Just as the Tiger Army outside was clamoring to tear Zhao Yueshui into pieces, Huzi quickly walked into the tent. He leaned close to Pang Xiao and asked in a low voice, "Wang Ye, it's so chaotic outside. I'm afraid that the situation won't be easy to clean up. Do you really plan to kill Zhao Yueshui?"
Pang Xiao looked up and said, "Of course it's true. He acted like a tyrant in Xi Hua City and aroused public anger. This King wants to kill him to pacify the army. What's more, he sold the information without any evidence. This King didn't accuse him wrongly. "
"But Zhao Yueshui is Your Majesty's spy. If Wang Ye kills him, it's a public confrontation against Your Majesty. I'm afraid that it will cause the villain to speak ill of you behind your back and make Your Majesty more afraid of you."
Pang Xiao sneered and said, "Do you think that this castration was entirely his idea? He usually acts like a tyrant in Xi Hua City. Although he straightens his back, doesn't This King have to put away his arrogance? Even if he looks down on This King in his heart, he's used to disobeying him in public but disobeying him in private. Now he dares to criticize This King to his face. Where do you think he gets the courage? "
Hearing this, Huzi's expression changed and he sucked in a breath of cold air. "Your Highness, are you saying that this is the Emperor's order?"
Pang Xiao shook his head. "Your Majesty is a smart person. This King is still useful. He won't shoot himself in the foot. Li Guanwen must have noticed something and communicated with Zhao Yueshui."
"That's still difficult!" Huzi's face turned pale.
Your Majesty has been afraid of Wang Ye for a long time. The braver Wang Ye is in battle and the greater his contributions, the more Your Majesty is afraid of him. Li Guanwen is Your Majesty's eunuch. Since he can hold the position of eunuch in the Ceremony Directorate, it means that he must be smart and shrewd.
How can such a guy misjudge Your Majesty's intention towards Pang Xiao?
Although he knew that Your Majesty was such a person, Huzi was still shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.
At this moment, the curtain was lifted and Zheng Pei in a dark blue robe walked in quickly. He said anxiously, "Wang Ye."
"Mr. Zheng is here. Have a seat. "Pang Xiao raised his chin at Zheng Pei.
Huzi brought a chair over and placed it properly. He cupped his hands at Zheng Pei. His polite and distant attitude was completely different from his previous intimate attitude.
Zheng Pei felt bitter in his heart. He bowed to Pang Xiao first and said anxiously before sitting down, "Wang Ye, please think twice. Zhao Yueshui is Li Guanwen's adopted son. If you kill Zhao Yueshui, you will offend Li Guanwen. Li Guanwen has the most say in Your Majesty. He is not sweet when making candy, but sour when making vinegar. You can't be reckless.
"If you kill Zhao Yueshui, you will offend the Heavenly Majesty. Your Majesty has all the power and can't tolerate such things like killing first and reporting later. Zhao Yueshui is someone Your Majesty sent to you. Even if you want to beat a dog, you have to look at its owner. For the sake of your standing in the imperial court in the future, Wang Ye, please think carefully about what I said."
At this point, Zheng Pei stood up and bowed again.
Pang Xiao smiled calmly and looked very gentle under the candlelight. "Mr. Zheng, please sit down and talk."
He didn't answer Zheng Pei directly.
Zheng Pei's heart was full of bitterness. He knew that his behavior of secretly reporting Pang Xiao's every move to Your Majesty finally pushed this young man away from him completely. He didn't trust him anymore.
But he couldn't completely ignore him. After all, he was also the descendant of Pang Zhongzheng.
Zheng Pei slowly sat back on the chair and looked at Pang Xiao expectantly.
"Mr. Zheng, what you said is reasonable." Pang Xiao said leisurely. His tone didn't seem to be talking about an important matter that would affect his future or even life and death. It was light and casual as if he were chatting.
"With Mr. Zheng's intelligence, you should understand that even if This King doesn't kill Zhao Yueshui, some things are already settled. Some people who don't like This King will still dislike him."
Zheng Pei was suffocated and couldn't think of a suitable answer for a long time.
He knew that Pang Xiao was a smart person and couldn't be fooled with one or two nice words.
Pang Xiao was telling the truth. Your Majesty's fear of Pang Xiao wouldn't decrease at all because of this, and the old officials of Beiji who surrendered wouldn't change their opinion of Pang Xiao because of this.
"This King knows that Mr. Zheng is thinking for This King, but now I believe that Mr. Zheng has already thought through some key points. Since some things can't be changed, why should This King be a pushover? Don't tell me that as a man, you don't even have the courage to speak loudly? That will only make you more vulnerable. Sooner or later, you will be bullied until you can't raise your head. "
Zheng Pei was convinced and couldn't find any words to refute. He could only nod.
Pang Xiao glanced at Huzi.
Huzi didn't worry as much as Zheng Pei. Seeing that Pang Xiao had made a decision, he rubbed his fists and was eager to try. After getting Pang Xiao's approval, he immediately rushed out to deal with Zhao Yueshui in high spirits.
Only Pang Xiao and Zheng Pei were left in the tent.
Zheng Pei looked at Pang Xiao's sharp eyes under the light. For a moment, he felt that he couldn't look straight at them and was extremely embarrassed.
He used to think that he was the most trustworthy person around Pang Xiao.
He also used to think that it was his betrayal that pushed away the person who used to trust him the most.
But now it seemed that Pang Xiao had never really trusted him at all!
He had memorized every detail of how he used Pang Xiao, but he had always pretended to be ignorant of it. He was like a patient wolf that had been staring at its prey and chasing after it. When the time was right, he would show his fangs.
Now he couldn't touch Pang Xiao at all. He couldn't balance him, let alone control him. It was impossible for him to become Pang Xiao's trusted aide.
Perhaps, this "trusted aide" had always been self-proclaimed.
Zheng Pei sighed and left.
Pang Xiao looked at Zheng Pei's back. After a while, he withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes to rest.
Sure enough, Hu Zi managed to get some useful information from Zhao Yueshui. Zhao Yueshui was a soft bag who appeared to be tough on the outside but was actually timid on the inside. After being interrogated, Zhao Yueshui wished that he could die quickly. Hu Zi then fulfilled his wish and went to reply to Pang Xiao.
"Wang Ye, that eunuch confessed everything."
"Yes."
"Wang Ye guessed correctly. Li Guanwen did mention to Zhao Yueshui in private that when Your Majesty invited your mother, grandfather, and grandmother into the palace for a short stay, he ordered the Empress to pay attention to what they said. He wanted to know some of your thoughts."
"That's to be expected. It's not easy to get my mother to talk. The Emperor will make his next move. " Pang Xiao played with the horsewhip in his hand and said, "Since that's the case, the battle here should end quickly. I'm worried that something will happen to my mother and the others."
Huzi heard this and nodded heavily in agreement.
Pang Xiao focused on thinking about tactics for two days.
It wasn't that he didn't have the ability to win. It was just that the siege was weak, and the supply line was long. Da Zhou was far away, and after taking over the mess in Beiji, the treasury was very empty. The Emperor was very strict with him and didn't give him silver rice. The supplies were not timely, and the Duke of Dingguo avoided the battle in Dayan and closed the city gates.
He couldn't feed his soldiers, so how could he stop them from stealing food?
It was the same for the soldiers of Yan Dynasty who were guarding outside Great Yan City.
If they couldn't eat, they could only steal.
In the long run, the people would be the ones to suffer.
Pang Xiao only wanted to end the battle as soon as possible.
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