The following afternoon at three o'clock, a passenger jet flying from Jinling to Yanjing arrived over Yanjing International Airport right on schedule.
Jiang Wuming, along with all members of the Zhanlong team and two senior officers from the Eastern Domain Legion, Qin Yuanzheng and Zhu Shengxian, were seated in the business class section at the front of the cabin.
As the plane began its descent, Jiang Wuming gazed at the buildings outside, which grew larger as they approached, and felt a sense of déjà vu.
This was his fourth time visiting Yanjing.
Back then, he had gone uninvited to the Li family manor for Li Guyi’s birthday banquet.
On that day, he publicly broke off his engagement with Li Lianyi and, for the first time, truly revealed his true strength.
At the time, almost the entire dragon country's influential elite believed that Jiang Wuming, despite his martial prowess, had no backing, was an enemy to all, and wouldn't last long.
As it turned out, Jiang Wuming immediately headed north to the capital. For Xingtian, he single-handedly crushed the prominent Luo family, becoming famous throughout Yanjing!
That was his first time in the capital; he had seen through Ye Zheng’s schemes and used Ye Zheng to deal with the Luo family.
The second time, he attended the Global Martial Arts Conference as a member of the dragon country's delegation, departing from Yanjing with all other attendees.
The third time, the five guardian squads of the Ministry of War were established, and Jiang Wuming became the captain of the Zhanlong team. He refused the escorts arranged by the Ministry of War and insisted on admitting Qin Xiaozhi, who wasn't even a one-star God of War, into the team as the deputy captain, shocking the entire Ministry of War.
This time, he led the Zhanlong team to attend a commendation ceremony and would finally meet someone he had always wanted to see – the Grand Elder of the dragon country, Long Shengzhe!
Soon, the plane landed smoothly on the runway, taxied for a short distance, and then stopped at the parking bay that had been arranged.
The flight attendant pulled the curtain between business class and economy class and organized the passengers to disembark in an orderly manner.
Jiang Wuming followed Qin Yuanzheng and Zhu Shengxian. As he stepped out of the cabin, he saw a Coaster van with a Ministry of War license plate parked not far from the parking bay.
Zhu Jian, the head of the Ministry of War's Enforcement Division, stood at the foot of the aircraft ladder and then walked forward to greet them. After Jiang Wuming and the others disembarked, he smiled faintly.
"General Qin, General Zhu, Captain Jiang, and everyone from the Zhanlong team, welcome to Yanjing."
"Director Zhu, you could have just sent someone to pick us up. Why did you come yourself?"
Qin Yuanzheng replied with a smile, showing great courtesy to Zhu Jian.
This was because Zhu Jian not only held a crucial position in the Ministry of War but was also a direct disciple of Qi Wufu, making him an absolute confidant.
"You are the protagonists of the commendation ceremony. How could I be negligent?"
Zhu Jian chuckled playfully as he led Jiang Wuming and the others towards the Coaster van parked nearby.
Qin Yuanzheng smiled and said nothing.
As far as he knew, in addition to the Zhanlong team members being honored and himself and Zhu Shengxian, the chief political officers from the other major legions would also be attending this commendation ceremony.
All of this was because Grand Elder Long Shengzhe was scheduled to attend!
This was the first time Long Shengzhe had attended a Ministry of War commendation ceremony, making it exceptionally significant, and the Ministry of War placed immense importance on it.
"General Qin, General Zhu, Captain Jiang, I will directly take you to the guesthouse next to the headquarters compound. After you check in and rest briefly, we will all attend the evening banquet together. We have prepared a banquet for you, and the chief political officers from the other legions will also be present. The Marshal and the Chief of Staff were also supposed to attend, but they have to report something tonight, so they asked me to host your welcome reception."
Once inside the van, Zhu Jian quickly outlined the arrangements.
"We'll follow the host's lead."
Qin Yuanzheng smiled, but he had a vague feeling that there was something amiss with the evening's arrangements, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.
Like many departments and units, the Ministry of War had its own guesthouses, which were considered affiliated properties primarily used for official receptions.
Although called guesthouses, many departments and units had guesthouses that rivaled five-star hotels.
The Ministry of War's guesthouse was no exception.
It was located next to the Ministry of War headquarters compound, covering an area as large as several football fields, with ancient-style architecture within its grounds.
Upon arriving at the guesthouse, Jiang Wuming and the others first completed the check-in procedures, with each person getting their own room.
After this was done, Jiang Wuming went to Xingtian's room and said, "Xingtian, you don't need to attend the evening banquet. While you're in Yanjing, you can take this opportunity to visit your mother."
"Boss, is that appropriate?"
Xingtian, like Qin Xiaozhi and others, still referred to Jiang Wuming as "Boss" out of habit when no outsiders were present.
He was a filial son and genuinely wished to visit his mother's grave, but he felt it would be a breach of discipline and embarrass Jiang Wuming, so he hadn't brought it up. He hadn't expected Jiang Wuming to mention it proactively.
"It's appropriate."
Jiang Wuming shook his head with a smile and then said, "It's difficult to find a car here. I'll ask Director Zhu to arrange one for you."
"Boss, is it really okay?" Xingtian hesitated.
"Stop being sentimental."
Jiang Wuming smiled, patted Xingtian on the shoulder, and then turned and left the room.
Ten minutes later, Xingtian departed the guesthouse in a car arranged by Zhu Jian.
At six o'clock, Jiang Wuming, accompanied by Qin Xiaozhi, Huangfu Weixia, and Dongfang Xiaoyao, was led by Qin Yuanzheng and Zhu Shengxian to the guesthouse's dining hall, where they entered a private room.
Inside the private room, a large round table was already occupied by quite a few guests. Besides Zhu Jian, the chief political officers from the other legions were also present.
"Let's give a warm round of applause to welcome our heroes."
Just then, a voice familiar to Jiang Wuming rang out.
The speaker was Zheng Yuandong, the commander of the Loulan Legion. He was the first to rise and applaud the arrival of Jiang Wuming and his party.
"Clap, clap, clap..."
Immediately, everyone else also rose and applauded, their applause filling the entire private room.
"You're setting us up for failure with all this praise."
Qin Yuanzheng said this as he led Jiang Wuming and the others to their seats, but a brilliant smile played on his lips.
"Old Qin, how is this setting us up for failure? This is envy! Don't act like you're suffering when you've gained an advantage!"
Zheng Yuandong spoke again, voicing the sentiments of the chief political officers of the major legions.
Who wouldn't want their legion's guardian squad to have such distinguished achievements?
"If I had known you were such a 'Old Qin,' I wouldn't have let Wuming leave Loulan Ancient City back then," Wu Yong also quipped with a smile.
He and Zheng Yuandong had a good relationship with Qin Yuanzheng and had interacted with Jiang Wuming before. As the leaders of the Loulan Legion, where Jiang Zhan's old unit was stationed, they spoke rather casually.
Meanwhile, the commanders and staff officers of the four major legions from the Western, Northern, Southern, and Central regions, while smiling, were secretly observing Jiang Wuming.
"Wuming, Xiaozhi, Weiya, Xiaoyao, let me introduce you to the several commanders."
After Jiang Wuming and the others were seated, Zhu Jian, as the 'host' of the banquet, began speaking.
Although Jiang Wuming had met half of these individuals at the Global Martial Arts Conference – with each legion sending one chief political officer – he still needed to reintroduce them.
He first pointed to two middle-aged men on the west side. "These two are the commanders of the Western Domain Legion, Ma Zhiyuan and Liu Sicheng."
"Wuming, as Dongyuan said earlier, we are truly envious that the Eastern Domain Legion has your Zhanlong team. Every time you send back a battle report, I organize middle and upper-level personnel to study it collectively, and I immediately have the Northern Domain Snow Mountain Guardian team learn from it. Those little brats led by Ye Kunlun say they gain a lot of insight every time they read them."
Commander Ma Zhiyuan of the Western Domain Legion said with a smile.
"Commander, you are too kind."
Jiang Wuming replied with a smile. He knew that Ma Zhiyuan had been the deputy to the former commander of the Western Domain Legion, who sacrificed himself during the divine war twelve years ago, and Ma Zhiyuan had succeeded him.
"Wuming, don't be so modest. It's not just Ye Kunlun and the others; my nephew Wang Tuo also tells me the same thing."
Ma Zhiyuan added.
After Wang Tuo's father died, his former subordinates treated Wang Tuo like their own child and took great care of him.
Hmm?
Hearing Ma Zhiyuan's words again, Zhu Jian's eyes flashed with insight. He then pointed to two middle-aged men on the north side of the room and introduced them: "These two are the commanders of the Northern Domain Legion, An Tianxiang and Nalan Ji."
"Wuming, my son An Lotu is extremely admiring of you. When he learned that I was coming to attend your commendation ceremony, he called me several times, insisting that I ask you to toast him a few extra drinks."
Commander An Tianxiang of the Northern Domain Legion also spoke with a smile, but he made no mention of the Northern Domain Dragon God Guardian team, instead mentioning his son An Lotu.
Zhu Jian took note of this detail. After waiting for Jiang Wuming's reply, he then pointed to two other middle-aged men:
"These two are the commanders of the Central Domain Legion, Mo Chunqiu and Xu Fulin."
"Wuming, my daughter Mo Ling praises you highly, calling you accomplished in both literary and martial arts, loyal and righteous – a rare good man in this world!"
Commander Mo Chunqiu of the Central Domain Legion said with a smile.
"Chunqiu, why does it feel like you're trying to set Wuming up with your daughter?" Qin Yuanzheng teased with a laugh.
"Haha, if Wuming agrees, I'll make the decision for my daughter directly." Mo Chunqiu said in a joking tone.
However—
In this world, how many true feelings are expressed through jokes?
Jiang Wuming remained silent, sensing Mo Chunqiu's intentions.
"Wuming, we meet again."
Just then, before Zhu Jian could speak again, Commander Lin Mingyuan of the Southern Domain Legion stood up first and took the initiative to greet Jiang Wuming. "I failed to teach my son properly. My son, not knowing his place, offended you several times, and you, being magnanimous, forgave him. I am very grateful. Tonight, I must toast you a few extra drinks."
"Commander, you are too polite. Let's not dwell on the past," Jiang Wuming said indifferently.
He could tell that Lin Mingyuan was acting on his son Lin Xiao's behalf, but as he said, those matters were now in the past.
Subsequently, Jiang Wuming took the initiative to introduce Qin Xiaozhi, Dongfang Xiaoyao, and Huangfu Weixia to the chief political officers of the other legions.
Among them, Qin Xiaozhi, like Jiang Wuming, received much praise, which kept Qin Yuanzheng smiling incessantly. He was beaming with pride – he had been waiting for this day for a long time!
However—
From beginning to end of the welcome banquet, Jiang Wuming was the absolute focus. Guests continuously toasted him, seeking to build rapport, a classic case of people flocking to success!
After the banquet concluded, Zhu Jian bid farewell to Jiang Wuming and his party and returned alone to the Ministry of War headquarters compound, heading directly to Qi Wufu's office.
"Master."
Zhu Jian entered the office and bowed respectfully to Qi Wufu as usual before reporting, "The banquet has concluded. Everyone, including Jiang Wuming, has returned to the guesthouse."
"Tell me what you discovered tonight," Qi Wufu said.
"Master, this is how the evening unfolded…"
Zhu Jian immediately reported the situation of the banquet from beginning to end to Qi Wufu. Seeing that Qi Wufu remained silent, he offered his own assessment.
"Based on my judgment, Zheng Yuandong and Wu Yong of the Loulan Legion absolutely support Wuming. Ma Zhiyuan of the Western Domain Legion has also given up on Wang Tuo vying for the position of Marshal successor. An Tianxiang of the Northern Domain Legion and Mo Chunqiu of the Central Domain Legion both want to build good relations with Wuming. Lin Mingyuan of the Southern Domain Legion fears retaliation, so he is proactively seeking forgiveness and showing favor.
Master, what do you think?"
"The intention is not in the wine."
Qi Wufu's words were layered with meaning.