Chapter 1149 True colors revealed
"Prince Hu Lie is a man of high rank and power. Not to mention agreeing to such a small matter like yours, even if he were discussing military and national affairs in the Wan'an Palace in Khorin, he would still be a man of final say."

As soon as Hu Lie's name was mentioned, Sui Zuo's expression and tone changed visibly, and his deep awe and admiration were evident in his words.

Little did he know that when he was worshipping Hu Lie as a god, Jin Fu Yu's eyelids trembled slightly, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes imperceptibly, as if mocking, contemptuous, and disdainful.

"Prince Hu Lie led his army to pacify Dali and made outstanding contributions. I have heard of this before."

"If that's the case, I think it will be enough to dispel your worries." Hearing Jin Fuyu's compliment to Hu Lie, Sui Zuo couldn't help but look proud, and then he slowly stood up, "We just agreed that we should return to Luoyang City immediately..."

"Wait!" Ding Ao's untimely voice suddenly sounded, "General Sui, please forgive my rudeness, but I feel like... something is fishy."

"Strange?" Sui Zuo sat back on the bench, looking at Ding Ao who seemed to be thinking with displeasure, and said teasingly, "Do you dare to doubt the sincerity of Prince Hu Lie? Don't forget that your lives are now firmly in the hands of this general. This is your only chance to survive."

"I am a humble person with little influence, how dare I doubt the sincerity of the Mongolian prince? I just... doubt the prince's motives."

"What did you say?"

"General Sui, please be patient!" Song Yu took the opportunity to echo, "In fact, I also feel a little strange. This matter concerns the future and fate of hundreds of disciples in Jinjianwu, which is of great importance, so... it is better to ask clearly."

"Jin Fuyu, your people don't know the rules!"

Seeing that Ding Ao and Song Yu had come with bad intentions, Sui Zuo immediately pointed his spearhead at Jin Fuyu who was watching from the sidelines, and said in a deep voice: "You have just promised in person that as long as I tell you who gave the order, you will agree to our conditions."

“Actually, I’m also curious about what they are confused about.”

However, Jin Fuyu's reaction was completely different from what Sui Zuo had imagined, and he was even a completely different person from his humble and polite appearance. He took a new teacup with great interest, and then, under the service of Dong Xiaoer, he drank tea leisurely. After taking three sips, he casually said, "General Sui, the weather is not good right now, and there may be heavy rain. It is not suitable to travel quickly. Why don't you and I listen to what they say?"

The unexpected change caught Sui Zuo off guard and startled him. His originally high enthusiasm disappeared in an instant and he stood there in a daze for a long time without recovering.

"Jin Fu Yu, what... do you mean?" Sui Zuo stared at the absent-minded Jin Fu Yu doubtfully. Although he had already made a judgment in his mind, he still tested it carefully with a glimmer of hope.

"What do you mean?" Jin Fuyu pretended to be confused, and the look he gave Sui Zuo became more interesting, without any evasion, "Don't you think General Sui can understand?"

Jin Fuyu's attitude explained everything, and Sui Zuo finally realized that he had been fooled. The obedience and compliance that Jin Fuyu and Song Yu had just shown were just an attempt to trick him.

Now, Jin Fuyu was pretending to cooperate with Song Yu and Ding Ao in acting, treating Sui Zuo like an idiot.

Thinking of this, Sui Zuo, feeling extremely humiliated, immediately became furious and slammed the table and stood up.

"General Sui, are you anxious?" Dong Xiaoer pretended to be sympathetic and innocent, and asked seriously, "If you are anxious, why don't you go first?"

"Jin Fuyu, you are fucking playing with fire!"

Sui Zuo glared at Jin Fuyu fiercely, spitting out a sentence with gritted teeth. Endless anger made veins bulge on his forehead, and his fists clenched and crackled.

"Maybe you are too angry." Jin Fu Yu answered with a smile, looking fearless and arrogant.

Seeing this, Sui Zuo's anger was instantly extinguished. He knew that once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. If he wanted to complete the task smoothly, he could only bite the bullet and negotiate with Jin Fuyu. He guessed that Jin Fuyu had seen through this, so he had the confidence to go back on his word and even challenge him.

Of course, the negotiations were based on the fact that Sui Zuo still hoped to complete the task successfully. On the contrary, he could also choose to perish together with Jin Fuyu. After all, according to the current situation, the 5,000 soldiers he led could launch an attack at any time and wipe out all of Jin Fuyu's people with a sweeping force.

However, Sui Zuo wanted to curry favor with Hu Lie, so he did not want to fail unless it was absolutely necessary.

Based on the absolute advantage of 5,000 soldiers and horses, Sui Zuofang was able to temporarily suppress his anger and patiently mediate with Jin Fuyu.

The tense atmosphere lasted for a long time. After struggling for a long time, Sui Zuo finally controlled his impulse and sat down slowly with a sullen face. Although he didn't say a word, he had already greeted Jin Fuyu's ancestors countless times in his heart.

"I told you that General Sui is not an unreasonable person. If you have any doubts, feel free to speak out." While praising Sui Zuo, Jin Fu Yu encouraged Song Yu and others, "I believe General Sui will tell you everything he knows." "Humph!" Sui Zuo sneered at Jin Fu Yu's insincere compliment.

"I just said that I doubt Prince Hu Lie's motives because I heard something." Encouraged by Jin Fu Yu, Ding Ao took the lead in attacking Sui Zuo, "As everyone knows, Prince Hu Lie's favorite concubine is Princess Xinde of the Song Dynasty. But it is rumored that before marrying Prince Hu Lie, Princess Xinde had a... little-known secret relationship with Liu Xunyi, who was then the Junior Guardian of the East Palace."

"Nonsense!" Sui Zuo glared at her and scolded her harshly, "Who do you think you are? How dare you talk about the princess behind her back? Believe it or not, I will cut off your tongue!"

"I am just curious. Prince Hu Lie is so busy with his affairs, why does he care so much about a little Liu Xunyi? He doesn't hesitate to use us to kill him, and the time is so tight." Although Ding Ao's attitude is still humble, every word he says is particularly sharp and harsh. "Could it be... that the prince is very concerned about the past of Liu Xunyi and the princess? Worried that Liu Xunyi's living in the world will disturb the princess's heart? But due to the prince's status and the dignity of the Mongolian royal family, there are some things that he cannot do directly. The best way is to kill with a borrowed knife, especially the knife of Jin Jianwu, so that Liu Xunyi will die in the internal strife of the Central Plains martial arts world. No one will doubt that the prince is jealous..."

“Bullshit!” Sui Zuo, who could no longer bear it, stood up again, grabbed Ding Ao by the collar, and shouted angrily, “How can Prince Hu Lie allow an old bastard like you to talk nonsense? I…”

"I'm afraid it's not just borrowing a knife to kill someone, it's also driving a tiger to devour a wolf. What is Liu Xunyi's current identity? What is the current situation in Luoyang City? General Sui must know, right?" Before Sui Zuo could get angry at Ding Ao, Song Yu's voice had already sounded, "Let alone Liu Xunyi's martial arts have reached perfection, just the top-notch masters around him are enough to compete with half of the martial arts world. Now you ask us to return to Luoyang City and sneak into Danfeng Garden where many masters gather to assassinate Liu Xunyi, and you only give us one month. The chance of winning... I'm afraid it's less than one in ten."

"That's right!" Leng Yiyi continued, "Don't say that our chances of winning are slim. Even if you lead 5,000 soldiers to force your way into Danfeng Garden, I'm afraid the result will be that your entire army will be annihilated and your bodies will be destroyed!"

"Okay! You keep saying that we don't know the rules, but it turns out that you have been plotting against us from the beginning." Dong Xiao'er suddenly realized something and looked at Sui Zuo with disdain, "What do you mean by giving us a chance to live? What do you mean by peace and prosperity? You sound better than singing, it's clearly a plan to drive the tiger to devour the wolf. When we and Liu Xunyi are both defeated in the fight, you will reap the benefits. How vicious!"

"Not only will we reap the benefits, but we will also kill two birds with one stone. Not to mention that we have little chance of winning, even if we are lucky enough to kill Liu Xunyi and escape the revenge and pursuit of Xie Xuan, Xiao Zhirou and others, I am afraid we will not be able to leave alive." Having said this, the always elegant Song Yu suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed at Sui Zuo, who was gradually losing his composure, and his tone became extremely cold and stern, "I dare to assert that no matter whether we succeed or fail, you will not let us go!"

"You... you..."

Song Yu and the other three had revealed his secret thoughts, and even though Sui Zuo was thick-skinned, he could not hide his inner uneasiness. He subconsciously let go of Ding Ao, and his tiger eyes, which were trembling with emotion, slowly swept over Song Yu and the others.

Sui Zuo wanted to find an opportunity to suppress it, but his mind was in chaos and his heart was in turmoil. He hesitated for a long time as if his tongue was tied, but he couldn't think of a reason to refute it.

"General Sui!"

In the midst of the panic, Jin Fu Yu, who had been silent all this time, spoke quietly, immediately quieting the chaotic scene and attracting everyone's attention to him.

"Jin thinks that what the four of them just said... is not without reason." Jin Fuyu's face showed no joy or anger. From beginning to end, he acted like an outsider who had nothing to do with the matter. "What do you think?"

The plain question hit Sui Zuo's heart like a heavy hammer.

"If you don't answer, does that mean you agree to their speculation?" Jin Fuyu curled his lips slightly, seeming to be very disappointed with Sui Zuo's performance. "General Sui, it seems that you don't want to kill me, but you just want to squeeze out the last bit of my usefulness."

"Jin... Master Jin..." Sui Zuo subconsciously denied it under the huge pressure from Jin Fuyu, "You think too much. Prince Hu Lie's words are as good as gold. He will never destroy the bridge after crossing it..."

"Whether or not they will cross the river and destroy the bridge is not the point, but it is an indisputable fact that we have to go back to Luoyang City and fight Liu Xunyi to the death."

"Don't you want to get rid of Liu Xunyi? He is now the biggest threat to your Central Plains martial arts world..."

"To seek the skin of a tiger will bring endless troubles."

"you……"

After being repeatedly silenced by Jin Fuyu, Sui Zuo gradually realized that the development of the situation seemed to be contrary to his expectations, and even far from it. Now, he wanted Jin Fuyu to obey his orders and return to Luoyang City to deal with Liu Xunyi, which seemed like a foolish dream.

Today's Sui Zuo, after all, made many mistakes because of his arrogance. He thought he was in control of the overall situation, but he completely underestimated his opponent's scheming and cunningness, and fell into the trap set by Jin Fuyu step by step without noticing. In the end, not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but he was tricked by Jin Fuyu into revealing many secrets.

When a person thinks he has a firm grasp on the overall situation, he is not far from failure.

Everything is just as Jin Fu Yu deeply reflected on Liu Xunyi. The result of underestimating the opponent is not only failure, but also a heavy price to pay.

……