The dead general was kidnapped by his husband and taken to farm.

Chapter 123 Catching a turtle in a urn

Ji Yinghuai looked at his strange mother in front of him, his tone was neither sad nor happy: "I thought my mother asked me to come back because she missed her son and wanted to care about me who had been away from home for a long time, or maybe she knew that I was not dead and missed her son."

"I--"

Ji Yinghuai didn't want to listen to the old princess's explanation, and continued: "The people my father left me died a long time ago. Doesn't mother know? I was ambushed that day, and the brothers who were traveling with me all died under the swords of the thieves in order to protect me. The fattest one came to our house to drink before and gave you a South China Sea pearl. He was shot with twelve arrows..."

"I don't know how mother knew that these people were left for me by father. They all reached their current positions through military merit. They are not my people. They are loyal to Daheng. Why, didn't the person who deliberately asked mother to design my return tell you?"

The old princess' face turned pale. As she listened to Ji Yinghuai's calm words, her eldest son looked at her without a trace of warmth. It was as if he treated her as a stranger with no relationship. No, even worse than a stranger.

There was a hint of hatred in his eyes, which frightened her.

She began to panic, feeling that she had lost something. She stretched out her hand and tightly grasped Ji Yinghuai's wrist, "Mother, I really don't know. I thought you faked your death... to get rid of the suspicion of the court army that you were too successful to be a threat to the emperor. Your brother said that he has arranged everything, and you will be fine."

Ji Yinghuai sneered: "Everything has been arranged? The princess is right. Without his arrangement, how could I be standing here now!"

From the moment he stepped into the ancestral hall, all the servants and guards in the palace were asked to go elsewhere. The people hiding on the rooftops were all ready to take his head.

Ji Yinghuai's words just now made the princess' face even paler, and the atmosphere in the dim ancestral hall became heavy for a moment.

At this time, a shadow guard came in from outside. The shadow did not avoid the old princess and directly reported to Ji Yinghuai: "Master, we have been surrounded. It is estimated that there are about 300 people, 50 of whom are in several high positions in the palace, and there are 200 imperial guards."

Ji Yinghuai seemed to have expected this, and there was no panic on his face: "Have you checked the letter?"

The shadow lowered his head, feeling somewhat defeated. They were just one last piece of evidence away. If it weren't for this evidence, the master wouldn't have come in person. "It should be in the study, but the study is usually heavily guarded, and the subordinates have never found a chance to get in."

The old princess was stunned in her place, knowing that the only person who came back with Ji Yinghuai was his youngest son. So was today's incident planned long ago?

She didn't dare to think too deeply about this possibility and could only comfort herself by knowing that there were people in the palace who knew that Ji Yinghuai was still alive and were now planning to kill him all.

The people in every corner of the roof did not intend to hide themselves. As soon as the two stepped out of the door, they felt the atmosphere around them change.

A man was walking towards them. Seeing the two people coming out of the ancestral hall, he smiled and greeted them: "Brother, long time no see."

"Knowing that you are safe, I am relieved. If you are okay, why don't you come back and tell your younger brother that you are safe? Mother has been very worried about your safety during this period."

The man who was speaking looked about 50% similar to Ji Yinghuai, except that Ji Yinghuai had a colder aura when he went into battle to kill the enemies, while the man opposite had a gloomy aura around him, especially when his eyes looked at people, it was as if he was being stared at by some poisonous snake.

Ji Yinghuai raised his eyes and looked at him, his eyes were cold and there was nothing unusual about them: "This is not the place to talk."

Ji Zexu smiled again, but the smile was only on the surface and did not reach his eyes, which made people feel that it was hypocritical.

He extended his hand to Ji Yinghuai and made a gesture of invitation: "Brother, it's rare for you to come back. Let's go to the study to reminisce about the past. The study is the place that Brother likes to stay the most."

Ji Yinghuai walked straight to the study. Just as the black shadow was about to catch up, the attendant beside Ji Zexu stopped him and said, "The master is talking, we should not disturb him."

The tone was not one of negotiation. The person who came directly reached out and stopped the black shadow from following.

The black shadow's face didn't look very good. He was a little worried about letting his master go alone. Ji Zexu was a despicable man who could use any sinister means. Now they were in the open.

Ji Yinghuai turned around and winked at him. The black shadow nodded slightly and turned back to the ancestral hall.

The servant who spoke also followed him up. This blatant surveillance was obvious to anyone.

Ji Yinghuai seemed to be totally unconcerned and kept walking forward without stopping.

When you catch a turtle in a jar, it depends on who is the turtle.

Ji Zexu looked at the figure in front of him, a gloom flashed across his eyes. His elder brother was really lucky. He managed to dodge his perfectly planned plan without getting hurt at all.

But today I won't be so lucky.

Think about the doubts and suppression he has suffered these days, and then think about whether his good brother would be shocked to the point of being speechless if he knew that he was the one plotting behind his back.

Thinking that the once high and mighty King Zhan Bei would be shot into a sieve soon, he suddenly felt extremely refreshed, and all the depression he had felt in the past few days disappeared.

On the way to the study, I didn't meet any servants. When I arrived at the study door, the guard who was guarding outside the study door was gone.

"Brother, do you mind? I have modified the study room. Now I have to handle official business here. I don't like the previous arrangement of the study room."

Ji Yinghuai did not answer. He looked around at the rooftops and a few dense trees without making any sound. Sure enough, people were lying in ambush.

Ignoring Ji Zexu's murderous gaze behind him, he pushed open the door and walked straight into the study.

This study was used by the old prince in the past. Most of the books on the bookshelves are military books. The arrangement of the generals going into battle to kill the enemy is not so delicate, but a little more grand and majestic.

Later it became his temporary study, where he added a few handy weapons and practiced in the yard when he had nothing to do.

Ji Zexu had made a lot of changes to his study. He replaced the bookshelves with luxurious golden nanmu wood, added some exquisite tables and chairs, and on the table in front of him was a set of white jade teacups that looked very valuable. There were also a lot of decorative porcelain vases and ancient paintings on the cabinets on both sides.

"Brother, please sit down. We haven't seen each other for a year. Sit down and talk. I see that you are quite distant from me. Maybe I have done something that makes you unhappy, so you don't talk to me." When Ji Zexu saw Ji Yinghuai looking around the study, his smile became even wider.

He sat down at the middle table, made a gesture of invitation to Ji Yinghuai, then raised his hand and started to make tea.

If Ji Yinghuai had not joined the army and was made a general, he would never have had the chance to step out of the study. When he was a child, whenever the old prince was at home, he would come to the study to read. And every time Ji Yinghuai was mentioned, the old prince would not allow his eldest son to enter the study.

He was also confused when he was a child, so he pretended to be innocent and asked one time why his eldest brother couldn't come in.

The old prince's answer at the time was: "What is a useless person with a false title doing in my study? He is useless."

He took a lot of effort to suppress the joy on his face, and asked the servant who followed him to secretly tell Ji Yinghuai, and the effect was surprisingly good.

Ji Yinghuai sneaked into the study and was discovered by the guards standing outside. The old prince was furious and pinned him down in the courtyard and beat him with ten military sticks.