Chapter 21
JI HONGCHENG HAD CLEARLY intended for Jiang Suizhou to read his letter, judging by his severe tone.
After all, no matter how foolish Ji Hongcheng was, he wouldn’t be so stupid as to believe that his letter could reach Huo Wujiu without Jiang Suizhou seeing it.
In the letter, he detailed all of Jiang Suizhou’s misdeeds from that morning, from their encounter outside the hall to the outrageous nonsense Jiang Suizhou had spouted in court. Ji Hongcheng went on a written tirade about each and every incident.
Being a military man with little understanding of refinement, he allowed his temper to get the best of him. He’d even included quite a few coarse curses in the letter.
Basically, he was using the letter as an opportunity to curse Jiang Suizhou to his face.
Huo Wujiu read on, and his smirk couldn’t help but grow slightly wider.
He’d never imagined that the Prince of Jing, who was so careful and guarded around him and chose his words so cautiously, would act so arrogant behind his back. To think he was audacious enough to deceive the entire court.
So, he claimed that he could do whatever he wanted to the wild Huo Wujiu, did he? Goodness. And what would those “methods” of taming him be?
Huo Wujiu’s fingers subconsciously rubbed the edge of the letter.
Suddenly, he very much wanted to see Jiang Suizhou’s expression as he bluffed and declared such things.
Behind him, Sun Yuan trembled with fear. He had observed Madam Huo’s smile silently growing wider and wider as he read through the letter. The flickering candlelight on his cold, chiseled features carved further threat into his expression and gave him the air of a predator lying in ambush, poised to strike at any moment and tear apart its prey’s throat.
Huo Wujiu quickly finished reading the letter, but then he flipped back to the beginning and started on a meticulous second read.
A terrible, icy fear washed over Sun Yuan.
For a moment, he even wondered if he’d delivered to Huo Wujiu a scheme to assassinate the current emperor, or something truly horrible like that. Why else would he be so interested in it?
…Should I inform His Highness? Sun Yuan fretted privately.
At that moment, the candle flame flickered slightly, and faint footsteps could be heard outside the window.
Jiang Suizhou had returned.
Recognizing the faint noise, Sun Yuan rushed forward to remove the lampshade for Huo Wujiu, gesturing for him to hurry and burn the letter.
Huo Wujiu brought it to the candle. But just as the flame was about to lick the edge of the paper, he stopped.
Sun Yuan looked at him in surprise.
Huo Wujiu paused for a moment, then refolded the letter and tucked it safely away into his lapels.
Stunned, Sun Yuan continued to stare blankly.
Huo Wujiu looked up at him. His gaze was calm and indifferent, the smile on his lips gone.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What are you standing there for?” he asked.
His deep, dark eyes seemed as though they could gouge out a person’s heart and pierce right through to its depths. Sun Yuan froze for a brief moment before scrambling to replace the lampshade amid the approaching footsteps.