This was simply too absurd.
To acknowledge his mother's killer as his father-no one would believe it if word got out. It sounded incredible no matter how one looked at it, unless Ma Chao had lost his mind!
Yan Xing also said, "General, could someone have forged this letter? You and Ma Teng have always been sworn enemies. How could Ma Chao say something like this?"
"This letter is genuine."
Han Sui shook his head and pointed at the impression on it. "Ma Chao's personal seal is right here, and the messenger is one of his trusted men. There is no mistaking its authenticity."
"I simply don't understand why Ma Chao would suddenly make such a shocking decision. What exactly is he plotting?"
Han Sui could not fathom Ma Chao's thoughts at all. His father, Ma Teng, was still alive, yet Ma Chao wanted to acknowledge someone else as his father-and his mother's killer, no less. Was this some kind of joke?
Who ever buried the hatchet like this?
After pondering for a long while, Cheng Gongying said cautiously, "He invited you to a banquet, General. Could he mean to harm you?"
That was the only possibility he could think of.
But Han Sui said, "Hardly. We both serve the Son of Heaven now. How would he dare attack me? His father and two younger brothers are still hostages in Ye City."
"If he kills me, that amounts to rebellion. His family in Ye City would not survive either."
Han Sui was not worried that Ma Chao had invited him over to kill him, unless Ma Chao was willing to become a rebel and abandon his father and brothers' lives.
In his view, that was impossible.
Who could be so disloyal and unfilial?
"In that case, General, why not invite