"Shh, keep your voice down. The youngest son of a distant relative of my second uncle's family is a steward in the general's mansion. He overheard this while he was working."
“I’ve also heard that my brother-in-law has a pretty big business, and he often transports furs from here to the capital.”
Winter is coming, and he was planning to transport another batch soon, but then he received news that things were in chaos in the capital, so he should postpone his trip.
After hearing this, someone asked in confusion, "I just don't understand. The crown prince is only one step away from becoming emperor, so why is he in such a hurry? Can't he wait a bit?"
"Because he couldn't wait any longer!" someone at another table answered him directly.
Upon hearing this, everyone who was drinking looked at the speaker with curiosity, wanting to hear him explain in more detail why the Crown Prince couldn't wait any longer.
The man took a big gulp of strong liquor, casually wiped the liquor stains from the corner of his lips with his sleeve, and said in a nonchalant manner.
“The Crown Prince had an affair with one of the Emperor’s concubines, and the concubine was pregnant. Naturally, the Crown Prince could not wait any longer.”
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, clearly not expecting that such a royal secret lay behind this rebellion. The person who spoke must be of extraordinary status to know all this.
A clever person smiled and said, "Brother, we're lucky to have met today. I'll treat you to the meal. Thank you for clearing up our doubts."
The middle-aged man who had spoken laughed loudly upon hearing this, "Then I shall accept your offer without hesitation. I will not take advantage of you for nothing, so let me tell you more about the situation in the capital."
After taking a sip of strong liquor, the man continued, "Although fighting has broken out in the capital, the Crown Prince's chances of winning are not high."
As everyone knows, the Imperial Guards in the capital are under the control of the Wu family, and the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince were appointed by the Emperor as the commander-in-chief and deputy commander, respectively.
To prevent the Fourth Prince from being placed in danger, the Wu family will certainly increase their military strength. Furthermore, while the Crown Prince's private army is not small in number, it lacks elite troops and capable generals. Therefore…”
The man took another sip of strong liquor and swallowed the words "inevitable defeat."
The waiter in charge of cleaning the inn frowned after hearing this and said, "Sigh, these royal nobles just have money to burn. They have no worries about food or drink every day, but they always have to cause trouble."
"Once everything is gone, freeze them for a few days, then starve them for a few more days, and they'll definitely behave."
A diner who had drunk too much chimed in with a laugh: "Yes, it's always us poor folks who suffer during wars. The rich and powerful people sneak away with their families as soon as they hear the news."
My only hope now is that this war begins and ends in the capital, and doesn't spread further.
His words resonated with many, and everyone sighed in relief. Yes, we mustn't let it spread any further; this area is on the border, and they occasionally have to fight with nomadic tribes.
If the territory of Daqian is also unstable, those barbarians will surely take the opportunity to attack after they hear the news, and then we will be doomed.
The middle-aged man naturally noticed the changes in the expressions of the diners in the lobby. He took another big gulp of strong liquor, trying to suppress his irritation.
"General, news has come from the capital that the Fourth Prince has been killed by the rebels!" A soldier in armor hurried to the middle-aged man's side and reported in a panic.
The middle-aged man's hand, gripping the wine bowl, suddenly froze. He stared at the guard in disbelief. "What did you say? The Fourth Prince is dead? How is that possible?"
The soldier knelt on one knee and replied, "Reporting to the general, it was sent by express messenger at an urgent rate of 800 li, so there can be no mistake."
The middle-aged man—no, the general—of course knew the news was accurate; he just couldn't understand why the Fourth Prince had died…
He originally intended to choose sides after the Fourth Prince quelled the rebels.
He still feels terrified when he thinks about it now. Luckily, he didn't listen to the advice of his advisors and take sides before the new emperor did, otherwise he would have been waiting to be purged by the new emperor.
The soldier approached the general and whispered, "General, there's news from the capital that the Fifth Prince... he's become a eunuch."
The general raised an eyebrow, trying to lower his voice, and said, "A eunuch? Doesn't that mean that the only one with a chance to ascend the throne is..."
He suppressed the words "Sixth Prince," but it was clear that both of them understood each other's meaning.
But the general's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Even he knew of the sixth prince's reputation for being a playboy, which he knew from the border. How could such a person be emperor?
If the Sixth Prince were to actually ascend the dragon throne, the Great Gan Dynasty would surely be doomed.
Just as the general was deep in thought, the diners in the inn were in a panic. They never expected that the person they had just been chatting with was the legendary General Hu!
It is said that General Hu was nine feet tall and had an extremely terrifying appearance, capable of stopping children from crying at night.
But this man was only a little over seven feet tall. Although he looked somewhat rugged, he had a decent appearance and looked exactly the same as the rumors.
General Hu quickly snapped out of his reverie. Noticing the quiet around him, he smiled and addressed the crowd.
"Now that I'm out in the world, I'm just an ordinary person. You don't need to treat me like a general. You all have a good meal and drinks. I'll be leaving now."
Before leaving, General Hu paid for everyone's meal in the hall. In his words, he wanted to apologize for disturbing everyone's enjoyment of eating and drinking.
After General Hu left, everyone immediately sighed with emotion.
"So General Hu is so kind. I was really deceived by the rumors."
"Who isn't? We're so safe here thanks to General Hu. If it weren't for him leading the border soldiers to guard the area so closely, those barbarians would have already stormed in."
Amidst the lively discussion, Xu Jinhuan and his group in the corner also held a small meeting.
"I didn't expect the capital to descend into chaos even faster than we anticipated," Xie Datou said in a deep voice.
After careful consideration, Li Yichang said solemnly, "I'm afraid that no matter who wins, this war is just the beginning."
Su Sanxi was taken aback upon hearing this. "Brother Li, you mean..."
Li Yichang nodded slowly. "As we've come this far, you've all noticed, haven't you? More and more people are turning to banditry."
"If it weren't for our leader's intervention during the plague, there would have been even more bandits. Although they are currently fighting individually, there's no guarantee they won't band together, which would then become a troublesome problem."
Xu Jinhuan didn't seem as alarmed as her subordinates. She smiled and used clean chopsticks to serve each person a bite of food.
"Don't worry, those will only become opportunities for us to make a name for ourselves. Now it's time to eat, so everyone focus on eating and don't think about anything else."
Upon hearing this, the subordinates obediently picked up their rice bowls and began to eat.
Xu Jinhuan nodded in satisfaction. A thoughtful look flashed in her lowered eyes. Logically speaking, the capital shouldn't have fallen into chaos so quickly. Could it be that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes?
Is it him?
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