Pei Xiao said calmly: "Follow me, you can come alone."

Chunyu Luan looked back, and his confidant Chaergua was only three feet behind him, and cast an inquiring look at him.

Chunyu Luan said: "Don't follow." After that, he followed Pei Xiao's horse, whipped forward, and was led to a purple bamboo forest. The

bamboo forest had been decorated long ago, with a small square table inside, on which were placed maps and writings, a small lantern hanging, and wine warmed on the stove next to it.

Pei Xiao asked: "The lights under the bamboo, the wine and the chat, such an elegant little scene, are you satisfied?"

Chunyu Luan looked at the map, which was a map of mountains and seas covering the entire world, with fine strokes, and every pass, mountain pass, and every town were clearly marked. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your Highness is not the direct bloodline of the current Xiongnu royal court, right? It's just that the old Khan has no children, so your nephew is lucky enough to get the power and become the Zuoxian King. Unfortunately, the old Khan is still in his prime, and at the age of sixty, he actually gave birth to a son. In this way, you become an outsider, and your position is precarious. Are you scared?" Pei Xiao lifted his robe and sat down opposite him, smiling lightly, "Time is running out, so why not speak frankly. You want that position, and I want it too. You need my help, and I need yours too."

Chunyu Luan's face straightened slightly, stared at Pei Xiao for a while, and laughed, "The third prince is really a straightforward person."

He also sat down and asked, "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes." Pei Xiao smiled and drew a circle on a town called Dai County in the north of the map with a wolf-hair brush without ink. "It's one of the three major towns in northern Yan. Your Highness should have heard of it. The new commander was called Su Wei last month and he's my man."

Chunyu Luan's heart moved and he looked up at him suddenly: "Are you going to give this man to me?"

He smiled: "This gift is too big. I'm afraid I can't pay it back."

"I can lend it to you temporarily." Pei Xiao still smiled and said, "Among the nine counties in northern Yan, Dai County of Suwei, Feng County of Peiyuan, and Gaishan Town of Qiu Mingshan are in a pincer attack, and the three generals are all experienced warriors. If you attack by force, there is no possibility of winning."

Chunyu Luan folded his arms and looked at him. Pei Xiao continued, "According to my plan, you can first send 100,000 troops to pretend to attack Dai County, which has only 60,000 defenders. I will persuade them to attack. Su Wei, let him avoid fighting, keep his troops and wait for support. Feng County is the closest to Dai County. If Dai County is in trouble, the first to send troops will definitely be Pei Yuan of Feng County. In this way, Feng County's internal defense will be empty. You can allocate another 50,000 troops and attack Feng County at night. Pei Yuan's base will be destroyed, so he will definitely return in person. You can intercept him on the road and kill him in one fell swoop! "

Chun Yu Luan's eyes darkened, his back gradually straightened, and he said seriously: "Good plan."

"Not only that." Pei Xiao pointed at the location of Feng County on the map with his pen, and said with a curved lip: "I can tell you another piece of news. During the time when Pei Yuan was not in the fiefdom, the person who took over Feng County was a man named Qian Qiulai. This man looked loyal and honest, but was actually cunning and greedy. After Pei Yuan came back, he was exiled. But his distant nephew-in-law is still in Feng County. He is a soldier guarding the west corner gate of Feng County. This man is both greedy and courageous, and he has a faint hatred for Pei Yuan in his heart. Whether you can use him to enter Feng County depends on your ability."

Chunyu Luan narrowed his eyes and asked: "Why did you tell me this? Aren't you afraid that I will really capture Yanbei and destroy your Great Zhou foundation?"

"Because I need you to go into Feng County, and then into the Jibei Palace, and help me find two people." Pei Xiao said, "One is the Jibei Princess, and the other is a five-year-old child named Yuanzi. That's my son." Pei Xiao lowered his voice, "I want to reunite with him."

"I didn't expect the third prince to have such tenderness in his heart." Chunyu Luan smiled and nodded, "Okay. But how do you want to help me?"

"Killing the old Chanyu is not difficult, but you can't do it for fear of getting into trouble." Pei Xiao smiled, "I can do it for you. You just need to remind the guards around the old Chanyu and let my assassin enter the tent safely."

Chunyu Luan clapped his hands and smiled, "The third prince is so smart and clever. If he becomes an emperor, he will definitely shock the world. I have to be careful. "

Pei Xiao chuckled, picked up the wine pot, poured two cups, raised the cup and asked: "According to our Han customs, why not swear an oath of blood?"

Chunyu Luan took out the short blade without hesitation and cut his fingertips. Pei Xiao also cut his finger and let the blood melt into the wine.

The two raised their cups to celebrate and drank it all.

Chunyu Luan clasped his fists and said goodbye. Watching his back as he walked away, Dong Tiancheng, the son of the left prime minister, who had been hiding in the dark, walked out slowly and asked Pei Xiao worriedly: "Your Highness, I always feel that this matter is not right. The barbarian has always been cunning. We told him so much military intelligence. What if he turns his back on us and even conquers Saibei and kills General Qiu? What should we do then?"

"Then we should be happy. "Pei Xiao poured himself another cup, blew on the rim of the cup, and took a sip. "Pei Yuan is dead, Qiu Mingshan is dead, who else can stand in my way? As for Chunyu Luan, he has strong limbs but a dull mind. He won't live long. I drugged the glass of wine just now. It would be best if he turned the northern part of the border upside down and the Xiongnu royal court upside down, and then he died. Then I can reap the benefits and take the opportunity to ascend the throne and rule the world! "

Bao Ning's face suddenly flashed before Pei Xiao's eyes. Perhaps the more he couldn't get it, the more itchy he felt, with both love and hate.

But it didn't matter, because one day, he would get back everything he had lost!

...

In Fengxian in early winter, the night wind was bitingly cold, but the two small charcoal basins lit at the foot of the bed were still too hot. Bao Ning was so hot that she kicked the thick quilt aside and sat up to

fan herself with a palm-leaf fan to keep cool. Pei Yuan came in with a wooden basin. Seeing her sit up, he quickly put down the water, hurriedly went to wrap the quilt around Bao Ning, snatched the fan and threw it into the brazier, and asked with concern: "Are you awake?"

"I slept all day. Even a pig would have slept enough. And you burned my fan again! You burned the third one! "Baoning was irritable because of the heat, and she became even more irritable when she saw the palm-leaf fan engulfed in flames.

She calmed down a little, pointed at the window and said to Pei Yuan, "Open it, I'm very hot and want to get some fresh air. Just open it and I'll let you blow for half a minute. I don't want to argue with you."

Pei Yuan caressed her hair lovingly and advised, "You'll feel cool if you're calm. Just sit there and don't move or think about anything, and you'll feel refreshed in a while. The doctor said you need to rest and never get sick from catching a cold. Let's wash our feet first, and then lie back in bed. You need to eat more and sleep more, so that you can feel better, and the baby in your belly will feel better too."

"Stop nagging!" Baoning covered her ears angrily, "I don't want to listen!"

"You need to listen, baby. "Pei Yuan gently took her hand down and said calmly, "I know you are not ready to welcome our little baby. She came too suddenly and was very weak, which made our big baby very upset." Pei Yuan touched Bao Ning's face with a gentle look in his eyes.

Bao Ning suddenly felt sore in the corners of her eyes. She was still more accustomed to the angry Pei Yuan. When Pei Yuan did something that didn't suit her, she could argue with him. Now Pei Yuan was too gentle, and she couldn't bear to argue with him, so she could only listen silently.

Bao Ning asked in a low voice: "Is the big baby me?"

"Yes." Pei Yuan held her hand, "No matter how many children we have in the future, you are the biggest baby, and I will always love you the most."

Bao Ning said, "Big baby is hot and wants to open the window."

Pei Yuan persuaded her, "Actually, you don't want to open the window at all. Your body is not hot. Look, I am not hot, so of course you are not hot either. What is hot in your heart is the fire in your heart. How does the fire in your heart come from? It is because you are not ready to welcome this child. So how can you be ready? How much do you need to be ready? Listen to me more and talk to me. I will always be with you. Don't be afraid. We will listen to the doctor in everything. Don't do what you are not allowed to do and don't eat what you are not allowed to eat. Slowly, you and the baby will be healthy. "

Bao Ning laughed: "You should go look in the mirror. You really look like a charlatan who sells fake medicine."

Pei Yuan was not angry. He was very calm now, calmer than ever before. Wei Meng just came to him and praised him, saying that he was kind in his words and deeds.

Pei Yuan thought, people really change. He has been changing slowly, and after hearing that Bao Ning was pregnant, he has undergone more significant and drastic changes, and even seems to have entered the state of a father in advance. He looked at Baoning now, and felt like he was looking at a disobedient child. He stopped arguing with her and just coaxed her, hoping that she would be influenced.

Pei Yuan looked at Baoning and said softly, "Stretch out your feet. I've brought the jasmine-scented soap for you to wash."

Baoning glanced at him quickly, and felt strange in her heart, as if she didn't recognize the man in front of her.

She slowly stretched out her feet and lightly touched the water with her toes. The expected heat did not come. The water was just warm, not hot, and even a little cool to her.

Bao Ning was not satisfied and retracted his feet: "It's too cold, I won't wash it."

"Hot water won't work. Hot water will activate blood circulation. Your blood is already very active. It can't be activated any more." Pei Yuan gently but firmly grabbed Bao Ning's ankle and stuffed it into the basin. "Be obedient and bear with it. I'll give you dates later."

Bao Ning asked: "Are they the crispy and sweet winter dates?"

"No, but what's the difference?" Pei Yuan dipped soap in water, rubbed it into foam, and slowly applied it on Baoning's feet, saying in a gentle voice, "Red dates and winter dates are both dates. Since they are both dates, how can you favor one over the other and like one but not the other? They are both delicious. But in my opinion, you'd better eat more red dates, as they are better at replenishing qi and blood. This is not a question of like or dislike, and it is not contrary to what I just said. It's just that red dates are more suitable for you, right? Well... you'd better not think too deeply about what I just said. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I can't make it up, but that doesn't matter, because I just want you to eat red dates, not winter dates."

"What! What and what!"

Bao Ning's head was dizzy. She held Pei Yuan's face and asked with concern: "Ah Yuan, what's wrong with you? Are you upset?"

Pei Yuan smiled and said: "Madame Liu said that a father should act like a father. He should not be impatient, beat or scold his children. He should be patient and persuasive, and explain the truth to his children. Only then will they be convinced and respect him. I did not do it right in the past. I have a bad temper. From now on, you must exercise more self-control, practice, and seek improvement."

He took a towel to wipe Baoning's feet, moved the wooden barrel, and went to get a bag of red dates, handing them to Baoning: "Eat them, and let's go to sleep."

Baoning took them blankly, Pei Yuan leaned over, gently kissed her forehead, and asked softly: "Baby, do you need me to explain to you why we should go to sleep now?"

Baoning shuddered.