386: sneaky

“Hahaha!” Li Chengliang’s laughter resounded throughout the Earls Mansion.

“Drink up!” She Jian laughed, raising his wine cup, and the Generals once again drank it all!

Li Chengliang slammed his wine cup onto the table, clearly very happy tonight!

He then put his arm around Lin Yue’s shoulder and laughed, “General Lin, please forgive this old man for being ignorant before; only tonight do I realize that General Lin is a true hero!”

“Not at all, General Li, you’re joking,” Lin Yue said with a smile.

“Hey, what joking? This old man has been in Liaodong Commandery all these years, and the number of times I’ve met His Majesty is few and far between, unlike you, General Lin. At such a young age, you were transferred to His Majesty’s personal guard, protecting His Majesty, and seeing His Majesty’s face every day. This old man is truly envious!”

“General Li, you’re joking. You are the one with great achievements, guarding the peace of one region. You are truly a role model for us!” Lin Yue also began to engage in mutual flattery.

But in his heart, he secretly thought, ‘See His Majesty’s face every day?’

‘You’d probably be scared to death by now!’

‘If it weren’t for your effective resistance against the Mongol all these years, your head would probably be hanging on the city gate by now!’

The Mongol of this world was different from that in history. Originally, it was always caught between the Xiongnu and the Donghu, suffering much oppression, until the Donghu split into two parts, Wuhuan and Xianbei, and only then did its situation improve slightly.

In previous years, they also frequently violated the border, employing the nomadic tactic of ‘if you come, I run; if you retreat, I harass,’ which was quite a headache, until Li Chengliang succeeded as General of Liaodong, and only then did this situation improve.

That’s why Li Chengliang was able to live so freely for so many years.

But now, after attacking the Xiongnu in the north, Great Qin could finally spare its hands to deal with the surrounding foreign tribes, and Li Chengliang also began to feel a chill in his heart!

“By the way, General Lin, you will be transferred to Xianyang soon, and my good-for-nothing son just happens to be in Xian…” Before Li Chengliang could finish his sentence, an armored general rushed in from outside, attracting the attention of many guests.

Li Chengliang looked displeased. He was just getting to the crucial moment, why was he suddenly interrupted!

But he was worried it might be military intelligence about foreign cavalry plundering the border, so he patiently waited.

“General!” The general ran over, panting, and cupped his hands, saying, “Li Erhu reports that the second young master and the fifth young master are about to fight!”

“Huo!”

Li Chengliang stood up abruptly!

“What’s going on? Explain clearly!” Li Chengliang asked.

He usually valued the bond between his five sons the most, repeatedly emphasizing and admonishing them from their childhood that brothers must be united. His sons had never had any conflicts, so why were they suddenly fighting tonight!

“I heard that the second young master recently took a new concubine, and the fifth young master went into the wrong room tonight…” The general whispered, “The second young master has already sealed off the city gates, saying that once he finds the fifth young master, he will make him pay!”

“It’s just a concubine, and they’re fighting over this!

Besides, does he think Xinchang City is his home? Who gave him the authority to do this!” Li Chengliang cursed angrily.

The general could only cup his hands and apologize.

Li Chengliang sighed. Seeing Wang Zhi still at the banquet, he said no more, turning to Lin Yue and the Generals nearby, “This old man still has some matters to attend to, so I won’t be able to accompany you today. Another day, I will host and apologize to all of you!”

“General Li, don’t worry about it, go quickly,” She Jian said, rising with a smile.

“Very well, I’ll take my leave!” Li Chengliang cupped his hands and hurried out.

Lin Yue followed behind, seeing him out the door, as the proper courtesies could not be omitted.

“Farewell!”

“Farewell!”

Watching Li Chengliang ride away on his warhorse, Lin Yue turned and returned to the banquet, only to see all the Generals laughing heartily!

“Gentlemen, drink this cup to the fullest!” Wang Da Tou stood up and laughed loudly. As soon as Li Chengliang left, the atmosphere among the Generals instantly became lively!

“Drink up!” Everyone stood up and clinked their cups!

Wine cups clinked, wine sloshed, reflecting the moon’s image, then sent into the mouths of the Generals, transforming into joy, filling every cell of their bodies!

“Wang Da Tou, your damn mouth is leaking!” She Jian suddenly cursed.

“Get lost, She Jian, I’ve already drunk it!” Wang Da Tou cursed back!

“Zong Ze, you be the judge, tell me, isn’t Wang Da Tou’s mouth leaking! Half of that cup just now spilled out!” She Jian said to Zong Ze.

“Get lost, you damn bastard! Who doesn’t know Zong Ze is your lackey!” Wang Da Tou spat, “Besides, Zong Ze’s own hand shakes more than that old man at the village entrance; he can spill half of three liang of wine!”

Zong Ze looked ashamed upon hearing this, and the surrounding Generals burst into laughter!

“Po Nu, what are you laughing at? You could raise fish in your wine cup!” Zong Ze immediately cursed.

“General, don’t talk about me! Yang Dengshan is the one raising fish! I haven’t even seen him touch the cup of wine in front of him!”

“Are you damn stupid?” She Jian cursed, then pulled Po Nu into his embrace and whispered, “He’s in mourning!”

Zhao Ponu was stunned upon hearing this, then looked ashamed. He slightly cupped his hands to Yang Dengshan in apology, but Yang Dengshan merely smiled magnanimously.

Zhao Ponu immediately filled another cup and toasted Yang Dengshan.

And then Wang Da Tou spoke again, “It’s still honest men like Aruhan from the grasslands, who drink when they say they will, never faking it!”

Aruhan also looked honored upon hearing this. He then filled a cup to the brim, poured a bowl for Wang Da Tou, and then raised his cup, saying, “Thank you, General Wang, for your kind words, Aruhan will drink this dry!”

He then drank it down once more, leaving the twitching-mouthed Wang Da Tou stunned in place.

Then Li Mu suddenly said, “General, why is your sleeve wet?”

Everyone looked at Lin Yue in confusion, while She Jian grabbed Lin Yue’s sleeve.

“Cheating!”

Lin Yue didn’t expect such a trick to be discovered, then he pointed at General Yang Ye: “Jiye, did you perhaps pee yourself?”

The Generals followed Lin Yue’s finger and looked, only to see that under General Yang Ye’s chair, a puddle had formed, God knows how much good wine had been wasted!

But then everyone’s gaze swept around, finding that beneath everyone’s seat, there was more or less some dampness. They all sat back down on their chairs, pretending to be calm!

“Alas, you young people, truly the human heart is not what it used to be!” She Jian sighed.

“Exactly, back when we were in the Military Camp, we’d fight for a single sip of wine, I can’t believe you all wasted it!” Wang Da Tou said.

“But there’s some under both of your chairs too!” Yang Yansi, the Seventh Son, said.

Sure enough, he received a big smack from Yang Yanping, the Eldest Son, and Yang Yanzhao, the Sixth Son, each.

Lin Yue then noticed that indeed, there was some under everyone’s chair.

It seemed no one at this table was honest!

No! Lin Yue suddenly looked at his own feet. He had clearly poured it into his sleeve, so why was there some under his feet too?