When the familiar call of Cang Geng came from behind the hut, Huan Guanlan was holding a tea bowl and sipping slowly.
The bowl is made of coarse pottery made on-site on Tortoiseshell Island. It looks like a child's handicraft, crooked and bumpy, and can barely hold a little tea.
The tea was supposed to be good and was obtained from robbery. It is said that the ship was scuttled due to fierce resistance, and the people and cargo fell to the bottom of the sea.
Gongsun Suihe remembered that he loved to drink tea, so he personally dived into the sea more than ten feet deep and fished out several sealed jars of tea leaves.
It was said to be sealed, but after all the hard work, it got damp.
Before this, even the slaves of the Huan family didn't bother to drink such tea.
But Huan Guanlan was enjoying it with relish at the moment.
"Prime Minister." Cang Geng's voice disappeared. At the same time, the sound of footsteps stepping on the grass was heard not far away.
Huan Guanlan didn't need to look up to know that it was Gongsun Tu who was coming.
The owner of Tortoiseshell Island and the patriarch of the Gongsun clan.
He is also the adoptive father of his close disciple Gongsun Suihe.
"I'm no longer prime minister." He put down his tea bowl and pointed to the stool next to him.
The stool was actually an old tree stump, and its cross-section was still uneven, but a reckless man like Gongsun Tu didn't care. He lifted up his robe and sat down, clasping his fists and saying, "Prime Minister, I have something to ask of you."
Gongsun Tu was over fifty years old, and his temples had already turned frosty. However, due to years of exposure to wind and waves, he had developed a muscular body. His thick and thick hair did not show his age at all, but instead showed the magnanimity of his age.
But at this moment, his eyes were heavy and full of determination to never look back.
However, Huan Guanlan looked at it calmly: "You are going to sea tomorrow. It is difficult to make arrangements at this moment to recharge your batteries... What are you doing here?"
"The Prime Minister wants Tortoiseshell Island, and I have already given it to him." Gongsun Tu stared at him and whispered, "The Prime Minister wants my life again, and I am willing to give it to him! I hope the Prime Minister is still sensible in these years. For my sake, please leave a bloodline to my Gongsun family, okay?"
Huan Guanlan smiled. It was night at this time, and the sound of the tide could be heard in the distance. There was a dark blue sky above the head, and the stars were twinkling, illuminating the island with clear frost.
He said: "What are you talking about?"
"Although Tortoiseshell Island has long fallen into the hands of the prime minister, my Gongsun family has been in charge of this group of people for three generations." Gongsun Tu's calm tone was trying to suppress the intensity, "Especially Han Pan and my Gongsun family have a father-killing relationship. Qiu, how could I not know about their secret march? If the prime minister wants me to take my family to sea at this time, is it any different from asking us to die? "
He let out a breath and asked, half angrily and half puzzled, "But as early as the Prime Minister decided to settle on Tortoiseshell Island and teach that noble clan member, my Gongsun family quickly became a cover! The Prime Minister wanted to take Tortoiseshell Island to It would be effortless to leave it to that noble man! I wouldn’t try to stop him like a chariot. In fact, according to the arrangements made by the prime minister to that noble man, I, Gongsun, would love to have this opportunity to join the noble man! Why did the prime minister insist on eradicating Gongsun? Family?!"
"Do you know why the sleeping crane ended up at sea?" Huan Guanlan put the tea bowl on the table and asked gently.
Gongsun Tu was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "I am a man in the grass, how can I know such a secret?"
"He was born on the day of Chongwu." Huan Guanlan smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes. "According to the popular saying, a son born on this day will defeat his father. I don't know if it was a fight in the backyard of the Gaomi Palace or a son born on Chongwu. It is true that he had a close relationship with his parents. In short, after he was born, King Gaomi was indeed ill for some time. At first, he did not take it seriously because of the princess's concealment. Later, when the concubine exposed the matter, he became disgusted with his son. Heart."
"Even if I later learn that this son is the most talented among his descendants, I still won't take it seriously."
"But I don't care about that."
Gongsun Tu had an ominous premonition in his heart, and he said solemnly: "According to the request of the prime minister, do you accept that noble person as your adopted son?"
"Otherwise, how could Rong Jing be convinced that the murder of his father was true." Huan Guanlan's eyes were indifferent, "After all, I worked so hard to cultivate Sleeping Crane, not just so that he could one day be reunited with his parents and enjoy a family relationship. Happy."
"..." Gongsun Tu's heart sank. He thought quickly, trying to find a chance for himself, "Xiangye, the noble man grew up on Tortoiseshell Island. He has the title of master and apprentice with you, and is greatly favored by you. Even if When I go back to reunite with the King of Gaomi and his wife in the future, how can it be possible for those two people to have a higher status than you in the eyes of the nobles?"
Moreover, "If the Prime Minister is really worried, I am willing to share the worries for the Prime Minister!"
To share the worries, of course, he sent his confidants to Chang'an to assassinate Rong Jing and Princess Gaomi.
Although it is a bit fanciful for him, a local sea lord, to assassinate the powerful prince and his wife, but if he cannot convince Huan Guanlan tonight, he will die when he goes to sea this time.
Not only him, but also his wives, concubines, descendants, and grandchildren had no way to survive.
In comparison, I would rather fight!
But Huan Guanlan didn't give him this chance at all: "Do you think I'm afraid that Suihe will be estranged from me in the future because of blood ties?"
He sneered, and there was a hint of arrogance in his originally calm tone, "What a person I am! If it's just to make Sleeping Crane fall in love with me, why do you need to kill his biological parents?!"
Gongsun Tu could not refute this. After all, Gongsun Suihe was only seven years old when Huan Guanlan openly appeared in front of Gongsun Suihe.
With this person's status and qualifications, it is simply unbelievable that he cannot even raise a seven-year-old child.
Recalling Huan Guanlan's attitude towards Gongsun Suihe over the years, Gongsun Tu had sweat on his forehead and whispered: "Master Xiang, I don't understand. You have tried your best to teach the noble man, but your attitude towards him is hot and cold. ... For the safety of you and him on the island, I even ignored my Gongsun family... Now I plan to let the nobles come ashore, and even want to eradicate us... Why did the prime minister do this?"
He smiled bitterly, "Ever since the prime minister's men secretly sneaked into the island and captured me, I knew that my life belonged to the prime minister. Now, I don't dare to expect anything. I just ask the Prime Minister, since I have been quite obedient over the years, please don’t let me go on the road in a daze?”
"..." Huan Guanlan originally didn't intend to pay attention.
Gongsun Tu was a figure like a local emperor on Tortoiseshell Island. Even though Tortoiseshell Island had actually been under Huan Guanlan's control for a long time, people outside the island, except for a few insiders, still think so.
The mainland closest to Tortoiseshell Island, such as Nanfeng County, trembled at the feet of this sea lord.
But to Huan Guanlan, this man was no worse than a dog.
If he hadn't brought his disciples to settle down here, Gongsun Tu wouldn't even have the qualifications to meet his former steward.
What's more, let him explain his intentions in person
But maybe it was because he was going to sea tomorrow, or maybe the identity of the person in front of him aroused his longing for his old friend.
He didn't let the secret guard who had just imitated Cang Geng's call to remind him that someone was approaching came out and drove Gongsun Tu away. Instead, he picked up the little tea and took a big sip... This action was almost like drinking, and he even ate a few tablets. Tea leaves, some of the tea also fell on the skirt of his clothes along his beard.
Huan Guanlan, who always liked to be tidy, didn't pay attention. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and listened carefully to the tide for a moment before asking, "Do you remember Zhou Zhenman?"
Gongsun Tu shivered subconsciously.
Zhou Zhenman.
Younger people may be confused by this name.
But when it comes to "General Zhou", I'm afraid no one in the world, even Ruru in the North, knows about it!
Huan Guanlan said softly: "It's been twenty years."
Twenty years ago, in the tenth year of Xuanjing, General Zhou, who had great military exploits and was regarded as the mainstay of the Mu Dynasty. Together with Huan Guanlan, Wu and Wen, he supported the great dynasty, he was sentenced to death in the army for a series of charges including attempted rebellion. , all the family members were slaughtered.
The scene of General Zhou's eighty-year-old white-haired mother being detained in a prison car and being driven to the execution ground by a windlass became a nightmare for countless people throughout Chang'an at that time.
For example, the future Mrs. Qin of the Zhao family.
This is an unjust case that has been recognized by both the government and the public since the imperial edict was issued.
No one believed that General Zhou would rebel. After all, it was the tenth year of Xuan Jing's reign. Emperor Xuan Jing, who ascended the throne at the age of seventeen, was already twenty-seven years old. Even the emperor could no longer be described as "youth can be bullied" at this age. , but when you are most young and powerful.
General Zhou had already become famous during the reign of Emperor Xuanjing's father, Emperor Xiaozong. If he wanted to rebel, he would have done nothing but take advantage of the fact that after the death of Emperor Xiaozong, the prince had hurriedly ascended the throne with the support of Huan Guanlan and received much attention. Xiaozong's favored King Gaomi took advantage of the support of his ministers to challenge the new king and launched a mutiny
The most important thing is that General Zhou is guarding the border alone, and his family members, especially his mother, have always been in Chang'an.
This is a proper hostage.
The general who had become famous in the previous dynasty was not young at that time. There was no possibility of giving up these people and finding a woman to have children... After all, even if he had children at that age, he would definitely not have time to cultivate them. adult.
In that case, even if we usurp the world, what's the point
Besides, everyone knows how filial General Zhou is to his mother.
His mother gave birth to six children, four boys and two girls. One of the two daughters died in infancy, and the other died in childbirth after leaving the cabinet. Among the four sons, two were killed in battle with the old general Suizhou, and one was stationed in the west. In Xinjiang, Ruru attacked northern Xinjiang but detoured to western Xinjiang in a sneak attack, and died fighting to cover the retreat of the people.
General Zhou was the only reason for her survival.
She is also the support that allows General Zhou to continue to serve the country wholeheartedly despite the frequent bad news of the death of his father, brother, brother, and sister.
One can imagine how deep the relationship between mother and son is.
What was the old lady doing twenty years ago when she was being taken to her execution in a prison car
Huan Guanlan was a little lost in thought. He seemed to move away and stood alone in the court, pouring wine one by one, and then poured it one by one under the peonies in front of the court.
That cluster of peonies is the Sleeping Crane Fairy, which is where the name of his now closed disciple comes from.
He told Gongsun Sleeping Crane that the name "Sleeping Crane" had many meanings, but he did not tell him the real intention.
It is to remember old friends.
The old friend is not General Zhou.
She is the unknown biological mother of General Zhou, the Wen family.
Yes, she is the Yuan Empress of Emperor Xuanjing, a sibling of the deposed Empress Wen.
When Empress Dowager Meng chose Wen as his wife for Emperor Xuan Jing, in addition to considering that the Wen family had produced queens in the past, she was also interested in a daughter of the Wen family who was the biological mother of General Zhou.
It's just that Zhou Wenshi has always kept a low profile. After leaving the cabinet, she put her husband's family first and refused to interfere with her mother's family's affairs.
At that time, her husband and son were both in power in the military. Although the Wen family had some thoughts, they could not force her... The two sides just kept a close distance.
Huan Guanlan didn't pay much attention to these at first.
When Zhou Wenshi took the initiative to come to the door that day, Huan Guanlan, who had always been calm and calm, and was known as a man whose expression remained unchanged even when Mount Tai collapsed, showed a rare expression of surprise.
After Zhou Wenshi disguised herself, she rode an unmarked carriage and stopped at the back gate of Huan Mansion.
"I'm going to die soon." After being welcomed into the back hall by Huan Guanlan to speak, the servants served tea. After being waved away by Huan Guanlan, she said straight to the point, "Before you die, there is only one thing that you cannot let go of."
Even though twenty years have passed, Huan Guanlan still clearly remembers the calmness of the old man when he said these words.
No sorrow, no fear, no anger, plain and calm.
He was not very familiar with Zhou Zhenman at that time, even though it was his order for Zhou Zhenman to go to northern Xinjiang to garrison... This was mainly to avoid suspicion and avoid suspicion by Emperor Xuan Jing.
In fact, Huan Guanlan was not afraid of Emperor Xuanjing's death. He had brought up this emperor by himself.
Because Emperor Xiaozong favored the biological mother of the other two princes, he did not want to establish Emperor Xuanjing from the beginning. He even thought that Emperor Xuanjing was blocking the way of his beloved son. Not to mention caring about Emperor Xuanjing, he was afraid that he would not be able to see his dislike. .
Before the eldest son of the emperor, who was a concubine, ascended the throne, even during the years when he lived in the East Palace, Huan Guanlan was his teacher in name, but in fact, he assumed the responsibility and role of a father.
He felt that he knew the emperor well.
He didn't get close to Zhou Zhenman, mainly because he didn't want to have any quarrel with the emperor. One was because of the friendship they had been together for many years, and the other was because he was afraid of delaying his dealings with Ruru.
The only thing Zhou Wenshi couldn't let go of before she died was Ruru.
"I was born in the previous dynasty, and all my wives died in the battle with Ruru." That evening, the elderly lady sat dignifiedly in the bright hall and said calmly, "Even the husband of the only daughter who has grown up to be married , is also a blood-stained battlefield. Now the only remaining bones and blood suppress the barbarians. Over the years, they have fought in the north and south, and are also permanently stationed in northern Xinjiang."
When Huan Guanlan heard this, he thought she missed Zhou Zhenman. After thinking about the situation, he said cautiously: "The war has not started in Northern Xinjiang yet. If the old lady misses General Zhou..."
"Of course I miss him." Zhou Wenshi interrupted him and said, "But I want to see the Ruru clan destroyed even more."
Huan Guanlan was surprised by these words and looked at her in confusion.
"I am already over eighty." Zhou Wenshi said softly, "I was born at the time of Emperor Mu Zong. Because I am the daughter of the Wen family, the natural and man-made disasters in those years were not affected much. When I was in the boudoir, , still living a life of fine clothing and fine food. Until, I married Zhen Man’s father.”
Her marriage to General Zhou was considered a legend at that time.
A noblewoman from a descendant clan desperately wanted to marry an officer from the military.
At that time, General Zhou was not even qualified to call himself the "last general", and he was not even handsome.
No one understood why Zhou Wenshi fell in love with him and would rather fall out with his family than marry him.
This marriage has always been frowned upon, and since everyone from the previous generation of Zhou Wen's family has gone, there are far fewer people who can say this.
However, as the children that Zhou Wen gave birth to to General Zhou left one by one, the old people who were married to him all wondered whether the couple's incompatibility had hindered their children.
Zhou Wenshi doesn't care about these.
She said, "Ruru owes me the blood debt of the people of Da Mu. Huan understands it better than me, a woman who confines herself to the boudoir. Today I will not say anything innocent about the people to impress you. I only say one thing: Emperor Mu Zong back then When His Majesty passed away, I was also in the palace because of my aunt. Mr. Huan knew that after His Majesty Emperor Mu Zong passed away, he could not close his eyes. In the end, it was the prince who knelt in front of the imperial couch and swore with tears, He must work hard to conquer the king's tent and sacrifice the head of the Yujiulu family to the Ancestral Temple, and then His Majesty Emperor Mu Zong will close his eyes?"
After a pause, Zhou Wenshi finally let out a little choke in her voice, "When my late husband left, it was Zhen Man who swore such an oath in front of him, and the heroic spirit left."
"So, I want to ask Huan Xiang that before I die, I can see the destruction of Ruru, and after I die, I can also give an explanation to my late husband, okay?"
"Old madam, if I didn't want to eradicate Ruru, I wouldn't have allowed the general to be stationed in Northern Xinjiang all these years, and I would have kept an eye on the Northern Xinjiang Army's military pay, and wouldn't allow anyone to interfere." Huan Guanlan looked at her, There was respect in her eyes, but more of helplessness, "However, the old lady must also know that your Majesty invited a pair of dancing girls from Princess Wuyang to enter the palace a few days ago. Since then, she has been absent from the court. The Northern Expedition... The official mentioned Not once or twice.”
But Emperor Xuan Jing, who was addicted to beauty, had no fighting spirit at all.
He even said that Damu is a big country and should have the magnanimity of a big country. Since Ruru didn't attack Damu, why would Damu take the initiative to start a war
What made Huan Guanlan most angry was that Emperor Xuan Jing did not really have such a magnanimous mind.
He just thought it would be troublesome to start a war.
It will affect his relationship with the Shu sisters.
"I have heard a lot about Your Majesty these days." Zhou Wenshi was not surprised by this answer. She said calmly, "Originally, I was at a loss as to what to do, but recently I got the doctor's advice and I have an idea. I don't know. Is Mr. Huan willing to help?"
...Twenty years later, on Tortoiseshell Island, Huan Guanlan drank tea instead of wine and reminisced about the past. He once again asked himself, if he had known the consequences of agreeing to help Zhou Wenshi, would he still have nodded
Then he smiled bitterly and smashed the tea bowl again.
Sometimes temperament is life.
Even if you know the outcome, you can't change it.