Chang'an is good

Chapter 576 Do you know Ah Xiao’s real name?
Seeing Chai Ting coming, Li Yin stood up to greet him, invited him to sit with him, poured a bowl of hot tea with his own hands, and slowly pushed it in front of Chai Ting: "It is cold tonight and this place is simple. I only have a bowl of hot tea for you. I hope General Chai will not be offended."

"Although it's simple, it's better to sit and talk peacefully." Chai Ting's old voice was silent, and he said, "Your Highness, Prince Rong, thank you for your trouble."

Li Yin sighed, "I haven't seen you for many years. General Chai has aged a lot."

"I have never met His Royal Highness Prince Rong before. I think we only met once or twice. Thank you for remembering me." Chai Ting looked at the man in front of him and said, "His Royal Highness Prince Rong's appearance and temperament remain the same."

Before coming, Chai Ting had never imagined that His Royal Highness Prince Rong, who was only one step away from the throne, still retained the free and easy nature of his youth, and did not seem to be influenced by power at all.

Chai Ting said straight to the point: "Your Highness Prince Rong has come here from such a cold place. Please tell me why."

"I wonder if General Chai has a chance of winning this battle on Shannan West Road?" Li Yin asked instead of answering.

Chaitin's fingers touched the edge of the tea bowl, he lowered his eyes and didn't speak immediately.

He was not sure of Li Yin's intention at this moment, and it would not be a good idea to speak too much in a hurry.

Li Yin did not mind and answered on his own: "In my opinion, when the temperature turns warmer after the New Year, if General Chai attacks with all his might regardless of the cost, he will surely break through the Shannan West Road within three months."

Chai Ting raised his eyes slightly and looked at Li Yin.

Li Yin's eyes were honest: "Shannan West Road is not easy to attack, but General Chai has 150,000 troops, including 60,000 Xuan Ce troops. After a long battle, Shannan West Road will not be able to resist."

Chaiting still didn't rush to speak.

"But after that, the queen will definitely take advantage of the victory to attack Jiannan Road tomorrow." Li Yin said: "By then, the army led by General Chai will be tired from the battle, and the soldiers of Jiannan Road are also the elite troops who have been stationed in the western border with me for many years. In addition, the army of Qianzhong Road will also fight with me——"

"Even if we don't mention how long the imperial court's food and grass supply can last, what chances does General Chai still have of winning by then?"

Li Yin still answered himself: "The best outcome is nothing more than severely injuring this king."

At this point, Li Yin's voice became even softer: "However, both publicly and privately, I do not want to go this far with Ah Xiao's former subordinates."

Chai Ting clenched the edge of the tea bowl with one hand, and a change finally appeared in his eyes.

"If it really comes to that, is that what General Chai really wants to see?" Li Yin asked, "Is it really meaningful to sacrifice countless lives for the current court?"

He said firmly: "If Ah Xiao were still alive, she would never use this method of fighting to the death on the soldiers of Sheng State who are also protecting the country—"

Chai Ting raised his head and finally spoke: "However, the prince has rebellious intentions, and it is our duty to defeat the traitor!"

"May I ask, General, what is your rebellious intention?" Prince Rong said frankly, "Axiao and I both have the surname Li, and we have the same blood."

Chai Ting looked at Prince Rong steadily: "In terms of blood relationship, the current emperor is also the mother of the late Crown Prince——"

"But this mother ascended the throne by stepping on Ah Xiao's flesh and blood, and Ah Xiao no longer owed her anything." Prince Rong's emotions seemed to have finally fluctuated a little. His eyes seemed to be expressing his grievances for the deceased, but he asked, "Although General Chai was not as close to Ah Xiao as General Chang Kuo was to him in the past, he was also a well-known general in Xuan Ce's mansion. So, I want to ask General Chai... Do you know Ah Xiao's real name?"

Chai Ting's expression changed slightly: "What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

As they looked at each other, Prince Rong said, "It seems that General Chai did have his doubts."

Chai Ting pursed his lips, which were thin due to old age, and a long-lost storm arose in his heart.

The Crown Prince suddenly passed away due to illness, and three years later, the usually weak Princess Chongyue suddenly killed the Northern Di commander before the battle... After that, he saw with his own eyes that Chang Kuo went crazy because of the death of Princess Chongyue. With all this, how could he not be suspicious?

It's just that he never verified it, had no way to verify it, and didn't dare to verify it...

"Ah Xiao, who ascended to the throne of the crown prince by relying on his military exploits, has always been Ah Shang."

Li Yin's voice was not loud, but it was like a bolt of lightning striking Chai Ting's heart.

"A Shang learned martial arts when she was young, and I was the one who taught her." Li Yin's voice became softer, like water flowing through the past years, covered with a layer of transparent sadness: "I know better than anyone what she has been through along the way."

"The reason why Ashang agreed to marry Beidi was because the queen herself asked for it." King Rong said, "From then on, Ashang no longer owed her mother anything. Because her mother should have known what kind of situation Ashang would face when she went to Beidi."

Chai Ting dared not listen any more and almost interrupted Li Yin: "That was also your highness's own decision...Your highness did it for the people!"

He looked at Li Yin steadily and asked: "Your Highness Prince Rong, do you want to use this incident to make me hate the emperor?"

"No." Li Yin looked back at Chai Ting, "I just want to tell the general that Ah Shang has done nothing wrong to the Queen. If the general uses the name of being filial to Ah Shang to defend the Queen's ambitions to the end, and does not hesitate to cause unrest among the people and cause the generals of Dasheng to kill each other, it is really a foolish act of deceiving oneself and others."

"It also goes against Ah Shang's original intention of establishing the Xuan Ce Army..." Li Yin's voice became heavier: "Ah Shang will never agree to the Xuan Ce Army being the enemy of the people."

The wind and snow rushed into the pavilion, and the fire in the fireplace shook.

The arrogance that rose up around Chai Ting due to grief and anger slowly subsided.

"The will of the people..." The old general lowered his head and closed his eyes with a sense of loss and helplessness: "Is the will of the people only in the mouth of His Royal Highness Prince Rong... When His Royal Highness Prince Rong ordered Duan Shiang to attack Luoyang, did he ever care about the people?"

Li Yin sighed, "General Chai, how can I trust your words that have ulterior motives?"

"Your Highness, do you mean that this was a deliberate slander by King Fanyang before his death?"

"No, it was the Huainan Dao Chang Suining." Li Yin's voice did not contain any hasty defense, and he said slowly, "This woman's ambition is obvious. At that time, the King of Fanyang fell into her hands, and she took the opportunity to use the King of Fanyang to slander the King. What is her intention in doing this? Do I need to say more?"

Chai Ting looked at Li Yin and said, "So, Your Highness Prince Rong has nothing to do with Duan Shiang?"

"Yes, I can swear." Li Yin's expression was still calm and calm: "I have never had a child with the blood of the Duan family. These are just rumors made up by others to deceive people."

Chai Ting did not comment. After a moment, he turned his head to look at the wind and snow outside the pavilion, his eyes heavy.

This time, he was ordered by the emperor to send troops to Shannan West Road, but he was not completely without hesitation...

When counting the casualties after each battle, he was often confused, wondering what the point of such fighting was.

There was silence in the pavilion for a moment before Li Yin's voice was heard again.

"The people's will is not in my mouth, but in my heart and the general's." Li Yin said: "I have no intention of persuading the general to surrender--"

Chai Ting laughed at himself and said, "I don't have the ability to convince the army to surrender at this moment." Although he was the commander-in-chief, those who actually held power in the army at this time were all the emperor's men, and he was just a figurehead.

"But General, you may be able to let the army wait and see for a while to avoid unnecessary casualties." Li Yin's voice seemed to blend into the wind and snow, but his sincerity remained unchanged: "General, please give the people time to speak, and leave a clean path for the 60,000 Xuan Ce troops."

Chai Yan stared at the wind and snow outside the pavilion for a long time without saying a word. His originally tense shoulders slowly and silently drooped.

At midnight, Prince Rong left in a carriage.

The man in the cloak sat cross-legged in the car, his eyes closed, a faint smile on his lips.

He had never intended to persuade Chai Yan to surrender during this trip.

It is always unreliable to make people surrender with words. Today, he just needs to let Chai Yan see that he cares about Xuan Ce's army and the people of the world... Of course, his selfish motives are also obvious, he wants to reduce the loss of Shannan West Road's military strength as much as possible.

But this selfishness is human nature and is not a mistake.

Selfless people make people wary, while selfish people are easier to trust.

After seeing the people's will that is about to emerge and how the court will be crushed by it, Chai Yan and the imperial army will naturally know what to choose.

The carriage was moving slowly in the snow. Prince Rong was quietly taking stock of the situation in his mind. The overall situation was basically under control, with only one variable... and that variable was growing visibly.

Chang Suining swept northwards, first going to Taiyuan, then to Shuofang...

There is no doubt that she is extraordinary, and her methods are so sophisticated that almost everyone falls on their knees wherever she goes, willing to be used by her.

But at the same time, she really looks too much like Ah Shang——

It seems that when the opportunity arises, he will head towards Yinshan Mountain.

The 40,000 cavalrymen who suddenly emerged from Taiyuan were led by her to Yinshan, and were about to join forces with Xuan Ce's army under Cui Jing to resist the Northern Di.

This huge cavalry force, which was enough to strike fear into the hearts of all parties, was used by Chang Suining and Cui Jing in the remote and desolate northern border.

Some truths are clearly just excuses and means to survive in the world, but some people take them seriously and are willing to become moths under these truths.

Li Yin let out a faint sigh, as if expressing pity or sighing.

There was a slight bump in the road and the candlelight in the car flickered. He raised his hand, and his movements seemed slow, but in fact he extinguished the faint flickering candlelight steadily and accurately.

The interior of the car fell into darkness, and the boundless snow light outside made the sky and the earth crystal clear.

From the north to the north, the snow stopped.

There is no moon on New Year's Eve, but the sky is filled with stars, densely hanging in the night sky. When you look up, the stars are so bright that they are breathtaking.

The sea of ​​stars stretches over mountains. On the other side of the mountains, golden sparks are flying in the wind. Bonfires are piled up around the makeshift tents, creating a lively scene.

Dry food was roasting on the fire, and only the original burnt aroma of the food could be smelled.

There was hot soup bubbling in the big iron pot on the stove. The soup pot contained the prey that had been hunted in the mountains yesterday. Prey was hard to come by in winter, and there was little meat and many people, so after cleaning it, they simply chopped it all up and threw it into the pot to make soup. Everyone was given a bowl so that they could all taste the meat.

Two pieces of dry rations and a bowl of hot meat soup sprinkled with salt were the soldiers' annual food.

It was a rare thing to have hot food to eat during the march, and the soldiers were very content.

No one complained, and no one felt it was hard, especially when they thought about the army in the front fighting desperately against the Northern Di.

Among these 50,000 cavalrymen, excluding Chang Suining's men, the remaining 40,000 are all Bingzhou cavalrymen. They knew the mission of their existence very early on, and the man who made them exist as cavalrymen has always set an example and led the troops, and is still charging at the front at this moment. They cannot help but admire and be convinced.

A war to defend the country with a clear meaning, even if it is difficult, can bring a positive sense of self-consistency to the soldiers.

They are open-minded, brave, and fulfilled. They do not need to convince themselves when killing the enemy because they are extremely sure that every time they draw their swords, they are practicing their loyalty to their homeland. The blood shed on their bodies is also glory, which is both a tempering and perfection of their will.

This kind of openness actually gave them a sense of relaxation that the soldiers fighting in the civil strife did not have.

Some soldiers beat drums and sang ballads around the campfire. When one person sang out of tune, the rest of the group followed suit, causing a burst of unbridled laughter.

Yihu, who was hugging his knees and warming himself by the fire with a sad face, couldn't help but chuckle, and his nose came out with laughter.

I just said that no one felt it was bitter, but this statement was incomplete. There was an exception, and that was Yihu... Yihu felt that he was suffering too much.

He had never traveled like this with a large army in his life. Although he mostly lay wrapped in a quilt on a cart piled with marching supplies, he was still shaken all over and his buttocks were bruised.

Yihu summed up his trip in four words: serving the master.

Cui Lang was eager to go to the northern border to see his elder brother, but was stopped by his clansmen - as the head of the family, living safely is also his duty.

The status of the patriarch is important, and he cannot take risks on his own, so he lets someone go on his behalf...and that person is Yi Hu.

Before Yihu left, Cui Lang repeatedly reminded him that after seeing his elder brother, he must complete three things for him.

Yihu often muttered those three things in his mind, and every time he thought of the last one, he always felt a little embarrassed.

Ichihu, who was troubled by this, sighed towards the campfire in front of him.

Amid the commotion, Chang Suining picked up a bunch of objects at hand.

This was the thing Wei Shuyi had given her when she left Lingzhou, asking her to keep it with her on New Year's Eve for good luck - it was made of silk ribbons twisted into a colorful rope with a hundred copper coins densely woven on it. It was a common folk New Year item, with the meaning of warding off evil spirits and bringing good luck.

When Chang Suining first saw it, she thought Wei Shuyi's idea was strange. She herself was an evil spirit that was neither human nor ghost, so why would she need to suppress it... Could it be that this guy said he was not afraid of ghosts, but he was actually using them to suppress her?
But on second thought, Wei Zigu has always been a thoughtful person and not a fanciful person. He should not be so naive and unrealistic as to try to suppress this great evil with just a few hundred coins. There is no such a profitable business in the world.

Maybe he really wanted to bring good luck to her. After all, it was a New Year's Day march, so good intentions were still necessary.

Chang Suining sat cross-legged in front of the fire, raised the rather beautiful string of lucky money higher in front of him, looked at it carefully, and said to himself: "Then I wish that the rivers of our great country can be peaceful again, the national fortune can be prosperous again, the loyal and brave soldiers can return safely, the suffering of the people can be stopped soon, and the New Year can bring a new look to the world, eliminate all evil spirits and monsters, and usher in a peaceful year."

Good night everyone! Happy Dragon Boat Festival!