ChangNing’s Imperial Army

Chapter 91 – Because There Was No Time
Shen Leng stood on the edge of the woods and looked on as the surroundings got darker and darker, as he felt the cold winter night air. The chilly wind was like a dagger, yet it was not as sharp as that of words.

Gu Le’s words stirred up a lot of emotions within Shen Leng, to the point that Shen Leng wondered whether all the struggles and hardships in this world could actually be exchanged for peace and stability.

Hope.

That word was filled with sadness.

Shen Leng did not hate Gu Le’s extreme nature, however he felt that there was some chilliness behind it, that was a lot colder than the weather itself.

“Gu Le.”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of person do you want yourself to be?” asked Shen Leng.

Gu Le was silent for quite a long period of time, and yet he still had no answer. Whenever he thought of something, he could not seem to bring himself to say it. Luxurious clothes and good horses? Become a highly acclaimed official? Lead a life of luxury?

Gu Le shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Become a person that everyone admires and looks up to.”

Shen Leng turned around and patted Gu Le on his shoulder. “Regardless of what decision you make in the future, think about the people who share the same hope as you and got out of their predicament. They share the same background and bravery as well, but do not become as loathful as them.”

“How?”

“When you smile at anyone, they do not find you loathsome.”

Gu Le suddenly understood what he meant, so he laughed. “I may be ruthless, but I’m not malicious.”

Shen Leng laughed too. “In that case, follow me and complete a big task.”

Gu Le asked, “Military officer, how big of a task is it?”

“Let’s scare that crown prince.”

“How much of a scare?”

“As big as an angry toad.”

Whenever an angry toad was angered, its stomach would inflate and become extremely huge, perhaps to the point it might explode.

Shen Leng left the woods with Yang Qibao and Gu Le. He instructed Wang Kuohai and Chen Ran to take some men with them as backups. In truth, it was a must for them to go through Dongchi – they could go around it as well, just that it would take them three extra days. However, Shen Leng had no intention of doing that.

“Going around it before we meet with any obstacles is the mindset of the elders. It’s disgraceful for young people to subscribe to that mindset.”

Shen Leng carried his black cord sword on his back. “Regardless of what we might face.”

In the middle of the night, Shen Leng and the other two men arrived outside of the manor. It was rumored that the crown prince, also known as the wonder of Jiangnan, had hired several people from the underworld to be his guards, and the majority of them were in that manor.

The crown prince, Li Xiaoran, was known as the wonder of Jiangnan because his poetry was wonderful, as well as his paintings. People also said that he was good with women too. Even though he used to be known as the biggest joke in the world, right now, he was the most perfect and ideal partner in the eyes of several women. He was young, rich and good at treating women right, not to forget that he was the son of a prince. What a beautiful fantasy.

His father might have accomplished the impressive feat of staying in a brothel for three full days and nights, but so did he. However, he was different from his father – he recited the scripture with the leading lady of the brothel throughout that period of time. Ever since then, an oil lamp and a statue of Buddha was placed in the center of that lady’s room. She chanted the sutras daily, making her feel clean and pure.

It was a wonderful thing.

Everybody knew that the emperor of Great Ning did not like that. Even though the empress liked it, the people from the Imperial Household Department once burned everything related to that in front of her. That was because His Majesty said that if one wanted to atone for his or her crimes, chanting the sutras ten thousand times was useless. If reading the scriptures could cleanse a person of all sins, why would there be eighteen levels of hell?

If you were to chant the sutras ten thousand times, naturally, Buddha would be happy. But Buddha was not the person you were letting down.

Try chanting the sutra to the person you hurt ten thousand time and see if they would be happy. Even apologizing did not mean you would be forgiven. Did saying ‘amitabha’ mean that you would be able to attain virtuous achievements? It was said that the more evil one was, the more he would believe in things like that, because they were afraid.

However, Li Xiaoran disagreed. He still liked Buddhism because of cause and effect, or karma.

What happened that year was the cause. He was currently waiting for the consequences.

There was a pavilion near the water in the manor. Under the moonlight, even the withered leaves on the lotus pond looked beautiful. Li Xiaoran was a person who loved aesthetics. Everything had to be elegant and refined; only then were they fitting enough for him.

Li Xiaoran had a strong air of pride as well. Perhaps, he relished in his pride only in the quiet night, so he could feel his misery and sadness in his entirety. He was prideful because of the humiliation from what happened that year. Holding everything in while propelling himself forward was extremely arduous.

There was a middle-aged man wearing a cotton robe standing in front of him with his back facing him. His clothes were juxtaposed with Li Xiaoran’s embroidered clothes. He was wearing a pair of traditional cotton shoes, sewn by himself. They were very exquisite. However, they were cotton shoes after all. Li Xiaoran felt that the difference in their clothes was akin to the difference between Chu and Great Ning.

However, Li Xiaoran was somewhat angry. That was because he realized that when they he stood next to that person, his pride, despite his status and nobility, did not seem to make him more superior. The person stood with his back facing him, and yet he had a natural air of nobility.

Li Xiaoran laughed bitterly to himself. He felt as though he could understand that middle-aged man. Didn’t everybody act as though they were in misery?

“Thank you for coming.”

Li Xiaoran bowed slightly. “Being able to invite you here is my greatest fortune.”

The middle-aged man did not turn around, and neither did he say a word. He merely felt that the lotus pond under the moonlight seemed cold and desolate. After all, it was the cold winter – there were no lotuses in the lotus pond. Hence there was a lack of color.

“Sir, why did you not bring your sword here?”

Li Xiaoran felt somewhat angry, but he still continued wearing a perfect smile on his face, even though that middle-aged man did not turn around to look at his perfect smile.

“I gave it away.”

The middle-aged man finally spoke. Just those four simple words.

Li Xiaoran said, “I heard that you have three swords. If you gave one away, you still have two left.”

“It is not suitable for me to use those swords in your manor.”

His swords were named Cheng Tian and Di Yun.

Li Xiaoran asked, “I sent people to invite you over five times before, but you were unwilling to leave the mountain every single time. Why did you finally come? I am merely curious. If it’s not convenient for you to say…”

“I’ve said it earlier.”

Chu Jianlian turned around and looked at Li Xiaoran. “I had given my sword away.”

Li Xiaoran did not understand what he meant.

Chu Jianlian did not need him to understand. The sword had a new owner. Or in other words, he had a disciple. What else did Chu Jianlian have to worry about? He had a lot of burden on his shoulders; he had to do something to comfort his ailing father, who was still caught up in his fantasies and wishful thinking.

“It’s the same whether you bring your sword or not. There aren’t many people in this world who are worthy of seeing you draw your sword. I know it’s a little too much of me to get you to do something when you’ve just arrived. However, there is someone I need to capture alive. Even though he’s just a small fry, the people backing him are powerful. I need to use this small fry to take down someone who is very important and powerful.”

“Chu’s residence at the bottom of Mount Kening. I need Your Highness to get the best doctor.”

“No problem.”

Li Xiaoran laughed. He felt that Chu Jianlian’s air of nobility dissipated. Hence, he felt a lot more comfortable. A person who had a request would ultimately yield…

。

However, in Chu Jianlian’s eyes, it was just a mere matter of yielding…

“Who?” asked Chu Jianlian.

Li Xiaoran answered, “A Navy military officer named Shen Leng. Right now, he should be in the east side of Dongchi. If my men were to find out their exact location, I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip there.”

Chu Jianlian frowned slightly, “Your Highness, you have already hired several people from the underworld. You are only capturing a mere military officer, why are you insisting on sending me there?”

“Indeed, I did hire several people, and have a lot of experts working for me. However, I will only be fully confident in succeeding with your help. I require a 100% success in everything I do, not even 99%.”

Chu Jianlian grunted. He walked towards the secondary manor. “If Your Highness has any news, send someone over to inform me.”

At the same time, Shen Leng, Yang Qibao and Gu Le had already flipped themselves over the wall. The manor was heavily-guarded; apart from the several guards everywhere, there was also quite a number of members of the underworld stationed all around. However, Shen Leng and his men could be deemed as the strongest and most skilled scouts in the world. There was always an opportunity for them to enter a huge courtyard as such.

Gu Le said in a lowered voice. “This courtyard is way too big. How are we going to find Mr. Yuan?”

Shen Leng saw two servant girls from afar walking in the direction of where they were at. He smiled and walked out from the dark. He tidied his clothes and walked over to them. He stood in their way and asked, “The crown prince instructed me to invite Mr. Yuan over to have a chat. However, I don’t know where Mr. Yuan is residing at. If I get held up, I will be chastised. Is it possible for you to tell me where he’s at?”

The two young women were initially shocked, but when they saw how handsome Shen Leng was, and how he spoke in a refined way, their anger dissipated. One of them scrutinized Shen Leng and asked, “Is it your first time here?”

“Yeah, it’s my first time. I will come here more in the future and will see you more often.”

That servant girl blushed slightly. “What a glib talker. You must not be a good person…Mr. Yuan is residing in the small courtyard over there. The lone courtyard next to the biggest weeping willow tree. He has already fallen asleep; when you call out to him, please be a little softer. After all, he’s someone from the great scholar’s residence.”

Shen Leng suddenly wanted to laugh. Even a mere servant girl knew that Mr. Yuan was someone from the great scholar’s residence. The crown prince, allegedly the wonder of Jiangnan, was not that big of a wonder after all.

Shen Leng cupped his fist and bowed. “Thank you. The next time I’m here I will bring some osmanthus sugar for you.”

That young lady scoffed. “Who needs your osmanthus sugar?”

The other young woman smiled and asked, “What about mine?”

Shen Leng smiled, “You have a share too. By then don’t refuse to meet with me.”

The young woman laughed and pointed to another courtyard in front. “We live there. When you come here, send it over will do. I’m afraid you have to bring more with you.”

Shen Leng thanked her once again, and the two young ladies walked away. Their bodies swayed gently as they walked…even more so than when they walked over.

Shen Leng felt that he let Master Cha down. His smile was rather stiff.

Yang Qibao emerged from the dark and gave Shen Leng a thumbs up. “Military officer, you’re awesome.”

Gu Le nodded. “Yeah, military officer, you’re awesome.”

Shen Leng thought to himself about how these secondary skills taught by Mr. Shen were sure useful at times like these. But why was Mr. Shen still single all this while? However, shortly after, he thought about how that fella used to be a Daoist casanova was probably suffering karmic consequences. The secret manual he wrote should be based on his personal experiences. If his writing was polished and written into a romance novel, and then getting Mr. Shen to personally sell the books, they would earn a lot of money.

Shen Leng felt as though he had let Mr. Shen down.

The three of them blatantly walked to the only entrance of the courtyard. Shen Leng knocked on the door lightly. “As per the orders of the crown prince, I would like to meet Mr. Yuan.”

The door squeaked open; the two guards at the door were Yuan Zhidong’s men – they were experts selected from within Guan Tang Kou. They eyed Shen Leng up and down before frowning.

“Why are you wearing the combat soldiers’ uniform?”

“Because I had no time to change.”

Bam, bam!

Shen Leng threw a punch each at the throats of the two men. Before they even had the time to make any sound, they had collapsed onto the ground. Shen Leng darted into the yard, while Yang Qibao stood guard at the door. Gu Le quickly followed Shen Leng and entered the residence.