Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2678 Still Vigorous in Old Age 62.0
Chu Han glanced at the guards, his face filled with disappointment at their incompetence. He never expected that these men would cause him such a huge mess.

"Wrong? What's wrong with that?" Chu Han simply grabbed a stool and sat down, gesturing with his chin towards them. "Come on, tell me, why did you do that? Didn't I tell you to wait for me outside and not run around?"

"This..." The guard smiled sheepishly, glanced at Chu Han, then at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, "This humble one is Zhen Buwang, greetings to the Duke and the General." He turned to look at Fourth Master Jiang and Xia Chen, "Greetings to Fourth Master and Prince!"

"Zhen Buwang?" Shen Cha was taken aback when she heard this name. "You and Zhen Buhui are...brothers?"

“No, he’s my cousin. My family…” Zhen Buwang paused, then sighed softly, “It’s better not to mention it, since he’s no longer here. Bu Hui was my brother, my only family in this world.”

“Yes!” Chu Han nodded and explained, “Before they reunited, neither of them knew they still had relatives in the world. One thought his whole family was gone, and the other thought his brother had long since passed away.”

"I remember," Shen Cha frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Brother Bu Hui said that his cousin was abducted when he was very young? Was that you?"

“It’s me!” Zhen Buwang nodded, then shook his head. “But I didn’t abduct them. They deliberately followed the beggars. Otherwise, all those children would have been abducted. This isn’t important. If the General wants to know, I can explain in detail when I have time.”

"Alright!" Shen Cha nodded. "Tell me why you disobeyed your uncle's orders and sneaked into the Duke's mansion this time? Don't you know that the Duke's mansion and the Marquis's mansion are important places, and anyone who enters without permission will be put to death?"

"We didn't exactly disobey orders, but rather defied the young master's orders. However, the main reason we came to the border with the young master this time was on the orders of the prince."

"My brother?" Chu Han was taken aback. Seeing Zhen Buwang nod, he frowned slightly and said, "What did my brother ask you to do?"

"Take this opportunity to visit the studies of the Duke, the General, and the Marquis, and see what books you read and how your memorials are." Zhen Buwang glanced at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, coughed lightly, and continued, "His Highness said that although the Duke, the Marquis, and the General are military men, they should learn from a wide range of sources and not just read military books. They should also read other things, even miscellaneous subjects. If he knows what books you read, he can send you some books that you haven't explored before."

Shen Haolin and Shen Cha thought they were going into the study to look at some confidential documents or do something else, but they never expected that they wanted to see what books the students usually read and even record them to send to the Prince of Jing. This was simply unbelievable.

"No, listen to what you're saying, is that even reasonable?" Xia Chen was the first to express disbelief. "Why would the Prince of Jing want to know what books they've read? Why would he send them books to read?"

“Because,” Chu Han sighed, “my brother and I both wanted to hand over the Jing Prince’s Mansion to them, but the Jing Prince’s Mansion is no longer just a simple prince’s mansion. Although the Duke of Zhenguo and the General of Zhenguo have prestigious titles and outstanding military achievements, the old subordinates of the Prince’s Mansion are not so obedient. We thought that if we let them read more books and master more skills, it would be easier to subdue these people.” He looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha and said, “Those people are not the kind of retainers you think they are. They are all extraordinary talents. You can’t subdue them without some ability.”

"Special talents?" Xia Chen frowned. "What kind of special talents? In our generation, if Hao Lin, Xiao Cha, and Xiao Tian aren't considered outstanding, there really aren't many outstanding ones."

“It’s not that we’re not good enough, it’s just that our excellence doesn’t mean anything to those people,” Chu Han sighed. “Their field is completely different from ours.” “Different from us?” Shen Cha’s eyes lit up. “Like Master Huilan?”

“Yes!” Chu Han nodded, looking at Shen Haolin. “Your master should also have people like that under him, and quite a few, right?”

"Yes, there are many. Sometimes, I don't know how to get along with them." Shen Haolin felt a slight headache coming on when he thought of the people around Wu Qingruo. "Them..."

"They may appear very respectful on the surface, but it will take a lot of effort to get them to do things or obey you, won't it?"

"Yes!" Shen Haolin sighed and said, "Master said that it is not the time for us to come into contact with these masters. When the time is right, someone will naturally lead us into the sect."

"So," Shen Cha looked at Chu Han, "you two had planned this together?"

"It wasn't us, it was the result of discussions between His Highness the Eagle King, my brother, the late Emperor, and His Majesty." Chu Han looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha. "We had no choice but to entrust you with such a heavy responsibility. As you know, His Majesty is unwilling to take over any family, and the Empress Dowager would not agree either."

"So, in the end, they chose us?" Shen Cha shook her head slightly. "We already have the Shen family army, plus the Eagle King's army and the old troops of the Jing Prince's Mansion." She gave a bitter smile. "Those people in the Censorate, and those in the central government, they'll probably want to devour us alive, won't they?"

"Then you're overthinking it." Fourth Master Jiang waved his hand. "Whether it's His Highness the Eagle King, or those two from the Yelü family, or even the two royal uncles, they can all live for a very long time. They're just gradually transferring their power to you, and all of this is done in secret. Even if those in the central government sense something's wrong, they wouldn't dare to make a fuss. After all, this is a matter for the royal family, and it has nothing to do with them. Our Great Xia is not like the previous dynasty; the royal family doesn't share the world with the scholar-officials."

"Fourth Grandfather is right." Xia Chen nodded. "Whether it's the Eagle King's side or the Jing Prince's Mansion, only you two can handle it. Of course, Yao Jia is also an option, it just depends on whether he's willing to do it!"

“Yes, Brother Yaojia is fine too, it doesn’t have to be us.”

“Well, the decision on this matter doesn’t lie with us or you, but with His Majesty.” Chu Han sighed. “The late Emperor initially chose the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion, the Marquis of Wuding’s Mansion, and the Prince of Ning, but Chenchen is like this now.” He shook his head slightly. “It’s hard to say. If we can follow the clues this time, find the people behind it, and get the medicine, Chenchen might become like us. Even if he’s not like us, at least his lifespan will be longer.”

"Is it really possible?"

"I hope so!" Chu Han shrugged helplessly. "However, no matter what, it's wrong for them to enter the study without permission, regardless of whose orders they were given." He looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha. "I'm handing them over to you. You can do whatever you want with them."