Thief Emperor

Chapter 883 A loud slap in the face
Luoyang.

It had been snowing for several days, and it had never been too heavy or too light. On this day, there was even a hint of clearing up. The not-so-thick snow had begun to melt a little, and with the added pressure of pedestrians trampling on the road, the road had become muddy.

This caused Zhao Cheng's team's progress to slow down somewhat.

But even so, he still saw Luoyang City from afar.

At this time, it was the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and there was still half a month left until the end of the year.

In other words, it took him just over a month to travel all the way back to Luoyang from Jiannan Road.

If it was young and strong men marching at this time, there would be no problem, but Zhao Cheng was escorting the emperor's family, as well as many officials from the Wu Zhou court. It could be said that they were a bunch of old, weak and sick people. With this marching speed, these people must have suffered.

Among them, several of the emperor's young princes and princesses fell ill. One prince, who was only five or six years old, was very ill and almost on the verge of life and death.

Although Zhao Cheng found a doctor to treat him, he still kept on traveling every day.

As a result, all these royal family members had some opinions about Zhao Cheng, but no one dared to speak out.

Everyone knows that General Zhao has a grudge against the Wu family.

Even Emperor Wu Yuancheng himself did not dare to utter a word, for fear of offending General Zhao and putting his family's lives in danger.

Fortunately, the Jiangdong Army had strict military discipline, and even Zhao Cheng, who had a blood feud with the Wu family, at least did not do anything too outrageous.

At least, no one tried to offend Empress Pei, who had already prepared to commit suicide, and the Empress was able to successfully survive and reach Luoyang.

At this time, they were only twenty or thirty miles away from Luoyang City, but no one came out to greet them. It was already noon and the roads were muddy. Today... they probably wouldn't be able to enter the city.

Zhao Cheng was riding on his horse, looking at Luoyang City from afar, feeling a little uneasy.

He was the commander of a mighty army. On the battlefield, he watched thousands of people fighting without blinking an eye. However, even a commander like him was afraid of Li Yun from the bottom of his heart.

This fear does not simply come from power, but also from the relationship between superiors and subordinates.

Another part comes from Li Yun himself.

Zhao Cheng had been beaten badly by Li Yun before. There was even a fight between the two of them, and Zhao Cheng was knocked to the ground by Li Yun in just a few rounds.

In fact, a big part of the reason why Li Yun had absolute authority in the army was that more than half of the middle and senior generals in the Jiangdong Army had been defeated by him.

Including Su Sheng, who had fought with Li Yun when he was under General Su's command.

Thinking about his performance in Jiannan Road and what he had experienced during this period, Zhao Cheng couldn't help but take another deep breath.

This time when he returns to Luoyang, he must go to see his superiors to find out whether they will punish him and how they will punish him.

These are all unknowns.

General Zhao was in a daze for a long time. When he was about to order the troops to speed up, he suddenly looked up and saw a group of hundreds of people coming from the end of the official road in the distance.

He subconsciously picked up the telescope and looked, only to see a ceremonial guard coming from afar. A slightly plump little man in a purple robe was riding a horse at the head, leading a ceremonial guard and walking slowly towards him.

Zhao Cheng thought about it and did not order to stop the action. Instead, he waved his hand and ordered the team to continue moving forward.

After a while, the two teams finally met. The fat man in purple robe jumped off his horse with a complicated look on his face, and saluted Zhao Cheng from a distance: "General Zhao."

“It’s been a hard journey.”

Zhao Cheng jumped off his horse and looked around for a while before he clasped his fists and asked, "Is it His Royal Highness the King of Chu?"

"Yes."

King Wu Yuanyou of Chu sighed and said, "General Zhao, I and the officials of the Ministry of Rites have been ordered to welcome...welcome my eldest brother and his family into the city."

At this point, he looked at Zhao Cheng and continued, "General Zhao and his troops, please stay outside the city for one more night. Tomorrow, the king will lead a group of officials out of the city to welcome the general into the city."

Zhao Cheng led the troops and marched all the way to capture Jiannan Road, and also escorted the emperor back. Naturally, he made great contributions, there is no doubt about that.

Even Li Yun could not deny that this was a great achievement.

Since it was a great achievement, it naturally had to be grand, so Li Yun prepared to go out of the city in person to welcome Zhao Cheng, but he did not plan to go out of the city in person to welcome Emperor Wu.

Therefore, we have to enter the city in two groups.

Seeing Zhao Cheng frown, Wu Yuanyou understood what he was thinking and said, "General Zhao, the king will hold a court meeting in the palace in five days. At that time, General, you can offer... offer prisoners at the court meeting..."

The two common words "surrendering prisoners" sounded particularly hot to Wu Yuanyou's lips at this moment.

Because the captives he was talking about were the more than 200 captured members of the Wu royal family.

Hearing this, Zhao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his fists towards Wu Yuanyou and said, "In that case, King Chu, please leave."

He turned sideways and made way.

Wu Yuanyou folded his hands in his sleeves and walked silently towards the carriage where the emperor was.

Behind him, Tao Wenyuan, the Minister of Rites of the new dynasty, followed the King of Chu silently, while a group of ceremonial guards also followed with music and drums.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu quickly walked to the front of the Emperor's carriage. He looked up at the carriage in front of him, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Brother, I have been ordered to welcome you into the city."

The carriage curtain was slowly lifted. In the carriage sat Emperor Wu Yuancheng, Empress Pei, and their eleven-year-old son.

The couple had two sons. The eldest son was seventeen or eighteen years old and was in the carriage at the back. The younger son was being brought by the couple.

His Majesty the Emperor looked at his brothers who were bowing and clasping their fists outside, and was speechless for a long while.

He clenched his fists under his sleeves and couldn't utter a word.

Seeing this, Wu Yuanyou shook his head slightly, then pretended to turn back casually and glanced at the Minister of Rites Tao Wenyuan who was following behind him.

The latter, with his hands clasped in front of him, looked at the carriage silently.

Emperor Wu still didn't react, but Empress Pei had already seen some of the situation. The Empress cleared her throat and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Second Uncle."

"Let us go into the city."

"Yes."

Wu Yuanyou breathed a sigh of relief, answered yes, turned back to look at Tao Wenyuan, and said with a cupped hand: "Minister Tao, let's go into the city."

Tao Wenyuan nodded and said with a smile, "Your Highness, it's up to you to decide."

His Royal Highness the King of Chu first turned around and ordered to enter the city, then he sighed and said to Tao Wenyuan: "Minister Tao, we brothers haven't seen each other for many years. I want to ride with you and talk to you."

"Also persuade him to cooperate with the king in important matters."

"What do you think, Minister Tao?"

Tao Wenyuan frowned slightly.

His Royal Highness the King of Chu whispered, "Sir, you are also an old man from the Great Zhou Dynasty."

Minister Tao then sighed and said, "Your Highness, please do as you please. If no one asks, I won't tell you."

"Thank you sir."

He took a deep breath, strode forward, and stepped into the emperor's carriage.

With his order, the team slowly marched towards Luoyang City.

In the carriage, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu sat opposite the family of three. He first looked at his brother, who lowered his head and dared not look directly at him. He then looked at the pale-faced little prince. After a moment of silence, he said, "Is this Yan Guang?"

Empress Pei nodded silently and sighed, "It's Yan Guang."

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu looked at the pale-faced little prince Wu Yanguang and asked, "What happened to him?"

"sick."

Empress Pei gritted her teeth and said, "He fell ill before we even entered the Central Plains. General Zhao was unwilling to stop to see him or to leave him on the road. He only sent people to feed him medicine every day. It was a bumpy and tiring journey."

"It hasn't gotten better."

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu looked at the pale little prince with mixed feelings.

The last time he saw Wu Yanguang was in the capital. At that time, the child had just learned to speak and stuttered to call him "Second Uncle".

Now we meet again, it has become like this.

"Wait a minute..."

His Royal Highness the King of Chu took a deep breath and said, "After we enter the city, I will find a way to take the child to my home, and then ask a doctor to come and treat him."

"What's the point of treating him?"

Emperor Wu, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly raised his head, glared at his brother, and gnashed his teeth: "If you cure the disease, you don't have to be beheaded!"

Wu Yuanyou refused to give in. He glared at him and tried to lower his voice: "Keep your voice down!"

The Emperor seemed to be a little emotionally broken. He looked at Wu Yuanyou fiercely and said angrily: "You are afraid of them, but I am not afraid of them!"

"Shut up!"

His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was a little angry. He grabbed his brother's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Listen carefully! From now on, you and your family will do whatever I say. I can't guarantee that your family will be safe, but if you listen to me, at least your chances of survival will be greater!"

Empress Pei sighed silently and was about to nod when she heard Emperor Wu glaring at his brothers: "Let them kill us, let them kill us!"

The fat Prince Chu raised his hand and slapped his brother loudly without hesitation.

His eyes were fierce, as if he was ready to devour someone.

"You are so brave!"

"Why didn't you die in Guanzhong?"

"Why don't you die in Jiannan!"

(End of this chapter)