It was mid-afternoon when Xiao Yu and the others arrived.
It gets dark early in winter, and today it's even more cloudy, so there's not much light outside.
Xiao Jiyuan had already led people to stand at the city gate to greet them. As soon as they arrived, Xiao Jiyuan immediately led the way personally and took them to a neatly tidied yard.
Not the Qibei government office.
Not even Qibei Prince’s Mansion.
In recent years, Qibei has not listened to the imperial court and has long formed a model of Tu-Emperor autonomy. The emperor had no choice but to protect his face by granting a title to King Ankang and placing it here, treating Qibei as the fiefdom of King Ankang.
Such covert tactics protected the emperor's face.
The emperor only felt that as long as he had Xiao Yu in Kyoto, Qi Bei would not dare to act rashly. Xiao Yu was his weapon to hold Qi Bei hostage.
But now, Xiao Yu's former backer is no longer reliable.
King Ankang was originally a subordinate of Xiao Jiyuan, but this time when Xiao Yu and others came, King Ankang didn't even show his face.
Xiao Jiyuan settled the family down, and everyone gathered around the pot, talking about business while keeping warm and relieving the fatigue from the journey.
"...I came here this time without showing up. I only said that I was accompanied by Yu'er to set up a front line. King Ankang and the prefect of Qibei were not very cooperative. This courtyard was still a hidden stake that Yu'er had hidden here before.
Yes, otherwise you might not even have a place to stay if you come here.
In just a few days since I came here, the four of us were poisoned a total of twelve times.
The other side has made it clear that they don’t want us to come.”
Xiao Jiyuan picked up a chopstick of mutton and put it into Su Zimu's bowl. "You're so greedy that your saliva is almost flowing out. I don't treat you harshly at home, so why are you so greedy?"
Su Zimu ate the meat with a smile and listened to the adults without expressing any opinions.
Everything here was something he had never experienced in his previous life.
Completely unfamiliar.
The eldest princess sneered, "King Ankang has become the power he is now, not because of your remaining power, nor because of the money and food that Yu'er has sent here over the years.
Yu'er spent the money he earned with his life to take care of his illness and raise his horse, but instead he raised his own."
Xiao Yu is open-minded, "Power is alluring. It's normal. If I didn't come to Qibei and stayed in Kyoto, he would definitely listen to me. But here I am... there is no room for two tigers in one mountain."
Xiao Jiyuan looked at his son and said, "You are really open-minded. When you were in Kyoto, he listened to you because you gave him money. Look at the crimes you suffered in Kyoto later. If he really let you go,
How can you remain indifferent in your heart?
Even though I was initially afraid of exposing my power, after I gradually became more powerful, I didn't take the initiative to help you. Instead, I kept using excuses to preserve my secret strength and refused to show up."
Xiao Yu smiled and said, "It's not up to him whether he shows up or not. He's not the only one here."
Xiao Jiyuan was stunned and looked at his son with some surprise but even more pride, "Do you still have someone else?"
Xiao Yu gave Su Luo a piece of boiled pig's blood, "Of course, the cunning rabbit still has three burrows. I am a desperado, so I don't have to prepare a few more. King Ankang is the one I put in front of him."
If he is obedient, he is my general; if he is disobedient, he is my living target.
What he relies on is just the military.
The person with real cohesion in the army is Chen Mian, my man."
Xiao Yu took out an envelope from his arms and slapped it on the table, "This is the secret letter Chen Mian sent me before I came here."
Xiao Jiyuan smiled happily, put down his chopsticks and picked up the letter. When he took a look at it, the happy smile on his face froze. He raised his hand and slapped Xiao Yu on the head, "You bastard, why did you let me
If I come here in advance, your father will be a living target!"
His sudden change of expression made the eldest princess curious, so she picked up the letter and read it.
He burst into laughter immediately.
[Your Majesty, General Xiao has arrived in Qibei. As we expected, King Ankang and the prefect of Qibei did not respect the person who came this time. They even poisoned him several times after secretly knowing that the person was General Xiao.
The ambitions of King Ankang and the prefect of Qibei have been exposed.
In addition, I have quietly spread the news about their poisoning among the army. In ten days, the army will be able to clearly distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, and then the prince will come back.】
Xiao Jiyuan felt very proud that his son had a city and a strategy.
And I feel...fuck off your strategy.
Use your own father as a living target.
You are really nothing!
"You are such a good eldest son of mine. Why didn't you poison me to death? Why didn't I know you were so filial to me?" Xiao Jiyuan glared at Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu couldn't help laughing.
"I can't tell you this in advance. It won't really poison you anyway. The less you know, the more normal reactions you get when you come here. King Ankang is your former
My old subordinates are not easy to mess with, I don’t dare to relax at all.”
Xiao Jiyuan:......
The eldest princess laughed loudly, "As expected of his son, I really can't bear to see my father unable to trap the wolf!"
Xiao Yu hid this matter from the eldest princess and Xiao Jiyuan, but did not hide it from Su Luo. Su Luo knew about it early on and sat there with pursed lips and smiled.
The family was having dinner when Ping An opened the curtain from outside and came in.
"Someone is coming from Prince Ankang's palace. Please invite the prince and princess to come and sit down."
Xiao Jiyuan's face was filled with anger, "This ungrateful thing was able to leave the battlefield alive because I dug him out of the pile of dead and carried him out of the snow-capped mountains. I carried him for two days and two nights, and now he is like this!"
Xiao Yu patted his father on the shoulder, looking like two good brothers, and said, "That's great, so that you don't have to be hypocritical and be blinded by the comrades-in-arms friendship back then."
Xiao Jiyuan was startled.
Only then did Xiao Yu realize the true intention of his previous arrangement.
Xiao Yu didn't tell him, not because he was afraid that his untrue reaction would alert the other party, but because he was afraid that he would be blinded by the love between his comrades.
After all, his old subordinates include those who were loyal to the hot spring village in Jieshi County.
Xiao Jiyuan looked at Xiao Yu again and felt that this son had really grown up and could really stand on his own.
The eldest princess looked at Xiao Jiyuan, and the couple looked at each other.
The eldest princess had a smile in her eyes: My son is great, right?
Xiao Jiyuan also smiled: Awesome.
Xiao Yu wiped his mouth and said to Ping An: "Prepare the carriage. The princess and I will go over after dinner."
The other party did not come to see him, but instead invited him to his door.
Give the other party a face, look at this face, King Ankang can't pretend to be fake.
After dinner, Xiao Yu took Su Luo and set off.
In the carriage, Xiao Yu held Su Luo's hand, "Are you afraid?"
Su Luo nodded, "A little bit, but you're here, so I'm not that scared."
Xiao Yu kissed her on the cheek and said, "It's good to be afraid, because fear makes you vigilant. We came here to take back military power, but this military power is not so easy to take back."
"I understand." Su Luo smiled at Xiao Yu: "My mother analyzed it for me."