Jiang Suzhou stood ramrod straight in front of Houzhu's steps. Although there was no expression on his face, his heart was calm and unruffled.
You want to kill me? I'm sorry, but you probably don't know what kind of butcher's knife is hanging over your neck.
Not only can that person save me, but he can also kill you.
Thinking of this, Jiang Suizhou actually directly sized up his successor's expression, which was rare for him.
Although this fatty was vicious, he was also stupid. His mood was written all over his face. At this moment, his expression was extremely ugly.
He gritted his teeth and couldn't say anything for a long time. He stared at Jiang Suzhou.
However, Jiang Suzhou didn't seem to notice. He showed some confusion and said, "Imperial Brother?"
Houzhu gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Fifth Younger Brother is finally back," he said. "You've made Imperial Brother very worried."
Jiang Suzhou showed a somewhat embarrassed smile. In Houzhu's eyes, it was extremely glaring.
"Thank you for your concern, Imperial Brother," he said. "It's also because I don't have the ability to control a horse."
Houzhu's eyes were fierce. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill him in the hall.
However, he said, "Fifth Younger Brother, what happened in the forest today?"
Jiang Suzhou pretended to sigh.
"I don't know what happened to that horse, but halfway there, it actually went crazy," he said. "I couldn't stop it, so I just let it run. It couldn't stop at all."
Houzhu stared at him. "Then how did you stop?"
Jiang Suzhou didn't seem to see the malice in his eyes. He smiled and said calmly, "Halfway through, I ran into a withered tree and broke the horse's neck. Only then was I able to stop. However, when I fell from the horse, I didn't notice and twisted my ankle. Therefore, I could only wait in the same place. Fortunately, Imperial Brother sent someone to save me in time. "
Speaking of this, he smiled faintly. He inadvertently sighed and said, "Turning danger into safety. It's the mercy of the heavens."
In Jiang Sunheng's ears, the words "God has mercy" were a thousand percent sarcasm.
It gave him hope, but in the end, the person didn't die. He really lost a lot of face, and it made him feel like he had lost something.
And all these reasons were because the heavens pitied this sickly invalid?!
Houzhu was so angry that his breathing was uneven. He sat on the dragon throne and panted. Holding the wine cup, he wished he could sweep everything on the table to the ground.
… Pang Shao, it was Pang Shao!
His uncle had promised him before that this time, he wouldn't give Prince Jing any chance of survival. He said that he had already arranged everything. He would definitely make sure that Imperial Prince Jing died in the forest by accident. He didn't need to worry about anything. All he needed to do was call Prince Jing to his side and whip his horse.
But he wasn't dead!
Hou Zhu was so angry that he could not speak. For a moment, his vision blurred. Finally, he found an excuse and went around looking for Pang Shao.
He needed Pang Shao to give him an explanation.
However, when he looked around, Pang Shao's room was empty. He didn't even know where the servants next to him were.
"Where's Uncle?" Hou Zhu ignored Jiang Suizhou and asked with a gloomy face. "Just now, he said he was going to change his clothes. Why didn't he come back for a long time?"
No one answered.
Hou Zhu thought that Pang Shao had escaped because he was afraid of punishment.
He had trusted his uncle since he was young. Similarly, his uncle's actions were worthy of his trust.
However, during this period of time, he didn't know if it was because his uncle was getting older or because of other reasons, but he had become more and more disappointing.
His uncle had secretly coveted the money he used to repair the ancestral temple. He had secretly used people to harm the old court officials and even his relatives. He had even sent imperial robes to Hou Zhu's residence behind Hou Zhu's back.
Hou Zhu didn't care about the money, the old court officials, and a mere piece of clothing. What he couldn't accept was that his uncle, who had always been loyal to him, had deceived him, used him, and kept two faces in front of him.
This made him feel humiliated and uneasy at the same time.
Today, he had trusted his uncle so much, but his uncle had actually …
For a moment, there was silence. No one dared to make a sound. They could only secretly look at the emperor, who was sitting on the throne with an ugly expression.
At this moment, a servant ran all the way in and knelt in front of Hou Zhu's steps.
"Your Majesty!" The servant knelt down and said. "I'm a servant of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister had an urgent matter and left just now. He asked me to report it to Your Majesty!"
Hou Zhu's face was cold.
"Urgent matter?" He said. "What urgent matter did he have?"
The servant knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister said that there was something strange in His Highness King Jing's courtyard. He wanted to bring people to investigate it personally!"
—
A large group of guards carrying lanterns went all the way up the mountain and lit up the narrow but exquisite mountain path.
The bright light rushed into King Jing's courtyard noisily.
Meng Qianshan was sitting in the courtyard and taking a nap.
The prince didn't bring anyone down the mountain. For some reason, he locked Madam Huo in her room and only left the medicine boy who had disguised himself as a servant. He had nothing to do and nowhere to go, so he could only wait in the corridor for the prince to come back.
He waited until the sky darkened, to the point that he began to feel sleepy.
It was at this moment that he heard a huge commotion.
He opened his eyes in a daze and saw a large group of light coming from the mountain path. It looked like the prince's honor guard. He hurriedly got up and went to greet them. He saw the group of people break in. The leader was the Prime Minister of the imperial court, Pang Shao.
Meng Qianshan was shocked and hurriedly went forward to salute.
"It's the Prime Minister! I am Meng Qianshan, the eunuch who attends to His Highness King Jing. May I know why you have come so late at night … "
Before he could finish speaking, a guard stepped forward and pushed him to the side.
This group of guards was well-trained and aggressive. In the blink of an eye, they had completely surrounded the courtyard, leaving no room for escape.
"Search," Pang Shao ordered in a deep voice.
He had already ordered his subordinates to search on the way here.
He knew very well in his heart that for the assassins he sent to die in the forest, it was either a large group of elites or a top-notch expert. Their honor guard traveled all the way to Tianping Mountain. Because Huo Wujiu was there, his guards and spies kept a close eye on King Jing and his entourage.
They were all servants of the prince's residence and their backgrounds were very clean.
King Jing's men were definitely not in the entourage, so they must have followed outside the group. Since that was the case, they must have received orders. As long as there were orders, there would be traces left behind. Letters, tokens, and even tools used to transmit messages would all have clues.
Immediately, following his orders, everyone rushed into the room and began to rummage through the surrounding rooms.
However, the group of people who were heading straight for the main house was stopped in the corridor.
"What's wrong?" Pang Shao asked with a frown.
The guard in the corridor returned and reported, "Sir, the door to the main house … is locked."
Pang Shao's eyes narrowed and he strode towards the main house.
When Meng Qianshan saw this, he hurriedly got up and followed him. He smiled and said, "Your Excellency, unfortunately, the door to the main house was locked by the prince. He said that before he comes back, no one is allowed to open the door …"
Pang Shao ignored him and raised his hand to ask his men to take him away.
Meng Qianshan was agile. He bent his back and dodged forward. In a few steps, he pounced on the door and blocked it.
He knew that even though the prince and Madam Huo quarreled in the morning, Madam Huo was still the prince's favorite. Who was Madam Huo? She was a prisoner of war in Beiliang. The man in front of him was the minister of Nanjing.
Regardless of whether he was here for official business or not, as long as he saw Madam Huo, he would not let her have an easy time. If the prince was here, he would be able to protect her. However, the prince was not here …
He had no choice but to stall for as long as he could.
Pang Shao frowned when he heard this.
A locked door in Jiang Suizhou? That was even more suspicious.
He sneered, "Why did your prince lock this door?"
Meng Qianshan hurriedly said, "Sir, you may not know this, but the prince has Madam Huo by his side and is very wary of him! This morning, the prince was afraid that Madam Huo would escape in the wilderness, so he ordered his men to lock Madam Huo in the room. Other than him, no one is allowed to open the door! "
It was reasonable, but Pang Shao knew that he could not let go of any opportunity.
"Guards, come and pull him away," he said coldly.
Meng Qianshan did not expect the person in front of him to be so stubborn. He clung to the door and started to make a fuss. He wailed, "Sir, save me! The prince has given a death order. If I can't guard this door, the prince will take my head when he comes back! "
However, he was outnumbered. After a short while, he was pulled to the side and held firmly in place.
A few guards slammed the door with all their might. After a few loud bangs, the door suddenly opened.
Everyone rushed into the room. Pang Shao followed them in.
He saw that the room was quiet. The candles were shining brightly. A tall figure sat in a wheelchair and looked at him quietly.
Huo Wujiu.
As soon as his gaze fell on Huo Wujiu, Pang Shao had an inexplicable feeling in his heart.
Prince Jing's manservants were all of clean background and did not know much about martial arts. However, he had forgotten about this person.
Although he had a few spies in Prince Jing's backyard, Prince Jing was cautious and did not allow him to put them in the courtyard where he lived.
Therefore, ever since Huo Wujiu was locked up by his side, he had no news of Huo Wujiu.
If that was the case …
Was it possible that Jiang Suizhou had kept Huo Wujiu close by and the person who saved Jiang Suizhou today was Huo Wujiu?
Although Pang Shao felt that the possibility was not high, everything could be explained if it was Huo Wujiu.
After all, in the whole world, there were very few people who could go against his subordinate, Tang Gui. He would never believe that Jiang Suizhou had the ability to raise such a person.
Pang Shao stared at him as if he was trying to find some clues from him.
Huo Wujiu quietly looked up at him.
"What's the matter?" Huo Wujiu asked calmly.
Pang Shao stared at him for a long time. After a while, he slowly smiled.
"It's nothing," he said. "I'm just thinking that it's really a pity. If General Huo could still stand up with your legs, you would probably be a master who could take on ten people at once."
He said the words "take on ten people at once" slowly but meaningfully.
Huo Wujiu looked at him indifferently and lowered his eyes. He did not respond.
His gaze was like a needle piercing into Pang Shao's body and made him uncomfortable.
He felt a sense of humiliation at being looked down upon.
"I have a question today, and I need you to explain it to me," he said slowly.
Fortunately, he was prepared and brought along with him an imperial physician. When he heard his words, the imperial physician hurriedly stepped forward and waited by the side.
However, he did not notice that Huo Wujiu's expression froze slightly, as if he had heard something.
He paused and looked up at Pang Shao with his head still lowered.
He curled the corner of his mouth and let out a contemptuous sneer.
"Do you think you're worthy?"
The densely packed guards all heard these three words.
Pang Shao felt as if there was an explosion in his head. For the entire night, he was shocked by the failure of his plan, angry at the loss of his beloved general, anxious about the emperor's reaction, and angry at Prince Jing. It was as if a spark had fallen into a pile of dry firewood.
It was burning.
Pang Shao sneered in his heart.
He had to put on an act in front of Prince Jing and act humble in front of the emperor. Now, was he going to be looked down upon by this defeated general?
He dismissed the Imperial Physician that he had specially brought over, walked forward, and raised his leg to kick Huo Wujiu's wheelchair.
"I just want to see if your leg is really broken."
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