Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 196 Guessing her identity, sending troops to Luoyang City

Xiao Jinyu repeated to Xie Yuxuan what the Zhou envoy said in the Taiji Hall, but Xie Yuxuan did not hear anything wrong and only said, "This is a good thing! His Majesty the Zhou Kingdom is willing to exchange two counties for my sister. This is a great help to my sister's reputation! What are you worried about?"

Xiao Jinyu said, "I'm afraid someone will take advantage of this issue to cause trouble. Your Majesty has rejected the conditions proposed by Envoy Zhou. If..."

Xie Yuxuan reacted and her expression darkened: "Are you afraid that they will use this as an excuse to send troops to attack Qi? Using you as a cover?"

Xiao Jinyu nodded: "That's why I asked whether this was the intention of His Majesty Zhou or Yuwen Hu?"

"Sister, I can assure you that Yuwen Yong is just eager to recruit talented people and has no intention of harming you!

Of course, he also has his own selfish motives, which is to get your help to deal with Yuwen Hu. After all, you told Commander Wei that Yuwen Hu doesn't have much time left..."

Xiao Jinyu smiled and said, "I know that Ah Xuan still has a very good impression of Yuwen Yong!"

Xie Yuxuan blushed, "Sister, don't get me wrong. I used to have a crush on him and was in love with him, but that's all in the past. I won't force something that's impossible. Now, the most important people to me are you and Brother Five."

After a pause, she continued, "If Yuwen Yong really wants to harm my sister in the future, I will definitely stand on my side and will not let him go!"

"Silly Xuan, I don't disbelieve you! I also said that I won't stop you from doing anything you want to do! It's a good thing that you have someone you like. You can't live alone all your life like this..."

Xie Yuxuan's eyes were hazy when she heard that, and she seemed to have the urge to cry again. She finally held back her tears and said with a smile: "Sister, I've let it go, I really let it go!"

"But if you are really so afraid that I won't be able to get married, then you can decide my marriage in the future, or you can find a son-in-law for me!" At this point, she suddenly added, "Oh, yes, if I don't want to get married, I will find a son-in-law! Now that my Xie family is not prosperous, it's just right for me to continue the development!"

Xiao Jinyu was also amused by her serious expression and said hello.

At this time, Ling Ye hurried over to report: "Girl, Anu's mother and sister, our people have been taken out of Fengyue Tower!"

"Okay! Then let Anu meet her relatives!"

……

In the Taiji Hall, the proposal by the Zhou envoy to exchange two counties for Xie Zhen once again caused a huge stir in Yecheng, so much so that scholars who came to visit him were endless, almost breaking down the threshold of "Xie Mansion".

Gao Zhan did fulfill Xiao Jinyu's wish and gave her a house next to Prince Lanling's Palace, which he named Xie Mansion.

But this Xie Mansion was empty most of the time. Only occasionally when someone was following her, in order to hide her tracks, Xiao Jinyu would enter the mansion in the name of Xie Zhen and stay there for a while.

When the news reached the Lu Mansion, Mu Dipo gritted her teeth in hatred when she mentioned it: "I never thought that even the King of Zhou would admire Xie Zhen so much that he would even offer to exchange two counties for talents?"

"Yan has already returned to Zhou State. Not only that, Xie Zhen also released Dugu Luo, who was originally imprisoned in Beigong. Mother, the peace talks have ended. This time, not only did the peace talks fail to destroy Xie Zhen's reputation, but because of the words of the Zhou envoy, his reputation has soared. All the scholars in the world respect him!

His Majesty also favors him even more, and it seems that we can no longer do anything to him!"

Lu Lingxuan narrowed her eyes, and suddenly the corners of her lips curled up, and she burst into laughter, scaring Mu Ti Po so much that she thought she was crazy and asked hurriedly, "Mother, what are you laughing at?"

"Who said we can't do anything to him? This is a great opportunity. Since Your Majesty has rejected the Zhou envoy's proposal, then Zhou has enough reason to send troops to Qi to ask for Xie Zhen!"

"Not only that, we can also say that when Xie Zhen was negotiating with Wei Xiaokuan in Yubi City, he had already surrendered to the Zhou Kingdom. He was a spy sent by the Zhou Kingdom, so His Majesty wanted to get him back! Otherwise, why would he let Dugu Luo go?"

At this point, Mutipo's eyes lit up.

"Spread it, just spread it!"

"At the same time, send another letter to Mugan Khan of the Turks!"

"Yes!"

……

After the Zhou envoy returned to Chang'an, Dou Yi immediately went to Hanren Hall where the emperor and his ministers met and reported to Emperor Yuwen Yong everything that had happened during his mission to Qi. At the same time, he ordered someone to send Yan Ji back to the Duke of Jin's Mansion.

After learning that the King of Qi was unwilling to exchange Xie Zhen, Yuwen Yong sighed with regret. However, before his conversation with Dou Yi lasted long, Yuwen Hu came to the hall in a rage and asked the emperor, "Your Majesty, since the King of Qi is unwilling to hand over Xie Zhen, why don't we send troops to attack Qi? Anyway, the King of Qi is licentious and tyrannical, which has already made the people of Qi extremely dissatisfied. Destroying Qi is really acting in the name of justice!"

Yuwen Yong was very surprised after hearing this: "Qi had just sent back the mother of the Grand Chancellor, and my Zhou wanted to break the alliance and send troops to attack Qi. Isn't this too treacherous?"

Yuwen Hu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Qi Lord Gao Zhan is not someone who can keep his promises. So what if we break the alliance? The alliance is just a strategy to break off relations. When the time is right, we should implement the plan of conquering the east, which is what we should do most!"

After that, he took out a letter and continued,

"Moreover, the Turkic Khan Mugan has sent a letter of alliance, wanting to send an additional 100,000 troops to help Zhou attack Qi! If we cannot abide by the alliance with the Turks, border troubles will inevitably occur. By then, our enemies will not only be Qi, Chen, and Goguryeo, but also the powerful Turkic army. Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Yuwen Hu's tone of voice was very heavy and strong, and he could not refute it. In fact, he was just informing Yuwen Yong. As for whether this puppet emperor agreed or not, he didn't need to care.

But after Yuwen Hu made this decision, he soon received a letter from Wei Xiaokuan.

Wei Xiaokuan said in the letter that it was not a wise move to attack Qi at this time. The letter was a long article of no less than 10,000 words, all analyzing the reasons why it was not the right time to attack Qi.

After reading it, Yuwen Hu tore the letter into pieces with anger and disdain, sneering: "You old man, you don't want to send troops, but you think you are the lord and command me!"

"Come here, recruit soldiers for me, whether they are the government soldiers in Guanzhong or the imperial guards in the left and right wings, recruit them all. I want to mobilize 200,000 soldiers to attack Qi together!"

……

Dugu Luo, who had just returned to the Dugu family's general's mansion, was very uneasy and frightened when he heard the news that Yuwen Hu was going to join forces with the Turks to attack Qi. After hesitating for a long time, he went to the study of his father Dugu Xin, who was still a stranger to him, and knocked on the door.

After Dugu Xin let him in, he stammered and said:

"Father, Yuwen Hu sent troops on the pretext that Your Majesty wanted Xie Zhen. I think this is inappropriate. What does this have to do with Xie Zhen? It's just that the envoy Zhou said something at the banquet. This will put Xie Zhen in danger!

In Qi, Minister Xie is the only person who has done me a favor. I... I don't want him to get into trouble! Father, can you help him?"

"You are a grateful child, but we each serve our own masters. Even if I want to help, how can I help since we are thousands of miles apart?" Dugu Xin sighed.

"Can't we persuade the Grand Chancellor not to attack Qi?" Dugu Luo asked cautiously.

"You are asking too naively. If father could persuade him, Yuwen Hu would not have killed three emperors in a row. Father and Yuwen Hu are political enemies who will never give up."

Dugu Luo looked up and saw a very beautiful woman with a confident and proud look walking towards Dugu Xin's study, and standing shoulder to shoulder with her was a handsome and powerful man.

"Come, Luo'er, this is your sister Jialuo!" Dugu Xin pointed at the beautiful woman and introduced her, then pointed at the man next to her, "This is your brother-in-law Yang Jian."

Dugu Jialuo married Yang Jian at the age of fourteen. As a young couple, they lived in harmony with each other and became a model couple that many girls in Chang'an City envied.

Dugu Luo called out somewhat awkwardly: "Sister, brother-in-law!"

Dugu Jialuo noticed that he was holding something tightly in his hand, and seemed to attach great importance to it, so he asked, "What are you holding in your hand?"

Dugu Luo said: "This is the gift that Minister Xie gave me when I returned to Zhou with the envoys."

"Can you lend it to me to have a look?"

Dugu Luo was somewhat reluctant, but at the request of this strong sister, he still handed the jade pendant to her.

Dugu Jialuo then looked at the jade pendant carefully. She looked at it very seriously, as if she did not miss even a single inch of it. After looking at it for a long time, she suddenly asked, "What does this Minister Xie look like? How does he usually behave towards others?"

Dugu Luo quickly replied, "He is very handsome and slender, but still shorter than me, with a thin waist and long legs. He has the demeanor of a scholar from Jiangzuo. He is very friendly and kind, but he does not force people. When he first came to the small courtyard where I lived to release me, I didn't want to come out, but he said he would give me some gold, silver and silk so that I could buy a house, clothes and food. I thought he was a good man, so I followed him out.

But he is very smart, extremely smart. Lord Lu of Qi tried to harm him many times, but he always dodged and even fought back. However, this is what I heard from others and I didn't see it with my own eyes.

In short, he is a good man and the only one who has done me a favor! "

"Then have you ever thought about why he let you out, or even let you go back to Zhou? Why was he so nice to you?"

"Maybe you feel sorry for me!"

"There are so many poor people in this world. Does he have so much money to help them one by one, and so much energy to save them one by one?" Dugu Jialuo said, "No one will do something that has no benefit to themselves, and he is no exception. He let you out only because you are our father's son. According to your description and this jade pendant, it can be seen that Minister Xie is a thoughtful person, and he also has a bit of womanly kindness.

I guess he is most likely a woman!"

This conclusion surprised Dugu Luo, Dugu Xin and even Yang Jian.

"You said that this world-famous Xie Zhen is a woman? Jialuo, you haven't even seen her, how can you say that?" Dugu Xin asked.

Dugu Jialuo said: "This piece of Hetian jade has a warm texture, symbolizing beautiful love and family harmony. This is the most sincere and simple blessing to my elder brother. The words carved on it are especially pleasing to women. Few men can be so gentle and delicate. Combined with the appearance and style of Mr. Xie described by my elder brother just now, I guess he must be a woman in disguise."

"Moreover, Duke Wei Yuwenzhi once revealed to me that when Xie Zhen became famous on Fahua Mountain in the Southern Dynasty, both Lanling King and Emperor Chen Xu of the Southern Dynasty had a special feeling for him. This was not the appreciation of an ordinary scholar, but rather the admiration of a person they loved."

"Of course, there are gentlemen who share peaches, and it is not surprising to have a friendship between men, but Lanling Wang loves his princess so much, why would he rather abandon his princess in Yecheng and accompany Xie Zhen to Yubi City for peace talks? Isn't he afraid that his princess will be in danger in Yecheng?"

At this point, she asked Dugu Luo again: "Brother, have you ever met Princess Lanling in Yecheng?"

Dugu Luo shook his head: "I've never seen it before!"

"I heard that she is a very beautiful woman, and she is also proficient in medicine and painting. She is also a talented woman. It's a pity that you have never seen her."

Seeing that Dugu Jialuo was hinting at something, Yang Jian asked, "Does Jialuo suspect that Xie Zhen is the Princess of Lanling?"

Dugu Jialuo nodded.

Dugu Luo looked at Dugu Jialuo in even greater shock, and his eyes fell on the jade pendant with great uneasiness. After slowly calming down from the disbelief in his heart, he suddenly knelt down and said to Dugu Xin: "I don't care whether she is a man or a woman, I beg my father and brother-in-law to save her life if we meet her on the battlefield in the future, as a way to repay her kindness on behalf of my son."

Dugu Jialuo pulled Dugu Luo up and said with a smile: "Brother, I admire such a talented person. If she is really a woman, her identity will be exposed and will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the civil and military officials of Qi. If she has nowhere to go, we can take her to Zhou."

"Galuo, no, sister, please don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

"Of course, I won't say anything nonsense. I'm just curious about such a wonderful woman!" He raised the piece of Hetian jade again, "But you have to lend me this jade for a few days. I always feel that she gave you this jade pendant, there must be some other meaning, I want to study it further."

Dugu Luo looked at the jade pendant and showed great reluctance to part with it.

"Don't worry, I just want to see what the words she carved on it mean, that's all. I will return it to its original owner in three days."

"Okay!" Dugu Luo nodded.

Yang Jian turned to Dugu Xin and said, "Yuwen Hu has already torn up the letter sent by General Wei from Yubi City. He is determined to attack Qi in the east this time. He is now recruiting a large number of soldiers and imperial guards. I think he can recruit more than 100,000 soldiers in less than ten days. In addition, there are Qiang and Hu people who have surrendered. The total number should be at least 200,000.

Father-in-law, this time our Yang family..."

"Let's not send out troops. Let Yuwen Hu deal with it on his own!" Gu Duxin continued.

Dugu Luo was very happy in his heart, but then his face became sad again.

It was Dugu Jialuo who said, "Brother, if there is any news about Minister Xie in Qi, we will let you know, don't worry."

Dugu Luo was very happy, and looked at Dugu Jialuo with great gratitude and said, "Thank you, sister!"

……

The news that Yuwen Hu was recruiting troops to attack Qi was quickly passed to Xie Yuxuan via the secret spy's pigeon carrier. Xie Yuxuan immediately informed Xiao Jinyu of the matter and said angrily: "What the princess guessed was absolutely correct. Yuwen Hu is indeed a treacherous and fickle villain. As soon as he got his mother, he immediately recruited troops to attack Qi. It seems that he can't wait to gain military merit, then be granted the title of king and force the emperor of Zhou to abdicate!"

Ah Xiu was also extremely fearful and continued, "And there are rumors outside now that because Your Majesty rejected Zhou's request for peace talks and did not exchange Xie Zhen to Zhou, Yuwen Hu is going to send troops to attack Qi..."

"Princess, what should we do now? If His Majesty believes these rumors and agrees to Yuwen Hu's request, you..."

"Then let's take this opportunity to go to Luoyang! Luoyang is not far from Jinyang, and Chang Gong is there."

Just as he said this, a eunuch came with an order, saying that His Majesty wanted to urgently summon Minister Xie to the palace.

Xiao Jinyu immediately changed into her official uniform and followed the eunuch to Zhaoyang Palace. Before she entered the palace, she heard He Shikai's voice:

"Your Majesty, no matter how talented and famous Minister Xie is, can it be compared to the safety of the people of Qi? Since Yuwen Hu wants him, why not give him to Yuwen Hu? It can also stop the war, which is also a great achievement for Minister Xie. Now it is almost winter, and it will be the New Year soon. Do we have to fight a big battle with the Zhou army during the New Year this year?"

Gao Yuanhai also said: "That's right, and the rumors outside are extremely unfavorable to Minister Xie. If he can't prove his innocence, he will be no different from a spy of the Zhou Kingdom. After all, no one knows what he said to Wei Xiaokuan during the peace talks in Yubi City."

Gao Zhan heard the uncertain expression on his face, and suddenly saw "Xie Zhen" outside the palace gate, so he immediately called him in.

Xiao Jinyu entered the Zhaoyang Palace and walked straight to Gao Zhan. Suddenly, she knelt on one knee and raised her hand and said:

"Your Majesty, please send me to Luoyang City. Luoyang is a strategic location. If the Zhou army attacks Qi, they will first attack Luoyang. I am willing to resist the Zhou army to prove my innocence!"

"But you are a civil official, not a military general. How can you resist the Zhou army?" Gao Zhan seemed reluctant to say.

Xiao Jinyu said, "Then let Ande King Gao Yanzong go with me. Although I am a civil official, I also understand the art of war. As long as Your Majesty trusts me, I am willing to defend Luoyang to the death!"