After several heavy rains, Buyin City welcomed a day of blazing sunshine. Ye Yuqing sat on the execution platform at the execution grounds, watching with pleasure as Zhao Lin’s head fell to the ground, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
“Your Highness, the City Guard bears the heavy responsibility of protecting the city and ensuring the people’s safety. Now that the positions are vacant with no one in charge, we hope Your Highness will appoint a new Commander and Chief soon,” an elderly official said earnestly. “The criminal Zhao Lin’s actions have caused public outrage. The new appointments must command public trust.”
Ye Yuqing smiled, looking at him as he asked, “Does the Minister think it better to appoint seasoned officials, or to give young people an opportunity?”
“Well… This humble official believes that virtue and capability should be the primary considerations. Age is not the main factor.”
“With the Minister’s words, this prince knows what to do.” Ye Yuqing nodded. “Let each general of the third rank and above recommend one person. They will compete at the training grounds on an appointed day, and we’ll select the top two candidates.”
This method has been used many times before. It was fair and acceptable to all parties. The elderly official had no objections and accepted with a bow before transmitting the order.
That day, while Feng Yue was busy trying to stuff pastries into Yin Gezhi’s mouth, Guan Zhi came to report: “Master, the young masters of the An and Xu families have arrived.”
Frowning and pushing away Feng Yue’s hand, Yin Gezhi said, “Show them in.”
“Yes.”
Feng Yue, who had been sitting on his lap feeding him almond cookies that he appeared to dislike but was eating quite quickly, immediately stood properly to the side. The fawning expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by the dignity of a well-educated young lady from a noble family.
Glancing at her, Yin Gezhi shook his head, then looked toward the door.
“Disciples pay respects to Master!” The two young masters entered and bowed in unison.
“I’ve been busy these past few days and couldn’t attend to you,” Yin Gezhi asked. “Have you been slacking off?”
“Not at all!” Xu Huaizu answered quickly with a bright smile. “On the contrary, we’ve been even more diligent. Yesterday I sparred with Shizhong and won several times.”
Yin Gezhi raised an eyebrow and looked at An Shizhong, whose expression wasn’t particularly good. “Oh? Has Shizhong grown lax?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Sighing rather dejectedly, An Shizhong said, “Recently, Father has been taking me around to socialize and network with others. With all the busy activity, I’ve had less time to practice.”
Yin Gezhi naturally knew about this, as it was his suggestion to the Marquis of An. He hadn’t expected the Marquis to act so quickly—look how it had left his young disciple with no time to practice.
“There will soon be a selection competition for the Commander and Chief positions of the City Guard,” Yin Gezhi said. “Since you’re here, prepare to stay for a few days.”
The two were stunned. Xu Huaizu asked in surprise, “We came about this matter, but… how did Master know so quickly?”
They had thought their master always stayed in his courtyard and would be out of touch with news, so they came to inform him and seek his guidance, but…
“How I know is not your concern.” Standing up and brushing off his robes, Yin Gezhi looked at them and said, “What you need to concern yourselves with is how to secure those two positions.”
What? The two young masters were dumbfounded, looking at each other, each seeing a bewildered youth in the other’s eyes.
“Master,” An Shizhong frowned, “Huaizu and I lack experience and are young. We only wanted to join this competition to gain some experience and test ourselves against others. As for the Commander and Chief positions…”
“Lacking experience? Then again more.” Ignoring his cautious expression, Yin Gezhi said directly, “This competition is a good opportunity for experience. If you’re participating, then win. If my disciples lose to outsiders, I’ll feel embarrassed.”
With that, he turned and walked out.
Feng Yue blinked, picked up her skirts, and followed behind him. Passing by the two young men, she winked and said, “Your master became the Third Army Commander at sixteen after defeating Wei’s famous general. Age and experience aren’t weaknesses—they’re advantages.”
It’s precisely because they’re young that they can endure failure and dare to be aggressive. It’s exactly because they lack the experience that they need to fight to enrich their experience.
An Shizhong had a moment of realization. He looked at Xu Huaizu beside him, who still showed hesitation in his eyes but followed their master outside nonetheless.
In the courtyard’s open space, Feng Yue hid to the side, craning her neck to watch as Yin Gezhi removed his outer robe, wearing only black garments. He broke off a branch she had carefully pruned to use as a weapon, first teaching An Shizhong to link his moves smoothly, then correcting Xu Huaizu’s improper use of force. His bearing truly resembled that of a grand master.
She had always thought that extremely skilled people often had peculiar habits—they could be heroes but not teachers. But Yin Gezhi was different. He taught without holding anything back and showed great patience, never frowning once. He was much gentler than when dealing with her.
How could such a person exist? Feng Yue couldn’t understand. When he came over to rest, she asked, “Your Highness, aren’t you afraid that teaching your disciples everything will leave nothing for yourself?”
Giving her a light glance, Yin Gezhi said, “I teach them everything so they can achieve seven or eight-tenths of my level.”
Feng Yue blinked, not understanding the meaning at first. When she finally realized, her mouth twitched.
How shameless! He meant that even if he taught everything, they could only reach seventy or eighty percent of his level. Is being naturally gifted something to be so proud of?
As someone who relied on hard work, Feng Yue indignantly said, “Diligence can make up for natural limitations. How do you know they won’t catch up to those remaining two or three-tenths through hard work?”
With a somewhat mocking smile, Yin Gezhi leaned close to her and said softly, “Hard work can make up for some things, like climbing a mountain—slower climbers can catch up to faster ones given enough time.”
“But when facing sheer cliffs, no amount of hard work will help those who don’t know how to climb. They can only watch as skilled climbers reach the peak, sighing in admiration.”
His tone was calm, but perhaps his expression was too provocative. Feng Yue ground her teeth in anger and couldn’t help but jump down from the stone bench, stomping hard on his foot!
Narrowing his eyes, Yin Gezhi turned to look at her, his gaze cold.
Feng Yue laughed brilliantly, withdrawing her foot and saying with utmost sincerity, “I didn’t see where I was stepping and stepped on you. Does it hurt?”
“Eat less at dinner,” Yin Gezhi said flatly. “You’ve gained weight.”
Feng Yue: “…”
As Xu Huaizu practiced, his gaze kept drifting toward Yin Gezhi. With a quick step, he moved beside An Shizhong and whispered, “Hey, hey, look over there.”
Disturbed from his concentration, An Shizhong looked up with furrowed brows. He saw their master sitting on the long stone bench by the corridor, with Miss Feng Yue in her red clothes bouncing around beside him, either angered or something else. One still as a mountain, one fluid as water—how did they seem so perfectly matched together?
“Don’t you think Master likes Miss Feng Yue?” Xu Huaizu said with a knowing look. “Are we about to have a Master’s wife?”
Withdrawing his gaze, An Shizhong shook his head. “It won’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because their status isn’t compatible.”
Thinking of their master’s status and then Miss Feng Yue’s status, Xu Huaizu sighed and, for the first time, quoted a poem: “If only we had met before she was married!”
His mouth twitching, An Shizhong swung his sword at him, gritting his teeth: “Don’t quote poetry if you don’t understand its meaning. You’re embarrassing your Xu family!”
Blocking the strike with his blade, Xu Huaizu pouted: “If it feels appropriate, I’ll quote it. Why worry about so much?”
Unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, An Shizhong simply engaged him in an earnest fight.
So when the exemplary Master Yin turned back after teasing the young lady, his two disciples were already fighting intensely.
“Wow, why so fierce?” Feng Yue looked over excitedly. “Who do you think will win?”
“Want to make a bet?” Yin Gezhi said. “The loser has to go shopping for groceries alone tomorrow.”
“Sure, sure!” The innocent Feng Yue nodded in agreement. “I’ll bet on Young Master Xu!”
“Good.” Nodding calmly, Yin Gezhi looked over and said lightly, “Shizhong, attack his lower body.”
An Shizhong reacted quickly, turning with a sweeping kick! Xu Huaizu barely dodged, his stance wavering.
“Sword manual, third form.”
An Shizhong immediately swung his sword left and right, forcing Xu Huaizu to retreat several steps, holding his blade horizontally in defense.
“Kite’s somersault. Get behind him.”
“Sword manual, ninth form, target his vital point.”
Feng Yue stared wide-eyed, not at their combat but at the utterly shameless person beside her. “Your Highness?”
Yin Gezhi turned his head, looking at her with perfect righteousness: “A master teaching his disciples. Is there something wrong?”
“…Nothing wrong.” Taking a deep breath, Feng Yue looked up at the sky desolately and said softly, “Whatever makes you happy.”
Over there, An Shizhong stopped at the decisive moment, winning the round, his eyes bright. Xu Huaizu was panting, utterly aggrieved: “Master is playing favorites!”
“She favored you, so naturally I had to favor Shizhong,” Yin Gezhi said with a righteous face. “That’s what we call fair.”
Xu Huaizu: “…”
Feng Yue smiled innocently, obediently holding her handkerchief like a decorative vase, no longer daring to speak carelessly.
After practice, the two instructed their attendants to bring some changes of clothes, and Feng Yue prepared dinner, smilingly inviting them to eat.
Looking at the now-lively courtyard, the warmly lit room, and the table full of delicious dishes, Xu Huaizu couldn’t help but sigh: “It’s so much better having a woman around!”
Yin Gezhi said expressionlessly, “What’s better about it?”
“When we visited before, Master seemed quite lonely,” Xu Huaizu said candidly. “Now it feels like we have a Master’s wife, and Master has become much gentler.”
Feng Yue, who was serving dishes, froze. Yin Gezhi also frowned, snorting as he repeated those two words: “Master’s wife?”
An Shizhong stomped hard on his foot. Xu Huaizu yelped in pain and said plaintively, “I’m just telling the truth. Miss Feng Yue has the feeling of a Master’s wife. Even if you two don’t end up together in the future, when I see her, I’ll think of Master.”
The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.