Eternal Sword

Chapter 103: Pingzhou Mu

Qinglong Division.

It was already night, but the lights in Weiwei Hall were still on.

Chen Tang and the other two saw from afar that Cai Yin was sitting alone at a round table. There was no other dish on the table, only a bowl of watery corn porridge.

Seeing Chen Tang and the other two coming back, Cai Yin picked up the big bowl and drank the porridge slowly.

The carriage they were riding in returned late.

Normally, the news of Duan Zhao’s murder should have reached Wu’an County the day before.

It was so late, and Cai Yin was still waiting here, obviously he had received the news.

The three of them looked at each other, and as they were mentally prepared, they stepped forward to salute.

Cai Yin pretended not to hear anything and didn't even look up at the three people. He continued to drink his porridge.

The three of them didn't know what to say and could only wait patiently.

Cai Yin drank the porridge very slowly. It was unknown how long the porridge had been there. It was no longer hot and was obviously cold.

But he picked up the big bowl and continued to slurp it.

Every time he took a sip, he would smack his lips a few times, as if he wanted to savor it carefully.

Chen Tang looked carefully. There were no other ingredients in the bowl of porridge except corn. Moreover, there was more water than rice. It was definitely not delicious.

But for some reason, seeing Cai Yin drinking this bowl of porridge seemed to taste particularly delicious.

After a while, Cai Yin finally finished drinking.

The bowl was spotless, not even a grain of corn or a drop of soup was left.

After finishing the bowl of corn porridge, Cai Yin raised his head and looked at the three people in front of him. He suddenly slammed the table and shouted with a dark face: "What a good thing you three did!"

Chen Tang said in a deep voice: "This matter is all caused by me alone. It has nothing to do with Brother Wei and Sister Li."

"You still know?"

Cai Yin pointed at Chen Tang and scolded him, "Not to mention that you quit on your first day at the Qinglong Division, and now you're causing trouble for me again after a few days of peace! You dared to kill the county lieutenant before you became a formal Qinglong Guard. If you really became a formal Qinglong Guard, would you dare to kill the county lieutenant as well?"

Chen Tang remained silent.

Wang Yanli couldn't help but say, "Boss Cai, this is not Xiao Chen's fault. It was fine if Duan Zhaogong was seeking revenge, but we didn't bother with him. We each took a step back and wanted to release someone, but he went back on his word and suddenly refused to release the person."

"Xiao Chen wanted to talk to him nicely, but he suddenly got out of control and injured Xiao Chen with a knife. This is simply lawless and disrespectful to the court and the emperor."

"Humph!"

Cai Yin sneered: "Duan Zhao is not a fool, how dare he fight with the Azure Dragon Guards?"

Wang Yanli said: "I'm not the only one who said this. There are so many people here, everyone saw it."

Cai Yin still sneered and said, "Don't say I don't believe what you said. Ask yourself first whether you believe it or not."

Wang Yanli remained silent.

Wei Qun had anticipated this.

This kind of thing might be a lie to others, but it certainly can’t be hidden from Cai Tou.

"You guys!"

Cai Yin pointed at Wei Qun and Wang Yanli and said helplessly: "He just came to Wu'an County and doesn't know anything. Don't you know how serious this is? Don't you know who is behind Duan Zhao?"

Chen Tang said: "Brother Wei reminded me that Duan Zhao is the commander-in-chief Han Lang's man."

"He's just a county lieutenant, so he's nothing to be afraid of. But do you know who Han Lang belongs to?"

Cai Yin asked.

Chen Tang said: "I heard that he is from Marquis Wu'an."

Cai Yin asked again: "Do you know who is behind Wu'an Hou?"

Chen Tang shook his head slightly.

Although Wu'an Hou was conferred the title of marquis, he was only relegated to a remote county after all. He lost his position as county governor a few years ago and seemed to have declined.

But looking at the control of the Huo family over Wu'an County, they can bypass the county governor and arbitrarily place the county magistrate and county lieutenant in Changze County. It seems that the power of the Wu'an Marquisate is extraordinary.

At least in the confrontation in Wu'an County, the county magistrate Li Yan was completely at a disadvantage.

Cai Yin said: "Marquis Wu'an has been old in recent years and will not live long. His family has indeed been declining. But a few years ago, Marquis Wu'an's son married the daughter of the governor of Pingzhou!"

Chen Tang suddenly realized.

No wonder the Huo family has such great power in Wu'an County.

The governor of a province is equivalent to a frontier official.

Pingzhou Governor, He Yeqian, is said to have reached the second level of cultivation and is a congenital master.

If the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion had the support of the Governor of Pingzhou, there would be no force in Wu'an County that could contend with it.

Cai Yin added: "There is one more thing, I guess you don't know either."

"One of the daughters of the governor of Pingzhou is He, a concubine of the late emperor. She gave birth to a son for the late emperor, who is now the King of Qinghe!"

Chen Tang was shocked.

The governor of Pingzhou was not only a high-ranking official, but also a relative of the emperor!
Wei Qun suddenly said, "I heard that the previous emperor passed away some time ago, and King Qinghe almost inherited the throne."

"Because the long-missing crown prince showed up in the capital, various forces fought and killed each other. Many people died in the capital during those days. In the end, the crown prince won the victory with the support of the Xuanwu Division, and he inherited the throne and became the new emperor."

Chen Tang had seen this record before, but it was not in detail.

The second prince mentioned in it should be the King of Qinghe.

Chen Tang asked, "What happened to this Qinghe King?"

Cai Tou said, "I heard that the mother and son of King Qinghe are temporarily under house arrest by His Majesty." Wang Yanli said, "Although they are from different mothers, they have the same father after all. They haven't seen each other for more than ten years, so they are still blood relatives. His Majesty did not kill them all, he is a benevolent and righteous king."

Chen Tang seemed to be thinking about something.

He doesn't know whether the current emperor is benevolent or not.

But the most important reason for not killing King Qinghe was probably because they were afraid of him.

Pingzhou is located at the border, bordering the extreme north cold region, which shows its importance.

But now, the previous emperor has passed away, and the daughter and grandson of the Pingzhou Mu have lost the fight for the throne. Once they are killed, it is very likely that the Pingzhou Mu will be forced to rebel.

When the new emperor first came to power, the political situation was unstable.

In addition, the crown prince has been missing for more than ten years, and his prestige and qualifications are far from enough either in the court or in the army.

When a new emperor comes to the throne, the most important thing is to appease his ministers and officials, reward them when they deserve it, win them over when they deserve it, stabilize the situation as much as possible, and then gradually build up his own power.

If you just use intimidation and killing, it is likely to force the other party to take risks and make a desperate bet.

Cai Yin said: "Although the mother and son of the King of Qinghe were placed under house arrest, the governor of Pingzhou was rewarded by the emperor and was given the title of Duke of Jingbei, which made him even more prominent."

At this moment, Yue Shou came to the door and said in a deep voice: "Captain Cai, Captain Tan is looking for you."

"It must be because of your stupid thing."

Cai Yin glared at Chen Tang and the other two fiercely, and shouted, "You're causing trouble for me. Next time this happens, tell me first, okay?"

After saying that, Cai Yin followed Yue Shou out.

"never mind."

Wei Qun breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and comforted Chen Tang, "Don't look at Cai Tou slamming the table and glaring at him. In fact, he is not that angry. If he was really angry, he would ignore us."

"When I first came here, I saw Caitou drinking porridge and ignoring us, so I thought he was really angry." Wang Yanli chuckled.

Chen Tang also laughed and asked, "Why does Caitou drink a bowl of corn porridge at night? What's the story?"

When you meet Cai Yin, he is either eating or looking for food, and his mouth is almost always busy.

At the very least, you have to have some peanuts in your hands.

I only had a bowl of corn porridge tonight, which is the first time I've seen this.

Hearing this, Wei Qun put away his smile and said, "Cai Tou was born in poverty. He suffered from famine when he was young and had no food to eat. His parents starved to death in front of him. Cai Tou once mentioned that before his mother died, she begged for a bowl of corn porridge for him."

Wei Qun sighed and said, "Cai Tou said that he will never forget the taste of that bowl of porridge."

"So Caitou usually loves to eat, probably because of these childhood memories. But every month, he would deliberately take a few days off to not eat anything. Only when he couldn't stand it anymore would he drink a bowl of thick corn porridge."

Wang Yanli said: "I heard that Cai Tou was also lucky. He had fainted from hunger and was rescued from the pile of dead bodies by Lord Tan, who was still a member of the Qinglong Guard at the time..."

……

Cai Yin arrived at the Captain's Palace and saw that only Tan Wujiu was waiting inside, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"My Lord, what do you want from me?"

Cai Yin asked with a smile.

Tan Wujiu ignored him and continued practicing calligraphy on the table.

Cai Yin knew Tan Wujiu's hobby and went forward to help him grind ink.

About an incense stick of time passed.

After Tan Wujiu finished writing a full paragraph, he looked at Cai Yin and said slowly, "The Qinglong Guard you recruited caused trouble within a few days of arriving."

"Is that why?"

Cai Yin stared with his eyes wide open, and said innocently, "It's not his fault. I found out that it was Duan Zhao who first injured someone, and Chen Tang was forced to fight back."

"This is simply lawlessness, contempt for the court, and disrespect for the emperor!"

Tan Wujiu sneered upon hearing this and asked, "This excuse may be enough to fool others, but don't say I don't believe it. Han Lang and the people of the Huo family won't believe it either!"

"Whether you believe it or not, anyway, I believe it."

Cai Yin muttered.

Tan Wujiu asked again: "Is this a private action between the three of them?"

"No."

Cai Yin said: "They told me before they left. I thought it was no big deal, so I didn't give them a handwritten note. Who would have thought that Duan Zhao would make trouble? Damn it..."

Cai Yin was about to curse when he noticed that Tan Wujiu's eyes were not right, so he quickly shut up, coughed lightly, and said, "It's really not their fault. It's just that Han Lang lost face in front of me before, and Duan Zhao wanted to get it back, so they had a dispute."

"You can protect him for a while, but you can't protect him forever."

Tan Wujiu shook his head slightly and said, "Duan Zhao is Han Lang's man, and Han Lang is backed by the Wu'an Marquisate."

"how?"

Cai Yin glared and said, "Han Lang and Wu'an Marquis' Mansion, do you still dare to take revenge on the Azure Dragon Guards?"

Tan Wujiu said: "First, that Chen Tang is not yet an official Azure Dragon Guard."

"Secondly, do you think that Marquis Wu'an has been operating here for many years, and Han Lang, as the county lieutenant, is in charge of the military and political affairs of a region, so he only has his own people? If you want to make someone disappear, there are too many ways to do it."

Cai Yin's face changed, as if he thought of something, and turned and left.

"It's too late."

Tan Wujiu glanced at the sky, shook his head and said lightly.

Cai Yin turned his back to Tan Wujiu, paused for a moment, gritted his teeth, and walked away in big strides.

(End of this chapter)