Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 103

Chapter 103 A Brilliant Scheme

After Li Shimin told him some more things, this order could be considered as having been issued. Hundred Cavalry was the emperor’s personal decoration, mobilizing this army would not have to go through the Prime Minister’s Pavilion, and the Ministry of Military Affairs would order it to be so complicated in turn. Li Shimin said that he would let Qin Mubai stay in the palace in the afternoon. First, he could accompany Li Zhi and Li Mingda when he was free. Second, he would let Qin Mubai go to the Hundred Cavalry Barracks to recruit men to prepare for tomorrow’s departure.

Qin Mubai was secretly delighted. It just so happened that I still had something to do!

Although autumn has arrived, the weather in the pass is still hot. Li Shimin took a nap in Penglai Hall and then went to Wu De Hall to take care of government affairs. Recently, there were many troubles in the Great Tang. There was a locust plague in Hedong area and an earthquake broke out in Shannan Road. It was as if the situation in the northwest frontier was not as peaceful as before. In addition to the flood in Jiangzhou, Li Shimin became busy for a while. Normally, this kind of flood was enough to attract the attention of the Manchu Empire and the Emperor to personally intervene. But now, there were so many important matters in the Imperial Court that Li Shimin used this excuse to send two “idlers” to take care of Jiangzhou’s affairs.

First, it would allow Li Ke to return to the stage and build up the royal family’s benevolence. Second, it would allow Qin Mubai to stay away from the palace and Princess Gaoyang, calming down this royal marriage. Li Shimin’s abacus could not be said to be silent, killing many birds with one stone.

After the Emperor left, Li Shimin, Li Zhi, and Li Mingda played in the Imperial Garden for a while, teaching them how to play the pipa and telling them stories. Afterwards, he handed them over to Yu Shinan to study while he came to the Baiji camp.

After more than half a year, the Hundred Cavalry Camp was about to become Qin Mubai’s second home, and the soldiers here were like brothers. However, the moment Qin Mubai Bu appeared in the camp today, the soldiers were shocked. Everyone was shocked and happy as they surrounded him and said, “General Qin, you’re back!”

“This general only took a few days off. Why are you making such a fuss?” Qin Mubai asked in confusion.

The sergeants were usually very close to Qin Mubai, and they almost didn’t say anything, treating him as the person they could rely on and trust the most. At this time, he told him in all directions that two days ago, when the emperor issued a transfer order, Changsun Huan left. It was said that he was transferred to the capital, Nanya, as the city gateway lang of the Nine Cities. Although his rank had risen to rank five, his position was not comparable to that of deputy envoy of the Hundred Cavalry. To put it bluntly, he was demoted from the position of deputy envoy of the Hundred Cavalry.

Nanya was relative to the Beiya Imperial Army that was stationed in the Imperial City. The Great Tang had a military system of prefectures and counties. The local prefectures and counties had their own soldiers. When they were busy, they would serve as soldiers in their leisure time. They would bring their own food, horses, ordnance, and other items to perform military service. The state would call them in at any time. These soldiers were all under the command of the Twelve Guards, and they took turns to guard the capital. Most of them were stationed in barracks outside Chang’an City. A small portion of the troops were stationed at the nine gates of Chang’an City, and this portion of the government troops were temporarily incorporated into the Imperial Army, and the Imperial Court paid for them to support them like mercenaries.

In other words, Changsun Huan was transferred to guard the gate of Chang’an, and under his control was a group of “semi-mercenaries” from all over the country. Although it was slightly higher than the Imperial Armament, it was far inferior to the Imperial Army that had been employed by the Imperial Court for life. Compared to Baiji, it was even worse.

“Changsun Huan has left, and General Qin has suddenly disappeared. We all thought that General Qin would be transferred soon! Right now, there are only Yuchi Baoyun and Cheng Huaibi in the army. They are all former Chief Shi and new Deputy Minister Li Junxian. General Qin, is Baiji going to change leaders?” The soldiers asked worriedly.

“Don’t guess. I’m still a Hundred Cavalry Emissary and won’t leave you.” Qin Mubai firmly said to them, “However, this general has been ordered by the Emperor to go out to do some work recently. He may have to leave the barracks for a period of time. You should calm down and listen to Deputy Envoy Li’s instructions to do a good job. Don’t cause any trouble!”

“Yes, General!”

Later, Qin Mubai returned to the government. His office was still empty, and Li Junxian could only work in his long history office. Hearing Qin Mubai’s arrival, he hurriedly rushed out to welcome him.

Now that Li Junxian had lost his post as a jailer, he was completely a Hundred Cavalry man. He had changed his attitude towards Qin Mubai, who was the first official of the Imperial Court. He had become more respectful and smiled at Qin Mubai. “General Qin is back! This lowly position just so happens to have something to discuss with you. I was going to pay a visit to your mansion!”

“What advice does Changshi Li have? There’s no need to be so courteous.” Qin Mubai smiled. Qin Mubai was not used to hearing him call himself “lowly.” After all, Li Junxian was an elder with a higher rank and a higher qualification.

Li Junxian told Qin Mubai that King Wu, Li Ke, had come to the Hundred Cavalry this morning on the orders of the Emperor and said that he wanted to send a troop to Jiangzhou to accompany him on a mission. Li Junxian didn’t know who to send, so he came to ask Qin Mubai.

Qin Mubai smiled and said, “There’s no need to ask. I’ll take care of this myself.”

“What? You want to personally follow King Wu to Jiangzhou?” Li Junxian was not an insider, so he was obviously a little surprised.

“That’s right.”

“What about the Hundred Cavalry?” Li Junxian asked.

Qin Mubai smiled meaningfully and said, “When I’m not around, the Hundred Cavalry will be under your control. You are both the Hundred Cavalry Chief, the new deputy, and the old general. No one is more suitable to take over the Hundred Cavalry than you.”

“Take over?” Li Junxian seemed to recognize the implied meaning of Qin Mu’s vernacular and asked in confusion, “General, why did you say that?”

“Nothing much. Anyway, when I’m not around, you can take charge of Baiji for me.” Qin Mubai didn’t want to say too much to him. “I’ve already told my brothers that I’m leaving temporarily. They’ll listen to you. Also, I’m going to send a hundred people to take them with King Wu to Jiangzhou.”

Li Junxian’s mind didn’t turn around for a moment, but he didn’t have time to think about it anymore. He could only reply, “Yes. This lowly one will immediately send an order to gather all the soldiers.”

“No need. Give me the register and I’ll check it with my pen.”

A moment later, Qin Mubai picked up the list of 100 people. Li Junxian picked it up and glanced at it. He couldn’t help but be surprised. Why didn’t he bring Pang Fei along? There were also those closest and closest confidants that he usually had, none of whom had been taken away. Looks like this brat is a little worried. I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to seize power after he leaves, right?

Actually, how could Li Junxian be able to guess Qin Mubai’s thoughts? Leaving his trusted aides in Baiji was of course meant to pave the way for him, but more importantly, it was because of Princess Gaoyang. With the help of Pang Fei and these confidant brothers, it would be easier to accomplish the task. And these people would soon be transferred to the Immortal Palace Hall together, not leaving Princess Gaoyang at all. Qin Mubai always felt a little constrained when he had Eldest Sun Huanzai, who liked to report. Now that the Baiji was even more peaceful, even though Qin Mubai had left Chang’an, he wasn’t worried that his people would go to tea.

A hundred soldiers were quickly assembled. Qin Mubai had one of the brigade commanders lead them to King Wu’s Mansion to report first. After he finished taking care of the matters in the army, he would meet up with Li Ke and make an appointment to set off.

Pang Fei sneaked in just as the subordinates were preparing to hand over some military documents to Li Junxian. He closed the door and walked over to Qin Mubai and said, “Master, I heard the brothers in the Immortal Residence Hall say that you’re back. I hurriedly found an excuse to see you. May I know what Master has to say?”

“How is Princess Gaoyang recently?” Qin Mubai asked.

“It’s very quiet. Nothing has happened.” Pang Fei said, “The Emperor comes to see her personally every once in a while and sometimes takes her to the Imperial Palace’s forbidden grounds to ride horses and play football. Princess Gaoyang is not as excited and angry as she used to be. She seems to be fine.”

‘”Mm” Qin Mubai nodded. It seemed that the Emperor had indeed adopted a “slow-moving strategy” and was not in a hurry to force Princess Gaoyang to marry him immediately. It was a good thing that the conflict between their father and daughter had been eased to a certain extent for the time being. However, the Emperor’s intention was to calm down this disturbance that was detrimental to the reputation of the royal family. This did not mean that he had already given up the idea of marrying a woman into the Fang Clan.

In fact, the more he deliberately tried to coax Princess Gaoyang to stabilize her, the more his belief in marrying a woman became stronger. Otherwise, why would he waste so much effort? It was too easy for Li Shimin to make Princess Gaoyang happy. He could cancel the engagement as soon as he opened his mouth.

In other words, although this matter seemed to be calm on the surface, it was still a turbulent undercurrent, and it was getting closer and closer to the brink of explosion.

The calmer it was, the more dangerous it was!

Looks like it’s time for a tailor-made scheme for Princess Gaoyang to appear on the stage. Otherwise, once the wedding day arrived, there would still be no turning point, and Princess Gaoyang did not see Qin Mubai make a move, so she would surely explode with anger and retaliate. At that time, he would definitely die!

Regarding this palm plot, Qin Mubai had long since made up his mind and whispered to Pang Fei, “I want to leave Chang’an for a long time.” If there is any special movement on Princess Gaoyang’s side, such as the Emperor arranging a meeting between Princess Fang Yiai and Princess Gaoyang, or publicly announcing Princess Gaoyang’s marriage to Fang Yiai, you can go to Qujiang Square to find Miss Yao’er. I’ve sealed my plan with her. You and she also know each other. Just say that I asked you to get something, and she will naturally give it to you. After reading it, you must burn it down, and then come back and tell Princess Gaoyang personally. Remember not to make a single mistake, let alone let any third person know. Or I’m dead. There must be a lot of people involved. ”

Pang Fei solemnly cupped his fists and said, “Master, don’t worry. This disciple has to go through fire and water to settle this matter. If not, I will cut off this head and compensate Master!”

“Since you know how important this matter is, I won’t say anything else. In short, I can trust you, so you must be careful. Remember.”

“Master, don’t worry. From now on, this disciple won’t even drink wine, so as to avoid mishaps.”

“Very good. I’m at ease with your work. If there’s a sudden emergency, you can come to Jiangzhou to find me as a last resort.”

“Yes!”

After taking care of these things, Qin Mubai heaved a sigh of relief. Returning to Penglai Palace, Li Mingda said goodbye to Li Zhi. He mounted his horse and left the palace for Li Chen’s residence.