Jinling has something to report to Xuzhou, the road is far away, the journey is slow, but from Xuzhou to Jinling, Shunchen water into the Yuan River, and then through Dongting Lake into the Yangtze River, all the way down the river, the giant sail is blowing in the wind, day and night, the fastest but only takes six or seven days to complete.

An Jixiang entered Dongting Lake along the Yuan River, said goodbye to Xuanwei Huanghua, hurried all the way, and returned to Jinling on the last day of November.

Jinling had a heavy snowfall two days ago, An Jixiang landed from the Nanpu Bridge Wharf, it was the afternoon when the snow was clear, the snow particles scattered the sun, and the surroundings were white and vast, quite dazzling.

At this time, more than 100 guards with knives wearing black crow uniforms from the right school office of Jinyun Division were waiting in front of the dock early, and they had already driven away the idlers and others early.

An Jixiang thought in his heart about how to respond to what he saw and heard on his trip to Xuzhou in order to satisfy His Majesty, and did not notice how majestic his subordinates were to greet him.

He glanced absentmindedly at the city wall to the west, which still showed a hideous gap, and then boarded the carriage with the support of his subordinates.

Until the carriage wore the Chongyi Gate and entered the inner city area, An Jixiang heard the sound of the wheels outside the carriage and the hooves of the horses on the left and right trampling in the muddy field, and opened the curtain and asked Chen Deshun, one of the eight lieutenants of the right school office: "Before I left Beijing to go to Xuzhou this time, I didn't say that this street would be re-paved with granite, but why is it still muddy today?" ”

Chen Deshun was promoted by Jiang Shu and Yuan Guowei during the period when they presided over Jinyun Tower, but he served as a messenger under An Jixiang, but he was very flattering to his boss An Jixiang, and said: "It is said that it is to launch an attack on the rebels of Anning Palace who have withdrawn from Chaozhou and Shouzhou, and in order to maintain the supply of military supplies on the north bank, after the Lord went to Xuzhou, the princes of the Political Affairs Hall wrote to His Majesty to completely stop the repair of Jinling City." ”

In Jinling City, especially in the inner city area, quite a lot of streets and alleys were paved with stones earlier.

However, after the Jinling Incident, most of the paving stones in the inner city were dug out and chiseled into cobblestone shells that were convenient for the whirlwind cannon to throw; Now I want to repave so many streets and alleys in the inner city with bricks and stones, but it is not possible to do it in a year and a half.

Toss.

An Jixiang inquired and learned that in addition to the Zuowu Guard, the Zuo Longque Army, and the Zuo Wuya Army, the state soldiers from Shu, Huang, Qi, E, Chi and other places have also assembled in Shuzhou, and the soldiers and horses stationed inside and outside Jinling City, in addition to the guards and pro-army continue to be responsible for guarding the imperial palace and the inner city, and will not be mobilized, the other forbidden troops have almost rushed to the south bank of the Yangtze River to garrison, ready to cross the river at any time for reinforcements, and it seems that they may launch an attack at any time.

This kind of news made An Jixiang's mind settle down, and he secretly thought in his heart that since Jinling was already actively preparing to launch an offensive against the rebels of Anning Palace at any time, His Majesty was probably still very much looking forward to the southwest not to have any chaos - the Sizhou civil rebellion ended in such a situation, which should be able to satisfy His Majesty and the princes of the court.

After returning to Jinyun Division, An Jixiang did not rest, washed up a little, changed into a clean official robe and entered the palace, but His Majesty was discussing matters in the political hall at this time, and he could only wait in the wing hall of Chongwen Hall first.

Until the sky was dark, An Jixiang was hungry, and was thinking about sending someone to find something to eat to fill his stomach first, when he saw His Majesty from a distance, surrounded by Zhang Ping, Jiang Shu, Chen Ruyi and others, walking towards the Chongwen Palace.

An Jixiang climbed up to greet him: "Jixiang to Your Majesty, please say goodbye." ”

"Get up." Yang Yuanpu glanced at An Jixiang with great interest, and walked straight to the main hall after saying a word.

An Jixiang was slightly stunned, and then thought that the recital of Hunan Xuanhui made Huanghua also arrive in Jinling with the ship, although according to the rules, Huanghua's recital should be sent to the government hall and the Privy Council first, but His Majesty should have seen the Huanghua excerpt in the afternoon in the political hall.

It's just that Your Majesty's look makes An Jixiang's mood feel anxious again, could it be that the twists and turns of yellowing and the situation in the southwest at this time are not satisfactory to Your Majesty?

An Jixiang followed everyone into the Chongwen Palace, and it was not clear whether he should take the initiative to report what he had seen and heard in Xuzhou on this trip, nor did he know whether the wording should be changed slightly......

"Let's talk about it, how do you feel about going to Xuzhou this time?" After Yang Yuanpu sat down in the imperial case, he did not say that he would give Zhang Ping a seat, so he stood in front of the imperial case with An Jixiang and reported the situation of this trip to Xuzhou.

Although An Jixiang is not qualified to see the original copy of the Huanghua fold, he can also speculate on the content of the fold, and to be honest, these are all things that he plans to present to His Majesty.

At the moment, some of the wording seems to need a slight change.

"What's the matter, what happened to you when you went to Xuzhou that made it difficult for you to speak? Do you want to go back and think about it first, and then come back and report to me? Yang Yuanpu asked with a slightly gloomy face.

"......" An Jixiang was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Wechen came to Xuzhou, but he didn't encounter anything special, but he just saw that His Majesty looked a little depressed, and he couldn't help but think about His Majesty or have some troubles that Weichen needs to share his worries - and Wechen has not served in front of His Majesty these days, and he has always been thinking about this in his heart." ”

"Your mouth can talk." Yang Yuanpu's expression eased slightly, and motioned for An Jixiang to continue.

Seeing that His Majesty did not ask Zhang Ping, Jiang Shu, Chen Ruyi and others to avoid it, An Jixiang did not dare to risk offending Han Qian, the Marquis of Qianyang, and the Huanghua of Hunan Xuanhui at the same time.

"But it's no different from Lord Huang's twists and turns." Chen Ruyi interjected at this time.

An Jixiang couldn't figure out the meaning of Chen Ruyi's words, but seeing that His Majesty's expression was becoming more and more gloomy, he looked at Zhang Ping and Jiang Huo with some apprehension, hoping that they could give him some hints.

Zhang Ping and Jiang Shou looked at their noses and noses, and they didn't look at An Jixiang, so that the hairs on An Jixiang's back stood up, standing in front of the imperial case, as if they were pierced into the skin by countless wheat mangs, and they were full of indescribable discomfort.

"Some people say that the Shu army happened to occupy Wuchuan at that time, but it was the collusion between the Marquis of Qianyang and the Shu State, how likely do you think this is?" Yang Yuanpu stared at An Jixiang and asked.

An Jixiang seemed to feel that Mount Tai was pressing on him, and he thought that Huang Hua should not mention this matter in the folds, or His Majesty had another source, or His Majesty analyzed this possibility from the existing information, but this question was really difficult for him to answer.

The stove in the hall has not yet burned through, and there is still some cold swishing cold air drilling into the robe at night, but An Jixiang feels that his forehead is about to ooze sweat.

When he was frightened, he suddenly thought of the scene where Han Qian reprimanded Yang Hu, and he said stubbornly: "When the news of the Shu army entering Wuchuan came, Weichen happened to be with the Marquis of Qianyang at that time, and he also considered this possibility. However, firstly, the Marquis of Qianyang did not sit back and watch the situation in Sizhou completely erode and then take it, and secondly, Weichen thought that Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, was also a generation of heroes, and he would not easily ask the Marquis of Qianyang to lead his nose, so he did not think deeply about this. Of course, the Marquis of Qianyang is resourceful, but Weichen is stupid, and he may be blindfolded by the Marquis of Qianyang. However, the Hunan Xuanhui envoy organized the bandits into a capital of soldiers and horses, and then it will be seen whether they will really fight with the Shu army, or they may be able to verify one or two ......"

"Maybe you have to wait for a while before deciding whether to attack Chaozhou?" Yang Yuanpu's face was slightly pale at this time, and he looked at Zhang Ping and asked.

Seeing that his answer passed, An Jixiang secretly wiped a handful of sweat, and at this time he really clearly realized how deep His Majesty's suspicion of Qianyang Hou Han Qian was, but what had happened was not enough for His Majesty to relieve his doubts, and even at the expense of continuing to delay the offensive against Chaozhou, he also had to confirm whether Qianyang Hou Han Qian had colluded with Shu State.

An Jixiang thought of what Zhou Qinian said, and couldn't help but think, is Your Majesty really like this?

If it is not enough to listen to his words and watch his deeds, it is really necessary to cut out the heart? But who in the world has a completely pure mind?

An Jixiang glanced at Chen Ruyi, seeing that his expression was as plain as a plain, and he seemed to be completely free from His Majesty's suspicious and suspicious thoughts, thinking to himself, he couldn't leave Beijing easily in the future, if he couldn't figure out His Majesty's thoughts and couldn't get His Majesty's trust, sooner or later he would be kicked out of Jinyun Division by Chen Ruyi.

Of course, An Jixiang thought so in his heart, but his face would not show the slightest abnormality, but it depended on how Zhang Ping answered His Majesty's question.

"In the matter of the military state, Your Majesty and the prime ministers will discuss and decide, and Zhang Ping will not dare to say anything." Zhang Ping replied calmly.

Zhang Ping's answer was obviously difficult to satisfy His Majesty, seeing that His Majesty waved his hand and signaled them all to retreat, An Jixiang returned the salute and left Chongwen Hall with Zhang Ping and Chen Ruyi; Jiang Yu wanted to stay in Chongwen Hall for the night.

…………

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Zhang Ping lived in the class courtyard to the west of the Chongwen Palace, while Zhang Ping and Chen Ruyi lived in the imperial city outside the palace.

Zhang Ping and Chen Ruyi walked out of the palace gate in parallel and passed through the narrow passage.

The subordinates who were guarding the gate of the palace before greeted them at this time, but they followed from a distance and did not come forward to disturb them.

"Senior Brother An really believes that the Marquis of Qianyang did not collude with the Shu army?" Chen Ruyi asked.

An Jixiang looked at Chen Ruyi in confusion, but he didn't expect him to be entangled in this problem.

An Jixiang knew that he and Chen Ruyi's brotherhood should be completely abandoned after the two of them were appointed as the commanders of the Jinyun Division, and asked: "Senior brother may be really stupid, I wonder if Senior Brother Chen has received any additional news in Jinling?" ”

"I'm just asking." Chen Ruyi snorted and said with a smile.

Seeing Chen Ruyi's words flickering, An Jixiang didn't want to dwell on this topic with him, so he opened his mouth and asked, "The master of Changxin Palace should have given birth last month, right?" ”

"Yes, I gave birth to a prince to His Majesty, but in this situation, there is no way to send someone to Shu to report the good news." Chen Ruyi said.

"Yes, the Shu Kingdom suddenly tore up the covenant and sent troops to occupy the Wuchuan River Valley, which is really unexpected by many people." An Jixiang said with emotion.