Seeing Liu Zhenqing’s unhappy expression, Huo Fenglie said: “We will find out later when we meet the Huo family elders.”

Liu Zhenqing nodded. They had discussed it before. There was a Huo family villa here, so naturally, there were veterans of the Huo family staying here to take care of the villa and themselves.

Since their whereabouts could not be exposed, it was convenient to stay at the Huo family villa and have people come out to exchange information with them.

And it was also necessary to have these sorts of eyes and ears, because once news spread about He Lan and Qin Yu sneaking in, the first thing they would inevitably think of was the Huo family courtyard.

The two went to the busiest teahouse in the city and found the most remote seat. After Huo Fenglie provided refreshments for Liu Zhenqing, he left alone, then returned soon after finding someone to deliver a message. 

“So fast?” Liu Zhenqing said in surprise: “You’ve gone around in a circle.”

“I found a beggar to deliver a message,” Huo Fenglie said concisely.

Liu Zhenqing was dressed like a scholar, but he leaned toward the upright Huo Fenglie and looked up, the tips of his eyes raised. “Why? Don’t you trust me? Have the enemies not all been thrown off?”

As he spoke, his legs were restless under the table, swinging to gently hit Huo Fenglie’s knee.

Huo Fenglie gave Liu Zhenqing a helpless look and moved his legs, pouring tea for him. “Since the ship originated here, there must be spies around. It is better to take caution.”

“Ai, I can’t be a drag on you with my martial arts skills,” Liu Zhenqing said with feigned sadness.

Huo Fenglie should clearly know that Liu Zhenqing was joking, but he still said at once: “You are not. Thanking Qing-ge for his analysis along the way.”

Liu Zhenqing frowned and said: “You’re clearly giving me the cold shoulder.”

Huo Fenglie was immediately startled, and said: “I’m not.”

Liu Zhenqing complained with an aggrieved look, “Then why are you moving your legs away?”

Suddenly feeling powerless, Huo Fenglie could only move his legs back silently, allowing Liu Zhenqing to give him light, random touches and even rub against him.

It seemed he was teasing him deliberately. Huo Fenglie could only avert his eyes to hide the traces of confusion.

The storyteller on the high platform was eloquent as he spoke of General Huo’s past battles. This was a storyteller’s favorite content, and many of them added a few lines about the treacherous minister Liu. Nearly every town had similar storytelling content. Although it was old news, the people in the audience still listened with gusto and cheered, not knowing that in the corner, the hero being spoken of, the general who guarded the country, was uneasily enduring the meticulous torture of Prime Minister Liu.

Before long, Huo Fenglie said: “Here he comes.”

Liu Zhenqing followed Huo Fenglie’s gaze and saw a familiar-looking uncle standing at the door. A pair of tiger eyes honed on the battlefield shot back and forth between the teahouse seats. They were peerless, neither arrogant nor impetuous, but would not miss any target. 

When he looked where they were, his whole body trembled and his knees slightly bent, as if he wanted to kneel down and salute on the spot from a distance of more than ten meters.

However, the uncle also had a sense of proportion. After a moment of shock, he hastily lowered his head and walked over quickly, without attracting the attention of others.

It was not until he reached a position concealed by a screen that he went to one knee and saluted. “Veteran Ding Wu greets the general.”

“Uncle Ding, there is no need to salute when you see me.” Huo Fenglie raised his hand and a strong gust of wind formed a support, allowing Uncle Ding to stand up.

Uncle Ding smiled forthrightly and said: “General, although I have already retired, I still take pride in being part of the Huo Family Army. Saluting the general is what I like to do most. I usually don’t have the chance, and can only dream about it. Now that I’ve seen you, I can’t help but…..aiya, Uncle Ding talks too much.”

Those who retired from the Huo Family Army due to old age likely all had this mindset. Uncle Ding was just one of them.

Hearing his name and seeing that he seemed to be lame in one leg, Liu Zhenqing remembered who he was.

Uncle Ding was once a guard with Huo Fenglie’s father. Later, in order to save the old general, he was injured and had to retire. Thus, he was placed in a separate courtyard for retirement. But looking at his majestic, tiger-like appearance, he probably still had the battlefield spirit to rush into battle if given a blade.

Liu Zhenqing naturally knew him because he had stayed in the courtyard when he first went south.

Huo Fenglie was not the sort of person who could exchange small talk with others, so no matter how the people who met him usually behaved, they were the ones who talked the most.

Uncle Ding extended his greetings for a moment, then looked at Liu Zhenqing. “This is…..”

Liu Zhenqing gave a faint smile. He originally seemed completely harmless on the outside, and his smile was naturally pleasing to the eye. “Hello, Uncle Ding. This one is Liu Xiaozhu. I’m…..”

“Liu?” Uncle Ding’s expression instantly changed, and he regarded him with alert defensiveness.

Liu Zhenqing immediately became awkward and quieted down. Yes, this was how a person from the Huo family should react.

“Uncle Ding, he is my friend. He is working with me at this time.” Huo Fenglie said with a calm expression: “Uncle Ding, please take a seat.”

Uncle Ding hesitated obviously for a long moment with his gaze on Liu Zhenqing’s face, but in the end, he still had a military soul and believed whatever the general said.

“Hello, Young Master Liu. I offended you just now.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Uncle Ding, sit down quickly,” Liu Zhenqing said politely.

When he saw how easy Liu Zhenqing was to talk to, his attitude softened slightly. He sat down and said in a low voice: “General, I heard that you appeared in two prefectures to handle cases. Why did you suddenly come here and use a code to lure me out?”

“I am working on the emperor’s behalf, so there is no need to ask about the rest. You only need to remember two things. First, our whereabouts are confidential and cannot be disclosed to anyone. Second, if someone sends a message to the courtyard, deliver it to the inn next door.”

Huo Fenglie’s tone was strict and serious. Uncle Ding immediately understood his meaning and accepted the military order.

“Uncle Ding, we only just arrived and are unaware of the situation here. Can you explain it in detail?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

Uncle Ding nodded and said: “What do the general and Young Master Liu wish to hear? The situation here has indeed been somewhat uneasy recently. Not to mention the persistent problem of the pirates who pop up frequently, the handover of naval and military power here has also been full of conflict lately.”

“Let’s talk about the issue of military power,” Liu Zhenqing said promptly.

Uncle Ding did his best to tell all he knew. “The conflict here actually started more than ten years ago. At that time, there were not 30,000 troops here. The Song family had controlled the local garrison for generations, but it was only a land force of 5,000 troops, so it was difficult to stabilize the seas. Back then, the pirate problem was much more serious than it is now. Not to mention the nearby islands, even the people along the coast had no peace, let alone maritime trade. Until the emperor’s southern tour…..”

As Uncle Ding was talking, the cheers outside suddenly grew louder, interrupting his words. The emotional storyteller was talking about something wonderful.

The content was similar to what Uncle Ding intended to say, so he stopped.

The storyteller could be heard saying excitedly: “The emperor was young at that time. It is said that he was on a southern tour, but in fact, it was the treacherous minister Liu Zhenqing who wanted to go south for an inspection in order to show off his power. Everyone, what do you think his real intention was for going south?”

The audience below was very cooperative. Some shouted that it was to attack the pirates, while others shouted that it was to eliminate dissidents. Then someone called out that it was to arrange an assassination. The hall fell quiet, and then fierce noise broke out.

Huo Fenglie had just gone to the northern battlefield at that point, traveling northwest with his brother. He had not heard about the specific situation with the southern tour.

Huo Fenglie glanced sideways at Liu Zhenqing, only to see that he was in a daze. The leg hitting him had paused.

The storyteller said: “You are all intelligent people, and have reached the same conclusions, but fighting against the pirates and eliminating dissidents are both lies. Abusing power for personal gain is the truth. Back then, an assassination took place in a coastal port not far from here. The emperor was even injured, but the treacherous minister Liu was fine. If it weren’t for Liu Zhenqing being exposed after his death when someone reported it, no one would have known that he arranged all of this. Not only did he threaten the emperor, but he also used this as an excuse to kill batch after batch of people who usually opposed him. He even put the blame on one of the rebel princes, using this as an excuse to continue to refuse the requests of the rebel princes to leave the capital. This led to the subsequent chaos of the Three Kings Rebellion. I will not go into detail here. I will only say that after this assassination incident, with the stroke of a pen, Prime Minister Liu told the emperor to grant the Song family 30,000 troops in order to establish a naval army. His reasoning was that the assassins may have been pirates colluding with the rebels, therefore the pirates who harmed others must also be punished.”

Someone below asked: “It seems that there was indeed a wave of great purges, and many pirates died. As a result, no pirates have dared to approach this place for a while.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately objected. “There were more pirates later. It completely backfired.”

“It was purely for his own benefit, regardless of the consequences.”

The storyteller scoffed coldly: “Nobody was deceived by that kind of superficiality. In fact, this was an attempt by Prime Minister Liu to defy the military power of the Huo family by developing the Song family into his own military power. In order to prevent the veteran generals from being difficult to use, the youngest Captain Song was selected to take charge just after the military power was handed over. Prime Minister Liu thought he could take advantage of this to control the 30,000 troops, but unexpectedly, Captain Song did not welcome him, a treacherous official who played with power. Therefore, everything he did was not for us ordinary people at all. Even in the face of personal gain and power, his disobedience could be heard even in the southernmost parts of the Zhou Dynasty.”

Everyone echoed: “A rebel and a traitor, ah!I”

“As expected of the Sea King, he was able to withstand the pressure of the treacherous minister at a young age.”

Uncle Ding had sneered when he heard “Defy the Huo family’s military power.”

Huo Fenglie frowned and didn’t want to listen anymore. He looked at Liu Zhenqing and saw that his eyes were growing duller.

Since he didn’t know how to coax people, Huo Fenglie could only take the initiative to bump him gently with his leg. Hadn’t Qing-ge been having a lot of fun just now? He would just take the initiative to cooperate.

Sure enough, when he gave him a light nudge, Liu Zhenqing’s eyes instantly regained their brightness and he looked at Huo Fenglie with surprise.

Huo Fenglie lowered his head to drink tea, hiding his embarrassment. His leg only bumped slightly, as if drawing the other side to bump him back.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t dwell on the upsetting things in the past. He couldn’t hear the insults and scoldings from the entire surprise. His mind was full of pleasant surprise.

Could it be that Er-gou had finally grown up and knew how to flirt with him? This seductive little thing.

Just as Liu Zhenqing pursed his lips and went to play along, he heard the storyteller above say in an extremely mocking tone: “At that time, the treacherous minister and Captain Song worked together as they went to eliminate the pirates, and he had impure intentions toward Captain Song. It was said that he learned that Captain Song did not discriminate between men and women, and also planned to send himself to his door to seek power, but was ultimately rejected. That is to say, even if Liu Zhenqing was beautiful enough to cause the downfall of cities and countries, our Captain Song remained unmoved!”

These words instantly aroused everyone’s excitement. It was as if they had glimpsed some gossip, and they exclaimed one after another.

“That wasn’t the first time the treacherous minister did such a thing. It is simply a disgrace to decency.”

“Although our Captain Song is usually self-indulgent and has countless attractive male and female confidants, at the critical moment, he was still not enchanted by beauty. Even had Liu Zhenqing stripped naked and stood in front of Song Xingmu, I dare to say that our Sea King would not take a glance.”

These words were to humiliate him.

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched involuntarily. While he was speechless, he felt the leg that was gently nudging against him stop. Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie and saw that his face was composed, with faint hints of anger. The murderous aura released seemed to have a physical form, and even Uncle Ding on the side could feel it. Almost all the hairs on his body stood on end.

Just as he felt uneasy all over because of this murderous aura, it vanished instantly.

Uncle Ding stared at Huo Fenglie in confusion and saw that his general appeared stiff, with his head lowered. His eyelashes trembled, and a large patch of faint red started from his neck and spread upwards.

Uncomprehending, he watched as Young Master Liu leaned forward and whispered to the general. Uncle Ding understood the current affairs and looked to the side, not eavesdropping, nor thinking much about the general’s strange behavior. Little did he know that the “shameless person” sitting opposite no longer used his legs to torment the general, but directly put his hand on Huo Fenglie’s thigh.

Then he took advantage of the situation to lean forward and speak, which not only made Huo Fenglie unable to sit still out of nervousness, but also prevented him from avoiding him. 

It seemed that it was Huo Fenglie himself who had ulterior motives, and Liu Zhenqing had pressed him accidentally when he came to talk.

“What the storyteller said is nonsense,” Liu Zhenqing said softly.

“En…..en, I know,” Huo Fenglie said stiffly.

Liu Zhenqing’s lips curved as he looked at Huo Fenglie’s gradually reddening earlobe. He had an inexplicable urge to bite it, but did not. He only leaned closer and whispered, making his breath blow on it, and watched it gradually turn a charming and tender red.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said mischievously: “It is true that Captain Song did not discriminate between men and women, we worked together, and I indeed gave him impure looks.”

Huo Fenglie was stunned, and couldn’t help but look askance at Liu Zhenqing, his face turning livid by degrees.

Liu Zhenqing continued: “But they were definitely wrong when they said that if I took off my clothes and stood in front of Song Xingmu, he wouldn’t even look at me. I took them off, ah, and he couldn’t stop staring at me.”

Huo Fenglie’s pupils instantly shrank. Because he had only met Song Xingmu a few times as a child, it was impossible to distinguish Liu Zhenqing’s words at this time.

There was only the sound of a crack as the teacup in Huo Fenglie’s cup shattered. Uncle Ding was so startled that he turned around. Seeing the two of them so close, he immediately felt it was strange.

Huo Fenglie appeared uncontrollably sullen.

Liu Zhenqing glanced at the broken teacup and chuckled: “He also pointed to me and said, what beauty that can cause the downfall of cities and countries? He is even better looking than me.”

Huo Fenglie stood in amazement when these words came out.

Liu Zhenqing feigned sincerity as he said: “I’m speaking the truth. Your older brother was there at the time. The three of us bathed together, and he insisted on asking your brother to say which of us was the most handsome. Your brother pointed at me, and he was so angry that he went back to ask your sister-in-law, but she was petty about it.”

Huo Fenglie stared blankly as he thought of the Song Xingmu in his memory. It seemed…..it seemed that he was androgynous, but did belong to the category of an attractive man. His personality and behavior were also relatively frivolous.

Seeing that Huo Fenglie was stunned, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t hold back his smile. He felt that every time he was about to be stung by these worldly people, as long as Huo Fenglie was by his side, he always found a way to cheer him up. Even though…..it was all through bullying him. But Liu Zhenqing didn’t feel guilty at all.

“Back then, we were together for a month as we made plans to retaliate against the pirates. He was angry with me because he hated what I did at that time. He was a good brother to me and your older brother.” When Liu Zhenqing concluded, Huo Fenglie’s heart settled.

Huo Fenglie’s expression softened slightly. Although he still had many questions, he didn’t ask any further. He just coughed and pretended to be calm, reaching out to gently push away the hand still pressed to his leg and make Liu Zhenqing sit back.

“En, I understand.”

Seeing that the two of them seemed to have finished talking, Uncle Ding said: “Both of you heard what the storyteller said. That is basically all of it. Only, a lot of things were settled after the man’s death, and the military power here was in some disarray. Soon, the emperor issued an order shortly after he took office. Song Xingmu was transferred, and the military power was taken up by his uncle, Song Jing.”

“Isn’t it said that Song Xingmu and Liu Zhenqing had a bad relationship? That won him the hearts of the people, so why transfer him?”

Even Yuan Jue didn’t know of his relationship with Song Xingmu. This was what Liu Zhenqing was most confused about.

“It is said that he left his post without authorization, and his negligence led to a sneak attack by pirates along the coast, which caused heavy losses. It was a slap in the face of the new emperor who had just taken the throne, and an offense to the Great Zhou Dynasty. Someone complained to higher authorities, and the emperor issued the decree to punish him. No one from the Song family spoke up for him, so he was sent away.”

Liu Zhenqing was confounded when he heard this. Although the man was a bit careless, he still had a sense of responsibility and would never be so negligent. There might be some hidden facts in this. After all, it was a time of turmoil, and the remnants of the Three Kings were still on the run. In addition, the rebels now originated here, so Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but think a little more.

“And after that?” Huo Fenglie asked.

“Afterwards, he trained troops in the southern islands and led them to attack nearby rogue bandits from time to time. When he became famous, the people gave him the nickname ‘Sea King.’ Thus, the emperor transferred him back again, but when he came to take over the military power this time, it did not go smoothly. His father had passed away, and his relationship with his uncle was average. In the end, it was tantamount to seizing military power. The emperor had really handed him a problem. Although he was promoted, the family was uneasy about it, ah,” Uncle Ding said.

Liu Zhenqing knew well that Song Jing might not dare to have resentment toward the emperor, but he would definitely not spare a good look toward his nephew. But Song Xingmu was a free-spirited person, and probably didn’t care.

It was just that Yuan Jue’s arrangement felt a little out of place. What was his intention? To suppress the Song family? Let it fight internally and inhibit its development? Or was it something else?

Liu Zhenqing had too little information to figure out Yuan Jue’s plans. He had an inexplicable feeling.

It was no coincidence that they had followed the clues and tracked them down to Song Xingmu’s territory.

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

Chapter Seventy-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Five