Did Huo Wujiu look like he had had too much to drink?
With those lazy smiling eyes, Jiang Suizhou was stunned and couldn’t help smiling along.
“Since you’ve had too much to drink, you should rest early.” After saying so, he attempted to rise to his feet.
But unexpectedly, Huo Wujiu pulled him back.
He lifted his hand and tightly grabbed Jiang Suizhou’s arm, using his strength to get up.
He could have stood up on his own, but he just had to drag Jiang Suizhou, causing him to almost tumble down onto the couch.
“You…”
Jiang Suizhou instinctively stretched out his hand and propped himself on the couch armrest, and then stabilized his figure.
He was about to speak when he heard Huo Wujiu say on the side, “Okay. Anyway, don’t dwell on it.”
Jiang Suizhou turned his head and stared at him.
“However, I can’t stretch my hand too far about matters in the court. I don’t think I can receive news immediately if Pang Shao really wants to take action against Lou Yue,” Huo Wujiu remarked.
Jiang Suizhou nodded. “Rest assured about this,” he replied, “I’ve had people on the lookout the moment I realized it. If there’s even a hint of movement, I’ll let you know immediately.”
Huo Wujiu responded, “With you, I can rest assured.”
Despite the unfading smile on his face and his lighthearted tone, Jiang Suizhou somehow captured a kind of trust and seriousness in his tone.
He nodded firmly as well.
Huo Wujiu leaned on the pillow beside him and said, “There’s just something that keeps bothering me.”
“What is it?”
Jiang Suizhou asked.
Huo Wujiu casually flipped through the book in his hand with one hand, but his eyes were locked on Jiang Suizhou.
“I heard that your father favored you,” he said. “How come Jiang Shunheng was made Emperor?”
This point was indeed questionable. Although Jiang Suizhou wasn’t Jingwang himself, he was a professional. Jingwang probably didn’t know some things clearly.
“My father died suddenly and left no edict.” He said, “Although he was not favored, he is father’s firstborn son. Once my father died, my mother was secretly killed. I had no one to rely on, so naturally I couldn’t compete with him having Pang Shao’s support.”
Huo Wujiu clicked his tongue.
“It’s a pity that I met you too late,” he said.
Jiang Suizhou was so amused that he burst out laughing.
“What? If you did early on, would you have deployed your army to support and make me the Emperor?” he quipped.
Huo Wujiu’s eyes drooped, as if he was seriously considering m m it. But the next moment, he raised his eyes, propped himself up on the cushion with one hand, and inched closer to Jiang Suizhou.
“It’s not too late to consider it,” he replied.
“What?” Jiang Suizhou failed to understand.
Huo Wujiu stared at him. Although his eyes were deep, his gaze was burning.
“If that day does come, do you want to be the Emperor?”
Jiang Suizhou naturally did not dare to take Huo Wujiu’s words seriously.
In his perception, Southern Jing was a state doomed to be ruined. The people who would wield power in the next few hundred years would all be rulers surnamed Huo. This was the inevitable dynastic change in a feudal era, and the historical trajectory of all of them.
If Huo Wujiu’s words ever became reality…
He, as a time traveler, would have changed the course of history of the Northern Liang exterminating Jing, and positioned himself as the Emperor. From then on, he would have changed from a history researcher to a monarch recorded in history books… Forget it, he was merely a poor teacher. He didn’t have such guts.
Jiang Suizhou refused to entertain even the thought of it and shook his head: “I don’t want to.”
Huo Wujiu, however, didn’t believe it.
“Do you really not want to?”
He leaned a bit close to Jiang Suizhou, rendering half of the latter’s body tense. Jiang Suizhou gingerly leaned back and shook his head firmly: “I never thought about it.”
Huo Wujiu looked at him a bit longer and chortled.
“You’re really…” He sighed.
It was plain to see that Jiang Suizhou wasn’t faking it. For a moment there, he couldn’t figure out how his incompetent father spoiled him for so many years. How did the most powerful and rich man in the land raise such a timid and polite steamed stuffed bun?
His reaction puzzled Jiang Suizhou. He asked in bewilderment, “What’s the matter… don’t tell me you considered it?”
Huo Wujiu resplied without hesitation, “I did.”
Jiang Suizhou did not expect him to be so straightforward and frank. But thinking of the results and his choices in his history that were entirely different from his attitude, he was even more puzzled: “Then why did you…”
His question stopped here, but Huo Wujiu knew what he wanted to ask.
“You know about the battle in Xunyang, right?” he asked.
Jiang Suizhou nodded.
“My father died, and I lost contact with both my royal brother and uncle on the battlefield.” He looked indifferent as if he was talking about someone else’s affairs. “With the few soldiers under my command, even if I escape, it would be difficult to survive, so I sought out my uncle first and rejoined him.”
Jiang Suizhou responded. Huo Wujiu paused for a moment and continued, “My uncle and royal brother were both seriously injured and fell ill at that time. My uncle got sick because he insisted on returning to find my father. As for my royal brother, it’s because it was too late when I found him. His soldiers were almost completely wiped out, and I dug him out among the corpses.”
Jiang Suizhou perceived sombreness and a tremor hidden beneath his calm voice.
He could not make a sound for a while, and only looked at Huo Wujiu in silence.
Huo Wujiu added, “My father initiated the rebellion, and by rights, I should be the one to sit on the throne. However, the clan started an armed struggle with my father, and the outcome was inseparable from my father…”
He laughed mirthlessly and said, “Now that I think about it, I don’t really want to sit in that position. Our clan’s uprising was originally for self-protection, and now that the purpose has been achieved, handing the throne over can be regarded as compensation.”
This was something that Jiang Suizhou never read in historical records.
He only knew how tragic the battle of Xunyang was, but it merely appeared in thick and bold inks the annals. When speaking of that battle, everyone only pointed out that Huo Wujiu directed military operations like a God and calculated risky maneuvers. It was a rare and beautiful battle in the history of risky counterattacks. Unbeknownst to all, that one battle that solidified his title as a War God dealt a fatal blow to his entire family.
The family initially was just trying to survive and protect themselves.
Huo Wujiu fell silent, and when he raised his eyes at Jiang Suizhou again, Huo Wujiu saw him with such an expression.
His eyebrows drooped dispiritedly, and his eyes on him seemed to be overflowing with a splash of heartache.
Such a softie was a rarity to a man like Huo Wujiu, who had a heart as hard as an iron.
Comments