Chapter 100: The Fairy of Magpie Bridge (Part 3)
The sky was overcast and snowy, and the wind was so cold that it seemed to penetrate the bones.
Qingqiong was leading the chestnut horse that Shuangge and Ni Su had bought for him. The entire mountain trail was quiet, with a thin layer of snow covering the sparsely stemmed and yellowed grass leaves.
"Miss Ni, none of them really followed us." Qing Qiong was wrapped up thickly, with only a pair of eyes and a nose showing. Even so, he was still stiff and cold, and walked very slowly. "Does this mean that at least some people are willing to believe us?"
“Trust is never something that can be achieved with just a few words.”
Ni Su wiped the broken silver spear with a scarf, "Who am I? It's too naive to expect them to believe General Yujie's innocence with just a few words."
"The public opinion is pure and simple, without any decoration. It is only deliberately carved by those with ulterior motives that it has become a weapon that kills people without knowing it," Ni Su wrapped the broken spear and tied it around his body with the two ends of the shawl. He then took the reins of Shuang Ge from Qing Qiong. "But I really can't bear this anger. I want to say these words in front of others with dignity."
The reason why Ni Su was able to take Xu Hexue's things away today was not because the people of Yongzhou City were willing to believe her, but because of everything Master Ni had done for Yongzhou City, because she had saved many lives with Doctor Tian, and more importantly, because of the tacit consent of General Qin Jixun.
"Then we will go to the capital. Lord Han is not only the military supervisor of Yongzhou, but also the angel of the emperor's golden mouth. I heard that he will order people to bring Tan Guangwen back to Yunjing and ask the emperor to punish him!" Qingqiong looked at the fluffy glow in the medicine basket beside Ni Su. "By then, with him as a witness, the grievances of General Xu and the Jing'an Army may be cleared..."
As Qingqiong was speaking, he saw a man and a horse stopped in the road in the distance. The man was wearing a dark black robe, with a sword at his waist, and he looked very majestic.
"Miss Ni, it looks like you are the Deputy Envoy Zhou..." Qingqiong recognized him.
Ni Su looked up when she heard the voice.
There were no delicious leaves on the sparsely grassed mountain path. Shuang Ge licked the snow on the ground and exhaled a few times. Ni Su stroked its mane, "Master Xiao Zhou, why are you here?"
"Wait for you."
"What are you waiting for me to do?"
Zhou Ting glanced at Qingqiong who was standing not far behind. The young man looked a little strange, with dark pupils that were larger than those of ordinary people.
"Miss Ni, are you going back to Beijing?"
He asked.
Ni Su said "hmm".
"I am following the order of Lord Han to escort the criminal official Tan Guangwen to Beijing for trial. Miss Ni, would you like to go with me?" Zhou Ting's eyes fell on the object wrapped in a shawl and carried behind her back.
"Thank you, Master Xiao Zhou," Ni Su bowed her head and bowed to him, "but it's not necessary. Qing Qiong is weak, and we have to walk much slower. If we go with you, I'm afraid we will delay your journey."
After hearing this, Zhou Ting was silent for a moment, but he didn't say anything more. He just said, "In that case, Miss Ni, please be careful on your journey. We..."
He paused, "See you in Yunjing."
"good."
Ni Su twitched her pale lips and said, "Let's say goodbye here, Master Xiao Zhou."
Zhou Ting was leading the horse by the side of the road, watching Ni Su and Qing Qiong mount their horses, their hooves trampling the wet mountain path, and soon their figures were covered by the wind and snow.
After a long time, he finally climbed onto the horse, kicked the horse's belly, and galloped back to Yongzhou City.
"Ni Su is gone?"
Han Qing was temporarily placed in the prefectural mansion. There was a charcoal basin in front of him, and he was warming himself by the fire.
"yes."
Zhou Ting responded.
"This woman..." Han Qing leaned back in his chair, thinking carefully about what she had said to him in the corridor today.
"If there is a day when their names can be clearly recorded in the writings of the world, please join me in speaking out for them, along with others who care about this matter like you do."
She knelt before him and spoke in a pleading manner, but her words were deafening.
Whether she beat up Tan Guangwen or said the four words "General Yujie" in front of the Qin and Wei clan leaders, Han Qing was deeply touched.
"Zhou Ting, do you know what she told us?" Han Qing raised his eyes and looked at the young man in front of him, "She said that Mr. Ni was an old member of the Jing'an Army."
When Zhou Ting heard this, there was a hint of astonishment in his eyes.
"General Qin told me that Master Ni played an indispensable role in defending the city for 20 days. If it weren't for his repeated surprise moves, Yongzhou City would not have been able to hold out for 20 days and would have fallen into the hands of Yelu Zhen."
"Yes, I also witnessed his methods when I was here. General Qin said that he has the talent of a general." Zhou Ting answered truthfully.
"It's a pity. If we hadn't met the reinforcements from the Danqiu Nanyan tribe on the way, we might have been able to meet him again."
The soldiers of Zezhou were useless, which caused the main army to be stuck with the reinforcements of Nanyan tribe for many days. Fortunately, Zhou Ting arrived in time and ordered Han Qing to find a loophole in the situation in Yongzhou. He spread the news that Yelu Zhen assassinated Shi Monu, the general of Juhan Pass, and suppressed the Nanyan soldiers under Shi Monu. This made the general who led the reinforcements of Nanyan tribe resentful and unwilling to help Yelu Zhen succeed, so he led his troops back the same way.
"Once he dies, the Jing'an Army will be wiped out."
Han Qing's throat tightened.
Zhou Ting was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Your Excellency, this is definitely not just Wu Dai's business."
"This line is a little too smooth,"
Han Qing gathered his thoughts and tapped the armrest with his knuckles. "Wu Dai is crazy now, how can he remember anything? If we don't blame him for these things, who else can we blame? We asked you to take care of Mr. Zhang's land in Zezhou, but you couldn't sit still and insisted on intervening in the Daizhou grain draft. If we hadn't checked, we wouldn't have known that. After checking, you found out that the person who bought the official grain from those Daizhou officials was Cao Shanli from Manyu Bank."
"According to the date, Chao Yisong, who is beside you, should have arrived in Yunjing with Cao Dong by now, right?"
Cao Shanli is Cao Dong's father and the former owner of Manyu Money House. He passed away a few years ago. Now the head of Manyu Money House is his eldest son Cao Dong.
Emperor Zhengyuan issued an edict to replace private money with official money. The first target was the Manyu Money House of the Cao family in Daizhou. If private money was no longer viable, the Cao family's business would be cut off as well.
When Zhou Ting captured Cao Dong in Zezhou, he was being chased by someone.
"All my business has gone bankrupt, and my family's lives are in danger. Now that I have come to this point, I don't ask for anything else. I have something to exchange with you, sir. I only ask you to save the lives of my wife, children and grandmother." That day, Cao Dong screamed under Zhou Ting's knife, "If you can let me see Mr. Meng, I will hand over this thing. If you can't, no one in this world can save the lives of my family. Why not just die now!"
"He wants to see Mr. Meng before he tells him everything he knows," Zhou Ting turned around and looked at the heavy snow outside the door. "Maybe, it's almost time."
"Then you go too."
Han ordered calmly.
"yes."
There was heavy snow in Yongzhou and heavy rain in Yunjing.
This autumn rain was so heavy that it lasted from early morning until dark. A group of officials from the Night Watch, covered in dust and wearing straw raincoats, escorted a horse-drawn carriage as it moved forward quickly.
The sound of rain covered up many subtle noises, but Chao Yisong, who was riding on horseback, still noticed something wrong. He turned his head suddenly and saw several black shadows jumping on the eaves tiles in the rain.
"Protect the people in the car!"
Chao Yisong shouted immediately.
The personal officials quickly gathered together and surrounded the carriage in the middle.
The killer jumped down and pounced forward quickly, swords clashing, accompanied by the sound of rain, soaking the lanterns on the street. Chao Yisong saw a man falling on the hood of the carriage, he immediately used the force to fly up, raised his sword and chopped the man off the carriage.
Raindrops and blood flow together.
Sharp arrows hidden in the dark shot towards them with a "hissing" sound. Chao Yisong and others retreated to the side of the carriage and hurriedly blocked the arrows with their swords. Several close officers were unable to react and fell to the ground with arrows in their hands.
Chao Yisong and his companions had no place to retreat, so they formed a human wall to protect the carriage.
The rain of arrows stopped, and the assassins moved closer and closer. The leader had a scar under the corner of his eye and his eyes were fierce, "Go!"
Human figures were piled up one after another.
Chao Yisong and others came forward with knives, and the two sides started fighting. The scarred man with his face covered seized the opportunity and pushed away the two close officials with one knife. The bloody blade flashed and cut through the bamboo curtain of the carriage.
There were flashes of lightning and thunder, and the cold light and shadows illuminated the man who was sitting upright. He was wearing a purple official uniform and a long-winged hat. He raised his eyes and stared at him expressionlessly.
The man's pupils shrank.
At that moment, the man in the carriage raised his hand and drew out a long sword. The light and shadow flickered. Before the man could react, he kicked him down and quickly jumped out of the carriage. Within a few moves, he stepped on the man's hand holding the knife, leaned over, and put the sword against his neck. When he raised his head again, he could vaguely see a carriage parked outside the archway in the dim light, with its outline vaguely visible on the roadside in the distance.
Another group of close followers of the Night Police who had been hiding in the dark in the rear suddenly rushed over and were the first to subdue the assassin who was shooting arrows from a high place, and the two sides faced off.
Chao Yisong held up an umbrella and covered the old man in purple robes with it, and called out, "Mr. Meng."
Meng Yunxian took the umbrella and walked forward a few steps holding up the hem of his clothes. Then he saw someone in front of him pushing through the crowd, also holding an umbrella. He was wearing a bamboo green shirt and a fu hat.
Raindrops hit the brim of the umbrella rapidly.
Meng Yunxian and this person looked at each other, and almost at the same time, they raised their hands and ordered everyone behind them to step back.
"Why is it you, Lord Meng?"
The long silence was broken by someone, who smiled.
"I was just about to ask, why is it you..." Meng Yunxian stared at him and spoke word by word, "Pan Sansi."
The smile in Pan Youfang's eyes disappeared, and the two of them fell into silence again. Only the sound of rain could be heard. He sniffed the moist rain and looked out of the umbrella eaves, "I remember that when I passed the imperial examination that year, it also rained so heavily. It made me very happy. When Mr. Zhang saw me in a daze in the rain, he almost thought I was so happy that I went crazy. He invited me into his house and asked someone to give me some ginger tea..."
"Shut up!"
Meng Yunxian couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted him harshly.
Pan Youfang remained expressionless and stopped talking.
"How dare you mention him?"
Meng Yunxian was filled with a breath of turbid air, "Pan Youfang, how dare you mention Zhang Chongzhi! If he knew what you did, do you think he would regret trusting you so much?!"
These words pierced Pan Youfang's heart like a knife, but he endured it again and again, looking calm and indifferent, "I know he will regret it."
"You mentioned Huang Zongyu on purpose in the court so that the emperor would have to ask me," Meng Yunxian said with a cold look, "but you were not really helping me. Instead, you wanted me to plant my own people to find Tan Guangwen and expose Wu Dai. There is no one more suitable to cover up for you than Wu Dai, right?"
Pan Youfang laughed, "How could he cover up for me? Lord Meng, do you think he is innocent in this matter?"
"Meng Gong,"
His smile suddenly faded, and he sighed slowly, "Have you met Cao Dong? If he hadn't interfered, you wouldn't have found me at all. In this way, you and I can still get along well."
He felt sorry for it.
Meng Yunxian dropped the sword in his hand and said, "Pan Youfang, Chongzhi trusted you and valued you. Back then, he and I risked everything to send you to Juhan Pass as a military supervisor... But what did you do? What did you do to his best student?"
The sky was shrouded in thunder and lightning, illuminating the swaying shadows of the dead branches. Pan Youfang suddenly said, "Do you think I want to?"
His knuckles tightened around the umbrella handle and turned white.
"I was born in a poor family. I didn't have the opportunity to enter the government until I was 32 years old. This opportunity was given to me by Mr. Zhang!" His throat was hoarse. "I was grateful to him in my heart. Everyone knew it at that time. In front of others, I always called myself Mr. Zhang's disciple! Even though many people ridiculed me, when did Mr. Zhang find a disciple like me? They laughed at me for being shameless... But I am grateful to Mr. Zhang for not giving up and letting me enter the East Palace to work for the new policy reform. I am full of enthusiasm, Mr. Meng!"
"I am a scholar from a poor family. I studied hard in the first half of my life. All I thought about was the people and the world. You and Mr. Zhang gave me an opportunity and placed high hopes on me. I often remind myself not to let you two down."
Pan Youfang suddenly laughed again as he spoke, "But Lord Meng, you and Lord Zhang have introduced new policies and have attracted endless criticism for rectifying the administration of officials. I have advised you to proceed slowly, but you said that if we don't create momentum for the government first, if we don't use thundering means to punish corrupt officials, then there will be less deterrence, and officials may feel lucky."
"But how can the royal family tolerate this? You and Lord Zhang have touched those officials who are dependent on them! You have touched their interests!" The veins on Pan Youfang's neck bulged slightly. "The King of Nankang is the emperor's uncle. When he was alive, he made things difficult for you and Lord Zhang. Wu Dai and the King of Nankang have always had interests in collusion. They couldn't touch you and Lord Zhang under the emperor's nose for a while, so they set their sights on General Yujie at the border. My position as military supervisor was set up by them in order to instigate the emperor. In order to reduce the constraints on General Yujie, you two used all means to send me to the position of military supervisor..."
"Mr. Zhang believes in me, you believe in me, and General Yujie who is far away in Juhan Pass also believes in me."
"But what about me?"
The rain was damp, and Pan Youfang almost lost consciousness. "My entire life has been completely ruined by Wu Dai."
"Now that things have come to this, I am not afraid to tell you that Du Cong is indeed my man. He used to be called Du Sancai. He was originally sent by General Yujie to pick me up. I encountered bandits on the road and was saved by Du Sancai. We have a very good relationship."
"That year, he was ordered to collect government grain in Daizhou and send it to Juhanguan. He was late on the road and committed a capital crime. Daizhou had no grain to transport, so he asked me for help. I thanked him for saving his life and covered up the matter for him. But unexpectedly, Wu Dai found out about this and used it as a threat to make me make a new choice."
"At that time, I wasn't worried about losing my position. I just thought that if I stepped down from the position of military supervisor at Juhan Pass, Wu Dai and King Nankang would have the opportunity to place their people here. So I secretly negotiated with Wu Dai, thinking that I should hold him back first."
"I never interfere with any decision of General Yujie. I don't even need his approval. This is probably another reason why General Yujie trusts me besides the fact that I am Mr. Zhang's student," Pan Youfang recalled the days in Juhan Pass. The young general was full of vigor and often invited him to drink together. "When Danqiu General Mengtuo came to attack Juhan Pass, he threatened General Yujie with the lives of the entire Xu family in Qingya Prefecture to force General Yujie to surrender to Danqiu. General Yujie took advantage of the situation and led the Jing'an Army to Mushen Mountain to lure the enemy. He ordered Tan Guangwen and Ge Rang to coordinate the reinforcement. This military order was issued under my nose, but I secretly intercepted it back."
"Why did you intercept it?"
"It's Wu Dai."
"He saw through my intentions and, failing to persuade him with friendship as fellow townsmen, he lured my father to seize the people's land and falsely accused him of poisoning the officials. He threatened my father's life and asked me to first order Tan Guangwen to reinforce Jianchi Prefecture and then go to Longyan."
"In terms of time, there is still enough time."
Pan Youfang smiled bitterly, "I was coerced by him, and I couldn't bear to see my father die because of me, so I thought since it was not too late, it might be okay to do so. If there was a disaster in Jianchi Mansion, it would be a relief. So I asked Du Cong to see Tan Guangwen, and Ge Rang to stay in Nianchi for the time being. I will send out the general's order when Tan Guangwen comes from Jianchi Mansion."
"But that damn Tan Guangwen,"
He gritted his teeth, "He actually got lost on the way to Longyan..."
"Later I learned that when Tan Guangwen got lost, the man Wu Dai sent to negotiate with me pretended to be my messenger and intercepted the military order I was sending to Ge Rang."
Ge Rang was completely unaware of this in Nianchi.
The tragedy of Mushen Mountain occurred, and 30,000 Jing'an troops and 50,000 Hu soldiers were completely wiped out.
"The Hu people who were originally going to attack Jianchi Prefecture suddenly attacked Yongzhou, which was short of troops. The letter from Prince Danqiu Rili and the decree from the King of Danqiu to confer the title of Xu Hexue were all tricks of the Danqiu Hu people! Wu Dai was worried that his trust in Prince Rili would be exposed, so he ordered 30,000 Jing'an troops to die in Mushen Mountain. He even did not let Miao Tianning, who was guarding Yongzhou, go."
Pan Youfang revealed all the things he had hidden in his heart for many years. He looked at the handsome and well-dressed Mr. Meng in front of him and said, "I can still bear the original guilt, but I was confused and the crime became even more heinous. Then, I was tied to their boat and became one with them. Do you know what I did?"
"It was me who asked Dou Yingzhang, one of my men, to rush to Mushen Mountain and bring General Yujie back to Yongzhou from the sea of blood and corpses." Pan Youfang recalled, "At that time, his eyes had been cut by the golden sword of the Hu people and he couldn't see. I was glad that he couldn't see. He was unconscious, and I was afraid that he would wake up and say something to Jiang Xianming while being tortured, so I personally..."
His lips trembled, "I personally gave him the mute medicine."
"Pan Youfang!"
Meng Yunxian couldn't bear it any longer. The umbrella slipped out of his hand. He grabbed Pan Youfang's collar and trembled, "How dare you! How dare you treat him like that!"
"I won't treat him like that." Pan Youfang dropped the umbrella in his hand. The rain soaked him and made him more sober. "My whole family will die! Lord Meng, now that things have come to this, I can only redeem myself from General Yujie in the next life. In this life, I can't turn back."
"I also wanted to be a good official, but Wu Dai ruined me."
Pan Youfang wiped the rain off his face and said, "Mr. Meng, I once aspired to serve the people and the world, but my will was not strong enough to give up too many things and become a sage. I have accepted my fate. I worked hard to climb to this position, but in the end, I will inevitably become a grasshopper on the same line with Wu Dai. You see, Concubine Wu is pregnant now, so even if Wu Dai goes crazy, he will not die."
"I am being honest with you tonight, not because I am a guilty official, but because of my personal friendship with you and Mr. Zhang," Pan Youfang stared at Meng Yunxian calmly, "You know, the government will not kill Wu Dai, nor will it overturn a treason case that happened sixteen years ago. Anyone who dares to open this case at this moment is tantamount to opposing the emperor and father."
"besides,"
Pan Youfang tightly grasped Meng Yunxian's hand, "Mr. Meng, are Wu Dai and I the only ones who harmed General Yujie Xu Hexue? Since the King of Nankang couldn't do anything to you and Mr. Zhang, wouldn't he want to do something to Xu Hexue? Who do you think is backing Wu Dai?"
"If you and Lord Zhang had not been so eager to implement the new policy, why would you have caused dissatisfaction among the royal family and led to constant fighting between the old and new parties... Do you think that the royal family, Wu Dai, me, or even you and Lord Zhang, who among us can escape the guilt of killing Xu Hexue?"
These words stung Meng Yunxian's heart, and he felt cold all over. He suddenly let go of Pan Youfang and kicked him to the ground, "I am guilty, I dare to admit it! But what about you, Pan Youfang? Do you dare?"
"I won't admit it."
Pan Youfang's eyelids turned red, and he propped his hands in the rain and said calmly, "Mr. Meng, it's been sixteen years. Why don't you just let it disappear into thin air?"
"Xu Hexue is dead, the Jing'an Army is dead, and your actions will not help."
"Think about Mr. Zhang, and then think about your current situation. You have finally returned to the capital, and you have not yet appeased the officials of the old party who had grudges against you. If you dare to speak up for Xu Hexue at this time, not only will you lose your position as prime minister, but you will also implicate the lives of your entire family and even all the officials close to you."
"Even if I tell you everything tonight, I will not admit it tomorrow."
The rain fell heavily at night with crackling sound.
Pan Youfang looked up, and the cold raindrops kept falling on his face. "I once thought about clarifying Yu Yu, but no one could have imagined that now, I would be the one to be clarified."
"But can the truth of this world really be clarified?"
