"Lin Jue, do you know? In fact, I am not suspicious of your ambition to seize the throne. I am envious and jealous of you. No one can match your intelligence, wisdom, and strategic skills. My father praised you more than once when he was still alive. My father compared me with you and was very disappointed in me, saying that I was far inferior to you. Do you know how uncomfortable I felt after hearing such words? I love and hate you at the same time. Yes, yes You single-handedly pushed me to the throne of the emperor. Without you, my palace would have been in trouble the night Guo Xu seized the throne. You have done a great service to us, and this contribution is so great...that I cannot repay you. .You say, besides giving up the throne to you, what else can I do to reward you for your merits? You have everything I have. The only thing you don’t have is my status as a member of the Guo family. I can only give you the throne. Only you can repay you for what you have done for me. But... I can't give you the throne. If I can't give you the throne, then I will always owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Instead of doing this, I can only find a way to get rid of it. You, get rid of you. Otherwise, how can I still be the emperor? Everyone in the world knows you, Lin Jue, but not me. Isn’t it a joke for me to be the emperor? Therefore, killing you may be the only thing I can do."
Guo Kun murmured, his expression could not be seen clearly under the messy hair, only his thin moving lips could be seen. His tone was resentful, like a resentful woman who had not been loved.
Lin Jue frowned and said nothing. Since ancient times, when a minister's merits are so great that he can't be named, he will either seize the throne or have a bad end. Han Xin in the Han Dynasty and the King of Qin in the Tang Dynasty were all men with overwhelming merits. The last one was killed Kill someone to seize the throne. Later generations will take this as a lesson to avoid doing this step. People in power are also wary of such people appearing. Guo Kun actually adheres to this logic. His own contribution is indeed too great. So much that it scared him, so much that it blocked all the light of Guo Kun. This was an invisible pressure on Guo Kun, so much that he couldn't breathe. As he said, he could not give him anything except the position of emperor. Himself. And he would not give him the position of emperor, so killing himself would be the best choice to end it all.
Of course, in Lin Jue's view, this logic is ridiculous. If others are better than you, you have to kill them. The greater the credit of others, the more you have to kill them. What kind of bullshit logic is this? It's unfortunate. Yes, this kind of logic makes no sense to ordinary people, but in the eyes of the emperor, it is ironclad logic.
"I know, this is unfair to you. But, I have no choice. Your existence is like a dark cloud above my head, shrouding me and lingering. Hehehehe, I know that only those who have no ability are jealous of others. , I hate that others are more capable than me. But who can compare with you? You are simply not a human being, you are a monster." Guo Kun moved his eyes from the dark clouds in the sky to Lin Jue's face, like a fool Still staring at Lin Jue and laughing.
"Lin Jue, tell me honestly, are you a monster? How did you know that a major change was going to happen in the imperial court? So you set up a retreat in Funiu Mountain and recruited troops beforehand. At the critical moment, you had the territory of Luoyan Valley in Funiu Mountain. We have the Luoyan Army to protect ourselves. Are you a clairvoyant? How could a normal person do this? You are a scholar who won the first prize in the imperial examination. You are the commander of Prince Liang's palace. Your teacher Fang Dunru is a great scholar in the world. You are in a high position. How can it be justified that you are trying your best to run a place like Funiu Mountain? Don't tell me that you are doing it for that Gao Muqing. That woman is worth your troubles? Maybe you were trying to help her at first, but then you built such a big You have raised so many people, soldiers and horses on your territory, but it is definitely not for that woman. You
You must know something, right?"
Lin Jue was startled, thinking to himself that Guo Kun had sensed something suspicious a long time ago, and he was not completely stupid. He said in a deep voice: "You think too much, how can you predict the future? I run Funiu Mountain,
In order to fulfill my duty as a friend and fulfill my original promise to Mu Qing and the brothers on Guishan Island. It was the imperial court who reneged on its promise, and I am responsible for the destruction of the Guishan Island village..."
"Hahaha, of course you refuse to admit it. As a friend? Risking the danger of collaborating with bandits and ruining your bright future? Risking the whole family being executed? Aren't you the most protective of the Lin family? How could you do this?
? And according to my investigation, you invested countless amounts of money and materials in Funiu Mountain. The grand theater you ran made a lot of money every day, and the money you earned was invested in recruiting soldiers and horses to make weapons in Funiu Mountain. Even Weier’s dowry money,
You have moved all your money to invest in the cottage, and you have devoted almost all your efforts to building Funiu Mountain. If you had not known that something bad was coming, would you have done this? Who would believe it? In addition to these, your other actions have also made me wonder.
People are puzzled. For example, those firearms, why do you know so many secrets of making firearms? As early as in Hangzhou, we checked your background clearly, and there was nothing special about your previous experience. Before you appeared in front of us,
You are just an ordinary concubine of the Lin family, and you have never even left Hangzhou. How do you know so many secrets of making firearms? And the poems you wrote, the court guests in Prince Liang’s palace all agreed that you were
The poems are completely inconsistent with your experience and age. Rather, they look like poems written by a sophisticated person, which are definitely not something you can write at your age. How do you explain these?" Guo Kun said in a deep voice.
Lin Jue said in a deep voice: "I don't need to explain. Just because you can't do it, it doesn't mean that others can't do it."
Guo Kun shook his head and said: "If it's a certain thing alone, you may be gifted. But if everything is concentrated on you, there is definitely a problem. You are either a monster or a god, otherwise how could you do it?
arrive?"
Lin Jue laughed and said, "Whatever you say, you treat me as a monster, but I can't control what you think."
Guo Kun frowned and thought: "Yes, when you insisted that the Jurchens would go south to attack the Zhou Dynasty, almost no one in the Luoyan Army believed it. At that time, the Jurchens were still surrounded and suppressed by the Liao army, so you concluded that the Jurchens would go south to attack the Zhou Dynasty.
Victory, and the Jurchens will go south to attack the Great Zhou Dynasty. You ordered to step up the recruitment of troops and prepare to fight the Jurchens. You also said that the imperial army will definitely be defeated. You also said that you are not a prophet of the future? How do you know all this?
"
Lin Jue said in a deep voice: "Wake up, you have gone crazy. I don't have to explain to you how I predicted these, and you may not understand if I tell you. What's the point of worrying about this now?"
Guo Kun shook his head and said: "I'm not obsessed with these things. I just want to find out who I am against. Hey, I finally understand. I am against someone who knows nothing about it. How can I win?"
Lin Jue frowned and said, "I'm afraid you are crazy."
Guo Kun suddenly raised his head, looked at Lin Jue and said: "You don't want to admit it? Okay, then you swear that you are just an ordinary person. I want to understand this matter, and then we can talk about what you want to do.
.I know you don’t want to bear the name of regicide, so you have been unwilling to kill me to force me. I can promise you and cooperate with you and only be the emperor in name. If you refuse to swear, I will die.
I refuse to cooperate with you. I will even commit suicide. No matter how I die, you will be the one to bear the infamy of regicide in the end. Don’t you cherish your reputation?
?I will not teach you what you wish for. Anyway, if I lose my imperial power, I will be like a walking corpse, but I, Guo Kun, am not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death."
Lin Jue frowned and said in a deep voice: "Don't you think about the people in the world? I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing it to make Dazhou stronger and not make the same mistakes again. I definitely don't want to take your power and give it to myself.
We want the world to govern together. Do you understand?"
Guo Kun laughed and waved his hands: "Don't tell me this, I won't listen. I've reached this point, how can I still care about the people in the world? I don't care. Are you willing to swear? Do you swear?"
Lin Jue was extremely angry, but he didn't want to tangle with him over such matters. Guo Kun was not stupid, and what he said today just showed that he had thought deeply. He noticed something, and he hoped he could swear to solve it.
If he is confused, what if he makes an oath? Anyway, Lin Jue doesn't believe in oaths. Lin Jue doesn't want Guo Kun to refuse to agree to his request, and things will be very difficult. So it's best to stay safe.
Solve this matter steadily rather than forcefully.
"Okay, then I'll just make an oath. How to swear? It's really baffling." Lin Jue frowned.
Guo Kun said: "Just say, you swear that you are just an ordinary person. If you have the ability to predict the future, you will be struck by thunder."
Lin Jue frowned and said solemnly: "I swear, I am just an ordinary person, and I have no ability to predict the future. If it is a lie, there will be five thunders from heaven."
Just as Lin Jue finished speaking, he heard a flash of lightning outside the pavilion and a roar of thunder. The whole earth seemed to be shaking. At the same time, as if there was a big hole in the sky, heavy rain poured down. The dense raindrops hit the pond.
On the lotus leaves, there was a sudden noise like fried beans. For a moment, the only sound left in the sky and the earth was the sound of rain hitting the lotus leaves, crackling and deafening.
Lin Jue's legs and feet were weak and he sat on the stone bench. The thunder just now was almost above his head, as if it was a curse caused by his oath, and Lin Jue's mind was still buzzing. Before, Lin Jue's mind was still buzzing.
Jue never believed in such things as oaths, but from this moment on, Lin Jue felt that he shouldn't believe it anymore. Although this thunder did not strike him as a thunderbolt, it seemed to be a warning.
Guo Kun was also frightened by the thunder and the subsequent heavy rain, and he fell down on the stone bench without expression. He looked at Lin Jue blankly, his eyes full of doubts. Seeing Lin Jue's expression of shock and fright, Guo Kun burst out laughing.
Got up.
"I understand, it turns out that my opponent is really not an ordinary person, and God knows it. But you broke your oath, and God did not strike you to death with five thunderbolts. This shows that God is protecting you. I understand, you are God.
You who came down to change my great Zhou Dynasty, everything you did was what God asked you to do. So what else can I do? I am obviously not the emperor, otherwise why would God help you but not me? That's all, that's all, in that case, I can't
I accept my fate. I agree to cooperate with you. I can't fight God after all. But there are some things I still have to fight for. I can't lose everything. You must make some guarantees. Since the world is nominally mine, the Guo family
, I, Mr. Guo, must have due dignity."
Guo Kun's voice was mixed in the heavy rain, but Lin Jue heard it clearly. Lin Jue was a little depressed. In the end, it was because of a flash of lightning that Guo Kun willingly cooperated. Was this God's will or did Guo Kun find it for himself?
How about going down the stairs? In any case, this result is a good thing.
"Except for the emperor's power, everything else is open to discussion. Just bring it up." Lin Jue said loudly.
