In the northwest, on a snowy night, someone set up an altar. The man lit three incense sticks, and an old man handed over a black box. When the box was opened, several charred bones were found.
The man threw the bones into the brazier where paper money was burning, "My beloved, today is the anniversary of your death. I have avenged you."
Caught the criminal red-handed.
Ji Gang waved his hand and ordered the Jinyiwei hiding in the dark to surround the man and the old man. "Mr. Zhu, the sheep is so cute, every part of it is a treasure. When did it become a grudge against you?"
The man was shocked and turned around. It was the King of Qin who had been demoted to a commoner. On the tablet on the altar was written the name of his beloved concubine Deng, who was the concubine Deng who committed suicide out of "shame and anger" last year but was actually executed by Mao Xiang and Ji Gang.
The King of Qin did such a cruel thing again, and even tried to drag his sister Princess Huaiqing into the water and kill someone with a borrowed knife. Princess Huaiqing was still pregnant, and in order to get revenge, she would rather let her sister die. Not only was he cruel to Hu Shanwei, he also had no mercy on his relatives.
After receiving Ji Gang's intelligence, Emperor Hongwu completely gave up on this son. He didn't even care about the affection between blood relatives. What a rebellious son!
If the scandal was made public, Empress Ma, as the biological mother, would have to take off her hairpin and wait for punishment to plead for mercy for the King of Qin. Since the death of Concubine Chengmu, Empress Ma's health and spirit had deteriorated, and she could not bear any more trouble.
Therefore, this time Emperor Hongwu suppressed the matter and hid it from Empress Ma. He also asked Hu Shanwei to cooperate in the acting and pretend to have a car accident, break his ribs, and recuperate in the royal hot spring villa.
In the end, Emperor Hongwu disposed of all the people who served the King of Qin, and placed the King of Qin under house arrest in his hometown of Fengyang. He gave him several acres of land, farm tools, seeds and other items, and asked the King of Qin to be self-sufficient and fend for himself, and to experience the hard life of Emperor Hongwu as a country farmer, starting from scratch.
Hu Shanwei was not surprised by this result. How could a person who could cut off Liu Siyan's tongue and trick the Princess Qin into eating it, forcing her to shut up and suffer a mental breakdown, and treating human lives like ants, have any affection for his brothers and sisters
Besides, they are not from the same mother.
It was impossible for Emperor Hongwu to kill his own son. Now that he had cut off the Qin King's minions and placed Hu Shanwei under house arrest as a farmer in Fengyang, his safety should be guaranteed for a long time.
It is not surprising that the little palace maid Haitang "abandoned the dark and turned to the light" and Princess Huaiqing "understood the greater good". Because people who grew up in the palace have been exposed to the power of the emperor and it is difficult for them to believe the promise of a stranger outside.
The only thing that surprised Hu Shanwei was that Concubine Cao actually asked for permission to leave the palace to see her!
Haitang grabbed a ball of snow and applied it to Hu Shanwei's face, making his healthy and rosy complexion turn pale and stiff. She then brought a bowl of medicine and placed it on the table beside the bed. The bedroom was filled with the fragrance of medicine.
Following the principle of "the more you talk, the more mistakes you make", Hu Shanwei simply pretended to be faint and waited until Lady Cao left before "waking up".
Who knew that Lady Cao was also an unconventional person. When she saw the person sleeping on the sickbed, she actually lifted the quilt and reached out to touch his chest... no, she touched his ribs.
The result, of course, was nothing except two little white rabbits.
Seeing that he could no longer deceive others, Hu Shanwei opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of Lady Cao.
Cao Shang Gong retracted her hand. Fortunately, Hu Shanwei was not the second Liu Siyan. She felt relieved, but said, "I knew that evil would last for a thousand years. How could someone like you get hurt so easily? You are so lucky. You can win without even lying down."
Hu Shanwei had long been accustomed to Consort Cao's sharp tongue, so he simply sat up and stopped pretending. "It is difficult to disobey the emperor's order. I have no choice. Consort Cao should know how to tell others after she returns. I will get sick this time. The queen is not in good health. Don't let her know. The prince is enough for the queen to worry about."
Concubine Cao asked in a low voice: "Is it the one from the northwest again?"
Hu Shanwei: "There is no conclusive evidence yet, but this kind of despicable means should be close."
Cao Shanggong's eyes sparkled with excitement: "He was the first to strike this time. Let's see how the emperor will deal with him."
Hu Shanwei hugged his knees and said, "You are my own flesh and blood, Concubine Cao, don't hold out too much hope."
The result of Ji Gang's "fishing enforcement" came, and it turned out to be the King of Qin. Hu Shanwei was writing a letter to his family in the warm study, thinking that this world is really a world of the jungle. It was Mao Xiang and Ji Gang who killed Concubine Deng, but the King of Qin deeply hated her, a sixth-rank female official, and took action against her as soon as he had a chance to catch his breath.
Hu Shanwei was full of contempt for the King of Qin. Such a person was born into an imperial family, and he was so arrogant that he thought he could kill her like crushing an ant. However, the brave were angry and drew their swords against the stronger ones; the weak were angry and drew their swords against the weaker ones. The King of Qin seemed scary, but in fact he was just a despicable villain.
However, the King of Qin was farming in Fengyang, and she was becoming stronger and more influential in front of the emperor. One day, she would nail this villain to the pillar of shame in history, make his crimes known to the world, and let him be cursed forever...
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and Hu Shanwei's letter home is still the same: "Everything is fine, don't worry, father take care of your health, your daughter Shanwei."
Hu Shanwei sealed the letter and handed it to Haitang, "Send it to the Shangyi Bureau for review."
Haitang said, "It's always these sixteen words. Do we still need to send it for review? We are outside the palace now, so we can send it directly to the bookstore."
Hu Shanwei said: "Rules are rules."
Speaking of Hu Shanwei's "easy win", the happiest person was Mu Chun. Whenever he had time, he would come to the palace to see her. Sometimes, even if he couldn't come in person, his soul would come several times.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, Mu Chun came to the palace to give gifts. Mao Xiang was there too, and he interrupted her halfway, "What are these things? Let me see."
Mu Chun was holding various boxes. "Women's things - I had someone send Mr. Mao's Lantern Festival gifts to your house a long time ago."
Mao Xiang pulled Mu Chun to a secluded place and said, "Tell me honestly, do you want a woman? With your conditions, what kind of woman can't you get? You fawn on Hu Siyan all day long, how can this be tolerated? If people start to gossip outside, you and Hu Siyan will be in big trouble."
Mao Xiang's words exposed the truth. Mu Chun was shocked, but he remained calm on the surface: "Sister Shanwei and I are close friends. We have experienced life and death together. Don't think our relationship is too vulgar."
Mao Xiang pointed at the burnt-out house in the distance and said, "Are we really just close friends? Don't fool yourself. I almost shouted myself hoarse that day, but you ignored me and barged in without even pouring a basin of water. I am single, but I have seen pigs run even though I have eaten pork. You are clearly committed to me for life and death!"
Mu Chun refused to admit it. "Is it wrong to be brave and righteous? I am impulsive by nature. I went in only after I saw the prince consort rushing in. Later, Ji Gang and I carried the prince consort out. You saw it, too, right? Did I rush in after the prince consort was carried out?"
Mao Xiang didn't believe it: "In terms of seniority, I am still your elder. You didn't continue to look for Hu Siyan because your husband told you the truth. You gave up because you knew Hu Siyan was not in there."
Mu Chun retorted: "Bo Ya and Zi Qi are my bosom friends, who will listen when the string breaks? You, the noble people, don't understand how it feels to have a bosom friend in life, you only think of it as a love story between a man and a woman."
Mao Xiang sneered, "You are bullying me because I am not well-educated. At least I know that Boya and Ziqi are two grown men. Hu Siyan is a woman, and a pretty one at that. You are already eighteen years old. There is nothing wrong with liking women. Whether it is a lady from a wealthy family or the top courtesan of Qinhuai River, you can find a way to get her. I don't care about you. But Hu Siyan is not a woman you can mess with. She is too complicated."
Mu Chun taunted, "Master Mao is still single, why do you like to be a matchmaker and meddle in other people's affairs like my aunts and uncles? It is said that everyone has their own specialties. You are good at investigating cases and doing things for the emperor, but you always meddle in relationships and marriages."
"Let's not talk about others, let's just talk about Wang Ning. When Hu Shanwei entered the palace as a female official, you instigated Ji Gang to drive her away. Did you ask Wang Ning's opinion at that time? Wang Ning returned by mistake. He originally only wanted to go to the border to protect the Ming Dynasty, but you took the initiative to sign him up for the election of a royal consort. What did you say to Wang Ning? He was just a 'fake'. It was just a formality. As a result, Wang Ning did not restrain his strength and showed outstanding performance. He caught the emperor's eye and was regarded as a great talent. He stayed in the capital as a royal consort. You, you are not satisfied with being a commander, and you overestimate your own abilities, snatching the job of the matchmaker and randomly matching couples! You messed up other people's feelings and lives. I beg Lord Mao to forgive me. I don't want to become the second Wang Ning!"
Mu Chun was a good speaker, and his accusations were like firecrackers, which made Mao Xiang a little confused.
Mao Xiang reflected on himself: It seems that Mu Chun was right. I always thought I was right and interfered with the feelings of young people. As a result, the more I helped, the more trouble I caused. Things became more and more complicated. One move affected the whole body. It was not like I thought that I could just cut it off. The result was that the more I cut, the more tangled it became. The more I cut, the more I got involved. I thought I did a good thing, but I was blamed and complained about.
I am really sorry to Wang Ning and Hu Shanwei. If I had not intervened, they could have been a perfect couple who reunited and stayed together for the rest of their lives.
Thinking of this, Mao Xiang was very melancholy. Mu Chun, like Wang Ning, was a man of his own ideas and abilities. He should let them do whatever they wanted. Mu Chun himself did not admit it, so I just pretended it had never happened. I didn't care. The more I cared, the more trouble I would suffer.
Mao Xiang therefore chose to give up. Coincidentally, at this time, the latest battle report from Xiping Hou Mu Ying's southern expedition arrived. Mao Xiang immediately plunged into his intense work and put this matter aside.
According to the battle report, the Ming army went to Yunnan and headed towards Guizhou. They first conquered Puding, and the Miao and other ethnic minorities along the way joined the Ming. They then conquered Pu'an. After leaving some troops stationed there, the three armies attacked Qujing.
King of Liang, Bazhashiwalmi, stationed 100,000 troops in the south of Zabai River to block the three armies of the Ming Dynasty.
Right General Mu Ying suggested to Commander Fu Youde that speed is of the essence in war, and then they should march quickly under the cover of fog and attack the enemy by surprise.
The commander acted according to the plan. When the three armies reached Baishi River, the fog just dissipated and they came face to face with the 100,000 enemy troops in the south. The enemy did not expect the Ming army to come so quickly and cried out in panic.
Seeing that the river was only one mile wide, Commander Fu Youde announced that they would cross the river to attack. Mu Ying offered another strategy: "Our army has come from afar and is not familiar with the terrain. The river may seem narrow, and there may be undercurrents. I see that although the enemy is panicking, they are not trampling on each other, so they are not in chaos. This shows that they are prepared. We should not rush to attack, but stabilize first."
Commander Fu Youde followed the advice and reorganized the army, while Mu Ying secretly led thousands of elite troops to the downstream. After crossing the river, he led the army to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's rear, and deliberately drove the horses in the woods to make it look like the army had arrived.
The enemy commander Darima thought that the main force of the Ming army had already crossed the river and that the troops resting on the opposite bank of the river were an illusion, so he quickly transferred the troops stationed on the south bank to the rear to protect the central army.
As soon as the defending troops withdrew, the commander Fu Youde immediately commanded the army to cross the river, and Mu Ying's thousands of troops continued to attack the enemy's rear. The enemy commander then realized that he had fallen into Mu Ying's trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain, and hurriedly transferred his troops to the shore to defend again, preventing the Ming army from crossing the river.
But it was too late.
Under the attack from both armies, Mu Ying was particularly brave, leading the cavalry to repeatedly charge into the enemy formation, hacking and killing, as if he was in an empty space!
According to the battle report, Mu Ying alone killed hundreds of people. In the end, the Ming Dynasty's southern expedition army was victorious, captured the enemy commander Darima, more than 20,000 soldiers and more than 10,000 horses, and pacified Qujing.
Seeing his adopted son Mu Ying so brave and wise, the Hongwu Emperor swept away his deep disappointment at the stupid and vicious deeds of his biological son, the Prince of Qin, and exclaimed: "Mu Ying is really my good son. With such a good general, the Ming Dynasty has no reason to worry about unrest in the south!"
As the southern expeditionary army captured cities, Emperor Hongwu also dispatched more troops to garrison in the cities captured by Mu Ying. It is said that brothers fight together to kill a tiger, and fathers and sons fight in battle, but no one knows what Emperor Hongwu was thinking, he actually sent Feng Cheng, the Duke of Ying, to garrison in the city of Yunnan.
But the problem is, it is true that Feng Cheng is Mu Ying's brother-in-law, but the personal relationship between the two is very bad. Feng Cheng beat Mu Ying into a pig's head twice, and Mu Ying did not dare to fight back. Is it really possible for these two to go to Yunnan, one to attack and the other to defend
Even the sick Empress Ma couldn't help but remind Emperor Hongwu, "Your Majesty, Feng Cheng and Mu Ying... were enemies in their previous lives."
Emperor Hongwu waved his hand and said, "Mu Ying is my adopted son. Feng Cheng is the eldest son of Yingguogong Feng Guoyong, and the descendant of a famous general. Both of them are generals trained by me personally. In private, there are some conflicts, but these are just trivial matters of love and family matters, not worth mentioning. When facing national affairs, these two people will definitely not be vague, and they are generals of the Ming Dynasty who can rely on each other and cooperate with each other."
Feng Cheng, the Duke of Ying, was summoned by Emperor Hongwu to accept the mission. Feng Cheng said, "I must cooperate with Marquis Xiping to complete the mission of defending the city. However, I have a small request."
Emperor Hongwu: "You say."
Feng Cheng said, "Marquis Xiping led his second son Mu Sheng to the southern expedition. I have read the battle report and found that Mu Sheng has made many contributions and killed more than a hundred enemies with his own hands. He is indeed a talented general. Marquis Xiping also has his eldest son Mu Chun, who made great contributions in the northern expedition last year. Even Duke Wei Xu Da praised him very much. I want to appoint him as deputy general to assist me in going to Yunnan and making new contributions."
On the surface, Feng Cheng has always been indifferent to his nephew Mu Chun, but in fact, he hopes that Mu Chun can do well, especially not lose to his brother Mu Sheng! Now Mu Sheng's performance in the southern expedition is outstanding, almost overshadowing his brother Mu Chun's northern expedition. How can Feng Cheng not be anxious? He hasn't even been named the heir of Xiping Marquis!
He had to take advantage of the opportunity of going south to defend the city, bring his nephew with him, and help Muchun create opportunities to turn the game around.
"Muchun..." Emperor Hongwu hesitated, "Chun'er... is indeed good, but the Queen is not in good health now and needs his company. Only when she saw Chun'er did the Queen smile a little."
Empress Ma's spirit was declining day by day, and Emperor Hongwu was very worried.
Feng Cheng said: "Mu Chun grew up in the palace, and accompanying the queen is his filial piety. But a man's ambition is to conquer the world, fight on the battlefield, and unify the country, which is the greatest filial piety."
What Feng Cheng said made sense. After all, Emperor Hongwu was a great founding emperor. He frowned, nodded, and agreed.
The author has something to say: The words in this chapter "The brave are angry and draw their swords against the stronger; the weak are angry and draw their swords against the weaker" come from the mouth of a famous writer, so now the question is, who said this
a Lu Xun b Qian Zhongshu c Mao/Chairman d Yang Jiang