Chapter 267: Lord—one Word’s Difference, Worlds Apart
Ever since the two children were born, the most excited one was not Yun Ce, but this guy Feng An.
On the day the children were born, Feng An kept guard outside the courtyard. When he heard that the Yun Clan had two male heirs at once, after waiting three days, he surprisingly took all the stewards from the Yun Clan Villa to the Dragon God Hall to worship Shehuo.
There was no dragon in the Yun Clan’s Dragon God Hall, and Feng An wanted to mold one out of mud, but Yun Ce did not allow it.
The Shehuo in the Yun Clan’s Divine Dragon Hall could be extinguished, and everyone in the villa knew this, but even so, whenever people had any major or minor matters, they were willing to come to the Dragon God Hall to worship the Shehuo in the fire pit.
Nothing else, just because this pit of Shehuo was extremely efficacious. Hadn’t they seen that every time the patriarch and others worshiped and prayed for favorable weather, the area around the Yun Clan Villa truly had favorable weather.
Everyone said that the Shehuo in each prefecture was the great Shehuo, while the Shehuo in the Yun Clan Villa was the small Shehuo, small enough to only protect the Yun Clan.
Such Shehuo was instead more likable. The prefectural Shehuo naturally gave people a sense of majesty, but the Yun Clan’s small Shehuo was different—people could see it and touch it.
Other families’ Shehuo fire pits were smooth as a mirror, with only a sourceless flame wandering in the fire pit, but the Yun Clan’s Shehuo needed firewood or charcoal.
Even so, Feng An still treated worshiping Shehuo as a top priority.
“Sacred fire, source of light, all things live and breathe by your grace, blazing to incinerate the heavens, warming the ground, dispelling the cold night, nurturing living beings, all by your grace. We devoutly offer sacrifices before you… We humbly…”
1 This was the first time Feng An led all the Yun Clan stewards to worship Shehuo by offering sacrificial items. Shehuo seemed to give face too, and when Feng An sprinkled a handful of charcoal powder onto it, Shehuo surged up with a large burst of bright yellow flames.
1 Yun Ce originally thought Feng An was just going through the process, but unexpectedly the Shehuo in the Dragon Pearl reacted too, actually making that large burst of flames ignited by the charcoal powder burn suspended in the air for a good while.
1 Strangely enough, facing such a supernatural phenomenon, neither Feng An nor the nearly three hundred stewards in the Yun Clan Villa found it strange. Instead, Yun Ce, the patriarch, was the one whose reaction was not so natural.
1 After the worship of Shehuo was finished, Feng An led all the Yun Clan stewards in respectfully kneeling to Yun Ce and calling him Lord. They did not usually do this, but today they all appeared extremely solemn.
1 After the etiquette was completed, Feng An said to Yun Ce, “Only when the patriarch has a son can he be called Lord. When the patriarch has no son, he can only be called patriarch.”
1 Yun Ce said, “I thought Lord meant the same as Lord.”
1 Feng An let out a long breath, as if expelling all the air from his lungs.
1 “Because we had no choice, we could only use the vague term.”
1 The matter was not big, just a one-character difference, but Yun Ce heard a sense of vast desolation in Feng An’s words. People’s changes could be great, but the ground’s changes could only be expressed as great changes.
1 “The Yun Clan now has a population of sixty-seven thousand four hundred and fifty-seven people. By tomorrow, it will increase by fifty-eight more. Every day new children are born, and every day people from outside come to pledge allegiance.
2 In less than five years, the patriarch will surely have the foundational population to support Yun City. This subordinate toasts to the Lord.”
2 Yun Ce waved his hand and said, “You’re trying to talk about army building again, right?”
2 Feng An nodded and said, “This subordinate knows the Lord looks down on selecting people from this group of former refugees, slaves, and convicted prisoners to form an army. But now, there is actually a very good opportunity. I wonder if the Lord can achieve it?”
2 Yun Ce said, “The army I want is different from the armies others want.”
2 Feng An took a letter from his bosom and handed it to Yun Ce.
2 Yun Ce looked at the envelope and found it was a letter sent by Liang Kun.
2 After reading it, he pondered for a moment and said, “You mean for me to scheme for He Tian’s Tiger Guards?”
2 Feng An nodded and said, “Exactly. Although this subordinate does not know what kind of army the Lord truly wants, if the Lord can take He Tian’s Tiger Guards, that group without independent thoughts, though not as good as the army the Lord plans, should not be far off. After all, that group will only take the Lord’s ideas as their own ideas.
2 They do not fear death, know no life and death, have powerful combat power, and the direction the Lord points his finger is their direction of combat. Can such an army enter the Lord’s eyes?”
2 Yun Ce said, “What makes you think I can unlock the Beast Supervision’s exclusive method?”
3 Feng An laughed and said, “This subordinate thought the Lord would ask me how to seize the Tiger Guards from He Tian’s hands. Unexpectedly, the Lord asks about the solution to the Beast Supervision’s exclusive method.
3 This subordinate believes the Lord will surely have a way.”
3 Yun Ce said in surprise, “Why don’t I know I have such ability?”
3 Feng An laughed fawningly like a fox, with both hands tucked into his sleeves, chuckling, “Although uncertain, just look at that puppy leather in the main wife’s arms that never grows up, look at the red date horse spirited like a person, and look at that increasingly intelligent black feathered eagle. This subordinate secretly believes the Lord must have some heaven-defying methods.
3 Moreover, Lei Ming and those children have already caught six Tiger Guards for the Lord in the forest outside Lingzhou City. Whether successful or not, the Lord can give it a try.”
3 Yun Ce pursed his lips and said, “Twenty-one Tiger Guards, and only six truly survived.”
3 Feng An laughed and said, “The children are still young after all, plus Liang Kun did not allow them to underestimate the enemy. Estimating the enemy leniently, the bombs thrown were without count. To bring back six live Tiger Guards for the Lord, this subordinate is already very satisfied.”
3 Yun Ce waved his hand and said, “Then wait until they return to discuss it.”
3 Feng An patted the dirt off his buttocks, cupped his hands to Yun Ce, and said, “It seems the Lord already has a plan for how to take He Tian’s Tiger Guards?”
3 Yun Ce laughed and said, “First thoroughly study how He Tian controls the Tiger Guards. If there is truly some non-trivial trick, I should be able to learn it.”
4 Feng An laughed and said, “Liang Kun said the same. As for little Lei Ming, he firmly claims the Lord can solve all the unsolvable mysteries in the world.”
4 Yun Ce looked at Feng An and said, “Don’t pressure me. What needs to be done, I will do well. The Tiger Guards are quite special, and your suggestions are good too. Once we obtain the Tiger Guards, the Yun Clan Villa will have basic defensive strength, which I understand as well. But you must understand that for the Yun Clan to truly rise, we absolutely cannot rely on the Tiger Guards, this group of walking corpses.”
4 Feng An laughed loudly and said, “Take it one step at a time. If we can’t even handle the matters at hand, how to speak of the long term.”
4 For these two people, Feng An and Liang Kun, Yun Ce was truly extremely satisfied. In the ancient past, two young scholars picked from piles of corpses had now finally grown into two meticulous, ruthless political experts.
4 “Husband, why is your eldest legitimate son called Yun Shuo instead of Liu Shuo?”
4 E Ji first looked at the nursing baby in her arms, then looked up at Yun Ce. She always felt that the son of the Heir of the King of Changsha, Liu Chang’an, should be called Liu Shuo. As for Yun Shuo, without the title of Heir of the King of Changsha, it did not sound majestic at all.
4 “Because his father is called Yun Ce, surnamed Yun, so they have no choice but to be wronged into surnaming Yun as well. Haven’t you hidden the ancestor memorial tablets at home? Do you plan to let them have no descendants?”
4 E Ji muttered, “This concubine mainly saw that husband sometimes calls Liu Chang’an, sometimes Yun Ce, with no consistency in your heart, so I asked.
4 Now I know. The child is called Yun Shuo, horse spear from the clouds, sounds majestic and awe-inspiring, very good.”
4 Yun Ce leaned over, sniffing the milky fragrance on E Ji’s body. For some reason, when he sniffed the child again, the milky fragrance turned into a milky stench.
5 “Oh no, he pooped.”
5 Seeing the chaos on E Ji’s side again, Yun Ce went to Zhang Min’s room next door.
5 Because of the children, the room was stifling hot from the heated wall, and Yun Ce did not allow opening the doors or windows, so the smell in the midwife’s room was naturally not good.
5 Having just adapted to it at E Ji’s place, stepping out for a moment and then entering Zhang Min’s room, the smell was still as overpowering.
5 “Yun Tui, quick look, your dad who can’t name kids is back.”
5 The child was only three days old, his eyes not yet developed, but Zhang Min held up a candle wrap, forcing the three-day-old baby to get close to his own father.
5 “The child next door is called Yun Shuo, not Liu Shuo. Now you’re satisfied?”
5 Zhang Min snorted with laughter and said, “I thought the Yun Clan’s eldest legitimate son would change his surname to Liu and inherit the King’s Rank of the King of Changsha.”
5 Yun Ce took the child from Zhang Min’s arms, gently placed him in the hanging basket, pushed it lightly, and the hanging basket began to rock gently. The child was very well-behaved, wriggled his mouth a bit, and fell asleep again.
5 “Let me tell you, the child is in the phase of growing his body. Sleeping long hours all day is normal. Don’t wake my child for some pointless things.”
6 Zhang Min laughed and said, “Actually, no one cares if this child is surnamed Liu or Yun. We only know this is the child of husband and me. Even if called doggy, it’s still our child.”
6 Zhang Min was different from E Ji; she always felt her life was picked up. If she hadn’t met Yun Ce, she might never have had a child in her lifetime.
6 When returning from Iron Enclosure Pass, although it could be considered establishing merit, the scars all over her body had almost cut off her hope of becoming a mother.
6 Now, with the child right before her eyes, Zhang Min felt very satisfied. As for the child’s future, with her teaching, the child would surely be intelligent and formidable, not like that fool E Ji who would ruin the child.
6 Yun Ce took a letter from his bosom and handed it to Zhang Min, saying, “Use the carrier pigeon to send this letter to Wu Tong, and have him forward it to Liu Changsheng.”
6 Zhang Min took the letter and said in surprise, “You’re going to leave the King’s Rank of the King of Changsha to Tui’er?”
6 Yun Ce looked expressionlessly at this duplicitous stinky woman Zhang Min and said, “The reason Yun Tui is named Yun Tui is because when you gave birth to him, his buttocks came out first and had to be pushed back in for rebirth, so he’s called Yun Tui.
6 As for this letter to Liu Changsheng, I mainly want to ask how He Tian controls that group of walking corpses in the Tiger Guards.”
