Chapter 36 Gathering in the General’s Residence
Wangfei? It was enough of a shock that the Prince Li who always avoided women actually personally came to his door for a woman, yet he’s even calling her his future wangfei, it looks like this woman was quite special to him. In the future, she would definitely become his weakness! Fu Chou’s face didn’t change, a glint flashed through his gentle eyes and he turned away. Sweeping his gaze through the hundred or so guards, he slightly frowned, speaking in a suspicious tone, “The future Li wangfei is a guest at this general’s residence? There’s such a thing?” He turned around to speak sternly at Lao Zhang, “Zhang Geng, when did Li wangfei enter the residence, why did you not notify this general? If this general angered wangfei, how should you be punished?!” Secretly hiding away Li wangfei was not a small matter, he would never admit it so easily.
General Fu who always had a gentle personality was quite fearsome when his face turned dark, even if his voice was not especially heavy, it still caused people’s hearts to quake! Lao Zhang’s legs softened and he kneeled down in fright, “Reporting to General, this servant, this servant…had never seen this so-called Li wangfei! There has also not been any women that have entered the residence today…may General thoroughly investigate!”
Fu Chou turned around, his face carrying a polite smile, “I wonder where Prince Li obtained information that the future Li wangfei was in this general’s residence? Could it be…the information was wrong?”
Zongzheng Wuyou looked at Fu Chou as if he was watching a play, watching him act confused when he was clearly aware. The guards behind him brought out a red wooden chair out from inside the carriage. He adjusted his clothes and elegantly sat down, curving his lips up yet his eyes didn’t carry any mirth as he spoke in a heavy voice, “General means to say…benwang heard incorrectly and came to seek trouble?”
Fu Chou replied, “This general did not mean that, Prince Li misunderstood.”
Zongzheng Wuyou: “Then general…is unwilling to hand over the person?”
Fu Chou laughed, “This general doesn’t even know who the future Li wangfei is, how can this general hand over Prince Li’s person?”
Zongzheng Wuyou scoffed, “Benwang though that General was an intelligent person!” The gaze Fu Chou looked at Ah Man with, he was extremely aware of it. He did not believe for a second that Fu Chou did not know Ah Man was a woman!
Fu Chou continued to smile, “Coincidentally, this general has always been a little slow, I’ve caused Prince Li to be disappointed.”
The two of them seemed to be conversing harmoniously with smiles on their faces, but hidden behind the smiles were sharp daggers, creating waves beneath the calm lake. Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes narrowed, his voice becoming even darker, “If that’s the case, then when benwang has found the person, shall I tell General…who she is?! Someone come, go inside to search!” He didn’t bother to explain further and sent down a command.
“Yes!” The hundred guards sounded out their agreement, their voices like a gong, and went into the residence to search for the person only to hear a heavy and powerful voice, “Hold it!” over the sounds of a hundred people, causing their hearts to lurch. The guards confusedly turned around only to see Fu Chou carrying the same expression but the hand he raised held a firm and powerful strength, making them unconsciously stop what they were doing. Those originally gentle eyes suddenly became as cold and as sharp as a long sword, making them afraid to face him. Other than their own wangye, this was the first time they experienced such an imposing aura from someone else.
Zonzgheng Wuyou sat in the chair, his fingers unmoving as he stared at Fu Chou. This man who had beheaded millions of heads on the battlefield was similar to him in age and currently had a deep expression that no one could see through.
Fu Chou slowly retracted his gaze, returning back to being gentle and calm. He smiled as he took a few steps forward, “Prince Li wants to search this general’s residence, but I’m afraid that’s inappropriate! Although Prince Li is a royal prince and is also enthroned as a qinwang(1), this general is a first-ranked court official and had the luck to be praised by His Majesty and was bestowed with the military seal of the three armies to protect the safety of this nation. If you will insist upon searching through this residence without any cause or evidence, then how will this general have the dignity to command the three armies int he future? Moreover, this dynasty has established a new law, any court official’s residence, if the Emperor has not decreed it so, no one has the right to willfully search through it.” His words resounded, not soft and not hard.
Zongzheng Wuyou’s gaze deepened and his lips lifted up into a smile that wasn’t a smile, “Benwang thought that since General spent most of his years on the battlefields, you only knew how to command troops and fight, but I did not think that General was this aware about the dynasty’s brand new law, it looks like General has spent a lot of effort?!”
Fu Chou laughed, “Prince Li is overpraising me! After this general returned to court, because I was not familiar with court rules, I made mistakes that I should not have, so I had to spend some time to understand it more…I’ve caused Prince Li to witness a joke.”
The conversation between them seemed to be normal, but it was rife with hidden agendas. Fu Chou answered so thoroughly, he didn’t allow for any loopholes. But what kind of person was Zongzheng Wuyou? Someone who didn’t even glance at heaven’s decree, how could he possibly follow court rules? Zongzheng Wuyou glanced at the darkening skies and became impatient, “Benwang doesn’t have the patience to speak riddles with General. Benwang just wants to know, where is the person that General personally brought back today?”
Fu Chou didn’t expect for him to get to the point so quickly and was stunned before pretending to suddenly understand and smiled, “So Prince Li was actually referring to Li Yue?! Then wangye came at an inopportune time, she has already left.”
Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes flashed and he spoke coldly, “Is that so? But benwang heard that she is still in General’s residence, if General is unwilling to hand her over, then benwang…must offend you!” Finished, he waved his hands when a cold and sinister voice sounded out nearby, “From afar I heard a voice that sounded like Seventh Brother, so this Crown Prince especially came by to take a look, but didn’t expect it was true…Oh! Prince Li’s residence’s personal guards were even mobilized, what’s going on?”
As the words fell, Crown Prince Zongzheng Xiaoren walked over with Yu daren and a few personal bodyguards. Zongzheng Wuyou frowned, to lazy to look at him and continued to calmly sit. Fu Chou, on the other hand, smiled even wider and performed the proper etiquette. Zongzheng Xiaoren brought out his rare politeness and helped him up, “General Fu is the pillar of my dynasty, in the future this Crown Prince will have many matters that will depend on General. In the future, in private…no need for such formal greetings.” This one sentence made his stance very clear.
Fu Chou lightly smiled and politely rejected, pretending to not understand the hidden meaning behind Crown Prince’s words. Zongzheng Xiaoren inwardly knew that this type of person was not so easy to draw over and glanced at the two rows of a hundred guards, asking with the attitude of a future ruler, “What is going on here?”
Fu Chou secretly glanced at Zongzheng Wuyou who was sneering, and spoke, “Your Highness, it’s nothing big, it’s just that Prince Li has…a misunderstanding about this subject.”
Zongzheng Xiaoren nodded and spoke in a joyful tone, “Since it’s a misunderstanding…Seventh Brother, you just tell your people to retreat. What does it look like for a hundred guards to surround the gates of General’s residence? People who don’t know what’s going on would think that something big happened.” Finished, he pointed a finger at the commander standing at the front, giving out a verbal command, “You all, hurry up and take away all the people and leave, go back to Prince Li’s residence.”
No one let out a sound, all the guards pretended to not have heard anything. Zongzheng Wuyou lazily leaned back against the chair, his eyes carrying mockery. The people of his residence only listened to the commands of himself. Zongzheng Xiaoren’s face became extremely ugly and he became angry, “Are you rebelling? You dare to not listen to the commands of this Crown Prince?!”
Zongzheng Wuyou laughed at him, this type of bossy attitude was extremely funny to him. He slowly stood up and coldly smiled, “Is Crown Prince referring to benwang?”
Zongzheng Xiaoren met those cold and sinister eyes, his heart lurching even as he pretended that he was unaffected. His face as the future ruler cannot be lost in front of the general that he is trying to win over. As a result, he slowly drew nearer to Zongzheng Wuyou, speaking in a low voice by his ear, “Don’t forget how you arrived in this world!” It was exchanged with his mother’s life, such a big gratitude, he wanted Zongzheng Wuyou to remember it forever.
Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes changed and he glared at him, coldly snorting before speaking in a heavy voice, “Crown Prince, then you should also know that no matter what trump cards you have, there will always be an expiration date.”After so many years, in order to take away his life, Zongzheng Xiaoren had concocted countless schemes in the dark, so how could he not know! Time after time, he had let this treacherous person go all because of his mother, otherwise Zongzheng Xiaoren would have died countless times already.
Zongzheng Xiaoren froze, was this invicible shield of his about to lose its effectiveness? How could he be willing! “Zongzheng Wuyou, don’t forget the promise your mother gave to mine before she passed away!”
Zongzheng Wuyou furiously turned his head, his eyes as sharp as daggers, a killing intent spreading from his body. His mother was the greatest taboo in his life, no one was allowed to bring her up. He stared at the crown prince, speaking coldly, “If there was no promise, do you think you would be able to stand here and talk to me? Zongzheng Xiaoren, even if I am not interested in the position of the Crown Prince, don’t…force me!”
Zongzheng Xiaoren’s body trembled. As long as Zongzheng Wuyou was willing, whether he Zongzheng Xiaoren was the crown prince or a begger, all it took was just a sentence!
The atmosphere suddenly turned heavy and tense, the light breeze of early summer causing people to shiver. First, it was the confrontation between Prince Li and General, now the Crown Prince was added into the mix. Other than the Emperor of Lintian, the three most powerful people were gathered in this spot. Yu daren silently retreated several steps, hiding behind the guards, not daring to make a single sound. Fu Chou calmly stood at the side, his face still as gentle as ever as if nothing happened. A strange look passed through his eyes at times, but since it was too fleeting, people couldn’t tell.
At this moment, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of the gate of the General’s residence. A “yu” sound rang out and the carriage stopped, a red-clothed woman stepped down from the carriage with the assistance of her maidservant. The woman had a graceful figure, the pearl curtain covering her face, it was clearly Princess Rong Le. Everyone’s gazes landed on her, the woman felt that the atmosphere wasn’t quite right and was stunned for a moment, sweeping her gaze over everyone present and then walked towards Zongzheng Wuyou. Curtsying in greeting, she spoke with a faint smile, “So Prince Li and Crown Prince are here as well, Rong Le greets you!”
As she drew near, Zongzheng Wuyou felt a feminine fragrance entering his nostrils, even though it wasn’t strong, it was the type of smell he hated the most. He wrinkled his eyebrows and gave his bodyguard a look before that bodyguard rushed over in front of him to block, the red-robed woman was forced to take a few steps back.
Fu Chou greeted the woman in front and continued to smile, “In two days, it will be the wedding day between this general and Princess Rong Le, this general wanted to get to know Princess better before the wedding and invited Princess to come see if there was anything in the residence she is dissatisfied with. Even though there is not enough time to rebuild, it is still possible to redecorate some things. But I did not expect for such a coincidence to happen today, Crown Prince and Prince Li, as well as Yu daren, are all gathered here so if you do not mind, why don’t everyone enter the residence and this general will arrange for a banquet, how is it?”
Zongzheng Xiaoren was originally worried that he would not be able to get out of this awkward situation so after hearing this suggestion, he naturally agreed and Yu daren followed him in agreement. The red-robed woman smiled and nodded. Only Zongzheng Wuyou didn’t voice his opinion, observing the woman who was supposed to be his wife yet was rejected by him, finding that this woman’s figure was very similar to Ah Man, even the gesture of raising her hand was extremely similar. The only difference was that their voices and breathing patterns were different, one was clear and leisurely, the other carried a hint of hoarseness. Inwardly he thought: Fu Chou waited until now to invite her to the residence, is he planning something?
(1) qinwang: Prince of the First Rank; highest rank an imperial prince can have (other than Crown Prince)