Chapter 172 – Title of Marquis
Why was this crowd of people treating him like the enemy?
Ye Qingyu was somewhat bewildered.
He could see the military warfare officer that had been the person holding the bow, clasping his hands at Ye Qingyu from far away. “Patrolling envoy Ye, your military seal has already been erased. Because you have not come back to Youyan Pass for over a month, the military department thought you have already died in duty, so…”
Ye Qingyu understood.
So Mister Liu and the others, seeing that he had not returned, thought he had already died.
From the current situation, it seemed like the military of Youyan Pass had already made a public announcement.
Who would have thought that he would return alive? Naturally this needed a reconfirmation of his identity.
Ye Qingyu silently floated in the air, waiting for eventual development of the situation.
Very quickly, a formation airship broke through the air, flying from far away. The person at the lead had a long blade at his waist. It was an expert with a burly and muscular figure. If it was not Liu Zongyuan, then who was it?
“Brother Ye, you’ve really returned?” Liu Zongyuan shouted from far away.
The people who were familiar with this officer that was normally like a boulder could not help but be surprised after witnessing this scene. How was it that this fellow who spoke so little would suddenly become so animated? They had never heard before of any sort of relationship between the boulder Liu Zongyuan and the sword patrolling envoy Ye Qingyu.
“Officer Liu, we meet again.” Ye Qingyu had a faint smile.
“So it was really you. Haha, this is good, this is too good. I thought you had already… to be able to come back alive, this is too good.” Liu Zongyuan could hardly contain his excited mood, repeating the words ‘too good’ three times. Excitedly, he patted Ye Qingyu on the shoulders saying, “If Mister Liu knows of this matter, he will definitely be overcome with joy. So will Xing’er… Also, that rash fellow Wen Wan. That fellow is still furious with me until now…”
Liu Zongyuan was really overjoyed.
In these days, he did not know how to face Wen Wan.
Every time he saw the gaze of Wen Wan that wanted to kill someone, Liu Zongyuan felt both guilty and regretful. He resented the fact that it was not he himself who had stayed behind.
With Liu Zongyuan appearing, the process to confirm Ye Qingyu’s identity was completed very quickly. The formation airships from all around began to be dispersed, disappearing in the clouds far off. The military officer who had held the bow at the start clasped his hands in apology and ordered the soldiers under his command to activate the formation airship and depart. Liu Zongyuan brought Ye Qingyu along and flew towards the inner area of Youyan Pass.
“Let’s first go see Mister Liu and retract the announcement of your death. Haha, did you know, everyone thought you had already died in the hands of Yan Buhui. For you, Mister Liu personally went in search of Lord Lu Zhaoge and requested for the conferment of a title and reward for you. In these days, the documents of the imperial military department have been passed down already. They have bestowed upon you a fourth class righteous heroic Marquis* as your title…” Liu Zongyuan endlessly jabbered on.
Even the soldiers under his command were surprised.
The fact that patrolling envoy Ye had returned had caused their leading officer’s mood to really turn for the better. In the past half a year he did not said much, but in this hour, he had completely filled this period with unending speech.
“What? Fourth class righteous heroic military Marquis? I’ve been given a title of duke?” This was completely out of his expectations.
The position of marquis, was it not obtained far too easily?
The titles of the empire could largely be divided into people who had inherited titles of feudality and ministers who had provided outstanding service. The former were people who possessed the bloodline of the imperial family, or perhaps they were nobles who had inherited a title of feudality. The latter were ministers who were bestowed upon titles through their outstanding contributions. Both of these cases were split into classes of ‘King’, ‘Grand’, ‘Great’, ‘Duke’ and ‘Marquis’, going from high to low. And every classification was split into first class, second class, three class and fourth class. The classifications were extremely strict and the distinction between positions were utterly clear. The status of the nobles of the empire were divided very clearly.
Inherited feudal titles were very easily obtained, but the conditions for a title gained through outstanding service was extremely strict.
Since the Empire had been founded a hundred years ago, the number of people who had obtained a title would absolutely not exceed five hundred. And as for those people who managed to obtain titles because of their bloodline and inheritance, there were near ten thousand people.
A fourth class Marquis, although it was the lowest class of the classifications amongst the Empire’s nobility, but Ye Qingyu had only enrolled in the army for less than half a year. For a young person without any sort of background, this could be counted as ascending to heaven in one step. From a commoner to a noble, Ye Qingyu used three months of time to finish walking the path other people would walk for their entire life.
After hearing of his title, Ye Qingyu was not overjoyed, but instead bewildered.
This matter was far too out of the ordinary.
Liu Zongyuan immediately began laughing uproariously. “That’s right, in the document Mister Liu passed on, he did his utmost to describe the situation. He greatly complimented you on the fact that you risked yourself to protect those maps, sacrificing yourself and allowing us to return. Such bravery and loyalty is something that every soldier should learn from. Even Lord Lu kept praising brother Ye you endlessly. Afterwards, through discussions with the military of the Empire, they decided to bestow a title on you. We only knew once the documents of conferment were passed down. The leaders of the military were really generous this time round. To directly bestowing you a title of Marquis, haha, brother Ye, congratulations!”
Ye Qingyu only bitterly smiled.
This time the bestowing of the title was a bestowal given for the bereaved.
In other words, they gave him a title because they thought he was a dead person. Such a title, would it still be effective if he came back alive?
This time, most likely the military had caused a great joke to be born.
In the blink of an eye, the airship directly entered into the pass, entering into the city of Youyan Pass.
The two switched their vehicles, heading straight for the Pass Lord’s residence.
When they reached the gates of the outer courtyard of the Pass Lord’s residence, Xing’er had already been waiting at the entrance for quite a while.
Evidently, he had long received news.
When he saw Ye Qingyu, this little student could not wait to rush over and give Ye Qingyu a large hug. Then he punched Ye Qingyu, excitedly saying, “Good fellow, you’ve finally returned. I’ve already said, good people do not live long, but villains cause trouble for thousands of years. For a person like you, how can you die so easily…”
Ye Qingyu, “…”
The words were supposed to be positive, but the way he said it was not that pleasing to the ears.
Are you complimenting me or are you insulting me?
“There’s a strange odour on your body.” Ye Qingyu sniffed. “It seems to be the fragrance of petals, are you recently learning flower arrangement or the like?”
“Ai, your nose is sensitive. Are you a dog!” Xing’er chattered in front of them, leading the way. He turned his head back, insulting Ye Qingyu.
“Woof woof!” Little Nine barked in dissatisfaction, indicating that they should not casually insult dogs.
Xing’er instantly began laughing loudly.
Liu Zongyuan also shut his mouth.
Ye Qingyu’s sudden appearance caused the shadows in their hearts in this period of time to be completely swept away. Their mood was unprecedentedly high.
Very quickly, they came to the front of the military council pavilion.
Liu Zongyuan slapped Ye Qingyu on the shoulder: “Fine, brother Ye, I’ll take you to here. What follows after, Mister Liu will discuss with you… When you have time, come to the Vanguard to find me to drink. A brother like you, I Liu Zongyuan, will definitely make.”
“As you say,” Ye Qingyu replied with a laugh.
For such a righteous and silent military officer like Liu Zongyuan, Ye Qingyu had a very good impression of.
Liu Zongyuan left with a large smile.
Xing’er brought Ye Qingyu within the military council pavilion.
Second floor.
Pushing the door and entering into the room.
The Mister Liu in front of the table was currently lifting his brush and painting. He wore a white robe, elegant and graceful.
“You’ve come. Sit, Marquis Ye.”
He pointed to the roughly woven prayer mat in front of him.
The [Painting Saint] was the only person who saw Ye Qingyu, and still remained as calm as he was on their first meeting.
Ye Qingyu could not laugh or cry at this title, ‘Marquis Ye’. After sitting down he quickly asked, “Mister Liu, just what is this? The bestowal of this title by the military, is it not a bit too rash?” …… ……
An hour later.
Ye Qingyu left the Pass Lord’s residence.
Walking in the familiar streets, he watched the people coming and going. The atmosphere of the world made him feel especially close to such a place after being away for over a month.
Eating something from the stands by the street, he headed towards White Horse tower.
Not returning for a month, just how was Bai Yuanxing and Mother Wu doing.
Ye Qingyu right now did not want to think about anything, he only wanted to go home to wash and sleep.
Fifteen minutes later.
White Horse tower could be seen vaguely off in the distance.
The crowd in front became more and more clustered.
“En? There seems to be something that has happened? Why is there so many people next to the White Horse tower?” Ye Qingyu suddenly discovered, in the surroundings of White Horse tower, there really was quite a significant number of people gathered. The outside of the tower was completely jam packed. Vaguely, there was the sound of crying emitting, and also screams and shouts.
Just what was happening?
Ye Qingyu rushed forward, pushing through the crowd.
He could hear a cry, emitting from the center—
“Master Bai, you must right this injustice. My man really did not steal the soldiers’ pay. These silver are the wages Master Bai gave us. Master Bai, you can definitely prove this to them…” This voice was extremely terrified, somewhat crying. But Ye Qingyu could very quickly determine, if she was not the servant that he had hired, Mother Wu who else could it be?
What exactly was going on?
He pushed towards the front of the crowd, not showing himself, remaining silent and observing.
He could see at the entrance of White Horse tower, Mother Wu was on the ground. Tears filled her face in bitter pain, her hands tightly clenching the leg of the sword slave Bai Yuanxing. She was currently bitterly begging.
On the other side, the soldiers of the supply department had completely surrounded Mother Wu, Bai Yuanxing and also a man around the age of forty-five. His body was covered with traces of blood, and he had already been beaten senseless. A metal hook had pierced through his shoulder, and he had fallen to the ground. Scarlet red streamed from the wound, dyeing the ground red. The situation was incomparably tragic. Most likely he only had half his life left…
From the cries of Mother Wu, this half dead man should be her husband.
There was rage on Bai Yuanxing’s face. “How could you go around arresting people without determining right or wrong? This silver I really did give to Mother Wu, you’ve arrested the wrong people…”
“Arrested the wrong people?” The leading solder had a cold smile. “These silver has the imprint of the military supply department. Evidently it is the soldier’s pay that we have allocated to the Vanguard. To have appeared in the hands of such lowly people.” He used his whip to point at the man being dragged on the ground. Casually he flicked his whip, but the senseless man did not even let out a grunt. Another whip scar appeared on his body. Mother Wu let out a howl of pain, falling on the body of this man wanting to block the strike of the whip. Immediately she was kicked rolling away by an armoured soldier. The armoured soldier laughingly said, “For the soldier’s pay that has not yet been distributed to land in her hands. If she did not steal it, just where did it come from?”
“You… you haven’t even made things clear, how could you be so merciless?” Bai Yuanxing was both shocked and angry. “These are silver I’ve obtained from the military supply department today, and I instantly paid the wages to Mother Wu. There are records that you can check, you guys…”
“Records we can check?” The armoured soldier grunted, and coldly sneered. “The military supply department has not distributed any silver today. I have to ask you, just where did you obtain the silver? My superior was namely about to go investigate to where the lost soldiers’ pay were, who would have thought you would stand out of your own initiative. So a sword slave like you was the lead conspirator. Very well, since you have admitted by yourself, that these silver are given by you to this mad shrew, then obediently follow me to explain yourself!”
Bai Yuanxing was taken aback, then instantly realized.
A scheme.
He had fallen into their trap.
“You… Bai Yuanxing’s body quivered, pointing at the soldier. “You intentionally schemed against us, you…”