BSI Chapter 059 Rumors
Chapter 059 Rumors
After inspecting the camp and confirming that everything was alright, Zhou Lun felt relieved and led Gao Yigong back.
Back in his tent, Gao Guiying was already back, and surprisingly, Wang Tieniu had also arrived.
"Brother Lun!" Wang Tieniu grinned when he saw Zhou Lun return. "I'm here to freeload again today."
"You little rascal, why are you always running over to my place at mealtimes instead of staying in your own tent?" Zhou Lun said with a laugh.
Wang Tieniu chuckled, then said sheepishly, "Who can blame me when my sister-in-law's cooking is so delicious? I'm not stupid. Why would I refuse to eat the good food she makes? Am I supposed to go back and eat communal meals with the brothers down below?"
Seeing his shameless appearance, Zhou Lun raised his hand and pointed at him a few times.
Come on, it's not the first time this kid has tried to freeload a meal.
On their journey north, Wang Tieniu came over to discuss business on their first day of camping, just as Zhou Lun and the others were about to eat. They politely invited him to join them, but unexpectedly, after eating one meal, the young man came again the next day, specifically waiting for mealtime.
At first, he would make excuses, either to talk to Zhou Lun about the army's arrangements or to discuss the marching route for the next day. But by the third day, he simply stopped making excuses and it was obvious that he was just there to freeload.
Zhou Lun found it both amusing and exasperating, but ultimately didn't send him away. After all, they were all brothers, and the clever Gao Guiying had already seen through Wang Tieniu's plan, so she had prepared an extra portion in advance. Before long, the young man became a regular customer.
When marching, conditions are naturally not as good as when stationed at a camp, and meals are not as refined. Even though Zhou Lun was the leader of this unit, his food was not much better than that of his men.
However, while the brothers ate communal meals, Zhou Lun ate food prepared by Gao Guiying. In addition to the same food as in the army, there were also pancakes she had baked before he left, along with homemade pickles and dried meat.
Gao Guiying was skillful; even with limited marching conditions, she could still slightly modify these ordinary foods to make them taste better. Wang Tieniu liked them the first time he tasted them; otherwise, he wouldn't have shamelessly come back again and again.
Watching her husband joke and laugh with Wang Tieniu, Gao Guiying smiled happily. She knew perfectly well the relationship between Zhou Lun and Wang Tieniu. Although they weren't blood brothers, they were practically like them.
Moreover, Wang Tieniu was a simple and honest man with a straightforward personality, which made him very likable. After getting to know him a few times, Gao Guiying treated him like a younger brother and took good care of him along the way. As a result, Wang Tieniu and Gao Yigong also became very good friends.
"Stop chatting, let's eat!"
Gao Guiying called out and set the prepared food on the table. There was vegetable porridge with diced dried meat, pancakes, and pickles... The food was ordinary, but the taste was really good.
Wang Tieniu didn't stand on ceremony. He plopped down, grabbed a flatbread, and ate it with the vegetable porridge, taking bites of the flatbread and sips of porridge at a time. Every now and then, he would pick up a few pieces of pickled vegetables with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth, chewing contentedly.
"Uncle, eat slowly, there's more if you're not full." Seeing Wang Tieniu eating with relish, Gao Guiying said to him with a smile, and casually picked up a spoon to add some vegetable porridge to his bowl, which was already half full.
"Thank you, sister-in-law! Your cooking is so delicious!" Wang Tieniu mumbled, which made Gao Guiying even happier.
"Eat your food! Can't you shut up if there's food to eat?" Zhou Lun chuckled, tearing off a piece of flatbread and soaking it in the porridge before slowly eating. Though he appeared leisurely, his pace was surprisingly fast. This habit was something he had developed from years of outdoor hiking.
Before long, everyone had finished eating.
Gao Yigong wiped his mouth, stood up and said to Zhou Lun, "Brother-in-law, I'm going now."
Zhou Lun nodded. He knew that Gao Yigong, as his personal guard, was to relieve others on guard duty. This was an arrangement made in the army every day. After speaking, Gao Yigong said goodbye to his sister and Wang Tieniu, hung his goose-feather saber at his waist, and strode away.
Watching his departing figure, Wang Tieniu couldn't help but say to Zhou Lun and Gao Guiying, "Yigong is a good kid, reliable!"
"It's all thanks to the good upbringing by my husband and uncle," Gao Guiying said with a smile. "My younger brother is a bit of a simpleton, so I hope my uncle will take good care of him in the future."
"Sister-in-law, what are you saying? We're family, why be so polite? Don't worry, Brother Yigong is a good man. With me looking after him, there won't be any problems!"
"Thank you very much, Uncle." Gao Guiying thanked him happily, quickly cleared away the dishes she had finished eating, and stood up to say that she had to go check on the cooks. She was now in charge of all the logistics, and had been quite busy along the way. With her help, Zhou Lun was relieved of a lot of worry.
After Gao Guiying left, Wang Tieniu couldn't help but glance outside the tent and exclaimed sincerely, "Brother Lun, you really made the right choice in marrying this woman. The women of Mizhi truly live up to their reputation!"
"What's wrong? Missing your wife?" Zhou Lun joked with him. "How about I find you a woman from Mizhi tomorrow, so you can warm your bed?"
Upon hearing this, the usually carefree Wang Tieniu actually became a little shy, his dark face flushed red, and his burly body involuntarily began to squirm. Zhou Lun laughed heartily at this sight, surprised that Wang Tieniu had this side to him.
After a light laugh, Wang Tieniu deliberately changed the subject, chatting with Zhou Lun about military affairs. After a few words about tomorrow's marching arrangements, he suddenly remembered something and asked Zhou Lun, "Brother Lun, do you think our troops might encounter Chief Wang's rebel army tomorrow?"
"It's hard to say." Zhou Lun thought for a moment. "I've already sent out scouts, and they should arrive in Shenmu by tomorrow according to the route. But the information we received from Chuang Wang is from half a month ago. We still need to find out if his troops are still in Shenmu and where they are exactly. But if there are no surprises, we should get news by tomorrow. Even if we don't meet them tomorrow, we should be able to meet up the day after tomorrow."
"That's good!" Wang Tieniu grinned and nodded, then asked, "Tell me, after the various factions unite, who will be in charge of the rebel army?"
"What do you mean by that?" Zhou Lun asked, slightly taken aback.
Wang Tieniu counted on his fingers and said, "Look, Brother Lun, when we brothers started our uprising in Bao'an, the eldest brother was naturally in charge, and you, Brother Lun, were the second-in-command. But after the rebel leader came, he became the top leader, and the eldest brother became the second-in-command. This was a decision made by Brother Lun and the eldest brother, and I accepted it."
"After that, Wang Er and Zhao Sheng joined forces and successively occupied Anding and Qingjian counties, and our rebel army grew much larger, with more and more leaders. Currently, Chuang Wang is still the chief leader, with three leaders under him: the eldest brother, Wang Er, and Zhao Sheng. Lun Ge has joined the eldest brother's forces and has now married his sister-in-law. In the future, he will lead an army on his own, thus becoming the fifth leader..."
"Wait! What do you mean, 'leading an army alone' and 'the fifth leader'? Where did you get that from?" Before Wang Tieniu could finish speaking, Zhou Lun frowned.
Zhou Lun had always been Li Wanqing's deputy and the second-in-command of Li Wanqing's army, and he never thought of breaking away from Li Wanqing to form his own army.
After all, Li Wanqing was not only his elder brother, but also someone who had saved his life. But today, Wang Tieniu suddenly mentioned that he was "leading an army alone and about to become the fifth leader," which made Zhou Lun instantly wary. He had never had such an intention, so why would Wang Tieniu say that?
"Isn't it obvious? Don't you know?" Wang Tieniu didn't expect Zhou Lun to ask a question in return, and looked back at him with a surprised expression.
"What do you mean 'obvious'? What do I know? Where did you hear that from?"
"No way!" Wang Tieniu was very surprised. When Zhou Lun pressed him for details, he immediately told him everything he had heard.
According to Wang Tieniu, the news had actually been circulating since the day the vanguard set off.
Zhou Lun is now married to Gao Guiying, who is the niece of the rebel leader Gao Yingxiang. Furthermore, Zhou Lun has specifically brought Gao Yigong under his wing as a personal guard, an arrangement reportedly approved by the rebel leader. Therefore, Zhou Lun's status within the rebel army is naturally different.
As the nephew-in-law of Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the rebel army, and also the second-in-command of Li Wanqing's troops.
Especially since Li Wanqing's uprising would not have been possible without Zhou Lun. Furthermore, Zhou Lun was the one who recruited and trained Li Wanqing's most elite troops, demonstrating his extremely high status within Li Wanqing's army.
Given this situation, it is no longer appropriate for Zhou Lun to remain subordinate to Li Wanqing, considering his current status. Moreover, the fact that Gao Yingxiang, the leader of the peasant rebellion, twice appointed Zhou Lun as a vanguard and entrusted him with important responsibilities is sufficient to demonstrate his high regard for and promotion of Zhou Lun.
This led to rumors that Gao Yingxiang intended to establish Zhou Lun as an independent commander, and that this had already been approved by Li Wanqing. His decision to appoint Zhou Lun as the vanguard commander during the northward journey to join Wang Jiayin was quite obvious.
After hearing these words, Zhou Lun frowned deeply. He had never heard of such rumors before, nor had anyone told him about them. If Wang Tieniu hadn't inadvertently let slip a few words today, he would still be completely confused.
Where did this rumor come from? Could it be that Gao Yingxiang deliberately spread it to win him over and sow discord between him and Li Wanqing? Zhou Lun couldn't be sure for the time being. But based on his understanding of Gao Yingxiang, the rumor sounded plausible. However, if it was really Gao Yingxiang's doing, wasn't his purpose a bit too direct?
Zhou Lun was well aware of Gao Yingxiang's plans. But since Gao Yingxiang had already married Gao Guiying to him, and Zhou Lun had effectively become his nephew-in-law, even if Gao Yingxiang intended for him to lead the army alone, based on Zhou Lun's understanding of him, given Gao Yingxiang's style, he would either let things take their natural course or directly order the matter to become a fait accompli. He would never secretly spread such a message to achieve his goal, as this was somewhat inconsistent with Gao Yingxiang's personality and style of doing things.
If it wasn't Gao Yingxiang, then where did these words come from? And how could they be spread with such detail? Thinking of this, Zhou Lun couldn't help but become secretly wary and immediately asked Wang Tieniu where he had first heard these things.