Chapter 270: The storm suddenly rises

On New Year's Eve, the doors of every household were hung with festive lanterns, illuminating the city of Chang'an as daylight. The laughter and joy floating out of the doors and windows of the houses can be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys. On this day, children of all families came from all over the world and enjoyed the joy of family reunion.

Mingde Gate is quite lively. Many people and their families come to the city from outside the city to go to the restaurant for dinner, while others go home from the city, with people coming and going, and there are endless streams.

The soldiers on duty didn't interrogate much, gathered together happily to chat, looking forward to the happy events of the coming year. Suddenly, several war horses rushed from afar like lightning, with their hooves sounding like thunder, stirring up rolling yellow dust.

There was a chaos at the city gate, and people dodged to both sides, called their children and daughters, and were in chaos. The soldiers guarding the gate were furious and drew their swords to block the road.

"Eight hundred miles of quick report!" Before the soldiers came forward, several war horses rushed into Chang'an City like a whirlwind.

Today, Pei Jun's illness improved slightly. Although he had not recovered, he could get out of bed and walk a few steps. The whole Pei Mansion was busy with the New Year's Eve dinner. It was about to start the meal, and servants began to go to each room to urge everyone to prepare for dinner.

At this moment, Pei Jun was still reading the memorial in his study. He had not attended court for a few days and had accumulated a lot of important documents, especially the imperial examination on the fifth day of the first lunar month. The examiner had not yet made it clear. He was originally the chief examiner of the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yuan Zai, but after Yuan Zai was implicated in the cheating case of the imperial examination last year, the new examiner had to be re-determined. According to the principle, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites was not allowed, so he would naturally be replaced by the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites. However, Li Ping, the right assistant minister, was not from the imperial examination, so it was probably inappropriate to ask him to preside over the imperial examination. After thinking about it, Pei Jun decided to let Du Yalai, the Imperial College Priest, presided over the presidency.

Pei Jun wrote the word "Du Ya" on the Ministry of Rites' remarks about the imperial examination, putting it aside, and preparing to send it to the palace overnight for Cui Xiaofu to criticize it.

He took another copy, but Zhang Huan recommended Zhang Yanshang to replace Liao Hui as the Chief Censor. Pei Jun smiled and without hesitation, he wrote the word "correct" on the memorial. However, he did not plan to give this memorial to Cui Xiaofu, but directly transferred it to the Ministry of Personnel. Before the New Year's dynasty meeting set formal rules, everything could be done as usual.

At this time, the old butler's voice came from outside the door, "Master, everyone is here, just wait for the Master alone."

"I understand!" Pei Jun put down his pen and ordered people to send a few notes into the palace overnight. This time he packed the table and stood up. Two concubines next to him hurriedly came forward to help him, but Pei Jun waved his hand and smiled: "No, I'm much better."

Walking through the yard, Pei Jun came to the main hall. It was already very lively. Several grandchildren were chasing and playing with each other. A warm feeling appeared in Pei Jun's heart. He had been spending all kinds of pressure for more than two months, and only then did he feel truly relaxed.

Just as he was about to step onto the steps, a quarrel suddenly came from outside the door: "This is a matter of urgent matter. If you miss a big deal, you can't afford to take on it!"

"What's the matter?" Pei Jun stopped.

A brief moment a lieutenant was brought in. He knelt down on one knee and shouted: "Report to the Prime Minister, Yan'an, news came from the Secretariat of the Secretariat Pei Yi, who had just crossed the Yellow River, was attacked by unknown troops, and more than 500 guards were almost wiped out. Secretariat Pei was also killed!"

"Third brother..." Pei Jun's eyes turned dark, he shook his body and fainted softly on the ground.

"Prime Minister! Master!" The mansion was in chaos, and everyone carried Pei Jun into the room with all their might. The family hurried to ask the imperial doctor. Several sons were busy pinching the man for their father and unbuttoning the collar. After a while, Pei Jun slowly woke up.

"Help me sit up!" Several sons quickly helped him up. Pei Jun stared blankly at the wall for a long time and sighed. Finally, he could not stop Li Zhengyi. Pei Yi's murder means that Li Zhengyi has officially supported his troops and established himself.

He took the express, looked at it again, and handed it to Pei Mingkai, "You go to Zhang Huan's mansion and ask him to put the overall situation first."

．

．

．

．

．

．

At this moment, Zhang Huan's mansion was also very lively. Nearly a hundred servants received generous red envelopes from their mistress. Not only the servants, but the nearly 5,000 soldiers of the Xiliang army stationed next to Zhang Huan's mansion and in the military camp outside the city also celebrated New Year's Eve. Each of them received a special reward of ten cents of coins, and everyone was very happy for a while.

Today, the master and servant of the Zhang Mansion were having fun together. Nearly a hundred family members and 300 personal soldiers gathered together. Dozens of tables of water mats were placed in the mansion, meat, wine and various delicacies were all available, laughter and joy were everywhere, and everyone bid farewell to the past year.

Zhang Huan and his family sat in the warm room to share the happiness of the whole family's reunion. A large table was filled with seasonal fruits and vegetables, delicacies, and everyone had a glass of wine in front of them. There was a small table next to the large table. This was specially added by Zhang Huan's mother Chu Wanlan, so that the personal maids could enjoy the joy of New Year's Eve while serving them.

Sitting in the main seat was Chu Wanlan. Her voice was still gentle and her face was still beautiful. But the years had dyed her temples with silver threads. Before she knew it, her son was in his thirties. In this family, Chu Wanlan had supreme status, but her heart was as calm as water, and she never interfered in the management of her daughter-in-law's family. She spent every day in the incense burner and Taoist scriptures. She originally did not plan to return to Chang'an. After Pei Ying's repeated persuasion, she agreed to go back to Chang'an to reunite with her son. Seeing that her son had a successful career and had a lot of wives, concubines and children, Chu Wanlan's heart was also full of warmth and touching.

Next to her was Zhang Huan's master's wife Yang Yuniang. She and Chu Wanlan have always been very close. After her husband and son died, she also became a monk with her friends to find spiritual sustenance. Today she was specially invited by Zhang Huan to reunite with her daughter. Her daughter-in-law did not come here this time because she wanted to accompany her grandson to study. However, in addition to her daughter Pingping, she also had a relative, Yang Chunshui, the concubine of Zhang Huan. She is Yang Chunshui's aunt. Of course, Yang Yuniang also had a luxury hope, that Zhang Huan could marry Pingping, which was her long-cherished wish for her and her husband for many years. Pei Ying talked about this with her last night, which made her originally desperate heart feel a glimmer of hope.

Except for these two elders, several younger generations were sitting opposite each other, Zhang Huan was sitting in the middle, his son Zhang Qi snuggled in his arms with attachment, and another little guy sat on his lap, Zhang Qiu, his daughter, who was just one year and four months old. At this moment, he was playing with his father's arm hanging on the swing!

Pei Ying sat on Zhang Huan's right, holding her daughter with one hand, for fear that she would fall, but turned her head and said something to Cui Ning. Logically, Zhang Huan's second wife Cui Ning should be on the left, but today is a bit special. She sat on Pingping, which is a special arrangement for several women. However, in the days of more than ten years ago, Pingping sat next to Zhang Shiba at the New Year's Eve dinner every year, and there was no embarrassment. She ignored Zhang Huan and just talked to Yang Chunshui next to her. She just learned that Yang Chunshui and she were actually cousins.

"Huan'er, please say a few words!" Chu Wanlan said to Zhang Huan with a smile.

My mother had an order, but Zhang Huan did not dare to disobey, so she handed her son to Pei Ying, stood up, he held his daughter in one hand and held the wine glass in the other and smiled: "Today is the day for family reunion, and we can also reunite the whole family and enjoy the joy of family. I hope that one day, all families in the world will gather on New Year's Eve. This is my goal for it. For this day, we will toast!"

"Cheers!" Everyone's faces were filled with joyful smiles. They raised their glasses and stood up, and the glasses of happiness clashed in the air.

"Qiuqiu also wants to drink!" the little girl said with her eyes squeezing.

The daughter's childish words made Zhang Huan smile, and everyone laughed together. On this New Year's Eve, laughter filled the warm pavilion.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

"Governor! Governor!" A low voice came from outside the door. Zhang Huanzheng spoke to Pingping, but he didn't pay attention for a moment. Pei Ying heard it. She touched Zhang Huan gently and gave him a wink. Zhang Huan then heard the low voice outside the door. He stood up and smiled and nodded to everyone, and quickly walked out of the warm pavilion.

"What's up?"

"Report to the Governor, the eldest son of the Pei family said that there was an urgent matter and he was waiting outside the guest room."

Zhang Huan was slightly stunned. Pei Mingkai knew etiquette and had no choice but to disturb him on New Year's Eve. Could it be?

．

．

．

．

Zhang Huan didn't think much and quickly walked to the outside room. As soon as he entered the door, Pei Mingkai came up nervously and said, "Shuofang had something big, and his father fainted because of this!"

"Don't be anxious! Tell me slowly, what happened to Shuofang?"

Pei Mingkai took a deep breath and said, "I just received a quick report that Uncle Yi was attacked in Yan'an County, and he was unfortunately killed."

Zhang Huan didn't speak for a long time. It was obvious that Li Zheng had already broken up. Since he killed Pei Yi, he was most likely to follow Zhu Li's route, rebel first, and then force the court to admit the fact of his separatist rule. However, the situation between him and Zhu Li was different at that time. Aren't he afraid that Pei Jun would send troops to wipe him out directly? Zhang Huan really couldn't understand this.

Seeing Zhang Huan pondering, Pei Mingkai said again: "After my father woke up, he asked me to come to you. I hope you put the overall situation first."

If the sentence "put the overall situation first" was told to Zhang Huan three days ago, it was hoped that he would not take advantage of the situation and disrupt the situation. However, after Zhang Huan had reached an agreement with Pei Jun two days ago, putting the overall situation first would have a deeper meaning.

If Li Zhengye rebelled, Zhu Li and Cui Qinggong would inevitably have abnormal movements. For this reason, Zhang Huan will stare at Zhu Li, while Pei Jun is responsible for guarding Cui Qinggong and Li Xilie, not allowing them to attack Xiangyang. In this way, the original 80,000 troops were obviously insufficient, so Pei Jun added another 50,000 Hedong Army to Xuchang. As for Li Zheng who dealt with Shuofang, he would cross the river from the elite Hebei army to resolutely and decisively suppress it, and would never allow Zhu Li to appear second.

Pei Jun's meaning was Zhang Huan, hoping that he could send troops to Hanzhong as promised and control the situation in Hanzhong. He nodded slowly. Zhu Tao's intention to spread rumors was to force Li Zhengji to rebel, so that Pei Jun had no time to take care of it, and let Cui Qinggong attack Xiangyang, causing a situation of crane and clam fight. Then Zhu Li could take advantage of the emptiness of the Wang family's back and suddenly send troops to occupy Xiangyang, thereby achieving a strategic transfer and no longer limiting to the narrow Hanzhong. It should be said that Zhu Tao's idea was very good, but unfortunately he didn't know who the real behind the evil King Cui was?

What a pity! If you take a wrong step, Zhu Li will never be doomed. Those who play with fire will surely burn themselves.

Zhang Huan smiled faintly and said, "Please tell Pei Xiang. Zhang Huan and the country and the people will not stand by and watch. Please rest assured!"

．

．

．

．

．

．

Before dawn, the sky was full of stars, and the stars blinked playfully in the sky. The cold wind kept blowing across the treetops, making a "whip!" sound. Outside the road room in the backyard of Zhang Mansion, Zhang Huan stood with his hands down and said goodbye to his mother.

"Today is the first day of the first lunar month, are you leaving? Can't you stay with your whole family for a few more days before leaving?" The soft voice of my mother came from the room.

"My son also wants to spend the New Year with his whole family, but the country is in a critical situation. My son has no choice but to return to Longyou immediately."

The room was silent again. After a while, a gentle sigh came, "Go! A real man should not think about his family."

"The baby is gone, please take care of my mother."

Zhang Huan slowly withdrew from the yard. Outside the gate, Pei Ying was standing under the stars for some time. She was petite and plump. The pale white starlight spread on her pretty face, with a hint of resentment in her eyes. When she left, the whole family was about to be thrown to her wife again. Zhang Huan felt pity in his heart, and he strode forward and hugged her in his arms.

"Family family will do your best in the future."

Pei Ying didn't say anything. She silently tidied up her husband's collar and patted the dust on his body. Zhan Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry! I will take good care of the whole family."

Zhang Huan returned to the inner house and kissed his sleeping son and daughter. Looking at his two red faces, he gritted his teeth and walked out the door.

Hundreds of cavalry outside the mansion have completed the army. Zhang Huan turned over and waved his hands to his wives and concubines who had left the door, "Go back! I'm leaving."

‘Boom!’ The sound of drums opening the city gate came, and Zhang Huan activated the war horse. The war horse stepped out of its four hooves and rushed towards the gate. The family from afar turned into small black dots and gradually disappeared and disappeared.

Outside the city, in the deepest night before dawn was about to arrive, Zhang Huan's war horse stopped meteor strode and walked slowly. Then, it raised its head and neighed, and the echoed neighing of other horses came from the darkness. Then he heard the rumbling sound of hooves. Two thousand Xiliang troops stationed outside the city met with the commander.

Zhang Huan whipped violently, "Hurry!" The war horse cheered up and jumped into galloping, like a ghost flying in the moon. The whistling wind blew past his ears and instantly submerged in the thick night fog.

．

．

．

．

．
To be continued...