Xu Qiao knew that Sui Heng hadn’t been in a good mood lately.
A few days ago, the Magistrate of the Dali Court really led the men to retrieve a nameless body from the moat outside the city. Because of the long time of soaking, the body has been rotted and deformed, and they can’t see the original face. But the corpse was dressed in the same green robe, which is exactly the same as the one worn by the young gentleman when he left.
Compared to fleeing to the Qi or the Wei and Jiang country, the gentle and elegant young man slipped and fell into a moat because of a momentary thought is obviously more convincing.
Sui Heng still didn’t look at the body, but he sat alone on the roof of Meiyuan, wiping his sword all day, from dawn to dusk and then to dawn the next day.
Xu Qiao had followed Sui Heng since the time of the Jiuda Battalions and was very familiar with Sui Heng’s temperament. Sui Heng has a calmness and rationality that ordinary people do not have. The more important or critical situations he encounters, the more silent he becomes. He likes to immerse himself in his own world, weigh, and think. Xu Qiao understood that perhaps Sui Heng had already accepted a certain fact in his heart but was unwilling to admit it.
But, in Xu Qiao’s opinion, that’s a good thing.
To suffer acute pain for a short time is better than to suffer mild pain for a long time. Instead of holding unrealistic fantasies and enduring disappointment and self-deception, it is better to recognize reality early and let go of the past.
A God’s favored person and a Crown Prince of a country like Sui Heng should not be misled by emotions.
Sui Heng was a lone wolf born by bathing in the fire on the battlefield.
To a wild wolf in the jungle, a natural enemy is not scary; it is the loss of a natural enemy and the loss of fighting spirit that is the most dangerous.
Xu Qiao thinks that it was somewhat fortunate that there was still a Jiang Empire and a Jiang Rongyu, which could inspire Sui Heng’s fighting spirit.
Sui Heng’s recent style of conduct has vaguely returned to the sharpness and pressure he had when he first established the Qinglang Battalion. Neither the courtiers nor their generals dared to provoke him.
Xu Qiao dare not say whether the current Sui Heng is good or bad, but at least it is better than simply indulging in old feelings.
So when Xu Qiao heard that Sui Heng wanted to buy elk antlers from Jiang Yun at a double price, he did not object and quickly arranged for someone to execute it.
The news naturally reached Muyun Pass.
Jiang Yun had just finished drinking the decoction and was sitting on the couch reading a book.
Upon hearing Fan Zhou’s report, he almost imperceptibly raised the corner of his mouth and said, “We also doubled the price to four hundred gold.”
Jiang Yun once again took out the mechanism bird from his sleeve and played with it twice.
Since he started taking elk antler soup, the little thing in his stomach has regained his previous activity, and whenever he hears the sound of the mechanism bird, he will jump out in response with joy.
Jiang Yun has been enjoying this lately.
In just half a month, due to the two Crown Princes from the north and south of the Yangtze River raising prices across the river and competing for the antlers of the Yun Kingdom, the price of the Yun Kingdom white elk directly increased from ten gold to a thousand gold, a whole hundred times higher.
The white elk of the Yun Kingdom quickly gained fame and even gave rise to many magical legends. Some say that the antlers of the Yun Kingdom are a divine gift from heaven, with the effect of immortality, and even more precious than elixirs. This led to a competition between the two Crown Princes. Some also say that the antlers of the Yun Kingdom are healing relics that can cure all kinds of poisons, diseases, flesh, and bones and bring death back to life. There are even those who have extended the term “elk,” saying that the one who obtains the antlers will ultimately compete for the world and become the world’s co-owner. For a while, both the nobles and ordinary people in the south and north of the Yangtze River began to compete to buy the antlers of the Yun Kingdom. Ordinary people who cannot afford elk antlers will sneak into the territory of the Yun Kingdom to steal the elk or even join the elk hunting team.
Many impoverished people became wealthy overnight by selling elk antlers, transforming themselves into wealthy individuals with huge amounts of gold flowing into the treasury of the Yun Kingdom at a terrifying speed. From top to bottom, the Yun Kingdom began to crazily hunt the white elk within its territory.
After Sui Heng raised the price to one thousand gold, Jiang Yun stopped raising the price.
His goal has been achieved, and due to the active cooperation of the opponent on the opposite side, the effect has been unexpectedly good. Next, it is time to wait for the acceptance results.
Just because of the strong competition from Sui Heng, the supply of elk antlers at Muyun Pass was greatly affected.
Meng Hui has not received any new elk antlers for three days, so he can only temporarily replace the elk antler soup with another tonic soup for Jiang Yun to take.
Jiang Yun drank half a bowl and clearly felt the little thing in his stomach wilting, as if he were a bit unhappy. In the past, every time he drank elk antler soup, he would emit a very joyful atmosphere.
Jiang Yun realized something and whispered, “You want to drink elk antler soup, don’t you?”
There was an immediate surge of movement in his abdomen.
Jiang Yun chuckled and said, “But the elk antler was taken away by a little dog, so Gu can only wrong you.”
That aura wilted again.
Five days later, Gongsun Yang led thirty death warriors and successfully captured Beauty Xin from the Chen Kingdom.
Beauty Xin came from a humble background and suffered a lot when she was young. She no longer has much to do with the word “beauty.” She stood in the middle of the palace, looking fearfully around at the soldiers cloaked and ringed in a formidable manner.
Until the palace door opened, a young master dressed in green robes, warm as jade and elegant as a painting, walked in.
Beauty Xin felt uncertain.
Jiang Yun said, “Madam, don’t be afraid. We invited the Madam here to be a guest because we want to trouble Madam to write a letter to the capital of Sui for the Second Prince.”
Fan Zhou followed behind Jiang Yun and introduced, “This is His Highness the Crown Prince.”
In the land of Jiangnan, there is only one person who can be called a Crown Prince1In case you guys get confusing, there are actually so many different titles referred to them, for example, SH and JY, as the Crown Princes from a big country are referred to with the term 太子. Meanwhile, for a smaller country like Lou, Luo Fengjun was referred to as 世子 which has the same meaning but is different in rank..
Beauty Xin was shocked and then quickly kneeled down.
Half a month later, when Chen Qi was going to the court, he received a letter from a strange beggar.
The handwriting and content of the letter shocked and angered Chen Qi.
Chen Qi has now joined the Military and Horse Department under the strong recommendation of Sui Heng, serving as the Right Secretary. This is not an ordinary position, but an important department that holds real power. Chen Qi’s career in the Sui Empire was really on the upswing, with countless people coming to Chen Qi’s mansion every day to curry favor with him.
Chen Qi has no emotional attachment to the Chen Kingdom, and his only concern is his biological mother, who remains in Chen’s royal palace. When he was young, the mother and son lived in the cold palace for a long time and relied on each other. Although Chen Qi is deep and harsh, he has a deep affection for his biological mother. Chen Qi did not bring Beauty Xin to the capital of Sui because, first of all, Beauty Xin was unwilling to leave her hometown and had a deep affection for Jiangnan. Secondly, Chen Qi is cautious, he has not yet fully established himself in the Sui capital. He did not want to expose his weaknesses to others easily.
Of course, there is another hidden reason.
Chen Qi knew that Sui Heng’s ambition was not limited to just the north of the Yangtze River. Defeating the Jiang Empire and conquering the entire south of the Yangtze River was only a matter of time. When the north and south were unified in the future, there would be a need for a leader in the south of the Yangtze River.
One of the conditions proposed by Chen Qi when he joined Sui Heng was that he hoped to become the main person in charge of the future Jiangnan region.
The news that Jiang Rongyu is still alive not only inspires Sui Heng’s fighting spirit but also Chen Qi’s. He will never miss the opportunity to seek revenge and step the other party into the mud.
But Chen Qi never expected that as soon as Jiang Yun left the border, he targeted his weakness and directly sent someone to kidnap his mother. He also used Beauty Xin to blackmail him to send Luo Fengjun out of Sui capital and back to the Luo Kingdom.
“My lord?”
Seeing Chen Qi’s terrifying gaze, his hand holding the letter trembled slightly, and the servant cautiously called out.
Chen Qi took a deep breath and said nothing. He got on the carriage and went to the morning court. The more it was like this, the more he had to be calm and not disorganize himself, Chen Qi thought as he took a deep breath.
Chen Qi immediately guessed that Jiang Yun wanted Luo Fengjun because he wanted to relieve the Luo Kingdom’s monarch and reclaim the Luo Kingdom. This is not surprising, as the Luo Kingdom is adjacent to the Jiang Empire and serves as the western gateway to the Jiang Empire.
This is a risky move, but as long as it succeeds, it will make a huge profit.
Chen Qi couldn’t help but grip the letter again.
The Luo Kingdom is important to the Jiang Empire as well as to Sui Heng’s layout in Jiangnan. If he really releases Luo Fengjun due to this threat letter, the consequences he will face are too serious. He cannot guarantee how Sui Heng will react when he finds out the truth. The future he had worked hard to plan for so long in the Sui Empire is likely to be ruined. If he doesn’t agree to the other party’s request, his biological mother is likely to die in the Jiang Empire because of him.
Chen Qi felt tricky.
Fan Zhou was somewhat anxious, as there was no response from the other side.
Fan Zhou said, “It’s said that the Second Prince of the Chen Kingdom has a deep and ruthless heart and is a cold and venomous snake. This subordinate worried that he may give up his biological mother’s life for his own future.”
Jiang Yun said he wouldn’t.
Chen Qi’s achievements today are largely due to Beauty Xin’s hard work and guidance as his biological mother. Unless absolutely necessary, Chen Qi will not give up on his biological mother’s life.
But with Chen Qi’s temperament, he should not be willing to stand still and be bound.
Jiang Yun had a hint of speculation in his heart and said, “Master, don’t be impatient. If what Gu expected is correct, there will be a letter from the capital of Sui in the next two days.”
It started raining again at Muyun Pass, and the weather was damp and cold. Jiang Yun didn’t go out much and spent his leisure time in the palace reading books.
In order to appease the little one in His Highness the Crown Prince’s stomach, Meng Hui made all sorts of tonic soups in different ways every day.
But the little one is not very interested; obviously, his favorite is still elk antler soup.
Two days later, they indeed received a letter from the Sui capital, but it was not written by Chen Qi; rather, it was a handwritten letter from the Crown Prince of Sui, with the Crown Prince’s seal at the end.
The first two pages were full of curses, scolding Jiang Yun for being shameless and using women and children as hostages to do dirty deeds, even worse than the stones in the pit. If he were Jiang Yun, he would have jumped into the river to die of shame and would never have the face to live in the world again and waste food. After cursing, the letter changed to a red brush that said, “It’s a great shame that heaven and earth gave birth to you.” On the last page, the Crown Prince of Sui used a playful tone and invited Jiang Yun to drink on the river and compete in archery.
The one who profited is Luo Fengjun.
Fan Zhou said, “The Crown Prince of Sui wants to take the Luo Kingdom to place a bet with Your Highness.”
This lunatic!
Fan Zhou was worried, he didn’t expect Chen Qi to take the risk of directly leaking the news to Sui Heng for the sake of his future: “Then Your Highness…”
“Reply to the letter, Gu shall fight and compete with him.”
T/N: Bro acts as if he didn’t just kidnapped Meng Hui’s wife and children too :3
