Chapter 4: Warming the Heart with Strong Wine

That colonel wiped away the liquor on his face and looked at the great general dumbfounded, not knowing why the great general was angry, could it be that because he had lost the face of the great general’s house on the street earlier, the great general used this strong liquor spraying his face trick to express his strong contempt for himself?

Great General Li Hongcheng, however, did not even look at this close friend, foolishly looking at Fan Xian’s disguised merchant under the hall, opened his mouth, pointed down with his index finger, and quickly nodded, but did not utter a word.

Fan Xian glanced at him, narrowed his eyes, and imperceptibly shook his head.

Li Hongcheng extremely quickly suppressed the shock in his heart, coughed twice, cleared his throat, looked around at his subordinates, and said, “All of you go down, organize the dossiers, and when the Governor’s Office comes to snatch the people later on, you guys stop me dead in my tracks.”

“Here.” Those sergeants who escorted the spy into the house led the order and went out, but that colonel and several close friends and clerks of the general’s house did not exit.

“General, no more trial?” That colonel wiped the wine off his face and looked at his superior with some uncertainty.

Li Hongcheng was furious and said, “Trial my ass! It can’t be fought, how can it be tried?”

Can’t fight? Could it be that what this spy said earlier really convinced the Great General? That colonel looked at Li Hongcheng like a demented person, half unable to react, feeling that life seemed a little too ridiculous.

Waiting until the main residence was much quieter, Fan Xian opened his mouth in the hall and asked with a smile, “These four people didn’t leave, they seem to be your close friends?”

Li Hongcheng had long since jumped up from the hall at this point, mumbling as he walked down the hall, “Nonsense, if they’re not trusted people, how would they dare to stay here.”

“That’s good.” Not seeing how Fan Xian exerted his strength, he only saw the ox tendon ropes binding his arms break in inches and fall off to the ground.

Those four cronies of the Great General’s House stared in disbelief, thinking to themselves what kind of expert was this man? There was a deeper realization of the absurdity of life – this was a specially made ox-tendon rope from the military, enough to bind a ninth-grade expert, but how could it be broken free so easily by this man! How could they know that the domineering true qi in Fan Xian’s body had reached its peak, and with the special properties of this true qi, once it was fully exerted, it could truly be described as indestructible.

These four people watched Fan Xian get out of the trap, and subconsciously wanted to pull out their weapons and hack over, but fortunately, they weren’t really stupid, and could see that the situation on the field was a bit odd, so they looked at each other in disbelief, and their feet went a bit soft.

Fan Xian touched his reddened wrists and looked at Li Hongcheng in front of him and said, “These people under you are really ruthless.”

“Nonsense! How can I catch you courtyard lords if I’m not ruthless?” Li Hongcheng hammered his fist onto his shoulder and said, “Why did you run here? You almost caused a big mess.”

Fan Xian ate the pain and said, “Beaten by your people, don’t hammer.”

Li Hongcheng heard clearly, this guy is the opportunity to sue the black complaint to come, but as a great general, under the hands of the style of doing things he knows very well, also know that Fan Xian this kind of status of people, will not be because of this kind of small things on retaliation, laughed two times, just do not answer the words, then want to muddle through.

“My lord?” That school official finally couldn’t bear the unbearable absurdity of life, and couldn’t help but ask.

Fan Xian turned back and pointed at the postal official who was asleep in his chair and said, “This person knows my identity, don’t let him out for the time being, wait until the matter is done.”

Li Hongcheng nodded and hugged his shoulder, said with a smile on his brow, “The news from the capital, you still have at least ten days before you can arrive, come so early, is there something good? I’m the king of Dingzhou nowadays, so if there’s anything good, you can have a cup for me.”

Fan Xian frowned and glanced at him, feeling more and more odd in his heart, this hallowed Shizi master, how is it that he really looks like a soldier gangster nowadays, especially with this stinky acidic smell on his body …… He winced, disengaging himself from the other party’s passionate embrace, and said, “There’s no such thing as a good thing, there’s a whole lot of bad things. , I can’t tell you anyway, there are just some things that you need to help deal with.”

These two superiors forgot these subordinates to the side when they talked about business. Those four great generals house of close friends, has vaguely heard clearly these so-called spy’s origin, can not help but look at each other, and then look at those who were bundled into dumplings, the face of a green piece of red people, can not help but in the heart drumming, secretly think if really the court secret agent beat up, in order to supervise the hospital that old ancestor as well as the little ancestor legend of sinister and shielding the short temper, what can they do?

“Should we untie these …… brothers?” The school official couldn’t help but ask Li Hongcheng for instructions.

Li Hongcheng scolded, “Unconscientious little mongrels, don’t hurry to untie them.”

Hastily, these four men hurriedly released Fan Xian’s subordinates of the Supervisory Yuan, then stood aside somewhat hand-wringingly, compensating with smiles and words of apology. Those subordinates of the Supervisory Yuan did not look angry, and those who were used to working as secret agents certainly did not care about these minor issues.

“Seal off the news, not a single word can get out. As for if anyone asks about the spies that were escorted into the residence today, just say that the Great General’s residence is in the middle of a secret trial.”

I don’t know what Fan Xian said to Li Hongcheng, but Li Hongcheng turned back and said a few words in a chilling voice before explaining a few things to ensure that the whereabouts of Fan Xian and his party would not be revealed.

“Three days later, you choose some death row inmates …… in the prison,” Fan Xian lowered his head and said, “What should I do next, these people under me will help the people in your mansion deal with it cleanly.”

“They will naturally do these things, we need to talk first.” Li Hongcheng still held Fan Xian’s bladder, as if he was afraid that he would run away, dragging him towards the back garden.

The remaining officials of the Great General’s Office and the Supervisory Yuan in the hall, who watched their top bosses, just like this, hooked shoulders and walked away, couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed into silence, not knowing how to address each other and how to deal with the relevant matters. After a long time, it was still the school official who caught them into the mansion who coughed twice and looked at Mu Feng’er and said in a soft voice, “Your honor is from the courtyard?”

Mu Feng’er nodded, not giving this person a good look.

“Then that adult earlier was …… Little Lord Fan?” The school official lowered his voice and said with slight fear.

Mu Feng’er knew of the close relationship between Lord Tisch and Prince Jing, and nodded her head very seriously. That school official swallowed a mouthful of water, then realized what kind of character he had captured today, and when he thought that the other party was the little ancestor of the Supervisory Yuan that he had previously been afraid of, his face began to turn white, whiter than the flowers on the prairie.

The Great General’s Mansion was originally the residence of the Ye family, and then the world’s son, Hongcheng, joined the Western Conquest Army, and with his status, he has been living here. Two years ago, the Kyoto rebellion, Dingzhou army half of the army into the capital to quell the rebellion, Ye Chong and Gong Dian since then stayed in Kyoto, never came back, so this great general residence, it became Li Hongcheng’s private residence and office office where.

There is no one in the mansion, all the way to the back garden, there is not even a servant to see. Fan Xian secretly wondered, but his face did not show anything, sat down on a cold stone bench in the garden, used to the cold and murderous atmosphere that was completely different from that of the garden in the Central Plains, and only then opened his mouth with deliberation and said, “You must explain clearly to the following, and absolutely cannot let anyone think that I have entered Dingzhou City today.”

“Long-winded! You came ten days early to naturally run an errand. The question is with your current status, are you still afraid of anything?” Li Hongcheng carried a large jug of wine, poured two bowls and placed them in front of each other.

“I don’t want some well-intentioned people to guess that I …… am here to meet someone because of my early arrival.”

Li Hongcheng’s wrist, which was placing the wine pot, paused for a moment.

Fan Xian looked at him and said, “I won’t hide this from you, I buried a nail in the grassland, and today I’m here to meet that nail, but ……” he said in an aggravated tone, “I don’t want anyone but you to know this point, because the death or life of that nail will affect the death or life of many people in my Qing country’s army and people.”

After pondering for a moment, Li Hongcheng nodded, then said, “As you said earlier, I will take care of it, picking some death row prisoners to impersonate your identities, so that it won’t make people outside a little suspicious.”

“There’s one more important thing.” Fan Xian said, “The courtyard needs a passageway to the Xihu tribe, and I don’t want to be copied by the army under you, so I need your cooperation.”

Li Hongcheng had by now shaken off his earlier surprise and returned to calm, saying, “What exactly do you want to do? I’ll only remind you of one thing, any grain that you send to the grasslands is grain that could kill one of my soldiers in Daqing.”

Not waiting for Fan Xian to open his mouth to explain, Li Hongcheng stared into his eyes and continued, “I don’t care what the imperial court thinks, I don’t care what kind of plotting and scheming President Chen has, and I don’t care if you’re preparing to cultivate a nail so that the hu people can have internal strife, but I have to remind you that the hu people …… are an entirely different kind of existence, you’re not at the border, you don’t know how ferocious and fickle they are, and you have to beware of things like raising a tiger.”

Fan Xian could feel the sentiment contained in this reminder from the other party, and nodded, saying comfortingly, “Don’t worry, I have my measure.”

He raised his bowl of wine and drank a bowl with Hong Cheng, then exhaled a long breath, looking at the other party’s bearded face and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, not knowing how to speak for a while. Both of them fell into silence at the same time, the back garden was quiet.

King Jing’s son Li Hongcheng joined the army three years ago, three years to fight bravely to kill the enemy, the first to fight, marching and combat is quite calculated, reputation has long been spread back to Kyoto as well as the Central Plains. The world praised that after the Great Prince’s western expedition, the royal family finally had another powerful person who could lead the army and fight. It is also because of the military achievements in the body, so this once and the second prince has some unclear relationship with the royal son, will be His Majesty’s trust, took over Ye Chong’s position, began to take charge of the entire Dingzhou West Camp military affairs.

However, it has been three years since then, the suave, dashing and handsome Shizi Master, has been sandblasted and polished by the winds and sands of the border, into a different look, and he has not returned to Kyoto for three years.

“Three years, although the border is tight, but looking at your appearance in the Great General’s Mansion, it’s not that you don’t have time to return to Kyoto.” Fan Xian filled two bowls with spirits and said softly, “Why don’t you go back?”

Li Hongcheng’s hand grasped the rim of the wine bowl, his face heavy, and after a long time slowly said, “Go back for what?”

Fan Xian knew what he was jealous of in his heart and gave him a disapproving look, saying, “It’s all in the past, if His Majesty suspected you, how could he have put you in charge of Dingzhou matters?”

“The beautiful name is Great General, but my control over the army is far worse than that of the Ye family.” Li Hongcheng bowed his head and said, “Of course, I don’t want to turn the Western Battalion into my own family army, and as you can see, I only have four trusted cronies in the mansion. That school officer who caught you guys into the palace is a person from the Ye family, I can trust him …… but I can’t trust those ministers in Kyoto.”

“In these two years, His Majesty has made a total of four rotations. Yanjing one belongs to, Nanzhao one belongs to, and the rest of the four border soldiers actually came to my Dingzhou City to play a trip …… ” Li Hongcheng raised his head and stared into Fan Xian’s eyes, “Although you have never been in charge of a soldier, you should know that famous generals use familiar soldiers. This iron camp is really a running water soldier, the general does not know the soldier, how can the battle be fought well?”

“This time you return to Kyoto, you must do me a favor and advise His Majesty that …… can no longer rotate.” Li Hongcheng said in a heavy tone, “Troop replenishment is indeed because of rotation, and become more than enough, but fight the war, not so at all …… And the attack of the fourteen parts of the Hu people is getting more and more fierce, more and more cunning …… ”

Fan Xian cut him off and said, “I know you’ve sent a message to the Privy Council, and I’ve read the secret message you sent to His Majesty, but you should know clearly what His Majesty’s rotation during these two years is for …… The area around Yanjing and Cangzhou is at a stalemate, and His Majesty is sharpening his sword with the hu people and practicing his troops for the future things, it’s basically very difficult for you to get His Majesty to stop playing this chess move.”

“I don’t care about the greatness of unifying the world.” Li Hongcheng said angrily, “That’s right, if it comes to the day of the opening of the great war, I’m also willing to be a pawn for His Majesty and fight to the death in the sand, but right now, this side is already strained to such a point, and if the Xilang Road is really crippled by the Hu people, what’s the point of uniting the whole world!”

At this time, there was only Fan Xian and him in the garden, so he spoke extraordinarily directly, going so far as to criticize His Majesty the Emperor’s state policy as dog shit. Anyway, he knew Fan Xian’s temperament and didn’t care if the other party heard it.

Fan Xian said with a bitter smile, ”What can I do? His Majesty never allows me to meddle in this aspect of military affairs, it’s not like you don’t know that.”

Li Hongcheng sighed, raised his bowl of wine and drank it all in one go, cursed an expletive, and said in a low, painful voice, “Practicing soldiers with battle is feasible, but ten stops of recruits come over, seven stops go back, and three stops die on the prairie. …… And if the original Dingzhou veterans are still used, or the old subordinates of the Great Palace brought out back in the day, then the old army of the conquering west will not be used, but it will not be used. Out of the old subordinates of the conquest army of the west, these people originally do not have to die.”

“But …… “Fan Xian knew that he had to wake Hongcheng up to certain things, so that he wouldn’t unknowingly violate taboos in the future, “Just using the Dingzhou army and the old subordinates of the Levy West army… …how could they possibly attack the Northern Qi and Eastern Barbarians? Two years ago, during the Kyoto rebellion, the Qin family rebels were killed and wounded, the army’s internal instability was sudden, and its strength dropped drastically, so his majesty was bound to use the Dingzhou side to regain the sharpness of the Qing army! There’s no need to say anything more about this matter, and you should stop advising the court, not only will it have little effect, but it will cause His Majesty to be displeased.”

“Of course, His Majesty won’t watch you suffer here alone.” A slightly mocking smile spread across the corners of Fan Xian’s lips, “I’m not here too?”

Li Hongcheng shook his head, not continuing to discuss the topic.

Fan Xian looked at him and suddenly spoke, “How many days do you bathe now?”

Li Hongcheng froze, “I haven’t remembered, about half a month a month?”

Fan Xian huffed and scolded with a laugh, “No wonder you smell so bad.”

Li Hongcheng glared at him.

Fan Xian laughed, “Dingzhou City has deep wells, there is no shortage of water at all, and you are a great general, can’t you even take a bath?”

“Lazy.” Li Hongcheng laughed and shook his head, saying, “If you are like me, you once spent half a year circling around the grassland desert with the hu people, you will also get used to not bathing, besides it’s all about the work of taking snatches and carrying rods, and surrounded by a group of rough men, who cares about this.”

“The subordinates don’t care, do the concubines in the mansion not care as well?” Fan Xian picked up a slice of Hu Gua, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed, saying vaguely.

Li Hongcheng froze, and after a moment smiled and said, “There are no concubines in the mansion, all of the old Ye family have returned to the capital, so I’ve kept a few subordinates.”

Fan Xian raised his head in shock, somewhat unable to believe his ears, King Jing’s son Li Hongcheng, back then in Kyoto was known for his flirtatious behavior, secretly in charge of half of the world’s greenhouses for the second prince, which can be said to be the newcomer of the night on the pillow, and now he is single in Dingzhou, and actually does not have a concubine by his side?

Seemingly guessing what Fan Xian was thinking, Li Hongcheng gently tapped the wine bowl with his index finger and said softly, “Ruo Ruo didn’t like it, so I quit.”

Fan Xian was unable to speak, and after a long time, he said quietly, “I’m sorry for this matter.”

“What did you do to apologize to me?” Li Hongcheng laughed and scolded.

Fan Xian shook his head, no longer talking about this, and opened his mouth to say, “Back then, when I first saw you at the One Stone Residence, you were surrounded by cleaners under the door and were dashing, but I didn’t realize that you’ve become this appearance now.”

“There is nothing wrong with this appearance.” Li Hongcheng thought about the things that happened around him in these five or six years, but also some feelings, “That day on the One Stone Residence, there was Guo Baokun, He Zongwei and his party ……”

If Li Hongcheng had not mentioned it, Fan Xian might have forgotten who Guo Baokun was.

“You punched Guo Baokun, and later caused him to lose his family.” Li Hongcheng looked at Fan Xian with a smirk and said, “He Zongwei has now become the court’s most popular person, His Majesty’s favorite minister. This is how things are created, and it’s not bad for me to stay out of it, comparatively speaking.”

Fan Xian smiled and said nothing.

“You kid is ruthless enough, before you entered the capital, Kyoto was calm for about ten years.” Li Hongcheng continued, “But since the moment you entered the capital, people started to die one after another. But I’m sure you didn’t think that He Zongwei, that scumbag, would actually be able to climb to his current position. Metropolitan Police Court in the capital to pinch your Supervisory Yuan’s neck, he began to enter the door under the Chinese book of deliberations, has begun to threaten you ……”

It had to be said that Li Hongcheng and Fan Xian were surprisingly consistent in their treatment of Lord He. Apparently, this was because they were both very vindictive, remembering the year when He Zongwei tried to eat Fan Ruo Ruo, the snow swan.

Fan Xian smiled slightly and said, “He Zongwei climbs high and falls fast in the future, so I’m not worried about anything.”

“Of course you won’t be afraid of him.” Li Hongcheng laughed, “Even though I didn’t return to the capital, I have heard of the nickname Three Surnames. It must be something you picked up.”

Fan Xian hemmed and hawed twice, coming to acquiesce.

Li Hongcheng pointed at his nose and sighed, “You ah …… still have the same tricks. First it’s all about stinking up people’s reputations, and then with His Majesty’s favor, you start playing unreasonable underhanded tricks. But let me remind you, He Zongwei is different from me, and different from Lao Er, he’s a vassal that His Majesty has tree up, you can’t move him easily.”

This trick was indeed a common trick used by Fan Xian, back then, he had used this trick to press the Yin killing of prostitutes and his reputation being tarnished on the second prince and Li Hongcheng, ultimately forcing the second prince to make a risky move, and then Li Hongcheng was imprisoned by the Prince of Jing for most of the year in the royal mansion.

“Not bad, nowadays there are many officials in the court who began to hold He Zongwei s thighs …… Three Surnames? In fact, the master he has been following is all surnamed Li, and creatures like officials, where would they be jealous of things like reputation.” Fan Xian said mockingly, “It’s just that these officials probably didn’t think that no matter how the situation in the imperial court develops, He Zongwei will ultimately have a hard time escaping death in the future.”

“How?”

Fan Xian, in front of Hong Cheng, did not hide anything and directly said with a sneer, “His Majesty used the Metropolitan Inspectorate to check and balance the Supervisory Yuan and cut down on its power, and this point was made clear to me beforehand. I very much recognize this one, the Supervisory Court being dominant is not a good thing for the court, nor for the people.”

“But the ferocious reputation of the Supervisory Court is here, and His Majesty had to pick a courtier who dared to go against me to step up …… so he picked He Zongwei, because this person knows that no matter how the future unfolds, I will certainly not let him go.” The corner of Fan Xian’s lips flared up with a hint of indifference, “So he can only work his way up the ladder, only even if he’s more than capable of developing the Duzha Academy to the point where it can go against the Supervisory Yuan, so what? It is the Duzhaoyuan, the government office, that has risen, not him as a person.”

“The day that the Supervisory Yuan truly becomes the Inspection Yuan, He Zongwei will no longer have any value to utilize.” Fan Xian shook his head, “His Majesty only has so many sons nowadays, and it is only possible that the oldest third boy will succeed to the throne, and no matter how the oldest third will think in the future, he will always have to consider my attitude at the beginning of his succession …… He Zongwei He has suppressed me for so long, how can he do so without paying some price?”

“He is a grass with no roots, just clutched in the hands of His Majesty, so his life depends on how many more years His Majesty can live.”

Li Hongcheng’s heart chilled as he listened.

Fan Xian closed his eyes and said, “Everyone thinks that His Majesty is in good health and a great master, but they haven’t thought about the fact that His Majesty is also in his fifties or sixties now.”

Li Hongcheng shook his head, “I must admit that I don’t see things as far as you do.”

“This is natural, or else you wouldn’t have been locked up in the palace by Prince Jing for so long back then.” Fan Xian looked at him with a smile.

“Now that I think about it, you saved my life.” Li Hongcheng bowed his head and said, “If I had stayed in Kyoto all the way two years ago, I’m only afraid that I would have died by now.”

He raised his head and sighed with emotion, “Just like Lao Er did.”

With the mention of the dead people, the atmosphere in the arena became depressing again. After a long time, Li Hongcheng forced a smile and said, “Of course, you cannot be blamed for this matter. That day outside the Moon Embracing Building what you said with Lao Er in the tea store, he later told me …… I know, you just want to beat Lao Er down, also want to save him a life. Just …… he this person ah, in fact, and you are as stubborn, not very willing to listen to people’s words.”

Li Hongcheng had stood behind the second prince from the very beginning in the battle to seize the throne. Fan Xian’s powerful crackdown after he took charge of the Supervisory Yuan only knocked Li Hongcheng out of the poisonous waters of Kyoto, but not the Second Prince. However, Fan Xian was clear that Hongcheng supported the Second Prince not just because of future benefits, but also because they were excellent friends themselves.

“I apologize for their departure.” Fan Xian said, “But there are too many things in the world that we cannot fully resolve.”

“I’ve always been curious.” Li Hongcheng stared into Fan Xian’s eyes and said, “Whether it’s Lao Er or His Highness the Crown Prince, all of them are working hard on certain things. And it seems that only you, from the very beginning, concluded that the tossing and turning of these princes would end in a very miserable failure. How did you determine this? Could it be that from the very beginning, you divinely calculated that they didn’t have the slightest possibility of success?”

“It has to do with education since childhood.” Fan Xian replied seriously, “When I was a child, my grandmother would hold me in her arms and would keep telling me that His Majesty did this, His Majesty did that, His Majesty was invincible in battle, and His Majesty was how …… I got used to it, and I accepted it. And ……”

He shook his head, “The final facts also proved that His Majesty did …… invincible in battle.”

Li Hongcheng was silent, only shaking his head.

“It’s better to go back to Kyoto. I know you’re afraid of touching the scenery, but it’s good to go over there to see the oldest two, he and Chengqian, the Empress Dowager, and the eldest princess, are all buried on a beautiful hill with a nice view.” Fan Xian was very sincere in persuading this prodigal son who refused to return from home, “Besides, the king’s health is getting worse, so you, as a son, always have to go back to take a look.”

Li Hongcheng did not agree, but only said sincerely, “Father was very sick last year, thanks to you taking care of him, and Roujia wrote to say so. Thank you.”

“Why do we need to use the word thank you between us.” Fan Xian looked at him and mentioned seemingly offhandedly, “At the end of the year, Ruo Ruo is going back to the capital.”

Li Hongcheng raised his head in a huff and his eyes lit up.

“Ye Ling’er came to Dingzhou to take a break, why haven’t I seen her?” Fan Xian did not continue with that earlier question, asking about another person he was very concerned about.

Since the death of the second prince, Wan Er had accompanied Ye Ling’er for a while, but it was ultimately not very fruitful, and then it was Ye Chong who had asked for a decree to send his daughter back to Dingzhou City, where she had grown up since she was a child. Within Dingzhou City, there was Li Hongcheng here, who had a great friendship with the Second Prince, and it was indeed more appropriate for him to take care of Ye Ling’er.

Li Hongcheng gave a bitter smile and said, “This Wangfei’s mood is much better after seeing the grasslands, just where is she a idle character, she is in Qingzhou at this time of the year.”

“Qingzhou?” Fan Xian sucked in a breath of cool air and said reproachfully, “That’s the most remote state and city, and it’s going to be at war with Western Hu at any moment!”

“What can I do?” Li Hongcheng glared at him, “There are countless old Ye family generals in the western camp, those generals look at Ye Ling’er like a little ancestor, they don’t even dare to let out a single fart, if she wants to go to the border to fight a war and kill people to heal her wounds, I can stop her?”

Fan Xian shook his head repeatedly and cursed, “What nonsense.” Immediately afterward, he suddenly thought of something and said, “Fortunately, I’m going to Qingzhou soon, and when I come back, I’ll tie her back up.”

When these words came out, it was Li Hongcheng’s turn to suck in a breath of cold air, and cursed angrily, “You’re going to Qingzhou? Do you want something to happen, and then His Majesty will slaughter the entire Dingzhou army to bury you!”