Chapter 605 Testing each other

Chapter 605 Testing each other

Chapter 605 Testing each other
Beijing.

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 palace's library, 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 and saw the old brown bookshelves. The dusty and seldom-read books recorded the rise and fall of the Dayu Dynasty for 600 years.

The Empress has been coming here more frequently recently, one of her purposes being to find clues to crack the password for the mobile phone in "The World".

The second reason was that she was also quite concerned about the "disaster star" that was passing through the sky.

As for the third thing, there was another matter that always bothered 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 about the death of the second prince 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 in name only, and Xu Jianwen has never appeared.

This bold guess was gradually ignored.

But the empress still had some worries in her heart, so she often looked through the files related to the coup d'état, 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. Xiuwenguan has not reviewed it yet, so I sent it here first."

Xu Zhenguan was shocked and hurried into the study, followed by Sun Lianying.

The old eunuch couldn't help coughing when he suddenly stepped from the cold outdoors into the warm room. His slightly gloomy face turned red due to coughing.

"Is the typhoid fever still not healed?"

The Empress said with concern:

"Is the prescription prescribed by the imperial physician ineffective? Or are you overworked? I will allow you to go back and recuperate for a few days. You are not young anymore, so please do not make your condition worse."

Sun Lianying covered her mouth, stopped coughing, took a deep breath, and said with a smile:
"A little bit of cold in winter is not a big deal. If it was two years ago, even if I had a fever, my spirit would be as strong as that of a young person. But now it is of little use."

Xu Zhenguan felt a warm current in his heart and said seriously:
"Thank you, dear friend, for still running around 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 contents written on them, one was a military letter and the other was a secret report.

The empress first tore open the military book, shook out the papers, glanced over with her beautiful eyes, first breathed a sigh of relief, 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 the Prince of Hejian. A few days ago, the Prince of Hejian was trapped in his palace. The latter did not resist and took the initiative to surrender with his family.

Now, all the members of the Hejian King's rebel group have been captured, put on prison vans, and sent to the capital.

Although the Duke of Zhenguo suffered a lot of losses, fortunately he recovered Xiping Road before the beginning of spring."

Sun Lianying said with great joy:

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Now that Xiping Road has returned, the Five Military Camps and the Imperial Guards will soon arrive at Xiping Road. With the Duke of Zhenguo in charge, and waiting for Xue Shence to arrive, we may be able to 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 to pay, the border troops of the Duke of Zhenguo also made many sacrifices. Not to mention that they were crippled, but their vitality was also seriously damaged.

"According to the date, Zhao Du'an should have arrived at Huting, and Xue Shence may be on his way north." The empress thought.

She tore open the second secret letter, but when her phoenix eyes swept over the words on the letter, her 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. Ha, the meaning is similar to the previous peace letter. It is on behalf of the Western Regions and requires Yu to cede Xiping as compensation to Buddhism, otherwise it will resort to force."

Sun Lianying frowned and said:

"The shadow guard reported it before. 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 all collapsed, so it was conceivable that the peace talks in the Western Regions would never be accepted. But they had to send such a letter, which was a bit like taking off their pants to fart.

Xu Zhenguan thought for a moment, then suddenly took the letter in his bare hands, walked to the charcoal basin in the house, and slowly roasted the paper over the charcoal fire.

Gradually, the words on the paper became blurred and faded like ink.

Instead, new red text appeared.

"Secret text?" 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 words on the paper, densely packed like cuckoo weeping blood. There was no "information" as he had imagined, only four large characters filling the entire letter paper:

"No peace talks! No peace talks! No peace talks... Buddhism cannot be trusted!"

……

……

"Any news?"

Inside 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 wants you to take the risk and go to the court's territory. If Ye Xin and that military advisor Xu find out, I'm afraid..."

Jiang Wangsun is already 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 set these meeting rules. As for going to the court, I think it is safer than meeting him here."

After a pause, Jiang Wangsun ordered:

"Go and get ready. We'll leave 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 up 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 because of 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. This was a firewood room. Jiang Wangsun pushed open the door of the firewood room 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 is not in the area controlled by the imperial court. Fortunately, it is remote enough and avoids the main roads guarded by the rebels.

If you look down at Hu Ting from the sky, you can 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 made many turns in the night 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 attendant 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 a flickering fire inside the room.

When I took a step, the snow under my feet made a "crunching" sound, which was particularly crisp.

Jiang Wangsun walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped, turned his head and looked 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 on the lake that was half occupied by the imperial court, when Jiang Wangsun looked into the darkness, he always felt that there were shadowy figures there, and countless ambushes were lurking.

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 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 everything 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 light is like a bean.

The young man turned his face sideways towards the door, appearing to be 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 it, spreads it evenly on the paper, and then sticks strips on the lantern frame.

Even when he heard the door open, he didn't look up.

"Master Jiang, please take a seat first. I'll be there 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 as guests.

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 a head with a mixture of black and white hair.

Taking a step forward and sitting on the bench opposite the young man, Jiang Wangsun looked at him carefully with the help of candlelight.

After seeing it, I couldn't help but exclaim:
"I've heard that Governor Zhao is handsome, and now that I've seen his true appearance, I know the rumors are true. He is no less handsome than I was when I was young."

"..." Zhao Duan's movement of concentrating on pasting lanterns paused slightly, and then returned to normal.

He continued to frame the lantern at a leisurely pace, then he put it on the ground and looked up at the shameless old man.

After carefully examining Jiang Wangsun's weathered face, Zhao Duan pondered for a moment and said:

"Lord Jiang is funny and humorous, but I am not as good as him."

The secret talks between the two sides actually opened with such a dialogue.

Jiang Wangsun smiled, as if he didn't notice the irony, and said with emotion:
"I didn't expect that Governor Zhao would choose to meet here. He is already on the battlefield, but he still has the leisure to mend lanterns and do the crude work of a craftsman. It seems that the governor has full confidence in this war."

Are you in such a hurry to test it?

Zhao Duan smiled. When it comes to killing enemies in battle, 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:
"Mr. Jiang is wrong. This sewing lantern is not vulgar. Who can live without this lantern?

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 eye. However, the human heart is a place that cannot be illuminated by the light and cannot be seen through.

Prince Jing probably couldn't have imagined that the 'minister' he relied on also had 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 in the future."

"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 also be many white lanterns to mourn?"

There was a moment of silence.

The only sounds in the room were the two people's breathing, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The wrinkles on Jiang Wangsun's face trembled, as if he was smiling, but also as if he was not:

“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 knew that the governor was full of confidence, but I am curious about where the governor’s confidence comes from.

As far as I know, after the failure of the peace talks, the imperial court was short of troops, and 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, 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 has 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 all the time.

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:

"Master Jiang, you are overdoing it. Since I was able to capture Xu Jingtang in just a few months, I can certainly kill Prince Jing. As for the means and confidence, haha, if Master Jiang completely submits to the court, then maybe he will be qualified to know. Do you think I am right or wrong?"

Jiang Wangsun laughed and said:
"The governor's words make sense. But I'm also thinking that the governor's confidence is probably not enough."

"Oh?" Zhao Duan said with a smile, "Master Jiang, do you think I am bluffing?"

Jiang Wangsun smiled faintly and said with emotion:
"Of course I trust the governor, otherwise I would not have come here tonight. But... if the governor is really confident, I'm afraid... there is no need for him to come to see me... right?"

……

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(End of this chapter)