Thief Emperor

Chapter 436 Jiang Huai changes again!

Although Pei Huang could not be considered a gentleman, he was not a villain in his daily life. If it were an ordinary time and among ordinary people, the credit would be given to whomever it belonged, and Pei Huang would not bother to compete for the credit.

But at this moment, he felt that Du Qian posed a threat to him, so he had to hide Du Qian from the emperor.

At the same time, he felt that what Du Qian said made sense, so he simply claimed these words as his own.

The reason for this mentality is not that the current capital city cannot accommodate a Du Qian, but that Pei Huang has been by the emperor's side, playing the role of "strategist" for many years.

He doesn't want anyone to take his place.

It just so happened that Du Qian's family were all in the southeast, and he could not stay in the capital for long, so for some unknown reason, Pei Huang told a little lie.

Even after he walked out of Chongde Hall, Pei Sanlang was still a little dazed. He looked up at the sky in the palace, was silent for a long time, and slowly said: "Don't blame me, don't blame me."

Pei Huang put his hands behind his back and walked with a firm step: "You are going back to Jiangdong. I helped you hide it, but it actually helped you."

……

On the other side, in Anrenfang.

A young man named Wei Yao strode into the Du family.

Soon, Du Qian, who was still resting at home, came out with Du Laian and several servants to greet him. After seeing Wei Yao, Du Qian bowed politely and said, "Greetings, Major General."

Wei Yao looked Du Qian up and down, but did not return the greeting. He still stood with his hands behind his back and said with a smile, "Is it Envoy Du?"

Du Qian smiled and said, "It's me, General Du. I'm honored to be here. What brings you here?"

Wei Yao did not answer, but looked around and asked, "Where is Minister Du?"

Du Qian frowned slightly.

This son of Wei Quanzhong is as arrogant as his father. No matter what, he is still his father's junior. I have already shown all courtesy by going out to greet him, but this guy is still not satisfied!
However, Du Qian was a very calm person. He just looked at Wei Yao and smiled faintly, "The young general has been in the capital. He should know that my father is ill, so he asked for leave to stay at home."

"He is still resting in his room and it is not convenient for him to see guests."

Wei Yao said "Oh", looked at Du Qian, and asked, "If I remember correctly, Envoy Du should be working in the southeast, why did you come back to the capital?"

"Du has just said it."

Du Qian frowned and said, "My father is ill. As a son, shouldn't I come back to see him?"

Wei Yao groaned, looked Du Qian up and down, and said with a smile: "As expected of the Du family of Jingzhao, he has a bad temper and it's hard to ask him any questions."

He took two steps closer, his face almost touching Du Qian, and patted Du Qian on the shoulder, smiling and saying, "Envoy Du, aren't you afraid of me?"

Du Qian said calmly: "Du Yi has not violated the law, nor has he offended the Major General. Why should I be afraid of the Major General?"

"it is good."

Wei Yao praised and clapped his hands. Behind him, several followers carried a few boxes and brought them to the Du family's yard.

After putting down a few boxes, Wei Yao smiled and said, "My father heard that Minister Du was ill, so he asked me to bring some things and come to visit him. Since Minister Du is seriously ill, I will not disturb him. I would like to ask Envoy Du to tell Minister Du to take good care of himself."

Wei Yao paused and continued, "After you recover from your illness, come back to do your work as soon as possible, otherwise people outside will think that Minister Du is showing his displeasure to someone."

After that, the major general glanced at Du Qian again and said with a smile: "Also, Envoy Du... is quite courageous."

As soon as he finished saying this, he turned around and left.

Looking at his receding back, Du Qian frowned.

Du Laian, who was standing behind him, couldn't help but clench his fists and shouted angrily, "How arrogant!"

"When his father came to our house in the capital, he had to politely hand over the visiting card to the master! This kid just walked in with his head held high!"

"Stop talking."

Du Qian glanced back at him and took a deep breath. "The situation is stronger than people. We have to swallow our anger now. You take people to watch at the door and see if there are any suspicious people near our house."

"I'm going to see my father,"

Du Laian responded and ran to the door, while Du Qian went to the backyard and found Shangshu Du Ting who was writing in the study.

After briefly explaining the situation, Du Shangshu stopped writing with his brush, and even the word "静" was written crookedly. He shook his head and sighed, "The tree wants to be quiet, but the wind does not stop. What cannot be avoided will eventually be avoided."

Du Qian lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "Probably among the six ministers, you are the only one who is sick at home, so Wei Quanzhong noticed it."

He paused, lowered his head and said, "That kid from the Wei family was very rude. It may be that I, who came back from the southeast, attracted their attention."

Minister Du snorted, "That bastard, ever since the Shuofang Army occupied the city, he has either robbed or coerced countless women. He is the same kind of person as his father."

At this point, he put down his brush, sighed and said, "I can't hide anymore. I will go back to work in the government office in a few days. Even if I can't help myself and offend him..."

"It's just a life."

He looked at Du Qian and whispered, "The day your father returns to the government office, you will leave the capital and return to the southeast. Take good care of your little family and your third brother's family."

Du Shangshu said softly, "Your third brother is not as smart as you are. If something happens, you should give him some advice."

In a large family, the generations are ranked among cousins.

Du He of Jinling was Du Qian's elder brother and the second son of Du Shangshu.

Du Qian was the youngest son of Du Shangshu.

Du Qian whispered, "Dad, just hold your anger in for a few years. You must hold it in."

"This situation will not last long."

Du Shangshu smiled and said, "Relax, relax. Your father is so old, doesn't he know the word patience as well as you do?"

Du Qian nodded, and after thinking for a while, he continued, "Dad, I want to see Pei Qi these days."

Pei Qi was Pei Huang's father and the Minister of Personnel of the imperial court. Minister Du looked at his son and asked, "Should I ask for an official position for you or for Li Yun?"

"I want both. I want both."

Du Qian smiled and said, "At the same time, when you return to the court, you must find a way to submit a memorial to the emperor on my behalf."

Minister Du whispered, "At this critical moment, it is not difficult to deliver the document to the emperor, but it is not easy to hide it from the three of them. Tell me what you have said, and I will find an opportunity to report it to the emperor in secret."

Du Qian nodded and told his father what he wanted to say to the emperor.

There was nothing particularly confidential in it, it just said that once the court needed it, the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Jiangdong would definitely follow the court's orders.

"father…"

Du Qian whispered, "Be sure to tell His Majesty about the tens of thousands of troops in Jiangdong."

"No other words are as important as this one."

Du Shangshu nodded silently: "Father will remember it."

He looked at his son and asked, "What kind of official position does my son want?"

"The prefect of Jinling."

Until now, Du Qian's position in the court is still the Governor of Yuezhou. However, in this capacity, he has been doing the work of the Prefect of Jinling Prefecture, and even the work of the Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangdong.

"Father wants His Majesty to feel that although I have no choice but to serve in Jiangdong, I am still on the side of the court. If I hold a higher position in Jiangdong, I can have more control over Envoy Li."

"But I can't say this openly."

Du Shangshu smiled and said, "Don't worry, my son. After serving as an official for so many years, this is what your father is best at."

"What official position do you want for Li Yun?"

"father."

Du Qian touched his chin and asked, "Can Jiangdong appoint a military governor?"

"Not before."

Du Shangshu put his hands behind his back and thought about it.

"But it's not strange to have any official position in the current court."

Du Qian thought about it, then smiled and said, "It doesn't really matter whether he has an official position or not. If he can succeed, then succeed. If not, then forget it."

"It's not a big deal."

Minister Du smiled and said, "If I can get him a position, my son will have a good job when he returns."

"That won't happen."

Du Qian put his hands behind his back and said softly, "Dad, you haven't seen him. He is that kind of person..."

“Quite pragmatic.”

…………

While Du Qian was seeking development space for Jiangdong in the capital, a big event was quietly happening in Jiangdong... or to be more precise, Jianghuai.

In the government office in Jinling City, a middle-aged man dressed in cloth, who looked no different from ordinary people, stood in front of Li Yun and whispered, "Sir, the Jiangbei Pinglu Army has made large-scale movements."

Li Yun put down the brush, looked up at the middle-aged man, and asked, "Tell me in detail."

The middle-aged man lowered his head and said, "Yes."

"At least 20,000 to 30,000 Pinglu troops are moving simultaneously and are quietly surrounding Yangzhou."

"According to intelligence, they plan to occupy the north bank of the river and cut off the way for the south to support the north."

"Liu Sizheng estimated that the Pinglu Army wanted to surround Yangzhou City once again."

Li Yun took a deep breath.

It seems that the Pinglu Army has already taken over all the territory they can currently take over, and is now preparing to remove Li Yun'an's "nail" in Jiangbei.

During this period, Li Yun invested almost 80% of his intelligence resources in Jiangbei, so that his understanding of the situation in Jiangbei was far better than that in Jiangnan.

Now, these intelligence resources seem to have finally come in handy.

He, Li Yun, finally became sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, and could predict the future!

Mr. Li put down his brush and asked, "What did General Zhao say?"

The middle-aged man bowed his head and said, "General Zhao has already withdrawn his troops from all the counties in Yangzhou and brought them all back to Yangzhou City. He is also trying his best to gather food. General Zhao said..."

"Even if the city is besieged, he can at least hold out for more than half a year."

"it is good."

Li Yun clapped his hands and smiled, "Tell him not to be careless. The enemy has come back and may have made some arrangements in Yangzhou City."

The middle-aged man bowed his head and said, "I obey your command!"

Li Yun stood up and continued, "Talk to him again."

"If the city is really besieged, we must hold on firmly."

"I will save him."

ps: Thanks to the readers [Reader 1259734900169523226] and [Ge Li Jie Xian Yu] for their rewards!

(End of this chapter)