In the north, Yanzhou passed through the embassy.

An Guogong and his second brother Mu Chengfang sat opposite each other, and there was a thick stack of letters in front of them, which was just brought by Mrs. Mu from her home in Beijing.

After An Guogong opened his mother's letter and read it, he opened his wife's letter again, and after reading it, he didn't open his mouth for a long time, while Mu Chengfang on the side frowned slightly, staring at his wife and mother's letter in a daze.

Seeing that his brother put down the letter in his hand, Mu Chengfang sighed softly: "Zhengyi, this child is really, why is it the granddaughter of Scholar Gu!" ”

"What do you think?" An Guogong did not sigh with his younger brother, but raised his eyes to look at Mu Chengfang.

"Big brother......" Mu Chengfang was silent for a moment before he smiled bitterly at An Guogong: "You know, Zhengyi is my son, and I always wish him all the best." I'm a father who has been fighting all year round, and when the children were young, I couldn't accompany them well in Beijing, and in the blink of an eye, the clothes were big, and I wanted him to accompany me in the bitter cold place like the north, although he was the son of the Mu family, this was his life, but I still felt that I owed the children a lot. Maybe it's my selfishness as a father...... The granddaughter of the scholar Gu, I don't think it's unschooled."

"Hmm!" An Guogong nodded calmly: "It's similar to me." I dared to kneel in front of my father and mother, begging them to let me marry A Luo, and now Zhengyi has taken a fancy to the granddaughter of Gu University, in my eyes, there is no big deal, and the child is happy. What about the granddaughter of the Duanming Temple scholar? If you enter my Mu family, you are my Mu family's daughter-in-law, where else can you trouble? Rong Di is uneasy at the moment, how can the emperor care about us for this matter. ”

"And that child and Hongshang are friends, she should be a sensible person, and she should know what will happen in the future if she marries into my Mu family. In a few days, I happened to be going to Youzhou, and I informed the third child of this matter, and the fourth child will go to you, I don't think the two of them will object. ”

"Big brother's right." Mu Chengfang threw the first two letters aside, and picked up another thick letter: "Zhengyi's relatives are all good, although it is a marriage between a powerful minister and a military general, but as long as our family attitude is correct and we pay attention to the proportions of our in-laws, the emperor will not embarrass us too much." The current dilemma is this case, if the third child asks for an order to return to Beijing to report on his work, the eldest brother can only go over in Youzhou. However, the scout just came back two days ago with the news that the Khan of Rong Di Xi had married his daughter to the Goshawk Ministry, which is very bad news for us, and I am afraid that the next step is to form an alliance. ”

"Humph! For three whole months, there was no progress in the peace talks between the imperial court and Rong Di, and seeing that the Chinese New Year was approaching, those officials and masters of the Ministry of Rites were afraid that they would also leave for Beijing recently. An Guogong snorted coldly: "It's too early for this road to go, and Lin Xiang and those people just don't want to give up." Rong Di these barbarians advocate force, even if they want to negotiate peace, the north must have a large army to wait, no strength, where do you have the qualifications to talk with the Rong Di people"

"Big brother," Mu Chengfang replied after thinking about it, "You have also read the letter from Mother and Zhengyi, the situation between the DPRK and China has been changing recently, and the four of us are in the north, I'm afraid it's really inappropriate." In the unlikely event that something happens in the court, there is no one to deal with it in time. ”

"So let's let the third child go back." An Guogong replied: "I'll go to Youzhou." ”

"I discussed it with my younger brothers before," Mu Chengfang replied, "What we mean, it's better for you to go back, eldest brother." After all, you have a knighthood, and the saint also trusts you a lot, compared to those of us who have been in the north all the year round, once the situation in the DPRK and China changes, you can speak more in front of the emperor. ”

"Nope." After listening to Mu Chengfang's suggestion, An Guogong shook his head decisively: "Our Anguo Mansion is not involved in party disputes, and the current situation between the DPRK and China is changeable, and it also involves the dispute over the storage position. At present, there are constant disputes among the various factions in the DPRK and China, and if I return to Beijing, how can they watch me stay out of the matter, and they will drag me into the water. Besides, at the moment, when it comes to the family affairs of Zhengyi, as well as the recent affairs in the north, Xie Xiang has taken the initiative to help several times, and we are not clear about the first family of Master Gu and the first department of Xie Xiang for a while. ”

"What does the big brother mean, or do you want to go back?" Mu Chengfang asked.

"At the moment, it seems that it is most appropriate for the third child to go back," An Guogong bowed slightly: "I am Chaopin Gong, you are a strategic envoy, if you and I return to Beijing, it will be too eye-catching, and Rong Di's situation is uneasy, we can't leave easily." And the fourth general, Shuobei, is guarding the front line of Rong Di, and he can't move now. But that's just one of them. Second...... The third child has not been able to return to Beijing for many years, and now Chiyi is also in the north, leaving the third brother and sister and Jinyi at home, and it is time for him to go back and see. If you don't go back, in a blink of an eye, Jinyi should grow up......"

Hearing An Guogong like this, Mu Chengfang nodded very understandingly: "Then as the eldest brother said, let the third child ask for an order to return to Beijing to report on his work, and stay as long as he can." ”

"I'm sorry, Chengfang," An Guogong sighed softly, showing an apologetic expression to his second brother: "Zhengyi is about to get married, but you, who are a father, can't watch your daughter-in-law enter the door in person." ”

"Big brother is like this again," Mu Chengfang smiled indifferently: "My surname is Mu, and I am General Mu." ”

"Alas!" An Guogong sighed and was speechless for a long time. After a long time, he spoke: "Since this is the case, then I will set off for Youzhou tomorrow, I will go to guard the Youzhou camp, and after the third child returns to Beijing, let Tie Yi and Chi Yi go to Shuozhou, and now I can't take care of anything else, there must be no problems on the front line in Shuozhou." ”

Mu Chengfang didn't answer, he was a little distressed about his nephews who were only eighteen years old, but as a strategic envoy to the north, he knew very well that the eldest brother's decision was not wrong, and at present, the two largest tribes of Rong Di had a tendency to unite, and there was no progress in the peace talks between the DPRK and Rong Di.

"Don't worry too much, fortunately, Jiang Da Rao has already entered Beijing," After An Guogong saw his younger brother's face, he stretched out his hand and patted Mu Chengfang's shoulder, and comforted him awkwardly: "This batch of ordnance and horses will be replenished soon, and in the spring of next year, the saint must be determined to recruit soldiers." 5,000 people is better than nothing. We don't need to wait for new recruits, as soon as the ordnance and horses arrive, we will immediately mobilize 5,000 cavalry to Shuozhou, and the most important thing is to defend Shuozhou. ”

"It's almost the Chinese New Year now, and Lord Jiang has been stranded in the north for more than a month, I'm afraid I can't drag it out, and I have to go back to Beijing," Mu Chengfang replied: "It's better to let Chengxin get an urgent request for relief in the past few days, and if the Holy Lord agrees, let Chengxin and Master Jiang return to Beijing together." ”