Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 477 - 449: Mei Fei Scoops Rice

Chapter 477: Chapter 449: Mei Fei Scoops Rice

"How preposterous! Absolutely preposterous!"

After returning to the military camp, Mei Fei was furious.

A country bumpkin actually dared to spit that sticky stuff on his face, such things were usually what he did to others!

"What happened to that woman?"

After sitting down, Mei Fei asked his eldest son, Mei Wu, in a huff.

"Father, rest assured, after the woman’s mouth was stuffed, we buried her in the ground, leaving only her head exposed."

"What about her son, who is fat as a pig?"

"Rendered for oil. In front of her, we sliced him up piece by piece with a big black pot, all rendered down for oil."

"And then?"

"Then we poured the boiling oil down the throat of that thieving woman."

Mei Fei felt much better upon hearing what Mei Wu said.

"Alright, let’s eat. I went to Spring Breeze Town to have a joyful time, but it was all ruined by that thieving woman. What a dampener!"

Soon, someone brought up the food.

Mei Fei and his eldest son ate together.

Although Mei Fei was lax in his command, embezzled from his soldiers, and was unkind to colleagues who disagreed with him, he was faultless in his treatment of his son.

"Life is pretty good actually. Once your younger brother comes over with your mother and sister, our family will be reunited. You don’t know how much I envy Changsun’s family being together every time I see them here in the Frontier Army."

Not wanting his father to feel sad, Mei Wu immediately comforted him, "Changsun Bubai is widowed, what’s there to be envious of?"

Mei Fei nodded and said, "Yes! Initially, it was out of jealousy that they could all be together that when he went out to fight the Tujue, I took the opportunity to send men disguised as Tujue to ambush and slaughter his wife. Unfortunately, his little daughter was tough and was saved by someone. Damn it!"

Upon hearing this, Mei Wu smiled and comforted him, "Father, there’s no need to worry, a mere Changsun Bubai is not a concern. In the end, you are the one who calls the shots in Longyun Path."

Mei Fei was overjoyed to hear this and was about to start his meal when Deputy General Wang Lihui hurried in.

"Grand Commander-in-Chief, I’ve just found out!"

Mei Fei was delighted at this news.

"Is it that Changsun Bubai allowed Zhang San to take a great number of men out? It’s no big deal for the Northern Boundary Army to secretly plunder some goods from Tujue. But if they dispatched enough men, then it’s unauthorized troop movement, isn’t it? How about it? How many men did Changsun Bubai allocate when Zhang San left? After all, Zhang San is still a soldier; letting him take many men out, humph! Changsun Bubai is done for this time!"

Wang Lihui said embarrassingly, "Zhang San launched a night raid on the Tujue tribe and killed all the masters within, forcing the Tujue people to drive their cattle and sheep over, so... Zhang San went out alone, Changsun Bubai did not assign him any troops!"

"How preposterous!"

Mei Fei angrily slammed his bowl on the table.

Mei Wu stood up beside him and kicked Deputy General Wang Lihui to the ground before bowing to Mei Fei and saying, "Father, it’s just that Zhang San got lucky this time that he didn’t encounter any real experts from Tujue. If he had, how could he have returned alive? Don’t worry, Zhang San won’t be so lucky next time."

Mei Fei let out a sigh of relief and nodded slightly, "Indeed, his capabilities are just so-so. Such small fry can’t cause a stir."

Mei Fei said this and took the bowl he had slammed on the table, scraping the rice back into it, ready to continue eating.

"Quick! Help your Uncle Wang up. Don’t be disrespectful."

Mei Wu then helped the fallen Wang Lihui to his feet, smiling as he said, "Uncle Wang, I was just overly concerned for my father just now, please don’t be upset!"

Wang Lihui shook his head, "It’s alright. It’s just that I also found out Zhang San didn’t only bring back fifty to sixty thousand cattle and sheep, but also over a thousand Tujue people, and more than five thousand horses. Of all those horses, I’m afraid well over half could be used as war horses. Zhang San’s military achievements this time must be substantial!"

Bang!

Mei Fei, who had just ladled rice from the table onto his bowl, slammed the rice back onto the table, his face contorted with anger.

Seeing his grandfather enraged, Mei Wu gave Wang Lihui another kick.

"It’s all your fault! Why bring that up? Now you’ve made my granddad angry!"

Wang Lihui looked helplessly at the mercurial Mei Wu.

...

Meanwhile, Zhang San, who had made a tidy profit, entered Changsun Bubai’s Central Army tent, peering at Changsun Bubai with a sly, gleeful smile.

Changsun Bubai glanced at Zhang San and said coldly, "Judging by that look on your face, you’re up to no good. Spit it out!"

Zhang San sidled up to Changsun Bubai and asked with a smile, "If I hand over all these five thousand-plus horses, how much merit would I get?"

Changsun Bubai, somewhat curious, gazed at Zhang San and inquired, "How much merit do you think you should get?"

Zhang San mulled it over and asked curiously, "Would it really be a problem if you made me a deputy general?"

The deputy general standing by raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.

What’s this about? Is he coming for me?

"Dream on. You won’t last long in this Northern Boundary Army. You becoming my deputy? I’d rather be your deputy. But let’s get one thing straight—of those horses you brought back, less than three thousand are fit to be warhorses, the rest are only fit for hauling cargo."

Having said that, Changsun Bubai looked over at Zhang San and asked, "What sort of great achievement did Kaihuang say you were supposed to accomplish when you first came here?"

"How did you know Kaihuang discussed with me what kind of accomplishment I was supposed to achieve?"

Changsun Bubai let out a cold laugh and did not answer Zhang San’s question.

Zhang San said in a low voice, "Kaihuang said that if I could stir up turmoil within the Tujue, that would be a success."

Changsun Bubai’s eyebrows furrowed slightly; indeed, that was also his own thought, considering the Tujue were too powerful at the moment.

If the Tujue could be incited to chaos within, then everything would become much easier.

"Speaking of which, I do indeed know a lot about the internal situation of the Tujue. After all, I lived there for over a year. Only..."

Zhang San curiously asked, "Only what?"

"Only that, lately, I’ve found my war steeds seem to have aged. Moreover, the military’s pay and provisions should have already reached the Longyun Path, but knowing Mei Fei as I do, who knows when they’ll actually be delivered to us, and how much will be skimmed off the top."

Zhang San understood; this was all preparation for shaking him down.

"I have handed over all those horses to the state, surely you wouldn’t still ask me for something? Here’s what I’ll do, I’ll split two thousand oxen and sheep with you. That’s not a small number—I only managed to obtain two thousand in total on my last trip."

Changsun Bubai nodded reluctantly, giving off a mildly inconvenienced air.

He glanced at the deputy general beside him.

The deputy general understood Changsun Bubai’s intention and turned to leave the Central Army tent first.

"Come back! I told you to fetch me a map, where are you off to?"

The deputy general realized he had misunderstood and quickly went to a chest to find a map for Zhang San.

"Zhang San, this is a major secret; I haven’t even told my own son!"

Zhang San glared and retorted angrily, "How about I call you ’Dad’ then? Give me back those two thousand oxen and sheep!"

"You see! This mutually beneficial deal, and now we’re even becoming relatives. Come on, let’s look at the map!"