OFTLHFRO C128

Chapter 128: Chicken Feather and Command Arrow

On the twenty-fifth day of the first month, Han City was no different from the dead of winter—wind howled, snow whirled.

Not far away, Bing City was much the same.

Early in the morning, just as the couple was about to eat breakfast, Steward Cheng came running, shouting: “Masters! General Hu is here!”

Before they could even rise, Hu Zhongyi’s voice carried inside: “What’s taking you so long to eat?”

As he stepped through the door, the rich aroma of noodles hit him. Hu Zhongyi swallowed hard.

Here in Han City, forget colorful, fragrant noodles—these days even those rock-hard buns from the night before were almost gone.

Luo Mingchen said, “Braised pork noodles. General Hu, would you like some?”

Hu Zhongyi didn’t bother being polite. “Then I’ll trouble you for a bowl.”

“Sure.”

There was still plenty of broth left, and boiling a bowl of noodles wasn’t difficult.

While Luo Mingchen was in the kitchen, General Hu sat not far from Huo Xiang, smiling at him. “Little lad, how’s your tooth?”

Huo Xiang didn’t sense any malice from Hu Zhongyi—his smile was warm. After swallowing the soft noodles in his mouth, he grinned, showing the gap. “As long as it’s not bleeding, it’s fine.”

He was missing a front tooth, so his words whistled slightly. Slow speech was all right, but at a faster pace he was hard to understand.

Hu Zhongyi pinched his cheeks and inspected. “There’s already a little white bud. No wonder it came out so easily.”

“Mm?”

“That white bud is your new tooth. Don’t push at it—if it grows crooked, it’ll be ugly.”

Huo Xiang nodded obediently. “I know, Little Daddy said the same thing.”

Hu Zhongyi chuckled, then turned to Huo Yan. “Bringing your whole family here, you really don’t mind letting the children suffer?”

At that, Huo Yuhui lifted his eyes.

Huo Yan said flatly, “Suffering where I can see it is better than suffering where I can’t.”

Hu Zhongyi mulled this over—it did seem to make sense.

Luo Mingchen soon returned with a steaming bowl of noodles.

Taking it, Hu Zhongyi said, “So fast?”

“It’s not hard.”

Luo Mingchen sat back down to finish his own.

Once they had eaten, the couple went out with Hu Zhongyi to Bing City, leaving the three children behind under the care of Ziyin and the others.

The wind was bitter. Before mounting, Luo Mingchen tugged a furry hat onto his head, then wrapped that freshly washed pink scarf around Huo Yan to shield him. A face that handsome couldn’t be left to the mercy of the wind.

Scarves were just things—no matter if they soaked too much water, he could dry them in no time.

Hu Zhongyi grimaced. “What’s a man afraid of?”

The two turned to him. Luo Mingchen said, “I don’t want his face ending up like yours.”

Hu Zhongyi: “…”

They mounted and, with a unit in tow, rode for Bing City.

On the way, Luo Mingchen asked, “Why doesn’t Han City have a city lord?”

Hu Zhongyi said, “Two great generals already oversee things. If there were a city lord too, who would he listen to?”

At that, he cast Huo Yan a sidelong look.

The emperor had sent Huo Yan to command the Huo Army. From the way he’d mustered the troops that morning, those men had obeyed readily.

These were seasoned veterans of the battlefield. Hu Zhongyi did not believe they followed merely because Huo Yan was Huo Yuntao’s son.

Something must have happened yesterday afternoon.

If Huo Yan could command the Huo Army, then even as just a “general,” his standing in Han City would rival Hu Zhongyi’s own.

The Huo Army would never obey simply because of titles.

If it were that easy, the emperor could have merged them into Hu Zhongyi’s troops long ago—why insist Huo Yuntao send someone else?

Hu Zhongyi knew this very well.

No matter if the one sent was a general or a deputy, as long as he could control the Huo Army, his authority equaled a great general’s.

So even though Huo Yan had infuriated him by bringing back refugees, Hu Zhongyi had only invited him to dinner for a jab or two. He hadn’t tried to use his own position to pressure him.

Luo Mingchen thought this through—it made sense.

Yesterday, when they passed Bing City, he had noticed it was smaller than Han City, flanked by a roaring river and spanned by a long iron-chain bridge.

A city in such a location existed to guard the bridge—lest enemies slip through from that side.

“There’s another reason,” Huo Yan said.

Luo Mingchen turned toward him.

“Half of Bing City’s population are of the Wu tribe. The city lord is Wu.”

Hu Zhongyi was surprised, then laughed. “General Huo even knows that?”

Luo Mingchen wanted to ask more, but with Hu Zhongyi present, he held back. He could always ask later.

Huo Yan said, “General Hu, it was only thirty years ago. Who living here doesn’t know? Those who lived through it aren’t all dead yet.”

At that, Hu Zhongyi fell silent, sinking into thought.

For some reason, Luo Mingchen detected a trace of mockery in Huo Yan’s tone.

When they reached Bing City, the guards recognized them and quickly opened the gates.

The city lord came trotting out, beaming. “General Hu, General Huo—what brings you?”

Hu Zhongyi said, “We’re here to see General Wu.”

The city lord looked troubled. “Seeing General Wu is possible, but… bringing so many people into the city, isn’t that a bit improper?”

Huo Yan said, “We’ve come to transport provisions, naturally we need many hands.”

“Transport provisions?”

“That’s right.”

The city lord still wavered, but then heard Huo Yan add, “This matter was approved from above.”

“This…”

Before the city lord could puzzle it out, Huo Yan had already ridden in, his men following. The guards couldn’t stop them.

After a while, Hu Zhongyi muttered, “Wouldn’t this count as forging an imperial decree?”

Luo Mingchen grinned. “Isn’t General Hu ‘above’ us right now?”

Huo Yan shot him a look of praise.

Realizing, Hu Zhongyi gave a wry laugh. “So you two really take me for a command arrow from a chicken feather?”

Luo Mingchen frowned. “Otherwise, is General Hu’s rank fake?”

“…Well, no.”

But after enduring too many helpless years, a “great general” like him couldn’t even secure provisions. Even when he’d sent requests to the capital two months early, nothing had arrived.

The grain Huo Yan brought wouldn’t last long.

Faced with so many refugees, Hu Zhongyi couldn’t just sit and watch.

If not for the rule against attacking their own, he’d have killed that bastard Wu Qing long ago.

As for supplies, the capital only delayed and delayed—two or three months without reply.

Yet if he dared kill Wu Qing, an imperial edict stripping his post would arrive in less than a month.

The thought left Hu Zhongyi both bitter and resigned.

They had not yet reached the camp when a soldier hurried to Wu Qing.

Wu Qing was feasting with a beauty in his arms when the soldier rushed in. Annoyed, he clicked his tongue. “What’s the panic?”

The soldier quickly reported, “General, men have come from Han City! And they brought many with them.”

“Han City?”

Wu Qing frowned. Likely here to demand grain. He rolled his eyes, shoved the woman aside, and stood. “I’ll go see them.”

If it were only Hu Zhongyi and Huo Yan, that was one thing. But if they’d brought troops, leaving them waiting could cause trouble. Better to go deal with them directly.