Chapter 89 p1
Using the excuse of training in the military camp, Li Mo had changed all her original personal guards and servants, replacing them with people she had personally selected from the military camp, who had both ability and ambition.
To make her change seem more natural, Li Mo had been very lazy for the first few days. Later, out of curiosity, she had a few rounds with a centurion. After discovering that her combat power was ridiculously low in the fight, she had a change of heart and took the initiative to propose to train with the soldiers.
Of course, Xue Zhao would not object to Li Mo’s proposal, but he would not really let Li Mo train with the ordinary soldiers.
To take good care of this precious Heir Apparent, Xue Zhao had specially selected a few more clever centurions from the middle-ranking generals and had them serve as the Heir Apparent’s martial arts masters and sparring partners.
Hearing that they could get along with the future Prince of Pingnan, the six selected centurions were also extremely excited. They immediately took their new clothes and rushed to the nearby river to take a bath. After cleaning themselves up, they went to report to Li Mo.
Li Mo naturally accepted all the manpower that was given to her for free. If there were no accidents, these people would be her future team.
After staying in the military camp for a month, Li Mo’s skills had improved greatly, and her originally weak body had also become much stronger. Although she could not fight a hundred, she could still fight ten.
Seeing Li Mo’s progress, Xue Zhao was even happier than Li Mo herself. Seeing that Li Mo had no intention of returning to the prince’s mansion, he immediately wrote a letter to tell the Prince of Pingnan this good news.
When the Prince of Pingnan saw Xue Zhao’s letter, his first reaction was that the other party was talking nonsense. Didn’t he know his son’s character? He was just a profligate son who only knew how to eat, drink, and be merry.
But after reading the letter a second and third time, the Prince of Pingnan began to be unable to sit still. Had his unfortunate son really turned over a new leaf? Could it be that the Eighth Princess’s death had scared him? But this change in personality was not just a little bit. It was a complete transformation!
After a little hesitation, the Prince of Pingnan temporarily stopped writing his reply to the Sixth Prince, changed into a set of light clothes, and directly rode to the East Camp.
It was true that the Prince of Pingnan had cursed his son for being a useless little bastard. After so many years, he had already accepted his son’s mediocrity.
But which parent would not be happy that their child had suddenly become sensible? Even if this sensibility had come more than ten years late, the Prince of Pingnan was still overjoyed in his heart.
Especially after he had rushed to the military camp and saw Li Mo wearing soft armor, waving the red-tasseled spear in her hand and fighting back and forth with Xue Zhao, he almost couldn’t help but start to clap and cheer.
Seeing the Prince of Pingnan from the corner of his eye, Xue Zhao began to go easy on her without leaving any traces. After more than a dozen rounds, he sold a flaw to Li Mo, letting her win this competition.
To maintain Jiang Ling’s character setting, Li Mo pretended not to see Xue Zhao going easy on her. After finding that she had won the competition, the smile on her face was very bright. She cupped her fists and said with great pride, “Uncle Xue, you’ve admitted defeat.”
“You are very talented, Heir Apparent. You can beat me after learning for such a short time,” Xue Zhao saw that Li Mo was a person who cared a lot about her pride and praised her very strongly.
Li Mo accepted the praise with a smile. After a beautiful flourish of the spear, she directly threw the red-tasseled spear to her personal guard.
“Dad, why are you here? Are you here to see me?” Seeing that the Prince of Pingnan was standing not far away, Li Mo raised her hand and waved, the smile on her face even more obvious.
“I just happened to be passing by and came to see you,” there were so many people here. The Prince of Pingnan couldn’t help but put on a little air and said rather officially, “Xue Zhao has taught you very well. It’s only been a month, and you’re already quite good with the red-tasseled spear.”
“Of course. I’m very talented. I basically learn everything that Uncle Xue teaches me after seeing it once!” Li Mo proudly straightened her back, with a look of asking for praise.
In the end, the Prince of Pingnan still couldn’t hold his own. He patted Li Mo’s shoulder, the smile on his face very gratified. “Not bad. You have a future. But what you’ve learned in the military camp alone is not enough. In the future, if you have time, take some people to patrol the territory, get to know the people, and at the same time, see if the local officials are derelict in their duties.”
“Patrol the entire territory?” Li Mo’s brows furrowed slightly, a little reluctant. “That shouldn’t be something that can be completed in one day, right?”
“What’s wrong? You’ve already learned so much. Shouldn’t you help me share my worries?” The Prince of Pingnan kept a straight face. It was rare that his son showed signs of rising up. He had to hurry up and train him.
Li Mo nodded reluctantly, and then her eyes lit up. She said with a self-proclaimed cleverness, “I haven’t seen Mom for a long time. Does she miss me? Why don’t I go back and see her first?”
The Prince of Pingnan raised an eyebrow. Seeing that Li Mo did not dare to look him in the eye, he guessed that she was planning to use this as an excuse to put off the matter of patrolling the territory.
“No need. Your mother is busy organizing a flower viewing party these few days. She has no time to see you,” the Prince of Pingnan said with a serious expression, directly settling the matter. “I need to accompany your mother to receive the guests. This task is for you.”
“Xue Zhao, I’ll leave the Heir Apparent to you. You can just arrange it according to the usual patrol route,” the Prince of Pingnan said. “It doesn’t matter if the patrol speed is a little slower, but you must ensure the Heir Apparent’s safety. Understand?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Don’t worry. This subordinate will definitely take good care of the Heir Apparent!” The corners of Xue Zhao’s lips couldn’t help but rise.
His Highness was building up momentum for the Heir Apparent. To let him familiarize himself with the territory and meet with important officials at the same time, this was clearly to let those people get to know their future master.
Great. His luck had finally come! As long as he followed the Heir Apparent, the next commander-in-chief of the five camps would definitely be his!
Li Mo seemed to have reluctantly agreed, but a hint of satisfaction flashed in her eyes. Very good. With the Prince of Pingnan’s help, her plan could be pushed forward a big step.
The Prince of Pingnan really doted on his useless son, always chasing after him to feed him. But it was a pity. His son’s ashes had already been washed away by the river under his command, leaving not a single trace.
But Li Mo was not a too heartless person. For a long time to come, she would play the role of Jiang Ling well and let the Prince of Pingnan be happy for a while, which could also be considered a kind of repayment to him.
Of course, if she still needed Jiang Ling’s identity in the future, she wouldn’t mind using it all the time. After all, she was planning to start her career with the Pingnan army. Since she had used their family’s foundation, she always had to give some benefits.
The Prince of Pingnan’s fief was a little smaller than the Prince of Zhenbei’s, but the situation on the northern and southern borders was different. Compared to the north, which was invaded by the barbarians every few years, the Japanese pirates in the south were much more well-behaved. The last time they had invaded was more than thirty years ago.
At that time, the Prince of Pingnan was very brave. In less than ten days of sending troops, he had beaten the Japanese pirates so badly that they had wet their pants. If it weren’t for the fact that the navy was not prepared for a long voyage, the Prince of Pingnan would have wanted to directly take over the Japanese pirates’ hometown.
**