Guo Tong left the General's Mansion depressedly and was about to go home when he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind: "But the eldest son of the Guo family?"
Guo Tong turned around and found a man he didn't recognize.
Guo Tong nodded suspiciously to the man: "May I ask who you are?"
The man waved his hands quickly: "I don't dare to take it seriously. I'm just running errands on behalf of my master. Since he is the envoy of Guo Pavilion, my master has an invitation at the General's Mansion."
Hearing this, Guo Tong was even more confused. He couldn't even get through the door of the General's Mansion just now. Why was he invited here?
The man saw Guo Tong's doubts and lowered his voice: "My master is General Zuowei."
Guo Tong was greatly surprised: "His Royal Highness the Second Prince?"
The man nodded and pointed across the street, only to see a carriage parked there. The man made another invitation gesture: "Envoy of the Pavilion, please follow me."
Guo Tong did not raise his feet, but asked cautiously: "I wonder what the Second Prince wants from me?"
The man's gesture of invitation remained unchanged: "I'm just a servant. The envoy and His Highness will know the details after they meet you."
Seeing the unexplainable meaning in the man's tone, it was Liu Chengyou who invited him, so Guo Tong couldn't refuse, so he had to follow the man into the carriage parked on the street.
The carriage was not spacious. After lifting the curtain and entering the carriage, Guo Tong was surprised to find that there was already a person sitting inside.
When the man saw him coming in, he sat down and bowed his hands to him: "Mr. Guo, nice to meet you!"
Only then did Guo Tong see clearly that the person sitting in the car was none other than the younger brother of Queen Li's family. The military envoy Li Ye, who was in charge of the keys to the palace, had just been escorted in the previous battle.
Guo Tong had naturally heard about the festival between his brothers Guo Xin and Li Ye, but when he saw that there was no hostility on Li Ye's face, instead he patted the seat next to him affectionately and told him to sit down, Guo Tong stopped thinking about it and sat down next to him. Li Ye's side.
Li Ye raised his hand and patted the wall of the carriage, and the carriage quickly started moving.
Guo Tong was about to ask Liu Chengyou what business he had with him, but Li Ye took the initiative to talk to him first: "Recently, the imperial army defeated the Du thieves in Weizhou. I heard that Erlang of the Zunfu family was successful in breaking the city, and was given a brocade robe by the official. Does the disciple know?"
Before Guo Tong could answer, Li Ye followed closely and said, "When we went hunting the previous time, His Highness also praised him for his courage in shooting tigers. It's a pity that the second prince and I returned too late and were unable to see Guo Erlang's body." Style.”
"My Erlang is indeed brave." Although Guo Tong didn't like Guo Xin, no matter what he said, Guo Xin was his brother, and he still had to agree with his words in front of an outsider, Li Ye.
Li Ye continued: "I have heard for a long time that the two sons of the Guo family are one civilized and one martial. Since the second son is like this, I think the envoy of the pavilion must have extraordinary abilities as his elder brother."
Guo Tong rarely heard others praise him, let alone compare himself with his second brother Guo Xin, so he was very impressed by Li Ye's words, but he still said modestly: "I don't dare to take it seriously. The martial virtue envoy is praising me wrongly."
"How can this be false praise?" Li Ye's tone was very exaggerated, "To be honest, His Highness has been in love with the envoy for a long time and has long been interested in inviting the envoy to come and talk to him."
Guo Tong smiled and cupped his hands: "Your Highness, the Second Highness, looks up to me."
Seeing the joy on Guo Tong's face, Li Ye curled up the corner of his mouth slightly, and then sighed deeply: "But there is a difference between civil and military affairs. Guo Erlang is in the limelight, but he must have buried the literary talent of the pavilion envoy in the mansion. .”
Guo Tong was stunned and almost hugged Li Ye's hand and shouted "confidant", but he still suppressed his excitement: "It's not to mention buried. When the court employs people, Erlang and I are just trying our best to repay you."
"Although I said this..." Li Ye rolled his eyes, "Does the envoy know why I said this?"
Guo Tong shook his head slightly, and Li Ye whispered in a low voice: "I have been with His Highness the Second Highness for a long time, so I naturally know a lot of inside information. Your Highness values martial men, and His Highness the Second Highness is close to scholars. The two Highnesses have made peace openly, but not necessarily in private. That’s the case. Isn’t that the case with the envoy of the pavilion and that Guo Xin?”
"Warrior, be careful what you say!" Guo Tong quickly interrupted Li Ye's words with a frown. He was already very unhappy in his heart, and the good impression he had just had on Li Ye suddenly disappeared. "How can you and I talk about the internal affairs of the royal family? As for the internal affairs of our own family, we should not worry about it."
Li Ye was stunned when he heard this, the gloom in his eyes flashed, and he pretended to smile.
The carriage soon arrived at Liu Chengyou's Zuowei General's Mansion, and Li Ye directly led Guo Tong inside to pay homage to Liu Chengyou.
I don't know whether it was because of Li Ye, but Guo Tong was quickly received by Liu Chengyou in the side hall. But he had lost his initial surprise and excitement. On the one hand, he believed that he was still a member of the eldest prince Liu Chengxun, and on the other hand, Li Ye's words on the carriage just now also made him wary.
In the side hall, after Li Ye had just introduced Liu Chengyou, Liu Chengyou smiled and discussed government affairs with Guo Tong like Li Ye on the carriage, and his words revealed a full sense of intimacy.
No matter how slow Guo Tong reacted, he realized at this time that Liu Chengyou and Li Ye were deliberately wooing him.
After a long time, Liu Chengyou seemed to have discovered something suddenly. He pointed at Guo Tong and said, "Why does the brocade robe worn by the pavilion envoy look so familiar?"
"Go back to Your Highness, this brocade robe is exactly what His Highness gave me."
Guo Tong's tone was full of pride, but the smile on Liu Chengyou's face, which had always been affectionate, was frozen.
Guo Tong noticed the change in the atmosphere and felt very puzzled: Li Ye said that the two highnesses were secretly at odds. Is it true?
Liu Chengyou seemed to have suddenly lost interest in Guo Tong. After a few hasty words, he found an excuse and left with Li Ye, only asking his servants to escort Guo Tong out of the house.
After leaving the house, the more Guo Tong thought about it, the more strange he felt about what happened today: How did Li Ye know that he would go to see Liu Chengxun today? If it was intentional, it would be too sudden for Liu Chengyou, who had never been in a relationship before, to "have been attracted to him for a long time" when Liu Chengxun was critically ill.
…
When Guo Xin returned to Kaifeng Mansion with the army, it was only mid-December.
The army was reorganizing faster than when it went out. When Gein's army arrived in Wei City, a piece of news suddenly came from Kaifeng Mansion that shocked everyone: they had just stayed in Tokyo for two months, and they had not even had time to be crowned king. The eldest son of the emperor, Liu Chengxun, suddenly died of illness in Kaifeng Mansion!
While Liu Zhiyuan was pursuing Liu Chengxun as the King of Wei, he ordered the entire army to move quickly. Only then did the imperial army return to Kaifeng Mansion before the new year.
Liu Chengxun's death was also a major event that attracted people's attention. Compared with the generals in the army who regretted Liu Chengxun's early death, Guo Xin felt more anxiety and pressure from the future after the accident.
The situation in the Central Plains seems to have been stabilized with the defeat of Du Chongwei, but he is still just a commander of the Forbidden Army. If there is no war to be promoted, his five hundred soldiers alone will not be able to make any waves. Guo Wei, Guo Rong and other family members even Still thinking about repaying the emperor's kindness - Guo Xin didn't think it was a good choice to directly tell his family that he would be killed by the future emperor of the Han Dynasty.
And Liu Chengyou, who hangs out with Li Yezhi, seems to be coming to power soon...
After Guo Xin settled in the camp, he returned home the next day. It had been more than two months since the army went on the expedition. Guo Xin felt that his whole body was exuding a sour stench, and now he just wanted to go back to his room and take a good shower.
Yuniang had been waiting for a long time. When she saw him coming back, she hurriedly changed his clothes and prepared for a bath.
"This expedition was a waste of time and nothing was gained."
"The battlefield is so dangerous, as long as we can come back safely." Yu Niang said slightly, "Guo Lang has now lived a life that countless people envy. No matter how much fame and wealth he has, is it really that important?"
Guo Xin stopped talking and swallowed the words he wanted to say. Even for the people closest to you, speaking out about many things will only increase trouble and be of no use. Keeping it to yourself is the best choice.
"Ah!" Yu Niang suddenly exclaimed, holding the wooden box that Guo Xing had just brought back: "Guo Lang, it's so precious that such precious satin can be placed casually."
"It was rewarded by the official," Guo Xin responded casually, saying unconcernedly: "It's just a brocade robe."
