kingnovel Chapter 1001: All the heroes are old
Chapter 1001: All the heroes are old
Because Zhang Zhenxuan and Yuan Tiangang went through fire and water for His Royal Highness the King of Chu, Quan Jiushan has become completely honest.
Especially last night when he received the news that the 4,000 defenders in the east of the city were defeated and fled in all directions after being killed by a young Taoist priest, his first reaction was to go to the palace to find the Treasure King and explain the situation to him, saying that the Taoist priest was most likely the retainer of the King of Chu who had caused the "divine thunder from the sky" in the Goguryeo palace before.
The Treasure King was also a wonderful man. Without waiting for Quan Jiushan to state his purpose, he wrote a handwritten note and asked Quan Jiushan to take the palace guards to the east of the city to take over the city defense.
In fact, the Treasure King did this out of helplessness.
Now he is just a puppet monarch, and even his life and death in the future are not up to him.
It was for this reason that King Baozang regarded His Royal Highness the King of Chu as his own way out, so he certainly did not want anything to go wrong with this surrender.
"Your Highness, I ask you not to be angry about what happened last night. Cang Min and Kelu had bad intentions towards you. We did not realize this beforehand. It was our negligence. As for Cui Shanming... To be honest, Your Highness, he might have done this out of fear..."
"I don't want to listen to this nonsense." Because he had given up his tent to Yuan Tiangang and Zhang Zhenxuan to rest, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu and Quan Jiushan chose to meet next to the stable. At this moment, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was feeding hay to his beloved horse, the Black Evil that he had received from His Majesty Li II: "I only have one question for you. I have promised you wealth and glory, but you have failed to do your job well. Quan Jiushan, tell me, if you were me, would you continue to trust such an ungrateful villain?!"
“Your Highness, the King of Chu!” Quan Jiushan didn’t care about the shabby and dirty stable at this moment. He directly prostrated himself in the mud beside the water trough in front of His Highness, the King of Chu: “Jiushan begs you to give my king a chance to live!”
"Don't you want to save your own life?" Li Kuan stopped what he was doing and tilted his head slightly to look at Quan Jiushan.
"My family has been loyal to the Goguryeo royal family for generations since King Jangsu (Gao Lian) established the capital in Pyongyang more than two hundred years ago." When Quan Jiushan said this, there was a hint of sadness in his tone: "Now... traitors are in power - of course, I'm not talking about you, Your Highness the King of Chu..."
"Ah?" The compassion that had just risen in His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was completely destroyed by this fellow: "You kid, are you waiting for me here?!"
“Your Highness, King Chu, you know that I am actually very good at talking.” Quan Jiushan had already left his life and death to the outside world. “But I dare not show off my eloquence in front of you. My explanation just now came from my heart. I am afraid that if I say something wrong, it will harm my king…”
"..." King Chu was a little surprised to find Quan Jiushan: "You know what kind of person I am, right?"
"Of course, the outside minister knows." Quan Jiushan nodded when he heard this. His answer was concise and to the point: "Your Highness the King of Chu hates people who break their promises the most."
"Okay, since you said that, I won't bother with you about the minor disturbance that occurred in the city earlier." His Royal Highness the King of Chu said, pulling Quan Jiushan up from the ground: "Tomorrow, I will lead my army north to cause trouble for Quan Gaisuwen."
"Then Your Highness...this Pyongyang City..." Quan Jiushan heard this and said anxiously: "You can't not..."
"The one who took over Pyongyang City is Zhang Liang, the Duke of Yun of the Tang Dynasty." Li Kuan didn't know what was wrong, and he was unexpectedly upset at the moment: "I will ask him to treat the people in the city well, but you and King Baozang must also do your best to assist him and make sure that there will be no more civil unrest in the city after I leave."
"Yes!" Quan Jiushan hurriedly responded respectfully upon hearing this: "Your Excellency... I am willing to guarantee with my life that there will never be another disturbance like last night!"
"Don't be so hasty to promise. I am a real man." His Royal Highness the King of Chu waved his hand upon hearing this. "I have experienced so much along the way... I naturally have a deep understanding of the complexity of human nature. So I will never have unnecessary fantasies - but Quan Jiushan, I can show you a way out: if I fail to capture Quan Gaisuwen and let his army return - then you and King Gao Zang will follow Zhang Liang out of the city and take a boat to Quanzhou - Quanzhou is my fiefdom, and I will guarantee your lives."
"How could His Highness lose?" Quan Jiushan's eyes widened when he heard this. As smart as he was, he certainly knew the key point of this sentence, but he couldn't admit it, but he couldn't choose to pretend to be stupid and not understand.
"Of course I will not lose!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu raised his chin proudly upon hearing this: "I am just telling you that from now on, you and King Gao Zang will no longer have any worries, so you only need to do your best to do the things I ask you to do, and don't worry about the rest - because no matter where this war ends, I can ensure your safe exit.
Therefore, I hope that even from the most practical point of view, you will not think of betraying me again, because..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu said this, and fixed his eyes on Quan Jiushan's face: "Your life and death are only in the king's thoughts!"
I will fulfill the promises that need to be fulfilled, but you also have to prove your worth.
Quan Jiushan knew that at this time he could understand the meaning of the King of Chu's words.
So he bowed down again without any hesitation: "Your Highness, the King of Chu, I will convey all of your words to the Treasure King. Please rest assured, Your Highness, the King of Chu, I know what I should do."
From "My King" to "Treasure King", Quan Jiushan has expressed his position to His Royal Highness the King of Chu simply through the change of title: no matter how the situation in Goguryeo changes in the future, after he, Quan Jiushan, has fulfilled his duty as a subject to the Treasure King, the rest... is self-evident.
"Okay, you get ready and let the army enter the city later." After saying this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu turned around and started feeding Heisha.
After Quan Jiushan left, Li Kuan asked someone to call Zhang Liang to his presence.
"Your Highness the King of Chu." Although Zhang Liang is now a duke, he is very honest in front of Li Kuan.
"Mr. Zhang," His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu, who was now carefully combing Heisha's fur, spoke in a manner that even gave Zhang Liang the illusion that "His Majesty was in person," "I originally intended to have you follow me north to capture... to defend the king. After all, if you come this way, you can be rewarded with meritorious service for your crimes, and you will receive less punishment. But in the current situation, Pyongyang City needs a great general to take charge - Cheng Mingzhen alone is obviously not enough to keep things under control."
"Your Majesty, I understand." Zhang Liang immediately said, "I will protect Pyongyang for Your Majesty!"
"You are not my retainer, are you guarding the city for me?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt that this guy was really presumptuous: "Aren't you afraid that this will get to the ears of the tyrant and make things difficult for you?"
"Your Highness, what are you talking about..." Zhang Liang pursed his lips awkwardly after hearing this: "Maybe... Your Highness makes me feel... familiar... Just like... just like when your Majesty was young and stood in front of me, full of vigor and vigor, making people want to follow..."
"Forget it..." His Royal Highness Prince Chu said with disgust, "You just realized that you got into trouble and wanted me to protect you - but am I someone who is so easily fooled?"
"Your Highness, the King of Chu, I have absolutely no such intention!" Zhang Liang was stunned at first, then he said softly with a look of dejection on his face, "I just feel that after seeing the current King of Chu, I realize that... the heroes of the previous era seem to have grown old now..."