Detective in the Red Chamber

On the evening of that day, Harlu's wife came to the door to shout and scold, and was plundered into the embassy by the Zhou envoy. They did not dare to stop them, so they flew to report to Harlu's relatives.

The next day, the second elder brother, Lin Qitu, went to talk about marriage in person, and Harlu's wife was able to get away. According to rumors, they were not allowed to merge shares for several days.

Since then, the theory that Zhou Shi is the reincarnation of the heavenly demon has spread like wildfire, and he also said that once his celestial eyes are opened, the blood will splatter five steps, and it can only be appeased by devouring people's souls.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the Queen of the Jin Dynasty intended to summon the envoys of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but was blocked by the concubines and officials.

The next day, Lord Hou Jin summoned the envoy of the Great Zhou alone.

砰

Slapping the waist card on the heated kang, Yao Anmin scolded angrily: "Mother thief! These Jurchen melons seem to be pulling something in the usual way, but they are so timid! A few days ago, what kind of bullshit is it? , The mother-in-law was slept by that surnamed Sun, and she didn't dare to say a word of nonsense; now the dignified Empress Jin Guozhu doesn't even dare to meet her surnamed Sun!"

Although it was daytime, because the room was sealed and dark, an oil lamp was still lit on the kang table, and when he slapped it, the candle flame flickered, and the figures in the surroundings shivered.

Zhang Xiucai, who was lying on the kang table writing something, raised his head and gave Yao Anmin a sideways glance. He put the brush on the vinegar plate that served as an inkstone, and carefully took off his glasses, and put them in the deerskin pouch as a treasure.

After everything was tidied up, he sneered and said, "If you are angry, go to Tartar, why are you arguing with me?"

"I"

Yao Anmin stared, but he didn't dare to turn against Zhang Xiucai, the number two person on the trip, and finally sat down on the kang, crossed his arms and muttered: "I'm not in a hurry, that old guy surnamed Xu I've been talking with Tartar for two days, who knows when we hooked up?"

"However, Sun Shaozong has been guarding the post house all the time, and he has sent special personnel to buy food and clothing, so there is no chance to make a move at all!"

He complained a few words, then turned to look at Zhang Xiucai, only to find that the other party had closed his eyes and was slowly rubbing the Qingming acupoint.

Now Yao Anmin got a little annoyed, and got up angrily and said, "Okay, okay, this job was taken by my old Yao himself, and it has nothing to do with your Zhang Qiye, right? Then let's stop messing around here, and get out of here as soon as possible." Pack your bags and go back to Gansu to count the ball!"

While he was yelling, he looked into the east room, obviously pointing to the fact that Deputy Hierarch Xue could come forward to uphold justice.

However, after waiting for a long time, there was no movement in the east room.

And the members of the White Lotus Cult who leaned against the wall and the cupboard, all of them like clay and wood sculptures, didn't respond to his words in the slightest.

This time Yao Anmin was a little bit hard to get off, he gritted his teeth and stared angrily, suddenly grabbed the waist card for entering and exiting the inner city, turned around and walked out.

Only then did someone under the wall ask, "Didn't Master Yao Xiang just come back? Where are you going?"

"Where else can we go?"

Yao Anmin said angrily, "Naturally, I'm going to find out about that Gui grandson surnamed Wu!"

While speaking, he pushed the door and walked out, stepping on the creaking snow and gradually drifting away.

Until this time, Zhang Xiucai got up unhurriedly, and went to the east room with the things he had just written.

Deputy Hierarch Xue was sitting cross-legged on the kang, when he heard Zhang Xiucai's footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes, and said softly: "Although he is useless, but he has a heart for the holy religion, so it's not too much to neglect him. .”

This was naturally said by Yao Anmin who just left in anger.

Zhang Xiucai had a smile on his chubby face, but he didn't respond to Vice Hierarch Xue's words. Instead, he sent the manuscript in front of Vice Hierarch Xue with preciousness and importance.

Deputy Hierarch Xue glanced at him again, and then took it over to study it carefully.

After a long while, he hesitated and said: "This rhetoric makes sense, but what if the other side refuses to take the bait?"

Zhang Xiucai spread his hands in disbelief: "Is there any other way to think about it now? Wupu Hengduan still swallowed such a provocation surnamed Sun, even at the expense of the name of cowardice. He has clearly made up his mind to take advantage of the court's unintentional He cares, first annex North Korea to expand its strength."

"Based on those of us alone, trying to make the Jurchens change their minds is tantamount to wishful thinking."

"As for the post house, the layout is airtight, and there is a murderous god surnamed Sun pressing the formation, so there is no chance of attacking at all."

"The only feasible option at the moment is to take advantage of the inconvenience of traveling inside and outside the customs, to create something out of nothing and fan the flames!"

"Tianxing is currently stationed in Xingcheng. It is Sun Shaozong's direct elder brother. I heard that this person has a fiery temper and loves his brother in every possible way since childhood. If we plan carefully, it shouldn't be difficult to deceive him."

In fact, Deputy Master Xue had already approved of his plan, otherwise Cai would not have let Yao Anmin get angry and would not have come forward to appease him.

It's just that this matter has a lot to do with it. If the Jurchen's power cannot be used to contain the Nine Frontiers of the Great Zhou, it will be even more difficult for the White Lotus Sect to make trouble in the near future.

So when things come to an end, there is no room for him to be careless.

Ugh

If Ge Delirium could find the reincarnated saintess back then and gather the congregation together in one place, why should he and others rely on the Jurchen Tartars now?

Sighing in his heart, Deputy Hierarch Xue confirmed again: "Is that person really available? Don't wait until then"

"Your boss, don't worry, his wife, children, and children are all in our hands, and he thinks that he is poisonous, so he will never dare to disobey our orders!"

"That's fine, that's fine."

Deputy leader Xue nodded, looked out of the window, and muttered to himself: "Next, we will wait for Xu Furen to pass the news of the past few days back to the customs, and then we will go along with the flow and say that the Tartar general cannot bear the humiliation." , Privately lead heavy soldiers to besiege and kill"

Zhang Xiucai said with burning eyes: "Although Sun Shaozong managed to escape, he was seriously injured and was trapped in the mountains to die!"

After a pause, he slapped his palm fiercely in mid-air: "As long as those in Xingcheng hear the news, it will be war or peace, but the two of them cannot be left alone!"

Chapter 945 Restless

These days, I have trouble again, and I take turns going to the grave with my wife. Make adjustments, and we will update tomorrow.

Originally, Sun Shaozong planned to show off his muscles when the two sides negotiated and faced the attack from the monarch and ministers of the Houjin Kingdom.

Who would have imagined that Wu Pu Duanheng only summoned Xu Furen alone for several days, and refused to let him accompany him into the palace, making all the previous assumptions completely useless.

Fortunately, around the New Year's Eve, Sun Shaozong had already established a great prestige in Jianzhou City, and with Xu Furen's witty calculations, he alone was enough to play tricks on his lips.

Of course, when Xu Furen returned to the posthouse every day, he had to briefly recount the negotiation process between the two parties to Sun Shaozong.

At present, there is still some sincerity in the peace talks between the two parties, at least temporarily, which is the major premise for some to stop fighting and talk about peace, and a consensus was reached on the first day.

However, on some additional conditions, the two sides have remained deadlocked.

For example, Da Zhou hopes that the two sides can exchange prisoners of war and release the detained people.

However, most of the Jurchens captured by the Great Zhou had already been punished. This so-called exchange was just a nice way of saying it. In fact, it wanted Hou Jin to unilaterally release all Han slaves.

This is naturally unacceptable to the Jurchens.

Another example is that Hou Jin hopes to establish several places where the two sides trade each other near Xingcheng.

The mutual market was nothing, but the Jurchens, in addition to requesting that Dazhou not restrict the import of ironware, also asked Dazhou officials to come forward and purchase some specialties in Liaodong at a premium to ensure that the two sides can reach a trade balance.

This is simply too much.

Although it was a tactic to slow down the war, how could the people of the Zhou Kingdom, who had always openly flaunted the imperialism of the Han Dynasty, accept such a concession to a small country whose officials had not even admitted to it?

In addition, there are such things as the delineation of the boundaries between the two parties, the official names of each other, the etiquette of exchanges, the relationship between Houjin and Wacha, etc.

In short, under the same general policy, there are many differences between the two sides.

On Zhou Guo's side, the left and right wanted to buy time, and after surviving the war in the south, they would free up their strength before attacking Houjin.

Later, because of the heavy snow blocking the mountain, it was impossible to carry out large-scale military operations before the end of March.

So I didn't feel too anxious in the two strokes. I saw a little bit of grinding back and forth, and after a few days, I didn't see any progress.

It is estimated that we can talk about the general context in the first month, which is pretty good.

It didn't matter to Sun Shaozong, he was naturally active and quiet, and apart from being a little unaccustomed to food, he could be regarded as a cat raising fat when he idled around in the posthouse every day.

A guard who can accompany him, but a somewhat restless master.

A while ago, there were always unsightly Jurchens coming to make troubles, and there was excitement every now and then, but I didn't think it was a big deal.

But starting from the fifth day of the lunar new year, everything became calm, and there were even many real girls who would rather take a long way than pass through the gate of the post house.

When I was free, I felt uncomfortable all over.

And a few days ago, Harlu's wife had a high-pitched voice, and the people who scolded at the door were sullen, and then the people who scolded at the door were full of evil spirits.

I have been a bachelor for more than a month, how can I hold back when I get angry?

So in the past few days, Tuo Fengxin came forward first, and wanted to ask for leave to go out for a stroll, but after being suppressed by Sun Shaozong, he tried to persuade him to get some women to come in to serve him.

He said he was helping with the laundry and cooking, but Sun Shaozong casually tried it out, and the request of a well-adjusted plate, chest and buttocks filled his ears.

To put it bluntly, it's not just about the lower body.

It stands to reason that in this place of suspicion, one thing more is worse than one thing less, so Sun Shaozong should reject it outright.

But Sun Shaozong was not that unreasonable, and besides, he himself failed to lead by example, so it was even more difficult to sternly refuse.

Therefore, after careful consideration today, I thought about discussing with Xu Furen to see if I could ask the Jurchens for a few Korean women.

It's evening.

Counting the time, Xu Furen should have returned from the inner city, so Sun Shaozong ordered someone to put food on the kang table in the backyard, and boiled a pot of old wine, just waiting to chat with him over wine.

Naturally, it is impossible to bring a cook here, so the daily meals are really lacklustre, the only advantage is that the quantity is enough to keep you full.

But the wine is really good. The 40-year-old flower carvings in the old cellar were originally the spoils of a certain Jurchen nobleman, but in the bitter cold outside the customs, everyone is proud of drinking spirits.

It wasn't until a few days ago that Alin Qitu came to the door to talk about marriage, and because he knew that Sun Shaozong liked this, he specially asked for a gift.

He unscrewed the cover of the stove and temporarily used it as a utensil for warming wine. After a short time, the rich and mellow aroma of wine permeated the room.

At this moment, the door curtain was lifted, and Xu Furen, who was in a wide robe and big sleeves, came in from the outside, his nose twitched a few times, and he couldn't help laughing and said: "Drinking wine and being lenient with the emperor, the human relationship is like waves; The Zhumen first reached out laughing and playing the crown; the grass is all wet by the drizzle, the flowers and branches are about to move and the spring wind is cold; there is nothing to ask about the floating clouds in the world, it is better to lie high and have another meal."

As he spoke, he took off his boots and sat cross-legged across from Sun Shaozong.

Along the way, the two of them had already gotten to know each other well, so Sun Shaozong didn't show too much courtesy, and just lifted the jug with one hand and poured a full glass for him.

At the same time, he said with a smile: "Listening to Mr. Xu's meaning, I'm afraid it's another day wasted?"

"Waste is waste, but it's not nothing."

Although there has been no progress in the negotiations in the past few days, Xu Furen's spirit is much stronger than that on the road.

I saw him first talking about the old man's juvenile madness and toasting to the bottom, then he got serious again, leaned forward slightly, and said with a low voice: "It is probably the White Lotus Sect."

This nonsensical sentence, but Sun Shaozong immediately understood it, and hurriedly put the wine pot back on the stove, straightened his back, and put on a posture of listening attentively.

But it turned out that since arriving at the posthouse, Sun Shaozong had vaguely noticed that besides the Jurchen spies, there seemed to be some unidentified people around, spying on the mission's every move.

The Mongols were out of the city gate that day, more than half of them were caught by Sun Shaozong, even if the rest sneaked back to the city, most of them would not dare to appear near the Great Zhou Mission, and even if they were really brave enough to find them, they would be recognized by Sun Shaozong .

So the two discussed secretly, and concluded that there were probably other forces in the city, and most of them were the hostile forces of Da Zhou.

Although Da Zhou is surrounded by enemies on all sides, but if you really want to count them, there are only a few forces.

After removing Mongolia, the White Lotus Sect, also in the north, naturally became the main object of suspicion.

So in the past few days, while Xu Furen was negotiating with the Jurchens, he was beating around the bush to inquire about the news, but it was unavoidable, and there was no progress for a few days.

But today, he finally managed to find out some details.

Xu Furen stroked his beard and said: "Today, when we talked about the frontier army with the Tatars, when the old man mentioned the Shaanxi-Gansu area, he deliberately sold a loophole, but Wu Qizhi casually revealed it. quite understanding."

"However, the scope of the Jurchens' current activities has not yet touched the Shaanxi-Gansu area. Even the Mongols in Wacha are now mostly harassing in Shanxi and Hebei, so that they can become horns with the Jurchens."

"The one who cares so much about the Shaanxi-Gansu Frontier Army and can clearly grasp its movements is probably the White Lotus Sect!"

Xu Furen's speculation may not be [-]% sure, but it is still [-]% to [-]%.

In his mind, Su Xingfang's voice and smile flashed involuntarily, and Sun Shaozong said in a deep voice: "If it is really a member of the White Lotus Sect, the Mongols were probably inseparable from them when they attacked outside the city gate. These Bailian rebels, in the end What he is good at is fanning the flames and leveraging strength."

Xu Furen nodded: "Compared to the Mongols, they are the least willing to strike in Liaodong, and will try their best to stop them, too."

Halfway through, Xu Furen suddenly focused his eyes, and the opposite colleague Sun Shaozong also looked serious, and then the two blurted out in unison: "Could it be that the White Lotus Sect is about to start trouble again soon?!"

This time the imperial court decided to send Xu Furen as an envoy to Houjin. At first, only a few important officials in the court knew about it, and it took only two or three days from the official order to the departure of the embassy.

In such a short period of time, even if the White Lotus Sect in Shaanxi and Gansu could respond, it would be impossible to send people to Jianzhou City to make trouble first.

In other words, the White Lotus Sect came to Liaodong with other purposes without knowing about it.

And the only thing that could make the White Lotus Sect go all the way to contact Houjin in the wind and snow was the rebellion!

After thinking of this, Xu Furen and Sun Shaozong immediately formulated countermeasures.

First of all, it is natural to send people back to the customs to notify the court, so as to prevent problems before they happen.

Secondly, it is best to try to find out the Bailian rebels in the city and ask for information about the Shaanxi-Gansu Commander-in-Chief.

This time is different from going to the capital to find the Holy Maiden. In order to form an alliance with the Jurchens, the people from the White Lotus Sect who are in charge of negotiating must come up with some valuable bargaining chips.

If he could pry the opponent's mouth open, it would definitely deal a huge blow to the White Lotus Sect.

Furthermore, the posthouse must be redoubled to guard against death.

A teacher who never forgets the past, since the White Lotus Sect was traumatized and split, its power has long been inferior to before, but the all-pervasive infiltration method is the most troublesome for the court.

If the post house is also infiltrated by the White Lotus Sect, then the fun will be great.