Chapter 27: When He Gets Drunk, He Goes Nuts.

The joy of reuniting with an old friend beyond the country’s border, washed away the exhaustion caused by the long journey. After Mu Zhiming said goodbye to Gu Heyan, he followed Xu Zhiwei into the military camp.

Although Xu Zhiwei lived in the barracks, his appearance was that of an elegant scholar with a gentle temperament. As they walked towards Mu Zhiming’s tent, Xu Zhiwei and Mu Zhiming had a pleasant conversation. After arriving at the tent, Xu Zhiwei hurriedly told Mu Zhiming: “If you need anything for your daily life, you can come find me.” Right after, Xu Zhiwei added with a smile: “Our General’s tent is located to the East of your tent.”

“Thank you, Military Advisor Xu.” Mu Zhiming bowed and thanked him.

“It’s getting late. Mu-daren, rest well.” Xu Zhiwei excused himself and left.

At that moment, only Mu Zhiming and Wen Heyin were left inside the tent. Wen Heyin, who had been tense the entire time, finally relaxed. As he began to chat with Mu Zhiming, Wen Heyin packed up the quilts and furs on the bamboo couch: “Young Master, why are you always showing a warm face to that cold young General? I can see he doesn’t like you at all.”

Mu Zhiming removed the green jade crown in his hair, and laughed: “Is that obvious?”

“Too obvious! It’s clear that that young General doesn’t want to deal with you. Even if you say that you want to catch up with him, what will you two even chat about? Are you two going to sit across from each other, in silence, staring at each other to see who has bigger eyes?” Wen Heyin grimaced.

Mu Zhiming helplessly laughed. After untying his black long hair and letting it fall like a waterfall, he washed himself with the hot water inside a copper basin placed next to the low couch: “Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. We have been traveling nonstop for several days, I’m tired.”

The next morning, Wen Heyin was woken up by the sounds of the trumpets coming outside the tent. As he yawned and stretched, propping himself up from the bed, he saw that Mu Zhiming was sitting in front of the desk. With a brush on his hand, Mu Zhiming was busy writing something. His hair was scattered everywhere, and he was wearing the same robes, the one that was as green as the leaves of the bamboo stalk, he wore last night.

“What are you doing?!” Wen Heyin immediately jumped out of bed and rushed over to Mu Zhiming. As Wen Heyin carelessly tied together Mu Zhiming’s robe, he said: “It’s so cold in the morning! If you don’t wear your clothes properly, you will catch a cold! Fix your clothes!”

Wen Heyin then pulled Mu Zhiming’s belt and tried to tie it for him, but even after a while, Wen Heyin still couldn’t get it right. Finally, Mu Zhiming slightly pushed Wen Heyin away and fixed his clothes by himself: “I’m writing a letter to send home, to report my safe arrival. Is there anything you want me to add for you?”

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“I have a lot to say!” Wen Heyin slapped the table and continued: “Write for me. Write: ‘the Young Master is hard to take care of. I can’t keep him under control. We will have to find someone who can handle him!’ Write! Write it down!”

Mu Zhiming nodded: “Alright, alright.” Then he picked up the brush to write on the paper: Everything is fine. I’m in good health and there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll pray for my parents’ well-being.

After Mu Zhiming was done writing the letter, they both walked to the post station, handed the letter to the post envoy, and returned to the barracks. It was already noon when they arrived back at the tent. At that moment, a young soldier came to report: “Mu-daren, I have brought food for you.”

“Thank you for your hard work.” Mu Zhiming thanked him and Wen Heyin came forward to take the food box.

When the young soldier finally left, Wen Heyin couldn’t stop himself from feeling restless: “Ever since we passed the White Mountains and headed North, the food has not been as sophisticated as we had before. Every day, we had to eat pancakes and lamb soup. It’s okay if it was hot, but once it got cold, it tasted greasy and smelled too unpleasant. It was impossible to eat it that way! I guess the food in this military camp is also….huh?”

The words of Wen Heyin stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Zhiming asked, puzzled.

Wen Heyin took out a small dish of walnut pastries from the food box: “Walnut cakes? How can there be pastries in the military camp?”

“I think that the military camp’s kitchen must have a master chef who is skilled at making this type of food. Now that the situation on the border is stable, and the army has plenty of food, it wouldn’t be unusual for these kinds of cakes to be made to reward soldiers.” Mu Zhiming wasn’t surprised to see this, because he had been already surprised by this in his previous life.

In his previous life, when Mu Zhiming had lived in the barracks for about a month, the food boxes sent to him every day had snacks and pastries in them. There were even different types every few days.

Wen Heyin placed the plate of walnut cakes in front of Mu Zhiming and nodded with satisfaction.

After the two of them finished eating their meal, they rested for a while. Afterwards, Mu Zhiming went to find Lieutenant Xiahou together with Wen Heyin. Xiahou Hu warmly welcomed the two of them into his tent.

“Pardon my intrusion,” Mu Zhiming bowed and saluted: “I wonder, is Lieutenant Xiahou free right now? There’s something I would like to ask you.”

“I’m free! Of course!” Xiahou Hu smiled broadly and invited Mu Zhiming to sit down beside a table. “This little Xiongdi wants to learn the Gouji language, right? Come, come, let me teach you how the people from the Gouji Kingdom greet each other.”

Mu Zhiming curved his eyes with a light smile, and said to Xiahou in the Gouji language: “Lieutenant Xiahou, in reality, I already know how the Gouji people greet each other.”

Xiahou Hu froze, and then replied in Gouji language as well: “Little Xiongdi, you speak the Gouji language quite well. I could even say that you speak better than me! Then let me teach you how to curse! Come, repeat after me: Son of a bitch! Be sure to shout like I do. Son of a bitch!”

Mu Zhiming laughed out loud and then said: “Actually, I know this too.”

After all, in his previous life, in the month it took Mu Zhiming to learn the Gouji language from Xiahou Hu in the military camp, he spent 20 days learning how to curse in this language from Xiahou Hu as well.

“Great!” Xiahou Hu slapped his thigh and said: “What else can I teach you then? This feels more like you’re the one teaching me here.”

Thus, Mu Zhiming mentioned the purpose of his visit: “Lieutenant Xiahou, you flatter me. In fact, I came to ask you something. I heard that you weren’t a member of the Rong Yan Army, and you were once stationed at the Northeastern frontier. It was only after the war that you came under General Gu’s command.”

Xiahou Hu nodded: “That’s correct.”

“Great Jin was once on good terms with the Gouji Kingdom, but all of a sudden, the Gouji Kingdom sent troops to invade us. You have lived in the town on the border for a long time, have you noticed anything that could be of use?” Mu Zhiming asked.

Xiahou Hu didn’t even have to think about it, and said right away: “Of course, little Xiongdi. Let me tell you! Do you know the White City that’s near the border? The two countries used to trade frequently through that city. Ah, how lively was that place ten years ago! The market was bustling, the streets were crowded with people, and all kinds of people were selling all kinds of things! But, for some reason, in the past three years, fewer and fewer Gouji merchants came to Great Jin to trade. Just a few months before the war, the Gouji Kingdom no longer let people come and go through the border. In reality, the Gouji Kingdom seemed to be having internal problems at the time, but everyone was so incompetent that no one paid any attention to it.”

“Is White City far from the Military Camp?” Mu Zhiming asked.

“It’s close. It takes more than an hour to go back and forth by horse.” Xiahou Hu said. “Little Xiongdi, if you want to go to White City, you have to ask young General Gu for a written permission. Otherwise, it won’t be easy for you to get in and out of the barracks.”

Mu Zhiming nodded: “Thank you for your advice. By the way, does General Gu….usually work a lot?”

“General Gu? He works really hard! He has to take care of all of the major and minor matters in this military camp. He’s like a God!” When Xiahou Hu mentioned Gu Heyan, his tone of voice was filled with admiration. “When he led the troops to support the army I was part of, I first thought, ‘In such a major event, what can a 19-year-old brat possibly do?’ However, I never thought that by having him with us, we would never lose a battle again! I’m sincerely grateful to him, from the bottom of my heart. Since I’m a descendant of the Gouji Kingdom, in previous battles, many people cursed me from behind and called me a foreigner. But General Gu never doubted me, he trusted me with all his heart. He even led me to join the Rong Yan Army! Speaking of the Rong Yan Army, although everything is good here, the military discipline is too strict. Sigh, I’m not really used to that part. Ah! That’s right!”

Xiahou Hu suddenly remembered something, got up, and walked into the inner part of the tent. When he came back, unexpectedly, he was carrying a pot of wine. After placing it in front of Mu Zhiming, Xiahou Hu said: “Little Xiongdi, take this wine. I hid it before I joined the Rong Yan Army, but since I’m part of it now, I can’t drink it. I wasn’t sure how to dispose of it, so I could only keep it hidden until now. Since you’re not part of the army, you don’t need to comply with the rules, so I’m giving it to you!”

Before Mu Zhiming could refuse, Wen Heyin suddenly said: “My Young Master can’t drink. He’s a bad drinker, and it’s better for him not to get drunk. Once he gets drunk, he goes nuts and is incapable of recognizing people! The worst part is that he won’t even remember what he did after he wakes up the next day.”

Mu Zhiming’s cheeks blushed bright red: “Ahem!”

Xiahou Hu laughed, and Mu Zhiming could only cup his hand: “Although I’ve made Lieutenant Xiahou laugh, I can’t accept this wine. I’m afraid Lieutenant Xiahou will have to keep hiding it.”

After bidding their farewells to Xiahou Hu and leaving his tent, Wen Heyin asked: “Young Master, where are you going now?”

Mu Zhiming smiled and said: “We’ll go find our cold General Gu and ask him for a permit to leave and enter the barracks.”