It was said that Muzar was depressed and drank with his companions in the delegation last night.
Think about it, drinking with his companions? It was weird, wasn’t it?
Right, he might feel depressed. Okay, he came here to conduct a peace talk. His country was defeated, so it was understandable that he felt depressed.
However, as an envoy bearing heavy responsibilities, he got drunk and was helped by others to go back to his room to sleep… Hadn’t he gone too far?
More importantly, Muzar got several servants to serve himself.
After all, he was a special guest, wasn’t he?
But, he drove them out of his room and hit two of them under the pretense of drunkenness.
He just got here to seek for peace. Wasn’t he too unbridled?
Long read the report of investigation process handed in by the Ministry of Punishment and then frowned.
Shi sat beside Long and asked subconsciously upon seeing this, “A little odd?”
“Eh. I feel he was literally looking for death,” said Long with a sneer. After some thoughts, he added, “Qingzhou, look at this, by the way. He hit two servants.”
“Eh… did he do it on purpose?” asked Shi with his brows raised.
“There is something more… I guess he didn’t hit them randomly…” murmured Long.
Having pondered over it for a while, Shi said, “I’ll investigate it.”
Long said with a nod, “Let’s find out whom he hit.”
Shi ordered someone to investigate this. Shortly, the result was reported. Two menservants responsible for Muzar’s safety at night were beaten away that night.
“He really did it on purpose…” Long continued with coldness in his eyes, “But, did he beat them away to collude with anyone or finish his own life?”
“Did he need to take so much trouble to commit suicide?”
Muzar traveled a long distance and came here to kill himself? What was wrong with him?
“Or he wanted to die within our borders?” Long made speculations.
Shi frowned. “If so, he could do it the moment he set foot on our land. Is there any difference between the two ways?”
Long stroked his chin. “So… he actually made an appointment with someone?”
“In that case, the murderer must be the one he had conspired with…”
“Hmm, I suspect it’s one of our men,” Long said.
Shi said with serious eyes, “Traitors…”
Long smiled. “Those Wangyehs are quite suspicious. Before Northern Land started a war, they had already tried to collude with them. Now that Northern Land was defeated by us, are they willing to give up?”
Shi nodded. “It sounds possible indeed.”
After they talked to each other for a while, Long said, “Well, let’s only keep this between us.”
Shi nodded in agreement. “Do I need to inform my father of this?”
“You bet!” Long added with darkened eyes, “If Northern Land utilizes this as an excuse to start a war, your father has to be well prepared for it.”
Shi nod again. “Sure. Will you leave this matter to me?”
“Yes, I will.” Long totally agreed with Shi.
Shi gently smiled and went to handle the matter.
When Long read two imperial reports, one eunuch reported that Xu You came over.
Unexpectedly, Xu looked preoccupied. “Elder brother, I received the message Fang sent to me by a pigeon.”
“Who?” Long didn’t think of whom Xu was talking about at first.
“Fang Shuoyang,” Xu said and took a pigeon and a paper-note out of his bosom.
Long somehow found the scene hilarious and couldn’t help twisting the corners of his lips. “The pigeon…”
“I kept it when I first came to the world. I didn’t take it with me on purpose when I escaped from the fort. I had thought Fang would send it to me after he made a decision. I’ve received the pigeon, but the news…”
“What did he write on the note?” asked Long immediately upon seeing Xu’s grave face.
Instead of replying to Long, Xu passed the note along.
When Long read it, he got stunned, for the words were written… in the Chinese phonetic alphabet.
Right, it was the Chinese phonetic alphabet! “You taught him this?”
“I said I created it in the form of secret codes,” Xu replied.
Long nodded and found that it was quite good to use such a method to keep secrets.
The handwriting was a little messy and it read, “Strong enemies invaded the fort. Don’t come back and don’t trust anyone. Wait for me to look for you.”
“Sky Hermit Fort was invaded?” asked Long in surprise. It was said that Sky Hermit Fort was quite mysterious in the Rivers and Lakes. More importantly, it was rather powerful, but based on the note sent by Fang, the young master of Sky Hermit Fort, strong enemies launched an attack against the fort, but who were them?
Long frowned and asked, “What do you think?”
Xu shook his head with concerns. “I don’t know. Sky Hermit Fort is very powerful, but Fang Shuoyang still described them as strong enemies… it’s hard for me to imagine how strong they are.”
Long was lost in his thoughts. Shortly, Shi came back after delivering the news to his father and raised his brows upon seeing Xu. He then asked while seeing Xu’s worried look, “What’s up? What happened?”
“Elder Brother Shi.” Xu brightened his eyes and said, “Do you know about the enemies of Sky Hermit Fort?”
Shi fell into silence for a while and asked, “Haven’t you stayed there for six years?”
“Yes.” Xu flattened his mouth and said, “But I have no idea about its enemies.”
Shi didn’t know what to say.
Long sighed. “Something happened to Sky Hermit Fort. Fang Shuoyang passed a message along and said they were attacked by strong enemies, but we still don’t know the details yet.”
“Oh? Revenge from the Rivers and Lakes?”
Xu felt frustrated. “I don’t know…”
Shi pondered over it and said, “I have some connections in the Rivers and Lakes and will ask them to look into this.”
“Okay, okay.” Xu turned cheerful and said in a hurry, “Elder Brother Shi, I know you’re more awesome than elder brother. Thank you.”
Long, “…” What did Xu mean by saying this? Xu should have kept it in his heart, but why did he have to speak it out loud?
Shi also felt speechless and glanced at Long with a faint smile. Your sworn little brother made you lose your face…
Long’s face turned darkened.
Shi cleared his throat and said, “I’ll go give an order.”
After Shi left, Xu asked, “Elder brother, Elder Brother Shi will absolutely find out what’s going on there, won’t he?”
Absolutely? Long nodded. Shi was the leading character in The Empress’s Way to the Throne where the matters concerning the Rivers and Lakes weren’t involved much.
Even so, Long didn’t forget one sentence written thereof.
“The emperor, Shi Qingzhou, actually controlled half of the Rivers and Lakes before succeeding to the throne. After he was enthroned, he controlled the entire Rivers and Lakes.”
Based on this sentence, Long counted the time and guessed that Shi must have developed his force in the Rivers and Lakes by now!
In addition, if the plots went on as the book said, Shi had already killed the original emperor and was enthroned, okay?
“Really? That’s good.” Xu could rest assured.
Long asked with a darkened face, “What do you mean by saying ‘you know he’s more awesome than me’?”
“Er…” Xu got tongue-tied and scratched his head. “Well, I’m telling the truth… besides, I think our minds are different from those of the real people here.”
Long, “…” He really thought that Xu made him angry to death.
This afternoon, when Long and Shi were handling the imperial reports in the Qiankun Palace, Xu came over once again.
Xu said this time, “Elder brother, I wanna go out.”
“Hmm? Why?” Long raised his brows.
“The people from Sky Hermit Fort chased after me the other day, so I wanna arrest a couple of them and ask them how much they know about what’s going on there.”
“Good idea… but…” Long squinted at Xu. “But, how can you arrest them given that you’re not good at martial arts?”
Xu said naturally, “Of course I can’t, so I wanna invite Elder Brother Shi to go with me.”
Long, “…”
Shi raised his brows.
Xu said, “Elder brother, be generous! It will only cost Elder Brother Shi half a day.”
Long slightly twisted the corners of his lips.
Shi directly nodded. “Mmm, I have nothing else to do, so I’ll help you with this.”
Long, “…” Why did nobody ask his opinions?
Long was directly ignored. After that, Shi and Xu got changed and went out.
Long also wanted to follow them out, but his hands were tied, so he was left in the imperial palace.
Xu didn’t stop talking on their way out.
For example…
“Elder Brother Shi, are you and elder brother really close?”
Shi smiled but said nothing.
Xu asked again, “Elder Brother Shi, what’s the most romantic thing elder brother has done for you?”
“Romantic?” Shi raised his head and looked at Xu.
Xu explained, “Something makes you feel extremely happy… how to put it? Okay, let me explain its meaning to you first. Romance is that someone does something to make your heart beat faster and thereby you want to be with him.”
Shi paused for a moment and was reminded of the lake, the lanterns, and the promise Long made to him that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him only…
Seeing Shi fall into silence, Xu thought that there was a chance.
“Elder Brother Shi, what were you thinking of?”
Shi said with a faint smile, “Nothing.”
Xu pressed his lips. “Elder Brother Shi, you’re a liar.”
Shi still wore a smile and changed the subject. “Don’t we get down to business?”
Xu pondered over it and said, “In the past, as soon as I showed up, they would chase after me. I don’t know where to find them actually. Or, will we go where it’s crowded?”
“Okay.” Shi nodded in agreement. “Let’s go where the crowd like to go first. If they are still here, they’ll definitely follow us. Then, we go where it’s remote and they’ll make an action.”
Xu considered this a good idea and nodded. “Okay, let’s do it!”
Shi also nodded and followed Xu to where there were so many people…
They did nothing but stroll leisurely on the street.
About 15 minutes later, Shi said, “Let’s go and find where there are fewer people.”
Xu instantly turned vigilant but found nothing suspicious. Thus, he asked in a low voice, “What’s up? Have they followed us?” Shi invisibly nodded. “Yes, I’ve found them.”
Xu said with his eyes brightened, “Elder Brother Shi, let’s find a place with less people!”
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