Chapter 31: The Dispute at the Morning Assembly (Part 2)

  Speaking of the matter at hand, Qin Yifan also stopped thinking about those official things: "I thought I'd come out and take a walk, so I came over. I brought some things for you and His Majesty, and took the opportunity to pay my respects. On the way, I heard that there would be some excitement recently, so I hurried over."

  "Ah, Qin Tou, you really came. The general is also a person who loves excitement and knows some inside information: 'In the past few days, it has been widely spread outside that the foreign envoys have arrived in the capital, and they plan to meet with His Majesty tomorrow! If Qin Tou is interested, I'll take you into the palace tomorrow to take a look. It's said that there will be some good things and acrobatics, let's go and make it exciting.'"

  Qin Yifan nodded, his goal already achieved, and also wanted to give the general some face: "Your attendants today have indeed committed an offense!"

  "Those guys, always relying on my name to act recklessly, let them learn a lesson, so they won't be arrogant all the time." The general didn't care about these things at all: "Not to mention those guys, even if you beat me up, it's also deserved. Always a group of people who judge by appearance, fortunately this time it's Qin Tou, showing mercy, if it were someone ruthless and cruel, would they still be alive? If you don't teach them a lesson, I will also give them military punishment."

  Commanding the army is the Grand General's affair, Qin Yifan wouldn't interfere too much, but with only these forces in the Grand General's mansion, isn't it a bit thin? Unable to bear it, Qin Yifan asked: "In the capital, won't you be making too many enemies?"

  "Haha, Qin Tou, you don't understand this." The general stretched out his hand to take the teapot, filled it to the brim, and gulped down a large cup. He waved his hand for the little maid who was peeking from the side to come over and refill the water. At this moment, the general had already turned around, and the little maid was no longer so afraid, quickly taking small steps to replace the teapot.

  "The Emperor would be delighted if I were to offend all the civil officials in the capital!" Being able to reach the position of Grand General, he is naturally not a rough person as he appears: "This is a simple check and balance, which only benefits me and has no drawbacks. With my control over the heavy troops, if I still have good relationships with everyone, that would be a disaster!"

  "Hmm, that imperial censor who just left won't cause any trouble, will he?" Qin Yifan was still a bit worried. After all, Lao Yao was his only remaining sworn brother who was still alive and could be seen.

  "What's the worst that can happen, impeaching me for being incompetent in governing?" The Grand General wouldn't care about a minor Imperial Censor. In these years, those guys from the Censorate seemed to have eaten some kind of stimulant, constantly and fiercely pursuing the Grand General, although they couldn't hurt his vital parts, but their relentless harassment was indeed troublesome. As for their tactics, the Grand General had also learned a lot.

  "Not good!" Suddenly remembering something, the general asked: "Qin Tou, when you came in, did you enter directly from the middle gate?" That's what the servant who ran to report the news said.

  "What's wrong?" Qin Yifan asked loudly and carelessly.

  "That guy might have heard." The general was somewhat worried, the middle gate, but only the emperor and his envoys had such treatment, it was rare for a great general to return triumphantly, and he might be granted such an honor by the emperor once or twice, but the middle gate was usually tightly closed.

  If that guy doesn't let go of this matter, although it won't have any impact on the great general, Qin Yifan will be in trouble. Violating the rules is considered treason and a serious offense, punishable by execution of nine clans.

  After listening to Lao Yao's worries, Qin Yifan laughed: "I think it's a big deal, don't worry, even if it gets to the emperor's face, the emperor won't blame us." Although he didn't know what had happened, since Qin Yifan said it was nothing, General thought it must be nothing, this was the trust that had been built over time.

  "You send someone to report the news of my arrival here today to the Emperor, and no matter what happens tomorrow, there will be no problem." After thinking about it, it's still better to be more stable, let Lao Yao send someone to inform the Emperor first, so as not to be embarrassed later.

  Qin Xiaoling and Lin Qiulü, two people Qin Yifan didn't introduce in detail, just saying they were bodyguards. Hearing their identity as bodyguards, the general's eyes almost popped out. Does someone like Qin Yifan still need bodyguards? It's truly absurd, but the two bodyguards' skills are not bad, and among the hundreds of people in the mansion, no one was able to hurt a single hair on them, they were indeed formidable.

  "I brought you some stuff." In the courtyard, drinking and chatting, Qin Yifan casually threw a coarse cloth package to the general. They were ordinary luxury items that ordinary people could use, selected from the pile of things in Yuancheng's old way, wrapped in a rough cloth, and had been on Qin Xiaoling's body until they were thrown to the general.

  The general didn't stand on ceremony, and with a whiff of alcohol, he opened it on the spot. The curtains were startled by the scattered pearls and treasures: "You, you, Qin Tou, you won't go rob some wealthy Zhu family's mansion, will you?" He immediately realized his mistake and punished himself with three cups.

  Both of them were highly skilled in martial arts, and this was not the Fist Mark Lake Shore, where there was no restriction of evil spirits. They let loose and drank freely. With Qin Xiaoling and Lin Qiulü by their side, basically no one dared to disturb them, and they drank with great relish.

  Early in the morning, when the sky was still a bit dark, General Qin arrived at the palace gate with Qin Yifan and his two female bodyguards, planning to meet the Emperor after the court meeting. However, as soon as they arrived at the palace gate, they were stopped by several guards.

  "What's going on? Don't you even recognize me?" The general's mustache twitched with rage.

  "The general's joy and anger, it was just these few people..." Before the words had fallen, he saw the sword in Lin Qiulü's hand and immediately changed his tone: "This one..." The guard was still clever and did not point to Qin Yifan. Early in the morning, he had already received the imperial edict, allowing the general to bring a man into the palace for an audience. Originally intended to block Lin Qiulü, but the identity of the inner court guard was not a problem, that only Qin Xiaoling alone was not good enough.

  "This is..." The Grand General had not finished speaking, when several people wearing inner court attire appeared behind the guard, half men and half women. A middle-aged man led them: "Grand General, unidentified individuals cannot be brought into the palace!" His gaze was fixed directly on Qin Xiaoling, as if seeing through her identity hidden beneath her black veil.

  "Dragon Leader!" Lin Qiulü, who was standing beside him, recognized the man and bowed her head in respect. The middle-aged Dragon Leader looked at her for a moment, but Lin Qiulü's disguise made it difficult for him to recognize her immediately: "Who are you?" He then caught sight of the sword at her waist and suddenly realized who she was.

  With a wave of his hand: "General, I'll take care of these guests, you can rest assured and attend the morning court." Turning around, he saw Lin Qiulü again and couldn't help but add: "General, today someone might be out to harm you, be careful!"