"You're Po Jun, right?"
"Um?"
Po Jun responded instinctively, but was startled. How did he know his identity?
"That's right! We intercepted you!"
Before he could think much, Li Geng drew his long blade and charged straight at him.
His subordinates appeared extremely flustered. "General! They outnumber us, and we don't know their fighting strength. You take these bandits and go first; we'll cover their retreat."
"Leave?" Po Jun sneered disdainfully.
"Does he really think he can intercept me with his mediocre skills?"
Po Jun not only had no intention of leaving, but even wanted to annihilate the Blood Droplets who attacked them!
He drew his spear from his back and immediately engaged in battle!
After several rounds of flashing swords and spears, Po Jun felt his tiger's mouth go numb and cold sweat pour down his face!
He originally thought he could easily crush the group in front of him, but he didn't expect that Li Geng's martial arts skills were by no means inferior to his own!
Not only that, the fighting force of the Blood Droplets attacking them was terrifying, each one of them could be called elite. The few men he brought were defeated and forced to retreat in front of them!
Forced into the vicinity of a cliff, with most of his men killed, Po Jun was utterly exhausted.
With his last ounce of strength, he was about to make a desperate attempt to break through when Li Geng was already close behind.
"Oh no!"
Po Jun's vision was already blurry as he watched helplessly as the opponent's longsword struck his head!
The heavy rain showed no sign of stopping. Looking at the dead Po Jun with his eyes wide open, Li Geng gave a stern order.
"take away!"
The next morning.
Qin Yu's eyes drooped as he casually listened to the occasional reports from the ministers.
This time, he did not wave his hand to leave the court. Seeing that the time was about right, he gave Anfu a look.
The latter instantly understood and quietly moved from behind the curtain to the entrance of the main hall.
Holding a secret letter high in his hand, he ran up quickly and spoke excitedly.
"Your Majesty! This is a secret letter delivered by imperial envoy Zhang Tang, sent with utmost urgency!"
Upon hearing this, several officials among the crowd were unsettled.
Sima Lie, especially the leader, felt his eyelids twitch wildly and was startled.
Zhang Tang was indeed not dead.
What exactly do you want to say by sending a letter at this hour?
All eyes turned to the secret letter.
Qin Yu glanced around at the reactions of the assembled officials with interest, then opened the secret letter, pretending to examine it carefully before a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"The letter said that Zhang Tang was rescued by a caravan from Longxi and has now safely arrived in Yunzhou, one of the three southwestern continents."
Upon hearing this, Sima Lie suddenly realized what was going on.
What Longxi caravan? Yunzhou is Zhao family territory. That caravan must be Zhao family's swordsmen.
He gritted his teeth, hatred rising in his heart.
Damn it, it's that damned Zhao family again who ruined my plans!
Qin Yu sighed again and turned his gaze to Tan Wu.
"Minister Tan, there is more bad news!"
"Zhang Tang mentioned in his letter that the bandits were fierce and the situation was extremely critical. Tan Qian was unable to save them in time and unfortunately perished at the post station!"
"Alas! He has sacrificed himself for the country. I am deeply saddened. Although I am very saddened by the unfortunate fate of your father, Minister Tan, please do not be too heartbroken."
In an instant, Tan Wu's eyelids twitched uncontrollably!
That damned Zhang Tang, why did he have to expose this matter?!
The emperor will definitely seize this opportunity to make trouble!
The surrounding officials were equally astonished, after all, it was the current Minister of Revenue's own father who had been dead for so long without any news.
The group of people questioned and confirmed the allegations in a flurry of voices.
"Minister Tan, your father is dead?"
These words were incredibly harsh! Tan Wu's face flushed red, and he retorted with a curse.
"Your father is dead! Your whole family is dead!"
"Outrageous!" Qin Yu feigned anger and slammed his fist on the table. "In the grand court, how dare Minister Tan utter such foul language!"
"According to the laws of my Great Zhou Dynasty, you should observe three years of mourning for your deceased father!"
All the officials immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"
Then, everyone's eyes turned to Tan Wu, looking at him with some schadenfreude.
Tan Wu paid a hefty price to rise to power, and now he's at the most crucial stage of his political life. After three years of mourning, who the hell would still recognize him?
Lowering his head, Tan Wu was covered in cold sweat, his mind a jumbled mess, yet racing with activity!
As the saying goes, one must see the person alive or the body dead. The old man was burned to ashes. As long as he doesn't admit it, how can this tyrannical emperor insist that his father is dead?
One was his own son, who was right in front of him, and the other was a minister who was thousands of miles away reporting to him.
His own words are more convincing than that soup!
Anyway, if he stubbornly refuses to admit it no matter what, then his father isn't dead!
Tan Wu shook his head and explained firmly.
"Your Majesty, it is not that I am extremely angry, but Zhang Tang is simply spouting nonsense and talking rubbish!"
"Oh?" Qin Yu seemed to have expected Tan Wu to deny it, and feigned surprise, asking repeatedly.
"Minister Tan, is it possible your father isn't dead? Zhang Tang's information is wrong!"
Sima Lie, who had been listening for a long time, finally couldn't hold back and blurted out.
"Your Majesty! Absolutely! But the situation was chaotic at the time, so how could we be so certain?"
"Just two days ago, the Prime Minister seemed to have seen Tan Qian at the Eight Immortals Restaurant. How could he be dead?"
After saying that, Sima Lie subtly turned his head slightly, his eyes flashing as he looked at Tan Wu, the implication of which was all too clear.
Tan Wu understood, and felt more and more that his decision was correct.
Since the Prime Minister has already supported his decision not to admit it, what is there to be afraid of?
Swallowing hard, Tan Wu's large face remained flat as he boasted, "Yes, yesterday I had my servants deliver more than a dozen jars of fine wine to my father. I heard he drank one jar in just two days and is in better health than anyone else!"
That's robust! It really is robust!
How could it not be hard when it's already a corpse?
Watching the two of them sing in unison, especially Tan Wu, whose face was clearly very ugly, showing how sad he was by his father's death, but who was still denying it, Qin Yu almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
He stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully.
"oh!"
"I see! Perhaps Zhang Tang made a mistake!"
Patting his dragon robe, Qin Yu stood up abruptly, looked around, and said impatiently, "Is there anything else to report? If not, let's adjourn the court!"
Seeing that they were no longer pursuing the matter, Tan Wu wiped the cold sweat from his face.
To be honest, this lie is very easy to expose. As long as that tyrannical emperor sends someone to investigate, he will know whether the old man is dead or not.
Fortunately, he indulged in lust day and night and neglected state affairs, so he probably wouldn't investigate thoroughly, which allowed him to get away with it!
As soon as he stepped out of the Taihe Hall, Tan Wu went straight to Sima Lie.
"Prime Minister! Thank you for covering this up. Otherwise, I would surely have been ordered by that tyrannical emperor to return to my hometown to observe mourning!"
Sima Lie's words must have played a part in getting the emperor to agree so quickly.
Tan Wu was naturally extremely grateful to him!
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