Chapter 7

Li Yuan had already heard Dugu Shun mention this matter briefly. How could he be willing to let his son take such a risk? He gritted his teeth and said, "But everyone in the world knows that Li Mi is dead. How can Jiancheng impersonate him?"

"There's no problem with that. Li Mi's head has been secretly replaced by us. Any discerning person will recognize that the head hanging on the city wall is not Li Mi's. Everyone will believe that Li Mi is still alive, and we also have a personal letter from Zhai Rang."

Dou Qing waved the silk in his hand, "I believe Zhai Rang will acknowledge that Jiancheng is Li Mi."

Dugu Shun, standing beside him, also persuaded Li Yuan, "Actually, Zhai Rang just wants to cooperate with us, the Guanlong aristocrats. Whether it's Li Mi or not is not important. We are just protecting you so that Yang Guang won't know Jiancheng has gone to Wagon. Therefore, we let Jiancheng impersonate Li Mi to go there. I think Zhai Rang will cooperate with us to keep this secret even if he knows the truth."

Li Yuan knew he couldn't oppose it, but he was not familiar with the ins and outs of the matter, so he couldn't feel at ease letting his son go to Wagon. He pondered for a moment and asked, "How sincere is Wagon's army?"

Dou Qing smiled at him, "Zhai Rang sent Wei Zheng to secretly contact us two months ago, hoping to gain our support. We didn't want to consider Wagon's army at first, but since Yang Xuangan has already failed, incorporating this army would be beneficial to us. So, after discussing with the head of the Dugu family, we decided to send Li Mi to incorporate Wagon's army. Unfortunately, Li Mi is dead, so we have to let Jiancheng take his place."

Li Yuan thought to himself that this matter had both advantages and disadvantages. Although there was some risk, if Jiancheng could successfully incorporate Wagon's army, it might become a significant help to his own cause in the future.

Thinking of this, he finally nodded in agreement, "Alright! Let Jiancheng go and strive in Wagon."

Seeing that he agreed, Dou Qing stroked his beard happily, "To protect Jiancheng's safety, I plan to let Wang Boyang accompany him."

Li Yuan hurriedly clasped his hands in gratitude, "Thank you, Father-in-law, for your thorough consideration."

Dou Qing called out loudly, "Boyang, come in!"

Wang Boyang entered the room again, bowed, and stood with his hands hanging down.

The three men exchanged glances, and Dou Qing tried to use a gentle tone, "Do you remember what I told you last time? Are you ready?"

Wang Boyang nodded silently. He knew he was going to Wagon, but since Li Mi was already dead, who would he go with?

"You will go with Jiancheng, and you must ensure his safety!" Dou Qing seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Jiancheng?"

Wang Boyang was stunned, but he quickly reacted and said, "I will obey the order!"

Beside him, Li Yuan bowed, "Boyang, I entrust Jiancheng to you."

"Please rest assured, I will do my best to protect his safety!"

At this moment, Wang Boyang remembered Zhang Xuan, who was still waiting to be received, and hurriedly said, "Would the leader like to meet Zhang Xuan?"

Dou Qing smiled, "Actually, I have already met him. He is a very capable person with excellent strategic insights, a rare talent."

Wang Boyang was surprised. When did the leader meet Zhang Xuan, and why didn't he know?

"Dou brother, you don't want him to join the Wuchuan Society, do you!" Dugu Shun said slightly displeased.

Since Dou Qing became the leader of the Wuchuan Society over a year ago, he had been promoting talent, recruiting many commoners into the Wuchuan Society. This made Dugu Shun, who placed great importance on lineage, very dissatisfied. Now, another unknown person came, and he was impressed, saying he had some talent. Was the Wuchuan Society a vegetable garden, where anyone who could plant vegetables was brought in? What a mess!

Dou Qing heard Dugu Shun's dissatisfaction and explained Zhang Xuan's Guanlong and Hebei core theory to everyone, smiling, "This person has a unique perspective and deeply analyzed the importance of Liaodong to Hebei and the significant strategic meaning of fighting Goguryeo. This is exactly the kind of talent we lack in the Wuchuan Society. Although he is not a Guanlong aristocrat, I hope to break the rules and admit him."

Li Yuan praised, "This person indeed has great insight!"

Dou Qing spoke very formally, and Dugu Shun couldn't directly reject it. He had to consider Dou Qing's face, but he was unwilling to compromise so easily. If this precedent was set, it would be a mess in the future.

Fine, let's drag it out for a while.

Dugu Shun then said coldly, "If Dou brother insists on admitting him, I won't oppose it. However, I hope we still follow the rules of the Wuchuan Society. We should observe him for at least three months to prevent him from being a spy sent by the Bohai Society."

Dugu Shun's words made sense. The rules of the Wuchuan Society were clear, and even as the leader, Dou Qing couldn't violate them.

Dou Qing was helpless. He thought for a moment and said to Wang Boyang, "According to the rules, we cannot tell Zhang Xuan about admitting him into the Wuchuan Society in advance. No matter what excuse you use or what method you employ, you must find a way to keep him in Luoyang for three months, at least until the end of this year. It would be best if he could stay at your house, so we can observe him more easily."

Wang Boyang scratched his head, finding this task very difficult. He was not good at lying, so what excuse could he use to keep Zhang Xuan?

Li Yuan saw Wang Boyang's difficulty and decided to help him, "I have a ready-made excuse, but how to make Zhang Xuan stay willingly is up to you, Boyang."

Wang Boyang was delighted and bowed, "Please teach me, Lord Li!"

Li Yuan smiled, "Isn't he the only eyewitness to Yuwen Shu's private release of Yang Xuangan? With this unique eyewitness status, we can ask him to stay. However, most people won't easily agree to be such a witness, so we need to offer him some benefits to make him stay willingly."

Dou Qing also stroked his beard happily, "This is a good excuse. Boyang, you might as well talk to him and see what he needs."

...

On the west side of the courtyard stood a rockery, and on top of the rockery was an octagonal pavilion. Zhang Xuan sat in the pavilion, bored, waiting for Wang Boyang to return. From the pavilion, he could clearly see the other side of the courtyard wall.

To the west of the guest hall was a training ground, about half the size of a football field. The edges were lined with rows of weapons, but the training ground was empty and quiet, with no one around.

Although Zhang Xuan could easily climb over the wall, he decided not to act rashly after the previous lesson.

"What is the young master looking at?" Wang Boyang's voice suddenly came from behind.

Zhang Xuan turned around and saw Wang Boyang standing at the courtyard gate, not knowing when he had returned.

Zhang Xuan quickly walked down from the pavilion and smiled, "I saw a training ground on the other side, and I was a bit curious."

"Oh—do you want to try it out?" Wang Boyang smiled.

"Can I?"

"Of course, it's where I teach my disciples. Let's go and take a look!"

Li Yuan's excuse to keep Zhang Xuan was simple, but making Zhang Xuan stay willingly was not easy. This difficult task made Wang Boyang very anxious.

Wang Boyang was not good at strategy. He thought and thought but had no plan. He could only follow the leader's advice and first get to know Zhang Xuan to see what he needed.

The two came to the training ground. Wang Boyang took a large iron spear from the rack and smiled, "I noticed you were very interested in the silver spear in my house. Are you also a spear practitioner?"

Zhang Xuan blushed and quickly said, "I am not a spear practitioner. I know nothing about martial arts, but I am very interested."

"You are too modest. That silver spear actually belongs to my father. It weighs fifty pounds. He always wanted to practice a sixty-pound spear, but he never succeeded. He put all his hopes on me, and fortunately, I did not disappoint him."

Wang Boyang took a stance and easily swung the iron spear a few times, then handed it to Zhang Xuan with a smile, "This is also a fifty-pound spear, just like the one in my house. Try it out, young master!"

Zhang Xuan was eager. He moved his wrist and took the large iron spear. He felt the spear was rough and not as smooth as the silver spear in Wang Boyang's house. He was known for his strength, but this long spear made him feel very strained.

He could swing it a few times, but using it as a weapon was impossible. He was genuinely puzzled. Wang Boyang was clearly shorter and lighter than him, yet he could use a sixty-pound spear. Why was he struggling with a fifty-pound spear?

Wang Boyang seemed to understand his thoughts. He looked at Zhang Xuan and took two broadswords from the nearby rack, smiling, "Do you want to spar?"

Zhang Xuan had practiced a very practical combat knife technique before. He was eager to try. He put down the