Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 515 Going Home
Chongzhou.

The moon was dim and the stars were sparse, and the cold wind was howling. The branches and flowers in the Chong Palace were all swaying in the cold wind, and the shadows of the branches were swaying in the wind.

The light was still on in the study, and several slender figures were illuminated by the light, their shadows projected on the window paper.

"Crunch."

The window suddenly opened, and a biting cold wind rushed into the study through the window, blowing all the books and papers on the desk to the ground. King Chong faced the cold wind, put down the letter in his hand, and his mind became much clearer.

"I never expected that the King of Huai, who was once so arrogant and commanded all the princes in the world, would now be in a state where everyone wants to kill him."

Prince Chong turned around and handed the letter in his hand to his staff, saying, "Prince Huai wants to seek refuge with me and hopes that I can take him in. What do you think about this?"

An old man with gray hair, but an upright figure, looking full of energy, and with traces of time on his face, stepped forward. His eyes seemed to contain endless light and wisdom, and he said, "My lord, in terms of kinship, you and the King of Huai are both relatives of the Song Dynasty, brothers.

In terms of interests, in Luonan, there is Lu Sheng who leads the emperor to command the princes and has more than 100,000 soldiers. In the north, there is Chen Mo who controls the entire north. His power and ambition are likely to overthrow our Song Dynasty. These two forces are not something that the prince can contend with at present. If the prince does not want the country to fall into the hands of others and wants to save the country from collapse, he must unite with the King of Huai to strengthen his own strength to resist foreign enemies. "

After these words fell, they were naturally opposed by others, saying:
"I think what Patriarch Liang said is inappropriate. The Prince of Huai took advantage of Chen Mo's attack on Jinxia to raid Huaizhou. This despicable move has already lost the righteousness and the people's hearts, which is fine, but the raid failed, causing the Huai Army to suffer a heavy blow, and even a crisis of trust has occurred within.

The second attack resulted in Chu Ce's death, the destruction of the army, and even the Xiao family defected to the Chen army, showing that he was not good at controlling his subordinates. Now the imperial court has issued an imperial edict to the world to fight against the enemy and to attack the King of Huai. The princes of the world have responded one after another. Now he can hardly protect himself, like a rat crossing the street, everyone shouts and beats him.

If we take him in now, it will undoubtedly draw the wrath of Chen Mo. Chen Mo has just destroyed Jin Xia's Eastern Route Army and fought all the way to Haiyan Pass, winning battle after battle. His military might is overwhelming and his morale is high. If he learns that the prince has taken in the Prince of Huai, he may raise an army to attack us. I hope the prince will think twice."

The one he called the old patriarch Liang was Liang Mu, the patriarch of the Liang family, one of the seven famous families. Upon hearing the objection, he immediately rebuked:
"Guo Wei, Your Highness and the Prince of Huai are relatives of the Song Dynasty. They have always stood together. In the eyes of the world, the two are one. Now that the Prince of Huai is in trouble, Your Highness does not help him. How will the world view Your Highness? Aren't you putting Your Highness in an unjust position?

Moreover, Chen Mo has eagle eyes and wolfish ambitions. He has great ambitions. Now he controls the entire north and wants to overthrow our Song Dynasty. Even if the prince does not take in the prince of Huai, Guo Wei, can you guarantee that Chen Mo will not attack the prince?"

Liang Mu's words silenced Guo Weigan. Now everyone in the world who is interested knows that Chen Mo now owns the entire north and will certainly not be satisfied with this. If he wants to go further, King Chong will sooner or later become Chen Mo's enemy.

But he still said stubbornly: "But General Gongsun has not returned yet. We should not make an enemy of him at present. We should avoid his sharp edge first, entrust him to Xushe, and then slowly make plans."

In response, Liang Mu snorted coldly, and said to King Chong, "Your Highness, although the army of King Huai was destroyed, there are still thousands of his personal soldiers, which is a considerable force. Moreover, King Huai has been rooted in Huaizhou for decades and has a strong foundation. Even if Huaizhou is seized by Chen Mo, the centipede is still alive. If Your Highness takes in King Huai, he will definitely provide a lot of help to Your Highness."

Guo Wei wanted to say more when a hurried voice sounded outside the study, followed by the butler's words: "Your Majesty, General Gongsun is back."

When Gongsun Yan decided to cross the Wuxing Mountains, Wanyan Xiaji had just learned about the situation on the eastern front. In addition, due to the danger of the Wuxing Mountains, he did not send troops to pursue Gongsun Yan, allowing the latter to enter the Wuxing Mountains smoothly.

However, the danger of the Wuxing Mountains almost made Gongsun Yan lost his way. After losing nearly a thousand soldiers, he finally returned to Chongzhou now.

Upon learning that Gongsun Yan had returned, King Chong was overjoyed and immediately met Gongsun Yan.

But Gongsun Yan brought some bad news to King Chong.

First, he aided Longyou, causing the Chong army to lose nearly half of its strength. Second, Yue Ruyan led her army south to join Chen Mo.

Finally, a lot of the compensation given by Yue Ruyan was lost when they were crossing the Wuxing Mountains because the mountain road was too steep and the property was too heavy.

To sum it up in one sentence, this time when King Chong sent troops to aid Longyou, he not only gained nothing, but also suffered heavy losses.

After hearing this, King Chong's heart sank immediately, but he still pretended to be calm and forced a few smiles: "General Gongsun, it's okay."

After saying that, he asked Gongsun Yan what he thought about taking in King Huai.

Gongsun Yan thought for a while and said, "We can accept the King of Huai. Jin Xia's Western Army has already headed for Yuzhou. Even if Chen Mo returns, he will have no time to take care of us."

The news of Wanyan Xiaji's withdrawal has not yet reached Chongzhou. Even King Chong does not know about it, let alone Gongsun Yan.

After some consideration, Prince Chong said, "Liang Situ, you can lead the people to welcome Prince Huai."

Although Liang Mu's position as Si Tu had been removed by the court long ago, King Chong still addressed Liang Mu as Si Tu.

Liang Mu said respectfully: "Yes."

……

January 9, the second year of Yong'an.

Linzhou, Xiangyang City.

It was still a cold day, and the weather was getting colder. There were few pedestrians on the streets of the city, but the restaurants and teahouses were packed with people. Groups of three or five held wine jugs, drinking and eating hot pot, and talking and laughing enthusiastically.

Just because today is the day when Chen Mo returns to Xiangyang.

When Chen Mo returned to Linzhou from Yuzhou, the news was passed on layer by layer by post stations in various places, and naturally the people of Xiangyang knew about it.

Some people came to the city gate spontaneously to greet them. Some of them were relatives of Chen army soldiers. They were worried about their relatives who were away at the battle and would not feel at ease until they saw them return with their own eyes.

At this moment, on the north gate tower of Xiangyang City, umbrellas and flags were raised one after another, and there were screens opened all around. Chen Mo's wives were all under the umbrellas. Inside the screens, even the pregnant Wu Mi and Han Anniang were looking forward to seeing what was coming through the gaps between the screens with their big bellies.

At this moment, a horse was pulled up at the end of the official road, raising a cloud of dust. The knight of the Cavalry Guard, who was wearing bright light armor, quickly reined in his horse and shouted loudly, "Duke Anguo, return to the army."

(End of this chapter)