Qin Mubai had only left for a few days, and Chu Suiliang arrived in Lanzhou.
At that time, Pang Fei, the commander-in-chief of the Guanxi Army who was in charge of staying in Lanzhou, was training his troops outside the city. When he heard the news that Chu Suiliang had arrived, he was shocked: his teacher had predicted that everything was as it should be. As soon as he left, someone from the imperial court came. Chu Suiliang was an important official in the imperial court and a direct confidant of the emperor. In a sense, he was even closer to the emperor than Changsun Wuji.
It's definitely not a trivial matter that allows him to take action personally.
The governor Xiao Liang and others had already welcomed Chu Suiliang into the governor's mansion, and then came to invite King Jiangxia and Pang Fei. Pang Fei had no choice but to leave the military camp and go to see Chu Suiliang.
When Pang Fei arrived at the Dudu Mansion, Li Daozong, Xiao Liang and others were already drinking tea with Chu Suiliang. Li Daozong was from the royal family and had a higher seniority than Chu Suiliang, so he asked bluntly, why did Mr. Chu travel so far to come to Lanzhou
Chu Suiliang smiled calmly and said casually that he had come to Lanzhou to see the emperor.
"Look at it?" Li Daozong was startled for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then Lanzhou...is it good-looking?"
"It looks good." Chu Suiliang got off the donkey along the slope and said with a smile, "The shops in the market are neatly lined up, and there are flocks of cattle and sheep in the countryside. The city is majestic, the army is strong, and the people are rich and the customs are beautiful. Lanzhou has been plagued by wars at the frontier for many years. It’s amazing how much this place has developed in just a few years!”
Li Daozong couldn't help but sneer after hearing this, "Chu Suiliang, you don't have to talk to me anymore. Since you are here on orders, just tell me!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, but I do not have an imperial edict." Chu Suiliang bowed his hands and bowed, smiling bitterly, "Your Majesty's words are exactly what he said - go to Lanzhou and see!"
Everyone was speechless, and Li Daozong was even more stunned.
At this moment Pang Fei came in and attended the ceremony first.
Chu Suiliang looked him up and down and asked: "General Pang is so heroic and brave. He is indeed a disciple of Marshal Qin. A famous teacher produces a good disciple."
"Mr. Chu deserves the prize."
"Well... where is Marshal Qin?" Chu Suiliang asked. After entering the Governor's Mansion for a long time, Qin Mubai was not seen.
Pang Fei looked astonished, "Didn't anyone tell Mr. Chu that the young marshal had led his army to the west a few days ago?"
Although Chu Suiliang has been with the emperor all year round and has already developed the ability to be calm and calm when the sky falls, he was really stunned when he heard Pang Fei's words.
Because indeed no one told him. After sitting in the Governor's Mansion for a long time, he didn't take the initiative to ask, and no one took the initiative to confide anything unnecessary to him.
Obviously, the many people in the hall have become an unbreakable group. Even if Chu Suiliang is the current prime minister, a minister and a confidant of the emperor, no one here will fawn over him or seek to get close to him.
Just such an extremely small detail made Chu Sui suddenly realize in his conscience: Lanzhou is definitely different from ordinary local states and counties. The generals and officials here are quite united with each other, and their backbone is quite clear. Qin Mubai's prestige and influence here are unrivaled. According to a certain treacherous saying, Lanzhou has "only recognized Qin Lang but not the emperor."
"Oh, I was chatting with Mr. Chu, and I forgot about it for a moment." Li Daozong, such a slippery figure, immediately came out to smooth things over and said with a smile, "Ms. Chu, His Majesty the Emperor sent you to see Qin Mubai. Right? Then your trip might have been in vain - if your legs and feet were a little faster, you could have stopped him before he set off."
"Block it?" Chu Suiliang smiled slightly, "Chu, why did you block Marshal Qin?"
"Oh, look, I have read few books, and some of my terms are inappropriate. Mr. Chu must not take it seriously." Li Daozong laughed.
"How dare you, how dare you." There was no trace of displeasure or mood swings on Chu Suiliang's face, and he still talked and laughed calmly, "Actually, it's not a very secret matter that His Majesty sent me here. He just asked me to come and visit the princess. The old man said that the princess had been away from Beijing for a long time, and the concubine De believed her very much, especially after the princess gave birth to Lin'er, so she and the concubine had not seen her yet... "
"Does Your Majesty want Qin Mubai to take the princess and the little princess back to the capital together?"
"Exactly." Chu Suiliang nodded, but immediately added, "But your Majesty has no intention of forcing it. It is completely up to the young marshal's decision. His Majesty also specifically stated that if the young marshal is busy with military affairs or has other matters to deal with, , there is no need to rush. Once the young commander is completely free, he can go to Chang'an for a kiss. "
"Oh, it turns out it's His Majesty's family matter!... Then we know too much about it." Li Daozong chuckled, "Pang Fei, why don't you quickly invite Mr. Chu to meet His Royal Highness the Princess?"
"Yes! Mr. Chu, please!" Pang Fei stepped forward to invite him.
"Then Chu will go to pay a visit to Her Royal Highness the Princess. Everyone, Chu will take his leave first!" Chu Suiliang bowed and left, and everyone saw him off.
Li Daozong was holding a cup of tea and sipping slowly, thinking to himself, with a big knot on his eyebrows. The governor Xiao Liang came over lightly and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, do you want to inform Marshal Qin about Chu Suiliang's visit to Lanzhou?"
Li Daozong paused for a moment with his hand holding the tea cup, thinking, and then said: "No need."
Xiao Liang was slightly taken aback, "Are you really not going to use it?... At least the young commander should be aware of this kind of thing, right?"
"Qin Mubai has led the army to fight, let him fight in peace. Nothing has happened, so we don't want to show a guilty conscience and arouse suspicion." Li Daozong put the tea cup on the table and said, "Qin Mubai, this kid, Now he is smarter than a fox! He has thought about things that neither you nor I have thought of eight hundred times - if he didn't know it, would he have left in such a hurry? Don't worry about it! Didn't you hear what Chu Suiliang just said? The emperor only asked the princess and the consort to stay in Beijing for a few days. It was not an imperial edict. There is a lot of room for maneuver here. Yes. And this is a royal family matter, and we outsiders cannot interfere with it. Remember, everything Chu Suiliang said in the hall must be kept confidential and cannot be leaked!"
"Yes, I have remembered it."
Li Daozong touched his beard and suddenly gave a strange smile, "If Qin Mubai is in Lanzhou, Chu Suiliang might actually be sent back to the capital for the sake of face. It would be better for him to grease his soles and slip away first. Chu Suiliang missed the point - there is only Princess Gaoyang left who even the King of Heaven and I can do nothing about, let me see how Chu Suiliang can deal with it!"
Pang Fei led Chu Suiliang to the back house of the Governor's Mansion and made a special trip to see the princess. Pang Feiliang was clever and first invited Chu Suiliang to the hall to serve tea, and then said that he was going to invite Princess Gaoyang. But he first made it clear to Princess Gaoyang about some of the twists and turns.
When Princess Gao Yang heard this, she immediately became angry and said bitterly: "It's just these rebellious ministers who only know how to drive a wedge between our father and his daughter! If they ask us to come back to Beijing for a short stay, aren't they just because they admire Bai Gongzhen?" , Do you want to take him back and reduce his military power?"
"Princess, please calm down." Pang Fei whispered eagerly, "It is still unclear whether this is slander by outsiders or His Majesty's own idea. After all, Chu Suiliang only asked the princess and the consort to return to Beijing to live together for a while, and it was not mandatory. , This is impeccable human ethics. It can be seen that even if this idea is yours, Your Majesty is very cautious, just for fear of causing unnecessary misunderstandings. "
Princess Gao Yang's eyes lit up and she nodded gently, "That's right... In this case, I can't get angry or make my words clear. On the contrary, it seems that we have something secret in our hearts. However, the more careful my father is, the more I He is even more uneasy. According to his usual style, he is very cautious about Mu Bai... Pang Fei, is your master really impressive?"
Pang Fei was startled for a moment, then hesitantly said, "How much... maybe a little! After all... after taking over an entire plateau country, Tubo is much more powerful than the original Turkic Khanate!"
"Look at how useless you are!" Princess Gao Yang glared at him angrily, "Lead the way! I'm going to see Chu Suiliang!"
When Chu Suiliang saw Princess Gaoyang, he bowed her head and said, "I would like to pay my respects to Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
"Ms. Chu is exempt from the courtesy." Princess Gaoyang regained her former arrogance and honor in the palace. She sat down and said with a Yongrong smile, "Ms. Chu traveled thousands of miles to Lanzhou, but the consort failed to leave. Guo Yuanying, please forgive me."
Chu Suiliang said hurriedly: "What are you talking about, Your Highness the Princess? How dare I ask my consort to come out to greet you?"
"You are the Angel Emperor's messenger. It's right for Mu Bai to go out to greet you." Princess Gao Yang continued to smile, "It's just a pity that Mu Bai led his troops to the Western Region a few days ago. There is a war going on there. It was so frustrating. I heard that Su Dingfang won a few battles first, but then the battle became a bit stalemate. Mu Bai was so annoyed that he kept talking about it all day long when he returned to the house, for fear of humiliating the mission entrusted to him by His Majesty. He was worried and went to lead the troops by himself."
"The prince-in-law works hard for the king and the country. He is really a minister of the country." Chu Suiliang responded to the government with a flower gun. How could he not know that the Princess Gaoyang in front of him was the number one thorn in the sky, even the emperor couldn't touch her. It's okay to offend anyone, but don't offend her or let her have any excuses.
"Oh, I haven't asked yet, why does Mr. Chu come here?" Princess Gaoyang asked with a smile.
Chu Suiliang took a deep breath and said, "According to your majesty's instructions, I asked the princess and the consort to return to the capital for a few days. Your majesty said that the princess has been away from the capital for a long time, and the concubine De misses the princess very much and wants to see her even more. The little princess whom I have never met before..."
Speaking of Concubine Yin De, Princess Gaoyang's heart was vaguely touched. Why didn't she miss her mother who was far away in Chang'an
"Father and mother, are you okay?" she asked softly.
"Okay. Your Majesty and Concubine De are fine." Chu Suiliang replied carefully.
"I miss them very much too..." Princess Gaoyang sighed and stood up, pacing slowly, and said, "But little Dier is still too young, and I'm worried that she won't be able to withstand the fatigue of the journey. In addition, she has recently been She is in poor health and I am worried that she is on the road..."
Chu Sui's conscience was shocked - after hearing the princess's tone, she didn't want to return to the capital!
At this time, Chu Sui's conscience began to think quickly: It was unfortunate that Qin Mubai had already taken a step ahead, and he didn't know whether he did it intentionally or just by chance. No matter what, I will definitely not invite Qin Mubai back. Since Qin Mubai can't return to the capital, I can't ask Princess Gaoyang and the little princess to go back alone - if Qin Mubai knew about it, wouldn't he think that I was taking them back to the capital as hostages? If this incident made him angry with the emperor and the court, wouldn't I, Chu Suiliang, become a great sinner? ... Furthermore, the emperor's decree was ambiguous. He did not force Qin Mubai and Princess Gaoyang to go back. The emperor was unwilling to offend these two people, so why should I, Chu Suiliang, be caught in the middle? Stupid thing? If there is a conflict between the emperor and the consort, I, Chu Suiliang, will end up being a double-dealing person!
This royal family matter is difficult to get involved in!
Thinking of this, Chu Sui had an idea in his mind. He said to Princess Gaoyang with a worried look on his face: "Your Highness the Princess' concerns are not unreasonable! I think your Highness the Princess is only one year old. She has traveled thousands of miles from Lanzhou to Chang'an. Even an adult can't bear the pain of this journey, let alone The little princess is still young and ill."
"Yes! Alas...!" Princess Gaoyang shook her head and sighed, "I have been away from Beijing for a long time, and I miss Chang'an very much. I miss my father and mother, and I even hope that I and Xiao Di'er can rejoice in front of my parents. Originally, I The palace has urged the consort more than once, asking him to accompany us back to Chang'an after the battle in Tubo. Who knew that another incident happened in the Western Regions? Mr. Chu, you don't know. The consort always puts national affairs first and never cares. Because of the long love between our children, I have no choice but to wait for the prince-in-law to return from the expedition, and then go back to the capital with him to apologize to my father and concubine!"
"For the time being, that's all we have to do." Chu Suiliang sighed softly and said, "It's hard to have both loyalty and filial piety, and it's really not easy for Qin's consort! - Dare to ask Her Royal Highness the Princess, Wei Chen will tell you the exact words the Princess just said Can you please reply to His Majesty?"
"Okay." Princess Gao Yang nodded with a smile, "By the way, when Mr. Chu went back, he brought a portrait of me and Xiao Di'er. I just said that little Di'er is very well-behaved and is much more obedient than I was when I was a child."
"Yes, Wei Chen will definitely bring him."
In this way, Chu Suiliang said no more. This trip was in vain.