Lin Jun looked at Fang Xianye and smiled in an unfathomable way.
He often slept uneasily at night. One night when he was out for a walk, he saw a group of people escorting a man in black out of the house. In the moonlight, he could vaguely see blood on the man's body.
He was extremely surprised, and later heard that Duan Xu fell ill that night, and the doctor called to Duan's house that night was the doctor who usually treated him. The doctor had a good relationship with him, and under his inducement, he told him Duan Xu's condition and said that he must have caught a cold that night and vomited blood before fainting.
Lin Jun immediately thought of the black-clad man who came out of Fang Xianye's house that night. The man's figure was very similar to Duan Xu, and the time of vomiting blood and fainting also matched. He suspected that the man was Duan Xu, and perhaps there was something strange between Duan Xu and Fang Xianye. Duan Xu was now the emperor's biggest concern, and it would be a great achievement if he could catch him.
He started with Fang Xianye, but he didn't expect to dig out such a powerful secret decree. Duan Xu is now a meritorious official, and the emperor can hardly find evidence to punish him, but he doesn't want to let him go back to the north bank. This decree written by the late emperor himself is a perfect opportunity.
Fang Xianye's eyes darkened, and he said coldly: "I thought Lord Lin was concerned about the North Bank, and his lifelong wish was to recover the North Bank."
Lin Jun was thoughtful and smiled, "Is it because of this that Lord Fang has been hiding until now? Although there are still nine states left on the north bank that have not been recovered, the uprising of the Han people on the north bank is spreading like wildfire, and Shangjing is just around the corner. Daliang already has five well-equipped border troops, Suying, Tabai, Hegui, Chengjie, and Tangbei. They are already familiar with the tactics and formations of the army against the Danzhi. There are also Meng Wan, Xia Qingsheng, Wu Shengliu, Shi Biao, Ding Jin and other experienced generals. Zhao Chun is not useful, so we should recommend a new commander. It is only a matter of time to recover the country. Does it have to be Duan Xu?"
Lin Jun took a step forward and whispered in Fang Xianye's ear, "Besides, you and I both know that his health has deteriorated and he is no longer as good as before. He is no longer of any value."
"Duan Xu can die now."
These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Fang Xianye's ears.
Fang Xianye clenched his fists and said, "Duan Xu has done you a favor."
"Duan Xu has done me a favor, but I am loyal to the emperor, so I naturally put the emperor's worries first. Lord Fang, you are also a person with great ambitions. Now that the emperor is suspicious, are you willing to be neglected for the rest of your life as an old friend of Prince Ji, or even endanger your life, and those policies and plans to save the people will be completely unable to be implemented? Are you willing?"
Lin Jun is now in high spirits, and his persuasion step by step is also firm. He smiled leisurely and said: "This is a great opportunity. Duan Xu is unconscious at the moment. You don't have to worry about falling out with him and bringing up your old scores. You can also rely on overthrowing Duan Xu to gain the emperor's trust and become our man. There will be no such opportunities in the future."
"Master Fang may feel sad because of our old relationship, but he will get over it soon, and you will thank me then."
Fang Xianye looked calm with a frown on his face, looking Lin Jun up and down. It turned out that Lin Jun was a businessman, and he calculated every account shrewdly and without any scruples.
—If it is for power, even fathers, sons and brothers will kill each other.
Fang Xianye suddenly thought of the deceased emperor. These words often hovered in his mind like a curse. The southern capital was a quagmire, and the imperial court was the abyss in the quagmire. In the past few months, the situation has been unprecedentedly turbulent. A blank piece of paper thrown in would instantly become dirty, not to mention an ambitious blank piece of paper, which probably wished it could be even dirtier.
He looked down on Lin Jun so much, but how clean was he?
They couldn't keep the emperor waiting for long, and finally walked into the emperor's Ningle Palace. The young monarch was dressed in a turmeric dragon robe, with a firm brow and a majestic look without anger. He sat high up in the hall with an unfathomable expression.
Fang Xianye knelt down calmly with Lin Jun and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I am Fang Xianye."
The emperor said calmly, "My dear minister, please stand up."
Fang Xianye stood up from the ground and when he looked up, he saw the bright yellow silk that the emperor picked up from the table. He heard the emperor say, "My dear, you have such an imperial edict, why did you ask Lin Qing to deliver it to me now?"
Fang Xianye immediately knelt on the ground again: "I think my virtue is not worthy of the position, and I am not worthy of the late emperor's appreciation. Moreover, the North Bank has not returned yet, and it is too early to punish General Duan, but I am afraid of alerting the enemy."
Lin Jun smiled and said, "Master Fang is always too modest, so he refuses the credit he deserves."
The emperor laughed without commenting. He placed the secret decree on the table and said calmly, "General Duan is now unconscious in Nandu, and the army outside the city has all headed to the north bank. Is there a better time than now?"
He stood up, put his hands behind his back and walked down the steps leisurely, saying as he walked: "Zhao Chun is dead. He died in Guihe's army. It is said that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Guihe is indeed Duan Xu's personal soldier. He is really brave. Are all the soldiers who attacked the north bank surnamed Duan?"
The emperor's meaning is very clear.
Fang Xianye pursed his lips and said, "Duan Shuai is indeed... young and frivolous, showing his talent."
"Although both are young, Fang Qing is many times more calm than Duan Xu. I believe that the late emperor was not wrong, and neither will I." The emperor changed the subject and praised Fang Xianye.
Fang Xianye immediately saluted, bowed his head and said: "I have received the love of the late emperor and the emperor, and I will be loyal to the emperor and serve the country... I will obey the emperor's will."
The emperor withdrew his gaze with satisfaction, and spoke as if he was chatting: "Recently, I heard that General Duan is not Duan Xu. When he came to Nandu from Daizhou, he was replaced by a cat as the crown prince. He is actually a Huqie."
Fang Xianye's heart tightened, but he heard Lin Jun say beside him: "So, Duan Xu's family has been civil officials for generations. He had never been to the north before he joined the Tabai Army, but he is highly skilled in martial arts and is proficient in military tactics. He has made many outstanding achievements. It is a bit far-fetched to say that he is just talented. According to what I have seen in the north, General Duan knows the Huqi people very well."
"There is no real evidence for this matter. Moreover, General Duan has defeated Danzhi repeatedly. If we use this as an excuse to attack, I'm afraid it won't stand." Fang Xianye remained calm.
The emperor nodded and said coldly, "For now, this imperial edict from you is enough. Regardless of whether Duan Xu is a Huqi or not, I will never let him return to the North Bank. You, Fang, must prepare well for the morning court in two days."
Duan Xu's identity was no longer important. What was important was that the imperial power could no longer tolerate him. The so-called loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, the ruler of the world must require his subjects to be loyal to the emperor first before talking about patriotism.
Fang Xianye was silent for a moment, then he bowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, I obey your order."
Fang Xianye had a nightmare that night.
In the pitch-black darkness, he saw himself at the age of twelve or thirteen, writing an article at a desk under the dim light of a lamp. He wrote happily, but his pen paused when he came to the last signature.
Then he wrote down the three words "Duan Shunxi".
The young man looked up at him with a stern expression, and said calmly, "Do you want to continue being his shadow like this? Seven years is not enough, how many more years do you want to continue doing it?"
The boy stood up and walked towards him.
Fang Xianye took a step back. He didn’t know why he felt so frightened. This was clearly his own face when he was a teenager.
"You didn't force the late emperor to write the secret decree, nor did you hand it over to the current emperor. It was Duan Xu who was too aggressive and brought this upon himself. Moreover, when the secret decree was lost, you wanted to discuss it with Duan Xu, but he was unconscious and couldn't respond to you. His luck was too bad. What could you do?"
"He was the runner-up and you were the first. Why was he able to achieve great things and go down in history while you had to miss the opportunity and remain unknown? Could it be that what you can give to Daliang is less than what he can give?"
Fang Xianye said softly - don't say anymore.
The young man looked at him for a long while and said, "How dare you say these thoughts? Haven't you ever thought about them?"
"Admit it, Fang Xianye, this is what you think in your heart. It was not Lin Jun's words that shook you at all. If you really wanted to protect Duan Xu, why didn't you destroy the secret decree when Eunuch Zhao died? Why didn't you tell him about this? You made your choice from the beginning."
The young man had already walked in front of Fang Xianye. He had no way to retreat, so he listened to the young man's bewitching words: "You have your own dreams, too. What's Duan Xu? Abandon him, betray him, and what does it matter if he dies?"
Fang Xianye suddenly woke up from his dream. He rubbed his temples and felt cold sweat all over his body, as if a thousand-pound stone was pressing on his heart, unable to be relieved.
He sat up from the bed, put on his clothes, went downstairs, and opened the window to get some fresh air. Outside the window, there was the crisp fragrance of plum blossoms mixed with the cold wind. Fang Xianye looked at the courtyard under the moonlight, silent.
Suddenly, a firework rose in the sky, and then clusters of firework bloomed one after another. Fang Xianye looked up in shock, his eyes reflecting the bright fireworks in the night sky. It was already so late, perhaps some child had secretly set them off.
He suddenly recalled the day when the results were announced many years ago, when the Southern Capital set off a grand fireworks display at night to celebrate. As the top scholar, he followed Duke Pei and drank and chatted at the banquet in Yuzao Tower, making friends with the nobles and saying insincere words to each other.
In fact, he didn't like this kind of occasion. Later, he found a room to rest on the pretext of being drunk. When he was watching the fireworks in the room, a figure suddenly appeared from the window.
The person who came was none other than Duan Shunxi, the runner-up in the same exam. Duan Xu jumped in through the window, with brilliant fireworks behind him. He shook the wine in his hand and said, "Daizhou's Shenxianzui, No. 1 scholar, would you mind giving me a drink?"
At that time, Duan Xu was even younger than he is now, full of vigor and courage. Duan Xu has never changed.
Fang Xianye thought, although he was reluctant to admit it, he knew that he had always been jealous of Duan Xu. This jealousy had even begun to sprout when he had not even met Duan Xu and was just living in this world under this person's name. Later, after being saved by Duan Xu, this jealousy was mixed with gratitude and longing, and became more complicated.
This man was born into a noble family and had countless family members. He could stand at the center of power without any effort. He acted on his own will and was fearless. This was like a dark cloud hanging over him.
At that time, he and Duan Xu were drinking by the window, and he secretly thought that he had finally seen the light and defeated Duan Xu once.
But then he thought, maybe Duan Xu was the only person who was truly happy for him that day.
He lost his parents too early, so he might be a bit lonely in nature, and he doesn't get along well with anyone. Think about it, in all these years, his real friend, relative, and confidant is just one person. The girl he likes is also that person's sister.
It was as if he owed the Duan family in his previous life, and was entangled with them in this life and couldn't get rid of it.
If he really gets rid of it, what will Fang Xianye have left?
If even Fang Xianye has changed beyond all recognition, what can he rely on for his so-called ideals?
—Weapons are ominous tools, not tools for gentlemen. How about I be the ominous tool and you be the gentleman's tool?
—I am a general who wields a sword and rides a horse to conquer the world, and you are a prime minister who wields an ivory tablet to rule the world. I don’t mind when the birds are gone and the good bows are put away. When the time comes, I will retire and you can just rule the world well.
—Betrayal is betrayal, people always have to pay the price for the things or people they believe in, don’t they?
Fang Xianye raised his hands to cover his eyes and slowly bent down.
"Duan Shunxi... Damn you! You lunatic!"
Fang Xianye gritted his teeth and said, as if he wanted to tear this man into pieces.
People always have to pay a price for what they believe in.
If he believed Duan Xu, what price would he have to pay for it?