MTL - Pihanjin-Chapter 21

At present, his situation is already difficult, and Xie Changgeng must never let Xie Changgeng have any doubts about his actions, let alone let him know of Xier's existence, so as not to make things worse.

Despite the deep remorse, a temporary separation is unavoidable. Mu Fulan's rationality reminded her what she should do now.

After arranging things, she did not dare to delay for too long. Suppressing the reluctance, she could only part with Xi'er, who had just returned to her side today.

She stood at the gate of the back mountain leading to Tallinn, staring at the little figure who was sent down the mountain.

Such a small child, who clearly does not want to be separated from himself, yet is so well-behaved, without a word of crying, just constantly looking back at himself, tears in his eyes full of reluctance to part with himself.

Mu Fulan had been standing there, watching her son's figure completely disappear from sight before turning around and leaving.

When she entered the city and returned to the mansion, it was already evening. Xie Changgeng, like a few days ago, hadn't come back at this hour, but as soon as she entered the door, the steward told her a piece of news.

There was a news report from Hexi that there was a change in Beiren, and Jiedushi couldn't stay in Shangjing this year. After three days, he was going to leave for Hexi.

There was no major reaction on Mu Fulan's face. He only asked someone to pack his luggage as soon as possible, but the tension in his heart immediately became tense.

Originally thought that he would not leave until a year later at the earliest, and there was still at least half a month left for him. Unexpectedly, there was a sudden change, and there were only three days left.

He was leaving, and her next whereabouts, or in other words, the direction of the "destiny" she was facing, was immediately laid out in front of her, and it was urgent.

Luckily, in addition to decisively arranging Xi'er's big event today, Mu Fulan immediately thought about a thought that had been pondering in her mind a few days ago.

There is not much time left for her, and she must act as soon as possible.

That night, Xie Changgeng returned later than usual. The steward must have told him that Mu Fulan went to Huguo Temple during the day to worship the Buddha. He didn't say anything. When he came back to meet her in the room, he just gave her a cold look, and then he went to the study, very worried. Came back late, by then Mu Fulan had already gone to bed, and the tent was put down.

He also still slept on the couch, no different from before.

The next morning, after Xie Changgeng left, Mu Fulan was summoned to the palace by Empress Liu, saying that Hexi was restless and Xie Changgeng was going back to Liangzhou, and asked her what her plan was next.

Mu Fulan still pretended to be dumbfounded, saying that he was very busy these days, leaving early and returning late. You can go with him to Liangzhou or go back to Xie County to serve your mother-in-law, it is all up to your husband's arrangement.

Empress Liu didn't stay with Mu Fulan for a long time, she stared at her back and went out, and asked Eunuch Yang beside her, "What do you think?"

Eunuch Yang said, "The envoy Xie Jiedu is about to leave the capital, but Mrs. Mu still doesn't know where to go. It shows that the envoy Xie Jiedu doesn't care about her."

Liu Hou nodded: "Bengong also thinks the same way. This Mu family has a good appearance, but his temperament is submissive, and he is very boring. Even if he initially won Xie Qing's favor with his beauty, it will not last."

Eunuch Yang smiled and said, "Indeed. The queen mother doesn't have to worry about her bewitching Xie Jiedu."

Empress Liu smiled: "Of course you don't have to worry about it, but since Ben Gong has summoned her to Beijing, it is imperative to keep her for a while longer."

Eunuch Yang was stunned at first, then had an epiphany.

Although the country of Changsha is weak, it is also the place to be crowned king. Although the queen mother does not plan to attack now, she cannot keep the opponent together and is dishonest. I heard that Mu Xuanqing loved Sister Wang very much, and it was naturally useful to keep the Mu family as a pledge.

"Does the queen mother want to use her as a quality to intimidate Mu Xuanqing?"

"What do you think?"

Eunuch Yang pondered for a while, and said carefully: "The empress dowager, the slaves have been puzzled, why didn't the empress dowager bring Xie Jiedushi's mother into the capital? Jiedushi has a lot of troops, especially Xie Jiedu, although he is loyal to the empress dowager. Geng Geng, but people are unpredictable, in case..."

He paused.

"I heard that he is a dutiful son. Why don't you find an excuse to take Mrs. Xie into the capital together, so it is only natural for Mrs. Mu to stay and serve her mother-in-law. The Queen Mother has both the hostages of Xie Jiedu and the hostages of Changsha, right? Kill two birds with one stone?"

Liu Hou shook his head.

"Bengong finds a reason to detain Mu's family, and Xie Qing will not object. But if he brings his mother, he will doubt that Bengong is not at ease with him, and he will take his mother as a pledge."

She was lost for a moment.

"It is to take people as the hostage, and it is not the present. Now that there are internal and external difficulties, it is the time to use him, and there is no need to create extraneous branches."

Eunuch Yang hurriedly bowed: "Yes, yes, or the queen mother should consider it properly, and the slave girl made a false statement."

Empress Liu smiled: "That's settled. When he comes to see Bengong, he will explain the matter to him, and hold the Mu family in Beijing as a pledge."

Eunuch Yang flattered: "The empress dowager is wise and unmatched!"

…

Mu Fulan went out of the palace and returned to Xie's house. After noon, she went out in the name of a return visit to an official's wife in Beijing. Halfway through the trip, she made an excuse, dismissed the accompanying steward, and changed her body in the carriage unremarkably. After getting off the car, I took a prepared sedan chair and turned to a restaurant in the west of the city.

Neishi Zhang Ban has received a secret letter signed from Changsha Prime Minister Lu Lin, asking him to meet in this restaurant at the end of today.

Zhang Ban was very suspicious.

Last time, he took a heavy bribe from Lu Lin and acted as a lobbyist for Changsha in front of Queen Liu. Today, I suddenly received a secret letter from him, which is very unexpected. I don't know why the other party was so bold and came to Beijing secretly, and I don't know what he planned to ask himself out again. The so-called soft-handedness is a bit embarrassing, and even more unhappy.

But since I received the invitation, I knew that if I didn't see him, the other party would definitely not give up. I had no choice but to take off the official uniform and sneak into the private room of the restaurant mentioned in the letter in disguise.

Zhang Ban arrived at the door of the private room, looked behind him, made sure that no suspicious person was following him, and pushed the door open.

It was quiet in the private room, no one else was seen, only a figure faintly appeared behind the screen.

Zhang Ban stopped, stared at the figure and said, "I've arrived, what's your business?"

The figure moved a bit and turned out from behind the screen.

It was actually a young woman dressed as a woman who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She had a very beautiful face and nodded to herself with a smile.

Zhang Ban's eyes fell on the other party, and he stopped for a while, and after a while, he reacted and was surprised.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Mu Fulan said: "I am the sister of the King of Changsha. Today, I borrowed the name of Prime Minister Lu, and asked Neishi to meet here."

Zhang Ban was even more surprised.

Mu Xuanqing's sister married Xie Changgeng and entered the capital some time ago, he naturally knew. But he never imagined that she would dare to deceive herself here in the name of Lu Lin.

What's on your mind?

His face changed slightly, and he quickly glanced behind him.

Mu Fulan walked towards him slowly, smiled and said, "Zhang Neishi don't have to worry. I asked you to come here today, there is no malicious intent, but I have something to discuss with you."

Only then did Zhang Ban calm his mind and heaved a sigh of relief. Without looking at her face to face, he said coldly, "What's the matter?"

Mu Fulan said: "Thanks to Zhang Neishi Gudao's warm-hearted and righteous help last time, Changsha was able to seek peace. Brother Wang is very grateful. When I came here, I specially ordered that if I had the opportunity to see Neishi's face, I have to thank Nei Shi on his behalf."

"That's all. You are a woman, pretending to be Lu Lin to see me here, and presumably not just to say thank you. What else do you have?"

Mu Fulan said with a smile: "I have long heard that Zhang Neishi is not only a competent minister, but also a cheerful person. I met today, and as expected, I like to deal with people like Neishi. Since Neishi asked, I I don't even pretend. To be honest, I took the liberty to invite you here today because I have something to ask for."

Zhang Ban couldn't help but glanced at her when he heard that she was asking for something from him. She stared at herself with a pair of beautiful eyes, and without blinking, she suddenly felt light. Unconsciously raised his chin: "What's the matter?"

"Nei Shi is in an important position, and the important humerus minister in front of the Queen Mother must also know that because of my background in Changsha, my situation is not easy now. Xie Changgeng will be leaving Beijing in two days. I am afraid that the Queen Mother will detain me in Beijing, I am a pledge. Today, I dare to invite Nei Shi to come out. I hope that Nei Shi will look at my brother Wang and help me. If you can persuade the queen mother to give up this idea and let me go out of Beijing, not only will the prince be there to show it. Thank you, I am even more grateful to Nei Shi.”

Zhang Ban glanced at her again.

"Ms. Mu, I don't understand this. You and Xie Changgeng are husband and wife, and they have a relationship. If you don't go looking for him, how can you beg me, an outsider?"

Mu Fulan said: "Don't Zhang Neishi know who he is? How did he and I have a relationship? As long as the queen mother opens her mouth, not to mention taking me as a hostage in Changsha, it will take my life, I am afraid He doesn't even frown."

Zhang Ban shook his head and sighed: "You know this, but you're not a fool. It's a pity that your father married you by mistake. Since you asked me, it's not that I don't want to help. It's just that I'm afraid it's a little difficult to help..."

His gaze stopped on Mu Fulan's face.

This Zhang Ban, on the surface, is actually a womanizer. How could Mu Fulan not see the strange look in his eyes when he looked at her? He smiled and said, "I know this is not easy. If Nei Shiken helps, I will definitely reciprocate when it is done."

Xie Changgeng's wife, Zhang Ban knew that it was not easy to move. It's just that she didn't want to reject a beautiful woman who came up to her for help. Listening to her words, she seemed to have another meaning. She coughed and her expression became tighter.

"What do you mean?"

Mu Fulan walked towards him a few steps and whispered: "I'm afraid Nei Shi still doesn't know, Xie Changgeng has a conspiracy intention. No one else knows about this. He and I are husband and wife, and we share the same bed every night. How could he? Can you fool me?"

Zhang Ban was stunned, the frivolous expression on his face disappeared immediately, his eyes fixed on Mu Fulan, his expression became extremely solemn.

"Ms. Mu, are you serious?"

Mu Fulan nodded. "It's absolutely true! I've heard him say treason in his dreams. If he doesn't think about it every day, how can he have dreams every night? It's just that I didn't happen to hear his sleep talk, I'm afraid Nei Shi also has sharp eyes and knows it well."

Zhang Ban and Xie Changgeng, one insider and one outsider, were both cited by Empress Liu as "humerus confidants". Now that Xie Changgeng's influence has grown, Zhang Ban seems to have fallen out of favor. With his character, how could he not do anything about it? Moved?

She looked at Zhang Ban and saw that he didn't say a word, and continued: "My father promised me to Xie Changgeng back then, and his original intention was to seek allies for the Changsha country. I don't think he is a mean person, everything is just for the sake of When you are in the top position, why did you take care of my Changsha country? Changsha country only wants to protect itself, rather than relying on others, it is better to rely on you, Zhang Neishi."

"If Nei Shi can help me escape, I don't have to stay in Shangjing as a pledge. I would like to monitor Xie Changgeng's movements for Nei Shi, and once I get the evidence, I will present it to Nei Shi."

Zhang Ban appeared to be calm on the surface, but in fact, he had already had many thoughts in his heart.

In just a few short years, Xie Changgeng has soared so fast and made great achievements repeatedly. Seeing that he is increasingly favored by Empress Liu, his status is threatened, Zhang Ban has never revealed a single point on the surface. I started to get anxious and even jealous.

At the beginning of the year, he secretly instigated a minister to go behind Liu to speak, implying that Xie Changgeng had a chance to rebel, and reminded Empress Liu to take precautions. Unexpectedly, Empress Liu not only remained unmoved, but also executed the man in the name of false accusation. Sin, since then, no one in the court dared to mention it.

For a long time, Zhang Ban only hated that he couldn't catch the evidence of Xie Changgeng's treason, and today the opportunity came.

Mrs. Mu was Xie Changgeng's pillow. No matter how much Xie Changgeng took precautions, he would never have thought that she would be his own.

With the status quo of the small soldiers in Changsha, Xie Changgeng couldn't count on them. He was willing to help at this time, and the other party would definitely not be able to ask for it. For this Mu family, forgive her that she didn't dare to cross the river and demolish the bridge, and take herself as a big head. If you can use it for yourself and become the eyes and ears of Xie Changgeng, you will really get some real evidence in the future. When the accusation was brought in front of Empress Liu, why would Empress Liu not believe it?

Zhang Ban suppressed the excitement that was surging in his heart, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

He looked at Mu Fulan and nodded.

"Mister Mu, that's the deal. In the future, the affairs of Changsha will be my Zhang Ban's affairs. I will do my best to help you with your current affairs."

…

Mu Fulan came out, took the sedan back to the place where the carriage was parked, and went up to change back to her original clothes. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, she called back.

The carriage came to a stop in front of Xie's house, she came out, was helped down by the maid, and was about to enter when a voice came from behind: "Master Weng, stay!"

Mu Fulan turned her head and saw a servant dressed as a servant of a big family running out of a nearby alley, rushing to her, bowing and claiming to be sent by Princess Qi. "The villain came here to send you a letter on behalf of my princess..."

As the man spoke, he reached out and touched the letter in his arms. At this moment, there was a sound of horseshoes behind him. The man turned his head and saw that Xie Changgeng had returned from a distance. He immediately remembered his master's advice, and hurriedly retracted his hand, accusing him that he couldn't find the letter. Accidentally lost it on the road, Tao himself went back to find it first. After saying that, he turned around and left.

Mu Fulan was inexplicable for a while. First, I don't know why Princess Qi suddenly sent a letter to herself, and she didn't know what she was going to say. Second, I always felt that the servant who delivered the message was a little weird in his words and deeds. But everyone was gone, so he didn't feel relieved. He glanced at Xie Changgeng, who was returning on horseback, and turned around and walked in.

Xie Changgeng quickly arrived at the door and dismounted. The doorman welcomes you.

He glanced at the departure direction of the person who suddenly turned around and ran away when he saw him coming back, and asked.

The concierge said: "It is said that Princess Qi sent a letter to Lord Weng. People have come a long time ago, and when Lord Weng was out, he refused to hand the letter to the villain, so he had to wait. Just now Lord Weng returned, but he I can't find the letter again."

Xie Changgeng once again glanced at the direction the man was walking, called for a follower, gave an order, and went in by himself, waiting behind the screen. After a while, the entourage came back and said, "I just caught up with that person, I subdued in three or two times, and found this letter on my body." He handed it over.

Xie Changgeng took it and opened the letter.

As he expected, this letter was not sent by Princess Qi at all, but from Zhao Xitai of Prince Qi's mansion.

Xie Changgeng glanced at the contents of the letter, and his face was immediately filled with haze. He called a servant girl who was passing by, and ordered the letter to be delivered to Mu Fulan.

"Tell her, I asked you to send it over there!"

Seeing the male master's ugly face, the servant girl was a little scared, she took the letter, turned around and hurried to go, walked a few steps, and heard a voice behind her: "Stop!"

The servant woman hurriedly stopped, turned around, saw Xie Jiedushi walking towards her, wanted to reply, held it in her hand, and strode away.