After rebirth, I made the princes cry

Two days later on an auspicious day, Jiang Tai finally hosted a banquet for the Henan envoy. In fact, no one cared about this state banquet. Among the four envoys, Ying Shu had the lowest status. However, she grew up in luxury. Although her diet was not as good as before after entering the palace, she did not crave for delicacies from land and sea.

The important thing is that after the state banquet, the second round of negotiations for peace and establishment of diplomatic relations will officially begin. The first round of negotiations was led by Jiang Mo, a Northern Han delegation. After meeting with Sikong Tong, the two countries reached a preliminary intention to establish diplomatic relations, but it was only preliminary. The formal establishment of diplomatic relations and peace negotiations would of course have to wait until the Yu envoy brought the letter of credence signed by Jiang Tai back to Dayu.

Because two of the envoys were women, Jiang Tai attended the state banquet with the Queen, Lady Wei, and Lady Jinzhu. Above Jiang Tai and his concubines, the Queen Mother of Northern Han also attended the state banquet.

The empress dowager was a little plump, with dazzling silver hair visible at her temples. She was obviously serious and looked at Dianjun and Yingshu with a rather critical gaze. She said a few words, and between her words, she actually revealed her intention to ask the queen to give more advice to Dianjun and Yingshu. In addition to the queen, the empress dowager also had two daughters-in-law. She had three sons, Jiang Tai was the eldest, and the other two sons were also older than Jiang Mo - all of them were her ex-husband's flesh and blood. The empress dowager and the prince only gave birth to one princess. This princess had the same round face as the empress dowager, like a full moon, but her expression was serious.

The empress was of a gentle nature. She heard the empress dowager's words were quite absurd, so she handled them very tactfully. She neither pointed out the empress dowager's mistakes nor dispelled the envoy's doubts, so as to prevent the envoy from having the "misunderstanding" that the empress dowager regarded them as concubines of the Northern Han harem.

Yingshu discovered that the Princess Xiping, the empress dowager's daughter, who was unknown whether she was married or not, only showed a hint of tenderness in her eyes when she looked at the Grand Chancellor Jiang Gaofan.

At the state banquet, Yingshu finally met Da Shangchen, who was the most powerful official in Northern Han at that time.

We only saw the person but not his face. Jiang Gaofan was indeed wearing a white leather mask, which revealed his seven orifices. His eyes could see people, his ears could hear sounds, his nostrils could breathe, and he could eat and drink normally. I don't know why he didn't show his true face to people, but judging from the position and distance between his eyes, nose, and mouth, he should have a proper appearance and would not be an eyesore.

If you look closely, you can see silver threads in his hair.

Yingshu had heard Sikong Yuehu talk about Jiang Gaofan's background. According to her inference, this person should be younger than Jiang Tai. Could it be that he was aging prematurely?

Nothing strange happened at the state banquet, and the atmosphere remained joyful and harmonious. However, all state banquets were dull, starting and ending with praises. Negotiations did not begin immediately after the banquet. The Queen personally escorted the Prince back to Baoguang Palace and did not stay for long. After the formalities, she said goodbye.

The third prince and Nanci arrived at Baoguang Palace afterwards.

Nanci told Yingshu about his progress.

"Shen Jiu and I have already taken over. This is the secret code he gave me."

There are many eyes and ears in the post station. Although the third prince has attracted most of the attention, Nanci is not completely unattended. As a clerk in the post station, one of Shen Jiu's duties is to entertain the envoys. The guest officer is just a concurrent responsibilities and will not leave the post station all the time. If the guest officer is not in the post station and the envoy intends to go out again, the clerk must first write a note and hand it to the guest officer for approval. Afterwards, the clerk must forward the approved note to the post station chief and urge the post station chief to arrange many matters for the envoy's mission.

In short, it is not heresy for foreign envoys to have contact with civil servants.

However, private contact seems suspicious. In order to prevent the spies of the Flying Eagle Department from being exposed, many things cannot be done through direct conversation. Communicating in secret codes is the safest way. However, Nanci cannot understand the secret codes of the Flying Eagle Department, and Yingshu does not have the authority to tell Nanci how to translate the secret codes.

She read the ciphertext now.

"Just tell me where Bai Mei and Xuan Mei are now. They are both in Hongchanghang in Xishi. They stay in Xihuaili at night. If I want to see them, it is of course most convenient to go to Xishi. I will decide the time and let Wenji send a letter to you in advance. You can also let Shenjiu know. Just ask him which other good restaurants in Xishi are besides Weitai, and he will be responsible for arranging the contact."

Hearing Yingshu mention Wen Ji, Nanci turned around and glanced at the green bird that had just flown back to Baoguang Palace today.

"The trainer said that Wen Ji's sudden warning was probably because he discovered that the person he had ordered Wen Ji to track had appeared at Zhenxiguan that day."

Those who have been stalked...

Ying Shu's expression was very serious. "I ordered Wen Ji to track down several people. Zheng Lianzi and Pan Chi, who died, certainly can't be resurrected. As for Lu An, he is now in charge of the Xiaoxuan, and it is impossible for him to escape and come to Beihan. The most likely person is the confidant who was ordered by Sikong Beichen to disguise himself and marry Ju Qing!"

"Sikong Beichen also planted spies in Beihan!" Nan Ci exclaimed.

Of course, it was impossible for him to track Fu Qing personally, and the people who were responsible for tracking him at that time did not come to Beihan this time, so even he did not know the appearance of the trusted henchman who was instructed by Sikong Beichen to prevent Fu Qing from escaping and arranged a place for Fu Qing to stay.

"After hearing the trainer emphasize that Wen Ji's warning should be taken seriously, I guessed that the man should be hiding near the post station. The trainer ordered Wen Ji to track him, and indeed found the sneaky man again. Moreover, under Wen Ji's leadership, the trainer discovered that the man was trying every means to make friends with Da Shangchen. Will Ying Shu, Sikong Beichen do anything to harm you?" Nan Ci asked.

Ying Shu raised her eyebrows slightly: "He didn't mean to harm me, but you. Sikong Beichen may have guessed that Da Shangchen was a reborn person, but he probably didn't know Da Shangchen's origins, let alone that Da Shangchen had tried to instigate Jiang Mo to bring me to Northern Han. Sikong Beichen's spies didn't follow me to the West Market that day to track me. I decided to go to the Shiyi and visit the West Market on a whim. He was staring at the Shiyi to track your movements.

Sikong Beichen has not yet taken control of the Flying Eagle Tribe. In his previous life, he took over all the rosters of the Flying Eagle Tribe after he ascended the throne. Although he now knows who the important members of the Flying Eagle Tribe are, he cannot dispatch these people to follow his orders.

He also can't dispatch his minions to Northern Han to assassinate you openly. The risk is too great. He just wants to take the opportunity to harm you, but he is not so urgent. This determines that he will not take too much risk. "

Yingshu tried to calm herself down through analysis.

She was not afraid of Sikong Beichen, she was just emotional because of anger.

Her most valued friends and relatives, Changle and Nanci, were directly harmed by Sikong Beichen. She was the cause. Changle and Nanci were her weaknesses. Now in the war between her and Sikong Beichen, Nanci was her only weakness. Sikong Beichen once again aimed his poison arrow at Nanci, which was tantamount to directly aiming at her chest and ribs.

"Sikong Beichen's intention is to use Da Shangchen as a knife." Yingshu made a judgment.

"Does he want to persuade Jiang Gaofan to assassinate me?" Nan Ci sneered.

"He knows the secret that Da Shangchen is a reborn person, so he may be able to convince Da Shangchen to cooperate with him. However, he should not dare to tell Da Shangchen his true identity. He will frame him and kill two birds with one stone. If Nanci has an accident in Northern Han, no matter who the perpetrator is, the Northern Han court will not be able to quibble and divert the blame. At that time, Jiang Tai will only have two choices.

The first option is to turn against Dayu, and simply detain the Lord of Shenyuan Palace in Beijing, take the Third Prince and me as hostages, and pretend to ask Dayu to return Jiang Mo and temporarily stop the war. If Jiang Tai does this, there will be two results. Your Majesty will either compromise, which is inevitable. Even the Zheng of Changping will advocate war in order to rescue the Third Prince, because only when the two countries are at war and the outcome is uncertain, Jiang Tai will not dare to kill the hostages. In this way, Your Majesty will personally lead the army.

Regardless of whether the same incidents as in the previous life would happen again when Your Majesty leads the army in person, he would definitely appoint Prince Sikong Beichen as regent. When Sikong Beichen holds the power of regent, he will have the initiative.

Jiang Tai has a second choice, which is to give up the idea of ​​forcibly detaining the Lord, compromise and seek peace, adopt the advice of the Great Minister, and put the blame for your murder on Sikong Yuewu or Sikong Yuehu. As long as the Northern Han shows a weak attitude and is willing to let the Lord and the Third Prince return home, whether it is Lu Gong, Cui Yan, or Zheng Bei, they will all dissuade the war, but insist on claiming compensation from the Northern Han. "

The truth is so cruel. It is not that His Majesty the Emperor does not care about the life or death of his son Nanci, but the war concerns the life and death of too many soldiers and the safety of too many civilians. If the Northern Han shows weakness and compromises, and is willing to cede land and pay compensation, it will be of great benefit to the country of Dayu. Although His Majesty the Emperor is full of grief and hatred, he has no choice.

"We can only get rid of Sikong Beichen's minions first." Ying Shu made the decision.

"But there is no evidence, so we cannot prove Sikong Beichen."

"He is nothing but a dying rat." Ying Shu's eyes even flashed with murderous intent: "He is not worthy of you taking any risk. You use yourself as bait just to prove his guilt!"

"Then, let me do it?"

"No need." Ying Shu sneered: "Xuan Ying is enough."

The spies of the Flying Eagle Division cannot be allowed to do this. Although Yingshu has the privilege of directly dispatching the Flying Eagle Division, she must report all her actions to the Emperor after returning to the country. The person Sikong Beichen planted in Northern Han must be a confidant. Even if he is taken alive, he will not confess, and there will be no evidence to prove that this person is related to the Eastern Palace.

Assigning the Flying Eagle Division to carry out the assassination at this critical juncture is a major operation, and Yingshu must explain why she wants to kill such a seemingly completely unimportant person.

She couldn't explain it.

She could neither let Wen Ji speak human words, nor let the Emperor believe a trainer's confession, which was originally based on speculation, and believe that Sikong Beichen had colluded with the enemy and harmed his brothers.

He must strike first and get rid of Sikong Beichen's minions, even if it will make Da Shangchen suspicious. But Jiang Gaofan will not trust a dead man or form an alliance with a dead man.

"There is one more thing." Nanci said, "Now, in the market of Northern Han, both nobles and commoners are discussing the establishment of diplomatic relations. In the past two days, a rumor has spread from nowhere, saying that although Dayu sent Dianjun as the main envoy, it seems that he intends to establish diplomatic relations with Northern Han, but in fact, the real Dianjun did not go to Northern Han. Father wanted to make the King of Northern Han believe that Dianjun is Dianjun, so he asked me and my third brother to accompany him."

"This is not unexpected." Ying Shu took a deep breath. She couldn't think about Sikong Beichen anymore. Anger would damage her rationality. She had to deal with the current major issues first. After returning to the country, she would strike back at Sikong Beichen. "Jiang Tai must also know that Bei Zhao doesn't want Bei Han and Dayu to establish diplomatic relations, and doesn't want Dian Jun to stay in Bei Han and become the banner of Bei Han's 'Destiny to Unify the Nine Provinces'. In order to prevent Bei Zhao from taking the opportunity to attack Bei Han first, and to achieve his goal of keeping Dian Jun, he deliberately spread such rumors to confuse Bei Zhao.

In fact, none of the rulers and ministers of Northern Zhao had ever seen the true appearance of Dianjun. They didn't care whether Dianjun was still Dianjun or not. What they cared about was whether Dayu acknowledged that Dianjun had entered Northern Han and whether the King of Northern Han also acknowledged that Dianjun had entered Northern Han.

Northern Zhao has actually been certain of the former. As for the latter, we need to force Jiang Tai to tell his people himself that Dianjun was indeed sent as an envoy to Northern Han. Before the state banquet started today, the Queen Mother of Northern Han actually intended to tell the ladies outside the court. In her opinion, Dianjun and I are already concubines in the harem of Northern Han. Although the Queen tried to persuade us a few times, it was all nonsense. The Queen Mother and the Queen are not stupid people. They are cooperating with Jiang Tai. Don't be impatient about this matter. I am confident that I can handle it. There is no need to use the Flying Eagle Division for the time being. Sikong Yuehu was able to place spies in the Weiyang Palace and inside the envoy station. He spent a lot of effort. Although some people will inevitably be exposed after this time, at least Shen Jiu and Shopkeeper Xie can continue to lurk.

If we can avoid using the Flying Eagle Division, we will do so. We can get the greatest benefit at the lowest cost."

Yingshu thought about it and smiled: "There are so many discussions in the capital of Northern Han, so of course I have to go out of the palace to inquire about the details. There is no time to lose, I will meet Bai Meng and Xuan Ying the day after tomorrow!"

That afternoon, the Third Prince and Nan Ci left the Donghua Gate of the Weiyang Palace only after the evening drum sounded.

The Queen Mother of Northern Han heard the news, took the goat milk handed over by the Queen, drank a little, and snorted: "The King of Eastern Yu thought that sending two princes and a female official to Han would be enough to make the world believe that the Lord of Shenyuan Palace is the Lord of Shenyuan Palace. Even if the one who came is really the daughter of Xuan family, as long as our dynasty does not recognize it, what can the Emperor of Yu do?

Gao has seen our cooperation today and must be suspicious that the daughter of the Xuan family is not the real one. She will pass this news back to Northern Zhao. Even if the emperor of Northern Zhao is still unsure about the authenticity of the daughter of the Xuan family, he will not easily send troops to provoke. After all, the emperor has no intention of establishing diplomatic relations with Dongyu. The emperor used a trick to get the daughter of the Xuan family for nothing. Does Dongyu still dare to claim that they never sent the daughter of the Xuan family to the Han Dynasty?

In this way, the Emperor of Northern Zhao will think that there is no Xuan family daughter in the world anymore, and will not interfere in the dispute between us and Dongyu. But Xuan family daughter must have the precious treasure handed down by the Shenzong family. As long as our dynasty feels the time has come, we can always make the world believe that the one who stays in our dynasty must be the real Lord of Shenyuan Palace. By then, Bashu will be our territory, and we can attack Jiankang directly from Jiangzhou. After conquering Dongyu, we will have the banner of "carrying the destiny of heaven". What else can the tribes of Northern Zhao use to fight with our dynasty?"

"Therefore, the Queen Mother will have to tolerate Wei for a while. After all, she is half Han. Only with her can we hope to gain the trust of the two daughters of Xuan and Wang, and persuade them to take advantage of the opportunity to replace the precious jade, which will be beneficial to your majesty's plan."

"She is a slave with a lowly surname, so I won't really bother with her. But I think the emperor really trusts Jiang Gaofan, but Xiping... she just took a look at Jiang Gaofan's true face and was bewitched! Who is Jiang Gaofan? How can a lowly blood compare to the heroic son-in-law? It really makes me angry that the two brothers and sisters think so highly of a Han slave!"

The queen lowered her eyelids.

Although my aunt's husband is a Qiang noble, he is already in his forties. Many of his illegitimate sons are older than my aunt. Since the marriage, my aunt has been unwilling to sleep with her husband. Before the appearance of Da Shangchen, my aunt had transferred her feelings many times and even sent her maid to secretly poison her husband. I don't know whether the maid used fake medicine or her brother-in-law was really strong. In short, the poison did not work. In the past, Concubine Wen ignored my aunt's happiness, and she was not my aunt's biological mother, but my mother was my aunt's biological mother. Now even His Majesty is trying to match my aunt with Da Shangchen, but my mother has not given in.

She really worked hard to dissuade her sister-in-law from killing her husband.