Chapter 133 (2/2)
General Xia Hou slowly closed his eyes and said, ”Those who survived were some casual laborers. They were set free according to the laws of Tang Empire. But those servants and maidservants who were bonded for life have all died. I don't believe those casual laborers who had nothing to do with them dare to harbor hatred towards the imperial court and have laid low for many years to wait for revenge.”
”We still need to investigate it.” Gu Xi said anxiously, ”At least we should send someone to investigate the censor, Zhang Yiqi's death as we have said previously. And I don't believe there are related people left in the two cases. But I'm worried that a certain n.o.ble in the imperial court has taken advantage of the series of murders to better his position in court.”
Xia Hou said blandly, ”The Princes are still young, and the fourth Princess is nothing but a little girl. If it is His Majesty who wants to bypa.s.s the law to deal with me, he would have sent someone to cut my head off ten years ago, there is no need to use those mean methods.”
”But there is another n.o.ble in the imperial court.” Gu Xi glanced at his face and said carefully.
Upon hearing this remark, Xia Hou's face suddenly went pale and he stared at Gu Xi coldly . ”Twenty years ago, when you swore the oath to follow me, I warned you not to mention that n.o.ble in front of anyone as long as I was alive. Have you forgotten?”
Gu Xi buried his head deeply in repentance. His heart was filled with weary and he sighed helplessly. He thought to himself, ”General, you don't want to let the world know the relations.h.i.+p between you and the n.o.ble. I'm afraid the n.o.ble doesn't want to let the world know either. But you chose to get away from Chang'an and keep mum. Who can be sure if the n.o.ble would use some more extreme methods? As we all know, we gain a heart of steel upon entering the palace gates...”
Xia Hou looked at his repentant subordinate in front of him. He thought of his loyalty and recalled those years where they have arduously crossed the strait by ferry in the rapid rivers. His expression cleared and he said in a low voice, ”But you're right. The murders in Chang'an must be investigated. Dispatch a Psyche Master. ”
After a brief pause, he added emotionlessly. ”Warn the serviceman. Even if he finds out something, he is forbidden to act on his own. Present all the evidence to the Military Ministry and Chang'an Local Government. The investigation is a matter for the imperial court after all.”
Gu Xi accepted the order and left.
In the empty tent, Xia Hou relieved the heavy armor from his body and then sat on the couch. He silently watched the faint candlelight that would be swallowed by the bright sky outside the tent and kept motionless like a statue.
His face was a bit pale. His previous thunder-like cry had killed two cultivation masters. It had looked mightly and tough, but no one knew he had been injured from it.
As a strong man of Peak state of Martial Arts in the world, his power could be considered unparalleled. With a little Psyche Power, there would be vigorous Qi of Heaven and Earth travelling inside and outside his body. Psyche Power could not hurt him, nor could the flying sword. In fact, he could have chosen a simpler and non-destructive method to kill those two cultivation a.s.sa.s.sins from Yan Kingdom,.
However, he was General Xia Hou who was known for his ruthlessness, coldbloodedness and brutality. There were too many powerful enemies for him in the world. He must maintain the invincible image in front of enemies and his subordinates. Therefore, he must choose the most arrogant and mighty means as a response, even at the expense of his hurt body and psyche.
In order to cease the steady stream of a.s.sa.s.sinations, he needed use arrogant means to forcibly crush most enemies' fighting desire. It was probably what a lot of unworldly sublime beings were forced to do.
The curtains lifted and a manservant carrying a bowl of well-prepared bird's nest and Chinese date porridge carefully entered. The manservant looked pretty and the refined beautiful porcelain bowl on the plate was obviously not an ordinary object.
General Xia Hou took the porridge bowl indifferently and drank it. He then waved his hands signalling for the manservant leave.
He knew that those officials who were jealous of him in Chang'an have been secretly spreading the rumor that General Xia Hou liked pretty manservants and had different kind of s.e.xual taste. He was indifferent to this rumor and was not angry at all. His Majesty and those who truly dreaded him were well aware of the fact that he had not been close to a woman and refused to have any maidservant to serve him ever since he killed his favorite concubine by boiling her to death.
The incident happened when the censors' attack was the strongest and the general's position was precarious. Those who thought they knew the inside story a.s.sumed that he used prying into military secrets as an excuse to use such a cruel mean to kill his favorite concubine to deter a certain eunuch who was ordered to enter the barrack to question him.
However, only Xia Hou himself knew that, the fact that the eunuch came to question him at that time had nothing to do with the papers of the censors from the imperial court. The things he were afraid of were also unrelated to the censors who did not have enough power.
It was a summer with short nights and long days. The l.u.s.ter spread by Haotian was not only warm but blazing. Serious questioning letters from the West-Hill Divine Kingdom were handed over to the Chang'an Imperial Palace directly. Even the Unknown Place expressed grave concern. In the vast Min Mountain not far from the the barrack, there were countless vague Taoist and sword lights.
”Shuang, you shouldn't have danced the devil dance that day.”
Xia Hou stared at the gradually frozen porridge in his hands and thought that the gentle woman he loved most would be the first to notice. He then took out a handkerchief with a smile and gently wiped it off. He could not help but shake his head and repeated expressionlessly. ”You really shouldn't have danced that dance, although... you were really beautiful dancing it.”
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