[UTP] Chapter 107

Breakfast time had passed, but the beggar uncle could not be seen. He used to disappear like this all the time, so people didn’t feel strange about it, they just thought he must’ve gone for a walk and will return home later. 

***

As soon as breakfast was over, Mrs. Shen immediately pulled Jinxia aside, gave her a handkerchief and taught her embroidery. Jinxia was very shocked, she looked for a thousand reasons to leave but it was impossible. 

“Embroidery is the first step to being a lady. I will teach you how to sew clothes.” Mrs. Shen handed her the sewing kit, “Come on, put the thread in.” 

Jinxia annoyingly said: “Aunt, I’m a constable. I don’t plan to become a tailor nor study stuff I won’t use at work.”

“If your clothes are torn, you can fix them.”

“There’s Da Yang.” Jinxia said, “Or how about you teach Da Yang.”

Mrs. Shen’s eyebrows tightened as she looked at her: “If your husband’s clothes are torn, are you going to ask YangYue to sew it? You don’t even know how to make a simple robe.” 

“Aunt….You’re thinking too far ahead. There’s a lot of shops on the street that sew and make clothes. I will spend a little money for them to make clothes.”

“Clothes made in a shop and the clothes you made are two different things.” Mrs. Shen didn’t stop arguing with her, she glared at Jinxia, “Quickly, put the thread in. Today, I have to at least teach you how to embroider a handkerchief.” 

“One side or four sides?” Jinxia looked at the handkerchief, then said, “Aunt….This handkerchief is too big, do you have a smaller one?”

Mrs. Shen tilted her head, looking at her impatiently, she was about to repeat herself, suddenly YangYue’s voice was heard. 

“Jinxia, why is your uncle still standing in the yard? I’ve called him countless times but he wouldn’t answer. What did you say to him?”

Upon hearing Jinxia’s words, she quickly put down the sewing kit and walked out: “I’m going to take a look!”

“What’s wrong with him?”

Hearing them saying that the beggar uncle might be possessed by a ghost, Mrs. Shen was also worried, she also got up and followed after Jinxia. 

When they arrived at the courtyard, they immediately understood what YangYue meant. The beggar uncle was standing in the corner, facing Jinxia, she tried to talk to him but his eyes were focusing on something else, and not moving at all. 

Cen Shou, Chun Yumin, and Xie Xiao also noticed him and rushed towards him. At this time, A’Rui appeared and followed after them. Shangguan Xi couldn’t join them because her injury still required rest. 

Jinxia stuck her finger and placed it under the beggar uncle’s nose, then she turned and calmed everyone: “It’s fine, he’s still breathing.”

“Nonsense. I’ve already checked that.” Cen Shou said. 

Chun Yumin tried to guess: “Is he possessed by a ghost? I’ve heard from my grandfather those old residences are filled with ghosts.”

“Impossible, my uncle’s kungfu is very good. What ghost would dare to possess him?”

As she said that, she turned to look at the beggar uncle, then started to become a little doubtful. 

“I called him a few times and he didn’t answer, almost as if he didn’t hear me at all.” YangYue frowned, “I also don’t dare to touch him carelessly, his kung fu is too good, what if he does something to me.”

“I’ve heard that people with martial arts, when you hit them in the vital spot, they can stop moving. Could it be, he was hit by someone?” Xie Xiao also came out of nowhere to comment, trying to guess the situation. 

Mrs. Shen remained silent, she pushed everyone aside and walked toward the beggar uncle. She lifted his left hand up, then stabbed a needle tip on his index finger. 

“Ow!”

The beggar uncle yelled in pain. As he regained his consciousness, he glared at the people around him, then said: “What are you all doing here? Why are you all surrounding me? Looking at me like some monkey?”

Seeing that he was fine, Mrs. Shen let out a sigh of relief, then she put the needle away and called out for Jinxia, as she walked back inside: “Jinxia! Come here, quickly finish this embroidery.”

“I’m coming!” Although Jinxia’s mouth says yes, but her legs don’t want to move at all. She grabbed the beggar uncle’s sleeve, “Uncle! You see? Now I have to embroider….When are you going to marry my aunt?”

Everyone was about to head to their own place, but upon hearing Jinxia’s words, they immediately stopped, turned around and stared at the beggar uncle. 

The beggar uncle scratched his head, tightened his eyebrows and said: “I was just thinking about this. Of course, I want to make it happen, but I don’t know how. If I mess up, she would not care about me anymore. So, what should I do?”

“My aunt is so good to you, she will definitely agree.” Jinxia cheered him on. 

The beggar uncle shook his head, feeling insecure: “She is good to me because I helped her in the past, even before when she was married. Right now, I feel like, deep down in her heart….His presence is still here…”

“Impossible. They’ve never even met, how can she remember him?” Jinxia turned to face everyone and asked, “Don’t you think they’re good together?”

Everyone nodded their heads. 

“See!” Seeing things finally going her way, she walked toward the beggar uncle and patted his shoulder, “Go!”

“I can’t….I can’t….I can’t…..You kids don’t understand anything! If my question makes her angry, then what will happen to me? What am I going to do for the rest of my life?” The beggar uncle chased them away, “You guys are only good at talking, it’s easier said than done! Go away.”

Jinxia felt helpless, and then she suggested: “Uncle, if you can’t do it, how about I do it for you? I can try to ask her what she thinks about you, will that help?”

The beggar uncle glared at her, although he didn’t say anything but his eyes were full of hope and anticipation.

“Alright, uncle, no need to say anything. Let me handle this.”

***

“Aunt, what kind of person do you think my uncle is?”

Jinxia obediently embroidered the edges of the handkerchief while occasionally glanced at Mrs. Shen’s facial expressions. 

The beggar uncle was on the roof eavesdropping and holding his breath as he waited to hear her answer. 

“A good person.” Mrs. Shen said because she’s only thinking about teaching Jinxia how to embroider, “The needle here, put it through this part….Right there, just like that.”

Xie Xiao and Cen Shou were both on the roof, acting as loyal friends, eavesdropping with the beggar uncle. 

Jinxia pricked the needles, then continued to ask: “If my uncle wants to marry you, are you willing or not?”

As soon as the beggar uncle heard Jinxia’s question, he almost rolled down from the roof, his stomach was full of nervousness: “She said she was just gonna ask around, how can she ask a straightforward question like that. Next time, I won’t believe her anymore.”

Mrs. Shen was stunned by her question, but her expression quickly returned to normal, she said slowly: “Did he ask you to come here to ask me?”

“That’s right, you know him, he thought this was crazy.” Jinxia said, “I saw how pitiful he was, so I asked you for him.”

Just by a few words, Jinxia has officially betrayed him! The beggar uncle gritted his teeth, then angrily grabbed the tiles next to him, but quickly turned into crumbs. 

Not thinking he would be this strong, Cen Shou and Xie Xiao looked at him in astonishment, exchanged glances for a moment, then carefully took their breath. 

“Why didn’t he just come here?” Mrs. Shen asked. 

“Sigh, it’s because he’s afraid of offending you and you won’t care about him anymore.” Jinxia stopped her hand movements, then said, “Aunt, even though my uncle is a little clumsy, but other than that he isn’t lacking in anything else. He has great kung fu skills and is very attentive.”

“You’re speaking on his behalf?” Mrs. Shen tightened her eyebrows. 

“What type of person my uncle is, aunt, you should know best. I don’t need to speak for him.” 

Mrs. Shen smiled slightly. 

Jinxia couldn’t help but continue to ask: “Aunt, so are you willing or not?”

Mrs. Shen did not answer her question for a while, the room fell silent. The beggar uncle who was on the top of the roof didn’t even dare to breathe. 

After a long while, Jinxia still haven’t heard her answer, as she was about to speak, Mrs. Shen slowly sighed and said: “These are your words, I will wait for him to come and ask me.”

The beggar uncle was silent for a moment, then he whispered to Xie Xiao: “What does she mean?”

Xie Xiao hesitated, then said: “Why don’t you go ask her for yourself, then you’ll know right away.”

“You….” The beggar uncle then turned to Cen Shou, “What does she mean?”

Cen Shou didn’t say anything, he carefully examined the situation: “The main point of her sentence was “want you to ask” meaning she understood your intention, so there are two possibilities, the first one is that once you come and ask her, maybe she will agree…”

The beggar uncle’s face suddenly brightened. 

Cen Shou continued: “….Secondly, she did start her sentence with a sigh, so maybe she wants to tell you clearly to stop having other thoughts about her, and that you both should keep a distance from each other.”

The beggar uncle’s face darkened. 

“You say too many things, it ends up being nothing. You two are useless.” The beggar uncle chased the two of them away, then he put the tiles back and jumped down from the roof. 

***

After receiving the King’s decree, the attacks on Cenggang were more and more frequent, the soldiers continued to attack day and night, but the effects were minimal. Yu Dayou continued to lead the war, and he had not returned to the base for several days. Lu Yi and the others could only talk to the returning soldiers that came back to treat their injuries, hoping for a chance to meet Yu Dayou. 

Besides checking data in the tent, Lu Yi also kept an eye out for returning injured soldiers to learn more about the condition of the war on the front lines. Pirates had set many traps along the road of Cengang, the more he listened, the tighter his eyebrows were. 

“Young Master, we have stayed here for twenty days…” Cen Fu reminded him. 

Lu Yi was busy observing the defence map, he then gave orders: “Cen Fu, go guard at the gate. As soon as General Yu comes home, report to me right away.”

“But…Young Master…”

“No need to ask anything, just go! I want to discuss important matters with him.”

Cen Fu didn’t dare to argue and walked toward the gate. 

After half a day had passed, Lu Yi still hadn’t been able to see Yu Dayou, instead Cen Fu brought Wang Chonggu over. Looking at his expression, Wang Chonggu must’ve just returned from the battlefield, there was gunpowder splatter all over his face, and his clothes were torn up. 

“Lu Daren, I saw your subordinate by the gate, I was told that you have something important to discuss?” Wang Chonggu’s tone was very polite, “These days, the General hasn’t taken off his armour at all, has always been at the fort organizing battle plans, I can’t tell you when he will be able to return to the base. General Yu had ordered to accompany Lu Daren, but you’ve been in this tent studying for a long time, I’ve lost track of time myself. I hope you didn’t mind.”

“General Wang is too modest.” Lu Yu gestured for Cen Fu to serve them tea, “What’s the current condition of the front lines?”

Wang Chonggu shook his head: “There’s no need to hide this from you, the front lines right are in crisis. The pirates are very cunning. A few days ago, it rained heavily and collected the rainwater, so when our soldiers passed through a lowland area, they immediately opened the gate and flooded the area, drowning a few of our brothers. 

“This is bad, why not call everyone back and organize a strategy?” Lu Yi asked. 

“In Cengang, there aren’t many pirates left. The General thinks he’s going to keep pushing until it’s completely over, so the pirates don’t have time to bring out more people and we can seize Cengang…”

“Forgive me for being blunt, since Wang Zhi has died, Mao Haifeng has revenge in his heart, he won’t run away or hide at all. Right now, he just wants to kill as many Ming soldiers as possible in Cengang!” Lu Yi said in a deep voice. 

Wang Chonggu was silent, he thought back of the battlefield scene, along the narrow mountain road, bodies of soldiers are piling up and a long stream of blood. 

Lu Yi continued to say: “I have carefully studied Mao Haifeng’s attack, more or less, they know how to fight. I’ve also estimated their ammunition stock, and it will definitely not be enough for Mao Haifeng to carry out this war, meaning someone must have been supporting him with supplies, using the waterways.”

“If there’s another waterway for transportation, why didn’t he just escape?”

Having just finished his sentence, without needing Lu Yi to explain, Wang Chonggu answered it in his head – it was obvious that Mao Haifeng could escape, but he chose to stay and set up all of these traps. It’s exactly as Lu Yi said, Mao Haifeng wants to kill as many Ming soldiers as possible. 

“You….How did you know?”

In front of his eyes, Lu Yi seems like a very young man. Wang Chonggu immediately realized that he and General Yu had underestimated him. 

“Perhaps you need a little outsider’s insight. General Yu is carrying a heavy burden on his back, at the same time, needing to seize Cengang.” Lu Yi said, “But I must say that right now General Yu is pointlessly attacking day and night and it’s actually going according to Mao Haifeng’s plan.”

“You are very right.”

Wang Chonggu’s face turned dark, he stood up, raised his hands to bid farewell and left immediately. 

***

Under Wang Chonggu’s persuasion, in addition to the fact that the soldiers had been fighting for several days, conditions were extremely exhausted and suffered a lot of damage, Yu Dayou finally withdrew his troops back to base to rest and reorganize strategy.

At the headquarters, another decree has arrived for Yu Dayou. 

His Majesty is now impatient, the deadline to seize Cengang is not even close, he has already ordered to remove Yu Dayou from his position and all subordinates involved will be receiving punishment, the generals under him are also dismissed. Although he still has not given a final decision, in the decree, he requests Yu Dayou and his troops to atone for his crimes with good deeds, if they can seize Cengang, all positions and status will be restored.

Aas Yu Dayou read the King’s decree, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The past few days of endless fighting made him tired both physically and mentally, he didn’t even want to speak, he just waved his hand telling the people to go back, while dragging his steps he returned to the big tent.

“General.” Waiting for him in the big tent was Lu Yi. Upon seeing Yu Dayou, he immediately stood up. 

As soon as Yu Dayou saw Lu Yi, his face was expressionless, without saying anything he passed Lu Yi as if he didn’t see him at all.

After all, Yu Dayou had just returned from a ten days battlefield, feeling tired is understandable, Lu Yi didn’t mind his attitude at all, he continued to say: “General, I have carefully studied the coastal defence map, on the West, there is something suspicious, seems to be a gap….”

Yu Dayou tried to suppress his anger, Yu Dayou raised his hand to pause Lu Yi’s words, then he said: “Did Lu Daren already know about the current situation?”

Lu Yi could only nod his head.

“A month has not passed, yet the King has issued an order to resign me.” Yu Dayou looked at him, then said slowly, “This thing, does it have anything to do with you?”

Lu Yi was silent for a moment, knowing in his heart that Yu Dayou must have misunderstood.

“If I say no, does General Yu believe me?” He asked again.

Yu Dayou laughed coldly: “Lu Daren’s words, I don’t dare to question it. Now that I have been dismissed from my position, I don’t deserve to serve you anymore. Although my place is small, and I couldn’t accept having someone as big as you here, Lu Daren must’ve suffered a lot by being here. Are you ready to return to the Capital?” Judging from Yu Dayou’s words, it seems that he’s trying very hard to be polite with his words, but the underlying meaning is still there. He has indicated that Lu Yi has stabbed him in the back, that’s why the King pushed up the deadlines. 

“Until now, I’m still trying to learn about Cenggang’s condition, I still haven’t had time to report to the King.” Originally Lu Yi wasn’t someone who liked to explain things, but since the current war situation was very important, and hoped that Yu Dayou would listen to his opinion, he couldn’t help but try to explain, “The King is also panicking, this decree is actually intended to push you to achieve. It doesn’t make sense to chase after General Yu, but it’s a way to not panic the public..”

Of course, Yu Dayou did not believe him, in a heavy voice he said: “Lu Dare, you still want to stay in Cengang?”

“…. I just hope I can make a small contribution.” Lu Yi said.

“You have contributed greatly…. I still have war affairs to deal with, please!”

Yu Dayou pressed himself down on the chair, raised hand waving, signalling Lu Yi to leave.

“Yan Yuan resigned first.”

Right now his emotions are unstable, no words will get into his ears, Lu Yi sighed silently and could only retreat first.

“Young Master, the issue of dismissal is his business, why are we taking care of unimportant things like this, having to accept his treatment like this…” Cen Fu didn’t like how Lu Yi was being treated by the General. 

“Be quiet! Since when did you become like this, how are you able to say such things?!”

Lu Yi said loudly.

Cen Fu was stunned and didn’t dare to make any sounds. The relationship between him and Lu Yi, although it is between master and subordinate, but Cen Fu has lived in the Lu residence ever since he was young, he watched Lu Yi grow up, and they practice martial arts and spend most of their time together. Lu Yi also very rarely showed an arrogant and formal attitude in front of them, anger like today never happened before.

Lu Yi continued to say: “What do you mean by ‘taking care of unimportant matters’…. These few days you have followed me, you can see for yourself the situation of Cengang, countless soldiers have died. Is it because you have been Jin Yiwei for too long, in your heart, you only care about matters surrounding the court palace, the officials conflict with each other, so you have forgotten that the matters outside of the palace are also important?”

Cen Fu immediately knelt down: “Young Master, I was wrong!”

“You are much older than Cen Shou, all this time I thought you were much calmer and more understanding, but I didn’t expect it at all, you should only see me as your Master when the Lu family members were around.”

Cen Fu was extremely embarrassed, he could only lower his head.

Seeing his face like that, Lu Yi couldn’t help but take a deep breath, reaching out his hand pulling him to his feet: “Get up, help me invite Wang Chonggu over, Yu Dayou won’t listen to me, Wang Chonggu is my only hope to persuade him.”

“Beizhe will leave right away.”

Cen Fu hurriedly went to invite Wang Chonggu. A moment later Wang Chonggu arrived at Lu Yi’s tent.

In the current situation, the two disregarded respectful etiquette, Lu Yi got to the point: “There is something I want to discuss with General Yu, unfortunately, he thought the new decree had something to do with me, and decided not to listen to me at all.”

As soon as the king’s decree came down, even Wang Chonggu also found it difficult to escape the death penalty, he laughed bitterly: “The generals have been fighting continuously and not being able to sleep for the past few days, so his tempers are not good, coincidentally as soon as he arrived at the headquarters, he received the king’s decree, therefore it’s hard not to place the blame on Lu Daren. On behalf of the general, I apologize for his attitude, please, I hope Lu Daren can understand General Yu.”

“General Wang, what are you talking about, I invite you to come to give an explanation, right now in front of the eyes the war situation is very urgent, there is no time to be discouraged.” Lu Yi said, “Wait for general Yu’s emotions to subside a bit, regarding how to seize Cengang, I would like to discuss it with general Yu.”

Hearing this, Wang Chonggu was immediately happy: “Has Lu Daren found a way to seize Cengang?”

“Whether we can seize Cenggang or not, I don’t dare to say for sure, but given the current situation, it can be said that this is a method, but it requires the general’s approval.”

“All right, I will talk to General Yu.” Wang Chonggu was so excited that he didn’t want to wait any longer, laughing as he walked out, “Don’t worry, if this method works, let the general pour tea as an apology as well.” Before he could finish his words, he was already outside the room ten steps away.

After closing the tent, Cen Fu looked at Lu Yi in surprise: “Young Master, have you found a way to seize Cengang?”

Lu Yi nodded his head.

“How?” Cen Fu asked curiously.

Lu Yi glanced at him, then said briefly: “The trick is – don’t attack Cengang anymore.”

“……”