Chapter 819 Charming

"You like peeling oranges?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xie Yu'an picked up another orange and said,

"Your Majesty, there are many ways to peel an orange. You can pinch it in the middle with your fingernail, and then slowly peel it open around the opening. Finally, you can gently remove some of the white pith that remains on top.

"Or you can dig it open from the side and peel it along, bit by bit, until the front and back are connected at the end, and your fingertips will be covered with a little juice.

"You can also peel off a little and eat a little, leaving half of it still wrapped in the peel. The next time you want to eat it, you can still feel it's fresh..."

"During the Yun Chi Alliance a few days ago, I ate crabs with the ruler of Qian. That ruler gave me a set of tools, hooks, shovels, and small hammers, which are quite exquisite. You should like them, so I'll give them to you."

"Thank you for your Majesty's gift, but I usually only eat crab paste at home."

"Why haven't I seen you eat it these days?"

"In response to Your Majesty, the smell is strong, and I was afraid of offending Your Majesty."

"How could I care about these things?"

"Your Majesty is right, but the sovereign is the sovereign, and the subject is the subject."

"You're being too formal."

"I am terrified."

"A new imperial garden will be built outside Yingdu, and I will order people to plant many orange trees for you."

"Thank you for your great kindness."

"Three of the Four Pillars of State have been removed, and the country is in need of talent. The Xie family..."

"The Xie family will certainly spare no effort to serve the country, His Majesty, and the Great Chu, to relieve your worries!"

The Chu Emperor nodded and casually waved his hand. The attendants replaced the sandalwood incense.

"Since you have been by my side these days, have you gained anything?"

"In response to Your Majesty, I think that if I continue to accompany Your Majesty back to Yingdu, Your Majesty's reputation may be tarnished."

"Haha, hahaha..."

The Chu Emperor laughed,

Then,

He said;

"This is Great Chu, not Jin. Besides, what do temporary rumors matter? People have mouths, and even I can't stop everyone from talking.

"When you have achieved something in the future and established meritorious service for Great Chu, naturally no one will criticize or speculate about this matter."

"For the sake of Your Majesty's reputation, I will certainly do my best."

"Tell me, when your father went to Wei River to take office, he told me that you had a strategy to present. I deliberately didn't ask these days, wanting you to think it over carefully;

"Now,

"Do you think you can present it?"

"I can."

"So confident?"

"Does Your Majesty know what Great Chu lacks most now?"

Without waiting for the Chu Emperor to answer,

Xie Yu'an replied first:

"Confidence."

Xie Yu'an stood up, revealing the spirit and handsomeness of a young man.

"I beg Your Majesty to forgive my offense!"

"I have never liked punishing people for their words. Speak your mind."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xie Yu'an placed the orange in his hand on the table,

And said;

"Cultivators like to observe the wind and clouds to discern qi, believing that the word 'qi' contains the most fundamental truths of the world;

"Martial artists like to put on a show, like to compete for momentum, as the saying goes, never lose face.

"And I believe that state affairs are also the state's momentum.

"The momentum of a country, whether it is rising or declining, is like the滔滔 (tāo tāo, surging) waves of the East Sea.

"More than a hundred years ago, the Qian Kingdom was newly established. The Qian Emperor Taizu unified the fertile lands of ancient Xia, and his army was strong and powerful. The momentum of the founding of the country was naturally rising, and the elite soldiers and generals of the founding period were also awe-inspiring.

"However, the Qian Emperor Taizong's Northern Expedition was buried by Yan, and since then, the momentum of the Qian Kingdom has been cut off in the middle and weakened until today."

"Your words are a bit far-fetched." The Chu Emperor reminded him.

As an emperor, his time was precious, and he didn't like his interlocutors citing classics at every turn. Hearing too much would easily become boring.

"Your Majesty, what I want to say is that before the first Wangjiang Battle, the Yan Emperor clearly wanted to promote his eldest prince to the throne and suppress the Jingnan Prince's faction. However, after the Yan people were defeated in the first Wangjiang Battle, the Yan Emperor issued three imperial edicts in a row, and two eunuchs who delivered the edicts died before the Jingnan Prince could be persuaded to come out of the mountains and lead the troops again.

"Because the Yan people understand that to compete in this era of great contention, they must have a great momentum for contention;

"In recent years, the Yan people have fought in the south and north, and their national power has been empty, but they have always held on to a breath and persevered.

"What the Yan people fear is not defeat. After a defeat, they will come back immediately. What they fear is that this momentum of the Yan Kingdom will be interrupted and will not return.

"In my opinion, it is not a big deal that Pillar of State Qu died in Yupancheng. We can just fight back, but in the subsequent national war between Great Chu and Yan, General Nian used the strategy of shrinking his head like a tortoise to wear down the Yan army. This seems like an old-fashioned method, but in fact, it has completely dissipated the remaining breath of Great Chu.

"The Marquis of Pingxi of Yan once claimed that his iron cavalry of ten thousand was invincible;

"In fact, it is we ourselves who have pushed them to the top. It is we ourselves who have been telling ourselves, we can't beat the Yan people.

"Therefore,

"This time, the Marquis of Pingxi led his army out of Shanggu Prefecture and went all the way west, as if entering an uninhabited land. If any garrison along the way dared to take the initiative to attack and block him for a moment, so that military information could be transmitted, the Dugu family's army would not have been caught off guard under Fancheng.

"It can only be said that General Nian took the initiative to lower his head to the Yan people, and his final fate was just... reaping what he sowed."

"Strategy."

"The most important thing now is to think about taking the initiative to attack, and try to win a victory in one place as much as possible, in order to restore people's hearts, military hearts, and the country's momentum."

"Nian Yao did the same."

"General Nian is taking a risky move, playing with fire..."

The Chu Emperor took a deep look at Xie Yu'an and said, "How to do it?"

"Persimmons must be pinched softly. Since Zhennan Pass is guarded by the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion, then we'll change a place to gnaw, such as... Nanmen Pass.

"In the past, Yan was strong because the Zhenbei Army and the Jingnan Army were strong;

"Now, Yan is strong because the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion is strong;

"But how can the Yan people have elites throughout the country?

"In the first Wangjiang Battle, the soldiers of Great Chu were also able to drive the Yan army into the Wangjiang River to feed the fish!"

"I'm tired, you may withdraw now."

"This subject takes his leave."

After Xie Yu'an went down, Xiong Tingshan walked out from behind.

"Fifth brother, what do you think?"

"In response to Your Majesty, I think this Xie family's prodigy is nothing more than this.

"Listening to the whole thing, it's all generalities. It seems very reasonable, but in reality, it's all floating in the sky, very similar to the scholars produced in Qian.

"And the point that makes me most uncomfortable is that Nian Yao, that slave, was captured and publicly castrated by that Zheng fellow. It is indeed a great shame for our Chu, but the shame is not on Nian Yao;

"He wants to cater to the emperor's will and pour dirty water on Nian Yao, that slave.

"This act is not gentlemanly."

The Chu Emperor nodded,

Holding his chin with both hands,

Looking at his fifth brother,

He said;

"Fifth brother, do you know what I'm thinking now?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know."

"I'm thinking, is this kid deliberately hiding his clumsiness in front of me?"

"Hiding his clumsiness?"

"Of the Four Pillars of State, only the Xie family remains. The Xie family is afraid..."

"The Xie family is worried..."

The Chu Emperor shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be the Xie family who is worried, but I should be worried."

"Does the Xie family have rebellious intentions?"

"Back then, of the Four Pillars of State, the Qu family stood on my side. Qu Tiannan also led the Qingluan Army into Jin at my persuasion; Shi Yuantang was fair-minded, and he would listen to whoever was the regent, but in the final analysis, he still favored me;

"The Dugu family is used to being loose and arrogant, but this Dugu Mu also has a heart for the country.

"Only the Xie family;

"Wasn't there a saying back then that if you want to know if the Shanyue are in chaos, look at Wutong County, which is where you stayed, and second, look at whether the Xie family is in chaos. The Xie family's ancestors had a tradition of intermarriage with the Shanyue.

"Originally, the Xie family should have been able to rank among the Four Great Noble Clans while being among the Four Pillars of State. After all, their family strength was not inferior to the Qu family at its peak.

"But because of their origins, they failed to rank among them, and the Xie family has always been low-key to the outside world.

"A live fish, slippery and full of scales, I can't catch it at all."

"Your Majesty, isn't Xie Zhuyang already in Wei River?"

"The position of Pillar of State is only given because the power behind them is strong enough to have this title and sit in this position, not because the person with the title of Pillar of State is good or bad.

"Xie family,

"I can't let go of them in my heart."

Speaking of this,

The Chu Emperor leaned back,

Supporting his forehead, he said:

"If that slave Nian Yao hadn't pulled this stunt on me, causing the situation to be nearly out of control, I wouldn't have been willing to take the opportunity after the Yun Chi Alliance to ask the Xie family to come out of the mountains.

"Hehe,

"In earlier years,

"Our Great Chu's nobles prided themselves on their noble bloodlines, believing that they inherited the oldest lineage of the Xia, and looked down on the Xie family and you."

Xiong Tingshan married a Shanyue woman. If he hadn't brought Wutong County to surrender to his fourth brother, and his fourth brother had finally won, such a rebellious act would have been crushed by the noble forces;

When the late emperor was in power, the nobles might have forced the Xiong family to clean up their own house.

"What about now?"

The Chu Emperor spread out his hands,

Said;

"They shouted, if the Xie family doesn't come out, what will happen to the people of Great Chu?

"The Xie family, whom they once looked down on, has now become their hope.

"I have weakened them too much. Now, one by one, they are almost running to the Xie family to climb up their ancestral relations."

"Now that Your Majesty is clear, why did you give the imperial guards along the Wei River to Xie Zhuyang?"

"The late Emperor of Yan could tolerate the Jingnan Prince and the Zhenbei Prince, and the current Emperor of Yan can also tolerate my brother-in-law. Why can't I tolerate a Xie family?

"I believe that the Xie family also understands the principle that if the nest is overturned, there will be no intact eggs.

"By the way,

"After the summer, the money and food sent from Qian will also arrive. You will continue to train the new army.

"In addition..."

The Chu Emperor's eyes narrowed slightly,

"I plan to follow what the Xie family's prodigy said and let him go to Nanmen Pass to knock on the door."

"Your Majesty, he is only thirteen years old."

"If Great Chu still has national fortune, if Great Chu should not perish, if heaven is not so partial,

"Heh,

"Shouldn't it also give me one or two monsters?"

……

"Young Master, you're back."

A maidservant stepped forward intimately to serve him, but at this moment, a shadow attacked from behind her, striking the center of her eyebrows, and the maidservant immediately fainted.

The shadow manifested, revealing the figure of an old man.

"Young Master, you're back."

"Mm."

Xie Yu'an put his hands into the basin filled with hot water, washing his hands.

The old man placed the maidservant on a chair and waved incense in front of her nose.

This maidservant was from the Phoenix Nest Inner Guard. Obviously, Xie Yu'an didn't want the following conversation to be spread.

"The master is very worried about the young master's safety," the old man said.

"Let Father take care of himself. He's facing Zhennan Pass. It's hard to say if that consort of our Great Chu across from him will want to go crazy while the weather is nice."

"The master said he will be careful on his side, and the Yan people have already dismissed the wild men and servant soldiers who entered Xuehai Pass. There shouldn't be any more military action recently."

"Ah, who knows."

Xie Yu'an picked up a handkerchief and wiped his face. He had good skin, but he never took care of it. Perhaps, this was what women envied as "natural beauty."

"Young Master, does His Majesty want to do something to our Xie family..."

Xie Yu'an shook his head and said; "Maybe he did before, maybe that's even what he did before, but he won't now. His Majesty originally thought he had enough time to pick up the broken jars and pots and reorganize them;

"Who knew that although the Yan people changed emperors and princes, they still seemed to want to take advantage of your illness to kill you.

"The Yan people are really the biggest beasts I've ever seen in my life."

"Since that's the case, then..."

"Don't be this and that. When I met with His Majesty, I made a bunch of nonsense. His Majesty should have been able to hear it."

"Young Master was hiding his clumsiness in front of His Majesty?"

"Look at what you're saying, am I that smart?"

"Young Master is the smartest person I've ever seen in my life."

"I like hearing you say such honest words, but His Majesty is by no means an ordinary person. Let's not talk about the late Emperor of Yan. I even think that now in Great Chu, from top to bottom, the only thing that is not worse than Yan is our emperor.

"I'm getting off topic. When you go to Father's place, tell him that I will probably be sent to Liang."

"Young Master is going there?"

The late emperor of Liang had the blood of the Xiong family of Great Chu, so he could be said to be one of their own, but the current emperor relied on launching a coup with the prime minister to ascend the dragon throne, and later fought a battle with the Chu army. Now he is wholeheartedly acting as a servant state of the Yan people.

"It's good to go there. Anyway, it's easier than going to Father's place and facing our consort with him.

"Aiya,

"Tsk,

"Tell me, why did Great Chu just say it wouldn't work and then it wouldn't work.

"When I was eight years old, I advised my father. I held a knife under my own thing and threatened him with those two treasure balls. If he dared to actively stand with the Fourth Prince, I would make sure his line was extinct."

Xie Zhuyang had many wives and concubines, but only this one son, not even a daughter.

So, this threat was very serious.

"Back then, the first few families that recognized the Fourth Prince the earliest and chose to firmly support him, the Qu family and the Shi family, what have they become now?

"Our Majesty, in the past few years, wanted to learn from the late Emperor of Yan and play a Great Chu-style horse-stepping on the gentry, taking the initiative to put his head over there. Not only would people not be grateful, but they would also feel happy. With one knife, *ka cha*..."

"But Young Master, this time..."

"This time I advised my father not to listen to the flattery of those guys and send troops to clear the emperor's side. Back then, those nobles looked down on our Xie family, thinking that our Xie family's blood was tainted and not worthy of being in the order of nobles;

"Now, one by one, they are coming over like dogs, wanting the Xie family to come forward to reorganize Great Chu and return Great Chu to its former state.

"They are treating the Xie family as fools.

"They are also treating His Majesty as a fool.

"Wangjiang was defeated,

"The national war was defeated,

"Yingdu was burned,

"Nian Yao was captured,

"In the past few years of battles, Great Chu has lost too many famous generals and elites, but the foundation of the Xiong family, the imperial guards, has actually been preserved.

"Without Nian Yao, there is still that Fifth Highness. If it really doesn't work, pick out another bondservant. If those nobles were the nobles of the past, they could still play around, but even their ancestral graves have been dug up. Calling them outwardly strong but inwardly weak is already flattering them. If the Xie family takes the lead alone, it's just looking for trouble."

"The master, he..."

"It's really embarrassing to say it out loud. I held a knife to myself once when I was eight years old, and now I have to do it again when I'm thirteen. Sigh, I don't even dare to play with the maidservants anymore. If I accidentally produce offspring..."

"If Father has a grandson, I won't be able to threaten him even if I hold the knife, because he won't be afraid anymore.

"You say, if Father's body is not good and he is about to die, that would be fine, but Father is very healthy except that he can't give birth to younger siblings. Unless he dies in battle, otherwise he looks like he will live a long life.

"Sigh..."

The old man's face twitched. He couldn't answer that.

"Sigh, my cultivation is not good, my martial arts are trash, I can't sense qi, and when I look at those snakes, insects, rats, and ants, I feel sick to my stomach.

"People are getting married and becoming fathers at thirteen. I don't even dare to enter the alley. It's so worrying."

The handsome young man muttered to himself, saying these "unbearable" foul words.

The old man stood silently on the side, like a wooden man.

"By the way, bring an extra word to my father."

"Young Master, please speak."

"This time I'm going to make some achievements. First, to improve the current situation in Great Chu, where everyone is panicking, and second, to show the Xie family, that is, the old people in our family.

"In the past, they only knew I was smart, and the 'thousand-mile colt' was what they spread themselves, but they still thought I was young and needed my father to support the situation.

"After this time, I have to let them see my ability, that I can stand alone."

Xie Yu'an took out another orange,

Peeling it while saying:

"Tell my father to listen to me more in the future. If he's stupid, he has to be aware of his stupidity. After this time, if he doesn't listen, I'm too lazy to hold a knife to myself.

"I want to,

"See if my concubines are pretty when they wear mourning."

"This..."

"Send the original words. Don't worry, the old thing will at most be furious and beat you up, he won't cut off your head, because he still has to let you come back to send me a message, who told you that you have the best lightness skill and the most agile legs in the Xie family?"

"This old servant..."

Xie Yu'an put the peeled orange pulp to the old man's mouth. The old man opened his mouth and swallowed it. Obviously, it wasn't the first time.

Clapping his hands,

The Xie family's young master smiled,

And said:

"Actually, I know what the old thing will have you tell me in return.

"He will say:

"If something happens to him,

"I, as his son, have to wear mourning clothes,

"I guarantee I'll be prettier than those concubines!"