Sheng Weiqiao and Xuan Yufeng stayed in the small village for five days. In order to welcome their arrival, the village had reserved a lot of firewood, rice, oil, salt, bacon and pickles in advance, and also temporarily bought a batch of live livestock to camp.
The place has lush vegetation, and there are a lot of delicacies and game nearby. Xu Lianshan sends a few people out to hunt every day. While serving as scouts, he also provides Sheng Weiqiao with some fresh dishes, so the life of the group is pretty good.
It's just that there is no communication with Rong Suihe and the others, so they can't help but feel worried secretly, and their days are like years.
Early on the morning of the sixth day, a messenger came first and informed him that the matter had been resolved and that Rong Suiheding would come to pick him up in person within two days at most.
Sheng Weiqiao and Xuanyu Feng were relieved when they heard this, and asked quickly: "How was it solved? Is the Mi Zhen people okay?"
"The prince took the lead and was unscathed." The envoy said, "The boss of Jishan is a local snake in Western Xinjiang. He knows the entire Western Xinjiang well. With their help, we can strike first and gain strength, so the loss will not be big."
Neither Sheng Weiqiao nor Xuan Yu Feng had any experience in military affairs, and they had never seen a decent fight, so they thought it was an understatement when they heard this.
But two days later, Rong Suihe came to the stronghold in person to pick him up, and his aunt and nephew noticed that there were many fewer guards accompanying him, and Zheng Sen, whom Sheng Weiqiao had an impression of, was no longer among them.
"Those people...?" Sheng Weiqiao was surprised. As he was packing his things, he asked quietly, "But they are all...?"
Rong Suihe shook his head: "Some were injured and were unable to travel, so we asked people from Jishan to help and sent them directly to Yizhou City. There are also some..."
He didn't say anything further, but Sheng Weiqiao already understood.
Seeing his wife's serious expression, Rong Suihe hurriedly changed his tone: "We only have so many guards, and the number of casualties is not many. The ones who suffered the most were the Jishan bandits. Not to mention the vassals of their cottage, the elite were all Hundreds of them died! Countless people were injured! You must know that their main camp is said to have three thousand elite soldiers, but the actual number is less than two thousand. This battle can be said to be a lose-lose situation for both sides and the Meng family. !”
Sheng Weiqiao looked at him speechlessly: "The Jishan bandits have decided to surrender to you. They have suffered such heavy losses, why are you happy?"
"Master, my dear daughter!" Rong Suihe said with a smile, "Before heading west this time, what I was most worried about was that the Jishan bandits had been entrenched in the western border for a long time. If the losses in this battle were too small, it would be difficult to deal with them in the future. The result now is not a good thing for the Jishan bandits, but for us, it is exactly what we want!"
"... By the way, where did Ah Xi go?" Sheng Weiqiao was not very interested in this kind of conspiracy and calculation. He rolled his eyes at him, and thinking of the past, he asked, "Did you send him to the sea?"
Rong Suihe said: "How is it possible? You also know that he is my most trusted confidant. At this time, King Gaomi will definitely attribute all the credit to the crown prince. Sending him there is simply thankless. How could I put him there?" Leave such an errand to him? He was assigned other tasks by me, so he hasn't seen you during this period of time. But now that the matter is over, he will be back in two days. "
He asked her, "Why do you suddenly care about Ah Xi?"
"He follows you all day long." Sheng Weiqiao said, "But I haven't seen him during this period of time. It just feels weird when I think about it."
While she was talking, she had already packed her belongings.
Other luggage was checked by servants. Because I knew before I came here that I was only staying here temporarily and would eventually go to Yizhou, so most of the luggage was not unpacked at all. It was convenient to leave now.
At first, Canyue said that this village was easy to get in and difficult to get out, but in fact it was even more convenient to get out.
The main reason was that in order to cover up others' eyes when they came in, the village, or rather the Jishan bandits, sent a guide to help lead the way. Then, isn't it difficult for a group of people who have never walked on wild roads to go up to the village where the terrain is unusually steep
But when they went out, the hidden dangers on the left and right had been resolved, and the Jishan bandits decided to submit to Rong Suihe. Naturally, they had to help Rong Suihe's family members leave.
They have long been accustomed to going in and out of this village, and walking on the mountain trails is as smooth as walking on flat ground. Even if they carry burdens on their shoulders and carry baskets on their backs, it does not affect their speed at all.
I don't even know where they got a group of strong women from. They carried two soft sedans and forced Sheng Weiqiao and Xuanyu Feng to carry them all the way from the village on the mountainside to the main road outside. The steep mountain road in the middle. Even when Sheng Weiqiao was sitting on the sedan, he was worried that he and the sedan would fall off the cliff, but these people walked calmly and calmly.
"I don't want to go to that cottage again in my life!!!" Finally returning to his normal driving mode, Sheng Weiqiao leaned on the wheels of the carved gold carriage and said to Rong Suihe with lingering fear, "Even if we go again, when we go down the mountain I must go by myself!"
When she passed the cliff before, she wanted to get down and walk there in person, but the women insisted that it didn't matter and wouldn't let her get off the sedan at all. In this way, although it was indeed safe and sound, Sheng Weiqiao thought of the danger on that section of the road. He huddled on the soft sedan for a long time, not daring to breathe. When he saw the white clouds sliding under his feet, he was almost paralyzed with suspicion. He was so frightened that his scalp was numb even now, "I really don't know what the Jishan Bandits are doing by setting up a stronghold there?!"
"Hide gold, hide from the limelight, use escape routes, etc." Rong Suihe opened his mouth and said, "It's the same on the sea. If you look at an ordinary island, there might be a mystery inside. After all, you are doing it. If you don't pay more attention to the first-hand business, how can you make it long?"
Sheng Weiqiao said speechlessly: "Yes, yes, you are a pirate and a bandit, you can be considered as peers, but you can understand each other best."
However, thinking that the obstacles to her future have been cleared and there will be no shadows along the way, she is not in a bad mood after all, so she thinks of Huan Guanlan again, "Why did he win over the Jishan bandits in the first place? There are no famous commanders in Western Xinjiang. Bar?"
"Are you addicted to killing generals as a teacher?" Rong Suihe smiled and touched her head, "Besides, no matter how strong the Jishan bandits are, they still don't dare to fight against the serious army of the imperial court, let alone how can they win the generals? That is to say, there are many mountains and complex terrain in Western Xinjiang, and the imperial court’s annual allocation is limited, making it inconvenient to pursue and suppress them. This is why they have developed so far!”
"The main reason why the teacher had contact with them was that the court was unable to allocate more funds to Xijiang at that time, and was afraid that they would be difficult to control after they grew stronger, so he held back a hand as a precaution."
Hearing this, Sheng Weiqiao glanced at him without a smile and said, "Oh, it turns out that Duke Huan contacted them because he was prepared for a rainy day? I thought that a mere bandit who was entrenched in the western border actually attracted the attention of the emperor's master. Because they were originally members of the Western Xinjiang Army, and their superiors were eating too much, so the soldiers who were squeezed out could no longer find a job as bandits to support their families? Then Duke Huan knew about it and thought that this was a plan to liquidate Western Xinjiang in the future. This is a good opportunity for the general, so I got in touch with them!"
Rong Suihe asked curiously: "Good girl, why do you think so?"
"Didn't you say before that the main camp of the Jishan bandits is said to have three thousand elites, but in fact there are less than two thousand?" Sheng Weiqiao curled his lips and said, "And the reason why you trust the Jishan bandits is because they were the elite ones when Duke Huan was still there. There are people who have contacted and learned everything about it. The incident with Duke Huan happened more than ten years ago. From his perspective, if the Jishan bandit was not very strong, how could he pay attention to it? Now that he has paid attention to it, it is obvious that more than ten years ago, the Jishan bandit It’s already grown, and it’s rare to say it’s as big as it is today.”
"And I haven't heard of any big actions in Western Xinjiang in these years, but they still have such a small number of people... If they are pure bandits, when Duke Huan was here, maybe he would not dare to make trouble because of his illustrious reputation!"
"After Duke Huan disappeared, he might still be shocked at the beginning."
"But there has been no news about Duke Huan for more than ten years, and he still hasn't lost control or grown too strong... It's hard to believe that all the heads of the Jishan bandits, like the Gongsun family, have long been obsessed with submitting to the imperial court, and they even had to hang themselves before Duke Huan. Can’t it be on this tree?!”
"If that's the case, what are you doing with three thousand elites? There are so many people on the left and right. If seven or eight people go down the mountain with a sword, they may not be able to steal money and rice. Since they are well-trained, they can compete with the serious army in northern Xinjiang. If you put it right, it can be seen that the person in charge is extraordinary. Who would believe that such a person is reckless but has no ambition?!"
She snorted, "At first I thought, these people were created by Duke Huan? But the Huan family didn't seem like they could afford to support these people. Besides, when Duke Huan was in court, he mainly focused on persuading Your Majesty, during the Northern Expedition, even if you have the financial resources, you probably won’t have time to create a group of bandits in Western Xinjiang. After thinking about it, it can only be those soldiers who are deprived of their pay!"
After all, Huan Guanlan had a history of killing General Zhou. If you think about it from this perspective, he may not have good intentions towards the generals in Western Xinjiang. It's just that because of General Zhou's management for many years and the favoritism in the court, Northern Xinjiang had a strong army. Even if the death of General Zhou caused the Northern Xinjiang army to be dissatisfied with the imperial court, it would not harm the overall situation... The overall situation means that at that time, Ru Ru didn't dare to act rashly.
However, Western Xinjiang is different. The funding for this place has always lagged far behind that of the Northern Xinjiang Army. In recent years, no famous general has come to take charge of the overall situation. Several generals are colluding with each other, and it has become commonplace to eat empty pay.
Although this is also because the foreign races in Western Xinjiang are relatively peaceful, which is why the soldiers have become accustomed to it. But as the saying goes, people who are not from our race must have different hearts. No matter how corrupt the Western Xinjiang Army is, the airs will still remain. Once there is a problem at the top, and foreigners take advantage of the situation, this may not be what Huan Guanlan wants to see.
Therefore, Huan Guanlan tried to gather the desperate soldiers who were deprived of their pay. This not only preserved the imperial court's combat effectiveness in this direction, so that it could be easily suppressed when foreign tribes rebelled, but also held the handle of the generals in Western Xinjiang, ensuring that when they wanted to attack them, You can start right away at any time.
This is not impossible.
Sheng Weiqiao guessed this and pushed her husband: "Isn't that right?"
"My dear girl is getting more and more clever now!" Rong Suihe smiled and touched her cheek, "The Jishan bandits are indeed not ordinary bandits, but what is their background..."
Sheng Weiqiao raised her pink fist: "You dare to say you won't tell me, believe it or not, I will beat you up?!"
"Your sleepy brother wants to tell my dear girl this time, but my sleeping brother doesn't know it himself!" Seeing Sheng Weiqiao's disbelief, he spread his hands helplessly, "Goodbye, don't you think Your sleeping brother has no defense against the teacher, right?"
Sheng Weiqiao opened his mouth: "What do you mean?"
"I was young when I was living abroad, and I remember that I never saw Concubine Mo a few times when I was a child." Rong Suihe said calmly, "So I didn't know that I looked like Concubine Mo. However, The teacher’s direct grandson, Huan Yehe, has only visited Concubine Mo too many times. Back in Bishui County, she was able to recognize my connection with the Gaomi Palace at a glance. Do you think the teacher would have any suspicion when he saw me?”
"Even if I have always claimed that I have forgotten everything about my life experience. But as a teacher, it is impossible not to guess that I am actually the legitimate son of the Gaomi Palace. It is not difficult to ask Gongsun to give him face and send me back to the Palace."
"But he never mentioned this to me. Apart from giving me advice on my homework, he never helped me in the slightest!"
"My status and treatment on Tortoiseshell Island were all achieved by my own hard work."
Rong Suihe said calmly, "Of course, I don't have any resentment about this. After all, he doesn't owe me anything. It's already a great favor for him to accept me as a closed disciple and teach me carefully, so that I became the number one scholar in high school for a time. "
"It's just that I was born in a place like Tortoiseshell Island, so I'm inevitably more suspicious."
"He has already judged my life experience, but has always been indifferent. He only treats me as a closed disciple. I always feel that there is some conspiracy behind it?"
"Therefore, if I don't check carefully the people and things the teacher told me, I won't believe it."
"The Jishan Bandits Teacher told me are indeed the elite members of the Western Xinjiang Army."
"But the teacher didn't explain the specific ins and outs to me clearly at the time."
"After all, my dear girl also knows that the Han and Pan families joined forces to attack. Even Gongsun was unprepared for this. The teacher didn't expect that he would pass away so suddenly, so there were many things. He probably thought there was still time to slow down. Tell me slowly?"
After hearing this, Sheng Weiqiao said suspiciously: "Didn't you say that you didn't know that you looked like Concubine Mo before, and you only realized it after County Lord Jingshu told her about it? Then why do you think that Duke Huan will be like this when he sees you?" Knowing your life experience, but deliberately indifferent?"
Maybe Huan Guanlan doesn’t know, or can’t be sure
Rong Suihe said slowly: "My dear girl, have you forgotten the origin of my name? When the teacher named me, he said that it was named after the 'Sleeping Crane Fairy' peony he once planted. Peony is Kao, the world often compares cultivating plants and cultivating children to each other because they have something in common. So what do you think I would think when he said this?"
He narrowed his eyes, "What I was thinking about at that time was not the sleeping crane peonies he planted, but... today!"