The already dim stars and moon in the sky had disappeared at some point, and the wind began to blow, bringing a chill.
Yan Xiaolou had already returned to the Yan Mansion. The light in her grandfather's study was still on. She thought for a moment, tightened her clothes, and walked over.
Yan Beixi sat up from the warm couch, coughed twice, and there was an unconcealable look of fatigue on his face.
Yan Xiaolou walked over and supported him, feeling a little distressed. He said, "Grandpa, you should rest earlier. You haven't completely stopped coughing since the beginning of winter. Don't hurt yourself."
Yan Beixi smiled slightly, "Oh... Grandpa is getting old, and his health is obviously getting worse every year." He walked to the window and opened the tightly closed window, and a biting chill hit his face.
He shivered, took a deep breath of the cool air, and looked up at the sky. "Why is this night... so dark?"
"It's probably going to snow again tomorrow. It's too cold here. Come in and I'll close the window."
"Leave the window open, let's get some fresh air. Tell me what you saw at the Fu Mansion?"
Yan Xiaolou recounted everything she saw at the Fu Mansion, but omitted the part where Fu Xiaoguan destroyed his own house, because Fu Xiaoguan told her to pretend she didn't see it, so she just ignored it.
"He asked me to bring a message to you, Grandpa."
"Oh, what did he say?"
"He said... I know about the Sun-Breaking Bow. Taking a step back will open up new horizons."
"that's all?"
"Well, that's exactly what he said."
Yan Beixi sat down beside the warm bed, his right index finger gently tapping the edge of the bed, making a slight clicking sound.
The incident that occurred in the eastern border army in the first year of the Xuanli reign was reported to the Privy Council through the Ministry of War, and then to the Ministry of Personnel and Secretariat.
Because of Qin Tong's death in battle, Qin Bingzhong, the then Vice-Chancellor in the court, believed that the memorial had many questions and asked the Privy Council to send someone to the eastern border army to investigate.
Then, Master Fei found Yan Beixi, and the two chatted for two hours. Afterwards, in the court, Yan Beixi instructed Master Yan to send people from the Privy Council to the eastern border army to investigate the matter.
Three months later, the investigators returned to the capital, reporting that the Eastern Frontier Army's report was correct. General Qin Tong led a thousand light cavalry deep into Xima Plain, where they were surrounded by the Yi Kingdom's Red Feather Legion. When the Eastern Frontier Army sent troops to rescue them, General Qin Tong had already been killed in the battle, and only half of the thousand light cavalry had returned.
This battle is the official version of the Sorrow of Ximayuan.
Yan Beixi certainly knew about the Sun-Breaking Divine Bow, so the meaning of taking a step back and having a broader view was naturally to give up the position of commander-in-chief of the Eastern Border Army.
Could it be that Fu Xiaoguan wants to reopen the investigation into the tragedy of Ximayuan?
Officials across the country are extremely uneasy about the corruption in disaster relief. Could it be that at this time, Your Majesty still has the energy to take action against the eastern border troops?
Of course, if Yan Haochu was recalled, this blow would not fall on the Yan clan. Since Fu Xiaoguan had spoken out, his target must be the Fei clan.
The Fei clan has deep roots in the military. Previously, there was Fei An, the general of the Southern Border Army. Although Fei An has now retired to Nanling County, he has been managing the Southern Border Army for a full twenty years!
Fei Bang had been in charge of the eastern border army for fifteen years, and had been transferred to the Minister of War for nearly eight years by taking advantage of the agreement reached with Yan Shidao after the Ximayuan Incident. During these eight years, no one knew how many people he had secretly placed in the major border armies by leveraging this power.
Fei Wu is now the commander of the light cavalry of the Eastern Border Army. It seems that the Fei family's plan is to let Fei Wu take charge of the Eastern Border Army again.
It seems that the Yan clan did not gain any advantage from the collusion of interests, but instead made the Fei clan even more powerful.
I miscalculated!
Yan Beixi slowly raised his head, wondering how long had Fu Xiaoguan been in the capital? How did he know so much? Could it be that His Majesty and Concubine Shang trusted him so much?
Could it be that His Majesty and Concubine Shang have already found out that Fu Xiaoguan is indeed the son of Xu Yunqing and Fu Daguan?
I think it should be like this. Otherwise, relying solely on Fu Xiaoguan's ability, how could he know what happened in the eastern border army thousands of miles away in the past eight years?
Yan Beixi was certain that Fu Xiaoguan was a pawn in the hands of His Majesty. Since this pawn was aimed at the eastern border troops, the one that would eventually be devoured was the Fei clan in Shangjing.
This appetite is a bit too big. Even if Your Majesty can swallow the Fei family, this pawn will probably disappear from the chessboard.
The knocking sound on the bed stopped, and Yan Beixi said calmly to Yan Xiaolou: "You go and rest, I am going to rest too."
Yan Xiaolou paid his respects and took his leave, and Duan Yunchou walked in.
"As long as Fu Xiaoguan is not dead, there will be no peace in the capital."
Yan Beixi was silent for a while. "He can't die. Don't pay attention to Fu Xiaoguan anymore. We need to take a long-term view and focus on the east."
…
Huo Huaijin walked on the lonely street with a gun and a horse.
The street lights on the street swayed in the cold wind, stretching his shadow out of shape.
He looked up at the sky, which was pitch black.
"It's going to snow again! I thought winters in the west were very cold, but winters in the south aren't easy either!"
He muttered again, "If only there were a pot of wine."
"I know a place with wine." The fifth prince, Yu Wendao, landed in front of him, carrying a sword on his back. Huo Huaijin jumped off his horse and was about to salute, but Yu Wendao waved his hand, "Shall we go for a walk together?"
"I'm going to the Fu Mansion."
"I'm going too."
"Is it over?"
Yu Wendao also looked up at the dark sky and smiled, "It's just the beginning."
The two walked into the Fu Mansion, which was in a mess.
Huo Huaijin frowned, thinking that this was a well-prepared battle, how could it turn out like this?
"Don't you understand?"
Huo Huaijin shook his head and looked at Yu Wendao. Yu Wendao did not answer, but shouted at the top of his voice: "Mr. Fu, bring some wine!"
Fu Xiaoguan walked out leisurely, bowed to the two of them, and said with a wry smile: "Look at what a mess my place is now..."
"Let's drink in that pavilion!"
There were two heating stoves in Taoranting, and a few steaming hot exquisite side dishes were placed on the stone table, and of course there were three bottles of Xishan Tianchun.
As Fu Xiaoguan poured wine, Yu Wendao introduced him, "This is Huo Huaijin, the second son of the Prince of Zhenxi. He currently commands the Imperial City Guards."
The name seemed familiar. Fu Xiaoguan thought about it and realized that Yu Wenyun had mentioned this to him before, but he had only mentioned this name because of the matter of the third princess.
She said that the third princess actually had a crush on someone, Huo Huaijin, the second son of the King of Zhenxi.
The man looked to be in his twenties and was very handsome. If it weren't for the long spear placed beside him, no one would have thought he was a fierce general.
Fu Xiaoguan raised his glass to Huo Huaijin and said, "I will remember today's events in my heart. I won't say more. Since this is our first meeting, three cups!"
Huo Huaijin laughed. He had heard of the name Fu Xiaoguan when he was far away in the west, just like everyone else in the world, because of the book A Dream of Red Mansions and the poem in the first column of the Thousand Stele Stone.
He originally thought that this was a man of great talent and wit. After coming to the capital, he met the third princess Yu Qinglan twice. Yu Qinglan also mentioned this person, saying that this man was not only talented in writing, but also understood how to govern the world.
This wasn't a big deal, but the fight on the long street today completely changed Huo Huaijin's perception of Fu Xiaoguan—this guy was so bold! The key point was that he killed people without blinking an eye!
A scholar is not scary, what is scary is a scholar who is willing to risk his life.
So according to the plan, after killing the 300 cavalrymen of Prince Hui, he should return to the base, but he wanted to come and see Fu Xiaoguan, because Yu Qinglan said that Fu Xiaoguan was very likely to go to Huangguo as an envoy for the marriage at the end of the year.
"Huai Jin has long heard of Brother Fu's great name. It's great to meet him today. He's truly a young hero. Three cups!"
The two of them drank three cups in a row, and Yu Wendao drank one cup alone.
"Your Highness has worked hard tonight, so let's have three cups too!"
Yu Wendao glared at Fu Xiaoguan and thought to himself, I thought you had forgotten my contribution!
After three more cups, Fu Xiaoguan spoke again, but he was asking a question in his mind: "This Prince Hui... How much do you know about him, Your Highness? Why do I feel like there's something wrong with his brain?"
The curfew in Jinling City was a very clear signal that the palace did not want to see any more conflicts, and that the palace had preventive measures for possible conflicts. However, he still launched this action that had no chance of winning.
Fu Xiaoguan thought about it over and over again but couldn't understand why this happened. He could only attribute it to the fact that Prince Comet had a problem with his brain.
"I'm not familiar with him either, but after what happened tonight, it will be difficult for him to recover. According to my estimation... he will be expelled from Shangjing and sent back to his fiefdom in Lingnan."
Can’t be killed!
This is so confusing.
Regarding enemies, Fu Xiaoguan has only one view from his past life to this life: only dead enemies are the best enemies!
He would feel sad if Prince Comet didn't die.
"How can we kill him?"
Huo Huaijin's heart trembled when he was asked this question. He glanced at Fu Xiaoguan and found that the boy's eyes were full of murderous intent.
"Alas... my Sixth Uncle is deeply loved by the Queen Mother. If we want to kill him, we have to accuse him of treason, otherwise he won't die."
"Oh..." Fu Xiaoguan nodded thoughtfully, and a bad idea popped up in his mind.
"I received news that the Eastern Frontier Army's light cavalry commander, Fei Guo, has returned to Beijing."
"No transfer order from the Ministry of War?"
"How simple is that crap? His brother is the Minister of War."
Huo Huaijin frowned. He was originally from the border army and knew the rules of the army very well.
If a general leaves without permission from the Ministry of War, he will be guilty of a serious crime punishable by beheading!
So what did Fei Guo want to do by returning to Beijing?
"Let's just drink and wait. Oh, add another set of bowls and chopsticks, because someone else will be here later." Yu Wendao said casually.
Fu Xiaoguan looked up at the sky, which was pitch black. He thought that it might have passed midnight and he didn't know who would come.
He didn't know much about tonight's plan, but with the intelligence from Xiyu Tower, he roughly figured out the outline.
I am indeed a chess piece!
Aren't you really afraid that I'll be eaten by someone else?
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