flstandardbreds Chapter 159: Send people to kill them along the way to prevent future troubles
Chapter 159: Send people to kill them along the way to prevent future troubles
As the memorial was handed out, Zhou Hanjin, who was far away in the capital, soon received the bad news, unable to sleep all night!
After staying up all night waiting for the letter to be delivered by carrier pigeon from Xi'an, he was still wearing his fancy clothes and sitting at the desk with the letter he had already read in his hand.
The content of the letter was very simple - Sun has been exposed, the operation has failed, and he has been captured. Does he need to be rescued? Just eighteen words.
Even if it was just eighteen short words, it was enough to make Zhou Hanjin feel uneasy for a long time. He closed his eyes, slowly clenched the letter in his hand, crumpled it into a ball, and finally threw it aside, rolling it on the ground.
He rested his elbows on the table and covered his face with his hands to prevent others from seeing his true expression.
But no matter how quickly he tried to cover it up, his slightly shaking hands and this movement had already exposed his anger and panic at the moment...
The personal eunuch and advisor beside him didn't dare to say a word. Seeing Zhou Hanjin's behavior, what else didn't they understand?
If it was good news, why would Zhou Hanjin be so depressed and out of control...
No matter how scared they were, and afraid that Zhou Hanjin would vent his anger on them, they still had to ask!
"Your Highness...what's the situation over there?" Master Fan asked softly, suppressing his uneasiness.
When Zhou Hanjin heard Master Fan's question, he seemed to suddenly remember that there were more than one people in the study. He could not lose control and had to maintain his dignity as a prince.
For this reason, he quickly suppressed his out-of-control emotions, straightened his expression, looked at Master Fan and the other three with cold eyes and said.
"The operation failed, and the people I arranged were exposed and captured. They asked me if I needed rescue."
This short sentence made the four legal advisors of different ages who were waiting nearby change their expressions slightly, and they couldn't help but panic in their hearts.
...failed, got caught...
What does this represent?
This means that His Majesty will know about this matter soon, and once His Majesty knows about it, this matter will become complicated, not to mention that the Eighth Prince is a prince...
Even though he is now the crown prince, if such a thing were to happen and become known to the court officials, there is no need to think too much about Zhou Hanjin's fate...
Or he would be imprisoned in the clan house for life, deprived of all the privileges of a prince, and demoted to a commoner!
Either they would be demoted to a commoner or exiled, or in worse cases, they would be sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison.
No matter which one it is, as the Eighth Prince's staff, they will only rise and fall together. The Eighth Prince didn't have a good ending, so how can they have a good ending?
So at this moment, whether out of concern for Zhou Hanjin or worry about their own lives, they couldn't remain calm.
Master Fan's face suddenly changed, and his brows knitted tightly. "The failure of the plan is not the worst outcome, but the person has been exposed. This matter will soon reach the ears of His Majesty. Your Highness, I am worried that this matter will not be resolved peacefully!"
Putting aside the loss of manpower this time, whether we can successfully cut off the tail and survive is a problem.
Zhou Hanjin rubbed his brows with a headache, "This king knows, do you think I need to rescue them?"
save people?
Master Xu and the other two were still confused and had no idea how to deal with the matter, let alone save people!
Master Fan spoke again.
"Your Highness, I don't think it's appropriate. Organizing a rescue at this time will only expose more hidden lines, making it easier for them to find the people you arranged. It may not necessarily rescue the people. Instead of taking such a big risk to save people, it is better to...cut the grass and eliminate the roots."
Zhou Hanjin paused rubbing his brows when he heard that. There were some things...he knew them, but he just couldn't say them out loud.
After all, they had all served him, and if he abandoned them right away, he was worried that it would cause rebellion among others.
Furthermore, Zhou Hanjin has always presented himself as a kind-hearted person. His decisive decision to eradicate the evil completely might chill the hearts of some people.
This was definitely not the situation he wanted.
Therefore, even though Master Fan's words hit the nail on the head, he couldn't agree with them immediately.
Rather than spending so much effort to save those who have been exposed, he would rather kill them directly to silence them. After all, who knows whether they have betrayed him during this period?
Zhou Hanjin felt that it was not worth it to expose more hidden clues for the sake of a few traitors who might have betrayed him.
He was aware of Chu Qibai's martial arts skills. With him around, he was afraid that if he sent people to rescue him, more manpower would be lost.
Besides, if they were really rescued, these people who had been exposed would have become useless. They could not return to their original positions, and it would be difficult to resettle them. It would be so time-consuming and laborious, and it would not be worth it no matter how you calculated it.
It’s better to... choose a more convenient way.
But, saying it is one thing, and you still have to pretend when you should.
"But they are serving me after all. Wouldn't it be too cruel to just abandon them like this?" Zhou Hanjin lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice.
Master Fan stroked his beard and shook his head slowly, "Your Highness, I made this suggestion only to prevent greater losses. Such a careful plan could be discovered. Sending people to rescue them now will only cause more casualties. Besides, they have been caught. Who knows if they have betrayed Your Highness?"
“Your Highness must not only not send anyone to rescue them, but you must also send people to kill them along the way before they enter the capital for interrogation to prevent future troubles. Although it hurts to cut off the tail to survive, it is also for the purpose of better preserving strength and not bringing disaster to yourself!”
This sentence once again hit the nail on the head. Zhou Hanjin was too lazy to even continue with the polite words. With a silent coldness in his eyes, he covered his eyes with his hands.
"Although this is not my original intention, I really can't mobilize more people now, so...just follow Master Fan's instructions."
Master Xu and the other two believed that they were not good people, but they were still stunned when they came up with the idea of cutting the weeds completely.
As Zhou Hanjin's staff and subordinates, the three of them had an indescribable feeling in their hearts at this moment, a bit like...the feeling of grief for the loss of a rabbit.
Master Fan, however, adapted well and bowed to Zhou Hanjin, "Your Highness is wise."
Zhou Hanjin held his forehead with his hand and waved his hands with a look of great regret and distress, indicating that they should all leave as he wanted to be alone.
Master Xu and the other two didn't say a word during the whole process, and the matter was settled.
"..."
*
Chu Xi, who was thousands of miles away from the capital, guessed that Zhou Hanjin's people had not had time to notify the people of Dongying and Western Chu, and the armies of these two countries might send out troops at any time.
Therefore, she told Han Yaojun about her concerns and worries early on, hoping that Han Yaojun could redeploy his troops immediately...
Han Yaojun immediately understood what Chu Xi meant, "Are you worried that the troop deployment and Xi'an's city defense map have already been leaked by Sun Changfan and Yu Chengwen?"
Chu Xi admitted frankly, "Yes."