"They're gone," that person unhurriedly said, stopping before the dead
bodies.
Then he saw those snake-like figures hanging on the wall move upon
hearing these words. One of them landed down from the wall, tore off his
mask, and walked up to the dead bodies, casually kicking them.
"It's over," he said. "The assassins Pang-laozei* sent were indeed rather
skillful."
*lao zei – derogatory term used for the old and immoral.
He then saw that person before who was on the lookout also tearing off his
own mask.
It was Wei Kai.
"I still need to trouble you xiong di's to clean these things," he said, looking
at those corpses. "You must not leave any trace."
"Commander Wei, rest assured," someone said at the side. "We will handle
it, you just be at ease."
After that, the people got busy in the dark.
The one who had spoken before said as he bustled about, "I don't know
what the General is thinking. I thought it was serious, even troubling
Commander Wei."
Someone at the side smiled. "Right. Look at this situation. Lao zi* was
eager for a fight and even thought we were going to rescue the General
from Jingwang Manor."
*lao zi – "I" for the elderly, or used in anger, fun, or arrogantly
Then someone followed, "Who knew it would be secretly protecting a few
dead soldiers. Commander Wei, do you know which family these dead
soldiers belong to that are surprisingly so precious?"
But Wei Kai calmy reprimanded, "Stop gossiping, hurry up."
The few of them laughed, and then no longer spoke as they deftly continued
to work.
Wei Kai stood at the side, brows furrowed so tight.
It was not only his fellow xiong di's who were puzzled; he did not know
why either.
Jingwang wanted to oppose Pang Shao, he knew this much; Jingwang had
finished this matter, he had also somewhat heard about it.
And the General had long asked him to prepare, had them hide discreetly in
advance, waiting for Jiang Suizhou's dead soldiers to withdraw.
Although the General predicted very accurately that there really were Pang
Shao's people coming here to investigate, and were killed clean by them,
Wei Kai didn't know why the General wanted to do such a superfluous
thing.
Was it to kill these subordinates of Pang Shao, or was it because of
Jingwang Manor's dead soldiers? What was so special about them?
——
Jiang Suizhou's two jugs of wine were the residence's fine wines that had
been stored for many years. The original owner seemed to extremely love to
store these, but did not particularly drink. Many vintage wines from Ye
Cheng were stored in the residence.
These were among them.
And Jiang Suizhou didn't expect the wines of the northern area to be so
strong.
He carried the wine jugs in his arms to Huo Wujiu's room, and Huo Wujiu
happened to have just finished his dinner.
Only when Jiang Suizhou saw him sitting on the bed did he remember he
was still injured. He anxiously asked, "You're still on medication. You can't
drink wine, can you?"
When Huo Wujiu raised his eyes to see him carrying the wine jugs, he
asked, "Success?"
Jiang Suizhou naturally knew what he was talking about. He raised his hand
to have the servants withdraw, and smiled. "Success. Everything was as
planned."
Huo Wujiu's gaze stopped at his smiling expression, and didn't move for a
moment.
Then saw Jiang Suizhou place the wine jugs on the table, sat on the left, and
said, "I thought to celebrate with you, but forgot your injury has not healed.
But forget it, it doesn't matter if we drink or not."
But he heard Huo Wujiu repeat, "Celebrate with me?"
Jiang Suizhou nodded.
"In any case, Pang Shao has enmity with you. He has suffered a big loss. To
you, it's a joyous occasion."
His words sounded rather pretentious. At this moment, the lights were dim,
as if a little out of place.
He paused, one hand on the wine jug, his chin resting on the back of his
hand, looking at Huo Wujiu, and candidly laughed.
"Also because there's no one else. Very few know about this matter. Gu
Changyun is unreliable, Xu Du is still busy. If ben wang doesn't look for
you to celebrate with, wouldn't it be suffocating?"
At this moment, he was extremely relaxed. The pretense on his face was
pretty much removed, revealing his lethargic and gentle look.
He saw Huo Wujiu stay silent, but his hands were agile. One hand pulled
the wheelchair, and bracing down, he sat on the wheelchair and rolled
directly to the table, stopping in front of Jiang Suizhou.
He didn't speak, only opened the wine jug.
In the next moment, the alcoholic fragrant wafted about, flowing all over
the room.
Jiang Suizhou was stunned for a moment, before hurriedly raising his hand
to stop him.
"Can you drink or not? If you can't, forget it, do not let your treatment time
go to waste…"
But he saw Huo Wujiu raise his eyes, his dark eyes especially bright under
the lights.
"The wine is already here, do you want to drink it or not?"
Jiang Suizhou thought his eyes right now were brimming with laughter.
Although it couldn't be seen, the inkling couldn't be grasped, they gleamed,
like sunbeams flashing on the tip of a gun, illuminating his eyes. And, for a
while, it made one rather light-headed.
He involuntarily took his hand away, letting Huo Wujiu skillfully hold up
the wine jug with one hand as he easily grabbed two bowls, filling them up
with wine.
Only until Huo Wujiu placed a bowl in front of him did he come back to his
senses, dumbfounded.
The wine in the bowl was very cool. The wine gave off a rich fragrance—
just smelling it was intoxicating. This bowl was also not small, and the
lights illuminating the wine in the bowls were bright. For a moment, it
made Jiang Suizhou shrink back a little.
Even before he crossed over, he had never seen anyone who used a bowl for
white wine.
He dazedly looked at the bowls on the table, then raised his eyes to look at
Huo Wujiu. He calmly said, "We're using these to drink?"
He saw Huo Wujiu looking puzzled. "What else?"
Huo Wujiu reacted for a moment, before remembering the people in the
capital seemed outmoded using bowls to drink wine, unlike in the frontier
that always lacked supplies—there were not many garish cups, and the
same bowl was used to both eat meat and drink wine.
He was chagrined for a while, feeling rustic.
"Forgot," he said. "I'll go find someone for cups."
He was about to leave with his wheelchair, but saw Jiang Suizhou raise his
eyes and stop him.
When he saw the look at Jingwang's face, it seemed to reveal some ego that
he didn't want to show.
He gritted his teeth, and said, "Forget it. Today, Pang Shao got into the
worst trouble ever, it's worth ben wang to drink wine with a bowl."
As Huo Wujiu watched as he grabbed the bowl, he suddenly remembered
that day when he came back drunk, his whole body exuding the smell of
sweet liquor. From the smell, it was clear it was not a strong one. This
person most likely did not have good alcoholic tolerance.
He paused. He was about to say 'stop', but forcibly swallowed the word
down.
He remembered that day when this person was unsteady on his feet and fell
into his embrace.
It was filled with sweet osmanthus.
It had never occurred to Huo Wujiu that Jiang Suizhou would be
troublesome after drinking too much.
With just half a jar of wine down, Jiang Suizhou was drunk, and began to
chatter more.
He seemed to be quite proud of today's events and rambled on, telling Huo
Wujiu all about the arrangements he made these past few days. As he
became more and more intoxicated, his memory also deteriorated. He began
to repeat the words he uttered over and over in a circle.
Although he kept rambling on, his voice remained gentle and slow. It
clearly echoed with drunkenness, but it was like a warm wind blowing
across his face with an unflinching tenderness.
Huo Wujiu responded patiently from the side, seeing him gradually begin to
stagger and talk incoherently.
Knowing that he had to return in a while, Huo Wujiu regretted not changing
the glass for him just now. When pouring wine, he had a sense of propriety.
However, it was soon discovered by Jiang Suizhou.
His eyes were hazy and a tad teary when he pointed to the two wine bowls
on the table.
"It's unfair, don't you think?" he asked.
The bowl in front of Huo Wujiu was full, while the bowl in front of Jiang
Suizhou was only perfunctorily filled.
Huo Wujiu fooled him, "This is left over from what you drank just now."
He watched as Jiang Suizhou stared at the bowl for a long time. He seemed
to have thought of something and smiled intoxicatedly.
"I forgot," he drawled, "Excuse me, I'm being rude."
Then before Huo Wujiu could stop him, he picked up the wine on the table
and drank it all in one go.
Huo Wujiu's eyebrows jumped involuntarily.
He was so easily fooled and so honest. If he were to drink with others
outside, wouldn't he be easily taken advantage of?
Seeing that his wine bowl was empty, Huo Wujiu poured a little for him
again, still only a little, enough to only fill the bottom of the bowl.
Jiang Suizhou uttered a couple more lines, then heaved a puzzled sigh at the
sight of his bowl.
"Didn't I finish my drink just now?" he wondered.
With that, he reached out to take the bowl.
Huo Wujiu hurriedly reached out and pressed his wrist, taking the jade bowl
out of his hand and placing it farther away.
"Tell me, how did Zhao Dunting weep in front of Jiang Shunheng?" He
changed the subject.
"Ah." Jiang Suizhou immediately threw the wine bowl to the back of his
mind with a tinge of smile on his face.
"A court minister said he kneeled before His Majesty, just kneeled down
and began to cry. His tears rained down the moment he spoke, startling the
Emperor into thinking that someone in his family died."
Saying that, he beamed with joy and continued.
"He just considers himself a good actor, and thinks he did everything under
wraps. He thought nobody could catch his handle, did he? He doesn't know,
the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind…"
This was the third or fourth time Huo Wujiu had heard this line tonight.
He had never been a patient person. When his subordinates reported to him,
they had to deliberate well in advance, for fear of not being concise enough
and annoying him.
But to his surprise, he enjoyed listening to Jiang Suizhou's rhetoric.
Jingwang was so drunk that he forgot all his disguises and revealed the
gentle and light lining beneath his fox's skin. Or maybe he had a pleasant
voice. Unlike others, he was always like a lecturing teacher. With the
unique leisurely manner of those scholars, Jiang Suizhou made Huo Wujiu
feel pleasantly comfortable.
Or perhaps it was…
Jiang Suizhou was genuinely happy, that was why his eyes were glowing,
making him especially enjoyable to watch.
Huo Wujiu unknowingly drank all the remaining wine.
They didn't stop even when the moon was hanging on the branches and the
lanterns outside were all out. Even though Huo Wujiu repeatedly controlled
everything, Jiang Suizhou still felt completely drunk. His arm was on the
table and his head was buried in his elbow, only revealing a pair of watery
eyes, hazily looking at Huo Wujiu.
He did not speak, only stared at him quietly.
Huo Wujiu's throat rolled inaudibly, so he picked up the wine bowl on the
table and tilted his head back. The contents were gulped down in one go.
Then he heard Jiang Suizhou's languid voice, with a touch of sincere smile.
"How nice, Huo Wujiu," he muttered.
Huo Wu Jiu looked at him.
He saw Jiang Suizhou close his eyes and bury his face in the crook of his
arm, like a little animal looking for a place to sleep in its nest.
"It's been a long time since I've had anyone to talk to." His voice was
almost a murmur. "I've been lonely as hell, and I'm glad I have you."
——
Pang Shao's residence was brightly lit, until the third watch.
Pang Shao stood under the porch with his hands behind his back. The green
calyx plum blossoms in the courtyard were blooming like clouds and mists
on the top of the mountain. With the red lanterns' illumination, they
somewhat shone warmly.
"Nobody's back yet?" Pang Shao looked down at the man kneeling in front
of him and asked unhurriedly.
The subordinate knelt in front of him, not even daring to raise his head.
"This subordinate is incompetent!" The man said. "I have already sent
someone to look for them again, and I will definitely be able to get the
brothers back in line tonight!"
Pang Shao stared at him, and after a moment, he sneered.
"You are indeed incompetent." He said, "But I think those people are even
more incompetent."
That subordinate's body shook.
Then he heard Pang Shao slowly let out a breath and said.
"There is no need to search for them." He continued, "By this hour, those
who can come back would have returned long ago."
That subordinate buried his head even lower.
"Go and collect your own punishment," Pang Shao instructed, turned
around and went into the room.
Only the subordinate was left kowtowing at the bottom of the stairs: "Thank
you for the great reward, thank you for the great reward!"
The door of the room opened. The bright light shone on him for a moment,
and then with the closed doorway, left him in the darkness.
And in the room, several of Pang party officials stood in front of their seats,
looking at Pang Shao.
They watched as Pang Shao sat in the main seat.
"How capable." He commented, "I've never seen such a capable person
before. Today, it broadened my horizons."
An official next to him hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Chief
Minister, wasn't there a single survivor from the assassins under you?"
Pang Shao did not speak.