Bai Ning霜 snorted, "Our Prince's Mansion doesn't need any more guards. There's no need to recruit anyone else."
Bai Ning雨 said, "Eldest sister, that's not right, is it? It seems like the Prince's Mansion still has a shortage of guards, right?"
Bai Ning霜 said, "If I say we don't need any, then we don't!"
Bai Ning雨 glared at her, then turned to Chu Minghou, "Brother-in-law, I'm your own brother-in-law."
sto♦
"Ouch, ouch——!" Bai Ning雨 screamed instantly, quickly begging for mercy, "Sister, I'm already so old, quickly let go, let go!"
Bai Ning霜 glared at him fiercely, "Get lost!"
As she spoke, she twisted it again hard. Bai Ning雨 screamed again.
Chu Minghou couldn't bear to watch any longer, and quickly stepped forward to hold Bai Ning雨's hand, "Forget it, forget it."
Bai Ning霜 then released her hand, glaring fiercely at Bai Ning雨, "Are you, this uncle, determined to harm Yuan'er?"
"Eldest sister, I didn't want to harm Yuan'er," Bai Ning雨 complained, "I just wanted to add two guards to your Prince's Mansion. Their martial arts are superb, they're smart and efficient, and they're honest people. I wouldn't be willing to let them go if it weren't for their future prospects. If they stayed in my mansion, they'd be pillars of support!"
"Tch, we don't need them!" Bai Ning霜 said with slight anger, "We have plenty of pillars of support in our Prince's Mansion, and there are many from the Eagle Plume Camp as well. What a joke, as if we're lacking your two guards! ?"
"Eldest sister..."
"If you add two guards today, do you believe that another Prince's Mansion will add two guards tomorrow?" Bai Ning霜 snorted, "We don't need that many guards!"
"Eldest sister, I'm your own brother," Bai Ning雨 said, unwilling to give up.
Bai Ning霜 snorted, "You're my own brother, but aren't the other princes also the princes' own brothers?"
Bai Ning雨 said, "The Prince's Mansion doesn't have enough guards right now, wouldn't it be better to have more?"
"What's the use of these guards?" Bai Ning霜 snorted, "They're ostensibly our guards, but who knows whose guards they are secretly? We can't afford to have such guards!"
"...Then—"
"What 'then' this and 'then' that!" Bai Ning霜 interrupted him, "Stop thinking about taking shortcuts. If they want to enter the Grandmaster realm, then they should enter the Martial Arts Academy. If they want to enter the Martial Arts Academy, then they should earn merit!"
"They're patrol guards, they couldn't get into the Town Guard Division," Bai Ning雨 said helplessly.
Not everyone can enter the Town Guard Division.
Of course, not everyone wants to enter the Town Guard Division.
"Patrol guards can also earn merit," Bai Ning霜 said.
Bai Ning雨 deflated like a punctured balloon, "How long will it take for the patrol guards to get their turn to earn that little bit of merit?"
Bai Ning霜 snorted, "They'll get their turn eventually. There aren't as many Perfected Xiantian as you think."
"Eldest sister, you really don't understand," Bai Ning雨 sighed, "You have no idea how many people are in the Town Guard Division. Do you think it's just the Town Guard Division in Jade Capital City? There are Town Guard Division personnel all over the world. How many Perfected Xiantian are there among them? If all these Perfected Xiantian take their turns, it'll probably take a year or two before it's anyone else's turn."
"A year or two isn't a big deal," Bai Ning霜 said, "Some people are stuck at the Perfected Xiantian realm for ten, twenty years, or even their entire lives."
"This..." Bai Ning雨 was actually speechless.
What she said was indeed correct.
There are many people who are stuck in the Perfected Xiantian realm, and most of them are stuck for their entire lives and cannot step into the Grandmaster realm. They won't give up until they are over sixty years old and have no hope for the rest of their lives.
Compared to these years, waiting a year or two is indeed nothing.
But people are greedy. If they don't have to wait two years, why should they wait? They might miss the opportunity to become a Grand Great Master in these two years. There is no hope of stepping into the Grand Great Master realm at the age of eighty.
It is possible to step in these two years.
Bai Ning霜 said unhappily, "You, as an uncle, aren't thinking about how to help your nephew avoid trouble, but instead you're making things worse. How can you still have the face to come to the door? If I were you, I would have found a tofu and bashed myself half to death!"
"Eldest sister, I'm just doing it out of kindness."
"Kindness my ass!" Bai Ning霜 said unhappily, "Get the hell out of here!"
"..Okay, okay," Bai Ning雨 said quickly, "I just got back to the capital. I'll find a chance to see Yuan'er. We can't not meet, we're almost strangers."
"Okay, in a few days," Bai Ning霜 said, "I'm not in the mood these days!"
"Sigh..." Bai Ning雨 saw that Bai Ning霜 was impervious to reason, knew her temper, and got up helplessly, "Then I'll be leaving."
"Get lost!" Bai Ning霜 snorted.
"You don't even give me food, you're really heartless," Bai Ning雨 muttered as he walked out, "Brother-in-law, let's go have a drink tonight."
"I'm not going," Bai Ning霜 said with a sullen face, "Are you worried that your brother-in-law doesn't have enough trouble?"
Chu Minghou said with a wry smile, "Not tonight, Fifth Brother has already made plans."
"Then tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow night is Thirteenth Brother."
"...Brother-in-law, you're really busy," Bai Ning雨 said with a wry smile.
Chu Minghou sighed, "There's no way around it, I can't refuse when my brothers invite me to dinner, right?"
Bai Ning雨 showed a sympathetic expression.
He could imagine how difficult it was for Chu Minghou.
They're his own brothers, so it's nothing to help with a small favor, but this matter isn't that easy. Chu Minghou said, "Madam, you take care of Yi'er's meal, I'll see Ning雨 off." He followed Bai Ning雨 out.
Bai Ning雨 waved his hand, "Eldest sister, you don't have to see me off." Bai Ning霜 glared at him fiercely, twisted her waist, and left.
After Bai Ning霜 left, Chu Minghou tugged at Bai Ning雨's sleeve and pursed his lips. Bai Ning雨 quickly followed him on tiptoe and came to a peach tree outside the hall.
The peach blossoms were in full bloom, and some petals were scattered on the ground.
Chu Minghou lowered his voice and said, "On the surface, it's indeed not appropriate for Yuan'er to act out of personal consideration, otherwise, he won't be appreciated, but will be blamed, putting in effort without getting anything in return."
Bai Ning雨 nodded quickly.
He was also a powerful figure in the army, so he didn't get where he was by being useless. He knew that he must never open a precedent. Otherwise, not only would he not be appreciated, but he would be resented.
Those who were helped would certainly be happy, but what about those who weren't helped? I'm afraid they would resent him. After all, there were few who could be helped, and many who weren't, resulting in more people resenting him. This was really unnecessary.
So directly sending them to the Prince's Mansion to be guards would avoid favoritism. Helping his own guards couldn't be considered favoritism, right? What if others wanted to send people to the Prince's Mansion to be guards?
But the Prince's Mansion had a quota for guards, and it was already full, so there was no way to recruit more guards. This blocked everyone's mouths.
Chu Minghou said, "Actually, there's no need to rush this matter too much. Yuan'er has a plan."
"What plan?"
"Yuan'er is preparing to build a camp in Jade Capital City, a separate Imperial Guard camp belonging to Father Emperor."
Bai Ning雨's eyes widened, "Build an Imperial Guard camp? ...Inappropriate, inappropriate!"
He quickly shook his head and said, "The military is full of entrenched interests, more troublesome than the Town Guard Division. You can't interfere randomly." For over a thousand years, the power in the military has long been stable.
With the eight great Duke's Mansions as the warp and weft, mixed with various Prince's Mansions, it is difficult to insert anything else. The Qing Prince's Mansion is too weak to begin with, so it is even more impossible.
"Yuan'er naturally knows this, so he wants to form a separate camp."
"..Difficult," Bai Ning雨's handsome eyebrows were tightly locked, and he shook his head repeatedly, "Too difficult."
Building a new army camp is not as simple as one thinks. It involves all aspects and is extremely complicated. No one knows which part will be sabotaged.
