"General, it's better for you to calm down," Xun Ying said calmly, then pressed down Li Qilun's sword with force.
It was true that Li Qilun had more experience on the battlefield, but Xun Ying was by no means a weakling.
He had fought his way out of the secret guard camp, and his one - on - one combat ability was no less than Li Qilun's.
Xun Ying looked relaxed, showing no sign of struggling.
Seeing this, Li Qilun's expression became rather strange.
Was this really just a guard who could so easily block his sword?
He suspiciously looked up at Wen Yu, his eyes full of scrutiny.
"General Li is indeed young and promising. But in this world, even if the capable people are one in a hundred, there are still quite a number of them. General Li shouldn't be overconfident," Wen Yu said with a smile, but there was cold contempt in her eyes.
Hearing this, Li Qilun felt deeply humiliated.
He was a general, while Xun Ying was just a guard. How could they be compared?
"Are you dissatisfied?" Wen Yu curled her lips, then gave Xun Ying a look.
The latter understood and immediately twirled his sword sheath, forcing Li Qilun to hold the sword to his own neck.
Since he entered the secret guard camp, he had either been training or killing. The number of lives in his hands might not be less than Li Qilun's.
Moreover, leading troops in war was different from one - on - one combat.
His face flushed red, and he simply let go of the sword.
The long sword crashed to the ground.
"What on earth do you want me to do to stop this?" Li Qilun suppressed his anger and tried to speak calmly.
Hearing this, Wen Yu pretended to think for a while, then showed a sly smile. "Disown yourself from the Li family."
Li Qilun was indeed a bit of a military talent, but most of his current honors were due to the support of his family. Otherwise, he could have been more assertive about the marriage with the Meng family and wouldn't have had to go back to the border to apologize.
"Do you really want to ruin my career?"
Li Qilun's eyes changed. He sneered angrily. "I used to think that although you've changed a lot, you still had a heart. But now I see that you're just a heartless person."
"Wen Yu, remember this well. I will surely avenge this humiliation one day."
Li Qilun left threateningly, then picked up his long sword and stormed off.
After he left, Xun Ying slowly put his sword back into his arms.
"What if he really manages to achieve merits by suppressing the bandits? Do you want me to cause some trouble for him?" Xun Ying looked up at Wen Yu and seriously suggested.
Hearing this, Wen Yu just gently shook her head. "Ji Yunqing isn't a fool. Recommending him to suppress the bandits doesn't mean he'll really get the chance."
No matter how fierce the bandits were, they couldn't pose a real threat.
Sending Li Qilun to suppress the bandits would be like handing him merits on a silver platter.
Ji Yunqing just wanted to hold him back, not recruit him. Why would he give him a chance to show off?
Moreover, Ji Yunqing was waiting for this opportunity to promote his own people.
"Are you sure?" Xun Ying asked for confirmation.
Hearing this, Wen Yu was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "Although the Crown Prince said he would stay neutral, who knows if he'll go back on his word before the result is out?"
"Even though I hate Li Qilun, I can't frame him with the matter of the bandits.
The common people troubled by the bandits are innocent after all.
Xun Ying understood what she meant.
He silently looked at her, then sighed slightly.
She was just not selfish enough. If she were a bit more selfish, she wouldn't be in this situation.
But if she were more selfish, she wouldn't be the Wen Yu she was now.
Xun Ying's thoughts were quite contradictory. Finally, he left silently and took away the dinner plates as well.
He had to prepare the medicine for her.
-
As Wen Yu expected, Li Qilun didn't get the chance to suppress the bandits in the end.
After he left Wen Yu's mansion that day, he immediately sent a letter back to the Li family.
If he couldn't go back to the border in time to solve the matter with the Meng family, he might as well take on the task of suppressing the bandits.
What did it matter if a man had a few love affairs? It was just a topic of conversation.
As long as he could achieve more real results in the future, what did this little scandal matter?
But in the morning court the next day, the emperor directly assigned the task of suppressing the bandits to another military general.
Although Li Qilun was a bit dissatisfied, only two days had passed, and it was still not too late to go back to the border.
But Ji Yunqing made things difficult for him at this moment and actually asked the emperor to assign Li Qilun another task - training new recruits!
This was originally the job of a junior officer, but for some reason, the emperor actually agreed.
As a result, he couldn't go back to the border, and he missed the chance to achieve merits.
"Your Highness, you must help me. In this situation, how can I stay in the capital to lead troops? Father is waiting for me to go back to the border!" Li Qilun found Ji Yundan and directly asked for help as soon as they met.
Hearing this, Ji Yundan calmly took a sip of tea, then sighed and said, "The imperial edict has been issued. It's not appropriate for me to object."
"Anyway, the border is at peace now. It doesn't matter if you go back a bit later."
Ji Yundan pretended not to know about the marriage between the Li and Meng families and advised, "Father deliberately kept you in Shengjing. Maybe he has other intentions. You're just too impatient."
"What intentions can there be in leading troops? And asking me to train a group of new recruits is a waste of my talent. Isn't there a single junior officer worthy of trust in Shengjing?"
Li Qilun retorted dissatisfiedly, his face full of impatience. At first glance, it seemed as if he was forcing Ji Yundan to give the answer he wanted.
Seeing this, Ji Yundan's smile faded a bit.
He narrowed his phoenix eyes and glanced sharply at Li Qilun, then heavily put down his teacup.
"Do you have objections to Father's imperial edict? If such words get out, do you know what the consequences will be? Do you want to drag me down with you if you don't want to live?"
He sneered and frowned at Li Qilun. "I think Father just thinks you're too impatient, so he wants you to restrain yourself."
"There aren't just you and His Highness here, so I'm being straightforward. Why is His Highness getting angry?"
Li Qilun asked puzzledly, then threw caution to the wind and said, "Your Highness may be busy today and doesn't know about my matter with the Wen family."
"I'm in a hurry to go back to the border because the Wen family is blocking my marriage. If I had been assigned the task of suppressing the bandits, it would have been fine. But what is this now?"
"I can't neither achieve merits nor go back to the border to propose marriage to the Meng family, can I?"
"Your Highness, you should understand me. Father and I are loyal to you. How can you stand by and do nothing at this time?"
By the end, Li Qilun even started to put pressure on Ji Yunqing.
Seeing this, Ji Yundan's face immediately darkened, and he made a decision in his heart.
He had been hesitating whether giving up Li Qilun would be a gain or a loss. Now it seemed that Wen Yu was right.
He was already getting arrogant before achieving any truly outstanding results. If he were really promoted to a high position, who knew how arrogant he would become?
This man was like a wolf and unworthy of trust.