Chapter 124: Pure Intentions
After a close look at Guo Wei donning the yellow banner, Xiao Yi returned to his tent to sleep.
When he woke, the sky was dimly lit. Suddenly, he saw a Rakshasa ghost squatting beside him and thought he had arrived in the underworld. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Tang Jin.
This person was different and uglier each time.
“Why are you here?”
“I haven’t asked you, General. With such a major event, how can you sleep?”
Xiao Yi thought to himself, “It’s not me putting on the yellow robe, so it’s better to sleep early and grow.”
After replying mentally with his thoughts, he asked, “Is there any breakfast?”
“Why is the General always thinking about food? The Marshal wants to see you.”
“Now?”
Waking up and immediately having to work felt no different, even in his second life.
Xiao Yi got up, put on a thick cloak, gnawed on a piece of hu bing frozen hard as a stone, and crossed the snowy camp to see Guo Wei.
Wang Chengxun, Li Rong, and others were still pacing and conversing by the campfire outside the main camp tent.
Seeing him arrive, the two turned and spoke simultaneously.
“Your Majesty is seeing you first?”
“You could sleep through this?”
Xiao Yi stuffed the hu bing at them and entered the tent.
The tent was filled with the smell of alcohol, charcoal, and the strong, stale odor of old men. Candles were still burning, wax tears dripping down the candelabra.
Guo Wei was still draped in the yellow banner, his eyes dark-rimmed and bloodshot, clearly having not slept all night.
Wang Yin, Guo Chongwei, Wei Renpu, and others looked haggard from sleeplessness but were full of excitement.
“This kid is here.”
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t speak nonsense,” Guo Wei waved his hand, his gaze fell upon Xiao Yi, and he suddenly said, “You slept the soundest. Your mind is truly pure.”
Xiao Yi inwardly mused that his words implied someone else’s mind was impure.
He had simply foreseen this and wasn’t as excited. In fact, he vaguely remembered dreaming that Guo Wei had covered him with a yellow felt blanket and asked if he was cold.
“Your subordinate was simply tired, please forgive me, My Lord.”
Guo Wei asked with deep meaning, “Do you have any regrets?”
Xiao Yi was slightly taken aback, understood, and simply continued to look dazed.
Guo Wei shook his head helplessly and got to the point, saying, “You return to the capital first, report these matters to the Empress Dowager, and diligently fulfill your duties as part of the Inner Palace Guard.”
“Understood.”
Xiao Yi understood his task was to make the Empress Dowager compliant, hand over the throne to Guo Wei, and keep the Imperial Palace in order, preventing any disruptions.
“During the twelfth lunar month, officials are not to disturb the Empress Dowager.”
“Your subordinate understands.”
“Also, instruct everyone in my residence to act as usual and not be overbearing.”
Xiao Yi hesitated slightly and replied, “Yes.”
Wei Renpu sat at a nearby desk, writing diligently. He finished a memorial, affixed his seal, and handed it over.
“This is the memorial from My Lord to the Empress Dowager. Please deliver it.”
Xiao Yi took it and, with a glance, saw the phrase “wishes to be adopted as the Empress Dowager’s son” in the last column, which surprised him.
“What is it?” Guo Wei said, “Let me see.”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yi knew that Wei Renpu usually handled these documents, and Guo Wei rarely inquired. It seemed he was unaware of this matter.
As expected, upon receiving it, Guo Wei showed a look of helplessness.
“Dao Ji, the Empress Dowager is more than ten years younger than me. I have to acknowledge her as my mother?”
“My Lord need not mind. It is merely a matter of etiquette, signifying that My Lord is inheriting Gaozu’s legacy.”
“Shao Dao.”
Guo Wei did not reject it, cursed in the dialect of Xingzhou, and tossed the document back to Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi took it and took his leave from the tent.
Outside, Wang Chengxun pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, “What reward has His Majesty bestowed?”
“Don’t rush, there’s still plenty of time.”
Xiao Yi replied, thinking to himself that Wang Chengxun was skilled in both civil and military matters, but unfortunately too shallow. Perhaps this was what Guo Wei meant by an impure mind.
He then offered a reminder.
“Be patient and do your own job well.”
He gathered ten soldiers from his command, leaving behind Zhang Mei and Liu Yun, and set off immediately for the capital.
Having been tempered by the journey to Hedong, the wind and snow on the return trip were nothing. They only stopped for one night in Jixian. By evening the next day, they returned to the palace just before the Xuanwu Gate was locked.
Xiao Yi flung off his snow-covered cloak and face-covering scarf, startling the guards.
“It’s General…”
“No need to make a fuss. I’ll see what they are doing.”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yi dismounted, brushed off the snow, and walked towards the Two Corridors Guard Room.
From a distance, he could hear Zhang Mantun’s grumbling.
“If you ask me, he must have gone back to Liu Da Er Duo! Why? Because of the brotherhood we shared, squatting in Zhuo Commandery, weaving straw sandals, and sharing a pot of rice!”
“Cao Aman treated him exceptionally well, giving him gold, silver, jewelry, high positions and generous stipends, even the Red Hare horse!”
“You know nothing…”
“Enough, all of you, listen to Old Hua.”
“Exactly, Old Hua now has eyes like glass! Hurry and tell us, where did Guan Yun Chang go?”
Xiao Yi reached the corner and looked. The soldiers had just finished their training. The snow on their armor had not yet been wiped off. They sat cross-legged in neat rows in the two corridors.
Hua Nong stood on an overturned stool in the middle. He had a pair of copper-framed glasses on his face, likely too heavy, as he kept reaching up to adjust them. He coughed and began to speak.
“Guan Yun Chang hung his official seal at Cao Mengde’s mansion gate and went to find Liu Huang Shu…”
“He really went to find Liu Da Er Duo?!”
“Haha, I knew it.”
“Old Hua, you must explain why.”
Hua Nong said unhurriedly, “Guan Yun Chang is a righteous hero, possessing not only loyalty but also great righteousness. Cao Cao massacred Xu Prefecture, leaving corpses strewn everywhere and the Si River choked with blood. Liu Huang Shu governed Xu Prefecture with benevolence and righteousness…”
Xiao Yi could sense that Hua Nong’s methods had changed significantly. Instead of just saying, “We must not burn, kill, or loot,” he was trying to subtly influence them.
Soon, Hua Nong glanced this way. His eyes behind the lenses habitually narrowed slightly, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“We will stop here for today. After the next training session, I will discuss how Guan Yun Chang pledged allegiance to Liu Huang Shu.”
“That’s not right! You only talked for a quarter of an hour today!”
Hua Nong smiled, took off his glasses, and ran towards Xiao Yi.
Behind him, the soldiers turned their heads and erupted in surprised cheers.
“General?!”
Hua Nong reached Xiao Yi first, bowed deeply, and said, “The General has returned. Everything is well at the barracks; the soldiers have caused no trouble.”
“Next time, when we talk about ‘Thousands of Miles Riding Alone,’ we can add ‘Passing Five Passes and Slaying Six Generals’.”
“Please impart your wisdom, General.”
“No rush. How are you finding these glasses?”
“They are miraculous! They bring things closer. This is already the third pair of crystal lenses, and they’ve been ground seven times… Ah, Mister Ming Yuan insisted on re-grinding them because some were too blurry, some unclear, and some like rippling water. Mister said it’s because the lens curvature doesn’t match the eyesight and needs measurement and repeated adjustment.”
“Indeed, this is called ‘prescription’.”
“Mister Ming Yuan said, ‘The eye and the lens fit like a key in a lock.’ He devised a method for testing eyesight. He held a book at eight paces and had all the servants in the Li Residence, along with myself, move closer gradually. When we could no longer see the small print on the book, we stopped, which he called ‘determining the eye distance.’ Truly a genius.”
Xiao Yi took Hua Nong’s glasses and looked at them from a distance, shaking his head. “There are many impurities, and they are heavy. I imagine they are uncomfortable to wear.”
“They’re comfortable! They just break too easily…”
“Old Hua, are you done rambling?” Zhang Mantun pushed Hua Nong aside and said, “You talk too much. The General just returned and hasn’t even rested yet.”
Hua Nong sheepishly rubbed his hands and smiled, “Yes, the General should wash up and rest.”
All the soldiers gathered around, their faces beaming with joy.
When Xiao Yi was among Li Rong’s troops in Hedong, he didn’t feel it. But now, he realized leading his own soldiers was different.
“General, you’re back.” Xi Hou smiled. “Tie Ya keeps bullying me.”
“How have I bullied you? Donkey Ball.”
“You fumigated me with your smelly feet.”
“By the way,” Xiao Yi asked Zhang Mantun, “What does ‘shao dao’ mean in the dialect of Xingzhou?”
“It means being annoying like Xi Hou, not a proper thing.”
“You’re the Shao Dao.”
“Hahaha…”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Xiao Yi noticed that Lu Chou and Wang Jiu had returned and waved to them.
Lu Chou stepped forward and said, “General, Wang Yan has brought back the Son of Heaven’s ceremonial regalia. He said the Phoenix Crown was brought by you and is in the duty room. The generous gift you ‘privately paid for’ Liu Yun has also been returned.”
Xiao Yi hadn’t given any other gifts; those were treasures Liu Yun intended to bring to the capital.
He didn’t rush to inspect them but looked at Wang Jiu.
Wang Jiu was the only one present not wearing armor. His severed arm was empty, and his face was filled with a smile, yet his eyes held a hesitant unease.
“Have you received the survivor’s benefits?”
“Yes, I have. It’s even more than for other Imperial Guards. I never thought I would receive so much. Thank you for your great kindness, General.”
Wang Jiu became emotional and knelt down, kowtowing. Due to poor balance, his body swayed severely.
After kowtowing, he began to cry.
“I was thinking… I wanted to bid farewell to the General before leaving…”
Xiao Yi helped him up and asked, “I plan to set up some businesses and am short of manpower. Are you willing to help?”
“Really?!”
“Would I lie to you? Our brothers fought bravely, and they deserve a way out.”
“General, sob sob…”
Wang Jiu couldn’t wipe away his tears with one hand and wanted to kowtow again.
Xiao Yi pulled him back and said, “Old Pan is handling this matter. Follow him and learn.”
“Understood!”
The atmosphere was warm. After a while, Xiao Yi, along with Zhang Mantun, Hua Nong, and Old Pan, returned to the duty room.
Upon entering, they saw several chests piled up there, which were Liu Yun’s “luggage.”
Upon opening them, they were filled with dazzling gold, silver, and jewels.
“This… General, with this wealth, we won’t have to worry about expanding our ventures, and we can even repay the debt to the Guo family’s young lady.”
Xiao Yi, however, sighed slightly. The accompanying officials and attendants all knew about this wealth and that it couldn’t be kept.
“Hand it over.”
“Oh? Now that the General says it, I understand. It must be handed over. I’ll have someone put seals on them and send them to the Guo Residence tomorrow morning.”
Xiao Yi thought for a moment and said, “Leave one thousand strings of cash.”
Hua Nong worriedly asked, “General, is that appropriate?”
“It’s fine.”
Xiao Yi considered himself pure-minded; keeping the reward money he deserved, what harm could it do?
“Have you found out where Li Ye’s key opens?”
“No.” Old Pan handed the key over and said, “General, this is truly difficult to find.”
Xiao Yi took it and said, “It’s alright, we’ll take our time.”
Since there was hidden heavy wealth, he paid close attention this time and stored it carefully.
Finally, he took a comfortable hot bath and changed into comfortable clothes.
There was nothing unusual during the night, and he had planned to sleep early. However, he heard soft footsteps outside the duty room. Someone carrying a lantern approached, followed by Wang Yan’s sharp voice.
“General Xiao, the Empress Dowager requests an audience…”
