When Jiang Wan saw Huang Hao coming to announce himself, he guessed what His Majesty was thinking.
I know that His Majesty has seen the clues and wants me to reveal the truth.
His Majesty did not raise this matter in the court, for the sake of the court's face, and because he did not want to embarrass himself.
Now when His Majesty met, he spoke fiercely and directly asked him what he was hiding. Jiang Wan knew that he could not avoid it.
"Your Majesty, this... I really did not have an affair with the Wu State, but I had a family letter exchange with a relative of the Wu State a few days ago.
Originally it was just a private matter at home. Maybe Sun Quan misunderstood the relative of the minister, so he ordered Xue Zong to come to find out the truth. "
"Oh? Is there such a thing? But since you are from Jingzhou, and the Wu Kingdom now occupies most of the land in Jingzhou, it is normal to have a few relatives in the Wu Kingdom's court."
Jiang Wan felt relieved when he saw that His Majesty was in a much better mood.
"Your Majesty, I don't mean to hide anything. It's just that the purpose of Xue Zong's visit is not clear yet, and I don't dare to conclude that this matter is related to my family letter. Therefore, I hesitate to avoid any complications."
"In that case, I was wrong to blame Gongyan.
If it is convenient for you, please tell me the name and identity of that relative, as well as the contents of your family letters.
Maybe it really has something to do with Xue Zong's visit? "
"Since your Majesty is here to ask, it is naturally not inconvenient for me."
After Jiang Wan organized his thoughts, he said seriously:
"In the ninth year of Jianxing of the Han Dynasty and the third year of Wu Huanglong's reign, Sun Quan ordered my cousin Wu Zhitaichang Pan Jun to accompany Lu Dai into Wuling and other places to conquer the Wuxi barbarians.
Now that the war is coming to an end, Pan Jun returns to Lu Xun's office in Wuchang to report on his duties.
It happened that at this time, Your Majesty promoted me to the position of Shangshu Ling, leading the affairs of the General's office.
When my brother heard the news, he felt that my promotion and the three years of conquest were a double blessing.
Then he wrote a letter to express his congratulations to me. I thought this was just an ordinary letter from home, so I wrote back a letter to express my gratitude.
Because this is a normal family letter, I have never brought this matter to the table.
Now that I think about it, could it be that the exchange of family letters between my brothers was used by the treacherous villain in the Wu Dynasty, just to take the opportunity to provoke discord between the two countries, or to harm Pan Jun? "
"No wonder you wanted to speak several times yesterday, but you never said it.
It's just that it's not convenient for you to state it directly before you understand Xue Zong's intention.
In my opinion, this matter does have a certain connection with Xue Zong's visit. "
After saying that, Li Shimin put together many details and carefully weighed them based on what he had seen and heard in the past two days.
"After much thought, I feel that this matter may be Xue Zong's true intention.
However, it was related to the friendship between the two countries, and it also involved Gong Yan, an important official in Shu, so Xue Zong did not dare to point it out directly.
Moreover, when I was in the court today, I saw that Xue Zong seemed to attach great importance to Gong Yan.
No matter how they quarreled, they never took their eyes off Gongyan, and most of his words mentioned Gongyan's name.
For the current plan, we can only resolve the misunderstanding as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams. "
Jiang Wan couldn't help but worry when he heard this:
"It's just that, although we have this conjecture, what if Xue Zong's original intention is not above this matter?"
Li Shimin looked at Jiang Wan and said profoundly:
"I have already considered this matter in my mind, Gongyan only needs to..."
Jiang Wan became even more worried after hearing this.
"Your Majesty, this...this may not be good..."
Just as Li Shimin was about to speak, Zhang Yan suddenly jumped out and said disdainfully:
"Hmph! Fortunately, you are still the minister of law and the head of hundreds of officials! How come you are so cautious in doing things?
I think Brother Adou's method is very clever. Now both parties can't lose face, and the misunderstanding can be resolved.
It's just that Mr. Jiang has to sacrifice some of his own image. "
When Jiang Wan saw Zhang Yan coming to provoke him, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and said:
"Ah! I can't care about that much anymore. I will risk my life for the sake of the country!"
Seeing Jiang Wan being so aggrieved in front of everyone for the first time, everyone couldn't help laughing.
After laughing, Li Shimin ordered:
“Now that the plan has been decided, it will be implemented tonight without further ado.
Jiang Wan, you go down and prepare first. You are the protagonist tonight. You must not lose your dignity and mess up this matter. "
After Jiang Wan heard this, he calmed down and said solemnly:
"In the affairs of the country, I should do my best. Not to mention my shame. Even if I need to die immediately, I will not blink an eye!"
After saying that, Jiang Wan left with emotion. It seemed that what happened tonight was more serious than "death".
After Jiang Wan left, Li Shimin said to Huo Ge:
"Sir Shao, please hurry up and inform He Zong that Honglu Temple will prepare a banquet tonight to welcome Xue Zong."
Huo Ge took the order and left.
"Huang Hao, please inform Fei Yi, Wu Yi and other close confidants of the matters discussed between me and Jiang Wan just now.
Let them not show any cowardice tonight and cooperate with Jiang Wan's actions. "
After everything was arranged, Li Shimin remembered what Zhang Yan had said about Pu Yuan and Guo Da, and while there was nothing else to do, he started chatting with Zhang Yan.
"Little sister, as a brave person like you, you must have a special liking for magical weapons.
I want to know, which craftsmen in Sichuan are able to penetrate the eyes of my little sister? "
When Zhang Yan heard this, she immediately became energetic.
“If you want to talk about this skilled craftsman who forges magical weapons, you have to ask the right person to ask this heroine!
Regardless of the two craftsmen Pu Yuan and Guo Da whom I have mentioned before, there is another capable person in the Prime Minister's Mansion.
This person is as talented as Prime Minister Zhuge, and he is even more accomplished in the art of mechanism..."
Before Zhang Yan could finish speaking, Li Shimin hurriedly interrupted:
"Oh! You little girl, you usually speak freely, but today you are so open-minded.
Is the person from the Prime Minister's Mansion Huang Yueying, the wife of the Prime Minister? "
Zhang Yan curled her lips and said:
"You know what you're asking me for, why do you ask me?"
"I have so many things going on all day long, how can I remember many things? If you don't mention them, I'm afraid I don't know how long it will be before I remember them."
As he spoke, Li Shimin began to think about how to use these three people.
First of all, it is certain that Pu Yuan's forging skills can definitely create the "Tang Hengdao" that would come out hundreds of years later.
If a large number of this knife needs to be equipped in the future, Guo Da can be familiar with the forging method, and then ask him to find helpers to quickly mass-produce it.
As for Huang Yueying, she can be allowed to use her talents in "attacking and defending the city".
Once this move is made, the combat effectiveness of the Shu army will be greatly improved. If there is a war in the future, it can also greatly reduce the casualties of soldiers.
"By the way, little sister, except for Mrs. Huang, where are the other two now?"
Zhang Yan replied without hesitation:
"As far as I know, Pu Yuan has been following the Prime Minister's army since he built 3,000 "magic swords" for the Prime Minister. Now that the Prime Minister is away, Pu Yuan should have returned to Hanzhong to live in seclusion.
Guo Da was promoted to an officer by the prime minister because of his merits in making arrows. Brother Adou can ask Jiang Wei and others about his whereabouts. "
Hearing this, Li Shimin looked at Chen Zhong and said:
"I want Pu Yuan and Guo Da to take charge of the Shangshu Taiku Department and create magic weapons for our army in Shu.
You send your confidants to inquire about their current positions and residences.
If there is nothing important after the end of the year, I will send someone to look for these two people and ask them to come to Chengdu to see me.
Try not to make this matter public as I'm worried that people with evil intentions may disrupt the situation. "
Chen Zhong bowed and said:
"I will keep your Majesty's words in mind, and this matter will be taken care of by me."
"Finally, let's talk about Mrs. Huang. I intend to invite Mrs. Huang to the New Year's Eve banquet.
After the meeting is over, I will leave Mrs. Huang to discuss with her the making of weapons.
You two must not make any noise. As for informing Mrs. Huang, Zhang Yan, please run for me. "
Zhang Yan was dissatisfied and said:
"Brother Adou is so rude. Mrs. Huang is the wife of Prime Minister Zhuge, so she is considered your elder.
You just don't visit me on weekdays. Why do you want to ask Mrs. Huang to do something now, but you are still reluctant to go and invite her in person? "
"Hey! You little girl, why are you talking so much nonsense today? If it's convenient for me to go, is it your turn to do such an important thing?"
Li Shimin was still a little unhappy when he saw Zhang Yan. He had an idea and said softly:
"Little sister, as the saying goes, a big tree attracts the wind. Every move of a king like me must be in the eyes of everyone.
If I were to wander in and out of the place where my father-in-law and his widow live at will, and let someone with an intention see it, I'm afraid it would inevitably be an excuse.
Now I can only sit still in the palace and ask him to come to see you.
It just so happens that the New Year is approaching, so you go and invite Mrs. Huang to the New Year's Eve banquet.
Wouldn't it be nice to not only allow me to meet Mrs. Huang, but also to avoid the calculations of those who are interested? "
When Zhang Yan heard this, she curled her lips and said lazily "hmm", which was regarded as agreement.
When Li Shimin saw Zhang Yan agreeing, he smiled and said:
"Now that my little sister agrees, I'm relieved.
It just so happens that when my little sister goes, she will take my will with her.
Just say that I am worried about the poor life of my father-in-law and his widow, so I specially asked you to send me some condolences. "
When Zhang Yan heard this, she smiled.
Just as he was about to answer, Huang Hao came back.
"Your Majesty, this servant has completed the tasks assigned by your Majesty.
Just now, Master Huo sent someone to send a message, saying that he was cooperating with Honglu Temple in preparing for the reception banquet, and might return to His Majesty later. "
Li Shimin looked at the sky. The sun was already setting in the west, and it was not far from dinner time.
"Well, now that everything is ready for the Fengfeng Banquet, let's make some arrangements so that we can go to Honglu Temple earlier.
The matter of Wu Guo's envoy must be revealed tonight! "
