12dz Chapter 604 Vitality
Chapter 604 Vitality
All the ministers agreed with Mo Jingwen's words. This matter of asking them to surrender must have been a private decision made by the treacherous minister Han Xiong. The emperor was a benevolent and righteous person, and would never do such a thing that would dishearten a vassal state.
So, Mo Yuanqing tried to delay Han Xiong's envoy while urgently dispatching officials to the capital to seek an audience with the emperor. The round trip would take only half a year.
Han Xiong's envoy, named Han Ran, was a military clerk with beautiful handwriting. Han Xiong wanted to train this man, so he sent him to Gaoping as an envoy.
Han Ran waited for two days, but saw that there was no news from Mo Yuanqing. Unable to bear it any longer, Han Ran asked to see Mo Yuanqing again. However, the palace servant who informed Han Ran said, "The king has suddenly contracted a serious illness and cannot show himself to others. Please wait for a while."
Han Ran thought that the man's father had just passed away and he might be too sad, so he waited for another three days. As a result, the palace servant still said, "The king has not recovered yet, please wait a few more days."
After two or three times, Han Ran became extremely impatient and threatened, "If you don't reply again, I will go back and report the truth to the Duke."
As a result, upon hearing the news, all the ministers of the Mo family came forward and asked for more time. Each of them came either with gifts or with a beauty. During this period of time, Han Ran actually felt like he was enjoying his life here and didn't want to leave.
After Han Xiong sent the envoy, he put the matter behind him and focused on stabilizing Guangnan Province. To the former people of Annan, Qian Chao was more benevolent than Li Chengdong because he collected much less taxes than Li Chengdong.
Time passed day by day, and Han Xiong suddenly remembered that the messenger he sent to the Mo family had not returned with any news in the past few days. He was moved, "Could it be that the Mo family secretly killed the messenger?"
Han Xiong urgently ordered people to investigate Han Ran's whereabouts. Half a month later, the spy hurriedly reported to Han Xiong that Han Ran was having banquets in Gaoping every day, and Mo's ministers flattered him a lot. Beauties, fine wines, and treasures were sent to the inn like flowing water.
After receiving the secret report, Han Xiong's face turned red. It was so embarrassing. He was so angry that he immediately ordered to bring Han Ran back, and sent his general Xu Fan to immediately inform the new leader of the Mo family, Mo Yuanqing.
Han Ran has been surrounded by beauties, fine wine, and music these days. Han Ran said with some emotion: "Today I know what happiness is!"
Unfortunately, his happiness could not last long. When the people sent by Han Xiong came and escorted him to the car with serious faces, Han Ran suddenly realized what had happened. He cried and cursed Mo Yuanqing, saying that it was all his fault.
Mo Yuanqing saw that all the envoys were captured by Han Xiong, and he sent another warrior over. This warrior was not as easy to talk to as the previous one. He said that his father had just passed away and he was in mourning. The palace servant said that the king was ill. Xu Fan said, "Then let the king lie on the bed. I will say a few words and then leave."
The palace servant was stunned and quickly said, "The king is still in a coma and needs to rest. Please wait for two more days."
Xu Fan was furious and cursed, "What a shitty king, he is unconscious every day, it's better to change the king." Then he kicked the palace servant to the ground and said, "I have a military order. Even if he is unconscious, I will see him today!"
Seeing Xu Fan's murderous look, the palace servants dared not to stop him and could only ask him to wait a moment and they would go and inform him immediately.
Xu Fan waited patiently for a moment. Just when he could no longer wait, the palace servant hurried over and said breathlessly, "General, the king has taken ginseng and has temporarily regained consciousness. Please follow me."
Xu Fan had been waiting impatiently for a long time. When he heard this, he did not reply, but snorted coldly and then strode towards the palace.
Although it was called a palace, in fact, what the Mo family occupied was only a slightly larger mansion. In order to resist the Zheng family, the Mo family had already exhausted all their resources and had neither the financial resources nor the ability to build a huge palace.
When Xu Fan stepped into the so-called "palace", he saw that although the furnishings inside tried to maintain solemnity, they could not hide their simplicity and shabbyness. Mo Yuanqing was half lying on the couch, his face was pale and he looked weak.
Xu Fan didn't care whether he was pretending or not. He just strode forward without any respect. After he stopped, he looked directly at Mo Yuanqing and said in a rough voice, "Are you Mo Yuanqing?"
Mo Yuanqing forced himself to stand up, bowed slightly, and said weakly: "That's right, General, what are you here for?"
Xu Fan sneered, "You are asking even though you know the answer! The Duke has ordered your Mo family to surrender for a long time, but you have not responded yet. Why is that?"
Mo Yuanqing looked bitter and sighed, "General, this is not a delay, it is really a serious matter, please allow me to discuss it with the ministers."
Xu Fan curled his lips in disdain: "What is there to discuss? It's just a tiny place. You decide how many days you need to wait, and I will wait for a few days. I want an exact time. If there is no reply when the time is up, I will return to the camp immediately!"
Mo Yuanqing frowned, a trace of uneasiness flashed in his eyes. After a while, he slowly said, "A few days is too short. Can we wait until after the New Year to give the general an answer?"
Xu Fan was stunned for a moment. It was only the middle of October in the sixth year of Zhaowu. After the Chinese New Year, more than two months would have passed. Thinking of this, Xu Fan became furious and said, "Nonsense, why wait until after the Chinese New Year? Just ten days, no, just five days. If you don't give me an answer after five days, I will leave immediately."
After finishing speaking, Xu Fan looked at Mo Yuanqing coldly and said, "But next time I come here, I won't bring just a team of guards."
Mo Yuanqing was shocked. He did not expect this man to be so arrogant. Let alone five days, even if he waited ten days, his Mo family's envoy would not be able to reach the capital.
Without waiting for Mo Yuanqing to say anything, Xu Fan had already turned and left. His rude aura made Mo Yuanqing sigh that the ruler of a small country was not as good as the minister of a big country.
After Xu Fan returned to the inn, the Mo family's ministers wanted to follow their original strategy and use the beauty trap to seduce Xu Fan, but Xu Fan knew that these people had bad intentions, and he was also afraid that he would not have enough self-control and would fall into the beauty trap. So he strictly ordered his personal guards to forbid anyone to come in, and at night, even no reports were allowed unless it was an extremely urgent matter.
Two days passed like this. Seeing that Xu Fan was unmoved, Mo Yuanqing urgently summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter. However, everyone was at a loss as the emperor was far away and there was no way news would come back so quickly.
Among the ministers, many people had persuaded Mo Yuanqing to submit to the Imperial Dynasty, saying that the situation was hopeless and that a small country with few people could not withstand the power of a superior country; and that if he submitted, he could still receive the protection of the Imperial Dynasty, keep the ancestral temple safe, and preserve his bloodline.
At this time, Mo Jingwen said, "My Lord, in my opinion, we should not wait for Xu Fan to reply within five days. If we do so, he will find out that we are guilty. It is better to summon Xu Fan immediately and tell him that the Duke of Korea has made decisions on the affairs of the vassal states privately. Such actions show that he has ignored the emperor. Then, we can say that we have sent envoys to the capital to present the matter to the emperor. In this way, our dynasty still has a chance to survive."