Chapter 600

Chen Bushi brought Hezhou officials to Ningyuan City, but what greeted them was not a banquet laden with mountain and sea delicacies, but a pile of documents stacked like a mountain.

"You really show enough respect to this third uncle of mine!" Chen Bushi glanced, turned and left, "I'm not serving you anymore, I can't stand it, you're not trying to work me to death, are you? Take your time, I'll come back in a few days."

Chen Wuji grabbed Chen Bushi in one hand, "What are you thinking? You've just walked in the door, how could I possibly have prepared this many documents for you already? Even if I treated you like a mule, I'd at least let you rest up first."

"These are already done, not left here for you to handle; they just haven't been tidied up yet."

Chen Bushi's expression eased a bit, "That's about right, though, that's also something you could pull off."

"Third uncle, you probably have some bias against me." Chen Wuji pressed Chen Bushi to sit in the chair, complaining, "You're just staying in the village, guarding the ancestral estate and the fort, living quite leisurely—am I not already treating you well?"

"After being idle for so long, shouldn't you occasionally come out and do something?"

Chen Bushi listened and rolled his eyes straight away, "That's not idleness!"

"Why don't you count how many things are going on in Xishan Village now? After Li Run left, the drill grounds, paper workshop, armory, horse farm, and everything else are all being handled by me—do you think I can still be idle?"

"Haven't those already gotten on track? Once they're on track, there won't be much left to do day-to-day. Unlike Hezhou and Guangtongzhou, which are just two places that keep getting worse, with no bottom to how bad they are—just thinking about them gives you a headache."

"Gu Wenjie and Shi Dao, those two bastards, I genuinely admire them, damn it."

Chen Bushi raised an eyebrow, "So you came just to mess with me?"

"That's really the case, there's no one else to choose." Chen Wuji said solemnly, "Since the big army has set out, we can't just take a city and rest for half a year; I can't give other prefectures a chance to catch their breath, we must press the advantage and pursue, striking them down one by one while they're still fragmented."

Chen Bushi also put away his joking demeanor, gave a light sigh, and said with a smile, "Words are words, but the work still needs doing. What do you need me to do now? You arrange it."

"You really don't plan to take a break?" Chen Wuji asked with a laugh, "How about this, no need to rush today or tomorrow. Tonight I'll arrange a grand welcome banquet for you—first we'll eat this meal, drink this wine, then we can consider other matters."

"No delay, let's get to work." Chen Bushi waved his hand and said.

"When I'm joking with you, I don't want to do anything; what I most want to do is lie down, drink alcohol, listen to music, and read a bit. But I also know that's impossible, so since it's impossible, we might as well get to work early."

Chen Wuji naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony with Chen Bushi; hearing that, he immediately hauled a thick stack of documents from the table, "These are some of the issues recently sent up from various places, including appointing officials, overseeing land distribution, and clearing out rebellious local clan forces, etc."

Chen Bushi stared at that thick stack of documents, his eyes widening, "I knew it—compared to that big pile on your desk, these are indeed a bit fewer, but they don't seem much less. I can see it, you brat, you're really not standing on ceremony with me."

"This time you don't intend to let me go back?" After shaking his head and sighing, Chen Bushi asked.

Chen Wuji nodded, "You need to temporarily take over as Prefect of Guangtongzhou; have the village affairs been settled?"

"No problem, at least nothing will go wrong for half a year." Chen Bushi said, "After receiving your order, I saw that it specifically reminded me to hand over village affairs properly, and I knew that this time my hope to return and enjoy my twilight years would definitely not be easy."

Chen Wuji clicked his tongue and sighed, "Third uncle, you just said you were busy in the village?"

"It really is busy—can't I enjoy my twilight years while being busy? I just like that place in the village, it's comfortable!" Chen Bushi said this righteously, without blushing or getting out of breath.

Chen Wuji rolled his lips speechlessly, "Hurry up and have a look, I still need to go to the camp, tonight I'll meet the big shots and give you a welcome!"

"Go, go, go, go out and close the door for me, we're going to hold court. Ah, my toilsome fate!" Chen Bushi shook his head and swayed, sighing, his appearance almost as pitiful as the unfortunate Dou E, his little expressions a whole set.

Chen Wuji laughed and chatted again with the several Hezhou officials who had come.

These few were somewhat reserved; aside from the initial greetings, the rest of the time they spent here just listening to Chen Wuji and Chen Bushi trade barbs.

Each of them laughed like an old auntie.

Although they didn't speak, they were just smiling along on the side, their faces probably about to freeze from smiling.

Chen Wuji briefly chatted with them, soothed them with a few words, and casually painted them a big pie.

Whether they can stay in Guangtongzhou afterward and become a three-, four-, five-, six-, or seven‑rank official depends on how they perform next.

After affairs in Guangtongzhou are settled, Chen Wuji will grant official ranks according to merit.

Although this sounds like a big pie right now, Chen Wuji really does think that way.

Leaving the government office, Chen Wuji went again to the camp to observe the new soldiers' training.

For a unit that had just surrendered, Chen Wuji could not guarantee how many would remain after such intense training.

But as their lord, he at least needs to become familiar to the troops, winning their hearts over to himself.

Otherwise, after such high‑intensity training, everyone's resentment would likely be great, and mutiny would be easy to spark.

The afternoon's training was the most basic formation, no frills, just standing firm.

Watching the troops stand motionless like logs under the scorching sun, Chen Wuji suddenly recalled his own painful military training experience in school—he had buried himself in books at his desk for years, finally entered university, and thought the days of freedom were about to begin.

The result was that as soon as he entered, he got hit with a stick right off the bat.

An institution that bears part of the responsibility for supplying talent to the troops—its military training intensity is no child's play.

The medical vehicle parked off to the side was never just for show.

Thinking of this, Chen Wuji rose to his feet, ordered the great banner to be raised, and then stood tall and chest out beneath it.

After many years, separated by two realms, let's recall our lost youth in this way.

When Chen Wuji moved, the personal guard battalion moved with him.

Chen Li and Chen Ruoshui exchanged a glance; the black‑armored old veterans and the sinister troops stood behind Chen Wuji in two neat, uniform little blocks, each person head high, chest out, eyes gleaming with a fierce menace as they faced the new troops opposite.

Chen Wuji stood like that for a full half hour.

After a brief rest of a quarter hour, he resumed, continuing until Chen Bushi arrived with a large stack of documents.

"Standing there?" Chen Bushi teased.

"Do you want to join me?"

"I don't need this kind of good thing; you enjoy it instead. Like this, you stand, and I'll tell you two things."