The lights in the western warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation were bright.

Bai Wu, the leader of the White Tiger Hall, never dreamed that he, a traitor who had been wanted by the imperial court for more than ten years, would be able to step into the palace and meet the emperor.

It’s not long to die!

This was Bai Wu’s first impression of the emperor. Listening to the bickering of several ministers in the cabinet, he became more determined in his thoughts.

On the couch on the south side, Emperor Yongxing was lying there with his eyes slightly closed, his forehead covered with sweat.

Zhao Tong first gently wiped the sweat off Emperor Yongxing’s face with a dry towel, and then applied an ice towel to Emperor Yongxing’s forehead.

Zhao Tong, who was wearing casual clothes, was no longer in the Imperial Household Department, nor did he hold any position in the twenty-four government offices in the palace. If the emperor had not protected him, he would have been beaten to death by the empress dowager.

“enough!”

The quarrels among several ministers in the cabinet made Emperor Yongxing feel uncomfortable. He brushed off the towel on his head and actually propped himself up and sat up from the couch.

“Your Majesty!” Zhao Tong hurried to help him.

Emperor Yongxing waved him away and uttered two words through his teeth: “Medicine!”

Zhao Tong was anxious: “Your Majesty.”

“Pills!” At this time, sweat was dripping down Emperor Yongxing’s forehead and his face turned ugly.

Zhao Tong did not dare to delay any longer. He ran to the imperial desk, opened the medicine box, took out a bright red pill, and ran back with a bowl of tea: “Your Majesty, the pill is here!”

Emperor Yongxing opened his mouth with some difficulty. Zhao Tong put the pill into his mouth, supported him with one hand, and fed him water in the bowl with the other hand.

Emperor Yongxing closed his eyes. After a while, his face turned red and the sweat on his face slowly stopped. He seemed like a different person.

Li Hu was so amazed. Is it so magical? No wonder many emperors were willing to try the elixir even though they knew it was harmful. After taking one, they immediately felt full of energy and refreshed. It was much better than taking that stuff!

Zhao Tong and several cabinet ministers all looked worried.

Bai Wu, who was kneeling there, took a cautious look at it. It was blood red, the kind of red that blood was surging. He smiled secretly: Eat it, I’ll eat you to death!

“Bai Wu.” Emperor Yongxing slowly opened his eyes.

Bai Wu: “I am here.”

Emperor Yongxing looked at him and asked, “Did the women of the Prince of Nan’an’s mansion really burn themselves to death?”

Bai Wu loudly replied: “To reply to the emperor, treason is to burn oneself to death out of fear of punishment.”

Rebellion! Emperor Yongxing glanced at Li Hu and said, “The court will reward you with merits. Go down.”

“Yes.” Bai Wu bowed his head and thought to himself: Just consider it as a farewell to you.

After hearing the sound of the outer hall door closing, Emperor Yongchang continued, “Let’s talk about something practical. What should we do now?”

The Prime Minister stood up and said, “First, we must block the news and send people south to capture the Prince of Nan’an and prevent him from escaping back to Southern Xinjiang. However, the most critical thing is the tens of thousands of troops in Southern Xinjiang. Since the Prince of Nan’an dared to enter the capital, it means that he has a backup plan. If the Prince of Nan’an has no intention of rebelling, it’s fine. If he has already had the intention of rebelling, whether he returns or not, a rebellion will break out in Southern Xinjiang.”

When these words were spoken, Emperor Yongxing was the first to be stunned.

Jia Jing and the others also had solemn expressions and remained silent.

The Prime Minister turned his gaze to Li Hu again: “Duke Lu, you are the most knowledgeable in military tactics. What do you think we should do?”

Emperor Yongxing, Jia Jing and others all turned their attention to Li Hu.

Li Hu also stood up and said, “Wars are fought for food and fodder. Why did the Prince of Nan’an strongly recommend his disciple to be the general of Hunan? It’s for food and fodder. And for access to the river. By the way, he can also cooperate with the Prince of Nan’an to attack the imperial court’s troops in Yunnan and Guizhou and open up the road to the north.”

Emperor Yongxing slapped the couch with his palm: “This damned traitor!”

The Prime Minister sighed silently and said to Li Hu, “Did you seize the military power of the Hunan general?”

Li Hu: “That’s right. He ordered Chen Qiang, who was training in Anhui, to march south immediately, kill the general of Hunan, seize the military power of Hunan, block the news, and gather troops from Anhui, Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. Before the rebels in southern Xinjiang could react, he took the initiative to launch an attack.”

The deputy assistant spoke up: “It’s impossible that all the people in Southern Xinjiang are rebels. Let’s send someone to persuade them to surrender first.”

“It’s up to you.” Li Hu sat down on the stool.

The second assistant was embarrassed: “War is not a game of house. We can’t just fight whenever we want! You also said that war is about food and grass. Now Mobei and Liaodong are both at war. The pressure on the court is already very great. It would be best if we can avoid fighting. Of course, if they are stubborn and continue to resist the court, it won’t be too late to wipe them out.”

Li Hu didn’t want to get entangled with him, so he said, “Ah, yes, yes, you are right!”

Ci Fu was stunned for a moment, then stood up suddenly: “You”

The Prime Minister shouted softly: “This is a meeting before the Emperor.”

Ci Fu reacted and was about to say something.

Emperor Yongxing spoke: “First, prepare according to Duke Lu’s wishes. It will take time for the troops from several provinces to gather together. We will talk about it when the time comes.”

Everyone stood up and answered, “Yes.” Emperor Yongxing looked at Li Hu and asked, “Who should be sent to the Prince of Nan’an?”

Li Hulue thought for a moment and replied, “Manager Dai.”

Emperor Yongxing nodded and said, “It’s late, you all should go back.”

The Prime Minister took the lead in answering, “Yes.”

Everyone walked out together.

Only the master and his servant were left in the West Warm Pavilion.

After a moment of silence, Emperor Yongxing spoke: “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Zhao Tongguang opened his mouth but no sound came out.

Emperor Yongxing closed his eyes and sighed, “You have caused me so much trouble!”

Zhao Tong fell to his knees in front of Emperor Yongxing, and put his head on the ground tightly: “I am an incompetent old slave, and I have caused great disaster. I am willing to accept the punishment of the emperor!”

Emperor Yongxing sighed deeply: “I know my own body well. I won’t live until the prince grows up, and may not even live for a few more years. Who do you want the prince to rely on? Those ministers?” He shook his head.

Zhao Tong was shocked: “Your Majesty has the strength of a dragon and tiger, and may you live a long and happy life.”

Emperor Yongxing waved his hand and said, “At this time, don’t deceive yourself. I will make plans for the prince. The previous dynasty had a cabinet, so there is nothing to worry about. As for the army, the prestige of Xiuguogong Hou Xiaokang and Li Hu can suppress the border troops; Zhongjinghou Shi Ding is the Minister of War and holds great power. In addition, Baolinghou Shi Nai controls the Infantry Command Office. There is a check and balance between the three parties, so there is nothing to worry about.

However, I still need someone to help the Crown Prince keep an eye on them to prevent the power from falling into the hands of others. The Crown Prince has no uncle, the Queen Mother is in the deep palace of the Imperial City, and the royal family cannot be trusted.”

Zhao Tong: “I did think of someone.”

Emperor Yongxing: “Who?”

Zhao Tong: “The Supreme Emperor. (The father of the Emperor Emeritus)”

Emperor Yongxing suddenly realized something and blurted out, “Yes! No matter how healthy the Supreme Emperor is, he won’t live for ten years. He won’t take the throne from the Crown Prince!” After that, he stood up suddenly and said, “Let’s go and meet the Supreme Emperor.”

In the heavy snow, Wang Daniu led a group of personal soldiers to escort Li Hu’s carriage towards the west city.

In the carriage, Li Hu sat on the couch in a daze.

Bai Wu, the leader of the White Tiger Hall, knelt beside the small wooden table, secretly glancing at Li Hu to observe his reaction.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Hu sighed and said, “You have caused me so much trouble!”

Bai Wu: “General, the Li family has no moral integrity, and Dashun is doomed to fail.”

Li Hu: “Shut up! What do you mean by ‘virtuous or not’? What do you mean by ‘luck has run out’? It’s all nonsense!”

Bai Wu was a little excited: “General, I am also from a good family, and I don’t want to live a life of blood and knife, but you have seen with your own eyes the miserable situation in Henan where the court is corrupt and the people are living in poverty.

But if Lord Jia hadn’t been in charge of Henan and provided relief to the victims, the people of Henan would have suffered ten or a hundred times more. When the Yellow River burst its banks that year, even if only one shipload of relief grain had been brought into the city, my family wouldn’t have starved to death.” At this point, Bai Wu choked up.

Li Hu looked at Bai Wu deeply, then sighed: “Get up.”

Bai Wu’s eyes lit up: “The Marshal agreed?”

Li Hu said angrily: “What do you mean by agree or not? Don’t think about those things! Just do your job well and train the soldiers of the Sword and Shield Battalion for me.”

Bai Wu was anxious: “Marshal, the world is going to be in chaos. If you don’t take it, will you give it to someone else?”

Li Hu: “What do you mean by chaos in the world? Are you hiding something from me?”

Bai Wu smiled awkwardly: “Well, I was the one who spread the news that the Nan’an County Prince’s Mansion was exterminated.”

Li Hu: “You”

“Marshal, that’s the throne! All the land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and all the people are his subjects. The whole world must listen to the emperor, and all the beauties in the world are for the emperor to choose. How many people are envious, how many people want it, but can’t get it. Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Bai Wu stared at Li Hu as he spoke, and seeing the hesitation in his eyes, he was overjoyed: “Marshal.”

Li Hu closed his eyes, then yawned and said lazily: “It’s late, you should go back and have a rest.” As he spoke, he knocked on the carriage.

The carriage slowly stopped.

Bai Wu was stunned for a moment and wanted to say something.

Li Hu closed his eyes.

Bai Wu had no choice but to open the car door and walk out.

The carriage moved forward slowly again.

Li Hu opened his eyes, took a long breath, and closed his eyes again. After a while, he opened his eyes again, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his heart was in turmoil. (End of this chapter)