AWB Chapter 114: The Danger Level Immediately Increases
Chapter 114: The Danger Level Immediately Increases
General Pei is furious! Is there no one in the family to stop Pei Wenyu? Is it too late for me to go back now?
General Pei looked at Pei Wenyu with a disappointed expression, wishing he could give the boy a good beating.
After much deliberation, General Pei still couldn't swallow his anger and immediately requested permission to return to the capital for a day.
General Pei's sudden decision to return to the capital alarmed the entire Pei family, and everyone panicked.
Only Madam Pei spoke calmly: "What's meant to happen will happen. Oh well! The truth will out. We shouldn't have let him go to the capital in the first place, nor should we have let him attend the birthday banquet at the Chen residence."
The Pei family fell silent upon hearing Old Madam Pei's words; there was no turning back now.
On his first day back in Beijing, General Pei went straight to Pei Wenyu's residence.
Pei Wenyu heard that General Pei was waiting for him, and guessed why General Pei would look for him.
He could only step forward shakily, bow, and say, "Grandpa!"
General Pei looked at him without replying, and slapped Pei Wenyu hard across the face. Pei Wenyu didn't dare to dodge.
General Pei, still feeling unsatisfied, slapped him twice more, saying with a hint of anger, "Do you know why I hit you?"
"Grandson knows!" Pei Wenyu replied guiltily.
"Before you came to the capital, I repeatedly told you not to take sides or get involved in politics. Where did you take those words?" General Pei said angrily.
"Grandson knows he was wrong!" Pei Wenyu didn't know what to say, because things had already developed to this point, and he couldn't change it.
Looking at his disappointed expression, General Pei said, "If one day my entire Pei family is to be executed because of you, I, this old man, will give up my official position to save the lives of hundreds of people in my Pei household. As for you, you will go down to our ancestors and repent for what you have done! Humph!"
"Useless thing, do you know that you are playing with the lives of everyone in the Pei family? Do you know that every power struggle has resulted in bloodshed? How can you be so sure that you will win?" General Pei said angrily to Pei Wenyu.
If Pei Wenyu weren't his own grandson, and his favorite, he would have already attacked him.
Pei Wenyu remained kneeling and listened to the reprimand. Seeing that Pei Wenyu was obediently admitting his guilt, General Pei continued, "I am getting old and I am afraid I won't live for many more years. Your father fought alongside me on the battlefield when he was young and died in an enemy ambush. Your father was my proudest son."
"Since you were born without a father, you were sent to my side to be taught. I thought you would inherit your father's mantle, but I never expected you to get involved in these power struggles. Do you know that I would rather you die under the enemy's knife than die in the struggle between your own people?"
"If that's the case, it would be a disgrace. All these years I've spent guarding the border would have become a joke." General Pei said, feeling powerless by the end.
"Even if you're going to take sides, you should choose a good time. What does the current emperor have? What can he use to fight against those two old foxes, the Prime Minister and the Grand Commandant? The Grand Commandant has controlled the government for many years and is cunning and treacherous. There's also the Empress Dowager who controls the harem. Do you really think your paltry sums are enough?"
"And then there's the Prime Minister. He didn't have a powerful family to support him, but he relied on his own abilities to gain the late emperor's favor at a young age and rose all the way to the position of Prime Minister. Now he can even surpass the Grand Commandant. Could he have held the position of Prime Minister for so many years without some tricks up his sleeve?"
“The Prime Minister and his son are both ruthless. The reason why the Prime Minister has been able to sit firmly at the top of the officials for so many years without wavering is because he has no way out. He is ruthless enough. Can you do that? You have the Pei family behind you!” The more General Pei spoke, the more helpless he felt.
In the end, General Pei simply stopped talking, leaving Pei Wenyu kneeling there by himself.
Pei Wenyu remained kneeling, speechless the entire time. General Pei, seeing Pei Wenyu's state, was furious and simply stopped looking at him, coldly saying, "You should reflect on your actions here!"
After General Pei finished speaking, he set off back to the frontier, leaving Pei Wenyu kneeling there.
Pei Wenyu knew he had made a mistake, but he didn't get up. He just knelt in that spot all night, as if only by doing so could he feel better.
It wasn't until the next day when the housekeeper came and saw that Pei Wenyu was still kneeling that he started to persuade him to get up.
...............
Xuzhou
Zheng Luoqi received the news that Pei Wenyu had been reprimanded by General Pei. To be honest, if it weren't for the Pei family suddenly taking sides, he would still have great respect for General Pei.
Different perspectives mean that even appreciation is a different matter.
The news of the assassination of the Pei family also reached the emperor's ears. Zheng Luoqi and Zheng Yuxiang were prepared, saying that the assassins might be remnants of the previous dynasty.
With Pei Wenyu's testimony, the emperor had no choice but to believe that Pei Wenyu knew those people were sent by the prime minister, but he also had to admit that they were remnants of the previous dynasty, arranged by Zheng Luoqi. This time, Pei Wenyu had no choice but to comply; he dared not gamble with his family again.
Zheng Yuxiang handed over the two people with special patterns on their faces that he had captured earlier to Pei Wenyu, saying that it would be more convincing for him to report to the Emperor.
Pei Wenyu was instructed to tell the Emperor that the assassins from that night were these people with special patterns on their faces, and that, upon investigation, they were members of a Jianghu organization kept by the previous dynasty's royal family.
Then tell the emperor that these people have been active in the Great Xia Kingdom and have been secretly collecting information on officials, and that their stronghold is in Liangzhou.
Xue Huaiyu felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this. The previous dynasty was over a hundred years ago, yet this kind of organization still existed and was collecting information on officials everywhere. Was it trying to restore the country? The more Xue Huaiyu thought about it, the more frightened he became.
Moreover, these people's stronghold was in Liangzhou, and they were assassinated by people sent by the Wen family. The meaning was self-evident. Xue Huaiyu could easily connect the dots and understand why the Wen family had been able to control the government and the harem for so many years. It turned out that they had been planning this all along and were just waiting for the right opportunity.
Xue Huaiyu grew increasingly fearful as he thought about it. He had kept such a dangerous person by his side for so long, and he had been dancing with wolves for so long. From then on, the danger of Grand Commandant Wen in Xue Huaiyu's mind skyrocketed, immediately surpassing that of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was going to seize power, but the Grand Commandant was going to rebel.
Xue Huaiyu thought about it more and more and felt that the Grand Commandant still had to be eliminated immediately, but if the Grand Commandant was eliminated, the Prime Minister would have absolute power, and it would not be so easy to regain power then.
[I've set up a poll for the old and new covers. Whichever one gets the most votes by the end of the month, I'll switch back to that one. You can check out my latest post in the discussion forum.]