Chapter 112 The Prime Minister's Thoughts
He immediately knelt down on both knees and said earnestly, "This humble general does not need any reward or commendation. I will obey the Prime Minister in everything. This humble general is willing to serve the Prime Minister with my life!"
This statement surprised Situ Wei quite a bit.
On second thought, this person not only managed to eliminate the enemy who captured Xiao Qidi and rescue him, but also considered things very carefully, knowing that he couldn't make a fuss, and immediately brought Xiao Qidi to the capital to report to him.
He is truly both brave and resourceful.
People with this kind of ability are hard to find.
What's even more commendable is that this person has absolutely no tendency to be arrogant or complacent.
He's talented, a real talent.
It would be such a waste to kill them.
Situ Wei pondered for a moment, then turned around with a friendly smile and personally helped Li Yao up. "General Li has worked hard at the border. Please rest in my residence for the next few days."
"Thank you, Prime Minister!" Li Yao bowed his head respectfully.
Situ Wei summoned servants and arranged the best guest room for Li Yao, assigning ten servants and maids to attend to his daily needs.
Although they didn't say much openly, their attitude was clear.
After Li Yao returned to his room, his heart finally settled down, though his back was soaked with cold sweat.
That was close; I almost lost my life.
For the next three days, Li Yao did not see Situ Wei again. The people in the Prime Minister's mansion served Li Yao good food and drink every day, and even brought out singers, dancers and the top courtesans in the capital for him to enjoy.
Li Yao was not a person who indulged in wine and women, but in order not to arouse the Prime Minister's suspicion that he was a person who did not seek anything and therefore posed a hidden danger, he reluctantly accepted everything.
Three nights later.
Situ Wei secretly left the royal city and arrived at the residence he had arranged for the puppet the following morning.
Upon entering the house, one could hear the sound of music.
Upon reaching the entrance of the hall, one sees the puppets feasting and drinking lavishly, surrounded by women on both sides.
He was used to this scene.
Anyway, he's not short of money. As long as the puppet is obedient enough, he can do whatever he wants in private.
"The old master has arrived! Everyone, step back!" Situ Wei's attendant shouted as he stepped across the threshold.
Upon hearing the order, one of the stewards in the hall quickly helped everyone leave.
Xiao Qidi pretended to be drunk, glancing at the door out of the corner of his eye.
The person outside the door, completely draped in a black robe with his face covered by a cloak and hood, might not be recognized by others, but he recognized him immediately.
After his entourage cleared the area, Situ Wei slowly walked into the hall.
Then, the attendant closed the door and stood guard outside.
Xiao Qidi, his eyes half-closed, shouted, "Where are my beauties! Where are my singers and dancers! How did they all run away! I'm going to kill you all!"
Situ Wei lifted the hood of his cloak, walked over, grabbed a flask of wine, and splashed it on Xiao Qidi's face, coldly rebuking him, "Sober up! I have something important to tell you."
"Ah... Your Excellency the Prime Minister!" Xiao Qidi wiped the wine off his face and quickly got up from the bed.
Situ Wei frowned and looked him up and down. "Are you awake?"
Xiao Qidi forced a smile, "He's awake, he's awake..."
Over the course of those three days, he subtly gleaned information about the puppet's usual behavior from those who served him, and also learned that a mysterious old master would come by once or twice a month.
They also figured out how the puppets would react when they met their old master.
That's why I suppressed my discomfort and tried my best to pretend, so as not to give myself away.
Fortunately, this puppet could do whatever he wanted in front of all the servants, and they were not surprised by what he did. Otherwise, Xiao Qidi would not have to be like the puppet and have fun with women in public, taking lives for amusement.
However, this pretense couldn't last long. Fortunately, Situ Wei arrived after only three days.
"What are your orders, Your Excellency?" Xiao Qidi asked, maintaining a fawning smile.
Situ Wei stood in front of him, staring straight at him without saying a word.
Xiao Qidi felt a sudden surge of nervousness.
Could it be... that I've revealed some weakness?
“Sigh…” Situ Wei suddenly sighed, “Listen carefully, I’ll soon have to put you to use. I’ve raised you for so long, don’t disappoint me.”
Xiao Qidi noticed that Situ Wei looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot eyes, so he asked again, "Prime Minister, how are you feeling?"
Situ Wei slowly sat down, looking somewhat dazed. "I haven't been able to sleep well for the past three days, but... it's nothing serious."
"Prime Minister, you said you'll soon be able to put me to use? What do you mean by that?"
"Xiao Qidi...something has happened to him."
"ah?"
Xiao Qidi feigned surprise, "So I need to replace him? That's too sudden."
Situ Wei said with his eyes half-closed, "That's right. I'm keeping you around as a precaution. If Xiao Qidi becomes completely out of my control one day, I'll let you take his place. But I didn't expect... this is the case. It's really sudden."
"What's going on?" Xiao Qidi continued to ask with a smile.
Situ Wei snorted coldly, "You seem to be having a lot of fun!"
Xiao Qidi smiled and said, "To be of use to the Prime Minister and to gain the identity of Xiao Qidi, anyone would be happy. Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will, as always, follow your arrangements in everything. From now on, the Prime Minister no longer needs to worry about Xiao Qidi taking away your power. Aren't you happy?"
"Happy?" Situ Wei's face darkened slightly. "If Xiao Qidi hadn't grown increasingly powerful and out of my control, how could you have been the one to replace him?"
Then, with a touch of melancholy, she murmured, "If only he could listen to me like you do..."
After saying that, Situ Wei picked up a pot of wine and drank it all in one gulp.
Situ Wei's reactions and behaviors from the moment he entered the room have surprised Xiao Qidi.
He wasn't as happy as he thought; instead, he seemed quite sad.
But Xiao Qidi couldn't ask any more questions and could only stand quietly to the side.
"Come on... have a drink with me," Situ Wei commanded.
"Yes." Xiao Qidi picked up the wine glass and prepared to pour the wine.
Situ Wei said, "Just drink directly from the wine pot. I haven't had any wine in a long time, and I want to drink more today."
Xiao Qidi immediately moved all the wine on the long table closer, and then drank with Situ Wei, one pot after another, for most of the hour.
Situ Wei, intoxicated, suddenly kicked over the table and shouted with red eyes, "A bunch of beasts! Beasts!"
"Your Excellency!" Xiao Qidi quickly knelt down. "What...what happened to you?"
Situ Wei gritted his teeth and said, "Xiao Qidi was captured by the enemy at the border. His limbs were cut off, his eyes were gouged out, his ears and nose were cut off, and his tongue was pulled out! If the people who rescued him hadn't already killed those beasts, I would have... I would have used every kind of cruel torture on them before slowly killing them!"
Xiao Qidi's heart trembled slightly; he could clearly sense that the anger conveyed in these words was absolutely genuine.
Moreover, in front of the puppet, Situ Wei didn't need to pretend to have any feelings for Xiao Qidi.
This surprised him even more.
"Your Excellency the Prime Minister..." Xiao Qidi said, head bowed, "What do you intend to do with me?"
Situ Wei exhaled a breath of alcohol and slowly said, "Let's keep him... It's a pity that he not only became a human stick, but also lost his tongue. Otherwise, he could have given me advice in the future. It's a pity for his abilities."
Xiao Qidi tentatively said, "Since they're completely useless, let's just kill them."
Snap!
Situ Wei suddenly slapped Xiao Qidi hard across the face, "If you dare to say you want to kill him again, I will cripple you!"
Xiao Qidi's feelings were complicated. He bowed and said, "Yes, I dare not do it again."
"Sigh, I've had too much to drink." Situ Wei rubbed his temples. "Get up."
Xiao Qidi stood up, and Situ Wei looked up at his face for a while before patting his arm. "Once you officially replace him, you will call me Uncle. That's what he used to call me."
Xiao Qidi lowered his eyes, "Yes, Your Excellency... Prime Minister."
Situ Wei said nothing more, got up with some difficulty, and slowly walked towards the door of the hall.
As Xiao Qidi watched his retreating figure, a complex mix of emotions welled up within him.
For eighteen years, Xiao Qidi had almost no memory of his biological father, who had abandoned his wife and children and fled back to Xuan Kingdom when he was three years old.
From as far back as I can remember, during the years I was a hostage in the Desolate Kingdom, only Situ Wei would secretly visit the Desolate Kingdom a few times each year.
Later, Situ Wei also took her and her mother back to Xuan Kingdom...
Memories of the past surfaced uncontrollably.
But as soon as it emerged, it was forcibly suppressed by Xiao Qidi.
“Prime Minister,” Xiao Qidi suddenly spoke up, “I would like to see Xiao Qidi.”
If Ning Jinli from another parallel universe hadn't changed the course of events here, according to the original secret history, he himself would have been the one imprisoned in the underground palace as a human puppet not long afterward.
He wanted to see where he would spend the rest of his life if nothing had changed.
Situ Wei stopped in his tracks, turned his head slightly, and asked, "Why?"
Xiao Qidi naturally wouldn't reveal the real reason, saying he was just a little curious.
Situ Wei pondered for a moment, "Go change your clothes and cover your face. I'll take you into the royal city."
After receiving permission, Xiao Qidi immediately complied.
Then he rode in Situ Wei's carriage and arrived in the royal city late that night.
Finally, they were blindfolded and taken to a secret underground palace.
The underground palace is not large, roughly the size of an ordinary person's house.
Xiao Qidi followed Situ Wei through the stone gate into a stone chamber. He untied the cloth wrapped around his eyes and looked around. The room was very well furnished.
Except for the lack of windows, it has everything else. It looks no different from a normal bedroom on the ground floor. In fact, all the items are made of the best materials. If you didn't know better, you would think it was the residence of a royal nobleman.
Although it was underground, the air was not stuffy or cold at all; instead, it carried a fragrant aroma mixed with the smell of medicine.
It's clear that Situ Wei put a lot of thought into it.
"How is the situation?" Situ Wei asked the maid who was serving people here with a nervous look on his face.
The maid said, "Your Excellency, we just changed his medicine and fed him some medicinal porridge. He has fallen asleep."
"That's good..." Situ Wei approached gently, looking at the mangled body on the bed. "The past two days, he kept fainting from the pain and then waking up from it. Now he can finally get some sleep."
Situ Wei waved his hand, signaling the maids to leave.
As soon as the door to the stone chamber closed, he sat down on the edge of the bed.
“If only I hadn’t allowed you to leave the capital a few months ago,” Situ Wei said.
Xiao Qidi stood silently to the side.
Situ Wei continued to mutter to himself, "I really didn't expect that a perfectly healthy person would come back like this. I've spent most of my life on my official career, and I have no children. Before, whenever I heard you call me Uncle, I felt as if I had a son."
“But you are still a member of the royal family, and the blood of the late king flows in your veins. Even if you call me Uncle, I cannot call you son.”
“I know that you suffered so much in the desolate country during your childhood, but the time is not right. I have to assist the late king and cannot bring you back sooner.”
"By the time we were able to bring you back, your personality had changed a lot, and you had become very distant from me."
At this point, Situ Wei's voice choked slightly.
He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and gently placed his outstretched hand on the shoulder of the mangled body. "Qidi... your mother, Jiang Peihuan, although she was a singer and was once my concubine, was the woman I loved most."
Xiao Qidi, who was standing aside and listening to these words, had his pupils tremble slightly for a moment.
Situ Wei continued softly, "Back then, for the sake of my career, I offered my jade pendant to the late king. That was the most difficult decision I ever made."
"Later, I often fantasized that if I hadn't had such great ambitions in the beginning and hadn't given her away to someone else, perhaps now, although I don't have the power in the Great Xuan court, I would still be very wealthy, and I could have had several children with Pei Huan, and maybe one of them would be you."
"It's a pity... I can't go back to the past and make a different choice, and I'm no longer the person I used to be..."
After saying this, Situ Wei remained silent for a long time.
Then, as if remembering that there was someone else beside him, he turned around, staring intently at the tall figure standing behind him, and warned in a cold voice, "I lost control for a moment and unconsciously said so many of my innermost thoughts. Did you hear them all?"
Xiao Qidi lowered his head. "I didn't hear anything."
Situ Wei nodded in satisfaction. "Remember this: although you will be Xiao Qidi in front of everyone else from now on, never forget who made you into him. Never forget that you are a substitute. If I can use you as a substitute, I can also use someone else."
Xiao Qidi said, "Yes, Prime Minister, I will keep your teachings in mind."
Situ Wei glanced at the person on the bed, then got up and said, "Come with me."
The two left the bedroom one after the other and went to another stone room.
“I have made my decision,” Situ Wei said, standing in front of a mural with his hands behind his back. “In the next few days, I will officially replace Xiao Qidi. Show me your strength.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qidi straightened his back and regained some of his normal expression.
“Well, I was a little worried before that your temperament was too different from his, but now it seems that the training I gave you wasn’t a waste,” Situ Wei nodded in evaluation, and then added, “But you need to be more confident.”
"Xiao Qidi is the ruler of a country. He has the arrogance and domineering nature that comes with the royal family of Da Xuan. He is also young and vigorous. If you are lacking in this aspect, even if you look almost exactly like him, the Empress Dowager will probably notice something amiss."
"Come on, try to show this kind of temperament, and let me see how well you can do it."
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