"Well done," Rong Qiu praised Ah Zhao for doing a good job.
Ah Zhao only nodded in embarra.s.sment --- he felt like he didn"t deserve it ah~! After all, he only did some easy errands due to Zhuo Li"s cleverness.
Rong Qiu laughed when he saw Ah Zhao"s expression. The young man had followed him since he was a boy. Although he wasn"t that handsome --- his face could be said as plain, he was clever and loyal to him. He sighed... what would Ah Zhao do if he knew that Uncle Qiu wasn"t his real ident.i.ty? Even though it was really him that saved Ah Zhao, he still felt uncomfortable.
Rong Qiu patted Ah Zhao"s shoulder and said, "Rest for tonight... After this, we still have to make a few days trip to the Capital."
Ah Zhao nodded. "Yes, Master."
They only needed to wait for Hong Wen"s appearance. Fortunately, they didn"t have many things to bring to the capital and everything had been prepared beforehand. Thus, they didn"t need to waste times. Bao Bei had also been brought along by Yao Ling and no one figured it out.
People just thought that Bao Bei was lost in the midst of the commotion when the guards tried to find Aunt Yue"s footprint. Who had the time to care for a horse? Even though Bao Bei was called as a sacred pet, the only one who cared was only Uncle Qiu.
Ah Zhao"s information was accurate and Hong Wen indeed arrived that night. The latter called Rong Qiu right after his arrival without freshening up first, because he had been waiting to meet Rong Qiu after such a long time. Hong Wen was quite clever but he was a hot-headed old man, thus, sometimes he was doing things without thinking about the consequences.
He was fat with big pot-bellies and it was to the point that everyone couldn"t see his neck. Rong Qiu rolled his eyes inwardly when he saw Hong Wen face to face once again. Hong Wen really didn"t change for one bit ah~! Still as fat as before and as annoying as usual.
They used to debate in front of the Han Emperor on the court and always had a bad relations.h.i.+p --- Rong Qiu couldn"t say that he missed him.
Rong Qiu could see that Hong Wen must have thought the same as him ah~! The latter didn"t really feel excited to meet him because he could see his gloating expression along with his annoying sneer.
"Gah! I really hate this man!" Rong Qiu thought to himself. However, he still pasted a smile on his face. No matter what, he held no official position after he resigned back then. At least, he should play by the rules.
Hong Wen smiled widely when he saw Rong Qiu"s humble appearance. Hong Wen felt that ha had won! He yelled in anger while pointing at Rong Qiu, "Why are you so incompetent?!"
Rong Qiu frowned because he was being attacked out of nowhere. He asked Hong Wen back, "Oh... how so?"
"You let Aunt Yue being kidnapped!" Hong Wen accused him. "You know her ident.i.ty! She"s an important person for our kingdom!"
Rong Qiu rolled his eyes because of his stupidity and quickly denied, "That"s not my job to guard Aunt Yue. How can you put the blame on me?" He wanted to ask whether he had checked what happened here beforehand... How could he make such a baseless accusation? Didn"t he feel afraid that people would laugh at him?!
Uncle Qiu"s job was only taking care of Bao Bei... not Aunt Yue. How could he put the blame on him shamelessly?
"Not your job?" Hong Wen frowned. After that, he whispered something to his advisor and the latter helplessly answered him. Hong Wen was precisely like this, even though he was sharp at times, but the man was a bit unreliable. Hong Wen always hated Rong Qiu and his behavior in front of him had always been childish.
His advisor had tried to give him so many pieces of advice but Hong Wen rarely listened to him. If he wasn"t the nephew of the right-hand prime minister, the advisor would already leave this useless person behind. The right-hand prime minister had personally asked him to take care of him, so he could only helplessly do so.
"Ah... You are a mere caretaker of a stupid horse!" Hong Wen mocked Rong Qiu while laughing out loud. He was so happy to the point that he kept slapping his own thigh loudly.
Rong Qiu rolled his eyes. If he didn"t ask specifically to take care of Bao Bei, he would still be in the capital and certainly more successful from this fool. However, he had never bothered to choose glory because he was a sentimental person. It seemed like this trait of him was still there when he forgot everything. He still chose Aunt Yue and Bao Bei, right?
Rong Qiu wondered why such a stupid person could be a high-rank official. However, precisely this personality of his that could make Rong Qiu use him easily. He felt lucky that the Han Emperor had chosen this person to come here. If it was exchanged with another official, he didn"t think that he would be successful.
"Yes, I am..." Rong Qiu didn"t bother to sugarcoat his words.
Hong Wen thought that he would at least feel embarra.s.sed, but Rong Qiu only gave him a flat expression. To him, it appeared more annoying.
Rong Qiu thought inwardly, "Come on! Come on! Get angry at me... so you will laugh at my misery and tend to believe the esteemed guest"s rumor..."
Indeed, Hong Wen was easily provoked. "Kneel down!" He said with full authority.
The advisor sweated when he heard this --- he had already told Hong Wen not to be ras.h.!.+ Even if Uncle Qiu had already stayed here for a long time, his loyal followers in the capital were still a lot! If those followers heard about what happened here, Hong Wen"s current behavior could be said akin to make enemies with a lot of people!
Rong Qiu stood up proudly, "On what base? I didn"t make any mistakes."
"Your rank is lower than mine!" Hong Wen answered. "Shouldn"t you give me a polite greeting?"
Rong Qiu laughed. "Da Ren... isn"t this called bullying innocent people? I don"t dare to kneel down, because I"m afraid that people will gossip about it and smear Da Ren"s name..." Rong Qiu sarcastically said.
"You..." Hong Wen almost vomited blood when he heard Rong Qiu"s words, however, what the latter said was true. Rong Qiu always had a way with words and it annoyed him to no end. He had no reason to let him kneel down.
His advisor gave Hong Wen a signal --- it was time to give the Emperor"s decree to Uncle Qiu. He was so helpless because Hong Wen could even forget an important thing because of his own grudge. However, he also knew that Hong Wen always lived in the shadow of Uncle Qiu. The latter kept climbing up the ladder while Hong Wen couldn"t. When the latter had a chance to climb up the ladder and wanted to gloat, Uncle Qiu decided to retire out of anger.
How could Hong Wen not feel disappointed ah~?! Thus, he could never forget his resentment towards Uncle Qiu.
Hong Wen smirked when he received the decree, "You need to kneel down for real. This is the Emperor"s decree."
Rong Qiu rolled his eyes after seeing his childish behavior. Before kneeling, he said something that made Hong Wen"s face become red, "I"m kneeling to the Han Emperor"s decree --- not you."
Hong Wen almost vomited blood when he heard Uncle Qiu"s provocation words! His previous happiness to see him kneeling down was gone in a flash. "This b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" He cursed inwardly. However, he could do nothing to Uncle Qiu ah~!
Rong Qiu paid him no mind and he quickly kneeled down politely.