bluestone

On February [-]th, an urgent report from the northwest was delivered to Qingming.

[The Rong tribe used tricks to trigger an avalanche. General Han and his [-] soldiers were buried in the snow, and his life and death were uncertain.The Zhenxi army withdrew to garrison Xishan City, and the Rong people did not move. 】The person who reported the letter said: In order to stabilize the morale of the army, no one knew about the disappearance of General Han except the senior general in the army. They only said that he was seriously injured; The Rong people had no choice but to take a detour or wait for the snow to melt before they could reach Xishan City.

"Missing?" Qingming's eyes dimmed, suppressing the anger and anxiety in her heart.

"Yes, according to the approximate location, General Han's body was not found; the deputy general followed General Han's previous arrangements, and there was no confusion."

"How many days can it be delayed?"

"At least a month."

"You go down first."

The messenger withdrew.

Qingming finally couldn't bear it anymore and destroyed the emergency report in his hand.

Zigui walked in, looked at the anxious expression he couldn't hide, and asked worriedly, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to the northwest." For the first time, Qingming showed a panicked expression, and immediately wanted to stand up and rush out, heading straight to the northwest.

"Qingming, calm down first, now is not the time to be anxious, wait a little longer, maybe the news that he is safe and sound will come in a few days. Besides, didn't you send a secret guard to follow him? There is no news, maybe the situation is not as bad as you imagined." Zigui pressed him on the chair and helped him analyze.

"Okay," Qing Ming took a deep breath, trying to calm down, "then wait a few more days." His clenched fists kept trembling, showing that he couldn't calm down.

Two days later

The follow-up message from the dark guard.

Most of the hidden guards protecting Han Tuo had been buried under the snow, and only a small part survived, so the news was only a few days late.

They did not find Han Tuo's body, and judging from the clues they found, he should have been buried very shallow, and he crawled out soon after being buried, but it seemed that he ran in the wrong direction, and it was very likely that he was buried by Rong on the other side. The tribe soldiers found and pursued them.

What is certain is that when they sent the message, Han Tuo was alive, but he hadn't been found yet.

In addition, the situation in the northwest was also sent over.

Although they have responded to Blizzard, it is not enough. The obstacles caused by the avalanche are not small for them, so at least until most of the snow melts, they can only stand still.

Knowing that Qingming had received the news, Zigui hurried to the imperial study room, and saw his hands resting on his forehead, with a gloomy expression on his face.

"Brother, I'm going to the northwest."

Zigui didn't expect that he still didn't give up his previous idea, "The reason why the Zhenxi Army blocked the news was to prevent the government and the public from being shocked. If you propose the imperial conquest now, it would be a waste of their painstaking efforts; besides, the war is not tense now. , You can send someone else to go, there is no need for you to go in person; plus the queen is pregnant, and the prince will be born in a few months, I don't know how long it will take for you to go.

All these factors add up, not to mention that the ministers will not agree, and I will not agree. "

"It's not Yujia's personal conquest, I'll go privately." Qing Ming raised his head, his eyes were cold.

"That's even more impossible." Zigui dismissed his thoughts without hesitation.

"Don't forget your identity. There are many people in the palace. It takes at least 20 days to go back and forth to the northwest, and it can take as long as a month. How can you hide it from the minister? And if something happens in the court, what will you do if you are not here? Have you thought about all this?"

Qingming stood up, walked down step by step, with a firm expression, "I must personally check his condition, if I don't go in person, I won't be able to rest assured. If he is safe and sound, I will return to Imperial Capital immediately; if he really can't return Come, I can just lead the army to fight there, and avoid other troubles."

"No, you are not in the imperial capital, who will handle the government affairs?" Zigui asked him emotionally.

Qingming looked at him unblinkingly.

"You?" Zigui understood what he meant from his eyes, "You want me to pretend to be you and stay here."

"You and I have [-]-[-]% similarity in appearance, and you have also learned the teacher's disguise technique. In addition, the empress knows your identity. With your talent and learning, it is not a problem to deal with government affairs."

"That's not enough. It's okay to pretend for a few days. It's too long for a month. The other ministers won't be able to see it, but the prime minister will definitely be able to see it. How will we explain it then?"

"It doesn't matter, you can go to Lingquan Temple for a short stay in the name of accompanying the queen to pray for Da Zhou; and even if they have doubts about your identity, they don't dare to speak out openly, at most they have doubts."

"That's not allowed," Zi Gui grabbed his shoulders, trying to persuade him to change his mind, "Just because of a man, you now have to give up your identity and responsibility, deceive all the officials, and leave the palace privately, have you ever thought about it? In case, in case something important happens, and everyone finds out that you are not in the palace, your prestige and reputation will be affected, how will you bear the consequences? Listen to senior brother's advice, that person is not worthy of you, not worth it!"

Qingming smiled suddenly, lifted his robe and knelt on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Zigui panicked and wanted to help him up, "Get up quickly, you are the emperor, how can you kneel down to me as a subject?! Stand up first and talk about it."

"Senior brother," Qing Ming insisted on kneeling on the ground, brushed his hand away, and said solemnly, "No matter how important the country is, in my heart, it is not as good as him alone."

Zigui's hands trembled, he was shocked by the seriousness and persistence in his eyes, his lips twitched, he stood up and turned his back, not daring to look at him, for fear that he would not have the heart to agree to him.

"Brother, I know that I am no longer worthy of being the king of a country, and I am not even worthy of saying that I love him. But no matter what, I will not change my mind. I don't want to confirm his safety with my own eyes now. In case, in case he does not If I can come back, I will regret it in the future," Qing Ming knelt on the ground straight, looking at his back, "So, I beg my brother to help me!"

A strange silence spread between the two of them.

For a moment, neither of them let go, one knelt on the ground and the other stood there, not speaking for a long time.

"One month."

Qingming's eyes lit up suddenly, and he looked at Zigui in surprise.

Zigui finally let go, turned around, looked at him, and said seriously, "There is only one month, you must come back within a month, if you can do it, I promise you, if you can't, don't go, even if you kneel I won't agree to it until the end of time."

"I promise you, I will definitely come back within a month. It will take me ten days each time I go back. It is estimated that when I arrive, the army will have found him. I saw with my own eyes that he is safe and sound, so I will come back immediately. If you stay longer, no one will find out." Qing Ming made a promise.

"I promised you, you still don't get up!" Zigui said and wanted to help him up.

Qing Ming supported his hand and stood up. When he stood up, his knees felt like needle pricks.

Because he acted the same, Zigui didn't notice his pain.

"You can go, pay attention to your own safety on the way, and my hidden guards will also be dispatched to follow you."

"Then how can it be!" Qing Ming said and was about to refuse.

"Don't refuse, if you don't agree, I won't let you go." Zi Gui threatened.

"But……"

"You don't have to worry. I stay in the Imperial Capital every day. I have Ouchi guards by my side. I also have martial arts. I won't encounter any danger at all. Besides, I didn't say that no one will stay, just keep ten people. The rest will follow you, it is still very dangerous for you to go out alone."

"Okay, I understand." Qing Ming knew that he could not refuse his kindness, so he could only nod his head and agree.

As soon as he said he would leave, Qingming packed his luggage that day, and left the palace before dawn the next morning.

Zigui changed his appearance into Qingming, and guarded the palace instead of him; as for the commander of the guards, he claimed that he was sent out by the emperor, and no one dared to ask what the emperor sent him to do.

Qing Ming rode his horse and galloped all the way, except for routine rest, most of the time he was on his way.

"Your Majesty, you've been on the road for three days, you should take a break!" The leader of the dark guard appeared beside him and said respectfully.

"It doesn't matter, I have a sense of proportion, but you, you don't have to force yourself to keep up with my itinerary, just follow behind slowly, anyway, there is only one destination." Qing Ming stood under the tree and looked northwest.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, your subordinates can keep up." After speaking, he hid again.

Qing Ming simply ate dry food, remounted his horse, and continued to march towards Xishan City.

After ten days, Qingming finally arrived at Xishan City.

He did not enter the city, but waited at the post outside the city.

The dark guards who followed had gone to contact those who followed Han Tuo, first to inquire about the situation of Xishan City, and second, to inquire about the situation of Han Tuo and the Zhenxi Army.

Several hours later, all the hidden guards gathered in front of Qingming.

"Subordinates refer to the emperor~" Of the hidden guards following Han Tuo, less than one-third of them remained intact, and the rest were basically injured by the avalanche.

"You don't need to be too polite when you go out, let me tell you about the situation here first."

"Yes," the leader stood up and said respectfully, "The Rong people have remained on hold for the past few days; the Zhenxi Army has found clues that Han Tuo is still alive: Deputy General Luo stayed in Xishan City to preside over the overall situation, and Wei Canjun brought five thousand elite soldiers to Go to Beilu City."

"Beilu City, did Han Tuo go to Beilu City?"

"The subordinates found traces left by General Han in the direction of the north. He was followed by soldiers of the Rong tribe. Obviously, the Rong tribe was the first to discover his traces and pursued him. General Han could only flee north; at the same time, the subordinates I got the news that more than half a month ago, the Rong people sent a team to attack Beilu City, and the defenders of Beilu City sent a distress letter to Xishan City.

According to the speculations of his subordinates, Wei Canjun came to aid Beilu while looking for General Han along the way; the reason why the Rong people did not attack for a long time must be because they wanted to wait until they captured General Han in order to attack the Zhenxi Army. Morale, attack again in one fell swoop. "

Qingming nodded, "I see, you stay and lead the way, and the rest of the people take the injured hidden guard back to the imperial capital. As for the dead hidden guard, the body is buried on the spot. Write down the location and name. After returning to the capital, Great burial."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Get ready, leave tomorrow morning."

"Yes."