(There is a mistake in the previous article. Xia Hou is not the Defender-general of the State, but the Defender-general of the army. Report it to me first, and I will correct it immediately. Chapter Three Before Six.)
…
…
The morning light turned from dim to bright. General Xia Hou walked to the eastern front line expressionlessly. Gu Xi and a team of personal guards followed him silently. The light of the rising sun shone on his armor, emitting a faint white luster. He looked like a mighty statue of god standing in the holy light.
Xia Hou walked into the temporary Middle Military Camp tent and listened to his subordinate report the result of the cavalry of the left vanguard breaking into the Yan territory in the morning. After a long silence, he raised his head and said, "Kill 300 Yan prisoners of war as punishment."
At this time, there was no one else in the tent except him and Gu Xi. Gu Xi looked at him and wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. He advised, "General, you decided to hide the assassination and only sent a secret letter to His Majesty. If you kill prisoners of war in front of the battle, I am afraid it will be difficult to hide it. What's more, those Yan people will definitely take the initiative to publicize it. "
Xia Hou said indifferently, "The Yan army entered the country and harmed the old and weak people of our Tang Empire. They burned our villages. It is reasonable to kill 300 prisoners of war. I don't believe that anyone dares to say anything."
Gu Xi was silent for a moment and said, "But it is not auspicious to kill prisoners of war. His Majesty … will not like it."
Xia Hou took off his helmet and put it aside. He quietly looked at this loyal subordinate who had accompanied him for more than twenty years and said, "You should know very well that His Majesty has never liked me. The reason I'm still alive today is because I've made immortal contributions to the Empire. Our Tang Empire has always been clear about rewards and punishments. As long as I can continue to make contributions and the officials in the court can't catch me, His Majesty will not easily hurt me. In this way, it doesn't matter whether His Majesty likes me or not. Besides, if His Majesty likes me too much, I really don't know what to do. "
This paragraph, especially the last sentence, contained some meaning that only the two of them could understand. After a moment of silence, Gu Xi was about to say something when a horizontal line embroidered with gold thread on his cuff suddenly lit up.
"Go." Xia Hou said.
Gu Xi bowed silently with his hands folded in front of his chest and then left the tent.
There was no one in the tent. A self-mocking and slightly bitter smile appeared on Xia Hou's face. He said softly, "I am so lucky to have met such a benevolent king like Your Majesty. Otherwise, I don't know how many times I would have died. A gentleman can be deceived with methods, but can I deceive Your Majesty with benevolence? It's just that the Sovereign King cares about old times, cares about that layer of friendship that no one knows about, and has allowed me to live for these few more years. "
After a while, Gu Xi lifted the curtain and came back, holding a sealed letter in his hand. He walked to Xia Hou and said softly, "The Military Ministry sent a letter with a talisman. Recently, Chang 'an City has not been peaceful. I heard that there was a murder case in Southern City, which even alarmed the Yulin Royal Guards."
Xiahou sneered, "The officials in the imperial court took advantage of His Majesty's leniency and even dared to kill my subordinates. Haven't they learned to behave themselves in front of His Majesty after suffering such a big loss from Chao Xiaoshu a few days ago?"
"It really has nothing to do with the officials in the imperial court." Gu Xi shook his head and replied, "A master of Seethrough Realm died in the murder case in Southern City, and that person used to be a former officer of the Military Ministry. That's why these disturbances were caused."
Xiahou's eyes gradually condensed. He squinted at him and said, "Go on."
"I don't know if the general still remembers this person. His name is Yan Suqing. He used to be a document appraiser of the Military Ministry, but few people know that he was a Great Sword Master …"
Speaking of this, Gu Xi took a deep look at the general and continued, "This person should have been enlightened and learned swordsmanship in the Haotian Divine Palace in West-Hill. After being expelled from the Military Ministry because of that year's matter, he had been living peacefully with a tea merchant in Chang 'an City. I didn't expect that he would die a violent death in the end."
The atmosphere in the tent gradually became serious and cold, and the candlelight in the corner swayed uneasily. After a long time of silence, General Xiahou asked indifferently, "In the 13th year of Tianqi era … how many has it been?"
Gu Xi replied softly, "Censor Zhang Yiqi died in a car crash, former Xuanwei General's subordinate Chen Zixian died violently in Eastern City, and this Yan Suqing was beheaded. This is the third death this year."
The people of the Tang Empire were simple and firm. Chang 'an City had a large population. Although the public security was excellent, there might be one or two abnormal deaths every day. The third death mentioned by the two people in the tent at this time naturally did not refer to the number of abnormal deaths in the 13th year of Tianqi era, but the deaths related to those past events.
"If Her Majesty hadn't stopped the birthday banquet this year and allocated some spare money to the Military Ministry, the Military Ministry wouldn't have thought of looking for veterans to send condolences, and wouldn't have found that Chen Zixian, who had long been forgotten, had died suddenly."
Gu Xi looked at Xiahou and said softly, "Now Yan Suqing has also been beheaded, and the method is very similar. If we can confirm that the so-called accident of censor Zhang Yiqi … is also a murder, then we can find the truth of the matter."
"Not everything has the truth." General Xiahou said indifferently, "The people who should die in the two cases are all dead. Who will remember these things?"
Gu Xi replied, "When fishermen cast their fishing nets, they always think that they can catch them all, but in fact, every time the fishing nets come out of the water, there are always a few fish that slip through the net. In my notes, there are at least 11 people alive in the Xuanwei General's Mansion."
General Xiahou slowly closed his eyes and said, "Those who can survive are some short-term handymen, who can't be beheaded according to the law of the Tang Empire. But all the servants and maids who have a contract with them are all dead. I don't believe that those short-term handymen who have nothing to do with the main family dare to hate the imperial court and still want revenge after so many years of forbearance."
"We still have to check it." Gu Xi said worriedly, "At least as I said before, we should send someone to see if there is anything strange about the death of censor Zhang Yiqi. I don't believe that there are still victims left in the two cases, but I am worried that the repeated killings are used by a noble in the palace to make trouble and establish power. "
Xiahou replied indifferently, "The princes are still young, and the Fourth Princess is just a silly girl. If His Majesty wanted to bypass the law to deal with me, he would have sent someone to directly cut off my head ten years ago. There is no need to use these trivial means."
"But there is still a noble in the palace." Gu Xi glanced at his face and said cautiously.
As expected, upon hearing these words, General Xiahou's expression suddenly turned cold. He coldly stared at him and said, "Twenty years ago, when you swore an oath to follow me, I warned you that as long as I was alive, as long as I had a breath left, you were not to mention that noble person in front of anyone. Have you forgotten?"
Gu Xi bowed his head deeply and sincerely begged for forgiveness. But deep in his heart, there was a very tired and helpless sigh. He thought, "General, you don't want the world to know the relationship between you and that noble, and that noble also doesn't want the world to know. It's just that you chose to stay away from Chang 'an and keep silent. But who can be sure that the noble will not use some more extreme and cruel methods?" As the saying goes, once one enters the palace, one's heart is as hard as iron …
Xiahou looked at his subordinate who was begging for forgiveness in front of him. He thought of his loyalty over the years and the fact that he had been hard to ferry between the two banks of the turbulent river with him all these years. Xiahou's face became slightly relaxed and he said in a low voice, "But you are right. We must investigate the things in Chang 'an City. Send a Psyche Practitioner back."
After a short pause, he added expressionlessly, "Warn those who handle it. Even if they find out something, they are forbidden to act on their own. All the evidence should be submitted to the Military Ministry and the Chang 'an Local Government. After all, the investigation is the imperial court's business."
Gu Xi took the order and left.
There was no one in the tent. Xiahou took off his heavy armor and then sat on the couch. He silently looked at the faint candlelight that was about to be swallowed by the skylight outside the tent, motionless like a statue.
His face was a little pale. The previous thunderous roar directly killed two cultivation powerhouses. That scene was so powerful, but no one knew that his body was still a little injured.
As a powerhouse at the peak of Martial Arts in the world, his combat power was unparalleled. As long as he moved his mind, the vigorous Qi of Heaven and Earth would condense on the surface of his body and connect inside and outside. The Psyche Power could not hurt him, and the flying sword could not break him. In fact, if he wanted to kill the two cultivation assassins from the Yan Kingdom, he could have chosen a simpler and harmless way to deal with them.
But he was General Xiahou, who was known for being ruthless, cold-blooded, and domineering. There were too many powerful enemies in the world. He had to maintain his invincible image in front of his enemies and his subordinates, so he had to choose the most arrogant and powerful way to deal with them. For this reason, he even did not hesitate to hurt his body and mind.
If he did not want to be annoyed by the endless assassinations, he had to show his thunderous means and forcibly suppress the fighting desire of most of the enemies. This was probably the helplessness of many peerless powerhouses.
The curtain was lifted, and a manservant walked in with a bowl of carefully prepared bird's nest and golden date porridge. The manservant looked handsome, and the porcelain bowl on the plate was exquisite and beautiful. It was obviously not an ordinary thing.
General Xiahou took the bowl of porridge indifferently and drank it in one gulp. He waved his hand to signal the manservant to leave.
He knew that the officials in Chang 'an who were jealous of him had been secretly saying that General Xiahou liked handsome manservants and had a special interest in bed. He was indifferent to this kind of rumor and was not angry at all. Because both His Majesty and the places he was really afraid of were very clear about a fact: Since he cooked his most beloved concubine to death, he had never been close to a woman again, nor would he use any maidservant to serve him.
When he cooked that concubine to death, it was a time when the censors' attacks were like a tide and the general's position was shaky. Those who thought they knew the inside story thought that he used the excuse of peeping into military affairs to cook his most beloved concubine to frighten a chief eunuch who was ordered to go to the military camp for questioning.
However, only Xiahou himself knew that the chief eunuch who came to ask questions had nothing to do with the censors' memorials. What he was afraid of had nothing to do with the censors who had no strength to truss a chicken.
It was a summer day. The night was short and the day was long. The light emitted by Haotian was not only warm but also blazing. A strict letter of inquiry from the West-Hill Divine Kingdom was directly sent to the Chang 'an Imperial Palace. Even the Unknown Place expressed serious concern. In the vast Min Mountain not far from the military camp, countless sword lights could be vaguely seen.
"Shuang 'er, you shouldn't have performed the Devil's Dance that day."
Xiahou stared at the porridge that was gradually freezing between his fingers. He thought that if it was still in the past, the gentle woman he loved the most would have noticed it immediately. Then, she would have taken out a handkerchief to gently wipe it off for him. He could not help but shake his head and repeat expressionlessly, "You really shouldn't have performed that dance, although that dance and you when you were dancing … were really beautiful."
…
(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
