lady, please calm down

Chapter 538: Conspiracy to Eliminate the Evil

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, there is a customs pass 20 minutes northeast of Tokyo City.

Just after the hour of Mao, the morning moon and the waning stars were visible, but the interior of the city was already brightly lit and bustling with activity.

From Qi's Prime Minister Cai Yuan down, all the officials from the three provinces and six ministries wore court robes and lined up on the street.

Zhang Xingyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was urging the Emperor Anfeng to urge his procession so as not to delay his exit from the border at 3:35 am.

Chen Bokang, the special envoy of the Lin'an Dynasty, had been waiting early with a large delegation.

At first glance, this small pass is filled with dignitaries and important officials.

Such a grand ceremony was naturally to welcome the King of Chu back to the capital.
As early as October, after Cai Yuan roughly determined the date of the King of Chu's return, he sent a letter to the emperors of Anfeng and Lin'an to invite them to go north together.

The reason was very sufficient. The King of Chu won a great victory in Liaodong this time and brought back the remains of Queen Xiangong of Zhou and moved them to Tokyo for burial.

The Great Zhou was founded on filial piety. It is reasonable for Chai Chong from Lin'an to come to Tokyo to personally attend the burial of his biological mother, right?

But in fact, Chai Chong was afraid that he would be detained and not allowed to return after coming, so he dared not come. But if he did not come, it would be unfilial. He was so scared that he fell seriously ill and was bedridden.
The illness came at a very timely moment. In short, Chai Chong, who "really wanted to go to Tokyo in person", was unable to go due to illness, so he entrusted Qin Huizhi to go.

However, Qin Huizhi was more afraid of this journey than Chai Chong, and also more ruthless than Chai Chong. He accidentally broke his leg before the journey.

After the diagnosis by the imperial physician, it was confirmed that Prime Minister Qin's leg was indeed broken. No, it was indeed broken by a fall.

Finally, after the two patients, Chai Chong and Qin Huizhi, pleaded with him, Chen Bokang agreed to take on the important task of this diplomatic mission.

As for Anfeng Chaiji, he was not very willing to come to Tokyo in person at first.

However, during a court meeting on a certain day in October, Chen Jing'an did not even have to speak. The Minister of Revenue, Ruan Xianfang, stepped out and said, "The Prince of Jin conquered Liaodong, avenging the national hatred of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the family hatred of Your Majesty. It is reasonable for Your Majesty to go in person. If Your Majesty does not go, I am afraid that the Prince of Jin will be unhappy."

'I'm afraid the King of Jin will be displeased'

Chen Jing'an still pays attention to the relationship between the ruler and the subjects in the court, and most of the time he gives face to Chai Ji.

But Ruan Xianfang, as a surrendered minister of the Jin Kingdom, always emphasizes "thinking what the King of Jin thinks and worrying about what the King of Jin worries about". He doesn't care about all that and is blatantly threatening the emperor, "Don't make my boss unhappy!"

However, his words took effect immediately and Chai Ji agreed to go north.

Perhaps for safety reasons, he brought almost all the officials of the Anfeng court with him this time. He probably thought that no one would touch him in front of everyone, just for show.

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, a team of more than a thousand people, including guards and ceremonial guards, filed out of the pass and lined up in the field outside Tongjin Pass waiting.

It is the dead of winter and the water freezes into ice. It is quite cold.

They waited for more than two hours. Just when the ministers were freezing and stamping their feet, they finally saw a column of cavalry carrying the flag of the King of Chu slowly appearing in their sight from the northeast.

At the end of the Si hour, the two sides met and exchanged pleasantries.

Half an hour later, they turned around and headed for Tokyo. The people who had heard the news had already blocked the way.

Some of them were waiting to reunite with their relatives who had returned from the south, and some were waiting to pay their respects to the coffins of royal family members who had returned from the south.

However, the army returning south is large in number, and the team stretches for dozens of miles. The people returning south are located in the rear army and have to wait until tomorrow to arrive.

At the beginning of the Wei hour, the vanguard carrying more than a thousand coffins stopped when passing by the Imperial Mausoleum in Jingdong.

Among the more than 1,000 remains, there are more than 200 members of the royal family, including the former queen, concubines, and royal heirs. The rest are mostly ministers and their families who were captured and followed Chai Ji to the north.

Du Zhaoqing from the Ministry of Rites had already made preparations in advance and contacted the family members. If there were descendants who claimed the remains, he would hand them over to them for reburial in the ancestral tomb.

Among the family members who came to claim the body were both Qi and Zhou.

Cao Bai, the eldest grandson of Cao Wande, the third commander of the Zhou Kingdom, was surrounded by Qi and Zhou students such as Cui Zaidao, Guan Huimin, and Zhong Yan, and finally squeezed in front of the desk of the clerk in charge of the handover.

"It's a pity, but my ancestor was Cao Pei, the former minister of the Zhou Dynasty. I have come to claim the remains of my ancestors."

Upon hearing this, the clerk searched the register for a while, and when he found the other person's name, he said, "Please show me the household registration."

This "Hu Yin" was a certificate issued by the Ministry of Rites of Qi State to prove that Cao Bo and Cao Pei were one family, so as to prevent family members from taking the wrong remains.

Cao Bai handed the household certificate to the clerk, who checked it carefully and then wrote out another note. He pointed to the straw huts behind him with the numbers "甲乙丙丁" on them and said, "Your grandfather is temporarily staying at 甲二六. You can move out with this certificate."

Cao Bai took the note and rushed to the thatched shed with the wooden sign with the word "甲" on it. A sergeant checked the note and led them to the sixth coffin in the second row. He said mechanically, "Please accept my condolences. The army's marching conditions are limited. We can only use a thin coffin to temporarily store the heroic spirit. Please forgive the family."

It was obvious that the sergeant had said this because he had been instructed by his superiors.

But once Cao Bai took one look at the coffin, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

Zhong Yan, who was standing by, quickly thanked Cao Bai, and then looked at the thin coffin.

There was a piece of white cloth covering the coffin, with the words "Baowen Pavilion Assistant Minister, Imperial Court Doctor Cao Gong Hui Pei" written on it.

Cao Bai is just 20 years old this year. Because his grandfather and father were both officials in Zhou Dynasty and it was inconvenient for them to go to Qi State, he came to claim the remains of his great-grandfather.

Speaking of which, he was only two years old during the Dingwei period, and he followed his father to serve as an official in another place. He had not experienced that catastrophe and had no impression of his great-grandfather.

But when I saw the words on the white cloth at this moment, a huge sadness suddenly surged in my heart. I couldn't control my emotions for a moment and tears welled up in my eyes.

"Grandfather, Grandfather and father have asked their great-grandson to pick you up."

This is an unbreakable blood connection.

Even the classmates standing by couldn't help but feel sad. Perhaps it was because of the return of Mr. Cao Botai to his hometown after dying in a foreign land for more than ten years, or perhaps it was because of the sadness of the national hatred and family feuds that were too painful to recall.

Not only Cao Bai, but all the other relatives who found the remains of their fathers, brothers and ancestors under the thatched huts were filled with mixed emotions and burst into tears.

Half a minute later, there was crying.

Cui Zaidao, a student from Lanxiang who was accompanying him, helped Cao Bai up from his tears and consoled him: "Brother Cao, please accept my condolences. Now that the King of Chu has conquered Liaodong, your ancestors would be happy and smile if they knew about this."

With this reminder, Cao Bai suddenly raised his sleeve to wipe the tears from his face, and strode towards the imperial mausoleum beside him. Others didn't know what he was going to do, so they hurriedly stopped him and asked, "Brother Cao, where are you going?"

But Cao Bai said, "The King of Chu avenged my family and transported my great-grandfather's remains from a long distance back to his hometown. I must kneel down and thank him in person for such a great favor!"

After he said this, the relatives who were nearby claiming the bones felt that what he said was true and couldn't help but follow him.

A few hundred steps away, Chen Chu and Chai Ji were standing in front of the imperial mausoleum, talking about something because the auspicious time for burying Empress Xiangong had not yet arrived.

One of them was tall, majestic and reserved, while the other, although wearing a dragon robe, was old and hunched, and always hunched his shoulders when talking to Chen Chu.

For a moment, I couldn't tell who was the king and who was the subject.

There were hundreds of family members of Cao Bai and others in such a large group that the outer security soldiers did not know why and naturally did not dare to let them approach recklessly.

Chen Chu noticed the chaotic explanation and walked forward with Chai Ji, asking, "What's the matter?"

Cao Bai and the others had never seen the King of Chu, but the man was covered in dust from a journey, and his figure and appearance were exactly what they imagined the King of Chu to be, so they immediately determined that the man in front of them was the real deal.

But Cao Bai suddenly lifted his front lapel, knelt down through the guards, and said, "Thank you, King Chu, for avenging the national humiliation of the Great Zhou and the hatred of the people. Thank you, King Chu, for bringing back the remains of my great-grandfather and not letting him wander in a foreign land."

"Thank you, King Chu, for bringing back my father's bones"

"Thank you, King Chu, for allowing my brother to be buried in his ancestral land. I will never forget your kindness!"

There was a burst of thanks mixed with sobs from below.

Chen Chu hurriedly walked through the guards and personally helped Cao Bai up, saying, "Protecting the country and the people is a soldier's duty, and we should not let the villagers treat us like this." Amid the sobbing, Chai Ji was particularly embarrassed. Among the people who came to thank him, it was obvious that many of them spoke with a Jiangnan accent, and some even had a Huainan accent.

Logically, these people should be his subjects, but at this moment, everyone seemed to have forgotten him at the same time.

They just knelt down and kowtowed to the King of Chu, but no one called him "Grand Emperor".

However, Tokyo was lost in his hands back then, and now the revenge is being taken by the King of Chu, so he really can't thank you.
Chen Bokang felt embarrassed for Chai Ji and was quietly observing when he saw Tao Chunlai, the Right Counselor of the Anfeng Dynasty, and Xue Huiyan, the Director of Revenue, who had accompanied Chai Ji here, whispering to each other, and then quietly withdrew from the team of officials and walked deep into the imperial mausoleum before the funeral officially began.

Seeing this, Chen Bokang followed.

Among the more than 1,000 people who were reburied this time, not all of them had relatives to claim them. For some officials whose families had died without descendants, Chen Chu arranged for them to be buried in the imperial mausoleum.

Among them, there are many old friends of Chen Bokang, and one of them is related to both Tao and Xue.

Deep in the imperial mausoleum, there were fewer dignitaries, only some Huaibei soldiers who were burying in batches the remains that had not yet been claimed by relatives. It was much quieter than before.

Chen Bokang hurried a few steps and called out to the two people in front of him, "Master Tao, Master Xue, wait for me."

Tao Chunlai and Xue Huiyan turned around at the same time and saw that the person coming was Chen Bokang, and they couldn't help showing a bit of discomfort.

In fact, when Chen Bokang was in charge of Huainan, he was still the superior of the two. However, in the second year of Xuanqing in the Qi Dynasty, Tao and Xue were captured in Shouchun and Yangzhou respectively. After Chen Jing'an's earnest persuasion, they temporarily submitted to the emperor and served as officials in Anfeng.

The year before last, the Prince of Jin had, in the name of the retired emperor, conquered the Lin'an Dynasty. Now they each served their own master, which was inevitably a bit awkward.

"Meet Mr. Chen"

The two men greeted each other, but Chen Bokang asked, "Are you two here to pay respect to the deceased?"

Tao and Xue looked at each other, and finally the latter sighed and said, "We two are here to see Mr. Li."

Chen Bokang couldn't help but sigh as well, and stretched out his arm, saying, "Let's go, we'll go together."

The three of them walked a few steps, and Xue Huiyan suddenly asked, "Master Chen, does Lord Li have no descendants in Jiangnan?"

Chen Bokang shook his head and replied, "Back then, Lord Li was a pro-war faction. After the fall of Tokyo City, the Jin army slaughtered Lord Li's entire family to vent their anger. Afterwards, Lord Li was also taken to Liaodong. At that time, I was an official in another place. Over the years, I have sent people to look for Lord Li in Jiangnan, but I have never been able to find any descendants of Lord Li. I guess Lord Li's line has died out."

The three men fell silent again. No matter where they are serving as officials now, they were all the pro-war factions who gathered under Lord Li in the past.

However, they held low-ranking officials at that time and were exiled from the capital for supporting Lord Li, but they did not expect that they had escaped a disaster.

Today, the King of Chu, who has grown rapidly in Huaibei, has reached a height that they never dared to imagine back then. Not only did he win another battle to defend Tokyo, he even wiped out the Jin Kingdom's stronghold in Liaodong.

However, the old boss from that time could no longer see it.

The old friend has passed away, and the loyal and virtuous have no descendants, which makes the mood of several people particularly complicated.
The three men passed through a pine forest and suddenly saw an official in a purple robe sitting cross-legged in front of a new tomb not far ahead. A pot of wine and some cakes were placed in front of the tomb. A stack of ashes from burning yellow paper was blown up into the air by the cold wind.

The three of them looked at each other in surprise and slowly walked forward.

Hearing footsteps behind him, the man who was burning paper turned around and saw that it was Chen Jingan.
"Prime Minister Chen, what are you doing?"

Several people came quietly to pay their respects to Lord Li, and naturally they had some feelings for the Great Zhou in their hearts. However, Tao and Xue knew very well that Prime Minister Chen Jing'an of Anfeng was a staunch Huaibei faction, and he had long been loyal to the King of Chu. Why did he come here?
Chen Jing'an used the stick in his hand to pick up the yellow paper that had not yet been burned, and looked at the tombstone and said, "Have you forgotten? Mr. Li was my master."

After saying that, Chen Jing'an stood up and made way for him, saying, "You guys go ahead and worship."

Tao, Xue and Chen Bokang paid tribute to the small grave in turn.

Now, all four of them are important officials. Chen Jing'an and Chen Bokang, one is the governor of Anfeng, and the other is the finance minister of Lin'an.

But many years ago, when they were still young people full of vigor and vitality, they had all been promoted and guided by Mr. Li to varying degrees.

Because of this relationship, the topic of conversation naturally revolved around Mr. Li.

Tao Chunlai pulled out a stack of yellow paper from his sleeve, added fuel to the dying fire, and whispered, "A few years ago, I heard that after the fall of Tokyo, the Jin people were able to find Lord Li's mansion right away. Someone secretly defected to the Jin people and sold out Lord Li."

When he said this, Tao Chun glanced at Chen Bokang, and then continued: "I also heard that the one who defected to the Jin people is the current Prime Minister of the Great Zhou!"

Chen Jing'an noticed Chen Bokang's expression, but the latter neither denied nor agreed, and only said: "Great Zhou, where is the prime minister now? He is just a dog who is worried all day long! This time, in order to avoid the mission, he let his son break his own leg with his own hands, haha."

This sentence alone has already shown his attitude towards Qin Huizhi, and the sentence "where is the sole prime minister nowadays" also implies that Qin Huizhi's power is no longer as strong as before.

Tao Chunlai, who was a little impatient, said, "Since that's the case, Lord Chen, why don't you just get rid of that old dog! Lord Chen, don't forget that you were promoted from a poor county to the position of Tongzhi of Xuanzhou thanks to Lord Li's recommendation."

After hearing this, Chen Bokang just smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Chen Jing'an, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "In the 22nd year of Zhenghe, before I returned home to mourn my father, I had a conversation with Lord Li. Lord Li got angry because of some of my outrageous words."

The three of them looked over and waited for Chen Jing'an to continue.

Chen Jing'an did not keep the secret and said directly: "When I was young and full of vigor, I once said: The weakness of the country is not only because of the six thieves, nor is it because of Li Bangyan and Qin Huizhi, but because of the upper class."

Everyone knew who the "higher" was referring to. Tao and Xue were not afraid to scold the treacherous ministers, but they blamed the emperor and his father.
Neither of them responded.

Chen Bokang seemed to have suddenly realized something and said, "No wonder Lord Li didn't reinstate Shouqian when he was in need of someone. I guess Lord Li wanted to temper your temper, didn't he?"

Chen Jing'an shook his head and said, "Mr. Li did intend to seize my love, but I rejected him."

"Why?"

"Back then, I saw that the Great Zhou was on the verge of collapse. Rather than riding on a dangerous ship, it is better to wait and see what happens and wait for a wise ruler."

This statement is extremely explicit, and it is somewhat inconsistent with the three views of scholars. When the survival of the country is at stake, scholars should die to repay the king! How can you hide back to your hometown when you see danger?
As if he had guessed what Tao and Xue were thinking, Chen Jing'an pointed at the tombstone and said, "What happened to Lord Li? What was his fate? Did he prevent the Dingwei Incident from happening? As a minister, it is not impossible to sacrifice one's life for the country, but I will not make such a meaningless sacrifice that would involve my entire family."

Tao and Xue heard that Chen Jing'an was hinting at Li Gong's blind loyalty and could not help feeling dissatisfied, but they were nominally Chen Jing'an's subordinates.

Xue Huiyan remained silent, but the upright Tao Chunlai could not hold back and said, "Lord Li is devoted to the country, so he is not as good as Prime Minister Chen in judging people. Now he is the right-hand man of King Jin, and his future is limitless."

How could he not understand this implicit criticism of Chen Jing'an for taking advantage of the situation? But in this matter, you can say that I am speculating or that I took a gamble, but I won the bet.

Based on this alone, Chen Jing'an would not be angry. He just laughed and said, "Lord Tao followed the emperor all the way north. I think he has seen the scenery of Huaibei and the situation in the Central Plains. Even if others make a few noises, it doesn't matter if all the people praise Lord Tao for his good governance in Huaibei. We can wait for ten years to see whether my choice is right or wrong."

Tao Chunlai was choked and speechless on the spot. On the way north, he was filled with emotion, and it was no exaggeration to say that all the people praised him.

This is Chen Jing'an's confidence.

In the current Anfeng Dynasty, the Huaibei faction headed by Chen Jing'an is the most powerful, followed by the Huainan faction headed by Pei Weishu, who has a grudge against Tao Chunlai for cutting off his ear. The weakest is the faction of old ministers of the Xue and Tao Zhou kingdoms, which is independent of the two factions.

The old ministers were already caught in the middle, and Xue Huiyan naturally didn't want Tao Chunlai to offend Chen Jing'an again, so he hurriedly said, "My lords, today we are all gathered in front of Lord Li's tomb, so let's not talk about this anymore. I have something to do, I wonder if you are willing to do it together?"

Chen Jing'an seemed to know what Xue Huiyan was up to, and couldn't help asking, "But who is the prime minister in Lin'an?"

"That's right! Now that the King of Jin is gaining momentum, if we work together, we can use the King of Jin's power to get rid of the treacherous villain first and avenge Lord Li!"

As soon as Xue Huiyan finished speaking, Chen Jing'an looked at Chen Bokang with a smile, "Do you want to do it?"

"Why not?"

Chen Bokang stretched out his hand swiftly, and Xue Huiyan immediately put his hand over it, followed by Tao Chunlai, and finally Chen Jingan.

Just as the symbolic ceremony was completed, the sound of chanting sutras was heard from the front.

Several people stood up together and smiled at each other. Chen Jing'an said, "I think Empress Xiangong has been buried. Let's all go over there. If someone sees us sneaking around here, they will definitely think we are secretly discussing something earth-shattering."

(End of this chapter)