After crossing, I was forced to hold on to my thighs and build a kingdom

On October 8th, the postmen who went west to Fuyun City and south to Jiaocheng finally returned to the capital covered in dust.

The secret agents that Su Cheng'an had planted earlier had already learned the contents of the reply letters from General Liu Zhongquan and General Chen Guangda on the way back without anyone noticing while the postmen were resting at night.

Therefore, Su Cheng'an turned a blind eye and let the disguised postman enter the capital.

At this time, Crown Prince Shenyou was walking back and forth in the palace in a irritable mood.

A few days ago, he placed Zhao Huaiqing under house arrest in the East Palace, and ordered his servants to go to Jingchuan Hou's Mansion to threaten Jingchuan Hou Zhao Wenyan with Zhao Huaiqing's life to take over the city defense army, and to exchange his former confidant Li Ming back to his side to protect his personal safety.

That day, Zhao Wenyan came to see him in person with a cane. After the former uncle and nephew tore off the hypocritical veil, they no longer had the close relationship they once had.

The two looked at each other in silence for a long moment. Zhao Wenyan was the first to break the silence, his voice laced with a sigh: "Your Highness is now the crown prince. The court is filled with talented and capable generals. Your Highness is free to recruit talented individuals and entrust them with important tasks."

"This old minister has been seriously ill and bedridden. A few days ago, I respectfully presented the military order to Your Highness and have since retired from the battlefield."

"Yet Your Highness has singled out this old minister for his own good, insisting on ordering him to lead the army once again. He's even threatening my son's life, insisting on forcing this frail, frail minister to meet that ferocious army. May I ask, Your Highness, what exactly is your intention?"

Shenyou smiled sadly, and a bit of sadness rose in his heart: "Zhao Wenyan, in order to save me and my mother, you also tried your best, even sacrificing your own son. Over the years, my mother and I have been grateful to you."

He turned around, a look of doubt on his face. "I thought I had treated your Jingchuan Marquisate well. Why, when I needed your Jingchuan Marquisate's help again, not only did you not step forward, but you also pretended to distance yourself from me?"

"I truly thought of you as my uncle. I thought you would support me in my rise to power, and I would ensure the prosperity of your Jingchuan Marquisate for decades. Why do you shy away from such a win-win situation, even willing to die rather than help me?"

Especially the last sentence, Shenyou yelled out hysterically.

The once handsome face was now filled with a ferocious look. He stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Wenyan's collar, and asked in a low voice with a fierce look in his eyes, "I have never wronged your Jingchuan Marquis Mansion, why do you treat me like this?"

Zhao Wenyan's face flushed red when Shenyou pulled him hard, but his eyes remained calm and compassionate as he looked at the young man who had lost his rationality.

What Shenyou hated the most was this look in his eyes, even though he was the supreme crown prince!

His expression changed several times, but he finally let go unwillingly.

Zhao Wenyan's body trembled slightly, and after a violent coughing, he slowly opened his lips, his voice a little hoarse and tired.

"If Your Highness wants my life, you can take it at any time, but Qing'er is innocent. Twenty years ago, he nearly lost his life because of you. Now, with God's blessing, he has returned to the Zhao family, but he has not received any favor from me, the Marquis of Jingchuan, and instead, he is in deep danger because of me, his father."

"This is truly unfair to him. Your Highness, publicly, you shoulder the heavy responsibility of the nation, and you should prioritize justice above all else. Privately, Qing'er has been kind to you in the past, and was your lifesaver. Your disregard for his safety is truly chilling."

"Even if Your Highness achieves his wish and reigns supreme in the future, if Huai Qing unfortunately dies at your hands, a hundred years from now, when historians write the truth, how will history judge Your Highness's actions?"

"Did I force you and your son? It's clearly you and your son who are forcing me!"

Shenyou's eyes widened, and he pointed at Zhao Wenyan, demanding harshly, "If you had been as devoted to helping me as you were back then, how could I have gotten into this mess with you and your son? If I became emperor, wouldn't the Jingchuan Marquisate, as a loyal minister, rise to even greater heights?"

Zhao Wenyan looked at the young man in a bright yellow python robe, who had completely lost his form, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "Even in my prime, I wasn't completely confident of defeating Prince Dingbei's son, Su Cheng'an. Now that I'm old and frail, fighting Su Cheng'an is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or an egg trying to hit a rock."

"But if you don't go, I can't find a better general than you!" Shenyou shouted at the top of his voice.

As he shouted this, he slumped in his chair like a punctured balloon, his eyes starting to turn red.

"Uncle, those in the court have always been bullying me for my incompetence, and Li Wenyan and his gang in the cabinet are now watching from the sidelines, waiting for Su Cheng'an and I to fight each other so they can find their master. Now that the army to support the king has not arrived, the only one I can trust and use is you."

A flash of pity flashed across Zhao Wenyan's eyes, and he asked softly, "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Your Highness, have you ever considered whether you could shoulder the responsibility of the Great Jin?"

"If my father can handle it, why can't I?"

Shenyou looked at Zhao Wenyan with resentment. After a while, he sneered, "So Marquis Jingchuan thinks I'm unfit to be a successor, that's why he keeps his distance from me!"

He stood up angrily and said, "Since that's the case, you better guard the capital for me. When the army comes back to support the king, I will let you see with your own eyes whether I am worthy of the throne of the Great Jin Dynasty!"

"Those who are of little virtue but hold high office, who know little but make great plans, who have little strength but are entrusted with great responsibilities, will rarely fail."

Zhao Wenyan looked at Shenyou, who was angry again, and said slowly, "Your Highness, if you withdraw now, there is still room for maneuver. If you insist on not changing your ways, I'm afraid that in the future..."

"Zhao Wenyan, I don't want to hear your scornful words anymore!" Shenyou interrupted Zhao Wenyan loudly and ordered coldly to the outside, "Take Jingchuan Hou back to the city defense army."

Zhao Wenyan looked deeply at the young man in front of him, and finally turned and left silently.

The crutch knocked on the bluestone slabs again and again, hitting Shenyou's heart like a heavy hammer.

It's strange to say, but during this period of time, Su Cheng'an has been contrary to his usual behavior and has not launched an attack.

Shenyou was secretly glad, thinking that this was God's protection for him, but at the same time he was uneasy, guessing that Su Cheng'an would not give up so easily and must be planning for greater benefits.

At this moment, a trusted aide's joyful voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, the postmen who went to the northwest and southern borders have all returned."

Shenyou stood up happily and shouted, "Let it in!"

Two postmen came in, looking dusty and prostrating themselves, and said, "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Then they took out their respective letters and presented them with both hands.

Shenyou smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, both of you."

He then opened the letter and read it quickly. But in a moment, the smile on his face disappeared without a trace.

He turned around and opened the other letter. By the time he finished reading the second letter, his face had turned ashen.

"Waste! Waste! They are all a bunch of waste!"

With a loud shout, the crown prince pushed over the table in front of him with a flick of his sleeve. Amidst a loud crackling sound, the handsome face of the young man was distorted.