He wanted to spend some time alone in silence and lick his wounds. Yang Jian’s only son, Yang Tao, who was 22 years old, entered the tent.

Yang Tao was born to his wedded wife, who had died of illness shortly after giving birth to him. Over the years, the concubines he kept had birthed him many daughters but no sons, so Yang Jian remained his only son.

He treasured his son deeply in his heart, but he acted like a strict father.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

His son’s expression seemed conflicted. “Father, just now, Liu Xi sent a messenger over asking to borrow a man from us.”

Yang Jian asked with suspicion, “Who is it that he wants to borrow?”

Yang Tao said, “The man that Liu Xi wants to borrow is a centurion.”

“Why does he want to borrow the man?”

A centurion was not like an insignificant soldier who was no more valuable than a sesame seed or a green bean. Yang Jian only had 50,000 men under him, so a centurion was a fairly precious commodity.

Yang Tao stuttered as he looked at his father, a hesitant look on his rather child-like face.

“Spit it out, how can a man be so poky?”

Yang Jian raised his voice abruptly, frightening Yang Tao so much that he hurriedly said, “Forgive me, father. Liu Xi thinks that the man looks uniquely ugly and wants to borrow him to take a good look at him.”

Uniquely… ugly?

How ugly could he be?

Yang Jian didn’t believe in the slightest that Jiang Pengji was one to fool around wilfully. She must have her reasons for asking to borrow the man.

He furrowed his brows and lifted a hand, ordering that the centurion be brought over. Upon taking a look at him, even Yang Jian, who certainly wasn’t obsessed with looks, felt somewhat repulsed. He felt that the man was an eyesore.

The centurion was slightly shorter than an average man. His right leg had suffered from past injuries, which was obvious when he walked more than a few steps.

Furthermore, he was indeed ugly.

His brows were far apart, one higher than the other. His eyes were long, narrow, and sunken. The bridge of his nose seemed to collapse inwards. On both sides of his nose, countless specks of freckles grew. His lips were thick and dark, and his neck was of a different proportion from a normal person. His shoulders appeared sunken. He lacked vigor, and his arms were different in length…

Recalling the comment about the man being “uniquely ugly,” Yang Jian frowned and seemed somewhat unhappy.

Men like Yang Jian, with good looks and tall and sturdy builds, generally had a faint dislike for the ugly.

Since that was the case, why had Liu She’s son asked to borrow this man from him?

“Do you know Liu Xi, the district magistrate of Xiangyang District?”

Yang Jian examined the man’s looks in detail and found flaws everywhere.

The man stood straight, his hands at his sides. His eyes downcast, he replied in a low voice, “I do not know him, but I have heard of him.”

The man’s voice was hoarse. It was not the husky type, but raspy as if he had lost his voice. It sounded harsh to the ears.

Yang Jian grew even more dissatisfied with the man and lost the desire to investigate the background of the man, for his face ruined his mood.

He said straightforwardly, “Magistrate Liu feels that your looks are unique, and he asked me to lend you to him for a few days. Are you agreeable to going over?”

The inquiry was merely out of courtesy, and the man naturally wouldn’t refuse. However, Yang Jian was a calculative man as well, and he indirectly increased the man’s sense of enmity towards Jiang Pengji.

“I am willing to go over,” the man replied.

“Then go and serve Magistrate Liu well.”

Yang Jian sent the man away while Yang Tao watched on quietly, a troubled look on his face.

He’d wanted to speak up for a few times, but Yang Jian asked him about his school work and his progress in the martial arts, so Yang Tao could only swallow the words on the tip of his tongue back down.

After finally having dealt with Yang Jian, Yang Tao returned to his tent in a bad mood.

Soon, a nobleman of similar age entered. The young nobleman looked at Yang Tao, amused. “What’s the matter, why do you look moody?”

His eyes were like a clear spring, containing deep, enrapturing wisdom. A scholarly aura of elegance and culture surrounded him.

Yang Tao lifted his head and looked at his friend with some fear. After a while, he looked down again, mentally preparing himself for a good while.

“Uhm… there’s something… Don’t be angry when I say it…”

Yang Tao wore a slight fawning expression.

“What’s the matter?” The young man was as mild-mannered as ever.

“Didn’t you think quite highly of a centurion in charge of training the troops?” Yang Tao stuttered.

“Mhmm, I remember. What’s going on with him?”

“Someone borrowed him away…” Yang Tao cowered slightly after finishing his words. He didn’t hear any response for a good while. He discreetly opened his eyes and saw that his friend was still maintaining his proper sitting position.

He wasn’t raging… but…

His initial half-smiling expression had disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression, like a deep pool of water.

“Borrowed? By whom?” the young man asked.

Yang Tao said, “The district magistrate of Xiangyang District, Liu Xi. He said that the man was uniquely ugly and he wanted to take a look at him.”

The young man curled his lips and laughed coldly, throwing the book in his hand to the ground. While it didn’t make too loud of a sound, his imposing manner was so intense that it made it difficult to breathe.

“Borrow? Hah! I’m afraid that he will never be returned.”

Yang Tao sat meekly where he was, looking like an obedient student waiting to be criticized. The young man didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

“Elaborate in detail on what happened then.”

Yang Tao obviously didn’t dare to hide anything from him and spilled everything out, not even leaving out the part about the change in his dad’s expression.

“Did uncle mention the reason Liu Xi ‘borrowed’ him?” the young man asked him.

“Yes, he did.”

The young man mumbled, “Hah, I hope that it will become a thorn in his heart so that he won’t take Liu Xi’s side.”

Yang Tao asked in puzzlement, “I really don’t know, why did Liu Xi borrow him away? Simply because he is ugly looking?”

The young man suppressed the urge to hide his face in his palms. “How could Liu Xi possibly want to see how ugly a person can be? Clearly, it’s because he wants to start training his marine force!”

Train his marine force?

Yang Tao was shocked. He asked carefully, “Why does Liu Xi want to train his marine force?”

The young man asked in return, “Then why else would Liu Xi want to borrow him, in your opinion?”

Was it really because the other party was “uniquely ugly”?

Such an excuse could only be used to fool 3-year-olds, not him.

“If he really wants to train his marine troops, his ambitions must be… Perhaps you are overthinking…”

After all, regardless of what perspective one was to look at it from, the conjecture made by the young man was too shocking.

Liu Xi’s territory was in the north of Dongqing. Most of it consisted of valleys and hills. There weren’t many rivers, and there were definitely no opportunities for large-scale battles in the waters.

What difference was there between training marine troops and fetching water with a basket weaved from bamboo?

But the young man didn’t think so. “Liu Xi and his father are low-key, to the extent that most forget about them. If you pay close attention, it is not difficult to discover the duo’s wild ambitions. Asking us for a man talented in training marine troops at this time is an obvious indication of wild ambition!”

Yang Tao said, troubled, “Even if what you are saying is true, Liu Xi can still think of other ways to do that besides borrowing people from us.”

The young man’s gaze had traces of pity within it as he looked at Yang Tao as if he was looking at an idiot.

The key problem wasn’t about how big the ambitions Liu Xi harbored were, it was that the talent under them had been stolen away!

Liu Xi might get addicted to stealing their men and continue targeting them the next time they needed something!

Yang Jian didn’t have a huge fortune to begin with. If it was handed to the completely naive Yang Tao, he might not even notice when his subordinates were lured away to join other forces.

With such a childhood friend, he felt weary.

Yang Tao also realized that he had said the wrong thing and asked him in a low voice, “How about I try to ask Liu Xi to return him?”

The young man’s gaze became even more desperate. How could his good friend possibly make such a dumb suggestion?

Get him to come back?

If Yang Tao dared to go after the man, Yang Jian would be the first to beat him up and break his legs.

“Nevermind, nevermind, it’s just a man of talent. We have plenty of men skilled in marine battles in our army, there’s no need to dwell over the loss of one.”

The young man could only console himself this way.