Did he trick the young marshal into becoming sworn brothers and then go south to Huangpu Military Ac

Guo Songling gave Lin Qi a salute, even more perfunctory than before.

"Take care, Vice Principal Lin."

Lin Qi said no more and turned to walk out of the camp gate.

Zhang Hanqing followed behind, his face growing increasingly grim as they walked. Once they were outside the camp gate, he pulled Lin Qi along.

"Big brother, wait a minute."

Lin Qi stopped.

Zhang Hanqing's voice was icy.

"Big brother, if you mind Mao Chen's attitude, I'll go back and teach him a lesson right now!"

Lin Qi shook his head.

"fine."

"This matter cannot be left unresolved."

Zhang Hanqing became anxious: "No one can stand Guo Maochen's temper, but he's one of my men. If word gets out that he disrespected you today, it will be incredibly embarrassing. We must get an explanation for this!"

Clearly, knowing Lin Qi's true strength, he didn't want Lin Qi to harbor resentment over this matter and had to get his revenge.

"Hanqing".

Lin Qi patted him on the shoulder: "Let's talk in the car."

Zhang Hanqing couldn't refuse, so he got into the car.

The car drove out of the Third Army Camp gate and headed into Fengtian City.

in the carriage.

Zhang Hanqing remained angry.

After driving for a while, he finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Big brother."

Why didn't you show off your skills earlier?

"I know Mao Chen's temper. He's just too proud and can't stand people who aren't wearing military uniforms."

"But if you show him some skills, he'll definitely be convinced."

"If Maochen had heard what you told me back then, he would not only have admitted his mistakes, but he would have been completely convinced."

Lin Qi didn't answer immediately. He took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled one out, struck a match, lit it slowly, and took a puff.

"Hanqing".

"Do you believe me?"

Zhang Hanqing was taken aback.

"Brother, we're sworn brothers, how could I not believe you?"

Lin Qi took the cigarette out of his mouth, leaned forward, and lowered his voice.

Trust me.

"You should be wary of this Guo Songling."

Zhang Hanqing froze.

"Big brother."

"What rumors have you heard?"

Lin Qi shook his head.

"no."

"I just felt that something was off about this person."

"Just be careful."

Zhang Hanqing stared blankly at Lin Qi.

Lin Qi stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, said nothing, and turned to look at the scenery outside the window.

In his heart, he sighed: Zhang Hanqing, these are my true feelings. I've reminded you of what I could. Whether you take it to heart or not is up to you.

Lin Qi didn't want to say much, while Zhang Hanqing fell into deep thought, pondering what exactly went wrong with his general. The car fell silent, with only the sound of the wheels bobbing on the road.

After a long while, Zhang Hanqing still couldn't figure out what the problem was. His face turned pale and then red. Frustrated, he took out his pocket watch from his chest and unconsciously opened and closed it repeatedly.

After a long silence, Zhang Hanqing spoke.

"Big brother."

"Mao Chen is someone I personally promoted."

"He has been under my command for several years and has never uttered a single disloyal word."

Why do you have a problem with him? Is it just because he was disrespectful to you today?

Lin Qi didn't reply, but shook his head and smiled, still looking out the window.

Dusk settled over the distant Daqingshan Mountain, and the sky slowly darkened.

The driver turned on the car lights, which shone on Zhang Hanqing's bewildered face.

Seeing that Lin Qi remained silent, Zhang Hanqing clutched the pocket watch in his hand for a long time.

Finally, he said something in a low voice.

"Brother, I've taken your words to heart, but if Mao Chen truly harbored any rebellious intentions, how could he have kept it from me these past few days?"

Lin Qi felt the timing was right, turned his head and smiled, "Hanqing."

"I'm not saying he's currently harboring rebellious intentions."

"I mean, this person has that kind of background."

"What root?"

"The roots of having read books."

Lin Qi's voice turned cold.

"Guo Songling came from the military academy and also taught in Baoding. He was knowledgeable. The better such a person is at leading troops, the more confident he becomes in his abilities. Over time, his confidence will swell."

"He looks down on his own soldiers first."

"A general who looks down on his comrades."

"at last."

Lin Qi paused for a moment.

"I don't like the handsome looks on his head."

Zhang Hanqing's face immediately turned even uglier.

"Big brother."

"You're being too harsh."

"I'm only saying this to you," Lin Qi shook his head. "I wouldn't say a word to anyone else."

"Brother, if Maochen really does come to that, how can I prepare in advance?"

Zhang Hanqing's Adam's apple bobbed, clearly indicating that he had taken it to heart. After all, Lin Qi had created too many miracles, and he couldn't help but believe it.

Lin Qi didn't answer that question, and turned his gaze back to the window.

"Hanqing".

"You probably already have a rough plan in mind, so I don't need to go into details!"

Zhang Hanqing had indeed made preparations. He nodded and put the pocket watch back into his pocket.

The car fell silent again, and half an hour later, the city wall of Fengtian came into view in the distance.

……

The West Wing Flower Hall of the Marshal's Mansion in Fengtian.

The sun was already setting, and a ray of dark gold slanted in through the window lattice, landing perfectly on the rim of the teacup on the rosewood octagonal table.

A few aged jasmine flowers floated on the tea surface, glistening slightly under the light.

The old general sat under that beam of light.

He wore a worn-out dark silk cotton robe, the hem of which was pulled down to his knees, without a belt. Underneath, he wore a white fine cloth shirt with the collar turned out, and on his feet were a pair of black cloth-soled loafers, the uppers of which were worn white.

If it weren't for the military belt around his waist and the ivory handle attached to it, Browning, just by looking at his attire, would be no different from a wealthy landlord from the countryside.

The old general didn't say anything, but just held his teacup and slowly blew on the floating leaves.

Those seated below did not possess this composure.

Yang Yuting slammed the telegram sent from Dalian onto the table with a "bang".

His gold-rimmed glasses slipped down half an inch, and he pushed them up with his hand, letting out a cold snort from his nostrils.

"That gentleman in Guangzhou does know how to send someone."

Yang Yuting's lips twitched slightly, a twitch full of sarcasm.

"Why send this little thing, following the only son of Zhejiang Governor Lu Yongxiang, all the way from Hong Kong to Dalian? Why go through all that trouble? Isn't it just to drag our Fengtian Army into this mess, to give him Guangzhou and Zhejiang to take the fall?"

At the other end of the table, Tang Yulin chuckled.

"That's right."

Tang Yulin grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"That Sun Dapao has no real ability, but his reputation is all talk. He's been entrenched in Guangzhou for over a decade, but his territory is still just a tiny corner. He can't even control Chen Jiongming. Two years ago, he was almost driven to a warship to live at sea. And now he actually has the nerve to send someone to talk to our Fengtian Army about an alliance?"

He spat into the ashtray.

"I think he's gone crazy with poverty."

"It's even more ridiculous that Hanqing called his brothers."

Jiang Dengxuan chimed in from the side. He was a bit younger than Tang Yulin, his face was clean-shaven, and he spoke politely, but once he started talking, his sarcastic tone was just as sharp.

"I heard he's got a lot of foreign knowledge, a double doctorate in engineering, a wealthy overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia, and a string of other titles."

"You all know Hanqing's personality. He's fluent in foreign languages, so he treats him like a treasure."

The other elderly Fengtian Army soldiers in the room also started talking at once. Although their words differed, their purpose was the same: to mock Mr. Lin and to express their disdain for Lin Qi.

Sun Liechen sat at the very back and didn't say much.

This man is one of the most senior members of the Fengtian Army. He has a shallow scar on his face that runs from his forehead to his chin, a scar he acquired in his early years as a bandit.

He doesn't talk much, but with each sentence he hears, his brow furrows inward.

The veteran coach still didn't respond.

He brought the teacup to his lips and blew on it again.

Yang Yuting finally released all that pent-up frustration.

"General."

"To put it bluntly, of all the people Hanqing has promoted in the past two years, how many are truly reliable?"

Tang Yulin tapped his pipe into the ashtray again.

"Lingge, that's an overstatement..."

"How serious is it?"

Yang Yuting waved his hand, preventing Tang Yulin from taking it.

"Guo Songling, a fellow who came from a military academy and had only a couple of books on foreign military strategy stuffed in his head, dared to talk back to me, and Hanqing even chimed in on his behalf."

Jiang Dengxuan's expression darkened slightly.

"Lingge, Hanqing didn't disrespect you, it was all Guo Maochen's fault."

"snort!"

Yang Yuting gave a cold laugh and remained silent.