After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine Chapter 61
Huo Wujiu thought that he had always been a character who disliked owing others. This Jingwang took the liberty of liking him and sacrificed so much for him, making him unable to bear deceiving him. He even wanted to entrust all his unsavory background to him.
Not just because Huo Wujiu trusted him, but more because he didn’t want to hide it from him.
This “not wanting to hide from him” thought had been poking around in Huo Wujiu’s heart since yesterday when Jiang Suizhou told him that he would let the doctor treat his legs.
It was a spark of fire that flared up in Huo Wujiu’s heart, scorching his heart to a frightening degree.
He had hidden that tongue of flame in the depths of his heart, and at this time, only a pair of extremely well-disguised black eyes quietly looked at Jiang Suizhou.
When there was no longer a third person in the room, Jiang Suizhou deliberated before speaking.
“You have heard the doctor’s diagnosis today,” he said indifferently.
Huo Wujiu responded with a hum.
He paused and was about to speak, but heard Jiang Suizhou continue.
“Although he can’t cure you, it’s more or less a two-way street of hope,” he said, “Anyway, since acupuncture and moxibustion are required, this Prince thought it would be more convenient for you to live in another place.”
A gust of wind seemed to blow by, puffing the tongue of flame burning in Huo Wujiu’s heart into a flicker.
He faltered and again answered with a hum.
“Indeed,” he said.
Jiang Suizhou nodded his head.
“This Prince has asked Meng Qianshan to arrange a room for you in the courtyard, so you can just stay there and get well at ease. When this Prince told the doctor to heal you at will, it was nothing more than covering up the scene. If he really dares not to do his best, you just tell Meng Qianshan,” he said.
Oh, he would still live in his courtyard, ah.
The fleeting gust of wind dissipated without a trace.
Huo Wujiu looked indifferent and said, “En.”
Jiang Suizhou assessed his expression and tentatively opened his mouth next.
“I never told you before why I moved you to Anyin Hall, right?” he said.
Jiang Suizhou knew that it was most appropriate to say these words at this time.
Had he told Huo Wujiu from day one that he wanted to treat him kindly, Huo Wujiu wouldn’t have believed him, and instead became more wary of him. If he also didn’t say it now, they’d be meeting less afterward and have no way to talk about it. It’d be painstaking to talk to him next time.
At this moment, telling Huo Wujiu that he wanted to help him and cooperate with him was the most appropriate opportunity. After all, his recent circumstances and good deeds were all visible to Huo Wujiu.
But then he faltered when he saw Huo Wujiu’s unpleasant expression, which looked as if he had beat someone up.
After a moment, he raised his eyes to him with his brow furrowed and softly said, “No.”
Jiang Suizhou was about to speak when he heard Huo Wujiu then say, “…Don’t say anything.”
How can this work! Jiang Suizhou was anxious.
I must tell you clearly, ah! If I don’t, how can you know my good intentions? How can you see how I swallowed humiliation? How can you be grateful to me, ah?!
He hurriedly said, “I have to say it. Since things have reached this point, I think you’ve understood a thing or two of what I want to do.”
Huo Wujiu’s brow furrowed even deeper.
What exactly did this Jing Wang want to do?
Is he going to use today to express his feelings to me?
For some reason, Huo Wujiu felt a little flustered and couldn’t even think of a countermeasure for a while. But strangely enough, that spark of fire that he hid blazed even hotter, as if oil was poured on it.
This made Huo Wujiu’s heart beat faster.
How could this Jingwang be so stupid? Wasn’t he afraid of being rejected and losing face? This in turn made Huo Wujiu’s heart soft. He even felt that, no matter what he said, he couldn’t say no…
But then, he heard Jingwang speak.
“My royal brother humiliated you and wanted to use the method of raising Gu to make me fight you. Naturally, I don’t want to give him what he wants.”
That clear and fresh voice sounded like a mountain spring, cool, calm and gentle.
“I moved you to the Prince’s courtyard to protect your integrity. Although I am a man of the Southern Jing, I am regarded as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh by my royal brother, and he wishes he could get rid of me right away. Although I can drag out my ignoble existence here, I also know that I will be killed sooner or later.”
“As far as I am concerned, wiping out the Jing Dynasty is my way out. General Huo, these days, I think you’ve seen that I’m different from them. I have no intention of killing or humiliating you, but want to cooperate with you.”
That cool and refreshing voice akin to a mountain stream flowed into Huo Wujiu’s heart.
For a moment he only felt empty in his heart.
He only heard Jingwang slowly say, “I can keep you safe for the time being, and I can help you heal your legs in the future. All I’m asking for is a way to survive, nothing more.”
“Zzz,” came a sound.
The spring water suddenly dripped over Huo Wujiu’s limbs and bones, gently flowed through his heart, and then suddenly extinguished that raging fire.
Huo Wujiu’s voice sounded a bit muffled.
“…Nothing else?” he asked.
The next thing he knew, he met a puzzled pair of clean and unadulterated eyes.
“Nothing else, ah.”
The author has something to say.
Jiang Suizhou: What’s that sound?
Huo Wujiu [expressionless]: The sound of a young man’s heart breaking.
Return to the bride’s home?
Huo Wujiu exterminated the emperor’s country, and the latter killed Huo Wujiu’s father. They were already at odds and ends, so how could he claim that they were Huo Wujiu’s family?
He said it was returning to the bride’s home, but his unabashed tone clearly showed his desire to find an excuse to taunt and humiliate Huo Wujiu.
With his knowledge of thousands of years of history, Jiang Suizhou also had some understanding of this fatuous ruler.
The Hou Zhu, as stupid as he was, certainly couldn’t have come up with this humiliating trick to force Huo Wujiu back to his maternal home.
Jiang Suizhou caught the look shared between the Emperor and Pang Shao.
Nine out of ten, it was Pang Shao who was in cahoots with the Hou Zhu. The latter wanted to take Huo Wujiu out, and Pang Shao wanted to please him, so Pang Shao must have come up with this idea for him.
The two of them hit it off immediately. They would each happily obtain their desires. He, on the other hand, would end up suffering.
Regardless of who wanted to humiliate Huo Wujiu, in Huo Wujiu’s perspective, he, Jiang Suizhou, and they were jackals of the same lair.
Jiang Suizhou didn’t want to drive someone to their death. He could turn a blind eye to it, but he didn’t want to use his own head as a bargaining chip.
Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth.
He had to refuse for Huo Wujiu, and he had to come up with a sound reason.
He paused, and his exquisite, almost lush face showed tinges of revulsion and embarrassment.
“Brother Emperor, that’s unnecessary.” He lowered his eyes, his slender eyelashes blocking the emotions in his eyes and aptly posing a gesture of refusal. “A cripple is hardly presentable and would only provoke Brother Emperor’s disgust.”
He spoke slowly, exhibiting his disgust between the lines.
Jiang Suizhou wove his words beautifully, and each word was seemingly in consideration for the latter. However, the people around him knew when they heard him that he himself was disgraced in saying these words.
Of course, he was also a Prince of the country. The mere thought of entering the palace with a prisoner of war “to return to the bridal home” was too funny and too humiliating.
Many courtiers had a look of schadenfreude on their faces.
And when the Emperor heard this, he became even more spirited.
“What? Are you unwilling to bring him out? Fifth Brother, you’ve only been with him in the bridal chamber last night. How come you are so heartless today?”
When Jiang Suizhou heard his loony tone, he was inevitably disgusted, but he had to continue acting.
He paused, as if totally embarrassed that he had been intimate with the other party. After a while, he lowered his voice and said, “Brother Emperor, this is different.”
The Hou Zhu dissolved into laughter, and a cheerful atmosphere permeated the entire courtroom.
Pang Shao cleared his throat again.
The Hou Zhu glanced at him and saw Pang Shao winking at him from below, reminding him of the plan.
Long before the court session, his uncle told him that he could severely humiliate Jiang Suizhou by proposing to let Huo Wujiu return to his maternal home. That idea was fine. However, it was paramount to use this matter as a bargaining chip in exchange for the goodies in Jiang Suizhou’s hands.
Although he was not interested in whatever good things Jiang Suizhou had in his hands, he was ultimately delighted in the act of snatching things away from him.
Even if he was now no longer the poor First Prince who was ignored by his father and could only watch how loved Jiang Suizhou was, even if he was now the Emperor, his hobbies remained unchanged.
He cleared his throat, shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, raised his leg and stepped on the throne floor cushion.
“All right, since Fifth Brother is reluctant and wants to hide your wife in a golden house, I will not force you.” He stretched his voice and smiled. “But then, since you want to hide your beauty, you’ve got to give something in exchange. Don’t you think so?”
Jiang Suizhou frowned.
Sure enough, he had guessed right. Pang Shao was behind the Hou Zhu’s evil tricks. Since he had made the Hou Zhu happy, Pang Shao naturally wouldn’t be without payment. If the Hou Zhu didn’t plan on giving this remuneration to him, then Pang Shao would obtain it himself.
But…He seemed to be merely an idle Prince with an idle post. What was worth their scheming?
Jiang Suizhou paused and tentatively answered, “Brother Emperor, please enlighten me.”
The Hou Zhu cleared his throat.
“I have thought about it. If I want to build an ancestral hall in the palace, the Ministry of Works should do it, not the Ministry of Rites. It just so happens that Luan Zhaoyi has been begging me these days, wanting her father to come and share your burdens. Fifth Brother, no matter what, we can’t let the beauty be sad, right?”
Jiang Suizhou’s brow jumped.
Oh, I see.
During the reign of Emperor Jing You of Southern Jing, the corruption of the court reached its peak when Pang Shao was in power. Officials have been corrupt since ancient times, and construction projects were the easiest way to launder money. The largest ill-gotten fortunes were certainly from the construction of palaces.
For this reason, Pang Shao would let the Emperor build a palace whenever he made a fuss about building a new one. In any case, when a palace was built, the money would flow from the national treasury to his own pockets.
At present, the renovations of the palace must still be underway, so Pang Shao was coveting this lucrative job. Nevertheless…Jiang Suizhou didn’t quite understand how such an obvious piece of fat meat fell into his hands.
He did not say anything for a while, his eyes roamed around the assembly room.
Some people remained calm and composed as they watched the show, while others were cold-faced and silent. A few officials looked nervous, glancing straight at him.
Under the turbulent dark tide, there were clear distinctions, as if there were two factions in the dark.
A terrible conjecture suddenly sprouted in Jiang Suizhou’s heart.
From this situation…It seemed that he also had some hidden power in the court. It was those people who found ways to stuff this errand into his hands.
