Chapter 506: Secrets

Chapter 506: Chapter 506: Secrets

The red oil in the firepot bubbled and churned, slices of meat cooking as they surfaced, then dipped in oil sauce before entering one’s mouth.

"My lord, your subordinate is slow-witted; I do not understand why Lord Pang would show me such favor." Shen Hao did not believe Jiang Cheng had deliberately kept him behind just to make small talk—clearly Jiang Cheng had sensed something and was using this opportunity to give him a reminder.

"Whether it’s considered favor depends on how you look at it. Do you know who those three people following you are?" Both of them were at the Primordial Pill Realm in cultivation; Jiang Cheng naturally could sense the three ’bodyguards’ always at Shen Hao’s side, and the array set up to conceal their intentions was most likely meant to guard against those three as well.

"They were sent by Lord Pang earlier to protect me."

"Protect?"

"Uh... I suspect they might also be keeping an eye on me."

"If I’m not mistaken, those three should be hidden guards directly under Lord Pang’s command. They belong to the elite of the elite within the Xuanqing Guard, usually carrying out extremely important tasks within the Commander’s Office. So for you, it’s fair to say they’re secretly protecting you, but also that they’re secretly monitoring you. This is both Lord Pang’s way of protecting you and of evaluating you. The fact that you’ve been unscathed for so long and promoted without hindrance shows that you’ve satisfied Lord Pang."

When Shen Hao heard these words, something felt off. He didn’t know what Jiang Cheng was implying, but instinctively knew he should seize the chance to state his position clearly.

"My lord, what do you mean by this? From being General Flag in Li City up to now as Deputy Thousand Households, I have always depended on your guidance and nurturing—what has this to do with Lord Pang?"

Jiang Cheng raised his hand to calm Shen Hao, then clinked wine bowls with him. After downing it in one gulp, he smiled, "It’s good that Lord Pang is pleased with you; it means you’ve caught his eye, and will have a chance to be heavily relied upon in the future. Heh, don’t believe me? Then tell me, has he ever given you a direct order?"

Shen Hao shook his head. "He’s never given me a direct order, but he hinted that if I have any urgent matters, I can go straight to the Commander’s Office to report." This was the message Pang Ban had relayed through the "bodyguards" when Shen Hao secretly built contacts with the Moon Shadow Tower, stating he could directly seek help at the Commander’s Office.

"With your perception, haven’t you noticed anything?"

"Uh... It’s hard for me to say." Shen Hao really couldn’t say. He was in the middle of it—and couldn’t just admit he felt Pang Ban was eyeing him up, or perhaps even poaching Jiang Cheng’s people. Hints were fine, but to lay it out so plainly on the table would just make it look like he was stirring up trouble; it would reflect badly.

Jiang Cheng, however, was as direct as always. He snorted and said, "He wants to give you a choice—a chance to side with him. Your potential, your ability, and most importantly your luck, not to mention the resourcefulness you displayed in the Black Banner Battalion—they all suit his tastes. But you’re my disciple; right now the Fengri City pilot project can’t do without you, or else I reckon he’d have already made a move for you."

Shen Hao: "Make a move? I barely have a few pounds of flesh—hardly enough for Lord Pang to squeeze oil from, no?"

It wasn’t that Shen Hao didn’t believe Jiang Cheng, he just couldn’t figure out what a skinny, insignificant person like him had that Pang Ban could possibly want.

But Jiang Cheng replied, "You severely underestimate yourself. Now, throughout the four Governor’s Office jurisdictions in the Dynasty, all have established Black Banner Battalions, and even adopted many strategies modeled after your Fengri City. For example, the ’Copper Cabinet’ approach that works so well in Fengri City is being imitated almost everywhere, yet places where it’s truly effective can be counted on one hand.

Let’s not talk distant—just look at Jingxi. Aside from your own jurisdiction, the number of cases unearthed by the Copper Cabinet elsewhere doesn’t even reach half of the annual total for their local cases—not even close to Fengri City’s results. And that’s Jingxi; as for the others, it’s even worse. Calling them little more than empty shells isn’t an exaggeration.

The root cause remains the limited abilities of Black Banner Battalion chief officers in most places—they were promoted temporarily from below and easily lose their independence when facing old superiors. Plus, the unique dual subordination of the Black Banner Battalion means that over time, these units just revert to being the same as General Flags in the local garrisons, entirely defeating the unit’s original purpose.

Compared to them, you must surely see now how outstanding you are inside the Xuanqing Guard?"

Much of what Jiang Cheng said Shen Hao had vaguely heard before, but he truly hadn’t realized that the Black Banner Battalion’s situation outside Fengri City was this dire. He seemed to have grasped part of Jiang Cheng’s reason for meeting him in secret today.

After only a few exchanges, the wine Jiang Cheng had ordered was already finished. Since they had a Concealing Array up, it was inconvenient to call for the waiter, so Shen Hao simply took out a jar of year-old Wuliangye from his storage bag and filled Jiang Cheng’s bowl.

"Good lad! I nearly forgot you always carry good liquor on you—should’ve brought it out sooner. Ah, this one packs a punch!"

At over forty degrees, Wuliangye counted as strong liquor in this world, and Jiang Cheng thoroughly enjoyed it.

Actually, Jiang Cheng already got Wuliangye as a special supply; he’d only been teasing Shen Hao just now—he was in no shortage of fine spirits.

"That’s why, nowadays, the Black Banner Battalion’s position within the Xuanqing Guard gets more precarious by the day. Otherwise, why do you suppose this unprecedented ’pilot project’ was so readily approved by Lord Pang? Isn’t it because he wants to have the most outstanding figure in the Black Banner Battalion take the lead in probing whether there’s any future for it?

You should know better than anyone what’s happened since then—after the pilot project, you performed even better than before. Not only did you use the ’Ma San Case’ to deal a brutal blow to the Civil Servant Group for the Xuanqing Guard, but your Jingxi Action thoroughly shook the backbone of the Civil Servant Group in Jingxi. And you even purged a major threat in the Ministry of War.

Most importantly, by leveraging the Xuanqing Guard, Your Majesty has now secured actual control over the Ministry of War. This, for you, may not seem much—but to Lord Pang, this merit is as high as the sky.

So that’s why the hidden guards have shadowed you for so long; protecting your life is necessary. If something were to happen to you, this Black Banner Battalion pilot would have to be declared a failure.

But lately, I think Lord Pang may have new ideas."

Shen Hao didn’t dare interrupt. For the first time, he realized just how visible he was in the eyes of the Xuanqing Guard’s upper echelons. He felt a measure of pride, but also anxiety. Standing out too much was not always a good thing.

"When it came to the issue with the Qin Family, Lord Pang told me he thought you weren’t ruthless enough. But when you said today ’The Xuanqing Guard acts without waiting for others’ approval,’ he showed no hesitation in expressing his appreciation for you—he kept repeating your ’perception.’ Most likely, this is a test of your ability to independently handle major situations."

After circling around the subject for so long, Jiang Cheng finally put all his impressions and the conclusions he reached after having Shen Hao meet Pang Ban on purpose today out in the open.

Shen Hao had understood everything up to this point, but the last part left him confused.

"The ability to handle major situations? Your subordinate doesn’t quite understand."