MLMD – Chapter 23 Returning Home

Many things only reveal how troublesome they are once you actually start doing them, and Yue Yang was no exception. Since he was going to recruit soldiers, it naturally wouldn’t be enough to simply buy some armor and weapons. There were still many other things that needed to be done to raise an army—such as uniforms, shoes, hats, and the like. Yue Yang had no intention of purchasing these in the Ming dynasty; the costs would be far too high, and there would be many unpredictable complications. It was much more convenient to procure them in the modern world.

Yue Yang spent another three days placing orders worth more than three hundred thousand yuan for clothing and various supplies. Only then did he return from the modern world to Yue Family Manor…

Late at night, Yue Family Manor was, as always, immersed in silence. Most people had already entered their dreams. Only a handful of night guards, holding lanterns, slowly patrolled the small paths within the manor, occasionally making faint sounds.

After stepping out of the Gate of Time, Yue Yang did not immediately return to his own courtyard. At this hour, the Linglong sisters must have already gone to sleep, and he had no wish to disturb their rest. Yue Yang made do in another courtyard for the night, and only knocked on the door of his own small courtyard the next morning.

When the door opened and Yulong saw Yue Yang standing outside, a trace of delight flashed through her eyes. But the thought that this bad young master had disappeared again for several days—making her and her sister miss him so much—made her resolve not to give him a pleasant look so easily. As she thought this, a hint of mock annoyance appeared on her small face. That expression, half pleased and half coyly reproachful, made Yue Yang’s heart beat a little faster. However, seeing the restrained reproach on Yulong’s face, he immediately realized that his disappearance over the past few days had upset this pretty maid. He hurried forward and exclaimed in an exaggerated tone:

“Ah! Long’er, you’ve become even prettier after not seeing me for a few days. Wait, no—have you gotten a bit thinner? Could it be from missing your young master too much?”

Hearing her young master once again sweet-talking and praising her, Yulong could no longer keep up her act. The mock-annoyed expression finally bloomed like a flower.

With a soft puchi of laughter, Yulong’s slightly tense little face relaxed, revealing a radiant smile like a lily in full bloom.

“Young Master is talking nonsense again. How am I pretty? I’m just an ugly little maid. And as for being thinner—that’s even more outrageous. I’m afraid Young Master doesn’t even know how much I weigh.”

“Who says I don’t know?” Yue Yang rattled on shamelessly. “As for weight, I don’t need a scale—I can tell at a glance. Especially for such a pretty young girl like Long’er…”

He continued his stream of nonsense, teasing Yulong until she laughed so hard she could barely stand.

Just as Yue Yang was about to put into practice all the flirting theories he had learned back in school, a gentle, reproachful voice came from inside:

“Long’er, is Young Master back? Why aren’t you inviting him in to rest? Don’t you know Young Master must be exhausted after just returning?”

“Oh, got it!” Long’er stuck out her cute little tongue and scampered forward in quick, tiny steps, disappearing in a flash.

Watching her graceful figure vanish past the doorway, Yue Yang chuckled softly and followed after her. But after only a couple of steps, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw the steward Yue Laifu rushing over.

Yue Laifu, drenched in sweat, looked greatly relieved upon seeing Yue Yang. He immediately grabbed Yue Yang’s sleeve and cried out, “Ah, Young Master, you’re finally back! If you hadn’t returned any later, this old servant would’ve been ready to jump off a building!”

“Uncle Yue, what happened?” Yue Yang’s heart tightened at once, his expression turning serious. “Did something go wrong with the Sanggan River canal project?”

This was what Yue Yang feared most—that during this period, the Wang family might use the Sanggan River issue to make trouble for Yue Family Manor. The manor simply couldn’t withstand the combined pressure of those three families right now.

Seeing Yue Yang’s solemn expression, Yue Laifu’s heart skipped a beat as well, and he quickly reassured him. “Young Master, it’s not that. It’s about the recruitment.”

“The recruitment?” Yue Laifu’s words did not ease Yue Yang’s worries—instead, they made him even more anxious. “Recruitment? What happened there?”

Organizing the militia and recruiting soldiers was Yue Yang’s number one priority after arriving in the Ming dynasty. He absolutely would not allow anything to go wrong with it.

Seeing Yue Yang’s face grow even more unpleasant, Yue Laifu hurriedly explained, “It’s like this, Young Master. These past few days, news that you’re forming a militia has spread—not just within Yue Family Manor, but even to Wuli Village. That alone would be fine. But people are also saying that the terms for this recruitment are extremely generous, and that each recruit will even receive settlement money. These past few days, Wuli Village has practically been boiling over. People come to ask this old servant about the militia every single day—I’m about to be driven mad. You should come forward as soon as possible to calm the people down!”

“There’s such a thing?” Yue Yang couldn’t help but be astonished. Then he frowned and asked, “Uncle Yue, I remember the recruitment terms haven’t been made public yet. How did outsiders find out that the terms are so good? Who leaked this information?”

Yue Laifu quickly explained, “My Young Master, who would need to leak it? Several of the stewards in Yue Family Manor already knew about the recruitment. Besides, you even told the old madam back then that the terms for the militia would be generous. Think about it—what steward doesn’t have a few friends or relatives? Once they knew you were recruiting village soldiers with good terms, they naturally told others. That’s how the news spread.”

“What? That too?” Yue Yang asked in surprise. “Uncle Yue, hasn’t it always been said that ‘a good man doesn’t become a soldier, and good iron isn’t made into nails’? Why is it that as soon as people hear about recruiting village soldiers, they all rush over like flies to dung?”

“Young Master, that saying is old history,” Yue Laifu said with a bitter smile. “These days, people can barely get enough to eat. As long as there’s food, who cares what they’re doing? Let alone becoming a soldier—even rebelling, something that costs you your head, isn’t there still people willing to do it?”

“Mm, that’s true.”

Thinking it over, Yue Yang found Yue Laifu’s words quite reasonable. In times like these, survival was everything. To stay alive, who would still care what kind of work they were doing?

After pondering for a moment, Yue Yang said decisively, “Time is of the essence. Uncle Yue, go outside Yue Family Manor right now and post an announcement. Say that in three days, Yue Family Manor will recruit one thousand village soldiers. As for terms… each person will receive five taels of silver as settlement money. The monthly pay will be one tael of silver per person for now. If they don’t want silver, it can be exchanged for grain.”

“Understood. This old servant will go handle it immediately.” Yue Laifu agreed, then hesitated slightly before adding, “Young Master, there are some words this old servant shouldn’t really say. But since you’re recruiting soldiers now, I’ll dare to say one thing. Running a militia is no small matter. Yue Family Manor has never done this in hundreds of years. If you’re going to form a militia, you’ll need people who know how to train soldiers—but we don’t have such talent. You… you…”

He trailed off, but his meaning was clear: Young Master, are you prepared?

Yue Yang looked gratefully at the loyal old steward, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him. “Uncle Yue, have you ever heard this saying? ‘There was no road in the world at first; once enough people walk it, a road appears.’ Forming a militia is the same. No one here has done it before, but I refuse to believe I can’t carve out a path that no one else has walked.”

As he said this, there was a note of firmness and resolve in Yue Yang’s voice…