Huo Wujiu could tell what this subordinate of Jiang Suizhou was thinking.
If he was really Jiang Suizhou's concubine, saying these words would not
be strange. But since he wasn't, putting forth this kind of act was only to
poke fun at him.
Huo Wujiu recalled the few times he saw this person ever since he was
confined in Jingwang Manor, and was even more certain about this.
After Huo Wujiu said those words, he nonchalantly shot him a glance.
He would never let other people get away with such thoughts, especially
when directed at him.
Gu Changyun was stunned upon hearing his words.
He thought that Huo Wujiu was a prisoner who was normally quiet, that it
wasn't a big deal to randomly mess with him as he had nothing to do.
But what he didn't know was that Huo Wujiu as a child was notorious in
Yangguan for his apathetic facade being inwardly vicious. He looked silent,
his face full of supercilious arrogance. But actually, no one dared to offend
him.
And the boy that suffered under his hand secretly gave a nickname behind
his back, saying that he was a dog that bit and seldom barked.
For a moment, Gu Changyun's words were stuck in his throat, his eyes
showing surprise as he dazedly looked at Huo Wujiu.
"You…"
He saw Huo Wujiu looking at him impassively. His legs were clearly full of
terrifying silver needles, and his lips were pale, but his expression was calm
and composed, derision even playing on his lips.
"I, what?" He smoothly glanced outside the window. "Didn't you come
here to hear these words?"
After that, he lowered his eyes, no longer speaking.
Gu Changyun was stunned, before he braced himself up and continued his
act after some difficulty.
He didn't expect Huo Wujiu to respond to him, even rendering him
speechless. Embarrassed, he stood up, ready to spout some nonsense,
looking to rectify himself before snatching the opportunity to leave.
"Okay, I came only to ask for tea, casually said a few words, and you talked
back like this!" he said. "Since Madam Huo does not welcome me, I will
not bother you. I'll just see what exactly is new people replacing the old,
and until when His Highness will favor you…"
After that, he turned around to walk out.
But saw Jiang Suizhou entering the door with a frown.
Separated by a small hall, Gu Changyun saw that Jiang Suizhou didn't look
very good.
Gu Changyun thought, 'not good'in his heart. He knew he had crossed the
line and hurriedly stepped forward to give his salute.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, this concubine was discourteous!"
Jiang Suizhou looked at him rather speechless.
He knew Gu Changyun loved to stir up trouble and put on an act, but his
mind was at least clear, so how could he do such an unreasonable thing to
Huo Wujiu, provoking him like that?
Since the other party was his own subordinate, he didn't feel like berating
him. He only warned in a cold voice, "Get out. Next time, without this
Prince's order, you're not allowed to come here."
Gu Changyun knew Jiang Suizhou was saving his face, so he lowered his
head and retreated out.
Just before he left, he couldn't help raising his eyes, glancing at the bed
situated at the innermost side of the room.
That person on the bed quietly closed his eyes, as though no words had
been exchanged, letting the doctor do the acupuncture.
Unexpectedly, this dog didn't bite and wouldn't bark.
Gu Changyun gritted his teeth.
He knew that Huo Wujiu was ambitious and proud, was conceited and
arrogant, and liked to brush others off, thus appearing awfully intimidating.
But he didn't expect for this person's scheming to be this deep, especially
good at adding fuel to the flames, that he made Gu Changyun make a
mistake in front of the master with a few words.
Gu Changyun kneeled over in the gutter* for the first time.
*kneel over in the gutter (idiom) – to fail unexpectedly, as failure was not
expected
——
After Gu Changyun left, regret filled Jiang Suizhou.
However, he knew Gu Changyun's identity was a secret. At this moment,
there were many ears in the room, so he couldn't speak much.
He only said impassively, "He won't bother you again." And sat down on
one side.
Huo Wujiu gave a sound of understanding, calmly looking at his own legs
full of needles without a word.
He naturally knew Gu Changyun wouldn't bother him again.
In the first place, Gu Changyun didn't bother him much; he just wanted to
make him choke on his words, let him taste his own medicine for messing
with him. But just as a word got out his mouth, Huo Wujiu didn't expect to
hear Jiang Suizhou's footsteps outside the door.
He had to turn to the offensive and provoke Gu Changyun to the point of
flaring up, singling himself out in passing.
Subconsciously, he didn't want to leave a bad impression on Jingwang.
Instead, let Gu Changyun slip up in front of Jingwang, in passing…
He glanced up at Jiang Suizhou.
And saw Jiang Suizhou, who was sitting under the window, with an
indifferent and quiet expression. He was randomly flipping through a book
in his hands, looking rather embarrassed, as though he had made a mistake.
Huo Wujiu's lips lifted up, then withdrew his gaze.
This image of him holding his joy and anger in high value would always
pose some unnecessary delusions.
The room was quiet for a while, until Huo Wujiu drank his medicine, and
the two people cleaned up and left.
Only then did Jiang Suizhou open his mouth.
"Gu Changyun is only playful, don't take it to heart," he said.
Huo Wujiu pulled up his quilt, covering his own legs. He hmmed and said,
"Doesn't matter."
Jiang Suizhou sighed, taking the book as he sat next to the bed. "Luckily,
you're magnanimous, he went too far today."
Huo Wujiu's expression was calm and composed, as though it wasn't him
who added fuel to the flames just now.
Then, he heard Jiang Suizhou continue. "Xu Du came a while ago, because
letters were indeed found at Zhao Dunting's."
"Zhao Dunting?" Huo Wujiu raised his eyes.
Jiang Suizhou said, "It's as you said the other day, that disciple of Qi Min,
who won third in the imperial examination ten years ago."
Huo Wujiu gave a sound of understanding. "What letters?"
"Northern Liang's letters," Jiang Suizhou said. "They were brought back
from Pang Shao. The letters were imitated especially realistically, even
stamped with Northern Liang's official seal."
Huo Wujiu frowned. "What official seal?"
Jiang Suizhou took out the rubbings from his sleeves, handing them to Huo
Wujiu.
He saw Huo Wujiu unfold the envelope, flipping through them for some
time. In the end, his gaze stayed on the seal at the end of the letter. He was
wordless for a moment.
Jiang Suizhou saw him pause stiffly, quietly stroking the edge of the seal a
few times.
"What's the matter?" he anxiously asked.
Only after a short while did Huo Wujiu open his mouth. When he did, his
voice was hoarse.
"Pang Shao copied this?" he asked.
Jiang Suizhou nodded. "Yes, is something wrong?"
Huo Wujiu stared fixedly at that seal, his eyes ablaze, as if wanting to burn
those letters.
"It's Liang's crown prince's personal seal," he slowly said.
"Without flaw."
Jiang Suizhou blinked, puzzled.
Liang's crown prince?
The current Northern Liang emperor's heir was weak. There were only
three sons altogether, two of whom died on the battlefield. It was the Battle
of Xunyang that nearly wiped out the Liang army, causing Huo Wujiu's
father and Emperor Zhaoyuan's two sons to die, as well as leaving Emperor
Zhaoyuan's whole body with old injuries. Henceforth, he remained weak.
And his only remaining son Huo Yuyan also fell ill on the battlefield. Less
than two years after his accession, he would die because of the illness,
dying just as he passed the age of thirty.
In other words, this seal was Huo Yuyan's.
"Then?" Jiang Suizhou continued to ask.
Huo Wujiu stared at that seal and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
He couldn't utter a word. This seal was his tangxiong's* personal seal, it
was usually used for confidential letters that were extremely important.
*tang xiong – older male cousin (son of father's brother)
When they were young, the two brothers were garrisoned in different
positions. When Huo Yuyan sent him letters, he would always stamp using
this seal. After his shufu* ascended the throne, his tangxiong became the
crown prince. This seal was frequently used to pass on messages to his
subordinates outside the area.
*shu fu – uncle (father's younger brother)
So…how could Pang Shao copy this seal?
——
That day, Jiang Suizhou didn't get a straight answer. Huo Wujiu looked at
the letter for a moment, then said he wanted to keep it, and that he would
inform him if he found anything.
Jiang Suizhou somewhat trusted him. Hearing him say that, he told him to
keep the letters safe, then left it with him.
Afterwards, in his residence, he quietly devised strategies.
Ten days later, the palace suddenly fell into chaos.
Something happened to Qi Min.
Allegedly, when Qi Min's student Zhao Dunting was chatting with him in
Qi Min's study, he suddenly saw something he shouldn't have. After he left,
he rushed into the imperial palace to meet the emperor. Tears streamed
down as he spoke, saying that his own teacher was confused for a while, having done something he shouldn't have, and begged the emperor to spare
his teacher's life.
He cried so much that the Hou Zhu was baffled, so he simply sent people to
check Qi Min's residence. Unexpectedly, one thing was ascertained after the
investigation, they found Qi Min's letters colluding with another country.
A senior minister to three emperors actually had a mutual exchange with
Northern Liang!
Everyone believed, this disciple who was filial and treated Qi Min as his
own father would never frame him, and when Qi Min faced this disciple in
the court, he was also speechless.
He only gazed at those letters that were found from the search, as well as
Zhao Dunting who knelt crying on the side, saying that he was confused.
His face ghastly, he didn't speak for a moment.
Much later, he crouched on the ground, deeply giving three loud kowtows
to the Hou Zhu.
Meaning, he had nothing to say.
For a while, the court and the common people were in great shock, and the
Hou Zhu also flew into rage, immediately wanting to pull Qi Min's whole
family for a beheading. Luckily, many ministers held him back, told him
that he should confine Qi Min first, thoroughly investigate this case, and
ascertain if there were other accomplices, especially finding out those
people collaborating with the force outside.
When handling Northern Liang matters, the Hou Zhu always dealt with
extraordinarily stupendous energy.
So, he forcefully swallowed his fury and locked Qi Min's whole family in
prison, waiting for a clear result before deciding how he should die.
For a period of time, all the imperial court officials were in a mess, only
Jingwang Manor was peaceful.
Huo Wujiu looked outside the window for the third time.
He knew Qi Min's case had caused great trouble these few days. After he
discussed the plan with Jiang Suizhou, Jiang Suizhou sent people to handle
it.
Today was the day when this case broke out. Jiang Suizhou hurried to Xu
Du's place early in the morning, waiting for information from the spy.
"General?"
He heard the call from the side.
It was Li Changning. He and Wei Kai were gathered around in front of his
bed, looking at him with gleaming eyes.
"General doesn't need to worry, just try," Li Changing said.
Huo Wujiu withdrew his gaze, turning his body over to get out of bed, his
feet placed on the steps in front of the bed, slowly exerting strength.
And came a familiar feeling that had left him for a long time.
His meridian still hurt, but there was a surging strength he had not felt for a
long time amidst the pain. The muscles of his legs were stiff, but there was
strength along his meridian, linking all the way until his toes.
He clumsily yet steadily stood up.
The two people around him immediately gave out surprised cries.
Huo Wujiu tried to lift his legs, but he still couldn't really walk.
Nevertheless, it was the first time in two months that he stood up.
Joyful cheers rang in his ears, he could even see the glistening teardrops in
Wei Kai's twinkling eyes. But Huo Wujiu was not as happy as he had
imagined.
He raised his eyes for the fourth time, looking outside.
The doors of Anyin Hall's main house were open. People went in and out,
but its master was not inside.
Huo Wujiu paused, withdrew his gaze, and sat back on the bed.
This was the first time he realized: joy, it turned out, must be shared with
other people to be truly be set free.
And, it also must be with a specific, certain someone.