Sui and Tang Dynasty Generals

Chapter 80 Death of Pan Changwen

Inside the west city of Jinyang.

Cui Wenjin, who came to Jinyang for the first time, looked at the bustling streets in the city and the dazzling array of rare treasures from the Western Regions, and soon became fascinated by the stalls.

Soon, Xiong Ruixiang, Xia Jia and Cao Yong, who were following behind him, had their hands full of things.

Some of the things Cao Yong and the other two asked Cui Wenjin to take back to Qinghe and Xin County, some of the things Fu Zihou took to his family, but most of them were things that Cui Wenjin liked.

"This hairpin doesn't look good..."

"This jade ornament is too ugly..."

"Women won't like this at first sight..."

Cui Wenjin was more disgusted than ever when faced with the things Fu Zihou was selecting to bring to Li Cha. This behavior made Fu Zihou doubt his own eyes.

There were obviously some things that were more beautiful than the ones Cui Wenjin picked, and there were even some things that Cui Wenjin had said were beautiful just a moment ago. But when she picked them up and said she wanted to give them to Li Cha, she saw a look of disgust on Cui Wenjin's face.

Could it be that Cui Wenjin and Li Cha had a conflict in Xin County?
Fu Zihou was not a fool. After so many times, he could see that Cui Wenjin deliberately did not want to help Li Cha bring things back.

Standing next to Cui Wenjin, Fu Zihou looked at Cui Wenjin, and remembered that when he was in Liyang, Cui Wenjin had specifically asked him whether he wanted to cancel the engagement with Li Cha, and she would introduce him to a girl from aristocratic family.

Fu Zihou felt that he should find an opportunity to have a good talk with Cui Wenjin. Putting aside superstition, Li Cha was actually better than any other woman.

In the open atmosphere of the Sui Dynasty, being able to find a woman who was stupid enough to be willing to live with him through thick and thin as his wife was already a satisfying thing for the chauvinistic Fu Zihou.

"drive!!!"

"drive!!"

Suddenly, he heard a commotion not far away on the street. Fu Zihou looked over and saw a group of cavalrymen in armor galloping at high speed amid the sound of dense horse hooves.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!!!"

At the order, Fu Zihou, along with Cui Wenjin, Cao Yong and others, retreated to the side of the street.

Then, among a group of cavalrymen, Fu Zihou saw Pan Changwen, Zhang Pinggao, and Wen Shubo.

I don’t know if it was Fu Zihou’s illusion, but when he looked at Pan Changwen, Fu Zihou vaguely felt that there seemed to be some gloating in Pan Changwen’s eyes.

"He is Pan Changwen?"

Although Cui Wenjin had never seen Pan Changwen, but standing next to Fu Zihou, he could clearly see that Pan Changwen looked at Fu Zihou when he passed by on horseback.

"Let's go!"

Fu Zihou didn't say much to Cui Wenjin, but continued to stroll with Cui Wenjin.

There are many delicious foods in the city.

This also allowed Cui Wenjin, a girl from Qinghe County, Hebei, to experience some different customs.

By the time Cui Wenjin, feeling satisfied, followed Fu Zihou back to Dongcheng, it was almost dusk.

In the small courtyard.

Cao Yong and the other two had gone back to rest, leaving their bags of things in the house. Cui Wenjin thought for a moment and, with a rare hint of shyness, came to the kitchen in the yard.

I watched Fu Zihou take off his sword, put on ordinary clothes, and busy himself around the stove, cooking dinner.

Cui Wenjin just watched like this. At this time, Fu Zihou gave her the feeling that he was more like an ordinary teenager who made his own fire and cooked his own meals. He didn't look like a captain or a young hero at all.

"Weren't you afraid when you were in Qinghe County?"

Cui Wenjin hesitated, but still asked.

The last time his brother left in a hurry, Cui Wenjin still had a lot of things in his mind that he hadn’t asked.

"So what if you're scared? Didn't your brother also go to Qinghe County and almost died at the hands of the thieves?"

Fu Zihou smelled the fragrance of the food and heard Cui Wenjin's words. He said casually, then bent down, picked up a porcelain bowl from the side, and served the food.

"My brother is from the Qinghe Cui family, and you are not! You obviously don't have to go!"

Cui Wenjin pursed her lips and looked at Fu Zihou with her beautiful eyes.

"I'm going to Liyang to meet the Xie family! Besides, you and your brother, as well as the Qinghe Cui family behind you, are my support, and nothing can happen to you!"

Fu Zihou said, after serving the food, he handed it to Cui Wenjin.

"snobbish!"

When Cui Wenjin heard what Fu Zihou said, he looked at him unhappily, took the food, turned around and left the kitchen.

In the main house.

After finishing his meal, Fu Zihou did not leave in a hurry, but dealt with the defense of East City by candlelight.

There was only one bed in the house, so Fu Zihou went to sleep in the narrow side room. However, since the map of East City, the wooden table, and the documents were all in the main room, Fu Zihou had to stay in the main room when handling matters.

Cui Wenjin sat in front of the window, looking at the dim night scene in the yard outside the window, then looking at the simple wooden house, and finally couldn't help but look at Fu Zihou again.

In the quiet atmosphere, Cui Wenjin actually wanted to ask how serious Fu Zihou's injury was, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Even Cui Wenjin himself was confused, as it was clearly just a matter of a few words.

"Captain! Captain!"

Suddenly, there were hurried footsteps and shouts outside the yard.

Seeing this, Fu Zihou and Cui Wenjin couldn't help but look over.

Fu Zihou recognized the voices as those of Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong, so he slowly stood up and walked out of the house.

Cui Wenjin looked at the dark night outside, picked up the sword beside him, and followed Fu Zihou out of the house.

yard.

As Fu Zihou opened the gate, he saw Hu Jingyuan, Yin Tianzong, and several soldiers standing outside the gate, holding torches.

"Captain! News has come in that General Pan led his troops north today to fight the bandits, but they were ambushed by the bandits and were defeated. Captain Wen and Captain Gao returned to West City with the remaining troops, and General Pan..."

Hu Jingyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Fu Zihou. At the end of his speech, he couldn't help but look at Yin Tianzong, and then he looked at Fu Zihou in panic.

"He has died from serious injuries!"

Hu Jingyuan said to Fu Zihou.

Yin Tianzong, who was standing aside, also had a panicked look on his face. The death of Pan Changwen was equivalent to the entire Taiyuan County's army losing the general who gave orders.

Now bandits are everywhere, and the rebels who killed Pan Changwen are in the north. This is a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers in Jinyang and even Taiyuan.

"What, dead?"

Hearing Hu Jingyuan's words, Fu Zihou and Cui Wenjin inside the gate were surprised, and then their expressions changed.

Fu Zihou's expression changed slightly, he frowned, and seemed to be a little confused, while Cui Wenjin thought of something, and his lips moved slightly, as if to say "good thing you died"!
"General Hu, take your men immediately and follow the previous instructions to place all the family members and children of the aristocratic families in the city in the camp. Send people to protect them and tell them that the bandits have invaded the border and the city is not safe. The soldiers in the city will protect them!"

Fu Zihou gave an order to Hu Jingyuan, then looked at Yin Tianzong.

"Commander Yin, you must immediately lead your men to kill those sheep, take them out of the city and bury them near a water source. Then, follow the instructions from the past and burn all the places that need to be burned! Move all the surrounding villagers into the city!"

After Fu Zihou finished speaking, he asked another soldier to call Cao Yong and a few others over.

Although he didn't understand why Pan Changwen was suddenly killed, thinking of Zhang Jincheng's incident, Fu Zihou knew that it was better to be prepared than to take chances. "Ah?"

Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong were stunned when they heard Fu Zihou's words.

They hurried to report to Fu Zihou that something had happened to General Pan Changwen and Fu Zihou needed to cross the river to Xicheng as soon as possible to discuss with other captains and officials.

Unexpectedly, after hearing the news, Fu Zihou thought for a while and directly ordered to clear the fields and prepare to defend the city.

When they thought about the huge impact behind these actions, Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong were both worried that Fu Zihou might be overly worried.

Nowadays, many people in East City and West City are talking about Fu Zihou. If they really do what Fu Zihou says, and if Fu Zihou is overthinking, the consequences will be far beyond what they have done in the past!
"Follow my orders, and I will bear all the consequences!"

Fu Zihou looked at the expressions of Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong, guessed what they were thinking, and gave them instructions again.

"Here!"

"Here!!"

After hearing Fu Zihou's order, although Hu Jingyuan and Yin Tianzong had some concerns, they still had to raise their hands to accept the order and then led their men away.

Fu Zihou watched Hu Jingyuan and others leave, then turned around and looked at Cui Wenjin beside him.

"Tomorrow morning, you will head south immediately! I will let Cao Yong and the others protect you all the way to Luoyang!"

Fu Zihou said.

"Will Jinyang be in danger?"

Cui Wenjin looked at Fu Zihou's appearance and realized that something big was about to happen, and couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

This uneasiness came from the thought of the unknown danger and the worry about Fu Zihou in front of him.

"Ok!"

Fu Zihou did not hide anything from Cui Wenjin, and then looked towards the north in the night with some worry.

………………

Inside the west city of Jinyang.

Late at night, carriages, pulled by servants holding torches, arrived at a mansion.

Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing, who lived in different places in the city, came to the mansion at the same time. Then, in the main hall, they saw Pan Changwen lying on the ground, his body already dead.

“Wuwuwu~! My dear!!”

"Father!"

"Father~! Wuuwuwu!"

Seeing the Pan family members kneeling beside Pan Changwen's body and crying, Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji were shocked.

"Don't worry, Lord Jiang. I have sent someone to deliver the news to Luoyang overnight..."

Wen Dayou said to Jiang Baoyi.

"Master Wen, what happened?"

Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji looked at each other, then looked at Zhang Pinggao who was applying medicine, then looked at Wen Dayou with confusion and asked.

Although Liu Wenjing had disliked Pan Changwen in the past, he was also clear that if something happened to Pan Changwen, it would have a great impact on Jinyang. The most direct impact was the loss of the person who gave orders and made the decisions. During this period of time, no matter what happened, officials in various counties, or even in the same county, would not dare to act without a transfer order.

Looking at Pan Changwen's body, Liu Wenjing was very confused as to why Pan Changwen died of his serious injuries.

"We ran into a group of bandits! Their leader is no ordinary bandit. He is good at using military tactics and can lead the crowd in an orderly manner..."

When Wen Dayou saw Liu Wenjing and Pei Ji, and thought about what happened today, he felt heavy in his heart.

The most terrifying thing about thieves is not that they will burn, kill and loot, but that they will transform into the military.

The bandits and the army are completely different in nature. The reason why the bandits are easy to defeat is that they are chaotic and disorderly. Just like the group of bandits in Lishi County, although there are 30,000 to 40,000 people, they are all ordinary bandits.

Today, the bandits we encountered already had some vague signs of an army. They all followed orders, and no matter their formation or advance and retreat, they could no longer be considered a large group of bandits.

"How could such a group of thieves appear in the north?"

When Liu Wenjing heard what happened, he couldn't help but be shocked. Fortunately, he heard Wen Dayou say that the number of this group of thieves was not large. Otherwise, if they were as large as the group of thieves in Lishi County, the entire Taiyuan County would be in danger.

Pei Ji was also a little worried at this moment, especially since Pan Changwen was killed. For Yingyang Mansion, this was like losing the initiative.

"Report! There are many fires in the east of Fenhe! The people sent to investigate came back and reported that it was an order from Captain Fu of East City! And outside East City, Captain Fu has already ordered all the people in the surrounding villages to move into East City!"

A soldier hurried into the house, looked at everyone, and then reported to Wen Dayou and Zhang Ping.

"Burn fire? Move people?"

Upon hearing the soldiers' report, Jiang Baoyi, Pei Ji, Liu Wenjing, Wen Dayou, Zhang Pinggao, Zhao Wenke and other Jinyang officials who were still immersed in the murder of Pan Changwen were all stunned and confused.

Then the same thought came to everyone's mind.

Fortify the walls and clear the fields?

Thinking of this, everyone was even more confused as to why they had to take the action of clearing the countryside.

It is true that Pan Changwen was ambushed and killed, but that group of bandits would not attack Jinyang.

Is Fu Zihou crazy?

Just because Pan Changwen was ambushed, he immediately issued such an order after receiving the news?

"Go down!"

Wen Dayou spoke first and didn't say anything else.

In Wen Dayou's eyes, all he could do now was wait until dawn before talking to Fu Zihou.

"Captain Fu is decisive!"

Zhao Wenke's voice suddenly rang out in the main hall. Wen Dayou frowned and looked over. Before he could say anything, he heard another person speak.

"Haha, Zhang didn't expect that the Fenwu Lieutenant was also in the army today, fighting against the bandits!"

While asking the doctor to apply medicine on the wound, Zhang Pinggao spoke in a deliberately ambiguous tone.

All the generals around understood what Zhang Pinggao meant, but they were different from Zhang Pinggao. Zhang Pinggao, Wen Dayou and Fu Zihou were all captains, so Zhang Pinggao was not afraid of Fu Zihou and could say whatever he wanted. They did not dare to make irresponsible comments.

Standing next to Jiang Baoyi, Wen Dayou looked at the expressions on the faces of Zhang Pinggao, Xu Shixu and others. He knew that everyone had fought with the rebels today and that General Pan Changwen had died at the hands of the rebels. Everyone was holding back their anger.

When he came back, he learned that Fu Zihou had ordered the troops in Dongcheng to clear the fields and prepare to defend the city, so he vented all his anger on Fu Zihou.

At this moment, Wen Dayou wanted to defend Fu Zihou, saying that he was prepared for any eventuality, but because Zhang Pinggao specifically mentioned the title of Fenwu Wei, he could not say anything.

"I will report today's incident to the court!"

Jiang Baoyi had been an official for many years, so he could see the complaints of these generals, so he spoke to comfort them. The implication was that he would report to them truthfully no matter how Pan Changwen was ambushed or all the actions of the Fenwu Wei.

After saying this, Jiang Baoyi couldn't help but look at Wen Dayou.

Jiang Baoyi, who had met the Wang family in West City today, already knew what Wen Dayou was thinking. However, it was impossible for Jiang Baoyi to side with the Wen family on this matter.

Under Jiang Baoyi's gaze, Wen Dayou sighed in silence. He wanted to go to Dongcheng to ask Fu Zihou.

Why so reckless!
This is different from the previous situation, this is responsible!
(End of this chapter)