scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 248 Returning to Yuezhou
On the same day that Kang Mazi vomited blood and passed out, after initially consolidating his control over Xinzhancheng, Lu Fatzi and Wu Yingqi left Wang Jing, Wang Xu and Liu Zhifu as guards. In the two cities of Hanyang and Wuchang, the even more unlucky Prince Gong Changning was escorted, and a large group of entourage and lackeys were led to take water from Wuchang to the important town of Yuezhou by the Dongting Lake, to participate in the Wu army meeting hosted by the old traitor Wu personally—— The only thing that can make Wu Yingqi and Fatty Lu throw the newly occupied land to their deputy to leave without authorization is the order issued by the traitor Wu himself.

Fortunately, Wu Yingqi and Fatty Lu, the two unlucky fellows, also had troubled brothers, who were also called to Yuezhou to attend the meeting by old man Wu, as well as the father and son of Fang Guangchen, governor of Wu Junyuanyuan, and Wu Guogui, one of Fatty Lu's father-in-law, and his father. There are many important generals of the Wu army in the south of Pianyuan.The purpose of this meeting held by the old traitor Wu is also very simple, to discuss and decide the next strategic offensive direction of the Wu army after successfully crossing the river, as well as the next political direction of the Pingxi Palace—that is, whether to continue to call itself Qingqing Ministers, should we still play the banner of anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty, or should we simply let the old traitor Wu stand on his own as the emperor, and compete with Kang Xiaomazi for the world with a clear-cut stand?
I really can't blame the old traitor Wu for making such a big deal, and waiting for the Yangtze River to decide such a major event. The precious time of the Northern Expedition was wasted. The key is that Wu Jun's internal affairs and military affairs were too tense some time ago. It's not a sure thing, Wu Jun's manpower and material resources are all concentrated in the preparations for launching the cross-river battle. Although the old traitor Wu has considered holding a meeting to discuss this matter, but because his cronies and lackeys are scattered all over the place, it is impossible to gather together to discuss and finalize these two plans. It is a big event, so it has been delayed until now.

Fortunately, the troops of the Qing army around the Wu army were either transferred or severely injured. It is still difficult for the remaining forces to protect themselves, let alone pose a fatal threat to the various departments of the Wu army in a short period of time. Old Traitor Wu naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to finalize these two more crucial strategies.

"Yifeng, you are clever, tell your uncle." When the warship was about to dock at Yuezhou Wharf, Wu Yingqi stood on the bow and asked Fatty Lu beside him with joy, "What do you think of this meeting?" , Your grandfather, my father, is planning to raise the banner of anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty? Or directly proclaim the emperor and make me the crown prince?"

"Hush, uncle, please keep your voice down." Fatty Lu quickly made a silent gesture, and said in a low voice: "Uncle, it's not that your nephew and son-in-law are disobeying you, but you have to be humble in some things. You must be humble, let alone shouting. You must follow the example of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors who accepted Zen and gave three speeches, so as to silence the mouth of the world, otherwise, the people of the world will laugh at you, Uncle, because you are greedy for the throne, and you have no city."

Fatty Lu's words really exposed his ignorance and incompetence - is it the business of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors to resign three times after accepting Zen?But Wu Yingqi couldn't hear it, he just looked around nervously, and then lowered his voice and said, "My nephew and son-in-law are right. Uncle is a little anxious. If uncle makes such a mistake again in the future, you will be better off, son-in-law." Remonstrance. Also, you haven't answered the question that uncle asked you just now. "

Fatty Lu was a little hesitant. Originally, to the ambitious Fatty Lu, it didn't matter whether the old traitor Wu was playing the banner of Fuming or the banner of proclaiming the emperor. .But the problem is that this banner issue involves two more important issues, one is the support of the Han people all over the world for the old traitor Wu, and the other is whether it can cater to the old traitor Wu's mind and shoot the old traitor Wu again Flattery, in the next step of Wu Jun's marching strategy, he will get the opportunity to lead the army independently.

One side is the hearts of the people in the world, and the other side is the personal selfishness of the traitor Wu. Even in front of Wu Yingqi, his benefactor who personally promoted him, Fatty Lu dared not express his attitude easily. Of course, I want my grandfather to be the emperor and make you the crown prince. But now my nephew is worried that my grandfather wants to learn from Ming Taizu, Zhou Wenwang and Tang Gaozu. Let’s consider the issue of proclaiming the emperor in the overall situation, so my nephew and son-in-law really don’t dare to speculate on grandfather’s thoughts, and can’t provide reference for you, uncle.”

"Really? You can't guess it either?" Wu Yingqi looked a little disappointed.

"I really can't figure it out." Fatty Lu shook his head, and said in a low voice: "But don't worry, uncle, no matter whether grandfather proclaims emperor directly or temporarily, when the overall situation is settled, it will be a matter of course for grandfather to proclaim emperor. At that time, even if grandfather does not proclaim himself emperor, nephew and son-in-law will also learn from Shi Shouxin, and pull our civil servants and generals of Pingxi Palace to forcefully put the emperor's dragon robe on grandfather, and put the crown prince's Pinglong robe on uncle you!"

"Then it's settled!" Wu Yingqi was overjoyed, patted Fatty Lu on the shoulder, and said in a low voice: "When my uncle has one day, I will definitely make you a bachelor, and you will be the first assistant in the cabinet! You will be under one person for the rest of your life." , above ten thousand people!"

"Uncle Xie, my nephew and son-in-law swear to be loyal to uncle to the death. For uncle you, you will lead the ranks of officials and devote yourself to death." Fatty Lu thanked him as if he had wiped honey on his mouth, but he snorted coldly in his heart. Next, above ten thousand people? With brother's talent and learning ability, when you ascend the throne, even if you don't have the intention to hide everything, countless people will instigate you to give me a cup of poisoned wine right away?"

While chatting in low voices, Fatty Lu and Wu Yingqi's boat had already docked at Yuezhou Wharf, and Wang Tianzhong, the Li Cao palm seal of the Pingxi Palace, led a group of Li Cao officials who had been waiting here for a long time. After meeting and saluting, Wu Yingqi casually asked When someone came, Wang Tianzhong replied respectfully: "Back to the second prince, all the civil and military officials called by the prince have arrived. The second prince and Prince Lu are the last batch. The prince is now meeting with the generals and adults in the Yueyang Tower. There is an explanation that the second prince and Mr. Lu have arrived, so they can go directly."

Wu Yingqi and Fatty Lu didn't dare to be negligent when they heard the words, so they asked the accompanying team to escort Chang Ning to the city and imprison them. With only a few soldiers, they rushed to Yueyang Tower with Wang Tianzhong to meet the old traitor Wu. They never thought of coming to Yuezhou with Fatty Lu The line Yu'er didn't make a fuss about going with him, and said confidently that Fatty Lu had been reinstated and promoted, but he, an innocent victim, hadn't arranged a new job so far, so he had to ask old traitor Wu to give him a new job this time. It is not possible to arrange a new official position.Fatty Lu couldn't compete with her, and even couldn't beat her, so he had no choice but to agree obediently, and rushed to Yueyang Tower with Ling Yuer to meet her.

Yueyang Tower, one of the three famous buildings in China, is located on the bank of Dongting Lake, not far from Yuezhou Wharf. It didn’t take long for Fatty Lu and his party to arrive downstairs. At this moment, Yueyang Tower was surrounded by soldiers of the Wu Army and was under strict guard. Downstairs, old Wu's traitorous accomplices and lackeys are everywhere, chatting and laughing very lively.Seeing the arrival of Wu Yingqi, Fatty Lu and others, the scene became even more lively. Numerous civil and military officials from the Pingxi Palace rushed up to salute and say goodbye to Wu Yingqi and Fatty Lu. After Ling Yu'er, Fatty Lu's group of bad friends laughed badly, and they inevitably made fun of Fatty Lu and Line Yu'er.

"Hey, isn't this the third general of Line?" The most reckless joker was Ma Bao, who came up and stretched out his hand to pull Lan Yu'er, and said with a smile: "Brother Line, we didn't win or lose in our contest last time, let's try again today How is it? Today, it’s not about fighting with swords, but fighting with bare hands, Brother Ma, I don’t use my feet, I only use my hands and you?”

"Third General Lan, don't compare yourself with the old horse, compare yourself with me." Gao Dejie is not a good bird, he also reached out to pull Yu'er, and said with a smile: "For Brother Lu's sake, I will let you Two feet and one hand, if you win, I will treat Brother Lu to drink flower wine tonight!"

All the generals in the Wu army laughed lewdly together, but Yu'er was so ashamed that her face turned red to the base of her neck, and she shouted, "Go away, who will compete with you? It's like bow and arrow. I will shoot you blind with one arrow!"

"You don't need to shoot, our eyes are already blind!" Several generals of the Wu army shouted, "Such a beautiful woman, why haven't we discovered it before, if we found it early, when we were marching and camping, hehe."

"Day!" Fatty Lu retorted not to be outdone, "So what if you found out earlier? Yu'er sleeps with me every night, and you can snatch it away?"

The generals of Wu Jun laughed lewdly again, while Yu'er was so ashamed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground, hide behind Fatty Lu and pinch the fat on Fatty Lu's back. I can't go on anymore - because Fatty Lu's future father-in-law Wu Guogui, with a very dignified Chinese character face, has already stood at the main entrance of the first floor of Yueyang Tower.Fatty Lu didn't dare to be negligent, he quickly pulled Yu'er up, bowed his knees to Wu Guogui, and said, "Little son-in-law Lu Yifeng, please meet your father-in-law."

"My niece, Wan Yu'er, has met Uncle Wu, and greets my uncle." The authentic mistress, Ling Yu'er, also saluted tremblingly, greeting Wu Guogui nervously.

Wu Guogui didn't speak, but just looked up and down Yu'er's appearance and figure, how ugly his face was - but it's not surprising, the son-in-law hired a beautiful mistress before the daughter was officially married, and replaced it with the old man's heart. Can you have fun?Wu Yingqi over there saw that the situation was not good, so he hurried up to chat haha ​​and said, "Brother Yi, don't be angry, don't be angry, haha, man, brother Yi, don't you have a few concubines? Yifeng is the best in the third generation of our Pingxi Palace." , It’s only natural to find more, it’s only natural.”

"Brother Guogui, what the second prince said is right." Gao Dejie was also afraid that a quarrel would hurt his peace, so he hurriedly stepped forward to hold Wu Guogui, and said with a smile: "Miss Line is a filial daughter, and she and Brother Yifeng are in love with each other. , is also your blessing, in the future I can guarantee that Miss Line will be as filial to you as she was to the old general Line."

Wu Guogui's face was still so ugly, and he didn't answer Wu Yingqi and Gao Dejie's words, but said lightly: "My niece, please get up, it's been a hard journey." Lan Yuer thanked, and stood up cautiously, but Wu Guogui kicked Fatty Lu again. He shouted: "Get up, the prince is waiting for you on the third floor, go up and greet him." Fatty Lu got up tremblingly, and nodded and bowed to Wu Guogui like a mouse seeing a cat. Nu Zui signaled Fatty Lu to follow, and turned around to walk in. Fatty Lu pulled Ling Yu'er to follow quickly, leaving a roar of laughter behind him.

Along the way, I got to the third floor of the parade building of Lu Su, the general of the Wu Kingdom in the Three Kingdoms era. As expected, the old traitor Wu was drinking tea and enjoying the scenery by the window in the building. Hu Guozhu, Wang Shirong, Fang Guangchen and other important officials of the Wu army were all present, which surprised Fatty Lu. What's extremely strange is that his teacher Liu Xuanchu came to Yuezhou City at some point and stood beside Old Traitor Wu.Overjoyed, Fatty Lu hurriedly saluted Old Traitor Wu with Wu Yingqi and others, and then dragged Yu'er over to Liu Xuanchu, knelt down and kowtowed: "Student Lu Yifeng, pay homage to your mentor."

"Lian Yu'er, pay homage to Mr. Mao Xia." Line Yu'er also knew that Fatty Lu respected Liu Xuanchu, so he kowtowed respectfully.

"Get up quickly, get up quickly, there is no need to perform such a grand ceremony." Liu Xuanchu hurriedly helped Fatty Lu and Line Yu'er.The old traitor Wu next to him said in a strange way: "Yifeng, niece, have you forgotten your lord since you have a teacher? Seeing that the teacher of your little couple kowtows, you can give me a thousand when you meet me, just perfunctory?"

Hu Guozhu, Fang Guangchen and the others laughed together, but Fatty Lu was extremely embarrassed, and hurriedly pulled Yu'er to salute again, the old traitor Wu waved his hands and said with a smile: "Forget it, you teachers and students reunite for a long time, let's go outside to catch up on the old days, the rest Let’s talk about it later. My niece stays here, and the old man has something to tell you.” Fatty Lu and Yu’er agreed, and Fatty Lu and Liu Xuanchu went out to have a secret conversation on the viewing corridor on the second floor, while Yu’er stayed on the third floor. Lou, talk to old traitor Wu and others.

"My teacher came to Yuezhou two days ago." After finding a quiet place to stand still, Liu Xuanchu introduced his situation to Fatty Lu in a low voice, "My lord sent a letter back to Kunming two months ago, requesting to be my teacher. Watching Guo Zhuangtu's son and several important members of the Pingxi Palace arrive in Changsha before October [-]th, and after arriving in Yuezhou on time, the teacher knew that you had already launched a battle across the river, and hurried to Yuezhou .”

"October eighteenth?" Fatty Lu raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice: "So, the prince has already decided to hold this meeting more than two months ago."

"There is only this explanation." Liu Xuanchu nodded, and then said in a low voice: "Your civil affairs deputy in Qujing Mansion, Chen Dou, was also named by the prince and I called him here, but he didn't come to Yueyang Tower today. When you return to the city later, believe me Then we can meet him again." Fatty Lu nodded, but he was quite puzzled in his heart, Chen Dou was just an acting magistrate, why did Old Traitor Wu call him to attend this important meeting?

"There is another person here too. As for who is the teacher, I won't tell you. You will find out when you return to the city." Liu Xuanchu added with a smile, and then whispered: "Yifeng, with your You are smart, I believe you have already guessed the purpose of the prince's meeting, tell me, what should we suggest to the prince?"

"It's impossible to continue to submit to Man Gou. From then on, I will definitely cut my braids and grow my hair." Fatty Lu replied: "As for the remaining two choices, the key depends on the prince himself. If the prince has made up his mind No idea, no matter how much we persuade it, it won’t work.”

"This is what I'm most worried about as a teacher now." Liu Xuanchu sighed, and said in a low voice: "Although the prince proclaims himself emperor, his reputation will be good immediately, but people in the world will be convinced? Not long after the Ming Dynasty died, common people everywhere There are countless people who miss the former Ming Dynasty. If we can play the banner of anti-Qing and Fuming, even if we respect a false third prince Zhu as the emperor, it will immediately win the hearts of a large number of common people and scholars, which will be of great help to us in restoring the Central Plains. What I am most worried about as a teacher now is that the prince lost the watermelon and picked sesame seeds in order to gain a false name."

Fatty Lu didn't dare to speak up, because Fatty Lu still couldn't figure out what the old traitor Wu was thinking, and he was afraid that he would offend old traitor Wu by making a wrong bet, and let his chance of winning an independent leadership be wasted.But Liu Xuanchu is not like a student like a greased loach, and said in a low voice: "However, as a teacher, I can see that the prince is also very hesitant now. I have lost the support of my allies, so my teacher wants you to stand with me at this conference, support the prince with a clear-cut banner and play the banner of anti-Qing and Ming Dynasty, and don't let the prince get confused and do wrong things!"

"Students do their best." Fatty Lu agreed with a sad face, but he was wailing in his heart, why did he have such a teacher who loves to ask questions?The last time he forced Geng Jingzhong to rebel against Geng Jingzhong, he succeeded by chance. This time, he had to take a clear-cut stand against the old traitor Wu and proclaim himself emperor immediately. It would be fine if the bet was right. But all previous efforts were completely wasted.

"Yifeng, as a teacher, I know that you are a tactful person, and you know that you don't want to offend the prince." Liu Xuanchu saw Fatty Lu's hesitation, and said worriedly: "But this matter is too important. I have great ambitions, so I would like to emphasize that if you are still your teacher, you should stop being a fence-sitter and step on two boats, and you must stand firmly with your teacher!"

"Students would like to obey the teacher's orders." Fatty Lu respectfully agreed, but he was thinking in his heart, "In my previous life, I owed this teacher [-]% of money and didn't pay it back, so I have to pay it back twice in this life?"

After discussing with Liu Xuanchu for a few more words, and knowing the current situation in the rear of Yunnan-Guizhou, Fatty Lu and Liu Xuanchu returned to the third floor of Yueyang Tower again. However, after entering the building, Fatty Lu was surprised to see Line Yuer kneeling on his knees In front of old traitor Wu, his eyes were red and there were tears on his cheeks. He had obviously cried just now. Fatty Lu couldn't help asking in surprise, "Yu'er, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying like this?"

Line Yu Xuan looked back at Fatty Lu, his red lips moved slightly, but two more lines of tears flowed out of his beautiful eyes.In the end, it was the old traitor Wu who explained to Lan Yuer: "Yifeng, please comfort her more. Grandpa just told her the bad news. I just received the news yesterday that her father, the old general Lan Guoan, has been ill in Nanning. It's dead."

"Ah!" Fatty Lu exclaimed, "Old General Line has passed away?"

Old Traitor Wu nodded heavily, but Yu'er couldn't help crying. Fatty Lu hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, took her small hand and stroked it gently, thinking about how to comfort her.The old man Wu sighed treacherously: "Old General Line Guo'an is the only old general that this king respects in Guangxi. My king is also very distressed by his passing away, so Yifeng, grandfather has just accepted Miss Line as a righteous granddaughter. Her younger brother Rong Qiyu will take over his father's position, and he will take up the post when he becomes an adult, and the two of them will be entrusted to you by your grandfather."

"Grandfather, don't worry, grandson-in-law will definitely try his best to take care of Miss Lin and Brother Qiyu." Fatty Lu hurriedly saluted and agreed, and he was also somewhat grateful to the old traitor Wu for his thoughtful consideration on behalf of Yu'er.

"That's good." The old man Wu nodded his head, and then ordered: "You can go back and wait for the notice for other things. You can send the king's granddaughter back to Yuezhou City first, and by the way, build a mourning hall for the old general in Yuezhou. The king will take the time to go to the temple to offer incense. Also, although you and Miss Line are not officially married, you must repay Miss Line's deep affection for you, so you have to wear sackcloth and filial piety for the old general Line, and be a filial son It's something." Fatty Lu, the hapless son-in-law obediently agreed, went downstairs and returned to the city with Lan Yu'er, and went to the house arranged for him by Li Cao officials to build a mourning hall for Ling Guoan.

………………

It’s not easy to be a cheap son-in-law. Fatty Lu has to pay for the cost of building a mourning hall for Ling Guo’an, not to mention, and then Fatty Lu has to put on filial piety clothes and a filial hat to kneel in front of the funeral to greet the worshipers. It just so happens that Fatty Lu is in the Pingxi Palace After hearing about this incident, most of the civil and military officials of the Pingxi Palace went to the mourning hall to kowtow, forcing Fatty Lu to kowtow in return, almost knocking his fat head off. In the end, Fatty Lu had to pay for it. A white wine banquet was held to entertain these guests, which almost made Fatty Lu poor.

It's good to spend money to kowtow, but what's more troublesome is to take care of Yu'er. Fatty Lu's mistress is a rare filial daughter. Hou Tangyao, let alone being able to see her for the last time, whenever she thought of this, Rong Yuer immediately burst into tears, crying to death, and Fatty Lu could only accompany her softly to comfort her and take good care of her, until she returned home from noon It was completely dark in Yuezhou, Fatty Lu couldn't rest for a minute, and almost collapsed from exhaustion.

"Father, my daughter is not filial—!" No, Line Yuer suddenly threw himself in front of the spiritual throne and cried loudly, so distraught that Fatty Lu had to go up to comfort him again, "Yuer, father-in-law's family has already gone Now, don't be so sad. He has been suffering from illnesses for many years, and now he has passed away. You should be happy for him. At least, his father-in-law will no longer be tortured by illnesses. Be good, Yuer, don't cry, take care of yourself, Take care of your body."

Line Yu'er didn't listen at all, just struggled and cried, at this time, a small white and tender hand suddenly reached out with an intoxicating fragrance, and together with Fatty Lu, he held Line Yu'er, and said in a clear and pleasant voice like a silver bell: " Sister Yu, you can't be so sad anymore, if Uncle Line's spirit in heaven sees you like this, it will be hard to rest in peace."

"Huh, why does it seem like I've heard this voice before?" Fatty Lu was stunned, and when he turned his head to look in surprise, he saw a pretty girl standing beside her, with a melon-seeded face and willow eyebrows, creamy skin, bright eyes and white teeth, and she was extraordinary, impressive Of course it was his fiancée whom he seldom met——Eight-faced Avalokitesvara Wu Xiaotu!

"Little Tu, why have you come to Yuezhou?" Fatty Lu couldn't help but blurted out in surprise.

"It was my grandfather who sent me a letter asking me to come to Yuezhou with Mr. Maoxia." Wu Xiaotu, who was in his early twenties after not seeing him for many years, was still so dignified and polite, but when explaining the reason for coming to Yuezhou, Wu Xiaotu was far more respectful than Fang Yuer. Her pretty face turned red, and she whispered shyly: "Grandfather said in the letter that I will be 21 soon, if I don't..., it will be too late."

"If you don't hurry up and marry me, you'll be too old, right?" Fatty Lu was elated, and finished speaking for Wu Xiaotu in his heart.But at this moment, Fatty Lu suddenly felt a sharp pain in the fat around his waist, and when he turned his head to look again, he saw that Rong Yu'er had stopped crying at some point, and was staring at him viciously with his willow eyebrows raised.

(End of this chapter)