Chapter 605 Testing Each Other
Capital city.
Even though it has been many days since the New Year, it is still early in spring and this city with a population of one million is still solemn and grim.
On this day, the empress was welcomed again in the library of the palace, which was specially used to store archives and scriptures related to members of the royal family.
"Your Majesty..." The eunuch guarding the library bowed respectfully.
Xu Zhenguan didn't even look at him, but just walked up the old stairs, where there were old brown bookshelves. The dusty and seldom-read books recorded the rise and fall of the Dayu Dynasty for six hundred years.
The Empress has been coming here more frequently recently, one of her purposes being to find clues to crack the password of the mobile phone in "The World".
Secondly, she was also quite concerned about the "disaster star" that passed through the sky.
As for the third thing, there was another matter that always worried her, and that was about the second prince Jianwen.
When Guhuo Zhenren was reborn and returned to the capital, Zhao Duan discussed with the empress the Second Prince's death in the coup. At that time, the empress had a guess in her mind:
Since Guhuo Zhenren is not dead, is Jian Wen dead?
It’s just that so much time has passed that the Kuangfu Society is almost dead in name only, and Xu Jianwen has never appeared.
This bold guess was gradually ignored.
But the empress still had some hidden worries in her heart, so she often looked through the files related to the coup, looking for clues.
Two hours passed and the empress returned empty-handed, having found no valuable clues.
However, when he returned to the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, he saw Sun Lianying waiting anxiously at the door of the imperial study, pacing around.
"His Majesty!"
Seeing the empress, Sun Lianying's cloudy old eyes lit up and he said hurriedly:
"The Duke of Zhenguo sent the latest military information. The Xiuwenguan has not reviewed it yet, so I sent it here first."
Xu Zhenguan was shocked and hurried into the study, followed closely by Sun Lianying.
The old eunuch couldn't help coughing when he suddenly stepped from the cold outdoors into the warm room, and his slightly gloomy face turned red due to coughing.
"Is the typhoid fever still not healed?"
The Empress said with concern:
"Is the imperial physician's prescription ineffective? Or are you overworked? I'll allow you to go home and recuperate for a few days. You're not young anymore, so don't let your condition worsen."
Sun Lianying covered her mouth, stopped coughing, took a deep breath, and said with a smile:
"A little bit of winter cold isn't a big deal. Two years ago, even with a fever, I was as energetic as a young person. But now, I'm not much use to it."
Xu Zhenguan felt a warm feeling in his heart and said seriously:
"Thank you, dear friend, for still working so hard for me at such an old age."
"It's just my job, how can I deserve your Majesty's hard work?" Sun Lianying smiled, took out two wax-sealed secret letters from his sleeve and presented them to him.
Xu Zhenguan then took it. The two envelopes had different inscriptions on them, one was a military letter and the other was a secret memorial.
The empress first tore open the military book, shook out the papers, and swept her beautiful eyes over it. She first breathed a sigh of relief, and then the corners of her mouth rose slightly.
"But is there something good happening on the front line?" Sun Lianying asked, observing his expression.
Xu Zhenguan said "yes" and smiled:
"The Duke of Zhenguo led a large army and defeated the rebels of Prince Hejian. A few days ago, Prince Hejian was trapped in his palace. The latter did not resist and led his family out of the palace to surrender.
Now, all the members of the Hejian King's rebel group have been imprisoned, put on prison carts, and sent to the capital.
Although the Duke of Zhenguo suffered considerable losses, he fortunately managed to reclaim Xiping Road before the beginning of spring."
Sun Lianying said with great joy:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Now that Xipingdao has returned, the Five Military Battalions and the Imperial Guards will soon arrive at Xipingdao. With the Duke of Zhenguo in charge, and after Xue Shence arrives, perhaps we can build a defense line before the Western Regions invade."
Xu Zhenguan nodded.
The defeat of Prince Hejian came faster than expected, which bought the court more time.
But as a price, the border troops of the Duke of Zhenguo also made many sacrifices. Not to mention being disabled, they were also seriously injured.
"According to the date, Zhao Du'an should have arrived at Huting, and Xue Shence may be on his way north." The empress thought.
He tore open the second secret letter, but when his phoenix eyes swept over the words on the letter, his brows slowly frowned.
"Your Majesty?" Sun Lianying's heart sank slightly.
Xu Zhenguan's smile faded and he said calmly:
"This is the peace letter Princess Wenzhu wrote to me. The message is similar to the previous peace letter. Both represent the nations of the Western Regions and demand that the Yu Kingdom cede Xiping as compensation to the Buddhist sect, or else resort to force."
Sun Lianying frowned and said:
"The Shadow Guard reported this earlier. Princess Wenzhu has been placed under house arrest in the Golden Tent, so this letter is..."
The peace talks between the Prince of Hejian and the Prince of Yanshan had already collapsed, so it was obvious that the peace terms in the Western Regions would be absolutely unacceptable. But sending such a letter was a bit of a joke.
Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment, then suddenly came to the charcoal brazier in the house with the letter paper in his bare hands and slowly roasted the paper on the charcoal fire.
Gradually, the words on the paper became blurred and faded like ink.
Instead, new red text appeared.
"Secret code?" Sun Lianying was surprised.
"Could it be that Princess Wenzhu pretended to write a letter to persuade people to surrender, but in fact she was passing on information?"
Xu Zhenguan looked closely and saw red characters on the paper, densely packed like a cuckoo weeping blood. There was no "information" as he had imagined, only four large characters, crowding the entire letter paper:
"No peace talks! No peace talks! No peace talks... Buddhism cannot be trusted!"
…
…
"Any news?"
In Huting City, Jiang Wangsun closed the door and stared at his confidants in the mansion.
The confidant whispered, "Yes, the location has been decided."
As he said this, he handed a note to Jiang Wangsun.
After seeing this, Jiang Wangsun frowned and said nothing.
This third-generation servant of the Jiang family couldn't help but say:
"Master, this Zhao Duan is so arrogant. It's obvious that he is begging us. But he still wants you to take the risk and go to the imperial court. If Ye Xin and that military advisor Xu find out, I'm afraid..."
Jiang Wangsun is fifty-seven years old this year. Although he has taken good care of himself, his temples are still gray. His handsome face in his youth is now full of traces of time.
After reciting the address on the paper several times, he threw it into the brazier and burned it, saying calmly:
"Zhao Duan is different from others. Although I have never met him in person, I know from his behavior that he is not easy to deal with. It is not surprising that they have established these meeting rules. As for going to the imperial court, I feel that it is safer to meet him here than here."
After a pause, Jiang Wangsun ordered:
"Go and get ready. We're leaving tonight."
"Yes." The close servant said nothing more and quietly retreated.
In winter, it gets dark very early.
Soon, the setting sun sank into the horizon and darkness enveloped the lake pavilion.
After nightfall, Jiang Wangsun had dinner in public in his mansion, and then, under the pretext of going to bed early, ordered no one to disturb him.
After returning to the bedroom, he lifted the floorboards under the closet and revealed a secret passage.
In those days, many wealthy families would have secret passages when building their mansions to avoid banditry. Jiang Wangsun chose this house to live in because he was attracted by the secret passage.
Jiang Wangsun walked down the wooden ladder to the ground, wrapped in a pitch-black cloak that covered his entire body, picked up an oil lamp, and moved forward.
After an unknown amount of time, he reached the end of the tunnel, climbed up the ladder, and pushed open the lid of the rice jar. There was a woodshed here.
Jiang Wangsun pushed open the door of the woodshed and saw his personal attendants waiting outside.
"Master, the car is ready outside the yard." said the attendant.
Unfortunately, the exit of the secret passage was not in the area controlled by the imperial court. Fortunately, it was remote enough and avoided the main roads heavily guarded by the rebels.
If you look down at Hu Ting from the sky, you will see that the dividing line between the two armies is not a straight line, but a winding and jagged one.
Jiang Wangsun left the yard, got on a low-key donkey cart, and drove around in the dark before arriving at a street corner guarded by secret sentries from the imperial court.
In the darkness, Song Jinxi walked out like a ghost, waved at them, and signaled them to follow.
The donkey cart followed Song Jinxi into an alley and finally stopped outside a lantern shop.
"Please come in, my master is waiting inside." Song Jinxi said in a low voice.
Jiang Wangsun's heart had been tense since he entered the imperial court's territory. He took two deep breaths before lifting the curtain and getting out of the car steadily.
He told his attendants to wait here.
He glanced at Song Jinxi again, whose face was mostly hidden in the night, before walking towards the remote lantern shop.
In the darkness of night, no light came out from the several white lanterns hanging under the plaque of the lantern shop, but through the door, one could vaguely see the flickering light of a fire inside the room.
When I took a step, the snow under my feet made a "crunching" sound, which was particularly crisp.
Jiang Wangsun took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and turned his head to look around, as if he was looking for his exact location.
Unfortunately, the winter night is too dark and there is no moonlight tonight. Only the few remaining stars in the sky cast a little light, allowing people to barely see.
Thinking that he was now standing in a pavilion half occupied by the imperial court, when Jiang Wangsun looked into the darkness, he always felt that there were shadows and countless ambushes hidden there.
Take a deep breath.
Jiang Wangsun put aside all distractions and pushed the door open to enter the lantern shop.
…
“Squeak…”
The door opened, and the thick wind-proof curtain hanging on the door was lifted, and Jiang Wangsun saw the scene inside the shop.
This lantern shop seems to have been closed for a long time. The shop is not very big and almost the entire shop can be seen at a glance.
All around the house, on the walls and in the corners, there are white lanterns hanging or piled up.
In the middle of the room, on a wide square table, a dim oil lamp was lit alone.
A young man in fancy clothes sat quietly on a bench beside the table, pasting lanterns seriously.
A lamp as dim as a bean.
The young man turned his head sideways towards the door, appearing extremely focused.
One hand almost half-holds a lantern frame woven from bamboo strips, and the other hand covers it with white lantern paper. He then takes out the paste from the ceramic bowl next to him, spreads it evenly on the paper, and sticks it on the lantern frame in strips.
Even when he heard the door open, he didn't look up.
"Master Jiang, please take a seat first. I'll be fine in a moment."
The young man spoke softly without raising his head, his tone neither hurried nor slow.
It was as if tonight was not a secret meeting, but a host welcoming neighbors.
Jiang Wangsun had an absurd idea in his mind, but he did not dare to underestimate this famous young man at all.
He walked over step by step, slowly lifting the cloak on his head, revealing his head with a mixture of black and white hair.
Taking a step forward, Jiang Wangsun sat on the bench opposite the young man and looked at him carefully with the help of candlelight.
After seeing it, I couldn't help but exclaim:
"I've long heard that Commander Zhao is a very handsome man. Now that I've seen him in person, I know the rumors are true. He's no less handsome than I was when I was young."
"..." Zhao Duan paused slightly while concentrating on pasting the lanterns, and then returned to normal.
He continued to frame the lantern at a leisurely pace, then put it on the ground and looked up at the arrogant old man.
After carefully examining Jiang Wangsun's weathered face, Zhao Duan pondered for a moment and said:
"Master Jiang is very humorous, but I am not as good as him."
The secret talks between the two sides actually started with such a dialogue.
Jiang Wangsun smiled, as if he didn't hear the sarcasm, and said with emotion:
"I never expected that Commander Zhao would choose to meet here. Even before the battle, he still had the leisure to mend lanterns, a humble craftsman's occupation. It seems the Commander has every confidence in this war."
Are you in such a hurry to test it?
Zhao Duan smiled. When it comes to fighting in the battlefield, he thinks he is not as good as Xue Shence, but dealing with these old men is his forte.
But he shook his head and said seriously:
"Master Jiang is wrong. This mending lantern is not crude at all. Who in every household can live without it?
If you ask me, this lantern is much more important than the person. At least when the lantern is bright, everything is clear to the eyes. However, the human heart is a place that cannot be illuminated by the lantern and cannot be seen through.
Even Prince Jing probably couldn't have imagined that the 'ministers' he relied on might harbor ulterior motives."
Jiang Wangsun's expression changed subtly, but it was not clear in the dim candlelight.
After a pause, Zhao Duan said with a smile:
"Of course, I am mending the lantern because it will be of great use later."
"Oh? May I ask what it is used for?" Jiang Wangsun asked curiously.
Zhao Duan stared at him seriously and said slowly:
"If Prince Jing died, wouldn't there be many white lanterns to mourn him?"
There was a moment of silence.
The only sounds in the room were the breathing of the two people, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The wrinkles on Jiang Wangsun's face trembled, as if he was smiling, but also not smiling:
"I heard earlier that the governor carried a coffin to the battlefield, and even earlier, he signed a military order in public in the Golden Palace... I know that the governor is full of confidence, but I am curious about the source of his confidence.
As far as I know, after the failure of the peace talks, the imperial court was short of troops to deploy. It seems that even the imperial guards that guarded the inner city of the capital were transferred to Xiping... If someone who didn't know the situation heard this, they might think that Your Majesty was going to lead the army in person."
Scored twice, and it was another test.
It has to be admitted that Zhao Duan's consecutive victories were a miracle and also caused huge ripples within the rebels.
Moreover, Zhao Duan had been putting on a show time and time again since the peace talks began, whether it was the military order, Bai Shiqiao's order to the rebels to pass on the message, the subsequent carrying of the coffin, or the weaving of the lanterns just now...
They show their confidence in victory at all times.
It seems that Prince Jing's defeat is a foregone conclusion.
Jiang Wangsun was extremely curious about where this young man's confidence came from.
Zhao Duan smiled, but did not respond to the question about the Empress mobilizing troops. He just smiled mysteriously:
"Lord Jiang, you're overreaching. Since I was able to capture Xu Jingtang in just a few months, I can naturally execute Prince Jing. As for the means and means, haha, only if Lord Jiang fully submits to the imperial court will he be qualified to know. Do you think I'm right or wrong?"
Jiang Wangsun laughed and said:
"The governor's words are reasonable. But I also think that the governor's confidence is not enough."
"Oh?" Zhao Duan said with a smile, "Master Jiang, do you think I'm bluffing?"
Jiang Wangsun smiled faintly and said with emotion:
"Of course I trust the Governor, otherwise I wouldn't be here tonight. But... if the Governor is truly confident, I'm afraid... there's no need for him to come see me... right?"
…
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(End of this chapter)
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