Thief Emperor

Chapter 1125 My Brother is Getting Old
Two days later, Chen Bozhong, the Duke of Han, led his troops away from Luoyang, preparing to return to the Northwest to finish up his mission there.

At the same time, the Ministry of Works also sent officials to the Northwest to prepare for the construction of the Prince Su's Mansion in Suzhou.

The construction process would naturally be quite lengthy, given the poor transportation capabilities of that era; transporting materials not available locally was a lengthy process.

It will take at least two years.

Two or three years later, Prince Su, Li Tong, will have probably gotten used to military life and will have completed his wedding. At that time, Li Yun can start arranging for him to go to the State of Suzhou.

There are no issues with the timing.

At this moment, in General Chen's entourage, there was a tall young man dressed in guard armor, silently following behind General Chen like an ordinary guard.

It doesn't look very impressive.

After all, the general's guards are not short.

General Chen didn't pay much attention to the guard, but instead greeted the several military leaders who were seeing him off, as well as Minister Zhao of the Ministry of War and the two vice ministers.

At this moment, he was talking to Zhou Chang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Zhou looked at Chen Da with undisguised envy in his eyes and said with a smile, "The General's achievements in the Northwest are truly enviable."

Chen Da looked at Zhou Chang, whose hair had turned gray, and sighed, "Time flies. The young general of yesteryear now has a full head of white hair."

Zhou Chang chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Isn't that right?"

"There's nothing anyone can do about it."

After exchanging a few words, Chen Da walked up to Duke Meng Qing of Xuan State and said with a smile, "Brother, have you seen your fine son-in-law?"

The two were very familiar with each other. Chen Da was a few years older than Meng Qing. Back in the anti-theft team, he was Meng Qing's senior. However, over the years, Meng Qing had taken the lead and reached the pinnacle of military officer.

Now, Chen Da has also reached this point. The two are both Dukes and Grand Generals, and are basically on equal footing.

Upon hearing Chen Da's words, Meng Qing glanced at the guards behind Chen Da, and finally focused his gaze on the fourth prince, Li Tong. After just one glance, he looked away and smiled at Chen Da, saying, "Brother, please put in some extra effort and give him a good workout."

Chen Da pulled him aside and said with a smile, "Brother, what's your daughter's attitude? If your family doesn't like this son-in-law, my family also has an unmarried daughter who can be my son-in-law."

Meng Qing smiled and said, "This is His Majesty's arrangement. If you have any thoughts, brother, you can go and talk to His Majesty."

"My daughter has no objections."

Among the princes who had grown up, the fourth prince was arguably the most handsome. Coupled with his status as a prince, Meng Qing's daughter was delighted after meeting him.

Today, the fourth prince is leaving the capital with General Chen, and the young lady from the Duke of Xuan's mansion almost couldn't resist coming to see him off.

The two old brothers exchanged a few jokes, and Chen Da looked around and asked, "General Su?"

Meng Qing said with a smile, "Brother, you've certainly put on airs more than before. You insist on having General Su come to see you off?"

Several high-ranking military officials, including Minister of War Zhao Chengdu, came on this trip, but Su Sheng was absent.

Chen shook his head: "You know that's not what I meant."

Meng Qing's smile faded. He was silent for a moment before saying quietly, "The General's health has been poor for the past year or two. He spends most of his time at home these days, and I'm the one who handles most of the affairs of the Privy Council."

Upon hearing this, Chen Da's expression changed, and he said in a low voice, "I didn't know anything. I should have gone to see the General."

Nowadays, several more generals have emerged in the imperial court, but when addressing these generals, their surnames are often added to distinguish them.

Only Su Sheng was addressed with the title "Grand General," as he was the only Grand General for nearly ten years after the founding of the nation.

Meng Qing shook his head slightly: "The General rarely sees his old subordinates in private unless he is in the Privy Council, and it is even less likely that he will see them at home."

Chen sighed and said, "It's getting late, so I won't delay any longer. There are still many things to do in the Northwest."

"I should be able to come back around the end of this year. Then we brothers can get together and have a good drink."

"it is good."

Meng Qing glanced at Li Tong, who was dressed as a guard behind him, and said with a smile, "My son-in-law, you've gone to a lot of trouble, brother."

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Chen Da laughed heartily: "Even if I were hacked to death by a bunch of knives, I would never let His Majesty's son get hurt."

Meng Qing smiled, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Take care on your journey, brother!"

In the current imperial court, why is His Majesty the Emperor's word the law?

Why does the fate of the entire country rest on the emperor's whim? You can tell just by listening to the conversation between Meng Qing and Chen Da.

These officers, who came from the Jiangdong Army, or even earlier from the Wuzhou Army, Yuezhou Army, and the bandit-hunting squad, could be described as "admiring" Li Yun. Unlike those civil officials who were full of ulterior motives, they didn't care about any of that nonsense about old or new learning.

For these people, whatever Li Yun says goes, and whatever he tells them to do, they will do it.

Even if it's just Li Yun's son, it's more important than their own lives.

Chen Da greeted Minister Zhao again, and then, under Minister Zhao's watchful gaze, led his troops and the fourth prince, riding away from Luoyang and speeding towards the northwest.

While a group of military leaders were seeing off the Duke of Han from leaving the capital, on the other side, at the residence of General Su, the Duke of Wei, His Majesty the Emperor, dressed in black, was already sitting across a table from General Su in the pavilion in the backyard of the Su family.

Su Sheng picked up the wine pot, stood up and poured Li Yun a cup of wine, then looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, why did you suddenly come to my place? I was not prepared at all."

The emperor looked up at Su Sheng and sighed, "Now, the crown prince is able to take over many things, and I have gradually let him take over as well. He doesn't have much to do anymore, and it's not very interesting for him to stay in the palace all day."

"When you're too still, you start to get restless, so I thought I'd go out for a walk and visit some old friends."

As he spoke, he gave a self-deprecating laugh: "But as my brother knows, becoming emperor makes every move very troublesome, so I simply came out in disguise."

"Anyway, it's only in Luoyang city."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor looked up at Su Sheng and sighed deeply, "This court is truly a torment."

Su Sheng toasted Li Yun with a cup of wine, then looked at Li Yun and said with emotion, "I am now all white-haired, but Your Majesty has not seen a single white hair and is still in the prime of life."

Emperor Li pointed to his temples: "How can I not have a single white hair? I've grown many white hairs too."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "It's just that none of you are looking at me now, so you can't see me."

Li Yun did indeed have a few gray hairs at his temples, but they were not visible unless you looked closely.

However, even so, he aged much more slowly than his peers of this era.

After all, in this era, the average life expectancy is roughly the same as his current age, and many people at his age start to develop wrinkles.

Li Yun, apart from appearing more dignified, did not show any signs of aging.

On the one hand, Li Yun is not very old, and on the other hand, he has been practicing internal martial arts since childhood, day and night for decades, and it seems that he has really achieved some results.

After exchanging a few words, Li Yun looked at Su Sheng and asked, "Brother's health?"

Su Sheng was about to pour more wine for Li Yun, but Li Yun snatched the wine pot from his hand. Then, His Majesty the Emperor personally poured Su Sheng a full glass of wine.

Su Sheng looked at Li Yun and sighed: "I am almost sixty years old. At this age, I should actually die. I have come all this way over the years."

"We've already made a profit."

He smiled at Li Yun and said, "The imperial physician said that day that if I can take good care of my health, I might live for another three to five years, but if I can't, I might not be able to."

"We might not even make it through this year."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li frowned deeply.

He remained silent for a long time before tilting his head back and drinking a cup of wine. He then said, "My elder brother's eldest son should leave the Sixteen Guards and go to the Lingnan Army as the deputy general."

"I will spend a few years training a son for my brother to be able to take on the responsibility of the family. If he can succeed in a few years, he will be sent to govern Jiannan Road or Guanzhong Road in the future."

"From now on, elder brother should rest and recuperate at home."

Su Sheng poured wine for Li Yun and shook his head, saying, "It is good that His Majesty has made this arrangement, but we also need to see if the children will amount to anything. If they really don't, the Su family doesn't really have any family business to carry on."

The emperor looked at him and reassured him, "Su Huan is not bad, there shouldn't be any problems."

"It really won't work."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him and said, "My grandson will be able to take over the Su family business in the future."

Su Sheng said with a smile, "Then in the future, let the fourth prince take over the title of Duke."

Li Yun shook his head: "That would make it seem like my family is bullying my brother's family. Your family's title will still be passed down through the main line."

"If that child grows up to be successful in the future."

Emperor Li said quietly, "The court has no shortage of titles for him."

Upon hearing this, Su Sheng raised his wine glass, looked at Li Yun, and solemnly offered him a toast.

"Thank you very much, Erlang."

(End of this chapter)