Shang Conglong nodded and said: "Of course there are many people who want to kill him, but who did it?" Shang Conglong shook his head and frowned: "It's not easy to guess. Khitans, Xixia, Tubo, It's possible in the Song Dynasty." Then he said with great regret: "It's a pity that those killers were so useless that they couldn't kill Yang Peng!"
Shang Conglong said: "Yang Peng is a powerful general in the world and has countless guards. It is not easy to kill him!" After a pause, "Since these people are going to assassinate Yang Peng, they are our allies. We have to find a way to find them." They formed an alliance with them. In this way, we have added a powerful force!" Shang Cheng nodded with deep sympathy, then frowned and said in embarrassment: "But how to find them?" Then he said worriedly: "I'm afraid that before we can find them, they will be wiped out by the Yanyun people! Considering this, I don't think it's good to contact them now. It will be troublesome if we get burned!"
Shang Conglong nodded thoughtfully and murmured: "Your worries are not unreasonable!" Suddenly his heart moved, he looked at Shang Shiheng and said: "But you can go and inquire about the relevant situation. Go to Zhao Xiangxiang's place, Zhao Xiangxiang is actually the adopted sister of King Yan, and has such a good relationship with Princess Yonghui, so we should be able to learn something from her." Shang Shiheng nodded and said, "I'll go right away!"
Soon after, Shang Shiheng led his two followers to leave the mansion and headed towards the Zhao Mansion. On the way, he saw passers-by pointing at him and secretly laughing. Naturally, he knew what they were doing, so he couldn't help but feel ashamed and hurried faster. pace.
When they arrived at the Zhao Mansion, they heard that Zhao Xiangxiang and Luo Yanran had both gone to the Wang Mansion. Shang Shiheng's heart moved and he said: "If uncle doesn't mind, Xiaosheng would like to wait for Miss Zhao and Miss Luo here." Zhao Ming is engaged in grain business, and the merchant is a big landowner in Bianliang, so Zhao Ming Ming usually dealt with merchants a lot. In the past, when he met a servant of a merchant, he would always have a higher moral standard than a top-notch person. But now, the merchant's son Shang Shiheng was so polite and humble to him, Zhao Ming couldn't help but feel My heart felt so happy, I just felt that relying on my niece Zhao Xiangxiang to leap over the dragon gate, I was already a royal relative of Yan Yun.
As soon as he thought about this, he couldn't help showing a arrogant attitude, glanced at Shang Shiheng, and said calmly: "Shang Gong wants to meet my girl, but it's not that easy! You must know that my girl's status is different now, that is Wutong How can the phoenix on the tree be seen by ordinary people when they meet each other?" As he said this, he looked at Shang Shiheng with contempt.
Shang Shiheng was furious when he saw that he was a villain, but he didn't dare to get angry at all. Although the other party had a villainous appearance, he did have some relationship with King Yan. If he got angry rashly, I'm just afraid that I won't be able to eat and have to walk around. At that moment, he said with a smile on his face: "What my uncle said is absolutely true! Xiaosheng is not an ignorant person, so he naturally knows that Miss Zhao is not someone who can be seen casually now!" Seeing Shang Shiheng's humble face, Zhao Ming felt even more excited in his heart. He was proud and said: "You know that's the best! Well, I have already given you face by saying so many things to you, Mr. Shang!" Then he stood up and raised his voice: "Come on, see the guests off. !”
When two servants came in, they asked, "Master Shang, please!" Shang Shiheng cursed in his heart. He quickly walked up to Zhao Ming, took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve and stuffed them into Li Mingda's hand, and begged: " I know that with Miss Zhao’s current status, I cannot receive outsiders casually, but I am really urgent and want to meet with Miss Zhao! I will only say a few words, and please ask your uncle to be accommodating!"
Zhao Ming lowered his eyes and glanced at the banknotes in his hand. He saw that each banknote was worth fifty taels. There were at least a dozen banknotes in the stack. He immediately put a smile on his face and put the banknotes into his arms. inside. He waved his hands to the two servants and said, "You all stand down!" The two servants responded and stepped back.
Zhao Ming said with a smile: "I am not an unreasonable person. Since Mr. Shang has something important to see my girl, I will wait here. The girl went to the palace and will take some time to come back." Shang Shiheng hurriedly He cupped his fists and said, "Thank you, uncle, for being so accommodating!" Zhao Ming chuckled and said, "You're welcome, you're welcome!" Then he said, "Master Shang, just wait in the hall, I won't accompany you." Shang Shiheng quickly bowed and saluted. : "Uncle, please." Zhao Ming nodded, turned around and walked out from behind the screen at the top of the hall.
Shang Shiheng sat down and waited until noon, but no one came to greet him. He was so hungry that his stomach growled, but no one paid attention to him. I was filled with annoyance, thinking that as a businessman, I had never received such a cold reception, and just wanted to walk away. However, I then thought: Hundreds of taels of silver have been spent. If Zhao Xiangxiang didn't wait, wouldn't these hundreds of taels of silver be all gone? A waste of time? With this thought in mind, calm yourself down and continue waiting.
Another hour passed, and the sound of soft footsteps suddenly came from the patio outside the hall. Shang Shiheng was already drowsy, but he perked up when he heard the footsteps. Looking out of the hall, he suddenly saw Luo Yanran, who was dressed in white and covered with gauze, looking like a fairy. She was wearing a green dress and was gentle and beautiful. Zhao Xiangxiang, accompanied by their maids, walked through the hall talking and laughing. The two women seemed to have no intention of entering the hall. Judging from the direction they were walking, they obviously wanted to enter the backyard through the arch next to the hall. They also did not notice that Shang Shiheng was above the hall.
Shang Shiheng quickly got up and ran out. The girls were startled when they suddenly saw a man rushing out of the hall. Then they saw clearly that the person who came was Shang Shiheng, and they couldn't help but feel surprised. I saw Shang Shiheng bowing and saying: "Xiaosheng has met these two ladies. I have been waiting for these two ladies for a long time!"
The two women turned around and Yingying returned the salute. Zhao Xiangxiang glanced at Luo Yanran beside her, then turned back and asked Shang Shiheng, "Is Mr. Shang waiting for us? I wonder what happened?" Then she thought of the society. Rumors about Shang Shiheng and Zhuang Shaocheng have been spreading recently, and he can't help but look unnatural.
Shang Shiheng said: "Xiaosheng took the liberty to come here because he wanted to chat with Miss Zhao." Zhao Xiangxiang was surprised. She originally thought that Shang Shiheng was here to see Luo Yanran, but she didn't expect that he was looking for her. . Luo Yanran said to Zhao Xiangxiang: "Since Mr. Shang has something to say to my sister, I will leave first." Zhao Xiangxiang nodded. Luo Yanran turned around and walked towards the arch, and Luo Yanran's personal maid Yun'er quickly followed.
Zhao Xiangxiang said to Shang Shiheng: "Master, please." Shang Shiheng quickly asked: "Miss, please!" Zhao Xiangxiang walked into the living room accompanied by Ju'er, walked to the left and sat down, while Ju'er stood beside him. . Seeing that Shang Shiheng was still standing, Zhao Xiangxiang smiled and said, "You're welcome, Mr. Shang, please sit down." Shang Shiheng responded and sat down at the right end of the hall opposite Zhao Xiangxiang.
At this time, two maids came in from the door and bowed to Zhao Xiangxiang: "Miss!" Zhao Xiangxiang ordered: "Make tea." The two maids agreed and retreated. Zhao Xiangxiang said to Shang Shiheng: "Young Master Shang is here to visit, but I am not here. It is really a neglect!" Shang Shiheng quickly waved his hand and said: "It's okay, it's okay! I haven't been here for long!" Zhao Xiangxiang asked: "I don't know if Mr. Shang is here to visit. He Jianjiao?”
Shang Shiheng was about to speak when the two maids from before came back, each holding a bowl of tea in their hands. Shang Shiheng retracted what he was about to say. After the two maids put down the tea and retreated, they said: "To be honest, since the assassination of King Yan happened, Xiaosheng has been worried about the safety of the young lady!"
When Zhao Xiangxiang heard this, she couldn't help but be moved and said, "Thank you, Master, for your concern." Shang Shiheng paused and said with a look of hatred on his face: "These assassins are so disgusting, they actually dare to do such a heinous and unethical thing in public!" Shi Heng's words resonated with Zhao Xiangxiang, and she couldn't help but frown and said: "My eldest brother is such a good person, but those people actually want to kill him. It's really, really infuriating!"
Shang Shiheng thought to himself: "Is Yang Peng a good person?" Humph, he is simply the biggest traitor since Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao, and everyone will find him and punish him! 'Although I thought so in my heart, I would never say it with my mouth. Instead, I pretended to be very angry and asked casually: "I wonder who these assassins are so bold?"
Zhao Xiangxiang shook her head and said, "I don't know about this." Shang Shiheng asked quickly: "Don't Princess Yonghui know about it too?" Zhao Xiangxiang shook her head and said, "I just said to sister Yonghui When this incident happened, according to sister Yonghui, although the assassin was caught, the assassin only knew the middleman but did not know who was behind the scenes."
Shang Shiheng said quickly: "Since the assassin recruited the middleman, he should be able to follow the clues!" Zhao Xiangxiang shook his head and said: "I heard from sister Yonghui that the middleman was caught, but when he was caught, he was already dead. !" Shang Shiheng sighed, "It's such a pity that this clue was cut off like this! Alas, we failed to catch the mastermind behind the scenes, I'm afraid they will launch an attack on King Yan!" Shang Shiheng Heng told what Zhao Xiangxiang was worried about, and Zhao Xiangxiang couldn't help but frown.
Shang Shiheng continued to make insinuations and asked about the assassination and the assassin's situation, but Zhao Xiangxiang obviously knew little. Seeing that she really didn't know any more news, Shang Shiheng said a few words of comfort, stood up, and left.
Zhao Xiangxiang left the hall and went to the embroidery shop. She couldn't help but feel that Shang Shiheng's behavior today was very strange. When I returned to the embroidery building, I saw Luo Yanran and couldn't help but talk about the doubts in my heart. Luo Yanran thought for a moment and murmured: "Is it possible that this Shang Shiheng is related to this assassination operation?" Zhao Xiangxiang was shocked when she heard this, and then recalled Shang Shiheng's strangeness. performance, I couldn't help but feel that Luo Yanran's suspicion was justified.
Luo Yanran asked Zhao Xiangxiang, "Sister, do you want to tell the palace about this?" Zhao Xiangxiang frowned, feeling in a dilemma.
…
Yang Peng and his party rushed to Zhuoluo City. Fan Long and others who had just received the news rushed out of the camp to greet her and said, "Greetings to His Highness King Yan!" Yang Peng pointed to the armored beauty beside him: "This is Princess Yeyi." Everyone glanced at Ye Qi Guanyin and worshiped together: "Greetings to the princess!" Ye Qi Guanyin nodded in response.
Yang Peng walked into the gate of the camp, followed by everyone. This camp is actually the local government office during the Xixia rule. The place is very small and is only divided into two parts, with offices in the front and rest in the back.
Everyone entered the hall. Yang Peng stepped forward and turned around. Ye Qi Guanyin was standing on one side with her sword pressed. Fan Long led his generals to formally pay homage: "Greetings to the King of Yan, and to the Queen Concubine!" Yang Peng said loudly: "Okay, everyone, get up!" The generals stood up. Yang Peng sat down and asked Fan Long: "What is the situation in Xixia now?" Fan Long cupped his fists and said: "It is still a truce, but the Tubo army surrounded Xiliang Prefecture and Xuanhua Prefecture and has not withdrawn." Yang Peng He then asked: "Have all the counties and towns surrounding Xiliang Prefecture and Xuanhua Prefecture been occupied by the Tubo people?" Fan Long nodded and said: "Yes, the Tubo people simply surrendered without a fight." "The secret envoy sent to Xixia Is there any news?" Fan Long shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Yang Peng asked Fan Long to send more scouts, and then they settled down in the backyard of the camp. That night, the rapid sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the night. They galloped into the city from the north gate and ran straight towards the camp.
Yang Pengzheng and Ye Qi Guanyin were discussing the strategy of dealing with Tubo and Xixia under the lamp. Rapid and heavy footsteps came from outside, and they stopped at the door. Then Fan Long's loud voice came in: "Report to King Yan, Princess , the secret envoy has received an urgent military message!" Fan Long's voice was like a lion's roar.
Yang Peng winked at Ye Qi Guanyin, who understood and immediately walked over and opened the door. Yang Peng saw Fan Long in military uniform standing respectfully at the foot of the steps outside the door, so he raised his voice: "Brother Fan Long, come in and talk." Fan Long responded, strode up the steps and walked into the room. He came straight to Yang Peng, presented a letter with both hands, bowed and said: "This is the urgent military information just sent by the secret envoy Li Qian!" As the secret envoy, Li Qian did not know that Yang Peng had arrived in Zhuoluo City at this moment. The news was only because the message had to be forwarded through Zoluo City, so the urgent military information he sent would be transmitted to Zoluo City as soon as possible.
Yang Peng picked up the letter, opened it, took out the letter paper, unfolded it and read it. Although Yang Peng remained calm, as one of the people closest to him, Yeli Guanyin still felt something strange and asked: "Brother, has something happened?"
Yang Peng snorted coldly and said: "Odaochong, this old fox!" He glanced at Yeyi Guanyin and said, "This letter was sent by Li Qian in a hurry after learning that Odaochong was planning to arrest him. At this moment, Li Qian Qian and others should have been arrested by the Xixia people." Ye Qi Guanyin frowned, and Fan Long was very angry and yelled: "These Xixia bastards are so impatient that they dare to capture our envoy!"
Ye Qi Guanyin and Yang Peng exchanged a look. Ye Qi Guanyin said: "It seems that our previous judgment was correct!" Yang Peng nodded and said: "As for Odaochong, we can now be completely sure!"
Fan Long asked Yang Peng: "Are the Xixia people planning to defect to Tibet?"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "The person who arrested us in Aodaochong was naturally doing it to show the Tibetan people. But he was not trying to surrender to the Tibetan people, but was stalling for time! This old fox, he wanted to delay the Tibetan people. People, and then made us feel that he wanted to defect to the Tibetans, and then he became anxious and tried his best to gather food and grass to send an army to Xiliang to fight against the Tubo people. He had already thought about it. We are now short of food and grass. If we try our best to The amount of food raised from the private sector must be limited, and the scale of troops that can be sent is also limited. In this way, it is difficult to say who will win the war between us and the Tubo people. No matter what the outcome is, we will not be able to use troops against Xixia in a short time. They Xixia will have I have a chance to breathe." Fan Long is a strong warrior with rough lines. After listening to Yang Peng's words, he seemed to understand, but he didn't quite understand.
Yang Peng glanced at the letter in his hand and smiled coldly, "I am afraid that Aodaochong released this letter on purpose. He was afraid that we would not know the situation in Xiliangfu City!" Yeqi Guanyin nodded and said: "That's how it should be."
Fan Long asked angrily: "King Yan, what should we do?"
Yang Peng frowned slightly and paced back and forth in the room. The situation in front of him was really difficult to handle. If he ignored it, Tubo would eventually annex Xixia. But if he ignored it, he would fall into the trap of Odaochong. However, falling into Odaochong's plan is at least much stronger than Tubo's annexation of Xixia. However, Yang Peng is really unwilling to destroy Ningxia's finally settled situation for this reason. Once food and grass are plundered from the people, it will inevitably cause turmoil. This is definitely not something Yang Peng wants to see.
What Yang Peng thought of, Yedi Guanyin also thought of, and said: "Brother, why not wait and see." Yang Peng nodded, turned to look at the night outside the window, and murmured: "Wait and see! Our army Lack of food and grass makes things really difficult!”
At this moment, an officer led a well-worn herald and ran in. He knelt down and said, "To King Yan, General Yang Qi's herald has arrived!" Yang Peng and Ye Qi Guanyin's expressions moved. What we are waiting for is news about Yang Qi. The herald came forward and knelt down and said, "My subordinates pay homage to King Yan!" Yang Peng asked, "How is the situation at Yang Qi's side?"
The messenger said: "Reporting to King Yan, our army has captured the Snow Mountain Fortress, wiped out five thousand defenders, and seized countless grain and supplies." When Yang Peng was still in Tianjing New City, he sent an order to Yang Yanzhao to select 20,000 elite cavalry to attack the Snow Mountain. At that time, Yang Peng, based on the situation in Xixia, believed that his own side had insufficient food and grass and it was difficult to intervene. Xixia was afraid that it would not be able to support the Tibetan army for long. In view of this situation, Yang Peng decided to use cavalry to raid the important rear area of the Tibetan army, the Snow Mountain Fortress. . The Snow Mountain Fortress was originally in the hands of the Xixia people, but was captured by the Tubo people not long ago. After the Tubo people occupied the Snow Mountain Fortress, they immediately used the Snow Mountain Fortress as a logistics transit base and divided their troops into two groups to besiege Xuanhua Prefecture and Xiliang Prefecture. Knowing that Yanyun was short of food and grass and that the Xixia people were already living on the last breath, the Tubo people were not worried that the Snow Mountain Fortress would be attacked. Therefore, they only left five thousand men and horses to defend this important place, but they never expected that Yanyun The army will send war cavalry to raid the snow mountain fortress under extremely difficult circumstances. When Yan Yun's cavalry invaded the Snow Mountain Fortress, the drunken Tubo soldiers did not understand what was happening. The Snow Mountain Fortress was captured by Yan Yun's army.
Yang Peng and others couldn't help but feel happy after hearing the herald's report. Yang Peng praised: "Very good, Eighth Sister and all the soldiers did a great job!" Then he asked: "How much food and grass did you seize?" The herald said: "The specific number has not yet been calculated, but it is roughly estimated that it exceeds 500,000 dan, which should be grain and grass transferred from Tibet to the front line!"
Yeqi Guanyin smiled and said: "We happened to be short of food and grass, so the Tibetan people took the initiative to send it to our door!" Yang Peng smiled and nodded, and said: "This is the best situation we expected. With food and grass behind us, Things will be easier to handle." Yedi Guanyin asked: "What do you want to do?"
Yang Peng thought: "The most important thing at the moment is these 500,000 loads of grain and grass!" Then he asked Ye Qi Guanyin to get an Iron Order of the King of Yan, handed it to the herald sent by Yang Qi, and said: "Take my order arrow to pass the order. Yang Qi, abandon the snow mountain fortress immediately and escort the grain and grass back!" The herald held the arrow in hand and bowed in agreement, then hurriedly left.
Fan Long couldn't help but said: "King Yan, do we really not want the Snow Mountain Fortress? That is a very important place!" Yang Peng laughed and said to Ye Qi Guanyin: "Explain it to Brother Fan Long." Fan Long immediately looked at it Looking at Ye Qi Guanyin, Ye Qi Guanyin smiled and said: "Snow mountain fortress is indeed important, but for now, the most important thing is the five hundred thousand dans of grain and grass!"
Fan Long said angrily: "Then we can use part of the army to escort the grain and grass, and use the other army to defend the snow mountain fortress!" Ye Qi Guanyin shook his head and said: "No! The Tubo people have 30,000 to 40,000 warriors. If we If only a part of the cavalry is used to escort the grain and grass, I am afraid that it will be difficult to cope with the possible surprise attack by the Tibetan war cavalry, so we have no choice but to abandon the snow mountain fortress and escort the five hundred thousand loads of grain and grass with all our strength!"
Fan Long suddenly understood, but he was very unwilling to give up the snow mountain fortress. Yang Peng ordered: "Brother Fan Long, your army must be prepared to attack and respond when necessary!" Fan Long clasped his fists in agreement and hurried down.
Ye Qi Guanyin glanced at Fan Long's back, turned to look at Yang Peng, and said with a smile: "Although General Fan Long lacks a little flexibility, he is also a capable general who can be used as a guard general or a pioneer officer. They are all very suitable, but it is difficult to stand alone.”
Yang Peng nodded and said: "It has been very rare since ancient times to be able to stand alone as a general, but I am lucky, and there are quite a few generals under me who can stand alone." Then he smiled and held the delicate hand of Ye Qi Guanyin. , said softly: "Among my wives alone, there are three of them who can take care of themselves!" Yedi Guanyin poked Yang Peng's chest with her slender fingers, and said angrily: "You are so proud!" Yang Peng grabbed Yedi Guanyin's She held her slender hand and said softly: "Of course I'm proud of it!" A gentle look appeared in Ye Guanyin's beautiful eyes, and then she frowned, withdrew her slender hand, and said angrily: "You have never let me be alone! Don’t you believe me?”
Yang Peng gently hugged Yedi Guanyin's slender waist and said softly: "You and I are one husband and wife, how could I not believe you! Hey, I didn't expect you to doubt me!" Yedi Guanyin immediately felt that he had done it. Something was wrong, and he said embarrassedly: "I, I actually didn't mean that..."
What happened after all? Let’s see the breakdown next time.
