Chapter 1 Today is Sun Youdao's Seventieth Birthday

Logically, his home should be bustling with visitors, but Sun Youdao, who had practically retired, had announced early on that he wouldn't be celebrating his seventieth birthday.

No gifts, no guests.

Most officials in Yingdu praised Grand Tutor Sun for his indifference to fame and fortune, and his humble and receptive nature.

But some who knew the inside story, or who had served in the same court with Sun Youdao and knew him well, would sigh with emotion. Grand Tutor Sun had long been disheartened.

Sun Youdao's career was full of setbacks. To be precise, he had no career for the first half of his life, just a schoolteacher.

Later, he met Situ Lei. At that time, Situ Lei was still a young man, and the two hit it off.

After that, Sun Youdao accompanied Situ Lei to Zhennan Pass. Situ Lei was responsible for fighting the Chu people on the front lines, and Sun Youdao was responsible for the supply of food and military equipment in the rear.

When Situ Lei returned to Yingdu, he didn't take a single soldier from Zhennan Pass, only Sun Youdao.

Later, in politics, with Sun Youdao's advice and guidance, Situ Lei finally defeated his two elder brothers.

When Situ Lei ascended the throne, Sun Youdao was appointed as prime minister.

If there had been no turmoil caused by the Wildlings and the Dacheng Kingdom could have continued peacefully, Sun Youdao and Situ Lei would have become a legendary tale of friendship between a ruler and his subject that would have been envied by future generations.

If we exclude Situ Yu, who briefly ascended the throne after Situ Lei's death but abdicated in less than half a month, the Dacheng Kingdom's reign could almost be said to have ended in one generation.

From the day Situ Lei died, Sun Youdao's heart had died. He was also tired, but the Wildlings were still wreaking havoc in Jin, and he needed to keep going.

The Yan people came. Although the Yan people were also invaders, at least they wanted to annex Jin and manage it as their own territory, while the Wildlings and Chu people had always engaged in barbaric acts.

Finally, after Marquis Jingnan drove out the Wildlings and captured Yupan City, with the establishment of the new order by the Yan people, Sun Youdao politely declined the Yan Emperor's decree inviting him to Yanjing, citing his old age and frailty as reasons for choosing to retire.

Today, only one concubine and three sons were there to celebrate his birthday.

Sun Youdao even disliked his grandchildren for being noisy and didn't allow them to come.

The concubine was already fifty years old. His first wife died after giving birth to his eldest and second sons. The concubine then gave birth to his third son. Other than that, Sun Youdao had no other women, and his daily life was quite simple.

The dishes were home-style, and the wine was ordinary wine.

Sun Youdao sat in the seat of honor. His eldest son, Sun Ying, sat on his right, and Sun Liang and Sun Kang sat on his left.

The concubine sat beside Sun Youdao, helping him to serve food.

The Sun family ate separately because Sun Ying's lower body was paralyzed due to illness and he couldn't sit at the table.

However, there were no rules at the Sun family's dining table. From a long time ago, Sun Youdao liked to teach his sons while eating, hoping that one or two of them would become successful and take over his position.

Halfway through the meal, Sun Liang spoke first, "Father, eldest brother, I heard that the Earl of Pingye of Yan entered the city last night."

Sun Youdao nodded and said,

"That Earl of Pingye is indeed a remarkable figure. The Yan Kingdom is truly full of talent."

Sun Liang smiled and said, "Yes, Father. If it weren't for your birthday today, I would have wanted to go to the post station to find an opportunity to meet that Earl of Pingye."

In addition to his military achievements, the Earl of Pingye also snatched back the Chu princess. His reputation could be said to be unmatched for a time.

Sun Youdao put down his chopsticks at this moment and looked at his second son.

Because the eldest son's body was defective, his second son was the spokesperson for the Sun family's generation.

But in reality, his eldest son was more outstanding in terms of temperament and ability. It could only be said that heaven was jealous of talent.

However, looking at the smile on his second son's face,

Sun Youdao said very seriously,

"I have retired. The legacy I left behind can still ensure your generation's wealth and status. Even if it reaches the third generation, my Sun family will at least still be a middle-class family.

But the premise is that you don't mess around."

"Father, am I messing around?" Sun Liang was obviously a little puzzled.

"The Yan people are the Yan people, and the Jin people are the Jin people. Maybe in another twenty years, another generation, two generations, the Yan people and the Jin people won't be so different.

But now, there is a distinction between Yan and Jin. Now that the Dacheng Kingdom is gone, my Sun family is just the old guard of the Dacheng Kingdom. You must remember your identity.

Don't make friends with Yan nobles, don't try to do anything more. Living a plain and simple life is the most appropriate and cost-effective."

Sun Liang didn't dare to argue with his father and could only nod and say,

"Yes, Father, your son understands."

Sun Youdao nodded, then looked at his eldest son, who was drinking alone. Seeing this, Sun Youdao said,

"What has the eldest been busy with lately?"

"Father, eldest brother has been building a pavilion recently. It is said that he hired many craftsmen."

Ever since Sun Youdao made his second son the spokesperson, Sun Ying had taken the initiative to move out of the Sun residence and bought another house, which could be considered an early separation of the family.

"Oh, is that so?" Sun Youdao asked.

Sun Ying put down his wine glass and said to his father,

"Yes, Father, but it's not finished yet."

"Then I can look forward to it."

"After it's finished, your son will invite you to enjoy the flowers together."

"Good."

Just then, a servant hurried in.

Sun Liang got up, walked outside, and after the servant whispered something to him, he immediately walked back to the hall and said,

"Father, eldest brother, something happened."

"What is it?" Sun Youdao asked.

"That Yan Earl of Pingye led troops to the Department of Education. It is said that there was bloodshed there."

Hearing this news,

Sun Ying's eyes suddenly changed.

"The Department of Education?" Sun Youdao frowned slightly. This was a newly established government office, and he wasn't familiar with it. He only knew that it was the place where the imperial examinations were held. Of course, it was also used to establish schools and promote education, but what was most memorable was its first function.

Those who passed the imperial examinations could either be selected as officials locally, or they were qualified to go to Yanjing to participate in the spring examinations. If they could pass the spring examinations, their future would not be limited to Yingdu.

Soon,

new messages were delivered one after another,

each one more shocking than the last.

"The Earl of Pingye's guards massacred the Department of Education."

"Prefect Mao tried to stop them but failed."

"The Earl of Pingye has left the city."

"The Yan army from the East Gate camp suddenly entered the city!"

"The Earl of Pingye has taken over the Prefect's mansion!"

"The Marquis Jingnan's army has begun to break down doors and arrest people, arresting scholars and officials suspected of cheating in the imperial examinations."

"Outside the Prefect's mansion, blood has flowed like a river, and heads are rolling!"

As these messages continued to arrive, the Sun family in the hall no longer had any intention of celebrating the birthday.

Without interrogation, they were massacred;

then, troops were brought into the city to carry out widespread implication.

Those who were killed were not ordinary people, nor was it the act of killing civilians to claim credit in battle. Those who died were all officials, people with some status and face.

Although the chief official of the Department of Education was a Yan person, and there were also some Yan officials inside, most of the people in the Department of Education were Jin people. In addition, those who were now being arrested by the Marquis Jingnan's army were basically Jin people.

Sun Liang reached out and patted his forehead, ordering a servant to bring a basin of water to wash his face. He said,

"Father, what exactly is going on?"

Sun Youdao said,

"Things are not that simple. That Yan Earl of Pingye is definitely not a madman. Furthermore, he is a civil and military official. No matter what, he shouldn't be the one handling the imperial examination cheating case.

Even if he were to do it, it shouldn't be done in such a bloody and direct way.

From my observation of his military experience, he seems to be good at taking risky moves and achieving unexpected results, but his grasp of priorities is often extremely precise. Although this person is a general, he also has the skill of cooking over a warm fire."

Sun Youdao's level was definitely very high, but after all, he had already retired, and his information channels were inevitably not as smooth.

Sun Ying spoke at this time,

"Father, do you mean that what the Earl of Pingye is doing now is just a facade, and he has other purposes?"

Sun Youdao nodded and said,

"That's for sure. You can't naively think that someone smarter than you would suddenly do something stupid.

Most likely, the one who's stupid isn't him, but you."

"..." Sun Ying.

In fact, Sun Youdao didn't mean to be pointing at anything in particular when he said this, but was explaining a principle. But coincidentally, Sun Ying felt that his father had already noticed what he was doing, and now, his father was reminding him.

For a time, Sun Ying's back had begun to sweat, and his breathing had become uneven.

Massacre,

implication,

and deliberately deploying troops into the city,

without interrogation, without asking the relevant authorities, directly sentencing to death,

this was not the way to handle ordinary cases!

Clearly,

clearly,

this was clearly the decisive action that would only be taken when dealing with major treason cases!

Sun Liang then asked,

"Father, do you know what the Earl of Pingye's purpose is?"

Sun Youdao shook his head,

and sighed.

He hadn't asked about political affairs for a long time.

After his retirement, he was granted the title of Grand Tutor, and his son Sun Liang took over the position of Yingdu Transportation Commissioner, which was considered the Sun family's current face, but Sun Liang was now completely confused.

Seeing this,

Sun Youdao had to look at his eldest son again,

thinking in his heart that if his eldest son hadn't been disabled, it would be his eldest son who was holding up the family, and he wouldn't be so clueless.

His second son,

was ultimately just mediocre.

Feeling this in his heart,

Sun Youdao had to say again,

"Don't try to meddle in things, and don't try to touch things you shouldn't touch. I started from humble beginnings and followed the late Emperor for half my life. Although it wasn't for the wealth and status of my Sun family, I still hope that you can live a peaceful and stable life.

When people get old,

they don't ask for anything else,

only for the peace and safety of their descendants."

These words were truly spoken from the heart.

However,

they fell into Sun Ying's ears like thunder.

Father,

was already hinting at him!

Yes,

his father was so wise, even if he retired and recuperated at home, was there anything in Yingdu that he wanted to know but couldn't?

His father meant that,

he had done something wrong and was going to bring disaster to the family?

Sun Liang didn't know why his father had to remind him again, but he still bowed and said,

"Your son is taught and will definitely keep it in mind."

Then,

Sun Liang said again,

"Father, will this matter involve our family?"

"It shouldn't, not necessarily. From what the servants have reported, those who have been searched and arrested are all mid-level officials. The real prominent families have not been disturbed.

My Sun family's reputation is still there, and we should be safe in this turmoil."

At this moment,

Sun Ying suddenly said, "Father, your son needs to relieve himself."

Sun Youdao quickly said, "Go, go."

He knew that his eldest son's disability caused him to be unable to hold it in, so he immediately let his eldest son go to the toilet.

His eldest son went out with the help of two servants,

Sun Youdao sighed again.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he immediately asked his second son,

"Are you involved in the imperial examination cheating?"

Sun Liang immediately shook his head and said, "Father, how is that possible? If your son wants to promote someone, has taken a fancy to someone, or wants to befriend someone, why would he go to such great lengths?

Besides, Father has always told your son not to meddle, how could your son get involved in such dirty things?

However, your son has heard of these things and feels sorry for them. Some people originally had the opportunity to become officials through the imperial examinations, but their qualifications were taken away by those people.

Your son also agrees with and supports the imperial examination system, because your son believes that if Father hadn't met the late Emperor in humble circumstances, it would have been difficult to have a day to show his ambitions.

If my Cheng Kingdom had had imperial examinations back then, many learned people like Father could have benefited the people."

Sun Youdao felt very comfortable hearing this and couldn't help but feel relieved.

Although his second son was not outstanding in his ability to handle affairs, he did have a kind and honest style in dealing with people. With him in charge, the Sun family's wealth should be able to continue.

On the other side,

Sun Ying, who was helped out of the hall by two servants, didn't go to the latrine, but met his subordinate who had come to report the news in the courtyard outside.

"Master, the city is very chaotic now."

This was a confidant who had come to report from Sun Ying's residence.

It should be known that nearly a hundred righteous people were hidden in Sun Ying's residence.

Sun Ying thought of what his father had just said,

and instructed his confidant:

"Go back immediately and contact those people in the outer residence, and hide them in my residence as well. I am the eldest son of the Sun family, and that residence also has the Sun mansion's signboard. The Yan people..."

The Yan people shouldn't search there."

After all,

they were only searching those mid-level officials and families, and the big families hadn't been affected yet. Although that Yan Earl of Pingye was doing things ruthlessly and roughly, he still had a sense of proportion.

"Yes, Master."

"Also, if... if..."

Sun Ying's eyes narrowed, and finally, he made up his mind. He was a disabled person, so he often couldn't be on the front line and could only plan and remotely control things from behind, which made him very constrained when faced with emergencies.

"Remember, if the Yan people break into my residence, it means that the Yan people already know about our matter. Although the major event is not ready yet, we can only launch it in advance!"

When the confidant heard this, a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes, and he couldn't help but say:

"Master, launch it now?"

"The knife is already on our necks, do you still want to close your eyes and wait for death? If the Yan people don't search my residence, then everything will remain the same. If the Yan people search my residence, it means that we have no way out!"

"Yes, Master, please give your orders."

"If the Yan people rush into my residence, immediately send a message out;

First, send a message to Li Li, the defending general of the West Gate, to immediately control the West Gate.

Second, send a message to the North and South camps, ordering Qian, the adjutant general of the South camp, to gather his soldiers and leave the camp from the West Gate, and go straight to Prince Cheng's mansion to protect Prince Cheng, he is our key!

Third, send a message to Zhou Ren of the patrol division to immediately raid the armory!

Fourth, send a message to all places, and let all our people in other positions inside and outside Yingdu launch immediately!"

The first three instructions were all absolutely his own people. After the message was sent, it was bound to be launched, and it was also the three most important positions.

As for the fourth message, it was broad, because there were his own people inside, and there were also many who were originally wavering. Sun Ying himself didn't know how many of them could be launched, but the situation should be able to stir up because of this.

In fact, not only the South Gate camp, but also several captains in the North Gate camp were his own people, but firstly, the number of soldiers they could mobilize was limited, and secondly, whether they could really mobilize the soldiers was still unknown.

Of course, if the situation in Yingdu rose, it would be best if they could also stir up and coerce the North Gate camp.

"Although the Jingnan army has already entered the city, the number of Jingnan troops in the East Gate camp is not large to begin with. As long as we can raise the momentum, I will ask my father to come forward and let him call on all the major families inside and outside Yingdu to support Prince Cheng's restoration!

At that time, the Jin troops from the North and South Liang camps who are watching will mostly return to the new dynasty, and the major event still has a chance!"

The last sentence,

Sun Ying said to the confidant in front of him, but in fact, he was also saying it to himself.

If he had another year, he was confident that he could win over the main generals of the North and South camps. At that time, once the incident was launched, more than 10,000 soldiers from the North and South camps could directly enter Yingdu.

Unlike now, Qian was one of the three adjutant generals of the South camp, and only had less than 3,000 soldiers under his command who could be ordered to mobilize.

If there was enough time, he could also arrange more of his subordinates and more righteous people to serve inside and outside Yingdu. At that time, once Yingdu was set, there would definitely be many respondents in the Cheng Kingdom. Coupled with the dark forces in Western Jin stirring up together, there would be great hope for restoring the country and expelling the Yan people!

But unfortunately,

today,

he was almost forced to the edge of the cliff by that Earl of Pingye.

He really hoped, hoped that the Yan people wouldn't rush into his mansion, and hoped that all of this was just a false alarm.

Turning his head,

Sun Ying looked at the location of the hall,

His father already knew what he had been doing secretly for the past year. His father didn't say it explicitly, which meant that his father actually supported him.

The Dacheng Kingdom was also a dream in his father's heart.

………

A team of Jingnan army soldiers who had received the warrant smashed open the gate of Sun Ying's residence. The residence was actually quite big, but it was obviously unrealistic to hide more than a hundred people.

The Jin righteous people, who had been prepared for a long time, used bows and crossbows to start the attack, and then charged forward. For a time, this Jingnan army team that came to arrest people suffered considerable casualties under the unexpected attack.

But the space range inside the residence was so large, the leading captain didn't choose to retreat, but ordered to organize the formation on the spot, and sent people back to report at the same time.

The Jingnan army was an elite force, and even without war horses, they were first-class elite soldiers when they fought on foot.

After forming a formation on the spot, although they didn't have the advantage in numbers, the righteous people's attack couldn't defeat the Yan army that had entered the residence because there was no strategy, but instead, they were bitten by this Yan army, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.

At the same time, with the exposure of Sun Ying's residence, the message of the start of the uprising was immediately spread through various peripheral channels. For a time, the sounds of fighting were heard everywhere in Yingdu City.

……

After learning that Earl Pingye had led troops into the city and occupied his prefect's mansion, Mao Mingcai wasn't exasperated, nor did he rush to his government office with people, but sat in the patrol division's office.

Because he knew that things had changed in nature.

Earl Pingye had already deployed troops,

what could he, Mao Mingcai, do?

Start a direct conflict?

Directly send people with his prefect's seal to other camps outside the city to deploy troops and fight Earl Pingye?

Although he was a civil official, he had at least served as the Minister of War, and he knew something about military affairs, and he also understood Earl Pingye's prestige in the Yan army.

Earl Pingye had mobilized the Jingnan army.

If he were to mobilize the Yan army from the West Gate camp to enter the city, although that Yan army was larger in number than the Jingnan army, Mao Mingcai didn't think they would listen to him and swing their knives at the Jingnan army and Earl Pingye.

The biggest possibility was that,

the Yan army from the West Gate camp that he had mobilized, after seeing the Jingnan army and Earl Pingye,

would chop him to death with one knife, and then merge with Earl Pingye.

If the West Gate camp couldn't deploy troops, then he could only deploy the Jin troops from the North and South camps.

But he, Mao Mingcai, as the prefect of Yingdu, as a Yan person,

was deploying Jin troops into the city and commanding the Yan army to fight the Great Yan Earl of Pingye,

Damn it,

what was going on?

Was Earl Pingye behaving recklessly, or was he, Mao Mingcai, rebelling here in the name of the Jin people!

Imagine this scene,

Mao Mingcai felt that if he heard this news in the Yan capital,

he would probably think that he was rebelling!

So,

he couldn't win by scolding,

that Earl Pingye was good at fighting,

and when dealing with people, he was also unpredictable and moody, which was really difficult to deal with;

fight,

not to mention that he couldn't win,

the key was that he couldn't fight!

People were killing people,

people were ransacking homes one by one,

people had occupied his official residence,

damn it,

he could do whatever he wanted,

he didn't care!

If that Zheng Fan had the guts to do something unjust, he would just have his head chopped off!

If he didn't rebel, he would have to go to the capital to meet the Emperor anyway, so he would let the Emperor decide.

Prefect Mao had figured it out,

and after figuring it out, he was open-minded.

In fact,

he didn't believe that Earl Pingye would rebel.

Marquis Jingnan was stationed in Fengxin, and the main force of the Jingnan army was also by Marquis Jingnan's side. If Marquis Jingnan suddenly wanted to rebel, then Jin would be finished.

If Marquis Jingnan didn't rebel, how dare Earl Pingye rebel?

Also, as the most popular and promising noble in Great Yan in the past two years, who was valued by Marquis Jingnan and appreciated by His Majesty,

at the same time, he was on the same side as the Sixth Prince, who was now in the ascendant and completely suppressed the Crown Prince;

no matter how he thought about it,

Zheng Fan had no reason to rebel?

It couldn't be because after he went to Chu to snatch back the Great Chu princess, he was swayed by the princess's pillow talk and suddenly couldn't think straight, right?

Was he going to betray Yan and surrender to Chu after just snatching back the princess?

Why bother to take off his pants and fart?

Ran Min stood aside, watching his lord's face sometimes gloomy, sometimes angry, sometimes puzzled, sometimes absurd.

As a confidant, he didn't know what to say or do.

If it was a normal situation, he could deal with it, and he should deal with it, but facing Earl Pingye, he admitted that he really couldn't deal with it.

When he was blocking in front of the Department of Education earlier, he didn't flinch, but his subordinates did.

Suddenly,

the sound of fighting came from outside,

vaguely,

there were also roars of "Restore Dacheng," "Expel the Yan dogs," and "Give me back my homeland."

Ran Min immediately shuddered and shouted to his subordinates:

"Protect the lord!"

"Yes!"

A group of patrol division soldiers immediately surrounded him.

Mao Mingcai jumped down from the chair and roared at Ran Min:

"Go and see what's going on outside!"

"Yes, sir."

Yingdu City was very chaotic now. This chaos was completely different from the chaos when the Jingnan army was arresting people according to the warrants. Previously, it was just a toothpick picking meat, but now, it was as if a whole piece of meat had been completely thrown into boiling water, with white air steaming everywhere.

But firstly, the Jingnan army was in the city,

secondly, Sun Ying's group's uprising was too hasty,

so the chaos in Yingdu was chaos, but not a big chaos, because many people in the city were wondering what was going on.

This created a very strange scene,

on one side were earth-shattering sounds of fighting, and on the other side, messengers from all sides inside and outside the city could continue to deliver messages non-stop.

Soldiers who went out to investigate the news returned in batches and reported to Mao Mingcai.

"Report, Jin rebels were found in the eldest son's residence of Grand Tutor Sun!"

"Rebels!"

Mao Mingcai widened his eyes. Wasn't he investigating the imperial examination cheating case? How did rebels turn up?

What,

what was going on?

Mao Mingcai knew about the rebels. Since the Three Jins became part of Yan, small-scale rebellions had almost never stopped, but they were quickly suppressed and failed to gain momentum.

"Report, the West Gate guard general has mutinied with his troops, and beacon smoke has risen from the West Gate!"

Mao Mingcai's back immediately turned cold.

As a Yan prefect,

he had a very important task in Yingdu, which was to keep an eye on the Jin people.

"Not good, the rebels intend to meet the Jin army outside the city!"

The Jin army was an auxiliary force. In order to make up for the shortage of Yan troops, many Jin army camps were built.

Jin rebels would naturally seek the support of the Jin army.

"Report, the Lieutenant General Kong Mingde of the South Gate camp sent someone to report that an adjutant general under his command wanted to lead his subordinates out of the camp, but he was personally suppressed, and the leader was beheaded!"

"So fast?" Mao Mingcai was a little unexpected.

The messenger replied:

"Because Earl Pingye had ordered all the camps to close their gates, not to go out, and to be careful of rebels, so they were prepared."

If it was unexpected, that adjutant general Qian, relying on his confidants, could either go directly out of the camp through the West Gate into Yingdu, or he could coerce other Jin soldiers in the camp to rebel together.

But who told them that the camp was closed at the time, and the main general was sitting in the tent? Adjutant General Qian was indeed a "loyal and righteous person." After receiving the message from Sun Ying's side, he knew that the situation in the camp was not good, but he still forcibly launched, and was immediately suppressed. He and a group of confidants were directly beheaded, and his subordinates were disarmed and detained.

"Report, the Lieutenant General Wu Jiadong of the North Gate camp sent someone to report that someone in his camp wanted to rebel, but he was beheaded according to the law, and the North Gate camp is stable."

Hearing this, Mao Mingcai

breathed a long sigh of relief.

If the North and South two major Jin army camps were not in trouble, then the rebels in the city, no matter how happy they were, couldn't succeed. It was only a matter of time before they were wiped out.

What's more,

the Jingnan army was already in the city at this time!

For a time,

Mao Mingcai had figured it out, and everything became clear and transparent.

All of this,

was within Earl Pingye's expectations.

He was deliberately using the forced investigation of the imperial examination cheating case to create a diversion, in order to unexpectedly find the rebels hidden in the city;

All of this,

was planned and arranged by Earl Pingye,

so,

he would forcibly violate the taboo and deploy the Jingnan army into the city early, and investigating the cheating case was just an excuse to deploy troops without stimulating the rebels;

so,

he would order the Jin army camps outside the city to close their gates in advance, in order to prevent the rebels from responding to the Jin army in the camps outside the city.

Even,

the reason why the main generals of the North and South two major camps were able to quickly quell the rebellion of their subordinates should also be a reminder from Earl Pingye, or even, they had had contact and contact before, and had this level of tacit understanding!

Mao Mingcai suddenly felt ashamed,

To be honest,

Mao Mingcai had been in the officialdom for a long time, and he had means and abilities, but the fact that he could be appointed as the Minister of War by the Yan Emperor proved that his character must be excellent.

After all, the Yan Emperor's vision for people was accurate.

Lord Mao was not a pure bureaucrat. He wanted to make a contribution, so he took the initiative to ask to come to Yingdu to preside over the situation, but deep down, he still had a sense of responsibility as a Yan person.

He was loyal to the court, loyal to His Majesty, and loyal to Great Yan.

So,

now that he thought back to the words he said to Earl Pingye in the Department of Education;

When Earl Pingye was doing things to eliminate the rebels in the army, he was ridiculing and threatening him there with the difference between civil and military officials.

What,

was he doing?

He said that Earl Pingye was reckless and unrestrained, but what about him, what about him as the prefect, wasn't he truly昏聩incompetent!

Thinking back to the Department of Education, facing his unrelenting questioning, Earl Pingye's reaction, which was unpredictable and made it difficult to figure out his personality,

Yes, this was the reaction of a person who was wronged and misunderstood, but still had to lower his head and continue to work hard.

Mao Mingcai's eyes began to turn red.

Lord Zheng, Lord Zheng,

why didn't you tell this official earlier,

otherwise, how could this official have misunderstood you like this?

But Mao Mingcai suddenly remembered that Earl Pingye had made it very clear when he deployed the Jingnan army into the city.

"This Earl is ordered by Prince Jingnan to enter Yingdu to investigate the rebels. Now the rebels in Yingdu want to rebel. This Earl hereby orders you to immediately arm yourselves and mount your horses, and follow this Earl into the town to suppress the rebels! Obey the order, those who disobey will be beheaded!"

Yes,

he had already made it clear,

it was himself,

it was his own dullness, prejudice, and view of civil and military officials,

that he didn't trust people and chilled the hearts of the loyal!

Ran Min had just returned and saw his lord like this, and immediately said:

"My lord, don't worry, although a team of the patrol division seems to have rebelled, this subordinate guarantees that the remaining force of the patrol division is enough to protect the lord's safety."

"Damn it, protect my ass, follow this official back to the mansion!"

……

When the sounds of fighting rang out outside,

Prince Cheng's mansion instantly became heavily guarded.

Fortunately, there were a group of guards in the palace, and the palace was the former palace of the Dacheng Kingdom, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Situ Yu, who was still a young man, was able to remain calm when he heard Zheng Fan deploying troops into the city, but when he heard the sudden chaos outside and the obvious signs of things getting out of control, he was finally frightened, his face turned pale and his lips trembled.

He could only subconsciously grasp the sleeve of the old eunuch next to him. At this moment, only this old eunuch who had watched him grow up since childhood could give him a sense of security.

"Master, we can't stay here now." The old eunuch said very seriously.

"No, no, no, I want to stay here, I'm not going anywhere."

The palace was the safest place!

"Master, people are already rebelling outside. This old servant doesn't think their rebellion will succeed. Even if they succeed for a moment, even if they succeed in Yingdu, they won't last long when the main force of the Yan army arrives!

They must be looking for you now, and someone will definitely come to the palace!"

"Then, then, then does that mean, the palace is the safest place, if I go outside, what if I'm, what if I'm..."

The old eunuch suddenly raised his head, grabbed Situ Yu's arms tightly with both hands,

and screamed almost:

"Master, what you need to do now is to quickly go to the Yan people, to the prefect's mansion, the Yan Kingdom Earl of Pingye is there. No matter whether today's rebellion succeeds or not, even if they can't break into the palace, you must appear in front of the Yan people in time, in front of Prefect Mao, in front of Earl Pingye!

In order for the Situ family's lineage to continue,

in order to protect this hereditary title,

when this kind of thing happens,

you,

must show your position, your attitude!"

……

Earl Pingye, who had just woken up from his afternoon nap, was still wondering as he walked out,

He really hadn't reacted yet,

He was just rounding up people,

how did he round up, he rounded up rebels?

And one military situation after another kept reporting,

The rebels were still very rampant,

This was a big nest,

There were even rebels in the camps outside the city?

At the moment,

The entire Yingdu was filled with shouts of fighting,

Everywhere was the roar of "Expel the Yan barbarians and restore Great Jin."

And Lord Zheng, guarded by a group of armored soldiers, had just walked out of the gate of the prefect's mansion,

And saw Mao Mingcai, who was guarded by Ran Min, rushing over in a hurry.

"Lord Mao..."

"Thump!"

Before Lord Zheng could speak,

Prefect Mao directly knelt down in front of Lord Zheng.

"..." Zheng Fan.

"Lord Earl Pingye has a discerning eye and has seen through everything long ago. This official is昏聩incompetent, and had many disrespectful words before. He feels ashamed and almost caused a great disaster!

Fortunately, everything is under Lord Earl Pingye's plan. This official is waiting for Lord Earl Pingye to quell the rebellion in the city before personally holding a wine cup to apologize to Lord Earl Pingye!"

Lord Zheng took a deep breath,

nodded with a serious expression,

and said slowly:

"Lord Mao, please rest assured,

Everything,

is under this Earl's control."