Thief Emperor

Chapter 406 Wonderful Man
The Two Kings and Three Kes represent a fine tradition that emphasizes reviving the old and continuing the old.

To put it simply, the descendants of the previous two dynasties were given titles and called the Second Queen. If three generations were given titles, they would be called the Three Ke.

Generally speaking, they were given the title of Duke, and some more generous dynasties would give them the title of Prince.

The three conferred titles could have their own ancestral temple to ensure that incense would never stop coming. Moreover, their family was no longer subjects in the new dynasty, but "guests."

Being guests meant that, in theory, they did not have to perform the ritual of kneeling and bowing when meeting the emperor of the new dynasty.

Of course, this is only in theory.

However, although the Great Zhou is now seriously ill, it has not yet reached its "last moments". The King of Chu, a prince of the Great Zhou royal family, should not have said such words in front of Li Yun.

When he said this, it meant that the brother of the current emperor believed that the Zhou Dynasty was on the brink of national destruction.

Li Yun looked at him helplessly and said, "Your Highness, please don't talk nonsense. I am a minister of the Great Zhou and I am loyal to the court..."

His Royal Highness the King of Chu curled his lips.

"Envoy Li, I am not a fool, nor am I deaf. Looking across the world, you have expanded the fastest in the past two years. When I returned to Jiangdong, you only controlled Yuezhou, Wuzhou, and Wujun. What about now?"

Wu Yuanyou whispered, "Envoy Li has made such progress now. The document I left for you must have played a role, right? You must not forget my contribution."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Your Highness, I now control more places because the court appointed me as the three-way recruiting envoy. I must obey the court's orders and do my best to take care of Jiangnan Road and Huainan Road. This cannot be said to be an expansion of power, it can only be said to be..."

"I got a promotion."

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu sighed and said, "We are old acquaintances. There is no need to say these deceiving words. Let me ask you one thing, Li Shijun. It is true that the court appointed you as the three-way recruiting envoy, but can the court still remove you as the recruiting envoy?"

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and did not answer this question.

"Envoy Li, I came here to seek refuge with you, and I don't ask for anything else from you."

He looked at Li Yun and whispered, "I have a wife, two concubines, five children, and myself, a total of nine people. We just want a place to live and food to eat in Jinling City."

"Is it okay to have a way to make a living in the future?"

Seeing that Li Yun did not speak immediately, Wu Yuanyou added: "I brought some family property with me this time, which is enough to cover my expenses for at least a few years. I don't need you to spend any money. As long as you can protect my family, I will be satisfied."

Li Yun put down his teacup and shook his head, saying, "Your Majesty has too little confidence in the court."

Hearing the word "court", Wu Yuanyou clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "Envoy Li, do you have confidence in the court?"

Li Yun said softly: "Those Jiedushi check and balance each other, the imperial court at least still exists."

"That's it. Now that we are back in the capital, life and death are all in the hands of others. This Jiedushi is a ruthless person. Envoy Li, you know that I am afraid of death."

He sighed and said, "If I go back to the capital, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at all."

Li Yun looked at him with a half-smile. His Royal Highness the King of Chu immediately understood Li Yun's expression and said, "Envoy Li, you are different."

"You are in Jiangdong. First, you are not bound by the imperial court, and second, you are not supervised by your superiors. You can still treat the people well..."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "I pose no threat to you, so you won't make things difficult for us."

As if he wanted to persuade Li Yun, he thought for a moment and added, "In the future, I will be of some other use to you, my Lord."

Indeed, His Royal Highness the King of Chu, as the brother of the current emperor and a prince of the court, is an extremely useful banner for Li Yun.

If the imperial court falls into the hands of several military governors in the future, Li Yun will have no legitimate reason to conquer them. At that time, he can use His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu as a banner to "set things right."

It may sound like it is of no use, but people of this era believe in it, and there are many people whose minds are filled with thoughts of loyalty to the emperor.

From this perspective, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu is a very useful person to Li Yun.

Mr. Li thought about it seriously, then looked at Wu Yuanyou again and said with emotion: "Your Highness seems to have lost a lot of weight."

Wu Yuanyou is not tall, and when he last came to Jiangdong, he was a little fat, like a small ball. But after not seeing him for more than a year, he has lost a lot of weight, and the fat on his face is almost invisible.

Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu looked gloomy: "Envoy Li, although I am afraid of death, I am also from the royal family after all. Now that the country has become like this, I feel bad too."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Your Highness, have you ever thought about trying your best to save the Great Zhou from the dire situation?"

"Don't test me, sir."

Wu Yuanyou lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "I know my own abilities very well. If I find a backer now, maybe I can save my family's lives. If I don't know the consequences and try to take the lead, I'm afraid that in the end, I won't even know how I died."

Li Yun added more tea for him and whispered, "I'm curious why Your Highness came back to see me."

At this point, there was no need to hide it anymore. His Royal Highness the King of Chu said straightforwardly: "Because I think that Envoy Li is a very remarkable person. He was able to rise from obscurity in just two or three years, and now he has created such a foundation."

He sighed and said, "To be honest, if I had the ability of the envoy, I would really go find a place and plan how to revive the Great Zhou."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Your Highness is quite frank."

"I can't be honest. I'm counting on the envoy to take us in."

He looked at Li Yun and said, "Sir, please give me a straightforward answer."

Mr. Li stood up, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "I am a minister of the Great Zhou, and Your Highness is a prince of the Great Zhou. Since we are in Jinling, it is naturally no problem for you to stay in Jinling for a while. I will find a place for Your Highness to live in these few days, and You can stay as long as you want."

"If your highness wants to go back to the capital someday, let me know and I will send someone to escort your highness back to the capital." Wu Yuanyou was not particularly excited when he heard this. He just stood up silently, bowed to Li Yun and said, "Thank you, envoy."

"As for returning to the capital..."

He shook his head. "I don't think about that anymore."

As he spoke, he took out a jade token and a document from his bosom, handed them to Li Yun, and said silently: "This is a gift from me to the envoy."

Li Yun was a little surprised and asked, "Your Highness?"

"These are the men that my father left for me. There aren't many of them, only about three or four hundred."

Wu Yuanyou lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I can't support them now."

Li Yun reacted and asked, "Is it someone from the Imperial City Department of the imperial court?"

The Imperial City Bureau, the intelligence agency of the Great Zhou, or the name of the secret service agency, was said to have tens of thousands of people at its peak.

Of course, there are definitely not so many core members, and the number of tens of thousands probably includes non-staff personnel as well.

"Ah."

Wu Yuanyou said silently: "It was a small group of people from the Imperial City Department. My father asked my brother to send my family out of the capital and asked them to protect us secretly to prevent us from dying outside."

He looked up at Li Yun and continued, "I was able to come to Jiangdong thanks to them. Now that the envoy is willing to take me in, I have no use for these people. I will hand them over to the envoy and ask the envoy to give them a bite to eat."

Li Yun's eyes lit up, then returned to normal, and said softly: "Your Highness is really generous."

"It's not generous. I have no use for keeping it."

Wu Yuanyou looked at Li Yun and said silently: "It is impossible for them to return to Guanzhong."

Li Yun thought about it and nodded slightly: "Can I meet these people?"

"Of course you can. The list is in this document. This jade tablet was given to me by my father. I can command them."

Li Yun looked back at Wu Yuanyou, and his smile widened a little more: "Today, I will hold a banquet in Li Garden to welcome your family."

"Our two families."

Mr. Li smiled peacefully and said, "Come and visit us often in the future."

Wu Yuanyou stood up again and bowed to Li Yun.

"Thank you for taking me in, sir."

"Your Highness is too polite. Your Highness will stay in Jiangdong for a while."

Li Yun smiled and said, "Perhaps the court will restore its former authority after a while."

"Depend on Pei Huang?"

Wu Yuanyou spat on the ground, cursed Pei Huang several times, and then let out a long sigh.

“It’s hard to recover from a defeat.”

……

On that day, Li Yuan prepared a banquet and warmly entertained Wu Yuanyou and his family.

Du Qian was also invited to meet the King of Chu and his family. After the dinner, Du Qian asked about the purpose of the King of Chu's visit. Li Yun told him everything. Envoy Du lowered his head and took a sip of wine, feeling a little disappointed.

"The King of Chu is a wonderful man, but unfortunately, he is too smart."

Du Qian sighed, "Smart people often see things too clearly, but for someone like him, seeing things too clearly doesn't seem to be a good thing."

I can see the situation clearly, but I have no ability to save it. I feel powerless.

For people like Wu Yuanyou, it is undoubtedly desperate and painful.

Fortunately, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is a relatively objective person, so at this moment, he only thinks about protecting his own family and has no intention of saving the Great Zhou.

Otherwise, he would live in pain all his life.

Li Yun clinked glasses with Du Qian and said with a smile, "I am very interested in the people from the Imperial City Bureau that he brought with him."

Du Qian nodded first, then slowly said: "These people are indeed a great help to us in Jiangdong, but what surprised me is that before the late emperor died, he actually made such an arrangement for the King of Chu's family. It seems that the late emperor in his later years..."

"I have already seen the situation very clearly."

"It's just an act of cowardice."

Li Yun raised his head and drank the wine in the cup, then said calmly: "The court has been here until today, the late emperor..."

"It's a serious crime."

(End of this chapter)