"Lord Marquis!"
Zhang Liang rushed into the courtyard and knelt down in front of Qing Huai.
"Zhang…Zhang Liang?"
Qing Huai sized up Zhang Liang for a while. Then, he shouted angrily," What happened? How did you lose your arm?!"
At this moment, the polite and elegant young master had disappeared, replaced by an angry lion.
Xiao'e, who had always been close to Qinghuai, was so scared that she shivered. She turned around and dove into Guan Hanyan's arms.
"Lord Marquis, it's all in the past…"
"Tell me, what happened?"
Qing Huai interrupted Zhang Liang's words and asked in a domineering tone," Didn't you go to Zuo Xiaowei? Why are you here now?"
"Reporting to Lord Marquis, I arrived at Zuo Xiaowei. A month later, I encountered the Tanguts attacking the city. During the battle, my left arm was cut off by the Tanguts, so I retired."
Zhang Liang said helplessly.
Qing Huai heard this and did not speak for a long time. After a long while, he asked," Why didn't you look for me after you retired?"
" Lord Marquis had high hopes for this lowly one and spent great effort to send this lowly one to Zuo Xiaowei. However, I failed to live up to expectations and lost an arm after entering for a month. The city wall I guarded was even breached by the enemy…I was too ashamed to face Lord Marquis."
"When Zuo Xiaowei was fighting, did you retreat?"
Qing Huai asked with widened eyes.
" Zhang Liang is from the Ironforest Army and is under Lord Marquis. Even if he dies, he will not disgrace the name of the Ironforest Army. He killed four enemies in battle and did not retreat even after he fainted!"
Zhang Liang raised his head and said.
" Then why are you so ashamed to see me?!"
Qing Huai kicked Zhang Liang's shoulder, causing him to fall.
Zhang Mancang saw that his big brother was being beaten up and was about to charge forward with his hammer when Qin Feng grabbed him.
Zhang Liang got up from the ground without saying a word. He didn't even pat the dirt off his body as he knelt down on one knee in front of Qing Huai.
"As long as you fight bravely, what's so shameful about getting injured? Why can't you see me?"
Qing Huai kicked again.
Zhang Liang was still the same as before. He didn't explain and got up to kneel in front of Qing Huai again.
Qing Huai raised his leg. In the end, he did not kick him again. Instead, he helped Zhang Liang up and asked," Do you have any merit points for killing four enemies?"
"Replying to Lord Marquis, the wall that this lowly one was guarding was not defended and was breached by the enemy. Although the Tanguts were chased away by the reinforcements, they were still lost once…Thus, the merits and demerits offset each other, and there is no merit."
Zhang Liang said truthfully.
"You lost an arm. What will you do for a living after you retire?" Qing Huai sighed and asked.
"At first, I made a living by farming. Some time ago, Brother Qin Feng helped me make a usable crossbow, so I hunted for a while. Recently, there were fewer prey, so I helped Brother Qin Feng to go to the county government to do some business."
"Is the salary enough to live on?"
"Thank you for your concern, Marquis. Brother Qin Feng is generous and gives me five hundred copper coins a month. He also teaches my younger brother to forge and has my mother, my wife, my younger siblings, and my younger sister come to the workshop to spin. Now, our family has three meals a day, and every meal is dry."
Zhang Liang raised his head and looked at Qin Feng gratefully.
"Thank you, Mister!"
Qing Huai turned around and punched Qin Feng's chest.
"Thank you, Mister!"
The surrounding guards also did the same to Qin Feng.
The medical and health facilities were limited. Every year, countless soldiers died in battle and retired with disability in Da Kang, so the compensation they gave was very limited.
Over the years, they had seen too many disabled comrades who lived a miserable life after retirement.
Many of his comrades were even forced to become bandits.
There were very few people like Zhang Liang.
" You're too polite. Brother Liang and I are relatives. We should help each other."
Qin Feng smiled and waved his hand.
With Zhang Liang as the host, there was naturally no need for Zhong Wu to find a house. Zhang Liang did not even leave the courtyard and rented Xie Guang's old house from Runniang.
After sending Qinghuai and the others over, he ran to town without stopping and asked the carpenter to send a few beds over.
Qing Huai's guards did not stay idle either. They tidied up Xie Guang's stove again. It was obvious that they were prepared to stay for a long time.
In the evening, Zhang Liang invited Qing Huai home for dinner and even called Qin Feng to accompany him.
What was the point of him joining the gathering of comrades?
Therefore, Qin Feng rejected Zhang Liang's invitation, but he pulled Zhang Liang into the blacksmith shop."
"Brother Liang, this Marquis won't be leaving, right?"
"Lord Marquis said that he wanted to stay and take a look at your furnace. He was also interested in your new brick kiln, saying that it was different from the ones he had seen before."
"Isn't he the Marquis? Why is he so free?"
Qin Feng was a little depressed.
With such a fellow beside him, Qin Feng felt like he was being monitored at all times. He couldn't do many things freely.
"Lord Marquis lost a battle last year and was questioned by the Bureau of Military Personnel. He has also handed over military power and has no official duties recently."
Zhang Liang was furious." Lord Marquis only has 5,000 soldiers in the Ironforest Army. The enemy has 30,000 soldiers, including 6,000 cavalrymen. How can Lord Marquis defeat them?"
To be able to hold the enemy back for ten days and ten nights is already a great merit. I wonder what those officials of the Ministry of War are thinking…"
"Don't say anymore!"
Qin Feng interrupted Zhang Liang." It's fine if you say these words at home. You don't dare to say it outside. Otherwise, you'll bring trouble to your Lord Marquis. It's a big crime to talk about Shangguan."
Zhang Liang quickly stopped talking when he heard that.
"Right, what kind of person is this Lord Marquis?"
Qin Feng had no interest in Qing Huai's political career. In any case, whether he was favored or lost power, as long as the marquis 'title was still there, he, a commoner, could not afford to offend him.
What Qin Feng cared about was the Marquis 'character.
From the looks of it, this Marquis seemed to be very interested in his iron-smelting method and had stayed in Haijiao Village. If he had a good character, he would be able to find a backer after working together. He would not have to worry about small things like bandits.
If his character wasn't good enough, he would deliberately fail to modify the furnace and stay away from such a dangerous person as soon as possible.
When Qing Huai saw that Zhang Liang's arm was missing, Qin Feng could clearly see that his eyes were red and his hands were trembling slightly. He looked angry and sad.
This caused Qin Feng's view of Qing Huai to change.
But politicians were all good at acting. Who knew if this Marquis was just putting on a show to win people's hearts?
Qin Feng had heard of this too many times.
It was more reliable to ask Zhang Liang, who was familiar with Qinghuai.
Who knew that after Zhang Liang heard Qin Feng's question, he actually raised his head and laughed out loud.
"Why are you laughing?"
"And you're laughing so horribly." Qin Feng was puzzled.
"I'm laughing at Lord Marquis for being as divine as before."
"Before I came, Lord Marquis told me that you would definitely ask this question," said Zhang Liang.