Su Jiu immediately thought that someone from the bamboo house had returned from Longxing Prefecture, and probably had seen the wanted poster.
Su Jiu's eyes flickered slightly, and she said with a bitter face, "If I said that the person wanted is Huo Zhaoqing's cousin, would you believe me?"
Ye Wenxue loosened Su Jiu's collar, took a piece of radish cake that Zhixing had bought from the foot of the mountain, ate it, and remained silent.
Sometimes, silence is the best answer.
Su Jiu took a deep breath and decisively chose to abandon Sui Ye and protect himself: "I have advised him, more than once."
Ye Wenxue slammed her hand on the table: "Stop squeezing out every word, just say it all in one breath."
Su Jiu said with a long face: "As soon as we entered Longxing Prefecture, we saw the previous wanted poster, saying that he had betrayed the court and joined the rebel army. Some of the prefectural soldiers recognized him and surrounded and killed him, but he was saved by Prince Anle."
The King of Anle arranged for us to stay in a separate courtyard and waited for several days before summoning us. He was suspicious and took me to the Feast at Hongmen.
As expected, Prince Anle harbored ill intentions and poisoned the food. I recognized him, and he... killed everyone involved, forcing Prince Anle to reveal the truth.
The Huo family has served as generals for generations, guarding the border. This summer, foreign enemies invaded, and because the imperial court was slow to send provisions, many soldiers were so hungry that they couldn't even lift their weapons.
Once, twice, three times... they were no match for the enemy, and were defeated, with countless soldiers and officers killed or wounded.
The imperial court and even the surrounding cities failed to provide support for a long time, so Huo Zhaoqing's father and brother were forced to retreat, losing a city, but they held the enemy back and prevented them from continuing south.
Huo Zhaoqing received the imperial decree to suppress the rebels. He had just reached the county above Tanzhou when the Huo family was impeached by the entire court.
The emperor urgently needed someone to take the blame in order to appease public resentment and silence the rebels. He also feared the Huo family's control of 200,000 troops, so he issued an edict to punish the Huo family.
Since no one in the court was willing to surrender to the rebels, the authorities had to control the news and temporarily not recall Huo Zhaoqing, intending to bring him back and behead him after he quelled the rebellion.
However, the Huo family had countless mortal enemies. Once the Huo family was punished, many people in Huo Zhaoqing's army who marched south were eager to kill him. However, one of them managed to escape and crashed into the mountains.
Then came Ye Wenxue rescuing people and Huo Zhaoqing descending the mountain.
The day Huo Zhaoqing was framed by Prince Anle was also the day the male members of the Huo family were beheaded.
Upon learning the news, he lost his composure and killed everyone involved in plotting against him, except for the Prince of Anle.
Then, he took Su Jiu and rode away from Longxing Prefecture. At the border of the two prefectures, he bid farewell to Su Jiu and went to the capital alone. There has been no news of him since.
Su Jiu's face showed some worry. He didn't know if Huo Zhaoqing was dead or alive, and whether his promise to him still stood.
Ye Wenxue treated it as if she had just heard a story, and after taking a sip of tea, she asked in confusion:
"Why aren't you wanted by the police?"
That shouldn't be the case.
Even if Su Jiu didn't kill anyone, he should still be labeled an accomplice and wanted by the police.
Su Jiu's gaze darted around, but under Ye Wenxue's intense stare, she finally spoke:
"Everyone who has seen me is dead. King Anle... was blinded, his spine and leg bones were broken, and he suffered a fate worse than death."
I'm too busy treating my injuries to have time to worry about him.
Ye Wenxue pursed her lips: "No wonder..."
No wonder that after Zhixing entered Longxing Prefecture, all that was heard was that Prince Anle was seriously injured, and no other news came out.
No wonder the imperial troops arrived so promptly; they must have received the news and were in a hurry to hunt down Huo Zhaoqing and seize Anle Prince's fiefdom.
No wonder... When Su Jiugang returned to the mountain, he begged her to save people.
Ye Wenxue stared intently at Su Jiu: "Back then, did you want me to go and die?"
Su Jiu broke out in a cold sweat. If he didn't answer this question well, he was afraid he would die before Huo Zhaoqing.
"No...it's not...well...I didn't really expect you to go, I was just thinking..."
I just wanted to find out how much genuine feeling Ye Wenxue had for someone.
Now look what happened! He didn't get to the bottom of things, and he almost lost his life.
Ye Wenxue shook her head: "He's not my type."
Su Jiu leaned forward and asked, "Hello, scholar?"
For example, someone like Dazhuang's father?
Ye Wenxue recalled the frail Cheng Dingfang who could be knocked down with a single punch, and decisively shook her head: "Why are you asking so many questions?"
She sensed something was off: "What kind of deal did you make with him? Why are you helping him so much? Or do you actually have unique tastes...?"
Su Jiu quickly interrupted, "No, no, no, he promised me that he would help me fulfill my lifelong wish in the future."
"?"
Su Jiu's face showed a hint of longing: "I want to go to the border, to the army to treat the wounded soldiers, and try to save as many innocent people as possible."
Ye Wenxue: "..."
I don't understand, but I respect it.
She rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment. Just when Su Jiu thought the matter was over, she suddenly heard her ask:
"Did you save the prefect of Tanzhou?"
Su Jiu's pupils contracted, and she decisively denied it: "It wasn't me!"
Ye Wenxue nodded knowingly.
I understand, you're the one who saved me.
She said that in the original book, the former prefect of Tanzhou was seriously ill and died before winter even arrived. The court did not send someone to take over in time, so his subordinates had to hastily fill in as prefect, but there was no proper procedure.
After Longxing Prefecture fell, Tanzhou City also failed to hold out. Both cities fell into the hands of Yuan Cheng, who became a third-party force controlling the imperial court and Qiongzhou.
When Su Jiu returned earlier, he said that Tanzhou City had taken in refugees and implemented several benevolent policies to help the people.
Wait, that doesn't make sense either.
"Didn't you have a grudge against the prefect of Tanzhou? Why are you saving him?"
Su Jiu felt that all the secrets she had kept hidden for so long had been exposed by Ye Wenxue.
He said with a sense of despair, "The prefect of Tanzhou has been deceived, but I cannot stand by and watch him die."
Ye Wenxue said "Oh," still unable to understand why Su Jiu would agree to save Xu Lin now that they had reconciled.
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