Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 980 – Pei Family Father and Son
“Yes.” Tsing Yi smiled, “Half a month ago, the Pei family’s Pei Renji and his son came over.”
“That is good news. Quick, invite them over.”
Ouyang Shuo delayed the matters of Wannan Province and was prepared to meet the father and son duo.
“Yes my king!”
Pei Renji came from the Hedong Pei family. They served Emperor Wen of Sui before they joined in to destroy the Chen Dynasty. They helped attack the Tuyuhun, gaining credit and reaping great rewards.
In the 13th year of Daye while being ordered to defend against the Wagang Army, he was tied up by Xiao Huai Jing and was forced to surrender to Li Mi. In the first year of Wude, he suggested to Li Mi to not fight Wang Shicong. However, Li Mi did not listen, which resulted in the Wagang Army being defeated. Pei Renji was also captured by Wang Shicong and was appointed as the minister of rites.
In the 2nd year of Wude after Wang Shicong became the emperor, Pei Renji and Yuwen Rutong planned to assassinate him. In the end, Pei Renji and his son Pei Xingyan were killed.
Compared to his father, Pei Xingyan was more famous.
Pei Xingyan was great in battle and was invincible in any battle he participated in, and he was given the nickname of thousand men enemy. He was termed as one of the three great men of Sui Tang and the silver hammer out of the eight hammers of Tang.
Pei Xingyan also had a younger brother known as Pei Xingjian, who was a Tang Dynasty famous general. However, he had not appeared in the wilderness.
After a short while, Tsing Yi led the two into the Imperial Reading Room. Although Pei Renji was close to 50, he was still really healthy. He had a long white moustache along with a purple cloud pattern robe. He was wearing a golden helmet.
Pei Xingyan followed behind his father. He wore a silver blue robe and looked really majestic.
“I am Pei Renji (Pei Xingyan), greetings my king!”
Both of them bowed respectfully.
Within the Pei Family, Pei Ju was appointed as the Somalia Provincial Governor and Pei Yun was the Administration Director. There were also many of their family members who worked in the Imperial Court or the local offices. They had already taken root in Great Xia.
Pei Renji and his son had also come over as expected.
Ouyang Shuo was not the only one happy, as Pei Ju and Pei Yun were both silently delighted. After all, the Pei family had only taken root amongst the civil servants, but did not have any power in the army.
Their arrival helped to fill up this spot. The Pei family would definitely shine in Great Xia; they become a noble family.
Ouyang Shuo said, “Generals please rise, both of you are amazing generals.”
“Thank you king for your compliment!”
Pei Renji was a smart person and had served the Sui Emperor before, so he knew how to act. Pei Xingyan stood behind his father. He curiously and respectfully judged the king that was around the same age as him.
As a general, his courage was huge. Before coming here, he did not have much of an opinion of the Xia King and did not bother about it.
The moment he walked into the reading room and saw the young king casually sitting on the seat, he felt an invisible pressure charging toward him. He did not dare to act out of hand and took back the sharp aura from his sword intent.
From the king, Pei Xingyan could feel a killing intent that made one terrified. Only then did Pei Xingyan believe that the king had really strong martial arts skills and those rumors were all true.
As they chatted casually, Ouyang Shuo took a look at both of their stats.
Name: Pei Renji (King Rank)
Dynasty: Sui Dynasty
Identity: Great Xia General
Occupation: Advanced General
Loyalty: 75
Command: 70
Force: 78
Intelligence: 50
Politics: 50
Specialty: Brave Fighter (raises troops attack strength by 15%, raises troops movement speed by 20%)
Evaluation: Renji is a rarely seen brave general.
…
Name: Pei Xingyan (King Rank)
Dynasty: Sui Dynasty
Identity: Great Xia General
Occupation: Advanced General
Loyalty: 80
Command: 68
Force: 87
Intelligence: 48
Politics: 45
Specialty: thousand men enemy (raises troops attack strength by 25%, raises troops movement speed by 10%)
Evaluation: Xingyan was a valiant general. Each time he fought a battle, he was invincible, and he was given the title of thousand men enemy.
As expected from a fierce general, Pei Xingyan’s force stat was really high. His loyalty stat was actually higher than his father, which was something that surprised Ouyang Shuo.
How would Ouyang Shuo know that the moment he sat down, Pei Xingyan’s loyalty stat had increased by 10 points? A general like Pei Xingyan would worship a ruler with great skills.
After speaking, Ouyang Shuo suddenly asked, “General Pei, do you know where Li Mi is?”
Before this, when Wang Bodang and Shan Xiongxin came over, Ouyang Shuo felt that something was off. As such, he tried to search for the whereabouts of Li Mi.
Who knew that he was actually so crafty and did not contact Wang Bodang even once? Seeing Pei Renji, Ouyang Shuo suddenly thought about the relationship between the father and son pair and Li Mi.
“This….”
Pei Renji was stunned, and his eyes showed a little hesitation.
Ouyang Shuo’s sharp senses caught that moment of uncertainty, and his expression became serious, “Why? Does general have something he cannot tell me about?”
“I do not dare!”
Pei Renji’s heart trembled; he knew that the king was angry.
A general being disloyal was a real crime.
Pei Renji gritted his teeth, “My king, Li Mi actually contacted me before.” When Pei Xingyan heard that, his eyes flashed with some weirdness. Obviously, he did not know about this.
Ouyang Shuo smiled, and he did not ask more. He directly said, “That’s great. Cooperate with the Shanhai Guards to find him, and I will not investigate the matter anymore. If not, you know the consequences.”
“Understood.”
Although Pei Renji was a little unwilling, he did not want to disobey the orders. If something happened to him, it would not affect just him but the entire Pei family.
“You can leave!”
The current Ouyang Shuo did not need to beat around the bush with people.
“Yes my king!”
…
After sending away them, it was close to noon, and Ouyang Shuo was planning to return to the back palace to have his meal. Before leaving, he instructed Tsing Yi, “Ask Mr Zhang Liang to come over in the afternoon.”
Ouyang Shuo wanted to hear Zhang Liang’s views on the changes in Zhongyuan.
“Understood!”
…
3 PM, Imperial Reading Room.
Tsing Yi personally poured Ouyang Shuo and Zhang Liang cups of top grade white tea before getting out of the room.
Along with the merchant routes opening, the palace did not lack any famous Chinese teas. However, Ouyang Shuo still loved the Lianzhou produced white tea.
There was no other reason apart from him being used to it.
As one of the first territory specialties, the tea had done a lot for the territory.
The tea cup also had its history, and it was given to him by Gong Chengshi. It was an authentic Qinghua porcelain cup. Ouyang Shuo took a sip and smiled, “Although it is not that famous, it still is a good cup of tea.”
Zhang Liang kept silent.
This was the first time the two of them met. Naturally, Zhang Liang did not understand the king, which was why he did not speak.
Ouyang Shuo did not mind. Putting down the cup, he said, “Yanhuang Alliance taking down Wannnan Province, do they have any other intentions behind it and will they have any other further actions? What are your views on the matter, Zifang?”
“In my eyes, based on all the signs, the Yanhuang Alliance is playing a big game of chess.”
The signs that came out from his mouth were not the news that everyone knew about but intel sent by the Shanhai Guards. The Administrative Mentor Court could use this information. Ouyang Shuo had informed Shen Buhai that apart from some sensitive intel, the Shanhai Guards were to send a copy of the intel to them.
If needed, they could also request the Shanhai Guards to investigate some specific intel.
Using the strong intel system of the Shanhai Guards, Zhang Liang, Jia Xu, and the other strategists were able to learn of all matters without even leaving their offices.
As such, although Zhang Liang had only spent a month here, he was able to truly come up with plans thanks to his intelligence as well as his familiarity with the surrounding area.
In comparison, Caiyun City was so weak.
Although Shanhai City could not investigate into the most mysterious Plan Z, they could still get some traces of intel about their internal merger.
A true merger.
Speaking of which, he suddenly took out a map, which was a simplified portion of the China map. On the map, the 18 provinces were included.
“My king, please take a look.” Zhang Liang pointed at Zhongyuan, “After taking down Wannnan Province, as long as they can take down Zhongyuan Province and Ludong Province where West Chu is in, their six cities would be connected together.”
Ouyang Shuo’s eyes tensed up. The Yanhuang Alliance formed an empty heart circle around Zhongyuan Province. Only the presence of Fallen Phoenix City and West Chu split this circle into two.
Ouyang Shuo suddenly thought back to the Six Tyrants of Handan.
Without Ouyang Shuo, the current Fallen Phoenix City would still be a member of Yanhuang Alliance, and they would easily unify the north with Zhongyuan, taking down the essence of China.
“So before they entered the game, they had already been planning all of this?”
Ouyang Shuo was getting more and more alarmed but also felt fortunate. If he had chosen a spot that was not Lianzhou Basin, Great Xia would not be able to reach such heights.
Pointing at Taiyuan Province, Ouyang Shuo said, “Zifang you missed out a point. As long as they take down Fallen Phoenix City, they could connect too.”
“That’s true.” Zhang Liang did not retort, “However, based on the difficulty, it’s a bad choice.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “So we should warn Xiang Yu. We should remind him to not let West Chu be swallowed by the Yanhuang Alliance.” Although West Chu and Great Xia were not iron buddies, Ouyang Shuo did not wish to see it fall.
“You can remind them, but with his stubbornness, it might not work.” In terms of understanding Xiang Yu, Zhang Liang who worked under Liu Bang knew him the best.
“In your eyes, what should Great Xia do?” Ouyang Shuo asked.