Chapter 598 Finale (Part 7)
The eighth year of Jingning was a time of trouble.
In March, Wen Xingsu led an army of 160,000 and revolted on the battlefield. After the mutiny, he surrounded Xinjing and renamed the rebels "Andu Army". He announced it to the world, named him King of Andu, and forced Pei Cong to abdicate.
Pei Cong urgently stationed troops in Xinyi and mobilized troops to defend Xinjing. He closed the door and beat the dog, and surrounded the Andu Army and Xinjing in the Andu County area.
At the same time, he issued an edict to denounce Wen Xingsu for his hypocrisy, mutiny at Suoyaoling, forced the palace, held the queen hostage, lied, and slandered his innocence. His words were hateful and his actions were shameful. He also showed his love generously, saying that he and Queen Feng "were married and loved each other without doubt".
In April, Wen Xingsu contacted the former Jin elders who "rebelled against Yong and restored Jin", as well as the major families whose privileges were weakened after the establishment of the Great Yong, to fight against the Yong Army together...
Undoubtedly, Wen Xingsu was clear-headed.
He alone had his own troops and was not necessarily a match for Pei Jue, even if he had hostages in his hands.
He needed more help.
For their own interests, the old ministers of the Jin Dynasty and the aristocratic families hit it off and quickly came together to become a powerful force in order to check and balance Pei Jue and compete with each other.
However, many aristocratic fortresses in various places responded, but Changmen was silent.
They sent the old, weak, women and scholars to Xiaojieqiu, closed the village and doors, and only left a part of the young and strong troops to guard. They all claimed to the outside world that in the current chaotic times, they just need to protect themselves and will not intervene in any disputes.
Obviously, the people of Changmen were skeptical about Feng Yun's "rebellion".
The entire Huaxi was surrounded by Wen Xingsu's Andu Army, and the people of Huaxi chose to remain silent...
Upon hearing the news, Ao Qi took the crown prince Jun to the top of Andu City and swore to live and die with Xinjing. The people in the city responded one after another, swearing to protect the crown prince and protect the Yong Dynasty.
For a time, the news that the Queen of Dayong rebelled with her uncle and parted ways with the Emperor, leaving only the young prince to guard the city, spread throughout the world.
The country was in turmoil, and the imperial power was in turmoil.
No one could tell who was going against the will of heaven.
In May, the border was in danger, and the Northern Rong attacked the border.
Xiao Cheng saw the opportunity and ordered General Xie Congguang to lead troops to march north from Mingquan Waterway and Suoyaoling to attack the two wings of the Dayong Army...
Pei Cong was attacked from all sides.
The Yunchuan Army was trapped in Bingzhou.
So far, the war was everywhere...
The country was withering, and the world was in chaos.
Yong, Qi, Yunchuan, the three kingdoms were completely dragged into the war.
Wen Xingsu had a clear goal, forced the emperor to abdicate, and dragged down the Dayong regime step by step.
By June, after experiencing rebellion, internal strife, mutiny, and split, Pei Cong led the Chijia, Huangjing, and Chenghe armies to fight against Wen Xingsu in the Huai River.
At the same time, Helian Qian, Yu Zhong, and Shi Yin led the Zidian and Qinglong armies to force a crossing of the Zhuhe River, and joined forces with Yunchuan's 100,000 elite troops to attack Bingzhou, forcing the Qi army to return to defend. They fought for two full months in the Zhuhe and Hongye Valley areas...
In August, the situation suddenly reversed. Emperor Xiao Cheng of Qi suddenly fell ill in front of the battle and fainted. The Qi army was in chaos and was defeated by Helian Qian. They retreated to Jiulong Town south of Xinyi.
By October, Pei Cong successively recovered Guyi, Danjun, and Mingquan areas, and personally led a large army to rush to Chunyu Yan's aid, breaking Bingzhou and driving the Qi army back to Hengqu Pass.
In these months, there have been several reports of the Qi monarch's critical illness.
The outside world does not know whether it is true or false, but affected by this, the morale of the Qi army was low, and it was difficult to resist the crazy counterattack of the Dayong army, and it was defeated again and again.
At this point, Bingzhou was included in the territory of Dayong.
Except for the territory under the jurisdiction of Andu Army north of the Huai River, all the territory of Dayong has fallen into the hands of Pei Cong...
It took nine months, and the chaos was basically settled.
Rather than saying that Wen Xingsu had 180,000 troops and surrounded Xinjing, and had the full support of the old-fashioned ministers and aristocratic families, it is better to say that Wen Xingsu and his Andu Army had been wrapped into a sandwich dumpling by the three armies of Ao Qi, Pei Cong, and Chunyu Yan.
It's just that the dumplings were put into the pot, but no one dared to light the fire.
Because Wen Xingsu had a chess piece in his hand that was absolutely fatal to Pei Cong...
Or hostages.
Wen Xingsu never threatened Pei Cong with Feng Yun.
Pei Cong never believed that Feng Yun would rebel.
During the half year of confrontation in Xinjing, Ao Qi sent people to deliver messages several times, in the name of the crown prince Pei Jun, calling him "uncle", and wanted to negotiate with Wen Xingsu.
Wen Xingsu refused.
He gently persuaded Pei Jun to give him a better life.
He only told Pei Jun that his uncle and mother just wanted to give him a better life.
He also said that his mother would only have him as a son, but his father would have countless...
Ao Qi was so angry that he cursed his mother in the palace, but Ruibao calmly persuaded him, "You and I both know that the queen mother will not rebel. What my uncle said was just to disturb my heart, don't worry about it."
Ao Qi looked at the seven-year-old Ruibao, thinking of Feng Yun, whose life and death was unknown, holding the child, and promised him again and again.
"I promised the queen that I would protect your highness. I will do what I say. As long as I am alive, Wen Xingsu will not be able to break through the imperial city."
Ruibao nodded, wiped Ao Qi's tears, and then cried with him, saying that he missed his mother.
The child showed wisdom and calmness beyond his age, but the more so, the more heartbroken Pei Cong, who was far away in Xinyi, was.
A family of three, separated in three places.
He had no way to comfort his son, and his son had to comfort him instead.
In Bingzhou, on the Huai River, in front of Chunyu Yan, Pei Cong gritted his teeth and swore, "If Wen Xingsu falls into my hands, I will tear him into pieces and not let him die a good death."
Before this, Pei Cong had also sent envoys to the Andu Army camp, saying in a nice way that Dayong could move its capital to Xijing, cede the five counties of Xinzhou including Andu to Wen Xingsu, and rule across the Baihe River from him, and they could sign a covenant of non-aggression.
There is only one request, return Feng Yun...
Wen Xingsu said nothing more.
He was very calm.
He calmly watched Pei Cong go crazy.
In the nine months since he lost Feng Yun, he had not heard a word from her, and had not received any news about her. This was enough to drive any man crazy...
However, what Wen Xingsu did not expect was that Emperor Xiao Cheng of Qi, who was rumored to be "dying", actually sent his mentor, Taifu Yan Buxi, to cross the Huai River at night and have a heart-to-heart talk in the camp...
"The King of Qi is only in love with Feng Shier Niang. The King can make any conditions and we can discuss them."
In one sentence, the intention was made clear and sincere.
The Emperor of Qi only wanted Feng Shier Niang, and Wen Xingsu could make any conditions as long as he gave her.
Then Yan Buxi began to use his eloquence to make alliances.
"Please let me save my face and say a few words from the heart. Your Majesty and the King of Qi have known each other since childhood. They both studied under me. We are brothers and have a deep relationship... With such a foundation, why worry about not being able to work together to rule the world?"
"Your Majesty can swear an oath of blood with the King of Qi and join Qi to attack Yong. After the success, you two can rule across the river, one in the south and one in the north, share the country, win-win cooperation, go down in history, and build a foundation for thousands of years..."
Such a big piece of meat and such a bait are enough to tempt people to drool...
Wen Xingsu remained unmoved.
From beginning to end, no one knew the news of Feng Yun.
He was like a needle in everyone's heart. Just one sentence "I and Yaoyao will live and die together in this life" was enough to make them afraid to act rashly--
The civil strife in Dayong has turned from a foregone conclusion to a deadlock.
-
As the four seasons rotate, the leaves in the courtyard fall again, and the weather gradually turns cooler.
Feng Yun was extremely anxious...
She didn't know what was happening outside, and Wen Xingsu cut off her information, but time passed day by day while waiting, and she was like a trapped beast.
The small courtyard where Wen Xingsu imprisoned her was very gorgeous and quiet, and her clothes and food were exquisite enough, just like raising a canary, giving her the best, but the cage would never be opened.
There was no one familiar around her.
There were people guarding her coming and going, and it was difficult to move...
At first, Feng Yun would be sarcastic, self-deprecating, crazy, and even scolding.
After a long time, she stopped talking.
When Wen Xingsu had time, he would come to see her, and she became more and more silent and haggard day by day.
Her face was smaller, her eyes were darker, and her body was much thinner. Wen Xingsu couldn't help crying when he saw her, and he was more and more sad.
In the past, when the brother and sister got together, they admired flowers and drank tea, and there were endless things to say, and Yaoyao's eyes were always smiling.
This made his steps every time he went back to Changmen, especially light and cheerful...
When did it start to become heavy, unbearable, and the pain gradually gnawing at his heart?
That afternoon, Yaoyao came to apologize to him for whipping his mother.
When they were young, they embraced the darkness together and knew the taste of darkness, but she no longer remembered to feel sorry for him.
The way home also gradually narrowed...
Wen Xingsu reached out to stroke her hair, his eyes like an abyss.
"Why torture yourself?"
Feng Yun looked at him, without saying a word, without any emotion in his eyes.
Wen Xingsu: "You hate me so much."
Feng Yun laughed softly, looked at her fingertips, fiddled with the corner of her clothes, and did not answer.
She was locked in the yard for too long.
The range of activities allowed by Wen Xingsu was too small.
He would move from time to time to prevent people from finding her, and cut off her escape route again and again...
"Yaoyao, you know that I can't bear to see you like this..."
He came to pull her hand, bent his knees slightly and squatted down, looking up at her with pious eyes.
"Can I take you away? Go far away..."
Feng Yun asked: "You want more than just power, right? The emperor's plan for the world, the country and the beauty? I don't think so."
She has been thinking about this for a long time.
Do you want the country?
Wen Xingsu was a participant in how Pei Jue seized the country of the Jin Dynasty, and he was familiar with it.
But she couldn't see any eagerness from Wen Xingsu.
Do you want a beauty?
She was in his hands, and it would be easy to get her.
But he abided by etiquette, kept a sense of propriety, and didn't touch her.
Feng Yun didn't understand.
Wen Xingsu didn't give an answer either.
"Yaoyao, don't think it's clear. The more you understand, the more you are bound."
From that day on, Wen Xingsu's supervision of her changed a little.
The maid would take the initiative to talk to her.
She would talk about the weather, clothes, flowers and plants in the yard, and the three kittens he had bought for her. He would even ask a performer to sing for her, trying to revive her.
Feng Yun would only ask, "Where is Pei Jue? Let Pei Jue come to see me."
The atmosphere would become strangely quiet.
Pei Jue was like a taboo word, and no one dared to mention it.
It was at this time that Feng Ying came to visit.