On the day Han Quanlin officially opened the city and surrendered, it began to rain.
The gates of Nanzheng were wide open, and Mo Qiaosheng led his troops into the capital of Hanzhong in the rain.
A group of royal family members dressed in white, led by Han Quanlin, knelt at the city gate to welcome them.
Mo Qiaosheng's horse stopped in front of Han Quanlin. He looked at the King of Hanzhong who was kneeling in the mud.
A few years ago, in a rainy season like this, the two of them switched places. It was him who was kneeling in front of this man.
Under this man's coercion, he once gave up his dignity and even almost suffered the most humiliating thing.
Today, I saw this skinny man kneeling there, begging for surrender.
Mo Qiaosheng could still clearly remember how this person had stood in front of him with a disgusting expression.
Pushing myself into a corner, I said to him in that harsh and cold voice,
"Take off your clothes yourself."
The humiliating words from that day were still ringing in his ears. Mo Qiaosheng tightened his grip on the reins, pulling so hard that his knuckles turned white.
The cold rain hit his face and slid down his cheeks.
He suddenly missed his lord intensely and wanted to return to him, to be with the person who allowed him to cry and laugh freely.
The black horse hooves stayed in front of Han Quanlin for a long time. The rain hit Han Quanlin, making him cold and scared.
Han Quanlin couldn't help but raise his head quietly. In front of him was a jet-black horse with white mist coming out of its nose.
Sitting on the horse was a tall figure, wearing armor and a helmet. The brim of the pure iron helmet cast a black shadow on the stern face.
The man's expression could not be seen clearly. Only two cold gazes shot out from the shadows, looking down at him.
Han Quanlin felt a chill rising on his back and he quickly lowered his head into the mud.
At this moment, he truly felt the threat of death.
He thought in fear: I am the king of a country after all. Without the order of King Jin, Mo Qiaosheng would not dare to kill me. Besides, I didn't really do anything to him in the beginning. He received so many gifts from me, so he shouldn't mind it anymore.
After an unknown amount of time, until the rain soaked his clothes, a cold voice floated over his head:
"King Han, there is no need to do this. Please stand up."
Han Quanlin breathed a sigh of relief in his heart: See, he really didn't do anything to me.
At night, Han Quanlin found that he was just under house arrest. No one was particularly rude to him, and his diet and daily life were normal.
He felt a little more at ease, and his mind gradually became more active.
Mo Qiaosheng was discussing with Yang Sheng and other generals at his base in Nanzheng City how to recruit the surrendered soldiers and stabilize the situation in Hanzhong.
A Yuan entered the tent and said, "General, Princess Yuzhu of the Han Kingdom wants to see you."
"No." Mo Qiaosheng didn't even raise his head.
"The princess said that she heard that our lord likes to collect gems. She has a treasure from Hanzhong and wants to present it to the general." A Yuan passed on the message to the princess who was begging him desperately.
Mo Qiaosheng raised his head and remembered that his lord did have this preference.
The lord always carried a bag of gems with him. He would pour all kinds of gems onto the table with a clatter and play with them with his fingers.
His expression softened a little: "Okay, let her in."
Princess Yuzhu of the Han Dynasty was a well-known beauty in Hanzhong.
I saw her with a jade-like face, red lips, a slender waist, and slender hands holding an exquisite box. She came in from the door with a charming look.
It was like a bright pearl, suddenly shining into the central military tent filled with the stench of sweat.
The tent fell silent for a moment, and everyone's eyes could not help but be attracted by the princess. Even the usually serious General Mo Qiaosheng showed a surprised expression and stood up.
Life in the army is boring, and one has to live on the edge of a knife.
Whenever they were on vacation, these hot-blooded military men liked to tell dirty jokes for fun, or make appointments to go to places with fireworks to indulge themselves.
But although their General Mo could fight with them until they were drunk, he was very self-disciplined when it came to women and never mixed with them.
This was the first time they saw General Mo show a different expression when he saw a woman.
So the generals glanced at each other and left the tent laughing.
Mo Qiaosheng looked at the woman walking towards him. The princess was wearing a crimson brocade dress with a curved hem and had the popular Feixia makeup on her face. Her long black hair hung down behind her with a pair of small rings tied at the end.
It is exactly the same as the outfit the lord wore when she regained her status as a princess.
The lord was wearing such a red skirt at that time, with bright eyes and a cheerful look. She stretched out her hand and pushed him down in the grove outside the city of Bianjing.
Yuzhu knelt down gracefully in front of Mo Qiaosheng, lowered her head shyly, revealing her soft neck.
She knew that she was very beautiful and had a natural tenderness that could easily arouse men's sympathy and capture their hearts.
Now she is her father's last weapon, and he orders her to conquer the man he could not conquer on the battlefield.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw, as she wished, that the general, who was said to be aloof from women, gave her a look of surprise.
But when she knelt down charmingly in front of the desk, she suddenly felt a cold and impatient gaze coming from behind the desk.
Did I do something wrong? Yuzhu was a little panicked.
She hurriedly put herself in a more fragile and pitiful posture, and opened the box in her hand.
A big man's hand reached out and picked up something from the box.
"What is this?" Mo Qiaosheng looked at the scaly gem in his hand, which was not much bigger than a copper coin.
This thin piece of stone looks like gold but not gold, and like jade but not jade. It looks ordinary at first glance, but if you look at it through a light, you will find that seven colors of strange colors are flowing inside, moving slowly, like a living thing.
"General, this thing is said to be a dragon scale, a national treasure of Hanzhong. My father has specially ordered me to bring this thing to you."
A sweet and melodious voice answered him.
"Okay, I get it. You can leave now." Mo Qiaosheng flipped the dragon scale twice and put it into his sleeve.
Take it back to your lord, he will probably like it.
"My father is presenting me and this treasure together to the general." That sweet voice spoke softly with a hint of temptation and shyness.
…
A Yuan was waiting outside the general's tent. He thought he would have to wait for a while this time.
Who would have thought that in less than a moment, the tent curtain was pulled open with a rustling sound, and General Mo came out angrily, holding the princess by the collar, and threw the beauty to the ground outside the tent without any mercy.
He said coldly: "Please respect yourself, Princess."
The princess struggled to her feet, crying bitterly.
"I admire the general's majesty and am willing to serve him. Why should the general reject me?"
She cried and said, "I heard that you are the future consort of Princess Qianye of Jin. Are you worried that Princess Qianye doesn't like me? I am a person from a fallen country, drifting and helpless. I dare not compete with the princess. I am only willing to serve you and the princess as a slave. The princess is a generous person, and I am sure she can tolerate a poor woman like me."
The soldiers on duty outside the tent looked at such a beauty crying pitifully. She came right to them, so there was no reason for the general to reject her. They all thought that the general should soften his heart a little.
Who would have thought that General Mo was not only ignorant of romance, but also merciless, snorting coldly,
"How dare you!"
He also took his anger out on his adjutant Yuan who was guarding outside the tent.
"Don't let this messy person enter my tent anymore!"
A Yuan didn't dare to say that it was the General who let people in, so he had to bow his head and accept the blame.
Mo Qiaosheng no longer paid any attention to the sobbing Princess Yuzhu, he threw the curtain and turned around to go back.
The guards on duty outside the tent were shocked when they saw the princess crying and walking away with her face covered. They whispered to their adjutant Yuan, "The general doesn't even look down on such a beauty. I guess the Princess Chiba that our lord promised him must be much more beautiful, right?"
Ah Yuan deliberately raised his voice and said towards the inside of the tent: "That's it! Our Princess Qianye, she is so beautiful, how can a Han girl compare to her? There is a world of difference between her and the princess!"
A satisfied cough was heard from the general in the tent.
A Yuan then breathed a sigh of relief. After following the general closely for so long, he gradually got to know the general's temper.
The lord and Princess Chiba are the general's reverse scale, and they cannot be touched even a little bit.
On the contrary, as long as you say something good about your lord or Princess Chiba, even if the general is furious, his mood will soon improve.
***
In the Chaowu Palace in Bian Jing, Zhang Fu rushed into the palace.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Qianye looked up at him.
"My lord, General Mo captured the capital of Han a few days ago and persuaded the King of Han, Han Quanlin, to surrender."
"Huh? Didn't we already know about this? The good news arrived two days ago." Cheng Qianye was a little surprised.
"Today I received an urgent report that Mo Qiaosheng pretended to surrender, entered Nanzheng City and controlled the situation, but then secretly killed Han King Han Quanlin with a cup of poisoned wine."
Zhang Fu said silently in his heart, According to the secret information I received, Han Quanlin died in great pain.
"Oh? Great, he's killed right away." Cheng Qianye raised his eyebrows, "Don't mind, General Mo received my order to execute Han Quanlin."
Zhang Fu knew that she was defending Mo Qiaosheng: "My lord, it is unlucky to kill the surrendered."
"That depends on who you are dealing with. Sir Zhang, Han Quanlin is a double-faced person with no credibility. There is no point in keeping him. I want him dead."
Zhang Fu was choked. He had seen with his own eyes how that old villain Han Quanlin humiliated Mo Qiaosheng, who was still a slave. How could he not understand his lord's mentality of settling personal grudges in public
"Okay, Master Zhang, I know what you mean." Cheng Qianye stopped writing. "But Qiao Sheng has achieved such great success now. Although I have a preference for him, isn't it because of his own ability and hard work? As the king of a country, can't I be tolerant and trustful of my generals?"
Zhang Fu sighed: "General Mo is indeed a rare military talent. But I am worried..."
Cheng Qianye came out and patted Zhang Fu on the shoulder: "Although the King of Han has been killed, the entire Hanzhong area has not yet been pacified. There are a considerable number of Han army remnants roaming everywhere. I have to wait until the situation in Hanzhong is stabilized before I can recruit Qiao Sheng back to Bianjing."
"In addition, I plan to let General Yu lead the army to conquer the State of Song." Cheng Qianye stood in front of the map.
"Attack Song?" Zhang Fu's eyes lit up.
"Yes, we will attack Song. This time I will conquer the entire territory of Song." Cheng Qianye turned to look at Zhang Fu, "We in the Great Jin are full of talented people. We will never have only Qiao Sheng as a capable and skilled general."
Although the lord values friendship and loyalty, he is not immune to his advice. He is even trying to resolve the hidden dangers in a more appropriate way.
Zhang Fu lowered his head and bowed sincerely.
***
The thirty students who were rated as top in this exam entered the royal palace in Bian Jing, waiting to be personally summoned by King Jin Cheng Qianyu.
Li Que felt a little uneasy because he and Dong Bowen were both from Dingtao, which was originally part of the State of Song.
Recently, there have been rumors in Bian Jing that because the Crown Prince Ji Ang of Song State sent assassins to assassinate the lord last year, the lord was furious and decided to send troops to attack Song State.
"Bo Wen." Li Que whispered, "Do you think the lord will have a prejudice against us because we were once Song people and will not trust us to employ Song people?"
Dong Bowen shook his head calmly, signaling him not to say any more here.
We will know what kind of person the lord is when we meet later. In his examination paper, he discussed the policy that the most important thing for Jin State at present should be to vigorously promote agriculture. If the lord is really a man of insight, he will not abandon his good policy because of regional prejudice.
The group climbed up the stone steps of the pavilion, walked through the long corridor, and first saw a captain of the guards in red.
The man had handsome features and an imposing look. He stopped them and ordered the palace servants to search them one by one before letting them go.
Walking further, they arrived at the gate of Chaowu Palace. Standing at the door with her hands behind her back was a young female official. The female official was dressed in tight clothes and had two swords on her waist. She glanced at them coldly and went into the hall to report.
After entering the hall, everyone prostrated themselves and saluted.
On the right side of the tall desk was a wheelchair with a refined and handsome civil servant sitting on it. On the left side stood a man, smiling and looking at them with curved eyes.
A figure wearing a golden crown and gorgeous clothes was vaguely sitting behind the desk. That was their lord, the King of Jin.