The goose-feathered snow covered the heavens and the earth, Jia Xu sat in front of the desk in a mink jacket and played with the arithmetic, and beside him a scholar was simmering a jar of herbs in a small red clay stove, and the pungent smell of medicine filled the entire house. It is now the first month of the eighth year of Jian'an, and just ten days ago, Cai Ji led a large group of men and horses to leave Jicheng to inspect the Liaodong Zhucheng led by Jinxi outside the Guan, but Jia Xu, who was the mastermind, was left in Jicheng to recuperate because of physical discomfort.

Thinking of Cai Ji's anxious reaction after learning that he was unwell that day, Jia Xu's heart was still a little warm, and he could see that Cai Ji was really worried about his safety at that time rather than just acting like one. But the more this is the case, the more restless Jia Xu's mood becomes at this moment. Because these days he always feels that something is wrong, but when it comes to what is wrong, he has no clue for a while. Of course, in line with the principle of static braking, Jia Xu had also persuaded Cai Ji to postpone his exit on the grounds that it was difficult to march in the bitter cold of Liaodong before. However, after hesitating for a moment, Cai Ji decided to set off for Jinxi to inspect Liaodong as soon as the New Year was over. Jia Xu knew that Cai Ji was worried that the fall of the demon Dao Yuji would affect the hearts of the people in Jinxi, after all, the remnants of Taiping Dao accounted for nearly seventy percent of the population of Jinxi. In addition, Gongsun Du has not moved since the last defeat, and the surrounding Hu people are even more afraid of the "divine power" of artillery and dare not invade Jinxi. So after weighing the pros and cons, he didn't insist any longer.

However, looking at the increasingly heavy wind and snow outside the window at this moment, Jia Xu's heart once again sank to the bottom.

And at the same time that Jicheng ushered in the first heavy snow in Jian'an for eight years, Linyu County, located at the foot of the Great Wall, was a sunny sky and a bright spring scene. It is said that the Eastern Han Dynasty set up a total of five cities in Liaoxi County, and Linyu is one of them, and Linyu has a more well-known name in later generations - Shanhaiguan. Since Cai Ji took the sea route from Jinxi to Yishui last time, this is the first time she has come to Linyu by land. Although the current Linyu does not have the momentum of the "first pass in the world" in later generations, it takes advantage of its geographical advantages and the east wind of Jinxi and Yishui. The seaside town has also become an important trade hub connecting the Senese and the outside of Senese.

At this moment, Cai Ji was surrounded by a cadre of civil and military forces, and climbed the horn mountain to look down, but saw the lively scene of merchants gathering in the pass under the mountain. For a while, Cai Ji, who has never liked stealing poetry, couldn't help but blurt out, "With the mountains and the ancient border states of the sea, the shadow wind turns over the tower." After the horse, the peach blossom before the horse, the snow in front of the horse, and the fight for not looking back. ”

After reading it, Cai Ji remembered that this poem was written by the Qing Dynasty poet Xu Lan about Juyongguan's "Out of Juyongguan", and some people in later generations used this to prove that if there was no Qing Dynasty out of Juyongguan, it would be going abroad. For Cai Ji, who was in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Juyongguan was under her rule, and Wenhou Lu Bu was a native of Inner Mongolia. At this time, she had to go all the way north to the Imjin River on the Korean Peninsula to go abroad, and even admire the original style of the Kaesong Industrial Park. Of course, even so, there will still be people in later generations who will argue endlessly about where and where it does not belong to China. But who cares? Within the range of both axioms, every inch of rivers and mountains is an inch of blood. The territory of the Chinese nation has never been acquired by international arbitration.

Cao Pi and Sun Quan, who followed behind Cai Ji, didn't know what kind of waves the short four lines of poetry stirred up in Cai Ji's heart. But both of them were quite interested in this little poem "written" by Cai Ji, because they had the impression that Qi Hou was not a person who liked to dance and write. Although Cai Ji will take a little time every day to write theorem formulas or classics of Chinese culture, she never recites poetry so that everyone thinks she is not good at it. At this moment, Cai Ji improvised such a poem, which made the unprepared Cao Pi and Sun Quan both shine in their eyes.

Sun Quan didn't dabble much in poetry, but he only felt that Cai Ji's poem was very beautiful, with both the pride of sending troops outside the fortress and the tenderness of nostalgia for the countryside. Cao Pi recalls the poems word by word, and the meaning is still unfinished. In particular, the third sentence writes the front and back of the horse as two different seasons, which is really an earth-shattering whimsy in Cao Pi's view. made him secretly speculate in his heart: Could it be that Qi Hou loves Biansai poetry alone?

It's just that before Cao Pi could comment on Cai Ji's poems, Sun Quan had already taken the lead in flattering. This poem is allegorical to the scene. It's truly a masterpiece of the day. ”

Villain style - Cao Pi glanced at Sun Quan, who was giving up, and secretly slandered himself in his heart. Cai Ji's cheeks were slightly red, and he waved his hand again and again, "You can't praise it so much." ”

Just as Cai Ji was resigning, they heard a rapid sound of horses' hooves behind them, and everyone looked back to see a small colonel turn over and dismount and present a letter to Cai Jidao, "Jinxi urgently report to the Lord!" ”

Cai Ji took the letter and unfolded it, and the two eyebrows slowly twisted into a ball. Seeing this, Cao Pi and Sun Quan both felt an obvious strange atmosphere. Sure enough, the next moment, Cai Ji put the letter in his hand into his sleeve, pulled the reins with a cold face, and ordered. "Back to the city!"

The cold wind howled across the long street paved with bluestone slabs, Cai Ji rode his horse through the city gate and rushed back to the yamen with a solemn expression, and as soon as he got off the horse, he saw Lin Fei and a few bureaucrats hurriedly meeting the front, "Lord." The Gongsun clan is coming, Jinxi is in a hurry! ”

Cao Pi and Sun Quan, who followed behind Cai Ji, were shocked when they heard what Lin Fei said, and they all looked up at the sky, and saw that the sky that was still sunny a moment ago was already covered with dark clouds in the blink of an eye, as if a heavy snow was about to fall.

At the same time, Cai Ji ordered with a face that was more gloomy than the sky, "Lone already knows about this matter, and he has ordered the civil and military council to discuss the matter." ”

"Whoa." Lin Fei secretly wiped a handful of cold sweat and commanded.

With Cai Ji's order, it didn't take long for the important civil and military bureaucrats in Linyu City to gather in the meeting hall. Seeing that the person had already arrived at Qi Caiji, he took out his sleeve Chinese book and threw it on the case, "Gongsun Kang said that the Lone Assassin assassin assassinated his father Gongsun Du, and Lone wants to know who did this?" When did Lone send an assassin! ”

Cai Ji's questioning was like a stone that stirred up an uproar in the council hall. Everyone had only heard that the Gongsun clan of Liaodong had raised troops to besiege Jinxi, but they never thought that there was such a mystery behind this matter. Some people even turned their eyes to Lin Fei, who was sitting in the first position on Qi Hou's left hand. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Lin Fei was both the commander of Jinxi County and the humeral minister of the Marquis of Qi, so he should know some reasons for such a major event, and even the assassin was probably sent by this Lin Yi Zai.

Facing the inquiring eyes around him, Lin Fei only felt that his scalp was numb for a while, because he didn't know the ins and outs of the matter. But since Jinxi is his jurisdiction, it is still the responsibility of him Lin Zhengjie to take such a shocking change now. So Lin Fei immediately took a deep breath and bowed his hand to Cai Ji to plead guilty. "Back to the Lord, Jinxi never sent assassins to assassinate Gongsun Du, let alone provoke the Gongsun clan. However, as the county commander, Fei failed to notice the Gongsun clan's abnormal movements, causing Jinxi to be besieged, which was really a dereliction of duty for Fei, and asked the Lord to punish him. ”

Cai Ji looked Lin Fei up and down, trying to tell whether the other party's words were true or false. It must be known that after learning about the assassination of Gongsun Du on the mountain, the first murderer in Cai Ji's mind was Lin Fei. After all, such assassinations were completely in line with Momen's usual style. However, Lin Fei in front of him swore that he had never sent an assassin to assassinate Gongsun Du. Could it be that this matter really has nothing to do with Lin Fei? Or is it something else?

Lin Fei withstood the suspicious gaze of the woman in the hall and did not move. Because he knows that no amount of explanation at this time can be worth the calm attitude. To put it bluntly, if Cai Ji wants to believe it, he will believe it. If Cai Ji didn't believe him, he Lin Fei would be helpless. So the two sides held each other silently for a long time.

After a while, Cai Ji's expression finally eased, and he saw her wave her hand and said, "This matter will be discussed later." The top priority at the moment is to relieve the siege of Jinxi first. ”

"Whoa." Lin Fei breathed a long sigh of relief, then got up and pointed to the map on the council hall and introduced to Cai Ji, "Lord, please see, there are more than 8,000 defenders and more than 3,000 war horses stationed in Jinxi. There are also three artillery, and the grain and grass in the city can supply the soldiers and horses defending the city for more than a year. ”

Listen to Lin Fei familiarly introduce the situation in Jinxi City. The expressions of the civilian, military, and bureaucrats present all relaxed. In the past two years, the Qi army has reported frequent successes in Hebei. Qi Ying seems to have formed a tacit self-confidence. In everyone's opinion, the 8,000 Qi army and three artillery pieces could completely resist any invading enemy, not to mention that there was still enough grain and grass in Jinxi City to supply the defenders.

No, as soon as Lin Fei's words fell, Tian Chou, who was in the middle of Youzhou's governance, couldn't wait to say to Cai Ji, "Jinxi soldiers are strong and strong, and they are not afraid of the enemy who comes to attack, and the lord can take this opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Gongsun Department." ”

Tian Chou's words won the unanimous approval of many civil and military forces present. Even Zhao Yun took the initiative to ask Cai Ji for battle, "Lord, Yun Yuan led the vanguard battalion and the Jinxi defenders to attack the Gongsun Department. ”

Cai Ji glanced at the civil and military officials who were eager to try, and did not make a decision immediately. Of course, she also believed that the Jinxi defenders could hold Jinxi City. It's just that the assassination of Gongsun Du was like a thorn in her heart after all, making it difficult for her to let go. Obviously, in this world of the jungle, no unexpected incident will come out of thin air, and the assassination of Gongsun Du will not be just a simple misunderstanding, and there will definitely be a deep meaning behind it.

And just when Cai Ji was deeply entangled in the assassination of Gongsun Du, he overheard a report from someone outside the door, "Your Majesty, the subject country of Liaodong sent an envoy to ask for a meeting." ”

"Liaodong vassal state? What is the purpose of the envoy sent here at this time? Cai Ji frowned and muttered.

"It must be for Jinxi." Tian Chou slapped his thigh excitedly and said. The Chinese New Year's Eve, like most scribes in Youzhou, had no good feelings for the Gongsun Du family. This is because Gongsun Du was born poor, and secondly, it is also related to the fact that Gongsun Du is too arrogant on weekdays. In short, there are many people in Youzhou who are looking at Gongsun Duzhi with all their hearts.

Cai Ji didn't know what Tian Chou and the others were thinking, although she still had some good feelings about Gongsun Du in history, but since the other party came to the door again and again to stir up trouble, it was no wonder that she Cai Anzhen was not polite. So Cai Ji immediately nodded and agreed, "Xuan Qi's audience." ”

After a short time, the attendant led two men in bearded clothes into the council hall. I saw a middle-aged man at the head bowing to Cai Ji in fluent Chinese and saluting, "The villain Le Sang has seen Qi Hou." ”

"No courtesy." Cai Ji raised his chin and asked proudly, "Why are you waiting to see you?" ”

Lesang turned sideways and pointed to the Hu envoy who was holding the wooden box behind him and replied in a flattering voice, "Back to the Marquis of Qi, the villain is specially offering gifts to the Marquis of Qi on the order of my lord. ”

"Gifts?" Cai Ji's attendants in the court winked. The latter immediately stepped forward to take the wooden box from Hu Envoy's hand and opened it in front of everyone present. As the lid of the box was lifted, a disgusting stench rushed out of the sky, followed by a burst of sighs in the huge council hall. It turned out that the wooden box offered by the envoy contained not gold and silver treasures, but a human head, a human head that had begun to decay.

Rao is Cai Ji has been used to seeing dead bodies over the years, but at this time, facing the human head presented by the Wuhuan people, she still couldn't help frowning and said, "This is a gift?" ”

"Back to the Marquis of Qi, this person calls himself Guo Tu, and wants to provoke my lord and the Marquis of Qi to turn against him." Hu Envoy Lesang pointed to the head and explained.

"Guo Tu! Is this person Guo Tu? Cai Ji was slightly stunned at first, and then beckoned to the attendant holding the head, asking him to show her the head. It is true that Cai Ji has had several relationships with Guo Tu before, but after death, people's facial features will be somewhat deformed, not to mention that the expression of being cut off in a state of panic is even more terrifying. Therefore, after looking at it for a while, Cai Ji could neither be sure that this was Guo Tu's head, nor could he deny the Wuhuan people's statement.

At the same time, Hu Envoy Lesang continued to himself, "My lord has formed an alliance with the Marquis of Qi for many years, how could he be instigated by this traitor, so I cut off the head of this person and offered it to the Marquis of Qi to show my lord's sincerity. ”

While listening to Hu Envoy's explanation, Cai Ji recalled in his mind the various fighting methods with Guo Tu in Qingzhou back then, and couldn't help but feel a little sad in his heart. Maybe Guo Tu's appearance in the original history is a bit of a harlequin, but in this time and space, he is an opponent that Cai Ji has always cared about. Cai Ji thought that Guo Tu would cause her more trouble, but she didn't expect that this Yingchuan celebrity would land on the head of the snowy Liaodong people. But in this way, the mystery of Gongsun Du's assassination has been solved, and it is likely that Guo Tu is secretly playing behind it.

Seeing that Cai Ji was looking at the head and did not speak for a long time, he couldn't figure out the attitude of the female princes on the other side for a while, so he had to stubbornly continue to say aloud, "Gongsun Xiao'er has now led the troops south, and my lord implores the Marquis of Qi to move to the White Wolf Mountain to discuss the enemy's plan." ”

White Wolf Mountain is located in Liaoxi County, adjacent to Liaodong's vassal state, and is roughly within the territory under Cai Ji's control, so after listening to Hu Envoy's words, Cai Ji happily agreed, "Good, please tell Lord Badun to go to the appointment on time." (To be continued......)