Chapter 556: Chapter 556: Set Up Qin Er Lang
Gu Jinli laughed upon hearing this: "Your dad is really adorable."
Adorable?
Qin San Lang thought about his dad’s bearded face, tall and strong physique, rolling up his sleeves, with his robe hanging by his waist, carrying a big saber and yelling at the three of them brothers, and couldn’t help but shake his head. His dad is a hero, but has nothing to do with being adorable.
Gu Jinli, seeing him shake his head and even shivering a bit, couldn’t help but laugh again, then said: "For the food, just write down as much as you can remember, list down the medicines and food your dad had before his health declined, and give it to me to examine."
"Alright," Qin San Lang nodded, but added: "There’s too much, and it’s been a long time, it might take a while to write it down."
Gu Jinli: "No rush, just give it to me when you’re done."
Qin San Lang nodded, escorted Gu Jinli to the guesthouse, and then said to her: "I need to go out for a bit, I might be back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, don’t worry about me. If there’s anything inconvenient for you to handle, just wait until I return."
These few days the Prefecture garrison has been training at night, he will surely be pulled in for training if he goes tonight, it would be good enough if he could come back tomorrow.
Gu Jinli asked: "Where are you going in the dead of night?"
Qin San Lang smiled and said: "I’m going to the military camp outside the city to find General Guo. Uncle Jiang Qi is leading a group from the Military Office for training there, Er Lang and I got injured and were exempted from it, but now that I’ve arrived in the Prefecture, I must visit, otherwise, people will say I lack manners."
He has another purpose for going to the military camp. Er Lang is overdoing it, actually wanting to leverage his achievements from bandit suppression to directly transfer to Yangji Prefecture. If he goes to Yangji Prefecture under the identity of Qin Er Lang, once trouble arises, the families at the village end would definitely be considered as conspirators and will be executed by the court.
He must make a trip to the military camp outside the city to get General Guo to change Er Lang’s transfer order to Central State, then fake Er Lang’s death. Afterward, without the identity of Qin Er Lang, no matter what commotion he stirs up in Yangji Prefecture, the court will not trace it back to the families, and they can avoid the misfortune of being killed.
Gu Jinli guessed that he had other purposes for going to the military camp, but she did not ask, only saying: "Can you even enter the military camp at this hour? The guards are very strict, and since you’re not part of the Prefecture garrison, what if someone shoots you with arrows?"
Hearing the concern in her voice, Qin San Lang felt happy and smiled: "Don’t worry, I know the secret signals of the Prefecture garrison, and Deputy General Lan even gave me a small flag. I won’t be shot by random arrows and can safely enter."
Reassured upon hearing this, Gu Jinli finally said: "Then go, and I’ll wait until you return before going home."
"Alright." Qin San Lang watched Gu Jinli enter the courtyard, closed the door for her, then turned and left, relying on the small flag given by Deputy General Lan to exit the city and dash to the military camp outside.
Deputy General Lan was very pleased to see him, pulling him to join the night training.
It was an eye-opening night, full of combat and stealth games, including crossing rivers and scaling cliffs, exhausting everyone.
Qin San Lang was physically strong, though tired, he did not collapse.
Deputy General Lan saw him and said to Jiang Qi: "Is this kid a bull? His body is too strong, he doesn’t seem tired at all."
Jiang Qi said: "The brothers have practiced martial arts since they were young, their dad and uncle are soldiers, and trained them as soon as they returned home, they are already familiar with these military tricks, how could they be tired?"
Hearing them mention Qin Er Lang, Qin San Lang said: "Uncle Lan, there’s a favor I want to ask from you..."
"It’s about your Er Lang, isn’t it?" His words were only halfway out when Deputy General Lan interrupted: "You don’t want your Er Lang to go to Yangji Prefecture? Yangji Prefecture, despite being remote and harsher than here, is the place where soldiers can achieve accomplishments. In a peaceful place, you could stay for ten years and achieve nothing."
"He said again, ’Your second brother is an ambitious man; Yangji Prefecture suits him.’"
"Inside his words, there was support for Qin Er Lang, feeling that young people should indeed go out and carve their path. If he himself were ten years younger, he definitely wouldn’t be nesting here, but would head to Yangji Prefecture, or even go to the Northwest, to fight against the Da Rong people."
"Qin San Lang had long expected that Deputy General Lan would support Qin Er Lang. He said, ’The young lad also hopes that second brother can fulfill his aspirations. But grandpa has already lost several sons; now only my second brother and I are left... During this period when we brothers returned home, we found that grandpa has aged a lot; his eyesight isn’t good anymore. It’s not just in the dark, even during the daytime when there’s heavy rain and the sky darkens, the house needs to be lit for grandpa to see anything.’"
"Not long ago, Uncle Lan wrote to ask why I didn’t venture eastward. This is the reason. I don’t want grandpa to be so old and still have no descendants by his side; it’s too desolate."
"Qin San Lang pleaded again, ’Uncle Lan, consider this young one selfish, but please help me out. Don’t let second brother go as far as Yangji Prefecture; let him go to Jiangnan or Central State instead, so if something happens to grandpa... second brother could still make it back to see him one last time.’"
"He added, ’After grandpa passes away a hundred years from now, second brother can go wherever he wishes, and I absolutely won’t stop him.’"
"So genuine and heartfelt!"
"His words moved Deputy General Lan, reminding him of his own old father. Being far away in the army, he had not been able to make it home to see his father for the last time, which became a lifelong regret."
"Deputy General Lan agreed, ’Alright, I’ll take care of this for you.’"
"He then praised him, ’You are a filial lad, knowing how to care for your grandpa. Although your grandpa has lost your father and your uncle, having a grandson like you to care for him makes his life worthwhile.’"
"Deputy General Lan, being General Guo’s confidant and a straightforward man, didn’t even sleep after breakfast and went straight to see General Guo, explaining the situation and requested him to change Qin Er Lang’s orders from Yangji Prefecture to Central State."
"General Guo laughed, ’Qin San Lang is really setting up Qin Er Lang, isn’t he afraid that when he gets back, Qin Er Lang will fight him to the death?’"
"Deputy General Lan said proudly, ’San Lang is better at fighting than Er Lang; even if Er Lang is angry, he still can’t beat him. You don’t have to worry.’"
"General Guo pointed at him and said, ’You seem to like Qin San Lang quite a bit. What, do you want to recruit him into your troops?’"
"Deputy General Lan responded, ’Such a top-notch talent, wouldn’t you, General, want him too?’"
"He had had his eye on him for a while."
"However, General Guo shook his head, ’He is a fine talent, indeed, but too fine; our place can’t accommodate him. The brothers carry a heavy blade energy; they are suited for the border army where they can gain experience. Here, they would be buried.’"
"Without a major war, how can they establish achievements through merely wiping out bandits? It would take ten years to encounter such an event."
"The Qin brothers are born to be in the military; stuck in the south, they would at most become company commanders. In the border army, they would have the chance to become generals."
"Upon hearing this, Deputy General Lan felt a pang of loss but knew that General Guo was right. He could no longer insist on keeping Qin San Lang in the Prefecture garrison army and asked General Guo, ’Anyway, will you help with Qin Er Lang’s matter?’"
"General Guo replied, ’Elder Qin’s sons died on the battlefield. In his old age, it’s only right that he has a grandson at his side. Let’s change it.’"
"Thus, Qin Er Lang’s meticulously planned venture was thwarted by Qin San Lang."