Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

57. A Brainless Man

 

Translator: Antonia

 

Du Chuxuan, head cocked to one side, took a glance at Shan Zhongli and was puzzled how could an innate talent be so brainless? If Yuxing Tianrui hadn’t told him that he kept Shan Zhongli alive only to bait out the master cultivator behind him, Du Chuxuan would never come here to watch the show.

Yuxing Tianrui languidly looked up at Shan Zhongli. Now sitting in the tent were all senior generals with significance, and Shan Zhongli dared to say such a thing because he believed there were among them the people he had bribed?

As expected, after asking the question, Shan Zhongli quickly glanced around the room at everyone. Basically, all those who had supported Shan Zhongli bowed their heads in shame. Wasn’t the situation clear?

“I regret it now.” Du Chuxuan whispered to Yuxing Tianrui, who for a time didn’t understand what he was referring to.

Yuxing Tianrui was stilled for a second and turned to look at him, subconsciously, and also because his ear itched by the heat of Du Chuxuan’s breath when he talked.

Du Chuxuan wasn’t aware of this and just frowned at having to take the trouble to explain, “Think about it. If we came back to the barracks dressed up as soldiers, we would have obtained much more evidence than we have now, without so many troubles.”

Du Chuxuan admitted that this was his fault. Yuxing Tianrui’s original plan was to pretend to be soldiers all the time, because it was the best excuse to beat down the imperial relatives. However, back then, Du Chuxuan hadn’t fully recovered and his wound had become a little purulent after days of walking.

His health condition couldn’t support him to hide in a tent as a soldier. It was also on this account that Yuxing Tianrui chose to expose their identities to Shan Zhongli, so that the latter had flinched to carry out any of his possible scheme and given them no reason to punish him.

Understanding Du Chuxuan’s intention in an instant, Yuxing Tianrui couldn’t help arching his lips. He turned to glance at Shan Zhongli, “I don’t want to say more about the solution. As for what you did, father will judge on his own. If you promise to behave yourself in the barracks, I can send you back to the capital later.”

His words made everyone believe that His Highness was a lenient and wise man. After all, it was totally different to be sent back now from going back with the Army with triumph. If Shan Zhongli was sent back now, it was a sheer criticism at his incapability in commanding, which would deprive him of any position at court.

Shan Zhongli only found the words an insult. He took a satirizing glance at Yuxing Tianrui, eyes full of strong murderousness, “Your Highness is truly merciful, but I still don’t understand why I’ve done wrong. I was appointed and dispatched over here when the country was in an urgent need of a commander, and all I did was in the interest of the country. However, Your Highness arrested me once you appeared. How disappointing!”

His words reminded everyone. They only remembered that the return of His Highness immediately broke the stalemate but forgot that Shan Zhongli was only trusted with the position in emergency when His Highness couldn’t be found. With little knowledge of the situation at the border, Shan Zhong had already done a nice job. At once, the generals began to be a little dissatisfied at Yuxing Tianrui.

Du Chuxuan tilted his head to one side, amused. Not knowing Yuxing Tianrui’s whereabout was now the life-saving token of Shan Zhongli. He claimed that he didn’t know, but in fact he always did. But it would be pointless to argue over this point. Du Chuxuan stood up, clapped his hands and dragged up the Mister from the floor.

The man was covered with dry weeds and, not having bathed for a long time, smelled horribly. Even the coarse generals present couldn’t bear it and pinched their noses with fingers, wincing at this person, “Your Highness, isn’t him the advisor of Shan Zhongli?”

It was reasonable to arrest Shan Zhongli in order to quickly take back the power. But imprisoning an advisor was confusing and really seemed that His Highness feared Shan Zhongli would take the credit.

Du Chuxuan could certainly tell the thought of the generals, the corners of his lips turning up in a scornful smile, “As you believe, this time the reason why we drew a tie with the Turks is because we figured out a solution against their formation.

However, Lord Shan’s solution is a false one. If His Highness and I haven’t come back in time, I’m afraid the whole Shenglan Army would suffer a great loss without knowing why.”

Du Chuxuan’s voice sounded joyful. He had a beautiful face and dewy eyes that gave you a caught at the heart to look into them. Yuxing Tianrui looked upset but didn’t say anything.

Shan Zhongli wasn’t so foolish as to never realized that his solution was a useless one. However, he was firmly convinced that the fundamental reason why Yuxing Tianrui could figure out the correct solution was because he had been inspired by his solution.

After all, battle tactics were learned through actual fights one after another on the battlefields. Thinking of this, Shan Zhongli became complacent again, “I’m afraid, without my solution, Your Highness couldn’t have worked out a way to break the enemy’s formation so soon.”

Du Chuxuan sucked his teeth helplessly and really didn’t care to waste his breath with Shan Zhongli, “Just tell you the truth. The reasons to arrest you are simple. First of all, you’re incapable. You mastered the power but never did a good thing for Shenglan.

Second, you’re unvirtuous. You insisted to launch a battle, disregarding the life and death of our generals and soldiers, when you knew clearly that we couldn’t defeat the Turks. You aren’t worthy the position as a commander. Third, you’re useless. As an imperial relative, at this critical moment, you only cared to build on your own influence instead of focusing on the battles.”

Finishing the accusations, Du Chuxuan admired his own eloquence and was in a good mood because Shan Zhongli couldn’t in the least retort to any of these.

“As for the great work you claimed to have done, we couldn’t see the effect at all. Why should we trust you and your effort? And how would you defend yourself against what you’ve been accused of?”

Finishing the questioning, Du Chuxuan proudly sat down next to Yuxing Tianrui. Du Chuxuan had been disdainful towards Shan Zhongli ever since he had overheard his scheme, and knowing that they couldn’t send Shan Zhongli back to the capital now, Du Chuxuan believed it was also great to push Shan Zhongli’s reputation off the cliff forever.