Cao Baozong never dreamed that Chen Qing would send someone to find him. He was nervous and afraid at the same time. At this critical moment, if anyone knew about it, he would be doomed. However, there was a faint thread between the nervousness and fear.
Hope, he himself doesn’t know what this glimmer of hope is?
Fortunately, only he could understand what the other party said. An old friend of Chilizhai, where is Chilizhai? It is the place where he was imprisoned after being captured in Gongzhou. It is called Chilizhai. There is a big sign in the room that says "Chilizhai"
The words "Li Zhai" left a deep impression on him.
Cao Baozong hurriedly asked his confidants to invite Hu Yanlei to the living room of his inner house.
Hu Yanlei cupped his fists and said with a smile: "General Cao, long time no see."
Cao Baozong knew Hu Yanlei, and he nodded, "It turns out to be General Hu Yan, please sit down!"
The two of them sat down separately, and Hu Yanlei took out a letter and handed it to him, "This is an autographed letter from my family to General Cao. Please read it."
Cao Baozong opened the letter and saw on the envelope that it read, "Jingzhao Chen Qing addressed to the Cao family in Lingzhou". Cao Baozong was stunned for a moment.
Of course, he knew why Chen Qing wrote this, obviously preparing to separate him from Xixia. Cao Baozong was not a party member. His ancestor was Cao Xian, king of Guazhou, the last leader of the Hexi Guiyi Army, who surrendered to Li Yuanhao a hundred years ago.
Dedicated to Guazhou and Shazhou, Cao Xian took his descendants into Xixia.
Cao Baozong is the sixth generation grandson of Cao Xian. The Cao family has always been a Xixia noble because of its contribution to Dunhuang. It is a rare non-Dangxiang noble. However, the Cao family is not Han. Their ancestors are Sogdians of the Cao family.
The Sogdians of the Cao family migrated to the Western Regions and established the State of Cao, while the ancestors of Cao Baozong were a branch of the Sogdians who stayed in Ganzhou.
Historically, An Lushan and Shi Siming, both famous in the Tang Dynasty, were actually Sogdians from Ganzhou.
Cao Baozong opened Chen Qing's letter and read it carefully. He did not express his position and asked again: "Is there anything else that Governor Chen Xuan needs to tell me?"
Hu Yanlei said slowly: "The Commander-in-Chief asked me to remind General Cao that once the Jurchens evacuate, Brother Richard will definitely return to Xingqing City to seize the heir, and there will definitely be a killing spree. General Cao had better move his wife, children, and mother in advance.
Go to Jingzhou or Shunzhou."
Cao Baozong frowned, "Will such a thing happen?" He obviously didn't believe it.
"Everyone in my family says it will definitely happen!"
Cao Baozong was a little worried, "But why did he want to kill me?"
Hu Yanlei smiled slightly and said: "If General Cao is not dead, how can we explain the disappearance of the wealth of those powerful people? Brother Richard always has to find someone to take the blame. Isn't General Cao the most suitable?"
Cao Baozong was frightened for a while, but he didn't expect Chen Qing to see so clearly. He nodded, "I understand, let me think about it, and I will reply to the general tomorrow!"
Hu Yanlei said goodbye and left. Cao Baozong was confused. It was already dark and he had no intention of having dinner. He returned to the study and hid the letter. But not long after, he couldn't help but turn out the letter and read it again.
, until he memorized the entire letter, he threw the letter into the incense burner again and burned it to ashes.
Cao Baozong paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. He was very clear about the current situation in Xixia. It could be said that the situation was over. The Jin soldiers, who had only held out hope before, also suffered heavy casualties. There were only more than 10,000 Jurchen cavalry left out of the 30,000. Even the Jurchen cavalry had been destroyed.
Chen Qing's army was defeated, what hope would they have?
However, Chen Qing fought in a calm and steady manner. How could they defeat such an opponent, not to mention the civil strife in Xixia Brother Richard? Cao Baozong suddenly had a clear understanding that Chen Qing was not in a hurry to attack Xixia. I am afraid that Chen Qing was waiting for him.
This civil unrest occurred.
At this time, a maid outside the door said: "Master, the old lady invites you!"
"I know, let's go!"
Cao Baozong organized his thoughts and left the study to see his mother.
Cao Baozong's mother's surname was An, and she was from the An family, a wealthy family in Hexi. The Cao family had been married to the wealthy families in Hexi for generations, including Cao Baozong's wife, whose surname was An, and she was the niece of Mrs. An's family.
Since Cao Baozong's father passed away five years ago, Mrs. An converted to Buddhism, chanting Buddha's name and eating fast all day long. Her biggest wish is to enshrine a Buddha statue in Dunhuang Thousand Buddhas Cave.
Cao Baozong walked into the room and knelt down to salute, "My child, meet your mother!"
Anshi said slowly: "Your wife told me that you have been very anxious these days. You can't sleep well at night. You even didn't eat dinner today. She is very worried. Zong'er, what happened?"
Cao Baozong spent this month in anxiety. The wealth of the powerful people disappeared. He was worried that others would doubt him. The defeat of the Jin army to the Song army shattered his hope. He didn't know what to do in the future?
Cao Baozong smiled bitterly and said, "Mother, now Xixia is not only worried about the children, but also the entire court. The emperor's condition has even worsened, and the situation is very unfavorable to Xixia."
"How bad is it?" An asked again.
Cao Baozong hesitated for a moment and then told his mother the truth, "Xixia may be in danger of destroying the country!"
An was stunned for a moment, and then she sighed in a low voice: "Your father really got it right."
"What did father say?"
"Your father said that the purpose of Xixia's existence is to contain the Song Dynasty. Once the Jin soldiers capture Sichuan and Shaanxi, the Jin Kingdom will not let Xixia exist anymore."
"Then did my father say, if Xixia is destroyed, what will our Cao family do?"
Anshi said slowly: "Your father did say that he said that our Cao family came from the Hexi Corridor and would eventually return to Hexi."
Cao Baozong suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the name Chen Qing wrote to him was the Cao family of Lingzhou. He had already thought of it for him.
Cao Baozong kowtowed heavily and said, "Mother, do you know what to do?"
At noon the next day, Hu Yanlei met Cao Baozong again. Cao Baozong took out a thick letter and handed it to him, "General Hu Yanlei, please give this letter to the Xuanfu envoy."
Hu Yanlei took the letter and quickly glanced at the cover. It read, 'Lingzhou Cao Family to Sichuan and Shaanxi Chen Xuanfu Envoy'.
Hu Yanlei collected the letter and asked, "Is there anything else you need me to tell you?"
"Everything I want to say is in the letter, but I have something else to do with General Huyan."
Hu Yanlei smiled slightly and said, "General Cao, please speak!"
"Will General Huyan keep Xingqing Mansion?" Cao Baozong asked.
"It should be there, I still have a lot of tasks to perform."
Cao Baozong sighed and said: "I was worried all night last night. I have a wife, children and a mother. I am really afraid that Brother Richard will kill my whole family. I will definitely send them all away. But if I leave early, the court will be suspicious. I want to
Brother Richard, is it possible to send them away before taking action?"
Hu Yanlei nodded, "That's okay. If you leave early, you will definitely be suspected."
"But I'm afraid that I won't be able to control the situation, so I would like to ask General Huyan to inform us to evacuate."
"sure!"
Hu Yanlei agreed, "My important role in Xingqing Mansion is to protect General Cao's safety."
"Thank you so much, General Huyan!"
Cao Baozong took out a silver medal and handed it to Hu Yanlei, "Soon the imperial court will resume city gate control, but there are three plaques to enter and exit the city gate, the emperor's gold medal, the silver medals of the generalissimo and the privy envoy, this is the silver medal of the privy envoy, General Hu Yan
You can use it to leave and enter the city at any time."
Hu Yanlei happily accepted the silver medal, and he smiled and said: "Why don't you arrange for me to be the general's confidant, so that there will be no doubts about me entering and leaving Cao's house."
Cao Baozong was overjoyed and said, "Of course, I can fill a vacancy for you as a proton army general. This is a duty, and it is also my personal guard."
Hu Yanlei wrote a name 'Hu Yanqing' and handed it to Cao Baozong, "This is my pseudonym. In addition, we all judge that Brother Richard has eyes and ears in Xingqing Mansion, but we don't know where to start. Can General Cao provide me with a clue?"
?”
Cao Baozong thought for a while and said: "It is rumored that Li Ji Mule and Horse Shop in Zhongcheng is one of Brother Richard's eyes and ears. People from Heijintang told me before, but I am not sure."
Hu Yanlei nodded, "Thank you, General, for telling me in time!"