Shouchun.
Followed by dozens of armored guards, a powerfully built man in armor strode into the residence.
The man had rugged features, a thick, bushy beard, and a fierce gaze. Every servant along the way hurried to greet him with the Great Rites, not daring to look him in the eye.
Unlike the refined, worthy ministers at the Imperial Court, he looked more like a coarse, vicious butcher, without a trace of a distinguished scholar's bearing.
A young lad followed behind him.
The lad looked about the same age as Anshi, still beardless and youthful in the face.
Yet he was extraordinarily tall, standing a full head above even the imposing general ahead of him. His features were heroic and resolute, his gaze even more untamed. He too wore armor, and swaggered behind the general with one hand resting on his sword hilt.
The party made their way into the residence just like that. The armored guards stationed along the route all saluted, and none dared bar their way.
After passing through a long corridor, they finally reached a room.
The general stopped and told those behind him, "Wait here! Ayang, come in with me!"
The lad behind him nodded, while the remaining armored guards formed ranks on either side.
The general took the lad straight into the room.
"Grand General!!!"
His voice was booming, loud enough to deafen.
There was a man in the room, quite advanced in years, with gray and white streaking his beard. Dressed in a scholar's robes, he had dignified features and looked much like those worthy ministers at the Imperial Court.
Brush in hand, he knelt at a desk, writing something.
The rough-hewn general's shout sent his brush awry, leaving a long horizontal stroke across the white paper before him.
Guanqiu Jian helplessly put