The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 113 Don’t You Want to See Him?

Wu Hongshan stood in front of the window with his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the dark night sky, and he didn’t move for a long time. He sighed heavily as if he had suddenly aged ten years.

Today, the memorial to the throne written by the Lulong Commissioner was published on the imperial court.

In the memorial, there was solid evidence to prove that Li Guochang, the Zhenwu Commissioner, was the culprit of Kang Chengxun’s murder, and it also enumerated the evidence that the cultivators of the Zhenwu Army sneaked into Hedong to create chaos and cause the military and civilian unrest. Among them, the most important witnesses were the cultivators of the Zhenwu Army who were escorted to Chang’an by the Lulong Army.

The memorial caused a great dispute on the imperial court, and the whole court was in an uproar for a time. Especially after the officials on Wang Duo and Lu Yan’s side had made a series of declaiming and denounced all kinds of misdeeds of the Zhenwu Army, the officials on the court rushed to condemn the Zhenwu Army excitedly. The Prime Minister summoned the Liaison of the Zhenwu Army to the imperial court and angrily rebuked him.

Wu Hongshan still had lingering fear as he thought of the scene that the Prime Minister was trying to kill the Liaison of the Zhenwu Army and launch a military attack to the Zhenwu Army.

Wu Hongshan didn’t say a word during the whole process. He wanted to defend the Zhenwu Army because there were many doubts and many places worth considering about the so-called hard evidence in his view and he didn’t plan to give up his alliance with the Zhenwu Army, but he couldn’t do that.

The anger of all the officials was out of control, and the important ministers had the same attitude as if they had agreed in advance, so Wu Hongshan had to shut up.

After returning from the imperial court, Wu Hongshan kept shutting himself in the study. He knew very well that the reputation of the Zhenwu Army had been completely ruined, so under this circumstance, the imperial court wouldn’t let a Duchess marry to the Zhenwu vassal state.

“Duke Wu, we have a visitor.”

Wu Hongshan originally didn’t want to see any visitors, but when he heard that the other side was the Liaison of the Lulong Army, his heart suddenly thumped and his instinct told him that he should see him.

...

Wu Hongshan took a tea bowl and lifted the lid several times without any thought of drinking tea, so he put down the tea bowl and looked at the visitor in front of him. “Mr. Zhang, why are you here today?”

Zhang He, the Liaison of the Lulong Army, with a smiling look, said bluntly, “Emperor’s son-in-law Wu, do you know why all the officials would respond together and condemn the Zhenwu Army with one voice on the imperial court today, when they heard the memorial of the Zhenwu Army’s assassinating Mr. Kang?”

Wu Hongshan was unwilling to lose face in front of an outsider, so he thought for a while and said, “All the officials on the imperial court know that Wei Baoheng had strongly suggested my daughter marry to the Zhenwu vassal state when he was on the court, so they think that Wei Baoheng colluded with the Zhenwu Army. Wei Baoheng was convicted. Although in order to reduce the influence, the imperial court didn’t release the names of other officials in the account book, nor did it conduct a thorough investigation into who had bribed Wei Baoheng, the officials, who had contacts with Wei Baoheng, trembled with fear, so they denigrated the Zhenwu Army in order to disapprove of Wei Baoheng, which was a good chance not to be missed for the officials who wanted to distance themselves from Wei Baoheng.”

“It makes sense, but you are wrong.” Zhang He’s smile was mysterious.

“Why?” Wu Hongshan was stunned.

“Do you know why the Lulong Army dared to intervene in the case of Mr. Kang’s death and say firmly that the Zhenwu Army had done it with only a few clues?” Zhang He asked.

“This...” Wu Hongshan couldn’t figure it out. “Please tell me.”

“I can only tell you a name, Prince An.” Zhang He’s smile became increasingly unpredictable.

“Prince An? How is that possible?!” Wu Hongshan trembled and took a deep breath, feeling unbelievable.

“Do you know the reason that the officials would respond together on the imperial court today was that they were arranged by Duke Wang and Duke Lu?” Zhang He continued.

“This... It’s possible!” Wu Hongshan nodded. After the downfall of Wei Baoheng, Wang Duo and Lu Yan were the two most powerful ministers on the imperial court. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that both of them had controlled the whole imperial court.

“It’s not possible, but it’s true,” Zhang He said firmly, “Do you know why?”

“This...” Wu Hongshan didn’t understand either, so he hurriedly cupped his hands. “Please tell me.”

“It’s the same name, Prince An!” Zhang He’s tone was firm and powerful.

“Prince An again? How is that possible?!” Wu Hongshan was shocked and trying to jump up.

Zhang He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat. His smile was as mysterious as the dark night. He stared at Wu Hongshan until the other side began to fear, and then he said, “Why don’t you think about the reason that Prince An has done this? What’s Prince An’s purpose of leaving no stone unturned to suppress the Zhenwu Army?”

Wu Hongshan just wanted to say something, but because he was too eager, he almost bit his tongue. He shut up immediately, but he was astonished in his heart and his expression changed a lot, not knowing to be happy or worried. He couldn’t help but stand up and step back and forth in the room.

“It seems that you don’t feel calm, so I won’t bother.” Zhang He stood up and cupped his hands to say goodbye.

“Please wait!” Wu Hongshan called Zhang He hurriedly and asked eagerly, “Why are you telling me about these things today?”

Zhang He just smiled and didn’t say a word. Before he cupped his hands to leave, he said, “Don’t forget because of whom Wei Baoheng fall!”

Seeing Zhang He’s figure disappear in sight, Wu Hongshan stood stunned and didn’t move for a long time.

He understood that everything was because of Li Ye!

That kid who had nothing at the beginning of the year!

“In less than a year, he... has grown to this point?!”

Wu Hongshan felt uneasy and restless. “Duke Wang and Duke Lu, who are the most powerful on the imperial court now, have listened to him! Does it mean that even if he doesn’t have the position of the Prime Minister, he has already had the power of the Prime Minister? Moreover, moreover, Zhang He has spoken for him, so does it mean that the arrogant Lulong Commissioner has already turned to his side?!”

“Control the imperial court inside and tame the arrogant vassal states outside. He has done all these things secretly which Duke Wei couldn’t achieve?! This...”

“He was really able to do them because Duke Wei was the one whom he brought down?! If he was able to bring down Duke Wei, it was possible for him to complete these things... But, how did he do them?! Why would Wang Duo and Lu Yan, the Prime Ministers, be willing to cooperate with him?! He... Prince An is too terrifying!”

Aware of these, Wu Hongshan’s hands trembled and he felt restless. He remembered his attitude towards Li Ye before, he suddenly had a bad feeling. He really regretted it!

Wu Hongshan suddenly realized that Li Ye’s power was already beyond his imagination, but in any case, Li Ye was very influential and powerful now, so if Li Ye wanted to take revenge on him, wouldn’t it be so easy?

Wei Baoheng whom he counted on had already fallen, so he now became “a lonely man” in official circles! If Li Ye intended to deal with him, who could help him? Who was willing to help him? And who dared to help him?!

“Quickly, call Duchess of Li to come over!”

“No, I’m going personally!”

When he entered the door, he saw Wu You making an embroidery.

Suddenly seeing Wu Hongshan, the little girl was in a panic and hurriedly hid the cloth behind her, in a look of being caught doing something wrong. She looked left and right and said, “Father, why are you here?”

“Show me what you are embroidering?” Wu Hongshan said with a kind and pleasant countenance.

“Father...” The little girl was very shy and blushed.

Wu Hongshan waved his hand causing a gust of wind, and the cloth came to his hand. He looked down and saw a pair of mandarin ducks with a preliminary shape. On both sides of the mandarin ducks, there were two words, a “Ye” and a “You”!

“Father, how could you!” Wu You was embarrassed at first, and then she ducked her head, two index fingers entangling. Her voice was as low as a mosquito. “Father, I am wrong...”

Although she was in love with Li Ye and rebellious, she understood that parents had the right to decide their children’s marriage. She was headstrong, but she knew the importance of the overall situation. She felt uneasy because she had caused Wu Hongshan a lot of troubles and she also did do something wrong now.

Wu You ducked her small head and was ready to be scolded. After all, she had a lot of this kind of experience. Wu Hongshan had only one attitude towards her relationship with Li Ye, which was to draw a line, to draw a clear line!

However, the expected thunderous fury didn’t come. Wu You ducked her head and waited for a long time, but she heard nothing, not even the heavy breath of Wu Hongshan’s anger. She was very confused, so she raised her small head quietly and peeked at Wu Hongshan.

Wu You was shocked as she peeked at Wu Hongshan.

Holding the cloth, Wu Hongshan was absent-minded with his empty eyes. No one knew what was in his mind. In addition, Wu You surprisingly found that there were tears flashing in Wu Hongshan’s eyes as if he had seen something very moving, but she wasn’t sure about what she had seen.

“Father...” Wu Hongshan’s look scared Wu You a lot. She thought what was wrong with her father and was her father going to cry?

Wu Hongshan was really going to cry because he was moved by Wu You. God blessed him. Fortunately, Wu You was true to Li Ye from beginning to end. Even if he was always against her, she persevered to keep her mind and never gave up. Fortunately, Li Ye was also true to Wu You, so there would be a possibility of a turnaround for Emperor’s Son-in-law’s Manor under the current circumstance!

Wu Hongshan was moved to cry by the precious turnaround brought by her perseverance.

Wu Hongshan was aware of his gaffe, so he coughed and pretended to say, “Well... How long has it been since you saw Your Highness Prince An?”

“Your Highness Prince An?” Wu You looked blank. The first person came to her mind was the old Prince An, Li Xian, because Wu Hongshan had never called Li Ye Prince An in private. “Father, you mean Elder Brother Ye? You should know that I have been staying in the Manor and that I never go out, since I was grounded. I only saw him once when he came last time...”

Wu You’s expression became gloomy as she said this. She thought Wu Hongshan was going to blame her, so she was wronged to tears immediately. “Father, I didn’t go out in private. I’m not so ignorant, but you suspect me...”

“I suspect you? What do I suspect?” Wu Hongshan was confused, but he didn’t think much. “Since you haven’t seen each other for so long, don’t you miss him? Don’t you want to meet him?”

Wu You opened her obsidian-like eyes wide, showing an incredible look, as if she suspected if she had misunderstood something.

Wu Hongshan asked her if she wanted to see Li Ye?

And his words were full of encouragement?

What was going on?

Would it be a trap, or was Wu Hongshan testing her?

“I think the moon is bright tonight, so perhaps Your Highness Prince An would like to meet you...” Wu Hongshan flushed as he said this. He thought he was too eager. Not a father would want his daughter to go out to meet her lover at night, so he coughed. “You’d better go to... meet him... tomorrow?”

Before Wu Hongshan could finish his words, he stood stunned.

It was because Wu You had already disappeared from his front and rushed out the door instantly like a gust of wind.

Wu Hongshan’s face was twisted, very funny.

After a long time, he sighed finally and muttered to himself, “Don’t blame me for being a snob. It’s a necessity to be on the fence for a small potato to get promoted... If a chance were given, who wouldn’t want to be upright?”

...

It was late. Although the curfew was only for the main streets and it didn’t restrict people to walk in the lanes, there were very few pedestrians on the street. On the river bank, only some dry branches of the weeping willows swung gently in the windy winter night.

Li Ye stood by the river with his hands behind his back. He couldn’t help but think of the scene that on Lantern Festival, countless men and women gathered at the riverside to put colorful lanterns into the river. It was always very lively at that time.

“You two needn’t hide anymore. You’re laborious to follow me for so long. It’s cold in the windy winter night, so you’d better finish your job and go home to rest earlier.” Li Ye didn’t look back, staring at the river, and said calmly.

Across the river, Song Wentong emerged from the shadows, while Wang Jian had appeared behind him, his hill-like body showing a large group of dark shadows.

“You have already discovered us?” Wang Jian said deeply twenty steps behind Li Ye.

Li Ye was stunned slightly as he saw their face clearly. He shook his head and smiled bitterly. “I know that someone is following me, but I don’t know it’s you two.”

He sighed in his heart. “Wang Jian, the emperor of Shu Dynasty, and Li Maozhen, Prince Qi... Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue, do you know the weight of the men whom you have sent to kill me?”

On the other side of the river, the killer, who was beautiful, valiant and androgynous, was Prince Qi, Li Maozhen!

Of course, his name was Song Wentong now because he hadn’t been granted the surname by the emperor—it was Li Ye himself that gave him the surname Li in the last life!

Prince Qi, Li Maozhen was one of the great feudal princes in the late Tang Empire, occupying Guanzhong. He was the third force in Jiangbei, apart from Zhu Quanzhong, the emperor of Liang Dynasty, and Li Keyong, Prince Jin!

In the last life, when Li Maozhen became powerful, he once controlled Chang’an and held hostage Li Ye!

Wang Jian, behind Li Ye, had made even greater achievement. After occupying the land of Shu, he claimed the title of emperor and initiated the former Shu Dynasty! With the power of Shu, he stopped Nanzhao’s northern invasion and fought them till they had no power to fight back!

Compared with these two people, Li Ye, who had accomplished nothing and was forced to commit suicide, was a totally small potato in the last life.

However, that was his last life.

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