As a young marshal, it's reasonable for me to have 300,000 private troops, right?

As soon as the sworn brotherhood ceremony ended, Qi Fan's joy vanished instantly, replaced by a bellyful of frustration.

He squatted on the ground, his fingers unconsciously digging into the soil. He couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried. He had already become sworn brothers with Zhang Tingshu and the others, so their relationship should have progressed further. However, the favorability rating on the system panel remained unchanged at 60%!

"What criteria does this lousy system use to calculate favorability?"

Qi Fan couldn't help but complain in his heart. Even when he played with his three new sworn brothers in the afternoon, he had no interest in it. He kept his little face down. When others asked him to play with slingshots or roll iron hoops, he just waved his hand weakly. He was listless.

He pondered this over and over, wondering if the sworn brotherhood ceremony was too rudimentary, or if he had done something wrong. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. He just felt that the system's judgment logic was really hard to understand.

Just then, a thin, small figure slowly walked over. It was a ragged little boy, his gray clothes were dirty and torn, the cuffs were frayed, and there were two black marks on his face. He looked like he had come out of some alley.

He walked up to Qi Fan, stopped, and looked up at him, asking, "Are you Zhang Hanqing?"

Qi Fan looked up, his mind filled with confusion, and nodded: "Yes, it is. What's wrong?"

Without saying much, the little boy reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a neatly folded note, which he then handed to Qi Fan.

"A guy wearing a black hat asked me to give this to you, saying you'd recognize it at a glance."

Qi Fan was even more puzzled. He reached out and took the note. Just as his fingertips touched the edge of the paper, he wanted to ask who the "man in the black hat" was. But when he looked up, the slovenly little boy had already turned and run away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"What's going on?" Qi Fan wondered to himself, and quickly unfolded the note.

The note was on rough scrap paper with only a few strong black characters on it, clearly written with charcoal.

We met in a dilapidated courtyard in the south of the city.

Upon seeing this line of text, Qi Fan instantly realized that who else could be wearing a black hat and knowing that he was here but Yan Shuangying?

Just as he put the note away, Zhang Xuecheng ran over with a slingshot, his face still covered in mud.

"Hanqing, why aren't you playing with us? Zhang Tingshu just said he wanted to have a slingshot shooting contest with you!"

Qi Fan quickly stuffed the note into the inner pocket of his cotton-padded coat, patted the coat to make sure it was hidden, and then turned around and waved to Zhang Xuecheng.

"No, no, I have something urgent to take care of. You guys keep playing."

"Is it urgent?" Zhang Xuecheng blinked and asked enthusiastically.

"What's the emergency? Do you want me to come with you? It'll be good to have someone to look after you."

"No, no!" Qi Fan quickly refused. Yan Shuangying's identity was too special, and he couldn't let others know.

"It's nothing, I can go by myself and I'll be right back. You guys keep having fun, don't wait for me!"

After saying that, without waiting for Zhang Xuecheng to ask any further questions, he waved to Zhang Tingshu and Bao Yulin not far away, then turned around and walked quickly out of the Marshal's Mansion, heading straight towards the south of the city.

Qi Fan hurried along the way, searching for a long time in the general direction of the south of the city from his memory. Finally, he found the address on Yan Shuangying's note deep in several narrow alleys.

It has to be said that Yan Shuangying chose a really remote place. It was quiet all around, and there were hardly any passersby.

Before me stood a dilapidated courtyard, clearly abandoned for many years.

Qi Fan stepped forward and gently knocked on the wooden door.

Not long after, the door creaked open, and a small head peeked out. It was a little girl with two braids, her clothes were faded but still clean.

The girl looked Qi Fan up and down, then asked in a clear voice, "You must be Han Qing? Come in quickly, the leader is waiting for you inside."

Qi Fan nodded and followed the girl into the courtyard.

The courtyard looked desolate, but the layout was quite simple. Apart from weeds, it was just an open space with a few simple bungalows next to the edge of the space.

On that open space, eighteen children of similar age to him were training. They were all dressed in the same gray cloth short jackets, and they were practicing their horse stance in unison. Their little faces were red from the effort, but none of them complained of being tired.

Yan Shuangying stood in front of the children, dressed in black, with a tall and straight posture, and was correcting one of the children's movements in a deep voice.

He caught a glimpse of Qi Fan walking in out of the corner of his eye, immediately stopped giving instructions, and quickly went to greet him.

"Hanqing, you've arrived."

Qi Fan's gaze was still fixed on the children training, and he asked with a puzzled look, "Brother Yan, who are these children...?"

"This isn't the place to talk. Come on, let's go inside and talk."

Yan Shuangying stepped aside and led the way, taking Qi Fan into the central main house.

The layout of the room was as simple as the courtyard. Apart from a wooden table, a few chairs, and a wooden cabinet against the wall, there were some simple daily necessities inside.

Qi Fan sat down in the main seat at the wooden table, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, and looked up at Yan Shuangying.

"Brother Yan, can you tell me now? What exactly is the situation with these children?"

"These are the bodyguards I trained for you, following your instructions," Yan Shuangying explained earnestly, standing before the table.

"Don't worry, these children are all homeless orphans with clean backgrounds and absolutely no hidden dangers. Moreover, if you raise them from a young age, their loyalty to you in the future will be far greater than that of those you recruited later."

"My orders?" Qi Fan became more and more confused as he listened, his brows furrowing instantly. He quickly recalled every conversation he had with Yan Shuangying. When did he ask Yan Shuangying to train his personal guards?

Seeing his confused expression, Yan Shuangying showed a hint of surprise.

"That's right, Hanqing, have you forgotten? You gave me ten thousand taels of silver before, and specifically instructed me that it would be 'enough to support a small squad,' which meant you wanted me to recruit and train your personal guards, right?"

"Pfft!" Qi Fan almost choked on the air he had just swallowed, completely stunned on the spot, his mind screaming: I gave that to you as pocket money! Who told you to use it to support such a large group of kids!

But looking at Yan Shuangying's earnest expression that said "I understand your meaning," and thinking about the children in the yard who had already started training, Qi Fan swallowed back the word "misunderstanding" that was on the tip of his tongue.

We can't just let Yan Shuangying disband these orphans, can we? That would be too irresponsible.

He suppressed his inner complaints and nodded in a serious tone, as if to say, "You really do understand me."

"If that's the case, do you have enough money to raise so many children?"

"Don't worry!" Yan Shuangying immediately straightened his back, his tone respectful yet confident.

"If I use the ten thousand taels of silver you gave me sparingly, it will be enough to raise these children for three or four years, providing them with food, drink, and training equipment!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Fan calmly replied with an "okay," but inwardly he was having some doubts.

Fortunately, his father wasn't short of money. He had already turned his mother's savings account upside down, and found not only 80,000 silver dollars in banknotes, but also several properties and land deeds. In terms of wealth, he was now considered a wealthy man.

"If you run out of money later, just let me know and I'll make up the difference."

Qi Fan waved his hand, speaking casually as if he were saying, "The weather is nice today," but inwardly he thought: Consider this a top-notch bodyguard team for myself. This is a good deal... right?

Yan Shuangying's eyes lit up when he heard him say that, and he felt even more certain that he had guessed Qi Fan's deeper intentions.

As expected, Hanqing had planned ahead. The first sum of money he gave was just a test, and there was a bigger plan to follow!

He immediately said, "Come on, Hanqing, I'll take you to the courtyard to see the results of these children's training. You can take a look."

With that, Yan Shuangying led Qi Fan into the courtyard.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, he sternly ordered the children training in the open space, "Assemble!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the eighteen children, who had been training separately, instantly stood in a straight line in the open space.

Each of them stood tall and proud, with sharp eyes. Although their faces were still young, they exuded a rare air of heroism and composure among their peers. Clearly, Yan Shuangying had put a lot of effort into training them these past few days.

Yan Shuangying stepped forward and steadily pushed Qi Fan to the front of the group, introducing him in a strong and clear voice.

"Remember this! From today onward, he! Zhang Hanqing, is your sole leader! Your lives belong to him, everything you have belongs to him! From now on, you must protect his safety at all costs. He is your sky, your root! You can lose your lives, but he must not be harmed in the slightest! Do you all understand?"

"Got it!"

The eighteen children shouted in unison, their voices so loud that even the weeds on the courtyard wall trembled. The loyalty and determination in their eyes were genuine.

Qi Fan was stunned by the overwhelming aura. Looking at the group of children with determined eyes in front of him, the helplessness caused by the misunderstanding in his heart instantly dissipated.

Yan Shuangying was right about one thing: regardless of their abilities, these children's loyalty to him was beyond his doubt.