The lights in the main house of the Shi Mansion were never turned off.
Old Master Shi frowned and walked back and forth in the room for a long time, still undecided.
After his last closed-door conversation with Fu Xiaoguan, he realized that Fu Xiaoguan was not an easy person to deal with. He thought he had already thought highly of Fu Xiaoguan, but what happened on the long street today once again overturned his perception.
Two men with two swords actually blocked the charge of four hundred cavalrymen!
Although they were restricted by the long street terrain, they were still cavalry!
This is not because Prince Hui privately owns an army. As a prince, he can have 800 private soldiers. It’s just that Prince Hui’s private soldiers are equipped with horses.
But all the powerful people in the capital knew that Prince Hui's private soldiers were different, because most of them were retired soldiers, and the person in charge of training them was also a retired general of a border army.
Prince Hui never concealed this matter. During the royal hunting activities over the years, he would bring his cavalry to show off in front of His Majesty.
He behaved very openly and honestly, which shut everyone up.
So this was a truly combat-capable cavalry, but it failed to kill Fu Xiaoguan. Instead, it was almost wiped out by the Taoist disciples who followed.
"Father, this Fu Xiaoguan... is not easy to kill!" Shi Chaoyuan of course also realized how powerful Fu Xiaoguan was through this incident. This kid had tricked Prince Hui upside down. After what happened tonight, Prince Hui would never be able to turn things around. He would definitely be expelled from Shangjing and would never have a chance to come back in this life.
In just one short day, a dignified prince was overthrown by him. This kid's harmless appearance was all a lie.
"Have you found the person who killed Fu Xiaoguan?"
"Father, I did find him, but... why would I kill him?"
"Why not kill him?" Old Master Shi stopped at the window, gazing at the pitch-black night. "The time is set for the Lantern Festival. Official Fu will definitely go to Lantingji... Talk to the eldest prince about this matter and see what he thinks."
Shi Chaoyuan didn't understand why his father was so determined to kill Fu Xiaoguan after meeting him. Of course, Shi Chaoyuan had wanted to kill Fu Xiaoguan before, simply to vent his anger. But after what happened today, to be honest, he no longer had any murderous intentions towards Fu Xiaoguan.
There is no other reason, it's just because this guy is not only difficult to kill, but he will bite you back if you are not careful. He can even bite a prince to death, let alone the Shi family.
Old Master Shi did not explain to him, but murmured: "It's so dark today, I'm afraid it's going to snow again."
…
Fu Xiaoguan, the Fifth Prince, and Huo Huaijin were drinking and chatting in Taoranting, but the Dong family was feeling restless.
Madam Dong was particularly nervous. She clutched a handkerchief, her brows filled with worry. She glanced at Dong Kangping and asked, "There's a curfew tonight. Could it be that Prince Hui is planning to attack me? Do you want to go to the palace and look for His Majesty?"
Dong Kangping shook his head. "Don't worry, just wait a little longer."
"Waiting for what?"
"Wait for the news from Officer Fu."
The Dong family's foundation is still shallow, and they don't have that many spies, so they don't know what happened that night. But when they think of what Fu Xiaoguan said when he came in the evening, they feel a little worried.
Fu Xiaoguan said that a lot of things would happen tonight, so he asked them to stay at home and Shulan not to go over. He would send someone to deliver the message after things were over.
So what exactly happened?
Why hasn't any news arrived yet?
Dong Shulan was also very worried. She really wanted to go to the Fu Mansion to take a look, but thinking of Fu Xiaoguan's extremely cautious words, she gave up the idea.
This guy is so bold that he actually dared to cripple the third prince on the long street and even dared to fight against 400 cavalrymen on the long street!
He is simply asking for his life!
Did he ever think at that time what would happen to Wenjun and me if he lost the battle and was killed by Prince Hui?
He needs to be warned about this. He is about to have a family, but he is still so impulsive. What if, what if something happens to him? What should we do?
Just as they were getting anxious, a carriage stopped at the door of Dong's house and Chunxiu walked in.
She was about to salute, but Dong Shulan grabbed her and asked nervously, "Are you okay?"
Chunxiu smiled and said, "Madam, it's okay."
Dong Shulan blushed at the call of "mistress," and she quickly added, "Tell me about it."
Chunxiu then detailed the entire layout of the mansion and what had happened. Madam Dong heaved a sigh of relief and patted her chest. "Thank goodness the Fifth Prince had arranged for an expert to be at the mansion. That damned Prince Hui, his son did something so outrageous that not only did he not repent, but he even tried to harm me. He truly deserves to die!"
Dong Xiude shrugged his shoulders and said, "Look, I told you he would be fine."
Mrs. Dong glared at him: "What basis do you have for judging?"
"Good people don't live long, but bad people live a thousand years. This is an old saying."
"Are you saying that Fu Xiaoguan is a bad guy?"
Dong Xiu De looked at his mother who was about to explode and immediately shut up. What he was thinking was that if Fu Xiaoguan was a good person, then what the hell!
Dong Shulan glanced at Dong Xiude and asked Chunxiu, "So...what is he doing now?"
"Madam, the young master is drinking now."
Drinking? Dong Shulan was stunned. "Who are you drinking with?"
"One is His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince, another is Master Yan who has just arrived, and the other is a young general whom I have never seen before."
…
The person the fifth prince is waiting for is Yan Shidao.
Yan Shidao left the Yan Mansion at midnight and went to the Fei Mansion.
Of course he went to see Fei Guo, because Fei Guo came to Yan Mansion to look for him two days ago.
Yan Shidao drank a glass of wine, his brows looking a little solemn.
"He cannot be convicted of deserting the army without permission. He does have the documents for visiting relatives. He is the commander of the light cavalry, so the Ministry of War's approval is sufficient. There is no need to report to the Privy Council, and certainly no need to petition His Majesty."
"What is the purpose of his trip?" asked Fu Xiaoguan.
Yan Shidao looked at Fu Xiaoguan. Under the dim light, Fu Xiaoguan's facial features were indeed somewhat similar to Xu Yunqing's.
He was a little absent-minded, then smiled inexplicably.
"It's all because of the corruption in disaster relief."
Then Yan Shidao told Fu Xiaoguan the details in detail, and he felt that Fu Xiaoguan was qualified to hear it.
"Last year, His Majesty conducted a thorough investigation into corruption and arrested hundreds of officials from various regions. They are now detained in the Dali Temple. Seeing that the clues are about to be uncovered, many people can no longer sit still, including the Yan clan."
Fu Xiaoguan was quite impressed by Yan Shidao's frank words, but the Fifth Prince seemed calm.
"This isn't something shameful. After all, rumors in the capital say that the Yan Clan is the leader of the six great clans. It's been run by two generations of prime ministers, my grandfather and my father. To be honest, I'm afraid my father himself doesn't even know how many of his clan members have risen to power and become wealthy thanks to the Yan Clan."
He drank another glass of wine. "So, at the end of last year, to prevent Your Majesty from continuing the investigation, the Yi Kingdom's Red Feather Legion made a move. They moved from their base to Ximayuan, facing our eastern border troops across the river. And according to scouts, supplies from the Yi Kingdom's rear were being allocated in large quantities. Even the head of the Yi Kingdom's military personally came to the front line to inspect."
"Various signs indicate that the east is in turmoil, so after careful consideration, His Majesty announced to all officials the decision to execute those criminals without trial. This is naturally a compromise, and it also reassures these officials and powerful families."
"But what Feiguo told me this time is that His Majesty has not wavered in his determination to continue the investigation. He was just saying that for our benefit. So what he meant was... that battle in the east must be fought. Only when it's truly fought, and fought on a large scale, so that His Majesty can no longer focus on the corruption, can the crisis of the six major clans be truly resolved."
Fu Xiaoguan looked at Master Yan seriously, listening carefully to every word he said, and asked, "How did he come to this conclusion?"
Fu Xiaoguan wondered if his family's grain shipment to the east had been exposed, but Yan Shidao replied, "He said this was the judgment of Master Fei."
"Why did he dare to say such a treasonous thing to you?"
"Firstly, no matter what the Ministry of War does, it can't bypass the Privy Council. Secondly..." Yan Shidao spilled the wine on the ground while holding the cup, "Father made a mistake once."
"What mistake?" The person who asked this question was Yu Wendao, and Fu Xiaoguan had already guessed it roughly.
"In the first year of the Xuanli reign, there was the Battle of Ximayuan. Qin Tong shouldn't have died. At that time, my father believed that the Yan clan had reached the pinnacle of civil service, but had made no achievements among military commanders. So after the Battle of Ximayuan, Old Master Fei came to talk to my father for a long time. As a result, Fei Bang was transferred to the position of Minister of War, and my third brother, Yan Haochu, was transferred to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Western Frontier Army."
"Does the Emperor know about this?"
"Father explained the truth to His Majesty in the autumn of the fifth year of the Xuanli reign."
"Why did he say it out loud?" The person who asked this question was Fu Xiaoguan.
"Because my father has told me many times that the so-called Yan Clan is your Majesty's Yan Clan."
"So after the Prime Minister told His Majesty, His Majesty not only didn't blame him, but instead trusted him even more. Furthermore, His Majesty didn't overturn Qin Tong's case. His goal was to bury the Yan clan's pawn, making the Fei family think that since they had cooperated in the first year of the Xuanli reign, they would naturally be able to continue this time."
After Fu Xiaoguan said this, Yan Shidao looked at him for a few breaths, then personally took the bottle and poured a glass of wine for Fu Xiaoguan. Without saying anything, they raised their glasses and drank together from a distance.
"So what are the Yan clan's plans for the east?"
"Father means... let's fight a war."
It seems that this is still to paralyze the other five clans. His Majesty's determination to reshuffle these six major clans has not changed, and the Yan clan knows it.
So will Yan Beixi recall Yan Haochu?
Thinking about the conversation he had with Yan Beixi at Yan Mansion a few days ago, Fu Xiaoguan suddenly wanted to slap himself.
What the hell, Yan Beixi is His Majesty's man, and I am still naive enough to try to clear up Yan Beixi's doubts. It is really stupid!
"There's another thing. Prince Hui's aide, Ji Yungui, went to Nanling County to look for Fei An. Fei Guo told me this. He said... Fei An's heart had long since died. Ji Yungui's idea of asking Fei An to lead his troops into the capital was simply foolish."
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