Gao Wu Da Ming: Starting as a military household and ascending to the rank of Martial Saint

He left the Chang residence and returned to the hill where Chang Qi had been killed. Yang Xin was waiting there. Upon seeing Yu Shaowu arrive, he was overjoyed and asked, "Master, have you taken care of them all?"

At this moment, he wanted Yu Shaowu to succeed more than anyone else, after all, it concerned his life and fortune.

"Hmm." Yu Shaowu nodded, then casually pulled out a silver note from his pocket and handed it to Yang Xin, saying, "Take it, this is what you deserve."

He actually wanted to get rid of Yang Xin, this two-faced, cowardly man. But he couldn't do without him right now, so he wasn't in a hurry to take action.

After all, this man was sent by the state government to monitor him. If he were to kill him rashly, he would be aroused by legitimate suspicion. Since he couldn't kill him, he could only reward him handsomely.

If he really cooperates fully later, Yu Shaowu wouldn't mind sparing his life and making him his lackey. After all, there are many dirty tricks that are best left to him.

Yang Xin took the silver note, glanced at the amount, and was overjoyed to find that it was more than a thousand taels.

He had always followed Chang Qi, and the most he had ever received was seventy or eighty taels of silver. But now Yu Shaowu was giving him a thousand taels of silver in one go—the reward was simply too generous.

He could already imagine himself going to Lan Yue Pavilion and ordering ten women in one go.

From this perspective, aside from feeding him poison, this new master treated him quite well.

"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master." Yang Xin knelt on the ground, repeatedly expressing his gratitude, his thanks overflowing.

"Alright," Yu Shaowu waved his hand impatiently. Knowing this guy's nature, no matter how grateful he was now, he would be ruthless when it came to betraying him. He'd seen that in the case of killing his former superior, Chang Qi.

Therefore, his gratitude is worthless.

Yang Xin stood up and asked, "Master, what do we do next?"

"Do what needs to be done," Yu Shaowu said. "Tomorrow, continue doing what Chang Qi asked you to do according to the plan. This case will cause a huge uproar in Baode Prefecture. If you want to save your life, you must not make any mistakes."

"Yes, sir," Yang Xin immediately bowed.

Yu Shaowu continued, "Furthermore, the money I'm giving you is not only wealth, but also a death warrant. If you don't want to live, you can squander it all in the next few days."

"Rest assured, sir, I would never dare to touch this money without permission."

Yang Xin felt a sense of relief and secretly rejoiced. He had been afraid that Yu Shaowu would kill him while he was at it, but now that he heard this order, he knew that he should be safe for the time being.

Yu Shaowu glanced at Chang Qi's corpse again, stretched, and said, "Let's go back to sleep. Tonight has been a really long night..."

"Yes."

Soon, the hill returned to calm, and the lights in the Chang residence in the distance remained as they always had.

-----------------

Early the next morning, the people from the Juyi Martial Arts School and some villagers who responded to the government's call began to gather at the Thousand Households Garrison's training ground, led by Ji Shouyi and Lin Li.

Among them were certainly opportunists following the trend, impoverished people struggling to support their families, and righteous individuals genuinely wanting to eradicate the wolf problem for the sake of their fellow villagers. All in all, there were no fewer than 150 people.

The reason they went to the drill ground of the thousand-household garrison was because the government had promised to provide them with cannons, muskets, and crossbows to take up the mountain. With these things, everyone felt more secure.

Almost all of these people who went into the mountains were beaming with joy and full of confidence. Only Ji Shou's eyes held a hint of worry.

At this moment, he was conflicted. On the one hand, he really didn't believe that the government would treat the people this way, but some clues from before made him unable to stop thinking about it. On the other hand, the weapons promised by the government made him still have some wishful thinking about this wolf hunt.

But now he knew that no matter what lay ahead, he and these people had no other choice. In his view, the government's orders were inviolable. Behind them stood the imperial court and the supreme imperial power.

With this conflicted mindset, Ji Shouyi led his troops toward the Great Parade Ground. Along the way, they encountered many military households heading to Yangjiashandun to assemble, almost all of them wearing tattered, mandarin duck-patterned battle jackets.

These people claimed to be the imperial army, but they looked no better than a rabble organized by the common people.

The main training ground of the Thousand Households Office was located at Pingtoudun, west of Shenshan Market. It was built in the 34th year of the Jiajing reign (1565). It was originally built so that the prefect could take a swearing-in ceremony to enter the mountains and eliminate bandits.

Later, the banditry only increased as the bandits were suppressed, and the prefectural troops suffered a major defeat and never returned to the area. This place then came under the jurisdiction of the Baode Thousand-Household Garrison and has not been repaired for decades.

When Ji Shouyi and his group entered, the military households were squatting in twos and threes in a corner of the drill ground. They varied in age, the youngest appearing to be twelve or thirteen, while the oldest already had graying temples. They carried either machetes or hoes, none of them possessing any decent weapons. After all, the standard-issue weapons were quite expensive and had long since been exchanged for food.

Ji Shouyi glanced around briefly, then his gaze settled on a young soldier in the corner. The man, also wearing a tattered mandarin duck battle jacket, was squatting on the ground teasing ants with a twig—it was his junior brother, Yu Shaowu.

Seeing Yu Shaowu there, Ji Shouyi's mood plummeted. A few days earlier, he had even sent a letter to Yu Shaowu, urging him to leave immediately, but who knew that this hothead would completely ignore his advice.

He was somewhat angry. He rushed over to Yu Shaowu, pulled him aside, and said softly, "Junior brother, why didn't you listen to me? Why did you insist on coming here to die?"

Yu Shaowu smiled slightly and said, "Didn't our senior brother come too?"

"I had no choice!" Ji Shouyi said irritably, "You only have one wife here, what's so difficult about taking her away with you?"

Seeing Ji Shouyi's serious expression, his beard trembling with anger, Yu Shaowu had no choice but to suppress his smile and comfort him, "Senior Brother, don't be angry. It's not that I don't listen to you, but I feel that coming here may not necessarily be a deadly situation."

Ji Shouyi calmed down and sighed, "Forget it. Since you don't want to leave, you must come with us after you enter the mountains. That way, we can look after each other."

Without saying a word, he grabbed Yu Shaowu's hand and pulled him into his own group.

The others were even happier to see Yu Shaowu join them, and they all bowed and clasped their hands in greeting to him.

Lin Li laughed and said, "Senior Brother, didn't you say Junior Brother wouldn't participate? —Well, here he is."

Others chimed in:

"This time, we can once again witness Young Master Yu's heroic archery skills."

"With Young Master Yu behind us, we're sure to have a great hunt this time."

"Young Master Yu, when we pass through Tumen Mountain later, you must take us to pay our respects to Duke Wu Xiang."

"We only hope that Duke Wuxiang will continue to protect us as he did last time..."

"..."

Some of the military households did not recognize Yu Shaowu at first, but when they heard everyone talking about how this young man was actually the young master Yu who had bravely shot the alpha wolf on Tumen Mountain, they all came to pay their respects.

Yu Shaowu returned the greetings one by one, his movements humble and his words appropriate. Everyone nodded in agreement, instantly developing a good impression of him.

As the crowd was making merry, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves outside. They knew that officials from the prefecture had arrived, so they all fell silent, and the drill ground immediately quieted down.

However, to their surprise, instead of officials in blue robes, they arrived only with some sentries in green robes. The highest-ranking officer was Yang Xin, a centurion of the thousand-household garrison.

Ji Shou and his men stepped forward, cupped their hands in greeting, and asked, "Gentlemen, when will Battalion Commander Zhao and Deputy Commander Chang arrive? Will the cannons and muskets that were promised come with you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yang Xin interrupted impatiently.

His words were extremely rude, and just as everyone was about to react, Yang Xin continued, "Something big has happened in the prefecture. Today's plans are canceled. All of you, go home and find your mothers."

As he spoke, he didn't even dismount his horse, but turned around to leave.

The vast training ground was initially deathly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but in an instant it exploded into chaos.

"Wait!" Ji Shouyi shouted, "What on earth has happened? How can the prefecture change its mind so easily about such a major event?"

Yang Xin rode forward and whispered to Ji Shouyi and the others who were nearby, "Last night, Liu Xingye of the Tianxing Martial Arts School, Deputy Commander Chang Qi, and Battalion Commander Zhao Daikui were assassinated. The prefectural government is handling this matter with all its might. Do you think it's still possible to enter the mountains today?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Shouyi froze, hardly believing his ears.

Yang Xin ignored him and turned to leave. The officers and constables who had been following him also left immediately, and the place was now completely empty of officials.