Chapter 938 Everyone has their own agenda!

Evening of May 27
Guanzhong, Luoan, Anfu.

Under the personal welcome of An family's new head An Shanhe and other An family members, the somewhat flattered Yuan Song also walked into the An Mansion as the host did···························
Because he had just arrived in Luoan and was busy with things to do, and because of his special identity, in order to avoid suspicion, Yuan Song did not have much contact with the An family after entering Luoan and rescuing the An family.

But what he didn't expect was that An Shanhe sent him an invitation a few days ago, saying that he would host a banquet for Yuan Song in his house to thank Yuan Song for saving him.

Yuan Song was a little surprised by this. He knew that because of An Miaoyi, all the nobles in Luoan had been running to the An family in recent days, trying to establish a relationship with them.

Therefore, the An family has been bustling with people these days. Yuan Song was a little surprised that the An family could take a day off to entertain him.

In the past few days, too many Luoan dignitaries wanted to invite him to a banquet, but because he couldn't figure out the Marshal's attitude towards these yesterday's princes, they were all rejected by Yuan Song. Yuan Song originally wanted to treat the An family in the same way, but thinking that they had sent him the invitation and the wording was very sincere, it would be too disrespectful for him to refuse.

It doesn’t matter whether the An family is given face or not, but there is a real god behind the An family!

Although Yuan Song didn’t want to get too close to the other party and arouse Ye Mingsheng’s suspicion, he also didn’t want to offend him························
So after thinking it over, Yuan Song finally decided to attend the banquet in person to give the An family enough face!

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, An Shanhe, who was sitting at the main seat at the banquet, spoke to Yuan Song sincerely:
"Thank you so much, General Yuan, for rescuing us from the clutches of the enemy! We in the An family will always remember your great kindness, General Yuan!"

Listening to the words of the most respected uncle of the An family, who was also the newly elected head of the An family after An Zhirong's death, Yuan Song smiled and waved his hand and said:

"Mr. An, you are being too serious. This is all my job! You are so polite!"

"The Marshal knows that the An family has been implicated by our Fengwu Army over the years and has suffered a lot from the traitor Shangguan and his son. In addition, for the safety of your An family, our Fengwu Army has also used various channels to warn the traitor Shangguan not to make mistakes!"

"After my troops entered Guanzhong this time, the commander-in-chief specifically issued an order for my troops to ensure the safety of the An family!"

"Now that the traitor Shangguan and his son have been executed, my Fengwu Army has pacified Guanzhong, and the An family has finally reaped the rewards of their hard work!"

Listening to Yuan Song's words, An Shanhe burst into tears and said:
“I am grateful to the Marshal for bringing our An family with me. If it weren’t for the heavenly soldiers under Marshal Ye’s command, my An family would never see the light of day again…”

"It's just a pity that my two nephews, Hetu and Zhirong, died at the hands of the traitor Shangguan!"

"We, the An family, are irreconcilable with the traitor Shangguan. We cannot live together! I wish I could eat the traitor Shangguan's flesh and sleep on his skin to relieve the hatred in my heart!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Song smiled and tried to calm An Shanhe down. When An Shanhe calmed down, the sixty-year-old uncle of the An family seemed to remember something and asked Yuan Song:

"I wonder how the Madam and Master Jingren are doing?"

Yuan Song nodded with a smile and said:

"Madam and Young Master are doing well. Madam has always been concerned about the An family. When she heard that the An family was imprisoned by the traitor Shangguan, she usually ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures to pray for the An family. I hope that you are all safe and sound!"

"I am not satisfied with what you said. Another purpose of my coming to the banquet this time is to ask you to ask the old lady to write a letter to the first lady to ease her longing for her family!"

"This is what our Marshal specially arranged in the order. Of course, if possible, the old lady might as well go to Yijing and see the first lady and Master Jingren with her own eyes!"

An Shanhe's expression changed when he heard this. Although when she was imprisoned before, most of the An family members cursed An Miaoyi, thinking that she was a pig-brained woman who married the traitor Ye Mingsheng, which not only made her a traitor, but also implicated the family and caused the An family to fall into such a situation...
Some people even worried that after the Fengwu Army was wiped out by Shangguan Hongyuan, the imperial court would exterminate Ye Mingsheng's entire clan, and their An family would also be executed.

So they tried their best to draw a clear line between themselves and An Miaoyi, and some people even isolated and insulted An Miaoyi's mother, Yang!
But at this moment, after the Fengwu Army arrived in Luo'an, the An family was liberated, and these members of the family immediately realized the importance of An Miaoyi to the An family.

They all immediately changed their attitude, praising An Miaoyi for her keen eye for talent and saying she was the pride of the An family, and they began to curry favor with An Miaoyi's mother, Yang.

Although the outside world generally believes that An Miaoyi will be the future queen and their An family will also prosper, An Shanhe, as the current head of the An family, also has some concerns.

An Shanhe's concern was that some of the previous unpleasant things would reach An Miaoyi's ears, causing An Miaoyi to have some resentment towards the family.

Therefore, An Shanhe took the initiative to invite Yuan Song to his home for a dinner this time. On the one hand, it was to thank Yuan Song for his help, and on the other hand, he wanted to test Yuan Song's attitude and see what An Miaoyi's attitude was towards these people from her mother's family. This would also help him formulate the next policy plan.

Judging from Yuan Song's words, An Miaoyi probably doesn't know about these bad things in the family yet and is still very concerned about the family. An Shanhe is relieved about this and replied to Yuan Song with a smile:

“That’s of course no problem! Thank you for taking the trouble, Madam. I will arrange it shortly…”

As soon as An Shanhe finished speaking, he made up his mind. He would have a good talk with Yang and ask her to put the overall situation first!

Don't blame An Miaoyi for the family because of some past misunderstandings. Speak more good things about the family to An Miaoyi and let An Miaoyi speak more in front of Marshal Ye to support the children of the An family.
After chatting with An Shanhe for a while, Yuan Song saw that they had almost finished chatting and said goodbye to An Shanhe. He still had a lot of official business to deal with, and this visit to the An family was an exception.

Now that the meal has been eaten and the wine has been drunk, it is time for Yuan to go back!
Seeing that Yuan Song was about to leave, An Shanhe personally sent Yuan Song to the gate of the mansion to give Yuan Song enough face, and promised to deliver Yang's letter to Yuan Song tomorrow.

After returning to his residence in Luoan, Yuan Song had no time to rest before he saw Lieutenant General Zheng Chuang coming to report to him.

"Sir Yuan, I have almost raided the homes of the traitor Shangguan and his accomplices in the past few days. The specific details are all here. Please take a look at it!" Zheng Chuang handed over a booklet as he spoke. After taking the booklet from Zheng Chuang, Yuan Song began to read it carefully.

The booklet clearly stated that there were more than 750,000 taels of silver, 30,000 taels of gold, more than 3,000 pieces of gold, silver and jade articles, more than 1,000 pieces of antiques, 2,000 rolls of silk, 15,000 rolls of cloth, 300,000 dan of grain, and 10,000 dan of salt!"

“Six hundred and five land deeds, including two hundred and thirty-seven for shops, one hundred and fifty-three for houses, and two hundred and fifteen for fields…

Looking at the gold, silver and other valuables in the booklet, although Yuan Song had traveled a lot and was knowledgeable, he couldn't help but secretly marvel at the amount of wealth of these Luoan dignitaries.

Seeing Yuan Song looking at the booklet without saying anything, Zheng Chuang thought that Yuan Song was not satisfied with this and immediately explained:
"Mr. Yuan, many of the traitor Shangguan's followers fled to Sichuan before. They took gold and silver with them, so we have only found this much!"

"In addition to the gold and silver that were registered, we also seized more than 7,000 female relatives, half of whom were women of marriageable age!"

At this point, Zheng Chuang changed the subject and said in a low voice:

"The above are the registered goods. I have also left a generous gift for you and the generals. As for the female relatives, you and the generals can choose anytime!"

Yuan Song was stunned when he heard this. He did not expect Zheng Chuang to do this. Feeling the surprise in Yuan Song's expression, Zheng Chuang also felt puzzled.
The job of confiscating property was undoubtedly a lucrative one, so when Yuan Song handed this matter to him, Zheng Chuang thought that Yuan Song was hinting at something.

But now looking at Yuan Song’s surprised expression, Zheng Chuang couldn’t help but feel surprised, and realized that he seemed to have misunderstood Yuan Song’s meaning·························

Just when Zheng Chuang was feeling uneasy, Yuan Song hesitated and asked:
"How much have you prepared?"

Seeing Yuan Song asking this, Zheng Chuang said without hesitation:
"Sir Yuan, I have prepared 100,000 taels of silver, 100 gold bars, more than 500 pieces of gold, silver, jade and other fine items, more than 500 pieces of antiques, five mansions, ten shops, and 5,000 acres of fertile land."

"I have prepared 30,000 taels of silver, 30 gold bars, more than 100 pieces of gold, silver and jade articles, more than 100 pieces of antiques for each general! One house title deed, three shop titles, and about 1,000 acres of fertile land."

Before Zheng Chuang finished speaking, Yuan Song looked at him with a complicated gaze. Feeling Yuan Song's gaze, Zheng Chuang thought that Yuan Song was still not satisfied, so he said again:

"That's all for now, Master Yuan. If you think there are more, I'll make adjustments!"

At this time, Yuan Song had been frightened by Zheng Chuang. He never expected that Zheng Chuang was so greedy. The silver he secretly left for himself and these generals was close to 300,000 taels. Taking into account the gold, silver, jade, antiques, and land deeds, the total amount was at least more than 700,000 taels of silver!

You know, at the beginning of the year, Gu Shouting had only embezzled 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver, but was executed by Ye Mingsheng without hesitation. How could Zheng Chuang, a lieutenant general, have such courage...

Yuan Song wanted to refuse such a large number immediately, but when he thought of the voices in the Fengwu Army who wrote to Ye Mingsheng and asked him to send a military supervisor to his side, Yuan Song fell into deep thought. After thinking for about a cup of tea, Yuan Song instructed Zheng Chuang:
"Leave me 10,000 taels of silver, 30 gold bars, antiques, gold, silver and jade. I don't want any of them. Leave me a mansion, three shops, and I don't want any of the land!"

"Don't prepare them for the generals. All these things, including your own share, must be registered in the book. No private collection is allowed!"

Hearing this, Zheng Chuang wanted to say something immediately, but before he could open his mouth, Yuan Song waved his hand to interrupt him and continued:

"Zheng Chuang, don't be ungrateful, I'm saving you! This time, we have captured Luo'an and killed the traitor Shangguan. Our entire army has made great contributions. The commander-in-chief will definitely reward us handsomely!"

Zheng Chuang's face suddenly became very depressed when he heard this, but under Yuan Song's stern gaze, he could only nod and say:
"I will obey your orders and register all these valuables!"

After hearing what Zheng Chuang said, Yuan Song nodded slightly and said:
"Is there anything else?"

Zheng Chuang thought for a moment and said:
"It seems that the Coordination Office has found Murong Lun's relatives and some members of the Murong clan. Your Excellency, do you want to meet with them?"

Yuan Song thought for a moment and shook his head:
"I just said I was busy with official duties and declined..."

"Yes!"

After talking about this matter, Zheng Chuang, who had nothing else to do, tactfully said goodbye to Yuan Song.

Watching Zheng Chuang gradually turning into a small black dot as he left, Yuan Song sighed. He really didn't expect that Zheng Chuang was so brave!

He didn't even think about the fact that he had hidden so much wealth, how could the Coordination Office not notice it?

I hope he can listen to me and register all the things and hand them over, but if he won't listen, there's nothing I can do. After all, good words can hardly persuade a damned ghost!

Thinking of this, Yuan Song took out an unfinished letter from the drawer of his desk. This was the memorial Yuan Song was going to write to Ye Mingsheng.

In the memorial, Yuan Song introduced to Ye Mingsheng some of the circumstances of the capture of Luoan, as well as some of his ideas on how to deal with the Cumans. In the end, Yuan Song also suggested to Ye Mingsheng that Zheng Chuang, the lieutenant general of the Second Army, was very good and could be of great use!
The fact that Yuan Song recommended Ye Dong to Ye Mingsheng to be the general of the Second Division is no secret in the current army, and this made Zheng Chuang realize the opportunity. He also hinted to Yuan Song that he wanted to fill the vacancy of the general of the Eighth Division after Ye Dong was transferred to the Second Division!

Although Yuan Song did not directly agree to Zheng Chuang's proposal, he thought that after he was transferred to the Second Army, Zheng Chuang had actively approached him and his work with him during this period was also very satisfactory, so Yuan Song also planned to help Zheng Chuang recommend him to Ye Mingsheng!

But now thinking of Zheng Chuang’s audacity, Yuan Song shook his head and tore the letter in his hand into pieces·························
(End of this chapter)