Chapter 241: Ornamental Value Decline

As soon as the Great King heard, he knew the matter was settled; as for himself, he definitely had to go.

If he didn't go, there would be no way to communicate with the natives of Youzhou.

Zhu Ti could stay in contact with him at any time in Youzhou, grasping the movements of the Xianbei alliance. Once enemy troops entered Youzhou territory, he himself could see them on the full topographic map. If he didn't go, would he let Zhu Ti lead the army? Anyway, one of them had to go out.

The Great King stood up, arrogantly pointing at the outside of the hall, "Commander Zhang can also do it—go outside and compete with me; whoever wins will lead the troops to attack the Xianbei."

Zhang Tu hurriedly explained, "Your Highness, I have no—"

The Great King cut him off: "It's useless that you don't mean it; the Chancellor has already signed you up."

Minister Xue: ……

Zhang Tu: ……

Zhang Tu looked at Zhao Chuan—was there no one else who wanted to compete for the spot to spar with the Great King? Zhao Chuan began to look at the caisson on the hall's ceiling. The Great King's martial arts were initiated by him; he knew Zhao Chuan's current level better than Zhang Tu's, after all, he had spent more time with the Great King.

The Great King was very impatient; he insisted on settling this today. Before setting out, he ordered: "Hurry up and prepare the provisions; we depart the day after tomorrow. For this campaign, the baggage and provisions are to be managed by Chief Manager Zhu Ti, Officer Wang Lang, you assist."

Upon hearing this, Officer Wang Lang exclaimed, "It's not even been a day yet, and Chief Manager Zhu isn't even in the hall!" He quickly spoke up: "Your Highness, this timing is a bit rushed…"

Your Highness had already risen and walked toward the outside of the hall, paying him no heed.

Officer Wang Lang turned his pleading gaze toward the Chancellor, who only cared about Zhang Tu, asking, "Can you win?"

Zhang Tu wore a look of utter hopelessness: "…It's hard. Your Highness needs Commander Ling to personally guide him daily; his martial arts progress is lightning fast." But he had already passed his growth period; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't improve as quickly as a child.

The Chancellor found it hard to believe: "But he's only nine years old?" He usually avoided suspicion and never took part in the Great King's personal guard and camp affairs, so he had no idea how much the Great King had progressed in the past two years.

Zhang Tu: "…Your Highness has innate divine strength."

Chancellor: ……It's over.

The Great King walked out of the hall and stood still, shouting for Zhao Bao to bring his heavy sword.

Since he wasn't fighting on horseback, the Great King didn't choose his recent favorite wolf-tooth spear as a weapon; to compensate for his small stature as a minor, he opted for the heavy sword when facing adults, to match strength.

The Great King held the heavy sword and took his place in the plaza outside the hall, waving at Zhang Tu; Commander Zhang felt as if he were about to mount the execution platform.

"Your Highness… please show mercy."

Chancellor: ……

The Great King waved his hand, signaling him to hurry.

Court protocol forbade carrying weapons, so Zhang Tu took a spear handed over by a nearby soldier; the Great King had already lifted his astonishingly heavy sword and swung it down. Zhang Tu hastily blocked, and upon contact of the two weapons, he felt his tiger's mouth go numb from the shock.

What kind of child is this, with such tremendous strength!

Fortunately, he didn't have to worry him for long—his spear snapped with a crack…

Almost forgot— the Great King's weapons could be called divine arms; the ordinary spears of the soldiers guarding outside the hall were no match.

The Great King's heavy sword was a top-spec, extravagantly priced custom piece; the standard-issue spears issued to the troops, when facing other weapons, held a superiority, but against the Great King's pay-to-win masterpiece, there was no chance.

Seeing the spear split like that, the Great King felt no regret, pointing at the broken shaft: "Take it to the armory to register for a replacement; this is under warranty—don't send back less than a full piece, okay!"

Zhang Tu: ……

The watching officials fell silent as chickens. Usually a well-behaved child, what is this situation? One chop shattered the spear? Unable to help himself, he clapped for himself, who had previously opposed the Great King at court—truly fearless and unafraid of death! That sword… could split iron, let alone a few people.

Zhang Tu was thinking about how to end this, when a group of people appeared at the corner of the great plaza, seemingly heading here. The Great King's keen eyes instantly recognized the leader!

"Wei Shen!"

"Hahaha, my cousin has arrived!"

The Chancellor took a look and indeed it was so—well, the troublemaker brothers have reunited, making things even harder to manage.

The Great King also intended to call it quits; he didn't want to lose face for Commander Zhang in front of all his subordinates, which really wouldn't benefit him anyway.

The Great King, excited, was about to end the match: "Alright, that's it for today—actually this has nothing to do with Zhang Tu; my sword is a treasure, whoever faces it gets the same result. I'm uneasy about Youzhou; Commander Zhang has experience and should stay to guard my city there, so this time I'll bring Ling Yin along. Alright, that's settled, dismissed!"

Zhao Chuan hovered eagerly, "Your Highness, won't you take me? I want to go!"

The Great King glared at him: "How's the new army's training? Stay home honestly and lead them to guard Youzhou. I'm only taking ten thousand cavalry; your new recruit camp isn't up for rotation."

Zhao Chuan instantly wilted.

Both the Chancellor and Zhang Tu felt ten thousand was too few, but the Great King had already run off; they planned to discuss it again the next day.

The Great King threw down his heavy sword and ran toward Wei Shen, "Cousin!"

The Great King, terribly undignified, sprinted over, leapt up, and embraced Wei Shen; the people at the hall's entrance finally came to their senses—yes, that's what a nine-year-old child looks like!

The Great King gave Wei Shen a fierce hug, then let go, cutting him off before he could speak: "Cousin, they say distant fragrance, near stench—it's truly manifested. I once looked down on you, cousin, but after all this time I've really missed you."

Wei Shen: "…Can't you stop talking, or just say the last sentence so I can stay moved a little longer? Move aside, stand properly yourself!"

The Great King stepped back into position, "Hmph! Your arrival is perfectly timed; the day after tomorrow I'll campaign against the Xianbei—if you come any later, you won't see me, only able to wait for my triumphant return, hahaha!"

Wei Shen's eyes lit up instantly; what the Chancellor said was correct.

"What a coincidence! I want to go too! Thanks to making it here without delay, I had originally planned to come help you guard Youzhou, but fighting the Xianbei works as well—I'm going!"

From the moment he saw that guy, the Great King felt he couldn't shake him off.

Sigh, Wei Shen is really hard to deceive.

But it's really great—cousin is back again. He didn't ask why, didn't stop him, just chose to join; still the familiar Wei Shen.

"Ah, right! How did you come, cousin?" the Great King finally asked.

"Of course, to bring you sugar! Let me tell you, the sugar made from your blueprint is as white as snow, with no impurities at all. The workshop has been working on it for three months, and altogether it's not a small amount; my grandfather had me bring it to you—you didn't say you wanted to make high-sugar military rations, did you?"

The Great King raised his chin: "So you didn't come specially to see me, huh~"

Wei Shen jabbed the Great King's cheek hard: "What's there to look at? Look, after the New Year your chin's all pointy—your ornamental value has plummeted!"

Without waiting for the Great King to jump up and protest, he went straight to the point: "Hurry up, stop talking uselessness here—have Zhao Bao get me some tasty stuff! I want lamb from your ranch, plus a big grilled fish, few bones, lots of chili! Hurry, I've been hungry for days!"

The Great King: ……