However, Chu Dang was more nervous after all. He didn't notice Gong Eryue's emotional ups and downs for a while, and continued to say with emotion:
"It's... it's been a long time since I saw your husband care so much about someone..."
Gong Eryue remained silent. At this moment, Li Ran appeared, and when Chu Dang saw it, he quietly left in a very sensible manner.
"Yue! Why did you come out? Don't you know that when you are recovering from a serious injury, you are most afraid of being exposed to the wind?"
Li Ran came up to greet him with concern, but Gong Eryue smiled sweetly:
"It's just a flesh wound. How can a martial artist be so delicate? He's not disabled, so there's no need to be so careful!"
"Having said that, it's better to be careful after all!"
Gong Eryue looked at Li Ran with a pair of watery eyes, full of agility.
Li Ran didn't dare to look at her again and walked into the courtyard with her. After Gong Eryue reluctantly sat down, Li Ran brought some water and handed it to Gong Eryue.
When Gong Eryue saw Li Ran serving tea and water for her, she felt moved in her heart...
…
In this way, under everyone's careful care, Gong Eryue's injury got better day by day.
By the beginning of spring, Gong Eryue had completely recovered. Not only has he recovered as before, but he has also become more dedicated to the safety of Li Mansion.
Even when it comes to accompanying Liguang, Gong Eryue seems to be more compatible with her.
Li Ran vaguely felt that it was inappropriate to continue like this, but whenever he saw his daughter and Gong Eryue looking happy together, he couldn't bear to break his hard-won tranquility.
On this day, Li Ran was playing with Li Guang in the courtyard, and Gong Eryue was also there. In that scene, it was as if the three of them were like a family.
Chu Dang looked at it from a distance and giggled. He wanted to turn around and speak to Sun Wu beside him, but found that Sun Wu suddenly disappeared.
Sun Wu has always been suspicious of Gong Eryue's motives, and it seems that Sun Wu has never been able to get over the hurdle in his heart. Therefore, he couldn't see Li Ran getting close to Gong Eryue, so he could only walk around to relax at this time.
But Chu Dang didn't have this concern, he just said to himself:
"It's true, Chang Qing... It's clear that Madam is back, but why is there anything suspicious? It's really inexplicable..."
"Chu Dang! What are you talking about?"
At this time, Confucius' voice suddenly came from behind, which startled Chu Dang. Seeing the man in front of him who was as tall as himself but also looked gentle and elegant, Chu Dan couldn't help but smile honestly:
"Oh, it's nothing. Mr. Zhongni, you're here just in time. Come and take a look at their family. Is it particularly harmonious at the moment?"
I don’t know what Gong Eryue said there, but the three of them were laughing together.
Seeing this situation, Confucius couldn't bear to step forward for a moment.
However, Confucius obviously had something important to talk to Li Ranyan. Therefore, after waiting silently for a while, he still stepped forward.
Li Ran saw Confucius coming over and saw his solemn expression, so he knew something must have happened again.
So, he winked at Gong Eryue. Gong'er Yuexin understood the idea, and with a bright light, she said hello to Confucius and left there.
Only then did Confucius cup his hands and said:
"Hello, sir!"
"Good morning! Zhongni, as the Prime Minister of Zhongdu, you have so many things to do every day. How do you find time to come here today?"
Confucius smiled bitterly, shook his head again, and sighed:
"Hey... I, Lu, am in danger! I, Lu, are in danger! Sir, you don't know something! Then Yang Hu has made big moves again recently!"
Li Ran was no longer surprised by this, and just asked calmly:
"Oh? What is he going to do again?"
"Yesterday during the court meeting, Yang Hu actually encouraged your Majesty in public and wanted to raise an army to attack Qi State as revenge! However, your Majesty didn't even have the slightest opinion. After hesitating for a moment, he actually agreed!"
When Li Ran heard this, he stood up immediately. Not long ago, Guo Xia of Qi State just led his troops to attack Lu State. Yang Hu was still helpless against him, and finally relied on Li Ran to come forward to finally withdraw from Guoxia.
Unexpectedly, in just a few months, Yang Hu was actually thinking of seeking revenge from Qi State?
"Is he crazy?! Why do you want to provoke Qi again?"
Confucius shook his head and said:
"It is said that this was because the Jin State was supporting him. The Jin people had promised to form an alliance with the Lu State in Wadi to avenge the previous country's Xia attack on Lu! And Yang Hu made it clear that the Jin State would Ju is standing up for us Lu people, so this grudge must be avenged."
"This Fan Yang... is clearly there to deliberately provoke conflicts between our Lu and Qi states! In the end, it is impossible for Jin to fight to the death with Qi. Aren't we Lu people the ones who suffer?!"
"Hey... I'm so confused! I'm so confused!"
Li Ran naturally understood the reason, and he was going to see Yang Hu immediately.
At this time, Confucius didn't care about avoiding suspicion, and went to Ji's Mansion with Li Ran.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the gate, they were told that Yang Hu was not at the house, but was on the battlefield ordering troops.
When Li Ran heard this, he couldn't help but trembled with anger.
At this moment, Zi Lu, a disciple of Confucius, came to report again, saying that this time Lu Hou Song wanted to personally go out to conquer Qi, and he would send troops immediately!
Li Ran and Kong Qiu both complained secretly, and when they hurried to the battlefield, they were stopped again.
The guard at the door only said that it was because the Marquis of Lu was going to march in person in the near future, so no one else could get close. Even though Confucius showed his identity, he still could not see Yang Hu.
Obviously, Yang Hu knew that he was in the wrong, so he deliberately avoided them.
Li Ran had no choice but to return to Xinglin first.
Li Ran was so angry that he locked himself in the house.
Indeed, Yang Hu's approach was really out of tune. Even Yang Hu's behavior is more harmful to the entire country than Ji Sun Yiru back then.
After all, although Ji Sun Yiru brought trouble to the Lu State's official family, to the outside world, his family's interests were tied to the overall interests of the Lu State.
Therefore, even if it was not to protect the interests of the people of Lu State, at least it was to preserve his own strength, he would not behave like this.
However, Yang Hu now, in order to leverage the situation of the Lu State, he even betrayed the overall interests of the Lu State.
And the "honorable office" has actually become a weapon in his hands.
This couldn't help but make Li Ran fall into deep thought and self-doubt. He used the advantage of "respecting the official family" to persuade Yang Hu to turn away from the Ji family. Is this move correct?
Only now did Li Ran realize that sometimes people's desires are really endless.
And if you don't know how to exercise self-restraint, no matter who you are or what your identity is, you will end up destroying yourself.
At this time, Sun Wu also learned the news. He also knew why Li Ran was like this, so he knocked on the door outside. Hearing no sound in the back room, Sun Wu didn't care much and changed directly:
"Sir, Sun Wu is coming in now."
Later, Sun Wu saw Li Ran sitting there stupidly, sulking alone, so he stepped forward and replied:
"Sir, what Yang Hu is doing is tantamount to playing with fire and setting himself on fire. It's just that he is setting himself on fire, but he actually wants to implicate the entire Lu Kingdom to suffer with him!"
Li Ran put his hand on his forehead and shook his head helplessly:
"Hey... Yang Hu is so confused! He has been counting on Fan Yang of Jin to fulfill his unreasonable dreams! This is simply wishful thinking! Yang Hu is so reckless, and the disaster of Lu State may be inevitable. Absolutely!"
Suddenly, Sun Wu clasped his hands and knelt down on one knee:
"Sir! As the saying goes, don't enter a dangerous country, and don't live in a chaotic country. In this case, we might as well leave the State of Lu!"
Li Ran suddenly raised his head and looked at Sun Wu. After thinking for a while, he shook his head again:
"When Duke Zhao of Lu was dying, he entrusted the State of Lu to me. How could I just walk away? Moreover, the Ji family moved here, and they had just established a firm foothold. , if we move again, it may not be appropriate. After all, the Ji clan is business-oriented, and they need stability the most!"
However, Sun Wu continued to say without worry:
"It's just that if we just stay here, the situation will become even more difficult to control in the future. If disaster strikes, it will be too late!"
Li Ran sighed:
"Right now, there is no absolutely safe place, so we'd better wait and see!"
Seeing Li Ran's firm attitude, Sun Wu had no choice but to say:
"Now, Yang Hu is completely out of control. Is it because your husband is not serving as an official?"
Li Ran said sadly:
"Yang Hu has his own ideas, and the things he believes in are extremely difficult to change. Although he had intended to invite me to come out before, he didn't do it for my sake. He just wanted to gain my reputation. , and secondly, it’s just for my own plans. And now that he has determined that Fan Yang can help him achieve his goals, he will definitely not wake up until he is beaten to death! "
"Could it be that...we can only let him act like this?"
Li Ran was silent for a moment, and finally said helplessly:
"Hey... if God wants to take it, it must give it to you first! Isn't this just the way of heaven..."
——
Chapter 593_Wa League
In just three months, he became the enemy of Qi twice.
To outsiders, this is undoubtedly a death-defying rhythm.
Of course, Yang Hu is not so stupid as to be unaware of this. How could he not know the pros and cons at all?
Therefore, the reason why he wanted to be personally conquered by the Marquis of Lu. What you did was to say that he was "holding the king hostage to order his ministers" so that he could show off his prestige?
In fact, that's just one side of him. In fact, it was more to "show off" to Fan Yang of the Jin Dynasty.
On the one hand, of course, it is to show his current prestige in Lu State and reflect his own value.
On the other hand, it was more to find a reason not to take the initiative to provoke Qi. After all, as a minister, how could he put the monarch in danger?
Therefore, Yang Hu took advantage of this and only wandered around the border for a while before returning to Lu State honestly.
But even so, this incident still angered Qihou Chujiu.
After all, wanting to add fuel to such a matter is a piece of cake for Tian Qi, who holds the most power in the country.
Therefore, Qi Hou Chujiu couldn't bear it anymore under Tian Qi's instigation. He ordered Guo Xia and Gao Zhang to lead one hundred thousand troops to conquer Lu again!
The power of the State of Lu was in danger.
After Yang Hu learned the news, he was really frightened. He knew that the power of Lu alone would be difficult to resist.
So, he quickly asked Fan Yang of Jin for help, and Fan Yang immediately wrote a letter of comfort, saying that he would bring Zhao Yang and Xun Yin to come for help.
When Yang Hu gained trust, he couldn't help but turn his worries into joy. After all, in his opinion, if the Jin State can become the backing of the Lu State, then Yang Hu will have nothing to fear.
What's more, Fan Yang promised this time that all three armies of the Jin Kingdom would come out together, which certainly made Yang Hu feel at ease. At the same time, he also became more convinced that he indeed had a pivotal position in Fan Yang's eyes and could not afford to lose it.
However, an even more comical scene happened next.
Although Fan Yang superficially agreed to military assistance, he was reluctant to send troops. Guo Xia and Gao Zhang of Qi State also learned the news, and for a while they did not dare to act rashly, fearing that they would be attacked from both sides by Jin and Lu.
Therefore, for a while, it was a stalemate with Lu State.
Li Ran saw that the power of Lu State was in danger, and he was very anxious about it. Even though Yang Hu was invited to see him many times, he was not allowed to see him.
At this moment, the Jin State actually instructed Yang Hu again and agreed with Yang Hu to go to Wadi to make an alliance. After the alliance was held, they would deal with Qi together.
When Li Ran heard the news, he couldn't sit still anymore.
Just as Luhou Song and Yang Hu were about to set off, Li Ran and Kong Qiu finally saw Yang Hu.
Yang Hu also looked a little embarrassed, just touching his nose, looking at his nose with his eyes, and his nose at his heart, and did not dare to look directly at Li Ran.
"Mr. Ziming... Hu must go to this alliance. Fan Zhongjun has promised Yang Hu that after joining the three armies, they will come to help our country of Lu and jointly resist Qi's 100,000-strong army!"
Li Ran shook his head and denied him categorically:
"Sir, if you didn't easily provoke the Qi State, why would you have caused the current disaster? Now that you have angered the Qi State, you should consider how to calm down the anger of the Marquis of Qi instead of adding fuel to the fire!"
Yang Hu smiled faintly:
"Hu...knows his mistake. However, if he surrenders to Qi now, I am afraid that Qi will become even worse. Qi people have bullied Lu for a long time. The hatred of Duke Huan (Lu Huan) and the disaster of Qing's father, Is there anything that Qi Guo is not causing trouble behind?"
"Now that the Duke of Lu has been resurrected, he will no longer suffer such annoyance! Thanks to the help of the State of Jin today, only by completely defeating the Qi people on the battlefield can our State of Lu be stabilized for a hundred years. !”
Li Ran was dissatisfied and said:
"At the beginning, Guoxia led an army of 50,000 to attack, but Lu was still unbeatable! Now Qi has an army of 100,000, and the situation is even worse! If Jin loses, what will Lu do?! Over the years, Lu has suffered military disasters "Continue, Yang Hu, since you hold great power, you should work for the welfare of the people of Lu country, instead of causing trouble everywhere like now!"
"I recently heard that Fan Yang asked you and Jun to go to Wadi to meet for an alliance. This is extremely rude. Could it be that you also agreed?"
"Yes... Sir, I don't know. Fan Zhongjun has promised that as soon as the alliance is over, the three armies will come together to help us deal with Qi State."
Li Ran clenched his fist and couldn't help but burst into anger. He said harshly:
"Ignorant! Really ignorant! Both Jin and Lu are big countries with equal status. How can there be any reason for a minister of a country to come to make an alliance with the king of a country? Fan Yang's move is clearly to tear down the state of Lu! The state of Lu is disgraceful Cun, how will you, Yang Hu, look like you and lead Lu State again?"
"Furthermore, if he really wants to come to help, why wait until now? The person who came to this alliance must be evil, and there is no guarantee that he will do something outrageous again! You...how can you do this? Trust him so much?"
Yang Hu was slightly startled when he heard this, but he just said:
"Sir, you are overly worried. Jin is the country of my uncle. Now that he has made a promise to conquer Qi for Lu, how can we not follow suit? In the past, Qi Qinggong attacked Lu, and I, Lu, did the same. It was the alliance with the Jin State in Chiji that led to the subsequent defeat of the Qi army in the Battle of An. But now, the situation is similar to the past, so why not?"
When Li Ran heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and continued:
"There is nothing wrong with following the country of your uncle. But it is definitely not like a vassal state! In the past, the strength of the Jin State was due to the remaining power of Duke Wen of the Jin Dynasty, which was used to check and balance the Qi State. Now, Fan Yang is unruly , is causing harm to the world, how can we continue to associate with it?!"
"Sir, what you are doing now will not only fail to revitalize the Lu State, but will actually plunge the Lu State into endless military disasters!"
Yang Hu obviously still didn't feel any guilt for what he had done. Those words he said before were just to get Li Ran's approval.
"Sir, it's useless to say more. From Hu's point of view, a country is like a person. If you want to gain respect, you can only rely on your own efforts! Blindly submitting to compromise will not help the matter!"
Li Ran was helpless when he saw Yang Hu being so stubborn. His speaking skills were indeed superb, but in front of people like Yang Hu, they seemed to have no effect at all.
In front of Yang Hu, he was like punching cotton, doing nothing.
Li Ran returned without success. On the way back, he said to Confucius beside him:
"Zhongni, Yang Hu's move may cause disaster. As a Luchen, you can only do your best!"
Confucius nodded and said:
"Don't worry, my benefactor, Qiu Zi will do his best. It's just..."
Confucius was about to speak but stopped, and Li Ran understood his meaning deeply. He couldn't help but look into the distance and muttered:
"Hey...but let's do our best, there is no other way!"
…
Yang Hu turned a deaf ear to Li Ran's warning. All he can think about now is trying to please Fan Yang.
He still believes that only Fan Yang is the noble man who can help him realize his ambition.
Therefore, he took Luhou Song to Wadi for an alliance.
When he arrived at Wadi, he personally entered the Jin camp. Fan Yang did not arrange a meeting in the suburbs, but only arranged to meet with Yang Hu.
"Tiger! You are finally here! I have been waiting here for a long time!"
Yang Hu entered the tent, hurriedly stepped forward, lowered his head and said:
"I've seen Fan Zhongjun! This time, I'm here to make a special alliance with Lord Lu!"
When Fan Yang saw this, he replied in an understatement:
"Well... Since Tiger has such a general understanding, I am very relieved! As soon as the matter here is over, I will immediately report it to the emperor and let the emperor make the decision. At that time, if you want to replace the Meng family of Lu, you will also It’s natural!”
Yang Hu was overjoyed when he heard this. It was obvious that Fan Yang was also very clear about what Yang Hu wanted.
Because Yang Hu has been in charge of the Lu State as a retainer of the Ji family from beginning to end. And the title of "Ji's retainer" is like a tightening curse to him, and he never wants to completely break this tightening curse.
Therefore, replacing Meng's family can be said to be the ultimate goal that Yang Hu has been pursuing.
"Thank you for your help, sir!"
Fan Yang couldn't help laughing after hearing this:
"Don't worry, as long as you are willing to listen to my words, everything will be fine! I will naturally not let down your sincere heart!"
Yang Hu said excitedly:
"Having the help of Lord Zhongjun, I will never forget it. I will definitely lead the State of Lu in the future and respect the Kingdom of Jin even more! I will never dare to be disobedient in the slightest! Please rest assured, Lord Zhongjun!"
Fan Yang nodded.
"Hu, I naturally trust you, otherwise I wouldn't let you do so many things for me!"
Yang Hu heard these words and thought that Fan Yang had integrated himself into his circle of power, just like Ji Sun Yiru back then.
This conversation really made him excited and strengthened his determination to follow in Fan Yang's footsteps.
"If Fan Zhongjun has any other requests? Tiger will definitely comply!"
Fan Yang pretended to be profound and remained silent for a while until Yang Hu got impatient and finally spoke:
"Tiger! Speaking of which... when the alliance is officially meeting tomorrow, I do have one more thing to do, and I hope you can be... considerate for me!"
"Oh? I wonder what the military commander's orders are?"
I saw Fan Yang smiling evilly at this moment:
"Haha, that's not the case. I just want you to do it for me. Then you can hold the sheep's ears for me!"
Yang Hu couldn't help being shocked when he heard this!
Although he was not very proficient in Zhou etiquette, he also knew that this was definitely against etiquette and music. He couldn't help but said:
"This...isn't this not in line with the etiquette system? According to the ancient system, the lone person holds the leather and silk, the minister holds the lamb, the doctor holds the goose, the scholar holds the pheasant, the common man holds the swan, and the businessman holds the chicken. Although the Zhongjun is the chief minister of Jin , but...after all, it is incompatible with the identity of the widowed monarch. If the widowed monarch holds the lamb, if the Chinese army also holds the lamb, wouldn't it..."
Fan Yang said calmly:
"Haha, because this matter is difficult to handle, it is best for you to do it! If it were anyone else, I still wouldn't believe it!"
Yang Hu was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
(End of chapter)
