The Qilin Child of Tianshui 3

Although I had already accomplished everything I came to Tianshui for, I stayed a few more days. Having come this far, shouldn’t I see Ma Chao before leaving?

Moreover, I needed to give Jiang Wei time to prepare to leave his hometown. Though Jiang Wei himself said he was fully prepared to leave at any time, it was different for his mother.

Only after Jiang Wei conveyed that his mother had agreed to go to Nanjing did I prepare to leave Qizhou. Because Jiang Wei’s followers came along too, the return journey was quite bustling unlike when we came with just three people.

“You’re leaving.”

Wang Si, who had come to see us off to the city gate, said with regret.

“Don’t be too disappointed. We’ll meet again soon.”

While I exchanged farewell words with Wang Si, Ma Chao, who had been talking with Pang De, approached. Though Wang Si is the Governor of Tianshui Commandery, Ma Chao is the highest-ranking person here, so he gave greetings as the representative.

“Send my regards to General Yu and His Majesty the King of Hanzhong as well.”

“I will.”

“The next time we meet will be on the battlefield again.”

As Ma Chao said, for the past year each country had been recovering its national strength and preparing for the war that would come again. The clouds of war gathering were not in the distant future.

“Perhaps by then, you might be above me.”

“How could that be? How could I, with the Dao Marquis here…”

“That’s just a manner of speaking. But keep it in mind. And let me tell you in advance, I don’t think too badly of it.”

Ma Chao brought up, as if making a light joke, that if it came to that, he would personally deal with those who arrogantly commit insubordination.

Hmm, looking at Ma Chao’s past actions, it seems like there might be some truth to his words.

Promising to meet again like that, we left Qizhou and set out on the return journey to Nanjing.

Unlike when we came, this time there were those following on foot without horses, so it wasn’t as fast.

I told Father I’d be back soon, but it was almost two weeks, over ten days, before we returned to Nanjing.

“You’re quite late.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

“I see many unfamiliar faces too.”

“That is…”

“And I hear you appointed one as Assistant to the Rear General?”

Having caused such a commotion, it’s no wonder it reached Father’s ears.

Father saying such things wasn’t to reproach me. The Rear General has the authority to establish a separate military department and appoint talented people to assist.

I had been appointing and recruiting talented people since I was the General Who Conquers the North, which was lower in rank than Rear General. But Father specifically pointing out this incident was probably because he felt hurt that I prioritized it over seeing him after a long time.

Like when I mentioned Guan Yu instead of Father when talking about husband standards last time, he was secretly quite attached to me while pretending not to be.

“Well. Anyway, it’s good you returned safely.”

I thought he was going to let it go, but Father specifically mentioned Jiang Wei.

“But is that fellow such a great talent? I heard you called him a qilin child.”

A lie has no legs but can travel a thousand li. I wonder who heard that and spread rumors. I only evaluated Jiang Wei as a qilin twice.

“Yes, he is a great talent. The evaluation of ‘Qilin Child of Tianshui’ will surely be acknowledged by the world.”

“Hmm… I’ve seen many talented people you’ve discovered and employed, and every one of them has been outstanding. Especially Wang Ziyi and Ma Dexin, even your eldest brother praised them as great pillars of the country. But are you saying he’s even more amazing than them?”

I often included evaluations when introducing talented people to others. For example, I said Wang Ping was material for a great general, and Fan Jun was a person who would rise to the rank of duke.

Those who actually recognized their abilities showed trust, saying my evaluations of people were correct.

But the evaluation of “qilin child” certainly felt completely different. Seeing Father, who had said my eye for talent was similar to eldest brother’s, ask again like this.

“In my humble opinion, yes, that’s right.”

“Is that so? If that’s how you see it, there must be good reason.”

Showing strong interest in Jiang Wei, Father stroked his chin as if recalling his first impression. Then, with eyes blazing as if on the battlefield, he said:

“I’d like to meet him in person.”

“Shall I arrange a meeting?”

“He’ll probably still be tired from the journey now, so tomorrow or the day after would be good.”

After planning the meeting between Father and Jiang Wei like that, I went to find Jiang Wei to convey this news.

I found Jiang Wei not in the room assigned to him, but in the outer training ground. From Qizhou to Nanjing. He still had energy left even after traveling a distance similar to Seoul to Busan. Indeed, the nineteen-year-old youth approaching twenty is different.

Pang De and Zhao Yun were also with him. It seems Father wasn’t the only one whose body itched at my evaluation of Jiang Wei.

When I made my presence known, they stopped what they were doing and gave a simple bow towards me. I also nodded my head in greeting.

“Were you sparring here? Without even resting when you must be tired.”

Though it was directed at everyone, if twisted slightly, it could be taken as a reproach towards Zhao Yun and Pang De for not letting the kid rest. Perhaps reading that implied meaning, Jiang Wei said with an amiable smile:

“I was asking these two for guidance. I’m grateful they’re helping like this despite being busy.”

“Is that so?”

Though Jiang Wei put a good spin on it, that probably wasn’t all. Setting aside Pang De, who is skilled at managing his expressions and maintaining a poker face, I could tell just by looking at Zhao Yun wearing an awkward smile.

But what more is there to say to the point of overriding Jiang Wei’s words? I just let it pass without adding anything. And I used this as a pretext to bring up the main point.

“Then how about receiving guidance from one more person?”

“One more person, perhaps…”

“Yes. Father says he wants to see you.”

At the intervention of a big shot ranked in the top 5 of Shu, Pang De and Zhao Yun completely extinguished the embers of rivalry they had been burning until now.

“We’ll stop here for now.”

“Meeting General Yu, the hero acknowledged by all, will be a good experience.”

With Zhao Yun and Pang De even pushing his back, Jiang Wei nodded willingly. I was relieved to see that he didn’t seem to be doing it forcibly, but was genuinely happy about these learning opportunities.

Yes. Make a good impression. You need to quickly rise to a high position.

I looked at Jiang Wei with inner satisfaction. Is this how a gardener feels watering a rapidly growing tree? I felt proud seeing Jiang Wei already building connections and finding his place.

‘This time, I’ll help you fully display that talent.’

Jiang Wei had to struggle in a poor environment both externally and internally due to Huang Hao’s machinations. Nevertheless, he never lost his loyalty and sense of righteousness until his dying moment.

The last loyal subject who dreamed of reviving Shu Han even after Liu Shan surrendered will surely bloom his ambitions this time.

The next day, Jiang Wei had a meeting with Father. I didn’t know what kind of conversation the two had, but given Father’s respect for scholars and Jiang Wei’s learning that allowed him to serve in civil official positions, the atmosphere probably wasn’t bad.

Moreover, Zheng Xuan, the Confucian scholar Jiang Wei mainly studied, had a connection with Liu Bei, and his school of thought advocated principled righteousness, so they couldn’t help but get along well.

As expected, the atmosphere between Father and Jiang Wei who appeared together was harmonious. They naturally moved their steps to the training ground as if taking a walk. And as if they had discussed it beforehand, it flowed naturally into a sparring match.

“Jiang Wei of Tianshui humbly requests to learn from the Wanjin Jedi.”

“Good. I shall show you the spear of Zhang Yide, my sworn brother.”

Jiang Wei and Father faced each other holding real weapons with sharp spearheads, not wooden staves.

There were more spectators besides me. Not to mention Zhao Yun and Pang De who had crossed spears with Jiang Wei last night, but also Father’s lieutenants.

Just like when I had a sparring match with Wei Yan, it had become a kind of public event.

I was a bit worried. Though Jiang Wei’s potential was undoubtedly real, I don’t know how strong Jiang Wei is at this time.

Of course he won’t be able to beat Father yet, but if he’s overwhelmed too one-sidedly, it would affect his reputation…

“How do you two generals think it will go?”

“Though General Yu winning is a foregone conclusion, I don’t think there’s need to worry.”

“That young man definitely has talent. I think it will be quite an interesting match.”

Zhao Yun and Pang De’s evaluations were very generous. Pang De, who has high pride as a Liangzhou native, doesn’t easily give high evaluations, so it says it all that he directly said Jiang Wei has talent.

Though Jiang Wei is also from Liangzhou like Pang De, Pang De isn’t the type to rate someone higher just because they’re from the same hometown.

“It’s started.”

Perhaps intending to give the initiative to the less skilled as a master, Father waited for Jiang Wei to attack first.

The spear thrusts out. The spearhead imbued with youthful spirit cleanly cuts through the air. The unwavering straight spear path proved in days how much training had been accumulated.

But the opponent is the Wanjin Jedi. The movement of the snake spear came a breath later.

It was in the blink of an eye. The snake spear wrapping around and deflecting Jiang Wei’s spear.

It was truly a counter-attack as flexible as a snake and as fast as a storm. It was the perfect demonstration of the principle of “striking second to gain the advantage.”

As he aged, muscles decreased and strength weakened in the face of time, but his refined martial arts were entering an even higher and new realm.

Jiang Wei didn’t give up there. Anticipating the counterattack would strike, he steps back half a step and twists his body. At the same time, he raises the deflected spear.

An immediate response that couldn’t come from just training and sparring. It was skill already honed through actual combat.

“Not bad!”

But even that was no particular threat to Father. Father raises the speed of his snake spear while exclaiming with delight. An explosive spear attack that belies his age in his mid-50s pours down on Jiang Wei.

Father’s martial arts are the epitome of joy and grace. Spear strikes falling like lightning rage like a storm.

Forced onto the defensive in an instant, Jiang Wei barely received each exchange. But even in the midst of that, his eyes didn’t blink and shone with a piercing light looking for a chance to counterattack.

His unyielding will granted him a moment of counterattack.

Tang!!

But the final decisive strike came to nothing. Secretly revealing an opening to make the opponent choose that path, then launching a counterattack. He had fallen for Father’s specialty.

Jiang Wei’s balance crumbled at the unexpected strike and his body collapsed. Even in that situation, his hand did not let go of the spear.

As everyone expected, it was Father’s victory. But just putting up this much of a fight against Father was amazing in itself. Even I wasn’t confident I could beat Father yet.

How many exchanges did they have until it was decided? It was skill anyone would acknowledge. With this one sparring match, Jiang Wei had perfectly proven his worth.

“That was quite good.”

Father personally helped Jiang Wei up and patted the dust off his clothes.

When Jiang Wei tried to bow in gratitude, Father grabbed his shoulders to raise him and patted his back.

“Your body is dedicated, your spirit is upright, and your energy is abundant. Outwardly you’ve honed martial arts, inwardly you’ve built up learning. Worthy of the evaluation of ‘qilin child’.”

Father’s gaze turned to me.

“You’ve obtained a good talent. If I had my way, I’d want to take him from you and make him my disciple.”

“You wouldn’t do that, right?”

“Ahem. I know you’re better than me at recognizing and nurturing talent. Raise him well. If you feel you can’t do it alone, send him to your father.”

Thus Father subtly left room for possibility. And this time he declared to those gathered:

“Today is a joyous day! A talent who will become a pillar of the country has come, how could we hide our joy! I will hold a banquet, and I hope all the generals will attend!”