The Beautiful CEO's Close Bodyguard

Chapter 1728: Chapter 1714:

Ye Liang cupped his hands in salute, then turned around and went back to his own room.

The Old Gang Leader looked meaningfully at Ye Liang’s departing back. Gently stroking his beard, he said, "This Lady Ye has a pretty good foundation in martial arts."

Chu Ge stared at the Old Gang Leader in surprise. "You could tell that too?"

The Old Gang Leader chuckled, waved his hand, and said, "Her steps are light, agile, and steady, not the least bit floaty, and her breathing is very even. She’s been eavesdropping on our conversation for quite a while already; it’s just that you never noticed."

Chu Ge was even more surprised. Didn’t that basically mean he had already noticed her?

"Since you noticed long ago, why didn’t you say anything?"

Chu Ge was puzzled. Their conversation didn’t involve anything that needed to be kept secret, but these past few days he had felt a kind of rejection toward everything Ye Liang did.

From the moment Ye Liang lied to him, he knew Ye Liang was hiding something from him.

As for why she was hiding it, he didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know too much about her. But there was one thing: once someone lied to him, it was very hard for him to trust them a second time.

The Old Gang Leader laughed softly and turned away. He waved his hand and said, "What of it? If she wants to listen, let her listen. We’re going to enlist in the army; it’s not like she can sneak in the same way we do, right? We have rules here: women can’t join the army."

By now Ye Liang’s figure had already vanished from the corridor. Ye Liang’s room was just around the corner up ahead. After she went in, the room didn’t light up; it looked like she had just lain down to sleep.

Chu Ge pondered for a moment, then followed behind the Old Gang Leader. "Old Gang Leader, this method you just mentioned, will it really work?"

"Relax. I’ve been drifting around here for so many years. I know how recruitment works better than you do."

The Old Gang Leader patted his own chest, signaling him to set his mind at ease.

But Chu Ge was still puzzled. "Speaking of which, if we get in, what about Miss Feng Luo? She’s the Vermilion Bird Star. Without her help, how am I supposed to open the Time-Space Gate?"

This question stumped the Old Gang Leader at once. He stared blankly at Chu Ge, his cloudy eyes holding a trace of thought. After a long moment, he finally squeezed out a few words: "How did I forget about her..."

"..." Chu Ge had known this wasn’t reliable!

The Old Gang Leader clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the courtyard. "We’ve got to think of a way to get Feng Luo arranged inside."

He muttered to himself there.

The bright moonlight shone on the ground, reflecting a lovely silvery glow. The chirping of insects drifted in on the breeze. But the pleasant comfort did nothing to ease the gloom in Chu Ge’s heart.

He sat helplessly on a stone bench to the side, quietly watching the Old Gang Leader mutter to himself.

In the end, neither of them came up with a good plan. It was very late, so they each went back to their own rooms to sleep.

Early the next morning, a tumult of noise came from outside: gongs and drums beating, extremely lively.

Chu Ge walked out of his room, still carrying a hint of drowsiness on his face.

The sun was very bright today. Having just come out of his room, he wasn’t quite used to it yet. Squinting, he walked into the main hall and saw Luo Qi and Luo Jiu earnestly trying to persuade Feng Luo.

"They want people who are at least seventeen. What’s a fifteen-year-old kid like you going for?"

Luo Qi frowned as he spoke, his tone full of helplessness.

"I may actually be fifteen, but my mental age is already in my twenties or thirties, you know? Why can’t I go?"

Feng Luo was unconvinced. This time, for the recruitment, she was dead set on disguising herself as a man and going!

"Who’s talking to you about ’actual age’ and ’mental age’? In their eyes right now, you’re just a child who hasn’t grown up yet!"

Luo Jiu was furious. "Besides! They’re only recruiting men! What’s a girl like you going for!"

"I have to go!" Feng Luo’s voice rose a few notches. "I’ll get into the barracks and give those brats who look down on us Beggar Gang disciples a good lesson!"

"..." So that was Feng Luo’s real purpose for wanting to get into the army camp.

Chu Ge couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. Last night the Old Gang Leader had also told him that there were always some people in the army who used the conflict between Prince He Shuo and their Beggar Gang as an excuse to bully beggars who enlisted. Because of that, the Beggar Gang disciples always hesitated again and again when they wanted to do their part for the country.

Gradually, fewer and fewer Beggar Gang disciples went to enlist.

"Enough! Even if you went, you’d only be a lowly soldier! Who are you going to teach a lesson? You’d be lucky if they didn’t teach you a lesson instead!"

Luo Jiu said helplessly. He really had no way to deal with Feng Luo; the things she said and did were like child’s play.

"And another thing, army discipline is as immovable as a mountain. With that wild, spoiled temper of yours, you think you could put up with it?"

It seemed Luo Jiu had been truly angered by Feng Luo. He walked back and forth in the hall, hands clasped behind his back, anxious and agitated.

Chu Ge calmly sat down in a seat to the side. His curious gaze rested on them as he listened to their argument.

But he had barely been sitting for long when Luo Jiu threw the question at him.

"Just as it happens, Mr. Chu is here. Let’s ask Mr. Chu. Let him tell you—where in the world do you find someone as young as you, and a girl at that, going off to be a soldier?"

Luo Jiu looked at Chu Ge as he spoke, though his words were aimed at Feng Luo.

Chu Ge was suddenly called on and, for a moment, really didn’t know what to say. He looked toward Feng Luo, and just then Feng Luo also turned to look his way.

But before Chu Ge could speak, Feng Luo rolled her eyes at him and said to Luo Jiu, "He’s an outsider. What does he know?"

She wasn’t wrong. On this matter, Chu Ge really was an outsider. He didn’t understand how recruitment worked here.

He hadn’t even known there was a recruitment today until the Old Gang Leader told him last night.

Chu Ge cleared his throat lightly and said to Luo Jiu, "Elder Jiu, why don’t you let Miss Feng Luo go and give it a try?"

Anyway, Feng Luo was pretty famous around here. Even if she disguised herself as a man, she’d still be recognized. There was really nothing to worry about.

Besides, her age and gender were things that couldn’t be changed.

Luo Jiu let out a sigh, a heavy one, and dropped down into a seat off to the side. "Mr. Chu, you don’t understand. If we let Feng Luo go to the recruitment site, things will get completely out of hand!"

"Out of hand?" Chu Ge was confused. What was there to get out of hand? It wasn’t like Feng Luo would actually start a fight with them, right?

"Here, recruitment is held once every three years. Three years ago, Feng Luo already went once. The scene that time was simply unsightly."

"And that time, Prince He Shuo almost had Feng Luo arrested as a troublemaker."

"Around here, anyone who stirs up trouble at recruitment is convicted of a serious crime!"

Luo Qi, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up. "Mr. Chu, you don’t know. Because Feng Luo messed things up once last time, our Beggar Gang suffered a miserable loss."

Feng Luo muttered a faint rebuttal, "Luo, don’t make it sound so absolute. It wasn’t all my fault back then."