Chapter 469
Chapter 469
Shen Lang looked at Madman Lan and said.
“Lord Registrar, a great talent like yourself must know other talents who have yet to find their time. Would you introduce a few to me?”
“Young Master Shen, you’ve come to the right man. I have lived my life unbound and dissolute, scoffing at the world. Yet, the talents I have met are all fine men, capable of governing the state and bringing it peace, men with the makings of generals who could command awe in all directions. It is a pity, however, that they have personalities that refuse to be constrained, do not understand the ways of the world, and have not met someone who could recognize their exceptional talent.”
“Do I not have a discerning eye? Lord Registrar, go and bring those great talents here. I will select the most outstanding among them and employ them.”
“Excellent! But we must agree on this beforehand. Talents are hard to come by; some lords may roam the world and not find a single one. It is no easy feat for me to introduce ten fine talents to you at once, Young Master Shen. Therefore, I must receive a finder’s fee!”
Hearing this, both the Fifth Prince’s eunuch and Thirteen were on the verge of losing their minds.
“Fine! Then how much of a finder’s fee do you want?”
Madman Lan gritted his teeth and named an exorbitant price, like a lion opening its jaws.
“One silver coin per person!”
Shen Lang handed over the money. Madman Lan snatched it in an instant and darted away, soon entering a dilapidated temple. Inside, a hundred vagrants and beggars were lying about, packed together.
“I have a good opportunity for all of you. It’s a chance to enter a marquis’s estate and become an official. Interested? You’ll start as a Centurion Official, and after a few years and a dozen promotions, you’ll become a great general. Then you’ll all be appointed high-ranking commanders, becoming grand officials and receiving titles. But since I went to great trouble to find this work for you, you must all give me one silver coin as a commission. If you don’t have the money, you can owe it to me for now. I’ll charge ten percent interest per month.”
***
Half an hour later, a sea of people surrounded Shen Lang, at least ten thousand spectators gathered around him. They were about to witness the climax of Shen Lang’s talent recruitment performance.
“Here they come, here they come.”
Someone suddenly shouted, and soon the street was filled with the stench of urine. Madman Lan, leading ten great talents, swaggered through the crowd with an air of grandeur, shaking his head and walking with unrestrained steps, bringing the ten men before Shen Lang.
Madman Lan said.
“Lord Chamberlain, look. What do you think of the ten talents I’ve brought? Are they not more than qualified to serve as Centurions?”
Shen Lang looked at the ten men. They were all vagrants and beggars. Not a single one of them looked normal; they had crooked faces, limping legs, or hunched backs. Not one of them could even stand up straight; they couldn't even stand properly. The sight of such a group left the onlookers completely dumbfounded, their eyes wide with disbelief. Shen Lang pinched his nose and observed them one by one, with extreme care. He was so thorough he even used his X-rays.
*Zing! Zing, zing! Zing, zing, zing!*
After a full ten minutes, Shen Lang finally finished inspecting everyone. Madman Lan then spoke.
“Lord Chamberlain, what do you think of the talents I’ve introduced? Are they not all one-in-ten-thousand talents?”
Shen Lang shook his head.
“No, not one in ten thousand. These are one-in-a-hundred-thousand talents!”
“Then are they sufficiently qualified to hold the position of Centurion in the Fifth Prince’s estate?”
Shen Lang gestured grandly and said.
“Yes, more than sufficient. Brothers, from this day forward, we will all share the same pot of rice. From this day on, you are the Centurions of the Marquis of Changping’s Estate.”
Upon hearing this, the onlookers’ hair stood on end. The old eunuch by the Fifth Prince’s side could no longer bear it; his eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away. Madman Lan shouted loudly.
“Centurions, what are you doing? Hurry and pay your respects to the Lord Chamberlain.”
As soon as he said this, the ten beggars bowed at the waist in a show of respect.
“We greet the Lord Chamberlain.”
“Oof!”
Three of them were too weak, and two were lame, so they tumbled over in the middle of their bow. The old eunuch, after someone pressed on his philtrum and he quietly regained consciousness, saw the scene and his eyes rolled back again, fainting completely this time, not to be awakened.
Shen Lang greeted them magnanimously.
“Everyone, with such great talents acquired today, the Fifth Prince’s talent recruitment officially concludes. You will all follow me to achieve great merit!”
After speaking, Shen Lang waved his hand grandly, signaling to pack up and return. Big Dummy held the two banners high.
Madman Lan, his face covered in blood, followed behind with a magnanimous expression and a serene, unrestrained demeanor. Behind him, the ten beggars, though walking crookedly, followed with unparalleled vigor, marching majestically towards the Fifth Prince’s Marquis of Changping’s Estate. The ten thousand commoners watching them couldn't even bring themselves to mock or curse. They seemed too insane, and the onlookers felt their own values being overturned, which was far too frightening. At that moment, only one question remained in their minds.
‘Who am I? Where am I? What just happened? Have I gone mad? Or has the world gone mad? Beggars becoming officials! And ones with crooked noses, twisted mouths, and disfigured faces at that? Beggars who can’t even walk properly, who lie around picking lice all day, have become officials?’
***
Inside the Fifth Prince’s Marquis of Changping’s Estate.
Madman Lan, leading the ten beggars, bowed before Ning Zheng and said.
“We greet Your Highness!”
Ning Zheng was completely dumbfounded as he looked at the army of shriveled, date-like beggars.
‘What… what is this?’
It was a good thing Ning Zheng was broad-minded; otherwise, he might have thought Shen Lang was trying to humiliate him.
‘Am I now supposed to keep half-crippled beggars as my subordinates?’
He thought to himself. But Ning Zheng had absolute trust in Shen Lang, so he guessed there must be a profound reason for their selection. Thus, though his head was spinning, Ning Zheng nodded and accepted their greeting.
“Since you have all come, please rest and make yourselves comfortable!”
But Madman Lan and the beggars were dazed by the splendor of the marquis’s estate. It was just too luxurious. They had never set foot in such a grand residence in their lives. Having slept only near sewers or in dilapidated temples, entering the marquis's estate felt like stepping into a celestial realm. Madman Lan asked.
“Your Highness, where will we be staying? Should we just spread our bedding under the eaves?”
Ning Zheng’s head throbbed even more at his words, but he calmly replied.
“You may all stay in the house over there. If you need anything, just say the word.”
Hearing this, the ten beggars let out a cheer and ran towards the house Ning Zheng had pointed to.
“Let’s claim a house.”
“Let’s claim a room.”
“I’m definitely picking a room without any piss or shit.”
But before they could even rush out the door, they all stopped in their tracks. Xiao Bing had appeared. With one hand on her hip and the other pinching her nose, she roared like a tigress.
“All of you, halt!”
Madman Lan and the beggars instantly trembled. Bing’er raged.
“All of you will bathe and scrub yourselves clean with bamboo brushes. Anyone with even a speck of dirt left on their body will not be allowed inside. Shave your heads clean. If a single louse enters the house, I’ll peel your skin off. Burn all the clothes you’re wearing. Each of you will brush your teeth thirty times, and if I smell even a hint of bad breath, I’ll pull out all your teeth. Hamno, bring the boiled water. If anyone dares to refuse to bathe, beat them half to death!”
The warrior woman Hamno responded with a thunderous voice.
“Yes!”
At the same time, dozens of warrior women rushed out, grabbing the beggars as if they were snatching chicks, and took them into a side room. They stripped them clean and threw them into large tubs filled with hot water. The water in the tubs was hot enough to scald the bristles off a pig. Instantly, the beggars howled like ghosts, their cries utterly wretched. But that was only the beginning. The warrior women took out scissors and sheared off all their hair. Then, using bamboo brushes, they desperately scrubbed the filth from their bodies. The process of being scrubbed raw with brushes in hot water was identical to dehairing a pig.
“Aaaah! Help me!”
“My lady, please, be gentle, be gentle…!”
“I don't want this official post anymore. Can I just not do it?”
Their miserable screams were enough to make anyone’s hair stand on end.
***
Ning Zheng looked at Shen Lang.
“There is a profound meaning to this, isn’t there?”
Shen Lang shook his head.
“No, there isn’t!”
“You… you really intend to recruit them? To make that Madman Lan your registrar and those ten beggars your centurions?”
Shen Lang nodded, and Ning Zheng found it utterly unbelievable.
“Did you select them at random, or did you choose them carefully?”
“I chose them carefully. It took me a full month of searching to finally find them.”
Ning Zheng was so shocked his mouth fell open.
‘You spent over a month choosing… and all you found were these shriveled husks?’
Indeed, it would be difficult to find people who looked like that. Finding even one would be hard, let alone ten at once. Ning Zheng asked cautiously.
“May… may I ask why?”
“Because they are talents.”
Ning Zheng desperately wanted to ask.
‘Shen Lang, are you being serious?’
But asking that would have been too rude. Ning Zheng wondered if his own eyes were failing him, because he simply couldn't see how they could be talents. They were all shriveled, abnormally formed, and practically half-crippled. They were clearly the most wretched of beggars and vagrants. Far from being talents, they were incapable of even feeding themselves, unable to perform the most ordinary tasks. Of course, Ning Zheng wasn't so harsh in his thoughts; he simply considered the ten of them to be cursed by the heavens. They were abnormal people, as if swept into a pile of trash by heaven’s broom.
Just then, Shen Lang spoke.
“Your Highness, do you trust me?”
“I trust you more than I trust myself.”
“Then I will tell you in all seriousness, Your Highness. They are truly talents. Talents that one might not find even among a hundred thousand people. The Creator who made them ran out of time and intended to discard them, which is why they became like cripples, the lowest dregs of this world! For over a month, I set up my stall to recruit talents and became a laughingstock to the world, but in truth, I was waiting for people like them. Now I have finally found them, and ten at once. To be honest, I am ecstatic!”
Ning Zheng was taken aback. He trusted Shen Lang absolutely, more than he trusted himself. If Shen Lang said they were talents, then they must be talents.
“Th-then do they know they are the kind of talents you believe them to be?”
“Only one of them knows. He spent over a decade gathering them together. He is actually a very remarkable person. The others have no idea; they think of themselves only as beggars and vagrants.”
“Is that person Madman Lan?”
Shen Lang nodded.
“Yes, it is him. Now, what Your Highness lacks is a commander for your army. An invincible commander!”