The capital city.
On this day, Yuan Gang returned to the capital from the border. The primary reason was the war, which he had never imagined would be so brutal.
He thought he could handle it, but the final price in blood and tears told him that he, Yuan Gang, was still just Yuan Gang, not Ye Longlin. There was only one Ye Longlin in this world!
At this moment, the Personnel Distribution Department.
This was a low-key department, generally only becoming important during wartime. In peacetime, it was quite idle.
"How many? How many do you need?"
The head of the Personnel Distribution Department was Kou Yuanyang, who was usually very leisurely all year round, only becoming a bit busy in the last two years.
"One hundred thousand. Give me another hundred thousand soldiers, and I will surely take them down!"
Yuan Gang sat in his office, his expression far from pleasant. He felt his old face burning with shame.
He was, after all, the acting commander of the Dragon Pavilion. Not only did he lack the expected dominance, but he was also here begging for help, and so abjectly!
He had completely disgraced the Dragon Pavilion.
"Pavilion Master Yuan, as you know, due to the influence of the Martial Arts Association in recent years, the military has absorbed very few talented individuals. Furthermore, Marshal Ye fought a war last year, and the conflict has reopened this year. You're asking me for a hundred thousand men. Where am I supposed to find them? I'm not Sun Wukong, and I don't have that many monkey hairs." kuAiδugg
This was a brush-off!
Kou Yuanyang's expression was playful, as if he looked down on Yuan Gang.
Yuan Gang's eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't want the loss of these hundred thousand men, but this matter truly couldn't be blamed on him.
After nearly half a month of fighting, they had launched a surprise attack. They had initially thought that thirty thousand men was their entire troop strength. But who would have thought that the enemy would have fifty thousand? His hundred thousand men were swallowed by that enemy force of two hundred thousand.
The enemy had a total of fifty thousand troops, while his total strength was barely twenty thousand, and they were all ordinary soldiers, not as proficient as the soldiers of the Dragon Pavilion. Many things had exceeded his expectations.
"Minister Kou, I hope you understand the urgency of the situation. The royal troop on the eastern front has a strength of fifty thousand men. Even if these men didn't die, we would only have twenty thousand at most. You must understand that these twenty thousand are merely ordinary soldiers!
How can ordinary soldiers fight against this elite force of kings? Even if my boss were here, he couldn't fight them. This is simply not on the same scale!"
Indeed, it was not on the same scale. Under equal conditions, Yuan Gang was confident he could win the battle within three days, but the crucial point was that they were not on the same scale!
"King of Kao Shan, you are also a veteran general. This is war, not child's play. What's the use of you emphasizing that we're not on the same scale? Please, move aside, I need to get off work. Of course, if you're willing to kneel outside for a day and a night, I might consider dispatching another ten thousand soldiers."
...
"We apologize for the trouble, we don't want to disturb you, but we have no choice. This person is too important to us!"
Ning Qi and Xuan Niao appeared at the Traffic Department, investigating where Ye Longlin had gone on the day of the wedding.
This was the most cumbersome method, but also the most effective.
Since they left the capital six months ago, there had been no news of them. They hadn't even touched any of the money under their names, which meant they didn't intend for them to be found.
For these six months, they had desperately wanted to hear news of Ye Longlin, but there was nothing!
"Wuzhen!"
The two looked at each other, their eyes flashing with a glimmer of light.
Hiding in a tourist town, who would have thought?
"Let's set off now!"
Meanwhile, Ye Longlin in Wuzhen was unaware that Ning Qi and Xuan Niao had appeared in Jiangnan.
Preparing to travel to the capital, Ye Longlin was instructing his neighbors to look after Mu Hanqi. He might be gone for ten days to half a month, with an uncertain return date. He didn't know when he would be back, but it should be within ten days to half a month.
However, he didn't know that this trip would turn out to be a year-long absence!
"What are you doing? Let go of me! Please respect me. I'm already married, and I have a husband."
When Ye Longlin returned, he saw a man pulling Mu Hanqi. His pupils contracted sharply, and he ran forward, delivering a flying kick that sent the man flying into the shelves.
Ye Longlin looked at Mu Hanqi with concern and asked softly, "Are you alright?"
He knew this man. He was the grandson of the town mayor, a good-for-nothing who was disliked by everyone in town.
When they bought this storefront, they needed the mayor's signature. At that time, this young man had taken a liking to Mu Hanqi, but Old Lin had stopped him. Later, Old Lin told Ye Longlin not to provoke the mayor's family.
Mu Hanqi shook her head, indicating she was fine.
"He Junchen, I've already warned you not to harass my wife! Your grandfather has also warned you!"
Ye Longlin didn't want to offend him completely, as, after all, Mu Hanqi would still have to live here after he left.
There was no need to make an enemy of him.
He Junchen groaned as he got up from the shelves, glaring fiercely at Ye Longlin, "How dare you hit me? Are you looking for death? I'm telling you, I've taken a liking to your wife. When you leave, I'll send people to abduct her. As for the child in her belly, it's not mine anyway, so what does it matter to me!"
Ye Longlin's eyes turned cold. He strode forward, grabbed He Junchen by the hair, and dragged him outside.
He didn't want to mess up the room, as he wouldn't be bothered to clean it up.
"Am I giving you too much face? Hmm?"
Ye Longlin slapped He Junchen across the face, asking with a cold expression, his eyes showing a rare hint of frigidity.
"Do you really think anyone can be bullied? Forget about you being the mayor's grandson, even the mayor's grandson wouldn't dare to act so presumptuously in front of me. What are you, anyway, to dare threaten me?"
He kicked He Junchen in the abdomen, sending him tumbling into the river.
"Ye Longlin, you just wait! I will definitely get revenge for today."
He Junchen quickly swam downstream. Ye Longlin's punches really hurt, so he had to leave quickly. A gentleman's revenge is never too late.
Ye Longlin was about to leave but couldn't let such a scoundrel remain. With a couple of steps, he reached the riverbank, plunged a hand into the water, and instantly, He Junchen felt a powerful suction pulling him towards Ye Longlin.
"What's going on? What did you do? Someone, quickly, someone help! An outsider is killing people!"
As expected, his cries attracted everyone around.
Ye Longlin threw him onto the ground and stood up, looking at him coldly.