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Under the Power - Chapter 101

Published at 13th of October 2022 06:54:45 AM


Chapter 101

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Cen Fu has accompanied Lu Yi on various occasions, but he has never met anyone this disrespectful to them, his face was getting slightly dark. 

“Darens, please, both of you follow me.”

The one talking was Xiang Zi, he was still young, therefore he only knows that Lu Yi is someone from the palace and doesn’t know his exact status. The food provided to them was rough and cold, their food was no different from the soldiers at the camp. 

Cen Fu was never picky with his food, but seeing how Lu Yi had to eat this, he felt a little irritated, but when he remembered Lu Yi’s words earlier, he suppressed his anger. 

“I can see that you are still young, so did you get accepted and obtain this important position?” Lu Yi ate a few mouthfuls, then he turned to look at the young man standing in front of him. 

Because of his young age, therefore when he heard the word ‘accepted’ he felt proud. He puffed his chest and replied with his confidence: “Daren, Beizhe’s age is not small anymore.”

Lu Yi looked at him amusingly: “What’s your sign?”

“I’m a year of a pig.” 

*[If you tell someone your zodiac sign, most of the time they can determine your birth year, TN]

Cen Fu started to laugh: “Only fourteen years old and you say you’re not small?”

“Dear Daren, fourteen is not a small number. The general said, after two years, Beizhe will be able to hold firearms.” As he said this, his face lit up. 

Lu Yi laughed and asked: “Do you like to carry weapons?”

Xiang Zi nodded his head. 

“Follow your general and study well. Maybe one day you can join Shenji Camp and operate the weapons.” Lu Yi said with laughter. 

Xiang Zi shook his head: “Beizhe wants to follow the general, I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

Cen Fu laughed as he shook his head and said to Lu Yi: “He’s indeed a child.”

Seeing that they were almost finished eating, Xiang Zi asked the kitchen chef to prepare another box of food: “The general just got back, he hasn’t eaten yet.”

Cen Fu noticed the food in the box was the same as theirs, he curiously asked: “The general also eats this?”

Xiang Zi naturally nodded his head. 

Not expecting that Yu Dayou would treat himself the same as other soldiers. Cen Fu turned to look at Lu Yi, who was slightly smiling but not surprised at the fact. 

After eating, Xiang Zi led them toward their beds, he didn’t have time to help them clean up the place. Right after that, he sprints toward the other tent to deliver the food to Yu Dayou. 

“This child….” Cen Fu shook his head, then he scanned around the room, afterward, he let out a sigh, “Young Master, how about you take a walk outside? I’ll clean up the room.”

This room is very small and simple, there were only a few pieces of furniture and four walls, no decoration at all.

Lu Yi didn’t seem to mind: “No need. While on the field, anything that’s not needed, they will not provide it.” 

Cen Fu stood up, took a bucket and filled it with water for Lu Yi to wash his face. Although Cen Fu has a better temperament than Cen Shou, right now, he’s filled with anger: “This General is very ignorant. Young Master’s status is much higher than him, how dare he ignore us!”

Cen Fu soaked a cloth in the cold water, then handed it to Lu Yi. After cleaning his face, Lu Yi said: “Although our ranks are not far apart, but he’s still in charge of the troops, therefore it’s important for us to be respectful.”

“He can’t look down on people like that!” Cen Fu said, “Did you see how he treated us earlier?”

“Go investigate Yu Dayou once again,” Lu Yi sighed and said, “If he’s the type of person who abuses his power and money, then he wouldn’t be suffering so much.” 

Yu Dayou, a courtesy name is Zhifu, or another name is Xun Yao, the literal name is Xu Jiang, he came from Jinjiang District, Fujian. In the 14th of Jiajing (1535), he passed the military examinations and was appointed as the head of the department; In the 20th of Jiajing (1542), he was promoted to the military commander; In the 35th of Jiajing (1556), he continuously achieved extraordinary military success and advanced to Commander-in-Chief. Dayou also served as Governor-General.

However, compared to the skill he uses to advance through all those ranks, he suffered a great loss in the official circle. 

It’s a waste of talent, for someone who is very skilled in leading troops, yet the position he holds isn’t considered to be important. From the very beginning, Minister of Defense, Minister Mao Bowen was very pleased with him, but they ended up not cooperating with him. Later, Minister Mao Bowen referred him to the Governor of Xuanda, Zhai Peng, he was also pleased with him but ended up not working with him either. Finally, when he successfully brought victory for the City of Wang Jiajing, others took the credit for it and he was demoted. Then, he participated in Hu Zongxian’s army, he was defeated but at least he tried his best, but he was still dismissed from his position. The king then granted him the general title, otherwise, he would be beheaded….One might say, during the 14th Jiajing, Yu Dayou experienced tremendous suffering, bearing the fact that he has become a scapegoat for those officials several times. 

“The way he treated us, can already indicate he doesn’t have a relationship with palace officials. I can imagine his feelings toward the officials, after suffering so much.” Cen Fu looked around, although it’s already cleaned but it’s still very moldy, “Until now, he can still lead troops, I find it very weird.”

“He continued to lead troops, it’s because he had talent.”

Lu Yi threw the cloth towards Cen Fu, who was still looking around the room unsatisfyingly. 

Cen Fu placed the cloth on the shelf and let it dry, he turned around and said: “Is he one of Hu Zongxian’s subordinates?”

“I’m afraid he doesn’t belong to anyone, specifically.” Lu Yi tilted his head and thought for a moment, “Right now, in the palace court, it is very difficult to find someone who is not involved in any group. He’s an ideal candidate, he only thinks about going to war and doesn’t care about brides and goods. Come to think of it, the victory in Wang Jiajing city, he teamed u[ with Zhang Jing, this must be why Zhao Wenhua believed he was Zhang Jing’s subordinate and dismissed Yu Dayou’s status. Not long afterward, he then joined Hu Zongxian’s army, and the superintendent of the palace court was convinced he was one of Hu Zongxian’s subordinates….If you win, you will be demoted, if you lose, you will become a scapegoat, do you want to do a job like this?”

Cen Fu laughed and said: “Beizhe asked me, this is one thing I cannot compare with General Yu.”

“Not just you, I can’t even handle it myself.” Lu Yi said, “…..I heard that his martial arts skills are very good, especially skilled in Jingchu’s longsword technique. If there’s an opportunity to exchange moves, it would be a great experience.” 

“He’s still finding ways to defeat Cengang, it seems he has no intention of exchanging moves with Young Master.” Cen Fu said. 

In fact, Yu Dayaou not only had no intention but he can’t even spare time for himself. The troops are full of war affairs. Exactly two days later,  an advance notice came in, the new soldier brought Lu Yi to the main tent. 

“Reporting General, Lu Daren has arrived.” The soldier reported to Yu Dayou, who was eating his food. 

Lu Yi always imagined that all the soldiers here would be too busy to care about their appearance, but when the image of Yu Dayou was in front of him, he was stunned. Yu Dayou was wearing the same uniform he wore at the headquarters a few days ago, there were gunpowder marks on his clothes, his face showing tiredness, indicating he hasn’t washed his face either. 

Yu Dayou didn’t stand up, he just waved his hand at the soldier who was reporting, telling him to leave. Then, he waved his hand again, but Lu Yi, at this time, signalling him to sit down. His behaviour was very casual. 

“Please wait a moment, I’m just finishing up.” While chewing, he said to Lu Yi. 

“Take your time, I am not in a hurry.” 

Yu Dayou didn’t care anymore, he continued to eat his meal, chewing down the rice and the vegetables, then swallowed his bowl of soup all at once, he was acting as if he hadn’t been fed for days. Lu Yi couldn’t bear to look at him anymore, he lowered his gaze, but the sounds of Yu Dayou’s chewing still rang by his ear, making others feel very sorry. 

The mealtime didn’t last long, there was a long moment of silence, at this time, the sound of Yu Dayou placing down his bowl and chopsticks could be heard, he used the edge of his sleeve to wipe his mouth, then he looked at Lu Yi, forced a smile and said: “I’m making you laugh, huh? We’re on the battlefield all the time, we can only eat whenever we can, we don’t really care about how we look. It’s spring right now, the food is quite good, but when it’s winter, the cauldron will produce tasteless food but we still have to swallow it to keep us warm.” 

Lu Yi chuckled: “Back when I was in the Northeastern area, I experienced something similar.”

All this time, Yu Dayou has thought that Lu Yi was someone who doesn’t understand this type of situation, he wasn’t expecting him to have ever gone to the Northeastern region. Yu Dayou was silent for a moment, at the same time, took a few more glances at him. 

“Not sure what’s in General Hu’s letter,” Lu Yi quickly looked over and said, “Although Yuan Yan is not talented like you, but this time I’ve come here to try my best.”

Yu Dayou laughed dryly: “Lu Daren is a high-ranking individual, the general also said something similar….”

He reached his hand out to the porcelain jar that was leaning close to the table, inside stored various war zone maps. His hand stretched out and poked at the top, the bookshelf behind him also stored various kinds of papers. 

“The General gave orders, asked for us to cooperate, and of course, Benjiang will not refuse orders. Here is the information and reports on Mount Zhou and I hope you can take a look at them.” Yu Dayou rose to his feet, thought for a moment, then continued to say, “The next meeting to discuss the war situation, if you’re interested, I can send someone to invite you to come and observe.” 

Before Lu Yi could reply. Yu Dayou stood up, faced him and saluted: “Lu Saren, please take your time with the documents. I still have some work left to do, I can’t accompany you longer, please forgive me.” 

“No worry.” Lu Yi could only reply with that. 

Before Lu Yi could say anything else, Yu Dayou had already stepped out of the tent, he quickly instructed Xiang Zi to keep an eye on the person inside. Lu Yi laughed bitterly for a moment, then started thinking about Hu Zongxian’s letter. He felt that with this letter, things might become more difficult than before because Yu Dayou knows he’s here to inspect the troops. 

He stood up, at the same time, reaching out to take the map in the jar and slowly spread it on the table, then carefully inspect all the details. 

***

The next morning, Yu Dayou returned to his tent, he found Xiang Zi soundly asleep on the chair, he immediately shook it to wake him up. 

“Gen- General, you’re back.” Xiang Zi rubbed his eyes, then he scanned the room, “where is Lu Daren?”

Yu Dayou tightened his eyebrows and said: “How come you can’t even keep an eye on just a person?”

“I did, he was here last night….Then I….” Xiang Zi said with regret, “Maybe I was too sleepy.”

“He was here all night?”

“That’s right, he said he wanted to learn as much as possible, especially anything that related to the pirates, so he was here looking at all of these last night. I told him to rest but he said he wasn’t tired.” Xiang Zi said, “I should go check his room, maybe he’s resting there.”

Yu Dayou walked towards the table, his eyes scanned everything on the table, even the edges. A lot of paper was on it, but the desk was neat and organized. On top of the map was the war zone pinpoint….

“Did he ask you anything?”

“Only a few things, like small stuff, like how old I am, where I was from, then I answered him accordingly.” Xiang Zi carefully examined Yu Dayou’s expression, “….General, was it alright for me to answer him?”

“Anything else?”

“Anything else….” Xiang Zi tried to think hard, then he shook his head, “Nothing else.”

Yu Dayou thought for a moment, after all, Lu Yi was a Jin Yi Wei, even if he wanted to investigate something, he wouldn’t be this straightforward.

***

Lu Yi returned to his room late at night, although he felt tired but he did not intend to sleep. After studying all the maps, the condition of Cengang turned out to be much worse than expected. 

The roads in Cengang are uneven and narrow, the terrain is complicated, easy to maintain but difficult to attack; moreover, Mao Haifeng is the type to attack violently, not caring about life and death, plus there was a flood in the spring, which brought in a lot of new pirates, making the situation very unfavourable. Hu Zongxian and Yu Dayou may have to consider adding more forces, otherwise, it will be a risk for Yu Dayou when he goes down the mountain and attacks the pirates.

Cen Fu tried to persuade Lu Yi to take a rest, but Lu Yi was too engaged to the map to listen. Lu Yi used the water to wash his face, changed out of his uniform to a slightly old shirt, thinking about wanting to take a stroll on the ship, much better if he could go around Cengang. Battling is a complicated process, but here, if you attack from the sea, there may be a chance of success. 

The two of them walked past the military base, although Lu Yi was already wearing normal clothes, he was still getting judgemental eyes from other soldiers. Jin Yi Wei was indeed disliked by many people, he completely understood this, but their hatred for Jin Yi Wei was different from normal citizens, they don’t bother hiding it. 

When walking towards the gate of the military headquarters, there were several horses heading toward the headquarters. Someone quickly got off the horse, he was seen wearing a Jin Yi Wei uniform, then he went up and ordered the soldiers, who were guarding Yu Dayou’s tent, telling them he had brought a decree from the King. 

Upon hearing that the person was sent by the King, the soldiers didn’t dare to waste time, quickly ran inside to report to Yu Dayou. Less than a minute later, Yu Dayou was seen walking out, knelt down, ready to accept the decree. 

“General Yu Dayou, had failed to complete his duty on the battlefield. In less than a month, you must seize Cengang! If you once again fail to complete your mission, all troops will be disbanded!” The man in the Jin Yi Wei uniform said loudly. 

“I greatly accept the decree.” 

Yu Dayou accepted the decree, and at the same time, his face turned dark. 





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