Chapter 145: Not being a biological mother and son, it really is awkward

No one cared about Shi Hong's unwillingness and anger.

Chen Guanlou had become the de facto person in charge of the Jia-block prison. Some whispered in private that he was the Deputy Prison Clerk.

Chen Guanlou heard this, but didn't care much.

New emperor, new courtiers; while the two Master Fans were still in their positions, he definitely had to earn back the capital he had invested. As for what to do after the two Master Fans were transferred away in the future, he would deal with future matters in the future.

One cannot wrong the present for the sake of an unknown future. For a person, the present—the now—is what matters most.

Big shots painting a picture of the future are always promising a beautiful tomorrow and demanding you sacrifice your present; this is commonly known as PUA.

We cannot fall into the trap of self-PUA. The future you is composed of every event you experience, every person you meet, and every decision you make right now.

If it's good now, it's truly good; if it's good in the future, that's all just a pie in the sky.

The present has its own troubles; solve them and move on, and there is a fifty-fifty chance the future will be smooth sailing. The future has its own future troubles; you cannot count on the future to solve present problems.

Shi Hong's brain finally had a moment of clarity; realizing the overall situation was set, he could only endure it with hatred.

It wasn't that Chen Guanlou hadn't thought about getting rid of Shi Hong, but Shi Hong's cousin was a concubine of Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan, and currently favored. Clearly, now was not the time to make a move, and Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan would not allow him to get rid of Shi Hong.

Wait!

He could afford to wait.

The New Year was approaching, and both inside and outside the imperial court, eyes were fixed on Jinzhou.

The old Emperor had once said in public that he required the Marquis of Hou Fu to fight a battle before the end of the year, to produce a beautiful report card, to stop the endless chatter of the world, to stop the stirrings of ambitious people, to stop the noise inside and outside the court, and to stop the anger and opportunistic thoughts of the courtiers. Incidentally, it was also to save Jiang Tu's life.

If the situation truly reached the point of being beyond control, even if Jiang Tu was the old Emperor's favorite, at that time, the old Emperor would have to agree to cut off the flesh and abandon this puppy Jiang Tu.

At any time, when conflicts cannot be resolved by conventional means, war is the best solution and also the best cover.

The courtiers were waiting day and night; those with ability and those in high positions even sent out eyes and ears to Jinzhou, hoping to get accurate intelligence as soon as possible.

For a time, Jinzhou was crowded with all sorts of monsters and demons; low-rank warriors were everywhere, and high-rank warriors were not rare items either.

The Marquis of Hou Fu was in the military camp every day. As for the disturbances outside, he knew of them, but they did not affect his Dao heart; he firmly executed his plan according to schedule.

His temperament was stable, neither hurried nor slow, appearing neither arrogant nor rash. This made the old Emperor anxious.

The old Emperor knew that when a general is in the field, he is not bound by the sovereign's orders. When he was young, he basically gave full support to the commanders leading troops in battle and never interfered.

However, the aging Emperor could not help it; he was too anxious and too much in need of a beautiful battle to boost the morale of the court and increase his confidence in controlling the situation.

Thus, he issued an imperial decree, urging the Marquis to send troops as soon as possible.

Stagnation, what is the reason for this?

These words were equivalent to pointing at the Marquis's nose and cursing: You can't even suppress a few rebels, what use are you? If you can't do it, let someone else take over.

The Marquis withheld the decree and remained unmoved.

Seeing that the Marquis did not obey the order, the old Emperor was furious and issued a second decree, explicitly urging him to send troops to suppress the rebellion immediately and not let the rebels have a chance to catch their breath, otherwise the next decree would directly charge him with a crime.

The Marquis:...

According to his strategic layout, give him another month or two, the army would be better integrated, communication would be smooth, a strategic encirclement would be formed, and he would strike when the spring came and the rebels had no food to continue, striving to annihilate the main force of the rebels in one fell swoop.

With just a little more time, he could complete the strategic layout and let the flames of war in Jinzhou be completely extinguished.

However, facing the old Emperor's successive urgings, he hesitated.

Although he had submitted a memorial explaining his strategic intentions and begged the old Emperor to give him a little more time, the old Emperor wouldn't listen at all. The old Emperor only wanted victory, and the sooner the better.

What strategic layout, what annihilation in one fell swoop—none of it was important. Only a great victory before the New Year was the most important thing.

Helpless, the Marquis was also afraid of being sent to the Imperial Prison; he already had one crippled leg and couldn't afford to cripple the second, so he could only launch the attack in advance, which left gaps.

The strategic idea of annihilating the main force of the rebels had basically gone bankrupt. He could only seek to kill more rebels, cut off more heads, recover some cities, and hand in a passable report card.

As for how long the war would drag on and how rotten Jinzhou would become, the Marquis could no longer care. That was the old Emperor's business to worry about. Who told the old Emperor not to listen to him?

The horn of counterattack sounded, and the news reached the capital; the whole capital was boiling.

Some were happy, some were worried.

The Marquis's household was quite happy, as if they had already seen the 800-li urgent report of victory.

The old Madame of the Marquis household personally gave the order to hold a banquet as a preview. Once the official report of victory arrived, they would hold a grand celebration then.

Neither the first branch nor the second branch objected, and the banquet was thus confirmed.

This day, when Chen Guanlou returned home, he saw Liu Xiao Chuan, a servant from Liu Guanshi's household, waiting for him at the door.

He was quite surprised.

"Why are you here? Did you come specifically to find me?"

Liu Xiao Chuan nodded, "In two days, the Marquis household is holding a banquet, and they plan to set up a few tables in the outer courtyard. Liu Guanshi told you to come and drink as well. This is the invitation. You can just take the invitation and go."

Chen Guanlou looked at the invitation in Liu Xiao Chuan's hand, his heart inexplicably startled, "The Marquis household is hosting a banquet, and they actually thought of me? What kind of figure am I? You aren't joking, are you?"

Liu Xiao Chuan rolled his eyes; this kid had always had this temperament, "What do you have that's worth the Marquis household remembering? Why would I joke with you? Haven't you heard? The Marquis has officially sent troops, and this battle will definitely be a great victory. The old Madame is happy and said to let the clansmen share in the joy.

My master saw that you are reliable in handling affairs, so he added your name to the list. Look, once there's a first time, there's a second; take this opportunity to interact more with the people of the Marquis household. Even if you are outside the five degrees of mourning, you can still borrow the Marquis household's strength in the future. My master is truly thinking for your sake; don't take good intentions for donkey lungs."

Chen Guanlou:...

He pondered for a moment, "Fine, I will definitely go then. However, the Marquis is still fighting at the front; is it appropriate for the Marquis household to celebrate at this time?"

"It's just the family members closing the doors to drink; no outside guests are invited, so it doesn't matter," Liu Xiao Chuan explained.

Chen Guanlou raised an eyebrow, thinking that the old Madame of the Marquis household was truly a person who loved excitement; she couldn't even wait for this little bit of time and had to host the banquet right now.

What if, just what if the war at the front had a reversal? What then? Weren't they afraid that someone in the court would make an issue of this banquet and splash dirty water on the Marquis?

Not being a biological mother and son, the way they do things just has a strange flavor. ===== CHAPTER 146 =====