Chapter 58: Confrontation (3)
"Master Wang seems to be very idle. Don't you have any work to do?"
"Yes, but it's already been done."
It would be fine if he didn't speak, but as soon as he spoke, Wu Yao would get very angry and blame himself for asking first?
"After you have been punished, each of you must go to the river and fetch me fifty buckets of water."
“Yes, yes!!”
The soldiers who were being punished, or rather the spies who were pretending to be soldiers, were answering while accepting the punishment. This was the most basic thing.
"They've been beaten like that, and you still let them go get water? It's quite a distance from the river."
"Sir Wang, the Emperor has already handed this matter over to me to handle. Do you think I, Sir Wang, would interfere ?"
"How could that be? Seeing them being beaten like that, they still have to fetch water. Fifty buckets is not a lot, but considering their condition, it will take at least two or three hours, right? If it is a general, how much can he fetch in two or three hours ?"
"Is that all you have to say? I am the deputy general under General Zhao. I am different from someone like you who can only hold a pen. What's fifty barrels? I can get five hundred barrels back within three hours."
"Oh? Is that really the case?"
"Huh? Don't believe it?"
"I really don't believe it."
"Do you want to see it?"
Wang Ye's topic aroused Wu Yao's competitive spirit, so he was fooled.
"Of course I would like to if I can. How about waiting until they have finished their corporal punishment and then starting with them?"
"Huh, do you think I'll fall behind them?"
"I don't dare."
They said they didn't dare, but in Wu Yao's opinion, that was not the case. Just like that, a fierce competition for water between Wu Yao and the spies who were punished began. It sounded like a joke, but it was actually the case. When Zhao Ziheng received the relevant news, it had been an hour since then. Accompanied by his subordinates, Zhao Ziheng saw a dozen half-naked soldiers with visible scars from wooden sticks running back and forth with water in their hands, as well as those who stood aside and ignored the onlookers.
"emperor!"
Seeing Zhao Ziheng coming, Wang Ye stepped forward to greet him.
"What's going on?"
"As your majesty can see, General Wu is punishing those people."
"That's not what I'm asking. I heard that Wu Yao was also involved?"
"Well, look, if you speak of the devil, he will appear."
Following Wang Ye's gaze, Zhao Ziheng saw Wu Yao walking back to the military doctor with a bucket of water in each hand, and the wounded people following behind him. Wu Yao poured the water into a large vat and left soon...
"You again?"
Back and forth, Zhao Ziheng said after looking at it for a long time.
"What does the Emperor think?"
"...Follow me to the tent."
"yes!"
Wang Ye followed Zhao Ziheng to the camp, and Zhao Ziheng dismissed everyone...
"Don't you blame me?"
The first one to speak was Wang Ye. Did he want to apologize first?
"Why should I blame you?"
"I thought you would."
"…I am not so blind as to not be able to distinguish right from wrong."
Zhao Ziheng walked around to the desk and sat down.
"You must have used provocation to get him to do that, right? In any case, having him with those who were punished can help to calm their hearts to some extent, so those people and others didn't say anything or feel dissatisfied. This is not a bad idea."
Wang Ye smiled. To be honest, ever since Wang Ye followed Zhao Ziheng, he always had a smile on his face, which was very similar to Feng Qinghan. This smile was full of gentleness, but also full of unfathomable mystery.
"Then the emperor asked me to come?"
"Shouldn't you know that?"
"If the emperor thinks the same as I do, then I'm afraid that's the case."
Just as Zhao Ziheng said, Wang Ye already knew what he wanted to ask.
"I plan to take Wu Yao with me."
"I also think this is better. Although General Wu has an irritable nature, I think it is a hundred times better to have him than not."
"Is that a compliment you give him?"
"Let's just take it as it is."
"And you?"
"No matter when or where, I will of course be by your side. I can't say I can protect you, but I can always help you share your worries and troubles."
"Protection?"
Zhao Ziheng knew very well how capable Wang Ye was. The reason why Wang Ye always stayed by his side, besides giving him advice, must be to protect him secretly. The current Wang Ye was completely different from the one he had met on the island before, as if they were two different people. After realizing how skilled Wang Ye was, Zhao Ziheng no longer felt shocked by his behavior. With such a person around him, Zhao Ziheng felt more at ease.
"In your opinion, what kind of person is the other party?"
"A person with a bad character, cunning nature, but very smart."
"Are you sure?"
"For the Emperor, I must not lose even if I am not sure."
"So you've made your arrangements? Who are the candidates?"
"Yes, everything has been arranged. Even if something unexpected happens, don't we still have General Wu?"
"You think highly of him?"
"There's no reason not to be optimistic, right? He's General Zhao's deputy general, and he's the one who discovered the key to the situation. Not to mention that he already has experience in many battles , but from his ability to observe even the smallest details, I'm sure he'll become an important figure in Zhao sooner or later, right? So even if General Zhao hadn't specifically asked him to join the army before, the emperor would have personally ordered it, right?"
While listening to Wang Ye's narration and looking at him, Zhao Ziheng seemed to have some thoughts?
