Yan'er ran quickly with her skirt in hand, her face already red.
After crossing the threshold, she almost tripped, but she quickly ran to Zhang Wenjing's side.
"Found it?"
"Yeah, found it!"
"Say it."
"There are two pieces of news today..."
"Speaking of time."
Yan'er patted her heart and took a few breaths before continuing to speak.
"There is a cook in the west kitchen of the other courtyard. Her husband's family went to deliver wine to the guard camp yesterday... It was really Li Xia who killed the Great Khan. The news spread to our Alang army, and Alang retreated.
When we got to Luzhou, there was another news that Li Xia had captured Hanzhong."
"Is it true? Is there anything else?"
Yan'er met her eldest sister's eyes, and was stunned for a moment, swallowed, shook her head, and said: "That's all. When the news from Hanzhong came, the soldier was outside Alang Camp, listening to what was going on inside.
Shout out."
"How did you shout?"
Yan'er then put her hands on her waist, imitated Zhang Rou's tone, and shouted loudly.
"Impossible! How could the sect king be forced to retreat by Li Xia?! Impossible! Impossible... Oh my, this slave is not good at learning."
"Any more?"
"Shichiro was also in the army at that time. He said something to someone while drinking and he said, 'He is unparalleled in the world.'"
"Unparalleled in the world."
Zhang Wenjing murmured, holding her chin with one hand, already somewhat lost in thought.
She became clearer again, and her eyes seemed to be looking far, far away.
Yan'er sat down next to her, beat her legs, and muttered: "Sister, he is so powerful, isn't he? How can he be so powerful?"
"yes."
"Sister, there are still some messy news, which should be useless again."
Zhang Wenjing said: "I told you that all the news must be reported to me."
"Okay, Wulang went to the alley near Shuangta Temple again today..."
Zhang Wenjing's eyes lit up.
The reason why she was able to find out about the Twin Pagodas was because she had bribed many people.
The concubines, maids, and personal attendants around the father and brother...the money was poured out like running water, and their daily activities were revealed bit by bit.
Among countless clues, she discovered that her father and fifth brother had only gone out together once.
So, she asked Feng'er to take advantage of the opportunity to go shopping and bribe all the vendors nearby.
A booklet hidden behind the bookcase was taken out.
Zhang Wenjing began to record while listening to Yan'er's words.
"There are eight families living in the alley where Wulang entered. I don't know who Wulang went to meet. Well, the one who moved here within a year seems to be an old man who moved in more than a month ago. He didn't go out much before, but he came out today.
Went shopping and bought a lot of things.
The owner of the cloth shop said that the old man had ordered a lot of the best silk... The wife of the rice shop saw the old man asking a hunter outside her shop if he had any deer skins, and wanted them intact, and seemed to say that swan geese would be fine...
But oh, there is a musician living in that alley, and I heard that she is very beautiful. Wulang may have gone to see her, but that musician rarely goes out, and always asks his maid to buy..."
"Wait a minute." Zhang Wenjing stopped writing and asked, "Did they ask this old gentleman why he bought these items?"
"The owner of the cloth shop didn't ask."
"Where's Orion?"
"Feng'er has already gone to inquire." Yan'er said, "She asked me to come and report to the eldest sister first..."
Zhang Wenjing was no longer listening.
She lowered her head, with some thoughts in her eyes.
After that, a blush quietly appeared on her face.
"Sister...Sister...what's wrong?"
"The gangsters come to buy cloth and trade silk. When bandits come to trade silk, they come to seek my help... There is a dead elk in the wild, wrapped in white grass. If a girl is pregnant, she will be lured by good luck..."
Zhang Wenjing muttered softly.
This is a betrothal gift, a betrothal gift.
Zhang Wenjing seemed to feel the wind blowing on her face again when he took her flying down from the high tower in Luyi...
That proud man had never bent his waist, but he had a tenderness that only she could experience.
He did everything he wanted to do, and then he didn't forget to send someone... to propose marriage to her.
Propose marriage.
These two words struck her heart, and Zhang Wenjing's fingertips even felt numb...
~~
"It's a betrothal gift... It's really a betrothal gift. The old gentleman said, 'The deerskin must not be damaged at all, it is used as a betrothal gift.' It must have been sent by Li Xia, it must be so!"
The little maid named Feng'er silently carried these inquiring words while running back to the military and civilian mansion.
She passed through the side door and hurriedly went to see her eldest sister...
At the gate, several horses neighed.
"The commander is back!"
…
"Hush!"
Zhang Rou turned over and dismounted, with a look of iron on her face.
Zhang Hongdao hurried out and said, "Father, the child has something to say."
"Go to the study room."
Zhang Rou is quick on her feet.
Zhang Hongdao followed in stride, entered the study, glanced outside the door, and closed the door himself.
"Father, after much thought, the child thinks..."
"Wang Wentong was conquered by King Monan." Zhang Rou suddenly interrupted.
"What?"
Zhang Rou grabbed Zhang Hongdao's collar and lifted his dazed son in front of him.
"Wang Wentong, who has been helping Li Fen to rebel, has become a close adviser to King Monan!"
Zhang Hongdao was stunned there, completely dumbfounded.
"You idiot." Zhang Rou suppressed her anger and said word by word: "Do you still remember how that little bastard Wang Zhu persuaded you to rebel?"
"This..." Gu Xiu
Zhang Hongdao felt his scalp numb.
The feeling of fear spread from the soles of my feet up.
In this way, everything he did could not be hidden from King Monan.
Kill the Mongolian governor and give information to the Song people.
"Really...really...really..."
"Every move Li Fen makes is under the control of King Monan; Shi Tianze has been frightened to death; my Zhang family, especially everything you have done, has been shaken out by the Wang family and his son."
When Zhang Rou said this, anger burst out in her eyes, as if she wanted to slap Zhang Hongdao to death.
"Damn, the one who started the affair confessed to King Monan first, and you idiot is still hiding it here!"
Zhang Hongdao was horrified.
He is not afraid of death.
But he knew very well that it was true that Kublai Khan relied on the Han princes, but he himself was the best general in the world. No prince could compete with him.
At this moment, Zhang Hongdao seemed to see Kublai Khan's cavalry smashing through Baozhou and slaughtering thousands of men in the Zhang family. The female members of his clan, his wife and children were all dragged away in the light of the fire.
Crying heartbreakingly...
"King Monan...King Monan..."
Zhang Rou let go of her hand and pushed her son away.
He let out a long sigh and couldn't help but feel incomparable awe.
"The King of Monan is magnanimous and wants the Zhang family to atone for their sins and cooperate with Shi Tianze to defeat Asotai."
Zhang Hongdao felt that he had narrowly escaped death.
He calmed down for a long time before wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"But, Li Xia's matter..."
"It's all known."
"My child, go and kill Yang Shi now."
Zhang Rou kicked Zhang Hongdao down hard and shouted: "Idiot! You still don't understand King Monan's talent and strategy! What he wants is loyalty, what is loyalty? Be extremely honest! Frank!"
The more he talked, the angrier he became.
"Kill and silence, kill and silence! It's a shame that you still only know how to kill and silence! What do you think your little tricks are of use in front of King Monan?!
What does King Monan want? The world! He is a king, do you know what a king is?! All things belong to him, and heroes kneel before him!"
After Zhang Rou said this, she finally stopped kicking Zhang Hongdao.
He closed his eyes and felt extremely tired.
"Let Yang Shi go back and tell Li Xia... I can agree to this marriage, but I will not send the eldest sister to Hanzhong.
Before King Monan returned to Kaiping to proclaim himself Khan, Li Xia had to raise the flag and tell the world that he had surrendered to King Monan... No, he had surrendered to the Great Khan, or even the emperor.
As long as he agrees, King Monan will send troops to help him clean up the Song army in Sichuan and Shu; he will be named King of Shu, pardon the Gao family of Dali, and make Gao family and his eldest sister the princess of Shu; he can manage Sichuan and Shu, even for generations.
guard.
As long as he is willing to send troops to help King Monan fight for the throne, he will live with the country and be honored from generation to generation."
…
Zhang Rou said, took out a letter and placed it in front of Zhang Hongdao.
"Tell Yang Shi to give this letter to Li Xia."
"This is……"
"The sincerity of the Jinlianchuan shogunate, written by Xuezhai Yao Gong himself."
Zhang Hongdao looked at this letter and finally gave in.
Yao Shu needs to come forward to persuade him, but Zhang Hongdao is far from qualified.
But after a long time, Zhang Hongdao still asked: "But Li Xia still refuses..."
"The King of Monan loves his talents and gave him a chance." Zhang Judao said: "With such conditions, Li Xia still refuses to agree... I can only say that I can't see his sincerity in asking to marry my daughter."
Zhang Rou hopes Li Xia will agree.
Such conditions don't happen often, and this time it just happened to happen.
But if Li Xia doesn't agree...then they don't need to spend another soldier to kill Li Xia.
There are too many traces left in the dealings between the Zhang family and Li Xia, all of which are real evidence.
When the same evidence is presented, King Monan can forgive the Zhang family, but Song Ting cannot forgive Li Xia... This is the gap between a hero and a coward.
Zhang Hongdao understood.
He had originally planned to send Zhang Wenjing to Li Xia, but now...
These are troubled times in which the strong are respected. The strong have already spoken. The strong disdain these secretive tricks and only asked Li Xia: Should you surrender and be happy, or should you be shattered to pieces?
If Li Xia refused, how unworthy would it be to die at the hands of Song Ting?
"My child... my child wants to say..." Zhang Hongdao asked: "If Li Xia doesn't agree, eldest sister will..."
Zhang Rou shook her head and closed her tired eyes.
Li Xia had no choice, and neither did Zhang Rou.
"Then... even if you die, what's there to be sad about?"
~~
That night, in Hanzhong City, Li Xia was still busy with official duties, busy with water conservancy, farming, training troops, relocating people, raising money and food, reviewing officials... in order to make the lives of the people under his rule a little better.
This process is very slow.
For a Confucian scholar coming from Lin'an, it would take at least several years for him to trust Li Xia, start doing things, produce results, and then share the same mind and heart with Li Xia;
For a poor farmer coming from Guanzhong, it would take at least several years for him to trek through the long Shu road, start farming, get a harvest, and have enough food or energy to contribute.
And Li Xia needs hundreds of thousands or millions of such supporters.
He can only accumulate strength clumsily and slowly, while dealing with all overt and covert attacks.
For his ambitions and for all the people he wants to protect and treat well.
~~
But in Bozhou, Zhang Wenjing could not sleep for a long time with her bright eyes open.
She finally got up from the couch and looked up at the night outside the paper window.
"It's almost Chinese Valentine's Day."
She was thinking... she just wondered if she could finalize the marriage before Chinese Valentine's Day?
A little shy, but also full of joy.
So she turned on the lamp and studied ink.
Put down colored paper and put pen to paper.
"The embroidered curtains are dazzling on the silver platform of purple wax. A curtain of fragrant mist embraces the golden eagles. The world is full of joy at flying banquets, and the heavens are begging for luck in a good time."
"We love each other, we are drunk. It is doubly suitable for us to have two hearts. From now on, I will become Chang'e, so that I can accompany the immortal man and tie cinnamon branches..."