The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 133 Taking the Big Picture into Hand
Seeing the "royal palace" of the Maoniu Yi king again.

Zhang Yi felt a sense of loss and disillusionment.

Last time I came here, I ventured out alone and was extremely cautious.

If we come again today, with our own army backing us up, we can take down this stronghold in no time.

When you feel bolder, you naturally have more ideas.

Looking at the so-called "palace" now, it's nothing more than a slightly larger shed.

Its decorations were so simple that they couldn't compare to the palaces of the emperor in Chengdu.

Even the county temple in Nanchong, Zhang Yi's hometown, is probably ten times more luxurious than this.

Just as the Yue barbarian soldiers were compared to the regular soldiers of the government, the difference in their abilities was immediately apparent.

"You're Zhang Boqi, the one who ran off with my older sister?"

A Maoniu barbarian child suddenly blocked Ma Su's way.

Ma Su didn't recognize the child at all, and the other party had clearly mistaken him for someone else, so he turned to look at Zhang Yi.

The latter immediately looked embarrassed.

Fortunately, Lang Li, who was with them, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the child's ear, and said:
"You brat, go play somewhere else! The majesty of the Han envoy cannot be violated! Don't you dare kill everyone!"

The child left looking dejected.

Lang Li then turned around and apologized, saying that this was his elder brother's eldest son, Lang Lu.

Ma Su then suddenly realized, recalling the "princess" who had been frequently entering and leaving Zhang Yi's room recently, and his tone became ambiguous:
"Boqi, what a clever tactic! You've already planted a seed within their 'palace' long ago!"

Zhang Yi was even more embarrassed.

Fortunately, after his joke, Ma Su suddenly changed his gaze and said:
"Has Boqi ever heard of anger leading to sway, humility to arrogance, and intimacy to alienation?"

Zhang Yi, being exceptionally intelligent, immediately understood and laughed:

"Lang Li is a member of the imperial family, while I am a relative of the empress. This arrogant position of 'outsider general' can only be filled by You Chang!"

Ma Su said smugly:
"I am not capable of leading troops into battle, but when it comes to verbal sparring, apart from Mi Shishan, I believe I am unmatched!"

……

Just as Mi Wei led his troops to show off their power before the Mao Niu Yi King,

Li Yan hurried along and finally arrived in Nan'an, which was within the territory of Jianwei.

This place is the confluence of three rivers at a gorge.

If Gao Ding escapes here, he can turn west to the Mo River and circle back to Yuexi County.

They managed to avoid the government troops in Yandao and Maoniu.

However, to Li Yan's utter surprise, Gao Ding's troops did not turn west, but instead continued south along the Minjiang River to the Bodao.

It seems they plan to detour around Lushui and then return to Yuexi.

While it's possible to travel that way, the journey will be several times longer.

There are also large areas of barren land along the way where supplies are hard to come by.

This section of road is the new road that was used to replace the old Maoniu Road after it was blocked.

Let alone bandits like Gao Ding who lack supplies.

Even Li Yan's local troops were hesitant to venture too deep into the area.

However, given the current situation, there is no better option than to continue the pursuit.

Half a month later, Li Yan lay on a stretcher and accepted the surrender of the enemy general.

however.

When he saw the "haute couture" he had been chasing for almost a month.

He was so angry he almost fell off the stretcher.

……

Under the combined pressure and persuasion of Ma Su and Zhang Yi, the Maoniu Yi King finally agreed to abdicate in favor of his son, Langlu, and appointed his younger brother, Langli, as regent.

He will later accompany the army north to meet the emperor and receive investiture.

In reality, they were simply held hostage and placed under house arrest.

From then on, the Maoniu Yi tribe submitted to the Shu Han dynasty.

The old road, which had been blocked for over a century, finally had its biggest obstacle removed.

However, just as Lang Li was preparing to return to report the good news...
Wolf Li, who had already taken over the tribe, brought unexpected good news.

"Gao Ding didn't go to Jianwei, but instead fled to Maoniu, and was even imprisoned by your brother?"

"Exactly!" Lang Li's expression was even more excited than Ma and Zhang's, clearly knowing that he was about to make a great contribution this time.

"Gao Ding has always been wary of people surnamed Li."

"He didn't go east to Yuexi with the thousand remaining troops at all. Instead, he had Li Qiucheng use his name to lure away the government troops." "While he himself went south alone, intending to return to Yuexi directly through this place... Haha!"

As Lang Li spoke, he couldn't suppress the smirk on his lips, and simply laughed as he said:
"But he never expected that my brother would also be suspicious of them for conspiring to kill innocent people and claim credit for their crimes. So he turned around and detained them... because he saw that Gao Ding's power was gone and secretly harbored the idea of ​​surrendering to the court."

"The overall situation is now settled; it's time to seize the opportunity!"

Ma Su and Zhang Yi were deeply saddened upon hearing this.

They thought that, for the sake of the overall situation, capturing Gao Ding was destined to be out of their reach.

Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, the person still ended up in his own hands, and he got him without any effort at all.

Upon closer examination, it turns out that it was precisely because Mi Wei considered the overall situation.

Therefore, once the overall situation is under control, everything is within one's grasp, and one gains widespread support.

Li Yan, preoccupied with petty gains, ended up getting himself mired in trouble.

Thinking about this, the two couldn't help but recall the brocade pouch that Mi Wei had given them before they left.

Because the two cooperated so well and their side had the overall situation under control, Mi Wei's "hidden tricks" were not needed at all.

At this point, one can't help but wonder what exactly was hidden in the brocade pouch.

So they both opened.

"This is... a hu?"

The two looked at the bamboo slips in their hands.

The discovery that each of the slips had half of the character "同" at the top indicated that these were the documents commonly used in the tenant farms.

The difference is that the text on the two documents is not the same.

To be precise, each only has half a sentence, with both sides.

They need to be pieced together to read the whole thing.

Ma Su suddenly remembered that day at the Ministry of Personnel, when Mi Wei had suggested that he and Zhang Yi "learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses, and work together with one heart and one mind."

Moved by the sight, I immediately pieced the two documents together.

Then you see the words “This is a plan for a hundred coins” written on one of the sides.

He burst into laughter on the spot and shared the experience with Zhang Yi, who immediately smiled.

The two then turned the pages over to see another side of the text.

It turns out to be a short poem with modified lyrics:
"Its strength can move mountains and destroy the earth."

"Who can devise a plan for this? Zhang Boqi, a Han official."

Now it was Zhang Yi's turn to be moved.

Everyone in Shu knew that Zhuge Liang loved to recite "Liangfu Yin".

Therefore, Zhang Yi immediately recognized that these two couplets were taken out of context.

Pai Nanshan, Juedi Ji.

This perfectly corresponds to Zhang Yi's contribution in reopening the old Maoniu Road in southern China.

If this were used as an epitaph, it would be enough to comfort me throughout my life.

Of course, the only drawback is that this is taken out of context.

The two most essential lines of the original poem are missing.

The saying goes, "One slanderous word can kill three warriors with two peaches."

So Zhang Yi couldn't help but complain that someone was changing the poem without even changing two lines.

I really can't think of any suitable words or phrases, but "One day the enemy was defeated, and in twenty days the three places were conquered" will do.

"No, we can't accept those two sentences!" Ma Su suddenly shouted.

Zhang Yi rubbed his hands awkwardly and said:

"You Chang, there's no need for that. I was just joking around; I didn't mean to take all the credit..."

“That’s not what I meant!” Ma Su shook his head excitedly.

"What I mean is that the beauty of this little poem lies in the omission of the lines 'Once slandered, two peaches kill three warriors.'"

Zhang Yi asked, puzzled, "Why?"

Ma Su: "Shi Shan is using this to remind us that as long as he is here as the military supervisor, we have no need to fear the slanderous words of petty people in the court! We can work for the country with peace of mind!"

Zhang Yi suddenly realized.

After all, he was just like Ma Su.

He was also slandered and defamed by Li Yan.

Also, under Mi Wei's planning, his injustice was cleared.

(End of this chapter)