Pihanjin - Chapter 33

One of Xie Changgeng’s subordinates was named Liu Guan, who was extremely capable and good at planning things. This person used to be a small boss in the official department of the imperial court. He was underappreciated and deeply depressed. Later, he was convicted of Shangguan’s exile and fled halfway. He followed Xie Changgeng when he was still walking on the Yangtze River waterway. Now he is a festival. Biejia, a subordinate official of the Du Shifu, was actually one of the few secret staff of Xie Changgeng.

He has another skill. Because of the convenience of being in the Ministry of Officials in the past, he knew the situation of each feudal country like the back of the hand. From the top to the prime minister, down to the hundred officials, whoever has an official position, he knows all about the origin and background.

Xie Changgeng called Liu Guan and asked Yuan Handing.

Liu Guan said: “This person is the adopted son of the late Prime Minister of Changsha. He grew up with Mu Xuanqing and was a companion in the palace when he was young. Although Yuan is young, he has outstanding ability and is a good general. In the years before you, my lord, the feudal lords fought in scuffles, which affected the surrounding area, and the four kingdoms were disturbed. Due to the disputes over the land boundary, he fought several times with Jiang Rong, the leader of the Nanman. The old Changsha King joined the army to fight, and made great contributions. Now in Changsha, apart from Lu Lin Shangke reluctantly in charge, this Yuan Handing is the only one left.”

Xie Changgeng pondered.

Liu Guan thought he wanted to recruit talents.

In the past few years, Xie Changgeng has repeatedly quelled civil strife, and his reputation has grown day by day. What is still missing is a great victory against foreigners.

This dynasty has continued to this day, the country is on the decline, and the sun is setting in the west. The three counties and twenty cities in the north of Hexi were successively occupied by the northerners. Every time the people talked about it, they were filled with righteous indignation, and they became more and more dissatisfied with the incompetence of the imperial court.

Three years ago, the northerners attacked the border with heavy troops, intending to retake Hexi.

At that time, in Hexi, there were frequent conflicts between the natives and the local people. The original Jiedushi was unable to deal with it, and the first battle ended in defeat, and another city was lost. After being dismissed, the situation in Hexi was precarious, and no one in the court dared to assume the post of military governor, for fear that Hexi would be thrown into his own hands and suffer the national infamy.

Xie Changgeng was recommended by the King of Changsha at that time and had only been in office for a year.

The strong enemy Bei who is attacking the border with heavy troops is not the same as the vassal king who is attacking China. Given his situation at the time, there was no certainty that he would win, so it would be difficult to take a trip to the muddy waters.

When he received an urgent edict from the imperial court to summon him to the capital, he was sweeping away the last forces of the King of Jin.

Liu Guan and others were trying to persuade him that it was not appropriate to take over the hot potato in Hexi at this time. In case of losing the enemy, not only will the reputation be ruined, but the previous plans will also be in vain. We might as well deliberately release the remnants of King Jin’s army and allow him to make a comeback again and start a rebellion. In this way, we can subtly avoid this crisis on the grounds that the rebellion is still entangled in the military. When the forces have been cultivated enough, the Hexi side will also be riddled with holes, and then come forward to clean up the mess and get twice the result with half the effort.

However, Xie Changgeng did not obey the advice at that time, and quickly swept away the remnants of the King Jin’s army. In the past few years, he has trained troops to store food, resisted the outside world and settled the inside, fought the weak against the strong, and took the lead. He just gathered people’s hearts and resisted the invaders of the northerners several times. This is the temporary stable situation in Hexi today.

After that time, Liu Guan and others truly admired him and gave up.

Liu Guan knew that he was careful and thoughtful, and he had no plans. But even now, sometimes recalling his actions when he did not listen to the dissuasion and risk taking over the position of Hexi Jiedushi, Liu Guan is still not sure what his original intention was.

Is it because he does not want the land of Hexi to fall into the hands of Beiren, and wants to turn the tide by himself, or is he so confident that he can control the overall situation under such unfavorable conditions, so he is willing to risk everything and venture out of Beijing?

But anyway, in the end he won. Looking back on that decision, it was a wise move.

Judging from the current situation, if he can switch from defense to counterattack in the battle against the Beiren, win a complete victory, and retake the three counties and twenty cities, it will be the true aspiration of the people and his prestige. As long as he waits for Empress Liu to attack, and acts on the grounds of self-protection, hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Hexi will obey him. He responded with a thousand responses, destroying the dry and pulling the rot. I wonder, who can resist in the court? At the right time and place, he took all of them. This throne, unless he doesn’t want it, who else in the world can stop it?

The day he defeated Beiren was the time when Yi Ding ascended to the top.

Seeing that he didn’t speak for a long time, Liu Guan said again: “Although Jiedushi is eager for talents, he is more polite and worthy, but this Yuan Handing has a close relationship with the Mu family, like a family, so I’m afraid it is unlikely to be used by you. Besides, There is no shortage of good generals in Hexi now. It would be better for the Jiedu envoy to recruit this Yuan Handing…”

The other half of the sentence he wanted to say was somewhat inconvenient.

Inside Hexi, there is still a hidden danger, and that is the natives.

In the face of these stubborn natives, even Lord Jiedushi, who has always been invincible, was at a loss.

According to Liu Guan’s observation, the wife who was sent away by Jiedushi seemed to be able to use it as a breakthrough in dealing with the natives.

But this point, I can think of it, it is impossible not to notice it with the mind of Jiedushi.

He didn’t understand why Jiedushi didn’t make good use of it, but instead sent people away.

But this kind of husband and wife matter, as an outsider, it seems inconvenient to speak. And since the person is sent away, he must have other considerations.

Liu Guan stopped in the middle of his words, and looked at Xie Changgeng opposite, seeing that he still did not respond, as if immersed in some kind of thought, and called out, “Sir?”

Xie Changgeng came back to his senses, “Oh”, looked at Liu Guan, nodded and said, “I see, trouble.”

After Liu Guan went, the steward returned to Jiedu’s envoy’s mansion, saw Xie Changgeng, and said, “According to the instructions of the lord, the villain, in the name of the lord, has brought people from Changsha to the post house.”

“General Yuan, the leader of the team, asked the villain to transfer the message, saying that he brought a handwritten letter from Mu Xuanqing, the king of Changsha, to the lord. I hope that the lord will take the time to receive him as soon as possible. He is very grateful.”

“Apart from this, did you say anything else?”

The steward shook his head and suddenly thought again.

“Yes. I also asked the villain about Lord Weng. The villain did not mention the fact that Lord Weng had returned, as the adults ordered. He only said that the villain didn’t know.”

After the steward finished speaking, seeing his indifferent expression, he didn’t ask any more questions, so he bowed to leave, but was stopped and told him again.

The steward was surprised.

In recent years, court officials are often sent to Hexi for official duties, all of which are received by the relevant officials of the Jiedu envoy, according to the court system.

This time, even though he didn’t understand, why did Jiedushi treat the General Yuan from Changsha so much.

But the order was given, and the steward naturally complied, hurriedly retired, and went to arrange.

Early the next morning, a beautiful girl was brought to Xie Changgeng by the steward.

The maid knelt on the ground and said in fear: “Sir, it is the general Yuan who does not obey the orders of the slaves. The slaves seduce him in every possible way, and then kneel down and beg. If he is driven away, the master will punish the slaves for serving. After a while, he asked the slave to stay and go out with someone by himself. There is no way for the slave. The slave is useless, please forgive me.”

Xie Changgeng ordered the girl to go down and stand by the window.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t figure out the purpose of last night’s arrangement, after waiting for a while, seeing that he didn’t speak, he turned to his back and asked, “Sir, can I see him today? he.”

Xie Changgeng turned around, his expression indifferent: “No hurry, tell him to wait a few more days.”

Yuan Handing waited anxiously in the post house for three days and lived like a year. On the third day, I finally waited for the news of the meeting and set off immediately.

Xie Changgeng met him in the council hall of Jiedu’s envoy’s residence, but there was no one else around, only the two of them. He sits behind the case. Yuan Handing greeted him and presented a handwritten letter from Mu Xuanqing. He opened it, and then invited Yuan Handing to take a seat, with a smile on his face, and said, “There were a lot of things in the past few days, but I can only get out at this moment today. Don’t blame General Yuan for neglecting General Yuan.”

Yuan Handing said respectfully: “The Jiedushi is very polite. I am very grateful to be able to see the Jiedushi’s face today and turn to His Highness’s handwriting.”

Xie Changgeng glanced at it a few times, put down the letter, and said with a smile, “The King of Changsha and I are Uncle Lang, just like family members, we have disputes, and there is no overnight feud, why is the King of Changsha so polite, asking you to travel thousands of miles to come here. I have taken his thoughts. If you don’t think I am sleazy here, you might as well stay for a few more days. It is a courtesy to come and go, so I can also prepare some small gifts. When General Yuan leaves, I will bring it back to the King of Changsha.”

In the letter, Mu Xuanqing not only thanked him for taking his sister out of Beijing, but also expressed his wish to bring her sister back together.

Yuan Handing waited for three days in anxiety and speculation, and now he finally saw Xie Changgeng’s face.

He thought that he would be treated coldly and even humiliated, just like the previous time when Xie Changgeng went to Changsha. Unexpectedly, the other party was chatting and laughing, looking like he didn’t care about the past, whether it was true or not, at this moment, for a long time, Yuan Handing’s concern and urgency for Weng Master, which had been buried in Yuan Handing’s heart, could no longer be suppressed.

Seeing that Xie Changgeng didn’t mention it, he opened his mouth and said, “Thank you for the kindness of the envoy Jiedu. Before I left, His Highness repeatedly told me to transfer the message on his behalf, hoping that the envoy Jiedu would make it convenient and allow me to take the Lord Weng back on behalf of His Royal Highness. In the letter of His Highness I must have mentioned this matter. Your Highness ordered me to tell Jiedu Envoy, if Lord Weng can come back, His Highness will reward you with all your might. As long as you can take it out, you will never be stingy.”

After he finished speaking, he held his breath and looked at Xie Changgeng.

Xie Changgeng looked at Yuan Handing, looked at him for a moment, and said, “If I tell you that you are late, she is no longer here. Just a few days ago, I was ordered by the Queen Mother to send her back to Beijing. With the Queen Mother, what will happen to your country of Changsha?”

Yuan Handing’s heart thumped, his face changed slightly, and he suddenly stood up from his position.

“Which day was she sent away?” he blurted out.

Xie Changgeng said indifferently: “What, do you want to intercept her halfway and take her away?”

At this moment, Yuan Handing, whose thoughts were expressed in one sentence, was extremely chaotic and extremely heavy.

If he can do whatever he wants, he will definitely go to rescue her regardless of everything.

But he knew he couldn’t do it.

Nor would she allow herself to do so.

Just like the previous time, he clearly knew that Shangjing was a wolf’s den and a tiger’s den for her, but he couldn’t do anything and could only watch her leave Dongting.

Yuan Handing looked at the calm-looking man opposite him, who was also Lord Weng’s husband, gritted his teeth, and said word by word, “Don’t dare!”

He calmed down, restrained his chaotic mood, and said: “Jiedu Shi has taken Weng Zhu out of Beijing before, so he must have good intentions for her. This time, he should send her back again, it should be a last resort. You still have kindness to me in Changsha. Your Highness will remember it when you know it. Master Weng is in Beijing, and I can’t do anything in Changsha, so only you can protect her. On behalf of the citizens of Changsha, I would like to thank you in advance. !”

After he finished speaking, he came out of his seat and was about to kneel and kowtow towards Xie Changgeng.

Xie Changgeng looked at the figure on the opposite side who was about to give him a big salute, and said, “General Yuan doesn’t have to do this. It was just a joke. If I took Weng Zhu out of the capital, how could I send her back? She really is. I’m not here anymore, but instead of going to Beijing, I’m going back to your Changsha country.”

Yuan Handing couldn’t react for a while, and after a pause, he finally came back to his senses.

He was still in disbelief.

“Xie Jiedu, are you serious?”

“As expected, she should have arrived by now. When you go back, you will be able to see her face.”

Xie Changgeng said lightly.

The whole person, like from the bottom of the valley, suddenly rose to the top of the mountain.

Yuan Handing was hit by a huge surprise, and he didn’t have time to think about the man opposite him, why he had to play that kind of joke with himself before he had let him go back.

He didn’t even think about it, instead of getting up, he immediately bowed his head to the man on the opposite seat.

“Yuan has been entrusted by His Highness for this trip, and he hopes to bring Master Weng back. Thank you, my lord. Please accept my worship!”

In his eyes, there was a gleam of joy that could not be concealed.

At this moment, facing these shining eyes, for the first time in his life, Xie Changgeng clearly felt in his heart, what is meant by remorse.

He regretted that he just let her go back to Changsha.

He has been putting up with her. At that time, she was really offended by her attitude. And what completely angered him was that in order to get rid of herself, she did not hesitate to use the medicine of tiger and wolf for herself.

She is well-versed in medicine, and even the boss knows the poison of medicine, and she naturally knows the consequences of taking it for a long time.

But she still did it, just to avoid any entanglement with herself in the future.

He asked himself that he was good to her, and there was no place for her to be sorry.

At that moment, in addition to his anger, he also felt cold and disgusted.

Completely lost patience.

However, a woman is still a woman who has lost her virginity, so why bother with her anymore.

So he dismissed without hesitation.

But Xie Changgeng was not a tolerant person.

Even though Mu Fulan was nothing special to him, she was his wife.

Even if it is convenient in the future, he will divorce her, and she was once the woman he married. This will not change.

Whenever he thinks of the man who was infatuated with her back then, who made her chaste and shamed him, he would feel like a light on his back.

This feeling, like a poisonous thorn, was firmly stuck in his heart.

Now that she has been driven away by him, he has no plans to see her again, but when he thinks about it, he is even more resentful.

He desperately wanted to know who the man was.

When she was here before, several times, after the rain and the rain, he wanted to press her.

It’s just for the sake of face, and I know she won’t say it, so I forcibly hold back every time.

He once suspected that the man was Zhao Xitai, the prince of Qi, but after Zhao Xitai and Mu Fulan parted in the palace in the early years, it seemed that they never met again until she entered the capital again last year.

Unless the two people have a secret relationship later, otherwise, it seems unlikely.

After his doubts about Zhao Xitai were relieved, out of intuition, Xie Changgeng thought of the young general named Yuan Handing whom he had met when he went to Changsha last time.

Growing up together, childhood sweethearts, and secretly set up a relationship, and later forced by the situation, according to the father’s order and betrothed to himself.

After a little testing today, Xie Changgeng felt more and more that his guess was right.

This young general from Changsha State, although he kept saying that he came with the king’s order, in front of him, he also carefully concealed his intentions for the princess. But how could his subconscious reactions escape Xie Changgeng’s eyes?

His various reactions far exceeded the duties of an ordinary messenger or courtier.

Xie Changgeng endured the anger that was surging in his heart, his face remained calm, he got up from his seat, walked in front of Yuan Handing, helped him up from the ground with his own hands, and said with a smile, “It’s just a small matter. . You came from a long way, and you are loyal, I am very impressed. Since you are here, I will stay for a few more days before leaving.”

Yuan Handing’s original intention of this trip was to pick up Weng Master, and then convey Mu Xuanqing’s gratitude to Xie Changgeng. I thought the task was difficult, but I didn’t expect it to be so smooth, not to mention that the master Weng has returned, this is the fairyland of Yaochi, and he didn’t want to delay any longer, and immediately declined.

Xie Changgeng stared at him and said, “I am a vulgar beauty here. I can’t get into your eyes, General Yuan, and I can’t keep you. You have something to do, so I can’t force you to stay, so as not to delay your business.”

Yuan Handing remembered the beauty that night, and hurriedly said, “Don’t make fun of Jiedu. Yuan is grateful and remembered for being favored by Jiedu.”

Xie Changgeng shouted haha, called the steward to enter, and set up a banquet for Yuan Handing.

Yuan Handing’s heart was like an arrow, and after the banquet was over, it didn’t pass the night, so he took people with him that day, left Guzang and returned to Changsha.

That night, in the study room of the Jiedu envoy, the lights were on until midnight, and it didn’t go out.

Xie Changgeng sat alone in the study, his eyes fell on the file in his hand, for a long while, he did not turn a page.

He frowned, and after a long period of trance, he suddenly thought of a person.

When he left Yuecheng last year, he left Zhu Liuhu in the city.

It has been half a year, and Zhu Liuhu has only handed himself a few non-speaking letters, saying that he has not noticed anything unusual in Changsha.

Xie Changgeng originally wanted to call the person back.

He took a piece of letterhead, picked up a pen and wrote a letter, passed it on, and ordered the secret letter to be sent out.