Chapter 4: Strong wine warms the heart

The school official wiped away the wine from his face and looked at the general foolishly. I wonder why the general was angry. Could it be that he had lost the face of the general's mansion on the street before, so the general used this kind of wine to spray his face to express his strong contempt for himself?

General Li Hongcheng didn't even look at the confidant. He looked at Fan Xian's disguised businessman in the hall with a fool. He opened his mouth, pointed his index finger at the bottom, and quickly ticked it, but he didn't say anything.

Fan Xian glanced at him, squinted his eyes, and shook his head unaware.

Li Hongcheng suppressed the shock in his heart very quickly, coughed twice, cleared his throat, glanced at his subordinates around him, and said, "Down here, sort out the sect and bookmarks. The Governor's Office will come to rob people later, you can stop me from killing me."

"Here." The soldiers who escorted spies into the mansion received the order, but the school official and several confidants from the mansion of the general did not withdraw the documents.

"General, won't be tried?" The school official wiped the wine from his face and looked at his boss with some clues.

Li Hongcheng was furious and said, "What a fuck! You can't beat me, how can I judge me?"

Can't you fight? Could it be that what the spy said before really convinced the general? The school official looked at Li Hongcheng like a dementia, and couldn't react for a while, thinking that life seemed too ridiculous.

When the main mansion became much quieter, Fan Xian smiled and asked in the hall, "These four people didn't leave. It seems that they are your confidants?"

Li Hongcheng had already jumped up from the hall at this time, and while walking down, he muttered: "Nonsense, I'm not a person who can trust me, how dare I stay here."

"That's good." I didn't see how Fan Xian tried, but the cow tendon rope tied to his arms broke and fell off to the ground.

The four confidants of the General's Mansion widened their eyes and couldn't believe their eyes. They thought to themselves who was a master? They had a deeper understanding of the absurdity of life - this was a special military bull tendon rope that was enough to tie a ninth-grade master, but why was this person so easily broken free? How could they know that the domineering true energy in Fan Xian's body had reached its peak, and the special attributes of this true energy, once they were fully exerted, they could be said to be invincible.

The four of them watched Fan Xian get out of trouble and subconsciously wanted to pull out their weapons to cut them over, but fortunately they were not really fools. They had already seen that the situation on the field was a bit strange, and they looked at each other slowly, and their feet were a little weak.

Fan Xian touched his tied red wrist, looked at Li Hongcheng in front of him and said, "These people under you are so cruel."

"Nonsense! How can you catch you guys in the courtyard if you are not ruthless?" Li Hongcheng punched his shoulder and said, "Why are you here? You're also showing a big mess."

Fan Xian was in pain and said, "Don't hammer it when you've been hit by your people."

Li Hongcheng heard clearly that this guy took the opportunity to sue the evil. But as a general, he knew the style of doing things in his hands. He also knew that a person like Fan Xian would never take revenge for such a small matter. He laughed twice. He just didn't respond and wanted to mess around.

"Sir?" The school official finally embarrassed the absurdity of life being unbearable and couldn't help asking.

Fan Xian turned around and pointed at the postmaster who was sleeping on the chair and said, "This person knows my identity. Don't let him go for the time being, and I'll talk about it when the matter is finished."

Li Hongcheng nodded, hugged his shoulder, and smiled and said, "You will have at least ten days to arrive from Beijing. Is there anything good to come so early? Is there a big deal now that I am the king of Dingzhou now, so what good things are there? Is there a cup of me?

Fan Xian frowned and looked at him, feeling stranger in his heart. Why is this dignified prince really like a soldier now? Especially the smell of his body... He shivered, took off the other party's enthusiastic embrace, and said, "There are no good things. There are a lot of bad things. I can't tell you anyway, but there are some things that need your help to deal with."

When these two bosses talked about the serious matters, they forgot these subordinates aside. The confidants of the four generals' mansion had already heard the origins of these so-called spies clearly, and could not help but look at each other. Then, looking at the people tied into rice dumplings and their faces were blue and red, they couldn't help but feel pounding in their hearts, thinking what if they really beat the spies in the court, with the evil temper of the old ancestor of the Supervision Bureau and the little ancestor who was so cruel to protect their shortcomings in the legend of the legend of the inspectorate, what would they do?

"Do you want to untie these... brothers?" The school official couldn't help asking Li Hongcheng for advice.

Li Hongcheng scolded: "You are so unconscious, why don't you unlock it quickly."

Hurry up, the four people hurriedly let go of Fan Xian's subordinates of the Supervision Bureau, and then stood aside at a loss, smiling and saying sorry. The subordinates of the Supervision Bureau did not have any anger and were used to being spies, so of course they would not care about these small problems.

"Block the news and the rumor cannot be revealed at all. As for someone who asked the spy who was taken to the mansion today, he said that the General's Mansion is under a secret trial."

I don’t know what Fan Xian and Li Hongcheng said a few words, but Li Hongcheng turned around, said a few words in a cold voice, and then explained some things to ensure that Fan Xian and his group’s whereabouts would not be revealed.

"Three days later, you can choose some death row prisoners in prison..." Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "What should I do next? These people under my command will help you deal with the people in your house."

"Of course they do these things, we have to talk about them first." Li Hongcheng still held Fan Xian's arms, as if he was afraid that he would run away, dragged him into the backyard.

The officials from the General's Mansion and Supervision Bureau were left in the hall. They looked at their immediate superiors and walked away with their backs. They couldn't help but stare at each other and fell into silence. They didn't know what they should call each other and how to deal with related matters. After a long time, the school official who caught them in the mansion coughed twice, looked at Mu Feng'er and said softly: "Sir, is the yard?"

Mu Feng'er nodded, not giving this man a good look.

"That was the old master... Mr. Xiao Fan?" The school official lowered his voice and said in a slight fear.

Mu Feng'er knew that Lord Tisi and Prince Jing had a close relationship, so he nodded seriously. The school official swallowed a saliva, and then he realized what kind of person he had caught today. When he thought that the other party was the little ancestor of the Supervision Institute, his face began to turn white, even whiter than the flowers on the grassland.

The General's Mansion was originally the residence of the Ye family. Later, the prince Hongcheng entered the Western Expedition Army and lived here as his identity. Two years ago, Kyoto rebelled, and half of the Dingzhou army troops entered the capital to suppress the rebellion. Ye Chong and Gong Dian stayed in Kyoto since then and never came back, so the General's Mansion became the location of Li Hongcheng's private residence and office yamen.

There were no idle people waiting in the mansion. When they walked all the way to the back garden, they didn't even see a servant. Fan Xian secretly claimed to be stranger, but nothing appeared on his face. He sat on a cold stone bench in the garden. He got used to the cold and murderous aura that was completely different from the Central Plains Garden, and then he spoke carefully: "You must explain it to the lower level. We must not think of me, I entered Dingzhou City today."

"Long-word! You are naturally doing things when you come ten days in advance. The problem is that you are now. What are you afraid of?" Li Hongcheng carried a large pot of wine, poured two bowls, and placed them in front of each other.

"I don't want some people who are interested to guess that I... are here to meet people because of my arrival."

Li Hongcheng's wrist, which was putting 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. Today I came to see this nail, but..." He emphasized and said, "I don't want anyone to know this except you, because the life and death of that nail will affect the life and death of many people in the Qingguo military and civilians."

After thinking for a while, Li Hongcheng nodded, and then said, "Just as you said before. I will handle it. I will select some death row prisoners to pretend to be your identities, so that people outside will not be suspicious."

"There is another very important thing." Fan Xian said: "The courtyard needs a passage to the Xihu tribe, and I don't want to be copied by the army under your command, so I need your cooperation."

Li Hongcheng had already escaped from his previous surprise at this time, returned to peace, and said, "What exactly do you want to do? I will only remind you one thing, any grain you sent to the grassland may kill a soldier in Daqing."

Without waiting for Fan Xian to explain, Li Hongcheng stared into his eyes and continued, "I don't care what the court thinks, nor do I care about President Chen's conspiracy. I don't care if you are planning to cultivate a nail to make the Hu people in civil unrest, but I must remind you that Hu people... are a completely different existence. If you are not in the border area, you don't know their cruelty and fickleness. If you raise a tiger, you have to be careful."

Fan Xian could feel the affection contained in the other party's reminder, nodded, comforted and said, "Don't worry, I'm responsible."

He raised the wine bowl and drank it all with Hongcheng, then let out a long breath, looking at the wrinkles that arise involuntarily in the corners of his bearded face and eyes. He didn't know how to speak for a moment, but the two of them fell into silence at the same time, and the back garden was quiet.

Prince Jing Li Hongcheng joined the army three years ago. For three years, he fought bravely and led the army and fought with great success. His reputation had long been passed back to Kyoto and the Central Plains. Everyone praised that after the eldest prince's expedition to the west, the royal family finally produced another powerful figure who could lead the army and fight. It was precisely because of his military merit that this royal family, who had a little unclear relationship with the second prince, was trusted by His Majesty, replaced Ye Chong's position, and began to take charge of the military affairs of the entire Xidaying in Dingzhou.

However, it has been three years since this handsome, elegant and handsome prince back then has been blown and polished into a different appearance by the wind and sand on the border, and he has not returned to Kyoto for three years.

"In three years, although the border is tight, you look at the general's mansion, and there is no time to return to Beijing." Fan Xian filled two bowls with strong wine and said softly: "Why don't you go back?"

Li Hongcheng's hand held the edge of the wine bowl, his face was heavy, and after a long time he slowly said, "What are you going back to do?"

Fan Xian knew what he was afraid of, so he looked at him in disagreement and said, "It's all the past. If Your Majesty doubts you, how could you let you take charge of the matters in the state?"

"I call it a general, but my control over the army is far worse than that of the Ye family." Li Hongcheng lowered his head and said, "Of course, I don't want to turn Xidaying into my own family soldier. You have also seen that I only have four trusted confidants in the mansion. The one who captured you into the mansion was a member of the Ye family. I can trust him...but I can't believe the ministers in Kyoto."

"In the past two years, Your Majesty has carried out four rotations. One dependent in Yanjing, one dependent in Nanzhao, and the other four roadside soldiers came to our Dingzhou City for a trip..." Li Hongcheng raised his head and stared at Fan Xian's eyes. "Although you have never commanded the soldiers, you should also know that famous generals use familiar soldiers. The iron-killed camp is really a flowing soldier. The generals don't know how to fight the soldiers, how can the war be fought?"

"This time you go back to Kyoto, you must do me a favor and advise Your Majesty... you can't rotate anymore." Li Hongcheng said in a heavy tone: "The replenishment of troops is indeed more than enough because of rotation. But when fighting, it is not the case... Moreover, the offensive of the Fourteen Hu people's fourteen divisions is getting stronger and more cunning..."

Fan Xian cut off his words and said, "I know you sent a message to the Privy Council. I have also read the secret report to Your Majesty, but you should know why Your Majesty's rotation in the past two years is in a stalemate... The area of ​​Yanjing and Cangzhou is in a stalemate. Your Majesty is sharpening the knife and training troops for the sake of future affairs. It is basically very difficult for you to ask Your Majesty to stop playing this move."

"I don't care about the great cause of unifying the world." Li Hongcheng said angrily: "Yes. If it comes to the opening day of the war, I am willing to be a pawn for His Majesty and fight to the death, but now it is so tight here. If Xiliang Road is really a disabled person by the Hu people, it's nothing more to dominate the world!"

At this time, only Fan Xian and him were in the garden, so his words were particularly direct, and he criticized His Majesty the Emperor's national policy as bullshit. Anyway, he knew Fan Xian's nature, so he didn't care about the other party's ears.

Fan Xian smiled bitterly and said, "What can I do? In this regard, military affairs. Your Majesty never allows me to interfere, you don't know."

Li Hongcheng sighed, raised the wine bowl and drank it all, cursed and whispered: "It is possible to train troops through war, but the new recruits who come back seven times, and then die on the grassland after three times... If you still use the former Dingzhou veterans or the old subordinates of the Western Expedition Army brought out by His Highness back then, these people would not have to die."

"But..." Fan Xian knew that he had to wake up Hongcheng some things so that he would not have violated taboos in the future. "How could he attack the Northern Qi and Dongyi with just Dingzhou Army and the former subordinates of the Western Expedition Army? Two years ago, the rebels of the Qin family were killed and injured. The army suddenly became unstable and the military strength dropped sharply. Your Majesty must use Dingzhou to pick up the edge of the Qing army again! There is no need to say this matter anymore, don't make any comments to the court. Not only will it fail to achieve any effect, but it will make Your Majesty displeasure."

"Of course, Your Majesty won't watch you suffer here alone." A slightly mocking smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's lips, "Aren't I here too?"

Li Hongcheng shook his head and did not continue to discuss this topic.

Fan Xian looked at him and suddenly spoke, "How many days do you take a shower now?"

Li Hongcheng was stunned: "I haven't remembered it, about half a month or a month?"

Fan Xian sniffed and cursed with a smile: "No wonder you smell so bad."

Li Hongcheng glared at him.

Fan Xian smiled and said, "There are deep wells in Dingzhou City, and there is no shortage of water at all. Moreover, you are a general, can't you take a bath?"

"Lacky." Li Hongcheng smiled and shook his head, saying, "If you were like me, who had been dealing with Hu people in the grassland and desert for half a year, you would have been used to life without bathing. Besides, you were just a job of robbing sticks. There were a bunch of rough people around you, who would care about this?"

"The subordinates don't care, don't the concubines in the mansion care?" Fan Xian picked up a piece of courgette, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it, and said vaguely.

Li Hongcheng was stunned for a moment, and then smiled and said, "There are no concubines in the mansion. All the people from the Old Ye family have returned to Beijing, so I will keep a few servants."

Fan Xian raised his head in shock, unable to believe his ears. Prince Jing Li Hongcheng, who was famous for his romanticism in Kyoto back then, secretly took charge of half of the world for the second prince. He is really a newcomer by his pillow. Now he is single in Dingzhou, but he doesn't even have a concubine around him?

It seemed like he could guess what Fan Xian was thinking. Li Hongcheng tapped the wine bowl with his index finger and said softly: "Ruoruo doesn't like it, so I quit."

Fan Xian couldn't speak, and after a while, he said quietly: "I'm sorry for you for this matter."

"What did you do to be sorry for me?" Li Hongcheng cursed with a smile.

Fan Xian shook his head, stopped talking about this, and said, "When I first saw you at Yishiju, you were surrounded by a guest of peace and contentment. I didn't expect that I would look like this now."

"There is nothing wrong with this look." Li Hongcheng thought about the things that happened around him over the past five or six years, and was also a little emotional. "I took the lead in one stone that day, and Guo Baokun, He Zongwei and his group..."

If it weren't for Li Hongcheng's mention, Fan Xian might have forgotten who Guo Baokun was.

"You punched Guo Baokun, and later destroyed his family." Li Hongcheng looked at Fan Xian and said with a smile: "He Zongwei has now become a big celebrity in the court and his favorite minister. All things and fortunes are like this. I can stay out of it, relatively speaking, it is quite good."

Fan Xian smiled and said nothing.

"You boy is cruel enough. Before you entered Beijing, Kyoto was calm for more than ten years." Li Hongcheng continued: "But since you entered Beijing, you have started to die one after another, but I believe you didn't expect that He Zongwei could actually climb to his current position. The Censorate was pinching your Censorate's neck in Beijing. He began to enter the Secretariat to discuss matters, and he had already begun to threaten you..."

It has to be said that Li Hongcheng and Fan Xian were surprisingly consistent and solemn in their attitude towards Lord He. This is because they both hold grudges very much. I remember that He Zongwei wanted to eat Fan Ruoru, the snow swan, that year.

Fan Xian laughed slightly and said, "He Zongwei climbed high and fell quickly in the future. I'm not worried about anything."

"Of course you won't be afraid of him." Li Hongcheng laughed, "Although I haven't returned to Beijing, I have also heard of the nickname of the three surnames' slaves. This must have been yours."

Fan Xian laughed twice and made a default.

Li Hongcheng pointed to his nose and sighed, "You... are the same tricks. First, they were to make people's reputation bad. Then, with the favor of His Majesty the Emperor, they began to play unreasonable tricks. But I remind you that He Zongwei is different from me and from the second brother. He is a minister raised by His Majesty, so you can't touch him easily."

This move is indeed Fan Xian's common trick. He used this trick to suppress the deeds of killing prostitutes and corrupting reputation on the second prince and Li Hongcheng. In the end, the second prince made a dangerous move. Then Li Hongcheng was imprisoned in the royal palace by Prince Jing for more than half a year.

"Yes, now many officials in the court have begun to hold He Zongwei's thigh... The three-submitted slave? In fact, he and the landlord have always been surnamed Li, and there is no way to avoid fame like a creature like an official." Fan Xian mocked: "But these officials probably didn't expect that no matter how the situation in the court develops, He Zongwei will never escape death in the future."

“How to say it?”
To be continued...