Chang Sui Ning extended the letter.
It’s a letter from the teacher.
It is a letter from the teacher in the capacity of a teacher.
So, her teacher finally saw the painting she left in Dayun Temple.
It was just as she expected. As long as the teacher saw the bamboo and rocks in her paintings, he would definitely find the clues - and this letter now confirmed it.
But on the letter paper spread out in front of him, there were only three lines and nine words in total.
The three lines above are three questions:
Are you okay?
What do you want to do and where are you going?
Why?
As a high-ranking scholar who was truly well-read and admired by scholars all over the world, her teacher naturally had beautiful handwriting. It would not be an exaggeration to say that no one in the world could match him.
But for such a great scholar, these nine short words, upon closer inspection, cannot be described as neat and pleasing to the eye.
He seemed to write too heavily and too slowly, as if he was undecided and undecided, and as if he was desperate and reckless.
And hidden beneath all these complicated and contradictory emotions is nothing more than the word "expectation" that one dares not express too much.
He seemed to be questioning every word, eager to get her confirmation in person, but the first thing he asked was still her safety. Is she safe? Is she safe?
What do you want to do, where do you want to go... I am worried about her future and want to know her plans.
The word "why" is used to confirm "true and false", "virtual and real" with her.
Her teacher was very good at getting angry, and when he was angry he was very good at scolding people. He could scold people for three days and three nights without repeating the same words. But now, facing the possibility that she might lie or conceal the truth, he could only say these nine words.
On the other side of the letter, there is an old man's cautious inquiries, he is afraid to miss his hometown when facing the reunion of life and death, he dares not speak loudly for fear of disturbing the people in heaven, the flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water, he is trembling with fear for fear that a single thought will be shattered.
Chang Suining watched quietly for a moment and sighed softly.
Suddenly I felt that I was a worthless student.
How could she, a short-lived creature, have caused the teacher to worry about her for more than ten years?
She did not rush to read other letters, but spread out some paper and picked up a pen to write back.
In the past, when she made mistakes and displeased the teacher, she liked to say things like "There's nothing I can do, it's my fault for asking students to follow their teachers."
Students should follow their teachers to the end. If the teacher writes to you and asks you three questions with nine words, and the students write back, then they should also answer with nine words.
Chang Suining wrote nine characters, then put down his pen, gently blew the ink dry, folded it carefully, put it in an envelope, and told A Che: "Have someone send it back to the residence of Master Chu in the capital. Remember, don't take the open road..."
The Queen has confirmed that she is Li Shang. The living Li Shang already makes the Queen feel "mixed joy and sorrow". If the living Li Shang continues to have close correspondence with his former teacher, the current Minister of Rites, then the Queen's mixed joy and sorrow will probably be reduced to just "worry".
Now that she is far away from the capital, she has nothing to fear, but as a teacher she is old, it is better for her to live a stable life.
Chang Suining thought so and decided to be more cautious: "Let's send it to Dayun Temple to Master Wu Jue secretly."
It would be safer to let Wu Jue take over.
But since she had asked Wu Jue to help her transfer the money...if she didn't write a letter to Wu Jue as well, it would seem that she was being too unkind as a "confidant".
So, Chang Suining picked up his pen and wrote another letter, addressed to Wu Jue alone, and asked for some advice on military matters - military matters are small, and making every subordinate feel equally valued and needed is also one of the virtues that every lord must cultivate.
After A Che sent the letters to the two ancestors, Chang Suining went to open the remaining letters.
There was a letter from the Duan family, which mostly expressed concern and talked about things happening in the capital. In addition, there were some indirect tests and confusions.
But these temptations were so brief and concise that one could see through them at a glance. It would be a miracle if she could really find out anything from them.
This time she made great military achievements, and in the eyes of others she was a "star general" who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. However, in the eyes of those who were familiar with her and Li Shang, it was inevitable that some associations and confusion would arise.
Duan was just one of them. Qiao Yang also felt something was wrong, but he did not write to her. Instead, he secretly wrote to Chang Kuo and asked Chang Kuo first if he felt there was anything wrong with this matter.
Chang Kuo replied: "I don't think there's anything wrong. You've caught too many fish, so your brain is full of water?" Chang Kuo's conscience didn't hurt at all. Can he call this concealment? Oh, he just did what Wu Jue did to him before.
Don’t ask. If you do, the answer will be “It’s for your own good. The time is not right yet. Knowing too much in advance will not do you any good.”
Compared to Qiao Yang's cerebral suspicion, Duan Zhenyi's thoughts were still on the superficial level: "Why is this child so closely related to His Highness? This is so strange. I'll ask him one more question."
Therefore, it is particularly easy for the latter to reply.
The next letter was from Yao Xia and her friends.
The handwriting looks like it belongs to the girl from the Wu family.
The content of the letter took up half a page, and the remaining half was used for the signature.
Looking at the names of the familiar girls one after another, Chang Suining was surprised. She had never seen such a long signature in her life. It seemed more like a joint letter than a letter.
A closer look reveals that the order of these girls' names is actually arranged according to the rhyme of their surnames, which seems to mean "the ranking is arranged according to the rhyme of their surnames, regardless of high or low, or near or far."
It can be said that it is fair and open and thorough.
There is no need to think about it, it must be the idea of the girl from the Wu family.
This was indeed the case. Originally, Yao Xia and the others wanted to write letters to Chang Suining, but the girl from the Wu family appealed to their feelings and reasoned with them - "How could I not know how you sisters feel? However, you must know that Madam Chang is busy with the war now. Sending dozens of letters is really too much of a burden. It also makes us look chaotic and noisy, without any progress. How can this be accepted by Madam Chang? In the long run, I'm afraid that Madam Chang will dislike us."
The girls were so frightened when they heard this that they broke out in cold sweats and hurriedly stopped their thoughts. When they got home, they tore up and burned all the half-written letters.
So, this "joint letter" came into being.
Chang Suining looked at this well-organized letter and couldn't help but smile and said, "This sister of the Wu family is really talented."
It may sound like just a joke among the ladies, but one must remember that these ladies have different family backgrounds, styles and personalities. However, under the leadership of the girl from the Wu family, they are so well-behaved and orderly. She dares to say that many officials in the court may not have this ability.
From the small to the big, we can see his talent.
Moreover, this elder sister of the Wu family, whose name is Wu Chunbai, is well-known in Beijing and is also a famous talented woman.
In addition to this letter, Wu Chunbai also had someone send a booklet.
It contained Chang Suining's deeds in Jiangnan, and she sent it to Chang Suining to see if there were any mistakes or omissions.
Chang Suining opened the booklet and was quite amazed.
The narrative is detailed and thrilling, and it gives the protagonist just the right amount of deification.
Chang Suining read it carefully, not feeling embarrassed, and not modestly refusing. How can a person who achieves great things lack a thick skin? She just wants to achieve success and become famous.
Her utilitarianism was already there when she entertained scholars with poetry in Dengtai Tower.
It was because she knew very well that reputation was extremely important to success in the past and present. If used well, it could achieve success without bloodshed. If combined with strength and prestige, with the right time and place, one could even rule the world with just one order.
Therefore, Chang Suining’s attitude towards these phenomena of promoting her deeds and reputation was very clear - she liked them very much, and the more the better.
Looking at this purely handwritten booklet, my heart feels warm again. These girls are pure and beautiful. The reason why they are so "admiring" is, in addition to admiration and love, there is probably a yearning for them.
Previously in Beijing, she had done many so-called shocking things. It all started from the first time she beat Ming Jin.
She did many things that other girls could never do, dared not do, or did not know they could do.
These girls who are attracted to her all have a desire to break free from the shackles of secular etiquette.
Therefore, she is one person, and more than one person.
Therefore, even if it is just for the sake of those hands that hold her up high from behind, she has to work hard to make herself more successful.
You have to make progress.
Chang Suining smiled in his heart and encouraged himself.
In the next few days, Chang Suining ordered Yuan Xiang to secretly lead people to investigate the movements of the various Xu clan rebel forces.
On the seventh day, when Xiao Min and Chang Kuo were discussing whether to take the initiative to send troops, Xiao Min reminded Chang Kuo cryptically: "... since Li Yi was executed, the 170,000-man army has been camped here for more than 20 days..."
However, they never sent a large-scale military force to attack Xu Zhengye. They just fought back against the enemy and guarded the various roads without taking the initiative to attack.
Xiao Min sighed: "Although the court and the saint have not said it explicitly, they are also somewhat dissatisfied with this..."
Before the imperial eunuchs left, they asked them when they planned to send troops to attack Yangzhou directly.
At this point, Xiao Min was actually a little puzzled. It was said that the Hezhou battle was a great victory at that time, and the Xu army's morale was frustrated. General Chang should have taken advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy. Why did he only defend and not attack? Wouldn't this give Xu Zhengye and his men a chance to regroup? When Xiao Min was about to express his confusion, he heard Chang Kuo say nonchalantly: "What do they know? When it comes to war, how to fight, naturally only those who fight know!"
"..." Xiao Min felt as if an arrow had pierced his brow.
Well, even people who fight in wars don’t understand…is that normal?
He didn't want to show his ignorance too obviously, so he asked politely, "Does General Chang have any other plans?"
Chang Kuo pondered for a moment and said, "I have discussed this matter with Sui Ning. Let's talk about it in detail when she comes over."
Xiao Min then agreed.
Soon, a soldier opened the door curtain of the tent, and a girl in armor walked in.
The three of them sat around the sand table as usual.
Chang Suining had just returned from the martial arts training ground. He was sitting cross-legged at the moment, holding the teacup brought by the soldiers in his right hand. With his left hand, he touched a pen, and the tip of the pen lightly fell on the sand table. He first talked about the distribution of Xu Zhengye's army.
This is the latest news brought back by Yuanxiang and his team.
Xiao Min frowned slightly: "Is Xu Zhengye... gathering troops?"
Chang Suining: “Yes.”
Xiao Min said solemnly: "Does he want to gather a large army and attack Huainan Road?"
"Not necessarily." Chang Suining said, "I guess he has other plans."
Any other plans?
Just as Xiao Min was about to ask, the girl asked first, "Have you prepared everything you needed to borrow warships from Shouzhou and Guangzhou?"
Xiao Min replied: "It's almost done, but some of the warships have been in disrepair for a long time and still need repairs."
"We need to hurry up." Chang Suining said, "We need them to complete this matter before the Lantern Festival."
Xiao Min nodded, and couldn't help asking, "Why is Madam Chang so obsessed with the warship?"
Since Xu Zhengye wanted to attack Huainan Road, he naturally would not seriously listen to Princess Xuan'an's "suggestion" of "swimming across Chaohu Lake". Chaohu Lake is not so easy to swim in, and the possibility of Xu Zhengye taking the water route is extremely small. In theory, it is unlikely that a large-scale naval battle will occur between the two sides.
But as early as half a month ago, Chang Suining had proposed to borrow warships from Shouzhou and Guangzhou.
At this time, facing Xiao Min's question, the girl did not play tricks. She turned the tip of her pen to two concave lines not far apart on the sand table, both representing rivers, and said, "Because, I want to kill Xu Zhengye here, or here."
Xiao Min looked at it and was stunned: "Bianshui... or Sishui?"
Chang Suining nodded: "Yes, but 90% of the time it will be in Bianshui."
Xiao Min was silent for a moment.
The words were simple and easy to understand, but: "…Why does Madam Chang think that Xu Zhengye would take these two waterways that run counter to the Huainan Road?"
Xu Zhengye was attacking Huainan Road, intending to lead his troops into the capital, kill the empress and support the prince.
"Because I guess he will give up the Western Capital." The girl's pen tip hovered above a city with a yellow flag, and said, "He wants to take advantage of our unpreparedness and change his route to take the Eastern Capital Luoyang."
To attack Luoyang from Yangzhou, one has to pass through the Bian River area. Xiao Min naturally understood this, but why would Xu Zhengye suddenly change his route to take Luoyang City?
Xu's army never showed any sign of coveting Luoyang!
This guess seemed too far-fetched. Xiao Min didn't want to question Chang Suining, so he subconsciously looked at Chang Kuo.
"Hmm..." Chang Kuo stroked his beard and looked at the Luoyang City on the sand table: "I think so too!"
"..." Xiao Min couldn't tell who was the backbone of the father and daughter, and couldn't help but ask: "But if Xu Zhengye attacks Luoyang, how can we support the prince?"
Chang Suining: "Maybe he never really thought about supporting the prince?"
Xiao Min was silent for a moment, after all, he couldn't refute it.
"It would be the best choice to capture the capital in one fell swoop. But now he has been frustrated repeatedly. With our 170,000 troops here, he can't get close to Huainan Road at all—" Chang Suining said: "Although we have only defended and not attacked these days, and seem to be passive, the most anxious person should be Xu Zhengye."
"I bet he has now seen clearly that he is unable to attack the capital directly, so he has no choice but to retreat and take advantage of the fact that we are firmly guarding the Huainan Road to change his route and attack Luoyang unexpectedly, occupying the Eastern Capital of the Central Plains, and then in the name of serving the king, respond to the four directions and accumulate more troops and reputation."
Chang Suining said this and looked at Xiao Min with a smile: "Of course, this is just my guess. Coach Xiao, do you dare to bet with me?"
The girl smiled harmlessly and friendly, and Xiao Min smiled unconsciously, and asked casually: "What are you betting on?"
At this time, he didn't know that this casual joke bet would become a crucial turning point in his life one day a long time later.
Thank you all for your monthly tickets, thank you book friends 气泡扑扑茶, 我是姐, 春卷不好吃吗, and book friend 20181019130233163 for your rewards. I am also very grateful to those who helped me correct typos. They have all been corrected. Good night everyone, sweet dreams.
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