Chapter 281: Birds of a Feather

"I..." Huyan Wei flicked his whip. He very much wanted to say he was done with this miserable job, throw down the burden, and leave.

Then another thought occurred to him. They had already recruited people missing arms and legs. If he walked away now, who knew what other sorts Yuan Gang might bring in? If the Tofu House he liked showing off to his friends ended up filled with a collection of unsightly oddballs, those friends would probably mock him every time they saw him. How was he supposed to live with that? He resolved to pull himself together and choose carefully from here on.

Turning toward the people still waiting in line, he roared, "What are you staring at? Keep moving!"

"Young Master, my husband died in battle. Please take me in..."

Among the crowd were also people who had already passed through the line and been rejected. Suddenly, pleas began rising one after another. Whether they were true or false, all of them were directed at Yuan Gang.

Crack!

Huyan Wei snapped his whip. "What are you wailing about?"

Yuan Gang remained unmoved by the cries. True or false, he could not help everyone. Fortunately, at that moment two hundred cavalrymen and one thousand infantry came running in formation. The troops Huyan Wei had earlier sent someone to summon had arrived.

As soon as they came, Huyan Wei called a couple of instructions to the officer leading them. The troops immediately reinforced order at the site and quickly suppressed the disturbance that had just begun. The whole affair dragged on until midafternoon before the three hundred workers were finally selected.

Strictly speaking, there were three hundred and two. Whether Huyan Wei was acting out of spite or for some other reason, he insisted on personally selecting a full three hundred, apparently leaving the two old men for Yuan Gang to swallow himself.

Yuan Gang silently counted the numbers in his head. More than twenty of his own team members had still not been selected. It was not that Huyan Wei had disliked them. The quota had simply filled before their turn came, and there was no longer any need for the people remaining at the back to pass through the line.

Huyan Wei shouted for everyone to disperse, then left first with a flick of his sleeves. He still seemed irritated and did not even say goodbye to Yuan Gang.

Yuan Gang gave a slight shake of his head toward one of the team members still among the crowd. The man understood immediately and secretly signaled the others. One after another, they withdrew.

The reason Yuan Gang had recruited three hundred people in the first place was partly concealment. For now, Huyan Wei could recruit outsiders along with his own men. If Yuan Gang truly did not want some of them later, dismissing them would require only a word from him. Besides, he genuinely needed ordinary workers mixed in as cover.

Nor had he planned to keep every one of his own people at his side. Some would be needed in the shadows to handle other matters...

At Among the White Clouds, Su Zhao stood on a terrace watching a group of young women rehearse a dance in the garden below.

Qin Mian climbed the steps and came to stand beside her. "The people we sent to observe have returned. The hiring is over."

Su Zhao said, "Why would a tofu shop hire this many people? No matter how busy it is, surely it doesn't need three hundred."

Qin Mian replied, "They say they plan to establish sales points throughout the capital."

Su Zhao shook her head. "A powerful household really is a powerful household. Even selling a snack, they can make the business this large. Looks like Huyan Wei will earn quite a bit every year. How did the hiring go?"

Qin Mian smiled. "It was extremely lively. I heard nearly ten thousand people showed up. An Taiping and Huyan Wei even had a little disagreement over the hiring."

Su Zhao turned toward her with interest. "What happened?"

"Over two old men. One was missing a leg and the other an arm..." Qin Mian recounted what she had heard.

"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away..." Su Zhao murmured. Her bright eyes seemed to sink into some private emotion.

Qin Mian smiled. "This An Taiping always manages to say strange things like that, yet somehow they strike straight at the heart."

Su Zhao said softly to herself, "He's a man with feeling."

Qin Mian said, "Forget you, Proprietress. Even I'm starting to find this An Taiping more and more interesting. I'd like to talk with him myself. I'll find an opportunity to make contact."

Su Zhao said, "Investigate those two men missing an arm and a leg."

"Mm." Qin Mian nodded. "I've already ordered someone to look into them."

"How are the ships?"

"Everything is proceeding smoothly for now!"

At the Huyan residence, a powerfully built man stood in the garden drawing a bow and shooting arrows. Each shaft struck near the center of a distant target.

His gaze was sharp and vigorous. A full beard covered his face, though gray was mixed through it, lending him an imposing air even at rest. He was none other than Qi's Supreme General, Huyan Wuhen. The style of the nomadic peoples remained unchanged on him. He still wore traditional steppe clothing.

In earlier years, Shang Song had unified all beneath Heaven and brought about Great Unity, so the dress of the various states had gradually become much the same. But after the nomadic peoples of this region seized their corner of the realm and founded Qi, the clothing associated with that Great Unity became everyday wear, while traditional nomadic dress instead became formal attire. It was one of the visible differences between Qi and the other states. Huyan Wuhen himself almost always dressed in this nomadic style.

The household steward, Zha Hu, strode over quickly. As he drew near, he slowed his steps.

Whoosh!

Only after Huyan Wuhen released another arrow did Zha Hu smile and say, "General, Third Young Master is back."

Huyan Wuhen, who had been about to draw another arrow, slung the bow behind him instead. Staring at the distant target, he murmured, "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. Old soldiers never die; they just fade away..."

The attendants around Huyan Wei were all Huyan household men. Naturally, nothing that happened around Third Young Master could escape Huyan Wuhen's eyes and ears.

Zha Hu said, "The General seems deeply moved."

"I am." Huyan Wuhen sighed. "Someone who had never served in the army couldn't say words like those. The last of my doubts about him can finally be put aside. It's simply a pity."

Zha Hu said, "There may not be anything to regret. If he can say something like that, then the hot blood in his chest hasn't gone cold. When the moment truly comes, you can simply call on him directly. There is no need to worry about anything else."

"The hot blood hasn't gone cold. Well said!" Huyan Wuhen praised him. He brought the bow forward again, drew another arrow, and set it to the string. "Have Third Young Master come see me."

"Yes!" Zha Hu withdrew.

Before long, Huyan Wei arrived. After paying his respects, he stood to one side and watched his father shoot arrow after arrow. Father and son both wore full beards, and they resembled one another quite strongly.

After waiting for quite a while, Huyan Wuhen asked while continuing to shoot, "I heard the hiring caused quite a commotion. How did it go?"

Huyan Wei's face immediately filled with irritation. "Don't mention it. Such a trivial matter, yet it was infuriating. Father, that An Taiping really is stubborn as a single tendon. He actually hired two old men missing an arm and a leg. Tell me, does that look like someone running a business? If you ask me, uh..."

He froze halfway through. He had noticed Huyan Wuhen, bow drawn and aimed, looking at him sidelong. Huyan Wei's heart tightened. Whenever his father looked at him like that, it never seemed to lead to anything good.

Whoosh!

Huyan Wuhen faced forward again and released the arrow. Then he called, "Men. Drag him away and give him ten military strokes!"

Huyan Wei went blank.

Beat whom?

Me?

He looked left and right. Surely his father could not mean Steward Zha Hu. He was given no time to think. Two soldiers stepped forward, seized him by both arms, and dragged him away.

Huyan Wei cried out, "Father, why? Father, I refuse to accept this! I refuse! If you're going to beat me, at least give me a reason!"

Huyan Wuhen answered, "Your father finds you unpleasant to look at. That's the reason. Is it enough?"

"What kind of reason is that?" Huyan Wei shouted in alarm.

The soldiers carrying out the military order did not care. Their faces remained iron-hard and expressionless.

Huyan Wei immediately began wailing, "Mother! Save me! Mother, come save me... Ah! Ah! Ah...!"

Staves as thick as a man's arm whistled through the air. One miserable scream after another came from Huyan Wei, who had been pressed flat against the ground, as though the beating were killing him.

Huyan Wuhen remained unmoved and continued shooting arrows. He gave another instruction. "Could there be some issue behind his insistence on hiring those two? Investigate the men missing an arm and a leg."

"Yes!" Zha Hu accepted the order.

When Huyan Wei was finally helped up from the ground, he shook off the soldiers supporting him. Snot and tears covered his face. Belly thrust forward, backside tucked in, one thigh hanging stiffly, he shuffled forward step by painful step, looking utterly aggrieved.

"Who did I offend? Since when can you beat someone just because you don't like the look of him? Even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. Is there no justice left in Heaven...?"

Zha Hu walked alongside him and reminded him, "Third Young Master, you still don't understand what you did wrong?"

Huyan Wei turned to look at him. "I didn't do anything today. Was I not supposed to mobilize Eldest Brother's troops?"

"Looks like ten military strokes still weren't enough to wake you up. Go back and think about it properly. If you still can't figure it out, you'll probably get beaten again later." Zha Hu left him with those words.

Smack!

On his way past, he slapped Huyan Wei hard on the backside and walked away laughing.

"Aaaah...!" Huyan Wei released a shrill scream and nearly jumped straight off the ground...

That night, Zha Hu came to the study. Huyan Wuhen sat beneath a lamp reading.

"General, we've investigated those two. The one missing a leg is Yuan Dahu. The one missing an arm is Gu Younian. There is no problem with either identity. They've lived in the capital for close to twenty years, and many people know them. Their identities can't be false. However..."

"Since when did you start hemming and hawing too?"

"The two of them served in the Black Wind Cavalry. We checked the old military rolls. There is no mistake!"

At the words "Black Wind Cavalry," Huyan Wuhen visibly trembled.

An image flashed through his mind.

A mass of cavalry in black, roaring "Wind! Wind! Wind!" as they charged the enemy like a black gale.

The Black Wind Cavalry had once been known as the finest cavalry of the State of Qi, and even as the finest cavalry beneath Heaven.

Later, Yan's Yingyang and Wulie Guards came to be known as the finest cavalry beneath Heaven. Now, it was the Valiant Cavalry he himself had founded that carried that reputation.

The Black Wind Cavalry had once been ordered on a forced march to stop an invasion by five hundred thousand troops of the State of Jin at Black Iron Mountain. Thirty thousand iron cavalry were annihilated to the last man. Yet they held the pass. They blocked the Jin army's advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

At the time, Huyan Wuhen had not yet become Supreme General. He had merely been one of the soldiers in the relief force. With his own eyes, he had seen all thirty thousand riders of the Black Wind Cavalry wiped out.

With his own eyes, he had seen their commander refuse to withdraw, insist on leading the vanguard for the reinforcements, and take the final few hundred men roaring into the enemy lines, where they vanished beneath the tide. Huyan Wuhen slowly turned his head toward Zha Hu.

Zha Hu continued, "Five men returned alive, all disabled by their wounds. Whether there were any other survivors is unknown for now. At present, these two are the only ones we know about."

Huyan Wuhen closed the book in his hands and pressed it flat against the table. He remained silent for a long time.

Then he slowly said, "Birds of a feather really do flock together."

Zha Hu tentatively asked, "Should we give them some assistance?"

"No. The wind has stopped..." Huyan Wuhen said quietly. "Just as that stubborn fellow said: old soldiers never die; they just fade away. They don't need anyone's pity, and no one else is qualified to pity them."

[End of Chapter 281]