Yan Xiaohan finished tidying up the Xue family on the front foot, and Emperor Changzhi received the news on the back foot. Lei Ting was furious and ordered someone to call him into the palace, intending to punish him heavily.
As a foreign minister, he actually killed his favorite concubine right under the eyes of the emperor. The favored concubine's father was also a colleague who was an official of the same dynasty as him. No matter from which point of view, Yan Xiaohan had completely lost his mind this time. , He was not at all frightened, and entered the palace calmly and calmly.
Emperor Changzhi had a fire in his heart, so he didn't give him a seat immediately as usual. He deliberately hung him on the hall, and said coldly: "Foreign ministers trespassed into the harem and forced the concubine to death, you are so courageous!"
Yan Xiaohan simply knelt down abruptly: "This minister is guilty. Please, Your Majesty, remove the post of commander of the Imperial Guard and be reduced to a white body."
"You!" Emperor Changzhi's heart skipped a beat. He originally planned to reprimand Yan Xiaohan so that he wouldn't be so reckless with his ignorance. The way of doing things is the same. But I didn't expect Yan Xiaohan to be so decisive, that he would go home as soon as he came up.
Although Yan Xiaohan has such and such shortcomings, he was the one who tried his best to deal with Emperor Changzhi when he was at his worst, and helped him to the throne with one hand. At the beginning of the new dynasty, the allegiance of the Jiedu envoys from all over the world was also won by Yan Xiaohan. He was only the commander of the Imperial Army in name. In fact, the "ninth minister" in the Yanying Palace was his real position. Yan Xiaohan was not reliant on both sides, and always controlled the balance between the old ministers in the north and the upstarts in the south of the Yangtze River for the emperor, so that the court could continue to operate smoothly and stably. Now that he was going to work and return home, Emperor Changzhi was the first to refuse.
After a long period of anger, Emperor Changzhi sighed heavily, and said helplessly: "Yan Qing, you... Forget it, don't mention the matter of resignation. Come, give me a seat."
Yan Xiaohan remained calm and sneered inwardly.
The son is not the father.
Emperor Yuantai was too strong, and his sons were either rebellious or weak. The prince was opportunistic. Needless to say, the idiot of the King of Jin, Emperor Changzhi seemed to be shrewd, but he was actually cowardly.
This kind of person is a typical example of "the poor and the lowly can move, the rich can be promiscuous, the mighty can be subdued". In the past, there were powerful fathers and brothers around, and he could play a quiet and self-abiding prince, but once he was asked to take the lead, the emperor His Majesty's spine immediately softened.
For an emperor with such a character, it is almost an inevitable trend for the emperor in the court to have a weaker minister and a stronger minister. Therefore, even if the Xue clan's holy family is strong, Yan Xiaohan still dares to give her a white silk ribbon. He had anticipated the result long before he started: since Emperor Changzhi was able to wrong the Empress for the Xue Clan, he was naturally willing to lightly expose Xue Clan's death in order to keep the important minister Yan Xiaohan.
"I know that the Empress has suffered some grievances," Emperor Changzhi sighed and worried, "but I didn't do anything to her, just grounded her feet, and will comfort her in the future. But you directly forced the Xue family to commit suicide, and Xue Aiqing asked in the future. , how do you want me to answer?"
Mr. Yan, who would rather grieve his wife for his wife, can't understand the emperor's thinking at all. "Foot restraint" is just a nice thing to say. He swept the queen's dignity for the sake of favoring his concubine. Is this also called "not treating her well"? If Xue's child was really lost by the queen, what would he do
Yan Xiaohan sat on the stool and silently recited a couple of sutras, calming his heart, and said as gently as possible, "Your Majesty, you are the honor of the Nine-Five.
Emperor Changzhi was silent for a moment, then hesitantly said, "But Xue Sheng..."
"Your Majesty, why did Lord Xue send his daughter into the palace, why did he secretly tell people that Xue's life is precious, can't you see his intentions?" Yan Xiaohan said in a deep voice, "It's true that you rely on the Jiangnan family. However, Xue Shangshu wanted to turn the court into a court in the south of the Yangtze River. Your Majesty, don't just look at the front. Da Zhou is surrounded by rivers and mountains in all directions. It is worthy of the ancestral temple and the shrine."
Emperor Changzhi was really moved by his painting, and his face was shaken. At this time, he had forgotten Yan Xiaohan's arrogance and offense, and only remembered what he said just now about restoring the Central Plains: "Why don't I want to expedition to the north, but the new dynasty is not stable enough, soldiers, horses, food, grass, money, nothing to do, what to use for the northern expedition?"
"The first few Jiedu envoys promised that if the imperial court wanted to recapture the Central Plains, they would send troops to assist," Yan Xiaohan said, "but the imperial court still has to build a capable army, and we cannot rely solely on the Jiedu envoys. ,and… "
"And what?" Emperor Changzhi asked.
Yan Xiaohan hesitated for a while, then said in a low voice, "Jiedu envoy has a self-respecting army, and it is no different from the vassal king of the separatist side. If the Central Plains are really recaptured in the future, the imperial court also needs to have enough troops to deter all places. Moderator."
He stopped and suddenly thought of the Beiyan Iron Cavalry... and their commander-in-chief.
Emperor Changzhi agreed, nodded and said, "That's right, it's not too late for this matter, you should start preparing immediately."
Yan Xiaohan got up and should be. Emperor Changzhi seemed to have thought about it with him, and sighed: "If I have a strong force like the Beiyan Iron Cavalry in my hands, why worry about the Central Plains! It's a pity that the Marquis of Jingning..."
He shook his head and stopped regretfully.
Yan Xiaohan's sneering never stopped since entering the palace. At this time, he finally couldn't help it, and added in a soft voice, "If the Marquis of Jingning is here, no matter how daring the Xue family is, they will definitely not dare to provoke the Empress."
Emperor Changzhi was embarrassed, and said displeasedly: "Okay, I didn't expect that Yan Qing and Jingning Hou have such a good relationship, it is worth your repeated intercession for the queen."
Yan Xiaohan thought for a while, and felt that he and Fu Shen couldn't keep pretending to be at odds with each other. Sooner or later, the two of them would have to go out with each other in an open and honest way. It's better to be honest with Emperor Changzhi now than to be accused of "bullying the emperor" later.
He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is accommodating. Chen Meng, the Supreme Emperor, conferred marriage, and there is no secret in it."
Yan Xiaohan shoved the black cauldron at the late crown prince, beautifying the real plan of Emperor Yuantai's marriage, and said it one by one. Actually... So, you don't really have feelings for Jingning Hou, you just take care of him for the sake of Beiyan's military power?"
Yan Xiaohan calmly hinted: "Your Majesty, the leg injury of the Marquis of Jingning will never heal, and it is impossible for him to lead troops all the time, but the Beiyan Iron Cavalry is always under his control. He only has the Queen's younger sister, the Empress. If you treat the queen kindly, you don't need to use any means, the Beiyan Iron Cavalry is naturally a great help to the court."
Emperor Changzhi asked reluctantly, "What's the matter with you and Fu Shen?"
"..." Yan Xiaohan didn't expect that the emperor would not care about his business, but he was very concerned about his family life, so he could only say: "Your Majesty, this minister is born with broken sleeves, and will not have children in this life. The military power in his hand, and being married to him by the way, this is not a conflict."
Although love is limited, power is heavier than love, but aside from this, it is still love in general.
His description of himself is almost a copy of the Changzhi Emperor. Emperor Changzhi felt the same way and heard his implicit promise of "there will be no heirs". He was satisfied with his knowledge, his guard was relaxed, and he didn't even pursue Xue's affairs. He waved his hand generously and said, "It's okay. Now, Aiqing, let's step back."
Yan Xiaohan bowed and walked away with a sneer in his heart.
As if to verify Yan Xiaohan's words, it didn't take long before news came from the north that the Beiyan Iron Cavalry, which was defending Ganzhou, sent troops to Ningzhou. scrap iron. Two days later, the Beiyan Army recaptured the entire territory of Ningzhou.
Along with the battle reports were sent to the Jiedushi envoys in various places and the new dynasty in the south, there was also a handwritten letter from the commander of Beiyan and the Hou Fushen of Jingning.
In the morning above, Yan Xiaohan's hands under his broad sleeves were shaking like a sieve, but no one noticed his abnormality, and no one cared about what was written in the letter. Everyone digested it in extreme shock. With the same fact: Fu Shen is back.
The first to play the banner of King of Attendance, the first to recapture Ningzhou, and the first to sue all over the world, asking all the Jiedu envoys to send troops to drive out foreign enemies and restore the Central Plains.
Among the soldiers and horses in the world, only the Beiyan Iron Cavalry has always implemented the four words "protect the family and defend the country".
Even the Jiangnan court, which claimed to be orthodox, did not seem to have such a strong appeal. In less than half a month, the Jiedu envoys from all over the country responded one after another. Huainan and Xiangzhou successively sent troops to push the defense line of the Tazhe army to the north of the Han River. The Beiyan Iron Cavalry, with Fu Shen in charge, was in a state of force and quickly regained the prefectures and counties west of Chang'an.
In April, the Jiangnan court sent troops to the north in two directions, attacking Xuzhou together with the Huainan army, and encircling Chang'an with the Xiangzhou army and the Beiyan army.
On May 16, at the foot of Jiming Mountain, Tangli Town.
There were only a small number of Tatar troops here, and the Beiyan Army swept them away without much effort. Near Tangli Town, there is a deep river called Ziyang River, which flows eastward into the Han River. Fu Shen took a team of cavalry to patrol along the river and made sure that there were no rudimentary enemies in ambush. When looking at the distance, he saw figures shaking in the woods on the opposite side, and the sound of horses’ hooves seemed to be coming towards the river. Let's see who it is."
The soldier was about to leave, but someone on the other side rushed out of the forest as if he couldn't wait. Fu Shen turned around when he heard the sound, and was caught off guard, just looking at the man immediately.
There was a "buzz" in his head.
On the spot, Yan Xiaohan was stunned and turned into a wooden stake. He unconsciously stretched out his hand and pulled the reins. The warhorse neighed, almost throwing him off.
He was taken away with three souls and seven souls, and he opened his mouth blankly, as if sleepwalking, but did not make any sound.
Fu Shen put his legs on the horse's belly and approached the river. Just as he was about to shout to confirm his identity, he saw Yan Xiaohan, who was like a wandering spirit, rode his horse to the river and took a few steps into the river. Later, the horse was afraid of the depth of the water and did not dare to move forward. He simply jumped down, picked up the heavy objects on his body, and plunged into the turbulent river.
There is no need to confirm, such a fool, apart from their family, I am afraid that there is no second one in the world.
Fu Shen almost went crazy: "Yan Menggui! Are you going to die?"
He rolled over and dismounted, rushed to the river, and shouted to the soldiers on the side, "Bring the rope!"
Fortunately, it is not summer yet, and the river has not risen. Yan Xiao's cold water was acceptable. When he swam to the middle of the river, he received a rope thrown by Fu Shen and was dragged ashore. He was exhausted, his chest kept heaving, not to speak, and it was difficult to even breathe, but he stared at Fu Shen as if stunned, bloodshot in his eyes, red as if it was about to drip.
Before Fu Shen could be surprised, he was startled by him. He had never seen such an ingenious mess. The cursing words had already reached his throat. Who would have guessed that as soon as he moved, Yan Xiaohan suddenly pounced on him, as if he was afraid that he would run away, and hugged him wetly and tightly. he.
The rage instantly turned into a wisp of powerless white smoke,
"… "
Fu Shen closed his eyes fiercely, his mind went blank, after a while, he raised his arms and wrapped his arms around his slightly trembling back, tightening his fingers.
"I think about it day and night... This time I finally see the truth."