As the official who had gone out of the city to welcome Lou Yue, Jiang Suzhou needed to welcome him back to the palace. After meeting the emperor together, they would attend the welcoming banquet hosted by the palace with Lou Yue.
By the time Lou Yue finished counting the soldiers, the sky had already darkened. A group of officials sat in a carriage, along with Lou Yue and his daughter, as well as several high-ranking military officers, majestically opened the Yang Gate and entered the palace.
Although Jiang Suzhou's official position wasn't high, he was the emperor's only living brother and the only imperial prince. Because of this, having him go out of the city to welcome them gave Lou Yue a lot of face. The officials couldn't guess the emperor's intentions, so they treated Lou Yue with more caution.
However, the successor didn't think as much as they did. He just wanted the person he hated to welcome the person he hated. It would be best if the two of them fought, and the worse the situation, the better.
Therefore, while the officials in court were carefully trying to guess the emperor's intentions, the successor only praised Lou Yue a few times before letting the father and daughter enter the banquet.
However, there were a few things that the successor didn't like at the banquet.
Lou Yue had always been an arrogant person who didn't like to pay attention to anyone. In the past, even if it was Pang Shao, he wouldn't give any face to anyone. However, today, he saw His Highness Prince Jing, who wasn't in good health, braving the sun to welcome him outside the city. Prince Jing's attitude towards him wasn't as strange as other civil officials. Lou Yue was a bit concerned. Halfway through the banquet, he actually stood up and toasted Jiang Suzhou.
Other than the emperor, Lou Yue had never toasted anyone before.
For a moment, everyone looked at each other in dismay. The way they looked at Jiang Suzhou changed. As for the successor sitting on the dragon throne, his expression also became gloomy.
Everyone knew that Lou Yue had a large number of soldiers in his hands. It was because he didn't have good relations with the people in court that the successor was able to use him without any worries.
But now … …
Jiang Suizhou also felt the sudden chill in the surrounding atmosphere. He raised his eyes to look at Lou Yue and saw his calm expression. With one look, he knew that Lou Yue had stood up to drink with him because they had met today.
However, the people around him were only concerned about his sudden closeness to Lou Yue. No one would delve into what had happened outside the city today.
Jiang Suizhou only felt that it was a little difficult.
Seeing Lou Yue walk over with wine, he stood up first and spoke before Lou Yue with a faint smile, "How could I trouble General Lou to toast this prince? Treat it as this prince toasting you. This prince's body is useless. Today, I was rude outside the city. I hope the general will not blame me … "
Before he could finish his sentence, he coughed as he held the cup with one hand. He choked and spilled the wine in the cup.
Lou Yue was shocked when he saw this. He had been in the army for many years and had seen powerful men. When had he ever seen such a sickly person with a pale face? He hurriedly said, "What's there to blame? His Highness's body isn't good. He should rest more. "
Jiang Suizhou stopped coughing and smiled faintly as he clinked cups with Lou Yue.
He let out a sigh of relief. Now, he could explain the doubts in everyone's hearts.
But at this moment, a voice slowly came from the head of the table.
"General Lou should give a proper toast to His Highness, Prince Jing."
It was Pang Shao.
Lou Yue was puzzled. He turned to look at Pang Shao, only to see him smile slightly and speak slowly.
"General Lou, you still don't know that there is a joyous occasion at Prince Jing's Estate."
Hearing this, Jiang Suizhou's heart skipped a beat. He choked on the wine that he was drinking. Instantly, his fake cough became a real cough.
He naturally knew what kind of 'joyous occasion' Pang Shao was talking about.
After all, General Lou still didn't know that his good friend's only son had been married off to Prince Jing's Estate as a concubine.
Jiang Suizhou coughed violently. Meng Qianshan was so frightened that he hurriedly came forward to help him breathe. However, Jiang Suizhou didn't care about this. His heart was already in his throat.
When he heard this, Lou Yue would definitely be furious. He didn't know what he would do. But no matter what, this anger was definitely directed at him.
He forced himself to stop coughing. He took a deep breath and waited for the storm to come.
Lou Yue, however, was puzzled, "What joyous occasion?"
Pang Shao looked at Jiang Suizhou and then looked at Lou Yue. He laughed ambiguously and didn't say anything.
On the other hand, Lord Hou Zhu, who was sitting on the seat of honor, had a rare change of mood. He put away his doubts and displeasure and looked at Pang Shao with satisfaction.
An official from the Pang party answered with a smile, "General Lou, you don't know, right? Back then, General Huo Wujiu, the only son of Marquis Dingbei, had a good relationship with His Highness Prince Jing! "
For a moment, there was a burst of laughter.
Another official added with a smile, "What General Huo? She's Mrs. Huo now!"
Lou Yue was shocked. He was stunned for a long time before he regained his senses.
Who was this Imperial Prince Jing? Everyone in the world knew that he was gay. He had heard about the defeat of Huo Wujiu at the beginning of the year when he was in Lingnan, but he did not expect …
To be humiliated to this extent!
He looked at Jiang Suizhou in disbelief.
He saw that Prince Jing, who looked like a good girl, had a pale face and was being supported by the eunuch next to him. He was looking up at him. Because he had coughed so badly earlier, there were tears in his eyes. Under the light of the lantern, he looked a bit sickly and pitiful.
Lou Yue was burning with anger.
He had exchanged a few words with this Imperial Prince Jing today. From their conversation, he could more or less tell what kind of person this Imperial Prince was. Now, looking at Pang Shao's appearance, it was clear who had thought of such a vicious method to humiliate Huo Wujiu.
Lou Kuo glared at him, scaring Jiang Suizhou so much that he couldn't help but shiver.
In the next moment, Lou Yue turned around. His eight-foot tall body stood there like a mountain and looked directly at Pang Shao.
"Pang Shao, you old thief, I thought you were not a human, but I didn't expect you to be so vicious! You want to drag the grudges of the imperial court into your backyard?! "
His voice was very loud, like a large bell. It suddenly exploded in the dazzling hall, scaring all the officials.
Even Pang Shao didn't make a sound for a moment.
He opened his mouth and was about to speak, but Lou Yue spoke again.
"You still think it's honorable, don't you?" he said angrily. "It's only honorable to win a battle. It's only honorable to fight back to Ye City! You can either kill him or let him go and marry a prisoner of war to a noble. What, are you waiting for the world to praise you for being smart and curse Huo Wujiu for being a coward?! "
"You're the one who's being a coward! Not only will the world laugh at you, laugh at His Majesty, and laugh at the entire country! Don't you civil officials like to go down in history? In another thousand or two thousand years, believe it or not, people will laugh at you for using such despicable methods to torture a prisoner of war. They'll laugh at you for being shameless and unscrupulous! "
— —
Huo Wujiu had already thrown the thick willow branch out of the window.
When night fell, Wei Kai hurried into Huo Wujiu's room. "There's something, General."
Huo Wujiu glanced sideways at him and saw Wei Kai take out an extremely small letter from his sleeve. It was rolled up into a small roll. It must have been sent by a flying pigeon.
"This is a reply letter from Li Cheng, the general guarding the north bank of the Yangtze River," Wei Kai said.
Huo Wujiu made a sound of acknowledgment, took the letter, and opened it in his hands.
The letter wasn't big, and it was written in small regular script. Although there was a lot of content, it was easy to read. However, perhaps the person who wrote the letter was too emotional. Although it was written in small regular script, the strokes were uncontrollably trembling, and it looked a little sloppy.
In particular, a few drops of tears fell on the paper, blurring the words.
Huo Wujiu quickly skimmed through the letter in his hands.
The words in the letter were sincere, and the excitement in the letter was overflowing. Li Cheng said that he didn't expect Wei Kai to see the General again. Even if the General's legs hadn't recovered, there was definitely a glimmer of hope. He was stationed in Jiangbei, and he didn't dare to forget the General's instructions and instructions. He would definitely protect the border of Jiangbei for the General. If the General had anything to do, just tell him. When the General gave the order, he would definitely listen to it and wait for the General to return to the country.
Huo Wujiu read the letter twice before slowly putting it down.
He didn't say anything.
When Wei Kai saw that he had finished reading the letter, he hurriedly said, "General, although Li Cheng has never worked with us, I didn't expect him to be such a sentimental person! This is good. As long as we have a chance to leave Lin 'an and rush to the bank of the Yangtze River, I think there's nothing to worry about. We can just focus on conquering it! "
Huo Wujiu lowered his eyes and wiped the tears on the letter with his fingers.
There was no expression on his face, and it was impossible to see his emotions at this time. After a while, he smiled faintly and said, "Yes, I've only seen him twice."
How could a person who had never spoken to him and wasn't his subordinate be so emotional that he couldn't even understand what he was writing? Moreover …
Who knew if the tears on the letter were real or just for show?
After a while, Huo Wujiu moved his fingers and crushed the letter in his palm.
"… General?" Wei Kai looked at him in confusion.
Huo Wujiu's expression was calm as he loosened his grip, and the snow-white paper fell to the ground with a crash.
"Don't reply first. Wait a little longer," he said.
"But …"
Huo Wujiu looked up and saw Wei Kai looking at him with a face full of surprise and disbelief.
He knew what Wei Kai was thinking. He could go in and out of Prince Jing's Estate as if there was no one there. It was easy for him to take his men and quickly escape from Lin 'an and back to Beiliang.
Moreover, they had contacted the garrison general in Jiangbei and received his guarantee. Leaving at this time could be said to be the easiest and safest plan.
However, Huo Wujiu knew that there were still doubts about the reason for his defeat at the beginning of the year. There was an eighty percent chance that there were secrets that they didn't know. Based on his current conjecture … even if it was his imperial brother's men, he couldn't completely trust them.
Therefore, he couldn't really trust Li Cheng.
However, it was still not appropriate to tell Wei Kai these conjectures. He had a straightforward personality and couldn't keep calm. His thoughts were simple. If he knew, it would inevitably cause more trouble.
Thinking of this, Huo Wujiu looked up at Wei Kai and curled one side of his lips.
"No buts," he said. "I just like to choose a more exciting method. Therefore, don't be in a hurry to respond. Let Li Cheng wait a little longer. "
Wei Kai showed an indescribable expression.
After a moment of silence, he sighed.
"This subordinate knows what the general is thinking." His expression was deep, and his eyes were full of disappointment and worry.
Huo Wujiu frowned, "What?"
Wei Kai sighed bitterly, "Aren't you not leaving because you want to take down Prince Jing and can't care about anything else? This subordinate understands. I'm just following the general's orders! "
He looked like a loyal general under a tyrant. Even if he knew that his master wanted to bring disaster to the country and the people, he still gritted his teeth and acted as the villain's accomplice because of his loyalty.
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.
