Chapter 376 - Fools Journey (1/2)

”Ahh, it looks like it's going to rain...I think we should stop here for today.” An Hao casually said as he brought his horse to a stop. The soldier riding beside him nodded and then turned to the group behind them and ordered, ”Make camp!”

The soldiers quickly complied, leading their horses to the side to begin setting up camp. One soldier who had been riding by the carriage rode up to the front, ”An Hao! Why are we stopping again?” Li Bao asked in annoyance.​​

An Hao cast him a dismissive glance, ”Is it you asking or is it the old man?” He asked as he jumped down from his horse.

Li Bao frowned, ”And what does that matter? Why are we making camp already? The sun is still high in the sky!”

An Hao scoffed and shook his head, ”It matters because you do not get to question me. Set up camp.” He dismissively ordered and turned to lead his horse away. This Li Bao was naturally already irritating, but now that he has been kissing up to the Zou prime minister, An Hao found him even more irritating.

”You -!” Li Bao paused and took a deep breath to calm himself as he jumped off his horse, threw the reins at a passing soldier, and stormed after An Hao and condescendingly said, ”You know, you really shouldn't be talking to me like this anymore. Even though I am still a mere commander, you should still show respect. After all, I am technically considered part of the royal family now.”

An Hao rolled his eyes with a scoff, ”Don't flatter yourself, just because your sister has been made a ”Princess” doesn't make you a Prince”

{...Honestly, how could my Emperor make the mistake of accepting this idiot as an in-law?! Who knows what kind of crazy his sister is? My poor Emperor, the things he has to deal with -_-)...}

An Hao slightly shook in disgust but then reminded himself that said sister had been booted out of the Emperor's life, mostly.

Since An Hao suddenly had to take a big shot back to the capital with him, extra protection was required. It was not that they were necessarily anticipating an attack, it was more a matter of prestige. After all, Prime ministers typically did not leave their countries so unannounced and uninvited like this.

An Hao honestly had no idea what strings this Li Bao had to pull, but this was annoyingly the only unit available to spare. But An Hao knew that this was some sort of plot by other generals to make his life difficult. The fact that he was the youngest general - especially with no family backing, coupled with the fact that he, An Hao was not the most polite person made it so he was not very popular.

Then there was also the fact that he had a bit of a falling out with the generals before leaving. He had found the spies, but unfortunately, they were high-ranking generals. Since the Emperor told him to handle it, he could have executed the generals on the spot but it would have been a great headache. They naturally argued their innocence and got other powerful generals to stand with them and question his motives as well. In the end, An Hao decided to transport the traitors to the Emperor himself for judgment.

Knowing that An Hao and Li Bao did not get along, they must have saddled An Hao with him for a bit of payback. The joke was on them though, having someone stupid on your side had its benefits, despite the annoyance.

Li Bao stopped behind An Hao, who was feeding his horse an apple, obviously not interested in conversing, ”What exactly are you trying to do here? We've barely made any progress today. First, it was that the horses needed to rest, and now, what is it? Do you need to rest too? Is that it? If you weren't competent enough, you should just have told the Emperor and he would have found someone else, it's not like you're irreplaceable.” Li Bao said with a scoff.

An Hao froze at the mention of his Emperor and turned back to find Li Bao glaring at him. An Hao released his horse and faced Li Bao squarely, ”Did you say competence? That reminds me, I've not even questioned about the fact that you fed the Zou prime minister diseased meat -”

”A ”disease” you just so happened to have the cure for.” Li Bao retorted, stepping up to him, narrowing his eyes in challenge.

”Guess you were in great luck.” An Hao responded, narrowing his eyes back at him, ”Can't imagine causing a national incident which would have more than likely resulted in a war would bode well for your career or your head. You're very welcome~” An Hao finished with a smile, giving Li Bao's arm a hard pat - which Li Bao quickly raised his hand to deflect, but An Hao was faster and withdrew his hand with a smug expression.

”You -!”

”Are you both done?”

An Hao and Li Bao turned to see Prince Rui standing next to them, looking unamused and not at all interested in their bickering.

Li Bao quickly went into his kiss-up mode and smiled at Prince Rui, ”Oh, Prince Rui, do you need something? Anything -”

”An Hao, why are we stopping again?” Prince Rui directly asked An Hao, ignoring Li Bao.