Yun Tian was surprised that Lü Tu would still be so defiant after meeting the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he simply stood up and bowed, saying, "This humble general Yun Tian greets Prince Duan!"
The man in purple snorted arrogantly, "Yun Tian, is this the God of War of Wuchuan? He certainly has quite the imposing manner!"
Upon hearing Yun Tian's words, Lü Tu frowned secretly. In recent days, Lü Tu had also talked with Song Yuxi about the situation in the capital, and naturally he had heard that this Prince Duan, Zhao Xiao, was the younger brother of the current emperor, Zhao Chen, born of the same mother.
Being enfeoffed by the former emperor to Longcheng, a border region, seemed like a reward but was actually equivalent to exile. Moreover, as the Prince of Duan, he had no military power; the military power of the six border garrisons was directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.
But Zhao Xiao is clearly just a prince, so why does he have the power to command the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Even if he and Zhao Chen are brothers, it's impossible for him to be given such power, right?
This put Lü Tu in a very passive position, as he couldn't quite figure out what Zhao Xiao meant.
But no matter what, the current situation was beyond his control, so Lü Tu could only cup his hands and say, "Greetings, Prince Duan."
Zhao Xiao snorted coldly, confidently walked up to Lü Tu, and looked him up and down with disdain: "You tolerated your subordinates defying me, what is your punishment?"
Lu Tu observed the dozen or so Imperial Guards around him. At such close range, he was indeed confident he could capture Prince Duan, but what would happen after he did? Would he betray him?
Especially after seeing Yun Tian's faint smile, Lü Tu realized that this was all Yun Tian's doing. He wanted to use Prince Duan to give Lü Tu a warning. If he could take down Lü Tu, it would be exactly what Yun Tian wanted.
Therefore, Lu Tu immediately abandoned the idea of taking the initiative to attack and said in a deep voice, "This humble general has been stationed on the border to kill enemies for a long time and does not know the law."
Zhao Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly and said provocatively, "Oh? Are you reminding me that your merits in killing enemies on the battlefield are so great that I have to tolerate you?"
Hearing Zhao Xiao's words, Nie Yun and the others panicked, realizing they had made a grave mistake.
In particular, they are different from Lü Tu. They have lived on this land since childhood and received an education that emphasizes the supremacy of imperial power. Even if Zhao Xiao is a prince who has been exiled to the frontier, he is still a true member of the royal family and is not someone they can offend.
At this moment, Nie Yun immediately knelt down on one knee, clasped his hands, and said, "This subordinate misspoke and should be punished with 30 strokes of the military rod!"
"Double it, 60!" Zhao Xiao's icy voice rang out, and immediately a member of the Imperial Guard brought over a military rod.
Let alone 60 battles, even 30 battles at full strength would cripple this thing if it didn't die. Even if it recovered, it would be a useless person with no chance of ever mounting a horse again to fight.
Lu Tu was naturally unwilling for Nie Yun to be punished in this way, and said loudly, "This humble general has failed in his duty of discipline and should be punished along with Nie Yun, but this humble general would like to ask Prince Duan to give him a chance to atone for his sins through meritorious service!"
Prince Duan laughed loudly: "You, a mere seventh-rank captain, dare to bargain with me?"
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guards around him drew their swords with a shout. Faced with this situation, Lü Tu's side had absolutely no chance of winning, and all the weapons they brought were left outside the mansion.
Meanwhile, Yun Tian, standing to the side, curled up a mocking smile. This good show had finally begun. He had been waiting for this revenge for far too long. Even if Yun Ao instigated a rebellion, he was still Yun Tian's only son!
Even if it's about killing, it should be done by Yun Tian himself. He should wait until Yun Ao leaves offspring for the Yun family before taking action, instead of having Lü Tu do it!
Yun Tian has no descendants, and no one could stand this humiliation. Naturally, he wanted to drive Lü Tu to his death.
Facing more than a dozen blades pointed at him, Lü Tu remained calm and fearless, saying, "Prince Duan must have come to Wuchuan this time because of the smallpox plague!"
Zhao Xiao stared intently at Lü Tu: "What does this have to do with you?"
"Perhaps I have a way to control this smallpox epidemic."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?"
Even Yun Tian stared at Lü Tu in shock, then continued to fuel the fire, saying, "You must know that Prince Duan came to Wuchuan this time on His Majesty's orders to treat the plague. If you dare to deceive Prince Duan, it would be equivalent to deceiving His Majesty, which is a crime of deceiving the emperor and punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"
Of course, Lü Tu wouldn't be foolish enough to take the blame upon himself. He confidently smiled and said, "I'm talking about controlling the plague, not treating it. This plague involves too many people. Even if Bian Que tried again, he would be helpless."
Yun Tian sneered, "Lu Tu, first you condoned your subordinates' disrespect towards Prince Duan, then you used your words to play tricks on Prince Duan, and even defied the Emperor's will. You really have a lot of nerve!"
Upon hearing Yun Tian accuse him, Lü Tu immediately flew into a rage. Since Yun Tian had already shown no respect, Lü Tu would no longer give him any face.
Ignoring the Imperial Guards and the menacing Prince Duan around him, he roared at Yun Tian, "Yun Tian, I think you're the one with the biggest nerve! I only discovered a few cases of smallpox that day, and I came to your door to discuss this matter, but you refused to let me in because you were at home discussing treason with Yun Ao!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tian immediately flew into a rage, his hair standing on end: "You're talking nonsense! My son Yun Ao died on the front lines fighting against the Wuhuan. When did he ever participate in a rebellion?"
Lu Tu smiled wickedly: "You can call a deer a horse in the Wuchuan border army, but do you think you can silence the gossip of the people in Wuchuan city? Prince Duan can easily find out by sending out his Imperial Guards to inquire."
Upon hearing this, Yun Tian became extremely anxious. He had finally learned that Prince Duan was coming to the six towns of the Northern Territory, so he first invited Prince Duan to Wuchuan, hoping to use Prince Duan to deal with Lü Tu.
But to everyone's surprise, Lu Tu was so bold as to reveal such a thing. However, since he dared to invite Prince Duan over, he was confident that he could make Prince Duan believe him.
“Your Highness, I have been stationed in Wuchuan for decades, working diligently without ever slacking off. This Lü Tu is just making baseless accusations because he recently killed a few Wuhuan people. If he dares to falsely accuse me of rebellion today, he will dare to falsely accuse Your Highness of rebellion tomorrow!”
Prince Duan glanced at Lü Tu and Yun Tian with a seemingly casual expression. Although he was a playboy, he was also the victor in the battle for the throne, so he was no fool. The reason he hadn't responded to their words was because he could see that the two of them were using his power to punish each other.
However, he seemed more interested in Lü Tu. Before coming, he had inquired about Lü Tu's background. After all, it was impossible for someone to rise from a hunter to a seventh-rank captain in just over half a year without something to his name.
It's definitely not true that Yun Tian only killed a few Wuhuan soldiers. Given Yun Tian's nepotistic style, it's hard to imagine how many Wuhuan soldiers Lü Tu had to kill to be promoted to the seventh rank.
"Shut up! Lu Tu, let me ask you, is the method you just described for controlling the plague true? If you dare to lie in the slightest, I can confiscate your property and punish you right now!"
Judging from Prince Duan's behavior, Lü Tu knew that Prince Duan was not on Yun Tian's side, which sent him a good signal, at least proving that there was still room for maneuver.
He immediately shouted, "Yes!"
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