Chapter 3: The Great General’s Residence

Songzhi Xianling? It was a completely unfamiliar name, and Fan Xian thought of someone called Song Gan Zan Pu, shook his head, and asked, “This is the language of the grasslands ……”

His eyebrows suddenly raised, thinking that if this mysterious figure had come to the grasslands from the outside, then this pseudonym must have its true meaning, “But it should have its own meaning.”

“It is the clan language of the brothers in the north, not the language of the grasslands.” Hu Ge took the scimitar back into its sheath and said seriously, “I’ve been checking for three months, and I’ve been able to confirm that this person came to the grasslands following the northern tribes, and I’m not very clear on the meaning of the Songzhi Immortal Order, but the Immortal Order should mean a flash of light.”

Fan Xian’s brow furrowed, One Twinkle …… Shiny, Diamond Diamond Shiny? He immediately thought the name off, not associating it with the fact that a twinkle can be an adjective or some sort of intended dynamic, such as, for example, a flower in full bloom?

This proved that the tribes of the Hu people, who hadn’t fully standardized their language so far, would indeed cause trouble for many people. Fan Xian had a bit of a headache, the information at hand was too little, what role could only knowing a name play? Somewhat helplessly, he raised his eyes and looked at Hu Ge and said, “The brothers in the north, they still keep migrating to the grasslands?”

Hu Ge nodded with a grave face, “It’s already the fourth year, the first year was the brothers in the north exploring the way to come, there are not many people, the second year was the warriors in the brothers in the north, this batch has the largest number of people, and the last two years, mainly the old people women and children who still stayed in the north in the first place, along the channel opened up on the side of the heavenly vein, it’s very hard to relocate over. ”

“If …… if this person, Songzhi Xianling, is a northern clan, then what year did he arrive on the grassland?”

“It should be the earlier batch. Because although this person is mysterious, since he is able to influence the decisions of the king’s tent, he must have the absolute support of his northern brothers behind him, otherwise who would listen to him.”

“Are you saying that ……,” Fan Xian stared into Hu Ge’s eyes, “the northern brothers have already established themselves on the grasslands and have been recognized by the King’s Tent?”

“This is a very natural thing. They are very brave, and although their numbers are only in the tens of thousands, almost every one of them is a warrior. Combined with the fact that their clans are more united with each other than the people on the grasslands, and that they are not greedy for the water and grass areas they demanded, both the King’s Tent and the two wise kings have welcomed their arrival.”

Hu Ge said earnestly, “Moreover, the northern brothers never get involved in the internal fights on the grasslands, so they are the target of all parties to pull them together. The voices they speak in, while still subdued, seem to be getting louder and louder in the ears of those of us who are there.”

Fan Xian nodded and said nothing. The source of the tightening of the western frontier of Qing was because of the consecutive years of natural disasters in the northern part of Beiqi, where heavy snowfalls had sealed the plains, forcing those northern barbarians to migrate 10,000 miles to the grasslands. The ferocity of the Western Hu and the strength of the Northern Barbarians had joined together, and the pressure on the border of Qing was naturally greater.

His heart was a bit chilled. If the Hu people really united, the Qing Kingdom would really be in big trouble. Originally, under the decades of conquests in Qing Kingdom, the Hu people had long been weakened, and coupled with the provocations and poisonous ploys of the Supervisory Court that had not weakened in thirty years, the Western Hu side was no longer enough to be a problem. No one could have imagined that the arrival of the Northern Barbarians was like a shot in the arm to these Hu people. And yet that Songzhi Immortal Order seemed to have a way of bridging the differences between the Hu people.

“Tell me about the current situation on the grasslands.” Fan Xian looked at Hu Ge in front of him with a calm expression, but in his heart, he was thinking that even if the Songzhi Immortal Order could unite the Hu people for the time being, he would definitely be able to re-tear a big hole in the Hu people’s interior now that he had found Hu Ge.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but be vaguely excited. If the grasslands were a game of chess, then the next step would be for himself and that Songzhi Immortal Order to drop their pieces, you and I going back and forth, and seeing who would gain the final victory.

Of course it would be himself, Fan Xian thought. He had to win, for he had keenly recognized the Songzhi Xianling’s deepest calculations and detested his opponent’s mind.

There was a great difference in temperature between day and night in the Western Frontier, and the sun moved slowly, as if giving some kind of command to the temperature of Dingzhou City, gradually drying up and cooling down. As the shadows of the city’s earthen walls grew longer and longer, the sun drooped to the west, and the temperature grew lower and lower, Fan Xian’s first joint with Hu Ge came to an end.

After reflecting on the information he had received from Hu Ge in his mind, Fan Xian confirmed that this trip had been very beneficial. After confirming with the other party the method of contact, as well as the details of the contact, he began to make the final delivery of benefits.

Whether it is gold and silver treasures, silk and silk, tea bricks and porcelain, to transport to the grassland, unknowingly handed over to Hu Ge, this itself is a big trouble. The good thing is that although the grassland and the Qing Dynasty have been fighting for decades, but because the Qing Dynasty has always occupied the absolute advantage, so the tribes on the grassland have long been accustomed to pay tribute, the two sides of the trade has not been stopped.

In other words, when the two sides were shooting poisoned arrows at the foot of the mountain, perhaps on the other side of the mountain, the merchants were hard at work heading to the grassland, transporting goods to the hinterland of the Central Plains, exchanging them for furs and other things. War and commerce were not in each other’s way.

It was just that it was a bit difficult to smuggle important goods like iron, salt, and grain privately. But Fan Xian certainly didn’t care about that since he had His Majesty’s personal decree.

Hearing Fan Xian’s last words, Hu Ge frowned and said, “Lord Tiji, there is trust between us before I tell you about this path, I hope you won’t let me down …… If you do let me down, believe me, I don’t need to deploy troops from the King’s Tent to destroy you in the grasslands. ”

Fan Xian knew what this Hu expert was afraid of, shaking his head, he said, “Don’t worry, although the scenery over there is beautiful, I am the one who can’t get used to drinking horse’s milk wine, and have no interest in bringing an army over there.”

Having received the promise, Hu Ge slightly put down some of his heart, lifted his bowl of wine, toasted Fan Xian, and then drank it all in one go. The wine leaked down, wetting his beard and lapel.

Fan Xian smiled, lifted his bowl of wine, and prepared to end this transaction, but unexpectedly, he heard a very slight whistle from outside the store. His brows furrowed and he placed the wine bowl back on the table.

The whistle was so soft that it was like a shepherd herding camels, and it did not attract the attention of the manpower on Hu Ge’s side. When Hu Ge realized that Fan Xian had put the wine bowl back on the table, his heart flinched slightly, thinking that the other party still had some more conditions, and he secretly said that the Qing people were really cunning and always liked to ask for a lot of money.

Unexpectedly, Fan Xian looked at him and said, “Is there any problem with the people you brought?”

Hu Ge’s face stared slightly, understanding that there was a problem outside the store, and shaking his head, he said, “They are all sons and daughters of the clan who have been dispersed all over the place, there is absolutely no problem.” Knowing that things were urgent, he said on one side and began to pack up his things, preparing to flee. If he let the military and government of Dingzhou City know that he was in the city, they would definitely capture him at all costs.

The two sides had fought fiercely over the past few years, and if they were able to capture the No. 1 expert under King Zuo Xian’s account, Dingzhou City would be happy to smile.

Fan Xian watched his movements, but did not get up, and whispered in a low voice, “It’s still outside the street, and the encirclement has not formed. You go through the back of the house, I’ll stall for you for a while.”

Hu Ge looked at him in a somewhat strange mood. He had taken the risk of coming to Dingzhou today, but how could he not have expected that the person he was meeting with was actually Fan Tisi of the Qing State Supervisory Court, such an honorable figure.

But precisely because it was Fan Xian himself, Hu Ge bet more trust on the other party. This would be extremely beneficial to the future cooperation between the two parties.

“No send off.” Fan Xian picked up the bowl of wine and said, “Be careful on your journey. See you again some other time.”

Hu Ge nodded heavily, took a heavy parcel handed over by Mu Feng’er, reached his fingers into his lips and whistled, and once he lifted the cloth curtain, he drilled along the earthen hole, toward the back of the mutton store. At the same time, some inconspicuous hucksters or fellows outside the mutton store blended into the crowd at the same time.

“They’re used to hiding around, after all, the clan was slaughtered for several years, and there’s always a lot of unseemly things they want to do to restore their clan.” Mu Feng’er looked at Fan Xian, who was sipping his wine with his head down, knowing what his lord was worried about, and said, “The alarm was called early, and the Dingzhou side couldn’t catch him.”

Fan Xian nodded. Just then, the several subordinates of the Supervisory Yuan who were dressed up as merchants from the Central Plains hurried in and resumed their orders, “The school guards from the Western Battalion have already entered Tujie Street, and will be arriving soon.”

Mu Feng’er glanced at Fan Xian, meaning to see if he should withdraw at this time.

Fan Xian shook his head, since his party was being watched by the side of the Dingzhou Army, the caravan that had been left at the earthen wall earlier was also under the control of the other side. The three of them came to the mutton store, but behind them, they left a few subordinates from the Sixth Office, far away, in order to prevent any unforeseen circumstances. At this time, since the two sides met, there was no need to withdraw again.

Moreover, for the safety of Hu Ge and his party, Fan Xian had to drag these Qing troops who were catching traitors for some time.

“If the other side doesn’t come down hard, let’s not move.”

Fan Xian took a sip of his drink and said to his subordinates. Mu Feng’er and those few officials from the Supervisory Court exchanged glances and nodded.

Right at this moment, only a cacophony of noises could be heard outside the mutton store, horses’ hooves ringing out in alarm as an unknown number of people rushed over and surrounded this store front and back, and an official could be heard vaguely shouting at the top of his lungs, as if he had realized that a target had already left from the mutton store.

Fan Xian’s brow frowned, feeling very troubled, stood up from the earthen kang, turned back and pulled a bamboo sheet on the cooler from under his hip, and walked to the outside of the store.

Outside the store was a murderous atmosphere, there were two hundred Dingzhou soldiers, surrounding the store, their lances were aimed at the people coming out of the store, their spears were shooting coldly, and they seemed to be ready to turn the merchants of the Central Plains into mush at any time.

While outside the encirclement, there were those peaceful and good merchants, curiously and nervously looking at this scene, wondering why the people from the Great General’s residence would use such a big battle against such a few merchants, and those who were smart, of course, had already guessed that the identities of these few merchants were only not that simple.

“We can’t let anyone suspect the fleeing Hu Ge because of our presence.” This was the true meaning hidden by the order Fan Xian had given earlier, this nail that the Supervisory Authority had hidden in Xihu was so important that Fan Xian couldn’t trust anyone, let alone being watched by so many people.

A soldier came up to that colonel’s ear and said something, and the colonel’s eyes lit up, presumably confirming the identity of the other party, and looking at Fan Xian and his party, he said in a chilling voice, “Come on, men, take down these spies for me!”

Fan Xian took a look at the soldier’s face and recognized the other party as a soldier guarding the east gate, the very person who had reviewed the paperwork for his party’s entry into the city, and immediately knew what the problem was, so he couldn’t help but smile helplessly and glanced at Mu Feng’er.

Mu Feng’er knew that he had made some loopholes in the details, causing Dingzhou’s suspicion, and was extremely annoyed, but was afraid of causing his lordship’s anger, so his face became more and more ugly, and surrounded by countless long spears, he looked at the colonel with a cold face, with a look as if he was ready to bring a bowl of water to the other side and swallow him alive in a few moments.

The colonel did not know the psychological activities of these merchants, looking at the other side of the face of the face is not afraid, more and more sure that these merchants have strange, one side is ready to give orders, send part of the subordinates, continue to go to catch the people who escaped, one side urging the horse, came to the front of the merchants.

We can’t let the Dingzhou army chase after Hu Ge, Fan Xian frowned. Mu Feng’er received the order, a cold aura appeared in her eyes, her feet scuffed, yellow sand appeared three times, and her entire body had already flipped up like a gray shadow, her palm pressed on the horse’s head, and the short sword in her sleeve came out at a rapid pace, so she was going to restrain that school official who had acted in a very careless manner.

Who knows that the colonel since he dared to single horse in front of the crowd, on their own hands is naturally very confident, steeply see the change, but not the slightest bit alarmed, one-handed lifting the knife sheath, slapped to the Mu Feng Er’s wrist, right hand away from the reins, straight to explore the Mu Feng Er’s throat, out of the hand is not clean and sharp, is actually the authentic Ye family grappling kung fu.

This colonel’s martial arts is really strong, but he just thought that these merchants might be spies, and could not imagine the real identity of the other party, so he could not help but be a bit gullible.

He blocked Mu Feng’er, but he couldn’t block the several black shadows that rose up almost simultaneously with Mu Feng’er. Only heard snorting several sounds, several shadows at the same time driving on top of the horse ridden by this colonel, catching the hand catching the hand, strangling the throat strangling ……

The swordmen and assassins from the six places rose up and struck, even Fan Xian was a bit scared, let alone this unassuming soldier in Dingzhou City.

With a wail, the horse suddenly realized that there were four people standing on its back, where could it bear it, and with a soft front hoof, it fell down.

A cloud of smoke and dust rose, the Dingzhou Army soldiers were shocked and watched their leader, just like that, being easily caught by those few spies.

Mu Feng’er took the sheath of that colonel’s sword and put the short sword in his hand across the other’s neck, shouting at the Dingzhou Army rushing around, “Come over if you’re not afraid to die.”

That colonel’s face turned white, not thinking that he actually couldn’t block a single move from these traitors, gritting his teeth he yelled at his subordinates, “Capture these people!”

He was already convinced at this point that these people were more than just spies, and that they were very powerful spies. How could they care about their own lives and deaths for the safety of Dingzhou City.

He didn’t care, Fan Xian cared, and if a conflict did break out, the Dingzhou Army would certainly not be able to keep these few people of their own, but how would they account for themselves to the imperial court in the future?

“We are not spies.” Fan Xian came forward and looked at the crowd and said gently, “We are just merchants.”

At this moment, being so disturbed, this general’s order to pursue didn’t have time to be sent out, and Hu Ge and his group should have safely escaped the encirclement. Fan Xian’s mind also stabilized a lot, and signaled his men to put down their blades, smiling at this brave school official, he said, “This military master, his men are all reckless, and have startled you.”

This kind of statement, naturally no one believed, even the most reckless jianghu people would not dare to take action against the imperial court’s army.

The school official touched his tightening throat, realizing that he was still surrounded by these traitors, and looked at the leader, Fan Xian, and said fiercely, “Let’s see where you guys can still escape to?”

“No escape, we’re really just merchants who overreacted a bit earlier.” After saying this, Fan Xian himself couldn’t help but want to cry, Hu Ge ah Hu Ge, little master really got into a lot of trouble for you.

“Is that so? Which family of merchants are you?” The school official looked at Fan Xian grimly, seemingly not worried about his own safety at all. The Dingzhou Army soldiers on the periphery, who had no idea what was being said over here, just went to report urgently to the Great General’s residence while setting up the surroundings for encirclement, so naturally, no one paid any more attention to the people who might have escaped from the back of the store.

“Lingnan Xiong Family.” Mu Feng’er spoke.

“Since you’re a merchant, follow me back to the mansion to be inspected.” The school official’s teeth were almost clenched as he roared in anger, “Or else you will be killed on the spot!”

In his opinion, these spies were only about to embark on a breakout, it was just that they were controlling themselves, and it was more than inconvenient for those subordinates to do it, but no matter what, he proposed that these merchants return with him to the Great General’s Mansion to undergo an interrogation, and the other party definitely did not accept it.

Unexpectedly, that handsome young merchant nodded his head after a little thought and said, “Good, we are originally law-abiding merchants, of course we are willing to speak up for ourselves.”

The school official’s brows furrowed, wondering what exactly was going on in the minds of these traitors. Did they not know that once they were caught, what would greet them would be endless beatings and interrogations? However, since the other party was confused and stupid to such an extent, the school official naturally would not miss this opportunity.

“Bind your own hands.” He looked at Fan Xian and yelled.

Fan Xian, the merchant, was well-behaved, really well-behaved, even more so than in front of the emperor’s old man, obediently letting those Dingzhou Army soldiers tie him up into dumplings, and his shoulder was still hit heavily by one of the soldiers, which really hurt a bit.

The officials of the Supervisory Yuan under him are also very honest, obediently tied up, without a trace of struggle, but let those Dingzhou army soldiers a little puzzled.

Of course, because these few traitors who looked like merchants had once stopped their top boss with a single move, these soldiers were not polite, and secretly applied some heavy hands while tying them up.

Fan Xian stood beside the colonel and pleaded, “Don’t hit people.”

The colonel glared at him, and couldn’t understand how this spy had so much guts, resisting in the street was still a small matter, but at this time, he could still speak to himself so calmly.

“There’s another person in the store that we’ve mesmerized, so don’t forget to bring them back with you.” At this moment, Fan Xian was more like a staff officer of the Dingzhou Army.

“Where is all this nonsense, just wait until you can’t even die if you want to.” He stared into Fan Xian’s eyes and said grimly.

Fan Xian wasn’t angry and said with a bitter smile, “The few merchants I brought into the city must have been caught by your honor as well, so please send a message and don’t use torture.”

The school official gave him a mocking look, thinking to himself that he had seen countless spies, and that a person as childish and ridiculous as this was still the first one.

Fan Xian looked at him and said seriously, “We didn’t kill you earlier, so how about you return the favor?”

The school official became more and more confused, and felt a chill deep in his heart, wondering if he had done something wrong. However, he subconsciously stopped his subordinates from beating those traitors.

There was a big incident in Dingzhou city, and another batch of spies were captured. Although there are spies every year and every month is new, the spies captured at the mutton store today are different. First, they are from the hinterland of the Central Plains, I do not know whether they want to do private salt business with the Western Hu or have a greater plan, secondly, these spies are obviously through a part of the odd.

Dingzhou army upper level is on this batch of spies generated great interest, they have been not quite agree with the court and the Supervisory Board’s determination, they think that the West Hu King tent does not have a god-like military division exists, the reason why the Hu people are so powerful in the past few years, all because of the court within the collusion of some people with the other side, and to the other side to provide a large amount of support.

And these merchant spies from Jiangnan, via Kyoto, seem to confirm this more clearly. The matter was of great importance, so before there was time to torture and interrogate these spies, the commander-in-chief of the military in Dingzhou City ordered the spies to be escorted back to the Great General’s Mansion before the Governor’s Office could reach out to them.

This kind of thing, whether it was the frontline or the rear, was actually the same thing.

The colonel escorted Fan Xian and his party into the Great General’s Mansion, and when he realized that he was actually being interrogated by the Great General himself today, he couldn’t help but feel joyful, thinking that even though he had made some clowns of himself today, he should still be able to take more credit than credit for capturing these important figures.

“Haven’t had time to ask?” The great general sitting on top ground his teeth into a cackle, “Then what are we waiting for? Break their legs first, then beat them with thirty large planks before they can be questioned.”

The Dingzhou army generals under the hall shouted in unison and were ready to strike.

That great general spat a mouthful of spit and cursed, “Fuck him, actually not even kneeling in front of this general, still quite tough …… what bullshit Lingnan Xiong family, even if you are Xia Mingji’s people, this general will beat you.”

The dynasty and the military were all clear that Xia Mingji was the family property of Fan Tiji, and that people who dared not to sell Fan Xian’s face basically didn’t exist in this world, and the odd thing was that the tone in which this great general spoke didn’t sound like he was bragging.

Fan Xian raised his head with a bitter face and looked at the bearded Western Expedition Great General, thinking to himself, “How did this kid grow so ugly? Sighing, he said, “It’s impossible to fight.”

The western expedition camp imperial seal general Li Hongcheng, is angrily drinking strong wine, thinking how these son of a bitch hu people always do not let themselves easier, suddenly heard this sentence, subconsciously look down the hall, unexpectedly saw a somewhat familiar face.

That face has some changes in the features, but the eyes of the urge is as strong as the year.

General Li Hongcheng froze in the hall, stayed for a long time, and then a mouthful of wine sprayed out, sprayed that close school officer face all over.