lady, please calm down

Sui Mian Street.

Although there was no martial law outside the Prince of Chu's Palace, the men of Qin Shengwu's army who were responsible for guarding the place had solemn expressions on their faces, with a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps.

Pei Weishu, the Minister of Rites of Anfeng, who was turned away at Chen's house in Yulin Lane, was in a good mood. He even sat in the sedan chair and hummed an opera, "I will just watch the crabs with a cold eye and see how long you can be so rampant."

Unfortunately, just as the beat started, it was interrupted by a noise outside and the sedan stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Pei Weishu asked lazily, and the sedan bearer outside immediately replied: "My lord, there is a fight in the street ahead, blocking the way."

"Oh?"

At this time, it was less than a hundred steps away from the Prince of Chu's Palace, and someone dared to fight here?

"Get off the sedan."

Pei Weishu called out, and someone helped him open the curtain of the sedan chair and leaned the sedan chair forward. Pei Weishu took his time, straightened his official robe, and then walked out of the sedan chair.

However, a dozen steps away, a group of soldiers were beating up a group of ministers dressed in Tang Dynasty clothes. The beaten ministers were shouting in not very fluent Chinese and seemed to be extremely angry.

Pei Weishu also caught a glimpse of Luo Ruji, who was waiting for orders in Tiance Mansion from the Lin'an Dynasty, not far ahead. It seemed that he also came to visit but was temporarily stopped by the scene in front of him.

One of them was loyal to the retired emperor, and the other was still nominally a subject of the Zhou emperor. Even if they met by chance in various occasions, they pretended not to know each other to avoid embarrassment.

But today, Pei Weishu, who was in a good mood, took the initiative to step forward and said, "Hey, Lord Luo."

"Lord Pei." Luo Ruji was a little surprised. His gaze lingered on Pei Weishu's missing right ear and he bowed in return.

Pei Weishu stood on tiptoe to look around and confirmed that the attackers were the Huaibei soldiers. He shook his head repeatedly and said in a sarcastic tone, "It is said that the King of Chu is strict in managing his army and never harms the people. But the King of Chu was just seriously injured, and his soldiers beat the people in the street without caring about others. If the King of Chu cannot survive this, no one will be able to restrain these arrogant soldiers. The Huaibei army of more than 200,000 soldiers will turn into wild beasts at any time and wreak havoc on the world. These soldiers must be controlled by civil officials. The disaster of the previous dynasty is not far away."

On ordinary days, Pei Weishu might not dare to say this, but now, Tokyo is closed and under curfew, and there is a vague sense of urgency that the King of Chu is in imminent danger.

If Chen Chu had lost his life so dramatically, some people in this world would be sad, but others would be celebrating.

Pei Weishu naturally belongs to the latter. Moreover, what he said was all from the perspective of a scholar, and Luo Ruoji could not find any fault with it.

As expected, Luo Ruji did not respond to Pei Weishu's statement about Huaibei, but said, "Master Pei, you can see clearly whether the people the Huaibei Army is attacking are civilians or not?"

"Oh?" Pei Weishu could tell from their clothes that the people being beaten were not civilians. He said that purely to disgust Huaibei. He couldn't help but ask, "Who was beaten? Judging from their clothes and accents, they don't sound like people from the Central Plains."

"The Goryeo delegation!" Luo Ruoji, who arrived earlier than Pei Weishu, happened to witness the whole process.

"The Korean envoys? Wow. The Huaibei Army is really arrogant. They dare to fight against the envoys from a friendly country. Aren't they afraid of causing diplomatic trouble?"

Although Pei Weishu said he was worried about Huaibei, he was watching with great interest. Luo Ruji just said, "Serves them right! These bastards deserve to be beaten!"

"how do I say this?"

"After the city was closed today, the Korean envoys suddenly wanted to leave the city. They wanted to report the news in the city to the horsemen of their country stationed outside the city so as to inform the Koreans of the past. The soldiers guarding the city naturally refused to let them go. After a commotion, the envoys were beaten by the soldiers. After the Korean envoy Jin Bushi learned about this, he was so crazy that he led the envoys to break into the Chu Palace at this time and demanded that the Chu King give them an explanation."

"."Even Pei Weishu, who had deep resentment and ill will towards Huaibei, couldn't help but exclaimed after hearing the whole story: "Is this Goryeo envoy so ignorant?"

"Who said it wasn't! Isn't this asking for a fight?"

As he was speaking, an old official who was surrounded and kicked by several people, protected his bloody face with one hand and raised the other hand high and said: "No more fighting, no more fighting, I will be beaten to death if you continue. I will not look for the King of Chu anymore, please stop, soldiers of the upper country"

A company commander of the Huaibei Army felt that it was a bit inappropriate when he saw more and more people gathered around. However, they were already filled with anger because they heard that the King of Chu had been assassinated, and they had not yet vented their anger.

He looked around and ordered one of his subordinates, "Drag them to the alley next to you! Give them a good beating, but don't beat them to death! If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame!"

Jin Fushi, who had just sat up from the ground with great difficulty, felt as if the sky had fallen when he heard this.

"No, no! The upper country is a country of etiquette."

Bang, bang, bang! The company commander went up and punched Kim Boo-sik three times in the eyes, making Kim Boo-sik realize again what the fucking etiquette was!

Amid the howling, dozens of members of the Goryeo delegation were dragged into the alley nearby.

He had a frank and heart-to-heart exchange with the Huaibei soldiers.

The farce on the street ended and the road was clear again.

Before getting on the sedan chair, Pei Weishu suddenly said to Luo Ruji: "Lord Luo, although you and I serve different masters, Anfeng and Lin'an are father and son, so we are still a family. Tokyo is in chaos now, you and I need to get closer."

Luo Ruoji understood but pretended not to understand. He bowed and leaned over to get into the sedan. He was different from Pei Weishu. Luo Ruoji had already made a bet on Huaibei. Last year, he took advantage of Huaibei's momentum to move south and cooperated with Chen Bokang to seize power from Prime Minister Qin!
If he looks back again, Prime Minister Qin will not tolerate him.

The two had the same goal. After a short while, the sedan chair landed in front of the palace.

Weng Bingding, who was greeting the guests outside, knew without asking any questions that these people were here to visit or to gather information, so he directly led the two of them to the gatehouse to wait.

The two men entered the gatehouse and were both stunned to see that in the gatehouse, apart from the envoys from various countries except Goryeo, and Wudao Chong from Western Xia, there were also several civil and military officials from Qi State whom they did not recognize.

No matter whether you are the prime minister of a country or a local official, you all sit on the narrow long bench.

When they saw Pei and Luo come in, most people stood up and greeted them. However, Wudao Chong had never sat on a long bench and was not aware of its disadvantages. When the envoys from Dali and Jiaozhi who were sitting on the same bench with him stood up, the elderly Wudao Chong stood up a little slowly. As a result, the force on the bench was uneven, and Wudao Chong's end immediately flipped over, causing the old official to fall flat on his face.

The scene was extremely funny, but because the occasion was inappropriate, everyone tried hard not to laugh out loud.

But Pei Weishu, Jiaozhi's envoy Li Deshan and others couldn't help but curl up their lips. It can be seen that everyone is in a good mood.

Luo Ruji was in a bad mood and sat alone in a corner. The invitation had been delivered, but he didn't know whether Mrs. Cai would see him or not.

But Pei Weishu was very active, constantly walking around the crowd, sometimes introducing himself, sometimes chatting in a low voice.

Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to him, Pei Weishu finally found an opportunity and said, "Alas, heroes have always had a hard time. The King of Chu has achieved such success at such a young age, but he must not fall into the hands of the bad guys!"

After waiting for a few moments, no one responded. Pei Weishu did not feel embarrassed, but continued mysteriously: "Have you heard that it is now rumored everywhere that the assassination of the King of Chu was done by a close minister, and that the man was a close minister of the King of Chu. I don't believe it, but three people make a tiger. Ying... cough cough, if the rumor continues to spread like this, it will be hard to explain."

Some of the people in the gatehouse had heard the news when they arrived, while others were hearing it for the first time.

However, since this is the gatehouse of the palace, I cannot ask in detail.

Pei Weishu talked to himself for a while, but still no one responded. Pei Weishu took the opportunity to carefully observe all the people waiting in the lobby.

Among them, the one sitting in the corner looked the most different. He had a beard and a face full of flesh, but he was wearing a fifth-grade red robe of the Qi State, which looked a bit out of place.

Pei Weishu laughed, stood up and walked to the man and sat down, and said familiarly: "I am Pei Weishu, this gentleman is unfamiliar, I wonder where you are from?" The fierce-looking civil servant was resting with his eyes closed, and slowly opened his eyes after hearing this, looked Pei Weishu up and down, and said impatiently: "I am Pan Xiong, honored to be the commander of the Hebei militia."

"Here is General Pan, who organized an army in Cangzhou Prison in the second year of Xuanqing and fought against the Jin Dynasty side by side with the King of Chu! I have long admired him."

Pei Weishu was well aware of the civil and military officials who had risen in power in Qi in recent years, and he pointed out Pan Xiong's masterpiece on the spot.

Pan Xiong's expression really looked much better, but he smiled proudly, "It's just a small matter, not worth mentioning."

"In the battle of Hebei that year, General Pan should have been the chief contributor! But General Pan took all the credit and did not become arrogant. I admire him!"

It was clearly a compliment, but the smile on Pan Xiong's face gradually faded. The first merit? Haha, Ximen Gong, who fought against the Jin army in Cangzhou together, is now a second-rank frontier official, but he is still only a fifth-rank militia commander!

No matter how great your achievements are, what is the use?
Pei Weishu, who had been carefully observing the other person's expression, couldn't help but laugh in his heart, but he also secretly took note of this person.

It is the hour of You.

Luo Ruoji finally got his wish and went into the mansion to meet Mrs. Cai.

When he came back, the people who had been waiting in the gatehouse for the whole afternoon came forward and surrounded Luo Ruji. They all looked concerned and asked, "Lord Luo, how is the King of Chu's injury? How long does he need to recuperate?"

The tone was mournful and sorrowful, but not many people truly hoped for the safety of the King of Chu.

The health of the King of Chu is directly related to the situation in the world, and it also directly affects what actions the various forces should take next. Naturally, everyone wants to grasp the first-hand information.

Luo Ruji said in a low voice: "I have not seen the prince and princess, but only Madam Cai. Madam Cai said that the King of Chu is fine and will be fine in a few days. Don't worry."

This was the first time after the assassination attempt that someone in the palace responded positively to the outside world about the King of Chu's injuries.

However, the city was closed and under curfew outside, and the government remained silent for almost a whole day before giving this explanation. Most people did not believe it.

If the King of Chu was only slightly injured, Tokyo City should not have reacted so strongly.

Facing all the whispered questions around him, Luo Ruji bowed and said, "That's all I know. The curfew will start at 5 p.m. Goodbye, I'll leave first."

It seems that this is how it will be today. Everyone has no choice but to file out and prepare to return home temporarily.

At this moment, Pan Xiong, who had been standing at the back of the crowd with a gloomy face, suddenly stepped out of the crowd and strode into the courtyard.

The coachman Wang Enshi who was guarding here did not expect that someone would dare to break into the palace, so he stepped sideways to block Pan Xiong.

Pan Xiong raised his arm, trying to push Wang En away, but the latter was prepared and did not move at all after being pushed.

"Get out of the way!" Pan Xiong had been domineering for a long time. As he spoke, he punched Wang En in the chest. Wang En blocked with his arms and actually fought back.

Pan Xiong was forced to take a step back. He flew into a rage and cursed on the spot: "You daring slave! How dare you, a dog who is supposed to be a guard, attack me! I am a militia commander from Hebei. Who the hell are you?"

Wang En was not an ordinary coachman. Like Weng Bingding, he was an old soldier from Huaibei who had retired from the battlefield. Because he had no family, he followed the King of Chu into the palace to work.

Because of their status, the princess was always polite when she met them. She had never been insulted like this before, so she was extremely angry, and the two of them exchanged a few punches outside the gatehouse.

Seeing this, the envoys from various countries who had just left the gatehouse and had not yet gone far turned back to watch, and were very happy. At noon, the Huaibei Army beat the Goryeo delegation in the street. Only two hours later, the officials from the Huaibei Army started fighting with the servants of the palace.

These are all signs of civil unrest in Huaibei!

With the existence of such a giant beast occupying the Central Plains and the north and south of the Huai River, all the envoys of the countries except Jiaozhi and Dali, which are relatively far away, would be uneasy. Naturally, everyone would like to see the internal strife and infighting in Huaibei.

The commotion here quickly attracted Qin Shengwu's attention. When he hurried over and saw that the person who did it was Pan Xiong, he couldn't help but said angrily: "Master Pan! Where is this place? How dare you come here and act wildly!"

The two men stopped fighting. Pan Xiong was not afraid of Qin Shengwu. He just looked him up and down and said, "General Qin, I haven't seen you for many years. You look so powerful now! Have you forgotten that when the Jin general A Lihe attacked Cangzhou at night, if I hadn't led the brothers in the prison camp to rescue you, you would have turned into a pile of dry bones by the Beiliu River!"

At that time, the defense force in Cangzhou was insufficient, so Pan Xiong, the head of the Cangzhou Prison Camp, organized an army to fight against the Jin army.

Later, the Jin soldiers launched a surprise attack on Cangzhou and actually caught up with him. It was because of that coincidence that Pan Xiong jumped from a low-ranking jailer to the officialdom of the Great Qi Dynasty.

But what he said just now was an exaggeration. The main force that rushed to Cangzhou's rescue was the eldest son's troops. Although Pan Xiong, Jiao Tu and other troops also participated in the anti-Jin war, they were by no means the decisive force.

But as the one being supported, Qin Shengwu naturally couldn't care less about who contributed the most. Thinking of the friendship they had fought side by side in the past, Qin Shengwu took the initiative to slow down his tone and said, "Sir Pan, now is a time of trouble. We need to work together to stabilize the situation and stop causing trouble. Please return to the mansion as soon as possible, and I will pretend that what happened today didn't happen."

Throughout the whole day today, various reactions in the city and the palace made many people suspect that the King of Chu was seriously injured and could not be cured.

The fact that Pan Xiong dared to break into the palace at such a sensitive time must have a lot to do with this tacit speculation.

If it were someone else, Qin Shengwu might have killed Ren Ge on the spot, but his earnest words had no effect. Pan Xiong looked straight into the depths of the palace and said slowly, "Let me go in and see the prince. I'll leave right away!"

"The prince is recovering from his injuries, no one is allowed to disturb him!"

Qin Shengwu's answer was firm and decisive, but Pan Xiong said, "Then let me see the princess!"

"The princess was frightened today and is also unable to receive guests!"

"Then please ask Madam Cai to meet me!"

Pan Xiong pressed on step by step, and Qin Shengwu finally lost his patience and scolded: "Master Pan, if you continue to be so rude, don't blame me for disregarding my comradeship!"

"Hahaha, brother? Then let me ask you, why can he, an outsider, see it, but I, the brother of Deputy Marshal Qin, can't see it?" While Pan Xiong was speaking, he raised his finger and pointed at Luo Ruji.

"."

As for why Cai Huan summoned Luo Ruji to meet alone, Qin Shengwu had no idea and was speechless for a moment.

Pan Xiong took another step forward and said, "The prince's situation is unclear now, and all the news came from women. I can't help but wonder if the prince has been held hostage! General Qin, please move aside. I will go to the mansion to meet the prince in person, and then we can rest assured!"

"It's all the women's words, the prince was held hostage." This is almost like throwing mud on Mao'er and Cai Huan's heads. If Chen Chu was fine, Pan Xiong would not dare to say this even if he had the courage.

Qin Shengwu was immediately furious and drew his sword. "Pan Xiong, if you dare to talk nonsense again, I will kill you with my own hands!"

Not far away, Pei Weishu, who was leaning in the crowd, had a faint playful smile on his face. Pan Xiong kept saying that the King of Chu was being held hostage by the harem, but he kept trying to enter the mansion. From this alone, we can see that this man looks rough on the outside, but he has his own little plans in his heart.

If he really believed that the King of Chu was being held hostage, then the rear residence would be a dangerous place, would he still have to go in and die?
Even though you don't believe it yourself, you still want to say it in public.
Pei Weishu carefully recalled the intelligence he had collected over the years, and suddenly thought that the reason why Pan Xiong was able to board the big ship in Huaibei that year seemed to be because Chen Jing'an's son Chen Yinglang was serving as a river inspector in Hebei at that time. It was he who went into the prison alone and persuaded Pan Xiong.

In this way, Chen Yinglang is still Pan Xiong's guide in the officialdom of Da Qi.

Could it be that based on this little bit of relationship, Pan Xiong also wants to bet on the Chen family?

Haha, this Pan Xiong is quite interesting. (End of this chapter)