A raincoat wind and snow to the small garden

Chapter 32: Liangzhou Ghost Soldiers (Part )

Eight years ago, the 30,000-strong Wang family army was surrounded and slaughtered in Liangzhou by the troops led by Zheng Huai.

If Xiang Xiaoyuan wanted to know more about what happened back then, she would have to go to Liangzhou to see if there were any orphans of the Wang family left.

But now she is a coroner of the Xuanqi Division, and without the order of the crown prince or the emperor, she is not allowed to leave the capital without reason.

Xiang Xiaoyuan was at a loss.

Until another rebellion broke out on the border, a princess of the royal family and an envoy who was pro-Xiongnu fled back to Wei and informed the military governor stationed in Liangzhou.

There was an internal strife in the Xiongnu royal court. The king's nephew Tuohai killed his uncle, the old Khan, but did not inherit the old Khan's concubines and wife. Instead, he shot and killed the eldest princess sent by the Wei Kingdom to marry into the Xiongnu royal family in the tent.

This move clearly meant to declare war on the State of Wei.

Before the military governor could report the news to the central government in the capital, a Han merchant caravan heading to the Western Regions for business was massacred in the foreign land by the new Khan Takuhai on a trumped-up pretext.

When everyone was dead, the new Khan said he had recognized the wrong people and hypocritically sent the bodies of the Han people back to the border town of Liangzhou.

This move can be regarded as a provocation to the State of Wei. The two countries already had a marriage alliance. One moment the princess who was married to the other party died, and the next moment the Han people of Wei were hunted down. It was clear that they intended to break off relations with the State of Wei.

For a time, people in the court and the country were in panic, and the civil servants were divided into two factions.

One faction advocated peace talks. The State of Wei had only been stable for seven or eight years, and now the people were living and working in peace and contentment, so it would be difficult to start another war.

The other faction advocated sending troops to the grassland. After all, the Han people were already in a state of chaos. If they did not send troops to defeat them, the morale of the border town generals would only decline. These barbaric Hu people would sooner or later break through the pass and enter the city to massacre the people of Wei.

Emperor Xie Zhen was undecided.

After all, there are dozens of military governors in the Wei Kingdom, each of whom controls the army. The reason why he can suppress these warlords now is simply because the imperial power is stronger.

But if he wanted to defend the border against the enemy, he naturally had to send troops from the capital and then summon the military governors on the northwest front to send troops to support him.

If he did not send out any troops, but only issued an imperial order to order the military governors to send troops to support, I am afraid that those rebel generals and military governors would not only not obey the order, but would also pretend to obey and secretly disobey, sitting on the mountain and watching the fight between the tigers, waiting for the Hu soldiers to enter the pass.

When the Wei Kingdom falls into chaos again, they will be able to get a piece of the pie, and even replace the emperor.

In order to maintain his imperial power, Xie Zhen had to calm the ambitious Tuo Hai Khan. Not only did he have to send troops to support him, he also had to send his trusted men to Liangzhou to supervise the army.

Xie Zhen did not trust the officials from aristocratic families. After much thought, he set his sights on the crown prince who was listening to the government affairs.

Xie Zhen's deep phoenix eyes swept over the tall and graceful Xie Yunxue. He smiled and asked his son, "Yun'er, are you willing to share your father's worries?"

Xie Yunxue was well aware of his father's autocratic nature, so even if he understood matters of state, he rarely spoke. His father's age didn't mean he was incompetent or confused. In the prime of an emperor's life, an overly intelligent crown prince would only bring about fatal disaster.

This is the difficulty of being the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

At this moment, Xie Zhen asked in person because he wanted Xie Yunxue to express her opinion.

The young man lifted his bright red official uniform and knelt to receive his errand. "Your Majesty, I am willing to help you solve your problems. I will go to the border city to supervise the troops on your behalf and help strengthen the reputation of the Wei army."

The border town is dangerous and the prince is weak, but in order to help his father solve his problems, he is willing to lead troops to the border. How can Xie Zhen not be moved by such loyalty and filial piety?
Xie Zhen sighed and repeatedly praised Xie Yunxue for her courage and rare filial piety.

As a result, the prince was appointed as the military supervisor of Liangzhou, guarding the border city on behalf of the emperor to defend against the enemy.

The prince led his troops to the border town, and Xie Yunxue was stationed in Liangzhou to guard against Takuhai Khan's invasion of the north. This was decided.

In order to facilitate his actions, Xie Yunxue also proposed to take away several Xuanqi disciples who were good at speaking and dancing the Hu language. In this way, those disciples with high martial arts skills could pretend to be Hu merchants and travel among the 26 countries in the Western Regions, acting as scouts to help Xie Yunxue go west to gather information.

The emperor had no objection and handed over all military affairs to his son.
-
Xiang Xiaoyuan was very excited when he learned that the crown prince was leaving Beijing for Liangzhou.

If Xie Yunxue was willing to take her out of Beijing, wouldn't it be easy for her to investigate Wang Junyang's old case?

Thinking of this, Xiang Xiaoyuan invited Huaiyu to go out with her that night on the pretext that "she was going to Chu Daofu's house to visit her master's wife and have a meal on the way."

Originally, he just wanted to find an excuse to discuss something with Huaiyu, but when he really had to go to the Chu family to meet his master's wife, Xiang Xiaoyuan became a little nervous.

She thought that her master's wife was an expert in martial arts and might be able to teach her some heroic boxing and sword techniques in the future, so she was inclined to be filial to her master's wife.

She tugged at Huai Yu's sleeve and asked, "What does Master's Wife like to eat, drink, and wear? I'm wearing Hu clothing, not a girl's dress. Will she dislike me? I brought some pears and green dates with me. Would you like to eat them?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan is now familiar with Huaiyu and they speak without any reservations.

They surrounded him with such noise that Huaiyu's ears were sore from the noise.

Huaiyu glanced at her, speechless. Today, Xiang Xiaoyuan had styled her hair into twin buns that resembled fox ears. Her soft, dark hair was wrapped in a pea-red headband, tightly twisted like a pair of crescent-shaped bamboo divination cups. The girl's almond-shaped eyes were watery, her eyelashes gleaming. When she begged someone, she would gently touch their arm. Her delicate demeanor made her resemble a fairy child under the tutelage of Guanyin.

Huaiyu raised his hand and calmly brushed away the arm that was reaching out to Xiaoyuan.

"Master's wife is easygoing and won't embarrass the younger generation. It doesn't matter whether you bring a gift or not."

The boy replied coldly.

He was dressed in black, and the early spring snow fell on the boy's straight shoulders. When Xiaoyuan saw it, he jumped up quickly and helped Huaiyu brush it off.

The soft little hand touched him again, neither too lightly nor too hard.

Huai Yu dodged to the side, glared at her angrily, and scolded her: "Don't touch me, I'm your superior, you can't be so rude."

But Xiang Xiaoyuan wasn't afraid of Huaiyu at all. He just puffed out his cheeks and said, "Well, actually, I'm trying to please my senior brother because of a personal matter."

Huaiyu didn't expect that Xiang Xiaoyuan was playing and joking with him, but she was actually trying to please him... How could a girl please a man in such a frivolous way?

He sighed and asked, "What's the matter?"

Xiang Xiaoyuan: "I heard... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be heading to Liangzhou to fight the enemy in a few days?"

Huaiyu nodded softly.

Soon, he reacted.

Why was Xiang Xiaoyuan always asking him about the Crown Prince? Was he somehow acting as a matchmaker between Xiang Xiaoyuan and the Crown Prince?
It's a bit frustrating.

Huaiyu's face suddenly turned gloomy: "Why are you asking this?"

He winked at Xiaoyuan: "Will Senior Brother go?"

Hearing her mention him, Huai Yu's expression brightened slightly: "The prince needs the close protection of the secret guards, so of course I will go."

If Huaiyu said that he didn't go, what if Xiang Xiaoyuan suddenly wanted to come find him, but couldn't find him in the capital, wouldn't he be exposed?

Xiang Xiaoyuan looked envious: "Can I go?"

Huai Yu sneered: "How should I know? If you want to go, just ask the prince yourself."

"Brother, can't you help me put in a few good words for His Highness? I heard that Yan Yun and Lin Qiyu both went, and I'm the only one left. Isn't that a bad idea?"

Although Lin Qiyu was chosen by the prince because of his proficiency in the Hu language, Yan Yun was included in the traveling team because of her outstanding stick skills and her female body, which could dispel the enemy's vigilance.

Although Xiang Xiaoyuan was a somewhat famous coroner, she had the Zheng family case on hand and could not help with other military affairs, so no one considered taking Xiang Xiaoyuan with them.

The only thing I can do now is to ask Huai Yu for help and ask him to plead for mercy.

However, Huaiyu was determined not to let Xiang Xiaoyuan come with him. He lied with his eyes open, "No, I can't speak in front of His Highness."

Xiang Xiaoyuan sighed and said, "Then it seems I have no choice but to go and ask His Highness in person. As the saying goes, only by catering to one's preferences can one achieve twice the result with half the effort..."

Xiang Xiaoyuan was thinking about what kind of gift would impress the prince and persuade him to take her with him.

But Huaiyu heard it with a different meaning. He suddenly stopped and looked at Xiaoyuan as if he had seen a ghost.

The handsome young man suddenly pursed his lips and warned Xiang Xiaoyuan: "Your Highness is not interested in beauty, so don't waste your efforts."

"Beauty?" Xiang Xiaoyuan was stunned by Huaiyu's sudden words. She muttered softly, "I don't have any money, where can I find a beauty for His Highness?"

After a moment, Xiang Xiaoyuan widened his almond-shaped eyes and stammered, "The beauty you're talking about, brother, can't be me, right?"

She didn't mean to offer herself to someone else for no other reason!

Huaiyu was also stunned for a moment, and retorted in a cold and hard voice: "No!"

Soon, the boy walked quickly forward, leaving Xiang Xiaoyuan behind.

Huaiyu would rather watch the sparrows shaking off the snow on the wall out of boredom than look back at the small garden.

(End of this chapter)