When he got up, it was still early in the morning. Walking out of the door to the courtyard, he saw sparse stars hanging in the night sky before dawn. The air was cold and quiet, and the guard room outside the courtyard was lit up with orange light.
After buttoning his clothes, Ning Yi walked to the quiet living room and poured himself a cup of hot water. He yawned a few times while drinking the water, and then rubbed his face to wake himself up.
He had a few dreams at night, and when he woke up, he couldn't remember them. There was still some time before morning exercise. Jin 'er was hugging Xiaoning Ke, who was still sleeping soundly. Seeing them sleeping soundly, Ning Yi's heart calmed down, and he quietly got up to get dressed.
Without lighting the oil lamp, Ning Yi sat in the dark living room for a while. The starlight outside through the window lattice reflected crescent-like whiteness. After a while, a figure came in, "Can't sleep?"
It was Hong Ti.
"Nothing, did I wake you up?"
Hong Ti just smiled, walked to his side, and touched his forehead, but Ning Yi sat down on his lap, "I had a few dreams, and when I woke up, I saw Jin 'er and Young Ke sleeping soundly, and I didn't want to wake them up. You slept late, but you can sleep a little longer. "
"Okay," Hong Ti replied, but didn't leave. She put her arms around Ning Yi's neck and closed her eyes. In her early years, she was in the pugilistic world, exposed to wind and rain, and her temperament was similar to that of a simple village girl. In recent years, her heart had settled down, but when she was by Ning Yi's side, she felt a little soft and charming.
The couple sat for a while, and then Ning Yi got up. Hong Ti was naturally not sleepy, so she went to the kitchen to get water to wash her face. During this time, Ning Yi walked to the courtyard outside the door, and piled up the snow shoveled in the corner of the courtyard two days ago. After a few days, the unmelted snow had hardened. After Hong Ti brought the water to wash his face, Ning Yi was still holding a small shovel to make a snowman. She called out softly, then wrung a towel to wipe Ning Yi's face, then washed herself, poured hot water, and came over to help.
Two snowballs, one big and one small, formed the main body of the snowman. Ning Yi used rocks as eyes and tree branches as hands. Then, he used the two snowballs to make a gourd and placed it on the snowman's head. He stuck a dead leaf at the back of the gourd and stepped back with his hands on his hips. He imagined how the child would look like when he came out later. Only then did Ning Yi clap his hands in satisfaction. Then, he high-fived the helpless Hongti.
The two of them walked out of the courtyard. Under the dark sky, there were still sparse lights in Zhang Village. The outlines of the streets, the houses, the workshops and waterwheels by the river, and the silhouette of the military camp in the distance could be vaguely seen in the sparse light. The patrolling soldiers walked past from afar. There were slogans written with white lime on the walls of the courtyard. Ning Yi avoided the river and went around a small hill on the side of Zhang Village. Passing through this village, the Chengdu Plain stretched out into the distance.
Ning Yi gazed into the distance. Red Ti stood beside him and did not disturb him.
More and more light spots appeared in the night sky. Shadows of people gradually appeared in his field of vision. Dogs barked occasionally, and not long after, chickens began crowing. White smoke rose from the houses at the bottom of his field of vision. The stars fell, and the sky seemed to tremble, revealing the belly of a fish.
It was the 28th of the twelfth month in the tenth year of Wu Jianshuo. The old year was about to pass. It had been more than ten years since he came here. The antique atmosphere of the deep houses and courtyards seemed to be right in front of him. But at this moment, Zhang Village seemed more like a farmer's village in his memory of another world. The relatively neat dirt roads, courtyard walls, the limestone words on the courtyard walls, the crowing of chickens and the barking of dogs in the morning. Vaguely, this world seemed to be connected to something.
But of course, this was an illusion.
After leaving this area, it was still the Wu dynasty outside. The tenth year of Jianshuo was followed by the eleventh year of Jianshuo. The Jurchen were attacking the city and killing people. They did not stop for even a moment. Even this strange and sturdy little village in front of him would be reduced to ruins in the blink of an eye if it fell into the flames of war. In front of the torrent of history, everything was as fragile as a sand castle on the beach.
After stopping for a moment, Ning Yi jogged along the hill. His field of vision gradually became clear. There were warhorses galloping from the road in the distance and turning into a courtyard in the village below.
"It must be news from the east." Red said.
Ning Yi nodded. "No hurry."
After running around the hill for a while, the bugle sounded in the barracks. The soldiers had started their drill. A few figures appeared in front of him. They were Chen Fan and Qin Shaoqian, who had also woken up early. Although the weather was cold, Chen Fan was only wearing a thin shirt, so he didn't feel cold at all. Qin Shaoqian, on the other hand, was dressed neatly in his military uniform. He was probably training with the soldiers around him when he met Chen Fan. As the two were talking, they saw Ning Yi coming up and greeted him with a smile.
"Liheng is here." Qin Shaoqian nodded.
Chen Fan laughed. "You woke up so late. What did you do last night?"
"You are an adult. The first thing you ask is what did last night. Look at your hungry face …" Ning Yi smiled and teased Chen Fan. "What are you talking about?"
"I said that you are a black-hearted boss. It is already the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, but you still don't give your men a holiday."
"Your boss doesn't give you a holiday, and your stupid teammates are causing trouble. If I give you a holiday, how can you sleep?"
The two were insulting each other. Qin Shaoqian laughed. "I was just talking to Chen Fan about how we should deal with Zhou Yong after what he did. At first, we didn't expect the Emperor to be so reckless and wanted to laugh. But today, no one expected the consequences to be so serious. Wu Shu is pointing his sword at Lin 'an. The people of the Wu dynasty are not united. Zhou Yong is irresponsible. If the dynasty really collapses, the consequences will be unimaginable. "
A smile appeared at the corner of Ning Yi's mouth, but then he became serious. "I told him to talk to his son and daughter. Who knew that Zhou Yong would go straight to the court. His brain is damaged …" He paused and laughed. "Now that I think about it, it is funny. Back then, he thought the Emperor was a hindrance, so he stabbed him with a knife and rebelled. Now he is a rebel, but he is still being bullied by the Emperor. He is really something …"
At this point, the others couldn't help but laugh. Chen Fan laughed for a while. "Now we can all see that Zhou Yong proposed to reconcile with us. On one hand, he wanted to test the officials' minds and put pressure on them. On the other hand, it is our turn to make a choice. I was talking to Old Qin just now. If we step up now, we might be able to help stabilize the situation. The General Staff Department has been discussing this for the past two days. What do you think? "
He looked at Ning Yi. Ning Yi shook his head and looked at him seriously. "No."
Hearing this, Chen Fan's eyes visibly relaxed. On the other side, Qin Shaoqian also smiled. "What do you think, Liheng?"
"You are testing me on such things." Ning Yi laughed. "The dignity of the royal family is the foundation of governance. I killed Zhou Zhe, and Zhou Yong admitted defeat. As the Emperor, who else would he be afraid of? Those people in the court can understand. Even if I were in the same position, I would not let the Emperor do such a stupid thing. It is a pity that Zhou Yong is too naive … "
He sighed. "When he did such a thing, the officials stopped him and Hou Shao remonstrated with death were small matters. The biggest problem is that when the Crown Prince decided to resist the Jin, the hearts of the people in the Wu dynasty were basically united. Even if they had second thoughts, they did not dare to move openly. When Zhou Yong took this step, those who wanted to surrender, rebel, or at least leave a way out for themselves began to move. In the past ten years, those who were secretly contacted by the Jin can no longer hold back their claws. In addition, Xi Yin's people have also begun to move … "
At this point, Ning Yi paused. "We have already informed the intelligence agents of the Wu dynasty to move. However, in recent years, the focus of espionage has been on the Central Plains and the North. The Wu dynasty is mostly focused on business. It will not be easy to catch Wanyan Xi Yin's people in such a short period of time … In addition, although Wu Shu may have used Xi Yin's calculations and premeditated, fifty thousand cavalry crossed the Yangtze River three times before they were finally caught. No one would believe that Xi Yin's spies were not planted in the Jiangyin military. In the teeth of such a storm, Zhou Yong is still courting death. I bet Xi Yin in Xiangyang will be shocked by Zhou Yong's stupidity when she hears the news … "
"If Zhou Yong wants to reconcile with us, any scholar in the Wu dynasty with a little common sense will stop him. If we stand up at this time, it will be said that we are rousing the hearts of the people, but in fact, the rebellion will be huge. Zhou Yong's position will only be more unstable. Our troops are thousands of miles away … Chen Fan, with just ten thousand people, do you dare to cross more than a thousand miles to Lin 'an?"
"Things have just stabilized in Chengdu. The fifteen thousand people recruited for the new year sports have not yet started training. Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. Following Zhou Yong's words, the Wu dynasty will collapse even faster. We can face Zong Han sooner. " Ning Yi smiled. "In addition, we came out to rebel because we are united. Now that our territory has just expanded, the people's hearts are not yet stable. If we suddenly say that we want to help the emperor fight a war, the brothers who followed us before will be disheartened, and the new recruits will be mistaken. This will also be stabbing ourselves in the back …"
At this point, he gradually stopped talking. Chen Fan laughed. "Since you have thought it through so clearly, then there is nothing more to say. Alas, I was thinking that if we come out to take up the challenge, wouldn't the faces of those scholars in the Wu dynasty be full of colorful colors? Haha … Uh, what are you thinking about?"
He saw Ning Yi's eyes twinkle and was lost in thought, so he asked. Ning Yi turned his gaze to him and was silent for a long time.
"… I was just thinking, if I were Wanyan Xi Yin, I could already pretend to be a Huaxia soldier and take up the challenge …"
"Uh …" Chen Fan blinked his eyes and froze.
*****
In Lin 'an, a moment before dawn, there were lights swimming in the quaint courtyard.
As the New Year approached, the atmosphere of Lin 'an was accompanied by tension and solemnity. With the news of Wu Shu's expedition to the South coming every day, the city guards had begun to mobilize on a large scale. Some people chose to abandon the city, but most of the people still stayed in the city. The atmosphere of the New Year and the tension of the disaster of war strangely blended together. Every day, people felt a complex feeling of trembling and anxiety.
The scene in the Eldest Princess's residence was the same.
The housekeepers and servants in charge of daily life decorated the place with lanterns and streamers to create the atmosphere of the New Year. As for the other team in the Eldest Princess's residence, whether it was the spies or the political, logistical, or military personnel, they were all dealing with various situations with high tension. Just as Ning Yi said, the enemy had not rested, and the useless teammates were racing against time to die, so the people who were working could not rest just because of the New Year.
The two teams were strangely intertwined, containing each other, but not interfering with each other, forming an incomparably strange and unique scene.
As for the people in the Eldest Princess's residence, the so-called useless teammates included the current ruler of the country in the court: the Eldest Princess's father, the current emperor, Zhou Yong.
If it was only the Golden Crow Art that suddenly crossed the Yellow River and went south, the situation in the Eldest Princess's residence would not be as chaotic and anxious as it was now. But now, especially after Hou Shao hit the pillar and died, every day was a great torment. The court of the Wu dynasty seemed to have suddenly changed. The various families and forces that made up the entire NMAU system seemed to have become a hindrance to the Zhou family. Problems could arise at any time, and they could even turn against each other.
The students of the Imperial College took to the streets to sit quietly, asking the Emperor to issue an imperial edict to correct the deceased Hou Shao's name, confer a posthumous title, and bestow nobility. The Jin spies kept moving in the dark, lobbying everywhere to persuade them to surrender. In just ten days, the Jiangning side had already suffered two defeats, both times due to a lack of morale and defeat by the enemy.
The Wu dynasty had been operating for more than two hundred years. Of course, there were not many who would actually openly surrender at this time. However, under this wave of erosion of morale, the Wu dynasty's already difficult situation of resisting the Jin became even more precarious. Following this, it would not be strange for anything to happen.
In the court, the great twists and turns had already calmed. After Hou Shao hit his head and died in the throne room, Zhou Yong's entire person had already begun to become listless. He hid in the back palace and no longer attended court. Zhou Pei originally thought that her father still did not see the situation clearly and wanted to enter the palace to continue boasting. Who knew that once she entered the palace, Zhou Yong's attitude towards her would also become stiff. She knew that her father had already admitted defeat.
Zhou Pei, Zhao Ding, Qin Hui, and the others urgently met and confirmed that the most important thing at the moment was to calm the influence and resist the Jurchens together. However, at this time, the Jurchens' spies were already operating in the dark. On the other hand, even if everyone avoided talking about Zhou Yong, no Confucian scholar would quietly shut up about Hou Shao's heroic act of remonstrating to the death.
For high-ranking officials like Zhao Ding, Qin Hui, and Lv Yihao, it was naturally not a problem for them to shut up and not talk about the entire situation caused by Zhou Yong. But below that, for the middle and lower level officials and even the Confucian scholars who were about to become officials, the right and wrong of the Emperor, as well as the resolution after doing such a thing this time, as well as the praise and determination of Hou Shao's magnificent feat, had to be said clearly.
Even if they only talked about Hou Shao, they would inevitably talk about Zhou Yong.
Over this period of time, Zhou Pei would often wake up at night and sit in the small attic, staring blankly at the situation in the mansion. Every time a new piece of news arrived, she would read it immediately. On the 28th day, she had already woken up in the wee hours of the morning. As the sky was about to brighten, she gradually began to feel a little sleepy. However, a messenger came in from outside the mansion with new news about the Jurchens.
It was news about Wu Shu.
Starting on the 14th of the twelfth month, Wu Shu led fifty thousand horsemen south, abandoning most of their supplies. Along the way, they burned, killed, looted, and ate the people. The distance from the Yangtze River to Lin 'an was originally a rich and populous area in Jiangnan. Although it was crisscrossed by waterways, it was also densely populated. Although Jun Wu urgently mobilized a hundred and seventy thousand soldiers in the south in an attempt to stop Wu Shu, Wu Shu had not only defeated the army twice, but had also killed and looted countless villages in half a month. Wherever the horsemen went, the rich villages were turned into ruins. The women were raped, the men were killed, and they were driven away. After eight years, the tragedy of the Jurchens' search of the mountains and seas had begun to reappear.
At this time, Wu Shu's army was still wreaking havoc on the west side of Lake Tai, two hundred miles away from Lin 'an. The urgent report included the names of the villages they had burned and killed, as well as a rough estimate of the population. After reading it, Zhou Pei carefully marked the location on the large map in the room. However, this was of no use. Her eyes no longer shed tears when she first saw this kind of report. She just quietly remembered it in her heart.
As the rooster crowed in the distance, the sky outside began to brighten. Zhou Pei walked to the balcony outside the attic and looked at the dawn of the eastern sky. The maids in the princess's mansion were cleaning the courtyard. After watching for a while, she inadvertently thought of the scene when the Jurchens arrived and unconsciously hugged her arms.
Suddenly, the alarm and the sound of martial law rang in the city. Zhou Pei was stunned for a moment and quickly went downstairs. After a while, someone rushed in from the courtyard outside.
"What's the matter!?"
"Report! There are traitors in the city causing trouble. General Yu has ordered martial law to arrest them …"
Several imperial guards had taken over the garrison work in Lin 'an at this time. They also had contingency plans for all kinds of things. This morning, more than a dozen bandits launched an attack in the city at the same time. They chose places where there were many people in Lin 'an and picked high places to throw leaflets with words of rebellion into the crowd on the streets. The patrolling soldiers found something wrong and immediately reported it. Only then did the imperial guards sound the alarm of martial law.
Zhou Pei left the princess's mansion in a carriage. At this time, the city of Lin 'an was already under martial law. The soldiers went to the streets to chase the involved bandits. However, because the incident happened suddenly, there were small scale chaos along the way. Not far from the gate, Cheng Zhouhai rode over on a horse. His face was as gloomy as paper. There was some blood on his body and he was holding a few leaflets in his hand. Zhou Pei thought he was injured. After a brief explanation from Cheng Zhouhai, she realized that the blood was not Cheng Zhouhai's.
"… The bandits in front couldn't escape in time and have been killed by the patrolling guards. The scene was bloody. Your Highness, you'd better not go there. However, the things written on this can be punished. Your Highness, you might as well take a look." He handed the leaflet to Zhou Pei and lowered his voice, "In Qiantang Gate, the Imperial College and the Imperial College have also been thrown a lot of this kind of news. It is the doing of the Jurchens. Things are troublesome …"
Zhou Pei picked up the leaflet and looked at it. She suddenly closed her eyes, clenched her teeth and opened them again. On the leaflet was a declaration written in imitation of the Black Flag Army.
In the declaration, it said that the former Han Emperor Zhou Zhe had no talent and no virtue. He connived with the Six Tigers to bring disaster to the Wu dynasty. Moreover, he committed perverse acts and killed the loyal minister Qin Siyuan. Today, the wise Emperor Zhou Yong is benevolent and virtuous. In the face of this great crisis that overturns the world and the nation is in danger, he disregards the past and is willing to reconcile with the Huaxia army. The Huaxia army is also deeply grateful and is willing to return to the Wu dynasty. Who would have thought that the treacherous prime minister Zhao Ding and the Eldest Princess Zhou Pei did not care about the righteousness of the world. In order to control the court, they did the act of using chicken to rule the morning. They actually put the current Emperor under house arrest in the palace.
The declaration then called for the righteousness of the world and the survival of the nation. They asked the loyal and righteous people of Lin 'an and the Wu dynasty to rescue Zhou Yong, eliminate the treacherous prime minister, and clean up the court. In this way, they could resist the Jurchens together and return the world to a bright heaven and earth.
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