Chang'an, August.
Shengpingfang, Duzhai, and the sweet-scented osmanthus are fragrant.
Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Lu Fengniang and her maids were preparing gifts for each family. When the gift list for Xue Zhai arrived, she hesitated.
"It's difficult. Xue Bai and I share the same mother-son relationship. This gift to Sanniang is too light, but too heavy is too harsh."
Caiyun lowered her head silently, knowing that the mistress was not really in trouble, but couldn't help but want to read the words "I share the same love with Xue Bai as mother and son" again. Because every time I say it, I don't know how envious it makes the nobles in Chang'an City.
Over there, Du Youlin came out of the main room, arranging his beard, and was going to the study. When Lu Fengniang saw him, she quickly grabbed him and said, "Alang, please slow down and help me look at the Mid-Autumn Festival gift list."
"Say it." Du Youlin stopped.
Lu Fengniang refused to talk about the business and took him aside, chatting in a low voice: "I heard Caiyun chatting with Qinglan and mentioned that the Seventeenth Niang from the Youxiang Mansion often goes to Xue's house to talk to Sanniang."
"There have been rumors about Xue Bai since he was here, but now that he is not in Chang'an, there are still such whispers. Is the young lady from the Li family going to see Yan Sanniang? How can she talk about it?"
"Aren't I just afraid that Sanniang will be closer to that side than to us?"
Hearing this reason, Du Youlin shook his head repeatedly and said impatiently: "Just have some useless idleness."
"What about Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"We'll have a family dinner and invite Yan Sanniang and her parents' family."
"But Mrs. Guo Guo still lives in Xue's house. I don't know what she has planned."
"Can you still control Mrs. Guo Guo?" Du Youlin became increasingly impatient and walked away. In the end, he failed to give a clear idea.
Now that Xue Bai is away, there are many people who want to take care of Yan Yan, and it becomes difficult to coordinate with them.
"By the way." Lu Fengniang asked again: "Alang sent someone to Jinguangmen to have a look. Why is Wulang not home yet?"
"What home is he going to?"
"Alang forgot. He is coming back to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. He said he would arrive today. I have told you many times. Are you listening?"
Instead, Du Youlin frowned and said, "If an official of the imperial court leaves his post without permission, he is not afraid of being impeached by the imperial censor."
"In this Jingzhao County, who wants to impeach him after he comes back from a break during the Mid-Autumn Festival? If you don't want your son to come back, go outside the house during the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Lu Fengniang kept chattering, but she said the harsh words after Du Youlin walked away.
She was looking forward to her son's return home with joy. After waiting for a long time, she finally heard the announcement that Wu Lang's carriage and horses had arrived.
The carriage slowly drove into the side door. Lu Fengniang stepped forward and eagerly opened the curtain, only to see Xue Yunniang sitting in the carriage holding her stomach.
For a moment, Xue Yunniang lowered her head and hesitated to speak. Lu Fengniang immediately noticed something, stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Good boy, are you pregnant?"
"Auntie." Xue Yunniang nodded.
"Please wait a little longer." Lu Fengniang was overjoyed. She gave her a hand and gave her many instructions. After entering the courtyard, she remembered to look back and asked, "Where's Wu Lang? He's not here to help you either."
"Goro and his friends are going to do some business."
"Xue Bai is not in Chang'an, how can he still have friends? Which one?"
"He is the young master from Uncle Yang's house."
Lu Fengniang was originally happy, but when she heard that her son was interacting with Yang Xuan, her smile became much more forced.
When she went to talk to Du Youlin, Du Youlin was pleased at first, then turned sullen and said displeasedly: "The rebellious son didn't go home immediately, but went to associate with those dandy boys. He simply didn't learn how to learn..." Rui, go and find Wulang."
When the dusk drum started to sound, Quan Rui took Du Wulang back home in a hurry.
They rushed to the study, and Du Youlin asked: "Where did you go? If I didn't send the steward to find you, would you have stayed up all night?!"
"Ah?" Du Wulang felt wronged and explained: "The child originally planned to come back, but because the housekeeper came, he was delayed for a while."
"You still dare to quibble? After becoming an official, you became glib." Du Youlin scolded, "What did you and that dude do?"
Du Wulang had never wanted to be this official, but his grandfather had to say all the good and bad things. He was not enterprising at first, but now he is glib.
He was helpless and responded honestly: "Grandpa, don't worry, we did a good deed."
Du Youlin just asked a question. When he didn't hear the answer, he waved his son away impatiently. His eyes fell back on the book and he didn't want to pay attention to the matter. As a result, the word "good deeds" came to his ears, and he became more suspicious. , please note that those Chang'an rangers regard prostitution as a good deed to help weak women.
Seeing Du Wulang's retreating figure, Du Youlin thought for a while and asked Quan Rui, "Where did he go today?"
"When I went to the Yang family's villa, Wulang really did a good deed. He redeemed a family."
"Whose family?"
"It's an old woman, a boy of seven or eight years old, and a young lady of fourteen or fifteen years old."
Du Youlin threw away the book in his hand and said, "He is forbidden to have any further contact with Yang Xuan."
~~
"Me? Taking a concubine?"
The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, but Du Wulang was suddenly asked a few questions by his two sisters, and he quickly shook his head.
"Grandpa misunderstood me. That's not...that's Zheng Guiniang. Her brother was the same year as me. He was captured by Nanzhao when he was the magistrate of Xulu County. I thought that I could not let the people who served the country feel cold, so I helped him. A handful at home.”
When Nanzhao was mentioned, Du Jin couldn't help but pay attention and asked: "Your surname is Zheng? What's your name?"
"Zheng Hui."
Du Wei thought for a moment and said, "Where have I seen this name before?"
She vaguely remembered seeing it in a document that Xue Bai compiled before setting off, but she had lost contact with Xue Bai for more than a month. The last time he wrote to him was when he was in Yizhou, saying that he would soon join the army in secret. Rush.
He also said humorously that the next time he should attack Taihe City was to write a letter in the city.
But Du Wei couldn't help but worry.
"If sister sees this name, she must have noticed that I am in the same year when she was looking at the list for me." Du Wulang said, "In short, I am in love with Yun Niang, so I must have no intention of keeping a concubine."
"I didn't see it when I was looking at the list." Du Wei shook her head.
She had never looked at Du Wulang's Ming Jing list at that time. After thinking for a while, she suddenly turned around and left.
"Sister, where are you going?" Du Wulang asked hurriedly: "There will be a family dinner soon, I..."
Before she finished speaking, Du Jin hurried away with Du Wei.
"I rushed back to reunite with my family." No one could hear the rest of Du Wulang's words, so he whispered to himself, "It's hard to take a break."
He has felt that the atmosphere of this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is a bit deserted because Xue Bai is not here.
Although Xue Bai was not originally a member of the Du family, he is now a very important presence.
~~
There are several document warehouses in the backyard of Fengwei Building in Daozhengfang, where the collected information is hidden.
In the evening, the Du sisters walked through the corridor and saw candles burning in a house. They couldn't help but look at each other, both worried. When they opened the door, it turned out that Da Xi Yingying was still at the desk sorting out news.
"Why are you staying here alone during the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"There is new news." Da Xi Yingying stood up and said, "Li Linfu did not go to the Mid-Autumn Festival Royal Banquet."
"Yeah?"
As far as Du Jin knew, Li Linfu never missed several imperial banquets even when he was the most seriously ill. Tonight's news revealed something strange.
"What's his reason?"
"He claimed that he was repairing the tomb of his ancestors and was fasting, so he complained to the saint on this basis."
"No." Du Jin shook his head and said, "I'm afraid he is seriously ill. We must find a way to confirm this."
Now there is a war in Nanzhao. If Li Linfu is critically ill at this time, the situation will inevitably be turbulent. Xue Bai was not in Chang'an, but Du Jin still hoped that there would be less accidents.
After talking about this matter for a while, Du Wei asked, "Have you ever seen the name Zheng Hui?"
Da Xi Yingying shook her head.
"It's the magistrate of Xilu County who was captured by Nanzhao."
"Lang Jun does have a list of officials in the southwest..."
It is said to be a list, but in fact there are many scrolls, recording officials from various counties in the southwest, as well as various battle reports during the Nanzhao rebellion.
But there is a problem. Many of the battle reports are incomplete. With the chaos in the southwest, it was impossible to deliver all the detailed information to Chang'an.
To this end, Xue Bai drew another map and marked various vague battle reports on it to deduce which places had fallen and which places were still holding on.
Among them, Xilu County was circled by him with the word "trap" written on the side. In the official list, Zheng Hui also had the word "trap" written next to his name. Of course, there is not only one Zheng Hui with these markings, but hundreds of officials.
Only then did Du Wei remember something.
"When Xue Bai was in Chang'an, did he investigate these officials who were trapped in Nanzhao?"
"Yes." Du Jin took out a few documents and said, "But a lot of the news only arrived after he left Chang'an."
"Why is he checking this?"
Du Jin walked to the shelf and looked at it for a while, then took out a bunch of scrolls, rummaged through them, and finally handed one of the papers to Du Jin.
That was what Xue Bai recorded after meeting Zhangchou Jianqiong. The first sentence he wrote was "The strongest fortress is often breached from the inside", followed by the details of Zhangchou Jianqiong's attack on Anrong City, and then Later, the situation in Taihe City and Anrong City was compared.
"He checked these to find an insider who attacked Taihe City."
"Is it possible that Zheng Hui could become his internal agent?"
Du Jin said: "It's hard to say, but we have to pass the news to him and let him know about it."
"But we still can't contact him."
"Yang Guozhong can do it. For this matter, Yang Xuan can be used to take our people to Yizhou."
After discussing this, it was already too late for the two sisters to return to Du's house for the family dinner. There was a curfew in Chang'an City, making it difficult to move around.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, they were trapped in this small courtyard. They looked up at the sky and saw a bright moon in the sky. It was "thousands of miles apart to share the beauty of the moon".
~~
The same night, the big meadow.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xue Bai was sitting on the grass, looking up at the moon, thinking about nothing.
He has always wanted too much and has been busy in the world. He rarely has the opportunity to be in the world and feel nature without any distractions.
After a while, Wang Zhongsi came over and sat down directly next to Xue Bai.
"I interrogated the Tibetan prisoners and they are going to Langqiong."
"Where is the wave dome?"
Xue Bai first took out the map from his sleeve and spread it out under the bright moonlight.
Wang Zhongsi said: "Langqiong should be said to be a tribe, called 'Langqiong Zhao' in the middle. During the Kaiyuan period, Langqiong Zhao united with the three Zhaos to attack Nanzhao. Nanzhao defeated them with the support of our army, and Langqiong Zhao They retreated to Jianchuan, and were later unified by Nanzhao. Their current chief is named Duoluowang, and he is very close to Tubo."
"Interesting." Xue Bai said: "It can be seen that Tubo cannot trust Ge Luofeng and hopes that Liuzhao can return to its chaotic state?"
Tubo was obviously wooing Nanzhao while supporting Lang Qiong and dividing Ge Luofeng's power.
Xue Bai was thinking that when the Tang army attacked Nanzhao, they might be able to take advantage of their differences to prevent Tubo from supporting Nanzhao so quickly.
Wang Zhongsi said: "Tubo is leaning on Xiangye Le. Now he is in Langqiong, waiting for the team that we defeated to join him, because the Tubo princess is in this team."
Xue Baigang made a mark in Jianchuan. He was a little surprised when he heard this and asked: "Is there a Tibetan princess among our prisoners?"
"No, she led the remaining troops and escaped from the lower reaches of the Dadu River." Wang Zhongsi said, "The little girl escaped very quickly."
"Is Commander Jie worried that she will rush to Nanzhao to report the news?"
Wang Zhongsi shook his head and said: "She only has about twenty people left. Without a guide, horses, or food, it is impossible for her to run in front of us."
Xue Bai understood immediately and asked, "What does that mean? We dress up as a bride-sent-off team?"
"Yes, Xue Lang is good at planning, so I will leave this matter to you, how about it?"
Not long ago, Wang Tianyun said that Wang Zhongsi was not as good at deceiving as Gao Xianzhi. Unexpectedly, Wang Zhongsi made arrangements in the blink of an eye.
Of course, it would be difficult for the entire Tang army to pretend to be the Fan army, so Xue Bai selected two regiments of nearly 500 people, put on the clothes of the Fan army, and marched ahead as the vanguard. There were no women in the army, only Dejimedo and her daughter, so he put the little girl in gorgeous clothes, and Dejimedo pretended to be a maid to take care of her.
Luo Zhui was very worried about this.
But he was no longer favored by the Tang army. He confided to the Tubo princess the truth about the Tang army, and a Tibetan soldier reported it to the Tang army. Fortunately, the Tibetan soldiers did not hear what they talked about specifically. Luo Zhui denied it in every possible way, only saying that he had used false information to mislead the Tibetan ministers.
Wang Zhongsi obviously saw through his mind and finally said: "Your head is with me. If Taihe City cannot be captured, they and their daughter will be the interest."
Luo Zhui understood the word "interest" and was shocked.
He thought again, now that he had escaped from the Tang army, where could he be safe? Yak Ministry? He betrayed Tubo and could only follow the Tang army to the end.
Whatever else, at least he was still with his family.
This Mid-Autumn Festival, he had a better time than many people in the Tang army.
…
The next day, the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed, and the Tang army continued to march.
As Xue Bai's personal guard, Zhao Yuliang also walked among the ranks of the vanguard army.
But after the battle at Dashuzhai, the soldiers greeted him with the phrase "ten thousand enemies."
Zhao Yuliang was extremely unaccustomed to it. He waved his hands repeatedly every time and said anxiously that he was not worthy of such a title.
"Li Xiaowei killed the yak chief with one arrow and was called the 'enemy of ten thousand people'. You killed the Tibetan minister with one shot. Why can't you be called 'the enemy of ten thousand people'?"
"That is, don't make it appear that our soldiers from Hedong are inferior to those from Longyou."
"But I'm not Hedong..."
Zhao Yuliang's voice became softer and softer, and he couldn't explain clearly in the end.
But what worried him even more was that his matchlock was broken.
After shooting Lun Ruozan, he fired a few more shots, some hitting and some missing, killing two Tibetan generals. It became more and more laborious to load at that time, and then it got even more stuck.
Zhao Yuliang showed the matchlock gun to Xue Bai and said that the barrel had been deformed and was useless. Fortunately, it did not explode.
"Lang Jun, can it be repaired?"
"It can't be repaired, just bury it. It must be destroyed." Xue Bai said, actually removing the various parts of the matchlock gun.
Zhao Yuliang felt distressed when he saw it, and said again: "Mr. Lang, would you like to repair it? Without it, I won't be able to kill the enemy."
The big man stood there as if he was about to cry.
"Really?" Xue Bai asked back, "Without the weapon at hand, you can't kill the enemy?"
Zhao Yuliang failed to understand the meaning of this sentence and was stunned.
"There will always be weapons, but weapons are just the icing on the cake, at least today. Whether it can help you increase your experience on the battlefield, your confidence when taking action, and your courage to move forward, that is the most important thing."
Xue Bai has torn apart the firecracker in his hand. This is the first batch of firearms made. It is not easy to use. If it breaks, it will break. But for many of the first people who followed him through life and death, he hoped that they would always be there and become stronger and stronger.
At this time, Zhao Yuliang still didn't understand this expectation. Fortunately, Xue Bai promised to give him a better gun in the future.
On that day, Zhao Yuliang also received a military order. He was ordered to lead a small group of people to explore the road ahead. The next Tubo fortress on the path of the Tang army was Menghuo City.
At first, he felt uneasy without the gun hanging on him.
A soldier named Huang Dinghuo in the army asked: "There are ten thousand enemies, why don't you bring your fire stick to kill the enemy general?"
"It's no longer useful."
"Your aim is accurate. Your archery skills must be good. Use my bow. My bow is heavy."
"I can't pull it open, I'm weak."
"Just tell me who you want to shoot. My archery skills are not bad either." Huang Dinghuo said with a smile.
Zhao Yuliang became more confident. From a farmer who knew nothing, he finally looked like a veteran.
~~
Nanzhao, Taihe City.
Zheng Hui walked into the royal city and soon felt the rapid changes in the royal city. Ge Luofeng was establishing his own organization, and the specifications of many carvings and furnishings in the royal city had been changed, making them much more majestic.
They were led all the way to the main hall. There was a huge map in the hall. Ge Luofeng was sitting at the top, discussing matters with the generals.
"I have met the King of Yunnan." Zheng returned the greeting, lowering his head and not daring to look.
He promised that he was just a teacher. If he read too much, he would inevitably be taken advantage of by Ge Luofeng.
"Mr. Zheng is here. Come on, give me a seat." Ge Luofeng said enthusiastically, "Sir, please wait for a while until I finish discussing military affairs."
"Then I'll avoid it first..."
"No, no, it's not a secret. Sit down peacefully."
Ge Luofeng comforted Zheng Hui and continued to say to everyone: "Where did we talk just now? Xianyu Zhongtong has led the Tang army to Shicheng."
Zheng Hui listened silently and thought in his mind. He guessed that the saint was deprived of his power and might send troops to Nanzhao. But in his opinion, now that the Prime Minister of Tibet has led his troops to watch on the sidelines of Langqiong, and the idea is to fight for the benefit of the fisherman, the wisest way for the Tang Dynasty is to negotiate peace with Nanzhao and use other means besides fighting. Means to solve,.
Coincidentally, Ge Luofeng had the same idea and sighed: "The letter Mr. Zheng wrote on my behalf has been sent to Shicheng. Every word is sincere. I also agree that the Tang Dynasty restored Yaozhou and Anning City in Yunnan, but Xianyu Zhongtong did not. If you are willing to surrender, what should you do?"
These words were well prepared, and he was obviously prepared to win over Zheng Hui.
Zheng Hui knew this, but he hoped that Nanzhao could return to the Tang Dynasty, so he asked: "What is the mission of the King of Yunnan?"
"Sir, please write another letter of surrender for me. I will submit it to Xianyu Zhongtong and ask him to call off the war. How about that?"
Zheng Hui was confused at first. He secretly thought that Xianyu Zhongtong had sent troops to Shicheng and would never turn back easily. So what was the meaning of repeatedly submitting letters of surrender?
The next moment he understood that the letter of surrender he had written was beautifully written and could not be written by people from Nanzhao. Xianyu Zhongtong would definitely ask who ghostwritten for Ge Luofeng. If this happened, he would never be able to return to the Tang Dynasty again.
He couldn't help but feel confused, and when he raised his hand again, he saw Ge Luofeng looking at him with eyes full of expectation.
So, he had some thoughts in his mind and couldn't help but relax.
~~
Stone City.
After Xianyu Zhongtong passed through Wuchi Road and went all the way south, he had to rest in Shicheng and wait for the follow-up troops.
In Shicheng, he received a letter of surrender from Ge Luofeng.
The surrender letter seemed humble and full of sincerity, but it actually contained a hidden threat.
One moment he said that the Tubo "watched the waves" and "guided each other with benefits", and the other warned the Tang army that "the only way to survive is to think about gains and losses." Even if what he said was true, in Xianyu Zhongtong's eyes, it was still a lie. The face of a villain who is successful.
He was fine at first, but after reading the letter of surrender, he wished he could tear Geluofeng into eight pieces, so he decisively rejected Nanzhao's request to surrender and led his troops to continue advancing.
Facing the pressure of the Tang army, Nanzhao had strengthened its walls, cleared the country, and concentrated its troops. Therefore, Xianyu Zhongtong advanced quite smoothly on this section of the road.
By the time the Double Ninth Festival was approaching, he had arrived at Dianchi Lake.
In Dianchi Lake, he received the second letter of surrender from Ge Luofeng.
He still had that humble tone, but in the end, Ge Luofeng actually questioned Xianyu Zhongtong.
"From ancient times to the present, I have been a minister of the Han Dynasty who will not invade or rebel. Nowadays, I am greedy for merit and betrayal of good deeds in Jiedu. If I want to cause supreme and no king, I dare to tell the emperor and the empress?"
Xianyu Zhongtong couldn't help but became furious.
It is said that Nanman is simple-minded, but in his opinion, Ge Luofeng is extremely cunning.
It was obvious that Ge Luofeng had different intentions, captured Yaozhou, killed Zhang Qiantuo, occupied thirty-two prefectures, and colluded with Tibet. However, he said that he became a "non-rebellious minister"? !
On the contrary, he did not follow Zhongtong's orders to punish the thieves, but he became "greedy for merit and negative for good", and he was unworthy of the emperor and empress?
What's even more annoying is that he couldn't even argue with Ge Luofeng. He lost the magnanimity of the Tang Jiedushi for no reason and was criticized by the censor.
Feeling so angry that he felt dizzy, Xianyu Zhongtong suddenly narrowed his eyes and noticed a small thing.
Although these two letters of surrender are stamped with the seal of the King of Yunnan, just looking at the literary style and handwriting, we can tell that they were not written by Ge Luofeng, but someone close to him must have written them for him. But I don’t know which dirty villain he is.
"Go and ask the envoys sent by Nanzhao what they mean by sending this filthy letter, and who wrote it?"
"Here."
This matter was not difficult to find out. The Tang army simply detained the Nanzhao envoy, tortured him, and asked him all the questions he could.
"Hui Jie Shuai, the letter was written by Zheng Hui, the magistrate of Xilu County who surrendered to Nanzhao. Zheng Hui has now been appointed as Nanzhao's king division and has been appointed to an important position in Nanzhao."
"Zheng Hui?"
Xianyu Zhongtong had some impression of this person and knew that he had good political achievements in office, so he became even more angry about it.
He then added to the report he submitted to the court, telling the court that the magistrate of Xilu County was not just captured, but had completely betrayed the Tang Dynasty.
(End of chapter)
