Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 469 - 443: Comparing Notes!

Chapter 469: Chapter 443: Comparing Notes!

The banquet tonight was originally hosted by Mei Fei to entertain Zhang San, with the intention of undermining him during the occasion.

However, the outcome was that the walls of the Lingwu Army remained unshaken, and a fierce warrior of the Shuofang Army was killed by his own friend.

Soon, Deputy General Wang Lihui brought in Zheng Poyue.

At this time, a somewhat bewildered Zheng Poyue knelt down on one knee before Mei Fei.

"Zheng Poyue pays his respects to Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei. The criminal Peng Hu... has been executed!"

The last three words, Zheng Poyue nearly spat out through clenched teeth.

He did not understand why, all of a sudden, after having a meal with the Grand Commander-in-Chief, Peng Hu disappeared.

What puzzled him even more was why, instead of beheading or hanging the criminal, he was forced to shoot his own friend!

At this moment, a voice that was all too familiar to Zheng Poyue, even haunting his dreams, sounded in the Central Army tent.

"It’s all my fault... all my fault... If it weren’t for my careless talk that inadvertently exposed General Peng Hu’s crimes, why should our ranks be short of a great general? Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei, this is all my fault, Zhang San’s fault!"

At this moment, Zheng Poyue, looking at Zhang San who had come forward, understood everything.

This was a trap!

Sadly, Zheng Poyue discovered this too late, and his good friend Peng Hu died under his arrow, or more precisely, due to Zhang San’s conspiracy.

Zhang San continued, "I shall punish myself with three cups as an apology."

As he spoke, Zhang San began to drink.

But at this moment, in Zheng Poyue’s eyes, what Zhang San was drinking wasn’t wine, but the blood flowing from his own heart!

After finishing, Zhang San displayed his empty cup to everyone, and then sat down.

But no sooner had he sat down, than he noticed Zheng Poyue still kneeling on one knee.

"Isn’t this Zheng Poyue? Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei, I know of him. Although his skills are mediocre, he comes from a decent family and his archery technique is passable. If he trains diligently within the army, he is bound to achieve something!"

Zheng Poyue coldly replied, "I don’t need Zhang San to worry about my abilities, do I?"

After all, many people were aware of the enmity between the two men, so Zheng Poyue felt there was no need to feign a good relationship with Zhang San.

Zhang San gave a slight smile to Zheng Poyue and said softly, "I like to grade cultivators of the same realm. You, three points."

Even though Zheng Poyue did not know whether Zhang San’s grading system was out of ten or a hundred, he was still very displeased to be scored at that moment.

And at this moment, it wasn’t just Zheng Poyue who was displeased; some of the officers in the tent who had a good relationship with Peng Hu were also upset.

One of the officers, nearly fifty years old and full of righteousness, stood up and indignantly accused Zhang San, "What right do you have to judge our Shuofang Army? Have you even looked at yourself?"

Zhang San smiled slightly at the man, bowed with his hands clasped, and then casually said, "You get two points!"

At that moment, the nearly fifty-year-old officer was about to explode.

He stepped forward from behind the table.

"Two points, huh!? Come on then! Let’s have a duel right now! Come on!"

Zheng Poyue, still kneeling on the ground, felt a covert thrill when he heard the old general was scored only two points while he himself got three.

But then, Zheng Poyue quickly realized something was amiss.

What the hell am I happy about!

Zhang San bowed to Mei Fei with his fists clasped and said aloud, "It’s not fitting to have a military banquet without wine games. If there isn’t any contest that thrills everyone’s hearts, then it would be too dull. I wonder if Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei would permit this old general, about to retire to a civilian life, to enlighten me with a few pointers."

Hearing Zhang San refer to himself as an old general about to retire, the officer grew even more irate.

"Grand Commander-in-Chief, I request to battle Zhang San and let him learn what the phrase ’old but vigorous’ truly means!"

Mei Fei’s original purpose in hosting Zhang San was to win him over.

Initially, when Zheng Poyue joined the army, he was first assigned to the Lingwu Army, but later when Mei Fei found out he was from the Zheng Family, he found a way to transfer him over.

Today was merely a repeat of the old trick.

What he never expected was that it would cost them Peng Hu, and although Mei Fei had not yet realized that Zhang San had trapped Peng Hu, he vaguely sensed there must have been some issue between Zhang San and Peng Hu.

Especially since General Yuchi An, who had come to borrow troops, also showed such disrespect, it aggravated Mei Fei even more.

Now, looking at Zhang San’s enviable face, Mei Fei no longer found him as likable as before, but felt a mix of inexplicable jealousy and disgust.

"Very well! But remember, in military contests, weapons have no eyes. Everyone must stop at the appropriate point!"

Mei Fei was being polite; he saw the officer ready to strike Zhang San on the spot, so how could it possibly be just a friendly spar.

At the very least, he wanted to see Zhang San beaten so severely that he’d be bedridden for three months.

Thus, everyone left the Central Army tent and went outside.

The banquet was promptly set up in the open-air space outside, clearing a large area suitable for Zhang San and the veteran officer to spar.

The veteran officer looked at a nearby weapons rack, chose a steel whip, and gave Zhang San a cold sneer.

"Zhang San, today I, Shen Buxing, will show you what it means to be ’old but vigorous’!"

With that, Shen Buxing took up his stance.

Zhang San glanced over at the weapons rack around him.

Since the other party had chosen a weapon from the rack, the quality of these weapons should all be similar.