The Beacon of Kyushu

Unknowingly, night had covered the entire sky, and a breeze blew through the garden, rustling some kapok trees in the garden. The servants of the government office silently walked into the main hall, lit the lamps and candles for Hou Renbao, and then quietly left.

Hou Renbao was so fascinated by the memories that he didn't notice all this at all. It wasn't until Kou Zhun slowly walked into the hall that he came back to his senses and said, "Pingzhong, you are here."

Kou Zhun nodded slightly, his expression somewhat elegant, but the first thing he said was, "Sir, what do you think of Wang Shaozuo?"

Hou Renbao had been friends with Kou Zhun for several years, and he certainly knew the implication of Kou Zhun's words, which was to say that Wang Shaozuo was treacherous and what he was doing now was all a show. He couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied. He pointed to the seat next to him and said, "Pingzhong, I invite you to have a meal. We can discuss General Wang's affairs later."

Kou Zhun had no choice but to sit down as he was told and looked at Hou Renbao before he could speak. Hou Renbao did not want to have any quarrel with him because of Wang Shaozuo's discipleship, so he deliberately pretended not to notice and only talked with him about some insignificant old things.

Not long after, the servant walked into the hall with plates of delicacies and placed them respectfully on the table in front of the two of them. Hou Renbao felt very good looking at the delicacies in front of him, but his homesickness became a little bit heavier. He picked up his chopsticks, took a mouthful of peony agar, and took another sip of spicy soup. Then he said excitedly: "Pingzhong, these dishes are all very authentic. Come and try them!"

Kou Zhun was not from Luoyang, and he had something on his mind, so he couldn't eat the food in front of him. But Hou Renbao said that he didn't want to eat it, so he had to take a few bites and put down his chopsticks again.

Hou Renbao saw that Kou Zhun stopped eating after only a few mouthfuls, and said: "Pingzhong, are you not used to eating these? If you are not used to eating, go to the camp and eat some war food with the soldiers."

Kou Zhun couldn't hold it in anymore and stood up angrily, "Sir, Wang Shaozuo is always flattering you, and there must be some deception in it. You must not be confused by what he said for a moment, and do something stupid that makes relatives hate and enemies please." ah!"

Hou Renbao glanced at Kou Zhun sideways and said: "Kou Tongpan, you said that everything Wang Shaozuo said was flattery? But I ask you, which words he said were not the truth, and which words were flattering? You can point it out as you like. !”

Kou Zhun himself didn't know where the courage came from, but he said bluntly: "Master Hou, it is true that you led the army to capture dozens of cities in Quyue, but if it weren't for the soldiers' sacrifice, Wan Shaoxia's repeated ingenuity, and Miss Murong's generous help, how could you have done it? Is there any result today? Wei Chen said bluntly, if you really talk about your military skills, not only compared with Han Xin and Xu Ji, but also compared with Yun Yimo and Wan Shaoxia, they are far behind. Your brother-in-law, Mr. Zhao, is indeed a genius of the world, and the ministers admire him very much. However, others may not know the inside story of his expulsion from the government. Don't you also know whether he can regain the power of the government? It involves the death of Taizu, the throne of the official family, the King of Wugong, the Eight Kings, King Wei, and even King Zheng who is far away in Fangzhou. Is it as simple as whether you can return home in triumph in half a day? What you have been saying is all nonsense, Wei Chen advises you to wake up!"

The truthful words sounded to Hou Renbao's ears like sharp steel knives, ruthlessly piercing his heart that was already filled with homesickness and military exploits. It's not that he doesn't understand that his plan may be in vain, and his military achievements cannot be compared with those of famous generals in ancient times. But he had been away from Yongzhou for nine full years, and it had been several months since he led his army on the expedition. If he had even these illusions shattered, how and why should he live? Do you want him to accept the cold and cruel truth that he is just a mediocre general who relies on his subordinates to earn credit, that his brother-in-law will never be able to return to the court, and that he and his wife will never be able to meet each other?
Hou Renbao couldn't accept it, and maybe no one could accept it either. He would rather live in the fantasy that Wang Shaozuo and himself had weaved, even if it was like Kou Zhun said, step by step towards catastrophe, he would never face these bloody facts.

"Bah!" Hou Renbao slammed the table and shouted: "Kou Zhun, you are just a little general judge, who gave you the courage to talk to me like this! Go back to the barracks and think about it, if you do it again If you dare to be so presumptuous, be careful that I will punish you with military law!"

Kou Zhun sighed, unwilling and daring not to say another word, and walked away with a feeling of grievance. When Hou Renbao saw him leaving, he was still angry. If it weren't for the table of authentic Luo dishes in front of him, he would have smashed the cups and plates on the table to pieces.

After a long time, Hou Renbao suppressed the anger in his heart. He stood up slowly, walked out of the main hall, and walked to the backyard. The backyard was deserted at this time, and Hou Renbao only met one or two servants along the way. These servants saw that Hou Renbao was stunned and did not dare to step forward.

Wang Shaozuo had no house in Beining, so Hou Renbao temporarily placed him in the east wing, which was only a few feet away from the main house where he lived. Hou Renbao originally wanted to talk to him, but he gave up because he was in a bad mood. Once a dispute broke out, he turned to Qu Yue again, which would be very detrimental to him.

As soon as Hou Renbao returned to his room and sat down, he picked up a book on war and started reading it silently as if he was angry. But before he had finished reading a few pages, he heard Kou Zhun's voice coming from the direction of the east wing. He was surprised and listened carefully. Kou Zhun spoke very quickly, with annoyance in his tone, and Wang Shaozuo spoke repeatedly, as if he was agreeing to something, but Hou Renbao couldn't hear a single word of what the two of them were talking about.

"Squeak" Hou Renbao opened the door and wanted to ask what happened. But before he could go out, Kou Zhun had already angrily walked out of the east chamber and walked straight to the gate of the government office without looking back.

Hou Renbao clenched his fists and said angrily: "Kou Zhun ran to threaten General Wang when he saw that he couldn't talk to me. It's really disgusting! But he did make some achievements for me in the past. Today I am too lazy to talk to you. It’s not too late to start arguing again when we find out what the two of them said in the future.”

The next day, Hou Renbao came to the main hall early in the morning and sent someone to invite Wang Shaozuo over. When Hou Renbao saw Wang Shaozuo, he asked straight to the point: "General Wang, why did Kou Zhun come to your room yesterday evening?"

Wang Shaozuo lowered his head, wondering: "General... I dare not say..." Hou Renbao said displeased: "If there is anything you dare not say, if I ask you to say it, just say it! If you hesitate again, forget it. You are right, and I will never help you.”

Wang Shaozuo said: "Okay, the general said. Last night, as soon as the general came back from the camp, Lord Kou angrily broke into the general's room, which shocked the general. The general asked Lord Kou why he came here. He threatened that if the general dared to take credit for his achievements on the basis of his understanding of Quyue's garrison when he went to war again, he would never spare me... He also said that he has a close friendship with you, sir, and I will do so when the time comes. It's useless even to ask for help, he will definitely take the life of the general."

"What!" Hou Renbao's eyes widened angrily and he shouted: "Wang Shaozuo, is what you said true? If it is true, I will never let Kou Zhun go!"

Wang Shaozuo nodded, then shook his head quickly, "No...just now...what I said just now was made up by the general, not the truth. Sir, please don't get angry, take care of yourself!"

Hou Renbao shouted to the servant outside the hall: "Come here, get Kou Zhun to me quickly!" The servant responded without any hesitation and hurried out of the government office to find Kou Zhun.

Not long after, the servants led Kou Zhun into the hall. Seeing Hou Renbao's angry face, Kou Zhun thought that yesterday he was impulsive and said something too harshly. Hou Renbao still hadn't calmed down and quickly bowed deeply and said: "I have met Mr. Hou. Yesterday, I spoke harshly. I hope you will." Your Majesty, please forgive me.”

Hou Renbao sneered and said: "Kou Zhun, you were so majestic yesterday! Not only were you so presumptuous in front of me, you actually went to General Wang's room and threatened him loudly, threatening that if he dared to take your credit, he would never let him go. , I will take his head!”

Kou Zhun was taken aback. He glared at Wang Shaozuo and said, "Wang Shaozuo, you are so brave! Not only did you confuse the Lord, but you also made trouble and framed me. If I don't get rid of you today, our army will die at your hands sooner or later!" He said, clenching his fist and pointing at me. Wang Shaozuo called.

Hou Renbao shouted: "Kou Zhun, stop it! As a great magistrate of the Song Dynasty, you dare to beat your colleagues in the court. Do you still have the law in your eyes?"

Kou Zhun's fist was raised in the air and was about to fall down, but he had to take it back again, "Sir, you and I have known each other for so long, but you would rather believe in a barbarian who has just surrendered than in me?"

Hou Renbao said: "Then tell me, what did you do last night?"

Kou Zhun said: "Wei Chen went to General Wang's room last night, just to advise him not to confuse you anymore, otherwise when you wake up, it will be the day you confer your head. Maybe Wei Chen's words are a bit harsh, but everything is for your sake. , For the sake of the Song Dynasty, I will never be greedy for merit, please be careful!"

Hou Renbao looked at Wang Shaozuo and asked, "General Wang, which of you is telling the truth?"

Wang Shaozuo said tremblingly: "Master Hou, the lower-ranking officials speak lightly. No matter what kind of lower-ranking official, they will inevitably die, so why do you have to know the truth? If you know too much, it will only cause discord between you and Master Kou. This is not the end." If you want to see me, please execute me now."

Hou Renbao glared at Kou Zhun and said: "Kou Zhun, General Wang, I don't want to ask any more questions about this matter. But if you are suspicious of each other and cause the morale of the army to waver, no matter who it is, I will kill him without mercy!"

Kou Zhun looked gloomy and responded: "What your Excellency said is true, I will bear it in mind."

Wang Shaozuo also held up his hands and said: "Your Excellency is right, the morale of the army cannot be shaken due to the rift between me and Lord Kou. If this is the case, tens of thousands of generals will die and they will be blamed!"

Hou Renbao sighed and turned his head, looking eastward. His eyes seemed to pass through the pink wall a foot or two away, until he saw the Guhun Gorge a hundred miles away. (End of chapter)