The return of the son-in-law

After resting for two days, Li Shaojun took Fan Ji and others to the border town.There, Ning Guhan was anxiously waiting for them.

After another five days, the large army finally arrived in Xuzhou.They were not as lucky as Li Shaojun. The army camped outside the city to rest, while the rest of the accompanying officials slept in the post all night, and went to the border town early the next morning to meet with Li Shaojun and others.

Guo Zhan'an didn't know how Li Shaojun negotiated with Ning Guhan, but he heard the news from Xie Bingna that Li Shaojun was going back to Xuzhou ten days later.

After three days, the group of talents returned to Xuzhou in a mighty way.Guo Zhan'an and Xie Bing stood together at the gate of the government office to greet him. Li Shaojun, who got off his horse, was a little dark, but in good spirits.

Naturally, [-] soldiers were not allowed to enter Xuzhou, and they still set up camp outside the city. Only Fan Ji led a team to escort them all the way into Xuzhou.

However, compared to when he first came to Xuzhou, Fan Ji's attitude has obviously changed a lot.He looked at Li Shaojun without the previous suspicion and vigilance, and even after he followed Li Shaojun into the government office, he took his soldiers down to rest, making it clear that he would no longer monitor Li Shaojun.

Guo Zhan'an was a little surprised: "It took only a few days to subdue him?"

He and Li Shaojun grew up together, and they were related, so when there was no one else, Guo Zhan'an spoke very directly, enough to make the Minister of Rites angry to death.

"It's just a show of favor," Li Shaojun could see clearly, "When I go back this time, Yue An and the others must find a way to get me a Prince Dangdang, at least a second-rank one."

"Yue Xiang personally took action?" Guo Zhan'an was a little worried, "If the emperor finds out that Yue Xiang supports you, wouldn't the gain outweigh the loss?"

"It doesn't matter," Li Shaojun was confident, "The fourth child can be crowned prince just by setting up a commercial market. Make a sound."

Guo Zhanan was relieved when he saw Li Shaojun's words were categorical and confident, and couldn't help asking: "What good things have you brought back?"

Li Shaojun took out the treaty that he carried at any time and handed it to Guo Zhanan: "It is inevitable to pay tribute to the minister. The border town is five hundred miles west. When Ning Guhan wins the power of Tatar and becomes the leader of Tatar, this land is ours. It's gone."

Guo Zhanan raised his eyebrows and asked, "He agreed?"

"It's just a stopgap measure. He still expects us to contribute money and people. Even if he recognizes me as his father now, I reckon he will agree." Li Shaojun smiled and said, "I heard from the soldiers in the border town that, It’s not easy for the small tribes in Tatar during this time. It’s the beginning of spring, and those big tribes are busy grabbing land, wanting to occupy the most fertile grass and cleanest water. These small tribes have no choice but to hide in the most remote places .”

In order to avoid suspicion these days, Guo Zhan'an didn't specifically inquire about Tatar's activities. Now that he heard Li Shaojun's words, he realized that Ning Guhan was really desperate. Open more conditions."

Li Shaojun burst out laughing: "Are you a robber? When I said I wanted the land, he almost jumped up and ate me alive. However, this man has a lot of ambitions. I'm afraid that one day if he really becomes a big Leader, you are about to turn your face and deny anyone."

Guo Zhan'an had already prepared and gave Li Shaojun a candidate: "When you were in the border town, did you ever hear about chasing this person?"

"Investigate?" Li Shaojun thought about it carefully for a while, and said, "I seem to have heard of it. It seems that he is also the leader of a small Tatar tribe. He is discussing with the leaders of several other small tribes to unite against those big tribes. However, a few days ago One day, soldiers from a large tribe broke up their alliance, and I don’t know what’s going on now.”

Guo Zhanan said his plan: "To investigate and beat this man, he does not have as many minds as Ning Guhan, and his vision is not as far-sighted as Ning Guhan. In winter, for the survival of his tribe, he even sacrificed the precious iron mines on the Tatar Grassland. Take it out and exchange it with us for winter food."

Li Shaojun came to understand a bit: "You mean, after Ning Guhan has brought down the other big tribes, let Chada become the big leader before he becomes the big leader?"

"That's right," Guo Zhan'an analyzed, "It's impossible to investigate and beat this person. Let him rule the world. It's just right to let him be a moderate leader. Ning Guhan has too many eyes and tricks. If he is allowed to be Going up to the big leader will inevitably escape our control. Chasing and beating is different, as long as we can deter him, grasp his weakness, as long as we don't go too far, he will not resist like Ning Guhan."

After hearing Guo Zhanan's analysis, Li Shaojun was very moved: "Since this is the case, we must bury this chess piece now, otherwise he will go to fight those big tribes stupidly and be intercepted by others halfway. There aren't that many good candidates."

Guo Zhan'an nodded and said: "You are right. You can't just lose this chess piece now. In fact, I've already found a candidate, and I'm just waiting for you to take a look."

Li Shaojun hurriedly asked, "Who is it?"

Guo Zhan'an said: "I asked the owner of Jiang Yannian's restaurant in Xuzhou to find him. This man is Tian Geng. His father is a hunter in Xuzhou, and his mother is a Tatar. He looks like his mother. Entering the Tatar tribe will not arouse other people's suspicion in terms of appearance. Moreover, because Tian Geng's mother was pregnant with him, he was considered a traitor by his own tribe, and his mother was expelled from the tribe. Tian Geng's mother was pregnant with him. He went through bumps and hardships, and finally reunited with his father. Unfortunately, when Tian Geng was eight years old, his father took him hunting and was beaten to death by two Tatars. Tian Geng He was a small man, so he hid by the side and didn't make a sound, so he was lucky enough to save his life. Tian Geng hated the Tatars to the core, and asked him to be our internal response, but he was worried that he would betray."

"It's a poor man," Li Shaojun sighed, and then asked, "This man has a trustworthy character, what about the others? Don't be an idiot, he will sell us all by then."

Guo Zhanan said with a smile: "I chose Tian Geng, what do you think? This man is smart. I met him secretly once. He is smart and knows how to adapt to changing situations. He also went to school for two years and read some military books. In fact, he doesn't need to do much, as long as he can watch Cha Da, and don't let Cha Da rush up and kill himself. If he is too outstanding, it will easily make people suspicious."

Li Shaojun was relieved, and said: "Since this is the case, we must quickly find a way to let Tian Geng mix into the tribe that is being investigated. Also, Ning Guhan asked us to send someone there. Tell me, who should we send?" ?”

Guo Zhan'an had thought about it a long time ago, and said: "It's best for our people to watch Ning Guhan, lest he make any small moves secretly. However, the emperor must know about this matter, and it's up to him to choose who to choose." mean."

Li Shaojun nodded and said: "I understand. I was too anxious. I can't interfere with this matter. Let Yue An and the others figure it out. By the way, I plan to rest in Xuzhou for two days and take your legendary foster brother Bring it here and let me see."

Guo Zhanan's heart tightened, but his face was still smiling: "Where is my foster brother legendary? He is smart, but he is just an ordinary child. He is timid, and he has never seen the royal family and nobles. It's to sell me a face, don't scare him."

"Why did you scare him? I don't have three heads and six arms, so I'm just an ordinary prince. Besides, he has seen the royal family and nobles."

Guo Zhan'an was startled, thinking that Li Shaojun knew the truth, and his face was almost about to be broken.

Fortunately, he calmed down, pretended not to know, and asked, "Who are you talking about?"

"My good uncle, King Liang," Li Shaojun said, "You were ambushed in the mountains last year, didn't you just happen to be hit by King Liang? After he returned to Beijing, he told his father everything, and even praised your righteous brother Zhien Pictorial, although young, he dares to block the knife for you. Tsk tsk, you haven't seen him like that, I really wish I could snatch your righteous brother over and make him my son. By the way, what's the name of your righteous brother coming?"

"Huo Yu. The King of Liang praised it. Yu'er is young and doesn't understand the principles of life and death, so she dares to block the knife for me." Guo Zhan'an replied casually, his mind was spinning quickly, guessing the truth of what King Liang said. What exactly is the intent.

If Guo Zhan'an didn't know Huo Yu's real identity, he could guess that Liang Wang said this either to win over Guo Zhan'an, or he said it purely without any special intentions.

But now he already knew that Huo Yu was the sixth prince. It was rumored that the sixth prince looked like the previous king, and King Liang had seen the previous king!

Could it be that he was discovered by King Liang!

Seeing that he was silent, Li Shaojun didn't bother to waste any more words. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, no matter what, bring your righteous brother to see me tomorrow."

Guo Zhanan was unwilling in every possible way, but Li Shaojun had already put down his words, and he really couldn't refuse.

Guo Zhan'an was so full of thoughts that he didn't notice the suspicious gaze of Li Shaojun behind him.

"This guy must be hiding something from me." Li Shaojun muttered to himself, and his determination to see Huo Yu became more determined.

In the Guo mansion, Huo Yu, who knew that the third prince Li Shaojun called him by name, was very nervous: "Brother, you didn't mean to scare me on purpose, did you? How did the third prince know that I was there?"

Guo Zhan'an said: "You didn't make trouble yourself, you insisted on blocking the knife for me. Now it's all right, the reputation has been spread to the ears of the third prince, will you dare in the future?"

Huo Yu knew that Guo Zhanan was taking this opportunity to educate himself so that he would stop doing these things in the future, so he couldn't help laughing: "Didn't my brother always teach me to take advantage of all available opportunities? Brother, think about it, Third Prince Who do you know, all of them are royal family members, or high-ranking officials and rich businessmen, I, Huo Yuwen, will be successful if I can't become a military officer, and to occupy a place in the heart of the third prince, wouldn't it be a great advantage?"

"Nonsense!" Guo Zhanan knocked on Huo Yu's forehead and sighed again: "Forget it, you must go see the third prince. Rest early today, and I will take you to the government office tomorrow. Remember that , when you see the third prince, you can answer whatever he asks, don't say too much, let alone do too much."

Huo Yu nodded and said, "I've made a note, don't worry, brother."

On the second day, Guo Zhan'an reluctantly took Huo Yu to the government office.

It was the first time Huo Yu was summoned by the prince, and he was nervous and excited all night, but now he was actually a little sleepy.But he couldn't sleep, so he could only hide his hands in his sleeves, and quietly pinched his palms to wake himself up.

Li Shaojun had already had breakfast and was sitting there waiting for Huo Yu.After Guo Zhanan led Huo Yu to salute, he said unhurriedly, "Are you Guo Zhanan's sworn brother?"

Huo Yu raised his head, but looked at the ground, and replied: "Return to Your Highness, yes."

Seeing his naive appearance, Li Shaojun laughed: "Okay, don't be like those girls, raise your head and look at me."

Huo Yu hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to turn his head to see Guo Zhan'an's reaction, he heard Li Shaojun say, "Why, don't you obey my orders? Guo Zhan'an, how did you teach your righteous brother?"

Huo Yu thought that Li Shaojun was really going to question Guo Zhan'an, so he quickly raised his head and said, "Your Highness, I have raised my head."

Li Shaojun couldn't help clapping his hands and laughing: "I've heard Jiang Yannian say that your brother-in-law is very funny, and it's true. Huh?"

Seeing Li Shaojun staring at him and not speaking, Huo Yu thought there was something dirty on his face, so he quickly wiped his face with his hand, and returned to his original standing posture.

"You stepbrother, have I seen it somewhere?"

Guo Zhan'an said inwardly that he was not good, and quickly replied: "The third prince was joking. My brother-in-law grew up in Tonghua County, and it was the first time he came to Xuzhou with me to travel far away. The third prince is far away in the capital. How can I meet him?" ?”

"Tonghua County?" Li Shaojun said, "I have never been there. Oh, by the way, I remember my mother took my younger brother to places near Tonghua County, but unfortunately..."

Guo Zhan'an was even more nervous. He knew that what Li Shaojun was talking about was the parade where Huo Yu was abandoned!

He didn't dare to let Li Shaojun have extra time to think, so he hurriedly said: "Yu'er has never met the third prince, and now it is Yu'er's fault for reminding the third prince of the past, I will apologize to the third prince for him."

Li Shaojun shook his head and said, "Why would I take my anger out on him? I just thought of my mother and younger brother. That's all, I won't talk about that today. I think your brother-in-law is very close. He is young and has nothing to do in Xuzhou. Good school, why not come back to Beijing with me, and let me arrange for him to study in Shanju School, just so you can work in Xuzhou with peace of mind."

When Huo Yu heard that the third prince wanted to separate himself from Guo Zhan'an, he was so anxious that he forgot Guo Zhan'an's previous advice, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, I don't like studying very much, so don't send me to school. Besides, I'm stupid , I always make my husband unhappy, and I will be beaten by my husband when I enter the school, so my brother will not dislike me. Also, I will not cause trouble for my brother, don't worry, Your Highness."

Li Shaojun just said this out of good intentions because of Huo Yu's favor with him, but now that Huo Yu rejected him on the spot, he couldn't help but feel unhappy.

When Guo Zhan'an saw Li Shaojun's expression, he knew something was wrong, so he quickly apologized for Huo Yu: "Your Highness, forgive me, Yu'er grew up in the grass, and she didn't mean to contradict His Highness."

At this time, Huo Yu also knew that he had said something wrong, so he quickly knelt down: "Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Li Shaojun was a little helpless, but more envious: "Okay, I haven't said anything yet, you two are on the same page. Huo Yu, you go back first, your brother and I still have something to discuss."

Guo Zhanan breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Your Highness, Yu'er is here for the first time, and he is unfamiliar with the place where he lived. I will ask Hao to transport him back."

Li Shaojun nodded.

With Li Shaojun's consent, Guo Zhan'an led Huo Yu to the door, and told Hao Yun to send Huo Yu back to Guo's mansion directly without delay.

After doing all this, he went back and discussed with Li Shaojun how to insert Tian Geng'an into the Chad tribe.