Chapter 279 Who will win? (42)

In the palace, Empress Dowager Xiao Fu sat in the back garden with her eyes slightly closed. Behind her was the most favorable palace maid Ye Zi. Ye Zi was different from ordinary palace maids. She came from the Fu family and grew up with Empress Dowager Xiao Fu. She was nominally a master and servant, but in love, she was a sister.

His Majesty Chai Zongxun is practicing swords with an imperial guard officer. This officer is Gong Da, who is one of the few swordsmen in the Shaolin Sect. After he became a master of swordsmanship, he broke into the world with his sword. Unexpectedly, he offended the private salt dealers in Dengzhou. The private salt dealers issued a high reward, which attracted dozens of experts from the martial artsmanship and many officials to search for Gong Da frantically. Even though Gong Da was very skilled in martial arts, he was chased into chaos. At this time, the Gaoping War was over. The imperial guards posted a list to recruit heroes from the martial artsmanship. They were chased by the private salt dealers. Gong Da gritted his teeth and threw himself into the imperial guards.

In the war, military officers were always promoted faster than during peacetime, and there were more opportunities. Gong Da was very skilled in martial arts. For the sake of loyalty and righteousness, he soon became a heroic entourage officer around Chai Rong. During the Northern Expedition, Chai Rong deliberately left Gong Da in the palace and became the commander of the personal guard in the palace.

After dealing with the Tang family, Hou Dayong was promoted to Gong Da's official position and made him the deputy commander of the left wing of the navy army, and transferred Gong Da out of the palace without any trace.

This time Gong Da entered the palace as the young master of his martial arts teacher, which was the result of Queen Fu's repeated insistence.

Autumn is already a little cool, and the north wind has not officially arrived at Daliang City, but I don’t know that the chaotic winds in the southeast, west and north are already very cool. Gong Da was wearing a short dress that martial artists often wore, his strong arms were exposed outside, and beads of sweat were hidden under the thick hairs, emitting a strong masculine atmosphere.

Gong Da and Chai Zongxun both used wooden swords. Chai Zongxun attacked with all his strength. Intermediary Gong Da waved the wooden sword at will, and easily resolved Chai Zongxun's attack.

Chai Zongxun was born in August of the third year of Guangshun and was just over eight years old. His height was much taller than ordinary children, but after all, he was young and the wooden sword he used was lighter and shorter than that, and he could not break through Gong Da's defense line.

Gong Da was obsessed with martial arts. When he saw Chai Zongxun's offensive weakening, he shouted: "Hurry, you have to be faster." "You can't stop, hurry up."

Chai Zongxun's face was already red. He gritted his teeth, lifted up the wooden sword, and stabbed Gong Da again. Gong Da guarded several swords, and suddenly turned his wrist and knocked the wooden sword under Chai Zongxun's wrist. Chai Zongxun's wrist hurt and the wooden sword fell to the ground. He hugged his wrist and looked at the little Queen Mother sitting next to him, feeling aggrieved, and tears couldn't help but flow down.

Seeing His Majesty crying, Gong Da realized that he was fighting with His Majesty now. He immediately threw his sword and knelt on the ground. However, he was not very worried, because during the training, His Majesty didn't know how many tears he had shed.

The little queen Fu stood up in a manner. She looked at Chai Zongxun gently and strictly, and said, "Zongxun, you are a man, you can never shed tears, pick up the sword."

She said to Gong Da again: "Mr. Gong, please come up. You are Your Majesty's gentleman, so you don't have to kneel down. You can't show mercy when practicing in the future. I remember that the Black Eagle Army had a slogan, saying that you sweat more often and bleed less during wartime. It's really ugly. If you lead troops in the future, you should keep this sentence in your heart."

Gong Da stood up, his face looked firm and said, "Don't worry, the Empress Dowager. In just a few years, Your Majesty will grow up, and he will definitely be as wise as the late emperor."

This sentence happened to the heart of Queen Mother Fu. Her eyes were a little wet and she thought to herself: "I wonder if I can give Zong Xun a few years."

Although Zong Xun was not the biological son of Empress Dowager Fu, Zong Xun was the son of the eldest sister and the late emperor. The young queen Fu had no children and watched Zong Xun grow up since childhood. Deep down, she had already regarded Zong Xun as her biological son. At this time, in the huge palace, although everyone respected them as gods, she knew in her heart that the throne was respected in the palace, not the mother and son they depended on each other.

The little Queen Mother Fu's eyes were a little confused, and there was a trace of mist. She looked at the stubborn boy who was covered in sweat and suppressed tears. Suddenly, she thought of the terrible post again, shocked, angry, anxious, and afraid. All kinds of emotions gathered together, which made her feel extremely weak.

When Gong Da saw that Empress Dowager Xiao Fu did not speak, he maintained a respectful posture.

After a long time, the little Queen Mother Fu raised her hand. Her fingers were very similar to Queen Fu and Fu Ying's. She was slender, sensitive and delicate. She whispered: "Ming Da, let's get here today and come on time tomorrow."

After Gong Da walked with big strides, Empress Dowager Fu took a handkerchief and wiped Zong Xun's sweat on her forehead. She sighed in her heart: "Zong Xun, you should grow up quickly."

The little Queen Mother Fu returned to her bedroom in a restless mood. The one who was confused was a post I received this morning. The post was pointed directly at Hou Dayong and only listed one charge - to hold a soldier and respect himself. In the decades since the Tang Dynasty, holding a soldier and respect himself was no different from rebellion.

The father of the little Empress Dowager Fu is Fu Yanqing, the King of Wei. She has been like her sisters since she was a child, and she likes to pretend to be a young man and appear in the military camp. Like Fu Ying, she is not unfamiliar with things in the military. It is the characteristic of the women of the Fu family. This is also one of the important reasons why the women of the Fu family always win the favor of heroic men like Chai Rong and Hou Dayong.

When Xiao Fu first saw this post, she did not believe its authenticity. Her brother-in-law Hou Dayong left her a very good impression. However, from the post, the Black Diao Army conquered the Dangxiangfang Dang and Pochao divisions, and was closely related to a strange tribe located in Yinshan. She received a large number of Tang people in Sha and Gua Eleven Prefectures, with more than 40,000 troops. Moreover, the Black Diao Army also burned carbon and smelted a large amount of iron and set up countless iron battalions, with its strength far exceeding several nearby towns.

The content of the post is very detailed, including the location of the military camp, the names of the generals of each army and the forces under their jurisdiction, the types and quantities of the ordnances produced by each iron battalion.

After reading the post, Xiao Fu was hit by lightning on a sunny day. She didn't want to believe that her brother-in-law Hou Dayong would be determined to support her troops. Hou Dayong has always been the strongest backer of Xiao Fu. Now this backer has become a bloody sword in a blink of an eye, which has made Xiao Fu's mind chaotic.

The awakened Empress Dowager Fu understood that even if his brother-in-law Hou Dayong really held his own troops, he had to rely on him at the moment. Chai Rong died too early and too suddenly. Their orphans and widows had no trustworthy power except the titles of Emperor and Empress Dowager.

In this world where the strong prey on the weak, strength determines everything.

The little queen Fu slowly returned to the somewhat dark palace. She sat on the hard chair, raised her slender fingers, shook it gently, and several palace maids and eunuchs shrank in the corner and walked out of the palace with their hands and feet cramped. However, the leaves quietly stood behind a curtain and quietly watched the little queen Fu in the corner.

Facing the empty hall, Empress Dowager Fu covered her eyes with her hands, allowing her tears to flow smoothly. I don’t know how long it took, all the clothes on her chest were wet with tears.

She sat silently in the gloomy hall, until her clothes on her chest were dry, then she stood up and took a wooden box without any decoration. There were many small squares inside, all of which were filled with purple snow, red snow, facial fat, mouth fat, bath beans and other cosmetics. These cosmetics were very popular in the beams. All families with slightly thin production prepared these cosmetics for their wives, but these ordinary cosmetics were divided into twelve levels, and the difference between the highest level and the lowest level was more than a thousand times.

Queen Mother Xiao Fu used top-notch cosmetics. She didn't like the palace maids to make her cosmetics. Whenever she sat in front of a bright bronze mirror, in the fine and complicated movements, Queen Mother Xiao Fu would always forget that she was the Queen Mother of a country.

When the little Queen Mother Fu raised her head again, Ye Zi tiptoed to her side.

"Drawn well?"

"good."

Queen Mother Fu wrinkled her nose with some sensitivity and said, "How many memorials are there?"

"Two pieces."

The little Empress Dowager Fu said casually: "Please come over Mr. Chen." Seeing Ye Zi's back disappearing into the hall, the little Empress Dowager Fu suddenly remembered something: Chen Ziteng came from Lingzhou.

When Chen Ziteng appeared in front of the little Queen Mother, he had a usual faint indifferent smile, a faint smell of manly sweat and a faint ink fragrance.

When Queen Mother Xiao Fu reads memorials, she always likes to sit on the ground, put a memorial on the coffee table, and then watch Chen Ziteng writes the imperial edict very casually. This feeling makes Queen Mother Xiao Fu feel very peaceful. She likes this feeling from the bottom of her heart.

However, the terrible posts I received in the morning were destroyed, just like admiring a blooming flower, but unexpectedly, there was a pile of yellow feces at the bottom of the flower.

Queen Mother Xiao Fu put the memorial on the coffee table and supported her chin with her arms. This was a very casual and tempting action. Although Chen Ziteng was romantic and elegant, she couldn't help but swallow quietly when facing Queen Mother Xiao Fu's elegant posture and her beautiful face.

The little Empress Dowager Fu suddenly asked in a daze: "Mr. Chen is from Lingzhou."

When Richie arrived at Daliang, he tried his best to cover up the traces of Richie's tribe. They all used the identity of Lingzhou's official verified by Lingzhou. This identity was legal and valid. Of course, if someone is interested in tracing these identities, he can also see some clues. Richie's all came from six or seven villages that were slaughtered by Dangxiangfang. However, there were so many well-educated people in these villages, which were completely legal but completely unreasonable.

"Yes, I'm from Lingzhou."

Queen Mother Xiao Fu did not continue to ask questions, but pointed to the memorial and said, "Xiang Xun, the commander of the Hujie Army, has been ill for many days. Fan Xiang proposed that the Commander of the Hujie Army, temporarily serve as the commander of the Hujie Army. Zhao Shumi is a loyal and honest person and has good leadership skills. I think it's enough."

Chen Ziteng's heart jumped. These two memorials, one of Fan Zhi and the other of Hou Dayong, were both targeted at the commander-in-chief of the Hujie Army. If as usual, Empress Dowager Xiao Fu would definitely agree to Hou Dayong's memorials. Today is the first time that Fan Zhi's memorials have been agreed to.

"Things must have happened." Chen Ziteng's expression remained unchanged, and he still used his pen as if he was flying.

From Qingzhou to Daliang, the official road was very flat, but it was not close to it. When more than a dozen riders saw the winding walls of Daliang City, they were exhausted. Everyone had visited Daliang many times and were very familiar with the road. They rode their horses to the spring water below Wangxiangtai, turned over and dismounted, and caught the spring water.

Wangxiangtai is the last resting place for travelers to arrive at Daliang, the imperial capital. Here you can rest and drink spring water. More importantly, you are even more timid in your hometown. In this Wangxiangtai, there are countless frustrated or proud people who are sorting out their emotions and then set off towards the imperial capital.

By the spring water, an elderly man picked up the water bag and took a long sip. A middle-aged man took out a foldable husband and opened it neatly. The old man sat down safely. Although he had been on a long journey, his clothes were still spotless. This was not because he had any special magic, but because he always had to change his clothes whenever he arrived at a place.

The old man looked at Mrs. Gongsun, who was washing his face with spring water, and praised: "Mrs. Gongsun, your riding skills are really good."

Mrs. Gongsun is Gongsun Weiyang's wife. Gongsun Weiyang was promoted one after another, and Mrs. Gongsun's status in the Cui family also rose sharply. Even the old patriarch of the Cui family's name changed, and she was changed from "Cui Xiaomei" to "Mrs. Gongsun".

Mrs. Gongsun is an optimistic and open-minded person. She can speak frankly when she meets important officials like Hou Dayong and is not afraid of this patriarch. Of course, not being afraid of it does not mean being presumptuous. Cui Xiaomei and Mrs. Gongsun now have always been full of respect for this old man who is devoted to the rise of the Cui family.

When Mrs. Gongsun saw that the water bag of the Cui clan was empty, she smiled and took it over and said, "Class leader, I have been in Huan County for more than ten years. Huan County has poor mountains and bad waters, and there are people from Dangxiang not far away. I practiced riding skills in Huan County."

"What a hero among women." Cui Clan Chang praised him briefly, drank a few sips of water, and said: "It seems that God is not bad to us, and he met Hou Dayong in the most difficult time of the Cui family."

When Cui Xiaomei was dismissed from the engagement, she had no choice but to marry Bai Ding Gongsun Weiyang. Unexpectedly, Bai Ding Gongsun Weiyang actually passed the Jinshi. Everyone was still immersed in excitement. He, the Jinshi, arrived in Huan County, and even more unlucky, was that he had been in Huan County for more than ten years.

Just when the Cui family was about to forget Gongsun Weiyang and Gongsun Lady, a sudden turn of things happened. Gongsun Weiyang met Hou Dayong. Not only was he transferred back to Shandong from Huan County, but he was also promoted from county magistrate to Liejia and to the governor of Qingzhou. Gongsun Weiyang, an old Jinshi, finally got the most of the same year in his rank.

The Cui family also followed this line and sent the best Cui family's children to Daliang City. Mrs. Gongsun's younger brother Cui Zheng jumped into the palace commander. This series of magical changes ignited the opportunity to restore the glory of the past.

The magic maker is Hou Dayong, the prime minister who Cui looked like he was going to visit.

The trip to Daliang by the Cui clan has long been arranged by Fengsha. The Cui clan and his party entered Daliang City very smoothly.

Since the incident in Chanzhou, officials who visited Hou Prime Minister were like crucian carp in the river. The head of the Cui family and Mrs. Gongsun were like ordinary officials, handing over their place name to the thorns, waiting for Hou Prime to take time to meet him.

In terms of meeting foreign ministers, Hou Dayong has a very good reputation. His energy is obviously stronger than other prime ministers. He usually receives three groups of foreign ministers every day. Each group of foreign ministers is about five to ten. Hou Dayong invited some low-ranking Hanlin Academy from the Hanlin Academy to record conversations with officials from various places in the Hou Mansion, and thus sorted out the situation in various places. All of these situations were transferred to Feiying Hall. Feiying Hall combined the information he had mastered to make basic judgments on the actual situation in various places.

The Cui family and a group of six were mixed in a group of officials waiting to meet and walked into the Marquis' Mansion inconspicuously.

The Chief Cui eagerly hoped to see Hou Dayong. He was considerate in his rituals. On the other hand, he tried his best to maintain the dignity of a century-old clan. In this way, the Chief Cui, who was so funny, was restrained, and the other members of the Cui clan were even more upright and tightly restrained.

Seeing that the head of Clan Cui was hesitant, and Hou Dayong didn't speak much, he smiled and said, "Secretary Hou, this time I came to Daliang, I specially brought some dried wild mutton. All of these wild muttons were produced in the northern part of Huan County. They tasted very authentic. But these wild things, I wonder if Hou could take a look at them."

In Huan County, the county magistrate Gongsun Weiyang killed Gongsun’s beloved dog to brais in order to entertain Hou Dayong. Gongsun’s wife chased him to the yard and cursed him, but this scolding made a fate.

This incident has only been more than two years. When Hou Dayong recalled it, he felt that it was a very distant thing. When he heard Mrs. Gongsun talk about the past, he smiled and said, "Does Gongsun still write poetry now?"

Mrs. Gongsun smiled and shook her head and said, "As the saying goes, the country is easy to change, but the nature is difficult to change. Although the husband is now a governor, he still likes to study poetry and painting with his friends in his spare time."

"If you are qualified to be with the governor, you are all people with status, how can you be friends?"

Mrs. Gongsun showed a look of contempt on her face and said, "When I was in Huan County, the husband and their scholars had fun all day long. After returning to Qingzhou, the scholars in Huan County rushed to Qingzhou and lived in our home."

When Chief Cui heard Mrs. Gongsun talk to Hou Dayong, his expression became more natural. He said: "Mr. Gongsun is rich and unforgettable, and he is the true nature of his old friends."

Hou Dayong nodded and smiled, "Captain Cui said it well. Nowadays, many people can share the same suffering but not as much as they are. Gongsun Envoy can share the same suffering with his old friends. Naturally, his character is excellent. Such a person is qualified to be the son-in-law of the Cui family."

After chatting casually for a while, the atmosphere became harmonious.

Hou Dayong and Clan Chief Cui entered a house next to the living room and left the Cui clan and Gongsun Madam aside. Hou Dayong and Clan Chief Cui walked for a while, and a maid walked in and bowed to Mr. Gongsun, saying, "Madam Gongsun, Madam Fu invites you to the inner courtyard."

Madam Fu and Mrs. Gongsun hit it off at first sight. They held hands, just like old friends who had not seen each other for many years.

Mrs. Fu praised: "Teacher Cui is a handsome talent. Many aristocratic families want to marry their daughter to him. My ears are already callous. Unfortunately, if I have a sister in my family, I must marry Tiong Cui."

There was a heat rushing in Mrs. Gongsun’s heart. The Fu family was not an ordinary person. His six daughters and two became queens. He was a real royal relative. Although the person in front of him was not the queen, he married the prime minister of the current dynasty. She said insincerely: “Miss Fu said this, and he really killed Cui Lang.”

When Mrs. Gongsun came out of the backyard, it was already sunset. Chief Cui had already taken people away from the Marquis' Mansion, leaving only a middle-aged man waiting for Mrs. Gongsun. Although the Cui family declined, the lean camel was larger than a horse. The Cui family still had some industries in Daliang and several yards. These yards were from decades ago and had already integrated with Daliang City. After the Cui family entered the yard, they rarely came out.

In the backyard of Fan Mansion, Fan Zhi and his adviser Zhu Tian were chatting while playing Go.

"Hmph, people's hearts are not old, I really didn't expect these people to have such faces."

Fan Zhi put a piece of paper on the table and shook his head shamelessly. The paper records all the ministers who have been to Hou Dayong's mansion recently, including the governors who came to Beijing from other places, and officials from six ministries. Fan Zhi served as prime minister for many years. In the past, half of the officials on the piece of paper were regular visitors to the Fan's mansion, but now, these officials have also become guests of the Hou's mansion.

Zhu Tian looked quiet and said lightly: "Fennabaku, this is how it falls with the wind. Fan Xiang doesn't have to be angry. If the wind direction is wrong, these people will change direction immediately."

"Mr. Zhu, what do you think Hou Dayong wants to do?"

Zhu Tian was silent for a while and said, "Hou Dayong appeared in Cangzhou very suddenly. With his ability, he must be a general. However, such a hero has never appeared in the north. This is very interesting. In the next post, we can write about his origins. We will say that he is a Liao native in Youzhou."

"Hou Dayong is from Liao, which is too bizarre. I'm afraid no one will believe it."

"There are all kinds of wonders in the world. There was a Bohai woman in Hou Dayong's mansion, and she gave birth to a son for him. After the Bohai destroyed the country, most of the women in the clan were captured by the Liao people. As soon as the post was posted, Hou Dayong could not explain clearly even if he had eight mouths. The most wonderful thing was that Hou Dayong had no place to reason at all. In this way, the meaning of his self-respecting force would change. This was not an internal matter among the people of the Central Plains, but a state affairs involving the Liao people."

Zhu Tian Zhanyan chuckled: "There is a saying on the edge of the Yellow River, which means that yellow mud is stained with butt. It is shit and shit, and it is shit or shit."

Fan Zhi smiled and his face calmed down, and said, "When Hou Dayong was in Zhengzhou, he was just a small defensive envoy. He started to build weapons since then. Did he think about rebelling at that time?"

Zhu Tian also had a hint of confusion on his face: "During this period, I have been thinking about Hou Dayong every day. From Cangzhou, Zhengzhou to Qinzhou, and Lingzhou, Hou Dayong was busy doing two things, one was to train the army, and the other was to build weapons. It was a big taboo to build weapons privately. Hou Dayong actually started to do this in Cangzhou, and craftsmen such as Dou Tian were recruited in Cangzhou. This shows that Hou Dayong had a clear goal since he arrived in Cangzhou."

Zhu Tian stood up, turned around in place, and said, "When I posted the post, I just wanted to frame him, but when I read these information, I became more and more frightened. If I didn't really want to rebel, many things would not make sense."

When Fan Zhi and Hou Dayong had a dispute, the palace always favored Hou Dayong. After the first post appeared, the palace favored Fan Zhi for the first time, allowing Zhao Kuangyin to successfully become the commander of the Hujie Army. Fan Zhi sneered: "Hurry up and post another post, saying that Hou Dayong is from Liao, so he will talk about it if he makes the water mess."
Chapter completed!