Traveling through the Gaowu Tang Dynasty, Li Kuan and Li Shimin became the second sons of the Prince

"Ah?" His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu was stunned at first, then he told the truth: "No, Uncle Dou, you know me, I don't care about these things, but...this new retainer is here to pay homage to you, isn't that the rule of the underworld?"

"..."Dou Shilun really didn't want the complicated and tightly closed Dou family retainer system to become a bandit gang for His Royal Highness the King of Chu: "Your Highness... our family is also a family of aristocracy after all. How can we enter such a high family according to the rules of the underworld..."

"I just said it, Uncle Dou, whatever you say is what I mean. But it's okay for Pei Xingjian to do this, right?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu picked up a piece of cold bracken with chopsticks for himself, and said leisurely: "I think he is quite sensible, maybe Su Dingfang taught him? You also know that Su Dingfang used to follow Dou Jiande, so even though Uncle Li valued him later, he was still excluded in the army. I'm afraid he was forced to learn these ways of the world at that time. But now that he is willing to teach Pei Xingjian these things, I don't think it's a bad thing."

"Your Highness, you see things very clearly." Dou Shilun smiled slightly when he heard this.

Afterwards, he was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "But Your Highness, what if I tell you that Pei Xingjian's brother Pei Xingyan is not dead?"

"Pah..." The chopsticks in the hand of His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu fell to the ground. No... why did you suddenly hit me like this, Uncle Dou? !

"He... is also my retainer?" After a long while, His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu said with difficulty: "Did the Empress Dowager leave it to me?"

"It can be considered as such." After Dou Shilun confirmed that His Royal Highness the King of Chu could accept this reality, he slowly said, "Your Highness, this involves many old things. At the beginning, Lord Jiang chose to become a retainer of the Dou family after the battle of Licheng. Although Zhang Xutuo did not get furious when he knew about this, he certainly had some complaints in his heart.

So the old lady suggested to Zhang Shuai that Dou Shilun owed him a favor from now on. "Dou Shilun said this in a leisurely tone: "Zhang Shuai naturally understood how much Dou Shi's favor was, and Jiang Gong had already developed a dislike for Yang Guang because of his own experience at that time, so the matter came to an end for the time being.

Until the 12th year of Daye, Zhang Shuai was defeated and killed when attacking Wagangzhai. Before his death, his personal soldiers sent a message to the old lady, saying that he had a young general named Pei Xingyan under his command, whom he regarded as his successor, so if this person was in trouble in the future, he hoped that Dou Shilun would save his life. "When Dou Shilun said this, he slowly put down the chopsticks in his hand, then put his hands on his knees and looked at the owner of the family opposite who was completely stunned: "Your Highness the King of Chu, I must say one thing, Pei Xingyan is a man of courage but no strategy, and the old lady does not like him, so he is not among the Dou family servants who were entrusted with the care of the orphan.

We paid a huge price to rescue him from Wang Shichong, but it was not because this person was so important. It was just to fulfill Dou's promise to General Zhang.

What we respect is Zhang Shuai's "knowing it is impossible but still doing it." It is not Pei Xingyan's "a good bird chooses a tree to roost in" or the so-called "aspiration of a real man." After Dou Shilun finished speaking, he suddenly sighed silently: "Alas... maybe I had a bad impression of this man at the beginning, so my evaluation of him was biased. But Your Highness, I hope you remember: people must never rely on personal courage to become kings and hegemons. This behavior is very unwise. (Note 1)

The human race has been multiplying for tens of millions of years, and there have been countless great struggles! People like Xiang Yu and Lu Bu, although they were extremely brave and could be called heroes, became arrogant because of this. At the critical moment of deciding the general trend of the world, they neglected their strategies and eventually became short-sighted, ending up being used as a tool for others..."

"Uncle Dou... stop scolding, stop scolding..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu began to sweat profusely.

Isn't it okay if he knows he's wrong?

"Your Highness, do you know that I am admonishing you?" Dou Shilun raised his eyebrows when he heard this. Only at this moment did his anger subside by a large margin.

"Uncle Dou, where is Pei Xingyan now?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu was curious about this matter mainly because he was interested in the title "Ten Thousand Enemies".

"Your Highness, are you so impatient to meet this person?" Dou Shilun frowned upon hearing this: "It seems that you didn't listen to what I said before at all!"

“No~~” His Highness the King of Chu noticed that Uncle Dou was angry, and stretched out his tone unnaturally: “I’m just curious...Uncle Dou…”

"There's nothing to be curious about." Dou Shilun picked up the chopsticks again, picked up some side dishes, and stuffed them into the mutton pancake to relieve the greasiness: "He feels sorry for Zhang Shuai, and feels that he owes the old lady a life, so he plans to find an opportunity to return this life to your Highness. However, in my opinion, with Pei Xingjian's accidental joining, he may be more grateful to your Highness..."

"Uncle Dou, you don't seem to think very highly of Pei Xingyan, who is a match for ten thousand men..." His Royal Highness the King of Chu felt that he could not understand Uncle Dou.

"A peerless sword that has lost its sharpness is nothing more than a stronger piece of scrap copper and iron." Dou Shilun chuckled and said, "Besides, the most important thing is who you, the one holding the sword, choose..."

"I definitely value Uncle Dou the most!" At the critical moment, His Royal Highness the King of Chu never let down his guard: "Uncle Dou treats me very well!"

"Why didn't your Highness use those fancy words when praising me?" Dou Shilun raised his eyebrows when he heard this, but his originally bad mood was quickly getting better.

"Oh!" In response to Uncle Dou's question, His Royal Highness the King of Chu immediately shook his head and said, "Don't you understand me? The fewer words you use to praise someone, the more sincere their heart is!"

"Your Highness is good at sophistry." Dou Shilun looked at the tall and straight young man in front of him who he had secretly cared for for many years and who had now grown into a "Jade Tree of the Li Family". For no reason, he thought of the old lady's dying instructions.

Shi Lun, I was the one who helped Kuan Er learn to walk. After I die, this responsibility will be handed over to you...

Remember, Kuan'er is used to taking things slowly, so we can take our time...

old lady...

Now it seems that Shi Lun has lived up to your trust.

"Uncle Dou, what are you thinking about?" Li Kuan discovered that tears had appeared in Uncle Dou's eyes since he hadn't noticed.

"I just remembered some past events..." Dou Shilun smiled awkwardly, then wiped his eyes with his sleeves and continued, "Your Highness, you have been here before, but the Yu Mansion--"

“Humph!” The Prince of Chu was angry when he thought of Master Yu, the “cunning villain” old man: “Uncle Dou, let me tell you, if Master Yu hadn’t taught me the art of war, I would have… I would have… I… What else could I do… Uncle Dou~~” At the end of his speech, the Prince of Chu fell on the table and cried out in pain: “The old man bullied me because I was so gentle and kind!”

It’s not that His Royal Highness the Prince of Chu likes to act like a spoiled child, he really has no idea what to do when facing Master Yu.

"Your Highness, do you really like Lord Yu's granddaughter?" Dou Shilun hesitated for a moment: "But I heard from Yuan Tiangang that the girl from the Wu family..."

"Uncle Dou, I am a prince!" Upon hearing this, His Royal Highness the King of Chu raised his head from the table and said confidently, "According to the etiquette, can't I take them all?" (Note 2)