Luckily, Jiang Suizhou was also not very fond of that book. Since Huo
Wujiu didn't want to read it, he didn't press on the matter.
The second day, Li Changning felt like Huo Wujiu looked a little better than
two days ago.
His complexion was still pale, but it wasn't as obvious as two days ago.
Seeing him coming into the room, he lightly nodded at him.
Li Changning only thought it was because of the medical treatment process;
it was normal for a patient's condition to inevitably fluctuate.
He smiled as he said, "General Ye looks great today, did the treatment two
days ago have some effect?"
Huo Wujiu didn't feel any particular effects, but still gave a flattering light
nod.
Li Changning was delighted.
When the treatment was done for today, Li Changning cleared away the
medical kit, but as he was prepared to leave, Huo Wujiu raised his hand,
calling Wei Kai to come.
"General?" Wei Kai hurriedly went to him.
He then heard Huo Wujiu say, "There's something you need to do."
Wei Kai revealed a surprised expression. "General, please speak!"
He knew he and the General were in the enemy camp now, so even if they
had a plan, they had to quietly wait for an opportunity. At this moment,
besides having done his best to find a way to cure the General's legs, he
couldn't do anything else.
But he never had the chance to lay down his life for the General yet,
causing him to be extremely eager.
Hearing Huo Wujiu say this, Wei Kai's eyes gleamed with light.
Then, he heard Huo Wujiu say, "Our men in the city are currently idle,
right?"
Wei Kai vigorously nodded.
"Without General's order, no one dares to act rashly. This subordinate has
arranged for them to hide in the inner city of Lin'an. If General has any
instructions, this subordinate will immediately get in touch with them."
Huo Wujiu gave a sound of understanding.
"Then, these few days, think of a way to give Pang Shao some trouble."
Wei Kai was dazed for a moment.
This…it's fine if General doesn't give orders, but once he does, is it this
exciting?
Wei Kai stared blankly at Huo Wujiu, and for a moment he forgot to
respond.
He then saw Huo Wujiu lift his eyes, glancing nonchalantly at him.
"Not asking you to assassinate him." Huo Wujiu's face betrayed a subtle
look of dislike.
Wei Kai blinked, then stammered, "Then…what does General mean by
finding trouble…what kind of trouble?"
Huo Wujiu shifted his gaze and nonchalantly ordered.
"He has many errands for Jiang Shunheng, right? Make him screw up one
or two times. If it's significant, stir up trouble in front of Jiang Shunheng."
Wei Kai fixedly stared while nodding.
Huo Wujiu lightly said, "Go."
Wei Kai then retreated out with Li Changning.
Huo Wujiu quietly looked outside.
The things he could do right now were still small, but at least he wasn't
staying idle. Since Pang Shao wanted to give trouble to Jiang Suizhou, then
he could also think of some ways to give Pang Shao trouble.
Although the battlefield was big, there were some imperceptible light
breezes which could decide the whole battle.
He just needed to control where the breezes blew.
Huo Wujiu impassively withdrew his gaze. He picked up a book next to the
bed, and furrowed his brows as he studied it in genuine scrutinization.
It was precisely the unfathomable book which he had thrown aside and
labeled as "boring" yesterday.
——
Lin'an rained a lot. It had not been sunny for long before it rained again for
several consecutive days.
It wasn't strange for Lin'an to rain, but this time, the rain forced everyone
on tenterhooks and feeling queasy.
Because this rain had toppled the ancestral temple in the northern side of
the imperial palace.
The construction of that ancestral temple had just started two months ago: it
wasn't finished yet. The rain came ferociously, destroying the imperial
palace built in the recent two months into bits and pieces, practically into a
pile of ruins.
This was truly a big taboo, an absolutely terrifying omen!
The tributes in the ancestral temple were all for the past emperors of Great
Jing. It was the foundation of the imperial court, and was a place more
important than the palace itself. Because Great Jing moved to the south, the
Emperor harbored great aspirations, specially constructing the ancestral
temple to face the north with its back to the south. This was to let the great
ancestors oversee what was gained and lost, pointing to Ye City.
In the end, Ye City still had not recovered. Yet, this ancestral temple
collapsed.
For a while, the rumors among the people caused a tremendous clamor until
it couldn't be suppressed. Everyone said, Great Jing might perish. Even the
children all around the city had composed a nursery rhyme about the
perishment of Jing and the rising of Liang.
The Hou Zhu flew into a rage, and the court was in a chaotic mess.
Jingwang Manor, on the other hand, remained tranquil unlike the outside.
After the acupuncture session today, Huo Wujiu's legs could already move
slightly.
The range of movement was very small, almost negligible, but because the
wound had not healed, it was less easy to move. To him, however, it proved
the effects of Li Changning's medication. For a while, the few people in the
room held their breaths with rapt attention, jubilant.
Only Huo Wujiu on the bed had an indifferent expression.
He tried to move his legs as he said with an impassive voice, "That
ancestral temple incident, you did it?"
Wei Kai mischievously laughed. "That's right! Didn't General say to stir up
trouble for Pang Shao until it reaches the dog* emperor? Our men in the
city had discreetly probed for information, and found that the construction
of the ancestral temple is Pang Shao's biggest project! This subordinate was
a bit unsure at first, but the leader in charge of those men is clever, and
guaranteed that it will succeed!"
*expression of cursing, like damned
Huo Wujiu raised his eyes to look at him, the corners of his eyebrows and
eyes forming a smiling expression. He commended, "You've got guts."
Wei Kai knew his General normally looked down on the masses, it was rare
to see him smiling. With such an expression, it meant he was extremely
pleased with their work.
He said with a smile, "And the nerve of that old fool Pang Shao, he even
dared to embezzle the construction money of the ancestral temple. The
constructed walls are all hollow, the material is also poor. Our men were
only mixed in the workforce, and with just a small trick, the palace
collapsed from the rain!"
Li Changning heard this, and on the side, he smiled as he chipped in, "That
Pang-daren must have lived in the north for a perennial time, he had no idea
that the rain in Jiangnan is very heavy, so he dared to be in deficit with the
construction. With him constructing like this, even if you don't act, that
ancestral temple will surely not stand for many years."
Saying this, he and Wei Kai laughed.
Huo Wujiu followed with a nod, and then raised his hand, interrupting Wei
Kai's laughter.
"The work is done, but don't lower your guard," he said. "Let them pay
attention to Pang Manor's activities. Pang Shao has suffered losses, he'll
definitely retaliate."
Wei Kai said with a smile, "Don't worry, General, this subordinate has
made arrangements!"
Huo Wujiu gave a sound of assent, and lifted his eyes to look outside the
window.
In the main house of Anyin Hall, people went in and out, all in an orderly
manner.
——
Jiang Suizhou also immediately received an intel.
He didn't expect that such a big change would occur in history. In the
historical records, although Southern Jing's court was corrupted, the
ancestral temple collapsing as a result of corruption had never occurred.
However, to Jiang Suizhou, this was a very good thing.
Although Pang Shao was normally unruly, he wouldn't bring corruption in
the presence of the Hou Zhu. He had made a commotion for the Hou Zhu,
and hustled money behind the Hou Zhu's back. Even if he hustled more, he
wouldn't let the Hou Zhu know.
But this time, this embezzlement of his was discovered by the Hou Zhu. In
addition, it was because he had razed down the ancestral temple where the
Hou Zhu placed the ancestors' memorial tablets.
As this matter was serious, although Pang Shao didn't build the ancestral
temple, it was entirely under his supervision. As soon as the temple
collapsed, the Hou Zhu immediately wanted to send people to investigate,
but the ruins were piled up there. Even if Pang Shao was very cunning, he
couldn't confuse black and white* and shirk from responsibility.
*confuse right and wrong
Since the Hou Zhu ascended the throne, this was the first time Pang Shao
threw a curve in front of him.
Hou Zhu was enraged with Pang Shao for a long period of time, so much so
that several adherents of Pang Shao were deposed and prosecuted. Most
importantly, the Hou Zhu originally had complete trust in Pang Shao; small
and big matters of the palace were all handed over to him with confidence.
Now, cracks appeared in this trust.
This was the most satisfying thing for Jiang Suizhou.
He read the information several times, over and over again, only to think
that Heaven's eyes had opened, having dropped such a heavy rain.
However…
Before putting away the information, his gaze settled among the most
unnoticeable section of words.
Among Pang Shao's adherents who were discharged, there were several
officials from the Ministry of Personnel. People were dismissed, so the
positions had emptied.
Usually, the Hou Zhu let Pang Shao arrange the transfer of officials. But
now, Pang Shao was the one who committed a crime, so the Hou Zhu was
clueless.
Hence, he settled with Qi Min's petition, and promoted several non-Pang
party officials to the vacant seats. Some of them were young, novices who
had just taken the imperial examination a few years ago.
Jiang Suizhou frowned.
He naturally knew Qi Min held absolutely no selfish intentions, this was
entirely for the sake of the Jing Dynasty. But because of this person's
seniority and bad temper, he was rather straightforward in speaking and
doing things.
He had always been aggressively against Pang Shao, but because of Pang
Shao's big influence, he had never achieved much. But since the beginning
of Chen Ti's conviction, Pang's faction had suffered from several attacks in
a row. In this stand, Qi Min got the upper hand.
Jiang Suizhou smoothened the edge of the paper.
He knew, to Qi Min, all of the defeats before were smoke bombs. Pang
Shao knew he was all talk but no action, so he didn't regard him as anything
special.
But now, Qi Min had encroached on Pang Shao's interest, becoming the
person who seized the opportunity to hit him when he was down.
So, even if Qi Min is a venerable minister to three emperors, Pang Shao can
also stir his heart.
In the historical records, Qi Min died unnaturally.
Before the Jing Dynasty was wiped out, his letters colluding with Northern
Liang were found in his residence, so he was sentenced to death together
with all his relatives. Until the later generations, historians had disputes
over whether Qi Min really joined hands with Liang.
If it was true, it would be one thing, but if it was false…
Then this incident would most likely happen in advance because the
butterfly flapped its wings.
——
When Jiang Suizhou entered Huo Wujiu's room at dusk today, Huo Wujiu
was reading a book on his bed.
He looked as though he no longer needed Jiang Suizhou to accompany him
every day, but both of them seemed to have reached an intriguing
agreement, no one brought up this matter.
Instead, it was rather natural to spend some time together every day.
Seeing Jiang Suizhou sitting beside the bed, Huo Wujiu lifted his eyes to
look at him. He asked, "Something good happened?"
Jiang Suizhou wore a joyful expression. He faintly smiled as he said, "Yes,
actually."
With this said, he picked up the book next to the bed. He flipped as he said,
"Have you heard? The heavy rain these two days razed down the ancestral
temple in the northern side of the imperial palace."
Saying this, he raised his brows, looking at Huo Wujiu.
His joyful look was so obvious that Huo Wujiu couldn't resist reminding
him, "It's also your family's ancestral temple. The offerings inside are also
your ancestors."
Jiang Suizhou paid no heed.
"Wasn't it only halfway built? The memorial tablets hadn't been moved in
yet, right?" he said. "Besides, it was messed up by Pang Shao. If the great
ancestors want to blame someone, they can't blame me for schadenfreude."
Huo Wujiu paused after hearing what he said.
It was not really Pang Shao's bunglement. In essence, this incident was his
doing.
However, Huo Wujiu even had wantonly beaten the country of the Jiang
family; it was but an icing on the cake to bear another revenge in mind
about destroying someone's ancestral temple.
At this particular moment, he heard Jiang Suizhou open his mouth with
hints of a smile.
"If it's like this, you're someone who's married to this Prince's residence,
and is also recorded in this Prince's genealogy. This revenge of destroying
the ancestral temple, this Prince has recorded it on Pang Shao's head for
you."
The author has something to say:
Jiang Suizhou: Since you're married to our Jiang family, our Jiang family's
ancestors are also yours.
Huo Wujiu: That's your maternal family, doesn't count.
Jiang Suizhou: ?