A few days later, Jiang Yuan was about to leave the palace, holding a whole basket of paper orchids folded by her own hands.
Several lieutenants stopped her: "Princess Jiang Yuan, where are you going? You cannot leave the palace without permission from the Marquis."
Seeing Zhu Yuancun returning from military training from a distance, Jiang Yuan began to burst into tears and sobbed:
"I would like to ask you all to be well, generals. The Qingming Festival is approaching, and I would like to go to the Imperial Mausoleum of the Qi family to pay homage to my ancestors."
The deputy general lowered his head and looked at the fully packed paper orchid.
In Qi State, white orchid is indeed a memorial object, but it is only the first day of February. White orchid is a summer flower and cannot be found. It is understandable that she made it by folding so many papers.
The deputy general shook his head, and his voice was a bit fierce: "No, it's too early for Qingming Festival. You are leaving the palace today to pay homage. What is your purpose? Tell me!"
Seeing Zhu Yuancun walking towards the palace gate, several strong lieutenants turned their backs to Jiang Yuan and surrounded her to cover her body. She had a plan in mind and directly After scattering paper flowers, he fell straight behind him, making a lot of movement.
Even then, he didn’t do anything to her! Why did she fall?
The lieutenants looked at me and I stared at you. Before they could react, they heard Zhu Yuancun yelling from behind: "Yuanyuan! What are you doing again?"
He jumped off his horse, strode forward, pushed past the lieutenants, and picked up Jiang Yuan who was sitting on the ground in agony and pain. He looked at the lieutenants with a cold expression on his face:
"How many times have I said that bullying the weak is definitely not the behavior of a big country. Why do you guys keep attacking her again and again?"
One of the lieutenants named Yuan Heng was a branch of the Yuan family and was related to Yuan Haoyu. The two could barely be considered cousins. Yuan Heng said aggrievedly:
"We didn't have anyone to push her! She fell down on her own, just to show off to Mr. Marquis."
Jiang Yuan was crying so much that she could hardly breathe. She frowned in a low voice: "I know that you all have always disliked me. You only blame me for being the orphan of the whole family..."
When the lieutenants saw her looking like this again, they all sneered and turned around, deliberately avoiding her. Yuan Heng even said angrily:
"Okay, okay, everything is our fault, right? I can't afford to serve you, the old princess of Qi. Mr. Marquis, you don't need to say anything. We brothers can go down and get the boards ourselves."
Another lieutenant general responded to him angrily: "Tsk, after this meal, I will quit my job and go back to Xijing to be with my wife and children."
The friction between Jiang Yuan and General Qin was not limited to this one. There were many more conflicts. Judging from the increasingly disappointed expressions of his subordinates day after day, Zhu Yuancun himself also had doubts. Could it be that he was really single-minded in the past? Protecting Jiang Yuan and wrongfully accusing someone?
Zhu Yuancun stopped them: "Stop! Did I say I would punish you?"
Yuan Heng and others paused, and most of the frustration on their faces instantly disappeared.
Zhu Yuancun: "Please carefully explain what happened just now."
After he heard what had just happened, he lowered his head and looked at Jiang Yuan seriously: "Yuan Yuan, tell the truth, were you really bullied by them?"
Jiang Yuan choked up and said, "When did I say they bullied me? I just said they didn't like me..."
Yuan Heng: "Come again."
Zhu Yuancun: "There are still two months left in Qingming Festival. Why are you in such a hurry to pay homage to your ancestors at this time?"
Jiang Yuan: "If I don't go now, when His Majesty comes to Langya, you will all follow him back to Xijing, and I will follow him back. Then there will be no chance."
Zhu Yuancun put Jiang Yuan down and threw a big silver coin to Yuan Hengruo:
"Since it was a misunderstanding, you should not make each other angry. Princess, she was wrong to pay tribute to the ancestors, and you are right to perform your duties. What happened today was my fault, and I apologize to everyone."
Although the people in front of him are his lieutenants, who among them is not older than him?
As a junior, he naturally said his words sincerely, but it made Yuan Heng and others blush.
Zhu Yuancun said: "I am the host. You can take this money and go to the city to find a good restaurant and have a good meal. Today, I will stand here to guard the palace gate for you."
Yuan Heng and others knew that he was a man of truth, so they resigned and said, "Thank you, Lord Marquis."
After they left, Zhu Yuancun bent down and personally picked up Jiang Yuanzhe's paper white orchids back into the basket: "Go ahead, paying homage is a big deal. I will send a small team to protect you."
Jiang Yuan shook her head: "Don't worry, Langya are all my former subjects. No one will hurt me, so I won't bother you."
Zhu Yuancun smiled and hugged her: "Okay, come back early."
…
Jiang Yuan went to the imperial mausoleum of Emperor Qi Su, the third monarch of Qi.
She hid in the house where the tomb keeper used to live, with the window half-opened, raising dust on her hands. She raised her hand and waved, and made three strange bird calls to the outside world.
Half an hour later, a group of people had gathered in the room, all of them were generals from Qi who had surrendered to Da Qin.
The leader is an extraordinary-looking young man with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes. His name is Ji Yang. He is a clan member of the Qi family. His mother is the eldest princess of Qi State. She was also the former Qi State’s cavalry general and concurrently served as Xuzhou Mu. Official position.
Ji Yang spread out the map drawn on the coarse cloth and pointed at Xuzhou: "Cousin, are you sure that the tyrant and his party want to enter Langya via Xuzhou?"
Jiang Yuan nodded: "It's absolutely true. Zhu Yuancun accidentally revealed it to me when he was drunk a few days ago."
Ji Yang's hand clenched tightly into a fist: "Xuzhou is good, Xuzhou is my territory, and Yan Thief will die without a complete body."
Jiang Yuan frowned: "It's just that Sun Tianchan was also present that day. This person has always been cunning. I think he has already informed Xijing and asked Yan to change the path."
Ji Yang smiled and pinched her chin: "It seems like our troops should gather in Yanzhou."
Jiang Yuan didn't know why: "Why?"
Ji Yang: "Since Sun Tianchan has informed Yan Thief, with his vigilance, the troops will still be divided into two groups, but this time he will change the route through Longshan Pass and Yanzhou and enter Langya."
"As for the other group of troops coming from Xuzhou, they just want to show us, so that the mantis can catch the cicada and the oriole behind."
Jiang Yuan: "Cousin is so sure that he will change his route? It has been half a year since the civil servants sent by him have been here. The people and even most of the generals have changed their views on the Qin people. We have too few people to gather. , you really can’t use it in the wrong place.”
Ji Yang shook his head: "You don't understand. Yan Xiu is cunning and has strong martial arts skills, so he is not easy to assassinate. Have you ever heard that he has been the king for more than ten years, but he was able to survive four assassinations? The one with the best chance of success. Back when he was nineteen years old, an assassin from the Zhou Kingdom wanted to kill him in the court in the name of offering a treasure, but to his surprise, he took the sword with his bare hands and tore off the assassin's arm."
"A person like him, who is suspicious and cherishes his life, will never enter the capital from Xuzhou again even if there is even half a risk of threatening his life."
Jiang Yuan suddenly realized that everyone in the room was carefully planning to assassinate Qin. Finally, before they dispersed as the sky grew dark, she had an idea and hurriedly explained:
"Remember, when it is really urgent and you have no choice but to get close to him, you will seize his favorite Zhu Zhaoyi and hold her hostage."
