Chapter 19 Scratching the Itch
Many men are naturally fond of speed sports, such as men in later generations' love for cars and men today's pursuit of famous horses.
When Fu Yingjun was still the wild horse king of the Imperial Stables, countless people in the capital stretched their necks to stare at him, from the emperor's sons to high-ranking officials in the court. For this reason, many people formed groups to watch Fu Yingjun, and they all bet on his final destination.
Unexpectedly, Fu Chen became the lucky man that everyone was paying attention to. Of course, this luck was not without price. At least he still had a scar on his shoulder, which has not healed completely yet and is still recovering slowly.
His subordinate, the pacification commander Liu Chong, felt extremely guilty about this - Commander Fu did not need to be injured at all. The situation was urgent at the time, and the two were chased and fought by gangsters hired by local officials who got the news, and the commander had to block the knife for him.
It is said that Commander Fu is ruthless and cold-blooded, but although his subordinates are afraid of him, they feel particularly at ease every time they go on a mission with him.
Commander Fu never used the lives of his subordinates to settle cases. Instead, he tried his best to reduce casualties and charged at the forefront, which made him very popular.
Ever since the Wild Horse King was handed over to Commander Fu, the subordinates of the Forbidden Cavalry Division have been eager to learn more about the progress of horse training. On the fifth day after Fu Yingjun entered the Fu Mansion, they could no longer bear it and wanted to organize a group to visit the Fu Mansion to see the Wild Horse King, even if the commander failed to train the horse. They recommended Liu Chong to get information.
Liu Zhong asked indirectly, under the pretext of being concerned about the commander's wound, "How is your wound, sir?"
Fu Chen was buried in the files. Hearing this, he looked up at him and said, "No problem. Are you free today?"
Liu Zhong swore: "Not idle, not idle at all!" Facing Commander Fu's cold gaze, which was as cold as the coldest days of winter, he explained: "I am worried about your injury. Have you done any strenuous activities recently?"
The Imperial Cavalry Division is composed of men, and these men are always on the edge of danger. Not only do they investigate cases, but they also do many shady things for the emperor. They are more cautious in their daily lives, but they are particularly unbridled in private. Fu Chen has heard them make dirty jokes in their spare time, and they also comment on the ladies in the capital with very little respect.
There is no way. No matter how many daughters of officials who were as noble and dignified as if they were on cloud one day, and were thrown into the Music Bureau because of their fathers, brothers and families being implicated, one day they might see the once high and mighty daughters of officials kneeling at the table to serve them, and they would not be able to respect those delicate young ladies.
Fu Chen: "Are you concerned about what happens in my bedroom?" These days, not only are the old wives bored, but even his subordinates have started to care about his private affairs?
Liu Zhong showed an extremely awkward smile, clenched his fists and coughed twice, then shamelessly explained: "Sir, I am afraid that the Wild Horse King has entered the Fu Mansion, and you are itching to train the horse with an injury, and the wound may break, so I asked a few more questions."
Commander Fu's icy face almost cracked, and he picked up the bronze animal paperweight on the table and pretended to smash it: "You have nothing to do, right?"
"I'm leaving! I'm leaving!" Liu Zhong hurriedly stepped back, rushed out of the government office, and poked his head in again, speaking boldly on behalf of his colleagues: "Sir, we all want to go to your house to see the Wild Horse King. It's better to do it today than to wait for a better day. What do you think?"
Fu Chen laughed and scolded: "Go to work!"
Only a few cheers were heard outside the door, and a burst of hurried footsteps quickly dispersed, accompanied by discussions such as "Did the adults really agree? We won't be kicked out then...", and the group of boys dispersed.
In the evening, when Fu Chen stepped out of the government office, he saw his Tongzhi, Qianshi, Zhenfu, and 14 Qianhu crowded in front of his door. They all smiled ingratiatingly and greeted him warmly: "Sir, are you done with your work?"
Fu Chen looked over coldly: "Are they all here?"
If someone else said it in such a cold tone, who would want to visit his house? But the people of the Imperial Cavalry Division who had survived the cold face of Commander Fu for many years were very strong-willed. They pretended not to understand his eyes and took the initiative: "Sir, please come in, please come in."
As soon as Fu Chen walked past, a group of people hurriedly followed. They had to control their steps so as not to rush to the commander, and also to grasp the commander's speed so as not to fall too far behind him and make the commander doubt their sincerity.
A group of people followed Fu Chen, and when they arrived at the gate of the government office, they all mounted their horses and followed the commander all the way to the gate of the Fu family. Liu Zhong dismounted and trotted over, bending down to invite Commander Fu to come in: "Sir, please be careful of your step!" He was more enthusiastic than the servant guarding the gate of the Fu family.
The veins on Fu Chen's forehead couldn't help but twitch a few times. He ignored his servile behavior and led everyone directly to the stable after entering the house.
When the leaders of the Imperial Cavalry Division were busy, they would occasionally come to the commander's house to discuss official business. What impressed them most about the commander's house was the food. To be fair, what everyone wanted to solve for the commander the most was not his personal problems, but to send him a few cooks to improve the food in the commander's house.
——The food at Commander Fu’s house was notoriously hard to swallow. Whenever they were invited to stay for a midnight snack, everyone ate in an extremely polite manner, comparable to those pedantic civil servants in the court.
Liu Zhong followed Fu Chen and said sympathetically, "Sir, everyone promises to go back to their homes after seeing the Wild Horse King. There is no need to bother the kitchen in your house to prepare dinner."
Fu Chen was blunt: "Did I say I'd leave you some food?"
Liu Zhong: “…”
Liu Zhong had long since given up hope of hearing the usual polite greetings from the commander, so he could only console himself by asking shamelessly as he walked along, "I wonder how the horse training is going, sir?"
Seeing the stable in sight, Fu Chen said casually: "Wild Horse King? It was tamed halfway when I brought it back that day!"
When the subordinates heard this, they were shocked, admired and couldn't believe it, and they all came over to flatter him.
"Your Excellency is indeed invincible and brave. He even has a way of taming horses. The eunuchs in the Imperial Stables are just for show. Your Majesty is wise. A horse is a gift to a hero. Only Your Excellency can have such excellent riding skills and tame the wild horse king..."
"Lei Xiao, don't talk so nicely. Didn't you make a bet privately that it would take at least half a year for the master to tame this wild horse king? Why are you talking so nicely now?"
Lei Xiao: “…”
Yu San was busy in the stable, and when he saw so many people coming, he quickly dropped his work and went to greet them. He heard that the adults had brought people to see Fu Yingjun - he still could not accept this flashy name, but since the adults had tacitly approved of Miss Zhang's nonsense, he could only accept it, and even pretend to appreciate the name very much.
"Miss Zhang and Lord Shen have taken Fu Yingjun out of the city. It's time for them to come back."
"Fu Yingjun?"
Everyone behind Fu Chen was confused: "Sir, we... are here to see the Wild Horse King. But when did the mansion have a new member?" Isn't the person called Fu Yingjun a member of his family?
Yu San suppressed his smile and explained to everyone: "The Wild Horse King's name is Fu Yingjun."
At this moment, everyone in the Forbidden Cavalry Division had a variety of expressions on their faces. Liu Zhong said against his will: "Sir, this name... is very good." He thought to himself: Could it be that although the commander appears to be calm and nonchalant on the surface, he is actually extremely proud and narcissistic about his appearance, but is embarrassed to say it out loud, so he shows it by naming the Wild Horse King?
There were countless people in the capital who wanted to suck up to Commander Fu, including everyone in the Imperial Cavalry Division, who all wanted to make their superior happy. But perhaps they didn't know the answer or their methods were inappropriate, and they always failed to hit the mark.
After Liu Zhong was rescued by Fu Chen, he felt like seeing a god from heaven and wanted to worship Fu Chen.
He has elderly parents and young children at home, and his daughter is less than a month old. Saving him is like saving the lives of his entire family. He doesn't care about Master Fu's cold face at all. Seeing that his colleagues are trying to hold back their laughter and their faces are red, he immediately praised them seriously: "I think this name is really well chosen. Who else in the capital can have a horse that can compare to Master Fu Yingjun's majestic horse?"
Those who secretly organized gambling, such as Lei Xiao, quickly pardoned their sins and praised him against their will, "Really, Fu Yingjun is invincible!"
“That’s right…”
"Your Excellency is really good at naming..."
No one knew what Commander Fu was thinking of, but there was actually a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Liu Zhong saw it and thought to himself: There is a way!
It turns out that no matter how reserved a man is, he has a narcissistic side and has spots that can be scratched.
He was just about to continue to praise them when he heard someone behind him chuckle, "Achen, these people under you are really good at talking."
When everyone looked back, they found that Marquis Weibei was walking towards them from ten steps away with his hands behind his back. Walking side by side with Marquis Shen was a fair-skinned girl with her hair tied up high. She was wearing a brown shorts worn by a servant of the Fu mansion. Her eyes were like glass and revealed an indescribable coldness.
Behind the girl, a majestic black horse followed obediently. Its fur was shiny like satin, its four hooves were agile, and it looked quite arrogant. It didn't need any whip, bridle, or saddle. It just followed the girl leisurely, as if it was strolling in the garden.
Seeing that the girl was walking too close to Lord Shen, he stretched out his huge horse head and inserted it between the two of them, separating them.
The girl's smile was like broken gold: "Fu Yingjun, don't be naughty!" Her fair little hand touched the horse's head and patted it twice as if to comfort it. She took out a few candy beans from her pouch and put them under the horse's nose. The wild horse king sniffed her head greedily, stretched out his tongue to roll up the candy beans in the girl's hand, chewing them with a crackling sound, and the tail behind him was just about to wag like a dog to show that he was in a good mood.
All the people from the Forbidden Cavalry Division stood there in a daze, thinking they were hallucinating.
They had seen the wild horse king of Tianshan in the Imperial Stables before, but that horse was notoriously bad-tempered and difficult for ordinary people to approach. It would kick and bite people and was wild and difficult to tame.
Is this obedient and humane horse in front of me really the one that His Majesty gifted to the commander?
——Don’t tell me it was switched!
