At the west gate of Po Yang City, Governor Zhou Fang drew his sword and was on the verge of suicide under the watchful eyes of the local officials. This caused great panic among the officials around him.
Liao Xing, his eyes bloodshot and staring intently at Huai Xu, and his trusted followers on either side had already placed their hands on the hilts of their swords. It seemed as though if the governor had any misgivings, they would rather break national law than not chop Huai Xu into minced meat.
The horse beneath Huai Xu's saddle seemed to sense the tension in the air and shook its head from side to side restlessly.
In fact, the envoy of King Wu, Shangshu Lang Huai Xu, had received an imperial edict from King Wu before coming to Po Yang, which was simply to publicly scold Governor Zhou Fang at the city gate.
Huai Xu was known for having a poor reputation in Jianye and Wuchang, often pretending to be powerful by acting arrogant. The phrase "Kingship of Wu nurtures you better than a pig dog" was entirely improvised by Huai Xu himself.
At that moment, Zhou Fang drew his sword, pretending to commit suicide, which completely flustered Huai Xu. According to Huai Xu's plan, he would scold Zhou Fang and have him apologize publicly, thus securing a good reputation for himself. Surely that would be the end of this mission?
While Zhou Fang's strategy of feigning surrender was partly for the national interest and partly for his own career, it could not conceal his inherent straightforward and just nature. Huai Xu's act of such humiliation only fueled Zhou Fang's anger at this moment.
There are always people who are fierce on the outside but weak inside in the world, and Huai Xu is just like that.
Huai Xu did not dare to delay, quickly dismounted from his horse, knelt down next to Zhou Fang and clasped onto his arm. He shouted urgently: "Governor Zhou! King Wu only wants you to rise up. He has no intention of asking you to die for your sin."
Zhou Fang knelt on the ground, his right hand had already drawn the sword from its sheath. He glanced at Huai Xu, seeing him so flustered, and guessed that Huai Xu's previous action might not have been King Wu's true intention.
Thus, Zhou Fancun slowly turned his wrist, lifting the sword tip from the ground and slowly ascending it. The sword edge slowly passed over Huai Xu's robe behind him.
Huai Xu felt something slice his back, which made him panic even more. First, he looked around, finding that Zhou Fang's trusted associates were all glaring at him. Then he raised his head to look at the four horsemen who had followed him to Po Yang.
However, the four knights completely ignored Huai Xu's fear and paid him no attention at all. These knights were from Sun Quan's bodyguard, and their task this time was merely to escort Huai Xu to this place. Since Huai Xu had arrived safely, whether he lived or died was Zhou Fang's affair and had nothing to do with them.
Zhou Fancun's sword tip had already sliced across Huai Xu's neck, and then Huai Xu no longer felt anything in his robe behind him. Clearly, Zhou Fancun's sword had reached the back of Huai Xu's neck.
Huai Xu quickly loosened his grip on Zhou Fancun's right arm, retreated half a step on his knees and bowed to Zhou Fancun: "Governor Zhou, please allow me to report that King Wu has no intention of having the governor commit suicide! I hope the governor can take good care of your health and soon establish great merits!"
The officials and civilians surrounding the city gate were all stunned. First, the governor knelt down before the envoy of King Wu, then the governor drew a sword, and after that, the envoy of King Wu fell to his knees beside the governor!
What kind of drama is this?
Seeing Huai Xu's terrified expression, Zhou Fang suddenly realized the situation and stood up without playing any more games. Huai Xu, on the other hand, was stunned for a while before getting to his feet from the ground.
Without any hesitation, Zhou Fang cut off a piece of his hair and handed it directly to Huai Xu. Looking at Huai Xu coldly, he said, "Zhou Fang knows he is guilty and should diligently serve the king with his body in punishment. I will temporarily substitute cutting my hair for decapitation. Please report this to King Wu on my behalf, messenger."
Immediately, Zhou Fancun turned and walked directly into the city gate without looking back at Huai Xu. Liao Xing and the other people around him also got up and followed Zhou Fancun, leaving only Huai Xu standing with a piece of Zhou Fancun's hair in his hand, looking dazed.
Among the crowd, two spies from Cao Wei silently noted down this event and reported it back to Yangzhou later.
......
Wei, Tianshui County.
Tianshui County is located on the west side of the Yong state, and is known together with Lingshi and Nan'an counties as the Three Counties of Lingyo. It is precisely the heavy town of Cao Wei in Yong and Liang. Early, when there was no Yong state, Tianshui County was also part of Liang state.
As early as the period of Cao Pi, the Cao Wei dynasty built Qishan Fort to the south of Tianshui County as a crucial pass to guard a vital route from Hanzhong to the north—the end of the Qishan Road. This is also the place where Zhuge Liang made several northern expeditions in history.
The county seat of Tianshui County is located in Ji County. At this time, Ji Wei Jiongbo was patrolling outside the city walls, checking the reserves of grass and fodder for the army's horses at the stable.
Jiang Wei was not from a humble background. Since the end of the Han dynasty, the four clans of Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao in Tianshui County dominated most of the local affairs.
Jiang Wei came from the Jiang clan of Tianshui. His father, Jiang Jiang, died in the Lintao Qiang uprising several years ago. It was precisely because of that Qiang uprising that Cao Pi sent Cao Zhen to supervise Zhang He and other armies for the western expedition, which eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.
As a native of Tianshui aristocracy, it was naturally not going to let Jiang Wei lose his way after his father's death. Jiang Wei, who originally served as the upper official, was also converted to Tianshui shiyou (an official responsible for various local affairs), and because of his father's patronage, he was granted the additional title of Zhonglang (a middle-ranking officer).
As Jiang Wei was inspecting the horse field, a rider came galloping from a distance. Jiang Wei turned around and took a close look, and found that the man was Shangguan Qi, an officer from the county government.
Jiang Wei had excellent eyesight, and upon seeing Shangguan Qi galloping from afar, he knew that something must have happened. So he waved his hand to the stable officials to continue with their work and walked alone in the direction of the incoming rider.
Shangguan Qi dismounted from his horse, smiled and bowed to Jiang Wei: "Jiongbo, you're actually here at the stable. It made me look for you so hard."
Jiang Wei, seeing Shangguan Qi smiling, also smiled and bowed back: "Zixiu, what's the matter that has you looking for me in such a hurry? Is there something on Governor Zhou's side?"
Although Shangguan Qi was from a poor family in the county, he could not be compared with Jiang Wei's background from the Jiang family of Jixian. Since childhood, Jiang Wei did not differentiate between high-born or lowborn, treating everyone equally. In the county, he had a good reputation. People like Shangguan Qi, who were around the same age and had talents, Jiang Wei regarded them as friends.
Shangguan Qi laughed and said: "Of course it's a good thing. Then why would I have personally come to find you? There is a public letter from Luoyang that has arrived in our county, saying that the emperor is rebuilding the Imperial Academy and wants to select scholars from all over the state and districts, and go to Luoyang to join the Imperial Academy?"
"The emperor also said that the Imperial Academy has been suspended for nearly thirty years, and many people who needed to attend have missed their ages. Therefore, all those under thirty years old can attend the Imperial Academy and study there. Those who excel in the exam will also have other prospects!"
"Brother Wei, you have always advocated the teachings of Jing Sheng Zheng Xuan. I heard that Jing Sheng Zheng Xuan's nephew, a great scholar named Zheng Cheng, is currently serving as a professor at the Imperial Academy!"
Jiang Wei heard this and was a bit dazed. Since he could remember, the regions of Yong and Liang had been plagued by ceaseless wars. Han Su, Ma Chao, Qiang uprising...one after another wars had completely destroyed the academic atmosphere in the border areas.
To his surprise, the emperor was actually rebuilding the Imperial Academy!
Jiang Wei was hesitant: "Zixiu, is this true or false? Are you saying that the emperor in Luoyang has suddenly remembered us, the people from the border areas?"
