Chapter 875 Yan Dogs

Small building,

Elegant room,

Antique tables and chairs paired with exquisite pastries and fine tea, with sandalwood incense burning to the side.

The Prince of Pingxi, having just taken a bath, leaned back languidly, his hair still slightly damp.

Outside, a middle-aged man with a square face, exuding an air of majesty, was kneeling.

There were quite a few people with such appearances in the imperial court, because in this era, appearance was also one of the qualifications for entering officialdom, especially in the early years when the Yan Kingdom did not have the imperial examination.

As for the Qian Kingdom, which had been holding imperial examinations for a century, apart from a few exceptionally talented individuals, most of those who became ministers had at least been handsome gentlemen in their youth.

And among the common people, such appearances would at least belong to landlords and local tyrants.

There was no other reason; no matter how good one's original appearance was, whether male or female, a few years of hardship would immediately change them beyond recognition. Appearance and temperament had to be cultivated with good living conditions.

The man before him was Peng Kai, the master of Pengjia Village, which bordered the Xiangsi Mountains.

Pengjia Village was a village, but it had a large population, and it had its own armed forces. It could easily muster two thousand people, reminiscent of the "Zhu Family Village" in *Water Margin*.

The origin of Pengjia Village came from the Yan army's attack on Qian. The Qian Kingdom's main forces collapsed at the first touch, and were repeatedly defeated. As a last resort, the Qian Emperor once issued an edict ordering local forces to go to the capital to defend the emperor. For a time, local tyrants, led by retired senior officials, organized righteous armies and rushed to the capital to protect the imperial family, somewhat like starting local militias.

After the war, these righteous armies were sent back.

But those who had tasted blood were hard to go back to chewing grass. In addition, the Qian Kingdom's court was generous with official titles, intentionally elevating the status of warriors to cultivate martial virtues, so many leaders of the righteous armies were granted official positions, mostly nominal, without actual power, but at least an officially recognized status promotion.

Of course, there was also a very important reason: by giving high titles, they could reduce the amount of real money and silver rewards.

Pengjia Village was established under these circumstances. The former village master was surnamed Peng, and Peng Kai was his adopted son, who married his daughter and became his son-in-law. After the village master died, because his eldest and second sons had died while defending the emperor, and his remaining two sons were weak and young, Peng Kai inherited his position and further developed and consolidated Pengjia Village.

"Heh heh, come in."

"Yes."

Peng Kai came in, not daring to sit, but changed to a frontal direction and knelt down again.

He knelt very properly, and it was the Yan Kingdom's kneeling etiquette.

"This king had always thought that although the Qian people were not the opponents of my Yan army on the battlefield, the Qian people's Silver Armor Guards were indeed more than a match for my Great Yan Secret Intelligence Division.

But this king never expected that here, there would be a nail planted by my Great Yan Secret Intelligence Division."

"Reporting to the Prince, my division has actually been growing stronger in recent years, but before..."

"Alright, you don't need to explain to this king. After all, this king was able to escape this time because of you. The reason this king says this is to express my apology.

Come, this king will use your tea, to offer you a toast in lieu of wine."

Saying this, Zheng Fan picked up the teacup.

Peng Kai raised his head, looked at the Prince, crawled forward on his knees, carefully took the teacup, and regardless of the heat, drank it all in one gulp!

"This humble subordinate is able to serve the Prince, I have no regrets in this life!"

Peng Kai's forehead touched the ground, and he kowtowed heavily.

"Sit down and talk."

"Yes!"

Peng Kai sat down.

It could be seen that his excitement was genuine.

As a nail of the Secret Intelligence Division in the Qian Kingdom, a secret agent who needed to hide his identity and wait for an opportunity, he must have endured too much hardship over the years.

But he was lucky. He waited here for the Prince of Great Yan, and this Prince had just broken through the capital of the Qian Kingdom!

"Your Highness, the news of the fall of the capital is genuine. My humble subordinate's family in the capital sent messages back early on. After that, I sent people to specifically inquire about it. The imperial palace of the capital was also broken by my Great Yan Tiger Braves, and many princes and nobles were captured."

Zheng Fan nodded.

Although this raid was commanded by him, he did not personally participate. Afterwards, he was constantly breaking through and avoiding the Qian army's encirclement and suppression. He didn't know much about the outside news.

In the beginning, because of the Silver Armor Guards, he was almost surrounded by the Qian army several times, but later, the Silver Armor Guards' activity frequency began to decrease, and the Qian army's threat to him was also constantly decreasing.

But when he was close to the Xiangsi Mountain area, he encountered an ambush by a Qian army. In the end, he relied on Peng Kai to lead people to defeat that Qian army and escort him into Pengjia Village.

"The Third Master under the Prince's command should be returning soon," Peng Kai added.

The troops that Xue San and Chen Xiong led were the feigned troops that Zheng Fan sent out the earliest, but they didn't have much effect, because the Qian people were more radical than he had imagined. Of course, the subsequent development was something the Qian people never dreamed of; this Prince of his would be even more radical than they thought.

In short, after Xue San's troops arrived at Xiangsi Mountain and did not find the main force of the Qian army, they immediately transferred, and contacted Pengjia Village along the way.

Zheng Fan didn't know where Xue San was specifically now, but he should be back soon.

"Peng Kai."

"This humble subordinate is here."

"What do you think will happen to the Qian Kingdom after this?"

A secret agent who had been deeply involved in the Qian Kingdom, sitting in the position of a local tyrant with his own armed forces, was qualified to give him some advice.

"Reporting to the Prince, the Qian Kingdom will inevitably be in great chaos next."

"Be more specific."

"Yes. Once the central government is destroyed, what will follow is the further rise of local tyrants like me in the Qian Kingdom, and the court's deterrent power over the localities will be further weakened.

Moreover, if my Great Yan can send a large army to surround the three borders at this time, the rear of the Qian Kingdom may be unable to support the three border fronts."

In the past, the Qian Kingdom was a truly centralized country. In order to ensure the supremacy of the central court, it implemented a near-castration approach to the localities.

This made the Qian Kingdom very timid in foreign wars, but very stable in internal suppression.

And this time, the capital was breached, the Qian Kingdom's court completely lost face, and it would be difficult to integrate the local forces again.

To put it bluntly, the central government's prestige often relies on that face. When everyone recognizes it, it is a supreme existence, but when that face is torn off...

Perhaps the Qian Kingdom will once again become the situation after the collapse of Great Xia, where the strongest soldier becomes the emperor.

"The reason why this king took the risky move to enter Qian this time is because my Great Yan is really unable to withstand a major loss, Qian must be destroyed, but not now."

A hint of gloom flashed in Peng Kai's eyes, but he quickly hid it.

Of course, he hoped that Great Yan could immediately send troops south to destroy the Qian Kingdom, at least half of it, so that his hidden identity could be revealed.

And if Great Yan doesn't plan to launch a large-scale attack on Qian next, he, and this Pengjia Village, will have to…

"Return to Jindong with this king," Zheng Fan said. "Of course, if you want to continue to stay in the Secret Intelligence Division, you can. This can also be considered a great achievement. You can be promoted when you return."

"This humble subordinate is willing to follow the Prince and serve by your side!" Peng Kai made his choice.

"Then your village, when my Third Son or Earl Yishan arrive, let's move away together."

"Your Highness... is that really possible?" Peng Kai revealed a look of surprise.

Zheng Fan nodded.

In fact, Peng Kai, as a nail of the Secret Intelligence Division, was nailed to Pengjia Village. Although he had always been "in the Qian camp with his heart in Yan," he had established a family and career here after all.

No one is born with a heart of stone, even spies are the same. Unless it's absolutely necessary, who would be willing to abandon their wives and children?

At this moment, in the southwest area of the small building, which also belonged to the scope of Pengjia Village, there was a burst of shouting.

The Yan soldiers near the small building immediately became alert.

Chen Xianba and Zheng Man even went upstairs directly.

The Prince himself was very calm, pointed to that side, and asked Peng Kai, who was standing beside him:

"What's going on?"

"Some family matters, I've disturbed the Prince, this humble subordinate will go and handle it."

"Forget it, guests from afar are guests. Since this king is here as a guest, I should naturally pay a visit."

"Your Highness…"

"Come, take this king to see."

"Yes."

Peng Kai led the way, followed by Yan soldiers. When they arrived in front of another courtyard, they found that there were twenty or so people holding knives facing outwards, and the periphery was surrounded by a hundred or so people from Pengjia Village pointing at them.

Peng Kai stepped forward and scolded the people inside:

"What are you doing, put down your knives!"

Those twenty or so people looked at each other. Originally, they were at a disadvantage in numbers. Seeing the Yan soldiers appearing in front, their morale immediately weakened. Immediately, many people, under the scolding of their family head, threw down their weapons.

Only the leading man and woman glared at Peng Kai.

The man and woman were not very old. The woman was probably only sixteen or seventeen years old, and the man was less than twenty years old; both were young people.

"Third Uncle, I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person!"

The woman was holding a sword. While scolding Peng Kai, she directly rushed towards Zheng Fan with her sword.

Chen Xianba stepped forward and blocked the opponent's sword with a hammer, then followed up with a kick and knocked the woman to the ground.

When Chen Xianba was preparing to end her life with a hammer in the rhythm of battlefield combat, he was stopped by the Prince behind him:

"Stop."

Chen Xianba stopped.

The woman clutched her chest and couldn't stand up for a while.

After all, Chen Xianba didn't understand what it meant to cherish the fairer sex.

The woman in front of him was Peng Kai's eldest niece, that is, the daughter of the eldest son of the original Pengjia Village master. The man was the son of the second son.

At this time, the man was holding a knife, pointing at Zheng Fan. Immediately, the soldiers behind Zheng Fan aimed their bows and arrows at him.

The man immediately put the knife down again, his face very struggling;

But he still forcibly twisted his face and asked;

"Who exactly are you!"

In fact, they should already have the answer they should have, after all, the armor of the Yan army was too distinct compared to the Qian army.

Zheng Fan looked at him,

And said:

"This King's surname is Zheng."

"Prince... Prince Pingxi!"

"Clang!"

The knife in the man's hand fell to the ground, and everyone behind him showed looks of horror.

They knew that their family head had led the Yan army in, but they didn't know the identity of the Yan army's commander.

After learning that Prince Pingxi was standing in front of him, the man was instantly emptied of all courage and slumped to the ground.

This was not a rehearsal, nor was it a drill. It was purely because the three words "Prince Pingxi" were too deterrent, truly capable of stopping children from crying in the Qian territory.

Zheng Fan waved his hand,

Chen Xianba immediately led the soldiers to kick away their knives and tied everyone up.

Peng Kai's face was livid. He didn't dare to lose his temper at the "Prince." No matter what, he was loyal to the Yan Kingdom. What angered him was that when the Prince clearly told him that he could take the people of Pengjia Village to migrate to the Yan Kingdom, his own family actually made such a scene!

"Let's go, go in and take a look."

Zheng Fan strode forward and walked in.

Peng Kai immediately followed.

The soldiers on both sides spread out to clear any possible threats, but the people of Pengjia Village were not allowed to enter.

Zheng Fan whispered: "Their fathers, were they killed by you?"

"Reporting to the Prince, it was done by this subordinate. When the Prince attacked Qian, Pengjia Village raised troops to enter the capital to defend the emperor. On the way there, this subordinate had the Pengjia Village's eldest young master fall off his horse and die, and on the way back, the second young master 'died of illness'."

"It was also hard on you," Zheng Fan smiled.

After all, when Pengjia Village raised troops to defend the emperor, they didn't encounter the Yan army, nor did any battles occur. In this case, he had to plot to kill two people ahead of him in the line of inheritance without revealing any flaws. It was really not easy.

"This humble subordinate believes that controlling Pengjia Village can play a role in my Great Yan's future use of troops against Qian."

"Yes, very good."

At the entrance of the hall, there were many people standing, all surrounded by soldiers, mostly women.

At the front was an old lady sitting in a grand chair, with gray hair and a python-wood crutch in her hand.

Standing beside the old lady was a woman.

When he saw this woman, anger flashed in Peng Kai's eyes, and he scolded:

"Min'er, why did you do this!"

She was Peng Kai's wife, and also the daughter of the Peng family. After Peng Kai was adopted as an adopted son by the old village master, he married his daughter to her, making them even closer.

When Pengjia Village became established and became a relatively large local armed force in the area east of Xiangsi Mountain, Peng Kai originally didn't have the qualifications to inherit the position even as an adopted son. Just like those adopted son commanders of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion, no matter how powerful they were, the position of Zhenbei Marquis still wouldn't be their turn.

He could convince the public and take the stage entirely because of his status as an "son-in-law."

It was this identity that gave Peng Kai the possibility to take the position and clean up the village.

Originally, in order to welcome the Prince's arrival, Peng Kai had controlled all the "unstable" factors in the family, including the two juniors at the door, who were also placed under house arrest by him.

But his wife, the village master's wife, had secretly released those two juniors behind his back, which allowed them to gather some subordinates and break into here.

The old lady sitting in the grand chair stared at Peng Kai, and poked the ground hard twice with her python-wood crutch,

And said:

"My son, are you a Qian person, or a Yan person!"

Peng Kai first looked at Zheng Fan, and seeing that the Prince didn't seem impatient, he had to take a deep breath, stepped forward, and respectfully saluted the old lady,

And said:

"Reporting to Mother, I am a Yan person."

"Good, good," the old lady's face showed a smile, "I never thought that what this old woman decided to take in back then was actually a Yan person. This old woman's eyes are blurred, no, this old woman is blind!"

"Mother regarded her child as her own, and her child will also regard Mother as his direct mother, and her child will serve Mother in her old age."

"Heh heh heh."

The old lady laughed,

Slowly asked;

"Que'er and Chu'er, one died from falling off a horse, and one died of illness, was it you who did it?"

Peng Kai hesitated for a moment, and nodded.

"Good, good. When the old thing led everyone to enter the capital to defend the emperor, this old woman knelt in front of the Buddhist hall at home for more than a month, just to pray for you;

Yes, I prayed for blessings, and it was fortunate that the old thing didn't encounter the Yan people.

But my two sons are gone.

Do you know what the old thing said to me after he came back?

He said, you, there may be a problem."

Even if the old village master of Pengjia Village wasn't a figure of the level of a hero, he was definitely not ordinary, being able to start from scratch and seize the opportunity to build up this foundation.

"It was me who saved your life, and it was me who married Minnie to you. I treated you like my own son;

It was also me who helped you, after the old thing left, to let you sit in the position of village master.

So,

The old thing guessed right.

From beginning to end, I was blind. This old woman, brought a wolf into the house, killed the whole family, I was very blind!!!"

Suddenly,

The old lady seemed to have thought of something again,

Pointing at Peng Kai, she asked:

"The old thing's body deteriorated day by day after being conferred, was it also you, you were in a hurry to let the old thing make room for you?"

Peng Kai nodded heavily.

The Peng Kai's wife standing on the side turned pale and slumped to the ground.

Her beloved husband, the man for whom she raised children, was actually the murderer who killed her father and two brothers...

The two young children, hugging their mother, had eyes full of fear and unease.

"Heh heh heh, hahahahahahaha..."

The old lady laughed loudly.

Laughing and laughing,

The old lady looked at Zheng Fan, who was standing behind Peng Kai,

Reached out,

Pointed,

Asked;

"You are......"

Zheng Fan took two steps forward,

Slightly bowed,

And said:

"This King's surname is......"

"Pah!"

The old lady directly spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the Prince Pingxi's face.

The Prince closed his eyes,

The surrounding soldiers immediately drew their knives,

The Prince raised his hand, signaling to be calm.

Chen Xianba stepped forward and handed over a handkerchief.

The Prince took the handkerchief and slowly wiped his face;

After the old lady spat out a mouthful of saliva,

She took a few breaths,

And scolded:

"Yan dog!"

————

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