Ch. 86 - Zhong Yansheng: I am His Royal Highness Prince Ding's man

Xiao Xianwei, big liar!

What does it mean that everything is as usual in Mobei, and it is very peaceful, but when the barbarian cavalry heard that King Ding of Dayong has returned, they were so scared that they ran back to the grassland to take care of their children?

Zhong Yansheng grabbed Lou Qingtang's letter and gnashed his teeth in anger.

If Xiao Nong was right in front of him, he would have to bite Xiao Nong hard.

Lou Qingtang set out from Xishu and probably did not inquire about any news on the way. When he arrived in Mobei, he found that Mobei was in chaos, and he sent a letter to the capital in a panic.

Being in Mobei, Lou Qingtang should be able to run into Xiao Nong. With Xiao Nong around, nothing serious will happen.

There was more content in the letter. Lou Qingtang became anxious and wrote his words in a very frantic and distorted manner. Zhong Yansheng squinted his eyes to carefully decipher it.

Zhong Yansheng and Xiao Nong used carrier pigeons to convey the information about the poison they learned from the old emperor and the Marquis of Huai'an to Lou Qingtang. Lou Qingtang knew more about the poison, and the rest of the content in the letter was some speculation about the poison.

Every time a headache occurs, it becomes more serious. Last time in Chunfeng Valley, Xiao Nong's headache was so serious that it affected his mental state. He cannot have it again. If it happens again, I'm afraid Xiao Nong will completely lose his mind.

After Zhong Yansheng finished reading the letter, he suddenly felt heavy in his heart.

In the past, Xiao Nong's headache would flare up once every one or two months. But when he stayed with him every day, the poisonous insect became more obedient and didn't make much noise, and it wouldn't flare up for two or three months.

Xiao Nong has been gone for almost a month now.

They had never been apart for so long. Even if Xiao Nong was covered in his scent before leaving, and drank the medicine made with his blood, there was no guarantee that everything would be safe.

The vague worry in his heart was written clearly on the paper by Lou Qingtang. Zhong Yansheng took a deep breath, clutched the letter and walked around in the study for a long time with a frown, wishing he could grow a pair of wings and fly to Mobei.

When he sat down to write his reply, he vaguely understood why the Marquis's wife always went to worship Buddha in the past.

He was in poor health when he was a child, and Zhong Sidu was also lost, and his life or death was unknown.

When human efforts are unable to achieve the desired result, we can’t help but pray to God.

After receiving this letter, Zhong Yansheng embarrassedly put his own belt in the reply.

He was embarrassed to give him something more personal. After all, the belt had some of his scent on it, and he didn't know if it would be useful to Xiao Nong.

A few days later, Xiao Nong returned a jade belt hook and a letter.

The letter was concise and to the point, written elegantly: "Yuan Yuan, I need some small clothes."

Zhong Yansheng's ears turned red: "..."

This bad rascal.

But Xiao Nong already asked him for small clothes, could he really be having a headache?

Zhong Yansheng tossed and turned all night, and with a red face, he took off the small clothes he wore to sleep, wrapped himself in several layers of clothes guiltily, and had someone send him to Mobei.

A few days later, Xiao Nong wrote back again, and he was even more demanding: "Yuan Yuan, I want underwear too."

Zhong Yansheng: “…”

Zhong Yansheng ignored him.

While ignoring Xiao Nong, Zhong Yansheng met with many of the prince's former subordinates who were in hiding.

The old emperor probably couldn't understand why, decades later, there were still people speaking up for Prince Kangwen, and why, after so many years, he couldn't kill all of his father's old subordinates.

With the support of these old subordinates, Zhong Yansheng's position in the court became more stable.

Xiao Nong left in haste. Even though he had made some arrangements in advance and put on a show with Zhong Yansheng, Zhong Yansheng still faced a lot of doubts.

Most of the people in the court tacitly agreed that Zhong Yansheng was the leader, most of them watched the situation in silence, and the remaining half believed that Zhong Yansheng and Xiao Nong were deceiving the emperor and were clamoring to see His Majesty every day.

However, after the Dali Temple overturned the case of the former prince's mother's family and the former prince, and there was the old emperor's edict of repentance, as well as the imperial edict restoring the crown prince's status and Zhong Yansheng's status, those questioning voices were somewhat diluted.

Zhong Yansheng was dazzled by the number of people he met. While he was remembering this uncle and that uncle, Mr. Zhou, who used to teach Zhong Yansheng, also rushed to the capital from Suzhou. After meeting Zhong Yansheng, he went to meet his former students one by one.

Before Mr. Zhou retired, he had many students all over the world. Many officials in the court were his students. The respected teacher came to see him in person, and there were fewer doubts.

Although Zhong Yansheng was unable to meet his biological parents, their influence has always been protecting him in the past and now.

After taking a bath in the evening, Zhong Yansheng put on a soft silk dress and knelt in front of the desk in an orderly manner. His beautiful face was white and calm. He picked up the pen and dealt with the memorials piled on the desk for a while. Then he put down the pen, touched the chubby little wood carving of a tit beside him, sighed, and took out the clay xun that Xiao Nong had given him, put it to his mouth, and tried to blow it.

He lacked skills and breath, and the clay xun’s sound broke after a few sounds, and was not as pleasant as the flute.

It was still late autumn when Xiao Nong left, but now it is winter and there have been several snowfalls.

The last time he spent the winter in the capital was when he was six or seven years old. The winter in the capital was much colder than he had imagined.

After being scolded in Zhong Yansheng's reply, Xiao Nong's letter yesterday was much more honest and was a serious battle report.

Unlike the unified Dayong, the barbarians are a nomadic people with multiple tribes that are not united. Ten years ago, the Khan personally led a large army to the northern desert and beheaded several generals of Dayong. Then, after hearing that Dayong had sent the young man from the Xiao family, they confidently prepared to kill another member of the Xiao family - but ended up dying at the hands of Xiao Nong and his head was displayed to the public. The barbarians then completely became scattered and have been divided ever since, with no one submitting to the other.

In recent years, Xiao Nong has been staying in Mobei, deliberately guiding the barbarians to split. Today one want to be Khan, and tomorrow another one want to be Khan, but they couldn't hold multiple tribes for more than a few days before being assassinated by Xiao Nong's men. People's hearts could not be gathered, and the scattered attacks on Dayong were ineffective.

Now the barbarians have three major tribes. This time, the two major tribes have joined forces, gathered other small tribes, and sent out tens of thousands of the most elite cavalry on the grassland to attack. This is completely different from the previous small-scale fights.

The old emperor had just been subdued in the capital when the Mongols took action.

It goes without saying that among them was the person who had been secretly dealing with the old emperor for many years. When he found out that the old emperor had fallen and the situation in Dayong was unstable, he took the opportunity to attack and take advantage of the situation.

The situation is a bit tense, but Xiao Nong can handle it.

But he is the commander-in-chief of the Northwest, and a commander has to work hard... If you use your brain too much, you will always get a headache.

Zhong Yansheng clenched his clay xun tightly, no longer interested in reading the memorial, and put on a warm fox fur coat and walked out.

Feng Ji and Yun Cheng were sitting on the couch outside, leaning against each other and falling asleep. Two popular books of stories in Beijing were scattered beside them. Zhong Yansheng walked around them lightly, opened the door and walked out. Huo Shuang was guarding outside the room. He turned his head when he heard the voice and said, "Young prince?"

Zhong Yansheng made a shushing gesture and said, "Go to the Yangxin Palace."

Huo Shuang understood what he meant and led the way holding a lantern.

In just two months, the Palace of Tranquil Longevity already looked a little run-down. Unlike before, it was deserted and cold.

Zhong Yansheng pulled the fox fur coat tighter, opened the door and walked into the bedroom where the old emperor was.

The old emperor looked increasingly haggard. He had been lying in bed for a long time without anyone to look after him or to stir him. He was dirty and had bedsores. If it were summer, his body would probably have been covered with mosquitoes.

Awakened by the noise of Zhong Yansheng coming in, the old emperor opened his eyes. His cloudy and sunken eyes were a little dull. After a long while, he saw Zhong Yansheng clearly. His eyes gradually revealed a sinister hatred, and he stared at him hatefully.

Zhong Yansheng was no longer afraid of him. He stood by the bed, tilted his head, moved a small stool and sat down, and told the old emperor what had happened in the court recently.

"You..." The old emperor was woken up in the middle of the night. After listening to him mumbling for a long time, he spoke hoarsely in anger, "What, what do you mean!"

Zhong Yansheng blinked and said, "Nothing, I just wanted to tell you that even though you're gone, the court is still very stable, and the good reputation you worked so hard to build is gone."

There were a few more bloodshot in the old emperor's eyes, and there was a faint creaking sound between his teeth, probably from gritting his teeth.

"You killed so many people, but in the end there were still many people on my father's side." Zhong Yansheng smiled slowly at the old emperor, "Just like Prince Kangwen back then."

The old emperor's breathing became heavier.

Zhong Yansheng placed his hands on his knees. The furry fox fur collar made his face look softer and more harmless. He had a calm expression. “You valued Prince An so much, but Prince An left the capital without even looking back, and didn’t care whether you lived or died.”

The old emperor suddenly sneered, as if he was extremely angry. He closed his eyes and mouth and said nothing.

Zhong Yansheng couldn't sleep and was in a bad mood, so he came to the Yangxin Palace to wake the old emperor from his sleep, which also made him feel bad. Only then did he feel satisfied and said what he really wanted to say: "Your Majesty, I guess you are not feeling well in this state. It is better for you to tell me the method to cure the poison as soon as possible, so that I can help you get rid of it as soon as possible."

The old emperor took a few breaths with difficulty and squeezed out two words: "Dream on…”

He opened his eyes again, as if he suddenly understood the fear hidden under Zhong Yansheng's calm appearance, and laughed sinisterly: "Xiao Nong, you haven't appeared for several days. What's going on? Is there an attack from the grassland? Ha, after leaving the mother Gu, Xiao Nong will lose his mind soon. If he is on the battlefield..."

The old man had been drowsy these days, but he still noticed the passage of time and that Xiao Nong had not appeared, and guessed what was going on.

Zhong Yansheng's hands, which were hidden under the fox fur, tightened, and he interrupted him with a stern face: "Then you can wait and see who is suffering more."

After he finished speaking, he stood up and left, with the old emperor's intermittent, hoarse, terrifying, and creepy laughter still ringing behind him: "He doesn't have much time left. The Xiao family wants it, and there will be no one left... Ha!"

Zhong Yansheng stepped out of the door and breathed in the cool air outside, but he still felt uncomfortable: "Huo Shuang, tell him to shut up."

Huo Shuang responded briefly and went back inside.

The next moment, the old emperor's dry laughter stopped abruptly, and the long night became quiet again.

Zhong Yansheng left the Palace of Tranquil Longevity with a small hand warmer in his pocket, without looking back, feeling heavy in his heart.

Xiao Nong promised him that he would come back in two months. Now more than a month has passed, but the chaos in Mobei is much bigger than he imagined. Apparently, Taxue did a backflip for him.

Xiao Nong, or can child Gu really last that long without an outbreak?

The old emperor's malicious voice and Lou Qingtang's letter warning Xiao Nong not to have another headache floated in his mind. Zhong Yansheng gritted his teeth and made a decision: "Huo Shuang, help me pass the message to Wei Ling. I need to meet some people tomorrow."

The next morning, Zhong Yansheng secretly summoned Marquis Huai’an and some of his former subordinates in the court.

Zhong Yansheng is very similar to his biological father, Crown Prince Pei Xi. Not only in temperament and appearance, but also in the way he handles things, he has some of the Crown Prince's style. He's just very young, slow-moving, and a little immature, but he has a promising future.

Because he had been with Xiao Nong for too long, he even developed some hooligan tendencies that he wasn't even aware of.

But overall, everyone is satisfied.

Zhong Yansheng looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, I plan to go to Mobei. While I'm away, I need your help to stabilize the situation in the capital."

The faces of the group of people who were just smiling at Zhong Yansheng suddenly changed. They all stood up to oppose him, saying**, "Mobei is now in the midst of war and is extremely dangerous. How can your highness, who worth a lot, go to Mobei!"**

"The vassal kings outside the capital are eyeing the city covetously. If the young prince is not in the capital, I am afraid these people will become disloyal!"

Zhong Yansheng pursed his lips. He looked very gentle, but after making a decision, no one could persuade him: "I have made up my mind. All you have to do is cooperate with me."

Whether it was out of his own selfishness or for the sake of Dayong, nothing could happen to Xiao Nong.

Among the group of people, only Huai'an Hou knew about the poison in Zhong Yansheng and Xiao Nong. After listening to Zhong Yansheng's words, he guessed his intentions. After a moment of silence, he said, "As the young prince said."

The Marquis of Huai'an was usually silent, serious and dignified, and had great prestige. In addition, everyone knew that he had tried his best to protect Zhong Yansheng, so once he opened his mouth, others would shut up.

After a long while, everyone saw Zhong Yansheng's persistence, sighed, and bowed their hands in response: "Your Highness, we respect your instructions."

Zhong Yansheng did not write to inform Xiao Nong about his plan to go to Mobei, as he knew that Xiao Nong would definitely object.

With the help of others, he arranged the affairs in the capital, left Wei Ling in the capital to be in charge of delivering messages, and took Huo Shuang with him, following the supply and grain team sent to Mobei, and headed towards Mobei.

The further north you go, the worse the weather becomes. Compared with the northern desert, the capital city is actually quite warm.

Zhong Yansheng grew up in Gusu. He was frozen stiff all over. He had to put on several more clothes and huddle in the carriage with a heater to avoid the wind and snow.

There were few post houses and villages along the way. Because of the war, some people had already fled south with their families, so the place was quite desolate.

Because of the heavy snow and wind, even though the grain transport team sped up and rushed, they still arrived at the border town several days late.

Zhong Yansheng's bones ached from the shaking of the carriage on the road, and his emotions were fluctuating. He wondered how Xiao Nong would react when he saw him, whether he would scold him angrily, or hug him and kiss and nibble him.

But no matter what Xiao Nong's reaction would be, he was looking forward to meeting Xiao Nong.

He and Xiao Nong had never been apart for so long, and these days he was as listless as a small flower bud that had not been watered for a long time.

It was night when they arrived at the border town, and the person who came to pick them up was someone Zhong Yansheng had never seen before.

When he saw Zhong Yansheng, the other party hesitated for a moment and couldn't help but look at him a few times.

An official sent by the court?

How come he doesn’t look very old? Even though he is wrapped very thickly, you can still see that he is thin and looks like he will fall down if the wind blows.

Zhong Yansheng was wrapped in a thick cloak, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes. He greeted politely, "Is His Royal Highness Prince Ding here?"

The young soldier led them into the camp and, hearing his question, looked at him warily but did not answer.

Zhong Yansheng was not angry either, and asked in a good mood: "Is Zhan Rong here?"

Just as he finished speaking, he bumped into Zhan Rong who was passing by hurriedly with his men.

Zhan Rong had a grim expression and walked quickly, without even waiting for Zhong Yansheng to speak, he passed by.

After a moment, Zhan Rong realized who the figure was that had just passed by the corner of his eye. He paused, turned around and bumped into Zhong Yansheng's eyes. His stern expression suddenly became tense, his eyes widened in disbelief: "Young Prince? My dear mother! Why are you here?!"

Zhong Yansheng smiled at him sheepishly: "I followed the team transporting food and grass here... Is my brother in the main tent?"

Zhan Rong held it in for a while before suppressing the shock of seeing Zhong Yansheng in Mobei, and replied, "We just had a battle with the barbarian cavalry in the afternoon, and the prince led his men to patrol."

Zhong Yansheng felt disappointed.

He thought he would be able to see Xiao Nong soon.

The conditions at the border were simple. Zhan Rong brought Zhong Yansheng into a tent, poured him a cup of rough hot tea, and handed it to him, sweating coldly: "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? The barbarians often send cavalry to rob grain transport teams. If something happens to you..."

I really don’t dare to imagine what master will do.

Mobei was covered in ice and snow, and the wind and snow blinded the eyes. Zhong Yansheng's fingers were frozen stiff, and the soft clothes he touched felt like cold iron. His feet were almost numb. He took the tea slowly, lowered his head and drank a sip of hot tea. The heat rolled into his stomach, and he felt a little better. He explained honestly, "I sent several grain transport teams to confuse people, and I also brought Huo Shuang and several secret guards."

Zhan Rong relaxed his nervousness and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Luckily, you are fine. I will take people to find the prince and send more people to patrol. You stay in the camp and don't go out again."

Zhong Yansheng sat beside the charcoal basin holding a teacup and nodded obediently.

Zhan Rong walked out of the tent and called someone over to remind them to protect the people in the tent and not to let anything go wrong.

Seeing Zhan Rong's attitude towards Zhong Yansheng, who usually didn't pay much attention to others, the young soldier who brought them in was extremely confused and bewildered: "Deputy General Zhan, who is this prince?"

Zhan Rong glanced at him and said, "Do you remember the belt that the prince has been using for a while?"

The young soldier answered honestly: "I remember."

Your Majesty is the only king of a different surname in Dayong, and he commands a large army and now has tremendous power. He has everything he wants.

But the prince seemed to particularly like that inconspicuous belt, and asked everyone he met: "Does my belt look good?"

Who would pay attention to other people's belts for no reason? But when the prince asked, no one dared to say it was ugly. When they answered that it was beautiful, the prince was even more satisfied, and he asked all the guards around him about it.

Even when going to the battlefield, he had to wear that belt as if it were a talisman.

Zhan Rong: "You still don't understand after seeing this? This is the prince's little ancestor."

"Ha?"

"Don't ask too many questions. Give the little ancestor whatever he wants and take good care of him." Zhan Rong's face tightened again, and he led the people back. "Maybe we can have an extra meal tonight. I'll go tell the master the good news."

Zhan Rong's words "the prince's ancestor" were quite shocking. As soon as he left, the soldiers guarding nearby became curious and kept looking inside secretly, wanting to see what the prince's little ancestor looked like.

Zhong Yansheng was like a frozen bird. He sat by the brazier for a long time before he felt alive again.

Outside the tent, the north wind was howling, and the sounds of horse hooves, neighing, weapons colliding, and orderly footsteps continued, making the surroundings seem even more deserted.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Nong was not there at the wrong time. Zhong Yansheng waited for a while and couldn't help but stick his head out. He spoke with white mist: "Is His Royal Highness Prince Ding back?"

He took off the cloth covering his face, revealing a beautiful face that was slightly red from the cold, with hair sticking to his cheeks. With black hair and fair skin, he was as beautiful as a little fairy and looked exceptionally delicate.

Several soldiers guarding outside the tent were stunned for a moment and couldn't help but look at each other secretly.

Didn’t the prince say before that he hated people who were born pampered the most?

How come he is our ancestor?

However, with Zhan Rong's instructions, he still replied respectfully: "I will inform you when the prince returns."

Zhong Yansheng said "thank you" and shrank back.

It was too cold, so he decided to put his feet on Xiao Nong's belly to keep warm tonight.

He waited quietly until night, when the people below brought up dinner. Zhong Yansheng couldn't eat much at first, but thinking about the scarcity of food in the army, he obediently ate up the very solid steamed bun, then poked his head out again to ask if Xiao Nong had gotten it back.

Zhan Rong arranged his tent to be very close to the main tent. As soon as he came out, he saw several people who were obviously dressed like generals walking towards the main tent. They looked extremely flustered and were discussing something in a low voice.

Zhong Yansheng suddenly had a bad feeling and stepped forward without thinking.

Seeing Zhong Yansheng coming, the soldiers guarding the main tent didn't know whether to stop him. The generals noticed the movement and their faces darkened: "Who dares to trespass into the commander's tent?"

Zhong Yansheng took out the jade pendant Xiao Nong had given him from his bosom and took a deep breath of the cold air, feeling uncomfortable in his mouth and nose. "Here is the token - I am His Royal Highness Prince Ding's man. Report to me if anything happens!"

Many of Xiao Nong's men were former subordinates of the old King Ding. As the emperor was far away in Mobei, they believed in the Xiao family more than being loyal to the royal family. Naturally, they were no strangers to the Xiao family's tokens.

Seeing the jade pendant in Zhong Yansheng's hand, several people looked at each other, said "excuse me", took it and looked at it carefully, and recognized that it was indeed the token of the Xiao family and not a fake.

The fact that the prince gave his token to this young man naturally meant that he trusted him wholeheartedly.

To a certain extent, it even means that when he is not around, his subordinates must swear by the token and obey the orders of the person holding the token.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then they returned the jade to Zhong Yansheng: "Please."

Zhong Yansheng's intuition has always been accurate, and the bad premonition he just had come true.

"The prince should have returned half an hour ago, but he hasn't returned yet, and Vice General Zhan hasn't sent back any news."

The burly lieutenant general looked very unhappy: "...The snowstorm was so strong that it buried all the footprints and horse hoof prints. We sent people to search along the patrol route, but we couldn't find anyone."

Zhong Yansheng had a bad feeling in his heart: "Will this happen during your patrols in the past?"

"No. Never."

If such a situation occurs, there must be some sudden change.

Either he was attacked by the barbarian cavalry, or his head disease broke out.

If we encounter a small-scale barbarian cavalry, we can definitely deal with it easily. If the barbarians invade on a large scale, news will definitely be passed on, and it will not be so quiet.

So...it's very likely the result of a headache.

The people in the tent were all Xiao Nong's confidants. They knew that Xiao Nong had a headache for many years, and they had even seen Xiao Nong lose his mind and hurt people because of the headache.

The people who were sent out have not responded yet, and everyone feels heavy in their hearts.

The situation that Zhong Yansheng was most worried about happened.

His face turned slightly pale, his breathing became short, and he felt regretful.

If he had been faster, or had set out from the capital a few days earlier, he would have arrived at the military camp earlier and would not have missed Xiao Nong.

Zhong Yansheng was indescribably panicked, but he quickly made a decision, stood up and said softly: "I know what you are worried about, and that's why I came here."

The dead silence in the tent was suddenly broken, and everyone looked towards Zhong Yansheng.

It was the same situation as last time in Chunfeng Valley, but also different.

This time the situation is a hundred times worse and more dangerous than that in Chunfeng Valley.

Zhong Yansheng tightly grasped the jade pendant, his palm aching**: "What if the prince is really delayed because of a headache? Only I can help him."**

"Give me a team, I'm going out to find him!"

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