Huo Wujiu did return soon.
He had his sword in one hand, with blood dripping from it. He was holding some dry dead branches, and carried a snow-white rabbit, which was already out of breath, in his other hand.
Huo Wujiu walked to the riverside by Jiang Suizhou’s side, squatted down, and quickly peeled off the skin at the water’s edge.
What he was holding in his hand was clearly a three-foot-long sword, but this didn’t get in the way at all. His movements were neat. Jiang Suizhou sat on the side and watched curiously. In no time, the rabbit was clean as a pin, and he placed it on the clean stone beside him.
After doing this, he picked up the pile of dead branches again.
Jiang Suizhou couldn’t help but comment, “How come you’re good at everything?”
Huo Wujiu looked up at Jiang Suizhou and saw him sitting on the stone next to him quite obediently. He was clearly wearing a neat arrow-sleeved riding outfit, but he couldn’t hide the peculiar bearing of a rich and noble gentleman. Here in the wilderness with no people around, Jiang Suizhou sitting there was akin to a piece of jade that had been dropped in the wild.
Those eyes which were confined in the rich town from morning till night found everything fresh.
Huo Wujiu was his opposite. He had been wild since he was a child. Yangguan was bleak and desolate and had no space for leisure. Whenever he went out to play with others when he was young, they would go horse riding, hunting, catching rabbits, and shooting wild geese. The animals they caught were roasted on the spot to eat. Other than those, there was no other entertainment.
Later, he marched and fought with his father for years, and the conditions were naturally more difficult than in Yangguan. On the march, they always ate whatever was available, so it was common to roast their catch.
He was only capable of killing a rabbit at present, but in the eyes of this prince, it turned into ‘he could do anything’.
A smiles uncontrollably broke out on his face. Huo Wujiu lowered his eyes, took out a flint and slashed it with his sword. Sparks flew and landed on the pile of dead branches, igniting it.
Seeing Huo Wujiu laugh, Jiang Suizhou also felt a trace of embarrassment.
Come to think of it, he was a modern man who had never even butchered a chicken.
Huo Wujiu skewered the skinned rabbit and placed it above the fire. A few moments later, the aroma of meat filled the air, and the grease of the rabbit was roasted by the fire, producing sizzles on the skin.
Jiang Suizhou’s eyes couldn’t help but slide from the meat on the rack to Huo Wujiu’s face.
The sunrays were shining just right, brightly on Huo Wujiu. Before today, Jiang Suizhou had never seen Huo Wujiu stand up, let alone sit on the ground so casually but dashingly.
He was seriously good-looking. Presently, he seemed to have gotten rid of the heavy shackles that were pressing on him and had regained the light that belonged to him.
This was how Huo Wujiu was supposed to look.
After a while, Huo Wujiu noticed his gaze.
He raised his eyes to Jiang Suizhou and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Suizhou scrambled to avert his gaze.
“Nothing.” He was afraid of being found out so he quickly cooked up an excuse, “I was just thinking, after today, are you going to pretend that your legs aren’t healed?”
Huo Wujiu answered with a muffled hmm.
“I can’t let anyone notice until we’re ready to take action,” he added.
Jiang Suizhou nodded.
“So what do you have in mind for the time being?” he asked.
Huo Wujiu pondered for a moment.
“Do you know Lou Yue?” he asked.
Jiang Suizhou certainly knew him.
A rare and famous general of Southern Jing, who was once a close friend of the former Marquis Huo.
But back then, Emperor Jing You intended to eradicate the Huo family. Only then did the Huo family rise up and rebel, from being a prestigious general’s family of the Jing Dynasty to the rebels who overthrew the old Dynasty. Lou Yue had nothing to do with this matter. At that time, he went south to sweep the Japanese pirates. It was thousands of miles away, so he stayed in Southern Jing.
Both Emperor Jing You and the Empress knew of his friendship with Lord Huo, so they dared not use him. As far as the history books were concerned, Huo Wujiu sent his troops south to Lin’an, but the Hou Zhu never allowed Lou Yue to go to the battlefield.
Three days before the city collapsed, the Hou Zhu confiscated all of Lou Yue’s military power and executed him.
Naturally, the Hou Zhu who attained all the soldiers under Lou Yue still failed to resist Huo Wujiu’s invasion. Lou Yue was only executed because the Hou Zhu was not at ease with him and was afraid that he would collude with their enemies.
Remembering this, Jiang Suizhou paused.
He knew that Lou Yue had an only daughter named Lou Wanjun. After the fall of Southern Jing, Huo Wujiu saved her and took her in.
Since then, he had always brought Lou Wanjun by his side, even when he returned to guard Yangguan.
There were many traces in the history books about the relationship between the two of them. Lou Yue and the former Marquis Huo used to roam around together when they were young, and their children also had a verbal marriage contract. Huo Wujiu and Lou Wanjun were also considered childhood sweethearts.
Lou Wanjun lost her mother at an early age, and had been following her father’s side, so she had been influenced by the environment. She was a rare general talent.
Nonetheless, Lou Yue was a conservative person and never let her go on the battlefield, let alone let her lead the soldiers. It was only after Lou Wanjun followed Huo Wujiu that she had the opportunity to go to battle. Henceforth, she left her name in the annals of history.
Although the two of them did not get married, whether in official records or unofficial history, everyone tacitly agreed that Lou Wanjun was Huo Wujiu’s confidante, not to mention that Lou Wanjun had a son, whose father was unknown, but took Huo Wujiu’s surname.
This was the information that Jiang Suizhou knew best. He had read no less than five papers related to this.
But for some reason, thinking about it now, an inexplicable feeling sprouted in his heart.
He could not identify what the feeling was, but in general, it wasn’t at all comforting.
