The next day, the news about Fan Lanying getting chosen by the princess spread among the girls. But no matter how jealous they felt, they knew that the reason was because of her poor musical skills. Even if they wanted to take the spot, no one wanted to bear the title of having poor ability in music.
Jun Hua continued to train under the intensive direction of Teacher Xun. A few days after her arrival to the palace, she heard some interesting news. General Lan Ping had returned.
"He came back today?" Jun Hua asked.
Xia nodded. As her Miss was busy studying, she had been gathering news from the palace maids and all. Girls loved to gossip so it didn't take her a long time to collect a lot of information to report to Jun Hua during the nights when she practices embroidery.
"He surely took his time," Jun Hua calculated the time calmly. "With how he fared in the battle, I'm sure he doesn't have any face to meet with the emperor. Tomorrow's morning court is going to be interesting."
Xia didn't quite understand, but she knew that Lan Ping fate's was not looking good. He had once been hailed as the most genius young general, but then Soujin appeared. Not long after, another one emerged, Jun Min. While the three of them constantly competed against each other in the similar situation, the difference in their skills eventually became clear.
As the oldest of the three, Lan Ping actually fared the worst. This was bound to become a huge stain in his name. Hence, Jun Hua was certain that someone as arrogant as Lan Ping won't be able to accept it easily.
Jun Hua continued working on her embroidery. It was not her business, so she won't meddle in it. The most important thing for her was to learn how to walk elegantly as quickly as possible. She didn't want to be a complete disgrace to her family after all. At least, a little bit.
"Miss, you have made a huge improvement," Xiao Yun said in admiration.
Jun Hua smiled. "It is thanks to your guidance."
"Xiao Yun didn't do much, but Xiao Yun will help Miss to improve even better!"
The little girl was so eager to help her that it made Jun Hua smile. At least she got another good teacher here, she thought. But when she looked at her hands that were filled with scratches, she sighed and took another medicine.
Lan family residence
Lan Teng's expression hadn't been good for quite some time. When he heard the discussions of people outside, he knew that his son hadn't done well in the test. It wasn't like he was not a good general. Rather, his two opponents were hidden monsters.
Lan Ping finally arrived back to the capital. His face was dark because of the rumors he heard on the way back. There was no way he could explain himself fully without letting the people see him as someone weak. If any other general were to be chosen, they might not even fare as better as him. But if he argued with them that way, there would be another round of problem.
Arriving home, Lan Ping decided to meet with his father first. The old man's face darkened further soon as he saw his son coming his way.
"How was the situation when you went there?"
"The battle was not that hard, but it's harder to wrap it up in such a short time. Although the imperial armies are elites, they fall short to the Lan family's army."
Lan Teng expected it to be that way too. It was impossible that the imperial family would be able to groom better soldiers than the three families who invested heavily on their own army. Lan Teng was confident that only these three families have the best armies in the kingdom, with the Nanglong family having the least amount of the soldiers while theirs had the most.
He looked at the complexion of Lan Ping's face. The young man's face was very pale, but more than anything, it was dark. For him to compete against tough competitors during his youth was truly challenging.
"You may take some rest," Lan Teng said.
Lan Ping raised his head, his eyes brimming with determination and unmasked hatred. "Father, what should I do to surpass Soujin and Jun Min? Both of them are younger than me, but they managed to finish earlier."
"Do you know why Jun Min was able to finish earlier than both of you by far?"
"I don't know."
The amount of information spread was limited. He only knew that Jun Min managed to take down cities faster than the two of them although he started a bit later than them. In the end, he managed to gain complete control of the kingdom only after a month. Although the size of the kingdom was relatively small, it was nevertheless still a kingdom with a ruler.
"He negotiated with the king."
Lan Ping's eyes widened. That little kid actually negotiates? He didn't actually conquer all the cities there? And here he thought that the boy had great fighting abilities.
"He threatened the king with some things that I myself do not know too," Lan Teng continued. "If you want to fight him in terms of martial arts, you could definitely win. However, in terms of using wits and tricks, he is better than you."
"What about Soujin, then?"
Lan Teng sighed. "He is what you would call an outstanding general. He completely captured most of the cities in the shortest possible time and forced the king to hand over the remaining city to him. With that his victory is on hand."
Lan Ping's brows rose up. The way Soujin forced the king was the same with him, but he took much longer time than him. He felt enraged whenever he thought about his loss over them.
"Don't mind it. You still have more chances in the future to prove your name. Besides, you are only older by 3 years from Soujin."
Lan Ping joined the army when he was still twelve years old and since then he already made a lot of accomplishments. Soujin appeared two years after he joined the army but rose through the ranks even faster. Then that little boy joined at a mere age of eleven and used three years to become a general because of his outstanding feats in the battle. No matter from which angle he looked at it, the two of them were better than him in many aspects.
"Where are the two of them now?"
"There are some disturbances on the east. Both of them are dispatched to their grounds."
Lan Ping's eyes gleamed. "Then I will be off to the border too. It's better to train harder than be surpassed by both of them!"
Lan Teng let his son walk away as he leaned back on his chair. If one was inferior, they should find one way or another to make up for that weakness.
"Lan Pan, watch over your brother. Don't let him do anything reckless."
A man similar with Lan Ping walked out lazily. He seemed to blend completely in the darkness, thus it was difficult for anyone to detect him. The man smiled devilishly.
"You're finally using me, old man?"
"Just do it, Lan Pan!"
"Fine, fine, you're truly a bother."
Lan Teng stared at the man with a dark face. He didn't really want to use him, however without him, how could Lan Ping be able to contend with the other two? Lan Teng shifted his gaze again. He wanted to see what their reaction would be once Lan Ping achieved another big leap in military contribution.