Lin Jue pondered for a moment, then smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin, since the King of Huai has come to congratulate you, you can only accept it, why do you need to be suspicious." What he said in his letter is true, and there is nothing to say. ”

Guo Mian was stunned and said, "You mean, he sincerely congratulates me?" This can't be, how could he bow down to me? There must be an attempt behind it. This time he was planted in my hands, and he lost his wife and soldiers, are you willing to stop there? I don't believe it. I don't believe you can't see it. ”

Lin Jue said with a smile: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin has seen it, and he still asks what to do?" ”

Guo Mian looked at it and said: "I can see it, but we don't know his intention to do this, otherwise why would we ask you?" ”

Lin Jue spread his hands and smiled: "I don't know, I'm not the roundworm in King Huai's stomach, how do I know the intention behind him." His Royal Highness doesn't have to think about it, he has already admitted defeat, the first credit for this rebellion is His Royal Highness the King of Jin, we foiled his conspiracy and achieved our own goals, which is enough. Why think about it too much? Does Your Highness have to find yourself uncomfortable? Enjoy the victories and the credits to the fullest. The holy decree should also arrive in the past two days, and His Royal Highness is probably about to return to Beijing in triumph, so let's think about how to deal with the praise of the court and the celebration banquet that follows. Why worry about it? Your Highness, the prisoners of war still have some business there, and if there is nothing else, they will retire in your majesty. ”

Guo Mian smiled speechlessly, so he had to nod and say, "That's it, you can go." ”

Lin Jue bowed and withdrew, came to the stone and turned over and got on the horse, Guo Kun chased after him at the Yamen Gate, stopped Lin Jue, and pulled Lin Jue to stand under the big tree in the corner of Yamen Square.

"Brother-in-law, what's the matter with you? Why do you have such an attitude towards King Jin? Now that he thinks so highly of you, why do you be cold to him? Why don't you analyze today's events? I'm sure you know why. Others may not be able to analyze it, but you can. Guo Kun frowned and asked.

Lin Jue looked at Guo Kun with a smile and said, "Uncle, I just want to hurry back to the capital now, I was dragged by you to fight this time, and I was tired enough." The little county lord is not full of confinement, and your nephew is not full of moon and I will come out, I think they think so badly. I'd rather live a peaceful life than get involved in too many things, don't you know? If it weren't for you this time, I wouldn't have been involved in these things. Why are you pushing me deeper? ”

Guo Kun frowned and said, "What do you mean by this?" This time I did pull you over to help me, but isn't this also your chance? The imperial decree is coming, and you must have another appointment, and promotion is inevitable. Are you still upset about it? ”

Lin Jue smiled bitterly: "Uncle, you didn't understand what I meant. Maybe I'll get something this time, but do you know what the price is? Don't you know that we have been forced to intervene in the struggle between the two princes? It's a deep quagmire, we're in it, and that's not what I want. ”

Guo Kun frowned and said: "It turns out that you are worried about this, you don't want to fall too deep, so you don't want to say more today, you want to get out of it, right?" ”

Lin Jue nodded and said, "That's right, I don't want to get into this matter, it's definitely not a good thing." The matter between them was not something I could mix, but this time I had to help King Jin get out of trouble, and now in the eyes of many people, I am afraid that I am already a person next to King Jin. But that's not what I wanted. ”

Guo Kun said in a deep voice

"Lin Jue, I have a different idea from you, I will definitely support King Jin." I'm not afraid to take sides, and I will support King Jin to win the crown prince. The grievances between Lu Zhongtian and my father are difficult to resolve, if we can't turn the situation around, when King Huai ascends the throne, my Liang Wangfu may have no place to stand. You should also stand with us, now the situation has been favorable to King Jin, and King Jin is extremely important to you, not only should you not think about quitting, but should be more active in planning for King Jin. ”

Lin Jue looked at Guo Kun silently and did not speak, and Guo Kun also stared at Lin Jue. When the two were silent, the autumn wind blew, and the leaves above their heads fell like rain, falling on the two of them on their heads and shoulders.

"Uncle, do you think this time the situation has been reversed? I don't see it that way. Although the counterinsurgency was of great benefit to the King of Jin, it did not determine the ownership of the crown prince. At most, King Jin won one game. You don't read the contents of the letter, which is indeed a congratulatory letter, but it is also a letter that shows its demeanor. You also know that King Huai is arrogant and will not bow to King Jin, but he congratulated him so humbly, it was precisely to cover up and make up for the most fatal hidden danger for him. That is the reason why he did not move this time and caused the bandits to break west. He said that he was cautious and did not anticipate the enemy, so he did not dare to attack rashly and quickly, causing the bandits to break through to the west. This is an understatement of his ruse to kill people with a knife. ”

Originally, this matter was very likely to cause him to lose everything, and the emperor and court officials would definitely be suspicious and suspect that he had other plans. But he himself admitted his mistake and congratulated the king of Jin on his gratitude, which was enough to cover up his bad intentions. I believe that he has already played the court to blame himself, and his generosity and bitterness will allow him to survive this catastrophe, and doing so will not reduce his status in the eyes of the emperor. I believe that soon public opinion will come out, saying that King Huai has the courage to introspect, humility and self-knowledge, and his character is trustworthy. This setback will instead become a litmus test for King Huai's tempered character. And King Jin has a flamboyant personality, this time he thinks he has the upper hand, and his behavior is even more uncontrollable. If you do something bad, you will become the target of criticism. Uncle, things are not what you imagined, after I read this letter today, I realized that King Huai is not simple. That was the most appropriate response he could have ever taken. Awesome, really awesome. ”

Guo Kun stayed there and smacked his tongue for a while: "It turns out ...... It turns out that this is actually the inside story here? It turns out that this is Guo Xu's trick. You don't want to say it because you don't want to get involved in it, right? Oops, but...... This should be told to King Jin, he is still in the dark. ”

Lin Jue said: "Uncle, I won't persuade you to do it, and you don't beg me to do it." The dispute between the princes has a lot to do with it. If you don't do it, you'll be crushed. Although this rebellion has subsided, the storm in the court will not stop. I did this out of self-preservation, and I didn't want to implicate my family and friends because of my choice. Uncle, you should also think about whether you should go to this troubled water. ”

Guo Kun frowned and said, "Brother-in-law, I understand what you said, but now that the matter is over, can you still stay out of it?" Can you quit if you want to? You also know that now everyone thinks that you are the person of King Jin, and King Huai will naturally think so, do you think he will take a break? If he gets the crown prince, once he ascends the throne, what do you think he will do to you? If you want to quit, I'm afraid you're a little naïve. ”

Lin Jue frowned and sighed: "Yes, I know, I am afraid that I will not be able to withdraw if I want to." But I wanted to give it a try. Once bitten by a snake for ten years, I was afraid of the well rope. It's better to try. If there is really no way out, then you can only face it. But I'd like to give it a try first, and it's better to get out of it. I don't want to repeat that. ”

"Repeat the mistakes of the past? Once bitten by a snake for ten years afraid of the well rope? What do you mean? Why can't I understand? You haven't experienced that. Guo Kun looked confused.

Lin Jue looked at Guo Kun in a daze, and thought: "I have lived a lifetime, I know that this matter is the biggest danger to my Lin family, I can't be cautious." I can't explain it to you. ”

……

On the morning of the third day of the ninth month, the sixth day after the end of the Battle of Heunginfu, the decree from the capital finally arrived belatedly. After receiving the news of the arrival of the messenger, Guo Mian took Guo Kunlin Jue and other generals to greet him and greeted him on the ten-mile long pavilion outside the West Gate. In the distance, I saw hundreds of horsemen galloping with smoke and dust, and the knights were like dragons and tigers, with bright armor, burly figures, and full of energy.

All those who greeted him were secretly amazed in their hearts, and they all knew who had come to deliver the message. This time, the person who came to deliver the decree was amazing, it was Yang Jun, the privy envoy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who came to deliver the decree in person. After the battle of Yingtianfu before, Lu Zhongtian went to Yingtianfu to pass the decree, and after the battle of Xingrenfu, the privy envoy Yang Jun came to pass the decree, and the heads of the two prefectures came once, which can be described as a bowl of water and even. I am afraid that this is also a move specially arranged by the imperial court.

Yang Jun was dressed in black armor and a dark blue cloak fluttering in the wind. The figure that came on the horse was still very vigorous. Although he is a man of sixty years, his demeanor has not diminished when he quelled the Northwest Rebellion, and the whole person wears armor and rides on a horse like a cold and hard spear, with a sharp murderous aura.

The cavalry who followed him was also like a living tiger, which was part of the soldiers and horses of the personal guard battalion beside Yang Jun.

It is said that Yang Jun's personal guard battalion is the son and grandson of the army generals and brave soldiers who fought bravely in the northwest of the year. Yang Jun told these people, you were born and died with me, and your children and grandchildren will also be born and die with me. I can't let your children and grandchildren ruin your reputation, so they all have to follow me, and I'll train you for you.

This request seemed to be a bit of a jerk, but the generals all raised their hands in agreement, and they all understood that this was actually Yang Jun's promotion to them. Children and grandchildren follow Yang Jun's side, which is a great honor. Yang Jun, the privy envoy, was his personal guard, and once he was put on the locality, he would be at least the commander or deputy commander of the local army. Moreover, Yang Jun governs the army strictly, they all know that their children and grandchildren will never become children of Yang Jun if they follow Yang Jun. Yang Jun will train them one by one to become steely people, which is what they all want to see. Therefore, the 500 guards battalion around Yang Jun is very famous, not only is it disciplined, but also everyone is brave, and they are very proficient in bows, arrows, blades, horsemen, archery, boxing, and the art of war.

It is said that one year on the New Year, the emperor wanted to know how powerful the guards around Yang Jun were, so he asked the guards selected by the front division of the palace to fight against him and compete with him. As a result, the two teams of 100 people played to a draw, during which the battle of wits and courage was wonderful. Later, some people said that in fact, Yang Jun's personal guard battalion could win, but Yang Jun didn't want to embarrass the emperor, so he gave up the chance to win. Although it is a rumor and has not been confirmed, it can be known that Yang Jun's side is powerful in the guard battalion.

。 Nine Heavenly God Emperors