Chapter 789 A Fleeting Moment of Indulgence

Among the seven Demon Kings, A'ming lived the most "carefree" life.

Especially after the workshop system was established and there was a stable output, A'ming basically entered a state of "freelance";

Tasting wine, tasting blood,

Every day, he lived a repetitive but not boring wine cellar life, always maintaining an elegant style.

Everyone's life has a thread connecting them, whether it's a career path, an emotional bond, or other fetters. The other Demon Kings all have this, but A'ming is the only exception.

Even now,

A'ming doesn't think it's a big mistake that he didn't kill Nian Yao in the forest west of Zhennanguan the first time;

He doesn't feel regret, nor does he think there was anything wrong with holding back in order to preserve the "Cahill" blood sac at the time.

Even if it caused a war, and the master, for his own dignity, led the Marquis's mansion to make this strategic adventure, for which so many people have died before and now, and will die in the future;

He doesn't care.

What he cares about are those wine jars.

Even if Nian Yao did such a thing to anger Marquis Zheng, it has nothing to do with him, A'ming;

But,

You angered me,

Why should I empathize with your intentional or unintentional actions?

In the master's view, turning a person into a human pig and smashing wine jars is an extremely serious provocation to him, exceeding the so-called battlefield fighting, even worse than killing prisoners and building Jingguan (mounds of corpses);

For A'ming, it is a kind of blasphemy.

A'ming went,

With a seriousness belonging to a Demon King.

Zheng Fan looked at A'ming's figure disappearing in front of him, his expression calm. It wasn't that he deliberately used any aggressive tactics, but that there was a tacit understanding between them.

Pixiu pawed the ground a few times. It seemed to want to chase after him too, but the person riding on it didn't plan to do so.

Although the beginning of the whole incident originated from General Nian's move, after the matter has developed to this point, the things that need to be faced and resolved are no longer that simple.

It's not like everything will be over by killing or capturing that old bastard Nian Yao. No matter what, life must go on.

"Do you want me to go too?" the Sword Saint asked.

"No need." Zheng Fan raised his hand, "This is not jianghu (the martial world) after all."

Immediately,

Marquis Zheng realized that he seemed to have said something ambiguous,

And added:

"I didn't mean that."

The Sword Saint didn't care and said, "I know."

This is not jianghu, because Nian Yao is not some master with earth-shattering strength.

The former Nian Yao, as a general of Chu, had jianghu at his feet;

Now, Nian Yao, who has lost the protection of the army and whose defeat is like a mountain collapsing, is actually not even as good as a down-and-out jianghu master.

At this time, a group of people rushed out from Fancheng.

Yes, they rushed out, and the shouts of killing were very loud, the kind of loud that was hoarse, even more exaggerated than the shouts of the duck in the Sword Saint's yard when it was bullied by the chickens.

In the end, Fan Zhengwen and Qu Peiluo seemed to be a little embarrassed by their subordinates' "performance" and had to reprimand them, which made them quiet down a little.

This is also normal. Marquis Pingxi of Yan is visiting Fancheng, and he is descending as a savior. How can they not be excited?

This is not pretending, nor is it deliberately trying to perform something, it is purely from the heart.

However, after they came to the handsome flag under the leadership of their respective "leaders", and came to the man sitting on the back of Pixiu, everyone began to be silent.

The Sword Saint once commented that in their eyes, Marquis Zheng was a bit inferior to Tian Wujing, but in the eyes of the people below, it was just the difference between the sun and the moon, both of which were out of reach.

The fact is, this is indeed the case.

"This official greets Marquis Pingxi, may the Marquis be blessed!"

"This humble general greets Marquis Pingxi, may the Marquis be blessed!"

Fan Zhengwen and Qu Peiluo saluted respectfully, and everyone behind them knelt down.

Marquis Zheng didn't get off Pixiu, nor did he help them up to do anything to win people's hearts. Instead, he said lightly:

"You've worked hard."

Fan Zhengwen had been a slave before, and immediately replied:

"It is my duty to serve the Marquis, even if it means dying ten thousand times. Fortunately, God has blessed us to persevere until the day when the Marquis's divine soldiers descended. The bold Chu slaves are nothing more than chickens and dogs in front of the Marquis!"

Qu Peiluo was not as eloquent, and just lowered his head, letting Fan Zhengwen continue to speak.

"This Marquis is tired. Please arrange it, Governor Fan."

Fan Zhengwen immediately smiled and said, "Don't worry, Marquis. Although this official destroyed his family to encourage the soldiers and civilians to defend the city, he has always kept the Daze Xiangshe (a type of tea) reserved, knowing that you like it."

Marquis Zheng doesn't really like Daze Xiangshe, but he usually drinks tea like a bull chewing peony, unable to distinguish between good and bad. Only the effect of this Daze Xiangshe is comparable to sleeping pills. He remembers it once he drinks it, and keeps it on his lips ever since.

In essence, there is no difference from a socialite sharing an order;

But because his status is high enough now, no one would think in that direction.

"Okay, let's enter the city."

On the south side of Fancheng, the Chu army is holding on, fighting with their last bit of courage. The Chu army is also retreating, preserving the seeds of the Dugu family. The Yan army is still fighting, still charging;

Only on the north side of Fancheng, there is not only the pursuit of Nian Yao, but also the defeated soldiers and those who surrendered. The scene is very chaotic.

But these are not what Marquis Zheng needs to pay attention to now.

The overall situation has been decided, and what remains is just a result.

Calling General Nian a tortoise,

Comparing Dugu Mu to another step in the Pokémon collection hobby,

Is itself a kind of contempt;

In other words, they are no longer people of the same status. Even the head of a pillar of state is too lazy to look at while it's still warm. The threshold has inevitably become higher.

Fancheng is very chaotic now. Everywhere, there are even scattered soldiers fighting, as well as the crying of the people and the wailing of wounded soldiers.

Fan Zhengwen was a little embarrassed at first. After all, he didn't even have time to clean up his home, so he was entertaining guests like this. It was a bit impolite, but when he turned his head and looked at Qu Peiluo beside him, he found that he was always calm and composed, and then he realized that Marquis Pingxi was not born into nobility. He should have been familiar with this kind of scene long ago.

Marquis Zheng didn't go to comfort the wounded soldiers lying on the street,

Nor was he interested in picking up the doll crying alone there,

He just sat on Pixiu's back and let Pixiu carry him silently, as if he were a clay sculpture.

Finally, the team entered the Fan Mansion.

The Fan Mansion's surroundings and interior had long lost the exquisite nature of its former prosperity. The corpses had not yet been cleaned up, and the appearance of a destroyed family was on full display.

The knights and guards around Marquis Zheng always included a group of Jinyi (embroidered-uniform) guards. Although they were wearing armor now, the rules and precision of the guards were still there. As soon as they entered the mansion, they quickly set up defenses.

Then,

Marquis Zheng, Si Niang, the Sword Saint, plus Fan Zhengwen and Qu Peiluo who accompanied them, a total of five people, entered the hall.

As soon as he walked in,

Marquis Zheng saw a piece of rope hanging in the hall, and white silk scattered on the ground.

"Heh."

Zheng Fan smiled.

Fan Zhengwen immediately bowed and pleaded guilty: "Marquis, it was the steward who took the liberty to leave these behind to show the Fan family's loyalty to Yan by deliberately not cleaning up here."

Before going out to greet him, Fan Zhengwen had ordered his family to tidy up the house.

"Change to another room."

"Yes, Marquis."

The group passed through the hall and arrived at a slightly cleaner room in the inner room.

Marquis Zheng sat in the main seat, Si Niang stood beside Marquis Zheng, and the Sword Saint, as usual, hugged Long Yuan and leaned against a pillar on the side, beginning to close his eyes and rest.

Qu Peiluo and Fan Zhengwen stood below, not consciously taking a seat.

After a while,

Servants brought tea.

Si Niang went down, reached out to take it, and handed it to Zheng Fan.

Usually when they are outside, Zheng Fan's food must go through this process.

He opened the lid of the cup, scraped the tea surface, and the familiar tea fragrance was refreshing.

He didn't rush to drink it, but held it in his hand, looked around, and said:

"This time, a lot of family wealth has been scattered, right?"

"In response to the Marquis, there really isn't much left."

"Money is something external to the body." Zheng Fan seemed to be comforting him.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Marquis Pingxi didn't say anything like "earn it back later";

Fan Zhengwen knelt down and kowtowed:

"Marquis, this official is guilty!"

The Fan family used to be a merchant family, and merchants valued profit, and the Fan family was also a relative of the emperor.

Moreover, even if the family wealth is scattered, as long as the Fan family is still the master of the Fancheng area, wealth can be quickly gathered again.

Since ancient times, power and wealth, power and wealth, have always been inseparable.

If Marquis Pingxi added the sentence: Earn it back slowly.

It means that Fancheng in the future will still belong to the Fan family.

Since he didn't say this, it means that Marquis Pingxi doesn't want the Fan family to continue to be in charge of Fancheng.

Why?

Because you are guilty.

After reaching a certain level, whether you are guilty depends on the person above you.

Fan Zhengwen "destroyed his family to relieve the difficulties" and defended Fancheng, which is meritorious;

But the problem is that a strong city that should have been easily defended for at least several months, or even a year and a half, and Liang Cheng personally brought troops over last year to help him sort out the surrounding situation, actually only defended for eight days when it was attacked.

And on the basis of whether there is guilt or merit, there is actually another point, that is, whether the Marquis's mansion already believes that it can extend its hand into Fancheng, and the Fan family is no longer necessary to continue to use and support.

"Fan Zhengwen."

"This slave... this official is here."

"This Marquis has always admired your ability in business and detail, but Fancheng is too important, and this Marquis doesn't want to rush to support it a second time."

"The Marquis is wise. This official has long been clear about it himself. In fact, before this, this official had already made plans. If Fancheng can be defended, this official plans to take his family and migrate to Yan, to Yanjing.

My wife and children are all in Yanjing City, and this official also misses them."

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "Not bad."

Immediately, Marquis Zheng added:

"This time you have contributed to defending Fancheng and cooperating with this Marquis to attack the Chu army. This Marquis will submit a memorial to ask for credit for you."

"Thank you for your kindness, Marquis. This official is grateful!"

Imperial relatives, sounds nice;

But that is in other countries. There are still cases of maternal relatives interfering in politics, but in the Yan Kingdom, the orthodox new emperor's maternal clan, the Min family, was exterminated early on, and the Fan family is just a more distant relationship.

At the same time, the Fan family is after all of Chu origin. It is often more difficult for people from other countries to be truly valued in the Yan Kingdom. In most cases, they will be highly regarded and treated as a memorial tablet.

With Marquis Pingxi's request for credit this time,

Fan Zhengwen is confident that with his ability outside of military affairs,

And considering the new emperor's pattern and temperament,

His path after entering Yanjing will be much smoother.

After all, he was once a "local emperor." After entering the capital, he doesn't want to start all over again from being a "grandson."

Afterwards,

Marquis Zheng's gaze fell on Qu Peiluo,

And said:

"Before the expedition, Liqing was already showing signs of pregnancy."

This is not to show off,

Nor is it ridicule,

Nor is it pouring salt on the wound;

Qu Peiluo is not obsessed with the princess and cannot give up, but his future life and development cannot be separated from that label.

Marquis Zheng is also clear about this.

Qu Peiluo kowtowed and said:

"This humble general wishes the Marquis an early son and the princess, safe motherhood."

"Liqing mentioned to this Marquis that after the child is born, she wants the child to recognize you as a godfather, and this Marquis agreed."

This is bullshit;

Although Marquis Zheng acts as a "godfather" everywhere outside, he would never give away the position of "godfather" of his own child everywhere.

To put it bluntly,

It is that Qu Peiluo's ability shown this time is indeed admirable.

Marquis Zheng has many top-notch talents around him,

The blind man and Si Niang and Sun Ying who govern politics, and Liang Cheng and Gou Moli in military affairs.

In history, founding emperors were very happy to have a standard configuration of one plus one. Marquis Zheng has several times the happiness here.

But there are not many who can stand alone in the local area at the next level.

Now, only Jin Shuke can be counted as one, and the rest, either lack ability or have an identity attribute that is a little far from being a true "family member."

Qu Peiluo's series of various reverse operations plus the teasing of fate,

Instead, he vaguely became a "family member" that Marquis Zheng felt relatively close to.

This was something that Marquis Zheng had not expected in advance, and Qu Peiluo himself probably did not expect it either.

"Thank...you, Marquis."

Recognizing a child as a godfather has no other meaning;

If you want to take this path, then this Marquis will help you define this matter.

In the future, if the Yan Kingdom unifies Zhuxia (all of China), your reputation will not be bad, because there will be battles to fight next, after all, the winner is the king and the loser is the bandit.

Even if Zhuxia is not unified, the hat of Chu traitor will not be so heavy, because it has long been dyed other colors;

Historical reputation is still dominated by idlers who like romance;

Otherwise, there would not be a trend of dreaming of returning to the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Republic of China.

Therefore, Qu Peiluo is really smart, he actually found a way to "whitewash" himself.

"Okay, this Marquis is tired, you can go down and get busy."

Qu Peiluo and Fan Zhengwen took their leave together.

Fan Zhengwen didn't suggest letting the grown-up golden hairpins of the Fan Mansion come to serve the Marquis's rest, because Si Niang was standing there.

Marquis Zheng was really tired,

First, he drank this cup of "Daze Xiangshe" in one gulp, and then felt that it was a little unsatisfying, picked up the teapot, and drank a mouthful against the teapot spout.

Chewing peony like a cow is itself a kind of coolness;

What you think is precious, people drink like boiled water.

This tea is strong,

After drinking it, Marquis Zheng immediately felt a strong sense of sleepiness.

He lay down on the bed, Si Niang served him to take off his armor and clothes, and helped Zheng Fan cover the quilt.

During this period of time, he first returned from the capital, then went to the snowfield, and then rushed here. Unlike in the past when he could stay at home for half a year after going out once, he went out more frequently in the past half year.

This sleep, Marquis Zheng slept very comfortably.

When he woke up, Si Niang was still by his side. He asked about the time, and he had slept for a full five hours.

He got up and sat on the edge of the bed. Si Niang served tea, and also served a memorial.

During this period, people kept reporting here. Si Niang intercepted the news first, and didn't let anyone disturb the Marquis, so she recorded it herself first.

"Isolating the inner and outer courts" and "the harem interfering in politics" have always been taboos, but in the Pingxi Marquis's mansion, it is not a big deal at all.

If he hadn't been forced to lead troops personally in his early years, and Old Tian had forced him to get on the shelf several times, making Marquis Zheng able to fight, in fact, his laziness was even worse than Wanli's.

First of all, there is military intelligence,

The Chu army was defeated, which was expected.

However, it was a young general named Chen Xianba who killed Dugu Mu, the pillar of the Chu Kingdom.

Marquis Zheng had an impression of this person. He was very good at archery and was also energetic. This time, he made a great contribution.

Then there is the subsequent development of the war. Dugu Nian led the defeated army to retreat south. Liang Cheng originally planned to expand the results, after all, why not take the free heads?

But he soon discovered that there seemed to be a royal forbidden army marching over in the south, with an unknown number of people. It would not be too many, nor too few. It should not be trying to play any "waiting for the rabbit" tricks, purely because of General Nian Yao's identity, most of the royal forbidden army were under the command of Nian Yao, and he would naturally allocate one to Fancheng.

It's just that it happened to catch up.

It was also because of the timely appearance of this army that Dugu Nian was able to lead the defeated army of the Dugu family to escape the pursuit of the Yan army, and also made the military strength here balanced, so that it would not completely fall to the Yan army's side.

After all, the Chu Kingdom still has a foundation.

Otherwise, why didn't Old Tian take the opportunity to fight a war of annihilation after breaking Yingdu?

But this is not a big deal. Since Fancheng is in hand, although there are no elites at home, it is no problem to defend Zhennanguan with the foundation left behind.

Therefore, the big iron door at home is tightly closed, and Fancheng has been taken down, and Mengshan will soon be reopened. On the waterway, if the Chu Navy does not want to be directly cut off by the Yan people, they will have to go down soon. Therefore, the connection between Fancheng and Jin will soon be restored;

Then try to open up the west to connect Qishan and establish contact with the Liang Kingdom, which is a pure vassal state of the Yan Kingdom, and will also receive assistance from Nanmenguan.

Therefore, from the perspective of Marquis Zheng's military literacy, his family can now be said to be in a comfortable state where they can advance and retreat. The possibility of being closed and beaten by dogs and suffocated in Chu, which was envisioned when entering Chu earlier, will not occur.

In fact, after the last war against Chu, the blind man said that the pattern of Yan and Chu... no, Jin Dong and Chu, is like a copy of the late Ming Dynasty and Jin;

Compared with the Chu Kingdom, Jin Dong's family background, population, and military strength are still very different, but they are "poor and ruthless" or "lean and capable".

It is true that the Ming Dynasty died at the hands of Li Zicheng, but before that, the Jin army had repeatedly entered the Great Wall to plunder, and they had galloped under the capital city more than once.

It's just that there is no foundation and accumulation to launch a war of annihilation, but in small-scale battlefields, it is enough to occupy an advantage, such as now.

If his brother-in-law wants to destroy himself, he has to mobilize the Chu army from all sides in advance to form an absolute advantage in military strength before he dares to do it, otherwise he will be defeated one by one;

And when he spends all his energy to mobilize the army, he can not fight, and return home, leaving his brother-in-law lonely.

At the bottom of the memorial, there is a message.

It was reported by two injured knights. They were the group that chased Nian Yao. They caught up with Nian Yao and experienced a short fight. They were injured and were asked by A'ming to return to report.

"Nian Yao has been caught up, so the problem is not big." Zheng Fan said.

After all, A'ming was serious this time.

"Then this slave will have to congratulate the master." Si Niang smiled.

"If Nian Yao is gone, my brother-in-law will really have no one to use. The only worry in the overall situation now is that after cutting the Chu Kingdom again this time, the relationship between Qian and Chu will be completely transformed into an alliance like Sun and Liu, because they both know that if they are alone, they will have no chance at all."

Speaking of this,

Zheng Fan shook his head again,

And said:

"Forget it, this matter should be a headache for Xiao Liu Zi (6th Imperial Prince)."

At this time, Si Niang remembered something and said: "Master, that eighth prince of Chu has been clamoring to see you."

"Where is he?"

"He is locked up in the Fan Mansion, after all, it is also a relative's house."

"Heh, okay, make me a plate of egg fried rice, and I will eat him with it."

"Okay, Master."

Marquis Zheng washed up and entered the front hall. Si Niang also brought the egg fried rice at this time. The side dish was pickled mustard tuber. It is difficult for the Fan Mansion to provide exquisite dishes now.

Marquis Zheng sat down at the table, and the young eighth prince was captured by the Jinyi guards.

This kid is also very forthright,

Before the guards kicked his knees, he knelt down very consciously and shouted;

"Brother-in-law, I'm hungry, they only gave me water to drink, but didn't give me food."

"Hehe."

This also amused Marquis Zheng, he picked up a bowl of pickles next to him, and divided some fried rice from his bowl into it, and said, "Let's eat together."

"Thank you, brother-in-law, thank you, brother-in-law, you still care for me."

The eighth prince immediately got up, sat opposite Zheng Fan, and didn't even take chopsticks. He just grabbed it with his hands and put it in his mouth. It seemed that he was really hungry.

Si Niang brought some more, and also handed chopsticks.

Zheng Fan stopped after eating two bowls. Although it was dark after sleeping well, it was more like breakfast to him. Two bowls of egg fried rice were enough.

And the eighth prince was desperately eating there,

At first, it may have been really hungry, but then he filled the anxiety of the crisis and discomfort of his situation into the feeling of eating.

In the end,

He finished eating,

He burped.

"Are you full?"

"Brother-in-law, I'm full."

"If you are full, go down first." Zheng Fan added, "Call you next time you eat."

"Thank you, brother-in-law, by the way, did you catch Nian Yao?"

"Soon."

"Brother-in-law is mighty, my sister has really good eyes."

"Go down."

"Hey, don't worry, brother-in-law, before Nian Yao ran away, he wanted me to convey some words to my imperial brother, can I tell you, brother-in-law?"

"Is it appropriate?"

"Aren't we family? Since we are family, why should we distinguish between what is appropriate and what is not."

"Okay, tell me."

"Nian Yao said that the reason why you were able to drive straight in this time was because my imperial brother has been too radical in wanting to weaken the strength of the aristocracy in recent years, which has led to serious internal friction and emptiness in Chu..."

Here, the words were only half said;

A guard ran in to report:

"Reporting to the Marquis, Mr. A'ming is back!"

————

There will be more at night.