Chapter 42: The Imperial Family of Huáng Fǔ in the Great State of Yàn

  "How are you two brothers?" Ding Heng hastily greeted them.

  "Under the vast sky, there isn't a person born yet who can harm me, Huangfu Jie. Ding Heng, you've spoken utter nonsense!" The handsome blond youth chuckled.

  "Really, Ding Heng? I heard that a few days ago, if it weren't for my sister, you would have almost been done in?" The handsome silver-haired youth also laughed and said, "A big grown man, still needs to rely on a woman's protection to survive, don't you know shame?"

  "Yes, although I also dislike you, Huang Fu Jian, but today, you finally said something that makes sense!" Huang Jie nodded in agreement, completely disregarding the angry glare from Huang Fu Jian.

  It's obvious that although they are brothers, they don't get along with each other at all.

  "You two are really good at joking!" Ding Heng's face suddenly turned bright red. A man, no matter how he is, would feel extremely embarrassed if he had to rely on a woman to save his life.

  "Huangfu Jie, Huangfu Jun, you two scoundrels, don't you dare bully Ding Heng! Grandfather, why don't you say something to these two rascals?" Seeing her beloved being ridiculed, Huangfu Yan's beautiful face turned straight up in anger. Her furious gaze was like a cold sharp blade, piercing Huangfu Jie and Huangfu Jun.

  "Jie er, Jun er, you two little rascals, don't be presumptuous! Get back immediately!" The stern old man shouted loudly. It was clear that Huangfu Yanran held a very high position in the old man's mind.

  "Yes, Grandfather!" Huang Fu Jie and Huang Fu Jun reluctantly lowered their heads. No choice, who let this ghost girl be the grandfather's most beloved granddaughter?

  "Ding Heng, don't bother with these two useless grandsons of mine!" The old man looked at Ding Heng again, putting on a smiling face once more. The old man's gaze towards Ding Heng couldn't hide his admiring expression.

  "Imperial Teacher, you're being too serious! How dare I, Ding Heng?" After regaining his composure, Ding Heng smiled candidly. "Both of my elder brothers are exceptional in both character and talent, the crème de la crème among people. If Imperial Teacher says they're not up to par, wouldn't that make someone as mediocre as myself feel ashamed?"

  "Not bad, Ding Heng, although your strength is quite lacking, but you still have an eye for people!" Facing Ding Heng's flattery, Huang Fu Jun accepted it without any courtesy.

  "But in your opinion, who is more outstanding between me and Huang Fu Jie?" Huang Fu Jun suddenly asked.

  "Yes, Ding Heng, who do you think is more excellent between me and Huang Fu Jun?" Huang Jie also chimed in.

  "Two brothers are really good at joking!" Ding Heng could only smile wryly and shake his head, how was he supposed to respond to this kind of talk?

  "No way, Ding Heng. If you don't speak up today, I'll never let you off the hook!" Huang Fu Jun would not let Ding Heng off so easily. He wanted to use Ding Heng to prove to that scoundrel Huang Jie that he was far superior to him.

  "Yes, Ding Heng, if you don't come up with a convincing result today, I won't let you off the hook." Huang Fu Jie was also unyielding. Similarly, he himself didn't think highly of his own brother either.

  "Get out!" The majestic old man shouted again, and finally fell silent.

  "Ding Heng, I won't beat around the bush in front of you either. I'll ask you straight out: do you know anything about the barbarian tribes?" The stern old man put on a smiling face once again.

  "The national teacher smiled and said, 'In the future, everything will be forgotten, but I will not forget those barbarian tribes that are worse than beasts.' Those brutal invaders, Ding Heng will never forgive them." As soon as he mentioned the barbarian tribes, a look of disgust appeared on Ding Heng's face.

  The Barbarian Tribe, located in the extremely cold northern border of the Great Yan Empire, is also the empire's greatest enemy. The Barbarian Tribe, although vast in territory, mostly consists of barren and impoverished lands with scarce resources. However, the people of the tribe are sparse in population but individually robust and ferocious, having repeatedly provoked wars with the Great Yan Empire due to their envy of its wealth and prosperity. Countless soldiers and civilians of the empire have fallen at the hands of the Barbarian Tribe. It can be said without exaggeration that there is a deep-seated blood feud between the Great Yan Empire and the Barbarian Tribe, with each side harboring an unrelenting hatred for the other.

  "I also want to completely eliminate these invaders, so that the people can live a peaceful and happy life. But the Great Yan State is not stable either, with bandits running amok everywhere, making the people miserable. Ding Heng, you must know that to repel external threats, we must first stabilize internally. If we cannot get rid of these bandits, we will have no way to deal with those ferocious barbarians!" The stern old man sighed.

  "The national teacher ordered, how dare Ding Heng disobey!" In Ding Heng's heart, a surge of hot blood boiled.

  "So! Ting Heng, you're intelligent and have a strong sense of justice. I hope you can help me out. Help me get rid of these bandits that are running amok within the borders of Yan Kingdom!" The old man's face turned stern, "I've also heard about what happened here. Since Gao Yi is dead, the position of General is now vacant. I plan to recommend you to His Majesty as the new General, with the power to recruit and train soldiers on your own!"

  "I think this small request, Your Majesty should not refuse me!" The old man's smiling words revealed boundless self-confidence.

  "Great, Ding Heng!" Huang Fu Yanran was overjoyed. She had originally wanted to beg her grandfather to promote Ding Heng to General. But unexpectedly, before she even opened her mouth, her grandfather had already agreed.

  "Thank you, Master Guo!" Ding Heng was overjoyed. At this time, he was in the prime of his youth, eager to pursue power and fame, and make a name for himself. And Master Guo had given him the opportunity to do just that, to make a name that would be remembered for centuries. If he didn't seize it now, he wouldn't deserve to be called Ding Heng.

  "Ding Heng, I hope you can eliminate all the bandits inside and outside the Great Yan Kingdom as soon as possible, bring peace to the world, and give the people a clear sky!" The old man said with a smile.

  "After that, we will have enough energy to deal with these ferocious barbarians and completely solve this major threat to the Great Yan State, giving the people a truly peaceful and happy life. Ding Heng, do you have confidence?"

  "Reporting to the national teacher, eliminating bandits and bringing fortune to the people is a matter that Ding Hengyi cannot shirk. Ding Heng dares not be remiss, it's just..." Ding Heng furrowed his brow and stopped speaking. The bandits of Great Yan have been causing trouble for more than one or two days, and the imperial court has also eliminated them more than once or twice, but with little effect.

  Among them, there are reasons for the bandits to be so fierce, but more importantly, it is because the current Great Yan State does not have a strong army. Such a large country, yet without a single strong army? This is too ridiculous. Although it sounds ridiculous, in the Great Yan State, this is indeed a *naked fact. The army of the Great Yan State has not been paid for three years.

  An army, no matter how strong it is, depends on its supplies for survival. Because people need to eat and live, don't they? Without supplies, even eating and dressing become a problem, let alone supporting their families. Without supplies, soldiers lose their will to fight, and generals lose their heart for battle. Such soldiers, such generals, how can they not be defeated when facing fierce bandits?

  "It's all because of that good-for-nothing Mu Rongyan, he's a complete waste, only knowing how to indulge in pleasures and ignoring the important matters of the court. As a result, corrupt officials are rampant, and even the little taxes collected each year are mostly embezzled by those parasites. Where is the extra money for military salaries? Grandfather, as the current national teacher, you are second only to the emperor. Why don't you just kill those corrupt officials directly?" The one standing beside Ding Heng was Huang Fu Yanran, who snorted in agreement. Ding Heng had some reservations and didn't dare say anything, but this didn't mean that Huang Fu Yanran didn't dare to speak up.

  "You insolent thing, how dare you address His Majesty by name?" The stern old man was furious, glaring at Shangguan Yan.

  "Sorry, Grandpa, granddaughter knows she was wrong!" Huang Fu Yanran stuck out her tongue, not taking her grandfather's furious anger to heart at all.

  "You are all wrong about the Emperor. The Emperor is actually a wise and just ruler, he's just young and likes to have fun!" The old man took a deep breath to calm himself down, "You few people, remember this for me: no matter how much the Emperor likes to have fun, he is still the Emperor. And we as officials, do not have the qualifications to evaluate the Emperor, nor do we have the qualifications to replace the Emperor in handling important court matters. We just need to do our jobs well and absolutely cannot overstep our bounds, otherwise it would be a great sin!"

  "As long as Your Majesty has passed the age of indulgence, you will surely focus your mind. With Your Majesty's intelligence, as long as you work hard to govern and with our assistance, you will surely create a prosperous era where all nations come to pay homage!" The old man was extremely excited by the end.

  "I believe!" Huang Fu Yan still hummed in agreement.

  "Even a soft and stupid guy like Murong Yan can create a prosperous era, don't laugh to death!" Not far away, Huangfu Jie and Huangfu Jun covered their mouths and snickered.

  "You scoundrels! Didn't I tell you to shut up? If I hear you show disrespect to His Majesty again, I won't go easy on you!" the old man bellowed once more.

  Huang Fu Jie and Huang Fu Jun shrank their necks back in, but the expression on their faces that said they didn't think so told everything.

  "Ding Heng, you are the most important person to me. Don't worry about the grain allowance issue anymore. Although I have always been a man of simple means, after all these years of frugal living, I have managed to accumulate some family wealth. For the sake of quelling the internal unrest as soon as possible, I will take it out now!" The old man chuckled and waved his hand.

  "Imperial teacher, how can this be? The army is the pillar of a country and should be supported by the imperial court. How can it rely on the national teacher's personal wealth?" Upon hearing these words, Ding Heng became anxious.

  "What is a country? What is a home? Only with a country can there be a home. For the peace and prosperity of the country, sacrificing some family wealth is nothing! The old man smiled faintly, "Ding Heng, don't refuse anymore. Remember, you can betray me, but you absolutely cannot betray the millions of people of Great Yan!"

  "Your Excellency, I, Ding Heng, am not worthy of such kindness. I will do my utmost to live up to the expectations of the people and not betray your trust." Upon understanding the old man's intentions, Ding Heng was deeply moved to tears.

  The majestic old man was actually named Huangfu Yan, who was the national teacher of the current dynasty and also the contemporary patriarch of the Huangfu clan, one of the four great families that founded the Great Yan Kingdom. As for those two handsome young men with golden hair and silver hair, they were Huangfu Yan's two grandsons, and also the two elder brothers of Huangfu Yannian.

  "Alright, Ding Heng, General Ding, go and do what you should be doing!" Huang Pu Yan looked at the excited Ding Heng with an extremely admiring gaze.

  "Thank you for the imperial grace, thank you for the national teacher's kindness! Ding Heng will now go and do what he should do!" With a surge of emotions, Ding Heng bowed deeply and then strode out with big steps. The National Teacher was so righteous, that even if he were to be torn apart, it would be hard to repay him.

  "Is this kid just going to leave like that?" Seeing Ding Heng walking away with big strides, Huang Fu Jun was stunned.

  "Isn't it hard enough that we have to invite you to dinner?" Huangfu Yan's eyes rolled upwards, and her figure suddenly vanished into thin air.

  "It seems she is determined to be Ding Heng's shadow guard. Huang Fu Yan also let out a long sigh. This child, after all, has grown up. As the ancient saying goes, 'a girl is not allowed to stay at home after marriage!' All my love and care for her have been in vain!"

  "Hmph, that Dīng Héng thinks he can be my brother-in-law? He doesn't even consider whether he's worthy or not!" On the side, Huáng Fù Jiè coldly sneered, "I really don't know why Grandfather values him so much!"

  "Besides being meticulous and impartial, there's one more thing - he's more filial than you two!" Huang Fu Yan also snorted, "He occasionally found out from Yan Ran that I like to drink authentic Huji Apricot Flower Wine from Yunxian County, so he made a mental note. To buy the authentic ones, he takes time off every year and personally goes to Yunxian County to purchase them. Have either of you two ever done something like this?"

  "Grandpa, you like drinking that Guilin wine from Yunxian County, how come I didn't know?" Huangfu Jun was taken aback.

  "Huangfu Jun, you idiot! Grandfather said he likes to drink Xinye County's Ma Ji's apricot flower wine, and you can't even remember that? It's hilarious, hahaha!" Huangfu Jie burst out laughing.

  "Fools, all fools." Huang Pu Yan was about to burst his lungs in anger.

  "Grandpa, don't be angry. If no one is going to entertain us, then we might as well go home!" Huang Fu also burst out laughing loudly. Jia Yuan County Town, such a broken place, even if you ask me, Young Master Huang Fu, to stay for a few more days, it's still up to me whether I'm willing or not.

  "You two fools, do you think I rushed here just to eat a meal? My biggest goal this time is to win back Ding Heng's heart. Do you understand what it means to win back his heart?" Huang Fu Yan was about to be driven mad by these two rough and unrefined grandsons of his.

  "This...this...I really don't understand!" After thinking for a moment, Huangfu Jun and Huangfu Jie said in unison.

  "You... you..." Huang Fu Yan was completely speechless. "Forget it, some things no matter how much I explain to you, you won't understand anyway. Sigh, ever since Yan Ran got to know Ding Heng, she's been spending less and less time with me, and it's getting harder and harder to see her. No choice, looks like this old grandpa will have to linger around here for a couple more days!"

  "Grandfather, you also know that a girl is not allowed to stay at home after coming of age. It's no use being sad about it, but if you have the time, pay more attention to us two brothers and you'll find that compared to that little girl, we two brothers are much better!" said Huangfu Jian and Huangfu Jie without hesitation.

  "Get out! Get out of here!" Huang Fu Yan could no longer hold back his anger.

  Stepping out of the camp, Ding Heng took a deep breath to calm his restless heart. Ding Heng understood that with Guoshi's appreciation, as long as he was willing to work hard, his future prospects would be boundless. Just watch, Master Guoshi, Ding Heng will not disappoint you, nor will he disappoint the people of the world.

  "Again, he's being silly, but I like him this way!" Not far from Ding Heng, Huang Fu Yanran was gazing at him with deep affection. In Huang Fu Yanran's eyes, everything about Ding Heng was perfect and flawless.