Thief Emperor

Chapter 868: Times have changed
Pei Zhuang is an extremely special existence in the Jiangdong Army.

He had entered the Jiangdong Army twice and served as its instructor. The first time was in the early days of the establishment of the Jiangdong Army. At that time, Pei Zhuang was captured by Li Yun and taught in the Jiangdong Army for a period of time.

At that time, the Jiangdong Army was still called the Yuezhou Army.

Even earlier.

Pei Zhuang has absolutely no problem with his fighting ability. Although he often suffers losses in actual combat with Li Yun, when it comes to real martial arts, he is definitely better than Li Yun, and by a lot.

That means he is invincible in the army.

Because the first time he entered the army, it was the predecessor of the Jiangdong Army. At that time, Li Yun had probably only about a thousand people under his command, and those who came into contact with Pei Zhuang were officers among these thousand people.

Therefore, nearly ten years later, those who were taught by Pei Zhuang in the first batch, as long as they are still there, have basically become generals in the Jiangdong army, and the lowest rank is captain.

Most of them have already been promoted to the position of captain.

Moreover, the positions in the Jiangdong Army are about to be promoted. When General Su Sheng is promoted to general, most of the generals in the Jiangdong Army will be promoted one level higher. By then, it is estimated that many of Pei Zhuang’s first-generation "students" will become generals, as well as a large number of captains.

Even when he entered the Jiangdong Army to teach for the second time, it was unlikely for him to teach too many people alone, and Li Yun valued him very much, so the "disciples" in the army he led were mostly officers, and their official positions were not very low.

So far, those who call him "Master Pei" when they meet each other usually hold relatively low positions in the Jiangdong Army.

This resulted in the fact that, although Pei Zhuang did not hold any official military position within the Jiangdong Army and was at most a chief instructor, his position in the military was quite transcendent.

Compared with some veteran generals, they are not inferior.

Hearing Pei Huang call him "brother", Pei Zhuang turned around suddenly and looked at Pei Huang's expression, which was already full of shock.

It took him a long while to react. After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "Sir, please follow me. I will take you directly to the king and wait for the king to summon you."

He paused and continued, "Sir, there is not much I can do to help you in Luoyang City."

Pei Huang patted his shoulder gently and forced a smile on his face: "Don't think too much. You have been with me since I was a child. It is only natural for me to call you brother."

After that, Pei Huang put his hands behind his back and said slowly: "Lead the way."

The two of them continued to walk forward, one in front and one behind. At this time, Pei Zhuang no longer had the heart to introduce the current situation in Luoyang to Pei Huang. The two of them had different thoughts. They walked all the way to the gate of the imperial city. Pei Zhuang turned left and pointed to a mansion not far away and said, "The king is over there. Come with me, young master."

Pei Huang was a little surprised and asked, "Wu... King Wu doesn't live in the imperial city?"

Pei Zhuang shook his head and said, "Sir, I never said that the king lived in the palace."

"The king lives on the edge of the imperial city."

Pei Zhuang patiently explained: "After the throne is established, we will officially move to the imperial city."

Pei Huang felt a chill in his heart when he heard this.

Since ancient times, few men can withstand the temptation of the eight words "Mandate from Heaven, Live Long and Prosperous". Even if it is the cultivation passed down from a thousand-year-old family, when it comes to Li Yun's point, he would probably be eager to ascend the throne and become emperor.

At the very least, he couldn't wait to live in the palace and enjoy the treatment of an emperor.

After all, Li Yun is now actually the emperor of the Xin Dynasty.

You know, Wei Quanzhong, who still called himself a minister of Zhou in Guanzhong, had already moved into the imperial palace in the capital and was reveling every night.

Apart from anything else, this kind of self-control alone is far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Pei Huang was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses and followed Pei Zhuang to Li Yun's house. Pei Zhuang stepped forward and said something to the guard at the gate. When the guard saw him, he also smiled, clasped his fists, said a few words to Pei Zhuang, and then made way.

Pei Zhuang led Pei Huang into the mansion smoothly. The servants took them to a side hall to wait. The servant bowed to Pei Zhuang and said, "Mr. Pei, please wait a moment. The king is meeting an important guest. When the meeting is over, we will report it immediately."

Pei Zhuang nodded and thanked him for his hard work.

The servant lowered his head and said "I dare not", then he walked out without even looking at Pei Huang.

At this moment, Pei Sanlang's face looked a little ugly.

Who is he? He is Pei Sanlang, the legitimate son of the Wenxi Pei family!

And Pei Zhuang was just a servant of the Pei family. To put it bluntly, he was a servant of the Pei family.

But now, the people in Luoyang city seemed to take him not seriously at all. Instead, Pei Zhuang, the son of a wealthy family, was treated with great courtesy by the people in Luoyang!

Pei Zhuang seemed to sense Pei Huang's gaze. He turned around to look at Pei Huang, reached out to pour him some tea, and then said with a smile, "My lord, you know that the king loves martial arts. After I arrived in Luoyang, the king often invited me here to learn martial arts."

“So the people here are more familiar with me.”

Although Pei Huang was annoyed, he showed nothing on his face. He just took the teacup silently and asked, "Who is better, the King of Wu or you?" Pei Zhuang took a deep breath and lowered his head slightly: "The King is now in his prime, I am no match for him."

Upon hearing this, Pei Huang squinted his eyes and smiled, obviously not taking it seriously.

He has also been the prime minister in the past few years. Even in the Jiannan Road area, there are countless things to do every day, not to mention Li Yun who occupies half of the world.

He didn't believe that Li Yun could still maintain his former bravery. At least, Li Yun definitely wouldn't dare to use the fighting style of exchanging injuries for lives.

After all, Li Yun’s life is precious now.

The former master and servant chatted with each other in an awkward atmosphere. After chatting for a few sentences, Pei Zhuang finally said, "I have found a place for you to stay. I will take you to stay after you meet the king."

Pei Huang finally frowned when he heard this: "Can the Jiangdong court still ignore me?"

Pei Zhuang smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Pei Huang was annoyed and was about to speak when another servant came to report. The servant looked at Pei Zhuang and asked, "Mr. Pei, the king has finished meeting the guests. He wants to ask whether you should go with Master Pei or Master Pei should go alone."

Pei Zhuang shook his head: "I can't speak, let you go by yourself."

The servant nodded and said yes, then nodded slightly to Pei Huang and said, "Master Pei, follow me."

After saying that, he turned around and left. Pei Huang clenched his fists, but he had no choice but to follow this servant. In this palace, after twists and turns, he finally arrived at the door of Mr. Li's study.

The servant knocked on the door and informed the others. When Li Yun's voice came from inside, he turned around and looked at Pei Huang, lowered his head and said, "Mr. Pei, you can come in."

Pei Huang took several deep breaths to calm down the emotions in his heart. He walked to the door of the study and knocked slowly.

Li Yun's voice came from inside: "Come in."

When Pei Sanlang heard this voice, he felt dazed.

It was as if he had returned to the past when he was demoted to the south of the Yangtze River and met Li Yun for the first time in Xuanzhou.

At that time, Li Yun had an identity that was completely different from what he has now.

The head of Qingyang County.

Thinking of this, Pei Huang slowly opened the door and took two steps forward. Without raising his head, he used his peripheral vision to confirm Li Yun's position, then bowed to Li Yun and said, "I am Pei Huang from Wenxi, and I pay my respects to the king."

Behind the desk, Mr. Li put down the brush in his hand and looked up at the old friend in front of him. He touched his chin with his hand, looked at Pei Huang several times, and finally smiled: "Mr. Pei, you are welcome."

"Sit down and talk."

Pei Huang took a deep breath and sat down carefully. Only then did he look up at Li Yun. After a glance, Pei Sanlang lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty is more imposing than before."

Back then, Li Yun was tall and strong, and relied on his martial arts to have a terrifying aura.

Li Yun today is not stronger than before, but a little thinner. However, just sitting there, his aura is unparalleled.

Hearing this reminiscence, Li Yun did not respond, but just smiled, and then said: "Mr. Pei, to be honest, I have been very busy recently. I originally planned to let other people contact you after you arrived, but Brother Pei was here with me a few days ago, so I asked him."

"Give him some face, I'll find time to meet you."

At this point, Li Yun tapped the table lightly and said calmly, "I'm a little busy right now. If you have anything to say, just say it."

Pei Huang lowered his head and was about to speak, but was interrupted by Li Yun: "Don't mention Wu's affairs, talk about your family."

Pei Huang was stunned.

He came here with great difficulty just to discuss Wu's affairs with Li Yun.

He took a deep breath and continued, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty is willing to come to Luoyang and abdicate according to ancient customs."

Pei Huang paused and whispered, "I just hope that Your Majesty can treat the royal family of the previous dynasty, the imperial guards, and the innocent people of Jiannan Road well."

"Mr. Pei."

Li Yun looked up at him, then shook his head slightly and sighed.

"You can't do that after you break through Jiameng Pass."

"Tell me again that you are willing to surrender."

(End of this chapter)