Chapter 455: Retiring And Growing Old (2/2)

Luo Kedi handed him a letter that had a fire Fu character on it and said, ”This is a holograph from the Hierarch Lord. He wants to invite you to West-Hill... no, back to West-Hill.”

Xia Hou took the letter without a change in his expression.

Luo Kedi said, ”The Divine Hall needs your strength. Furthermore, the Hierarch Lord had said that retirement doesn't necessarily mean that you have to stay in the village forever. There will be a moment when you return.”

Xia Hou looked at him and his steel-like brows raised slightly. He said, ”What can you give me?”

Luo Kedi said, ”Since you are loyal to the Empress, then the West-Hill Divine Palace promises that the Divine Hall will do its utmost best to help the Empress' prince succeed in getting the throne when the day comes.”

The West-Hill Divine Palace was very powerful. To Xia Hou, their offer that came way before the day arrived was very sincere.

However, contrary to what Luo Kedi had expected, Xia Hou did not react in any sense in the face of the Hierarch Lord's sincerity. Instead, he said, ”I shall not send you off.”

Luo Kedi bore down on his anger and said, ”The Divine Hall needs an answer.”

Xia Hou said, ”I am very grateful and will consider this seriously. This is my answer.”

The ground at the Feat Posthouse shook once more. Luo Kedi left without another word. The officials and civilians who were preparing for the welcoming celebrations in Chang'an would probably never know that the commander of the West-Hill Divine Palace's divine army had been to Chang'an and attempted to steer General Xia Hou down another path.

Xia Hou looked at the holograph written by the West-Hill hierarch and a cold mocking smile dawned on his face.

He knew that this was indeed a holograph from the hierarch. He had received seven of such letters over the years and was familiar with the handwriting on the cover of the letter.

He mocked the intentions of the West-Hill Divine Palace. Wanting to help the Empress' son take the throne? If the West-Hill Divine Palace knew that the Empress was his beloved sister, Xia Tian, they would know that the prince had Desolate Man blood flowing in his veins and carried the aura of the Enlightenment Doctrine. Would the bigwigs in the Divine Hall still dare to do that?

The mocking smile on Xia Hou's face turned into one of self-mocking. He pressed down with his fingers and was about to crumble the hierarch's holograph into powder. However, he hesitated and stopped for some reason.

General Xia Hou who had guarded the northern frontiers for the Tang Empire for decades had agreed to disarm and retire without raising any conditions. Many in the imperial court thought that this was odd, but had all felt more relaxed because of it. After finding out the Emperor's intentions, the imperial court had conferred upon the general the highest prestige.

At dawn, at the lead of the pa.s.sionate officials from the Ministry of Rites and under the respectful gazes of the Yulin Royal Guards, Xia Hou donned a new armor. He brought several soldiers with him and rode towards Chang'an.

The eastern gate of Chang'an had long been washed and cleaned. Prince Li Peiyan brought some officials with him out of the city under the accompaniment of music to wait for the general. There were also several notable figures from the city who had come to wait with antic.i.p.ation.

The imperial court had already prepared a decree to be awarded to Xia Hou when he entered the palace. The decree was currently in the palace and it held a dazzling reward as well as an induction to the royal ranks.

Xia Hou ignored the officials from the Ministry of Rites and got off his horse when he saw the crowd welcoming him. He pulled his horse along towards them.

The Prince smiled and shook his head when he saw this. He waved his hand, gesturing for the eunuch beside him to leave and walked towards the general.

The two met at the pavilion outside the eastern gates.

Xia Hou bowed calmly to the prince.

Li Peiyan, however, found it difficult to remain calm. He looked at the general's face that was as hard as steel and said with emotion, ”It's good now that you're back.”

The officials of the Tang Empire did not like general Xia Hou who was known to be proud and excessively violent.

Over the past decades, there had been rumors that Xia Hou had killed prisoners and innocents just for war records. No one knew how many laws of the Tang Empire he had violated. However, there had been no evidence and everyone knew that the Empress supported him. This meant that the Emperor valued him as well.

And this perhaps, was the reason why the people of Chang'an did not truly love General Xia Hou like they did the other three generals of the army. Even though the people that Xia Hou had killed were not Tang citizens, the simple and direct Chang'an citizens felt that violence wasn't really any worthy skill.

However, Xia Hou had been stationed in the bitter cold north frontiers for decades. Now that he had disarmed and retired, he was warmly welcomed by Chang'an. The streets were crowded with people who cheered and applauded.

The shopkeepers and workers of the teahouse by the street had all abandoned their work and gone to welcome the general. It was fortunate that there were only a few guests in the teahouse.

Ning Que and Sangsang sat at a table beside the window.

He listened to the cheering and applause from the streets and Xia Hou's back as he rode by the teahouse on horseback. After a moment of silence, he said, ”As compared to when we were in Tuyang City, he has really aged a lot.”

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