Chapter 152 Huan Yi

Deng Lian was puzzled when he heard this: "But the war is about to break out. Will Huan Yi stop immediately?"

Sun Wei said: "Huan Yi is not a hesitant person. Once he is persuaded, it will not be difficult for him to turn back."

Deng Lian thought for a moment, nodded, and continued, "But what if he is so stubborn that he won't listen to the princess at all?"

"Then try another method. Anyway, we have to wait until the prince returns."

Huan Yi didn't let Sun Wei wait too long.

Before daybreak, news arrived from Wuchang County that Huan Yi, though besieging the city, had not yet taken action. He captured a soldier guarding the city and had him deliver a message to the commander inside.

The letter said that he wanted to see the concubine of Prince Yuzhang.

——

Huan Yi made an appointment to meet at a granary ten miles away from Wuchang County.

Deng Lian naturally disagreed with Sun Wei going, but he was ultimately defeated by Sun Wei.

If she didn't go, Huan Yi would definitely attack Wuchang. There was no need for them to suffer heavy losses accompanying that madman Huan Yi.

"But if anything happens to the princess, how will I explain to the prince?"

"Don't worry," Sun Wei said soothingly, "I will explain it to the prince and won't embarrass Sima Deng."

After dawn, Deng Lian, accompanied by twenty personal guards and two hundred Xunyang soldiers, escorted Sun Wei to Wuchang to meet Huan Yi.

The two sides agreed to leave their troops one mile away and only bring a few guards.

When they arrived at the granary, Huan Yi was already waiting inside.

Accompanying him was Lu Qiuyan.

Huan Yi is tall and straight, but he is nearly seventy years old after all, and his hair is already gray.

He saw Sun Wei approaching slowly, looked at her, and stroked his beard: "The concubine is so brave that she dares to go deep into the enemy camp."

The voice was steady, but lacked strength. Sun Wei thought that the rumors about his poor health might be true.

Sun Wei bowed to Huan Yi and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. I am a coward, but you are so resourceful, so I had no choice but to do this."

Huan Yi sneered, said nothing more, and sat down at the top of the table.

The granary has been emptied, and now only the empty granaries and government offices are left, without even anyone on duty.

Lu Qiuyan had already asked someone to prepare a desk and a brazier for heating in the office, making him feel as comfortable as at home.

Huan Yi said, "Last night, my soldiers had already surrounded Wuchang County. A single order was needed to change flags. But suddenly, a messenger arrived from Xunyang and was captured by my scouts. He said he had a letter from the princess with a divination inside, which he wanted to give to me."

Sun Wei listened and glanced at Lu Qiuyan behind Huan Yi, only to see that he was also looking at her with a calm expression.

No need to ask, this is what Luqiu Yan did.

"That's right," Sun Wei said. "Yesterday, I divined for Jiangzhou, and the divination indicated a turn from bad to good. I'd never seen anything like it before, so I looked more closely and realized the underlying variable was the Duke of the County."

Huan Yi looked at her and asked, "Princess, do you mean that my death is a variable?"

"That's right," Sun Wei said. "Although the Duke gained something from this trip, he was exhausted and his old injuries recurred, leading to his death in Jiankang. From then on, the Huan family declined, Jingzhou ceased to be a threat, and the Wang family even openly seized Jingzhou for themselves."

As she spoke, her eyes only glanced at Huan Yi's expression.

Sure enough, his eyes grew darker with every word she spoke.

"Nonsense!" Huan Yi was indeed furious. "My Huan family has produced many outstanding people. Even if I die, why would Wang Han take advantage of me?"

"It's true that the Huan family has many members, but the Duke knows only too well whether they have produced many outstanding individuals. Huan An was a talented general and could have taken over the Jingzhou army, but unfortunately he left unjustly. Among the remaining people, who can take on the heavy responsibility on the Duke's shoulders? The Duke must have been struggling with this for a long time." Sun Wei said, "The Duke does not need to rush to deny it. If it were not for this concern, why would the Duke meet with me today? What the Duke wants is nothing more than the fate of the Huan family."

Huan Yi looked at her coldly and asked, "Since the Huan family's fate is almost over, what can be done about it, Princess?"

"I have already made it clear in my letter. The Duke should form an alliance with the Crown Prince and jointly fight against the Wang family. The Duke knows his own health and if he does not send troops, he can still live a few more days. The Duke is no longer what he used to be and should consider himself more."

Huan Yi suddenly laughed, his voice deep and unrecognizable as either happy or angry.

"I didn't expect you, at such a young age, to have such delusions. You want me to withdraw my troops just by talking? You even want the entire Du Huan clan to be inferior to that little Sima?" He smiled even more deeply and shook his head. "My Huan clan certainly doesn't have a talent like you, but I, Huan Yi, am not dead yet!"

Sun Wei was quite helpless.

It seems that Deng Lian's worries were right.

Huan Yi is no longer conscious.

"In that case," Sun Wei stood up and said, "I have said all I want to say. Take care, Lord."

After she said that, she turned and left.

"Wait." As soon as the words fell, the guard in front of the door blocked Sun Wei's way.

Sun Wei paused, turned around and asked, "Does the Lord have any further instructions?"

"There is something that I can't figure out, and I want to hear your opinion."

"What is it?"

"A while ago, when my son Silang was in mourning, Lüqiu Changshi seemed to have gone to Xunyang. I wonder if he met the princess?"

Sun Wei fixed his gaze.

Lü Qiuyan hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, please understand. I did go to Xunyang privately, but it was only to deal with the aftermath of Tingyunxuan."

"Really?" Huan Yi said calmly, "How do you explain last night's messenger?"

He took out a letter covered in blood and said, "He has confessed. He is your man."

After saying that, the letter was thrown at Lu Qiuyan's feet.

Lu Qiuyan's expression changed, probably realizing he could no longer deny it. After a moment, he asked, "How did the Duke find out?"

"I've never been one to be fooled," Huan Yi said. "Lately, things have been going wrong. The undercover agent in Xunyang is gone, Silang is dead, and Huan An has escaped again. What else could this be but a traitor? After much thought, I'm afraid only the Chief Secretary has the ability to do this."

He then looked at Lv Qiuyan coldly, "Back when you were down and out, it was I who promoted you to the position of Chief Clerk of Jingzhou Prefecture. I treated you well, didn't I?"

"Indeed, I will always be grateful to the Duke for his kindness."

Huan Yi pointed at him and scolded him, "If that's the case, why did you do such a disloyal and unrighteous thing?"

"To save Jingzhou." Lu Qiuyan raised his head and said, "The Duke is too obsessed with it. If he uses force rashly, it will only bring disaster to Jingzhou's foundation."

"How dare you!" Huan Yi's face suddenly changed, his eyes glaring, and he shouted sternly, "Then my Huan family's foundation is my, Huan Yi's foundation!"

"But the Duke of the County does not care about it, so I can only try to stop him."

"You ungrateful wretch!" Huan Yi cursed. "You immoral bastard!"

Lu Qiuyan only smiled faintly: "The county lord made me the chief secretary. It seems that he values ​​me, but in fact he treats me like an ox or a horse. To the county lord, I am nothing more than a thing that can be discarded at any time."

Huan Yi seemed to have heard something funny: "You are dreaming! Your last name is Luqiu, not Huan!"

After saying that, he shouted, "Come here! Take Lu Qiuyan and that witch away!"

Upon hearing this, Deng Lian and A Ru immediately drew their swords and blocked Sun Wei behind them.

But for some reason, the guards in the room only drew their swords but did not take any action.

"What are you waiting for?" Huan Yi shouted angrily.

The guards remained motionless, all looking at Lu Qiuyan behind Huan Yi.

Huan Yi looked back at him, suddenly understood something, and was quite unbelievable.

"You!" Huan Yi trembled with anger.

Lu Qiuyan said calmly, "Actually, the Duke should have listened to the Princess. If he hadn't sent the troops, he could have lived a few more days, right?"

Huan Yi wanted to say something, but suddenly he couldn't speak.

He covered his chest with his hands, his eyes wide open, red as if dripping blood.

"Come here," Lu Qiuyan said calmly, "help the Duke go down to rest. His old illness has recurred."