When the prince said the three words "Duke Wu'an", cold sweat broke out on his back. It was a taboo for the prince to have private friendship with military generals, so he had always been very careful. He had very few contacts with Duke Wu'an and was extremely careful every time. Except for his trusted assistants, no one knew about their relationship.
That was the time when he just learned from Ruan Yuewei that Prince Zhao was killed by the King of Qi. He was so ecstatic that he could not contain himself and immediately sent someone to deliver the news to the Wu'an Mansion. However, he also sent the news in the name of the Crown Princess to comfort his aunt, which was impeccable in both emotion and reason, and should have aroused his father's suspicion.
He also knew that his recommendation of Duke Wu'an was a risky move, but if the Tiger Talisman of the Divine Wing Army returned to Huanxuan, all his previous efforts would be in vain.
Moreover, the emperor himself had just revealed that he did not want to re-employ Huan Xuan. In terms of military merit among the generals in the court, the next highest ranking general was Wu An Gong. It was reasonable for him to recommend Wu An Gong to take charge of the Shen Yi Army, and anyone would think that he did it out of public interest.
The prince felt a little relieved. He knew that he would be afraid of showing weakness at this moment. His father was a shrewd man with a keen eye. He would just let him see the clues and then act.
Several thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but his face still showed that he was worried about the affairs of state.
The emperor's gaze lingered on his face for a moment, and he nodded slightly: "Duke Wu'an is indeed a good general."
He only said a few words casually, and then turned to look at his ministers: "Do you have any other candidates in mind?"
He glanced at the crown prince vaguely and said with a smile: "When selecting talents, avoid relatives. You don't have to worry about anything and can speak freely."
The prince's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't dare show any panic, and just smiled and nodded.
With the crown prince taking the lead, the ministers nominated candidates for commander-in-chief in turn. There were only a handful of military generals with rich experience in the court, and almost all of them were nominated, but no one mentioned Huan Xuan.
The prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as at least someone in the court dared to openly support the King of Qi.
After the ministers finished speaking, the emperor pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "What you said makes sense. I will think about it. It's early, please go back to your residence first."
Such an important matter naturally could not be decided after just one discussion. The crown prince suspected him and left Feishuang Palace with his ministers.
The emperor listened to their footsteps fading away and sighed heavily.
If he could take back the three towns to the court during his lifetime by taking advantage of the civil strife in Heshuo, the prince would be a ruler who maintains the status quo. However, Xiao Ling "came back from the dead". How could the prince, who is greedy and reckless by nature, keep his throne
He thought of his third son and sighed. Among his three legitimate sons, the capable one had no desire for power, while the power-hungry one was arrogant and looked down upon. This was probably the true destiny of the Heavenly Zuo Dayong.
…
It was already dark when Huan Xuan returned to the palace from Mount Li. As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, a eunuch came to report that Prince Yuzhang was here to visit.
Ever since Huan Xuan became an idler, Huan Minggui would come to his house from time to time to eat and drink. Huan Xuan was not surprised at all, so he asked the eunuch to take him to the East Pavilion and ordered the kitchen to prepare good wine and food.
After a while, Huan Minggui came.
He was wearing a wide-sleeved emerald green silk robe with rippling patterns today. The color would probably look terrible on anyone else, but it made him look elegant and graceful, and his whole body was as swaying as the waves of the Qujiang Lake.
Today, his eyes were particularly lively. As soon as he entered the room, he said excitedly: "Ziheng, have you heard? It turns out that Xiao Ling is still alive!"
Huan Xuan just raised his eyelids, put down his teacup and said calmly, "I understand."
He then ordered the eunuch to seat him and serve him tea.
Huan Minggui sat down on the couch, fanning himself with a folding fan and sighed, "It really is like a legendary story."
He paused and said, "I am a wise man after the event. I heard that she died in battle a few years ago, and I always felt that it seemed real. How could such a powerful person when she was young just disappear like that?"
He took the teacup from the eunuch, took a big sip, and put the cup down: "Sure enough, I knew she wouldn't die so easily!"
Huan Xuan asked, "What does her life have to do with you?"
Huan Minggui choked, and thinking carefully, this matter really had nothing to do with him. He and Xiao Ling only met once when they were young, but when he heard that Xiao Ling was still alive, he felt excited for no reason. He sat down in the mansion, just wanting to find someone to share and confide in. Without thinking carefully, he came to the Prince of Qi's mansion. Although he had a wide range of friends and all kinds of friends all over the world, there were no more people who were truly close to him than Huan Xuan.
He thought for a moment and said shamelessly, "Xiao Ling and I have a deep connection. When I fell in love with her at first sight, she hadn't even gotten engaged to my eldest brother yet."
Huan Xuan sneered.
Huan Minggui said, "I'm serious. Her marriage to my eldest brother was arranged after she entered the palace to meet the emperor. I proposed to her before that."
Huan Xuan had naturally heard of the story about Prince Yuzhang, but he just thought it was a joke. His so-called proposal of marriage was just grabbing General Xiao's wife by the sleeve and crying and shouting that he wanted to marry her daughter.
You can tell a person's future from the age of three. You can tell the temperament of a person even when he is young.
Huan Minggui said infatuatedly: "I still remember her appearance. You can't imagine that there is such a beautiful girl in the world. Wearing this fiery red dress and the golden seven-treasure necklace, the whole person seems to be glowing. Even the gap in her teeth is so loving... But she is really cruel when she beats people. Not long after, I heard that she and the prince were engaged. I cried and stood there..."
Huan Xuan's heart moved slightly. He vaguely remembered that there was a period of time when the nanny and the palace maids were discussing his elder brother's marriage. It must have been after Xiao Ling entered the palace to meet the emperor.
His childhood memories had long been blurred, and he could not remember exactly what year it happened, but the fiery red clothes and gapped teeth reminded him of the little girl who fell from the sky in Tangli Palace.
"When did she enter the palace?" he couldn't help but ask.
Huan Minggui frowned and thought for a moment, "I was seven years old that year..."
Xiao Ling was of the same age as Ruan Yuewei, one year younger than Huan Minggui and two years older than him. That happened when he was four years old. He couldn't remember when he buried Que'er, but he clearly remembered that it was the winter of the second year when Ruan Yuewei came to the Empress Dowager's palace. She was seven years old at that time.
Therefore, the little girl in red that he met a year ago was most likely not Ruan Yuewei, but Xiao Ling.
Xiao Ling and Ruan Yuewei are cousins, and her mother's surname is naturally Su. The "Madam Su" mentioned by the palace people is most likely the wife of General Xiao, and the wife of Ningyuan Hou.
All the confusion and doubts that Huan Xuan had been carrying in his heart for years were explained in an instant. Ruan Yuewei had changed so much in just one year, so he no longer saw the brilliance in Ruan Yuewei that he had seen when they first met, because what he saw was completely not the same person.
He suddenly realized what was going on, but he did not feel any regret.
It was true that he had mistaken the person, and it was also true that he had poured his love into Ruan Yuewei. Regardless of whether it was blind or not, and regardless of the reason, it was all given voluntarily.
No one forced him to like Ruan Yuewei, and no one forced him to use Lu Suisui as a substitute.
It was he who treated her harshly, said hurtful words to her, and trampled on her sincerity.
Huan Minggui was immersed in his own memories and did not notice that Huan Xuan's face turned pale.
Just as they were sighing, a eunuch came to report that dinner was ready, so the two of them moved into the hall.
Huan Minggui lifted the lid of the wine pot and sniffed it without hesitation: "Yingzhou is rich in water. Tsk, I knew you would have a lot of good wine. The beauty's 'resurrection from the dead' is a happy event, and it should be made public."
Huan Xuan's heart sank, he thought of another person, she did not have a distinguished background, nor the strategy of sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, and she would not come back to life, so there were probably not many people in the world who even remembered her.
Huan Minggui didn't notice his expression at all, he picked up the wine pot and filled his cup: "Today I must get drunk."
Huan Xuan silently raised his glass, tilted his head back, and drank the wine in the glass.
Huan Minggui said, "Ziheng, you are quite straightforward in drinking today."
After he fell seriously ill in Youzhou, Huan Xuan seldom drank alcohol. Alcohol can make people forget their pain, but the momentary peace when drunk is on credit, and it will only be returned double after waking up.
But people always have moments of weakness, and occasionally need to numb themselves, and tonight is one of those nights.
Huan Minggui's alcohol tolerance was much worse than Huan Xuan's, and his drinking habits were also worrying. After drinking half a pot of wine, he knocked on the porcelain cup with jade chopsticks and started singing in a weird tune.
Huan Xuan just drank cup after cup in silence. When the wine jug was empty, another jug was brought up.
Huan Minggui sang to himself for a while, and when he saw that the person opposite him was not paying attention to him, he stopped singing, threw away the jade chopsticks, and suddenly let out a long sigh. He stood up and sat next to Huan Xuan, sobbing.
Huan Xuan already knew what kind of person this drunk guy was, so he just moved aside with an expressionless face.
Huan Minggui refused and pulled up his sleeve to wipe away his tears: "Ziheng, I feel sad."
Huan Xuan squinted at him with disdain and tried to pull out his sleeve, but the drunkard was very strong and held it very tightly. He had no choice but to pull out his dagger and cut off his sleeve and gave it to him, then sat on the couch opposite.
Huan Minggui himself knew why he was crying, but his heart was inexplicably sore and swollen: "When I heard that Xiao Ling was still alive, I thought of my elder brother..."
Huan Xuan didn't say anything.
At the beginning, his elder brother was willing to give up the throne and go to Heshuo to marry Xiao Ling. Although he didn't know the details, he knew something. When Xiao Ling was mentioned, he would inevitably think of that past.
Huan Minggui lay on the table and cried, "I was just talking. Only my elder brother is worthy of someone like Xiao Ling. I think my elder brother... Huan Jiong is really a good guy..."
He suddenly straightened up, and his eyes suddenly became clearer, as if there were two flames burning in them.
"Do you know?" Huan Minggui said, "Just before my eldest brother was poisoned, he showed me the Medicine Master Sutra copied by Huan Jiong with great satisfaction, saying it was a birthday gift from him. He praised him for his thoughtfulness and his improvement in calligraphy. Who would have thought that the ruthless guy was already planning to kill my eldest brother at that time..."
He cursed a few words and then cried for a while, then drank two sips of wine.
But Huan Xuan just drank alone in silence.
Huan Minggui suddenly shouted for the zither.
Huan Xuan ordered someone to fetch the zither. Huan Minggui took a look at it and said with dissatisfaction, "Where is the zither that elder brother gave you? You love to play the zither, but he gave it to you. What a waste of talent..."
As he spoke, he plucked the strings of his zither, and the piece "Ge Sheng" became fragmented and unbearable to listen to.
After a long time, the sound of the piano became lower and lower, and slower and slower. Huan Minggui leaned over the piano and finally moved.
Huan Xuan asked someone to help him to the side room, and he returned to his bedroom.
…
Twenty days had passed since the discussion with the ministers at the Lishan Hot Spring Palace, and the Shenyi Army finally had a leader, who turned out to be the Duke of Wu'an who was recommended by the Crown Prince.
However, the emperor did not give him the tiger talisman directly, but only promoted him to a higher rank and made him temporarily serve as the commander-in-chief of the Divine Wing Army.
Even so, the prince felt relieved.
In early autumn, news came from Heshuo that Xiao Ling led the Youzhou and Wei Bo armies to besiege Zhenzhou City for two months. The soldiers in the city mutinied, and the people opened the city gates to welcome Xiao's army into the city. Cheng De surrendered.
The common people in Chang'an naturally talked about it, but they soon forgot about the matter of Heshuo because a shocking and bizarre story happened in Wu'an Mansion.