concubines

The Queen's God of Fortune said in a deep voice: "I dare not take credit for it. Chen'er was taught by his mother, so he can relieve the emperor's worries and defend the territory for Dakang."

The queen mother smiled, as if she didn't want to continue talking about this question anymore, but the queen suddenly broke out in a cold sweat—why did the queen mother suddenly come out?What does she know?The Empress Dowager Lan has closed the palace for seven years. No matter what happened in these seven years, she has not been seen. Why now... After the empress entered the palace, she has never won the battle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or did the Empress Dowager Lan seem to be tired of it in the end? , took the initiative to back away, and gave the queen a chance to breathe.

The last time Princess Chun came to beg her, the queen immediately ran around, asking people to intercede for Li Chen, but the queen's actions seemed to confirm those rumors, the more people the queen begged to plead for the king of Chun, the more strange it was Afterwards, people felt more and more that Li Chen was licentious and futile, and could only rely on his mother and wife to run for him.

Empress Dowager Lan's departure from Ci'an Palace caused an uproar in the entire capital. The Zhou family and Yuan family were silent for a while. What tricks are coming.

The emperor made peace every morning and evening, and the mother and son were happy and harmonious, and outsiders could not see anything wrong.

The second day after Empress Lan came out of the palace, all the rumors about King Chun disappeared in Beijing——Empress Lan didn't even say a word.

New Yuan Kingdom.

Cheng Sijie went to listen to the conversation between Tan Qiao and Feng Qiang almost every day. A few days later, he said with emotion: "The two of them consciously eliminated me, and they will turn their faces in a few days."

After Qi Yunruo stayed with Cheng Sijie for three or four days, he didn't have any other thoughts except to leave here, but Cheng Sijie was interested in listening to this talk and then went to listen to another talk. Prepare, and don't take Tan Qiao and Feng Qiang seriously.

But Cheng Sijie was surprised and said: "Why do you think so, my subordinates are arrested and controlled, and Tan Qiao and Feng Qiang can kill me at any time."

Qi Yunruo hated it so much that he ate angrily.

Cheng Sijie said slowly: "I haven't returned to China for almost two years. In the past two years, Tanqiao has controlled the government. Those courtiers can do without me. The Xinyuan team has few people and most of them are stationed at the border. I can't leave They change."

Qi Yunruo frowned and said, "Are you really planning to stay here and wait to die?"

Cheng Sijie's face quickly disappeared from the previous cynicism, and he said lightly: "I'm not waiting for death."

Qi Yunruo was a little dazed, until he remembered what Cheng Sijie was, and he almost understood, "Are you waiting for Tanqiao to find out that he can't handle state affairs? You can't do it without you."

Cheng Sijie took a sip of his wine, with a trace of sarcasm on his face, "In the past two years, if I hadn't been in foreign affairs, the country would not have been so peaceful. That idiot in Tanqiao thought it was his own merit. The situation in Zhou State is now grim. , Tan Qiao wants to be alone is a dream!"

Qi Yunruo was thoughtful.

Although the Xinyuan Kingdom did not directly send troops to Dakang, it first provided food and grass for the Qiang people, and then "ambushed" Si De. Now Dakang's envoys are probably on the way—if Cheng Sijie, he has a hundred kinds of arguments The means can solve the problem perfectly, and he has the ability that Tanqiao can't match in diplomacy. When Dakang, a big and powerful country, comes to ask for guilt, what can Tanqiao, a scholar who only knows how to deal with domestic affairs, do?

Cheng Sijie looked forward to that day.

Qi Yunruo lowered his head, but thought in his heart, if Dakang's envoys come over, will he have a chance to go out?If I can use this to contact the prince...

The Dakang envoy came here a few days ago. Xinyuan Kingdom attacked the border due to drought a few years ago, and after being beaten back, Cheng Sijie surrendered directly, and complained that if he did not go to tackle key problems, the people would starve If he dies, the envoys will not even be able to tell the Xinyuan Kingdom to pay compensation. The final result is that if Cheng Sijie goes to Beijing in the future, he will have to meet the king with courtier etiquette—but Cheng Sijie doesn’t want to go to Beijing at all. Totally pointless.The two countries signed a covenant of non-aggression, and this time Dakang's envoys will use this covenant as an argument.

This time the envoys are Yuan Rong, a scholar of the cabinet, and Ji Huan, a scholar of the imperial court who has just joined the Imperial Academy.

A Bachelor of Attendance is a bachelor who studies for the Emperor by his side. His rank is not high, but he is a close minister of the Emperor with a respected status. Originally, Ji Huan was just a small editor in the Imperial Academy, and he was sorting out the bibliographies in the Library Pavilion every day. He did not have this opportunity. of.Although he is a young man, he doesn't stand out among the full of scholars and well-educated scholars. He nominally wants to call Mrs. Ji's father, a Bachelor of Arts degree, his grandfather. Ji Huan wished he could stay away from him.

Unexpectedly, when the emperor came to the Hanlin Academy, he saw Ji Huan's collection of papers, a pen with hairpin flower and small regular script, which was elegant and elegant. On the spot, he was a Bachelor of Attendance.It can be said that Ji Huan soared to the sky, everyone envied him, but after more than a month, the emperor asked him to go on a mission with Yuan Rong, if he brought back some good news, he would be promoted again just around the corner.

Ever since Ji Huan learned that Xiao Qi's younger brother went to war with King Chun, he was always worried in his heart. After the rumors in Beijing started, he was even more worried about Xiao Qi. , he was looking forward to having the opportunity to meet Xiao Qi, but he didn't know that the person he was worried about was somewhere in the palace where he was.

Naturally, Qi Yunruo didn't know who the envoy was, but at night, he eavesdropped along with Cheng Sijie very concernedly. Today is the reception banquet, and this time is probably not long after the banquet ended. When Cheng Sijie opened the floor, he heard Feng Qiang said angrily: "It's all Cheng Sijie! He made strong enemies for Xinyuan Kingdom everywhere, first he made friends with that useless Botuk, and put aside the current most favored Prince Berg, and then He sent people to sneak attack King Chun's reinforcements, almost putting King Chun in danger! What he caused, we have to bear it!"

Tan Qiao said, "Now is not the time to complain!"

Feng Qiang threw a cup angrily, and the porcelain fell to the ground. There was a crisp "crash", and she screamed: "Then what do you think we should do? Now Dakang's army is still in the Qiang territory! If we don't come up with something, Dakang's [-] troops are coming! What shall we do!"

Tan Qiao didn't speak, Cheng Sijie and Qi Yunruo listened quietly, and waited until Tan Qiao said, "I can only pay tribute or pay compensation".

Cheng Sijie squeezed Qi Yunruo's arm violently. Qi Yunruo was in pain, but he didn't dare to cry out. He looked sideways. Under the dim light, Cheng Sijie's face was ashen and angry. Qi Yunruo still wanted to continue listening, but Cheng Sijie But Jie pulled him back.

Cheng Sijie sneered on the road: "Although our Xinyuan Kingdom is small in size, the people are rich and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment. There has never been such a shame. If Tanqiao really does this, he will be punished by the people and by the people." Civil and military officials scold to death."

Qi Yunruo hesitated and said: "But he is in power now, if he really issued this decree..." Qi Yunruo was not dissatisfied with Dakang's New Year's tribute, what he was worried about was that after Tan Qiao really did this, he and Cheng Sijie still needs to be locked up.

Cheng Sijie paused and said coldly: "We'll wait and see!"

In the embassy, ​​Yuan Rong murmured: "It turned out that Cheng Sijie, who was the most difficult to deal with, went to recover from his injuries. There is really nothing to worry about, Prime Minister Tanqiao Tan."

After a one-night confrontation, Ji Huan also saw that the prime minister was quite stern, his words flashed, and he kept avoiding the serious and taking the light of the light. It shouldn't be difficult to formally negotiate tomorrow, but he was curious, how did Cheng Sijie get hurt?Did he personally participate in the ambush of Si De?It seems that the injury is really serious, otherwise, how could such an important matter not come forward?

How difficult Cheng Sijie was, the senior ministers who had been envoys to the Xinyuan Kingdom burst into tears when they talked about it, and Ji Huan also came here with a frustrated heart, but he didn't expect things to go so smoothly.

On the second day, Yuan Rong tyrannically stated that he wanted to cede land, pay compensation, slaves, annual tribute, and become a vassal.Tanqiao was not the only one in the hall. Even if Tanqiao only agreed to the two conditions of slavery and compensation, a group of ministers were dissatisfied.

Shangguan Yao sneered and said: "Master Yuan, although it is true that our Xinyuan Kingdom provided food and grass to the Qiang people, it was not to help them attack Yushu Pass, but our country's food, and a lot of it was originally sold to the Qiang people. People, these grains will be exchanged for cattle, sheep and skins for the people of our country, this cannot be a reason to condemn our country!"

Ji Huan said: "The two countries have already signed a covenant of non-aggression. It may be true that your country provides food for the Qiang people every year, but as far as I know, the people of the Xinyuan Kingdom are rich and have plenty of food. Even if it is for the safety of the allies, it is okay for your country to suspend transactions."

Shangguan Yao said indifferently: "Wars are the business of the superiors, but the common people don't understand."

Ji Huan chuckled, "I have indeed heard that the population of your country is complex, not only the Han and Qi clans, but also many small clans. It is possible for the government to disobey the orders."

Shangguan Yao was blocked at once. Does he want to admit that the emperor of his country has no majesty, and the people will not obey the order?

Yuan Rong continued: "Let's not mention this first, let's talk about the ambush of General Si De by the people of Xinyuan Kingdom. At that time, His Royal Highness Chun Wang was still waiting for the support of General Si De's [-] troops. Because of your country, the prince's subordinates suffered heavy casualties. Even the prince himself is in danger, the prince is the Prince of Dakang, with a distinguished status, but Tan Xiang and Shangguan are talking about it, how do you count?"

Tan Qiao was speechless for a moment, this was what he was most worried about - he really didn't understand why Cheng Sijie, who had always been cautious, wanted to ambush the Dakang people?Isn't he always the one who likes to fan the flames from behind?