Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Feng Fang carefully entered the Changle Palace with the Ming and Han guards.

Just a few months ago, he was the person in charge of the security of the entire palace and a frequent visitor to Changle Palace. Every time he passed by here, he felt extremely happy because his daughter was inside accompanying the king.

In the entire palace, including the eunuchs in Changle Palace, everyone who saw him was polite and smiling, and many even took the initiative to present money to him. They didn't want him to say good things about them in front of Concubine Shu or even the emperor, as long as they didn't say bad things about him.

All in all, that was his highlight moment.

But now, he had to restrain his arrogance as the emperor's father-in-law, walk with half of his foot touching the ground, and move forward carefully and quietly, for fear of making any noise that might alarm the emperor or even his own daughter.

He knew exactly what kind of person he was in and what kind of situation he was in, but he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

His Majesty suddenly summoned me for tea in the evening. It was definitely not just about drinking tea. It was very likely that he wanted to re-employ me. If that was true, then my life would be clear and soar again.

The imperial guards led Feng Fang directly to the door of the imperial study.

The light was on in the imperial study, there was no sound from inside, and the door was open.

Feng Fang's heart also calmed down a little. He couldn't bear to see His Majesty being alone with other concubines, especially Wang Yun's adopted daughter Diao Chan. He was afraid that Diao Chan was serving His Majesty in the imperial study at this moment.

The guard walked to the door, knelt on one knee, and said softly, "Your Majesty, Captain Feng Fang is here."

Liu Ming frowned slightly, staring intently at a report in front of him, lost in thought. When he heard the guard's report, he said without raising his head, "Got it."

The guard hesitated for a moment, looked back at Feng Fang who was full of expectation, took a few steps back, and then turned and left.

Feng Fang was confused. What did "I know" mean?
It was not as I had imagined that His Majesty stood up to greet me warmly and let me sit down to have a pleasant tea chat.

It is neither progress nor retreat for a while.

He could only bow and say, "Your Highness Feng Fang is here to greet you!"

There was silence in the imperial study, and the emperor didn't even raise his head.

Feng Fang broke out in a cold sweat, feeling something was not right. He quickly knelt on the ground, not daring to say a word, waiting for the emperor to summon him.

Liu Ming picked up the memorial on the desk, looked at it, then put it down, still pondering in silence.

Since he invented and promoted the new type of Han paper and made it into paper memorials, the previous bamboo slips memorials were withdrawn from the court, and most memorials were replaced with this light new paper.

Just now, Liu Ming received a battle report from Jingzhou. Grand Marshal Huang Wan reported in detail the progress of the Jingyang war. Jingzhou has been completely pacified and recovered.

He also used bribery to persuade the Wuxi barbarians to surrender, and obtained 30,000 barbarian soldiers to fight alongside the imperial army.

After Sun Jian's son Sun Ce led the remnants of his troops to surrender to Yuan Shu, he temporarily guarded Yuzhang County in Yangzhou. Just a few days ago, Huang Wan captured Yuzhang according to Xi Zhicai's strategy, and Sun Ce was defeated.

Huang Wan praised Xi Zhicai's talent.

What troubled Liu Ming was that at the same time, Huang Wan and Xi Zhicai had a disagreement on the next use of troops, and neither could convince the other, so they submitted a petition to the emperor for his decision.

Huang Wan's opinion was to march into Yangzhou in one go, capture the rebel Yuan Shu, and completely pacify the Jianghuai region.

However, Xi Zhicai believed that Yuan Shu was no longer a concern. In view of the fact that Liu Yan of Yizhou had rebellious intentions, he suggested dividing half of the troops and secretly stationing them at the border between Jing and Yizhou. Once the time was right, they would suddenly launch an attack to capture Yizhou.

As for Yuan Shu of Yangzhou, he suggested that Gongsun Zan, who was suppressing the rebellion in Yanzhou, lead the victorious troops south and join forces with the remaining half of the Jingzhou troops to attack Yangzhou. One would attack from north to south, and the other from west to east. Yuan Shu would have no chance of escaping.

Just a few days ago, Gongsun Zan won a complete victory in suppressing the rebellion in Yanzhou. Bao Xin was killed in the battle, and his generals Yu Jin and Zang Ba surrendered. At the same time, he received more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers.

The army is currently resting in Yanzhou, and Liu Ming is preparing to let Gongsun Zan return to Youzhou in a few days. After all, Youzhou is located in the border area. Once he leads the army away, the Wuhuan, Xianbei and other tribes will become restless again.

All in all, Xi Zhicai's plan has a broader perspective and is more far-reaching.

If Gongsun Zan's troops could move south and join forces with the troops from Jingzhou, it would be easy to destroy Yuan Shu's rebel army.

In fact, it didn’t matter to Liu Ming whether Yuan Shu was dead or alive, or died earlier or later. What he cared about was his nominal son Liu Xie.

Liu Xie must die!
And the sooner you die, the less worries you will have.

Because as far as he knew, Jian Shuo had personally taught Liu Xie for a period of time, with the purpose of using Liu Xie to threaten and control himself as a substitute. If the cooperation between the two of them collapsed, he would depose the emperor and support the prince to the throne.

Fortunately, he acted quickly enough and sensed that something was wrong, so he took advantage of the situation to get rid of Jian Shuo first. Unfortunately, Prince Liu Xie fell into the hands of Yuan Shu.

Does Liu Xie know the identity of his double? Or has he discovered some loopholes in his identity? This is what Liu Ming is most worried about.

No matter whether Liu Xie knew or not, or how much he knew, this prince must die!
As for Liu Yan of Yizhou, there is nothing wrong with Xi Zhicai's strategy, but the premise is that the court has not yet made any arrangements in the direction of Yizhou, so sending a special force to keep an eye on the direction of Yizhou is undoubtedly the best choice.

However, Liu Ming is now provoking Liu Yan and Zhang Lu to fight each other, and is preparing to send people to recruit Ma Teng and Han Sui to join the game, so the action in the direction of Jingzhou is not so urgent.

"If we send troops from Jingzhou to Yizhou now, it will alert the enemy and Liu Yan may not dare to use troops against Hanzhong." Liu Ming has completely figured out the key point. "After we put down the rebellion in Yangzhou, I'm afraid Yizhou will also be in a fierce battle. By then, it will be the best time to send troops from Jingzhou to Sichuan."

Liu Ming made up his mind and put away the memorial immediately. He looked up and noticed Feng Fang kneeling on the steps outside the door.

I secretly laughed in my heart. This father-in-law is a man who will do anything he is told to do. Making him kneel for such a long time can be considered as a way to temper his temper. Otherwise, he will easily lose his position when he gains power in the future.

Since ancient times, the rise of imperial relatives has brought harm rather than benefit, and even endangered the emperor's rule. Not only should they not be given great power, but they should also be punished from time to time to make them vigilant. Liu Ming did not want to travel through time and space to secure his throne, only to lose it to his relatives.

Feng Fang's legs were almost numb from kneeling. When he saw Liu Ming looking at him, he hurriedly knelt and crawled half a step forward, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Feng Fang, kowtow to you!"

"My dear, please stand up and come sit inside." Liu Ming said with a smile.

Feng Fang stood up hurriedly. Her legs felt a little numb. Her body swayed and she almost fell. She quickly held onto the door frame.

Only now could he see the situation in the room clearly. Not far from the emperor was standing a stunningly beautiful woman.

She was graceful and elegant, like a fairy from heaven. Although she was slightly inferior to Diao Chan, she was much better than her daughter, Concubine Shu.

Feng Fang couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart - His Majesty has a new lover? !
"Hurry up and serve tea to Lord Feng." Liu Ming waved his hand, and the stunning beauty came forward and was about to place the food table next to him.

Liu Ming smiled and said, "It's alright, Mr. Du. Mr. Feng is one of my family members. Please sit at the same table with me and drink."

Liu Ming invented the table, and the ministers followed suit. This new object was not surprising, but not everyone was qualified to sit at the same table with the emperor. In most cases, they had to set up a low table for him.

Now that the emperor asked him to drink at the same table, Feng Fang was filled with surprise and joy. He was naturally happy that His Majesty did not ignore him and called him a family member. It seemed that His Majesty still valued the Feng family and his daughter had not lost her dignity.

What worries me is that His Majesty addressed that stunning woman as Du Qing!
In other words, this strange woman was not an ordinary palace maid, but someone who was quite favored by His Majesty. He had never seen this woman before when he was guarding the harem and even Changle Palace.

In other words, this is the concubine that the emperor has just taken in!
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but worry about his daughter and the Feng family again.

Seeing Feng Fang's constipated expression, Liu Ming guessed what was going on, so he smiled and said, "When I conquered Jingzhou in the south, I took this girl, Du, in Nanyang. She just entered the palace today, and I have promoted her to be a beauty."

This woman is none other than Mrs. Du! Today, she entered the palace with the petition team sent by Huang Wan of Jingzhou, and waited in Changle Palace. Only when Gai Xun, Guo Jia and others left did Mrs. Du have the opportunity to enter the imperial study to meet Liu Ming.

Liu Ming was delighted and named her a beauty.

Liu Ming almost never touches the concubines left behind by Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong. He is very busy now and has no time to spend time on women. Besides, he is not interested in women that others have played with.

In addition to Concubine Feng Fang, there is the beauty Diao Chan, and tonight a new beauty, Du, has been added.

When Feng Fang heard the Emperor's solemn introduction, he bowed hastily. Du returned the greeting and poured him a cup of tea.

"I wonder, Her Majesty Shufei..." Feng Fang asked after a moment of hesitation.

What he cares most about now is his daughter and the dragon seed she is pregnant with.

"Shufei is doing well." Liu Ming said, "Don't worry, my dear. I'll let her take care of the baby. Everything is for the healthy growth of my flesh and blood."

In fact, Liu Ming sometimes felt very impatient. In this backward ancient time, there were no modern medical facilities such as B-ultrasound. He could not conduct various pregnancy tests, and could not tell whether the baby was a boy or a girl.

They could only ask Hua Tuo to check her pulse every once in a while. Unfortunately, Hua Tuo didn't seem to have much research on maternal care. In addition, there were differences between men and women, and Shufei's special status, so he couldn't do any effective examination.

Fortunately, the pregnant woman is doing fine so far and no accidents have happened. This makes Liu Ming feel a little relieved, but he still has to take time out to accompany her every day.

After hearing what His Majesty said, Feng Fang gradually felt relieved.

"I summoned you here this time because I have an important matter to entrust to you," Liu Ming said solemnly, "Do you know the Xiliang rebels Ma Teng and Han Sui?"

"I know that Han and Ma, the two thieves, teamed up with the Western Qiang and raised an army to cause unrest in Xiliang." Feng Fang hesitated and said, "In fact, I have met Han Sui once. He was once a generous and talented man. I didn't expect that he would end up being a traitor. It's really a pity."

"Oh?" Liu Ming was quite surprised. He could not imagine that Feng Fang and Han Sui had met before, so he asked, "So you are friends with Han Sui?"

"Not really a friendship." Feng Fang explained hurriedly, "Han Sui was quite famous in the Xizhou area. He came to Beijing about six years ago to handle official business. At that time, he was just an official in Jincheng County, but the ministers in the court wanted to win him over, including General He Jin, who went to see him in person and wanted to take him in as a retainer, but was rejected. I was the Minister of Agriculture at the time, and I also wanted to keep him in the capital to work, so I invited him to dinner once, that's all."

"Go on, why didn't Han Sui want to stay in Beijing?" Liu Ming asked. To be honest, this was the first time he heard of Han Sui's past.

"Han Sui advised He Jin to kill the eunuchs headed by the Ten Attendants, but He Jin disagreed. He felt..." Feng Fang glanced at Liu Ming and didn't dare to say anything further.

"Go on, don't worry, He Jin and the Ten Attendants have all been executed, what are you afraid of?" Liu Ming said with a smile, motioning for Lady Du to refill the tea.

Feng Fang had beads of sweat on his forehead, thinking that it was precisely because Your Majesty had demonstrated his thundering means of executing the general and the Ten Attendants that I did not dare to speak directly.

But it was obvious that he had to say it, so he finally said, "He said that the court was extremely corrupt, the eunuchs controlled the government, and the generals had military power but were incompetent. He also said... he also said that the Han Dynasty might be defeated by Your Majesty...

"It was not I who said this, but the villain Han Sui. Obviously, he made a mistake in his judgment and did not recognize your majesty's wisdom and bravery. Now that the general and the ten eunuchs have been executed, the Han Dynasty is at its peak. Thinking back to what Han Sui said at that time, isn't it ridiculous?"

Seeing Feng Fang's fearful look, Liu Ming smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he hadn't replaced the real with a fake one, the world might have really been destroyed. It must be said that Han Sui still had some vision.

After a pause, Liu Ming said, "That's great. I'll ask you to recruit Han Sui and Ma Teng. You can tell them how wise and brave I am. If they are willing to surrender, one of them will be the governor of Guanghan County and the other will be the governor of Hanzhong County. You can stay with them and don't have to rush back. When Liu Yan raises his army to attack Hanzhong and Zhang Lu is unable to resist, you can encourage Han and Ma to march into Hanzhong and defeat Liu Yan. Do you understand?"

Feng Fang was also well versed in military affairs. He understood the meaning of it after a little thought and nodded heavily. "Your Majesty, this is a brilliant plan. You will reap the benefits while sitting back!"

"No, this is a plan that kills three birds with one stone." Liu Ming said with a smile.

...(End of chapter)