Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 433: I hope you are well, Mr. Wen!
Chang'an City.

State government.

Aide Qu Songde (I finally have a name!) hurried into the provincial government office. He was able to maintain his expression when he was surrounded by people, but the moment he entered the detention hall, his expression immediately became anxious.

When Wen Yanbo saw Qu Songde, he noticed that his expression was different, and his heart sank. He asked, "What happened again?"

One word "again" is enough to show their sadness.

There has been almost no good news during this period, but bad news has come one after another.

Qu Songde took two steps at a time and leaned close to Wen Yanbo's ear, whispering, "Lord Wen! There are rumors in the city that you withheld military pay and drained the blood of soldiers, and then disregarded the safety of Chang'an City and transferred the elite Western Army to guard the Wen family. Now the people in the city are already worried. I'm afraid that if this continues, our Chang'an City will collapse first without the need for rebellion and attack!"

Wen Yanbo's face changed when he heard this, and he flew into a rage, "Who is spreading this? Have you sent out spies to investigate? Under the current circumstances, anyone who dares to spread these things must be someone with ulterior motives!"

Qu Songde said quickly: "I'm already checking. I suspect the news was spread by the rebels. There must be a lot of Su Ni's people lurking in the city. Su Ni is best at using these spy methods!"

Wen Yanbo nodded and said, "Well, hurry up and check it. You should pay attention to this matter."

Qu Songde took the order and left.

Wen Yanbo waited for Qu Songde to leave, then he casually pushed the teacup beside him to the ground. With a crackling sound, the precious Ru kiln teacup instantly turned into pieces.

Wen Yanbo said in a deep voice: "Call Wen Jinyan!"

As soon as these words came out, there were footsteps leaving quickly. After a while, a middle-aged man hurried over and knelt down in front of Wen Yanbo, saying, "Nephew, I pay my respects to the old ancestor."

Wen Yanbo stared at Wen Jinyan and asked, "How much did we get from the last allocation of funds by the court?"

Wen Jinyan said quickly: "According to your instructions, we will only take 30%. This is also a common practice. The generals in the army will definitely not object. They should even be grateful to you. After all, the previous superiors took at least 40%!"

Wen Yanbo snorted and said, "Did you really only take 30%?"

Wen Jinyan kowtowed quickly and said, "I really only take 30%. If the ancestor doesn't believe it, you can ask a trustworthy general. If it's not true, Jinyan is willing to go back to the old house to guard the ancestral tomb!"

Wen Yanbo frowned immediately and asked softly, "If this is the case, who spread the news?"

Wen Jinyan was confused and asked, "What are you talking about, ancestor?"

Wen Yanbo looked at Wen Jinyan again and said, "Who else knew that I asked you to secretly transfer 3,000 cavalry to guard the old house?"

Wen Jinyan quickly said: "Except for the generals on duty, no one else knows anything."

Wen Yanbo immediately flew into a rage and said, "Xiao Ze is a general in the army that I, Wen Yanbo, supported. You mean Xiao Ze will betray me, right?"

Wen Jinyan was horrified and said, "Grandfather, I really don't know what you are talking about. What exactly happened?"

Wen Yanbo said coldly: "Now it is spreading in Chang'an that I, Wen Yanbo, withheld the soldiers' pay and secretly transferred the elite troops to guard my people.

To be able to explain it so clearly, there must be someone who could have leaked the secret!
But you are the one who is in charge of all these things. If I don’t ask you, who else should I ask?”

Wen Jinyan was a little stunned when he heard this, and he frowned and fell into deep thought.

After a while, he said, "It is a common practice in the army to divide up the soldiers' pay. We even took 10% less. The generals in the army should be grateful and should not leak the secret. Moreover, no one of them took less, so they should not leak such a thing.

As for the transfer of the elite cavalry, only Xiao Ze, who was on duty, knew about it. Xiao Ze was trained by you, the ancestor. To put it bluntly, he is the dog of our Wen family. If the Wen family does not exist, he will be a dog without a home. He has no reason to betray us!"

Wen Yanbo said coldly: "So, what's the problem?"

Wen Jinyan's mind raced, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Could it be that Su Ni sent someone to spread rumors in order to destroy the morale of the people in Chang'an?"

Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "You mean, they just made up a story and figured out everything, right?"

"This..." Wen Jinyan was suddenly speechless.

It is not difficult to fabricate the story of drinking soldiers' blood. After all, this is a common practice of the Western Army.

But it is a taboo to transfer troops to guard one's own family, and generally speaking, no one would think of doing that.

How did Su Ni come up with this idea, and why did he so accurately and directly state these two points without mentioning anything else?

It was obvious that either Su Ni had already figured out the matter, or someone in Chang'an City wanted to harm his ancestor!
When Wen Yanbo saw Wen Jinyan's expression, he immediately frowned.

This nephew of mine is naturally very reliable, otherwise he would not have been kept by my side all the time to help me deal with these extremely private matters.

His current expression means that the problem is not with his own people, nor with Su Ni, but there is a force in Chang'an City that wants to overthrow him!
Wen Yanbo suddenly became serious. Chang'an City was now an isolated city. What good would it do for them to overthrow him at this time?
At this time, who would risk causing chaos in the city and having the city breached by Su Ni in one fell swoop to overthrow himself?
"Official!"

Wen Yanbo's eyes suddenly became sharp.

He naturally knew what was happening in the court. The young official overthrew his grandmother in an inglorious coup and finally took control of the country. During this period of time, he had replaced the ministers in the court with people he trusted.

But I still didn't move, naturally because the situation here was too dangerous and I dared not act rashly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, why are you so anxious? When I have secured Chang'an City, I will be more than happy to let you offload your heavy burden. But now... Alas!"

Wen Yanbo shook his head and sighed.

When Wen Jinyan heard this, his face turned pale with shock. Wen Yanbo noticed this and laughed at him, "Look at you! So what if you are from an official family? I am a veteran of four dynasties. Even if he is dissatisfied with me, can he still confiscate Wen's family property?"

Wen Jinyan said with a sad face: "Of course they can't plunder our Wen family, but if they do, our Wen family's decline will begin today."

Wen Yanbo's expression darkened when he heard this. Yes, the government did not dare to confiscate the Wen family's property and exterminate the clan, but as long as they gave the slightest hint, it would be difficult for his descendants to pass the imperial examinations and become officials in the future!

Wen Jinyan said quickly: "Grandfather, you have made a wrong judgment. Chang'an City is an isolated city at the moment. Apart from you who can control the situation, no one else can hold up the city. If you fall, Chang'an City will be finished. Even if the emperor is young, he shouldn't be so confused, right?"

Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "If this news can spread, it means that the bastards from the Zhong family should have arrived nearby. Hehe, they all say that the Zhong family's Western Army is really the Zhong family's Western Army. It seems to be true."

Wen Jinyan's hands and feet turned cold when he heard this, and he said, "It's the diagnosis's fault! Yes, the government appointed him as the Northwest Governor, which overlaps with your duties, old ancestor. This may be why the government appointed him to replace you!

But... why is it so, why is it so, my Wen family is loyal to the court, the emperor is too impatient!"

Wen Yanbo laughed and said, "You are a wolf from Zhongshan. Once you succeed, you will become rampant. I have seen a lot of such things and I don't care anymore.

However, the emperor is young, and this old man doesn't know the seriousness of the matter. Forget it. Chang'an is in danger now, and it's a good thing that he came. At least the reinforcements have arrived.

Now that he's here, I'll just give him the burden, and I'll be happy to be relieved!" Even so, Wen Yanbo was still unhappy. He stroked the jade paperweight on the desk that was engraved with traces of time, and his eyes became more sinister in the flickering candlelight.

He waved to Wen Jinyan who was waiting at the side and said in a low voice, "Go and get the Chang'an city defense map, military rations account books, and military equipment registers. Remember, get the oldest set of accounts."

Wen Jinyan was shocked: "Ancestor, are you talking about the batch that falsely reported losses in the flood three years ago?"

"That's right." Wen Yanbo sneered, and ran his fingertips over the Taotie pattern on the paperweight. "Put all the rusted and broken arrows in the open, and select 800 crippled and wounded soldiers to line up to welcome us tomorrow.

As soon as the clinic gets to town, hand over this mess with both hands—remember, act relieved and shed a few tears.”

Seeing Wen Jinyan's hesitation, he continued, "Let someone build ten empty granaries outside the city, spread new grain on the surface, and fill the bottom with old rice mixed with sand.

When the diagnostician sends someone to check, I will deliberately reveal some flaws, but I don’t want him to be able to catch anything.”

"But what if he refuses to take up the defense?"

"He dares?" Wen Yanbo slammed the table so hard that the candlelight flickered. "The emperor is waiting to see him perform meritorious deeds. If he disobeys orders, he will be deceiving the emperor.

The fall of Chang'an was due to his inability to diagnose;
If we hold on to it, we will also inherit the foundation of our Wen family."

He stood up and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, then he wrote quickly with a pen and said in a very old voice: "When he enters the city, hand over this letter, the contents of which I have already written.

Remember to present it to him in front of all the generals when he inspects the food and fodder."

Wen Jinyan unfolded the letter and saw the words written on it: "Although the food and fodder are meager, I am willing to express my gratitude. The safety of Chang'an depends entirely on my nephew."

"Pack up and wait for the doctor to enter the city. At midnight, we will leave through the west gate."

Wen Yanbo straightened his robe, with a hint of sarcasm on his lips, "Doesn't Zhongzhen want to pick peaches? Let him hold this hot potato and taste it."

Wen Jinyan felt a little uneasy and said, "Will this offend the Zhong family? Zhong Zhen holds the power in the northwest, and he will be extremely powerful in the next 10 to 20 years.

In addition, the government may have complaints against our Wen family, and our Wen family may have a hard time in the future, so it is better to make a good handover..."

Wen Yanbo looked at Wen Jinyan coldly. Wen Jinyan felt a chill in his heart and quickly shut his mouth.

Wen Yanbo said word by word: "Remember, our Wen family is a real aristocratic family, not comparable to the so-called military families, and not something that can be rectified by the government if they want to.

If the emperor can discuss this with me properly, it will be fine. If he still harbors hatred, then I will make it known to the world that this world belongs to the Zhao family and even more so to the scholars and officials. In the final analysis, it belongs to the scholars and officials!"

Wen Jinyan trembled and dared not say anything more.

Wen Yanbo didn't know that his misjudgment would bring disaster to the Wen family!
Wen Yanbo believed that Zhong Zhen was about to take over Chang'an City, so he lost interest in holding out and relaxed his surveillance of his generals. He simply told them to do their job well and then left them alone. He had already focused on the transfer.

At this time, Li Changzuo, who was in charge of instigating the rebellion, did not understand what was happening, but was shocked to find that the series of activities he arranged in Chang'an City were all going smoothly. Not only was Zhou Huaiyu, the defender of the North Gate, immediately willing to join forces after being contacted, but Zhao Zhongwen, the defender of the West Gate, contacted Li Changzuo through Zhao Zhongwu without Li Changzuo even having to look for him.

Things went so smoothly that Li Changzuo became wary, and he suspected that this was a trap set by Wen Yanbo. But when he heard the news from Zhao Zhongwen, Li Changzuo was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.

He originally fabricated the rumors that Wen Yanbo "drank the blood of soldiers" and transferred elite troops to protect the clan, just to disrupt the situation in Chang'an. He didn't expect that Wen Yanbo actually did these things!
As the night deepened, Li Changzuo paced back and forth in the secret room, stroking the secret letter in his hand repeatedly.

There was an excitement and dangerous light flashing in his eyes. He suddenly stopped and shouted, "Someone come!" Several confidants quickly appeared at the door.

"Tell Zhou Huaiyu and Zhao Zhongwen to start at 3 p.m. tomorrow! Have them bury gunpowder near the city gates and prepare something to start the fire.

Remember, the action must be secret and there can be no mistakes!" Li Changzuo's voice was cold and firm, his face full of ruthlessness.

At the same time, in the Wen Mansion, Wen Yanbo was directing the servants to pack up valuables and prepare for the move. Wen Jinyan hurried over, looking panicked: "Grandfather, I just got the news that the guards at the north gate and the west gate seem to have unusual movements!"

Wen Yanbo didn't care and waved his hand impatiently: "Those guys must want more benefits before the diagnosis. I will give them some rewards tomorrow.

Once the diagnosis arrives, all these troubles will be his."

Wen Jinyan wanted to say something else, but Wen Yanbo glared at him, so he could only swallow the words back.

At the hour of Yin, the city of Chang'an was silent, like the calm before a storm.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from the direction of the north gate, flames shot up into the sky, followed by shouts of killing.

"The rebels are entering the city!" exclamations rang out in the city.

Wen Yanbo stood up from his chair suddenly, his face turning pale in an instant: "What's going on? Why did the people who were doing the vaccination start fighting so quickly?"

He thought that the diagnosis had arrived early, but he didn't know that all this was Li Changzuo's conspiracy.

Soon after, a fire broke out at the west gate. Zhao Zhongwen led his soldiers to open the gate, and the Jingsai Army poured in like a tide.

The city was suddenly in chaos, people fled in panic, and their cries resounded through the sky.

Wen Yanbo looked at the chaotic situation and finally realized that he had made a wrong judgment. Anger and regret surged in his heart.

He drew his sword and shouted, "Gather your soldiers and fight with me!"

But at this time, Wen's private army was already in panic, and faced with the surging rebels, they were unable to organize an effective resistance.

Under the protection of his trusted aides, Wen Yanbo fought and retreated, suffering multiple injuries and his robes stained with blood.

Wen Jinyan followed Wen Yanbo closely and said anxiously, "Grandfather, this won't work. Let's go through the secret passage!"

However, when they arrived at the entrance of the secret passage, they found that the secret passage had already been blocked by the Jingsai Army.

Li Changzuo stood in the firelight with a smug smile on his face: "Master Wen, you didn't expect it, did you? You have planned everything, but you still can't escape today!"

Wen Yanbo glared at him and shouted with his last bit of strength: "Li Changzuo, you will not die well!"

At this time, someone on horseback slowly appeared behind Li Changzuo. When Wen Yanbo saw him, his eyes narrowed into a line.

Zheng Chaozong!
"I hope you are well, Mr. Wen."

Before he finished speaking, Zheng Chaozong suddenly laughed out loud, his mouth stretched to his ears but there was no trace of a smile, his sharp white teeth were exposed, like a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey.

The veins at the corners of his eyes were throbbing, and tears mixed with blood rolled down from his red eye sockets, which was frightening to see!
(End of this chapter)