Chapter 822 Worthy or Not

The last bit of fragrance, like the tail end of spring, akin to grass juice and carrying a hint of fishiness, finally dissipated from his fingertip. The seemingly innocent summer arrived, feigning ignorance and honesty.

Accompanying it was a season of rain, accumulated over half a year, cascading down relentlessly.

Even the literati of the Qian Kingdom lost their poetic interest in the spring rain under such continuous "whipping." For most commoners, sitting by the doorframe and watching the endless beaded curtain dripping from the eaves was all they could do.

If they felt depressed,

They could broaden their horizons; beneath the rain, there were still people struggling through the mud.

…

The Liang Kingdom's Prime Minister, Pu Ji, fell ill last winter. His condition was so severe that many thought he wouldn't make it through.

Old age and serious illness were both hurdles to overcome in winter.

Of the four seasons, only winter could be preceded by "overcoming." If you couldn't overcome it, you wouldn't survive.

But in the end, the old Prime Minister pulled through. After all, a difficult winter was for the commoners; the old Prime Minister relied on various tonics to persevere.

However, his health was truly failing. He could only be carried out by his family to bask in the sun during brief clearings, to dispel the "musty smell" that was invisible to the nose but clearly visible to the eye.

The tea grows cold when people leave – this is an eternal truth.

After the old Prime Minister fell ill, his faction, which had represented one pole of the Liang Kingdom's political power, began to collapse rapidly.

Years ago, the old Prime Minister and the new ruler had launched a coup together, overthrowing the previous ruler and forcing him to commit suicide. Subsequently, the Liang Kingdom and the Chu Kingdom engaged in war. With the help of the Yan people, the small Liang Kingdom withstood the pressure.

And because of the ensuing Yan-Chu war and the great defeat of the Chu, the Chu were unable to attend to this small neighbor separated by the Qishan Mountains.

Thus, the Liang Kingdom completely leaned towards the Yan Kingdom, becoming a veritable vassal state. The Liang Kingdom's ruler had three sons, the second of whom was the eldest son born of the legal wife; this heir had been sent to Yanjing as a hostage.

Overthrowing the previous ruler who possessed the bloodline of the Xiong family and then blocking the Chu's reckoning, regardless of whether there was any help and effort from the Yan people, ordinary people and even ordinary officials of the Liang Kingdom would not analyze the situation of great power games.

In short, in the past few years, the old Prime Minister and the ruler had truly established extremely high prestige within the Liang Kingdom.

But with the old Prime Minister's illness, the former ally, the current ruler of the Liang Kingdom, unhesitatingly began to disintegrate the old Prime Minister's faction.

In winter, he was still observing and releasing feelers.

In spring, like the sprouting of tender buds, he gradually stirred up trouble.

Now that summer had arrived, his methods were as continuous as the rain, so grand that... it made people feel numb.

The old Prime Minister was able to face this calmly, without any resistance. Firstly, resistance was useless. His faction was disintegrating because of his own failing health. The root cause was himself, and his sons didn't have the ability to support the situation. Under these circumstances, quietly enduring could at least preserve some dignity for his family. If the faction was scattered, so be it; his children and grandchildren could still be protected and treated with respect.

Secondly, the old Prime Minister had originally planned to ease relations with the Chu Kingdom the year before. As a small country, being adept at diplomacy and serving the great with care was the true way for a small country to survive.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Yan people, the old Prime Minister inevitably seemed "unappreciative."

The new ruler had killed his own brother to ascend to the throne and had irreconcilable hatred with the Chu Kingdom. Therefore, he had decided early on to firmly lean towards the Yan Kingdom. As the ruler, his interests and future were different from those of his ministers, and sometimes even from those of the Liang Kingdom.

Furthermore, the newly appointed General Ran of the Nannen Pass, who represented the will of the Yan Kingdom, eagerly wanted to extend his influence into the southern countries and quickly sided with the ruler.

With the Yan people's open support, it was almost inevitable for the new ruler to kick aside the old Prime Minister and achieve "sole decision-making" within the Liang Kingdom. Or rather, any ruler of a country, as long as he was still sane, would instinctively tighten his grip on the power that nominally belonged to him.

"Father."

Today was another day for basking in the sun.

The old Prime Minister was carried to the courtyard by his youngest son and servants.

"General Pu has been ordered to return to his hometown for embezzling military funds."

The old Prime Minister remained unmoved by this news, even though General Pu was the last general with real power in their faction.

The Liang Kingdom didn't have many troops to begin with. Before breaking with the Chu Kingdom, the entire country had less than 20,000 regular troops. With the help of the Yan people to withstand the Chu Kingdom, the Liang Kingdom expanded its regular troops to some extent, reaching 40,000 in terms of establishment.

The ruler seemed to want to continue training new troops because General Ran wanted to unite the Liang, Zhao, Qi, and Wei kingdoms south of the Nannen Pass into an alliance of small countries, nominally led by the ruler of the Liang Kingdom.

Of course, the actual leader would naturally be the Yan Kingdom.

Seeing that his father didn't react, the youngest son spoke again:

"Father, I'm worried that the ruler is going to attack the Pu family."

The old Prime Minister smiled upon hearing this.

He wasn't unable to speak; he was very ill, but his mind was still clear, and his speech was still coherent. However, he was too lazy to waste words with his son.

It was really… meaningless.

People shouldn't be too smart. If they were too smart, then looking at their own sons, they would always feel that they were stupid beyond redemption, and they would wonder if they were really their own.

"My dad often has this feeling, too, but it's the opposite of yours."

A clear voice rang out, seemingly seeing through his thoughts.

The old Prime Minister looked over and saw that at some point, a handsome young man had been standing behind him, with a maidservant by his side.

The old Prime Minister wasn't an expert, and his body wasn't well, so it wasn't surprising that someone had arrived behind him silently.

Xie Yu'an stepped forward and sat on the chair beside the old Prime Minister, taking out an orange and slowly peeling it.

The youngest son, Pu Cheng, immediately reported:

"Father, this is the young master of the Xie family from the Chu Kingdom."

"Court death…"

The old Prime Minister uttered these two words.

Pu Cheng looked embarrassed.

Xie Yu'an smiled and said, "Perhaps, in your opinion, Old Pu, it's safest for the Pu family to do nothing right now, at least to preserve the Pu family's wealth. After all, the ruler of the Liang Kingdom was able to reach that position because of you. He should at least give you some face."

"But Old Pu seems to have forgotten one thing. You are not alone. In fact, you are not simply the Pu family. You can let it go because you feel you still have some dignity left."

"Well, I also think your choice is wise. After all, I've met your sons, and they're really stupid."

"They're so stupid that it's like looking at my own dad. Sometimes I always wonder if my mom put a hat on my dad, otherwise how could he have given birth to such a smart son like me?"

"…" Pu Cheng.

The old Prime Minister smiled.

"Actually, I wasn't invited by your son. If you don't speak, finding your son is just a waste of time."

"Yes,"

"Now the Yan people are powerful, and my Chu has just been defeated by the Pingxi Marquis… oh no, he's officially been made a prince now."

"But it's like the sky is going to rain. If it doesn't rain, there will be a drought; if it rains too much, there will be flooding.

"But the problem is, there are always a group of people in this world who don't rely on the sky for food, so naturally they don't have to worry about whether it rains or how much it rains."

"You can think they're shortsighted, but aren't all living beings like that?"

At this moment,

A general in armor walked in. He was tall and burly, exuding an aura of an iron tower.

The Third Master recognized this person.

Years ago, when the Third Master helped fight in the Liang Kingdom as a guest army of the Yan, the Liang Kingdom even gave the Third Master the title of general, but the Third Master didn't look down on the rewards of a small country. After the war, he immediately took Hu Bamei back to Jin to find his lord.

And this General Pu was Xue San's partner when he resisted the Chu army. He was brave and powerful, and proficient in military tactics. When he cooperated with Xue San, one was orthodox and the other was unconventional, the effect was very good.

Moreover, this General Pu was first promoted by the old Prime Minister, from a commoner to what he is today.

Obviously, when the ruler of the Liang Kingdom planned to clean up the remnants of his prime minister's faction, he chose to resist.

Xie Yu'an broke off a piece of orange and put it to the old Prime Minister's mouth. The old Prime Minister opened his mouth and ate it.

"You're old, and you're sick. Just enjoy your old age in peace. Also, let me tell you something. This time, I plan to play a big game."

"The Qian and Chu kingdoms have been bullied badly by the Yan kingdom in recent years, and they're holding their breath."

The old Prime Minister swallowed the orange and said,

"The Yan people are wolves."

"Of course." Xie Yu'an echoed.

"The Chu people are dogs."

Xie Yu'an shrugged without comment.

"The Qian people are pigs."

Xie Yu'an: "Hahahaha………"

After laughing,

Xie Yu'an looked at the old Prime Minister,

And asked:

"Then what are the Liang people?"

Two lines of clear tears flowed from the old Prime Minister's eyes,

And murmured:

"Nothing…"

…

The old Prime Minister was placed under house arrest, by his own son.

The irony was that,

Before placing the old Prime Minister under house arrest, Pu Cheng had made a special trip to the palace to express his loyalty to the ruler.

The ruler was very pleased and made future political promises to Pu Cheng, while hinting that he should temporarily place his father under house arrest.

Of course, the ruler would not directly say the word "house arrest". The ruler said that it had been raining a lot recently, and the humidity was high outside, so it would be bad for the old Prime Minister's health to be exposed to too much moisture.

What the ruler of the Liang Kingdom didn't know was that the young master of the Xie family from the Chu Kingdom was now openly living in the old Prime Minister's house.

The old Prime Minister, whom he had been guarding against, was also the target of the Chu people's vigilance.

Xie Yu'an was brewing tea,

With Pu Cheng and his two elder brothers sitting in front of him.

It was just a saying that a tiger father would not have a dog son. In fact, there were often more examples of tiger fathers and dog sons. If the father was too capable, even if the son was already much better than ordinary people, he would still appear incompetent in comparison.

Although this was the Pu residence, the three sons of the Pu family could only sit as companions.

Opposite Xie Yu'an, able to be personally treated with tea brewed by Xie Yu'an himself, was a Qian person.

"I heard that General Meng once fought against the Prince of Pingxi of the Yan Kingdom?"

The visitor was Meng Gong.

Meng Gong was now a commander of the Qian Kingdom, equivalent to a Yan Kingdom's governor.

Meng Gong smiled and said, "Ashamed."

Back then in Mianzhou City, he had indeed fought against the Prince of Pingxi, who was then just the garrison commander of Cuiliu Fort.

Mianzhou City was defended.

But that local army suffered heavy losses, and the head of the Prince of Fu was also moved.

If it hadn't been for the Qian people losing face because of the first fall of Mianzhou City, and the appreciation and protection of the old Prime Minister Zhong, Meng Gong might have been thrown into prison to await punishment.

Then there wouldn't have been,

When the Chu and Qian Kingdoms went to war, and General Nian led his army to sweep across the southeast of the Qian Kingdom, Meng Gong made a move, using the method of connecting villages to block General Nian's attack.

However, the war between the Qian and Chu was just a small fight, with great fanfare, but without any real bloodshed, and with the continued strength of the Yan people, the two countries quickly concluded an alliance.

"This is fate, haha." Xie Yu'an said with a smile, "Who would have thought that after the Yan Kingdom lost two princes, it would immediately have another Prince of Pingxi."

"I know that the Prince of Pingxi once went to your Qian Kingdom's palace to meet your emperor alone."

Meng Gong also smiled and said, "I also remember that the Prince of Pingxi once rode in the same carriage with your Chu Kingdom's emperor, and even wrote a poem for your Chu Kingdom's emperor."

The two laughed loudly.

Sometimes, one had to sigh at the vicissitudes of fate. A fish fry that had slipped through the fingers of a great figure in the past had actually grown to this extent.

"There can be no more losses this time." Meng Gong picked up the tea and said.

"That's natural. If we lose again, we won't have to wait for the Yan people to recuperate before they take action. Our own courage will be scattered in advance."

"Yes, but this time, it depends on whether that General Ran of the Nannen Pass of the Yan Kingdom will cooperate with us."

"He will. My Phoenix Nest Internal Guard has already investigated this person. He was born in Nanan County, Jingji, Yan Kingdom, used to be a merchant, and later killed a rogue loan shark for his brother."

"Later, he was exiled to Jin as a convict, and climbed up step by step through military merits. Then he gained the appreciation of the two prefects of Yingdu, and that's how he was able to rise to prominence."

"A person who has drowned will hold on to a rope as long as it's given to him, and he will climb up at all costs."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have done something like killing his concubine to gain merit."

"After he became the General of the Nannen Pass, he was focused on integrating these small countries for the Yan to use in advance, in order to achieve his own achievements. This time, we'll give him this opportunity. I'll bet on his character, even if it's like taking chestnuts from the fire, he will definitely be willing to fight."

"What's more,"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, haha."

"The Yan land is indeed rich in this kind of people." Meng Gong said.

"Hehe."

Xie Yu'an nodded, then shook his head,

"The Yan people take their Prince of Pingxi as an example, but they don't know that the Prince of Pingxi lives a truly free life. They can't learn this."

"Free but not at a loss." Meng Gong added.

"It's great to be capable. All walks of life, if you are capable, and to a certain extent, you can live more smoothly, without having to look at other people's faces anymore."

"Why are we talking about that Prince of Pingxi again, haha."

"You have to know that this time we are hiding from him."

"In the early years, the Yan Kingdom had a Prince of Jingnan, who was really unbeatable. Later, the Yan Kingdom had a Prince of Pingxi, which was still difficult to deal with."

"Now,"

"We've learned to be good,"

"Why do we have to fight the most powerful people in the Yan Kingdom every time? If we pick and choose, we can always find a soft persimmon to squeeze. Let's squeeze the soft persimmon first and find our morale."

"What you want to squeeze is not just a soft persimmon." Meng Gong said.

"Whether to squeeze one or a basket depends on fate, just like the last war between Chu and Yan, the flood flooded the land, causing disaster in Jin and making the Yan people's logistics difficult, but it also allowed the Yan people to take the opportunity to change the waterway into Chu."

"What is this,"

"This is fate."

"The Yan people have been going smoothly for many years, it can't always be so smooth."

"Man proposes, God disposes, let's see."

Xie Yu'an stood up,

Patted his trouser legs,

And said with emotion:

"The wheel of fortune turns, it's our turn."

…

At night,

Someone knocked on the door outside the already sleeping room.

The maid who was serving in the room got up to open the door,

As soon as the door was opened, she was knocked unconscious.

Xie Yu'an sat up from the bed and said:

"Don't be so heavy-handed in the future."

"Does the young master feel sorry for her?" The old man asked.

"Who will help me with my chamber pot at night?"

Xie Yu'an flicked his hand and sat down at the tea table, poured himself a cup of water from the teapot, drank half of it, and habitually picked up an orange from the top.

After the old man came in, he also brought a man, Manager Xiao.

"Greetings, Young Master."

Manager Xiao saluted Xie Yu'an.

"Oh, why are you here?"

Manager Xiao immediately told the story.

"Eat less oranges to protect your eyes?"

Xie Yu'an looked at the half-peeled orange in his hand and shook his head with a smile.

"He definitely doesn't know that I don't like to eat oranges, I just like to peel them."

Manager Xiao suddenly remembered that that person seemed to like peeling them and putting them in other people's mouths. The last time, that blind gentleman peeled them and gave them to Boss Dai.

But he didn't dare to continue answering.

The old man said: "Young Master, the Yan people have already foreseen our plans, so should we…"

"No, it's not the Yan people, it's just the Prince of Pingxi's mansion. When did the Prince of Pingxi's mansion represent the Yan Kingdom?"

The old man was speechless for a moment.

Xie Yu'an threw the orange to Manager Xiao,

At the same time, he said:

"The letter?"

Manager Xiao's face showed a wry smile and said: "After he gave the letter to his subordinate, the next day, before his subordinate was about to leave Fengxin City, it was snatched away by Dai Li."

"Snatch it?" Xie Yu'an found it a bit absurd.

"Yes, after snatching it, that person also said that their master said that Young Master, you don't need this letter, he has to first... have to see..."

"Have to see what first?"

"See if you... are worthy or not."

————

There is more tonight