Chapter 516.1: Confrontation, Vision, Exposing
No one knew what he wanted to do, so could only wait.
And beyond everyone’s expectation, Fu Yun Ting actually directly took out the tiger tally[1].
Returning from war and very quickly handing over the tiger tally, many perceptive military generals with a sense of propriety would all do this. Never mind in the history before Qi Yuan, even during the third generation of the Li clan imperial dynasty, a similar situation had occurred. But, to hand over the tiger tally during the celebration banquet like now, it just penetrated with an unusual air.
Fu Yun Ting’s aim was also very clear, expressing that Xiongnu has already been taken care of, and with the Wu’an Marquis Manor only having the old and weak left, as the only pillar, he very much worried, hoping to be able to stay in the capital to take care of the family. But, if Qi Yuan ever needs him, no matter when, he will don the armor and go into battle, not shrinking back in the slightest, so asking your Majesty to allow. ———-Very sincere and emotional.
So, should Le Cheng Emperor accept or not? If he accepts, it would make others feel, his bearing was truly too unsightly, to be this intolerant of others. How many would feel bitterly disappointed inside. But if he doesn’t accept, how could Le Cheng Emperor allow such an important thing to stay in Fu Yun Ting’s hand. It can be said that for every moment it was in Fu Yun Ting’s hand, he all won’t be able to sleep or eat in peace
Le Cheng Emperor quietly stared at Fu Yun Ting for a moment, not a single ripple in his eyes. No one knew exactly what he was thinking about.
The people that were originally privately chatting with one another quieted down, waiting for the situation to develop further. The sound of a needle falling could be heard. They didn’t know what Le Cheng Emperor was thinking inside, but their previous speculations matched with reality. Then, the possibility of the emperor taking back the tiger tally was very high.
Sure enough, Le Cheng Emperor just declined a few words, and under Fu Yun Ting’s insistence, he let someone by his side take back the tiger tally. “Beloved subject Fu is loyal to the ruler and loves the country, similarly also filial and faithful. This emperor’s heart is very comforted.”
Fu Yun Ting humbly responded a few words and retreated back. Towards Le Cheng Emperor ‘saying one thing but meaning another’, he was completely unconcerned. Towards someone that keeps wanting to take his life, how could he give his complete devotion. Only because the other party was the emperor, he thus would leave a bit of leeway, not having the hatred in his heart expressed.
As for the so called, ‘if the ruler wants this subject to die, then this subject has no choice but to die’, Fu Yun Ting didn’t have that high of a resolution. However, recalling his family’s situation, and after clearly knowing that it was the emperor’s handiwork, believe that no matter who, it was all impossible to be ‘blindly loyal’. Truthfully speaking, for Fu Yun Ting to not have the intention of rebelling, it was already a display of loyalty.
Afterwards, it was just a drinking party, raising the cup and mutually toasting.
Towards Fu Yun Ting, this new ‘favorite’, quite a few princes wanted to have him taken under their flag. Even if right now he already didn’t have power in hand, and looking at imperial father’s attitude towards him, it seemingly wasn’t considered good either, but this didn’t get in the way of them trying to rope him in, just because Fu Yun Ting, as the main commander, greatly defeated the Xiongnu, establishing unparalleled prestige in the northwest. It wasn’t just the soldiers that greatly revered him, the commoners also quite loved him.
TN: All
He didn’t have anything in hand, but he had many generals under him. These were all valuable connections that cannot be underestimated. Once they have him taken in, these will all become their important cards in seizing the throne.
However, Fu Yun Ting although was a military general, he has been hibernating in capital for many years prior, so how could he just randomly get swayed. Fu Yun Ting was very smooth, and can be said to be elegantly dancing with long sleeves. From the inside to the outside, from top to bottom, no matter how one looked, he all wasn’t like a military general. Furthermore, he wasn’t wearing that body of armor. If at this time, someone that didn’t recognize him were to come looking, under the premise of not giving any hints, even if having all the military generals called out, they probably still won’t appear before him.
The song came to an end, the people scattering. This banquet ultimately didn’t become a Hongmen Feast targeted at Fu Yun Ting.
However, when Le Cheng Emperor was wantonly bestowing rewards, the other generals, for the most part, received things as such gold, silver, silk, and so on, able to use when taking back. But when it came to Fu Yun Ting, it just became antiques, calligraphy paintings, and such objects. The former appeared inelegant, but was practical and usable. And what was given to Fu Yun Ting appeared high-end and imposing, but were purely just decorations. Not a single person in Fu family liked these things, because there was a record and log, thus unable to be sold. It was all useless.
For those that weren’t in the know, they would think, wasn’t this perfect, in any case, the Wu’an Marquis Manor certainly won’t lack money. His Majesty truly was wise, meticulous and thoughtful in his consideration. And for those that were in the know, they would just think, heh.
Out of all the generals, only Fu Yun Ting alone appeared special. So long as someone gets labeled as ‘special’, it will just mean that they will be able to steadily pull in a huge amount of hostility. Moreover, not all the military generals were uncouth men, but his Majesty had them all grouped as ‘inelegant’. For those that didn’t care about anything else but this, that was without a doubt an enormous insult. They couldn’t do anything to the emperor, so naturally just blamed Fu Yun Ting.
Additionally, not every general revered Fu Yun Ting, dismissing his age and acknowledging his abilities.
During this banquet, there was another person that also received a lot of attention. Of course, it was just Su Bu Fu.
Su Bu Fu had an injury on his face, belonging to the serious disfiguration type. Generally speaking, with a face like that, he is unable to enter the court as an official. But, as long as it’s just among the officials, not appearing before his Majesty, tainting the emperor’s eyes, in reality, it was still quite lenient, especially for military officers. After all, going onto the battlefield, they will inevitably get injured. One can’t, just because they injured their face, just cut off their future prospects, erasing their contributions. Of course, under normal circumstances, to get disfigured after becoming an official, as long as it’s not encountering an extremely muddled ruler that was obsessed with looks, or ugly to the point of scaring others, even for civil officials, the influence for the most part wasn’t too big.
On the previous memorandum reporting the contributions, Su Bu Fu’s contribution was already clearly written on there. And right now, Fu Yun Ting further gave his affirmation, letting Su Bu Fu promote his existence in front of Le Cheng Emperor.
Wasn’t Su Bu Fu thinking of scaling the skies in one step? Now, let’s see, with someone that Le Cheng Emperor loathes exceedingly appreciating him, whether or not he can still achieve his original goal.
There’s loving the house and its crow, and also hating the house and its crow.
Su Bu Fu, because of knowing Le Cheng Emperor’s attitude towards Fu Yun Ting, just felt that Le Cheng Emperor’s gaze towards him also carried dislike. As a result, he also felt quite miserable inside.
That kind of strong feeling of unease still lingered in his heart, unable to disperse for a very long time. Sometimes, he even felt that he was getting deliberately targeted by them. But, how was that possible? There was completely no reason. After all, ‘Su Bu Fu’, prior to setting foot onto the northwest battlefield, was completely unfamiliar with them, so what reason would there be to intentionally target him.
As for his real identity possibly already getting found out by them, Su Bu Fu wasn’t willing to consider. After all, at the time, this matter was done very secretively. Unless………
Thinking of a possibility, if from the start he just got targeted, Su Bu Fu couldn’t help but feel his scalp go numb. In that case, it would be too scary.
Su Bu Fu very much wanted to deny this thought of his, but this thought kept emerging from time to time, repeatedly warning him, this was the truth, this was the reality. From the start all of them just got ruthlessly schemed against by someone, and that person was very likely Jin Qinwang.
And Fu Yun Ting had actually long casted himself under Jin Qinwang already. In front of them, he completely didn’t have any secrets to speak of, transparent at a glance. In this way, he thus would be on the passive at every turn.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it felt. The more he thought about it, the more he feared.
Because these various emotions, Su Bu Fu’s gaze kept glancing towards Jin Qinwang uncontrollably.
[1] Tiger tally – See pic below. It’s a small two piece tiger figure used in ancient times to represent military authority. One half of the tally would be issued to a general and then matched with the other half when verification was required.
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