"Oh." Although I hadn't woken up completely, I felt a little worried. Even though I was really sleepy, I quickly struggled to get up and stretched my muscles. My face should have been full of sleepiness, but when I saw Yin Ling beside me, I smiled happily from the bottom of my heart, but maybe my smile looked a little silly.
With the help of Yinling, who was also smiling, I quickly got dressed, washed up, and then ate breakfast in the house while waiting for news from the other side.
Waiting is not a very pleasant thing, so I quickly found something to do at the dining table.
"What are you looking at?" At first, Yin Ling thought that she was wearing the wrong clothes, and immediately looked for something wrong with her body, but she found that there was nothing wrong, so she could only ask in her heart: "What are you looking at?"
"My beloved wife, is she unable to do anything now?" I pouted my lips deliberately, and said the words now in the tone that I used to say in anger.
“Give... give..." Yinling seemed helpless about my behavior, but suddenly she looked at me thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Yinling's look, I immediately felt that something was wrong.
"Look at my good husband, you won't give it to me now?" She suddenly looked like she had suffered a great injustice, and said unhappily with her lips pouted.
Yinling's revenge came really quickly. I put my knowledge into practice. Looking at her cute appearance, I had no other choice. So, I smiled and pinched her nose, saying, "Bad guy."
"Big bad guy."
"—bad guy!"
"Big bad guy!"
"Bad guy—"
"Big bad guy—"
"...bad...guy..."
"Big...bad...guy..."
…
Although we both knew that this kind of quarrel was meaningless and would certainly not produce any result, we still argued without hesitation for more than a moment that morning. I spoke in short voices, she spoke in short voices, I spoke in long voices, she also drew out her voice and I spoke in long voices. We did this until someone outside the door called us to discuss something, and then we gave up.
I was the first to grab it, and I picked up my wife, smiled at her, and kissed her naturally: "It seems that we really have something to do."
"Do you know Yan Baihu?" As soon as we entered the door, my father-in-law stood up from a distance and turned around to ask.
"I've heard of him, but he died before we had any dealings with him. Yinling might know about it." I only know that he died and when he died.
This was the only question he asked me. After asking, he did not ask Yin Ling, but turned back and sat down again, and discussed in a low voice with the elders. These two sentences quickly reminded me that what they were discussing might be related to his brother who escaped that night. Although Yin Ling did not know what happened in Wu County, she seemed to understand something. She pondered for a while, then stepped forward and asked in front of all the elders: "Has anyone committed a crime in the name of Yan Baihu?"
"Hmm." My father-in-law nodded, looked at me, and suddenly said in a very unconfident tone: "Yan Baihu has always had some reputation. In the Wucheng area, he is known as the King of Wu De. Suddenly, this kind of rebellion has occurred, and people from the Zhou family have been involved. This matter is indeed difficult to handle."
"Is Yan Baihu dead?" Yin Ling guessed immediately.
"Yes, he has been dead for more than ten days. His younger brother Yan Yu and a man named Zhou Xin from the Zhou family in Lujiang have started an uprising in Wucheng. They have gathered more than a thousand people in the past few days. They are afraid of an attack from people from Wujun, and they are short of food and grass. They have planned to hide in a mountain called Mogan in Wucheng and wait for an opportunity. Oh, Yinling, because Zirui came, I haven't told you about what's happening outside in the past few days. What do you think about this?" It is obvious that the Yue people often go out to gather information, and Yinling is a big figure who discusses and makes decisions here.
"Ah, then we need to be prepared. Most of these people gathered together are former bandits and thieves. We may run into these people in the villages around the mountain and it may be troublesome. But..." When Yin Ling was thinking, an elder suddenly spoke.
"Well, you have to make some sense... Our village in the northeast is in some danger. We are preparing to send some people to take a look and possibly help. Now we have sent the letter to let them be on guard." However, it seems that Mr. Shuijing, my father-in-law, thinks this is not the most important thing, but his tone shows that he is very concerned about this matter. There is some mystery here. Thinking about it, he understood a little, so he decided not to look for me at the moment, and I didn't say anything.
"Father and uncles, do you think there is something strange?" Yin Ling frowned as she walked among the crowd. "When I left, I decided to store food and grass outside Wujun, and ordered people to monitor the food and grass trade, just to prevent someone from causing trouble. More than a thousand people? If they really follow my plan, I'm afraid that even a hundred more people will not be able to take care of the food and grass... No matter how famous the King of Wu De was, he was just a common bandit. Now that he was dead, how could his brother, who was a mediocre person, get so many soldiers and food just by relying on his brother's reputation? These soldiers and food may have a lot of problems with the Zhou family in Lujiang. But this puzzled me. Within three generations of the Zhou family, two people were among the three highest officials. The prosperity of the family is hard to find in the world. Although I am humble, I have heard that when their children travel, they often have hundreds of chariots. The family is so high that ordinary people cannot enter the house to pay homage. How did such a prominent family get involved with these bandits? I am afraid there is something wrong. "Yin Ling frowned, obviously unable to figure out why for a moment.
"There are only a dozen or so important roads and several must-pass places from north to south, from south to north, and from west to east. I asked them to take notice of all of them. It was your idea to search the river back and forth for vigilance. This..."
"Ah!" I shouted. I really couldn't help it. At first I didn't think much of it. I just thought it was the bandits causing trouble again.
“Oh…” My father-in-law noticed my change, but there was no surprise or doubt on his face, but there was a smile.
"Eh..." Yin Ling stopped here, looking thoughtful.
"At sea!" my husband and I said at the same time.
While she was still thinking, I couldn't help but start to talk about the possibilities one by one: "Someone wants to get involved in Jiangdong! These 1,000 people and the food and grass to support them were all transported from the sea. In a few days, I'm afraid there will be more people. They are short of food and grass and go into the mountains, which is nothing more than a cover. Let our people think they are showing weakness and temporarily relax their vigilance against them, or more likely, they want to lure us to attack, but secretly mobilize more people from the sea to attack us from behind in the name of the Luàn army, so that we are attacked from both sides and it is not favorable. They had no choice but to retreat. Then, when the situation became tense, they would have to bring a few thousand soldiers to quell the rebellion. By then, these so-called rebels would turn against them, and their army would be greatly strengthened. Then they would issue a statement saying, "The emperor is benevolent and virtuous, and I dare not leave without permission to indulge in rebellion." They could take Jiangdong in one fell swoop, without bloodshed, and take Jiangdong's fertile land alone. Good! This is a powerful plan." I nodded my head as I finished speaking. This plan really had no flaws, and what opened my eyes was that the troops could be deployed so secretly.
"Whose plan do you think it was?"
"My dear father-in-law, the people who can get involved must be those who have navy, and those who have navy must be near the water. These are no more than Yuan Shao of Qingzhou, Zhu Jun of Yangzhou, and Gongsun Zan of Youzhou. Although Gongsun Bogui's Liaodong and Yuan Benchu's Donglai are near the sea, they are too far away from Jiangdong, which is laborious to mobilize troops and difficult to get food and grass. Moreover, if the troops are divided into two places, once the war breaks out, the north and the south will be cut into two and cannot take care of each other. The one who can come here so easily and may want to come here must be Zhu Jun of Yangzhou. Moreover, he crosses the river and owns a thousand miles of land. When the two places are combined, no matter where the enemy comes from, they can attack or defend. This is indeed a great benefit. It is common sense for important officials in the court to have contacts with the Zhou family." I said confidently.
"Yinling, what about you?" After hearing what I said, my father-in-law just nodded, without commenting, and asked directly about Yinling.
"Father, although Zirui's method is reasonable, it has many minor omissions and may cause some problems." Yinling looked at me hesitantly, as if she wanted to say sorry to me, husband, but this time it is necessary. Then of course I have to let her, because I also want to know what else is wrong: "Husband, why can't the people from Jiangbei come directly? It's because we have just settled the rebellion here and everything is calm. Therefore, there needs to be some rebellion here before we can take advantage of the opportunity. Why do you want to borrow Yan Baihu's brother as the leader? Because, if Yan Yu started the rebellion, it means that our previous rebellion has not been completed, and we have not done what we should have done. We are suspected of not doing a good job in the rebellion. If someone else started the rebellion, we need to continue to settle the rebellion, but we will not be guilty of dereliction of duty, so we need to create the appearance that we have not completely settled the rebellion until now, so that the people who come here will have an excuse. Husband, think about it again, why did the Zhou family get involved? I can't figure it out, maybe they hope that we dare not move, because the Zhou family It has a lot to do with the higher-ups. But if this is really the case, and the man who came is really Zhu Jun, it would be a bit strange. Unless Zhu Jun is really confused, how could his strategists be confused together. Or they believe that we dare not move. If this conspiracy is solved by them, it is very likely that even if Zhou Xin is an insider who is waiting to kill Yan Yu and make merit, it may even be counted as a merit and reported, so it is possible. But if this conspiracy is solved by us, the Zhou family will inevitably be implicated, even if we let him go for a favor. The Zhou family will definitely be We should blame Zhu Jun. He let them come in for no reason and pulled a broken sail in this stagnant water. He couldn't move, but was criticized for nothing. Isn't it ridiculous? And he can understand that if he really expects us not to move, it is impossible; but if he wants to take a big gamble, Yinling will find it hard to believe. Zhu Jun is also a world-famous general who commands troops. He and General Huangfu are both known for their prudence and stability. It seems impossible for him to be so rash. It is very likely that his confidants instigated and then arranged everything secretly. General Zhu Jun did not know the truth, which led to the current situation. My husband needs to think more... As for Zhou Xin, I guess that Zhou Xin was sent to Zhu Jun as an official by the Zhou family out of friendship, and then they didn't want to get involved in this matter... But if Zhu Jun was not the mastermind, then no matter whether this matter succeeds or not... some people will benefit. If it succeeds, the traffic is not very convenient across the current 100 miles of river, and the generals who come here are very likely to be the general managers of everything here. If Zhu Jun comes, it is very likely that Jiangbei will be handed over to one person to govern, and he will be able to develop his own power unscrupulously. Who will this person be? If the plan to go south to Jiangdong fails, the Zhou family will definitely have a rift with the Zhu family. If the higher-ups investigate, the Zhou family will definitely blame Zhu Jun, so that the two sides will eventually turn against each other, and there will be some bad rumors inside and outside the court, and Zhu Jun's position will inevitably be in danger of overthrowing. In that state, the person who is second only to one person and above ten thousand people may also be that person to take over the army first. Who will that person be?"
"I think... I know." I said slowly, feeling both convinced and uneasy.
Things were developing in a direction that required us to get out of here quickly. Since Zhu Jun was bound to be in trouble, we didn't need to and couldn't think too much about him. So obviously the only thing we had to do was to temporarily keep the thousands of miles of land in Jiangdong.
The only thing that bothers me is that the number of troops we can mobilize over a thousand miles is no more than 10,000, and I need a considerable number of troops to fight a foolproof battle; and we can't delay this year's harvest. It's already May, and the seedlings in the fields are already quite tall. At this time, we must not drag the battle into the fields of ordinary people. Another thing that I don't know whether it's good or bad is that it might be best to go to the Zhou family in Lujiang.
Before leaving, my father-in-law asked me to go to his house alone, so when I saw Yin Ling at the entrance of the village seemed to be looking for me, I didn't call her. But when I sat down in the house, just when I sat down, my father-in-law turned around and left and went into the inner room.
After a while, he came out with a blue cloth bag in his hand. The sun was bright after the fog dissipated that day. When he came out from the inner room, the sunlight from the window just shone on the cloth bag. The cloth bag must have been kept for a long time and was covered with dust. As he solemnly opened the blue cloth bag, countless dust particles flew in the air in the sunlight. I suddenly felt that something with a special connection with me was about to be opened. As the blue bag was slowly shaken open, there was a kind of chaotic and unsettled throbbing in my heart. Watching his fingers flipping from time to time, I even felt as if he was about to take me out of the cradle as a baby. Accompanied by the breeze, the dust is hard to rest, just like my heart at this moment, flying in the dust, without purpose, without direction.
Apart from the outer layer, there are several layers of homespun cloth of various colors inside. I think that is what my father and mother left for me. They must have been very excited and sentimental when they left it to me. As I opened the cloth layer by layer, my heart was hanging higher and higher, and I slowly sat up (think about the ancient people sitting on the ground, and you will know what this action is, author's note). When my father-in-law saw me like this, he said something gentler to calm me down: "This is what you wore back then. I was afraid that you would accidentally damage or lose it if I left it with you, so I left it with me for safekeeping. It has been eighteen years, you have grown up, and now you have married Pei'er and Yinling, and you are also my son. You keep it, this is the only thing your parents left for you here..."
It's a very nice shirt. It seems like I can really put it in the palm of my hand very easily now, but I know it's impossible for me to do so.
I leaned over quietly, touching it, as if I wanted to contact my mother who lived eighteen years ago through this action, and ask: Mother, how are you? The clothes looked ordinary, but I still cried. It seemed that because of the rush work, there were even bloodstains on the seams of the corners that had not been washed off in time. I could imagine how my mother was crying under the dim light, making clothes for me, accidentally pricking her fingers, but could not stop working. What made me even more unable to hold back my tears was that under this situation, my mother still thought of the fear of hurting my tender skin at that time, leaving all the threads outside, and not even a thread inside could be seen. My hands touched the thin silk lining, and tears kept falling. I could feel that this was my mother tearing open the lining of her clothes to make clothes for me, because the surface of the silk cloth, which was already very soft, had been worn so smooth. I can imagine myself as a child lying comfortably in it, but could only cry or sleep unconsciously, with only my mother's tears left, perhaps hitting my face at that time, and I would probably just look at the mother in front of me curiously, babbling occasionally, or maybe crying.
I cried so hard that the sky darkened at noon, as if it was mourning for me. In the afternoon, it even started to rain. Perhaps the Mother in Heaven sensed my sadness and shed tears with me.
That day, I didn't have lunch. In the afternoon, after everything was ready, I left without saying a word. Yinling knew what happened, but didn't blame me. She just stayed by my side quietly.
When I left, my father-in-law told me, "You can tear open the sleeves, because it's easy to touch the clothes. At that time, I felt that there was a place inside that was different from the other places, as if there was a separate piece of cloth or something. Because your parents told Zuo Ci at the time, I didn't know. Later, I asked Brother Zuo, but he didn't know either. So, I think your parents left it for you, so I didn't touch it. If there is something, it should be left by your parents for you to discover, so go and see it yourself."
Of course I took action immediately, but with the help of Yinling, I carefully cut the thread and took out the cloth inside. I have never been so nervous before, as if I had grabbed my life in my hands, and if I let go, it would seem that my life would slip away from me.
"Gongshè." There were two characters embroidered in black thread on it, which made me feel very puzzled. But then I thought, it might be the word Xie, but the word Yan was difficult to embroider, and time was tight at that time, so I embroidered a bow shape as the word Yan, maybe it was telling me that my surname was Xie.
But anyway, this does make me a little disappointed. It would have been better if it was a letter from my mother. Maybe my mother couldn't read, so she made a mistake in embroidering. Just like no one has ever left me her name, no one I have ever asked, including Zuo Ci, knows who my mother is. However, apart from the letter my father left me, this is all the traces my mother left me. In fact, there should be another one, a little older, which I always carry with me - that is myself.
"You don't have no name." I suddenly said to Yinling, she seemed to know what I meant, she just smiled and said to me: "Let's go!"
"Okay." I smiled, too, shook off the rain-soaked hair hanging on my forehead, brushed it back, and tied it up tightly. I took another look at the strangely embroidered "Thank you", stuffed the whole dress into my arms, bowed deeply in the direction of my father-in-law, and exchanged greetings with the people around me. After saying goodbye, I set out on the road out of the mountain with Yinling, under the gaze of the people who were still strangers to my wife's family.
I want to record one thing. In this mountain, I have never seen my mother-in-law, and no one has ever mentioned her, so I didn't ask. I thought that maybe she was also dead, so it was really not easy for Mr. Sima. Now I took his daughter away, and his life alone would be even more lonely. So, half an hour after leaving the village, I suddenly reined in my horse and said to Yinling, "In the future, we should bring my father-in-law to Xiangyang to live with us."
She nodded with a smile, and her smile was still beautiful in the rain. But another layer of gloom suddenly appeared in my heart: Can other people stand my father-in-law's snoring
The next few days of the journey, without the loneliness of the first day, the days passed quickly. The two of them were singing and laughing along the way, enjoying the mountains and rivers, and didn't care about what was happening outside for three days. There was no such thing as the Marquis of Ping'an Fengyun and the Princess of Ping'an, just an ordinary and happy newlywed couple. I really liked this kind of life. Because those few days were really like the days of the gods, but I knew that this kind of life would not last long.
The happy and carefree travel life only lasted for three days, and we left the mountains and came to the flat and unknown outside. I remember it was noon, when the tired horse passed the mountain pass, I suddenly looked at Yinling with some worry, she saw my eyes tiredly, smiled at me, looked at me, and waited for me to talk to her. But I could only smile, lowered my eyebrows and looked at the tender green grass on the ground, after a while, raised my eyes to look at her, and said to her with some guilt: "Maybe, you shouldn't come out with me, once you come out, you may never enjoy a moment of comfort and happiness again."
"With you by my side, my heart is in a state of comfort and happiness." She looked at me with a sweet smile, and suddenly looked behind me: "Oh, it seems there is a barracks there."
"Where?" I turned around quickly, but saw nothing.
Suddenly, someone hugged me from behind. She climbed from her horse to my horse and hugged me from behind. She said fiercely but also with a hint of playfulness: "You have fallen into the trap. From now on, you are my prisoner. I will detain you by my side for the rest of your life. You will not be free."
"Okay, okay! I will never leave you for the rest of my life. But aren't you afraid that I will rebel?" I suddenly took action and dragged her from under my armpits to sit in front of me. This action startled her and she screamed "Ah" several times, and Ma took several steps to the right to stabilize himself. Before she could recover, I held her hands with my hands and said with a wicked smile: "As the saying goes, if the officials are in power, the people will rebel, and the people will have no choice but to rebel. If I rebel, what can you do?"
"Suppress it! If you can't suppress it, then forget it." She pouted her lips. Although her voice became louder and louder, her expression showed a fearless spirit.
I was not as good as her, I acted like a complete rogue. I kissed her directly, and she didn't refuse at all, so I think Yinling is a person who will take soft actions but not hard ones.
All signs outside the mountain indicate that Brother Yan and Sheng Bin are preparing to take action. One major sign is that some restaurants on the road are full of people spreading the news of the war. Many people come to listen, but few come to eat. Even the owners of these restaurants don't care. Most of them squeeze in the front to listen. Obviously, they feel that the consequences of being late are much worse than having no business in the past few days. Another thing that can make people sure of this possibility is that the people who come to the restaurant to eat are mainly about a dozen troops who are being mobilized. After inquiry, it is said that the local garrison troops from all over the country are gathering near Yuhang in the southeast of Wucheng or Tianmu Mountain in the southwest of Wucheng. But what makes me most sure that the war will start is that the morale of these troops is very low, and many people sit down to discuss the topic of starting a business.
It is worth noting that their military discipline was not very good. It was not that they did not pay for the meal, but that they told us their itinerary and their ideas without even asking who we were. Fortunately, they did not know how many people were going there together, or things like pass symbols.
Yinling and I discussed it and both felt that Brother Wensheng and Bin did not seem to have considered the possibility that the enemy might come from the sea. The north of Wucheng is blocked by Taihu Lake. Brother Yan and his men divided their forces in this way, which has indeed trapped the enemy and surrounded them. This is the right way to besiege the enemy at this time and place. However, if the enemy reinforcements land near Yuhang, our southeast camp will be caught in a situation of being attacked from both sides. Once the three-way siege is broken, our encirclement will also be broken, and we may not be able to handle it well.
Yinling and I discussed it and we felt that the longer we delayed, the more difficult it would become. So we quickly found a post station, changed horses and continued forward. The difference this time was that through Yinling's relationship, we quickly rode the best horses to the current front line.
That night, we didn't know the actual situation very well, so we stayed at a fishing village in the south of Yuhang. Although the place was simple, Yinling and I were not very particular people, so it was not difficult to deal with it.
It is worth mentioning that Yinling was very popular with the old mother of the host. She even took the initiative to ask her son to help us get some information from the town a few miles away. This made us feel very sorry. Although they did not bring us any useful information, we were still very grateful for their help. So, when I left, I left a bag of copper coins, and Yinling did not have any objection. She even thought that I gave too little. Later, when I showed her what we had left, she nodded. Then this person actually criticized me with a bad taste, saying that if I didn’t eat as much as I did now, I could have left more than twice as much money.
Then we abandoned the horse and hired a boat, heading north by water. Along the way, I talked with my wife about the scenery in the river and on both sides. Time passed quickly. It was noon when we heard someone calling us from behind. Turning around, it was the owner of the house from last night. He came with one person, one boat and one oar. He was quite anxious when calling us. We didn't know what was going on, so we ordered the boatman to stop the boat and see what the owner wanted to see us for.
The man must have been on the water for a long time and was very familiar with the boat. He came very fast in his boat, as light and agile as a fish jumping on the water. When he was about to get close, he threw the reins of the boat to us to catch. When he was half a meter away, he immediately jumped onto our boat with very agile movements. But it was that sentence that really touched us: "Dear customer, you dropped your money."
Later, he stayed on our boat for a long time. We gave the money to his family because we bothered him a lot when he stayed at his house. This kind gesture was not a respect. But he thought the money was too much, and they could afford to hire a fake, so he refused to accept the money. This delayed him for a long time. After half an hour, he reluctantly accepted the money. It was only when Yinling mentioned that she wanted to buy some good things for the old man to nourish his body that she was convinced by this simple fisherman.
Time was wasted, but I was in a good mood. The people are so simple and honest, but why can't God give them peace and happiness
With this thought, he suddenly felt sad and found a purse in his arms, but now there was no money in it. There were only two pieces of cloth in it, two pieces of rags, two pieces of smelly linen, two pieces of smelly, tattered and easily broken into pieces.
Yinling was naturally very curious, so I told her the origin of the two pieces of cloth. She leaned in my arms and remained silent.
We arrived near the Yuhang military camp in the evening of that day. After asking someone to inform us, my brother Yan came out quickly in dishevelled clothes, and kept saying, "It's good that you are here. I'm so busy. It's good that you are here. Come and help me." Then he hurried away, took two steps, and waved to us, asking us to follow.
Brother Yan was a well-known impatient person. He would leave as soon as he thought of something and finished it. If a matter had to be postponed until the next day, he would not be able to sleep that night. In the thatched cottage, he was often seen unfolding two bamboo scrolls and reading them, while discussing issues with others while eating.
I thought this trick was a good way to save time and improve efficiency. But earlier practice proved that I couldn't learn it: I relied on the fact that I was left-handed and could use both hands, so I tried to wash two bowls with both hands at the same time to save time, but I gave up after trying it only once. To be honest, it really can save half a minute of washing dishes; but it takes two minutes to clean up the broken bowls, plus a minute to bandage the thumb of my right hand that was accidentally cut, and an hour of being asked by my sister about my health and what happened. Finally, after I told her the real reason, she scolded me for two hours, and then kept checking the injured finger for a day. Later, it really festered, and she was still worried for ten days. So I finally think that my attempt was a complete failure, and it was completely inefficient and time-consuming.
After learning this lesson, I naturally didn't dare to try again, so I just asked him why he did it. He said he had a lot of things to do and was too busy. He always did this, and on this day he said to us again: "You are getting married! Great, but I have a lot of things to do now, so I am too busy. After the war, come to my house, and my wife and I will give you a banquet to celebrate."
It was very hot and stuffy inside the big tent, but we were all dressed neatly and didn't dare to slack off and damage the etiquette. The only difference was that Yinling was helping me wipe the sweat off my forehead, which I thought would make Brother Yan feel uncomfortable. So, I turned around and smiled and thanked my wife, letting her see our views along the way, and I wiped her sweat instead.
"If you don't destroy the viper, what will happen to the snake?" In front of Brother Yan, Yin Ling had no restraint in her words. After asking this question, she put forward our views on the road, but her lowered hand was placed on my leg, and she was still glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes.
"Do you think we don't want to?" Brother Wensheng was quite mean. After he finished his first complaint, he actually looked at me first, as if to say that it seemed that your son would not be able to turn things around after getting married. I challenged him, and seeing that I couldn't refuse, I could only say that there was no other way and it had to be this way.
"You don't know! Bin and I have long felt that there was something wrong with these people. We managed them very well in the beginning. Everyone went back home, and we had excuses for questioning them. But where did all these people suddenly appear from?" After saying that, Brother Yan slapped the table, and Yinling and I both breathed a sigh of relief. We all knew that this was a normal phenomenon, and we were waiting for it in our hearts. Now the tension finally relaxed. If he hadn't slapped the table, we would have been worried for who knows how long. We should be able to relax more quickly today. Brother Yan is a straightforward person. Usually, after slamming the table, he basically vents his anger. In this case, he may have a more thorough calculation: "We guess that someone is transporting here from the sea. There are more than forty good ports along the coast for a hundred miles. How can I deploy defenses? In fact, there is no need for a good port. A large ship carrying more than a hundred people along the coast has a draft of only more than four feet. In the summer night, they can take advantage of the land wind and sail along the coast. They can come from the invisible northern border in a few hours. How can we defend against this? We have to surround them first and find a way to eat them up first. Hey... there were only a thousand people ten days ago. Now, according to the spies, there may be three thousand. And they are rewarding the soldiers tonight. These rewards can't just come out of thin air. Since we have blocked all the land, they can only be transported from the sea."
"Already three thousand?" I was surprised, then looked at Yin Ling, who also looked at me, and then we both thought of the same thing: "Do you want reinforcements?"
"Of course, how could I not want it? Your brother, called **, yes, the rough guy, he came alone, and the Poyang Lake water ghost, called Xiang; and your military advisor, the one with the surname Song. And there is also a surname E, oh, when I mention that, I have to say a few words, that guy looks refreshing, one look at him, I am still very energetic even if I haven't slept for several days. They arrived by boat in five days, with 5,000 people. If we join forces, there will be about 12,000 people, I mean those who can go to the front line. And, are you stupid? It's so good for you to come on the boat, otherwise you would have been married by now. You countryman."
"I dare not. How can I compare to a beauty like you?"
"You scolded me again? Don't think I don't dare to beat you now that you are married... I'm just afraid that I can't beat you." At this moment, he began to become very comfortable, laughing wantonly, and suddenly returned to the school days.
"You need to rest. You haven't slept for several days. What you just did."
"It's okay, actually it's not like that. I was just kidding, don't tell your southern brother. I'm fat and it's hot, so I can't sleep. Actually, I can still take a nap at noon. It's okay, let's get down to business."
The following is a discussion of military intelligence while we look at the pictures. During this time, Yinling and I whispered a few words to each other because she didn't understand what we meant by the so-called beauty.
"The best is that one person has two natives, plus one person, it is double the natives. This is what I said in the academy before." I explained it quickly and completely, my fingers still on the sheepskin map, and her fingers on my thighs were not only pointing and counting, but also pointing and counting. Because I was in front of Brother Yan, I could only try my best to keep a gentleman's facial expression - that is, no expression, or even more expressionless. But this person didn't pay any attention to the lady image she had maintained before, and continued to make moves, so I could only bear it silently. I once asked Yinling, but at that time I was still her, and this person was still my "sister". I asked: Why does she sometimes seem so different to my classmates and me outside? Yiren is actually like this: You know, ladies are pretended like this.
The key to this battle should actually be Zhou Xin. This person's various connections made me very upset. Now I have some new ideas, so I proposed them to Yinling and Brother Yan during the discussion. That is, maybe Zhu Jun or his men hope that Zhou Xin is killed by us, so that he can have more excuses and reasons to raise hatred between us and his family, and also add resistance from a prominent family in the court and the public. Brother Yan was not surprised by these strategies, but asked us why we were so sure it was Zhu Jun or his men.
Yin Ling was a little surprised, and her expression froze. I had already started to mutter: "I thought Yan Yu might be the unlucky guy, but now it seems that Zhou Xin is more likely to be the poor guy." Then, while Brother Yan was still confused between us, we discussed it face to face, one by one.
"Is it possible that the Zhou family and the Zhu family conspired to use an insignificant person in the family, such as a concubine, to get involved in this muddy water, and then try to kill him once the war started. Then, he was their undercover person to defeat the bandits, but he came to frame us to ruin their plan to defeat the enemy?" Frankly speaking, I suddenly thought of Gao Gan, who was originally Yuan Shao's nephew but was given to Gao's family as an adopted son. Only then did I finally realize how big the difference between the main and the concubine was. It was really sad. Although some people were descendants of famous families, they could only be disposable sons.
"You think so, it's possible... I think there is another possibility, for example, they can write it like this: Zhou Xin lived in Jiangdong and was forced by the bandits, and then he had no choice, or he took advantage of the bandits' tricks and surrendered to the bandits, but secretly contacted people in the clan, thinking that they were the insiders. Zhu Jun and the Zhou family are old friends, and they are for the sake of national peace, so of course it is right, then..."
"It is also possible that we instigated a civil uprising. After all, if they were the ones who started this commotion for no reason, we would have considered them traitors. But if Zhu Jun and his men literally used the term instigating a civil uprising, then we would have been held responsible. Zhou Xin could also be seen as a disciple from an aristocratic family who was sympathetic to the people."
"Yes, your teacher is in the capital, and he can't fight us without any reason. Of course, the reason must be well-made. No matter what happens, it seems that he can find a reason. He must come."
"The most troublesome thing is that Zhu Jun and his men could come in any way they want. Moreover, it seems that it may not be his subordinates who are behind this, so the variables are even greater. But in this case... what should we do?"
"Not necessarily, actually. I think what you said at that time makes more sense, and I also think that this was the idea of his subordinates. Don't worry, although this matter is a bit complicated now, there are many possibilities. But now that I am here, I have also seen these things here, so things are simple. The good thing for us now is that... the initiative is not in the hands of the other party." Yin Ling showed incredible uncontrollable self-confidence, and when she said this, Yin Ling suddenly put on a very confident smile. At that time, I felt that the matter in Jiangdong would be settled soon: "Okay, this time it's a bit interesting..."
"What on earth are you doing?" Brother Yan slammed the table again. This time, Yinling and I were not expecting such a loud noise. We were all startled and looked at our brother with a flushed face. We immediately stood on both sides like two children who had made mistakes and were waiting to be taught a lesson by their elder brother. However, it was obvious that his anger had subsided. "Sorry, I scared you, but hurry up, the two of you are talking about this and that, who knows what you are thinking? There are a lot of things to do now, and we are busy!"
"Uh... Don't worry, Brother Yan, I have a plan. However, this plan is only known to the three of us, and no one else. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens, the plan will be broken. And among the three of us, one has to be the guest, one has to be the good guy, and one has to be the bad guy."
On May 7, the first year of Chuping, the moon was at its first quarter. When we had arranged all matters and went out of the big tent to take a breath, I stretched my body lazily towards the sky, relaxing the fatigue of the days of traveling. Brother Yan was watching me from the side, and he felt sympathetic towards me, and at the same time said with a sense of evil humor: "Brother, it seems that you are destined to be the second in command at home."
"No, he is most likely the third in command. He must be the third in command." But I was still very self-aware of his flattery.
That year, I was eighteen years old, and my two wives were twenty-two years old. Yan Yan was twenty-four years old, and the one named Zhou Xin was twenty-eight years old.