Thief Emperor

Chapter 848: Western Expedition
The emperor had no expression on his face.

Under the wide robe, his hands were tightly grasping the dragon throne, and his knuckles had turned bluish-white.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally recovered his breath, then silently looked up at Du Tong in front of him, and said in a hoarse voice: "Du Qi, is this how you talk to me?"

Du Tong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, to this day, I still call you Your Majesty and I call you my subject."

"I am already thinking of our century-old friendship."

He bowed and said, "In the past few decades, the Du family has never let your majesty down."

"Your Majesty moved twice, and not once was it because of Jiangdong, but because of our Du family."

"even…"

He looked up at the emperor, then lowered his head and continued, "In fact, I came here this time to save your majesty from the water and fire."

"Now, the situation in the world has been decided by 70% to 80%. If Your Majesty can think positively, not only can you enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of your life, but the officials, soldiers and people of Bashu can also be spared from war."

Du Tong continued in a calm voice, "If Your Majesty is unwilling, the King of Wu still has other options, and how many years can Shuzhong hold out?"

His Majesty the Emperor was furious. He patted the armrest and said angrily: "If the King of Wu really had this ability, he would have sent troops to take Shuzhong by now. Why did he send a traitor like you to see me here?"

Du Tong raised his head and looked at the emperor seriously, then shook his head slightly and sighed: "Since Your Majesty is stubborn, I have nothing to say."

He bowed and said, "I'm leaving now."

After saying this, Du Tong didn't even move back. He turned around and walked away, with his hands behind his back, striding out of the side hall.

The emperor was even more furious when he saw him like this. He gritted his teeth and said, "What kind of demons and monsters are bullying me?"

"Come on, come on!"

Someone in the hall responded immediately, and the Emperor shouted angrily: "Catch this traitor and throw him into prison with the traitor Liang Wen. Take him away immediately!"

"Yes!"

The guards on both sides were about to step forward to arrest the person, but Pei Huang hurried forward to stop them. He bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

"You want to persuade me too?"

The emperor's eyes turned red. He slapped the table fiercely and shouted, "I heard that Du Tong had met you before he came to see me. Did he promise you some benefits?"

Hearing this, Pei Huang knew that no matter what he said, it would be useless. He could only wave his hand helplessly and said, "Take him to the Chengdu jail."

Du Tong was caught and pinned to the ground. He showed no fear at all. He just tried to look up at the emperor and sneered, "Your Majesty, you still want to show off your power!"

"Almost all of my Jingzhao Du family members have died at the hands of you, the tyrant. Now I have tried to persuade you with kind words, but you still want to kill people. Just wait!"

"My king's army will be here soon, and we will make you, the tyrant, pay with blood!"

The emperor's face turned red, and he shouted angrily: "Take him down, take him down!"

The two guards looked at Pei Huang, and only after Pei Huang nodded calmly did they take Du Tong away.

After Du Tong left, the Emperor sat on the dragon throne, panting heavily. After an unknown amount of time, he gritted his teeth and said, "Traitors, all traitors!"

"They are all traitors!"

Pei Huang did not say anything, but just stood aside and watched the emperor go crazy silently.

After an unknown amount of time, the emperor became somewhat depressed. He looked at Pei Huang and murmured, "Sanlang, the natural defenses of Bashu really can't stop the Jiangdong thieves?"

Pei Huang shook his head slightly and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I am not familiar with military affairs, and I don't know either."

"Theoretically speaking, as long as we guard the few passes in Bashu, it will be difficult for the Jiangdong Army to enter."

Wu Yuancheng slumped on the dragon chair somewhat powerlessly. After a long while, he looked at Pei Huang and murmured, "Sanlang, I... I only need twenty years."

"As long as Bashu can be defended for twenty years, I will be satisfied."

The emperor of the Great Zhou was no fool. He knew the current situation, so he did not expect to be able to rule over Bashu forever, nor did he expect to be able to counterattack one day.

He is nearly forty years old this year.

As long as he can live in peace for twenty years, he will have lived a fulfilled life.

Pei Huang was silent for a long time, then looked at the emperor and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty..."

"We can only take one step at a time."

Upon hearing his words, the Emperor's confidence immediately vanished.

He had been emperor for many years, but during these years, all he had been greeted with was failure.

It can be said to be endless failure.

Today, he, the emperor, no longer has any confidence at all.

The emperor remained silent for who knows how long before he finally spoke: "Lock up Du Qi for a while and then let him go." Pei Huang silently lowered his head and bowed.

"I obey your command."

…………

Luoyang, March in spring.

That morning, under Li Yun's personal supervision, the first agricultural courtyard in Luoyang City was successfully completed. Li Yun went to inspect it personally, and then instructed the Secretary to fill the staff of this agricultural courtyard as soon as possible.

After dealing with the matters at the Agricultural Institute, Li Yun went around various government offices again. The morning passed quietly. At noon, he changed into plain clothes and took Xue Gui with him to find a random restaurant in the city.

As soon as he entered the restaurant, Li Yun saw a middle-aged man who was already waiting in the restaurant. He sat over and said with a smile: "General Zhao is here so early."

Zhao Cheng quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "I dare not refuse to come when the superior invites me."

Xue Gui obediently bowed his head and saluted Zhao Cheng, calling him "General".

Zhao Cheng looked at Xue Gui, then smiled and nodded.

The three of them sat together, had lunch, and rested for a while. In the afternoon, Zhao Cheng took Li Yun and Xue Gui for a walk in Luoyang City, and then stopped at the door of a house that looked quite ordinary.

He turned sideways, clasped his fists towards Li Yun and said, "Master, this is the residence that Mr. Yao arranged for my sister."

Li Yun looked him over and shook his head, saying, "Yao Juzhong is a stingy person."

"We should arrange a better place for the second sister of the Zhao family to live."

Zhao Cheng quickly shook his head: "Second sister has had a very hard life these years. It's already quite good for her to have a stable place to live."

As he spoke, he opened the gate and invited Li Yun in. Li Yun put his hands behind his back and followed him into the house. As soon as he entered, he saw a very thin woman working in the yard. She heard the noise and quickly stood up and looked back. After seeing Zhao Cheng, she saw Li Yun next to Zhao Cheng.

She was just stunned for a moment, then she knelt down, kowtowed and said, "I pay my respects to the king."

The two young women in the room heard the noise outside and hurried out, knelt in front of Li Yun and kowtowed.

Mr. Li quickly helped the mother and daughter up, shook his head and smiled, "Brother Zhao and I have known each other for many years, just like we are family, no need to be polite, no need to be polite."

In terms of seniority, Zhao Cheng was indeed the first "professional general" to follow Li Yun.

After all, at that time, the other people under Li Yun were still mainly in the anti-theft team, and even Zhou Liang was only a half-baked person.

In a blink of an eye, it has been about eight years.

Sister Zhao wiped her tears and said tearfully, "I have told you about what happened in the past, and also about the king."

"When he rebelled, the king captured him and could have handed him over to the court in exchange for a better future. Instead of handing him over to the court, he gave him a better future."

“This is already a blessing of rebirth.”

Zhao Erjie bowed her head to Li Yun and said, "In addition, the king saved the four of us, mother and children. This is a blessing from heaven for the Zhao family."

Li Yun shook his head and smiled, "Without Brother Zhao, it would probably take the Jiangdong Army a lot longer to get to where it is today. He and I also help each other."

As he was talking, Li Yun asked where Zhao Erjie's son had gone. He found out that he was working in the military camp and it was inconvenient for him to move around or come back.

Li Yun looked at Zhao Erjie's two daughters again. He thought for a moment and said, "There are still some bachelors in my guard camp. Next year, my guard camp will become the imperial guard, called the Yulin Army. Those people in the guard camp now will also become officers in the future."

"If Second Sister doesn't mind, I'll ask Yang Xi to bring people over to meet him later."

"Maybe it will turn out to be a good thing."

Zhao Erjie stood up and knelt down in front of Li Yun again, wiping her tears and saying, "I'm just afraid that they will despise my two daughters."

Li Yun looked back at Zhao Cheng and said with a smile: "Don't mention that they are also from humble backgrounds. Even if they are from a wealthy family, they would be very happy to have an uncle who is a general."

"Brother Zhao, if you recruit your nephew's son-in-law under your command now, I'm afraid that captain will fight for it."

After hearing what Li Yun said, Sister Zhao couldn't help but smile. She immediately said, "If they are really under my command, I'm afraid they have bad intentions. Please choose one from the King's Guards."

Li Yun smiled and nodded, then sat down and chatted with the mother and daughter for a long time before finally getting up and leaving.

When he reached the door, he looked at Zhao Cheng and asked, "General Zhao, are you ready for the Western Expedition?"

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and bowed his head: "We are already preparing. We can only give the order from the superior."

"it is good."

"Give me some more time, and I'll be ready. Then..."

Li Yun patted his shoulder in a calm voice.

"Attack Guanzhong."

"I'll leave it to you."

(End of this chapter)