Chapter 208: The Dragon's Lair in the Capital, the Prince is Healthy
Chapter 208: The Dragon's Lair in the Capital, the Prince is Healthy
In less than half an hour, Lu Yunyi followed Shi Zhengyu out of the front camp.
Facing the moonlight, listening to Shi Zhengyu praising the food,
The two soon arrived at a large mansion in Puzikou City.
The security here is solemn, and there is a team of guards waiting at the gate alone.
Lu Yunyi looked surprised. When did the general's security become so tight?
Soon, he entered the house.
At first glance, I saw two figures sitting around the table.
One of them was the great general Lan Yu, who was tall, with a red face, a face as red as a date, and a slight blush, and wore an indigo robe.
The other man had regular features and a handsome appearance. Even though he had a beard, he looked no more than thirty years old.
He was wearing a dark red uniform with a four-clawed golden dragon faintly embroidered around his waist. Although it was mostly hidden by the belt, Lu Yunyi could still see it clearly.
Lu Yunyi was startled and understood something, so he stepped forward quickly.
The aroma of wine on the table wafted towards him, but he remained expressionless, clasped his hands together, and bowed:
"Your Highness, Lu Yunyi, pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"I greet the general."
Crown Prince Zhu Biao put down his chopsticks and looked over.
Lu Yunyi instantly felt several gazes sweeping over him.
He looked carefully with his peripheral vision and found that there were some dark areas in the house where people seemed to be standing, but he could not confirm it.
"You are indeed a handsome man. Come sit down and eat together."
The prince spoke in a gentle voice, pointing to a stool that had been placed outside.
Lu Yunyi thought about it, looked at the many dishes on the table, and his appetite was aroused. He sat down without hesitation.
But the prince laughed, and then looked at General Lan Yu:
"How about it, uncle? Father said he was a fool, but you didn't believe it and insisted that he was very smart."
For a moment, Lu Yunyi's hand, which was about to pick up the chopsticks, stopped, his face full of confusion. A young man without any urge to pick up the chopsticks?
Lan Yu rolled his eyes at him, picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all:
"Eat, eat. I find you are really rude. You just climb up the ladder. Where is your old-fashioned style of marching and fighting?"
"Reporting to the general, my parents once said that when I go out, I should be open and honest.
I also think so. If we are too reserved, it will bring disgrace to our military reputation."
Lu Yunyi answered loudly, causing the prince to smile.
Lan Yu seemed helpless and drank another glass of wine.
Seeing that the two of them were silent, Lu Yunyi blinked and started eating.
At the same time, his eyes glanced left and right, and his peripheral vision lingered on the prince's face for a long time.
He has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time!
He had no idea why Crown Prince Zhu Biao died. If he could observe him up close, he might be able to tell his physical condition from his posture and facial expression.
But after looking at it so carefully, Lu Yunyi's expression looked extremely strange.
Crown Prince Zhu Biao had a healthy and rosy face, his skin was plump and shiny, without any sickly paleness or dullness, his complexion was good, even his hair grew luxuriantly, and he had no dark circles under his eyes.
This discovery made Lu Yunyi secretly take a deep breath.
In comparison, he seemed to be the one who was about to die.
At this moment, his skin was dull and dark, his eye sockets were deep, he had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was messy, and his eyes were dull.
"Is it a chronic disease, or an acute disease? It doesn't show any symptoms?" Lu Yunyi could only infer this.
As the crown prince of a country, the imperial physician has to diagnose and treat the king regularly. If his complexion is not right, he would have prescribed the right medicine to treat him.
Lu Yunyi did not stop eating while thinking.
The prince and the general were chatting about family matters and ignored him.
Finally, after nearly a quarter of an hour,
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu Yunyi put down his bowl and chopsticks. The prince immediately looked over at him:
"I am full?"
Lu Yunyi said respectfully: "Your Highness, the dishes are so rich that I couldn't help myself and neglected the etiquette. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."
Unexpectedly, the prince smiled and nodded:
"It's really a bit old-fashioned."
Lu Yunyi was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say, while Crown Prince Zhu Biao continued:
"Originally, my uncle should have conveyed today's matter.
But I happened to be in Puzikou City to inspect military affairs and food supplies, so I'll meet you."
Lu Yunyi looked puzzled and said, "Your Highness, please enlighten me. I am all ears."
The prince nodded and told what happened today.
Hearing Lu Yunyi's expression changing repeatedly,
When he heard "You have made many contributions, I will spare your life", he breathed a sigh of relief and his face turned pale.
At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind, which was to leave the capital as soon as possible and not stay there any longer.
In the fights between big men and between civil and military officials, even the slightest scratch or scrape could lead to his death.
Thinking about how he was inexplicably disliked by both sides, Lu Yunyi smiled bitterly and regretted it deeply.
Thoughts were churning in his mind, and before the prince finished speaking,
Lu Yunyi quickly stood up, took a step back and bowed:
"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I am ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth and have privately withheld the confiscated property.
But I am only concerned about the army and have no intention of corruption."
At this time, Lan Yu, who had been silent, put down his chopsticks, glanced at him, and said unhappily:
"Your Majesty and the Crown Prince are kind and benevolent. If we were to ask you about this, what did you just eat? Your last meal?"
Lu Yunyi looked ashamed, while Lan Yu looked at the prince:
"Your Highness, although Lu Yunyi has some skills in marching and fighting,
But he was only twenty years old, and his handwriting was crooked, which showed that he was careless in his studies and didn't understand the principles.
This is his first time to fight with the army, and he doesn't know many of the rules. I hope Your Highness will forgive him this time."
The prince looked calm and still didn't say anything. Lan Yu shook his sleeves and cursed:
"Why don't you thank me now?"
Lu Yunyi finally reacted and bowed quickly:
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will abide by the rules and regulations in the future and will never do anything that violates the law."
The prince, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke:
"It won't happen again."
Lu Yunyi then breathed a sigh of relief and bowed quickly:
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your forgiveness."
After saying this, Crown Prince Zhu Biao stood up and left the house. Lan Yu stood up to see him off.
Some eunuchs with sinister faces walked out from several shadows in the room and followed.
Only after they left did Lu Yunyi straighten up, his face returned to calm, his brows slightly furrowed, and he kept thinking in his mind.
With all the weapons he invented in the army,
It was only a matter of time before he caught the emperor and the prince's attention, and it was also within expectations.
But he didn't expect that the battle between civil and military officials would become so intense.
And the kind-hearted Liu Sanwu secretly harmed him.
Fortunately, his impression of him had changed and he planned to visit him once or twice when he had time as a sign of courtesy.
As his expression changed back and forth,
When the sound of footsteps was heard lightly, Lu Yunyi felt a chill in his heart and his face immediately became full of pain and dejected.
Lan Yu walked into the room quickly, glanced at Lu Yunyi, and snorted coldly:
"This is what happens when you get carried away."
Lu Yunyi showed a bitter expression, his eyes rolled, and he took advantage of the situation to back off and asked quickly:
"General, I didn't know that the capital city is so dangerous. May I ask when our troops can leave the southwest and get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible?"
Lan Yu was stunned, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he still pretended to be cold:
"After the ceremony, the court will issue rewards and seals, and then you can leave."
Having said that, Lu Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Yingtian has beautiful scenery, it is ultimately a dangerous place and those who lead troops to fight cannot stay there for long.
Lu Yunyi curled his lips and said jealously:
"General, although Yingtian is good, there are too many intrigues. I still think Qingzhou is better."
"Hmph, come out."
Seeing that he didn't speak, Lu Yunyi asked again:
"General, I feel a little uneasy."
"No need to worry."
Lu Yunyi blinked, took a step closer, and looked innocent:
"What I am worried about is that now that I have made a mistake, the court will not deduct my merits.
I have told my subordinates that the court is generous and will definitely give them more rewards.
If I end up with a tiny reward, I will be ashamed of myself."
Lan Yu blinked her eyes, and for some reason, her red face seemed to become even redder. She snorted coldly.
He paced around the room with his hands on his hips, and finally pointed at Lu Yunyi's head:
"You are so shameless."
Lu Yunyi chuckled:
"Reporting to the general, I asked Duke Cao and Xu Zengshou a few days ago, but they both didn't know.
I am taking advantage of the general's time to ask a question. I hope the general will forgive me!"
The candlelight on the table flickered, making the room seem a little dark.
Lan Yu had already walked into the shadows, and his expression could not be seen clearly.
He paced around the room, and finally sat back down, saying in a cold voice:
"How about the prince's guest?" The prince's guest? Lu Yunyi's eyes widened, and there was a deep sense of doubt in his eyes.
If he remembered correctly, the Crown Prince's guest was a third-rank official, with three main duties:
He was in charge of serving the Crown Prince, advising him on etiquette, correcting him on his mistakes, and assisting him in governing the country and studying.
Lu Yunyi looked strange and stammered:
"General, what does this mean?
I am still young, how can I be qualified to be the prince's guest?"
As far as he knew, although the position of the Crown Prince's Guest was usually a concurrent position, an additional position or a gifted position, it was an honorary title.
But it should not be underestimated, as an official in the Prince's Office is a symbol of status.
Nowadays, the prince's guests in the court are all old men with gray beards and high moral character, or important officials in the court.
He was mixed in with them, so it was inevitable that his ideas seemed far-fetched and out of place.
General Lan Yu waved his hand:
"It's just a concurrent position. It's not a good thing to be promoted to a high position suddenly when you are young and have made great contributions. It's also not appropriate to be awarded with few achievements.
This is a compensation from the court, and it can also be considered as protection. The place you are actually going to is still the Beijing Xingdusi."
The Daning Dusi was renamed the Beiping Dusi in July.
Outside Xifengkou, the ancient Huizhou area is connected to Liaozuo in the east and Xuanfu in the west. It is a huge town that governs ninety cities on the frontier.
In the near future, the Doyan Sanwei will be added.
With that said, Lu Yunyi felt relieved.
Now he doesn't have enough power to stay in the capital.
If he goes to Daning, he will at least be a commander, with much greater power and much more freedom than in the capital.
Putting away his thoughts, Lu Yunyi quickly bowed, a gleam in his eyes:
"I will do my best to draw the Yellow Book of Fish Scales."
Until this moment, Lan Yu showed a smile on his face and nodded:
"Don't forget your original intention, and you will succeed.
You are a soldier, so it will be of no benefit to you to stay away from those civilian officials in the future."
"I will keep it in mind."
"Liu Sanwu is your master, so it's okay to visit him a bit. Otherwise, it would be even more troublesome to be labeled as disloyal and unfilial. It's better to avoid contact with other people."
Lan Yu said something abruptly, the warning in it was self-evident.
Lu Yunyi blinked his eyes and said, "Thank you, General. I will remember it in my heart."
"Ah."
Lan Yu's face was calm as he drank the wine in the cup. His face was immersed in the candlelight, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.
After a long silence, he asked for no reason:
"Then you figured out the method of changing the generals yourself? What's the purpose?"
Lu Yunyi's heart was pounding, and he looked puzzled:
"General, this method is what I learned from watching the war in Liaowang County. It is intended to improve the combat effectiveness of the army.
Now the front army scouts are called scouts.
But what they did was already a pioneering move, and they would fight head-on.
If we continue to march and fight as before, we will inevitably suffer losses if we encounter elite enemy forces, so I came up with this idea."
"Oh?" Lan Yu raised her eyebrows slightly, looking up and down at Lu Yunyi, with a strange look in her eyes:
"Isn't the military strategy you gave to Wu Fuliu and Zhang Yu?
How come you say that you learned from them? You have learned the skill of confusing right and wrong quite well.”
"Uh..." Lu Yunyi was speechless for a moment, and moved closer to explain with a smile:
"General, Zhang Yu was the Privy Councilor of the Yuan Dynasty. He must have some abilities.
I had suffered many injustices in the army before.
I am thinking of making up for it and giving him some opportunities to make meritorious deeds, so that he will not resent the Ming Dynasty.
I have heard that some surrendered generals were ostracized by many parties and finally couldn't stand it and ran back to the grassland.
Just like the Northern Yuan Taiwei Nai Erbuhua,
I am the commander of Guanshan Guard, an official of the Ming Dynasty.
But because he was a surrendered general, he was ostracized by many parties and finally defected to Mobei. Now he has become a major threat to the border. This is not worth the loss. "
As Lu Yunyi continued to speak, Lan Yu's inexplicable expression gradually calmed down, and she nodded gently:
"You are right. There was a great trouble in the north.
The imperial court was very cautious about surrendering generals, fearing that they might leak information.
Now that the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been destroyed, it’s time to make amends. Don’t let people get discouraged. You’ve done a good job.”
After hearing this, Lu Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief and passed another level!
He walked closer and said in a low voice:
"General, I withheld the spoils of war on my own accord. I hope I will not implicate you."
Lan Yu glanced at him and saw that he was getting closer and closer, already at the edge of the table, so he glanced at the stool.
Lu Yunyi immediately understood and sat down.
Lan Yu couldn't help but smile:
"You see it clearly. You are talking about me, but you are slapping me in the face. You are just looking for an excuse to accuse me of being arrogant to my subordinates."
Lu Yunyi was stunned. His original intention was to ask who had informed on the secret, but he just said that to link it to the seized goods.
I didn't expect that there was actually a connection.
But the next moment, Lu Yunyi had a new understanding.
He is just a kid commanding 5,000 soldiers. How could he be worthy of the excessive attention of the bigwigs in the court? All they care about is the person behind him.
"General, what should I do with the spoils I have in the future? Should I hand them all over?
But, if this is the case, the soldiers will have to pay for their food and other necessities. If they are caught again..."
Lu Yunyi's expression changed back and forth. He had some room for excuse for using the court's money to support the army.
The present is different from the past. He has now caught the eyes of many adults and has become a thorn in the eyes of all parties.
If we continue to use our own money to support the army as we did in the past, there will definitely be no good ending.
Unexpectedly, Lan Yu waved his hand casually:
"It's fine if you have to deduct the deductions. If you follow the rules in every aspect of military operations, how can you fight the war?
In the past, we followed Your Majesty in the wars, and Your Majesty did not take a penny of the spoils.
We took the goods home one cart at a time, and His Majesty didn't say anything.
Moreover, when His Majesty mentioned today that you had withheld the seized goods, he did not mean to blame you.
As long as you don't spend the spoils on a life of luxury, I will be responsible for any problems that arise."
Lu Yunyi felt a surge of security, he breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly bowed:
"Thank you for your protection, General!"
After saying this, Lan Yu slowly stood up and walked out, saying as he walked:
"Take care of the ceremonial soldiers. When the time comes, the troop transfer and the imperial edict for rewards will be issued together.
The court arranged for Li Jinglong to be the chief of the Beijing Army, leading five guards including the front army scouts. "
Lu Yunyi was stunned. Li Jinglong was asked to lead nearly 30,000 people? This... This is nonsense.
Fortunately, Lan Yu explained in time:
"The deputy commander for this trip is Sima Xu, the assistant commander of the Central Military Governor's Office. He will be in charge of the specific military affairs.
It is convenient for Li Jinglong to stay in your army."
So, Lu Yunyi breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Sima is the adopted son of the emperor. Although he is not well-known in the military,
But he is particularly good at managing logistics. With him transporting the troops, these nearly 30,000 people should be safe on the journey.
"After arriving in the southwest, you don't need to pay attention to the other four guards. Your unit will be under the command of Feng Cheng, the front army, but as before, you will be directly dispatched by Gui Muying."
Lu Yunyi showed respect: "I will obey your orders."
At the same time, he thought carefully in his mind that Feng Cheng was the deputy governor of the Left Army and was in charge of the Yunnan Commandery together with Ning Zheng.
Lan Yu, who had been holding his hands behind his back, turned sideways and looked at Lu Yunyi:
"Fight the war in the southwest well and don't let Mu Ying find fault with it. He is not as easy to talk to as I am.
This trip to the southwest, Deng Zhen will also go with us.
If you have any questions, go find him and ask him to discuss it with Mu Ying."
A trace of doubt flashed across Lu Yunyi's eyes, and Lan Yu continued to explain:
"In the early years, Mu Ying followed the late Ninghe King to conquer Tubo, and the Ninghe King died on the way back.
Most of his old subordinates were resettled by Mu Ying, so he still has some inheritance, so he still has to give Deng Zhen some face."
After hearing this, Lu Yunyi suddenly remembered,
Mu Ying was granted the title of marquis during the war against Tubo, and was given the title of a loyal and devoted military official who assisted the country in its cause, with an annual salary of 2,500 dan.
"Thank you for your advice, General. I will keep it in mind."
"This journey is thousands of miles long. The southwest is not like the grasslands. The environment is much worse. Be careful and don't die there."
Lan Yu had an inexplicable expression and his voice was a little hollow. After he finished speaking, he walked away without looking back.
Lu Yunyi stood still, bowed, and spoke in a long voice:
"Thank you, General. I will definitely return victorious."
(End of this chapter)