Hu Shanwei and his companions travelled day and night to Guizhou. Mu Chun was also busy, thinking of various ways to delay time.
In the more than one month since Lord Liu left, Mu Chun had asked for bribes from Mrs. Shexiang of the Shuixi family ten times, and succeeded six times. He had also asked for bribes from the Shuidong family five times, and succeeded twice.
Most of the bribes were secretly returned to the two families at night. Mu Chun only kept a few eye-catching gold and silver treasures to show off and fool Ma Ye.
Lord Liu has not shown up recently, which aroused Ma Ye's suspicion.
It was Madam Shexiang who was resourceful. She deliberately arranged for the Shuidong family and the Shuixi family to start a fight for a silver mine. When the fight between the two sides became intense, Mu Chun "punctually" brought people to order both sides to stop, and then called the leaders of the two families to one side, demanded bribes from them respectively, claiming that the silver mine would be awarded to whoever gave more benefits, and it was absolutely fair.
Since Shuixi's family had almost emptied their savings recently to bribe Muchun, they could not give much benefit. Shuidong's family was slightly richer and moved boxes of things to Muchun's camp. Muchun was "full" and awarded the silver mine to Shuidong's family.
The Shuixi family became even more dissatisfied with Mu Chun, and felt that he was a money-grabbing wolf that could never be satisfied. No matter how much bribes Mu Chun asked for, the Shuixi family refused to give him a penny. They also sent people to the gate of the camp every day to make trouble and curse, demanding that Mu Chun spit out what he had eaten.
Mu Chun pretended to be unable to bear the annoyance and simply did not return to the military camp and hid in Shui Dong's house!
As a result, the people of Shuixi family no longer went to the military camp to look for Mu Chun, and sent people to surround Shuidong family from a distance day and night. Shuidong family also began to repair the fortress and build a tree house on the giant tree to be alert to the movements of Shuixi family.
As a result, the Shuixi family and the imperial garrison in Guizhou, and the Shuixi family and the Shuidong family were confronted with each other respectively, and the situation in Guizhou became increasingly tense.
Muchun is like the Red Boy in Journey to the West, with smoke coming out of his nose and Samadhi Fire coming out of his mouth, setting fires and creating conflicts everywhere.
Ma Ye was eager for a fight between the Shuixi family and the Shuidong family so that he could reap the benefits and destroy them effortlessly in the future. So no matter how his staff urged and instigated him, Ma Ye remained unmoved. He asked his staff to be patient and wait until the time came when the Shuidong and Shuixi families fought. Then he would send assassins to kill Mu Chun, blame Mu Chun's death on the internal strife among the Yi people, and then use this as an excuse to exterminate the entire clan.
The staff did not expect that Mu Chun's change would cause complications in the plan. "Dong Weng, we originally planned to use taxation to disintegrate the Yi people and defeat them one by one. Have you changed your mind?"
After all, Ma Ye had been cautious for more than 20 years under the pressure of Empress Ma, and he still had his sanity. Otherwise, Emperor Hongwu would not have ordered him to guard the rear of the southern expedition army. He said, "Taxation is just a cover. Without the emperor's order, we have no reason to fight. Because we clearly know that they can't afford the tax silver, we deliberately whipped Madam Shexiang and forced her to rebel. Now that we have Mu Chun as a scapegoat, we have a perfect excuse. Why risk trouble again?"
The staff member was anxious: "But if we drag it on like this, what if—"
Ma Ye interrupted, "I have made up my mind. You don't need to urge me anymore. After all, I am the nephew of the Queen. I have to consider the Queen's reputation in some matters."
The staff member's fists hidden in his sleeves tightened and unclenched, but he remained calm and said, "I know. I'll listen to Dong Weng. Dong Weng is right. As long as we have the Empress as a stable backer, Lord Ma will be able to make a profit. We don't need to rush."
The aide returned to his room and called his confidants, "The situation is different now, the plan has changed, you..."
The aides told him about the new plan. The confidants asked, "Will this be too obvious?"
The staff said, "The queen in the palace can't wait any longer. The last assassination plan at the Silkworm Ceremony failed, and the queen threw out the position of a noble concubine to stir up trouble in the harem. The queen suspects that the queen has become suspicious, but the queen is like an iron bucket and water cannot be poured into it. It is not easy to do it in the harem, otherwise it will burn itself and expose itself, so she will use Ma Ye, a hidden danger. Don't worry, with Ma Ye in the lead, he has the intention to assassinate Mu Chun, so he will not suspect us."
The confidants said, "We will obey your orders."
Ma Ye didn't know that while the mantis was stalking the cicada, there was an oriole behind it. Behind the oriole there was an eagle hiding in the clouds, and he was the smallest mantis.
The road to the Guizhou border was long and difficult, so Hu Shanwei decisively divided the team into two parts, one of which stayed behind to transport the imperial gifts and took the main road. She and Liu Shuzhen and others rode lightly on horseback under the escort of Ji Gang.
Along the way, Hu Shanwei had never seen so many flowers, birds and insects. As the team advanced into the heart of Yunnan and Guizhou, every day was so new. Whenever she had time, she would write travel notes, recording what she saw and heard every day, and take them back to share with her colleagues.
One evening, Hu Shanwei saw a large green bird with a long tail flying over the clear jade-like river. There seemed to be a halo on its head and wings of gradient colors, as if a divine phoenix had descended.
Hu Shanwei stared at them intently. Liu Shuzhen was used to seeing them. "This is a green peacock. When Hu Siyan returns to the capital, our Shui family will present a pair of green peacocks to the Queen."
He also praised Ji Gang: "Master Ji is the most peacock-like immortal figure I have ever seen. How many girls from our Shuidong and Shuixi families will fall in love with Master Ji's beauty."
After hearing this, Ji Gang became even more coquettish.
Liu Shuzhen took them to take shortcuts, sometimes crossing rivers, climbing ladders, and crossing ancient plank roads.
This plank road is quite old and can only accommodate one person. It winds through the mountains like a snake, and it creaks when you step on it. Sometimes it drops debris. On the left is a moss-covered stone wall, and on the right is a deep abyss.
Sometimes they sat in baskets and quickly descended from the iron cables connecting the two sides of the cliff. Sometimes there was not even a basket, and they passed ropes through their armpits and thighs, and their bodies floated between the cliffs like wrapped dumplings.
Hu Shanwei was a little scared at first, but on the fifth time, he finally dared to open his eyes. Ji Gang in front of him was like the green peacock, flying in the air with his arms outstretched.
After three days and three nights on the mountain road, Hu Shanwei was isolated from the outside world. Sometimes she even felt that she had walked into a different world. She saw many wonderful sights that were only seen in poems: sad birds flying in the woods, cuckoos crying in the moonlight, dead pines hanging upside down on the cliffs, avoiding tigers in the morning and snakes in the evening.
In order to conceal their tracks and make it easier to walk, Hu Shanwei, Ji Gang and others changed into the clothes of Yi men, and the empress's edict, imperial sword, official robes and hats were all carried in their bags.
"We're here after crossing the waterfall and the underground river in the cave." Liu Shuzhen collected a kind of medicinal herb with red fruits along the way, and applied the juice she squeezed onto her face, hands and other exposed skin areas to repel mosquitoes. The price was that her face became horrible, turning green and blue, like a corpse that had been left for at least seven days.
Even Ji Gang's green peacock-like appearance turned into the ugliest chicken in the chicken coop.
Liu Shuzhen led everyone to a place similar to the Water Curtain Cave, where a group of monkeys were drinking water. Hu Shanwei suspected that this was the territory of Sun Wukong. Ji Gang and other Jinyiwei held up a large umbrella to block the falling water. Hu Shanwei and others entered the cave, where there were dozens of canoes and torches for lighting that had been prepared long ago.
Hu Shanwei got on the boat and the canoe traveled through the cave's dark river, which was sometimes wide and sometimes narrow. There were countless tributaries in between. If they took a wrong step, they would be lost in the cave forever.
Hu Shanwei felt like he had returned to his mother's womb and was born again by this mountain. In a ray of daylight, the canoe crawled out of the cave and slid into the stream.
The Torch Festival is approaching, and the people in Shuidongjia Village sit in a circle. Two men, holding weapons, dance in the circle.
The Yi man in blue cloth wielded a broadsword, shrugged his shoulders and shook his hips, and performed a traditional sword dance. Mu Chun danced with a sword, performing the Ming Dynasty's conquest dance with a solemn posture. The two had different weapons and dances, but they miraculously stepped on the same drum beat.
In order to avoid the bribes sought by Madam Shexiang of the Shuixi family, Mu Chun has been a guest at the Shuidong family for the past two days.
As a distinguished guest, Muchun had no airs at all. He went among the people, drank wine, ate meat, and danced around the campfire, not considering himself an outsider.
When God closes a door for you, he will leave a window for you. As a Ming Dynasty general who lacks development in all aspects of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and labor, Muchun is gifted in eating, drinking, singing and dancing.
His subordinate Chen Xuan was extremely grateful: Fortunately, Lord Mu only knew a little bit of Yi language and could not sing it, otherwise, with his ability of "walking Wuzhong erotic songs", he would probably make all the girls here blush when he sang folk songs.
Language was restricted, and the sexy words became an even sexier dance through the law of constant energy conversion. Muchun danced the conquest dance used in sacrificial ceremonies like a flying witch.
Muchun spun and jumped. With his eyes open, he caught sight of a person. In just a moment, the Yi man who was dancing with him disappeared, the onlookers disappeared, the drum sound disappeared, and even the soil under his feet disappeared, as if he was stepping on a void.
She is the only one in heaven and earth.
She was wearing Yi men's clothing, and the white cloth on her head was covered with moss, like a green hat. Her face and neck were blue and green. No one knew where she had just come out from, but Mu Chun recognized her at a glance.
She was a court lady in the palace, how could she appear in Shuidongjia, a Yi village seven thousand miles away
I must be dreaming!
Muchun gently cut his forearm with his sword: It hurts! This is not a dream.
The onlookers were all stunned. The young people in the Central Plains have many ambitions, and yet they have such self-mutilating dance moves
Chen Xuan rushed over and helped his embarrassed boss away, explaining in Yi language: "He was drunk and acting crazy."
Half an hour later, it was already dark, a bonfire was lit in the village, and the Yi people danced around it.
Shuidongjia village.
The envoy Liu Shuzhen, the envoy and the co-director of the envoy, Madam Shexiang, who had just recovered from her injury, Mu Chun, the son of Mu Ying, one of the three commanders of the Southern Expedition Army, Hu Shanwei, the director of the Shanggong Bureau of the Daming Palace, and Ji Gang, a captain of the Daming Jinyiwei, began a five-party meeting to discuss major plans.
Hu Shanwei was wearing the attire of a Ming Dynasty female official, and was introduced to Madam Shexiang by Liu Shuzhen. "This is Hu Shanwei, a female official in the palace's Shanggong Bureau, who is responsible for conveying the Empress' orders. This is Madam Shexiang, the co-governor of Xuanwei Mansion."
Hu Shanwei conveyed Empress Ma's decree to Lady Shexiang: "… order Lady Shexiang to come to the capital, and Ma Ye to tie himself up, and come to the capital together for confrontation, and the Ministry of War will hold them accountable and deal with them."
Hearing that it was the Queen's confidant, Madam Shexiang immediately understood Queen Ma's attitude. She knelt down and praised, "The Queen is just like her husband, and she is fair and just. In this way, Guizhou will be free from internal strife and war, and can rest and recuperate. I also don't want to start a war and let my people suffer a catastrophe. I am willing to follow Hu Siyan to the capital to confront Ma Ye."
Madam Shexiang changed the subject, "However, Ma Ye is arrogant. What if he refuses to listen to Hu Siyan on the grounds that he is a general in a foreign country and cannot obey the king's orders? Moreover, Ma Ye holds military and political power. As long as he gives the order, Guizhou will be blocked immediately, and Hu Siyan may be trapped here. I believe in Lord Mu and Hu Siyan, but I don't believe in Ma Ye."
This is the downside of being far away from home. Two years ago, Liu Siyan went to the Qin Palace in Xi'an to give a letter. He saw through the abuse of Qin's wife and the beastly behavior of Qin and Concubine Deng. He planned to return to Beijing to expose the scandals of Qin's palace. As a result, Liu Siyan and the escorting Jinyiwei, a total of more than 50 people, were all killed, and the crime was framed by the bandits in Zhuoying County.
In view of the previous experience, especially the tragic death of Liu Siyan, Hu Shanwei warned himself not to follow in her footsteps, saying: "Along the way, Lord Ji, Lord Liu and I have discussed that it is too risky to convey the Queen's decree in Ma Ye's camp. We need to find a way to get Ma Ye out, seize his military power, remove his official position, and hand him over to Lord Mu to temporarily take charge of Guizhou Guard, control the army, and minimize unrest."
Liu Shuzhen said: "I have an idea. The Torch Festival is coming. We invite Ma Ye to the Shuidong family to attend the night banquet on the pretext of the festival. Ma Ye originally planned to pull our Shuidong family to suppress the Shuixi family, so he will definitely come. According to the rules, outsiders entering the mountain village must lay down their weapons, and our safety is the responsibility of us. As soon as Ma Ye arrived, the night banquet began, and the gate of the mountain village was closed, and Ma Ye could not escape. Lord Mu immediately returned to Guizhou Guard with the emperor's handwritten order to remove Ma Ye from the command and took over the army. Hu Siyan appeared halfway through the night banquet and conveyed the queen's decree, ordering Ma Ye to tie himself up. What do you think?"
Madam Shexiang said, "I second the motion."
Hu Shanwei said, "Just follow what Lord Liu said."
Mu Chun kept his eyes blank, not daring to look at Hu Shanwei. He was worried that once he looked at her, he would not be able to move his eyes away. If he stared at her intently, others would guess his hidden thoughts. At this moment, he was distracted and could not think of a better idea. He hurriedly followed Hu Shanwei and said, "I will also listen to Lord Liu's arrangement. Hu Siyan and I will split up into two groups to return peace to Guizhou."
As for Ji Gang, he had limited wisdom. Since he sat down, he had been conscientiously playing the role of a vase, being a quiet and handsome man. Since the four of them agreed, he followed the crowd and said, "Okay."
The author has something to say: A melee is about to begin
This chapter "Sad birds fly around in the forest, cuckoos cry in the moonlight, withered pines hang upside down on the cliffs, avoiding fierce tigers in the morning and long snakes in the evening" is from a famous work of a Tang Dynasty poet. Who is he
Li Bai
Du Fu