Jiang Suizhou was stunned, and unable to follow.
What did he just ask? What did …… he say when he was walking with Lou Wanjun today?
Huo Wujiu’s expression was too serious, which made Jiang Suizhou’s heart thump involuntarily.
Was he doubting what he should not discuss with Lou Wanjun, or was he unhappy simply because he got close to her?
Well, it was quite common to have some kind of desire for exclusivity with the person with a romantic relationship with him.
Jiang Suizhou suppressed the sourness in his heart, forced a smile, and said, “We did not discuss anything. Miss Lou is a brilliant conversationalist, cheerful and outgoing. She just likes chatting about gossip, so we did not talk about anything important.”
Cheerful and outgoing?
Huo Wujiu’s eyebrows were knitted close enough to pinch a flying insect to death.
The Lou Wanjun he remembered was an unreasonable and pestering female bully. When was she ever cheerful and smiling, and even staring at the man beside him with her eyes aglow?
Something was clearly strange, yet Jiang Suizhou actually praised her.
Huo Wujiu couldn’t help but compare himself with Lou Wanjun.
He wasn’t much of a talker, let alone cheerful. Looking at the way Jiang Suizhou smiled at Lou Wanjun just now, he felt even more suffocated.
This was only their second meeting, right? The first and second time Jiang Suizhou saw him, he regarded him with nothing but unfeigned scowls.
Huo Wujiu’s thoughts swerved irrationally, which made his emotions even more unreasonable. With it, the look on his face grew all the more unsightly. After a moment, he spoke.
“You’d better stay away from her in the future,” he warned.
Lou Wanjun was most assuredly a bad apple. When she was a child, she pestered him non-stop for a fight and wished she could escape from Yangguan. Now, she would most likely pester the simple Jingwang. When the time came, the consequences would be unimaginable.
It was just that he noticed that Jiang Suizhou’s complexion inexplicably dimmed a bit.
“… Got it,” he answered.
Huo Wujiu nodded.
For a moment there, he felt guilty and even agitated.
What if Jiang Suizhou fancied Lou Wanjun? Looking at his appearance, he couldn’t say it was impossible.
If he were to break up the couple, would Jingwang be sad?
However, it was only a moment of sanity, and immediately, it dissipated in Huo Wujiu’s mind.
He thought evilly to himself, Whatever.
Let him be sad if he would be sad, but he just must not get together with Lou Wanjun.
As for who he could get together with… No matter who the person was, it was best for him to observe cautiously step by step.
Jiang Suizhou had no other choice but to temporarily divert his attention and focus more on court matters.
As expected, in a few days, Pang Shao made a big move.
And his big move was directed at Qi Min.
During this period, Lou Yue acted domineeringly in the court. Not only Pang’s party suffered, but Qi Min’s faction was also severely reproached and always implicated.
Today, Pang Shao sent a letter to the officials under Qi Min’s leadership.
The letter noted nothing about cooperating with them, but listed several charges of great disrespect against Lou Yue. Some said that he roared at the imperial court; others said that he blatantly disobeyed the imperial edict, and even took care of some things he shouldn’t be in charge of. He stopped several tribute beauties sent by the newly appointed magistrate of Suzhou to the capital for His Majesty to enjoy, and asked his soldiers to forcibly escort those women back to Suzhou.
Qi Min knew some of these charges, but he was also unaware of the others. In short, he wrote several pages. Although they were all trivial and would not convict Lou Yue, they were enough to enrage the Hou Zhu.
And at the end of the letter, Pang Shao also indicated his wishes.
He wrote, Qi-daren and everyone should know that the consequences of a military officer taking power are not something you and I can bear. If he dares to rely on his merits to stir such trouble today, who can guarantee that he will not do something even more unacceptable in the future? His Majesty should be informed of these first signs of threat.
He sent this letter to Qi Min with his intentions. Jiang Suizhou was surprised that Qi Min would let someone send it to him secretly.
Qi Min also attached a brief post script.
“Your Highness, you can see Pang Shao’s desires.”
Jiang Suizhou read the letter in momentary silence.
Although the content of the letter was short and straight to the point, without anything suspicious, when combined with the relationship between the lot of them, Pang Shao’s intention was utterly intriguing.
Pang Shao’s relationship with Qi Min wasn’t close. Naturally, sending him such a letter wasn’t a kind exchange between colleagues. Instead, it was more like Pang Shao wanted to take advantage of Qi Min’s potential and wanted to join hands with him for the time being to bring Lou Yue down.
He provided Qi Min with enough evidence, and even thought of Lou Yue’s crime for him, accusing him of committing great disrespect. Plus, he wrote that military officials should be scrupulous, and said that Lou Yue would do something bigger in the future, pushing the notion that he would most likely conspire against the Emperor. He might even assemble his own army and threaten the imperial power.
Presumably, he knew that his prestige in front of the Hou Zhu was not as good as before, so he wanted to borrow Qi Min’s mouth to accuse Lou Yue in front of the Hou Zhu first.
So, what happens next?
Pang Shao likely had a plan for the next step. Otherwise, he would not rashly accuse Lou Yue with such a serious crime.
At this time, Jiang Suizhou received another secret letter.
It was a message from Xu Du’s suicide soldiers.
The secret letter said that Pang Shao’s men had traveled between Lin’an and the southern counties many times, and did not do anything else, but frequently entered and left the manors of the senior generals of each county. At the same time, the people under Pang Shao also intentionally or unintentionally had contacts with Fang Zhaohe, the newly appointed Lingnan magistrate and the former magistrate of Suzhou, who transferred to Lingnan to take office. It seemed that there were money transactions, but that was all.
