"Chop it down."

If the previous demand to act based on the military order of the Marquis of Pingxi was to give face and maintain the reputation of the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion, it was still understandable.

After all, the dignity of the newly promoted Marquis, as future old neighbors, must be supported. Even if they came with a mission, even if the imperial court had a secret decree for Xu Wenzu to sow discord, guard against, and control things here, he had to initially create an image that both sides were on the same side.

But,

when the last three words were uttered,

the nature of the matter

changed immediately.

Even the military order of the Marquis of Pingxi was just a convenient excuse, and the appearance of Prince Cheng, Situ Yu, today was to fully implement this excuse.

Everyone present, as long as they weren't stupid, could hear a kind of eagerness;

He, Xu Wenzu,

had come

to wield the knife!

Situ Yu's mind was completely blank. If being lectured by the Marquis of Pingxi at Stone Mountain only made him feel frustrated, puzzled, and depressed, then Xu Wenzu's smiling face had just sent him up and down,

as if he had been slammed hard on the ground.

The Marquis of Pingxi commands the military. Although his fief is east of Wangjiang, which, from the perspective of the Cheng Kingdom, is considered the eastern border of the Great Cheng,

look at how the main generals of the four Yingdu garrisons greeted the Marquis of Pingxi when he appeared outside the city. They directly defined themselves as lackeys of the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion!

Moreover,

although the Marquis's army is stationed at Xuehai Pass and Zhennan Pass, no one doubts that if necessary, the Marquis can gather more than 20,000 iron cavalry and sweep across the river, with their blades directly against Yingdu's throat.

Xu Wenzu represents civil affairs.

Perhaps it was because Mao Mingcai was too friendly to all parties, especially the old Yingdu bureaucratic and aristocratic forces, during his tenure, which gave everyone a dreamlike illusion;

therefore,

when Xu Wenzu, the new prefect, took office and directly wielded his iron fist,

it caused a great shock and division in perception to Prince Cheng and below.

Stop dreaming,

Yingdu

is not your Yingdu,

it is the Great Yan's Yingdu!

………

"Father, today's matter..."

As soon as the servants closed the gate, Sun Liang couldn't help but ask his father.

Sun Youdao often felt helpless with this second son of his, because in many ways, his second son's talent was far inferior to that of his eldest son, except for being relatively honest.

But, on the other hand, this "honesty" is actually the key to protecting one's family and life in troubled times.

"The imperial court is about to take action."

Since some point in time, when the Sun family mentioned the imperial court, they started referring to the Yan Kingdom's imperial court, not the little imperial court in Yingdu.

"The imperial court is about to take action, why?"

Sun Liang was obviously very confused. In his opinion, Yingdu had been quite orderly after being accepted by the Yan Kingdom.

Of course, this may also be because, as the second son of the Sun family, he had been obscure in the past, so the real high-level figures in Yingdu wouldn't bring him along to play, nor would they inform him of anything.

Most importantly, he seemed to have overlooked that his elder brother had done something in the past, which ultimately led to him and his father getting on the Marquis of Pingxi's ship.

Perhaps because Zheng Boye in the past had now become Marquis Zheng, and the Sun family's fishing boat had become a naval warship, and they had luckily made the right bet, he no longer resented his brother for "single-handedly causing" this, and even felt a little... grateful.

"Newly acquired land is like newly received clothes from someone else. If you don't wash them, if you don't rinse them, and just wear them directly, you might do it for warmth at first, but after a long time, when the weather starts to get hot, how can you not feel uncomfortable?"

"This..."

"Perhaps the Yan people are too good at fighting, so many people mistakenly believe that the Yan people only know how to fight. But the Yan people's imperial court, the people above, when it comes to scheming, whether it's upright strategies or hidden daggers, whether they are righteous or evil, they are not afraid.

Now that the war is over, and because of the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion, the wildlings and the Chu people won't be able to cause any trouble in the next few years. Therefore, the Yan people can now free up their hands to properly manage Yingdu.

Have you noticed that Prefect Xu Wenzu was not brought in to replace Prefect Mao after Prefect Mao fell ill. Before the assassination occurred, before Prefect Mao fell ill, the imperial court should have already made this decision. Therefore, Prefect Xu was able to arrive so early."

Sun Youdao sat down in the hall with Sun Liang's support.

A servant brought up a brazier, but Sun Youdao waved his hand to signal him to take it away.

Sun Liang served tea to his father.

Sun Youdao held the teacup and continued,

"During the first Battle of Wangjiang, there was no choice. The Yan Kingdom's imperial court and the First Prince needed the cooperation of our Yingdu people. At that time, the Yan army's military strength was insufficient, and it was a new land to start a war, so they had too many restrictions. Generally speaking, when your own strength is insufficient, you will think about forming alliances.

After Prince Jingnan took command, the scale of the war expanded, and the Chu people entered the game, which made it even more necessary for us Yingdu, the old people of the Great Cheng Kingdom, to help.

When the wildlings were defeated and the Chu people's bones piled up like mountains under Jade Plate City,

I was already thinking, is it time? Is it time? Therefore, I took the first step and wanted to retire, so as not to remain at the top. Even if you don't have that intention, you will still be used as a target to shoot at.

But the Yan people still didn't make a move.

Later, after the war to conquer Chu began, I realized that, ah, that's why the prisoners were killed directly under Jade Plate City, and why Yingdu was not cleaned up.

That's because the Yan people had already prepared to conquer Chu long ago.

Now,

you see,

the war is over,

they don't need you anymore,

so they start to attack you."

"Father, isn't the imperial court killing the donkey after it has served its purpose?" Sun Liang asked.

"Foolish." Sun Youdao coughed twice, took another sip of tea, and slowly said, "To put it nicely, we voluntarily surrendered to the Yan Kingdom. But now, if you let the Yan people choose, they would even wish they could do it again, using troops and fire to conquer Yingdu again.

Son..."

"Father."

"I'm old. This winter has been particularly bumpy. Perhaps I won't be able to get through next winter."

"Father, your health..."

Sun Youdao interrupted Sun Liang's nonsense with a look.

"Remember, if you want to live a stable life and pass on the Sun family, there are only two ways: one, regard yourself as a Yan person; the other, listen to the Marquis's instructions.

The second one outweighs the first."

"Yes, Father, your son will remember."

"Yingdu wasn't taken by force, so it's destined to have problems. The people of Yingdu now won't feel that everything they have was given by the Yan people. Instead, they will think that it was obtained by their own abilities. They won't be grateful.

Although the word 'grateful' is ridiculous, the Yan Kingdom's imperial court has already made such a big concession, so what the imperial court wants is just the word 'grateful.'

But it's simply impossible.

A gentle policy is bound to cause trouble in the end. Therefore, we still need a knife to clean up the bones and tendons in one go.

Actually, it's pretty good. Now that the war is over, it's time to sweep away what needs to be swept away and clear away what needs to be cleared away. The people will be able to live in peace. In recent years, our Jin area has suffered too many natural and man-made disasters. We just want peace, we just want peace."

Seeing that his father had closed his eyes, obviously tired, Sun Liang immediately instructed the servants to help his father into the bedroom to rest.

After hesitating, he walked to the gate of the side courtyard, where his brother Sun Ying was imprisoned.

Sun Liang stepped forward and gently knocked on the door three times.

After a while,

the servant inside carried a frame and came to the door.

The two brothers leaned against the door like this, talking to each other through the crack.

Obviously, this wasn't the first time.

Even more obvious was that their father actually knew about this, because the courtyard was guarded by his father's confidants.

Sun Liang told Sun Ying what had happened that day.

Sun Ying, who had experienced successive setbacks in life, now had half of his hair turned white, and the ferocity in his eyes had long disappeared. After listening to his younger brother's account, Sun Ying smiled.

"Why are you laughing, brother?"

"Alas, I'm laughing at myself. In the past, Father was my role model, and I also hoped that one day I could be like Father, assisting a wise ruler and creating a great cause;

but now it seems that I am indeed far inferior to Father. Father actually foresaw today long ago. Father sees things more deeply than I do. I, Sun Ying, deserve to end up in this situation."

"Brother, although I was really scared to death that day, because our Sun family was in big trouble, I really don't blame you now."

Sun Ying, on the other side of the door panel, was directly amused by his younger brother's words,

and said:

"So, should I also thank the Marquis of Pingxi?"

Thank him for turning himself, who was originally a sinner of the Sun family, into the Sun family's "beacon"?

"You are now in charge of the transportation envoy position. I have a suggestion for you. In the evening, take all the account books to the prefect's mansion and ask the new prefect to review them."

"Wouldn't that be too eager?"

"Do you want face, or do you want life?"

"I want life."

"Good, when you can't find a good time, then do it early."

"Yes, Brother, I understand."

"Do you know why the Marquis of Pingxi didn't return to Yingdu with this new prefect this time?"

"Is it because he was afraid of overshadowing the new prefect?"

Sun Ying sighed again,

and said:

"Today, the new prefect used the Marquis of Pingxi's military order as a basis to take action against the people of Prince Cheng's mansion to establish his authority and set the tone. If the Marquis of Pingxi was present, do you think the Marquis would have to speak out to stop it?

If that were the case, it wouldn't be good for him to speak out, and it wouldn't be good for him not to speak out.

Therefore,

the best way is

for him to stagger his return by a day or two. He wouldn't return together. After the dust settles and the heads are chopped off, he would return. At that time, it doesn't matter whether he pretends that nothing happened, or feigns concern, or argues with the new prefect that it was a misunderstanding, making a fuss about nothing, and so on.

Anyway, the chopped-off heads can't grow back."

"Brother's meaning is that this new prefect and the Marquis of Pingxi are actually..."

"Singing a duet. They have already joined forces. Have you not seen the resumes of the Marquis of Pingxi and the new prefect?"

"I have seen them, but I think that the Marquis of Pingxi used to be this prefect's subordinate. Now that their identities have been reversed, they may not be so happy."

"Ah Di."

"Yes, Brother?"

"Don't judge others by yourself."

"Er..."

"Whether it's that Marquis or this new prefect who is ready to wield the knife as soon as he takes office, their level and realm are not something you can compare to."

"Yes, Brother."

Sun Liang nodded seriously without getting angry.

"Also, when you go to deliver the account books tonight..."

"Brother, don't worry, I will separate the provisions, money, and food transported to the Marquis's mansion from those transported to other garrisoned troops."

"Hiss..."

Sun Ying, behind the door panel, closed his eyes and took a long breath.

This door panel

blocked the possibility of him wanting to slap his younger brother.

"Brother, is there something wrong?"

"Ah Di, put them together, don't be conspicuous."

"This... didn't you just say that the Marquis and the new prefect are on the same side?"

"My meaning is that precisely because they are on the same side, we, you, the Sun family, need to avoid suspicion even more. What's the point of you forcing yourself in?

This new prefect used to allocate grain and supplies in Nanwang City. He is several times more skilled than you in this aspect!

He can see the clues in the account books with a single glance.

The most important thing

is that we know that he and the Marquis are on good terms, but we, the Sun family, are living in Yingdu after all, not in Fengxin City. Our superior is still this prefect.

Even if he and the Marquis are biological brothers, biological brothers still have to settle accounts clearly.

Sometimes, even biological brothers are together because they have no other choice, do you understand?

Tonight, when you go to deliver the account books, it is to show that our Sun family will cooperate with him and become his right-hand man. It can also use our father's, the Grand Tutor's, reputation to reassure him that Grand Tutor Sun will also stand behind him to help him uphold justice and eliminate his relatives.

It's not for you to engage in petty tricks, to blatantly tell people that we are the Marquis of Pingxi's people, that we have already hooked up with the Marquis of Pingxi's mansion;

isn't this clearly telling him

that our Sun family looks down on him, that he can't touch our Sun family?

Even a clay figure has some anger,

let alone this ruthless Prefect?"

Sun Liang immediately broke out in a cold sweat,

and immediately nodded:

"Yes, yes, yes, Brother, I almost made a big mistake, a big mistake."

Sun Liang even subconsciously wanted to kowtow, but he obviously knew that it was inappropriate. Thinking of the burden and pressure on his shoulders, as well as his limitations, he actually started to cry:

"Brother, go and talk to Father, admit your mistakes, let Father release you. I'm really afraid of making mistakes that will implicate the family.

I know that I am dull, not as wise as Father, and not even as good as you, Brother. I... I..."

Behind the door panel,

Sun Ying also fell silent.

He heard Sun Liang's sobs.

Finally,

he just smiled

and said:

"Ah Di."

"Brother."

"You are smarter than me."

——————

I'll post a portion first. It's not finished yet. Everyone, go to sleep first and read it when you wake up tomorrow. I'll try to write more at night, hug everyone tight!