that Shen Leng’s words were somewhat awkward, but she could not pinpoint why.

Just at this moment, a group of Navy soldiers came over from the river bank. There were about seventeen or eighteen of them. The one who was leading the group was decked in a military officer uniform. Shen Leng recognized him as the man who led the Navy troops and killed the entire nest of water bandits, not leaving any behind.

He was tall and slender, and had a handsome face - just that it gave off a slightly sinister air.

Shen Leng could still remember how he looked when he was rebuking his subordinates for being too slow. He was somewhat malevolent.

The military officer was washing his horse by the river bank, with more than ten soldiers fawning on him. However, from the looks of their faces, one could tell that they did not have true respect for him - it was more fear than anything else.

When he went home, Shen Leng asked Mr. Shen who he was, to which he replied that his name was Mu Xiaofeng. He was from a very influential family - his father was the great scholar, Mu Zhaotong, who almost became the most powerful figure in the entire Great Ning, apart from the Emperor. Back then, the late emperor abruptly met his demise, shocking both the imperial court and the common folks. The great scholar, Mu Zhaotong, had managed to persuade the empress in the princes’ residence to pick a child to become the next successor. The empress had no other choice but to agree.

However, who knew that the Great General Pei Tingshan, whom Mu Zhaotong referred to as the barbarian of Dongjiang, brought 9,000 weapons with him and blocked the city gate. The crown prince did not dare to even enter the city, and ran away feeling crestfallen. Because of that, His Majesty managed to ascend the throne.

Pei Tingshan was appointed as a First pin Duke, the leader of the five Great Generals. He was even one rank higher than the imperial guard, Great General Tantai Yuanshu, who led 80,000 elite troops in the capital.

When it came to contributions, naturally, Pei Tingshan made the biggest contribution. Nonetheless, Great General Tantai had forcefully restrained 80,000 imperial guards within the city as well. He did not make any less contribution, in comparison with Pei Tingshan.

His Majesty was a broad-minded person. After he ascended to the throne, not only did he not rebuke the great scholar, Mu Zhaotong, he entrusted heavy responsibilities to him. Mu Zhaotong was the direct decision-maker for almost everything everything, from matters of the imperial court to small matters. He had the authority to make decisions without consulting anyone else.

Mu Xiaofeng was not that old - he was only eighteen or nineteen years old. It was Mu Zhaotong who had him in his old age. From the moment he was born, he was already a Count of the Third Rank. The reason why he chose to join the Navy instead of the Four Borders, was naturally because it was safer. He only had to be in the Navy for a couple of years before he could be transferred back to the capital. By then, he would either hold a post in the Ministry of War, or become one of the commanding officials within the Four Depositories Military Repository. Or even become the assistant of the Great General at the Four Borders. He had boundless prospects.

A Military Officer was only a Sixth pin Military Official - it was not a high position. He might only have slightly over three hundred soldiers under him, but he had strong figures backing him up beyond reasonable limits. Therefore, even the Commander of the Navy, Zhuang Yong, had to be polite to him. Besides, he was only going to be there for three to five years, what was the point of offending him?

Shen Leng looked at Mu Xiaofeng, who was also looking right back at Shen Leng. They each had a different look in their eyes.

Mu Xiaofeng had recognized Shen Leng - when he led the troops into the water bandits’ camp, Shen Leng had not left. Initially, he wanted to take Shen Leng back with him to interrogate his origins, but he did not expect Shen Leng to run away that fast.

“Get the fella over there to come here for a chat.”

Mu Xiaofeng lifted his finger and pointed towards Shen Leng. Thereafter, two soldiers ran towards Shen Leng.

“Aye! You over there.”

　

One of the soldiers yelled at Shen Leng, “Our Military Officer wants to speak with you.”

Before Shen Leng could say anything, Shen Cha Yan abruptly sat upright. “Who’s your Military Officer? I don’t care who he is. Just because he wants to have a talk, doesn’t mean we will go over to him.”

Mu Xiaofeng’s soldier was dumbfounded. He had never experienced such a situation before……if it was some other ordinary civilian that the Military Officer wanted to talk to, they would have nodded and ran over as quickly as they could.

“I will say this one more time. Come with us and go over there for a talk.”

The Military Officer wanted to kick Shen Leng. Shen Cha Yan used one hand to support herself and got up from the ground. She kicked the chin of the soldier as hard as she could, causing him to fly upon impact.

The soldier landed three meters away. His chin was badly wrecked; he laid on the ground for quite a while, but still could not regain consciousness.

“You dare to attack us?”

Shen Cha Yan placed her hands on her waist and stood in front of Shen Leng, blocking him. She was like a mother hen protecting her chick. Even if the soldiers were the eagles in the sky, she would still dare grab them and beat them up.

Mu Xiaofeng was also dumbfounded. He got the soldiers to take over the reins of the warhorse, and gradually walked over to them. He gave off a vicious vibe.

“According to the laws set by the imperial court of Great Ning, you should be kneeling before me, since both of you do not have any rank or achievements.

Mu Xiaofeng extended his hand and helped his soldier up. The soldier quickly thanked him. Before he could finish his words, Mu Xiaofeng slapped him, causing him to fly upon impact one more time.

“Garbage.”

He turned around and looked at Shen Cha Yan and Shen Leng. “Are you going to kneel or not?”

“Kneel? As if!”

Shen Cha Yan glared at Mu Xiaofeng, “So you’re telling me that Great Ning’s soldiers like to strut around the commoners, flaunting to them? It’s no wonder people say that the Navy troops are the trash that got rejected by the Four Borders and Depositories. All you people do is snarl at us.”

Those words cut Mu Xiaofeng right in the heart. He was taken aback immediately.

“When I was killing the water bandits, I saw the both of you there. I suspect that both of you are the surviving members. I want to take you two back for strict investigation. If you are indeed the surviving members that escaped, we will sink your corpses to the bottom of the river.

Shen Cha Yan sneered, “Sink our corpses into the river? The water bandits love doing that too.”

Mu Xiaofeng went pale. He reached out his hand and tried to grab Shen Cha Yan by the collar, “Go back with me!”

Shen Leng was initially sitting on the ground; but when Mu Xiaofeng extended his hand, the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of Shen Cha Yan. His hand collided with Mu Xiaofeng’s hand. Mu Xiaofeng’s five fingers grabbed his hand hard and was about to drag Shen Leng over to him. However, Shen Leng flicked his wrist and Mu Xiaofeng’s body did a 180 degree turn, involuntarily.

The moment he took action, he was already on the losing end. Mu Xiaofeng got even more furious - he turned around and attempted to kick Shen Leng in the lower abdomen. Shen Leng’s right elbow struck his shin, and his left leg took half a step forward, after which his right elbow struck Mu Xiaofeng in the chin.

Mu Xiaofeng retreated two steps. “Great Ning’s border troops’ martial arts? Don’t tell me you’re an army deserter?!”

Shen Leng shrugged his shoulders and could not be bothered to talk to him. He turned around and grabbed Shen Cha Yan. “Let’s go back.”

Shen Cha Yan scoffed and followed Shen Leng, making their way back home.

A ‘shing’ was heard. Mu Xiaofeng drew his knife.

“Trying to leave? Not only do I suspect you to be the surviving water bandits, I also think that you’re an army deserter. You should know how Great Ning treats army deserters. Don’t you think it’s too late for you to leave?”

After Mu Xiaofeng drew his knife, the other soldiers followed suit. In truth, when Shen Cha Yan called them ‘trash’ earlier on, they were dying to tear that beautiful girl, with a potty mouth, into pieces.

Mu Xiaofeng pointed his knife at Shen Cha Yan, “Kneel down before me, right now. And apologize. Or else I will rip your mouth apart.”

Shen Leng protected Shen Cha Yan, keeping her behind him, and said, “Her personality is like that - she’s straightforward and does not think before she speaks, and will say the wrong things from time to time.”

Mu Xiaofeng replied, “You don’t get to apologize for her.”

Shen Leng shook his head. “You misunderstood my intentions. I am not apologizing on her behalf. What I’m trying to say is - even though she does not think before she speaks, I will take responsibility for everything that she says. You want her to apologize? Frankly speaking……not a chance. Whether what she said was right or wrong, you have no choice but to take it.

Shen Cha Yan was initially furious, but after she heard Shen Leng’s words about how she did not think before she spoke, for some reason, that made her very happy.

“From the looks of it, both of you are not afraid of death. As a Sixth pin Military Officer in the Navy, I have the authority to punish you!”

He pointed his knife to the front, “Seize them! If they resist, you are allowed to kill them!”

Pow! A metal plate came flying through the air and struck Mu Xiaofeng’s knife. It caused the knife to vibrate upon impact, creating a humming sound. Even though the knife clearly did not shake that much, Mu Xiaofeng’s web between his thumb and forefinger started bleeding,.

However, he clenched his teeth, refusing to let go of his knife. It was extremely humiliating for a soldier to abandon his weapon.

“Sixth pin Military Officer? That’s not enough for you to be that arrogant in front of the two of them.”

Mr. Shen walked over from afar. He pointed at the plate that was hanging on Mu Xiaofeng’s knife. “Look carefully before you speak. If you don’t understand, go home and ask your Commander, and give this plate back to me.”

Naturally, Mu Xiaofeng was well-educated. He could tell at one glance that the iron plate was of a heavy significance.

There was a word on it.

Liu.

Precisely because there was only that word, Mu Xiaofeng was flabbergasted. He took the iron plate off his knife and ran his hand along the chains on the iron plate. He held it with two hands and respectfully returned it to Mr. Shen. “I lack perception and was unaware of who I was dealing with. I will now take my leave.”

The soldiers did not know what happened, and neither did they recognize that iron plate.

Mr. Shen took the iron plate and gestured, “Move along, don’t be too arrogant. Within Great Ning, the people who should not be arrogant are the soldiers. It takes talent and capability to be arrogant outside of Great Ning.

Unexpectedly, Mu Xiaofeng did not dare to utter a single word. He turned around and walked off. Even though he was filled with hate to the point that his teeth hurt, he could only hate in his heart. That was because the significance of the iron plate was too great.

Liu……

Before His Majesty ascended the throne, he was known as Prince Liu. The only people who had this plate were His Majesty’s counselors back then. Even though he was the son of a great scholar, he did not want to provoke these trusted aides of His Majesty.

Of course, Mr. Shen was not His Majesty’s counselor. Back then, this iron plate was given to Prince Liu by his wife. A plate and a child. Right now, he had both the plate and child. He felt pretty good about it.

“What is this? It’s awesome.”

Shen Cha Yan took the iron plate and flipped it a couple of times, examining it. “It must be very important.”

“Not important. When i just found you, the economy was rather bad. I wanted to pawn it in exchange for some money, but nobody dared to take it……alas, I reluctantly kept it.”

Mr. Shen kept the iron plate. “Let’s go, let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Shen Leng smiled and took out foot-long package that was wrapped with oilpaper. “We’re eating beef tonight.”

“Where did the beef come from?”

Mr. Shen and Shen Cha Yan were dumbfounded. Cows were extremely valuable and precious; according to the laws of Great Ning, it was clearly written that people who slaughtered cows would be banished 930 miles away from Great Ning……

“When I was coming out of the water bandits’ camp, I casually grabbed it. I had kept it with me the entire time. Earlier, I was scared out of my wits. I thought that those people were looking for the beef. It was too frightening.”

Shen Leng seemed as though he was still having palpitations.

Mr. Shen said, “Ahem…..Little Cha, didn’t you say earlier that there’s a problem with something?”

Little Cha slightly lowered her jaw. She was finally being acknowledged. “Intellect! A problem with his intellect!”