Chapter 439: Striving to Achieve the KPI (19) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
Which one?
To be honest, he felt they were all suspects. The king's health was deteriorating, and the twelfth prince was about to come of age. How could these bastards sit idly by? Naturally, they would do everything in their power to drag their rivals down and seize the throne first.
Su Shilu wasn't surprised by how fierce their fighting was; his only surprise was how readily they tore off the pretense and attacked each other's tribes without any pretense. But the more they did this, the more advantageous it was for them.
The Queen wholeheartedly agreed.
Then Su Shiyilu instructed, "The king already has a problem with me. To be on the safe side, you must keep a low profile for a while and show weakness and complain to the king. The more this is the case, the more you must not let your guard down. You should also be on the same page in the royal court."
The Queen nodded.
Before Su Shiyilu returned, she had repeatedly wanted her family to send assassins to eliminate the most troublesome princes, causing her sleepless nights. But with her brother back and her pillar of support, she was able to remain calm and wait for the right opportunity.
When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits.
Her twelfth son was that fisherman.
Meanwhile, a similar dialogue is unfolding elsewhere, but the final conclusions are quite different.
"Sir, you said, 'When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.' Who is this fisherman?" Su Shiyi's confidant had come to the capital with his superior, but dared not move about without an imperial edict. Unable to satisfy his curiosity, he had no choice but to seek out his advisor.
The scholar said, "It certainly won't be Su Shiyi Lu."
His trusted aide exclaimed in surprise, "Who else could it be but the general?"
The scholar shook his head: "It's hard to say. I initially thought it was some prince who couldn't wait to show his fangs, but judging from the fact that the three tribes were wiped out one after the other, it doesn't seem like it was any of them. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. The King of the Royal Court is still in good health. Wouldn't it be making enemies for himself to act at this time? You should think about who else could do it besides these few."
His trusted aides racked their brains, trying to think of a solution.
After a long pause, he shook his head.
With a worried look on his face, he said, "I really can't think of anything else."
Not only him, but all the nobles of the Ten Wu clans suspected the adult princes as soon as they received the news. The twelfth prince was away training and his whereabouts were unknown, so he shouldn't have done it. The princes after him were still young and couldn't compete for the throne.
Upon closer examination, only the eleven princes who had already come of age and possessed considerable power and military strength could have accomplished this.
They are the prime suspects.
The confidant frowned: "It couldn't have been the King who did it, could it?"
The scholar's brow seemed to relax: "It's hard to say."
His confidant choked for a moment.
He wanted to refute it verbally, but he couldn't help but mutter to himself in his heart—it's not impossible. The king's health is getting weaker year by year, while his sons are coming of age one after another. Whether it is age or health, they are in the prime of their lives. Looking at these ambitious sons, does the king really not feel a sense of crisis?
Don't you know any ways to discipline them and make them behave?
In the eyes of his confidants, the king had unknowingly become the prime suspect, and the kind of suspect who was deliberately entrapped.
"Sir, should we tell the general about this?" The confidant was unsure and worried about getting into trouble.
The scholar pondered for a moment and said, "Speak, so that you, General, will have a better understanding. Although the first eleven princes have the advantage of age and entered the royal court to take power first, their military power is not as strong as that of the twelfth prince supported by Su Shiyilu. Once Su Shiyilu becomes wary, the twelfth prince is most likely to ascend to the throne, which would be most advantageous for you, General."
After all, he also performed the "meritorious service of following the dragon's lead".
Upon hearing this, the confidant felt reassured.
"The gentleman's words enlightened me greatly."
"You're too kind."
After his confidant left, he ordered someone to bring two heavy gold ingots to the scholar. The scholar seemed reluctant to part with them, played with them for a while, weighed them in his hand, and sighed softly, "Shiwu really has no shortage of gold and silver, but alas—a thousand pieces of gold can be spent and then come back again."
While the ten nobles were discussing amongst themselves, the princes they suspected were also staring at each other in disbelief. Those from the subordinate tribes who were unharmed were constantly questioning their subordinates about whether they had acted on their own initiative; those who had suffered losses were red-eyed with suspicion, wondering which scoundrel had stabbed them in the back, and they were itching to find the real culprit.
"Ah owe-"
Shen Tang rubbed her nose.
He muttered to himself, "This place called Shiwu is poisonous."
She's been sneezing every few days these past few days.
Gu Chi, however, was not surprised at all, and even teased, "With so many enemies, there are naturally many people who talk about our lord."
Shen Tang rolled her eyes.
"Your lord has a very good reputation."
Where did this enemy come from?
Everyone who mentions her gives her a thumbs up.
Jiang Sheng said, "Gu Wangchao, you misspoke!"
Gu Chi: "..."
"We're almost there. You guys can keep arguing. I'm going first." As the center of the conversation, Shen Tang slipped away first.
She brought the two of them out this time to visit the wounded—the third tribe had probably prepared in advance, setting up an ambush, which increased the difficulty for Shen Tang's side and caused unexpected twists and turns. Although they finally achieved the "annihilation" achievement, their side also suffered hundreds of casualties. Fortunately, they brought enough medicinal herbs, and the doctor had minimized the losses.
【They were injured because of me. Although I am not a doctor and cannot cure their illnesses, as their lord, even just saying a few words can give them spiritual encouragement and comfort.】 Although Shen Tang's actions seemed bizarre, her reasons were sound, and it was indeed something she would do.
Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng then suggested going together.
The wounded soldiers' camp was very rudimentary, consisting of makeshift thatched huts that stretched as far as the eye could see, with simple beds partitioned off at each end. The seriously wounded were moved to another area for care, while the wounded here had relatively minor injuries that did not hinder their movement.
When Shen Tang and her two companions arrived, no one noticed them, as they were all huddled in a circle, regardless of gender, seemingly observing something. Shen Tang tiptoed closer, but there were several layers of people separating the circle. Standing on the outermost edge, she could only stand on tiptoe and crane her neck to see inside. After watching for a while, she still couldn't figure it out, only overhearing a few fragmented words.
"Real gold..."
"It looks like it's of very high quality..."
"It's definitely true, look at these teeth marks..."
A group of wounded men were chattering away, which piqued Chen Tang's curiosity, but she couldn't satisfy it. So she patted one of her older friends on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, what are you looking at?"
The old woman didn't turn around.
He said, "You're too late. Gold just fell from the sky."
Shen Tang looked up at the ceiling.
The canopy overhead is still intact.
Although it was a makeshift, rudimentary camp for wounded soldiers, the roof was fairly sturdy. While it wouldn't completely shield them from the wind and rain, it wasn't riddled with large holes. You can't expect free lunches, let alone gold falling from the sky!
"May I see that gold?"
It is reasonable to suspect that one of them was playing a prank, deliberately making up the story of "gold falling from the sky" to amuse someone.
Why should I show it to you?
This old lady finally turned her head.
That face, so familiar it was etched into his very bones, loomed large before him. The sheer force of that moment nearly rendered the soldier speechless, but his body acted before his mind could process it, and he knelt on one knee, saying, "Greetings, my lord!"
"My lord???"
"My lord!!!"
The other wounded fell like dominoes, pushing and shoving each other. Shen Tang chuckled, "No need for so much formality. You're all injured. Get up, all of you. Someone tell me, what happened to the gold?"
The wounded soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment.
Finally, the person in charge was brought out to explain.
The female soldier had suffered a head injury. During the night raid, she became so engrossed in the charge that she strayed from her unit and was caught off guard when the enemy attacked her head. Fortunately, she dodged quickly and used cover to buy herself time, successfully turning the tables and killing the enemy.
Although the wound on her head was not deep, it was quite long. She was also assigned a hospital bed and made the most of her time to rest, fearing that her health problems would slow down the army's march.
result--
She was half asleep when something fell on her head. She caught the slight breeze in the air, and without opening her eyes, she reached out and grabbed it, feeling a cold object in her palm. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a triangular piece of gold.
I managed to dodge the first one, but not the second.
The second piece hit her wound squarely, causing her to let out a piercing scream, which attracted the attention of the other wounded soldiers.
She initially thought someone was playing a trick on her, but when she saw that they were just two small, triangular pieces of gold, she wavered. She still asked each of them, but no one admitted to it. Touching her throbbing wound, she asked in bewilderment, "Did they fall from the sky?"
Bored while recovering from their injuries, everyone gathered around to watch the spectacle.
Shen Tang accepted the broken gold.
The two pieces of gold were found to be exactly the same in shape and weight, unlike ordinary shredded gold.
It looks like it was specially cast.
"Is it really not one of you funny guys?"
The wounded all shook their heads.
They might lie to each other for fun, but they would never lie to their lord. If it's there, it's there; if it's not, it's not. Shen Tang looked up at the sky in confusion. Just then, Jiang Sheng said thoughtfully, "A fortune lost can be regained—perhaps it really did fall from the sky."
Shen Tang: "???"
(End of this chapter)
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