Chapter 85 : Suspicion

After getting off the morning court, Xu Zihuan stopped General Bei Jingxiu's way with a heavy heart.

Bie Jingxiu came from a lowly background, but was quite insightful in terms of his talents and military knowledge, and had joined King De's command for more than ten years, from an unheard of junior lieutenant all the way to one of King De's most trusted generals, during which time he had put in his heart and soul was astonishing. In the battle of overthrowing Lanxuan's rule, he was killed together with King De, with 3,000 soldiers and horses to win with wisdom, overcoming 60,000 people sent by Lanxuan, and rescuing the besieged King De, which is even passed down a good story.

After the new emperor ascended to the throne, recommended by the King of Virtue, General Bie stayed in the imperial capital, in fact, it was also a chess piece to collaborate with Xu Zihuan to pay attention to the changes in the imperial capital and to seek more power from it.

It was because of this that made Xu Zi Huan's heart feel more and more uncomfortable, it was reasonable to say that General Bei had been loyal to the Xu family for many years, it was impossible for him to defect to Emperor Pei, but the two men's action of looking at each other with a smile just now made it impossible for people to doubt General Bei's loyalty.

"Prince Xu." General Bei bowed without being overbearing, his brows carrying a dignified demeanour that had been cultivated due to his martial arts background.

"General Bei, you haven't forgotten what Father King told you before he left, have you?" Xu Zi Huan stared at General Bei without blinking, trying to find the emptiness in his expression, "Likewise, you haven't forgotten how you promised Father King, right?"

"Yes, I wouldn't dare to forget," General Bei perceived a difference in Shizi Xu's words, and knew that it was because the Imperial Master Lord had pushed himself, "I will certainly do as King De said, and I wouldn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent, so please, Shizi Lord Lord, you can rest assured. "

"Rest assured?" Xu Zi Huan repeated, a sneer at the corner of his mouth, he was born until now, he has never truly believed in a person, otherwise a diehard loyalist such as General Buie would not have been able to graciously let it go because of a smile, "General Buie, I need to see you in action before I can let go of my heart ah."

Thinking that he had been doing his best in the Xu family for many years, but would actually still be subject to suspicion, although he knew that Shizi Xu's character was suspicious, it was still a great shame for General Bie, and his tone of voice changed, "Your Highness, your Highness, the things that King De and you have commanded, the last general has borne them in mind. If His Highness the Shizi is still not at ease, he can now command the Last General to do something that will clearly show the loyalty of the Last General."

"Is it even possible to ask you to assassinate Emperor Pei tonight?" Xu Zihuan narrowed his eyes.

General Bei let out a soft sneer, "Shizi Xu, Imperial Master Pei is surrounded by high-ranking protectors, so going there rashly will surely lead to death. Do you want the last general to give up the opportunity to build his career and be left in the history books for years to come?"

"Don't General, this Shizi doesn't mean that." Xu Zihuan said, frowning tighter between his brows, displeasure appearing in his eyes, "This person, Pei Di Shi, has to be removed, and you are the one most capable of removing Pei Di Shi, so I hope that you will consider what method to use, and by the way, show your loyalty. As for that high ranking person by his side, this son of the world has his own way of tricking him out."

Xu Zi Huan did not care to tell the originally uninformed General Bie about the plan to assassinate Pei Di Shi, anyway, after many years of being by his father's side, some things he should not have known, after the fact, I'm sure General Bie heard about it, and the things that he knew about were not lacking in treasonous sins, and if it was known to the Emperor or Pei Di Shi, it would have to be destroyed nine clans.

"Sir, I know that you suspect that I'm defecting to the Imperial Master," General Bie couldn't stand Xu Zihuan's beating around the bush, and directly opened up the mountain, "In fact, I won't hide it from you, I admire Pei Di Shi's talent very much, even though he's our enemy, but this point can't be denied. After hearing that Emperor Pei was thinking of the country, not remembering that I was the son of the world, and pushing for me to lead the troops in battle, it made me admire him even more, and that is why I showed him the way. Other than that, there is nothing else."

General Bei coldly looked at Xu Zihuan, and added, "Although Emperor Pei's admiration makes Mordecai admire him, the matter of him being an enemy is something that Mordecai will never forget, and these are two different things that Mordecai will not mix up, much less show mercy. Mordecai knows that either he dies or I die."

Xu Zihuan was speechless, staring blankly at his straight-talking henchman, his face suddenly a little hot, surprisingly not daring to look directly into General Bei's eyes again, so he could only turn his eyes to look at the lofty palace gates behind him.

General Bei straightened up, his heart stirred with impatience by Shizi Xu's suspicions, and asked, "Lord Shizi, the matter of assassinating Emperor Pei, I wonder if I could ask Lord Shizi to wait until the last general returns victorious, and then we can discuss it again?"

Xu Zihuan sighed and nodded, "Yes."

"Then my lord will take his leave first."

"Go go go, I hope General Bei returns victorious soon," Xu Shizi said with a smile, despite General Bei's outspoken words earlier, he was still in a bad mood though, "Also, our grand plan must not be forgotten."

"The last general will bear this in mind, please rest assured, Lord Shizi." After General Bei finished speaking, he was about to leave, when he suddenly remembered another thing, "Lord Shizi, if you suspect that your last general has bad intentions, you might as well go ahead and suspect whether that person who has just defected to you is truly loyal and not an undercover agent sent by Pei Di Shi."

Xu Zihuan coughed awkwardly a few times and replied in a low voice, "I understand, General Bei please go quickly and prepare to depart."

With everything that needed to be explained explained, General Bie left with his head held high with a look of a clear conscience.

Xu Zihuan returned to the Prince's mansion alone, and was greeted by a gentlemanly looking man, about thirty years old and just out of his teens, who immediately looked respectful when he saw Prince Xu.

Thinking of General Bie's words before he left, Xu Zihuan's heart flinched and his temper grew even more violent as he pretended not to see the man and walked straight into the study, picking up the letter on the table and glancing at it, then casually throwing it away.

That earthly son of this appearance, his heart could not help but be shocked, carefully and cautiously stood in the doorway, not daring to speak.

Xu Zi Huan walked back and forth in the study for half a day, his face had been very unattractive, his heart was as chaotic as tangled and unravelling twine - since following the current saint into the gates of the imperial capital, he found that his temperament was becoming more and more erratic, and that he would lose his temper whenever he moved.

It was only because he found it hard to see the person sitting on the golden dragon chair, who was not his living father.

And after seeing it more, his mood became even more irritable, unable to be easily calmed.

"Dong Renyuan, you once served as one of the strategists under Pei Di Shi," Xu Zi Huan managed to stop walking and looked fixedly at the man in the doorway, an odd smile at the corner of his mouth, "but now you've defected to me, and although you did provide quite a bit of information, this Shizi thought about it and found that ... I still can't trust you, what can I do about this?"

Dong Renyuan heard the deeper meaning in Xu Shizi's words and bowed, "Lord Shizi, I will definitely offer you the life of Emperor Pei to show that I am loyal to you."

"Oh?" Xu Zihuan smiled, "How will you do it and when will you do it?"

Dong Renyuan replied, "I am making foolproof plans."

"Do you have an idea now?"

"Reporting back to my son, that guard by Emperor Pei's side, if the facts are really as Lord Shizi guessed, it would be very easy to get rid of Emperor Pei. But if it's wrong, I think it would be the best plan to make Emperor Pei die by accident."

"Then this Shizi will wait and see, before you make your plan," Xu Zihuan said, "it would be better for you not to come to see me, so that no one will find out that you betrayed Pei Di Shi, and that I will be implicated again."

"Yes, Lord Shizi."

Xu Zihuan raised his eyebrows slightly, "Dong Renyuan, if you succeed, this world son will definitely have a heavy reward, and won't be as stingy and heartless as Emperor Pei. Alright, you can go back first."

Dong Renyuan was overjoyed, "Thank you, Lord Shizi, thank you, Lord Shizi!" After saying that, he excitedly exited, almost tripping over the threshold.

Xu Zihuan couldn't help but laugh, his mood suddenly improving again as he returned to reading the letter behind his bookcase.

******

Pei Si Yan leisurely sat in the pavilion in the garden eating fruits, listening to his close friend report on the movements of the various forces in the imperial capital today.

"My lord, my subordinate really doesn't understand why you want General Wang to lie and push General Bei to go to war?" The crony asked anxiously, "In case General Bei returns with a great victory, the Xu family's power in the imperial capital will increase once again, and I'm afraid they will make a great impact on the military's heart ..."

"Ah Yao," Pei Si Yan shouted intimately at the crony, "Now we take a small step back so that we can take a big step forward in the future! Xu Shizi is suspicious by nature, and I am afraid that he now has a great deal of opinion of General Bie's heart; and a small distrust between companions, like an ant-hole in a dyke, is enough to wash away a thousand miles of dyke when the flood comes."

"I'm only afraid they won't be able to nestle so easily?"

"This shows that you don't know Xu Zihuan as a person well enough," Pei Si Yan's eyes contained a smile, "Nowadays, I won't do anything that I don't have a chance of winning. Ah Yao, don't worry, I have my own measure. These few days, you have worked hard, go home and rest."

Ah Yao instead felt even more puzzled, she might indeed not know enough about Xu Shizi's person, but she had never heard Emperor Pei say that he was going to investigate Xu Shizi, so how could he know very well?

Pei Si Yan looked at Ah Yao, knowing that there were still doubts in his mind, so she explained: ''Ah Yao, wanting to know about a person is very simple, such as bribing his family's servants and so on, there are many ways to know. I won't say anything because you are already busy enough and I don't want to bother you anymore. Combine work and rest in order to perform at your best."

Imperial Master Pei was always looking out for his subordinates, Ah Yao already knew that, but hearing him say it again, he couldn't help but be a bit touched, "Subordinate understands, I'll take my leave."

After Ah Yao left, Pei Si Yan was the only one left in the garden, Li Qing Dye walked out from the shadows and sat beside her.

"Light Dye, it's rare that the Emperor gives me three days off, how about we take a trip outside the city?" Pei Si Yan asked with a smile, pulling on one of Li Qing Dye's hands that was resting on her knee.

"It's okay," Li Qingyan answered, Pei Si Yan immediately didn't smile, not wanting him to speak again, "But you have to drink this bowl of medicine." Saying that, he did a magic trick and took out a bowl of blackish soup medicine from behind his back.

Pei Si Yan's face instantly changed from sunny to cloudy, pitifully grabbing the corner of Li Qingye's coat, "Can I not drink it? It's really too bitter!"

Li Qingye had consulted many famous doctors and got a prescription for a health-enhancing medicine, as long as you insisted on drinking a bowl of it every day, after two or three months, Pei Si Yan's weakened body would be able to get a good recovery. But this medicine was really too bitter, reminding Pei Si Yan of the cup of bitter tea that Wang Jian Shan had asked her to drink a few years ago, so bitter that she couldn't bite off her tongue and throw it away.

"Yan'er, if you don't want to drink it, you can ..." Li Qingyan said.

"Really?" Pei Si Yan's eyes suddenly lit up with delight.

"... But tomorrow I won't take you to play."

Pei Si Yan's spirit wilted down again, took the pill, took a deep breath, summoned up great courage to put it to her lips, but didn't drink it.

"I don't think it's useful to drink this medicine." Pei Si Yan had tears in her eyes, making a final dying struggle.

"Yan'er, your complexion is clearly much better than before."

"That's because you cook delicious dishes for me to eat every day, I eat in a happy mood and naturally look good."

"Well," Li Qingye stood up, took back the medicine bowl and made a gesture to leave, "although the complexion is good, but your body is still not very good, for the sake of your body, tomorrow it's better not to go and play, lest you get sick again once you've been exhausted."

Ow - Pei Si Yan clenched her fists, her mouth almost spitting out fire.

Previously, the seldom spoken and obedient Li Qingyan was now completely revealing her cunning nature.

Why after getting along for so long, he didn't realise it until he rejoined the imperial capital? This guy is really, really ...

Pei Shi Yan couldn't think any further and yelled, "I'll drink, I'll drink!"

Li Qingye smiled back and handed the bowl to Pei Si Yan. Pei Si Yan looked at the black medicinal juice and felt the deadly bitter taste rise up in her throat again, wanting to cry without tears.

The matter of going to play outside the city has been planned for a long time, thinking that they are stuck in the imperial capital is really lack of some love interest, so in order to keep trying to create opportunities to further deepen their feelings, Pei Si Yan decided to go out on a limb!

Holding her breath, Pei Si Yan drank the medicinal juice in one gulp, before she could catch her breath, Li Qing Dye stuffed a candied fruit into it's mouth, the sweet and silky flavour spread in the mouth filled with bitterness, gradually replacing it, Pei Si Yan's mood which was good for her to breathe.

"Luckily there is candied fruit." Pei Si Yan exhaled.

"I specially travelled through all the shops in the imperial capital and selected this one as the sweetest but not greasy, and bought it back for you to eat."

Pei Si Yan stretched out her claws and hugged Li Qing Dye, rubbing back and forth on his chest, "Light Dye is the best for me, haha-"

The maid who brought the tea over saw the Imperial Master hugging his personal guard again, the two big "men" making such intimate gestures, with an expression of not being surprised.

"My lord, the slave girl has replaced the pot of hot tea." The maid said, placing the teapot on the stone table, "Also, Lord Dong seeks an audience."

Pei Si Yan, who was relying on Li Qing Dye's arms, blinked her eyes and slowly left the warm embrace, her complexion returning to its usual serious look, "Invite him in."