#226 - Want to fight a national war?
“Cluck, cluck, cluck~”
As the first ray of sunlight pierced through the early spring morning mist, the distant and familiar sound of a rooster crowing rang out.
Wei Changtian had already gotten dressed and walked out of his room, standing at the door and stretching languidly, his face full of sleepiness.
Yesterday, Li Huaizhong's sudden appearance interrupted his original "exercise" plan, which was truly a bit of a pity.
Looking at Yuan'er in the courtyard, who was holding a small dipper and watering flowers, he was pondering whether or not to have a "morning exercise" session.
However, before he could make a decision, Xu Qingwan, fully dressed, also came out of the house.
“Changtian, what time did you come back last night?”
The red rope tied in her hair swayed in the wind.
Little Xu Comrade walked across the small courtyard, took over Yuan'er's work, fetched a basin of water for washing her face, and whispered with a hint of self-reproach: “I fell asleep and didn't hear a thing.”
“Splash~”
Cupping a handful of warm water and splashing it on his face, Wei Changtian lowered his head and vaguely replied: “I didn't get back until the end of Zi Shi (11pm-1am).”
“Oh.”
Xu Qingwan stood beside him holding a long towel, nodded and asked: “Are you still going to the state office today?”
“Yes, I have to go.”
Wei Changtian shook the water droplets off his hands: “There are quite a few things to do these days.
There's going to be a war near Jizhou, so we still need to make some arrangements early.”
“Don't tire yourself out too much.”
Wei Changtian didn't want Xu Qingwan to get involved in these matters, so he casually replied.
Then he suddenly remembered something and said casually: “By the way, the Suspended Mirror Division has people guarding your parents' place, so you don't need to worry about their safety.”
“Yes, they mentioned it in their letters.”
Xu Qingwan took back the long towel and carefully scrubbed it in the copper basin, seemingly feeling a little guilty as she apologized softly:
“The Xu family has no power or influence, not only can't they help you and Uncle with anything, but they also have to trouble you to send people to look after them.”
“We're all family, what's the point of saying that?”
Wei Changtian chuckled dumbly and couldn't help but pinch Xu Qingwan's cheek.
Little Xu Comrade's face flushed instantly, and her head almost dropped into the copper basin.
“We, we're not family yet...”
“Hahaha, we will be soon.”
Wei Changtian let go triumphantly and casually asked again: “Seeing you dressed so neatly, what's up?
Does the Suspended Mirror Division have a mission today?”
“No, I want to go to Nine Pinnacle Mountain to see Miss You.”
Xu Qingwan answered truthfully: “I haven't been there for several days, and I think she must be very bored all alone.”
“...”
She's not bored at all right now, she's probably plotting how to kill me.
Wei Changtian complained inwardly, nodding without revealing anything.
“Well, let Liu Shi go with you, you can play cards or something together.”
“I understand.”
Xu Qingwan responded, then looked at Wei Changtian hesitantly, her face seemingly a little embarrassed.
Wei Changtian was puzzled: “What's wrong?”
“Chang, Changtian...”
Little Xu Comrade mustered her courage and asked softly: “Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?
Ask away.”
“Then, then I'll ask... Do, do you like Miss You?”
“Uh...”
Wei Changtian didn't expect Xu Qingwan to ask this, and was momentarily speechless.
The answer to the question was of course negative, but his behavior in the past few days seemed to be affirmative.
But he couldn't possibly tell Xu Qingwan—I'm approaching You Jia in order to use her, right?
The fact that You Jia is a Dragon Sparrow is currently only known to Yang Liushi, not even Qin Zhengqiu knows.
The reason for doing this was of course to avoid revealing any flaws.
Especially with someone as simple-minded as Xu Qingwan, once she found out about this, she definitely wouldn't be able to hide it on her face when facing You Jia in the future.
So...
Wei Changtian didn't know how to answer for a moment, but fortunately Zhang San, who suddenly ran in from outside the gate in a hurry, came to his rescue.
“Miss Xu.”
Coming to the two of them in a few steps, Zhang San first greeted Xu Qingwan.
Seeing this, the latter knew that something big had happened, so she didn't continue to dwell on the trivial matter of love between a man and a woman, nodded to Zhang San, and turned to leave.
After she walked away, Wei Changtian then asked: “What's the rush?”
“Young Master...”
Zhang San immediately leaned close to Wei Changtian's ear and said in a low voice:
“News just arrived that the envoy of Great Feng entered the capital yesterday, demanding that Great Ning return the former Yuan and Xi provinces.”
“What?!”
Wei Changtian suddenly raised his head, greatly surprised by this sudden situation.
Great Feng was adjacent to Great Ning's western border, and the relationship between the two countries had always been bad.
Two hundred years ago, there was even a national war.
The final result was that Great Ning won with a slight advantage.
As for Yuan Province and Xi Province that Zhang San mentioned, these should be considered the two countries' long-standing "disputed territories".
It's hard to trace who these two provinces originally belonged to.
Anyway, they had changed hands several times in the past thousand years, making the local people numb to the matter of "changing nationalities".
After winning the last war, Great Ning took back these two provinces, and now Great Feng must have seen that Great Ning was in great chaos internally, so they wanted to take this opportunity to grab them back again.
“And then?”
After thinking for a while, Wei Changtian frowned and continued to ask: “How did Ning Yongnian reply?”
“This matter is still unknown, but...”
Zhang San replied in a low voice:
“However, after the envoy of Great Feng entered the palace, he never came out again.”
Capital City, Three Delights Teahouse.
Tasting tea, appreciating people, pondering the world, Three Delights Teahouse is a rather famous teahouse in the capital.
There are many tea drinkers on weekdays, and whether it is the lobby or the private rooms, they are basically full of guests who come to taste tea and talk about things from morning till night.
And today, Three Delights Teahouse seems to be several times more lively than usual.
“.Yuan and Xi provinces have been our country's territory since ancient times.
Great Feng's despicable act of taking advantage of others' misfortune and kicking them when they are down will surely be ridiculed by the people of the world.”
“This newspaper's short commentary, written by Hermit Erri, believes that although my Great Ning is currently in a chaotic world, it must never show weakness to foreign enemies.”
“...”
The white-haired old man was full of energy, holding a large piece of paper in his hand, the back blank, but the fine ink marks coming through from the front could be vaguely seen.
It was the "Capital News" solemnly launched by Chun Shen Bookstore two months ago.
As soon as this newspaper came out, it caused a small sensation in the capital.
Not only could people learn about current affairs, but there were also many popular sections such as interesting stories from the pugilistic world and serialized stories, so almost everyone could find content that interested them.
But after all, there are not many people who can read these days, so most people can only ask literate people to read the newspaper, which in turn gave rise to a new profession—"newspaper reader."
This old man is one of them.
His daily job is to read the newspaper in various teahouses.
If someone finds the content they hear interesting or useful to them, they will throw a few coins as a reward, which is quite a lot of money on weekdays.
But today, he is bound to have little to gain.
“What?! Is Great Feng so shameless?!”
“I spit on them!
They're just defeated soldiers, and they dare to provoke my Great Ning, they really don't know how to write the word 'death'!”
“Fight!
If they really dare to invade, I will be the first to go to the border to kill the enemy!”
“Alas, our Great Ning is in chaos today. If we really fight with Great Feng, I'm afraid we'll be the ones to suffer!”
“Hmph, didn't the report say it! They are clearly taking advantage of our misfortune!”
“I hope the Emperor can quell the Xu family's rebellion as soon as possible!”
“And the Liu and Wei families, they must not continue to fight at this time!”
“What's the use of you saying it here? Go shout at the gates of the Liu and Wei residences if you have the guts!”
“Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation! Why can't I say it?!”
“…”
Before the old man could finish reading the newspaper, the hall was already in chaos.
The shouts, based on anger and mixed with worries, passion, fear, and many other emotions, grew louder and louder, soon completely drowning out the old man's voice.
Such a situation was normal.
After all, although the war had not really started, the explosive nature of this news was no less than the Xu family's rebellion a few days ago.
“…”
Listening to the deafening noise, the newspaper-reading old man felt that even if he continued to read, no one would listen. So, he closed the newspaper, dusted off his sleeves, and prepared to go to the next venue.
Just as he stepped out of the Sanpin Xuan, Li Kan was sitting face to face with a man in the Dali Temple, a few streets away.
The latter was wearing the official robe of the Ministry of Justice, with a calm expression.
Li Kan looked at the two letters in his hand with a complex expression. After a long while, he put down the letters, got up and closed the wooden window in the room, then turned back to look at the man and asked softly:
“What does Young Master Wei want me to do?”
Ever since taking in Li Kan and elevating him to the high position of Minister of the Dali Temple, Wei Changtian had always asked him to remain neutral between the Liu and Wei families, and had never actively asked him to do anything.
Even the intelligence from the Dali Temple to Shu Prefecture was Li Kan's own initiative.
For Li Kan, this state was of course good.
Especially in the current situation of national chaos, the few "neutral factions" in the court are very popular.
However, he also knew in his heart that such a good life could not last forever.
An army is raised for a thousand days, to be used for one. Wei Changtian would use himself one day sooner or later.
Li Kan just didn't expect it to be in this way today.
“Master Li, Young Master Wei would like to ask you to take this pill.”
The man sitting opposite him smiled, took out a small wooden box from his arms, opened it, and revealed a black pill the size of a fingertip.
Li Kan frowned and subconsciously asked, “What is this?”
“Master Li, there is no need to ask more questions. In short, it is not poison.”
The man pushed the wooden box forward, and there seemed to be some threat in his calm gaze.
“…”
Li Kan had already confirmed the identity of the person who came, so he did not suspect that this was Wei Changtian's intention.
However, suddenly being forced to eat a pill of unknown effect would make anyone feel uneasy.
“Master Li”
Seemingly seeing Li Kan's hesitation, the man suddenly asked, “Don't you trust Young Master Wei?”
“Of course not.”
Li Kan shook his head gently: “But you should first tell me what the effect of this pill is, right?”
“I have already said that this pill is not a poison. It will not only not harm you at all, but will even bring great benefits”
The man narrowed his eyes, and finally added: “Unless Master Li betrays the Young Master in the future.”
Great benefits.
The man didn't explain clearly, so Li Kan certainly didn't know where this benefit was.
However, since the words have been said to this point, if he doesn't eat it again, it will inevitably give people the feeling that he is ready to betray Wei Changtian at any time.
“Okay, I'll eat it.”
Gritting his teeth, Li Kan finally made a decision.
From any point of view, Wei Changtian had no reason to kill himself, so this pill was at most a special poison that needed to be taken with an antidote regularly.
He reached out and took out the black pill, paused slightly, then put it in his mouth and swallowed it.
In the next second, it seemed as if a chill was born from the abdomen and went straight to the top of the head, but before Li Kan could react, the chill disappeared instantly.
“…”
After a while.
Realizing that there was nothing wrong with his body, Li Kan breathed a sigh of relief.
He wanted to ask something more, but when he raised his head and saw the man opposite him again, he was suddenly stunned.
Because he suddenly felt a very mysterious aura on the other person.
This aura was not very strong, but Li Kan knew that it was definitely not his illusion, but a real existence, seemingly conveying some kind of information.
“This”
Li Kan looked blankly at the man opposite him with a smile on his lips, and a somewhat absurd but very appropriate idea suddenly popped into his mind.
This is the aura of a "comrade."
Half an hour later, the man wearing the official robe of the Ministry of Justice had already left the Dali Temple.
And in front of Li Kan, there was an extra pair of mother-child jade, and a copper coin engraved with the word "Same Boat".
The Same Boat Society, a magical pill that can detect the existence of "comrades" within the range of sight, and what he will do in the future…
After learning about these secrets, Li Kan's mood was quite complicated, but he didn't have too much resistance.
After all, he had already boarded the Wei family's "thief ship", and now he was able to sit in the position of Minister of the Dali Temple because of Wei Changtian.
If there is any difference between now and before… Perhaps it is that he has no possibility of "getting off the ship" anymore.
Shaking his head, he put away the mother-child jade and copper coin on the table close to his body, put on his official hat, tidied up his robe, and got into the official sedan that had been waiting at the door.
The sedan swayed all the way to the palace, and soon stopped at the bottom of the long steps in front of the Jinluan Hall.
Ever since the Xu family rebelled, the time of the early court has been uncertain, often being postponed.
Today is the same, but the reason is probably not because of the Xu family, but because of the Great Feng envoy yesterday.
“Master Meng.”
“Master Wang.”
“Have you heard about what happened yesterday?”
“Oh, of course.”
“What do you think the Emperor is thinking?”
“The Emperor's will is unpredictable…”
Groups of three or five court officials whispered to each other as they walked along the long steps towards the Jinluan Hall.
Li Kan was the same. He quickly walked into the magnificent hall.
At this time, there was still about an incense stick's worth of time before the early court, and most of the court officials had already arrived.
About a hundred people, standing neatly in more than a dozen rows, with many empty seats among them.
Those empty seats used to be occupied by Beijing officials from the Xu faction, but now there is not a single one left.
Located in the middle of the second row, the people around Li Kan were all discussing the matter of Great Feng demanding the return of Yuan and Xi Prefectures, but he was still thinking about the Same Boat Society, so he was somewhat taciturn.
However, after a moment, Li Kan suddenly seemed to feel something. He slowly turned his head and looked in one direction, followed by the second, third, and fourth…
A total of sixteen gazes looked back, all nodding silently to Li Kan.
Fourteen people stood behind him, one person stood in the same row, and one person stood in front of him.
(ps: A big chapter combined into one)
