“I had a very simple wedding in Yue Province. Back then, I heard that you had just returned to Gan Province. Knowing that you must have had a lot of matters to attend to, I didn’t want to further burden you with such a trivial matter. I hope you aren’t upset with me!” Liang Yijie smiled at Yan Liqiang.
“Haha, of course not. I am elated to know that you and Sister Feng Ting have tied the knot! Now that you are in Pingxi Prefecture, you must make up for the wedding banquet I missed! Otherwise, I’ll never forgive you!” Yan Liqiang laughed heartily.
They had experienced too many life and death situations over the recent years. Knowing that Liang Yijie had finally tied the knot with his beloved and started a family of his own, Yan Liqiang was genuinely happy for him.
“Sister Feng Ting often talks about you over the past few years. She really wants to find you a good bride, but I told her that a fine man like you will have no problem when it comes to things like that. Haha!”
“Haha, that’s really mean of you, Brother Liang! A well-fed man will never know how a starving man suffers. I heard that there are many beauties in Yue Province. You already found your own beauty, yet you are stopping Sister Feng Ting from introducing me to a beauty. Don’t you know that things can get pretty lonely for me too in Gan Province? A man can never have too many beauties in his arms!” Yan Liqiang frowned.
“Oh, you!” Liang Yijie punched Yan Liqiang’s shoulder then laughed while shaking his head. “I see that you still joke around like before!”
“Haha, it also depends on who I am with. I may not even crack a joke with someone else even if I was offered a mountain of gold!”
“In the past, Lord Sun told me that you would definitely make it big as a businessman. Sure enough, you are now a famous wealthy person in the Great Han Empire. So how could a mountain of gold possibly amount to anything in your eyes? As a newcomer in the northwestern region, I may need to seek aid from you if I need funds for the Transportation Office!”
“Hahaha, no worries. If Brother Liang needs any financial help, just say the word!”
“That’s my good brother!” Liang Yijie patted Yan Liqiang heavily on the shoulder.
“But I have one condition!”
“What is it?”
Yan Liqiang had a serious look on his face. “You must make your son call me his Godfather! It has to be me!”
Liang Yijie burst out laughing.
As both of them chatted, their troops caught up to them. Both troops stopped not far behind their leaders and everyone dismounted. Three people from the Transportation Office’s cavalry immediately came forward and smiled at Yan Liqiang.
“Liqiang, do you remember them?” Liang Yijie pointed to the three people beside him with a smile.
With Yan Liqiang’s ability to remember things, how would he not recognize them? They were none other than Liang Yijie’s best friends. Yan Liqiang had met them when Liang Yijie participated the death duel in the Imperial Capital back then. The people who could be highly regarded by Liang Yijie were naturally not ordinary individuals. They were all gifted and capable. When Liang Yijie went to Yue Province, he called these people to his side. With Liang Yijie’s meteoric rise, they bathed in his success as they went through many ordeals with him.
The muscular man with fierce-looking eyes highlighted by a pair of thick eyebrows carrying a pair of metal sword breakers was Yuan Beihong. He was the current Vice Transport Commissioner and Liang Yijie’s right-hand man.
The tallest among the three, with a tanned face and long arms was Zhang Yunduan who wanted to have an archery match with Yan Liqiang back then. He was now the Chief Patrol Examiner of the Northwestern Transportation Office.
The other smiling man with witty-looking eyes was Zhang Rui. He served as a lieutenant in the Northwestern Transportation Office. He was basically leading Liang Yijie’s personal troop to ensure his safety at all times. Not only that, but he was also responsible for the important duty of collecting intel for the Transportation Office.
“Brother Liang, are you asking me this because you want them to punish me by forcing wine on me?” Yan Liqiang laughed, then greeted the three of them.
When Yan Liqiang noticed Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng had come over, he also introduced both of them to Liang Yijie and the rest. “Brother Liang, let me introduce you to another two good brothers of mine. They are Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng…!”
Since Liang Yijie and the rest were older than Yan Liqiang, Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng also respectfully addressed them as their older brother like Yan Liqiang did.
While they were talking, Yuan Beihong’s eyes flashed. After sizing up the troop not far behind Yan Liqiang for a while, he suddenly spoke up. “Liqiang, are they your bodyguards?”
At Yuan Beihong’s question, Liang Yijie and the others also directed their gazes on the people that followed Yan Liqiang here. After looking at them carefully, Liang Yijie raised his eyebrows.
He didn’t really pay any attention to them earlier, but he was shocked now that he had taken a good look at them after Yuan Beihong raised the question. He realized that the hundred guards that followed Yan Liqiang here were not as simple as they seemed. Although they were young, their composures were like hidden sharp blades.
They stood behind Yan Liqiang silently, giving off the impression of linked iron plates to the others. People like them would no doubt be the elites of elites if they were enlisted in the military. Given Yan Liqiang’s position in the northwestern region and Gan Province, it wasn’t strange for him to have people like these by his side. However, it was still shocking that he could easily gather up a hundred of such individuals as soldiers with such qualities that were rare to come by.
The cavalry that escorted Liang Yijie to Gan Province this time was made up of elites that were handpicked from the Transportation Office’s Cavalry Battalion. Not to mention, many of them made many meritorious contributions alongside Liang Yijie when they were in Yue Province. Even so, the energy of his troop was still somewhat lacking compared to the troop standing behind Yan Liqiang.
Apart from Yan Liqiang, Liang Yijie could tell that none of them had attained a high cultivation realm. Even both Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng were only Martial Warriors who had yet to progress into Supreme Martial Warriors. However, if these Martial Warriors and those who were close to progressing into Supreme Martial Warriors were grouped together in big numbers, they could become an intimidating existence on a battlefield.
If these people were to fight on their own, none of them could be Liang Yijie’s match. However, if they were to engage each other as armies on a battlefield, then the cavalry Liang Yijie brought with him wouldn’t be able to stand against them.
Could it be that Lei Sitong willingly transferred one of his most elite troops from the Gan Province Army’s Swordbreaker Barracks to Yan Liqiang? Liang Yijie secretly conjectured. When Sun Bingchen was the Yue Provincial Governor, Liang Yijie led the troop from the Swordbreaker Barracks that was assigned to Sun Bingchen. In the entire Yue Province, only less than a thousand individuals were qualified to join the Swordbreaker Barracks. Each and every single one of them was dear to the military. Would Lei Sitong really be willing to give them away…?
Yan Liqiang didn’t even have to turn around to know what Yuan Beihong and the others had noticed. The people standing behind him were the archery academy’s students from the first intake. The strict military style training and the battles against the Shatu people over the past year had polished these students well. The Five Animal Frolics that they cultivated also rapidly improved their strength and contributed in refining them into steel.
Many of them had progressed or were about to progress into Martial Warriors. At the very least, all of them had passed the Horse Stance Stage. In terms of strength, they weren’t considered strong. However, in terms of collective military strength, Yan Liqiang could confidently say that no army in the entire Great Han Empire would be so wasteful as to utilize Martial Warriors in a normal troop. The cultivation realm of those people standing behind Yan Liqiang definitely surpassed the most elite troops from the Swordbreaker Barracks in all provincial armies.
“Brother Yuan guessed it. They are all students from my archery academy, and also my bodyguards!”
“Ah, students from the archery academy! No wonder!” Yuan Beihong exhaled with a nod.
“Yan Fortress is not far from here. I already have people preparing food and wine to welcome all of you. Let’s not stand here any longer. We’ll have a feast in Yan Fortress!” Yan Liqiang told Liang Yijie.
“Alright, let’s go to Yan Fortress first!”
The group mounted their steeds again after exchanging pleasantries. Yan Liqiang’s guards led the way with the Transportation Office’s cavalry following behind them. Yan Liqiang, Liang Yijie, and the rest rode between the two troops, chatting as they made their way to Yan Fortress.
Soon enough, Liang Yijie and the rest spotted Yan Fortress from afar. Although they had seen a lot of things, they couldn’t help but feel amazed by the impressiveness of the fortress. Many local wealthy clans in the thriving parts of Yue Province were also capable of building such a fortress. However, the fortress before their eyes was enough to tell anyone about the Yan Clan’s status and influence in Pingxi Prefecture.
“Liqiang, this fortress of yours is impressive indeed! I didn’t expect you would be able to achieve so much in just a few years time after returning home. I think there aren’t many fortresses in the northwestern region that are on par with yours. Not bad, not bad at all!” Liang Yijie squinted at the lofty fortress wall as he sincerely praised Yan Liqiang.
“The Yan Fortress was formerly known as Liuhe Town with many elderly residents. The northwestern region isn’t exactly a peaceful territory as it has suffered the chaos of wars over the years, so I tried to fortify the town when the fortress wall was being repaired. In case anything happens here, at least the fortress would be able to protect the folks from the surrounding towns and villages too. With that thought in mind, spending a bit more money was no longer a big deal!”
Liang Yijie and the rest nodded while listening.
By the time the group arrived at the entrance, Liang Yijie and the rest were truly shocked by the five hundred people lined up outside Yan Fortress. They were all exuding the same aura as the one hundred people from Yan Liqiang’s troop. It was an aura that could only be gained from experiencing life-threatening situations…
Was the Yan Fortress a military area? How did Liqiang have so many tough-looking elite individuals?
