In mid-March, the vast fields in Hexi were full of green and the weather began to really warm up.
The manager of the Jiedushi Mansion got up early this morning and started to work.
The day after the mistress left, the underground fire dragon in the mansion stopped burning. According to the custom, every year after the burning stopped, people would be called to clear the tunnels and the mouths to prevent excessive accumulation of ash and blockage, which would affect the heating of the next year.
This should have been done a long time ago, but because I had a lot of things to do recently, and the weather was bad, my back pain came back and I was lying on the bed and couldn't walk. I used the method taught by the princess to moxibustion for a few days, and I felt better. Things were delayed again and again, for a month or two, and seeing that the weather was good these days, I asked people to come over to do the work.
Yesterday, while the Jiedushi was away, I cleared the back room. Today, I finished the work on the furnace mouth, so the matter is settled.
"Be quick! Dump the dust this way!"
"Keep your voices down! The master is back today and we are still here, don't disturb him!"
The manager was busy directing the craftsmen to work when he heard footsteps behind him, as if someone was running. He turned around and saw that it was Cao Guo, the military officer. He didn't know what had happened to make him lose his composure to such an extent. He looked anxious and hurried to meet him.
"General Cao, what happened?"
Cao Guo grabbed the steward's sleeve and asked breathlessly, "Where is Jiedushi Xie? Has he returned from outside?"
Xie Changgeng had been out of the city for the past few days and had gone to the border area.
The steward said, "My lord returned late last night. What's the matter, General Cao?"
"Something big has happened! It's urgent! The natives have gathered together to cause trouble, surrounded Jiaocheng, and threatened to set the city on fire!"
Jiaocheng is only 50 miles away from Guzang. It is not a big place and is a subsidiary of Guzang, but it is very important. There is a large granary in the city, which mainly supplies grain and fodder for hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Hexi. If it really burns, it will be a big deal. The magistrate of Jiaocheng is named Xu Ke. He is very reliable and loyal to Xie Changgeng.
The steward gasped and asked him to wait a moment. He immediately turned around and ran into the main courtyard at the back. When he reached the door, he looked inside and saw that the door and windows of the bedroom were still closed. He asked a maid who was sweeping the floor outside the courtyard gate.
The maid whispered, "My lord just returned from the study at five o'clock in the morning and has not been asleep for long."
The matter was of great importance, so the steward did not dare to delay and walked in quickly. He stopped outside the door, knocked on it a few times, and shouted, "Sir, General Cao Guo is here. Something has happened!"
The inner room was quiet, the bed curtains were drawn low, and the light was dim through the heavy draperies.
Xie Changgeng was awakened from his sleep by the sound. His drooping eyelashes moved slightly, but he did not open his eyes immediately, and he did not move either. He continued to lie with his eyes closed for a while, waiting for the feeling of tightness and swelling in his body that came with the dream to ease a little. Then he opened his eyes, turned over and sat up.
He took a look at the strange shape of his lower abdomen, which was still slightly bulging with clothes, then lifted the curtain, went downstairs, and entered the bathroom. After a while, he came out, put on an outer coat, and went to open the door.
When the steward saw him appear behind the door, his eyebrows showed a trace of displeasure, and he bowed quickly: "I know you have been working hard, and you haven't slept for a while, but Cao Guo came just now and said something happened. I dare not delay and dare to come to call you."
"What is it?"
Xie Changgeng turned around and asked as he continued to put on his clothes and walked inside.
"The natives are gathering to cause trouble and are going to set Jiaocheng on fire!"
Xie Changgeng suddenly stopped and turned his head.
"Tell him to go to the front hall. I'll be there right away."
The steward responded and hurried back to pass on the message.
Cao Guo and others were in the front hall of the Jiedushi Mansion, looking around constantly, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. When they saw Xie Changgeng appear, they rushed up in one step.
"Sir, something has happened! I just received news that many natives have set out and rushed to Jiaocheng. I'm afraid something has happened, sir, please go and take a look!"
"Why would the natives suddenly attack Jiaocheng for no reason?"
Xie Changgeng walked out quickly and asked.
While chasing him, Cao Guo explained the whole story to him.
The son of Xu Ke, the magistrate of Jiaocheng, had an affair with a native woman. He eloped a few days ago and his whereabouts are unknown. Yesterday, the woman's family came to the house to ask for her. The two sides had a disagreement and fought. The other side had fewer people and was beaten out at the time. Unexpectedly, after a night, the natives came from all directions this morning and all went to Jiaocheng.
Xie Changgeng frowned and walked out of the door.
There was already a team of cavalry waiting outside the gate. Xie Changgeng took the reins handed to him by his attendant, mounted his horse, rode out of the city, and galloped towards Jiaocheng.
It took him fifteen minutes to reach the destination, a distance of fifty miles. From afar he saw at least a thousand native men gathered outside the city gate, some holding knives and axes, some holding sticks, and some holding torches, all of them with angry faces and filled with righteous indignation.
Xie Changgeng stopped his horse and looked into the distance, where he saw more and more natives coming from all directions to join the siege.
The gates of Jiaocheng were tightly closed, and soldiers on top of the city walls were standing ready with bows and arrows drawn.
The atmosphere was extremely tense and ready to explode.
"Thank you for the governor's arrival! Why don't you disperse? Are you planning to rebel openly?"
Cao Guo could speak the local dialect and shouted loudly towards the front.
The natives gathered in front of the city gate heard the voices and turned around to see a group of people coming to the road. The first one was a man sitting upright on a horse, wearing official uniform. Although he looked only in his twenties, he was very young, but his eyes were like lightning and his majesty was overwhelming.
The noisy sounds gradually died down and the surroundings became quiet.
Xie Changgeng dismounted from his horse amidst the countless angry gazes glaring at him from the opposite side.
Swords and axes were facing each other on both sides. He looked forward with a calm expression, strode through the crowd, and stood still under the city gate. Without turning his head, he shouted, "Xu Ke, the city commander, come out!"
When the natives came to cause trouble yesterday, Jiaocheng magistrate Xu Ke was not at home. He knew that he had caused a big disaster this time, and his son and the native girl were missing. The city gate was surrounded early in the morning. Seeing that the natives were gathering more and more, how could he dare to act rashly? Just now, he saw the Jiedushi coming, and he was relieved, but also more frightened. He was at the other end of the city gate, and heard him shout his name. He hurriedly opened the city gate, ran out, knelt beside Xie Changgeng, cried bitterly, kowtowed and apologized: "I deserve to die! First, I didn't teach my son well, and then I didn't discipline my family well, so I caused such a big disaster! Even if you chop off my head, I dare not complain. I only ask you to forgive me this time because I usually work hard and have no faults!"
Xie Changgeng looked gloomy. He stared at him and turned to look at the strong native man who was leading the group opposite him.
After he came here to serve as the Jiedushi, he had always wanted to subdue the natives to facilitate the war against the north. Although the plan has not been realized so far, he has long been familiar with the situation of the dozens of native villages in the territory. He knew that the man was named Bai Long and had great prestige among the natives.
Xie Changgeng looked at the other party for a moment and said a few words to Cao Guo.
Cao Guo stepped forward and said, "Bai Long, the governor said that if the person is not here, he will send someone to find her. After finding her, he will let the Xu family marry your daughter. As for the quarrel yesterday, your Excellency has also asked about it. Both sides are at fault. You are injured, and so are the Xu family. Considering that you were outnumbered at the time and suffered first, your Excellency is willing to act as a middleman and ask the Xu family to apologize to you. If you want any compensation, just ask, and the matter will be over."
Bai Long said: "It's not that I don't give face to the governor, but even if I agree, I have to ask my brother whether he agrees or not!"
He looked at a man next to him.
The man was the brother of the woman who eloped. He had a cloth wrapped around his head with bloodstains from the previous night. He angrily said, "Your people seduced my sister and hid her. Yesterday I brought people to get her back, but not only did you not return her, you also beat up several of my brothers. How can I let this go? You want me to marry my sister off? Dream on! If you don't hand her over today, I'll set this place on fire!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the people behind him started to make a noise and rushed towards the city gate in excitement.
Cao Guo was furious and was about to scold him, but Xie Changgeng stepped forward and spoke in his native dialect, "I've already said that the people are not in the city! It's useless even if you burn the city, it's just a stupid way to vent your anger!"
He glanced at the people opposite him and his expression turned stern.
"Besides, do you really think there is no law here and you can do whatever you want? I might as well ask someone to open the city gate and you can go in and find it. But I tell you, if you dare to set a fire, burn a house, or hurt an innocent person, I will repay you tenfold. From now on, in the eighteen villages and thirty-six places, don't even think about having peace!"
"Open the door! Pull out the bows and arrows!"
He finished, and shouted sternly.
Cao Guo and others were surprised. They looked at the dense crowd outside the city gate, hesitated for a moment, and finally did not dare to disobey the order. They ordered the soldiers to open the city gate and withdraw the arrow formation as ordered.
Xie Changgeng took a step to the side. "Come in!"
The city gate, which had been noisy just now, became quiet again.
The natives looked at each other, and finally looked at Bai Long.
Bai Long was in doubt. He glanced at the wide-open city gate, and then looked up and down at Xie Changgeng. Seeing that Xie Changgeng was standing aside calmly, he raised his hand to signal everyone to stop and said, "Do you think I don't know? You must have set up an ambush in your city to catch us all in one fell swoop! You want to trick me, but I won't!"
Xie Changgeng smiled slightly, "Bai Long, you are very smart, but have you ever thought about it? When a man and a woman elope, is it the fault of one party? The man is certainly wrong, but is your brother's sister completely blameless? It is wrong for the Xu family to hurt people, I asked them to prepare gifts to apologize. I will send military doctors to treat the wounded among you, and I will also look for those who ran away. Once I find them, we can separate or get together, fight or kill each other, it's all up to you. What else are you dissatisfied with?"
Bai Long froze for a moment and said, "Why should I believe you?"
Xie Changgeng said: "I am the ambassador of the Hexi Garrison, the governor of Liangzhou, and a second-rank official of the imperial court. I will not break my promise after I have spoken."
As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Long sneered: "Forget it, none of you court officials are good! If we believe it, we will be fooled! We are all here today, so it would be a waste. If the people are not in the city, then hand over all the people who beat us yesterday! We will not bully the few with our numbers, we will fight them as many as they have. We will break our arms back the same way they broke our arms yesterday!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the natives behind him echoed him, roaring one after another.
Xu Ke was trembling with fear, angry and afraid, and he prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to look up.
Things had come to this point, let alone handing over the people who had attacked yesterday, even if they were asked to kill them, he would not dare to disobey.
What he was afraid of was that Jiedushi Xie would lose face.
Having said this, these natives still made such a request.
It sounds fair, but in fact it doesn't give him any face at all.
Cao Guo was furious: "Bai Long, don't be shameless! The Lord has been kind enough to you, do you really think there is nothing I can do to you?"
Bai Long snorted, "It's just tit-for-tat! Once you've paid us back, we'll leave!"
"Someone come! Protect the adults!"
Cao Guo gave the order loudly.
A large group of soldiers rushed up immediately.
"Sir, arrest these people and see if they dare to cause trouble again!"
Cao Guo advised, waiting for Xie Changgeng to give the final order.
The natives also raised their weapons.
Xie Changgeng did not speak immediately.
Countless pairs of eyes were staring at him.
The situation, which had just been relaxed, became tense again.
At this moment, a native pushed aside his companions, squeezed to the front, put his mouth close to Bai Long's ear, and whispered a few words.
Bai Long showed a reluctant look on his face after hearing this, but the person who passed the message seemed to be of high status. He hesitated for a moment, but finally put away his sword, signaled everyone to retreat, and said to Xie Changgeng with a squint, "Forget it, considering that Madam has been kind to us, I will trust you today! We will take the loss!"
After he finished speaking, he passed on the order. The order spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. The natives knew the order, whispered to each other, and turned away amidst the discussion.
Soon, the city gate, which had been tense just now, was deserted.
Cao Guo heaved a long sigh of relief and ordered his soldiers to withdraw. Seeing Xie Changgeng still standing there, his eyes fixed on the direction where the natives left, he went up to him and flattered him, "Thanks to you, sir, for your decisiveness today! Even if we asked them to enter the city, they wouldn't dare to do so! I am sincerely convinced!"
After he finished flattering Xie Changgeng, he saw that Xie Changgeng's face was gloomy, so he quickly shut up.
Xie Changgeng turned to Xu Ke and stared at him coldly.
"Take good care of your son and others! If you do it again, I will never let you off easily!"
After he finished speaking, he mounted his horse and galloped towards Guzang. His back disappeared on the road in the blink of an eye.
Xu Ke collapsed to the ground as if he had been pardoned, unable to get up.
Cao Guo usually had a good relationship with him. Seeing how scared he was today, he went up to help him up and whispered, "Brother Xu, you are lucky. At least these natives still have some conscience and remember the kindness the princess showed them. Otherwise, today, not only would you lose face, but the matter would have really gotten out of hand. And you just let it go with just one sentence?"
Xu Ke was still in shock, wiping his sweat, and said, "You don't need me to tell you, I know it too. When the princess comes again someday, I'll ask my wife to prepare a gift and a generous thank you!"
Xie Changgeng galloped back to Guzang. It was still before noon when he arrived at the gate. He dismounted and went inside. The steward hurriedly came out and said, "Sir, there was a message from the Nancheng Wei saying that someone from Changsha has arrived and wants to see you!"
Xie Changgeng was filled with rage. Without even turning his head, he said coldly, "Tell them that their princess has already gone home! Tell them to turn around and get out of here! No more!"
The steward sighed and was about to pass on the message when Xie Changgeng suddenly stopped, turned around and asked, "Who is coming?"
"They say the leader's name is Yuan Handing."
Xie Changgeng's eyes flashed with the young man he had seen outside the ancestral temple when he went to Changsha State. He hesitated for a moment and changed his words, "Go and welcome them to the posthouse. Don't tell them anything, just say that I will go to see them when I am free!"