Chapter 37
Shen Qi thought that for now, everything else could wait. It was necessary first to change the crafty and cunning nature of Zhao Huaiyu, this young wolf. His methods, while perfect for palace and family schemes, were too petty for a man.
All these were trivial matters. What Shen Qi valued in Zhao Huaiyu was his grit and ferociousness. He had plans for him and didn't want Zhao to be derailed by these petty issues.
With an expression of disbelief mixed with uneasiness, Zhao Huaiyu approached. He stopped two meters away, stuttering nervously, "Master... Master Shen..."
Shen Qi raised an eyebrow but chose not to expose Zhao's pretense directly. He leaned lazily against the back of his chair and asked, "Have you learned martial arts?"
Zhao Huaiyu's pupils contracted sharply as he instinctively looked up at Shen Qi. It was him that night indeed!
Licking his lips lightly and holding back his emotions, he admitted, "Yes, I have learned."
"Good." Shen Qi gave an earnest compliment. "I appreciate honesty." He gestured Zhao to come closer.
Zhao Huaiyu moved in front of him, meeting his gaze steadily. His demeanor was entirely different from his earlier timid and timid guise.
Shen Qi chuckled lightly and gestured again, saying, "Bow your head."
Without hesitation, Zhao Huaiyu obeyed and lowered his head.
Shen Qi extended two fingers, gripped Zhao Huaiyu's chin, and studied him closely. His complexion had improved considerably in the past few days. He hadn't been mistaken the last time – there was indeed a hint of blue in his eyes.
His scrutiny lasted only about ten seconds before he released his grip. He gave Shen An a look, and understanding the silent order, Shen An quickly brought over a stool and placed it behind Zhao Huaiyu.
"Sit." Shen Qi handed over Hu Hongye to Shen An to keep an eye on. He turned and accepted a cup of tea from Guard Xiao Bing, poured another for Zhao Huaiyu, and held his warm cup in his hands.
"I won't ask how you learned martial arts and I'm not interested in your interactions with Zhao Huaichao and Zhao Huaisen." Although a smile graced his face, his eyes remained detached, exuding a dominant presence that demanded submission.
Normally, even those familiar with Shen Qi, like Chen Ding and Yang Jiadong, would not dare to meet his gaze when his aura was in full display. But Zhao Huaiyu stared directly at him without a trace of fear, even a hint of excitement glimmering in his eyes.
Inside, Shen Qi gave a silent nod of approval, maintaining his external composure. "Do you know why I called you here?"
Zhao Huaiyu replied, "You wish to use me."
The approval now surfaced on Shen Qi's face as he nodded, "Good. Tell me what you think."
Zhao Huaiyu felt a surge of excitement and trembling anticipation ignite within him. After narrowing his eyes, he forcefully suppressed this restlessness and declared vehemently, "If Master Shen wants to play Emperor Wu of Han, then I'll take on Wei Qing. If Master Shen wishes to be Emperor Yuanzong of Liao, I'll be Ji Guang!"
Shen Qi raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying the claim, and merely chuckled lightly, "Your knowledge of history is commendable."
In this world, history follows its own trajectory. After the Han and Tang dynasties comes the Liang dynasty. Emperor Yuanzong is the founder of the Liang dynasty, and Ji Guang, who expanded the territory on his behalf, is one of the famous generals as distinguished as Wei Qing.
What's worth noting is that both ended up quite well, gaining a significant reputation.
By comparing himself to both, Zhao Huaiyu's ambition was clear as daylight.
After showing his approval, Shen Qi suddenly became stern. All traces of his smile vanished, and his gaze fell onto Zhao Huaiyu, cold and aloof from a higher ground. "You talk a good game, but why should I choose you?"
He glanced at the crowd moving through the plum forest below, "Shen Shaoshuai from the Shen Division, the second son from the Wu Division, the third son from the Tan Division, and the cadets from the military academy... Do you think you're better than them in any way?"
He ruthlessly cut through Zhao Huaiyu's facade, "Do you think your conniving ways, the same as those of court women, give you an edge? Or is it your pretentious acting?"
Meeting his gaze, it felt as if Zhao Huaiyu had been drenched in a bucket of icy water. He felt his entire being seen through from head to toe, his hands and feet growing cold as various conflicting emotions welled up within him, the predominant one being a sense of inexplicable embarrassment.
There was a tinge of blood-red in his eyes.
"Yet you asked me over." He made no move to back off, continuing to stare straight at Shen Qi with stubborn defiance. Like a wolf cub that had bitten into a piece of meat and would not let go even at death's door, he reiterated, "You asked me over."
I'm here, just like you asked. I won't leave until I've bitten deep and tasted the flesh!
"Very well." Shen Qi smiled, reaching out to tap Zhao Huaiyu's eyes, "I like the look in your eyes right now. Keep it up."
He gave a glance to his guard, Xiao Yi, who took two steps forward and produced a small item. At Shen Qi's gesture, he handed it over to Zhao Huaiyu.
"This is the token of my independent battalion." Shen Qi stood up, "Take this and head to the West Suburb military camp. Someone will naturally take you where you need to be. However, once you're inside, be prepared to endure hardships. If you can't handle it, just say so, and I'll have you sent back."
Originally, he intended to wait before sending Zhao Huaiyu in, but given the current situation, he couldn't allow him to continue staying with his two Zhao brothers.
Zhao Huaiyu looked at the small token in his hand, a brightness sparkled in his eyes.
"I hope you won't disappoint me," Shen Qi patted his shoulder and led Hu Hongye, the child, away.
Zhao Huaiyu couldn't help but stare at Shen Qi's retreating figure without blinking, not turning away until he was out of sight.
________________________
With the presence of Chen Ding and others, Shen Qi was very comfortable handing over assessment matters of those prospective marriage candidates, smoothly taking the beloved son of Commander Hu back to Xinhua Palace.
Before he could even change out of his clothes, Shen An arrived with news that Zhao Huaiyu had already left for the West Camp.
Shen Qi paused from unbuttoning and laughed, "Very well, keep Xiao Jia on his tail, she doesn't need to intervene unless absolutely necessary. Also, tell Yin Shan to treat him normally, don't give him any special treatment."
Shen An asked, "What about Commander Zhao?"
"What did Zhao Huaiyu say?" Shen Qi was curious.
" The young master Zhao didn't say anything. He took his belongings and left."
This wolf cub!
Shen Qi shook his head, this passed the problem on to him, but since he had caused the trouble, he was obligated to clean it up. After some thought he said, "Tell Zhao Zheng the truth about everything, let him direct any questions to me."
"Understood."
After he had changed his clothes, he was leisurely strolling with Hu Hongye in Xinhua Palace when a servant informed him that Commander Hu had arrived.
Shen Qi warmly welcomed Commander Hu. The young Xiaobao was extremely supportive, clinging to him stubbornly and refused to let go. All Commander Hu could do was watch with a helpless smile.
Shen Qi chuckled as he pinched the chubby cheeks of the tiny Xiaobao. Indeed, one cannot have a weakness. Once there's a weakness, even an enemy might be a potential solution.
He didn't feel the slightest guilt for making use of the child; after all, he had not imprisoned Xiaobao nor had he mistreated him. He managed to win the child over with genuine affection. Moreover, it was Commander Hu himself who had originally harbored ulterior motives. The Shen family had sincerely helped him in the past; they had agreed to vote in agreement during the election but he betrayed them at the last moment. One must pay the price for making mistakes.
Thus, little Xiaobao stayed with the Shen family, where everyone, from top to bottom, adored this innocent, kindly child. Perhaps their merchant bloodline ran too deep; From son to grandson, everyone in the family was incredibly smart, even Shen, the scholarly second son, would never allow himself to be taken advantage of.
Suddenly having such a simple-hearted, good-luck charm of a child in their midst delighted everyone in the Shen household, from the eldest lady to the young masters and ladies.
While Xiaobao was happily living in the Shen family, Commander Hu was fretting outside, his hair turning white with worry. Unfortunately, his son didn't want to leave, crying even louder than an orphan whenever it was mentioned.
Seeing how well they got along, Shen Qi eased off on the matter, shifting his focus to the matchmaking event.
Given Shen Peixuan's status, the eldest Madam Shen had no intention of marrying her daughter off cheaply. She felt that the sons of the regular bureaucrats with whom they associated were too lowly. As a result, she wished to pick from the sons of the military leaders, ideally a successor. At the same time, she feared that these young marshals, once gaining power, would take concubines on the outside. Torn between this contradiction, she lowered her requirements—it did not necessarily have to be a successor. However, one point must be emphasized: the child must be born to the legitimate wife.
Out of the thirteen military families who participated in the matchmaking session, three did not meet the age and condition criteria and were excluded. Discounting the men who were already engaged from the remaining ten families, left seven. Among these seven families, five had voted in favor during the recent selection while two had voted against.
Surprisingly, after Chen Ding's evaluation, the two men left unmarked on the list were from these two families — one with the surname Yan and the other surnamed Qi. Moreover, these two families had the highest likelihood of participating in the next election besides the Shen family.
Shen Qi carefully reviewed the information of the two men and finally handed it to the eldest Madam Shen. After looking through it, she sighed and decided to put off the marriage plans for now.
Shen Peixuan had no idea how Shen Qi had managed to persuade her mother to abandon the idea of finding her a match, but she was delighted and presented him with a pot of flowers the next day. Everyone knew that Shen Qi was fond of flowers.
The next half month went by peacefully. Commander Zhao did not come to Shen Qi to demand an explanation. On the contrary, he was quite grateful, believing that Shen Qi had found a way out for his son, Zhao Huaiyu. He then hoped that Shen Qi could arrange a similar fate for Zhao Huaisen. Unfortunately, before Zhao Huaisen could even meet President Shen or Shen Qi, he got himself into trouble, fighting with a young lord over a socialite. His head was bloodied after being stuffed into a sack and beaten.
Commander Zhao took a gun to cause trouble, but the other party refused to admit involvement, and after a series of twists and turns, it turned out they were related to Commander Yan. After making a ruckus, the issue eventually faded away.
The various military leaders had been in the capital for a month, and most of their business had been taken care of. This year's Chinese New Year came early, at the end of January. Everyone arrived in the middle of December and returned to their stationed locations before the holiday.
Unable to withstand the true love between father and son, Commander Hu ultimately gave in to President Shen. They settled what needed to be settled and signed the necessary agreements before taking Xiaobao away.
Shen Qi squinted his eyes and sighed. Among all the schemes that played out, only Commander Hu had been fooled. Should he say that Commander Hu was genuine in his affections, or perhaps that he lacked what it takes to achieve greatness?
After the commanders left, a few young masters who, like Zhao Huaichao, were awarded entrance to the military academy without exams, stayed behind. They did so to familiarize themselves with the capital in preparation for the start of the school year.
Shen Qi favoured Zhao Huaichao trying to incite Zhao Huaiyu, but indeed also felt that Zhao Huaichao was a fine candidate. However, he found him to be a bit impulsive due to his youth, hence he decided to observe him further after he settles down at the military academy.
Individuals like Zhao Huaichao are abundant under his command, so there was no urgency for him to act. He would just have to wait and see how things unfold.
Summarily, people like Zhao Huaiyu were indeed a rarity.
As he wondered how Zhao Huaiyu's training was going, Shen An brought Xiao Jia in.
"Fourth Young Master Zhao would like to take advantage of the holiday to see you," Xiao Jia said.
Listening to Xiao Jia's tone and looking at his expression, Shen Qi raised his eyebrows. It seems that Zhao Huaiyu did not disappoint him. In just a month's time, he made a sincere connection with his bodyguard.
He felt interested and said, "Bring him in."
Soon, Zhao Huaiyu appeared before him.
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