ChangNing’s Imperial Army

Chapter 114 – Take Action At Dawn
When Shen Leng returned home, he saw Master Cha practicing some sword techniques. Mr. Shen and Chu Jianlian were sitting at the side, drinking tea. He could tell that Chu Jianlian really appreciated and admired his one and only disciple. As he watched her practice, he smiled from time to time.

Shen Leng returned, wearing a Fifth pin’s military uniform. Mr. Shen’s eyes lit up, while Chu Jianlian’s eyes became dimmer.

After all, Chu Jianlian was a Chu man.

“Is this the Fifth pin general’s uniform?”

Master Cha swung her arm and tossed Po Jia into the air. The long sword that was like clear limpid autumn waters left a ray of light in the air, heading directly towards Chu Jianlian. Chu Jianlian lifted up the sheath from the table and the sword returned to the sheath instantly.

Shen Leng made one full turn for Master Cha to take a good look at his uniform. As a result, Master Cha herself walked around him as well, at the same time, as she wanted to take a better look. Both of them turned clockwise until they faced each other. Shen Leng looked at her in a narcissistic way, as if to say that he knew she liked looking at his face. Master Cha grabbed him by the belt and stopped him from moving. “Do not move!”

Shen Leng grunted. Master Cha chuckled and walked one round around him before she started to take off his uniform. Shen Leng was so scared that he took a few steps back. “No, no, no. I still have yet to make my salutations…”

Master Cha had a disdainful look on her face. She removed his outer uniform and wore it before jumping onto the steps. “How do I look?”

Shen Leng was somewhat in a daze.

Mr. Shen was bursting with poetic sentiment, and wanted to write a poem, while Chu Jianlian thought about doing a sword dance. Both of them were refined and cultured people.

Valiant and formidable-looking, but that was all.

Master Cha looked at Shen Leng; Shen Leng was drooling.

“Master Cha is so beautiful.”

Master Cha only liked that sentence; she smiled. Shen Leng felt light-headed. He thought to himself: Even though I already know that Master Cha is beautiful, why is it that she only looks prettier day after day? Today, seeing Master Cha in his uniform induced a special feeling within him. She looked so good that it made him giddy.

Master Cha removed the uniform and folded it properly. “Don’t wear it on normal days.”

She took the uniform and went into the house. When she came out, she was holding a freshly washed set of clothes, before tossing them to Shen Leng. Shen Leng caught them and put them on. The black robe made him look more handsome and smart. His masculine aura from head to toe made him visually attractive.

Mr. Shen sighed, “After longing for a long time, you have finally returned.”

Shen Leng was overwhelmed by emotions. “I need to thank you for your years of guidance. If not for you, I would not have been able to attain my achievements. I would not have been able to get half of this credit…”

Before he could even complete his sentence, Mr. Shen gestured. “Why are you still talking instead of cooking?”

Shen Leng was speechless.

 

“No rush.”

Chu Jianlian stood up and walked to the center of the yard. “I will be leaving in a few days’ time. While I’m still here, you should take the opportunity to exchange blows with me. Your sword technique is strong and ferocious enough, but your execution is not good enough. I will guide you for three days. Three days later, I will return to Dongchi.”

Shen Leng was slightly taken aback. “When you go back, Li Xiaoran will question you. It’ll be hard for you to explain yourself.”

Chu Jianlian slightly lifted his chin. “I do not need to explain myself.”

Two hours later, Shen Leng was already breathless. He was being stabbed all over his body by the wooden sword dozens of times, but he only managed to strike Chu Jianlian once with a wooden sword. It was the first time Chu Jianlian showed signs of admiration towards him during battle.

After two hours, Shen Leng went to cook. Mr. Shen was already rubbing his tummy that was grumbling. Chen Ran and Uncle Chen were not at home. Uncle Chen missed their neighbors back in Yulin town. Since Chen Ran was on vacation, they hired a chariot and made their way home.

Just at this time, someone walked in slowly from the outside. After he entered the door, nobody paid any attention to him; he merely stood there in silence. After that, he took two steps back and knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”

Master Cha popped her head out of the kitchen and looked outside. “Come in.”

Hei Yan did not know why but whenever he saw Master Cha, he would feel slightly afraid. Every time he saw her, he felt like he should hide from her. Subconsciously, his gaze shifted to the pillow that was tied to the pine tree, thinking to himself: Brother Leng, it must have been hard on you.

He carefully walked to the door of the kitchen. Before he said anything, he subconsciously started sniffing. “Smells really good.”

 

Shen Leng said, “You came at the right time. Eat with us.”

Hei Yan nodded. “Ok, ok…”

Before Master Cha lifted her finger to order him, he had already ran over to set up a table and a chair. He sat on the stool, like a small child at school. He even placed his palms on his knees, waiting in anticipation.

Mr. Shen looked at him and wanted to laugh. “Have you recovered from your injuries?”

Hei Yan quickly replied, “Sir, your medication is really effective.”

Mr. Shen asked, “So later on, you will pay for it?”

 

Hei Yan laughed, “Talking about money makes it seem as if you regard me as an outsider.”

He beckoned and a few men in white brought in two urns of wine each.

Mr. Shen said, “If you are still so formal, then you are really an outsider…come here and place them in the house.”

Chu Jianlian looked at Mr. Shen with a calm look on his face. He thought to himself about whether the Shen Xiaosong that he remembered was the same as the person who was currently before him. Back when he was working at Prince Liu’s residence, he could only meet with him once in a while. He used to have a solemn look on his face, and was heavily burdened by worries. Today, it seemed as though he had become a completely different person. He no longer frowned as much with a load on his mind, and his solemness was replaced with shamelessness.

Those Liu Yun Sect men placed the urns of wine down and were about to leave. Several of them looked repeatedly towards the kitchen; Shen Leng quickly beckoned to them, “Don’t leave. Open up two more tables. I prepared enough food for all of us.”

Those men looked at Hei Yan. Hei Yan nodded. “You may all stay.”

Shen Leng got Master Cha to keep an eye on the food in the iron cooking pot. He quickly ran in and took a table out. The men in white sat around the table – they looked like little children who just entered the school. They sat neatly with their hands placed on the table. They did not look like Liu Yun Sect’s assassins at all.

“What about those three?” Shen Leng asked Hei Yan.

The man with two daggers on his back was named Duan; the man with a sword on his back was named She. The man who used throwing daggers was named Li. The three of them were not around.

“There are some things we have to do tomorrow. The three of them brought some men with them to make some preparations.”

Shen Leng stopped in his tracks, as he was heading back to the kitchen. “Guan Tang Kou?”

Hei Yan nodded. “We are still waiting to account to our brothers who died that day. It’s been a while now, we should send the enemies over to them before they reincarnate.”

Shen Leng stayed silent for a moment. “Count me in.”

 

Hei Yan laughed, “You are already a general.”

Shen Leng replied, “So what if I’m a general? A general can be a chef, and can kill people too.”

 

Hei Yan took a deep breath. “Alright.”

In fact, Hei Yan was sitting there, feeling uncomfortable. It was not because he felt embarrassed in the presence of an outsider, but rather, it was because Chu Jianlian was sitting across from him, making him unable to be at ease. That person might appear to be amiable and ordinary, but there was something in the look in his eyes that made him be on guard.

“Who is this?”

He asked out of curiosity.

Before Chu Jianlian could answer, Mr. Shen said, “He is my friend. He came all the way here to visit me.”

Chu Jianlian nodded slightly. Hei Yan was too embarrassed to ask any further.

Not long later, one by one, Master Cha started to bring out the dishes. All the dishes were divided into two portions – one was for Mr. Shen’s table, and the other was for Liu Yun Sect’s members’ table. The wine they were drinking belonged to Hei Yan. It was Jiangnan’s aged wine. It was fermented for at least seven to eight years. It did not burn the throat as much as the northern border’s aged wine. It was more gentle to the throat, and had a more mellow and rich taste.

After Hei Yan drank two cups of wine, he gradually began to let loose. He even started to play a finger-guessing game with Mr. Shen. Soon after, He downed several cups of wine till his face was flushed; even his eye that was entirely black looked less strange.

Shen Leng went over and sat down. “How can you possibly win against Mr. Shen? Even if he puts out his hand slower than you, it will still appear as though you both put your hands out at the same time, except that he has already seen your hand clearly.”

Hei Yan asked, “How about you play it with me?”

Shen Leng asked, “You think I’m afraid of you?”

Both of them started playing it. Master Cha stood behind Shen Leng and watched them play. It piqued her interest. “What is this? You’re even muttering some stuff while playing, it looks rather interesting.”

Hei Yan said, “You don’t know this huh? This game originated in the brothels of Changan city. The ladies of the brothels thought of this game to play with the customers. Eventually, this game became so widespread and is mainly played in areas where people drink and socialize. Even though brother Leng only went to Changan city a few times, he has already learned this game.”

Master Cha chuckled, “Hehe…”

Shen Leng felt a chill ran down his spine. “I have a perfect and flawless explanation for this.”

Hei Yan had already drank a lot – how would he be able to pay attention to details? “What’s there to explain? What’s wrong with men going to brothels a couple of times? Besides, with brother Leng’s looks and body, those ladies at the brothels would fight over him. If it’s his first time going there, there’s even a small red envelope. Do you have one?”

Shen Leng was speechless.

 

Master Cha chuckled, “Hehe.”

Shen Leng said, “Can we talk about punishments after they leave in a while…the last time we went to Changan city, for the sake of finding out more about the underworld in Changan, I stopped a gambling addict outside the gambling den. I learned it from him when I bought him some wine and tried to be friends with him.”

Master Cha said, “Teach me.”

“Ah?”

“Teach me.”

Master Cha sat down. “Let me try it too.”

Hei Yan’s eyes were closing as he said, “If you lose, you have to drink too.”

Master Cha curled her lips. “Not a cup less.”

After fifteen minutes, Master Cha sat there and looked at Hei Yan, who was already laying on the ground, feeling bored. She felt that the finger-guessing game was not fun at all. She felt that she might as well take a few bites before playing with the black dog. She thought about how they had been raising it for quite some time already and yet they had not given it a proper name.

“What should we call it?”

She turned her head around and asked Shen Leng. “It’s black, so why don’t we call it Hei something? (Note: ‘hei’ is black in Chinese.)

Hei Yan sat up. “Hei Yan!”

Master Cha was speechless.

Shen Leng pushed him back down. Shortly after, Hei Yan actually started snoring.

 

“Hei Hu?” (Note: It means black tiger.)

 

“Boring!”

 

“Hei Gou?” (Note: it literally means black dog.)

“Do you even need to take that long to think of that name? If it is able to think and speak, how do you think it will scold you? It knows it’s a black dog as well.”

 

“Hei Feng!”

“Not cute.”

Shen Leng facepalmed. “Lady, take a good look at it. How is it cute?”

Master Cha clutched the black dog’s ears and started moving them about. “How is it not adorable? It’s even cuter than a cat.”

Shen Leng asked, “Why don’t we call it Meow?”

He beckoned, “Meow Meow, come here.”

The black dog got up immediately and ran over to Shen Leng. Its wagging tail did not look like it belonged to a dog, but a small lion instead.

Shen Leng tossed a piece of bone to it. The black dog bit it and lied down next to Shen Leng’s feet, before it continued to nibble it.

“Time to go.”

Hei Yan suddenly sat up, as though he became sober all of a sudden. He looked at assassins in white, who were seated around. “Can we still kill?”

The group of men stood up and gripped their swords at the same time.

Hei Yan laughed out loud. “We’ll take action at dawn.”

 

Shen Leng stared blankly. “Why not take advantage of the darkness at night?”

“If it’s dark, they will not know how they die. We can’t let that happen. When the sun rises, they will be able to see who killed them clearly. Even when they get to the netherworld, they will not be able to forget too.”

Hei Yan took a deep breath. “Let’s go!”