The warriors behind Yelü Guzha glared at him angrily, seemingly about to draw their daggers and fight to the death.
General Jin simply smiled and stroked his beard.
Someone behind him laughed, "Back in the north, the hostage prince competed in scholarship with those old scholars, so composing a poem shouldn't be too difficult for him... Hahaha..."
Everyone burst into laughter again.
The crowd behind Yelü Guzha was getting restless.
"Don't cause trouble," Yelü Guzha whispered, trying to stop them.
General Jin teased him a few more times, but seeing that Yelü Guzha was enduring humiliation and refusing to retaliate, he had no choice but to leave with his brothers in a huff.
As he walked away, he left behind a remark: "I thought he was so tough, and I was even thinking of giving him another life-or-death challenge."
"A defeated opponent dares to come back?! Hahaha..."
Yelü Guzha stared intently at their retreating figures, his eyes dark and fierce. Just then, the messenger who had gone to gather information returned and reported, "Young Master, the Gu family's carriage has already left through the main gate."
Yelü Guzha said angrily, "That Gu fellow is truly cunning. Since that's the case, let's go!"
The group rode their horses straight back to the hostage residence.
After dismissing the servants, Yelü Guzha's guards angrily said, "These scoundrels are going too far! If we weren't so unaccustomed to playing polo in the Central Plains, how could we have lost!"
Everyone was indignant.
Yelü Guzha stood with his hands behind his back, staring silently at the wisps of smoke rising from the gilded brass incense burner on the table.
He knew that with Gu Jinghui around, they couldn't win no matter what.
But this is not the time to boost the morale of others and dampen our own.
After everyone had finished venting, he said leisurely, "There's a saying in our Yelü clan: the one who laughs last is the happiest. Don't be fooled by their arrogance now; they'll have their day to cry later."
"Young Master is right!"
Yelü Guzha continued, "Besides, even if we could win today, we shouldn't. The emperor of Daxing has come. If we defeat them, will the emperor of Daxing be happy? We have come to Daxing from our homes, and we must be like Wu Zixu and Goujian, as recorded in the history books of the Central Plains, harboring deep hatred in our hearts, and seizing the right opportunity to strike them hard. But on the surface, we must enjoy their life in the Central Plains like Liu Shan. Only in this way will they be lulled into complacency and ignore us."
"Yes, young master is wise!"
Everyone rallied again, vowing to conceal their strength and seize the opportunity to avenge their previous defeat.
Yelü Guzha put his hands behind his back, left the incense burner, walked to the table and sat down, saying sullenly, "I originally wanted to provoke the little girl from the Dingbei Marquis's mansion to do something stupid, but unexpectedly things changed halfway through, which attracted the Dingbei Marquis and even alarmed the Emperor of Daxing. I must be more careful in my future actions, and I also need to find a way to salvage my reputation among scholars."
After the polo match, he and his clansmen waited for a long time under the stands, but he didn't have a chance to say a word in front of the emperor. On the other hand, Sixth Master Gu won the emperor's favor and recited poetry for a long time.
This was clearly a silent reprimand from the emperor.
Yelü Guzha was extremely annoyed, having failed in his attempt to steal a chicken.
A tall, ugly man with a charred black face, upturned nostrils, curly, yellow hair, and a muscular build suddenly spoke up: "Brother-in-law, has Xu Tang turned against us?"
“Yes,” several others chimed in.
Yelü Guzha gasped, "You gave him so many treasures..."
The ugly man said, "You can know a person's face but not their heart. These people from the Central Plains are the most cunning of all."
Yelü Guzha frowned, deep in thought.
The ugly man continued, "None of today's plans have come to fruition. Could it be that the man surnamed Gu received advance notice?"
This man was Yelü Yongxian, the cousin-in-law of Yelü Guzha. He was extremely ugly, but because he was skilled in riding and archery and had even fought the wolf king, he gained the favor of Yelü Guzha's uncle, who then betrothed his daughter to him.
What should have been a great opportunity for her to rise to the top turned out to be a marriage of convenience. However, Yelü Guzha's cousin had always been fond of handsome men, and after getting married, she became depressed and died not long after.
From then on, Yelü Yongxian became an indispensable confidant of Yelü Guzha.
Upon hearing this, Yelü Guzha said, "Tell me about it."
Yelü Yongxian glanced at the others, indicating that he wanted to speak privately.
Yelü Guzha then raised his hand and instructed, "Go back and change your clothes and have your meal first. It's getting late, and you've all had a long day."
After everyone left, Yelü Yongxian said, "Today we failed to intercept Gu Jinghui, and he even managed to get back to the Dingbei Marquis's residence and capture our men. We didn't expect the assassination to succeed anyway, but the people responsible for intercepting him only managed to catch his guards, which is a bit strange."
Yelü Guzha pondered for a moment and said, "You mean..."
Yelü Yongxian continued, "When our people went to the Gu residence, it was a sure thing. Gu Jingcheng had to go to the Five Cities Garrison to report for duty every day, and his wife had been helping out at the Marquis's residence every day these days. There was only an unfavored old concubine at home, and no one was in charge. We had everything going for us, so who would have thought that we would be taken down instead?"
Yelü Guzha frowned and said, "Is it possible that Gu Jinghui is just too cunning and suspicious, and when he encountered the assassination attempt, he immediately suspected that we were going to make a move while he was holding a funeral at his home? His ability to win so many times is certainly not simple."
Yelü Yongxian thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible. But his arrival at the Imperial Academy is just too timely!"
He clapped his hands and sighed, "What a wonderful opportunity it was, but it's been ruined like this. And who has alarmed the Emperor of Daxing?"
It felt like they'd been tricked instead of the other way around.
If they hadn't already known Gu Baozhu's temperament, and if provoking Gu Baozhu hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision, Yelü Yongxian would have suspected that this was a trap set by the cunning Gu Jinghui.
Yelü Guzha raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you suspect the Prince of Jin? Or do you suspect the Crown Prince?"
Yelü Yongxian hesitated for a moment.
"The Prince of Jin is hiding behind the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi, intending to be the one who laughs last. Can we trust such a person? The Crown Prince is sickly and incompetent, and he and Empress Lin pretend to be kind to their other brothers and sisters in front of the Emperor of Daxing, unwilling to dirty their own hands. He will only use us. I saw that when they saw the Emperor of Daxing promoting Gu Jinghui, they were also trying to curry favor with him. It's hard to say whether it was them."
Yelü Guzha smiled helplessly and said, "Prince Qi and Gu Jinghui are trustworthy, but will they rely on us? I'm only saying something discouraging in front of you because you're one of us. If these princes are all filial sons, what chance do we have?"
Yelü Yongxian was stunned and didn't know what to say.
Yelü Guzha continued, “I know you are a hero, and heroes naturally cherish heroes. I also look down on the actions of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Jin. There is an old saying in the northern border: when the enemy is weak, it is our opportunity. Weakening Daxing is our goal.”
At this moment, the carriage of the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion was blocked on the main road leading to the north of the city. Sixth Master Gu looked at the carriage of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion blocking the way and asked, "Third Brother, when did we offend the You family?"
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