285, Reply

285, Reply

“Ohhh—”

In the early morning, a rooster was crowing from somewhere in the distance, and the crowing sound could be heard from afar.

Lu Mingfei woke up from his sleep to the sound of a rooster crowing. After opening his eyes, he looked at the bed board above his head.

The bed he slept on in his room had always been the bunk bed he slept on as a child. When his two younger brothers were little, they would come to sleep in his room. Later, after his family opened a shop outside, his younger brothers and his parents moved in to live in the shop, and no one ever slept on the upper bunk in his room again.

For some reason, he thought of Zhao Lang.

When the young master was little, he also liked to sleep in his room, but that person always slept on the same bed with him.

Hey, it seemed like there were a few years in between when that guy came to see him at night but never stayed overnight in his room. Could it be that from that time on, this guy already had some feelings for him?

Lu Mingfei found that he had discovered the truth!

"But that's not right. How old was that guy then?" However, Lu Mingfei changed his mind and realized that people in this era mature early. Many of them get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Some young masters from wealthy families are only twelve or thirteen years old, and they already have maids sleeping with them in their rooms.

If you think about it this way, it seems normal for the teenage Zhao Lang to discover his own feelings for him?

But that doesn't matter anymore.

"I don't know if that guy has returned to Beijun, and whether his journey back was smooth." Touching the jade pendant given to him by Zhao Lang, Lu Mingfei thought of the person who had been away from Beijing for a month, as well as some things in Kyoto Prefecture.

Not long after Zhao Lang and the other princes left, the new emperor and the court discovered that the princes had all left Kyoto Prefecture. General Wei explained that he had sent these princes out to search for the whereabouts of the Hu soldiers and rescue the civilians outside the city, claiming that they had traveled far and therefore had not returned.

It is not known whether the imperial court and the new emperor believed General Wei's words or were afraid to offend the local princes. The new emperor did not send anyone to capture the escaped hostages and bring them back for punishment.

He felt the latter was more likely.

The new emperor has just ascended the throne and has not yet firmly established his position on the throne. It is not necessarily a wise thing to rush into offending those vassal kings.

However, the new emperor could not deal with the escaped hostages, but he could punish General Wei who was in Kyoto Prefecture. An imperial decree was issued, and General Wei's military power was taken away, and he was allowed to return home to retire.

As far as this incident is concerned, Lu Mingfei felt that the new emperor was not a wise person. When the Hu soldiers entered the city, only this veteran general in his seventies dared to bring the guards from his mansion to kill the Hu soldiers. He also temporarily formed a team the next day and sent people out of the city to find the new emperor and rescue the people outside the city.

Given General Wei's composure in the face of danger, his single-minded devotion to his master, and his loyalty to the court, if he were to become emperor, he would surely honor such a veteran. Instead of simply taking away General Wei's military power and forcing him to retire and return home, this would chill the hearts of not only the veteran and the Wei family, but also the other generals who stood by and watched.

It’s a pity that he is not the emperor.

However, doesn’t the new emperor know this in his heart?

I'm afraid he knew, but having just ascended the throne, he thought he was the biggest winner, the new emperor who was supreme and omnipotent, so he punished General Wei just to vent his anger! Lu Mingfei knew that he had discovered the truth, which was why the emperor ignored it and punished this old general.

However, he thought that the day these hostages returned home safely would be the time for the vassal kings to rebel.

He lay in bed for a long time before getting up that day. After having breakfast at home, he went out in a carriage.

***

Beijun Pingcheng

Prince Ding's Mansion

"Sir, the prince has returned home and asked you to go to the study to see him."

"Okay, I understand."

It was not until the third day after returning to the palace that Zhao Lang saw the steward of his father come to inform him that his father had returned and asked him to come over.

He was thinking about this in his heart. If his father didn't come back today, he would leave the house tomorrow and go to the military camp to find his father. But he didn't expect that his father would come back before he left.

He put down the brush in his hand, stood up from the chair and walked out.

"Young Master, it's cold outside. Please put on your cloak before going out." Seeing that their master was about to go out, Qingzhu, who was outside the door, hurried in, picked up the cloak hanging on the rack and put it on their young master.

After having the servant tie the belt of his cloak for him, Zhao Lang walked out, followed by his steward who came to invite him, and went to the main courtyard.

When he arrived at the door of his father's study, the servant waiting there saw him, bowed to him, and invited him into the study.

As soon as Zhao Lang entered the study, he saw his father standing in the room. He also glanced at his half-brother Zhao Rui standing beside him, then turned to his father who was looking at him angrily and bowed, saying, "My son greets my father."

Prince Ding stared at his legitimate son who suddenly ran back and appeared in front of him without saying a word.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, Zhao Rui, the elder brother, stepped forward to smooth things over and said to his younger brother whom he had not seen for many years: "Second brother, it's been many years since we last met. You have grown so much."

At this time, Zhao Rui had a smile on his face, as if he was welcoming his younger brother home.

In reality, only he knew that when he saw his younger brother appear before them, he wished he would die outside and never come back home! Because as long as Zhao Lang didn't come back, he, the eldest son, would be the second master of this palace. In the future, he could inherit the military power in the hands of their father and become the most powerful general in the Zhenbei Army!

"Brother." Zhao Lang looked at his half-brother with a hypocritical face and replied in a flat tone.

Prince Ding was so angry at the eldest son's attitude towards his brother that he threw the teacup in his hand at him and cursed, "Unfilial son, kneel down!"

"I wonder what I did wrong to make my father so angry?" Zhao Lang did not kneel down. He raised his head and looked at his furious father and asked calmly.

The man in front of me seemed to have gained a little weight since the year he left home, but that face that could charm countless women was still very handsome.

In fact, Zhao Lang was the one who looked most like his father, but his father didn't seem to like him much. Instead, he preferred the concubine's eldest son. But then again, if this man hadn't been in love with that alluring woman, he wouldn't have allowed a concubine's child to be born before his wife, and he wouldn't have favored the concubine and the eldest son for so many years, ignoring him and his mother.

"You still dare to ask! Tell me, why did you suddenly come back? Do you know that by doing so, the officials in the court and the new emperor will think that I asked you to do this!" This was what made Prince Ding most unhappy. The eldest son wanted to come back, but he didn't even inform his father in advance and just ran back suddenly.

Zhao Rui, who was standing by, also looked at his younger brother with reproach in his eyes, adding fuel to the fire and echoing, "Yes, second brother, you came back so suddenly without telling us. If you said you wanted to come back, tell me and father, and we would find a way to bring you back."

"But you suddenly came back. If someone didn't know, they might think that your father deliberately sent you back, wondering if our Dingwang Mansion and the Zhenbei Army had some other intentions."

"Father has been stationed in Northern County for so many years. If anyone were to suspect you, wouldn't that tarnish his lifelong reputation?"

Zhao Lang watched the father and son singing the same tune, feeling left out, as if Zhao Rui was the only son of this man. When he was young, he would feel sad and upset about his father's partiality, but today, he no longer needs so-called fatherly love.

So, it doesn’t matter.

If he really wrote back to the palace and told this man that he wanted to return to Beijun, would this man really find a way to bring him back? Would Zhao Rui, the eldest son of a concubine, want him, the legitimate son born to the princess, to come back home?

He was afraid that his letter would be taken away by Zhao Rui's men on the way, and Zhao Rui would even send people to Kyoto Prefecture to kill him!

The reason why he was able to stay safe and sound in Kyoto Prefecture for so many years was that he never showed any intention of returning to Beijun. That was why Zhao Rui did not send anyone to Kyoto Prefecture to cause trouble for him over the years.

...That's not right!

Thinking of this, Zhao Lang recalled the Hu soldiers who were released into the heart of Dayan and silently sneaked into the capital city of Jingdu. If no one at the border let those Hu soldiers pass, how could they have gotten through? Thinking of this, his eyes couldn't help but turn to Zhao Rui.

Could it be that those Hu Bing and Zhao Rui have some relationship?

If he were to find out what the relationship was between Hu Bing and Zhao Rui, he would definitely kill that person with his own hands!

Prince Ding noticed that the eldest son looked at his brother with unkind eyes, so he grabbed the teapot on the table and smashed it at him, "Rebellious son, how dare you look at your brother like that!"

Zhao Lang dodged the teapot that was thrown at him, but the teapot brushed past the hem of his clothes and the spilled tea still splashed onto his hem, wetting his clothes.

Glancing down at the hem of his clothes, Zhao Lang wasn't too concerned about whether they were wet; he was simply disappointed. He had imagined the scene of meeting his father again a thousand times, but he had never imagined that this father, upon seeing him return, would not only show no concern, but would immediately begin to blame him, echoing the illegitimate son in condemning him.

Meeting the gaze of his father, Zhao Lang felt only amusement in his heart. He asked this man who was a father, "Father, even if you are trying a prisoner, you should ask clearly what crime the prisoner has committed before you can convict him, right?"

"I haven't seen you for more than ten years. This time I came back, you convicted me without asking any questions." His eyes swept over Zhao Rui. He didn't know what Zhao Rui said to him in front of their father to make their father so angry when he saw him come back.

When Prince Ding heard what his son said, he became even more angry. He pointed at his son and scolded him, "Why, are you saying I'm confused?" Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support. Kisses! For more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading.