Thief Emperor

Chapter 954: The Dragon's Anger

Seven years have passed, and Xue Gui has grown up and married. After hearing Li Yun's words, he was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Li Yun, and looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, he said in surprise: "Uncle, King Jiangdu..."

Li Yun glanced at him and said, "You don't even know your good brother's grandfather?"

"I know, I know."

Xue Gui scratched his head and said, "A few days ago, I was drinking with Zhou Luo, and he didn't mention this at all, nor did he go back to take a look in advance."

"How come it's gone all of a sudden?"

Hearing this, Li Yun was silent for a while, then said, "It's gone just like that."

Zhou Xu died suddenly. He was sleeping with his new concubine in his arms the night before, and the next day he lay in bed and never woke up again.

It was a sudden death.

However, he was a playboy throughout his life, and he was dissolute from his youth to his old age. In his old age, he died suddenly on his bed without suffering any hardship.

He is also a blessed person.

Xue Gui took a deep breath and lowered his head and said, "Zhou Luo will soon be rushing back to Yangzhou to attend the funeral. I will go find him and go with him."

Li Yun glanced at him and said in a deep voice: "I told you that you are going on my behalf. Wait until you get the imperial edict before going."

"Boy."

Li Yun called out, and Xue Gui lowered his head and smiled: "You go ahead, you go ahead."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and said, "When you go to Yangzhou, you will meet Zhou Chang. Tell him that after he inherits the title of Duke, he can continue to go to Qingzhou to serve as the General of Qingzhou, or he can stay in Yangzhou to enjoy his life, or he can move to Luoyang."

"If he no longer serves as the general of Qingzhou, the court will let his son Zhou Luo succeed him as the general of Qingzhou."

Xue Gui became serious when he heard this. He looked up at Li Yun and said solemnly, "I've made note of this."

Emperor Li patted Xue Gui on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I heard that you are going to be a father soon. When will your bride give birth?"

Xue Gui got married at the end of the sixth year of Zhangwu, and it has been just over a year since then, but his wife is already pregnant.

Hearing this, Xue Gui lowered his head and said, "It should be two or three months."

"Ah."

Li Yun nodded and said, "Calculating the time, you can just come back from the southeast."

He stroked his chin and thought for a while, then said, "There is still plenty of time. After you go to Yangzhou, if you have nothing else to do, go to Jinling for me and take a look at what Jinling looks like now."

"Then come back and tell me."

Upon hearing this, Xue Gui lowered his head and responded, "Yes, uncle!"

Emperor Li pondered for a while and then said, "Then go and prepare. We will set off tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"When the time comes, I'll let Lu Bing go with you."

Xue Gui was startled when he heard the name, then he bowed his head and said ok, and smiled bitterly, "Deputy Director Lu, I am a generation younger than him, so I will suffer a loss along the way."

Emperor Li looked at him and said in silence, "Are you going or not? If you don't want to go, I will ask Lu Bing to go alone."

"Go away, go away. Your nephew is dying of boredom in Luoyang."

Xue Gui smiled and said, "I am very careful at home."

Hearing this, Li Yun glared at him unhappily, then kicked Xue Gui on the butt: "Get out of here, do your job well after leaving Luoyang, and don't embarrass your aunt."

Xue Gui screamed, then rubbed his butt and left Ganlu Temple.

After a while, Lu Bang, who had become the deputy of the Jingzhao Division of the Nine Departments, also came to the Ganlu Palace to wait for an audience.

Compared to Xue Gui, Lu Bing seemed much more reserved. After seeing his brother-in-law Li Yun, he immediately bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I greet you."

Li Yun raised his hand towards him, indicating that he didn't need to be polite, and then explained the mission to him.

"Jinling, I haven't been there for a long time. You should go with Xue Gui this time. He will go to Yangzhou to pay his respects, and you should go directly to Jinling. Come back and tell me what you saw and heard."

"Also, take a look at Jiang Dongdao and see what he looks like now."

Emperor Li thought for a moment and continued, "Don't alarm the local government or the local nine departments."

Lu Bing was stunned for a moment, then asked: "Your Majesty, even Jiusi..."

Li Yun nodded and said, "The Jiusi has been around for so many years. The local Jiusi and the local government."

"Maybe they have already reached an agreement. No matter what, just go and take a look for me."

He looked at Lu Bing and lowered his head and said, "Be careful of your own safety."

Lu Bing quickly lowered his head and replied yes.

After saying this, he was about to turn around and leave, but after thinking about it, Lu Bing gritted his teeth and lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report to you."

Li Yun sat in his seat, looked up at him and said, "You say."

Lu Bing took a deep breath and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is a family matter, about Princess Lujiang..."

Princess Lujiang is Li Yun’s eldest daughter Li Shu.

Li Shu was born to Concubine Lu, and Lu Bing was the uncle of Princess Lujiang.

Because of this relationship, Princess Lujiang liked her uncle Lu Bing very much. In addition, she was very much liked by Li Yun and could often go out of the palace, so she often had the opportunity to go and play with Lu Bing. Hearing this, Li Yun put down the brush in his hand. He even stood up and frowned, saying, "What's wrong with Princess Lujiang?"

Emperor Li was tall, while Lu Bing was only of medium build and thin. When Li Yun stood up, he felt oppressive. Lu Bing's forehead was sweating. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said with his head down: "Your Majesty, I said, you can't tell Princess Lujiang that I said it."

At this time, Li Yun already felt something was wrong. He frowned and said, "Just as you said."

"Princess, the princess..."

Lu Bing took a deep breath and whispered, "In recent times, she has been very close to the young master of the Duke of Weiguo's family. Especially in the past few months, every time she left the palace to visit my house, she would quickly leave to look for the young master of the Duke of Weiguo's family."

"As for the rest, I don't know..."

"Duke Wei."

Li Yun couldn't help but gritted his teeth.

The one who defended the country was General Su Shengsu.

Emperor Li was furious and said in a deep voice: "How old is she? How, how..."

Emperor Li, who was usually calm, was actually a little stuck when he spoke here, and was speechless for a long time.

Lu Bing was terrified. After a while, he whispered, "Your Majesty, Princess Lujiang is fifteen or sixteen years old this year."

Emperor Li rubbed his brows and said, "Does your sister know about this?"

Lu Bing shook his head and said, "I haven't dared to tell her yet."

He thought for a moment and said quickly, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I have been watching them all the time. The princess and the young master of the Su family are definitely innocent."

Emperor Li calmed down, squinted his eyes and thought for a long time, then snorted coldly: "I was wondering why I didn't see this girl often in the past six months. It turns out, it turns out..."

Emperor Li doted on his eldest daughter very much. When he was working in Ganlu Palace, Princess Lujiang would often run in to play with him. He did not get angry and would play with his daughter.

You have to know that even in a place like Ganlu Palace, no one can enter without the prime minister's summons.

In the past six months, Princess Lujiang has indeed come less often.

Lu Bing swallowed his saliva and whispered: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

Li Yun rubbed his brows and said, "Okay, I know about this. You did a good job."

"When you have some free time, tell your sister."

Lu Bing lowered his head quickly and replied, "That's what I meant. I can still keep an eye on Her Royal Highness while I'm in the capital. I'm about to leave the capital on a business trip and I'm worried that something might happen to Her Royal Highness and upset Your Majesty."

"That's why I informed His Majesty."

Emperor Li sat back in his seat, thought for a long time, and said, "Duke Wei has many sons. Which son is she dating?"

"Su Zhan, the fourth son of the Duke of Wei's family."

"it is good."

Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table.

"I got it."

…………

After Zhou Luo left the capital, the next day, Xue Gui and Lu Bing also left Luoyang together, taking Li Yun's imperial edict and heading southeast.

This time, they were not only going to pay their respects to King Jiangdu, but also to secretly patrol the southeast as the emperor's eyes and ears.

After all, it has been quite some years since Emperor Li left Southeast China, and he has no idea what Southeast China is like now.

I wonder what Jinling looks like now.

Two days after Xue Gui and others left, Emperor Li finally felt like taking action, so he changed into casual clothes and left the palace under the escort of the Yulin Army.

After leaving the imperial city, His Majesty the Emperor took a tour around Luoyang City. He first visited the Du family in Anrenfang, and in the afternoon, he went to the gate of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion.

When the Emperor arrived, the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion naturally opened its doors to welcome him. Even Su Sheng, who worked in the Privy Council, hurried back home to welcome Li Yun.

When Su Sheng returned home, Emperor Li had already taken his seat in the main hall. After paying his respects, Su Sheng sat down below the emperor and asked with a smile, "Your Majesty, why did you come here so suddenly without informing us in advance?"

"I have nothing to do, so I'm walking around."

He looked at Su Sheng and said with a smile, "The war in Youyan is about to start. Senior Brother has to stay in the Privy Council and it is difficult for him to move around. I wonder if there are any young people in the Su family who would like to go to Youyan to contribute to the country?"

Upon hearing this, Su Sheng patted his chest and said, "Your Majesty, many of my sons have already grown up. As long as Your Majesty needs them, you can recruit them to join the army!"

"I won't say anything else!"

"Conscription is conscription."

Emperor Li said calmly: "But if you don't have any skills, when you go to the battlefield, you will only be giving credit to the Khitans."

"The Su family is a military family. Senior brother's sons must be very skilled in martial arts."

Li Yun said with a smile.

"I want to test them."

(End of this chapter)