The cold wind blows from the northwest, whistling over the gray Zhuangzi, and crystal snowflakes fall from the low and jagged clouds, like thousands of pear blossoms, falling from the sky to the world, intertwining into a hazy white curtain .
The winter snow that had been brewing for several days finally fell.
In front of the gate of Zhuangzi, Nie Ya took Lin Wanwan's hand and said reluctantly: "I won't go back with you today. It will be New Year's Eve in two days. My brother and I agreed to stay here. Stay up late and wait a few days before I go back to find you."
Lin Wanwan smiled and patted her hand and said, "You finally reunited with General Nie and Mr. Jiang, so why rush back? Why don't you stay here for a while and spend time with them."
Nie Ya's eyes dimmed for a moment, then she shook her head and sighed: "Not long ago, my brother's deputy general sent a message, informing my brother that the generals and supervisors sent by Emperor Dehui to take over the Nie family's army had arrived. At the border, the officers and soldiers of the Nie family army were unwilling to obey, so they imprisoned them and others, and blocked the news, waiting for their elder brother to return to the border to take charge of the overall situation. Therefore, in a few days, the elder brother would leave to sneak back to the border, and return to the border. Reorganize the Nie family's army, and then just wait for the Young Master's order to send the army south and attack Huanglong."
Lin Wanwan quickly caught the reluctance in her eyes, and she couldn't help but feel a little moved in her heart. The stars were separated by the rain, and the mountains and rivers were far apart. Once upon a time, she had also deeply experienced the pain of separation.
She sighed silently and asked quietly: "Sisters have never thought about returning to the border with General Nie? Did Su Jin deliberately stop it?"
Lin Wanwan knew very well that the reason why Nie Shu turned to Su Jin was that he was disheartened by what Emperor Dehui had done, and also because Su Jin had a favor for the Nie family, which he could not think of. But more importantly, he has now turned against Nanling. In order to protect the people around him, he had to borrow money from Liu Xia.
Although the Nie Family Army is nominally an army of the imperial court, tracing back to its origins, it is actually recruited and trained by the Nie Family, and is a private military system. But since Nie Shu was demoted to guard the border, the imperial court began to withhold the military pay issued to the Nie family army. In addition, it was embezzled by other officials along the way. There was almost nothing left in the hands of the soldiers. Then the border gradually became peaceful, and the imperial court directly The salary of the Nie family army was cut off, leaving only some farmland for them to be self-sufficient. How could the soldiers who were accustomed to charging into battle with swords be willing to become rural farmers?
The Nie family's army was brave and good at fighting, and was quite famous among the four countries. The Nanling court used them to intimidate the border, but it was unwilling to allocate food and salary, and wanted them to fend for themselves at the border. It used the military salary originally allocated to the Nie family's army to re-train the army, hoping to bring it back to the border. Instead, this kind of unkind and unjust behavior may have already angered the officers and soldiers of the Nie family army.
In these years, the Nie family's army has been supported by the money and food saved by the Nie family in the past. The Nie family's army is not so much the court's army as it is the Nie family's private army. But if it were another year and a half, Nie Shu might not be able to support this army. At this time, the appearance of Su Jin was undoubtedly a timely blessing. He was rich and powerful, and he could also serve as a soldier for the Nie family army. They have a good future and are the most suitable people to take over the Nie family army, so Nie Shu chose to take refuge under Su Jin without hesitation.
Although Nie Shu once swore to follow Su Jin to the death, the one the Nie family army swore to be loyal to was not Su Jin, but Nie Shu.
I'm afraid Su Jin has already calculated these situations clearly. A scheming person like him, who raised the Nie family army for Nie Shu, would not be so generous as to let Nie Ya return to the border with Nie Shu. He would definitely keep Nie Ya as a bargaining chip. After all, people are unpredictable. Shu then had other thoughts, at least he would take Nie Ya into consideration and did not dare to act rashly.
Hearing this, Nie Ya just looked at her deeply, her eyes a little subtle, and then she shook her head with a smile and said: "Young Master has never stopped me from going to the border pass. It's because I don't want to go. The border pass is a place of bitter cold." The land, and it is a military camp, is full of seven-foot-old men. It is inconvenient for me, a woman, to go there. Besides, the young master’s great work has not yet been completed, and my brother will have even more important responsibilities in the future. How can I let him distract himself from taking care of me? ?Uncle Jiang and Hengyu will live here for the time being, and if I stay, I can at least come and visit in my spare time."
Lin Wanwan's eyes moved slightly, with a hint of confusion in her complicated eyes, and then she smiled helplessly, "I never expected that my sisters and General Nie would be willing to do this for him."
Nie Ya's words were very sincere, but in fact they were a bit high-sounding. It was not that she was unwilling to return to the border with Nie Shu, but she stayed here voluntarily and was willing to become a bargaining chip in Su Jin's hands.
Lin Wanwan couldn't help but sneer in her heart. Su Jin was really good at attacking the heart and emotions. She could use retreat to advance with one move.
She was very curious at the beginning, why Su Jin didn't take action when the situation in Nanling was so turbulent. Now I know that he has played a big game. After waiting for so many years for General Nie Shu and his Nie family army, while planning Nanling, he also planned to recruit talents. It is really in line with his usual behavior. style.
There is a hexagram in "Zhouyi": "Youfu, Guangheng." The meaning is: to break through dangerous situations, you must be good at waiting. If you are sincere, you will have a bright and accessible future.
A mediocre person makes plans, a wise person makes plans. Those who plan the situation are more important than having deep plans and far-sighted calculations. Those who do not plan for the future will not be able to plan for a moment; those who do not plan for the overall situation will not be able to plan for a region. Planning for the future is achieved through creation.
Su Jin seemed to trust Nie Shu very much, and was willing to let Nie Ya go back to Nie Shu. She did not reserve any backup options. In fact, she was playing hard to get. This kind of complete and unreserved trust was what impressed Nie Shu and Nie Ya the most. A person who is born after the general's sect and whose righteousness is as thin as the sky.
Nie Shu is a young and talented man, full of blood and pride. He only hopes to be appreciated by the Heavenly Family and be able to serve his family and country with his full blood like General Nie. It's a pity that Emperor Dehui was ignorant and feared that Nie Shu would be superior to his master, so he suppressed him in every possible way. He even tried to dismantle the Nie family's military power and let Nie Shu bury his talents. Su Jin's trust and appreciation for him also increased. Let Nie Shu rekindle his passion and regard him as his Bole.
Su Jin's move was to attack people's hearts. The more trust he showed in the Nie brothers and sisters, the more loyal they would be to him, and they would even voluntarily become pawns and be used by him willingly.
Just as Lin Wanwan expected, Nie Ya admitted generously: "Young Master is not an unkind person, he is a rare gentleman with clear righteousness. I voluntarily asked Young Master to stay, and my brother also agreed very much." "
Lin Wanwan saw that Nie Ya's clear eyes were as bright as spring flowers. She pursed her lips. After all, she still couldn't bear to dash that glimmer of hope.
She gently brushed the snowflakes off Nie Ya's shoulders and said with a smile, "Then I will wait in the yard for the two sisters to come back."
Nie Ya smiled and nodded before sending Lin Wanwan into the carriage.
