Let Me Pursue You

Upon hearing the news that it was not from the southwest but from the northwest, Lu Shiqing frowned slightly and motioned for him to speak.

Zheng Zhuo said: "Uighur Khan Dolan Chuu was assassinated in the palace the night before yesterday, and now he is seriously injured and unconscious, and his life is dying."

"source?"

"The secret agent I arranged in the Uyghur Khan Court urgently sent back the letter eight hundred miles away."

"How many other people know about this besides you?"

"The royal family of the Uighurs has not moved at the moment, and the people are so peaceful. Dolan Chu's subordinates should have blocked the news. But since I know, I'm afraid there are other insiders within the week."

Lu Shiqing shook his head: "That's not necessarily true."

"What do you say?"

"If Dolan Chuu is seriously injured, how can you hide it from the eyes of the royal family, and how can you let your secret agent get the news at the first time, and pass it back to Chang'an smoothly all the way?"

"What do you mean?" Zheng Zhuoruo realized something, "Maybe Dolan Chuu was not assassinated, or was it just a small injury?"

He thought about it after asking, and asked puzzledly, "Then what is the purpose of him sending the news to me?"

Lu Shiqing fell silent when he heard the words, and walked to the window with his hands behind his back, and then walked back again. After two rounds of back and forth, he asked: "If Dolan dies, who will be the next leader of the Uyghur Khanate?"

"His son Pei Li."

"Pei Li and Dolan Chuu, what are the key differences in foreign policy?"

"In the early years, when the second brother had not expelled the Turks, Dolan Chuo advocated pro-Zhou and far away from Turks, and Pei Li supported pro-Turk and far away from Zhou."

"That is to say," Lu Shiqing smiled faintly, "if Pei Li ascends to the throne in a short period of time, it is very likely that the Turks who have been silent for a long time will make a comeback."

Zheng Zhuo suddenly raised his head: "You mean, Dolan Chuu was not seriously injured at all, but he just wanted to use this news to remind me that Turkic has encountered a time of resurgence?"

Lu Shiqing narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, and nodded after a long silence.

"In that case, why did he only remind me? This matter is related to the life and death of Da Zhou. My father is still alive, and my power is limited. There is no reason for him to bypass my father and cooperate directly with me."

"Because Dolan Chuu, who is close to Zhou, also began to hesitate to stand." Lu Shiqing said decisively, "Da Zhou is no longer the Da Zhou with millions of soldiers who slaughtered Turks with a snap of his fingers. Now even the mere Nanzhao is so small. The land can threaten my southern border time and time again, and Dolan Chuu has long lost confidence in the saint. He is pinning his hopes on the next monarch of the Great Zhou, and he is testing whether you have this ability."

Zheng Zhuo's eyes flickered slightly, and said: "But Dolan Chuu doesn't understand me, why did he choose me so hastily?"

"Because he has no other choice." Lu Shiqing pondered for a moment, "If what I expected is correct, what he was worried about, the so-called resurgence of the Turks, was written by your second and third brothers. It is very likely that something happened in Yazhou. problem."

When he said this, he raised his eyes: "Ah Zhuo, this is a danger, but also an opportunity. We have built dark beams for so many years, and it is time to build tall buildings."

After discussing with Lu Shiqing, Zheng Zhuo immediately ordered the secret sentries distributed in the southern region to go to Yazhou for in-depth investigation. It’s just that the place where the second prince was sent to is really far apart, an isolated island, and it’s extremely inconvenient to come and go. On the other hand, he has to avoid the spies buried in the sea area by people who are also concerned about the second prince. By the time we got the news, it was already more than half a month later.

At this time, Dolan, who was rumored to be "seriously injured by the assassination", had already recovered and began to take charge of the government again.

After a while, in early December, war broke out in the territory of the Uighur Khanate. The Turks, who had been exterminated by the Great Zhou and the Uyghurs jointly, retreated into the wilderness, and withdrew from the stage of history for several years, made a comeback overnight. Using the Northeast Mohe as a corridor, Chen Bing 300,000 troops were on the border of the Uyghurs. After some demonstrations, they invaded massively.

When the news came out, the four domains were shocked. Emperor Huining hurriedly summoned his ministers into the palace to discuss matters, and the fire in the Xuanzheng Hall remained on all day and all night.

In the early morning of the next day, Yuan Cixian woke up and saw that the mattress beside her was empty and tidy, without any trace of wrinkle, so she knew that Lu Shiqing hadn't returned all night.

The news hadn't reached her yet, but she wasn't clueless. The only possibility for Lu Shiqing to stay in the palace for a day and a night, unable to even take out a message, is that Emperor Huining presided over the closed-door discussion of the officials. And what can cause such chaos in the imperial court is nothing more than a war closely related to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It's just that in the chaotic world, there is no place to find peace. She didn't dare to draw a conclusion for a while, where the war broke out. The only thing that is certain is that the raising of troops this time has nothing to do with Nanzhao. Xiju depends on Da Zhou's superiority, and it is absolutely impossible for something to happen at this time.

She pondered secretly, when she was having breakfast, Xuan Shi asked what Lu Shiqing was doing in the palace, but she only laughed and said that he came back with a message last night, saying that it was too late after finishing his official duties, and the palace released the door key, So I had to stay in the outer hall.

But Xuan is not stupid. Seeing that she eats breakfast all by force, with a look of absent-mindedness, she naturally thinks that something serious may happen, but since Yuan Cixian doesn't mention it, she can't ask more questions, so as not to be called The burden on her heart was even heavier, and her body was broken.

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, you forgive me, I forgive you, and no one mentioned Lu Shiqing again. It was not until dusk that Yuan Cixian couldn't sit still, so he planned to call Cao An to ask.

In fact, looking for him is just a dead horse as a living horse doctor. When others are in the palace, it is naturally impossible to know what happened in the palace. It's just that since last month, Lu Shiqing stopped talking to her about government affairs, probably because her belly was getting fuller and fuller. In the past month, she had almost no knowledge of the court's movements, so I want to hear from Inspector Cao and see what he has been up to lately, so that I can judge and guess from it.

Unexpectedly, before she had time to send someone to call Cao An, a servant reported that Lu Shiqing had returned, and she obediently waited in the house.

In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the frost and wind are bitter. There has already been a snowfall in Chang'an ahead, and seeing this cloudy sky, it seems that there will be another snowfall soon.

Lu Shiqing was covered in frost when she returned, fearing that Yuan Cixian would be frozen, so she took off her wet cloak outside, and went inside wearing only a light fur. Before entering her room, she warmed her hands with the charcoal stove.

Yuan Cixian waited for a while before seeing him rushing in, and got up from the seat at once. When he came to him, he reached out to caress his eyebrows, wiped a little white frost on it, and asked him: "Is it cold?" chilly?"

Lu Shiqing choked. He thought that her first sentence would definitely ask what happened to Chao Li.

He stretched out his newly warmed hand to hold her: "It's not cold." He seemed to be motioning her to touch it.

Yuan Cixian glanced at him: "I'll hold you temporarily!"

He smiled, helped her to sit back, and because the hand that had just been warmed was hotter than hers, he simply knelt down in front of her, grabbed her hand, and rubbed it in the palm of his hand.

Yuan Cixian looked at him with lowered eyes, and after a long time, he did not speak. He bent his eyes and said with a smile: "Suddenly being so nice to me, did you do something to sorry for me, or are you going to do something to sorry for me?"

Lu Shiqing's subordinates froze, and raised his head to see that the smile on her face remained unchanged, and she was even a little more proud: "I got it right!"

Lu Shiqing didn't speak, but curled his lips, lowered his head to breathe warm air into her palm, and only looked up at her again when her hand was hotter than his.

But at this time, the smile on Yuan Cixian's face was gone, she stared at him with red eyes and said, "Tell me, where are you going again?"

He bent his knees without getting up, raised his head and smiled lightly: "Just go to Uighur."

Yuan Cixian suddenly didn't dare to look at his smile, looked up at the top of the sky and said, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

She didn't speak for a long time, and it took a long time before she said "oh".

Lu Shiqing sighed, got up and sat next to her, embraced her and said, "The Turks have attacked the Uighurs, and the second prince brought them in. The court cannot ignore this matter. Regardless of whether the leader is exiled from my Great Zhou Dynasty or not." The prince who escaped from the ground, if today, the imperial court stands on the sidelines, tomorrow the Uighurs suffer disaster, and the day after that is conquered by the Turkic cavalry, it is our people..."

"I know." Yuan Cixian interrupted him, "You don't need to tell me this, I understand the truth, I just..." She bit her lip and looked at him tiltedly, "In less than two months , I'm about to give birth."

Lu Shiqing nodded, stroked the corners of her red eyes, and said with a smile, "It's just right. It's just right after two months. Then I'll give them the news of success as a birthday present."

Yuan Cixian's nose was sour, and when she heard the word "good news", she asked, "Didn't you go to the peace talks this time?"

He shook his head: "This battle is different from the confrontation with Nanzhao last time. It must be fought. The imperial court will send troops to aid the Uyghurs, but I will not go to the front line. I will just follow the reinforcements to the Uyghurs and meet the Khan to reach an agreement. Covenant. So you don't have to worry. A Zhuo and I have already prepared for this matter, and we have been planning it for a month, so nothing will go wrong."

"What about him?" Yuan Cixian asked, "Is he the one who led the army?"

He shook his head again: "One is that the Great Zhou sent troops to help the Uighurs, and left several empty gates. He must stay in the capital and be vigilant against King Ping. Second, it is not the best time for him to show his face."

Yuan Cixian understood when she heard this, and said with pursed lips: "To reach a covenant with Khan, you don't necessarily have to go, you only went for His Highness the Sixth Highness."

On the face of it, he was going on an envoy for the sage and Da Zhou, but in fact it was to help Zheng Zhuo get Dolan Chu's support.

Lu Shiqing nodded now.

Yuan Cixian sniffed, looked at him not convinced, and said, "Even if I bring two children, the three of us together can't compare to him!"

He laughed when he heard this, leaned over and put the tip of his nose against hers and said, "I promise, I will give birth in time for you."

She gouged him out: "What if it's late?"

"you say."

Yuan Cixian was not willing to swear an oath to him after all, and said bitterly: "If it's too late, I'll pack up the baby after giving birth, and come back and grab you with my burden!"