After rebirth, I made the princes cry

The road to Wuguan is far less difficult than the Baoxiade Road. Along the way, the scenery is beautiful and there are many merchants and travelers.

A postman was galloping forward, delivering the secret report written by the third prince to Jiankang. Nanci rode slowly along the road in the canyon. Not far away, he could see the post station where he would stay today. He looked back, but could no longer see the towering Chang'an city, the towering mountains, and the red sun. Behind him was still an unfamiliar path.

"I was still in a daze until this moment."

Beside him, Sikong Mujiao had been slowing down his riding speed. When he saw Nanci looking back, he also sighed: "When I signed the military order in front of my father, I never thought that we would abandon the Lord and the Left Deputy Envoy and return to the court first."

Although they only brought ten guards with them and left most of them in Chang'an, a guard force of less than a hundred people was certainly not enough to protect Dianjun and Yingshu from escaping safely.

There was a man and a horse in front who turned around and went back.

Nanci narrowed his eyes slightly. It was Ran Qiji.

Ran Qiji's eyebrows and eyes are 70% similar to those of Princess Zhenyuan. He does not appear to be unruly and rough, but rather delicate. However, as the leader of the Xiuyao Division and the future commander of the Ran clan, this man is not only brave and good at fighting, but also extremely cunning. Nan Ci had heard of Ran Qiji's great name in his previous life, and knew that in the battle between Dayu and Northern Han, if he had not led his troops to provide timely assistance, Northern Han would have lost Hanzhong.

His father was wounded by a stray arrow when he was leading his army to fight against Ran Qiji. There were heavy casualties in that battle. Although they finally defeated the enemy army that invaded Shuzhou, they had to cancel the plan to attack Hanzhong and return to the court.

It doesn't matter whether the throne of Northern Han falls into the hands of Jiang Tai or Jiang Mo. Ran Guzhu and his son are the real pillars of Northern Han. Jiang Tai does not have the ability to eliminate them, and Jiang Mo will never cut off his own arms.

Yingshu once said that if Sikong Beichen had not been suspicious of Sikong Yuehu, and had not used people like He Zhi in order to suppress Sikong Yuehu, even if the Northern Han had had Ran Guzhu and his son, they would never be able to compete with Dayu.

He had never had the chance to fight Ran Qiji before. Now, although they didn't meet on the battlefield, it was also a confrontation.

"Today we will stay at Zhiyang Posthouse, which is less than three miles away." Ran Qiji said, "It is estimated that there will be a heavy rain in the evening, which will delay the journey tomorrow morning. Anyway, we don't have to get up early, so why not go hunting nearby before the rain and have a good drink."

The third prince was a little hesitant.

He was not unfamiliar with hunting, but had never tried night hunting. In the past, he followed his biological mother's instructions and made Sikong Yuewu numb by getting close to him, and used Sikong Yuewu as a chess piece when necessary... Sikong Yuewu was too wasteful and only liked to indulge in sensual pleasures at night. He was always hanging around Sikong Yuewu, so how could he have the chance to go hunting at night?

Not to mention night hunting, as for going to the military for training, his mother even warned him not to really go to the military camp - when you go for training, you only need qualifications that surpass those of the Crown Prince and Bi Yuewu, and the military affairs will only need to be handed over to your uncle and others in the future. The emperor only needs to employ loyal and good people and does not need to do everything himself.

What was the result? He still had the ambition to be the king of a country, but his intelligence and knowledge were far inferior to that of a girl like Zuo Fushi!

Sikong Mujiao subconsciously looked at Nanci.

Fifth brother has a childhood sweetheart like Left Deputy Envoy, so he should be much more ambitious than them, and should have experience in night hunting. If even fifth brother has to give in... No, as the associates of red people are redder, and Left Deputy Envoy is such an ambitious person, fifth brother's riding and archery skills are not too weak either.

As for night hunting, Nanci had no experience at all because he couldn't bring Yingshu with him.

"It's still early before dark, why hunt at night?" Nanci raised his chin slightly.

"Are you not tired, my lord? Do you need a short rest?" Ran Qiji smiled.

Ran Qiji is not the eldest son of Ran Zhugu, but he is already in his thirties and has heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. Of course, he would not have a dispute of loyalty with the two young princes over something like hunting. It's just that he holds the important intelligence agency, Xiuyaosi, and has always known that the battle for the throne in Dongyu is very stalemate. Although Jiaosujun has a great chance of winning, it now seems that Guisujun, who was not very noticeable in the past, does not just want to be an idle prince. It is really hard to say who will win between the two of them in the future.

He was testing the two people's background.

"We, as external officials, are certainly not familiar with the terrain of Zhiyang. Governor Ran certainly won't expect us to hunt for the main course for dinner. But it would be boring if we just sit and wait for free food. The main course has been prepared by Governor Ran. It's just a side dish. How can it be tiring?" Nanci didn't mention the word "competition" at all.

The two countries have not yet broken up and are still in the peace negotiation period, so they should help each other instead of fighting.

Nanci had no intention of going into the mountains or forests. He had just noticed a stream running towards Zhiyang. He guessed that Zhiyang Posthouse must be built where the waterway was wider and more accessible. Ran Qiji wanted to explore his background, so he showed Ran Qiji a "skill" that he was not good at to open his eyes.

Zhiyang has left Bashang but has not yet reached Lantian. In fact, there is not only a military post station, but also a fortress. The river flows around the city and continues to flow eastward. Many of the survivors in Zhiyang City used to make a living by fishing and hunting. Nanci easily borrowed a sampan, and he wanted to show off his fishing skills today.

Sikong Mujiao was also good at swimming, but he was too lazy to even fish, let alone go into the water to catch fish.

Ran Qiji was still worried that something might happen to the two envoys. He had learned to swim, so he would not drown if he fell into the water. However, he lacked confidence standing on the swaying sampan. He wanted to use his toes to exert his hidden strength to hold on to the sampan. When he saw Nanci jumping into the turbulent river, which was about two people deep, with only an arrow in his hand, he did not dare to walk to the edge of the sampan like Sikong Mujiao, staring at the bottom of the water and swallowing quietly.

The Qiang tribe’s weakness lies in naval battles.

Although the skill of fishing in water cannot show how strong the navy's combat strength is, the fact that Gui Sujun of Dongyu showed off his fishing skills today shows that he has seen through his intention of arranging this hunt.

In a moment, Nanci had already reaped the rewards. His arrow had pierced the belly of a river fish. He floated to the surface, threw the fish onto the sampan, then caught a feather arrow thrown by Sikong Mujiao and dived into the water again.

Come back fully loaded.

When drinking after dark, Ran Qiji smiled and praised: "Gui Sujun is really good at water."

"Growing up by the river, these are just trifles for me." Nanci was quite humble.

Sikong Mujiao was curious about something else: "How good is the left deputy envoy at swimming?"

Ran Qiji looked at him, a hint of amusement flashing across his eyes.

"She doesn't use this brute force method to catch fish." Nanci answered the question irrelevantly.

Sikong Mujiao was about to ask Yingshu if she had any clever way of catching fish, but he saw Nanci raising his wine cup towards Ran Qiji. He finally realized that the occasion was not right and raised his cup as well.

"My two noble envoys, this incident happened suddenly. Although the Third Prince has already reported it to Yujing, I really don't know whether the monarch of your country will agree to allow His Royal Highness Prince Zhenyuan to return to the court first." Ran Qiji seemed a little worried after drinking two glasses of wine.

Sikong Mujiao would not reveal the truth, and was just considering his words when he heard Nanci say, "Shouldn't Governor Ran be worried about whether Prince Zhenyuan can return to Chang'an safely after leaving Xiangyang City?"

Sikong Mujiao carefully put the wine cup back on the table. He was so surprised when he heard his fifth brother's words.

"Your Highness the Fifth Prince, are you questioning why I led eight thousand guards but was unable to protect the safety of King Zhenyuan?" Ran Qiji's brow bones were somewhat delicate, but he did not have a pair of thin eyebrows. At this moment, he frowned, and his brow bones immediately bent like a bow.

"I have no intention of offending Governor Ran, but Governor Ran, who holds the Xiu Yao Division, was unable to prevent the palace coup that occurred last year."

Nanci had an open and honest attitude and dealt with the matter at hand.

Since Ran Qiji wanted to get to the bottom of things today, he had no intention of covering up his own internal strife. In the eyes of the Ran clan, Jiang Tai had always been a traitor who used the Wei clan to persuade Concubine Wen to poison the Queen Mother in order to forcibly detain Lord Xuan Dian. Jiang Tai would certainly not be willing to let Prince Zhenyuan return to the court unharmed, but allowing him to lead his troops to welcome back Prince Zhenyuan was the condition for the Ran clan not to pursue Jiang Tai for patricide and regicide.

Nanci's doubt was like an arrow that pierced Ran Qiji's heart deeply.

He couldn't help but sneer.

"Gui Sujun should understand that if it weren't for the Grand Master ordering my father and I to lead 30,000 imperial guards to rush to the aid of Shuzhou, we wouldn't have been caught off guard!"

At the beginning, they firmly believed that Jiang Tai's main elite troops were all in Shuzhou, so they were willing to take the opportunity to use the excuse of sending troops to aid Dongyu to eliminate Jiang Tai completely!

"Inspector Ran also knows that your father and you leading 30,000 troops out of Chang'an certainly gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of. However, on the one hand, the Xiuyao Division misjudged the situation and did not take into account that the enemy's main force and elite troops were not actually concentrated in Shuzhou. On the other hand, there were also rebels in the Weiyang Palace who were working together from both inside and outside. If your father and the Zhenyuan Prince and his wife fell into the hands of the enemy first, their lives would be in danger. Your father and the inspector did not fall into the trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain, and they had already lost the initiative."

Ran Qiji suddenly felt as if a fish bone was stuck in his throat.

Sikong Mujiao said nothing, but he seemed to be the most nervous person at the table. He looked at Nanci and then at Ran Qiji, feeling extremely complicated.

When the Left Deputy Envoy was present, his fifth brother had never shown such a sharp edge and such excellent eloquence. Fortunately, he regained some confidence because of this. He felt that he was dwarfed by the Left Deputy Envoy, but fortunately he was not behind his fifth brother. But what was the situation now? The fifth brother could actually choke Ran Qiji to the point of being speechless?

Nanci filled Ran Qiji's glass with wine and said, "I don't mean to look down on the governor. I also know that the main responsibility of the spy is to target the outside world, not the inside. Neither your father nor the governor expected that a prince who was exiled would dare to rebel against the king."

Ran Qiji felt relieved when he came down the step that was offered to him.

"His Royal Highness Prince Zhenyuan may not be willing to return to Northern Han first." Nan Ci followed with a sentence.

This time, Ran Qiji just drank and remained silent.

"Although I have never walked the Wuguan Road, I know that outside of Wuguan, we have to go through Dengzhou and Wancheng to get to Xiangyang. These two places are now under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhao. We will not be blocked by Northern Zhao troops on our way to Xiangyang. But is your country's Grand Commandant, Duke Jincheng, willing to see the King of Zhenyuan return safely?"

Only 8,000 cavalrymen were not safe for Jiang Mo.

Ran Qiji smiled.

"From what His Highness Fifth Prince said, it seems that Dongyu really wants to make peace with our dynasty?"

"It stands to reason that the homeowner would not tolerate robbers who break into the house and rob the property."

These words surprised Sikong Mujiao's wrist again.

But he was so absorbed in listening that he had no intention of drinking at all. His wrist was placed steadily on the table, but his pulse was beating a little faster.

"Thousands of miles of fertile land and beautiful rivers and mountains should be inhabited by capable people," said Ran Qiji.

"Now that the seven nations are confronting each other, the world is in chaos. It is still unclear who is the most capable. Therefore, based on the current situation, our dynasty is certain that the current monarch of Northern Han must not become an ally. Keeping King Zhenyuan safe is our common goal."

Ran Qiji took the initiative to raise the cup.

Putting aside their stances, just talking about ideas, his ideas were very different from Jiang Tai, and even from Jiang Xiongying and Jiang Mo - he never thought that an orphan daughter of Emperor Shenzong could help the Qiang tribe achieve the ambition of unifying the world, and that there were more ways to defeat the Dongyu Dynasty than just building a navy.

The incompetence of the Dongyu royal family made it impossible to suppress those selfish powerful people. How could they protect half of the country with only a river? As for the Qiang tribe, they should have attacked Bashu first to expand their own strength and have the qualifications to compete with Beizhao for the hegemony of the world in the future.

However, the Qiang tribe suddenly started an internal conflict.

Jiang Tai had already shown his ambitions, so of course he would not turn against Dong Yu at this time. Otherwise, it would be like handing Chang'an over to Northern Zhao, and it would inevitably split into many alliances fighting each other. He might even be forced out of Kunlun Xu by the Xiongnu and other tribes.

Moreover, the Sikong royal family was far from being as incompetent as he expected.

Not to mention that Sikong Yuehu, who led his army to inflict a heavy blow on the Northern Zhao cavalry, had not yet actually fought with him. It seemed that Sikong Mujiao, who would become a puppet controlled by Changping Zheng if he succeeded in seizing the throne, was not inferior to King Zhenyuan, whom the Ran clan was determined to assist.

At this time, Ran Qiji really hoped that the current Crown Prince Sikong Beichen of Dongyu could successfully retain his throne.

After all, according to the intelligence he had obtained, the current prince was entirely dependent on the protection of his father, Sikong Tong. In the past two years, he had made many inexplicable mistakes. It was unknown whether it was Queen Yu who held back the Prince of Dongyu, or the prince who held back the queen. In short, he had made no achievements, and for a while he seemed to be on par with Sikong Yuewu.

Sikong Tong had too many sons, and it seemed that at least three of them were not stupid or cowardly, which made Ran Qiji very regretful.

This is in Zhiyang.

In Chang'an, the three-day mourning ceremony had ended, but of course the national funeral was still going on. On this day, Princess Zhenyuan hurried back to her parents' home and handed a letter to her father, Ran Guzhu.

"Where did this letter come from?" After reading the letter, Ran Guzhu looked solemn.

"It's in His Highness's study. Before His Highness left Beijing, he specifically told me that if I was undecided, I could go to the study and open the secret compartment. But there are still many spies planted by the Yao family in the palace. If it weren't for the reminder from Da Shangchen today, I would not have wanted to see what was hidden in the secret compartment."

"What did Jiang Gaofan tell you?"

"He is His Highness's man."

Even someone as calm as Ran Guzhu was surprised when he heard this!

Regardless of whether Jiang Gaofan really surrendered to the Qiang tribe, it is impossible for him to openly surrender to Jiang Tai and secretly pledge his loyalty to Jiang Mo. Ran Guzhu knew that it was thanks to Jiang Gaofan's provision of the Yinping Road that they fell into Jiang Tai's trap. If Jiang Gaofan actually wanted to assist Jiang Mo, why would he help Jiang Tai seize the throne? !

"Is it possible that the letters in the secret compartment were replaced?" asked Ran Zhugu.

"It can't be called a secret compartment." Princess Ran smiled bitterly, "Father also knows that Zhenyuan Palace was Jiang Tai's old residence. We just moved in not long ago. How could we have the opportunity to set up a secret compartment under the surveillance of those spies? The so-called secret compartment is actually a scroll on the bookshelf. Your Highness used the scroll to hide this letter in it.

Therefore, although His Highness had given instructions before he left, I was not in a hurry to go to the study. When His Highness left for the mission, he ordered the study to be locked. Now that Jiang Tai has ordered His Highness to return to the court, I used this as an excuse to open the study today, saying that I wanted to sort it out myself. I also recognize His Highness's handwriting, and it is indeed His Highness's handwriting."

Ran Zhugu glanced at his daughter.

Like his daughter, he actually did not trust Jiang Mo's ability to judge people.