Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard Mrs. An's words. Anhua said excitedly: "Yes, Madam's words woke up the dreamer! Miss Qian is about to become Princess Yan. If we can get Miss Qian's protection, no one will dare to look at us!"
An Yuan shouted loudly: "No! Absolutely not!" Everyone glanced at him and then looked away. No one took him seriously. Now everyone was only thinking about how to please An Qian. As for the rest, I don’t even bother to think about it! Anhua said to An Bing: "Sir, you have to take action in this matter! Miss Qian is your niece. As long as you beg her sincerely, she will definitely give you a hand!"
An Bing felt very depressed when he thought of asking An Qian, who used to be attached to him, but now that the matter was over, there was no other way but this way. He sighed, nodded and said, "Let me go and give it a try!" Everyone was overjoyed.
A group of people came outside Anxi's mansion. Anhua went up and knocked on the door. Everyone stopped and waited anxiously. After a moment, the door creaked open, and a young servant appeared in front of everyone. Anhua quickly took a step back. The servant looked at everyone and recognized them. His eyebrows were the same and he said angrily: "You still dare to come! I'm warning you, now our young lady's identity is different. She is going to be the Princess of Yan. We We can now be said to be relatives of the emperor! If you dare to mess around, I will discipline you all and you will die! Get out of here!"
Everyone was scolded by this servant and couldn't help but feel angry, but more importantly, they were afraid. Everyone has been here more than once, but the feeling this time is completely different from before. There is a feeling of uneasiness and envy facing a wealthy family.
Anhua cupped his fists and bowed: "How dare I be rude to my future empress! I came here because I wanted to join Miss Qian!..." Seeing the other party speaking in such a humble manner, the servant felt very proud and proudly said: "Miss is not here. Miss lives in the palace. You can leave!" Then the door was closed.
Anhua hurriedly said: "Brother, wait a minute!" The servant couldn't help but feel happy when he saw that the senior official next to the former Xuanfu Envoy actually called him "brother", but he deliberately asked with a straight face: "What are you doing?"
Anhua took out a piece of broken silver from his sleeve and gave it to the servant. He smiled humbly and said: "A little trivial thing is not respectful, so please accept it!" In the middle, he said: "The young lady does live in the palace. I heard that the young lady is sick, and King Yan is taking care of her personally!"
Anhua secretly thought: 'Sure enough! ’ He then clasped his fists and said, “Brother is the one who can speak in front of Miss Qian!” The servant smiled triumphantly and said, “It’s easy to talk to! Those of us who have always followed Miss Qian and are loyal servants, Miss Qian is naturally the same. Very important!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I have a small matter, and I would like to ask my brother to help me. Please tell Miss Qian that we hope to see her!" The servant thought for a while and said to Anhua: "I can do it for you. You tell me, but it’s not up to me to decide whether to see you or not! As servants, we can only tell the message, but we can’t make decisions for the master!" Anhua said quickly: "As long as I tell you this, I will be very grateful. Yes! After the work is done, I will be very grateful!" The servant's eyes lit up and said: "This matter is easy to handle, but how should I inform you?" Anhua said quickly: "I will temporarily stay in Yunlai. In the inn, if I have any news, please come to the Yunlai Inn to find us! Thank you again, brother!" The servant nodded and said: "Okay, that's it!" Then he shrank back and closed the door. .
Anhua returned to the crowd and said to An Bing: "The servant agreed to pass on the message. Let's go to the Yunchai Inn to stay first!" An Bing snorted and reincarnated, and everyone quickly followed him.
The servant closed the door and walked towards the backyard. He took out the broken piece of silver and tossed it around with a look of satisfaction on his face. Seeing the old butler coming towards him, he hurriedly bowed: "Old butler!" The old butler glanced at the broken silver in his hand and asked angrily: "Who is here again? You little bastards are getting more and more bold. How dare you accept bribes from outsiders!" During this period of time, people often come to the door and want to see An Qian. Although the servants in the mansion are troubled, they also benefit from it.
The servant smiled and said: "This is all stuffed by others on their own initiative. We don't insist on it. Don't ask for it for free!"
The old housekeeper snorted and warned sternly: "The rule of Yan Yun is different from that of the imperial court. There is a mountain of laws. If you give or take bribes exceeding twenty taels, you will be punished with death! You little bastards, just take it easy, you will harm yourselves." It doesn't matter if I die, but it would be a big crime to implicate the young lady!" The servant quickly agreed, but he didn't take it seriously at all. He said to himself: It's fine if we don't take the initiative to go out and cause trouble. Don't let the money given by others be in vain. , the old housekeeper is too timid!
The old housekeeper asked: "Who came just now?" The servant mocked: "It's An Bing and those people." The old housekeeper frowned and nodded, and said: "They had their house ransacked and were desperate. They must want to defect to us. Miss."
The servant said: "They want me, Miss Tongzhen, to meet them! Huh, what a daydream!" The old housekeeper said angrily: "You want to take their money in vain?" The servant said: "Old housekeeper, what are you doing? It’s not that we don’t know how arrogant they are when they gain power! Now it’s our turn to rise to prominence, wouldn’t it be a big loss if we don’t take the opportunity to retaliate against them severely!”
The old housekeeper snorted and said angrily: "It's not your turn to decide whether you want to take revenge or not! This matter must be decided by the young lady! Since you have collected money from others, you will go to the palace tomorrow to ask the young lady for help. Say hello!" The servant reluctantly agreed.
After Yang Peng finished handling his official duties, he went to see An Qian. When I walked into the room, I saw An Qian and Luo Yanran sitting side by side on the bedside, chatting happily. I couldn't help but feel relieved, and at the same time I was very surprised. Step forward. When the two women saw Yang Peng coming, they stopped talking. Luo Yanran stood up to greet them: "Brother!" An Qian sat on the bed and said happily: "Brother, are you here?" Yang Peng walked to the bed and looked at An Qian. An Qian looked at Luo Yanran again and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you guys to have such a good conversation! I was worried for nothing!" An Qian said angrily: "Brother, it's true! Do you think we are all petty?" Luo Yanran said : "Actually, we didn't become friends because we didn't know each other before! When the elder brother was away, the younger sister had a detailed chat with the younger sister Xiaoqian, and found that we have many similarities. It's really a shame that we met so late. Yeah! The two of us have become good sisters!"
Yang Peng chuckled, sat down on the edge of the bed, glanced at the two girls, and said, "I feel relieved that you two get along well!" After a pause, he said, "You still have many sisters at home. I hope You can get along so well with them!" The two girls nodded, and Anxi asked worriedly: "Brother, are these sisters very powerful?"
Yang Peng smiled, reached out and patted An Qian's cheek gently, and said, "Don't worry, they are both very good women and easy to get along with!" After hearing Yang Peng's words, the two women couldn't help but feel relieved. , but they didn’t take it seriously when their eldest brother said they were ‘very easy to get along with’. They all thought: They are naturally obedient in front of his eldest brother, but facing newcomers like us, I’m afraid they won’t be so ‘easy to get along with’. !
Luo Yanran said: "My younger sister and my younger sister Xiaoqian have already discussed it and will prepare a generous gift for all of you! I just don't know if this will violate Yanyun's laws?" An Qian nodded and looked at Yang Peng .
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Although our Yanyun law is strict, it does not go so far as to prohibit wives and concubines from giving gifts to each other. There is nothing wrong with you sisters giving gifts to each other." An Qian said happily: "That's good!" Then he said worriedly: "I'm just afraid that the sisters won't like our gifts!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "Gift-giving is the most important thing. When you give them gifts, it is a sincere intention, and they will naturally I will be very happy." The two women nodded happily.
Nuan'er came in from outside, gave Yang Peng a slight blessing, and said: "Chen Da, um, King Yan, Lord Fan Yong's messenger is here." Yang Peng nodded thoughtfully, and said to the two women with a smile: " Brother has to deal with official business and can't accompany you anymore." The two women said quickly: "Brother, please go quickly and don't worry about us!" Yang Peng got up and went out.
Arriving at the hall, the travel-worn messenger immediately bowed and said, "I pay my respects to King Yan!" He then took off a bamboo tube from his back, held it up with both hands, and said, "This is Lord Fan's autographed letter to King Yan!" Chen Xiao took the bamboo tube, pulled out his dagger and opened the mud seal, put down the dagger, unscrewed the lid, and poured out a letter. He put down the bamboo tube, opened the envelope, took out the letter paper, unfolded it and read it again, with a thoughtful look on his face and a faint look of worry.
The focus turned to Fuzhou (now Fuling). Fuzhou is the only way to enter Sichuan along the Yangtze River, straddling the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and its strategic location is very important. Therefore, when Yang Peng saw that it was difficult to win over Zhou Rong and An Bing, he ordered Fan Yong to leave Chengdu and go straight to Fuzhou to lobby Zheng Tai, the prefect of Fuzhou. If Zheng Tai could be won over, then along the Yangtze River It was difficult for the imperial army to enter Sichuan.
When Yang Peng captured Chengdu, Fan Yong had already stayed in Fuzhou for a few days. Although Zheng Tai was very polite and humble to Fan Yong, he still did not accept Fan Yong's request to submit to Yan Yun. answer. Fan Yong knew that Zheng Tai was still watching, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
This morning, Fan Yong was preparing to go to the government office. At this moment, the entourage hurried over and said: "Sir, I just saw Master Zheng's scouts riding into the city on the street. After inquiring, I learned that the 100,000 Song army led by Cao Yong was only three miles away from Fuzhou. Ten miles away!" Cao Yong is Cao Bin's third son, and the eldest son Cao Jun has joined King Yan.
Fan Yong frowned and immediately went to the government office.
Zheng Tai had already decided to defect to Yanyun, but he didn't expect that Cao Yong was marching so quickly and was only thirty miles away from Fuzhou. He was immediately panicked and didn't know what to do. At this moment, the doorman came to report that Mr. Fan was here. Zheng Tai was in a dilemma. He didn't know whether he should see him or not. After hesitating for a while, he finally decided that it would be better to meet him, so he asked the doorman to invite him. After a while, the doorman led Fan Yong to the back hall, and then left.
Zheng Tai clasped his fists with a smile on his face and said: "Mr. Fan is here, what do you want to do?" Fan Yong said with a smile: "Did Master Zheng forget the agreement you and I made yesterday?" Zheng Tai looked embarrassed and laughed dryly. voice, and then asked Fan Yong to take a seat. Fan Yong casually sat down on a chair, and Zheng Tai sat down next to him. There was a small coffee table between them. Zheng Tai shouted to the outside: "Tea!" There was a response from outside.
Zheng Tai said with a smile: "Mr. Fan, although our Fuzhou is a small place, the beautiful scenery and beautiful scenery are not easy to see in other places! Mr. Fan finally came here, I will accompany him to have fun." !" Fan Yong smiled. At this time, a beautiful maid came in with two bowls of tea on a wooden tray, put down the tea, bowed and retreated. Zheng Tai asked: "Mr. Fan, please try our Fuzhou green tea. Although it is not as refreshing as Jiangnan green tea, it has its own moving charm!"
Fan Yong picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, nodded and said: "Not bad, not bad, it is indeed very unique and has a unique charm!" Zheng Tai laughed. Fan Yong put down the tea bowl, glanced at Zheng Tai, and said with a smile: "Master Zheng is on the top of a cliff thousands of feet tall. If you don't pay attention, you will be shattered to pieces, but you can still be so elegant and talk about the fragrance of mountains, rivers and tea. It is really admirable, admirable!"
Zheng Tai's heart trembled, and he quickly asked: "Why did Mr. Fan say this?" Fan Yong said: "Cao Yong is only thirty miles away from here. Master Zheng must want to renege on his agreement with me." Zheng Tai quickly waved his hand: "No, no, no, there is absolutely no such thing!" Then he frowned and said worriedly: "It's just, it's just..."
Fan Yong smiled and said: "My coming was not kept secret. Cao Yong should have heard some rumors by now." Zheng Tai was shocked, "This, this..." Fan Yong continued: "Master Zheng, you might as well Think about it, what will Cao Yong do to the adults after entering Fuling?" Zheng Tai suddenly felt as cold as falling into an ice cave. Fan Yong said: "Cao Yong, as a general, has the right to deal with local officials on the spot. Although he is not sure whether the matter is true or false, when the army marches, the stakes are so important that there is no room for error. He would rather kill by mistake than let go. Yes! I'm afraid that once Cao Yong enters the city, Mr. Zheng's upward head will not be saved!"
Zheng Tai was terrified and said angrily: "It's all you who hurt me!" Fan Yong smiled. A fierce look suddenly appeared in Zheng Tai's eyes, and he said conspiratorially: "I have another way, which is to dedicate you to General Cao Yong. I believe General Cao Yong will not doubt me anymore!"
Fan Yong was shocked and thought to himself: "It would be terrible if this happened. I would not regret dying, but if I missed King Yan's important event, I would definitely die!" Although he was thinking this in his heart, he didn't show it at all on his face. He was still very calm and smiled, "Okay, Mr. Zheng, this is a good idea! Now that Mr. Zheng has made up his mind, what are you waiting for? This is your fate." Someone arrest me!"
Zheng Tai had already made up his mind, but when he saw Fan Yong's unafraid and apparently confident look, he couldn't help but beat his drum in his heart. He smiled awkwardly and said: "What did Mr. Fan say? How could a lower official do this?" You did such an unjust thing! I was just joking!"
Fan Yong smiled coldly and said: "It's just a joke! Otherwise, your whole family, Zheng Tai, will definitely die without a burial place! You may not know that King Yan has already wiped out the Tubo army and captured Chengdu..." Fan Yong In fact, he has not received any information from King Yan at this moment. The reason why he said this is actually just to use this method to make Zheng Tai make up his mind to completely switch to his own side in order to block Cao Yong's 100,000 army. As for the future matters, it is temporarily a matter of concern. Not available!
Zheng Tai was shocked when he suddenly heard the news about the destruction of the Tibetan army and the fall of Chengdu, and then he became suspicious: "If he had received the news from Chengdu, I should have received it too. Is he trying to trick me?" ’ He glanced at Fan Yong and asked, “But why didn’t the official receive the news?”
Fan Yong sneered and said: "How can the imperial court's intelligence system be compared with our Yanyun Army!" Then he said angrily: "This is the fact. If Master Zheng doesn't believe it, just kill me immediately!" Zheng Tai said quickly: "How dare you How dare you! I dare not offend Mr. Fan no matter what!"
Fan Yong said: "Master Zheng, you don't have much time! Make your choice quickly, you can't do both things! Whether you want to surrender to Yan Yun or work for the court, you have to think carefully! Don’t make one mistake and end up regretting it for eternity!”
Zheng Tai obeyed and was in a mess. He really didn't know what to do: if the Yanyun army really wiped out the Tubo army and occupied Chengdu, they would naturally defect to Yanyun without a doubt. However, Fan Yong's words always gave way to People feel that it is not true, but I am afraid that the real situation is far from what Fan Yong said. If Yanyun cannot capture Sichuan in the end, but he has to defect to Yanyun, he will really be asking for death! But being loyal to the imperial court is not that easy. If what Fan Yong said is true and he loyal to the imperial court without knowing what is good or bad, he will definitely not get any good results. I am afraid the end will be even worse! Yanyun Tiger and Wolf are much more fierce than the imperial soldiers and horses!
Zheng Tai couldn't make up his mind and couldn't help but look up at Fan Yong, only to see Fan Yong drinking tea slowly, as if he wasn't worried at all. Zheng Tai's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: 'He is so confident, he must be very confident! Could it be that the Yanyun Army had really wiped out the Tubo army and occupied Chengdu? The Yan Yun Army is known as the "tiger and wolf division, the best in the world". Since its rise, it has gone through countless battles without a single defeat. Even such a powerful Jin man has been placed in their hands many times and finally had to retreat outside the pass! It seems that what Fan Yong said is probably true! But if I make a mistake, I'm doomed! ' He lowered his head and was silent for a long time, and finally decided to take a gamble on him. He raised his head and clasped his fist towards Fan Yong and said, "Mr. Fan, I am willing to surrender to King Yan!"
Fan Yong was actually beating a drum in his heart. He really couldn't predict what choice Zheng Tai would make in the current situation. The two different choices were not only related to the major events of King Yan, but also related to his own life! Now that he saw Zheng Tai determined to serve his side, his anxious heart finally settled, and he breathed a sigh of relief secretly. He smiled and said: "Master Zheng made a wise decision. You will never regret this decision!" Zheng Tai thought to himself: 'I hope so! This is really a big gamble! If you win, you will continue to enjoy the glory and wealth; if you lose, you will be shattered to pieces! '
Fan Yong said: "Master Zheng, the imperial army is about to arrive. Please ask Master Zheng to quickly close the city gate and dispatch soldiers!" Now that Zheng Tai had made up his mind, he no longer half-heartedly agreed. He immediately made a promise, called his cronies, and first sent an order to close the city gate. The whole city was under martial law, and orders were immediately sent to summon the heads of various government offices and the commanders of the Xiang army. …
Cao Yong led an army of 100,000 people to travel all the way. However, the road to Shu was really difficult, and it still took them a whole day to travel thirty miles. This morning, the army finally arrived outside Fuzhou City. The army stopped. Wu Lin glanced at the city wall in the distance and subconsciously felt something was wrong. He immediately ordered his army to get into position and then sent a deputy general to call the door.
The deputy general rode his horse to the city gate, reined in his horse, and shouted toward the city gate: "General Cao Yong and his army are here, open the city gate quickly!" There was a rush of people on the city gate, and Zheng Tai and others were seen. People appeared at the city gate. The deputy general knew Zheng Tai and immediately shouted: "Master Zheng, open the city gate quickly, General Cao Yong is here!"
Zheng Tai did not reply, but gestured to the commander of the Xiang army beside him, who immediately shouted: "Hang the flag!" The Song army soldiers saw a big flag rising on the city gate tower, with a mighty head embroidered on it. The tiger with two wings on its ribs, the flying tiger war flag with two wings, the symbol of Yanyun! The officers and soldiers of the Song Army were greatly surprised. Although Cao Yong's rule was strict, there was still a great commotion in the army.
Seeing that the situation had changed, Cao Yong immediately rode his horse to the city gate, raised his head, and shouted sternly: "Zheng Tai, the officials have treated you with great kindness, but you turn your back on the Lord to seek glory. How shameless!" said Zheng Tai! : "The world belongs to the people of the world, not to the Zhao family. I betrayed the Zhao family for the sake of the people of the world, and I have a clear conscience!"
Cao Yong was furious and shouted: "How dare you rebel with such clever words! I advise you to turn back and die, lest the army breaks the city and cut you into pieces!" Zheng Tai said: "I also advise the general to turn back and die for the sake of the foolish loyalty of one family. , and become a sinner who harms the people of the world! Let me tell you the truth, King Yan has wiped out the Tubo army and captured Chengdu. If you don't know the current affairs, you will only end up with the entire army annihilated!" Zheng Tai's words Not only to tell Cao Yong, but also to the Xiang army officers and government officials under his command, so as to prevent them from being half-hearted and doing unpredictable things. Sure enough, as soon as he said these words, the original panic expressions of the Xiang army and government officials gradually disappeared.
Cao Yong was shocked when he heard Zheng Tai's words. He snorted and said loudly: "Anyone who commits injustice will be punished by his own death!" He then turned his horse's head and ran back to the army formation, followed closely by the deputy general. Immediately, Zheng Tai and others saw the Song army retreating, and cheers rang out from the city wall. However, they soon couldn't be happy anymore. Cao Yong's army only retreated ten miles and then stopped and set up camp.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
