Chapter Forty-Four

  Watching her leave, Tang Yin didn't come back to his senses until a while later. He turned his head to look at the others and it was clear that they had just discovered that Ai Jia was a woman. Their eyes showed surprise and unconsciously revealed intense interest.

  Tang Yin tapped his forehead and said, "Wait a minute."

  Ai Jia stopped in her tracks, turned halfway around and asked: "Is there anything else, General Tang?"

  "You stay for now. But let's get the ugly words out of the way first, here with me, I won't give special treatment to anyone, whether they're male or female." Tang Yin didn't think much of Ai Jia, but he suddenly remembered a common saying, "Men and women working together, work is not tiring", keeping Ai Jia as just a decoration might be worth trying, after all, there were too many vacant positions in the Second Battalion right now.

  Ai Jia turned around and said seriously: "I don't need General Tang to take special care of me, I just hope that General Tang can treat me equally."

  "Very good." Tang Yin was very satisfied with Ai Jia's attitude, nodded and waved his hand, saying: "Please come back and sit down!"

  After Ai Jia sat down, he slowly said: "Everyone is a person I carefully selected, and your future positions must also be counted in your hearts. I don't care about your background or family, here, I will treat you equally." As he spoke, he looked at Ai Jia for a moment, then continued: "My principle is simple, survival of the fittest, those who are capable rise, and those who are not fall. Now that the second army is reorganized, I hope you can work together with me to build a strong military team, don't let me down, and don't make me feel that my judgment today is wrong!"

  "General Tang, rest assured, we will go all out!" Li Wei, Liu Zhongsheng, Chen Fang and Ai Jia stood up one after another and responded in unison.

  Tang Yin smiled and looked around at the crowd, paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Gu Yue, I appoint you as the first thousand-man commander of the First Army of the Second Legion."

  After he finished speaking, Gu Yue sat in the chair for a long time without reacting.

  He knew Tang Yin wanted him to work for him, but he didn't expect to be given the position of Qian Fu Zhang.

  Qiu Zhenqing, who was sitting next to him, cleared her throat and nudged him with her elbow, smiling softly: "Tang Da Ge has promoted you to Qian Fu Zhang, what are you still spacing out for?"

  Gu Yue came back to his senses and stuttered: "Tang... General Tang..."

  "What? You don't accept?" Tang Yin looked at him with a smile.

  "No, no, no!" Gu Yue was previously just a team leader, now he has become a commander of thousands, how could he not accept it. He shook his head and said seriously: "Thank you General Tang, subordinate acknowledges the order!"

  Tang Yin continued: "Le Tian, I appoint you as the second battalion's second array thousand husband; Li Wei, I appoint you as the second battalion's third array thousand husband; Liu Zhongsheng, I appoint you as the second battalion's fourth array thousand husband; Chen Fang, I appoint you as the second battalion's fifth array thousand husband; Ai Jia, I appoint you as the second battalion's sixth array thousand husband. And," he said, looking at Qiu Zhen with a half-joking tone, "Qiu Zhen, can you accept the position of deputy battalion commander?"

  Although he had expected it, Qiu Zhen's heart still skipped a beat, and his body involuntarily trembled slightly. He joined the army just for this day, to rise to prominence on this day. Now even more proof that his decision to assist Tang Yin was the most correct one.

  He sniffed his nose, suppressing the excitement, bowed and forced a smile on his face, but his voice was still a bit hoarse, saying: "Thank you, General Tang!" He understood the situation well, in this public occasion, he couldn't call Tang Yin as Big Brother Tang again, it would be too informal.

  "Actually, I should thank you instead!" Tang Yin said in a low tone.

  He was able to stay in the army thanks to Qiu Zhen's crucial role, if it wasn't for Qiu Zhen's persuasion, he wouldn't know where he would have run off to by now.

  Qiu Zhen, Gu Yue, Le Tian, Li Wei, Liu Zhongsheng, Chen Fang and Ai Jia were the first batch of trusted followers promoted by Tang Yin. Later, these people also became Tang Yin's most loyal followers and basically formed the core backbone of Tang Yin's forces.

  That evening, at the invitation of Wu Mei, Tang Yin brought only Qiu Zhen to attend a banquet at Wu's residence.

  The State of Wind sent troops to the State of Ning, but suffered a disastrous defeat. Although the Dancer was one of the main combatants, compared to the Zi Yang family, they were much luckier and did not receive too much blame. The King of Wind still valued and trusted the Dancer very much.

  The Wu family is one of the four major families in Fengguo, with many guests and great power. When they hold a banquet, almost all the famous families in the city will send someone to attend.

  In front of the government office, there are numerous carriages and horses, with people packed in like sardines.

  When Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen arrived, the street was almost filled with luxurious carriages, and few of those who came to attend the dinner party had come on horseback like them.

  He and Qiu Zhen looked at each other and smiled, both dismounted their horses, tied the reins to the horse pillar, and walked towards the mansion.

  As soon as they arrived at the gate, before entering, the two were stopped by the gatekeeper.

  The captain of the guards looked at them for a few moments and asked in a cold voice: "Do you two have an invitation?"

  Only Mei invited Tang Yin to attend the banquet and did not give him any invitation letter. He shook his head and said, "There is no invitation."

  "Sorry, I can't let both of you in."

  Tang Yin raised an eyebrow, just about to speak, when Wu Mei hurried out of the door and said coldly to the leader of the guards, "They are my invited guests, why block them?"

  The leader of the guards saw Wu Mei and his body suddenly shook, hastily saluting: "It turns out to be the young lady's guest, I didn't know, please forgive me, young lady."

  She no longer paid attention to him, her eyes wandered and fell on Tang Yin, she smiled sweetly and said softly: "Tang Yin, come in with me!"

  "Thanks for your trouble, young lady!" Tang Yin said in a tone similar to that of the captain of the guards.

  "Oh! You're quite sweet when you're called out!" Mei laughed coquettishly.

  Before they knew it, the two had already entered the mansion.

  Outside the mansion, there were many people, but inside, there were even more. High-ranking officials and nobles were too numerous to count. Servants wove in and out of the crowd, delivering wine and dishes, creating a lively atmosphere.

  Wu Mei led Tang Yin directly to the innermost part of the mansion, and as they passed by, people would occasionally stand up to greet Wu Mei, while more often, men would cast fiery glances at her.

  It wasn't until then that Tang Yin discovered how popular Wu Mei was.

  With her enchanting appearance and the way she handled things, he felt that she was not suitable for serving in the military, but rather more suited to being a socialite, letting her attend to men, and probably no one would be able to resist her charm.

  The main hall of the Wu Fu.

  A majestic middle-aged man with a dignified appearance was surrounded by the crowd like stars and moons. Wu Mei led Tang Yin to break through the crowd, walked up to the middle-aged man, and spoke in a rare respectful tone, with a hint of spoiledness, saying: "Father, this is Tang Yin, General Tang!"

  "Ah?" The middle-aged man turned around, his piercing tiger eyes staring straight at Tang Yin.

  He was sizing up Tang Yin, who was also sizing him up.

  It turns out that this is the master of the Wu family, Wu Yu.

  "Belonging under Tang Yin, see Wu Xiang." Wu Yu was the Right Chancellor of Feng Guo, and Wu Xiang was a respectful title for him.

  "Haha! I've heard of General Tang for a long time, and today I finally get to see him. Indeed, he has an extraordinary air about him, a true talent!" Just as Wu Mei said, Wu Yu was warm and approachable, without any pretenses, making people naturally feel a sense of closeness to him.

  "You're too polite, I don't dare accept." Tang Yin responded with a courteous phrase.

  "Ah?" Wu Yu waved her hand and smiled: "If it weren't for General Tang, I'm afraid I'd still be trapped in the east of the river, unable to escape!"

  Tang Yin didn't take credit, looking elegant and refined, calmly said: "That's all thanks to General Wu's superior strategy and command, the subordinates just followed General Wu's orders."

  To others, it sounded like he was praising Mei, but only Mei could detect the sarcasm and ridicule in his words.

  This narrow-minded Tang Yin still can't forget about this matter! Wu Mei secretly gave him a big white eye. She herself understood that letting Tang Yin be the bait in the past was too despicable, but after all, it's already a thing of the past. If it were now, she would never let Tang Yin take such a risk again.

  Wu Yun was naturally unable to hear the other layer of meaning in Tang Yin's words, and thought that although Tang Yin was young, he did not take credit for himself, but instead was deeply aware of the situation, which was truly rare.

  He didn't originally want Mei to be too close to Tang Yin, but after seeing him today, he changed his mind a bit.

  He burst out laughing and seemed very pleased with Tang Yin, saying: "Here, General Tang doesn't need to be polite. Whatever you need, just order the servants below."

  "Yes, let's dance!"

  Due to the large number of guests, Yu could not talk much with Tang Yin, and after a few simple conversations, he went to entertain other guests.

  Yu Qian's front foot had just left when Yu Mei let out a few hums beside Tang Yin without being polite.

  Tang Yin naturally knew what she was dissatisfied with and smiled: "What's wrong? Toothache?"

  She was so angry that her teeth ached. She gritted her teeth and asked in a low voice, "What did you mean by what you just said?"

  Tang Yin laughed and said: "Of course I'm praising you, letting you save face in front of everyone!"

  "Don't think I don't understand what you're getting at."

  "What did I mean?"

  "You're teasing me, mocking me..."

  "That's what you said, but it's not what I said."

  "You... you damned guy!"

  "Haha——" Tang Yin burst out laughing. Even he himself hadn't realized that now, when he was with Wu Mei, the number of times he laughed was almost more than the total number of times he had laughed in his entire life, and he had even learned to banter.

  The banquet wasn't as boring as Tang Yin had imagined, of course, having Mei dance by his side was an important factor.

  Those envious glances flying in from all directions didn't make Tang Yin feel uncomfortable, but rather delighted him, making him feel extremely pleased.

  His personality and way of thinking have always been different from those of ordinary people.

  When the banquet ended, it was already the third watch of the night.

  Mo Yan personally saw Tang Yin and Qiu Zhen off as they left.

  When they were about to part ways, she suddenly remembered something and said seriously: "Right, I've already found the other four thousand husbands for you, I'll bring them to your place tomorrow."

  "Thank you." Tang Yin waved his hand in gratitude and bid farewell to Wu Mei before leaving with Qiu Zhen.