From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 702

For several days, Cai Ni has been learning songs, embroidery, batik and other arts.

She showed a jaw-dropping talent. She could remember and learn songs after listening to them once. She could sing them well and always sublimate them with the melody to achieve better results than the song itself.

As for embroidery and batik, she was born in a brothel. What she really needed to do was to integrate into the culture here. In fact, the speed at which she integrated was too scary.

According to Cai Ni, "I feel like I am a native of this place. I like these things and feel inexplicably familiar with them!"

She became a well-known and admired sister in Baihua Town. Some old grandmothers even called her the most perfect sister in Shuixi's history.

She has no shortcomings. Her appearance, talent and personality are completely perfect. Anyone who is not prejudiced will like her.

Therefore, Baihua Village attaches great importance to this Shanhua Festival.

They know deeply that this is the time for the village to show off their faces and win glory.

"Our Baihua Village is always the protagonist of the Mountain Flower Festival."

Grandpa Mu Rong said proudly with a smile on his face: "First of all, there are many flowers in our Baihua Village, colorful and beautiful everywhere, and every Mountain Flower Festival can provide a large number of flowers."

"Secondly, the girls in our Baihua Village are beautiful. Over the years, the girls in Baihua Village have been very famous in Shuixi. Not to mention Bai Niao, even the girls in other villages are more beautiful than those in other villages."

"Now that we have Cai Ni, haha, this Mountain Flower Festival, my Baihua Village will be envied by other villages again!"

This old man usually has a stern face, but once he talks about something worth bragging about, he is so excited that his face is about to burst with laughter.

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "Grandpa Murong, at the Shanhua Festival, we will expose the chieftain's crimes to everyone. You must stand up and speak for the Miao village!"

The smile on Murong's face froze instantly, and then he sighed and said, "Master Ye, the Shanhua Festival is one of the most important festivals in Shuixi. If I, Murong, want to join other elders to stand up and express my position, it means that the internal division of Shuixi has officially formed. This matter involves too many people and is too big."

"If you want us to stand up, you must always tell us about your identity? You must always talk about your plan, right? You must always give us some confidence, right?"

"It concerns the fate of the entire tribe. How can I, Murong, completely trust you!"

Zhou Yuan smiled and looked at Xiong Kuohai beside him.

Xiong Kuohai and Wang Ang looked at each other, nodded slightly, and went out to stand guard. They had to ensure that no one could come in.

So only Li Song, Murong, Zhou Yuan and Ye Qingying were left in the room.

Zhou Yuan said: "I think Grandpa Li Song has wanted to know my identity for a long time."

He took out the gold medal in his arms, put it on Xiaomu's desk, and said in a deep voice: "The current emperor personally granted the gold medal, which allows you to freely enter and exit the imperial palace and major cities in the world. Wherever you go, it's like the emperor in person, and you can take over all administrative powers at any time."

Li Song and Mu Rong looked a little nervous. Looking at the gold medal in front of them, their heartbeats accelerated for a while.

Zhou Yuan took out another purple-gold plate, put it on the table, and said solemnly: "This is the Purple Gold Order of the Great Jin Dynasty, commonly known as the Order of the Grand Marshal of the Army and Horses, which can control the armies of various places at any time."

"Although Shuixi is isolated from the world, the two elders have a high status and should have heard of my name."

"The Grand Marshal of the Great Jin Dynasty, the first-class Duke of Weiguo, Zhou Yuan."

Li Song stood up immediately, his legs trembling, and knelt down quickly, saying loudly: "Li Song, the elder of the Yuequan Village in Shuixi, greets the Duke of Weiguo."

Mu Rong opened his mouth, his face was full of sweat, and he couldn't help kneeling down.

They really didn't know much about the outside world, and they knew very little about the court, but how could they not have heard of the name Zhou Yuan.

Suppressing the chaos in the two rivers, traveling thousands of miles to serve the king, recovering the Central Plains, bombarding the enemy chiefs, crushing Mongolia, and sealing the Wolf's Lair, one legendary thing after another happened in these three years. When the young people in the tribe talked about these things, they were all excited and full of admiration.

But who would have believed that this person, who was second only to the emperor in the Jin Dynasty, would actually transform into a Miao prince and go deep into Shuixi Village almost alone.

"Everyone, get up."

Zhou Yuan said: "You want me to explain, then I will tell you directly, the southwestern chieftains are rebelling, the Miao people are living in poverty, these contradictions have been exposed, and I should have come to deal with this matter after I inspected the salt industry in Jiangnan last year."

"But Mongolia suddenly attacked and invaded my northern border. For a while, I couldn't get away, so I just killed all the Mongolians. Finally, in the early spring, I came to Shuixi Miao Village."

He knocked on the wooden table and said: "I originally planned to lead 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers from the five military camps, plus 60,000 elite soldiers from Huguang, to cooperate with the Guizhou Commander-in-Chief40,000 troops, a total of 150,000 troops, to kill all the Miao people. "

The two old men had just stood up, and when they heard this, they knelt down again.

Li Song trembled and said, "Marshal, you must not do that. We Miao people have always been honest!"

Zhou Yuan said, "That was the original plan, but later I thought that it was really impossible to do that. The Miao people and the Han people have lived here since ancient times. They are the masters of this land. They have helped each other and blended with each other for thousands of years. They have long been blood relatives. How can we kill people and shed blood, destroy the village and the clan because of a temporary conflict that cannot be resolved..."

Mu Rong also hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, we are a family!"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said softly, "Your Majesty and I are committed to the revival of the entire Jin Dynasty. We want to stabilize the world through war, prosper the world through reform, and complete the great revival in the changing times. Since we are all a family, we must not abandon our Miao compatriots. ”

“So I came. I want to lead you to peace and prosperity. This is my goal.”

At this point, his face became serious and his tone became solemn.

“Grandpa Lisong, Grandpa Murong, with my identity, I should never come to the Miao village because the risk is too great.”

“But I still came, still put on Miao clothes, and tried to save you.”

“If even you don’t cooperate with me, how can I do anything? If I can’t do anything, I can only change another way.”

“That way must not be what you want to see.”

He smiled lightly and said, “Grandpas, I think what I said is sincere and clear enough, right?”

The two old men were already sweating profusely, standing there and shaking, obviously frightened.

Zhou Yuan said, “Why are you still kneeling? Get up and talk, let’s continue chatting. "

The two got up quickly and sat carefully.

Grandpa Murong whispered: "Marshal, we have heard it clearly. Don't worry, I will gather the elders of the tribe and unite the elders of each village to listen to your arrangements at the Mountain Flower Festival."

"We will do whatever you ask us to do."

Zhou Yuan said: "Have all the young and middle-aged people in Shuixi Baizhai joined the army? There must be some who stayed, right? Among those who stayed, are there no anti-war factions?"

"Yes, yes."

Mu Rong said: "Only 70% to 80% of the young people in the Miao village went, and 20% to 30% are still farming."

"Some of them are good kids. We have watched them grow up and understand that as long as they know the truth, they will definitely stand on our side."

Zhou Yuan said slowly: "I need you to help me gather a group of people who are trustworthy and can keep secrets. I want them to help me transport food."

"I have prepared thousands of stones of sweet potatoes to be transported in for use at the Mountain Flower Festival."

Mu Rong asked in confusion: "Sweet potatoes? "

Zhou Yuan laughed and said softly: "That's a good thing. You can eat it after roasting it. You will know when the time comes."