The lights in the old county government office were dim at night; but suddenly it was as bright as day, and everyone in the room raised their spirits, waiting for the coming thunder. "Crack!" A sound of thunder seemed to shake the house.
After the thunder sounded, Xu Wenjun said leisurely: "Fortunately, every time there is thunder, it will shine, otherwise a sudden thunder would not scare people to death."
Zhang Ning said calmly and casually: "That's because the speed of light is faster than sound."
"Oh? I never thought about it before. I thought thunder and lightning were two different things." Xu Wenjun said softly.
Zhang Ning explained patiently: "Have you seen the explosion when we tested the cannon? Or the time we used buried gunpowder barrels to blow up the city gate last time in Shimen County. You also saw it. Thunder and lightning are similar to gunpowder explosions, but they are very different.
Something exploded in the high clouds, there was a flash and an explosion, and then I saw the light first, and then heard the sound."
Xu Wenjun looked at him half-understanding, and suddenly his face turned slightly red. He probably felt a little embarrassed to let Zhang Ning say such irrelevant things.
Zhang Ning turned around and saw Fairy Peach Blossom looking at her, so she changed the subject and said, "Aren't you here to deliver a letter with news? Since the news has been delivered, you and Wenjun will leave together tomorrow morning."
"Why are you chasing us away? There's going to be a war. If I stay by Ping An's side, I might be able to protect you nearby." Peach Blossom Fairy said in surprise.
Now there are only three of them in the signing room. After the thunder, the surroundings were quiet. Zhang Ning was silent for a moment and finally said: "There is almost no hope of winning this battle. You are just women, not soldiers. You have no obligation to die for this.
There’s no use staying here.”
Peach Blossom Fairy asked puzzledly: "Since Ping An is not expected to win, why do we still have to fight this battle? Since we can come out of the mountains, we can go back now."
Zhang Ning shook his head and sighed: "Going back is a dead end, it's just a matter of time. Do you still remember that time on the post road in Beijing a few years ago when you wanted to kill me?"
"Why are you mentioning that? I didn't know you at the beginning, and you were just an official of the imperial court." Peach Blossom Fairy said embarrassedly.
Zhang Ning said calmly: "I don't mean to argue. That time when I was in the inn and you fell asleep, you had already entered the room. At that time, I had three choices, one was to beg for mercy, the other was to try to jump out of the window and escape, and the third was to go with you
Fight desperately. In fact, if you want to kill me, no matter what I do, I will die. It’s a question of how to die. What did I do at that time?"
"Remember!" Peach Blossom Fairy suddenly said, "You took a knife to resist...it seemed to be a kitchen knife."
"You have a really good memory." Zhang Ning nodded, "When people are pushed into a hurry, they always want to resist, at least I do."
Peach Blossom Fairy lowered her head and thought for a while, then said: "Then I don't want to leave anymore. It doesn't make sense. I can't help you, but don't try to persuade me again." Xu Wenjun then said: "I'm used to staying with my boss, and I'm used to it too.
Don’t want to leave.”
Zhang Ning was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said self-deprecatingly: "I never thought that those soldiers who I regard as humerus would not be as upright as two women in the end... If everyone can fight to the death with the army like you, we will win."
It’s really hard to say if it’s a defeat.”
Just as they were talking, someone suddenly knocked on the door, and a voice said: "Your Highness, please be inside. I have something important to report."
Zhang Ning asked someone to open the door, and a guard walked in and reported: "Some people came to the West City Gate. The brother on duty asked about it. He said they were from the evil-fighting sect, and he also said he knew Lord Hou. He also asked why he came at night.
When they arrived, they said they had traveled all night and missed the hour. The general on duty was Kong Wuyang, and he said he would first send someone to the county government office to report to the third prince before making any further calculations."
"How many people are there?" Zhang Ning asked.
The guard replied: "More than a dozen people."
Zhang Ning immediately ordered: "Go and wake up Lord Hou Tan and go to the city gate to identify people. If you really know someone, let him in and let Kong Wuyang count the number of people. Don't let them wander around the city. Find a place to look first.
stand up."
"Yes." The guard responded and came out.
He was not very worried that the people who came at night were the officers and soldiers. If the elite officers wanted to sneak into the city, they should not choose this time; besides, if Zhu Yong did not plan to go to Yongding Acropolis to rest and recuperate, he would march directly to Cili County.
, in a small town like Cili County, he doesn’t need to use internal measures.
After a long time, Hou Mao asked for an audience outside the second hall, and Zhang Ning asked someone to come in.
Three people came in. In addition to Hou Mao, Zhang Ning also knew the other two. They turned out to be Jiang Youde and his nephew Jiang Hai. Last year when they went to Le'an Han Palace for business, these two evil cultists had trouble getting along with Zhang Ning.
We've only had a few days, so we got to know each other.
Seeing that the person who came was an uncle and nephew from the Jiang family, Zhang Ning was relieved and completely ruled out the possibility of elaborate work.
Hou Mao came in and reported: "These two people are from the main altar. I have met them. They said they brought a personal letter from the leader; they also said they knew His Highness, so I brought them to meet with me."
"Jiang Youde, Jiang Hai." Zhang Ning called out directly, "We have been through life and death together. We are old friends and reunited. How can we not know each other?"
"Don't dare, don't dare." Jiang Youde, a middle-aged man, hurriedly clasped his fists and said. Zhang Ning first guessed what this meant. Maybe it was because they didn't dare to call the third prince "friends"? Jiang Youde didn't say much and just lifted up his coat.
He saw a bamboo tube tightly tied with a rope around his waist. The sight of such attention made Zhang Ning confirm that Jiang Youde had indeed brought the leader's autographed letter.
He took out a rolled envelope from the bamboo tube and handed it over with both hands: "The leader ordered that it be delivered to His Highness as soon as possible. I did not dare to delay on the road and traveled day and night, so that I did not arrive at Cili County until nightfall.
"
Zhang Ning took the envelope and saw that it was sealed with lacquer but there was not a word on it. Yao Jizhen still cherished words like gold. Because Jiang Youde spoke in a hurry, he tore open the envelope on the spot and read the contents.
The people next to me closed their mouths and waited silently.
When he opened the letter, he saw that Junxiu's tiny characters were densely written on the two pieces of white paper. Whenever he saw Yao Ji's characters, Zhang Ning felt an indescribable feeling in his heart, and his heart beat faster.
He quickly browsed the content first, mainly to understand what Yao Ji said in the letter. She spent so much pen and ink, but actually wrote only one content: to advise Zhang Ning to return to Fengxia Mountain first, and then make a long-term plan.
She has always cherished words like gold, but this time she spent a lot of words quoting scriptures in her letter. For example, Guangwu of Han Dynasty destroyed all his men and horses many times and died riding alone. People who have achieved great achievements in history have always experienced many setbacks.
, instead of being burned to death every time he loses a battle. Later, he mentioned the little sister... all these tactics were used, and Zhang Ning could feel her urgency from the words.
I don’t know if Yao Ji knows in her heart that she herself is more important than moving out her little sister.
After Zhang Ning saw this letter, for a short moment, he almost wavered in his determination. But he quickly reminded himself: Don't be indecisive and change your orders overnight! The deeds of Han Guangwu mentioned by Yao Ji are actually incomparable.
. Not to mention that Liu Xiu himself in history is a person who is hard to come by in 500 years, and the general environment at that time was also different. The regime of Wang Mang in the central government had lost the hearts of the people, and the world was in chaos, so there were naturally more opportunities.
And Zhang Ning had to realize that during the Xuande Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, there was no chance at all; if there was any, the period when the Han King Zhu Gaoxu's tribe had not been annihilated was the only chance. In addition, when Zhang Ning raised his army, Miao Miao in Huguang
People are also in chaos. It can be said that it is the best time for chance and coincidence. If there is no improvement this time, there will be no luck at all.
"I'll write a reply and you can take it back to my mother." Zhang Ning said calmly.
Jiang Youde said in surprise: "Your Highness's men are not going back?"
Zhang Ning said: "We have already deployed a battle plan. We are going to have a decisive battle with the army here. We cannot change it easily. You just need to take the letter back."
"Your Highness...are you sure of defeating the army? I don't want to inquire about military aircraft, I just want to ask the leader when I go back so that we can have something to talk about."
Zhang Ning said: "I will write it in detail in my reply. You will come to the signing room early tomorrow morning to pick up the letter."
Jiang Youde pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, we can't interfere. But I have one thing to ask of you. Let Jiang Hai go back and I stay... so that I can give an explanation to the leader."
Zhang Ning thought for a while and then agreed. He then asked the dozen or so people who came with him who they were. Jiang Youde said: "A while ago, many people from different places gathered people and wanted to vote for His Highness, but I heard that
The situation here is not good, so we are waiting and watching again. However, there are some people among them who want to come here to kill officials and rebel, but they can't find a way for a while. Knowing that we are coming to deliver a message, they follow us all the way. Several of these people are pioneers.
Some of them are from cults, and some are from other places. We have asked Mr. Zheng and confirmed his identity. There is no problem with his origin... They are probably people whose families were ruined during the Yongle Dynasty and who did not care about their lives."
"That's a good thing. As the saying goes, dead soldiers are hard to find." Zhang Ning said, "Master Hou will send a few people over later to entertain the guests."
The night was already very late. After Hou Mao and his uncle and nephew from the Jiang family finished talking about their business, they didn’t stay long and left quickly. Zhang Ning had to write the reply overnight and hand it over to Jiang Hai, Jiang Youde’s nephew, tomorrow morning.
Send it back.
On a night when the thunder was rumbling, the letter Zhang Ning wrote under the candle was unusual. He did not write that everything was fine here, but instead wrote that he was determined to become a benevolent person... If he could not succeed, he would not be able to achieve the goal of letting Yao Ji.
The promise to regain his noble status in an upright manner. In words, he added a psychological debt to Yao Ji. It was as if if he died in the battle, he died for Yao Ji.
He did do it on purpose, just like a drowning person who wants to pull someone to keep him company when he is panicking. Of course, when Zhang Ning is "drowning", just pulling in someone can't solve the problem. He needs someone with whom he is truly emotionally invested.
Why do he do this, why do he want to hurt the person he cares about the most in the Ming Dynasty instead of noblely wishing her "as long as you live well"? He doesn't know the reason. Maybe Yao Ji will never forget it after she dies.
His fear and helplessness of death seem to have been reduced. Is this exactly what he wants?