The northern suburbs of the capital.

It was late at night. In the Shenwu Army camp, the soldiers had already fallen asleep after a whole day of training. Only the soldiers who were patrolling the night were still holding the spears in their hands and scanning the surroundings with vigilance.

The head coach's tent is still brightly lit.

General Zhao Hu of the Shenwu Army sat in front of the desk, frowned and silently, his eyelids kept beating.

What was placed in front of him was a thin piece of paper with a few words written on it: "The time is coming, and I'm waiting for an opportunity to start a crime."

These words made Zhao Hu frown.

Deputy General Zheng Yansong looked at Zhao Hu quietly and waited for him to speak.

Zhao Hu was still speechless. To him, these words seemed to carry magical power, which might make him prosperous and glorious from now on, and might ruin him and be unlucky.

Zhao Hu is an orphan. When he was five years old, his hometown was famine. The whole family squatted in the wilderness and digging wild vegetables to satisfy his hunger. The house was raining all night. His father accidentally got seriously ill and passed away after a month. He left his mother and him, and life became even more difficult. A family would collapse sooner or later. Sure enough, two months after his father passed away, his mother couldn't stand it. Before the weather could start spring, she starved to death.

Five-year-old Zhao Hu became a fatherless orphan. At such a young age, he followed the hungry people who fled to famine and walked all the way to the capital. In order to survive, he suffered all kinds of suffering and even ate dead flesh.

At that time, Shangshu Pan had just taken charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Once he walked on the street, among the many hungry people with yellow faces and thin skin, he discovered the child at first sight. Although he was dying, his eyes were still flashing with a strong will to survive. Shangshu Pan ordered his servants to take him away and raise him in a farmhouse near the capital, and gave him an active name, Zhao Hu. When he was a little older, Shangshu Pan secretly sent someone to teach him how to read and teach him martial arts. He won the martial arts without any trace and joined the army. Finally, when Zhao Hu was 32 years old, he got his wish and became a general of the Shenwu Army and took charge of the military power.

In a sense, Zhao Hu is equal to the godson adopted by Shangshu Pan, and Shangshu Pan has the grace of raising him for survival. However, over the years, no one except the close confidants around Shangshu Pan knew that Zhao Hu and Shangshu Pan actually had such a close relationship.

The air in the tent seemed to solidify. After a long time, Zhao Hu let out a sigh of relief, folded the paper, reached in front of the light, and lit it. The two stared silently at the paper and gradually burned to ashes.

Resisting the inexplicable fear in his heart, Zhao Hu whispered: "What else does sir, do you have to say?"

Zheng Yansong carefully looked at the master's expression, and then said, "The old man said that the arrow is on the string and he has to fire it."

Although I had known that there would be such a day, the muscles on Zhao Hu's face still twitched uncontrollably.

The old man is planning to usurp the throne!

How likely is he to win? If he is to take a gamble, should I blindly follow the old man and go all the way to the darkness?

No one can die without hesitation, even though the old man has the kindness of the sky and the sea.

Somehow, Zhao Hu's thoughts floated to that cold winter. The five-year-old child crawled out of the dead with hunger, not caring about the fear of starving bodies all over the ground. He was like a hell on earth. He opened his numb and empty eyes and followed the hungry people who were fleeing famine in a daze, walked into the capital with one foot high and one foot low. People kept falling down along the way, and then a group of people surrounded him, cutting off the flesh from the dead one by one, and putting it into his mouth bloodi...

Then he vaguely saw the middle-aged man Pan Shangshu, who was at the time. With a faint smile, he stroked his beard and majestic instructing his servants: "Go quickly! This child is about to starve to death, bring him over."

…………

"Zhao Hu, what do you want to do when you grow up?" Pan Shangshu's face was kind and friendly, just like his deceased father.

"I want to be a mighty general!" The six-year-old Zhao Hu made his first wish in his life with his thin little chest, like a little adult.

"Hahaha, OK! I will let you be the general!" Pan Shangshu smiled happily, and the love in his eyes was beyond words.

…………

…………

Zhao Hu rubbed his face and looked up and found that a lonely oil lamp in the tent became even more dim.

Looking at Zheng Yansong who was waiting for him to speak, Zhao Hu smiled bitterly: "Zhao's life was given by the old man. He has lived for nearly thirty years. From an orphan who is about to starve to a general who is in charge of tens of thousands of soldiers today, it's enough."

Zheng Yansong was silent for a while, and hesitated and said, "General,... few people in the world know about your relationship with the elder. In fact, if you ignore it, even if the elder falls, it will not implicate the general's future..."

"Stop!" Zhao Hu opened his eyes wide open, "I, Zhao Hu, dare not call myself a loyal minister, but at least I am a dignified man! The old man rescued me from the pile of dead people and raised me as a dog. He should know how to repay his kindness, right? Now the old man is just when he needs me, how can I do that ruthless and unrighteous thing?"

Zheng Yansong was frightened by Zhao Hu's anger and took a step back, kneeled down in fear and fear, "My general deserves to die!My general makes a mistake!"

He sighed tiredly, and Zhao Hu said weakly: "...You go and pass on a message and tell the old man that Zhao Hu is willing to serve the old man to die, and the Shenwu Army is ready to enter the city at any time - to clear the emperor's side!"

In the last three words, Zhao Hu seemed to have used all his strength to burst out from his teeth.

Zheng Yansong's eyes twitched when he heard this, and his body felt a cold chill, and he couldn't help but tremble.

"Are you scared?" Zhao Hu suddenly laughed, his smile seemed unpredictable under the dim light.

Zheng Yansong shook his head and said with a firm expression: "General treats me as much as a mountain, and I will follow you to the death!"

Zhao Hu sighed and waved his hand. Zheng Yansong did not dare to say much, and then bowed out of the tent after saluting.

Zhao Hu smiled silently, clearing the king's side, from ancient times to the present, many rioters used excuses when they usurped the throne. Some of them succeeded, put on yellow robe, some failed, and nine clans were killed. - What kind of end would the elders end? What kind of me?

Sitting in the big tent, the night wind lifted the curtain in front of the tent, and a dark cloud was quietly covering the bright moon. The night was vast and everything was silent. Zhao Hu's heart was as if it was shrouded in the dark clouds, heavy, and he couldn't breathe.

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In the imperial study room of the Forbidden Palace.

The emperor's voice was as steady as usual: "...Is your information true?"

Fang Zheng nodded seriously and said, "Your Majesty, it's absolutely true. This information was exchanged for the life of an old brother of the Shadow..."

"This brother was discovered while eavesdropping on the secret conversation between Shangshu Pan and his staff. The Pan Mansion closed the gate and searched the mansion for three days and three nights. Fortunately, he covered himself with soil in the garden of the Pan Mansion and buried him for three days without eating or drinking. He avoided the search. Unfortunately, when he was about to escape from the mansion, he was still shot into the vital point by the Pan Mansion's guardian. He held his last breath and told the brother who responded to him, and then he died..." Fang Zheng's tone was a little sad.

The emperor's face remained unchanged at all, and he was still tightly stern, and no emotional changes were seen.

"Your Majesty, have you known that Pan Shangshu was going to rebel?" Fang Zheng was very curious. Someone snatched a chair with the emperor, so why didn't the emperor feel angry at all?

"I saw it a few years ago. He will take this step sooner or later, but I didn't expect that he would be so impatient." The emperor sneered.

Fang Zheng rolled his eyes secretly and listened to how beautiful the hindshot was. I knew a few years ago. So what have you been doing in the past few years? Let him develop his power, and when he is evenly matched with you, do you take action to deal with him?

"But... for this, one of our brothers lost his life... Master, aren't you moved?" Fang Zheng felt that the emperor's expression was very inappropriate. He lost his life for you. Why didn't he feel sad or regretful at all? Should others die for you?

"What moved?" the emperor asked faintly.

Fang Zheng couldn't help but feel excited: "My brother in the shadow died in order to find out the information for the emperor!"

As the leader of the shadow, Fang Zheng could not accept his subordinates' sacrifice for the country. The emperor owed a word of comfort, which made Fang Zheng feel that his subordinates were a little worthless. Could it be that human life is so cheap in the eyes of the emperor?

"Just follow the law and give me some pensions. What else do I have to do? Do I cry loudly?"

Seeing Fang Zheng's expression of being angry but not speaking, the emperor sighed.

"Fang Zheng, you are now considered as the superior, why do you still show your joy and anger on the surface? Does happiness or anger have to be reflected in your expression before it counts? Which of the dozens of people in the shadows have followed me for many years? Am I really not sad? But I am the emperor and the co-lord of the world. If I don't even have this cunning, how can I order the ministers and educate the people?"

Fang Zheng was relieved, but still muttered dissatisfiedly: "When I tell you that the share of the money, your emotions are out of control..."

"What did you say?" The emperor's tone was slightly higher.

Fang Zheng quickly smiled and said, "Ah, I think the emperor is extremely wise and powerful. What is Yao, Shun, Yu and Tang? Compared with you, you can't catch up with him. The emperor's talent and strategy have been around since ancient times..."

"Okay, okay, your flattery skills have not improved, they are extremely clumsy." The emperor glared at him dissatisfiedly: "Pan Shangshu is indeed ready to rebel. Tell me what you think, what do you think should be dealt with?"

"Uh...or, your elder, please tell me first?" Fang Zheng was not sure what the emperor was thinking for a moment. If he said it wrong, he would inevitably scold him again.

"I want to hear your opinion first."

"Oh, my elder, don't you treat me as an outsider? Don't be polite, you'd better say it first..."

"I asked you to say it."

"Why should we play rock-scissors? Whoever loses will say first..."

"Fang Zheng! Where did you come from so much nonsense?" The emperor's face was not very good.

Fang Zheng shrank his neck and quickly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't you get angry. Didn't you teach me just now that you should not show your joy or anger..."

The emperor snorted angrily.

After rectifying his ideas, Fang Zheng hesitated: "I feel that if I arrested Pan Shangshu at this time, I am afraid that this matter will not be solved. Pan Shangshu has been in the court for many years and has a huge power. He has his confidants in the court and the army. If he arrested him, he would be counterproductive, and he would urge his minions to rebel. So we can only wait for him to show his hideous face, show his bleeding fangs, and stretch out his evil and dirty claws..."

"Shut up! Tell me the point! Stop showing off your pitiful literary talent to me!" The emperor couldn't stand it anymore.

Fang Zheng also had a lot of adjectives that described Pan Shangshu's ugly face, but he was interrupted by the emperor when he was at the mouth, feeling a little disappointed.

"...Yes, yes, Weichen thinks that we should wait for the opportunity to make time to arrange things, especially the accomplices of Pan Shangshu lurking in the army, and they must take advantage of the situation and capture them in one fell swoop. Otherwise, once Pan Shangshu finds his goal, the military power will be in his hands, and something will be wrong!"

The emperor was quite satisfied with Fang Zheng's opinion, and nodded with a smile and said, "You are not in vain. You really have some insights. Shangshu Pan is really unable to capture it now. If you arrest the world, you will be in chaos. But I have a question to ask you, - I am not worried about the civil officials of the Pan Party in the court. Do you know who are the generals hidden in the army of Shangshu Pan, what positions are they holding, and how many soldiers can be mobilized under his command?"

Fang Zheng said honestly: "I don't know."

The emperor frowned and said, "It's a jealous weapon! I have been searching for so many years, but I have never found out who is loyal to him in the army. The ones found out are all small fish and shrimps, which have nothing to do with the overall situation. These people are hiding too deeply. If he cannot completely cut off his wings in the army, even if he captures and kills him, I will be like a thorn in my throat and cannot live in peace. How can I allow others to sleep on my side of the bed?"

Fang Zheng nodded in understanding. It was really difficult to deal with. It was easy to capture Shangshu Pan, but the old man was so powerful that he didn't know which generals in the army were loyal to him. What if he caught the old man and the generals loyal to him rebelled? If he didn't make a good deal, the world would be in chaos. Then the time came, those who were joining in the fun, waiting for the autumn wind and those who were taking the blame, all of them came. How could the people live? How could he be the emperor?

It is not reliable to conduct large-scale searches and investigations in the military. Even if someone is caught, will others admit it or not? What if they are caught wrong?

For example, if someone was walking on the street without any help, someone suddenly jumped out of the street, and stabbed him from the back without saying a word. As a result, he looked at the front, huh? No? Then he quickly apologized: "Sorry, I recognized the wrong person..."

Is the one who was stabbed wronged?

With his eyes fixed on Fang Zheng, the emperor's eyes were filled with power: "What do you think I should do?"

Fang Zheng said: "This is really hard to say. Your Majesty, the matters in the army are very sensitive. You have to make arbitrary decisions."

The emperor smiled and said, "It's okay, I have already made a suggestion, I want to hear what you think."

After turning his eyes, Fang Zheng said, "I think that without knowing who is loyal to Pan Shangshu, the current plan is not to alarm the snake. I can only secretly dispatch the generals of the emperor who are trustworthy, and lead the army gradually to approach the capital in the name of training or defense, and then order the border troops to be on guard. Once a certain army is found to be unstable and there are signs of rebellion, I will immediately kill the border troops to go south and form a horn with the troops stationed outside the city, attacking on both sides. Such a rebellion may be quickly suppressed..."

The emperor smiled unanimously.

Fang Zheng was unsure of what he said was right or wrong. Seeing that the emperor did not express his opinion, Fang Zheng tentatively said: "Or... we can just arrest Shangshu Pan, and then torture him and ask him to hand over the list of his accomplices. The emperor followed the map and arrested people. How simple, right? Haha..."

The emperor sneered: "You are too presumptuous. Pan Shangshu is getting older and firm in his heart and has been in the officialdom for many years. Do you think he may admit it? If you were him, what would you do if you were arrested?"

"Heroes, please spare me?"

"...You are a scoundrel!" the emperor said angrily.

After a pause, the emperor said lightly: "If you send more people to keep an eye on Pan Shangshu, be sure to investigate this matter more clearly, but you must remember that you must not alarm the snake. I want to see, for decades, this loyal minister can be able to sit on the dragon throne of the king and the king of all kings!"

After saying that, the emperor's eyes burst into his brilliance, and a chilling murderous aura erupted.

Fang Zheng was so scared that he lowered his head and did not dare to speak for a while.

What a sharp and domineering spirit! But it’s useless to squirt to me. I squirt at Shangshu Pan. Maybe he would have cried bitterly and bowed his head to confess...

For the first time in his life, Fang Zheng felt vaguely worried.

The situation is clear at a glance. One emperor, one traitor, two old men hold their strength to wrestle the arm. Whoever wins will sit on the dragon throne, but what if the emperor loses? Based on the previous grudge between him and Pan Shangshu, if that old guy ascends the throne, the first thing he does is to chop off my whole family's head and sacrifice his new national flag?

Fang Zheng felt that what he could do now was to send all his shadow subordinates out to inquire about the information so as to give the emperor a strong support. Apart from this matter, the rest was to pray to God and Buddha. I hope that the old otakus Pan Shangshu accidentally fell and died while walking at home, which would save trouble.

He looked up at the emperor and saw him staring at him with a smile, Fang Zheng suddenly felt his hair stand up. The emperor's eyes were so creepy! What bad idea would he have to stare at me like this? Looking at his confident appearance, he seemed to have a way to deal with it.

"Your Majesty, let's first say that Wei is timid and usually only does behind-the-scenes work. Don't come to me if you charge in the battle. Let's talk about Weisty's family for three generations, and a seedling in a thousand acres of land..." Fang Zheng felt that the ugly words in front of him were indeed a virtue passed down by the Chinese nation since ancient times.

"Who said you wanted to charge? With your courage, you can only turn around and run away when you go to the battlefield."

Fang Zheng finally felt relieved and thought carefully, what does the emperor mean?

"Your Majesty, that's not the case, right? I can barely go to the battle to kill the enemy, but I'm afraid that Mi'er will be a widow, so you can't bear it even if you look at it..." Fang Zheng smiled dryly.

"The imperial heaven has calculated your birthday with Mi'er. The fifteenth day of the next month is the auspicious day. You and Mi'er will marry that day." The emperor suddenly said in a daze, with a bit of complexity flashing in his eyes.
Chapter completed!