end song

Chapter 870
Because of the failure of Zhang Hongji to marry Yuan Yan, when Zhang Wenjing mentioned this second elder brother in the past, it was easy to feel that he was mediocre and incompetent.

With the characters of Li Xia and Zhang Wenjing as a couple, whenever they talk about other people's feelings, they think that Zhang Hongji would rather be himself than he is obsessed with Yuan Yan.

In the eyes of the people at the time, an infatuated man always seemed weak, not to mention that Zhang Erlang was weak and sick.

But this is only Zhang Wenjing's impression.

"I seldom saw my second brother, but I heard people teasing about these old things when I was young. You also know that the girl's family is only interested in these things. I don't know what second brother usually does besides liking sister Yuan."

Li Xia said: "Today, I asked Yuan Yan her impression of Zhang Erlang."

Zhang Wenjing became interested as soon as she heard it, put down the gift list in her hand, pushed Li Xia to sit down on the chair, and took advantage of the opportunity to sit on his lap.

"Every time I ask Sister Yuan, she always tells me not to make trouble, but she has never told me what she thinks."

It was clear that there were still many business matters to be discussed, but she already acted as if she wanted to hear Li Xia talk about her family's problems.

"It's nothing. She said that Zhang Erlang didn't have any intentions for her. He was just a matchmaker back then. If it doesn't work, it won't work..."

Zhang Rou and Yuan Haowen are brother-in-law, Zhang Hongji wanted to marry Yuan Yan back then, so they could be called a good match.

The reason why it didn't work was that the Yuan family just felt that Zhang Hongji's status was too high, and he was also weak and sick, so he was easy to cause trouble, so he was not a good match.

Yuan Yan later married a scholar, never thought that her husband's family died earlier than Zhang Erlang.

Living in troubled times, the loss of her husband is a fateful fate for a woman. She has always been reluctant to mention these past events, and it was only when Li Xia asked her that she reluctantly elaborated.

But I don't think Zhang Erlang had the idea of ​​not marrying her at that time.

As for what Zhang Wenjing later said about "Second Brother's heart and soul", in Yuan Yan's eyes, it was just out of friendship between the two families.

When Li Xia relayed the story here, Zhang Wenjing couldn't help retorting: "It's because of family friendship? After the death of sister Yuan's husband's family, she returned to Xiurong's mother's house and became a monk at Baihe Temple. The second brother chased him to Baihe Temple."

"Yuan Yan said that she worshiped Master Yuqing as her teacher at that time, and Master Yuqing was a disciple of Master Piyun Song Defang. Zhang Erlang practiced Taoism with Song Defang in his early years. Later, when Song Defang passed away, he went to Sanqing Temple to express his condolences. Invite Xiao to live in Baihe Guan to recuperate."

"Excuse." Zhang Wenjing said: "When I was young, I saw the portrait of Sister Yuan kept by my second brother at home. I said that I just came to Baihe Temple by chance. Do you believe it?"

"I know that Zhang Erlang really likes Yuan Yan, so he deliberately found an excuse to see her." Li Xia said, "But if you like it, it shouldn't affect his judgment. You see, after his marriage proposal is rejected, it's fine. Regardless of the degree of disregard. Although he still had concerns afterwards, he never stalked him, became angry, and stopped being polite. It can be seen that he has his own opinions..."

Zhang Wenjing found it funny, and asked, "Why are you so concerned about their past all of a sudden?"

"I was thinking, why did Second Brother Ni fall to us?"

"Sister Yuan is on our side, of course he hopes that the Zhang family will come over."

"There may be a small part of the reason because of Yuan Yan, but it must not be all." Li Xia said: "If he is really so emotional, it will be very dangerous."

"It means that the second brother can understand that you are the most worthy of assistance."

"Is that why you trust me?"

"Well, I believe in my own vision." Zhang Wenjing said without hesitation, "Second Brother's choice this time shows that he is also discerning."

Li Xia smiled and said, "Well, I already have a general impression of him."

……

This time, the news from Baozhou was a bit unexpected. Zhang Rou was transferred to Yanjing, but her second son Zhang Hongji stayed in Baozhou to be in charge of secretly collaborating with Li Xia.

This result also exceeded Li Xia's expectations.

He also needs to piece together what happened in Baozhou thousands of miles away through news one by one, piece together the face of Zhang Hongji, and decide whether the other party is trustworthy.

After learning about the past between Zhang Hongji and Yuan Yan from Zhang Wenjing, Li Xia began to piece together the story based on Yu Dechen's experience.

"Remember Yu Dechen I mentioned last time? He was rescued by Zhang Erlang, and he came back with the caravan this time."

"how come?"

"It was just said that Zhang Erlang followed Song Defang to practice Taoism in his early years, and later, he also lived in Xiurong Baihe Temple for a while."

"Well, my elder brother died early, and my second elder brother was weak since he was a child. At that time, my father was away fighting for many years, so he was fostered under Piyun Daoist's sect for a period of time."

Li Xia said: "After Song Defang passed away, the Sanqing Temple in Taiyuan was presided over by his disciple Qin Zhi'an, who was an old acquaintance with Zhang Erlang, and the Sanqing Temple was less than a hundred miles north to the Baihe Temple. Some of the temples were arranged by your second brother. people."

"My second brother arranged for someone to stay at Baiheguan?" Zhang Wenjing thought for a while, and said, "Understood, he stayed there to protect Sister Yuan. Going back, the second brother's people stayed in Baiheguan."

"According to Yu Dechen, he assassinated Hao Tianju at the gate of Taiyuan City, and then grabbed Hao Tianju's carriage and rushed out of Taiyuan City. At that time, Qin Zhian was in the carriage, so the disciples of the Sanqing Temple refused to let the Mongolian army shoot arrows, and Yu Dechen fled eastward. After traveling for more than ten miles, the pursuers arrived, but Qin Zhian drove the pursuers away for him, and asked him to go to Sanqing Temple to find a Taoist named Yun Guizi."

It was not difficult for Qin Zhian to divert the pursuers away, maybe after the carriage was stopped, he would slash himself, saying that the assassin fled somewhere.

However, Li Xia wasn't sure if the old Taoist could escape Zhang Hongfan's investigation by doing so.

He is already unknown about this matter.

Li Xia continued: "After Yu Dechen arrived at Sanqing Temple, he found Yun Guizi. Yun Guizi and your second brother are good friends, so they have some contacts in Taiyuan."

Zhang Wenjing asked: "But at this time, the second brother should not have received the news and can tell his friends to help him?"

"Mao Jujie stayed in Taiyuan, and when he heard about the assassination at the city gate, he went to Sanqing Temple to ask Yun Guizi about it."

"Fifth uncle?"

Li Xia said: "According to what Hao Tianyi said, before he left, he met Mao Jujie once, and Mao Jujie asked him carefully about what I was doing."

"It can be seen that my father was considering whether to come to assist you, so he sent the fifth uncle." Zhang Wenjing asked quickly: "Did Hao Tianyi say you were wise and powerful at the time? If not, he must be severely punished."

"Hao Tianyi doesn't need to say much, he abandoned his family to vote for me, and he has shown by his actions that he thinks I'm worth it."

Zhang Wenjing was very proud, wrapped her hands around Li Xia's neck, and said, "The fifth uncle must also know that you are a hero of the world."

"I don't know if I'm an unrivaled hero in his eyes, but he really wanted to get on line with me, so he sent someone to steal the Golden Tiger Talisman and helped Hao Tianyi leave. And he kept him in Taiyuan. Yu Dechen said that this person was small, Thieves. When I reported my name, it turned out to be an old acquaintance of mine."

"Your old acquaintance?"

"White-haired rat, Bai Mao."

"do not know."

"Remember the poem you wrote back then? Your fifth brother stole it and asked Bai Mao to give it to me."

"Really annoying."

Li Xia continued: "Your fifth uncle and your second elder brother obviously have a tacit understanding, but Yu Dechen doesn't know the details. He only knows that after discussing with Bai Mao, Yun Guizi took him to Baihe Temple for temporary refuge. Afterwards, Baozhou When the order arrived, Yu Dechen was sent out of Shanxi to Baozhou."

"It's a coincidence, right?" Zhang Wenjing said, "This Taoist is lucky."

"After all, we made up the situation. It's a coincidence, and it makes sense to say that your fifth uncle and second brother have signaled to save me." Li Xia said: "They didn't have to take risks. It may also be because of Yu Dechen's skill in disguise and assassination of Hao Tianju that I showed my favor, which made them think it was worth saving."

Judging from this matter, Zhang Hongji's attitude towards Li Xia is very clear, and it can even be said to be very firm.

This was totally unexpected by Li Xia. After all, he had never dealt with Zhang Hongji. Although he was Zhang Hongji's brother-in-law, Zhang Wenjing was not very familiar with the second brother.

Unexpected, but indeed a good thing.

"After Yu Dechen arrived in Baozhou, he soon met Lin Zi and Dong Wenyong. They were negotiating with your father at the Zhang family's old house. At that time, your father had received Kublai Khan's edict and was about to leave for Yanjing. Ask your second brother to prepare a dowry for you..."

Speaking of Zhang Rou, Zhang Wenjing felt a little regretful.

Even if Zhang Rou hadn't been called to Yanjing this time, she wouldn't be able to raise the flag right away, but in terms of the result, it was nothing more than smuggling.

But it still made her feel far away.

She couldn't help asking: "Then if you send troops to the Northern Expedition in the future, will Second Brother have the ability and determination to respond to you? And my father will not be in Baozhou at that time, will there be any danger?"

Li Xia patted her on the back lightly, and said: "You think too far, and it's not the time to think about these things yet. Just saying that your second brother can smuggle with us can already play a lot of important roles. It can help I infiltrated into Henan, obtained a lot of information, and slowly used benefits to win over the princes of Henan. In the future, when we go to the Northern Expedition, our soldiers and horses will not be blind to the Central Plains, and even a surprise soldier will reach Baozhou quietly..."

~~
Li Xia and Zhang Wenjing can only talk about the significance of the Baozhou incident.

In fact, there is still more information, and he still has to verify, digest, and come up with a countermeasure slowly.

For example, Zhang Hongji also gave the latest information on the dispute between Kublai Khan and Brother Ali, and he had to compare the information Hao Tianyi brought back with the information obtained by Lin Zi to analyze Kublai Khan's deployment of troops.

For another example, the news that Kublai Khan might set up a spy agency has not yet spread in Yanjing, but Chang'an has already known it.

This day when Lin Zi returned to Chang'an, the first thing he did after meeting Li Xia was to rush back to the office of the Military Intelligence Department to call his confidantes for a discussion.

"Our military intelligence department will have an opponent, and there will be a Yamen in the north to prevent and target us."

Lin Zi's tone was cold, but his eyes were full of arrogance.

"The Mongols also wanted to compete with us in the matter of espionage, but they forgot who the king is, who I am, and who you are. I don't know if they are playing games under our noses..."

The atmosphere in the Military Intelligence Division was different from that in the army. No one responded carelessly. Listening to Lin Zi's words, these spies sneered from time to time, looking very sinister.

"Emissary, since that's the case, it's better to send some people to serve as the elders of the spy office for Menglu. I would like to be the first to go..."

(End of this chapter)