Chapter 8: Exposure

"Young Master Wang, Young Master Wang?" The black man's voice pulled Wang Yang back to reality.

"May I ask the young master, what is the meaning of this Yongming era name?" the black man asked.

Ding Jiu yawned, thinking to himself, you poor soldier family for eight generations, you really studied knowledge?

What does the era name mean and what does it have to do with you? You're still asking! Besides, Yongming is only two characters, can he explain it into a flower?

Wang Yang was in a gloomy mood and said casually: "Forever bright."

Black Man: "So that's it." The tone was slightly disappointed.

Ding Jiu gave a "hehe" in his heart: Sure enough, he didn't say anything either.

The surroundings were quiet, and Wang Yang immediately realized that he was still impersonating the Langya Wang clan. Details determine success or failure, so he couldn't be careless, so he cleared his throat and said:

"The 'Book of Songs' says 'Bright and brilliant, high and bright, good end.' And says 'Gentleman for ten thousand years, forever bestowing blessings.' 'Songs of Chu: Summoning the Soul' says: 'Orchid paste bright candle, gorgeous appearance prepared.' Therefore, the ancients held candles to travel, thinking of the eternal night."

The black man and Ding Jiu were stunned.

"All joy, none do not hope for longevity; all light, none do not think of eternal distance. Therefore, the drinking of the long night is endless, and the blessings of ten thousand years fill the ears. The so-called 'Yongming' is actually the meaning of the gentleman's blessing, hoping that my Southern... cough cough... hoping that our Great Qi's bright virtue is brilliant, and enjoy the world forever!"

Wang Yang was excited about quoting books, and almost called the current dynasty "Southern Qi." But "Southern Qi" was a later name, and at this time, the Southern Dynasty, which considered itself orthodox, would never add the word "Southern" before the country name.

Fortunately, Wang Yang reacted in time, otherwise, even if he didn't expose his bottom, it would be a crime of disrespect.

Wang Yang quoted classics and pulled a lot, and the black man's eyes lit up, bowing his head: "The young master is knowledgeable, it really opened the little one's eyes!"

Ding Jiu, although somewhat unhappy with Wang Yang's previous "short-exposing," didn't want to miss this opportunity to flatter, so he hurriedly knelt and clasped his fists, blowing: "The young master is so powerful! Full of knowledge, every word is an article!"

Just then, a rush of footsteps came, and twenty or so people walked quickly, torches swaying in the night.

Wang Yang's heart jumped: They're here!

The leader was a bearded man, still not wearing the armor often seen in ancient costume dramas, but wearing a wide-sleeved robe reaching the knees, the hem looking like a skirt, and a small crown on his head.

This outfit was a bit neither fish nor fowl if looked at with modern eyes, really not matching the soldiers. But in fact, wearing robes in the army was very common in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. As for the small crown on the head, also known as "flat towel," this shape was often seen in TV dramas set in the pre-Qin period.

This person looked at Wang Yang while walking, and Wang Yang found that there was no awe in this person's eyes.

Wang Yang waited for the person to approach, and before he could speak, he grabbed the water bag with his right hand and smashed it at his face!

The change was sudden!

That person was obviously unprepared, hurriedly dodged backward, and the water bag fell to the ground and exploded!

The soldiers were all stunned, Wang Yang stood up, and scolded him head-on:

"How do you lead your troops! The Emperor had an imperial edict early on: 'Border defense should be heavy, patrols must be strict!' Northern spies lived in your jurisdiction for two days, and you didn't even know it! Do you take the Emperor's words as a breeze in your ears?!"

That person was splashed with water and anger rose in his heart, just about to flare up, when he suddenly heard Wang Yang mention the Emperor's imperial edict, and stood stunned.

He was a small military officer, where had he heard any imperial edict? Hearing the last question, his heart was panicked!

Taking the Emperor's words as a breeze in the ears, he couldn't afford this crime at all! He immediately knelt on one knee: "The little one doesn't dare! The little one didn't know!"

The so-called imperial edict of the Emperor was, of course, fabricated by Wang Yang.

He saw that this person was aggressive and feared it would be difficult to deal with. So he brought out the Emperor, put on a hat, and took the initiative.

Wang Yang gave a hum: "Consider yourself lucky. If it weren't for your men killing the spies and saving this young master, you wouldn't be able to afford it even if you had ten lives! But after all, the northern spies are dead, so I won't pursue this matter."

"Thank you, young master, for your magnanimity!" That person hurriedly thanked him, and then suddenly felt something was wrong.

Wang Yang didn't give him time to react, walked to him, and continued to scold:

"I'll ask you again! You knew I was here, why did you come late?! You didn't even bring a horse when you came! Don't you want me to walk? Do you not put my Langya Wang clan in your eyes?"

The squad leader was a grassroots military officer in the army at that time, with dozens to hundreds of people in each team. Generally speaking, an infantry team had fifty people, while a cavalry team had thirty people.

Strictly speaking, the squad leader was not an official, because he didn't even have a rank, barely a low-level military position.

If he worked under a powerful person, his status would naturally be different. But like Squad Leader Xue, who had no roots and no foundation and guarded in the wilderness, there were as many as shrimps in the country. Not to mention the Langya Wang clan didn't dare to offend, even any aristocratic family, losing a hair was thicker than his waist.

Squad Leader Xue was terrified: "Don't dare, don't dare! How could the little one neglect the young master? It's just that there are no horses in the camp, the little one is really powerless!"

In the aristocratic society, status was judged by the nobility of the surname. Regardless of whether the Langya Wang clan was an official or not, any common surname had to call himself "little one" when meeting them. The Jiangnan aristocratic families had few horses, and the war was mainly infantry, with a very low proportion of cavalry. Sometimes a combat force of tens of thousands of people could only be equipped with hundreds of cavalry, which was really not a scale. Wang Yang saw that Squad Leader Xue didn't even ride a horse, so he had already guessed the reason. So he just deliberately found an excuse to question him, to scare his heart. If Squad Leader Xue really found a horse, he would have to think of an excuse. After all, he didn't know how to ride a horse.

Wang Yang said coldly: "What is your surname? What is your name? Which year and month did you become a squad leader?"

"The humble position is surnamed Xue, named Ling, promoted to squad leader in the sixth year of Yongming, April."

"Do you know how many years you have been a squad leader?"

"Know, know. There are still ten days, exactly two years."

Wang Yang finally found out the current time: April, the eighth year of Yongming!

He said coldly: "It's a pity you still know you have been a squad leader for two years. This is me, if it were my clan brother, he would directly find a crime to deal with you. At that time, you wouldn't even know how you died."

"Yes, yes, yes." Squad Leader Xue's back felt cold, and he only kept saying yes. He had never seen a high-ranking noble from a high family like Wang, Xie, Yuan, or Xiao in his life, and just imagined that what Wang Yang said was very likely to happen. After all, in the eyes of these nobles, his life was probably like grass.

"However, after all, your men saved me, and I am not a person who doesn't repay kindness. Alright, get up. I'm tired, find a place for me to rest."

Squad Leader Xue was like receiving an amnesty, and hurriedly took Wang Yang back to the camp. The more he thought about it on the way, the more wrong it felt. He came to ask about the details and then identify the truth, how come he didn't ask a word, but was "questioned" by him instead?!

Looking at this person's eloquence and majesty, it didn't seem like he was impersonating. Not to mention anything else, just the sentence in the Emperor's imperial edict, even if he read it word by word, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to read it smoothly. This little young master could say it as soon as he opened his mouth, so there must be some way.

Besides, if he were really fake, he would definitely want to find a way to escape, or think of an excuse to transfer himself away from these soldiers. But he followed them back to the camp so boldly, it didn't look like he was guilty at all.

Better wait for Wang Wenshu to return to the camp. After all, this old guy has read books, see if he can see any clues.

In fact, Wang Yang didn't want to leave?

He even thought about directly scolding Squad Leader Xue and not letting them follow him. But in this way, Squad Leader Xue would definitely be suspicious! In order to stabilize him, he had to follow him back to the camp first, and then think of a way later.

The night was cool like water.

Inside the camp tent, Wang Wenshu and Squad Leader Xue sat behind a tattered table, and the squad leader stood in front of the table, bowing and saying something.

"Wait, say it again, what official position did he say his second uncle held?" Wang Wenshu leaned forward.

The squad leader tried hard to recall: "Seems to be Cavalier... what attendant?"

"Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary?"

"Oh right, a bit like."

"A bit like?" Wang Wenshu frowned.

"Seems... seems to be this." The squad leader's eyes gradually became firm.

"Can you be sure?" Wang Wenshu stared at the squad leader.

The squad leader nodded: "Almost."

"What's wrong? Did you find something?" Squad Leader Xue asked nervously.

Wang Wenshu stared and didn't answer, then said to the squad leader: "You go down first."

The squad leader saluted and exited the tent.

Squad Leader Xue said anxiously: "If you see something, say it! Do you want to kill me?"

Wang Wenshu's gaze was fixed: "This person should be an impersonator!"

"Ah!" Squad Leader Xue stood up suddenly, his eyes widened: "Are you serious?!"

"Would I joke about this kind of thing? I just came back from the prefecture, and the current Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary is the Prince of Nanping, concurrently holding the position of General of the Cavalry, Xiao Rui. It's not the Langya Wang clan at all!"

Bang!

Squad Leader Xue kicked over the table.

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Note: The term "Your Majesty" was already widely used during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. For example, in Yan Yanni's *Eulogy for Assistant Yang*, it says: "Your Majesty mourns with grace, thinking of bestowing special favor." In Sima Jiong's *Reply to the Letter of the Princes and Nobles*, it says: "Having respectfully read Your Majesty's decree, the principles are subtle and the language is refined, reaching the depths of profundity." The Northern Dynasties were the same. In the *Book of Wei · Biography of Yuan Fan*, a memorial states: "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne with wisdom, the influence has been far-reaching..." In Du Bi of Northern Qi's *Manifesto to Liang*, it says: "Your Majesty holds the mandate and receives the chart, looking down from heaven like a mirror..." It is because the Han Dynasty often used "Above" as a substitute for the Son of Heaven, and ancient times had the theory of the Three Sovereigns; "Sovereign" was often used together with "Heaven" and "Emperor" in ancient texts, thus the term "Your Majesty" appeared.