Hsu Fengnian stood by the window without sleeping all night. It seemed like in the blink of an eye, it was already a new morning. Last night, the rain had fallen intermittently three times. Even at dawn, his vision was still blurry. Hsu Fengnian raised his head. The last torrential rain had just stopped. The sky was still covered in dark clouds, but with the passage of time, the sunlight shone through the gaps in the dark clouds, illuminating the earth with pillar after pillar of light. From the courtyard next door came the muffled sounds of collisions. It was Yu Dilong and Lu Yunzhang, who had temporarily not followed the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry to Liangzhou's northern front, exchanging pointers. The two disciples didn't use weapons. In close combat, both sides' fists met flesh. Whoever couldn't take it and had to take three steps back first would lose. Not long after, the oldest, but only the youngest disciple, Lu Yunzhang, shouted that he was going to take that frost-covered long blade. Yu Dilong, who was probably the youngest, but was the eldest disciple, ignored him. The courtyard returned to silence. Hsu Fengnian felt a bit of regret. It wasn't that he was like a fan of martial arts and 'reluctant to leave', nor was it that he had sunk so deeply into the feeling of being unrivaled in the world. Rather, it was that if his cultivation was still at the peak, when he heard that Beimang Imperial Tutor had Hong Jingyan, Zhong Liang, and Murong Baoding as backup, his hands and feet would not have been tied. But then again, if he, Hsu Fengnian, was still fully deserving of the title of new Martial Emperor, Taiping Ling, Tuoba Qiyun, and the others would not have appeared. Hsu Fengnian reckoned that if he were to fight in close quarters, in terms of cultivation level, he, Hsu Fengnian, could still be considered a starving camel is still bigger than a horse. He was only slightly inferior to Tuoba Bodhisattva, Đồng Thái, Cao Changqing, Xu Yanbing, Huyan Daguan, and Chen Zhibao. However, if it were a life and death situation, Hsu Fengnian would place someone whose reputation had plummeted into the top three: Gu Jiantang.
Hsu Fengnian walked out of the study and stood on the steps. A short and skinny armored old man strode into the courtyard alone. Hsu Fengnian did not deliberately assume a welcoming posture. He waited until the old man, whose armor still had traces of rain on it, walked up the steps. Hsu Fengnian walked with him to the study. There was already a pot of hot tea on the table, but there were no teacups. Instead, there were two large bowls. It was none other than Yan Wenluan. The one-eyed old man poured a bowl and drank it in one gulp.
Then, Yan Wenluan placed her fists on her knees and looked at Hsu Fengnian, as if she was going to denounce him. Hsu Fengnian waited for her to continue. This old general was the biggest mountain in the Beiliang army. After the previous cavalry commander, Zhong Hongwu, fell, Yuan Zuozong had just succeeded. Yan Wenluan, who had firmly held the power of the Beiliang infantry, could be said to be the biggest force. But many border soldiers and Beiliang people did not know a secret. The Beiliang army, or more accurately, the Xu family army, was divided into two factions from the start. One faction was led by the "gentle" strategist, Li Yishan. After the Battle of the Western Fortress, he advocated that Xu Xiao immediately go north and return to the capital. The other faction was led by the more radical Zhao Changling. They wanted to take half of the country in one go, and tried to divide and defend themselves. They wanted to share the world with the Zhao family in the north and south. In the end, they would fight a battle similar to the Battle of the Western Fortress to decide who the world belonged to. This potential split spread until Xu Xiao was made a king and became a vassal. Hsu Fengnian's uncle, Wu Qi, was disheartened at that time and chose to leave the army. There was also Xu Pu, who later hid his name in Beimang's Dunhuang City. Many people under these two generals were also impulsive and left Xu Xiao's side. It could be said that the victory of Li Yishan's faction was a pyrrhic victory. In the eyes of many old people in the Beiliang army, this meant that Li Yishan had single-handedly created Xu Xiao's "home, Beiliang, Zhao World" structure. It could not be said to be wrong, but it was very mediocre. More importantly, Zhao Changling had died in his prime due to illness, causing this faction to lose its backbone. Adding on the many people Zhao Changling had raised, the Beiliang army, led by Yan Wenluan, a famous general from the Spring and Autumn Period, was unwilling and did not dare to interfere in the "family matters" of the Xu family. Many years later, Chen Zhibao rode alone to Western Shu in a fit of pique.
Yan Wenluan suddenly sighed and poured a cup of tea for himself. He thought and then poured tea for the bowl in front of Hsu Fengnian. The old man held up the large bowl and said emotionally, "All these years, I have always had a knot in my heart. I went to Clear Cold Mountain so many times, but purposely did not go to Tide-listening Pavilion to see Sir Li. The General tried to persuade me once, but gave me a lame excuse. After that, the General did not mention this matter. "
Xu Fengnian didn't say some casual words. Instead, he went straight to the point and said, "My master never regretted his decision back then when he was alive. He always believed that if he wanted to fight for the world, Xu Xiao and the Xu family's armored cavalry wouldn't have the momentum. Those who wanted to become a minister of the dragon were delusional. It's not that Hsu Fengnian does not respect Sir Zhao, and it's not that I'm just standing there and talking without feeling any pain or taking advantage of the situation. In Tide-listening Pavilion, my master, Chancellor Wang, and my second sister repeatedly deduced the situation back then. The conclusion was the same. "
Yan Wenluan's expression was complicated. He drank a mouthful of tea and shook the large white bowl. He laughed self-deprecatingly. "Back then, at the crucial moment when the Prince was about to succeed to the throne, I, Yan Wenluan, was also guessing who to use to establish my might. After thinking it over and over again, there was one most likely and one least likely. The former was to make an eyesore like me obediently take off my armor and retire to the countryside. The least likely was to take down the Huaihua Great General. Regardless of whether Zhong Hongwu's conduct is good or bad, in the eyes of the capital, he has always been an important character that the Great General used to restrict me and Chen Zhibao. "
Hsu Fengnian calmly said, "If it was still a peaceful and prosperous time, I would definitely choose Zhong Hongwu. I would not even hesitate to let him choose a trusted aide to become the Protector-General of Beiliang after he retired from the border army. I would also think of ways to make you, Yan Wenluan, unable to protect your integrity in your old age. I would slowly cut off your wings and remove Sir Zhao's Liufeng legacy. I would make Chen Zhibao completely a loner with 'power but not great power.' Chen Zhibao's brand in the Beiliang army would naturally gradually fade."
Yan Wenluan laughed coldly. "The Prince is indeed Sir Li's proud disciple. You are indeed good at scheming and are most adept at schemes to destroy the enemy."
Hsu Fengnian did not take it to heart. He raised his hand and laughed softly. "Cold words hurt, but fortunately there is still hot tea to warm the heart. Drink, drink, drink."
The Old General of Beiliang, who was known for his unyielding temperament, did not flip the table and shed all pretense of cordiality on the spot. Instead, he drank a mouthful of hot tea with a straight face.
The atmosphere in the room was stiff.
Hsu Fengnian was the first to break the silence, but it was a 'digression'. "I heard that Nalan Youci said that he wanted to join forces with Xie Feiyu to evaluate the new martial arts evaluation, rouge evaluation, and general evaluation."
Yan Wenluan said unhappily, "Those lousy things are just scholars looking for trouble when they have nothing better to do."
Hsu Fengnian drank the tea and put down the teacup. With a solemn expression, he said in a deep voice, "Then today I will tell the Old General about a serious matter that several scholars have done together. Yes, four people. "
Yan Wenluan frowned.
Hsu Fengnian said four names.
They were Huang Longshi.
Li Yishan of Tide-listening Pavilion.
Nalan Youci of Nanjiang.
Liyang Emperor Shiyuan Benxi.
Yan Wenluan subconsciously sat up straight.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
